35 KiB
[Q][FF] Do rational Self-Inserts exist?
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Author: u/None *
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URL:
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Score: 28
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Created: 2015-11-07T20:47:25
Post:
[deleted]
Comments:
u/blazinghand [+19] Chaos Undivided (2 hours later)
It's been done, but it's usually pretty boring. Most SI stories rely on the main character not acting optimally, because if he did, well, things would end pretty quickly.
A Wizard Named Harry does this well:
Dumbledore opened his mouth, but I continued rapidly. "Please wait a moment, sir. I've thought long and hard as to how to convince you, and the best I could come up with was eight words."
He simply nodded, and I took a deep breath, and blurted "Tom Marvolo Riddle has eight horcruxes."
That had to have had an effect, but I'll give the old man this much- he had a poker face that would do any card shark proud.
"That was only six words." he pointed out.
....
I nodded sharply. "Well, first and most important, Voldemort... or some weird ghost-bit of him... is here, stuck to Quirrell's head under that stupid turban. He's here looking for the Sorceror's Stone... er, Philosopher's Stone?.. that you've got hidden in the third-floor hallway behind Fluffy- Hagrid's three-headed dog thing- a logic puzzle with potions, a giant game of wizard chess, and maybe some other crap....
....
...where, I might add, you are a fictional character, and the boy whose body I've gotten stuffed into is the star of a series of popular childrens' books bearing his name."
"And yes, I've read the series." I said, ignoring Dumbledore's look of blank surprise. "That's how I know about Fluffy and all that stuff, and fun little trivia like the fact that you're going to die of... Hell's bells, something or other, to do with the horcruxes I think... in five-ish years, that Snape is your double-agent because he still has it bad for Lily Potter and that he's going to hate Harry Potter... well, me, I guess... because I represent him never getting her, or that the teaching position for Defense Against the Dark Arts actually is cursed because of old Moldy, or... well, let's just say that it's going to be an entertaining ride."
Dumbledore continued to stare at me for a while, then wordlessly handed me a quill and a piece of parchment.
To this day I don't remember much about that night- just a lot of writing down of absolutely everything I remembered from the series, and then dreamless sleep.
u/None [+14] (3 hours later)
[deleted]
u/Frommerman [+5] (23 hours later)
A Song of Ice and Fires that Weren't All My Fault is a good one with Dresden showing up in Braavos. Worth a read.
u/FuguofAnotherWorld [+3] Roll the Dice on Fate (a day later)
No foreknowledge mind, but it's a fantastic story. Well worth the read.
u/eaglejarl [+1] (18 hours later)
ASOIAF
?
u/Geminii27 [+4] (19 hours later)
A Song Of Ice And Fire - better known more recently under the name Game of Thrones.
u/sheikheddy [+1] (19 hours later)
I think I've seen ASOIAF SI, but I didn't read it. It was on spacebattles.
u/None [+1] (20 hours later)
I saw a decent one with Stannis as the main character, but plot hasn't progressed enough to tell if it's good or not at the moment.
u/LiteralHeadCannon [+1] (20 hours later)
What if you just so happen to be self-inserted as a minor Muggle character?
u/None [+1] (20 hours later)
Unfortunately you could just go to Kings Cross on September 1st and wait for any wizard who can take a message to Dumbledore. The only reason A Curse of Truth remotely works is that the main character doesn't trust Dumbledore at all, since he's not sure if he's in an evil AU or actual canon.
u/ArgentStonecutter [+5] Emergency Mustelid Hologram (3 hours later)
Good, and unfortunately cut short.
u/eaglejarl [+1] (18 hours later)
I loved AWCH as well, and was likewise irked at its incompleteness. I did a really short version of it, if that helps. A Wizard Called Harry In 505 Words.
Bugz-Toon told me s/he would continue, but never did. I'll ping them again.
u/ArgentStonecutter [+2] Emergency Mustelid Hologram (19 hours later)
I already found yours. Also another one-chapter crossover with a similar premise: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/6410173/1/I-think-There-s-Been-A-Mistake
I kind of liked this one, too: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/8117785/1/This-Could-Get-Lonely
u/None [+5] (23 hours later)
Harry Potter is perfectly suited for Peggy Sues/SIs because there are only a few balls in the air at any time, so the author can easily keep track of what changes have been made.
