All work and no play makes me a dull admn...(General Discussion)

[Prime Administrator]

A TREKKIE'S TALE

By Paula Smith


"Gee, golly, gosh, gloriosky," thought Mary Sue as she stepped on the bridge of the Enterprise. "Here I am, the youngest lieutenant in the fleet - only fifteen and a half years old." Captain Kirk came up to her.

"Oh, Lieutenant, I love you madly. Will you come to bed with me?"

"Captain! I am not that kind of girl!"

"You're right, and I respect you for it. Here, take over the ship for a minute while I go get some coffee for us."

Mr. Spock came onto the bridge. "What are you doing in the command seat, Lieutenant?"

"The Captain told me to."

"Flawlessly logical. I admire your mind." Captain Kirk, Mr. Spock, Dr. McCoy and Mr. Scott beamed down with Lt. Mary Sue to Rigel XXXVII. They were attacked by green androids and thrown into prison. In a moment of weakness Lt. Mary Sue revealed to Mr. Spock that she too was half Vulcan. Recovering quickly, she sprung the lock with her hairpin and they all got away back to the ship.

But back on board, Dr. McCoy and Lt. Mary Sue found out that the men who had beamed down were seriously stricken by the jumping cold robbies , Mary Sue less so. While the four officers languished in Sick Bay, Lt. Mary Sue ran the ship, and ran it so well she received the Nobel Peace Prize, the Vulcan Order of Gallantry and the Tralfamadorian Order of Good Guyhood.

However the disease finally got to her and she fell fatally ill. In the Sick Bay as she breathed her last, she was surrounded by Captain Kirk, Mr. Spock, Dr. McCoy, and Mr. Scott, all weeping unashamedly at the loss of her beautiful youth and youthful beauty, intelligence, capability and all around niceness. Even to this day her birthday is a national holiday of the Enterprise.

I think I can come up with a basic, easy to understand, and non-abusive definition for a Mary/Marty Sue/Stu archtype character from this story.

1) The character must be a character that has extraordinary ability for no aparent reason other than "I'm me! Mary/Marty."

2) The character must be irresistible to all other characters of the opposite sex for no rational reason (within the confines of the story).

3) The character must be chaste.

4) The character must gain instant respect for no reason other than "I'm Mary/Marty."

5) Decisions by other characters to place this character into positions of power/authority is always the correct decision, even if there is no known reason to back up said decision.

6) The character must gain new abilities via an ass-pull by the writer (a la Mary being "Half-Vulcan" as needed).

7) The character must show invulnerability or uber-resistance to injury/disease without any established reason.

8) Character must gain extraordinary recognition (I mean ridiculous like Mary acquiring the awards listed) for simplistic/unrealistic action. Like a fifteen year old running a starship.

9) Over reaction by other characters at the death of said character (Spock crying made me laugh).

10) Over emphasis on the importance of said character without a legitimate reason. (like the Enterprise Holiday for Mary's actions).

That's a list that makes sense.
If this label is going to be used, it needs to be reserved for when someone actually creates a character like Mary Sue and not a demi-god/superhero who is integral to a story which is well thought out, complex, and of epic proportions.

A character with six or more of these traits should be considered a possible Mary Sue/Marty Stu.

[Prime Administrator]

For those of you who want to know the actual terms used for the components of a literary work here they are:

events-plot.
motivations of the protagonist–character.
description of the surroundings–setting.
narrator or character’s thinking–point-of-view.
What author seems to be saying about human nature–theme.

A proper critique of literary work--be it fanfiction or not--is done via the use of the following established terms and techniques.
Here's what to look for:

atmosphere: mood or feeling conveyed by the author’s choice of language
complication (of plot): the introduction and development of a conflict between characters or characters and a situation.
chronological/linear plot flow: telling a story in order of events as they take place in time
conflict: some form of opposition presented to the main character
crises: turning point in a narrative as it moves close to the story’s climax
distance: an author’s or narrator’s spatial, temporal, or emotional removal from plot events
flashback: breaks up chronological flow of plot events to tell what happened at some past time
foreshadowing: introduction of specific words or images that anticipate later events
frame story: story within a story, the “outer” story implying an important theme within the “inner” story
irony: reader’s awareness that reality differs from that of the character’s perspective
metaphor: metaphor: an image used to make concrete an abstract idea--doesn't use like or similar to Ex: My love is a Grand Canyon of longing.

magical realism: use of magical elements to mood: at motivation: eternal and internal forces that cause characters to perform specific acts

narrator:
*omniscient: knows all thoughts of characters, and events
*limited omniscient: knows the thoughts and feelings of certain characters
*first-person: uses “I” to tell the story, and may be a character
*unreliable: narrator who lies or misrepresents reality on purpose
pace: rate at which the action progresses
pathos: quality of a work that evokes pity. Too much=sentimentality
protagonist: main character of a story
resolution: the “falling action” of a story in which the conflict has been settled
reversal: any turnabout in the fortunes of a character
simile: an image used to make concrete an abstract idea. Uses words such as “like” or “similar to.” Ex: My love is like a Grand Canyon of longing. (compare with metaphor)
subplot: a minor plot that somehow affects and interacts with the main plot
symbol: a person, event, place, etc., that represents, by association, some other idea (often abstract).
unity: the relation of all the story’s parts to one central organizing principle that forms an organic whole
types of tales:
*morality
*psychological
*coming-of-age
*quest
*revenge
*fall from innocence
verisimilitude: use of certain lifelike details to give the semblance of reality

This list was taken from the following website:

http://faculty.weber.edu/vramirez/hnscompoflit.htm

[Prime Administrator]

Another writing tool that should be mentioned here is Gustav Freytag's pyramid.

This pyramid accurately describes the structure of a story for any genre and is an excellent guide to help a writer in writing his/her story.



Professor Eileen Joy has an excellent online tool to help in both the creation and critique of literary writing.

http://www.siue.edu/~ejoy/eng200lite...rminology6.htm

Pay particular attention to her write up on Persona because this is a very important part of the author's ability to write.
You MUST project yourself into whatever stories you write or you simply will not be successful.
That doesn't mean you should put yourself into the story literally, but it means that you must try and identify with the characters you have created in order to create round rather than flat characters.
Don't let other people deter you (especially if they're using TV Tropes to describe your work, that's telling of what their alterior motives may be).

PERSONA: generally, the speaker (the "I") in any first-person poem or narrative. The term derives from the Latin word for "mask" and literally refers to that though which sound passes. Although the persona often serves as the "voice" of the author, it nonetheless should not be confused with the author, for the persona may not accurately reflect the author's personal opinions, feelings, or perspective on a subject. J. Alfred Prufrock is a notable example of a poetic persona, as is Pip, who narrates Great Expectations. Neither of these two personas can be confused with their creators, T.S. Eliot and Charles Dickens, respectively.

[azul120]

Haha. Studied rising and falling action this past semester in acting.

[Prime Administrator]

You're studying to be an actor?
That's excellent azul120.

[Prime Administrator]

You know, this is actually not that far fetched.

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[Prime Administrator]

Thank you for posting Code Geass: Megiddo here WZA.
I appreciate you taking the time to do so.

[Wing Zero Alpha]

Always nice to be appreciated. Glad to be here too.

[Prime Administrator]

I'll be here on and off for about another hour.
If you have any questions or comments, let me know.

[Prime Administrator]

Just FYI.
Kodai is conducting an online RPG campaign if anyone is interested.
He still has openings as of right now (about 18 characters are available).
If anyone is interested, PM him and let him know.

The available character class list (and campaign details) can be found here:
https://nexusarcana.com/forums/showt...erations-Unit.