My pond is Koi-less.

[bloodsong1]

*breaks out uber-hammer and leans on it casually*

Just a friendly warning.

Yes, Koi is no longer in my office. He called in sick yesterday, today he took off to take his buddy to Six Flags and tomorrow he starts his new job. But he has assured me we're still on for the meditation-shopping date on Saturday. Oh yes, and he's picking me up today from work so the three of us can go out for a drink. As long as he's paying, I'm cool with it. Although I suspect he just wants to see me drunk, which only two people have physically witnessed and everyone else had to use their imagination from my LJ description. After those Gargleblasters, I know every other experience I've had is in the range of heavy buzz. I can also safely say that I've never been hungover, a tradition I fully intend to keep.

Koi also wants us to get together and weight lift. 0_0 It is the only thing I haven't tried to gain weight, so we'll see how it goes. I don't want to be ripped, I always thought that looked silly on females. But toned? Yeah, toned I'll take.

Oh! I finally heard back from Erin-sama on "Influenza". She said it was a good story overall, just a bunch of grammatical mistakes *blush* and a few areas of dipping into "Mary Sue"-dom. *blink blink* I THINK I know what that means, but I'm not sure. Help? Please? Anyone?

Comments

[sniper3.livejournal.com]

Mary Sue (or simply Sue) is a usually derogatory expression for a fictional character who is an idealized stand-in for the author, or for a story with such a character. A Mary Sue therefore goes beyond a conventional author surrogate character.
Mary Sue characters are generally marked by overdescription with extraneous, tacked-on paragraphs describing in great detail their distinctive appearance or possessions, even if they have no significance for the plot and seem out of place. For example, a Mary Sue would not merely be said to carry a gun. The model, color, appearance, and special features of the gun would be described all at once.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Sue



Wikipedia>*

[sniper3.livejournal.com]

Or maybe this is a more accurate description of what she's trying to say...

Sueification:
"Sueification" is a name that has been applied to the transformation of a canon character to fit the fanwriter's preferences. The character is likely to lose the traits the writer finds uninteresting or unappealing, and to gain characteristics which the writer likes but which the character had previously not possessed.

[jannyblue.livejournal.com]

"Idealized" is putting it mildly...

In their worst form, Mary-Sues are PERFECT and have no flaws and everyone luuuuuvs them OMG! Plus their appearence/desire causes cannon charcters to act VERY OOC to suit the author's fantasies. Any "flaws" they have are trivial (like not being able to cook) and really don't make a dent in the perfection that is a Mary-Sue. If they're a RP character not only are they geniuses/perfect/royalty they often have a Tragic Past (TM) and are full of angst, and generaly demand that every plot have them as the focus *coughAlenaParsonscough* or they get all pissy.

In their mildest form they're like Hermione Granger from the Harry Potter series. You can tell the character's based on the author, but the character is believeable as a real character, as they've got a personality that's in-line with the complexity of the other characters' personalities, perhaps with some (usually) minor advantages.

Using 160 as an example, I'd say that Rowan was more Mary-Sue-ish than Diane, but both of them were WAY more like a Hermione than a true Mary-Sue. Their most Sue-like quality (and I've noticed this is somewhat common with your characters) is that the cannon character who hates just about everyone tends NOT to hate your characters... But it's not because they're so wonderful and "speshul" and perfect. There's a good reason for it: it's because they show proper respect.

All self-insert characters have Mary-Sue-ish traits. Yours aren't particularly over the top, so there's nothing to really worry about.

Thanks guys.

[bloodsong1.livejournal.com]

This is what happens when you want to give a canon character "someone special". *squirms* Ah well, if this is my most self-indulgent, I'm not going to worry about it.

[jannyblue.livejournal.com]

There's nothing WRONG with writing Sue-ish characters for your own amusement.

Think of it as written daydreaming. :)

Your daydreams happen to also be entertaining and interesting to people other than yourself.

Re: Thanks guys.

[sniper3.livejournal.com]

I don't think I ever saw the original fiction this is based on, so I can't make any in-depth commentary on the sue'factor. ^^;
You asked, so I answered. Da's all. >.>

That's what I was looking for.

[bloodsong1.livejournal.com]

I got an honest critique from someone who does know the source material well. I am content.