Long time, no see. I promise my other stuff is getting back on track; however, my life is incredibly annoying and likes to eat my time like the terrible glutton of intangible things it is. In the meantime, please enjoy "The Encyclopedia of Mary-Sues", the content of which is 100% mine. A brief note: this is entirely tongue-in-cheek, no harm meant whatsoever. If you find yourself offended, press the back button, close your eyes and the feeling should pass.
-Ellie
INTRODUCTION- wherein we meet Ms. Mary, her perpetrators and start to cover her Reason for Being.
The term Mary-Sue has an interesting place in the world of online fiction and fan fiction; constantly avoided, inadvertently created and absolutely the worst insult ever to be bestowed on a character. First-time writers and amateurs therefore find themselves walking on eggshells in an effort to belay these accusations.
But who is Mary-Sue? In the vernacular she is considered to be an all round "perfect" character, with highly enviable skills and attributes. She is usually the romantic interest of a favorite character and constantly saves the other characters or, at the very least, upstages them. In everything. She has no weaknesses, only strengths (unless, of course, a weakness is required in the plot, or as a ditch effort to defend the Sue). And every writer has conjured up a Sue at some point in his or her career. No, really. And save for a few notable exceptions (S. Meyer comes to mind), they usually remain hidden away forever, unearthed only as a reminder of humble beginnings.
The term for this sort of character came from a parody of this sort of character in the pre-internet fan fiction community. Yes, this was a real thing. Comprised of Trekkers. Woot woot. The character, Lieutenant Mary Sue, originated in Paula Smith's 1973 short story, "A Trekkie's Tale". She was fifteen and a half (Mary Sue, that is), and promptly got it on with Spock. Or something like that.
Believe it or not, Sues are actually a necessary part of the writer's development, and an essential step in character development skills, as the Sue can serve as an illustration for what is too much when creating a character. However, this outcome occurs only if the author is made aware of his or her error; otherwise, Sues can become a permanent part of the writing style. Sues also serve an important role in self-discovery; the creation of an idealized fantasy self can lead to many revelations about innermost desires, fears and needs.
Enough of the (moderately) good things about Sues, it's time to go backstage. As mentioned above, most Mary-Sues are sources of wish fulfillment for the author; however much it may be denied, they tend to be self-inserts. "Everything Sue does, you do" sort of philosophy. Fantasizing is perfectly normal and almost everyone does it at some point or another. However, this doesn't have to be foisted on us, now does it?
Stay tuned for part two!