On the Subject of Mary Sues:

Ah, and here we come upon one of the most controversial of definitions, among rpers, fanfic writers,  and fans in general.

If you are familiar with role playing, fanfiction, or just internet fandoms in general, you probably have an idea of the meaning, but no one can really come up with a proper definition for what one is. There’s all kinda of disagreement among people. Can a canon character (like Thrall [sue, IMO] in WoW, or Sally [Not a Sue, IMO] from Discword) be a sue? Does one trait (mood changing eyes, a silly name) define a sue?

The following is my opinion on all this. Take it with a grain of salt, or maybe the entire lick.

A mary sue is any character, whether original to the story or made by a fan that: 1. Is perfect and loved by all the characters within the book, except of course the <i> evil nasty ones</i>. 2. Never makes any mistakes, always makes the right choice, and is very rarely faced with truly difficult no win situation choices. 3. The author/player thinks is the absolute bees knees and will not shut up about, to the detriment of other characters in the story.

A Galatea is a cousin of the sue, but there is a difference: While a Sue is someone that the author wants to be, the Galatea is often the person the author/creator/player views an as ideal significant other. Now, this doesn’t mean that the audience agrees. Edward Cullen and River Tam fit this definition more than the standard Mary Sue definition, but both also show Mary Sue traits. Note that I used “canon” characters in this example– authors/creators are as human as their fans, and just as capable of bad characterization as their fans. That answers my opinion on whether a canon character can be a Sue, doesn’t it?

If I wasn’t clear: THEY MOST CERTAINLY CAN.

You see, a sue is a major failure in character development. It has nothing to do with the character’s placement in the story (though placement and role in the plot CAN contribute to Sue-ness- they have a tendency to show up and save the day without working very hard for it) or who made them, but with their characterization.

The largest determining factors in Sue-icty are:

1. Personality: Very Little
2. History : Often tragic, through no doing or fault of the character. They are often victims, but rarely show any of the negative symptons of trauma. (Defensive violent behaviour, paranoia, ect) Only the ones that cause pity, if any.
3. Other character’s reactions to the character: love. Adoration. Respect. Near worship. Only ‘bad’ characters, (such as Jayne in Firefly, or Severus Snape) envious characters, or villains will dislike or question, though sometimes they will also admire and of course, lust after.
4. Tendency to fuck up: They never make mistakes. They always make the right choice, or if they make the wrong choice, it’s through ridiculous circumstances that they couldn’t possibly be expected to help or misinformation by the evil cruel baddy, not through foolishness, arrogance, or failure to listen to the older and wiser council, blinding hatred, etc.
5. “Weak” Flaws: The character is “too nice” or “too trusting” they are “too beautiful” or “ashamed and guilty” of things that again, they could not possibly help, and did not choose to do because they would NEVER make such a terrible choice.
6. Immunity to consquences: even when the character does something wrong, it’s written off by the author and the other characters, except again, the bad ones.
7. Expected reaction from the audience: You don’t love the character? THERE IS SOMETHING WRONG WITH YOU. D:

In the context of RP, because of it’s collaborative nature, #3 and #4 can also be seen as the reaction that the character’s player expects from other people’s characters.

Now, there’s “classic” sue traits, but these are things that IMO, can really be pulled off if you do it correctly. This also depends on the world where you are writing. If everyone’s got say, color changing eyes, and the character doesn’t fit any of the above criteria, then even if the character’s eyes change with their mood, they’re most likely not a sue. Now, if this is a character in a story that takes place in a world that is mostly realistic/ urban fantasy, and they have eyes that change from purple to green depending on their mood, there is certainly a problem there, though the character MAY still avoid sue status if their personality is done correctly and the author/creator/player doesn’t expect people to accept this without maybe… balking a little and being horrified and unable to look at the person in the eye, for example, not out of respect but out of disgust and disturbance.

A character who is astoundingly beautiful but everyone hates because they have a terrible personality, or does something stupid and gets a beloved character killed and suffers the consquences, or chooses to do something despite knowing better and again, suffers the consquences? Not a sue.

One trait common to sues does not a sue make. Conversely a character can be absolutely lacking color changing eyes, ugly as a foot, and be named “Bob” and still be a huge sue.

It’s a really complicated concept, and not a word that should be thrown easily, but also not one dismissed easily either.

Henery Hawk Syndrome

If you have been rping any time at all, in any set up or background, you have seen this in some form or another. We have all met the person who, when they first enter the scene, let us all know that all our characters should be pissing their pants just about now.

Some of you may have even been this person. It’s really easy to fall into– I know I have sat there, rping, or even reading or watching something, and sizing up how my character would handle the situation, usually better than the people handling it are. I mean my original characters who are in roleplaying games or future novels I plan to write, not necessarily original characters I have created specifically for whatever setting I’m being audience to. Say, if my own characters met an invincible super genius girl with psychic powers who could kill you with her brain, they’d use nerve gas or poison to kill her. Throw a gas bomb in the vents while she’s sleeping, don a gas mask, hide in the shadows— dead River!