But there's still lots of opportunity for things to go wrong. For example where was the diary kept before CoS? If you raid the Malfoys' and it is hidden elsewhere, Lucius may be sent to Azkaban and then you'll never find it.
u/Escapement [+17] Ankh-Morpork City Watch (2 hours later)
I feel like With This Ring sort-of qualifies. The protagonist uses meta knowledge to win a lot of the time - it rarely feels like things break their way super hard because of luck or whatever. The protagonist Paul is inserted into the Young Justice continuity, as themselves without knowledge of Young Justice continuity but with a power ring and very good knowledge of all sorts of associated DC Comics franchises, which knowledge they use to ensure victory an awful lot.
u/None [+7] (3 hours later)
The problem of With This Ring is the setting. There's waaay too much going on for Paul to be able to fix it all because of all the crossovers, so the plot progresses "episodically" fixing one minor problem at a time. I grew bored of it as it refused to widen its scope. I read about 150k words before giving up.
u/redrach [+8] (3 hours later)
It updates daily, so I just read the update every day. It's pretty neat in that regard. Not for everyone though.
u/Geminii27 [+4] (19 hours later)
I felt that it went OK through the initial chapters and with Paul getting a lantern, but him staying on with the YJ team, even after taking the oath to obey Wonder Woman and Batman (and using his relations with the team to reduce/channel the sanity-breaking effects of the Ring), seems a little forced.
It can be written off as him wanting to stay in Diana, Alan, and Bruce's good books until the Gaia oath is completed, and also using the opportunity to rapidly build up networks amongst the cape-and-tights set and their allies (the Atlanteans etc) which will be useful when he starts worldbuilding in seriousness. As he notes, generally it's the supervillains who have been associated with attempting rapid leaps forward in commercially-available technology. Having a lot of allies and personal contacts in the Hero biz, plus a bunch of positive PR, could go a long way towards opening doors.
Even so, for a Rationalist story, it feels like there's too much of Paul getting dragged along in the wake of the existing superheroes - reacting, particularly strategically, instead of being proactive. He's got access to billions of dollars - why isn't he funding a new Silicon Valley for magitech, creating pro-magitech media, and lobbying for all he's worth to get it supported and promoted? Or researching what socioeconomic conditions produce highly educated, motivated, and well-adjusted people, and attempting to upgrade as many areas as possible to those conditions? Far too many chapters seem to consist of "Paul personally punches the superpowered enemy of the week in the face."
u/clawclawbite [+5] (21 hours later)
He is creating a magitech revolution, but it is in Atlantis, and he is having them sell teleportation tech to the London transit grid.
A lot of items get mentioned, put in background, then come back later.
u/Geminii27 [+9] (21 hours later)
Yes, but it's perhaps a B- or even C-plot, whereas in most rationalist fic it would be an A-plot. The story feels like it's being held back a bit by the author wanting to take a rambling stroll through the DC dictionary of obscure characters.
u/Frommerman [+7] (23 hours later)
As someone who was never into comics, I actually quite enjoy that aspect of it. I get to learn who all these bit players are and make references to them now, without slogging through Superman is an idiot shennanigans. Sure, Paul is moving on societal uplift a little slowly, but keep in mind the time scale of this fic. He's been there for what, 8 months total? Even with a power ring, I don't think it's reasonable to assume he should have a dolmen gate space elevator and be mega - Musk already. You need public support and the kinds of resources money can't buy for that.
Remember, this is very much not a rational setting. Schizotech gets made on the regular, then thrown aside and forgotten by the general public. Only Lex Luthor really uses this stuff to its potential, and he has the slight disadvantage of being the sworn enemy of the most broken non-lantern hero in the world. Paul can't just tell people he's going to build bleed - fracture reactors everywhere because people would probably tear them down and then forget the technology exists.
u/castleborg [+2] (2 days later)
Pacing. Some mediums can only be enjoyed in a daily read, others can only be enjoyed all at once. Sucks that authors can't control the reader's choice of pacing.
u/rineSample [+11] (26 minutes later)
Two-year Emperor?
u/None [+7] (an hour later)
That's kind of what I'm looking for, the problem is that the plot is mostly original and the MC only has access to the rules.
u/eaglejarl [+10] (18 hours later)
I think that's the first time anyone has ever criticized me for having an original plot. :>
u/None [+5] (21 hours later)
Not criticism at all! TYE is good, just not what I'm asking for in this particular thread.
u/eaglejarl [+5] (21 hours later)
Heh. I wasn't actually offended, I just thought it was funny. And thanks, I'm glad you like it.
u/Anderkent [+9] (48 minutes later)
Dreaming of Sunshine, maybe? Dunno. Not really getting rationalistic vibes from it, but the MC isn't stupid and is fairly proactive.
