Jul. 6th, 2011

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8 – Do you write OCs? And if so, what do you do to make certain they're not Mary Sues, and if not, explain your thoughts on OCs.

I often feel the need of a non-canonical presence in a story to add some resonance not in the original, but I almost always strive to do this through writing crossovers. It just seems psychologically less tricky to mix non-original with non-original. I have written OCs though, usually in long fics that cover so much of characters' lives it would be weird if new people didn't crop up. I don't think I've written an OC that could readily be classed as a Mary Sue, though I have one fic loosely planned where trying to convey my OC as not-a-Sue would be a constant battle--but that's the future.

Notable OCs include: from Banana Fish, Sing and Akira's (and Eiji's) daughter, Ming, and Ash's Russian boyfriend. From Please Save My Earth, Jinpachi's girlfriend, Saraswathi. (No coincidence that both the fics in question are over 30,000 words long.) From Death Note, Watari's girlfriend, Priscilla.

As for what I do to make certain they're not Sues, I generally don't make the prominent and I try to present them (like everyone) as real people, not wonder people. It strikes me that both Ming and Saraswathi are high-powered lady professors, but I hope both are individualized. Ming is a somewhat gender-neutral asexual with a strong, sometimes intractable personality, rather like her dad's. Saraswathi is a friendly, slightly sagging, middle-aged widow with two kids, who is just looking for sexual friendship. I hope enough realistic quirk kills the Sue factor.

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