Absolute Chaos Discussion Boards
Fic Talk => General Discussion => Topic started by: RokofAges75 on October 31, 2007, 10:02:05 PM
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Another topic sparked by one of the debate threads...
Who are your favorite original female characters in fanfics, and why do you like them or want to root for them in the story? What makes them more than a Mary Sue or her alter ego, Anti Sue?
Character writing is something I struggle with, and whenever the Mary Sue topic comes up, those of us who write romance get paranoid about whether or not our female characters could really be Mary Sues. I thought it would be interesting to see if there are any common links between the female characters we really like in fics.
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OOH! Good topic Julie! I have several:
1. Claire from Broken/BMS: she's not a MS or an AS cuz she's smart, yet flawed and has struggled but is stronger than she thinks.
2. Katrina Parker/Carter from HDL Series: Cuz it's Trina I adore her and she's funny and flawed yet not perfect and annoying!
3. Autumn from Proving Them Wrong: Cuz it's Autumn and I love her!
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I think the last character I'd ever call a Mary Sue is Claire from Broken/BMS. Honestly, she's my fave female character in BSB fanfiction because Julie's let us watch her grow up. As weird as that sounds, it's true. We've seen her ups and downs and in betweens. We've cheered for her, screamed at her, and cried with her. We've all wanted to beat Jamie up at some point, and yell at Nick to get his butt moving and do things right with her. I totally get emotionally involved whenever I read that series, especially BMS. It's going to be so weird having it be over.
Otherwise, the only other female character that I've really loved is Aliesa Montaine from "A Tale of Two Popstars". I don't know what it is about this story that keeps pulling me in but Aliesa's definitely a big part of the pull. She's indecisive, angry at Nick because they got married when they were drunk, and in a constant state of *screams*...That's really the only way I can describe it LOL She's a puddle of indecision, regrets, affection, and is just in an emotional rollercoaster as she tries to figure out what she really wants (which is the part that made me relate to her because I'm totally like that, too). This story was the inspiration for Proving Them Wrong, and, though Autumn's only 5% like Aliesa, Aliesa is always in the back of my mind when I write PTW.
So, yeah, that's me. It's not that there aren't a whole bunch out there that are fabulous, but those two really stick out to me.
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Good topic Julie! But I don't think you have anything to worry about in this dept. I LOVE Claire to death and think she's a GREAT female lead. One of my absolute favorites and I can be VERY judgemental when it comes to female leads in fics, so consider that a compliment!
But I too would like to work on my character development of my female lead. I've gotten some great feedback about my Alyssa from UMS, but I feel like in my last few chapters I kind of lost her into the Mary Sue zone. I'm hoping to turn her around by the sequel, but yea I need to do a lot of character development excercises. Maybe someone could post some new ideas?
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Wow, thanks, guys! I'm iffy about Claire, especially in BMS... I think probably because some readers turned on her, which led me to wonder if it was because she was spiraling out of control into MS/AS territory. LOL As the writer, I have no idea - not something I can really judge. I've tried to make her NOT a Mary Sue without inadvertantly going the Anti Sue route, but like I said, I don't think character writing is really a huge strength of mine, so that has been a challenge for me. I appreciate the compliments and reassurance! :)
Two characters came to mind when I was starting this thread... and then I just thought of a couple more.
