Post by Dillian Seijitsu on Jan 5, 2007 0:44:35 GMT -5
TO SUBMIT TO UWG:
Send me a PM titled 'Ultimate WG' and include the following:
Title of information (for Table of Contents)
Chapter it Belongs to (if a fitting chapter is not available, state so and I'll make one for you)
Source (a link to where you found it or the display name of the person who wrote it)
Content
I'll handle the rest.
On the other hand, if I or a mod find your tutorial helpful, we may add it to the guide with your permission, and credit you, of course.
--
Ultimate Writing Guide
Table of Content
1. Characters
_Mary and Gary Sue and Stu
--
1. Characters
_Mary and Gary Sue and Stu
Source: Dillian Seijitsu
Mary-Sue - a 'perfect' female character.
Gary-Stu/Gary-Sue/etc - a 'perfect' male character.
Self-Inserts - a type of OC that 'is the author if they were in the story/fandom/etc'. (Typically, people don't like to see these when they go to Fanfiction.net where they really only wanna read stories about the canon characters, not your imaginary life story)
THE PURE DEFINITION OF A MARY-SUE/GARY-STU
Sues are basically thought of as perfect characters, which is true, but a few flaws does not save you from suedom. A character can be a Mary-Sue is they are simply unrealistic. Now, that typically excludes cat ears and dog tails on the character (though it is wise to know whether or not the world your character is in allows for animals parts on humans; for example, anime/manga such as Naruto, Death Note, and Full Metal Alchemist show no evidence of that being part f their physics), but many Sues do have cat ears, dog tails and fox butts. Typically, these things are over-looked in the anime/manga fandom, get them anywhere else and everyone is liable to roll their eyes. Unrealistic would more likely refer to their personality or the overall story. Let's face it - five year-old girls don't beat up a crime boss's security force, I don't care what she's packing. And personality would be if they are portrayed in a realistic way; if they are sad and have a twagic past, people will simply ROLL THEIR EYES if it's not written correctly and is only brought up for the audience to feel sorry for them or make the character 'cool' (the broken girl, the mask, the tough-edged bishounen, blah blah blah).
Self-inserts are the most common type of Mary-Sue. The creator takes themself and imagines a cool, sexy, sad, cute, whatever person with bright blue hair, big eyes and an incredible fashion sense, or at least, typically better clothes (or at least different) than whatever they actually wear. Any pimples, fat, buck teeth or braces are eliminated in this case. Typically, you can get away from the appearance of your self-insert, but come on...if you wear sweats and a white t-shirt every day to school, what's it saying when you draw yourself in sexy black leather jackets, tight mini skirts and tall boots? Wanna-be.
Now, the things that really cracks down on Sues hard is PERSONALITY. Whatever the heck it is, it is FLAT and BORING. Sues can be labeled into basically four categories:
Spunky: the annoying freak who is always high on sugar and is immature. What makes this a sue? They have no definition to them, and if they ever do anything wrong it's 'cute'. Commonly wear very *friendly* personty outfits.
Broken: the gothemo who either dresses goth/emo or in beautiful dresses and has beautiful long hair and has lost eyes. They have a twagic past and are typically very delicate or frail. Some even somehow are able to beat up big, giant muscled-out men with their scrawny little arms. What makes them a sue? They're twagic past is for display, the only realistic way it'll affect them is they emo everywhere, and I hate them. Admittedly, rarely are portrayed in mini skirts and swimsuit tops.
Tough: the tomboy who seems to think they can beat-up anyone and that's just fine. Usually thought of as 'tough', but I think they're *for you little kiddies* FREAKING DUMB BUTTS. They also have some dark past and hide their girly-ness behind somehow being able to beat up all the other tough people in town with their sexy little bodies. They're also the most likely to be sleepers (what kind of tomboy goes to the store in short shorts and tight tanktops?).
Miscellanous: anything else you can think of
Now, that is not to say that every lively character, tomboy or person with a dark past is a Mary-Sue, but if they are not realistic, then they fit into these categories pretty well.
THE DEFINITION OF PERFECT CHARACTER
Perfect means 'flawless', but a character is still 'perfect' if their only flaw is their thingyiness or they can't cook. If it doesn't in any way disturb their ability to do something important or is only used for humor, it ain't a fault.
Having one flaw only makes them slighlty less than perfect. No good. Now, should you run off and make sure all of your characters have ten thousand flaws? No. The truth is, portray a character as a real person, and they will get flaws on their own. Unless their faults make them in some way a dislikable person, they don't count towards anything except you trying to prove your character isn't a Sue by beating around the bush. Being unable to cook, clean, do mathematical equations or juggle are more like quirks than flaws, especially when portrayed that way. Always remember, humans are far from perfect. It is possible for someone to be super intelligent, be a great athlete and look hawt, but they cannot be a PERFECTLY intelligent person, be the PERFECT athlete or be PERFECTLY hawt, all at once or on their own, and EVERYONE, I repeat, EVERYONE has flaws, faults, quirks, good points and things they can and cannot do, including me, you, my brother, your parents, your grandparents, the po-po, the goverment people and your favorite show's script writer.