But some people just cannot stand the idea of their character not constantly being the scariest thing on the block. Even if you joke about a little baby kicking their butt for the fun mental image, this person will flip a shit and point out how their character could never be defeated by an infant for reasons a,b, and c. They will be very serious about this.

If your character does not respond in the right way (read: knee shaking, trouser wetting AWE) to the fearsome visage that is this person’s character you are likely to get the following, be it in whispers, in an email, or below the person’s response, sometimes in lieu of a response:

((You realize that Malficia has a power level of OVER 9000, right? She also has SIX FOOT LONG CLAWS and is over TEN FEET TALL. I don’t think anyone would approach her and casually say “Hello!” even if they’re an archangel like your character. Malficia is strong enough to break his flaming sword with one hand!))

Now, this is dramatized for lulzy purposes, but you get the idea, and might be nodding in recognition.

Even worse what I call the sandbox effect, because it reminds me of nothing more than two children playing in a sandbox. It’s essentially two players posturing at each other, and sometimes happens ICly, but can be seen OOCly as well, and usually looks like this.

Player A:((Malficia is the long lost princess of Planet X, and she has a power level of OVER 9000!))
Player B: ((Well, Tempetia is the queen of Planet Y AND Planet Z, AND she has a power level of over 9000, AND she shoots lasers from her eyes!))
Player A: ((Well, Malficia is able to put up a force field of DAISIES that would BLOCK Tempetia’s eyebeams!))
Player B: ((Well, Tempetia has a glove that is made of PURE ADAPLUTNITHRIL that would break through Malficia’s forcefield!))

…there have been reports of these arguments going on for FIFTY YEARS, only stopping because both players STARVED TO DEATH.

That’s a lie, but you know what I mean. What’s worse is when this behavior transfers to IC behavior.

I call this behavior posturing, for the simple reason that it makes me think of frilled lizards. Little lizards who puff themselves up to look bigger in hopes of scaring away bigger predators.

See also: The Chickenhawk

He’s actually kinda endearing.

This is the thing, guys. Really powerful predators, like bears, or lions, wolves, or sharks, don’t need to posture. They know they can kill you. You know they can kill you. That’s all that’s necessary.

A character who is truly a badass has no reason to demonstrate his power, unless truly necessary in a life or death situation. She also has no reason to be riled up by others posturing.

But my real issue is not just the annoyance of posturing, but the lack of necessity. Why, pray tell, must your character be the biggest bad ass around? Is it for respect? Or importance? And shouldn’t these things be earned by wit, wisdom, and experience, rather than an ability to destroy the world? Isn’t someone who earns respect through sheer intimidation and power just a bully?

On Collaborative Writing vrs Solo Writing:

Most, if not all of my “roleplaying” experience has been based on what I consider collaborative writing groups, rather than the more standard pen and paper “RPG” idea of roleplaying such as D&D and World of Darkness. While I am familiar with both (and I admit, I dislike both world setups and would actually never subject myself to either for character building) my experiences, and what I plan to write about are their much less structured cousins, the online role playing games sometimes set up by one “GM” in something as unofficial as email, chat rooms, or instant messenger services. Often these are based on a franchise or canon, such as Dragon Ball, Harry Potter, or World of Warcraft (I have been involved in all of those, among others!) and are essentially from two to over a hundred people working on what is essentially collaborative fanfiction. Occasionally these can also be a set up of each person’s own “world”, which can be as random as different characters they like from movies and video games, or one world they have created entirely on their own they would eventually like to write novels about. I have seen these two very different set ups collide into one “RP” situation- sometimes they go well, and sometimes they go awry.

 All of these examples, as opposed your average pen and paper rpg have one thing in common — they are a collaboration between more than one writer, and so they require this thing called compromise much more than writing a story by oneself would.

 Whether it’s compromising on your character when you’re building it– no, your Dragon Ball Z character cannot have a power level of 90,000 and be a Sailor Senshi from another dimension, but they can be an extremely powerful pretty young girl — or compromising on your time— you’re on the east coast and I’m on the west coast, I will try to work things out between emails at work or during my lunch if you need to go to bed early—or compromising aspects of your character after you’ve built it— yes, my telekinetic character based on Paul from Dune would normally just snap your characters’ neck with his mind powers and not give you a chance to shoot, but that would be god modding, I’m going to have him try to use his mind to knock the gun out of your hand instead– unlike writing a novel or fanfic by yourself, you’re not just writing for yourself, you’re writing for the enjoyment of those around you, and they’re writing for yours.

 The really big issue with this, is a very simple one: Different people enjoy different things.

While you may think having a character based on someone like Batman or Wolverine, who is an unbeatable badass and always has a cool one liner– who never doubts anything, never makes mistakes, and everyone is a little scared of is the most exhilarating and empowering thing ever, I find these characters obnoxious and frustrating. I prefer the Woody Allen or Terry Pratchett methods– flawed, messy, neurotic little losers like Shinji Ikari or Rincewind who pull together at the end and kick ass, in spite of themselves, but stutter, trip on wires, and maybe even cry before getting to that point. Or even goofy characters who joke and laugh their way through life. You made find those characters sickening and annoying, maybe a little twee. So, if we both have lots of other things we both like– say, super hero comics– and decide we want to role play together, you may have to give your Batman/Wolverine amalgam some flaws and be willing to have him make stupid mistakes, and I may have to give my Plastic Man/Squirrel Girl amalgam a spine and cut back on the goofy slip ups.