One is Ciara from "Cover Me With Dreams," which I could read over and over again and never really get sick of. That story is nicely balanced between Ciara and Nick, but I find Ciara just as interesting to read about as I do Nick - which is usually not the case when I read Bsb fics. She's based on a real person, a friend of the author, so I guess that helped bring her to life - she really comes off seeming like a real person with a personality, flaws, and charm. I also love the way Nick is written in that story, and the two of them together are an amazing combination. One of my favorite relationships in any fanfic I've ever read. http://www.covermewithdreams.com/cmwd.html
Another one is Lizz from The Nick and Lizz Series. Lizz is so stubborn and flawed that she's infuriating at times, but I can't deny that I've always really liked her character and rooted for her throughout that saga. She's another one who I believe is based on a real person, and that helped bring her to life too. I haven't read any of those stories in awhile (partly because some of them are still MIA :( ), but I still remember that Lizz loves parmesan on her popcorn, and other little quirks like that. She's a very realistic and endearing character, one I could relate to, and again, I love her relationship with Nick. http://www.angelfire.com/boybands/mystories/yougo.html
A third is Kara from "The Market," which is such a sweet, unique novella. Kara is very real, flawed, quirky, and totally likeable, which is a testament to the author of the story, who is much the same. Kara's not based on her, but she has a way of writing all her characters to be that interesting, quirky, and believable. http://www.angelfire.com/band2/nix_fan_fix/TheMarket.html
The last of my favorites is Tara from "Signal to Noise." I think this is partly just due to the plot of the story and how it was developed, but I found her parts interesting from the very beginning, well before she comes face to face with any Backstreet Boy. She's another one with a distinct personality and interests that make her unique, and I think she's a really cool female lead. http://www.geocities.com/bsbtreasury/stn.html
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hehe I'm kinda partial to Cindy from NYACS. But I worked really hard on her ;D
Other than that, as much romance as I've read, sadly I cant really think of any that really stand out to me. Maybe Renee from Pandora's Box. Technically Minako was the lead female in that story, and I liked her too, but Renee fascinated me. She was also kid of the villain though so she had lots of different sides. Nothing Mary Sue about her.
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My favorite is Alyssa Monroe in Teri's Nothing's Impossible series. She's so well-developed that I honestly feel like I know her. I can really relate to her, which is great when I read a story. If I have nothing in common with any of the characters or something that's going on in the plot, it's tough to get into the story. But to read the series is to really understand the complexities of Ali.
She's driven. I think that's the biggest thing. She has a need to be self-sufficient, so she's not trying to get anything from anyone. She's modest and sometimes insecure, but not to a point where she's like fishing for compliments or anything annoying. She's smart and she's witty. She's sharp-tongued and sarcastic. She's got a great sense of humor. She's comfortable with her sexuality. She's open-minded about herself and other people around her. She comes from a great background and a strong foundation of friends and family. She knows her family has made her into the person she is and she's appreciative of that. She loves her family, she's close to her friends, and she loves Nick most of all... Even though sometimes she's afraid to admit it. She doesn't want to seem like she's dependent on a man in her life and she never wants Nick to think she's using him. Deep down, she knows what she wants and what she likes. She doesn't make rash decisions very easily, which sometimes is a flaw because she doesn't give into her heart all the time. Honestly, though, she's one of the most complex characters I've ever come across.
Haha, sorry, I'm so freakin verbose... :D I think I'm in withdrawal from being an English major, so I'm in major analysis mode!
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Good topic, I've fought so hard to keep Cally out of Mary Sue territory, especially in my first attempts at romance no less. I gave her a Mary Sue-ish name more cause I like unique names having one myself and to me a private joke to give a non sue a Sue name LOL. But I'm partial to her cause I've worked hard not to, but I can't judge cause yeah, I'm the writer :p
Claire is far from Mary Sue or Anti Sue Julie lol, she's got her flaws but cause you've seen her grow you want to yell at her choices and such cause we see the obvious :D. Besides we've all wanted to yell at our friends when we see them do something we STRONGLY disagree with lmao, right? Yet like with Claire, we can't stop em. It's a good thing lol.
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I'm going to be a Debbi Downer and stick to my guns and say there is not one single female lead character I have ever liked enough for them to be the main, pivitol person in a BSB fanfic. There have been some I like as strong characters like Claire in Broken and Valerie in Hawk and a Handsaw, but if a story was written with them being an actual main character, I probably wouldn't read. Which is why as much as I absolutely loved Broken I haven't been able to get into BMS. But Julie knows how I am lol
I think for me it's just a matter of personal tatse. I enjoy books where the lead is a male even outside of fanfic although reading i've been more of a Nancy Drew girl than a Hardy Boys girl lol that's the only exception though.
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hehe I'm kinda partial to Cindy from NYACS. But I worked really hard on her ;D
Other than that, as much romance as I've read, sadly I cant really think of any that really stand out to me. Maybe Renee from Pandora's Box. Technically Minako was the lead female in that story, and I liked her too, but Renee fascinated me. She was also kid of the villain though so she had lots of different sides. Nothing Mary Sue about her.
