Pat Pflieger" wrote:

Nico wrote:

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Excuse my ignorance; I've only been in fandom a few months, but can

someone

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tell me about Mary-Sue? I guessed a while back that it was

self-insertion,

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usually wishful thinking (going by the few stories I encountered her in), but was why Mary-Sue? Was there an original Mary-Sue who wrote one?

You're right in your definition of Mary Sue; Paula Smith apparently first used the name in a brief parody she wrote in Trek fandom years ago.

I wrote about The Dear Girl in an essay at http://www.merrycoz.org/papers/MARYSUE.HTM

Thanks very much! That was fascinating and very informative.

But now I'm worried that an original character I'm going to use in my fiction is a Mary Sue, although she's definitely not perfect or universally adored. I'm basically adding her because I think it stretches probability too much to use existing characters like Jenna (so Blake lied about her death) or Avalon (though I am using her in one story) or a miraculously saved Cally. And the crew *are* going to meet new people, stands to reason (she says, desperately).

Mind you, I've also created Vila's mother, and she's rather like mine. Is there a term for that? :-)

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I've also come across Peggy-Sue Servalan in the Bizarro zines. Is this a variation on the theme? Mind you, the Bizarro stories seem to have a lot

of

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fans and writers lurking lightly-disguised in them.

And, aren't they fun?

feste

I probably miss heaps of references, but the Bizarro stories are LOL funny.

Nico