 However, this major issue can also be divided into smaller issues such as: Different people have had different experiences, different people have different emotional responses, People’s ability to distance themselves from their characters varies, etc.

 “Now”, you may say, “but what about the integrity of my character, what about the reality of my character– if I’m making these compromises, where does that leave the truth of my character?”

 A compromise is just that because each person gives a little bit, hopefully with the idea of keeping the core of the characters true to themselves. The size of the compromise should also be taken into consideration. You should never expect someone playing a Boy Scout character like Superman to force their character to act like a gritty ruthless Frank Castle type and kill someone. If you’re that disgusted by people with strong, rigid morals who refuse to bend them that you cannot understand why Superman would never kill a person, then maybe you should not be playing with someone who wants to play that kind of character. (Now if the other person is playing this character to see their slow decline or corrupt them, that is another story.)

 However, having a normally shy, timid, or secretive character open up to someone– most certainly not with their life story, but with something that will help the other person become involved with their plot– is often necessary, despite the fact that your character wouldn’t do that. If just cannot sleep at night with compromising your character’s actions in something as blatant as trusting someone they just met an hour ago, there’s other ways to do it. They can drop something– a journal, a letter, anything, hinting at their secrets, maybe even revealing them, somewhere where the other characters can read it, at a point where they can take action . Someone else they have been confiding in can slip up, or have lost the information, or trust people this particular character wouldn’t trust. Or they can just accidentally let something slip up while talking about something else.

 There’s other examples of this– reigning in a flirty character with a high libido, or even an actual pervert– or someone who is snarky and a bully– raised as a bigot– an omnipotent demigod– these characters may all have to be softened or reigned for the sake of the plot, for the enjoyment or comfort of others, to avoid triggering someone who has experienced trauma, to avoid god modding, or for a million other reasons.

 The crux of the matter is, yes, you’re compromising the integrity of your character for the sake of others– but they are expected to do the same for you, and most likely are, in other ways that you may not know. If you absolutely cannot handle it, maybe you’re not cut out for collaborative writing.

Good Idea/Bad Idea

Huh. This may become a serious RP blog… not just for wow, but role play in general.

…Nah. But that doesn’t mean this isn’t a somewhat serious post, in regards to roleplay.

One of the biggest mistakes many rpers  make is the inability to pick a good idea from a bad one. As soon as they get that lightbulb of inspiration they’re putting their idea into play, regardless of whether it is a good idea or not. I used to be like that myself, and ended up with a character who was assaulted sexually with hot pokers repeatedly and eventually tortured and burned to death and then brought back to life.  This idea should have stopped in my head, been tucked away in the “Melissa is crazy and morbid” files and then never brought back again. But I put it into play, and destroyed a character and a relationship that I really liked, irreparably. Later on I went on to have the same character cheat on her husband with another man… which the character would NEVER do, but hey, it was an idea.  If killing Faith killed her rp relationship, having her cheat on her husband sealed the coffin.

So yeah, I speak from experience and with plenty of sympathy, when I say, some ideas are better left unplayed, and some are better as jokes. Heck, this journal is built around the crazy, unplayable Warcraft ideas I get and posting them up for people to giggle at the mental images.  I promise no graphic death or assault or anything that is honestly Not Funny unless you are sick.

Example:  A couple good friends of mine really really like Illidan Stormrage and Kael’thas. Being avid raiders, they both ended up having their mains in encounters, and gave their characters scars in character as a reminder of the fights.  My favorite villain being Arthas, it is doubtful that Ana could really survive an encounter, being a simple Ravenholt trained assassin in leather. So, I was struck by the thought that the moment after she were to stab Arthas in the back (let’s face it, THE BUTT), he would turn around and look at her, and then, she would sprint like no rogue has ever sprinted before and be seen again in Moaki harbor.  Now, this is not physically possible, and further more is ridiculous and honestly I think our good Lich King (or our bad, you know what I mean) has a deathgrip like a mofo and Ana would die regardless. But it’s funny and so I tell fellow rpers about it, if only for the mental image. If I ever get to go kill Arthas, it will be OOC. There is no way someone like Ana or Seiz or Keir or even Poe (who has her own issues with him) would ever be strong enough to take down the Lich King, even with 25 people.  But it was an idea… one that I thought about and evaluated and then decided that while it IS funny and worth telling people about, it’s a bad idea IC.

People need to do this more often. Sit down and consider their ideas before putting them into play, and if they really like them, they can tell their fellow RPers about it, but please, please, please, keep it OOC.

Oh boy

To quote Bill Cosby:

You guys are in a MESS of trouble.

Seiz, Ana, Keir, Poe, et al. have a blog, kind of. They are my wow characters.

Then there is me, the uber casual, noob for nearly three years now, wow player.  This is not for raiding strats. This is not for lore. There are several better blogs for both of those. No, no.

This is for tomfoolery.

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