Yay for Renee! :)
*hugs Kelly*
PBox isn't a romance though. :D
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Yay for Renee! :)
*hugs Kelly*
PBox isn't a romance though. :D
I know. Its just that when talking about female leads, typically its a romance. I only meant that I should know a lot of female leads because I read a lot of romances. Maybe that's why your female characters really stuck out to me, because they weren't dealing with the same things that "typical" female leads do.
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My favorite is Alyssa Monroe in Teri's Nothing's Impossible series. She's so well-developed that I honestly feel like I know her. I can really relate to her, which is great when I read a story. If I have nothing in common with any of the characters or something that's going on in the plot, it's tough to get into the story. But to read the series is to really understand the complexities of Ali.
She's driven. I think that's the biggest thing. She has a need to be self-sufficient, so she's not trying to get anything from anyone. She's modest and sometimes insecure, but not to a point where she's like fishing for compliments or anything annoying. She's smart and she's witty. She's sharp-tongued and sarcastic. She's got a great sense of humor. She's comfortable with her sexuality. She's open-minded about herself and other people around her. She comes from a great background and a strong foundation of friends and family. She knows her family has made her into the person she is and she's appreciative of that. She loves her family, she's close to her friends, and she loves Nick most of all... Even though sometimes she's afraid to admit it. She doesn't want to seem like she's dependent on a man in her life and she never wants Nick to think she's using him. Deep down, she knows what she wants and what she likes. She doesn't make rash decisions very easily, which sometimes is a flaw because she doesn't give into her heart all the time. Honestly, though, she's one of the most complex characters I've ever come across.
Haha, sorry, I'm so freakin verbose... :D I think I'm in withdrawal from being an English major, so I'm in major analysis mode!
LOL it's true she so is! You should see the character analysis she sent me! I looooooovvvvve eeee it!
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I'm going to be a Debbi Downer and stick to my guns and say there is not one single female lead character I have ever liked enough for them to be the main, pivitol person in a BSB fanfic. There have been some I like as strong characters like Claire in Broken and Valerie in Hawk and a Handsaw, but if a story was written with them being an actual main character, I probably wouldn't read. Which is why as much as I absolutely loved Broken I haven't been able to get into BMS. But Julie knows how I am lol
I think for me it's just a matter of personal tatse. I enjoy books where the lead is a male even outside of fanfic although reading i've been more of a Nancy Drew girl than a Hardy Boys girl lol that's the only exception though.
I would usually rather read about the Backstreet Boy as the main character than a random female, but I'm the opposite in my regular fiction tastes. I enjoy reading about female main characters because I find them easier to relate to. I guess the major exception there would be Harry Potter. But most of my favorite books, at least of young adulthood, are written from the female perspective.
Do you know why you prefer reading from the male perspective?
Thanks for the compliment, btw. Even though Claire is a main character in BMS, I don't think she's THE main character - I've tried to keep her and Nick equal in the lead roles because it's as much his story as hers - and it's MORE his story overall, in the scheme of the whole series. Plus, I know you're not the only one of my Broken readers who doesn't like female leads. :D
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Wow, thanks, guys! I'm iffy about Claire, especially in BMS... I think probably because some readers turned on her, which led me to wonder if it was because she was spiraling out of control into MS/AS territory. LOL As the writer, I have no idea - not something I can really judge. I've tried to make her NOT a Mary Sue without inadvertantly going the Anti Sue route, but like I said, I don't think character writing is really a huge strength of mine, so that has been a challenge for me. I appreciate the compliments and reassurance! :)
Two characters came to mind when I was starting this thread... and then I just thought of a couple more.
