perfect characters.

[debbie downer]

if an author writes a story with a main character that is an obvious idealized version of themselves-- gorgeous, talented, smart, practically perfect, everyone is in love with her-- people say that the character is a "mary sue". almost all of the time, a story with a mary sue as a main character will get bad reviews, just because the character is a mary sue.

 

as i have said before in a different blog post, i have had two different daydream stories. one that i stopped daydreaming about two years ago, and my current one, which i have been daydreaming about ever since i stopped thinking about the old one. one of the reasons why i cringe when i think about my old daydream, is because it is so unrealistic. the character that was based on myself was a total mary sue, but since i was only 9 when i first came up with the character, i didn't know what that was. my character was perfect- pretty, talented at everything she did, popular...

 

in the daydream that i have now, i try my hardest not to make the character that is based on myself a mary sue. she's pretty, but not everyone in the whole world thinks that she's the prettiest person ever. she's talented, but not at everything she does- just at a few things. she doesn't have a ton of friends, in fact, she only has a few good friends.

 

i think that the reason why i want to give my character flaws, is because i think that if i made her absolutely perfect, it would make me sad to know that i would never be able to be as great as her. by giving her flaws, i'm making it a little more realistic. 

i don't have terrible self esteem. i don't think i'm ugly. to be honest, a lot of the time i think i'm pretty. but i wouldn't say i'm beautiful or anything like that. i'm just... not ugly. xD i don't think i'm fat or that i should lose weight. i'm not as skinny as a supermodel or anything, but i'm not overweight and i'm fine with how i am. i didn't base a character off of myself because i want to be prettier or smarter or anything like that. i did it because i wish that my life was as interesting as hers. she goes interesting places and knows interesting people, does interesting things...

 

i've seen on this website that most people have a character that's an idealized version of themselves. for anyone that read this, what i was to know is,

is your character that's based on yourself perfect?

[roxanne]

LordX, do you do anything to expand on those obviously wonderful traits you have of compassion, activism, empathy for under dog?  Volunteer somewhere?  Also is there any one who shares your love of culture?  Do you, for instance, know any thing about Norwegian culture?   Come to dinner in 30 minutes on chat section of site, below discussion forum.  2PM EST

[LordXephere]

I have had an idealized fantasy self for quite a while now and he is probably the biggest mary sue ever since there are almost no flaws. He is serene, wise, handsome, empathetic, kind/gentle, and intuitive and has a very mysterious and complex personality.  He is also very quiet and introverted (sort of like me in real life) and can come off as cold, but when he gets to know someone, he opens up and surprises them with his depth of personality. He is extremely insightful and often gives advice to others. He's soft-spoken and pretty poetic in his speech, and is often considered an excellent communicator. He is often seen by others as a saint, an angel, a wise sage, or a mystic/prophet (very spiritual and New Age. Sometimes I fantasize about him having mystical powers) or an activist.

 

My character is also very idealistic and actively fights for the greater good. He hates corruption, injustice and people who victimize the defenseless and believes very strongly in karma and poetic justice. He will stand up to these people and defend whoever is being harmed. He can be an excellent leader when in a position of power, even though he does not actively seek it. 

 

My fantasy self is also known for his amazing creativity, imagination and artistic abilities and is an advocate for the arts. He has written fantasy novels as well as his own music, and can play the piano, violin, guitar, flute, and is even an excellent singer.  He also writes poetry, and paints abstract art. He enjoys listening to contemporary and traditional music from other cultures especially Japanese and French as well as Opera, and Classical. He also has an appreciation for foriegn art house films, Literature, traditional and contemporary art, and Broadway plays. His interests may seem a bit pretentious or snobby, but he is neither of these. He just enjoys culture and anything artistic and unique.

 

This is basically the person I would like to be even though I have some of these characteristics in real life. He kind of reminds me of Yuki from Fruits Basket, Himura Kenshin, and Joan of Arc (the male version of course), and Ghandi. My username was sort of inspired by him. Basically I created this character because I don't feel like I'm strong, or appealing  enough in real life and have low self-esteem. I was picked on for being socially awkward, clumsy and a bit unattractive and dorky looking. I even seem a bit mentally slow to people because I have no common sense and alot of times I will say and do stupid things that annoy people. I am a pushover and people pleaser because I am so afraid of conflict and let people walk all over me, which really pissed some people off and has made me feel weak and inferior. I'm sensitive and gentle which makes me seem feminine and wimpy to people and that has turned alot of people off. I'm pretty much a laughing stock and I feel like a loser and a dork to say the least and these fantasies are empowering and comforting to me in a strange way...

 

Sorry for the long comment and the negativity in the last paragraph, but I just needed to share this somewhere.

 

 

 

 

[Em]

In some sense I have done this with myself since I was 12. (I'm now 22). But what I do is instead of making myself extra good/pretty/smart, which are general traits, I try to make myself more specific based on things I admire. It really does wonders for my self esteem because I can kind of draw my line in the sand between me and other people and really feel like an individual. But I always created myself in my mind in a way that I could realistically attain in life. For example, when I was 14 I thought art was cool. So, I created myself in my mind as an artist. Then, I made myself an artist.

[starfoot01]

i try and make my character based on my self, i do this because when i first started daydreaming i made my character perfect and everyone loved her and everything but i felt abit jealous because of the things  she does (did do?) and her life was so much more intresting.

[roxanne]

I never heard the term Mary Sue; where did that come from?  My character is young & beautiful, with different & changing talents, but otherwise has a lot of my flaws.  I also like to work some of this stuff out through her.

[Laila]

Very interesting post! Well, the idealized version of myself is not perfect either, but she is still considerably more attractive than me. She's tall, handsome, and famous for her magic-like powers. Her quiet persona is perceived as cool and mysterious. But despite her popularity, she doesn't have close friends, and she isolates herself when she is not performing. Some people worship her like a god, while others think she's evil, are afraid, jealous, or simply don't believe in her powers. Britney Spears slapped her in the face, trying to create a scene. Jealous celebs want to make my character get angry and humiliate her. Is it "Mary Sue" though to always make her come off as the winner? xD