Send me a PM titled 'Ultimate WG' and include the following:
Title of information (for Table of Contents)
Chapter it Belongs to (if a fitting chapter is not available, state so and I'll make one for you)
Source (a link to where you found it or the display name of the person who wrote it)
Content
I'll handle the rest.
On the other hand, if I or a mod find your tutorial helpful, we may add it to the guide with your permission, and credit you, of course.
--
Ultimate Writing Guide
Table of Content
1. Characters
_Mary and Gary Sue and Stu
--
1. Characters
_Mary and Gary Sue and Stu
Source: Dillian Seijitsu
Mary-Sue - a 'perfect' female character.
Gary-Stu/Gary-Sue/etc - a 'perfect' male character.
Self-Inserts - a type of OC that 'is the author if they were in the story/fandom/etc'. (Typically, people don't like to see these when they go to Fanfiction.net where they really only wanna read stories about the canon characters, not your imaginary life story)
THE PURE DEFINITION OF A MARY-SUE/GARY-STU
Sues are basically thought of as perfect characters, which is true, but a few flaws does not save you from suedom. A character can be a Mary-Sue is they are simply unrealistic. Now, that typically excludes cat ears and dog tails on the character (though it is wise to know whether or not the world your character is in allows for animals parts on humans; for example, anime/manga such as Naruto, Death Note, and Full Metal Alchemist show no evidence of that being part f their physics), but many Sues do have cat ears, dog tails and fox butts. Typically, these things are over-looked in the anime/manga fandom, get them anywhere else and everyone is liable to roll their eyes. Unrealistic would more likely refer to their personality or the overall story. Let's face it - five year-old girls don't beat up a crime boss's security force, I don't care what she's packing. And personality would be if they are portrayed in a realistic way; if they are sad and have a twagic past, people will simply ROLL THEIR EYES if it's not written correctly and is only brought up for the audience to feel sorry for them or make the character 'cool' (the broken girl, the mask, the tough-edged bishounen, blah blah blah).
Self-inserts are the most common type of Mary-Sue. The creator takes themself and imagines a cool, sexy, sad, cute, whatever person with bright blue hair, big eyes and an incredible fashion sense, or at least, typically better clothes (or at least different) than whatever they actually wear. Any pimples, fat, buck teeth or braces are eliminated in this case. Typically, you can get away from the appearance of your self-insert, but come on...if you wear sweats and a white t-shirt every day to school, what's it saying when you draw yourself in sexy black leather jackets, tight mini skirts and tall boots? Wanna-be.
Now, the things that really cracks down on Sues hard is PERSONALITY. Whatever the heck it is, it is FLAT and BORING. Sues can be labeled into basically four categories:
Spunky: the annoying freak who is always high on sugar and is immature. What makes this a sue? They have no definition to them, and if they ever do anything wrong it's 'cute'. Commonly wear very *friendly* personty outfits.
Broken: the gothemo who either dresses goth/emo or in beautiful dresses and has beautiful long hair and has lost eyes. They have a twagic past and are typically very delicate or frail. Some even somehow are able to beat up big, giant muscled-out men with their scrawny little arms. What makes them a sue? They're twagic past is for display, the only realistic way it'll affect them is they emo everywhere, and I hate them. Admittedly, rarely are portrayed in mini skirts and swimsuit tops.
Tough: the tomboy who seems to think they can beat-up anyone and that's just fine. Usually thought of as 'tough', but I think they're *for you little kiddies* FREAKING DUMB BUTTS. They also have some dark past and hide their girly-ness behind somehow being able to beat up all the other tough people in town with their sexy little bodies. They're also the most likely to be sleepers (what kind of tomboy goes to the store in short shorts and tight tanktops?).
Miscellanous: anything else you can think of
Now, that is not to say that every lively character, tomboy or person with a dark past is a Mary-Sue, but if they are not realistic, then they fit into these categories pretty well.
THE DEFINITION OF PERFECT CHARACTER
Perfect means 'flawless', but a character is still 'perfect' if their only flaw is their thingyiness or they can't cook. If it doesn't in any way disturb their ability to do something important or is only used for humor, it ain't a fault.
Having one flaw only makes them slighlty less than perfect. No good. Now, should you run off and make sure all of your characters have ten thousand flaws? No. The truth is, portray a character as a real person, and they will get flaws on their own. Unless their faults make them in some way a dislikable person, they don't count towards anything except you trying to prove your character isn't a Sue by beating around the bush. Being unable to cook, clean, do mathematical equations or juggle are more like quirks than flaws, especially when portrayed that way. Always remember, humans are far from perfect. It is possible for someone to be super intelligent, be a great athlete and look hawt, but they cannot be a PERFECTLY intelligent person, be the PERFECT athlete or be PERFECTLY hawt, all at once or on their own, and EVERYONE, I repeat, EVERYONE has flaws, faults, quirks, good points and things they can and cannot do, including me, you, my brother, your parents, your grandparents, the po-po, the goverment people and your favorite show's script writer.