One is Ciara from "Cover Me With Dreams," which I could read over and over again and never really get sick of. That story is nicely balanced between Ciara and Nick, but I find Ciara just as interesting to read about as I do Nick - which is usually not the case when I read Bsb fics. She's based on a real person, a friend of the author, so I guess that helped bring her to life - she really comes off seeming like a real person with a personality, flaws, and charm. I also love the way Nick is written in that story, and the two of them together are an amazing combination. One of my favorite relationships in any fanfic I've ever read. http://www.covermewithdreams.com/cmwd.html
Another one is Lizz from The Nick and Lizz Series. Lizz is so stubborn and flawed that she's infuriating at times, but I can't deny that I've always really liked her character and rooted for her throughout that saga. She's another one who I believe is based on a real person, and that helped bring her to life too. I haven't read any of those stories in awhile (partly because some of them are still MIA :( ), but I still remember that Lizz loves parmesan on her popcorn, and other little quirks like that. She's a very realistic and endearing character, one I could relate to, and again, I love her relationship with Nick. http://www.angelfire.com/boybands/mystories/yougo.html
A third is Kara from "The Market," which is such a sweet, unique novella. Kara is very real, flawed, quirky, and totally likeable, which is a testament to the author of the story, who is much the same. Kara's not based on her, but she has a way of writing all her characters to be that interesting, quirky, and believable. http://www.angelfire.com/band2/nix_fan_fix/TheMarket.html
The last of my favorites is Tara from "Signal to Noise." I think this is partly just due to the plot of the story and how it was developed, but I found her parts interesting from the very beginning, well before she comes face to face with any Backstreet Boy. She's another one with a distinct personality and interests that make her unique, and I think she's a really cool female lead. http://www.geocities.com/bsbtreasury/stn.html
I think I just fell in love with you a little bit more. <3
lol Every female lead I could think of that I liked you pretty much just listed off there. Of course, Claire would have been on the top of my list, but seriously I think we have very similar tastes aswell as similar names.
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I think I just fell in love with you a little bit more. <3
lol Every female lead I could think of that I liked you pretty much just listed off there. Of course, Claire would have been on the top of my list, but seriously I think we have very similar tastes aswell as similar names.
Ah cool!!! Yay for us! :D And thanks for the compliment - you guys are making me feel like writing; I wish I had time tonight. Remind me to read this thread again this weekend LOL.
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*sends julie inspiration vibes* heheh I'm evil!
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The quote thingie isn't working for me tonight for some reason so i'm just answering your question Julie.
I'm not sure why I enjoy reading from the male perspective. I think maybe because i'm not a male? lol I just think girls are written so sterotypical. Most are weak and need to be taken care of. So many are the younger sibling that needs to be looked after. I can't stand reading things like that. When it's written as a guy it's just refreshsing to me.
I did lie though earlier now thining about it, because some of my all time favorite books are female leads like She's Come Undone and Little Women but She's Come Undone was written by a male in first POV as a woman and he did a great job and Little Women is just an incredible book all around.
And i'm bizarre I guess lol
I guess my least favorite thing to read is a girl who is a weak little victim because that bugs me.
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I know what you mean about the whole weak victim thing, Mare. I have a hard time reading those fanfics where the girl was abused when she was younger and the Boy helps her get past it (lol pet peeve). But I think there are plenty of female leads out there that aren't weak at all. Maybe they have flaws that make them seem weak, but who out of us writers isn't the same at some point, ya know? It IS refreshing reading a male's perspective, and I really like writing it, too (even if it's in third person). But there are lots of stories that would be lacking depth if they didn't have an equal female lead, too.
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^ I agree, I think some fics do need female leads to help even out the balance of the story but I think it depends on the kind of story you're writing. I really believe if you are writing just a straight ahead action or drama or suspense you really don't need that girl but of course if you aren't writing all five guys and just centering on one guy it would be completely boring if you don't add another element in there. Although you could always pull a Castaway and have the Nick converse with a ping pong ball or something. Sadly that would probably hold my attention more than a female lead lmao I am SO including that in my challenge story! No one is allowed to steal the ping pong ball!!
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I know what you mean about the whole weak victim thing, Mare. I have a hard time reading those fanfics where the girl was abused when she was younger and the Boy helps her get past it (lol pet peeve). But I think there are plenty of female leads out there that aren't weak at all. Maybe they have flaws that make them seem weak, but who out of us writers isn't the same at some point, ya know? It IS refreshing reading a male's perspective, and I really like writing it, too (even if it's in third person). But there are lots of stories that would be lacking depth if they didn't have an equal female lead, too.
I agree! In Underneath it all my lead girl Evan was raped as a teen but she got passed it BEFORE she met Nick and is a pretty strong woman inspite of it.
