Disclaimer: I do not own avatar, -cries- or this horrible cliché plot. -Jumps for joy- I do, however, own these words.
HELLO EVERYONE! Yes I am alive! OMG! It's a miracle!
Ok, so I have decided to go ahead and start bashing Mary Sues.
For those of you who don't know who or what a Mary Sue is, "A Mary Sue (or "OC", the polite term) is a fan inserted character (usually female) badly written into a fandom via a really bad fanfic. A Mary Sue is usually the picture perfect person that the Author most likely would like to become. Mary Sues usually get all the guys they want, no matter how, no matter if the character is "taken" or not. Mary Sues usually are AMAZING people, have AMAZING traits, save the world, become the "last Airbender", or snag Zuko through the most stupid ways possible." I don't know the name of the person who said this, but I'm stealing it. I didn't say that though, mind you.
Everyone who writes comes across this problem. No one is perfect. (Unless you are amazing.) I have this problem myself when I write, so my characters sometimes feel like Mary Sues, and I want to kill them at times. Yet, that's how we learn.
And sometimes, we have to have constructive criticism kick us in the behind to get us moving.
To everyone who has this pairing, read, observe. Does your story sound like this?
Cliché #2
Zuko X OC Mary Sue
Poor Mary Sue was so sad. And hungry...and cold. Even though she was in the fire nation, and it's usually quite warm there, she shivered from the ominous chill.
Little Mary Sue had run away from home. Her mother didn't understand her pains, and, even though her father was quite rich, he was a drunk and would always beat her. On the outside she was a gorgeous beauty, with long flowing black hair that had multiple natural highlights and golden eyes that sparkled, yet she had many large bruises that scarred her perfect pale skin. On the inside, she was a kind hearted soul, full of easily guessable qualities that have a lot to do with happiness, petting sick puppies, and all that garbage that makes everyone normal throw up.
And yet, she harbored a dark secret that no one could ever know about. This secret was one of the main reasons for her beatings from her father.
And so, that night she had escaped from her home and was traveling along the dirt path, shuffling along. Her stomach grumbled, because being a darling Mary Sue, she forgot to eat before she left.
"Oh dear." She mused to herself. "I am quite famished. Perhaps I should have taken food from the pantry before I left. Or some money. Oh woe is me! What am I to do?"
Thankfully, she came across a poster that was stuck to a tree. "WANTED. FEMALE MAIDS FOR FIRE NATION SHIPS. INCLUDES ROOM AND BOARD. SORRY, BUT YOU HAVE TO TRANSFER TO WORK HERE."
"I wonder why you have to transfer?" she asked herself stupidly. Reading farther below, she found her answer.
"YOU HAVE TO TRANSFER BECAUSE YOU'RE LIVING ON A SHIP YOU NIMROD."
"OH! That SOOO makes sense! I wonder where I have to sign up for it." She read farther below on the poster.
"INQUIRE AT THE NEAREST FIRE NATION NAVY BASE AROUND. (IN OTHER WORDS, JUST DOWN THE ROAD SMART ONE.)"
"OH! It's not that far away! What will I say to the person there though?"
"GOD, DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU EVERYTHING? FIGURE IT OUT FOR YOURSELF; I'M NOT THAT HELPFUL."
"What a brilliant poster. Well, I should get started walking over there I suppose." And so, despite her increasing hunger, she skipped a few steps, and found herself right in front of the Fire nation Navy headquarters.
"OH how convenient!" she said quietly, then went inside to apply.
To sum things up, Mary Sue got the job. There is a lot of obvious un-needed dialogue and description that just makes the reader die of boredom, so we are able to jump right over this, because I am a kind author that has a short attention span.
And so, we will save time, internet space, and extra useless chapters and just plop Mary Sue right at the docks, ready to shove off.
Mary Sue was standing on the docks, ready to shove off. She had her maid uniformslung over her shoulder, and was walking the gang-plank to the docked ship which she was assigned.
It was a smaller ship than normal, yet Mary Sue didn't mind. A smaller ship meant less to clean, and because Mary Sue didn't want to get dirty, she didn't complain.
As she walked onto this ship, she noticed there was quite a handsome man about her age standing on the deck, looking out to sea. An older man was sitting next to him, playing a game of Pai Cho and drinking tea.
"Uncle, I must capture the Avatar!" screamed the boy. "I have no use for maids."
"We need maids Prince Zuko. This ship is dirty, and we need the female touch." Uncle Iroh replied, taking a sip of his tea. "And look, here is one new maid now! Welcome!" Turning towards Mary Sue, he opened his arms and gave her a large hug. Mary Sue returned the favor, realizing that she was going to like this guy.
"My name is Mary Sue, and I am at your service." She said bowing.
Zuko turned around, and passed out by how beautiful she was. Then he quickly woke up and started babbling like an idiot, forgetting his quest for the Avatar and discovering that all he wanted was her.
"You…I…um…high…wow…ah…" Zuko stuttered in a very OOC way that abused ellipsis.
"You are a mean and cruel person and I don't like you yet I am strangely attracted to you and this will create large amounts of angst!" Mary Sue replied. She turned on her heel in a huff and stomped away to her cabin. Of course, she didn't know the way to her room, but she found it without problems anyway.
That night at dinner she was eating with the other maids who all had weird names and pointless descriptions, when she felt a presence behind her. Turning around, she found Prince Zuko standing there looking down at her.
"I need to talk to you." He said sternly. Mary Sue stood up, but ignored him and walked right by. If anyone else had done such a thing, Zuko would have thrownthem off the ship. Yet he was so overcome with love, puberty and testosterone, he followed her into the kitchen where she had started making something.
"Look, I just want to get to know you." He said over her shoulder.
"There is nothing about me that would interest you." She replied.
"Oh but there is. I know there is."
"Well, I do have a terrible secret. But I can't tell anyone."
"What is it?" Zuko asked, obviously not getting the fact that it was a secret.
"Well, I am actually a fire-earth-mind-metal-lighting-ice-shadow bender." Mary Sue said, also forgetting that it was a total secret and that she wasn't supposed to tell anyone. "And when I was only one year old, I killed an entire village and was banished. My family moved, and my father has been beating me ever since. So I ran away." Then Mary Sue began to start crying.
Zuko, in an act of love, put his arms around her and began trying to comfort the cry baby.
Then theyfigured outthat they were in love, and decided to find a purpose of Mary Sue's useless powers. They found Aang and Mary Sue saved the world for him, because he was so incompetent that he couldn't do it himself. Zuko and Mary Sue got married, and the other main characters were never heard from again.
The End
Yea, I got bored and tired with it. I'll probably do another Mary Sue some other time though. Because there are so many clichés that Mary Sue's happen to fall into.
Anyway, peace out.