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I hate the weak damsal in distress crap too. But at the same time, I think the uber-strong, kick ass female lead who never loses her cool gets old too. That's the start of an Anti-Sue to me. It's all about finding the balance between the two. I don't know anyone who can be a rock all the time - we all have emotions; we all have needs; we all break down sometimes.
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I hate the weak damsal in distress crap too. But at the same time, I think the uber-strong, kick ass female lead who never loses her cool gets old too. That's the start of an Anti-Sue to me. It's all about finding the balance between the two. I don't know anyone who can be a rock all the time - we all have emotions; we all have needs; we all break down sometimes.
Yes, yes, YES! That's exactly what I was trying to say before, but my writing skills are seriously lacking at the moment LOL If the female lead is a human being and not SuperWoman or a scared shell who must rely on a man, then yay! If she has a perfect life, then I won't like her. Sorry. I want a human female LOL Not future Stepford wife material either.
Did that make sense?
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^ I agree, I think some fics do need female leads to help even out the balance of the story but I think it depends on the kind of story you're writing. I really believe if you are writing just a straight ahead action or drama or suspense you really don't need that girl but of course if you aren't writing all five guys and just centering on one guy it would be completely boring if you don't add another element in there. Although you could always pull a Castaway and have the Nick converse with a ping pong ball or something. Sadly that would probably hold my attention more than a female lead lmao I am SO including that in my challenge story! No one is allowed to steal the ping pong ball!!
You like Valerie! And she's a girl!... as far as I know.
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I hate the weak damsal in distress crap too. But at the same time, I think the uber-strong, kick ass female lead who never loses her cool gets old too. That's the start of an Anti-Sue to me. It's all about finding the balance between the two. I don't know anyone who can be a rock all the time - we all have emotions; we all have needs; we all break down sometimes.
lol. I completely agree!!! thats actually the plot of NYACS.
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Yes, yes, YES! That's exactly what I was trying to say before, but my writing skills are seriously lacking at the moment LOL If the female lead is a human being and not SuperWoman or a scared shell who must rely on a man, then yay! If she has a perfect life, then I won't like her. Sorry. I want a human female LOL Not future Stepford wife material either.
Did that make sense?
Exactly! Totally makes sense!
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lol. I completely agree!!! thats actually the plot of NYACS.
Yep! That's what makes Cindy a great character! She seems like she could go the Anti Sue route at first, but when you really read the story, she's not at all. She's very real and believable, and different than most Bsb female leads in a good way!
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Good topic Julie! But I don't think you have anything to worry about in this dept. I LOVE Claire to death and think she's a GREAT female lead. One of my absolute favorites and I can be VERY judgemental when it comes to female leads in fics, so consider that a compliment!
But I too would like to work on my character development of my female lead. I've gotten some great feedback about my Alyssa from UMS, but I feel like in my last few chapters I kind of lost her into the Mary Sue zone. I'm hoping to turn her around by the sequel, but yea I need to do a lot of character development excercises. Maybe someone could post some new ideas?
By the way, I meant to post these earlier lol, but randomly I remembered your post as I saw your latest update...(I need to catch up again! :()
I put these up awhile back...maybe they can help?
http://absolutechaos.net/fictalk/index.php?topic=618.0
http://absolutechaos.net/fictalk/index.php?topic=619.0
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I hate the weak damsal in distress crap too. But at the same time, I think the uber-strong, kick ass female lead who never loses her cool gets old too. That's the start of an Anti-Sue to me. It's all about finding the balance between the two. I don't know anyone who can be a rock all the time - we all have emotions; we all have needs; we all break down sometimes.
I totally agree with this as well.
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You like Valerie! And she's a girl!... as far as I know.
I do but I also have to confess that if she was there in chapter one I probably wouldn't have liked her as much. The females who come in later and kind of trick you into liking them are the ones that work best for me. If you put that one Valerie chapter you had in there with very little Nick or anyone but her and some random police guy, if that happened towards the beginning, I most likely would have skipped the chapter *hangs head in shame* lol that's just how I roll. I have no patience.
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I like "baddies" or people with issues, so the only girl "lead" that I've read that sticks out in my mind that I enjoyed reading was Renee from Pandora's Box... even though I thought she was a bit crazy and weird she was fun. :-D
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I'm so happy that so many people like Renee. ;D