Some arcs are weaker than others, and definitely has a bit of slice of life vibe (the main antagonists haven't really done much yet), but generally a good read.
u/FistOfFacepalm [+10] (an hour later)
I really like DoS but the author has stated that they prefer thinking/writing about administrative details and character interactions over fight scenes. Also the MC is pretty paranoid about not taking action based on future knowledge without hard evidence to point to. So probably not as much munchkinry as OP wants.
Also the author has an impressive dedication to adapting every single filler episode and movie, apparently. Those would be the weaker arcs you're thinking of.
u/Transfuturist [+10] Carthago delenda est. (5 hours later)
adapting every single filler episode and movie
Ugh. Why?
Does anyone have any Shikamaru/Nara-centric longfic recs
that are well-written? Shika is the bomb.
u/FuguofAnotherWorld [+4] Roll the Dice on Fate (a day later)
Actually they're surprisingly well done in Dreaming of Sunshine. It's very good.
u/Transfuturist [+5] Carthago delenda est. (2 days later)
I've read Dreaming of Sunshine a bit past Tsunade's intro, and I have to say the chuunin promotions were utter bullshit. Shikako's performance as part of the Chuunin Exam was exemplary (including dealing with Orochimaru and the Sound ninja), and her forfeiture was well-calculated. In addition, in the intervening month she aided the surviving participants with their battle strategy brilliantly. And then on top of that she led most of the rookie genin to take out Gaara and his siblings with excellent tactics and no casualties. Her own performance was nothing to overlook either, certainly better than Shino's and even Shikamaru's.
Mary Sue or not (and I'm not inclined to say she is, weirdly enough), this was an extraordinary fulfillment of duties, and it was witnessed by Kakashi, the other jonin, and all of the genin who were aided and commanded by her. She was the participant with the highest demonstration of command capability and greatest overall performance, and she wasn't even mentioned! Meanwhile, Shikamaru (who displayed less prowess in the course of the Exam, though he may be smarter), Shino (who displayed significantly less prowess, and is certainly not as command-worthy as Shikako), and Naruto (who has not performed significantly higher than canon Naruto, only differing by defeating Neji) are promoted to Chuunin! Naruto's performance against Neji may have been sufficient to rank him Chuunin-level in terms of power, and that may be sufficient to promote him. But when the bar is set as low as Shino's performance and prowess, it is literally impossible for Shikako to be overlooked!
The only lip service paid to her in the chapter at all is "Sorry you didn't get through, kid. We recommended you be reconsidered ... but the Hokage put her foot down on anything less than complete agreement."
This is total bullshit. It is utterly unbelievable on the part of a realistic leader. I don't know if this was a decision made to stave off a Mary-Sue-ish feel, but in that regard it is utterly ineffective and unbelievable in the first place. If I was inclined to think of Shikako as a Mary Sue, I would consider the passage written, being unrecognized for your achievements by a higher authority and being recognized by lesser authorities as more deserving, as more indicative of a Mary Sue! This is the largest strike against it, even bigger than the obsessive adherence to canon storyline (less Sasuke's defection), even bigger than obsessive adherence to the filler arcs (though I've only gone through one or two so far).
In a consistent canon, I would consider the Chuunin Exam itself to be completely separate from the actual process of promotion. It is already only loosely tied to promotion, so it is much better to call it a Genin Tournament. Entry into the tournament is, in its official capacity, a mission that genin teams take to represent their strengths to other teams and to the civilian public. I guarantee you that's what the other participating villages regard it as even in canon, and Konoha itself should be no different. During the mission, your performance is evaluated by not only the test proctors, but your peers and confidants. After the tournament (probably periodically, or after each section, actually), each participant provides a full report and debrief of the entire events. These reports are taken into consideration as with other mission reports, and determinations may be made on a group of genin, participating or not, disqualified or not, to be promoted to chuunin, based on their performance and on their ability to fulfill the mission parameters in a manner befitting a chuunin.
It just doesn't make sense any other way. And I feel Dreaming of Sunshine utterly dropped the ball.
u/FuguofAnotherWorld [+4] Roll the Dice on Fate (2 days later)
I suppose it depends on the level of your standards. In most cases I accept that I'm not going to get a rationalist quality world for characters to do their thing in, and that I'll have to make do with stuff that's still enjoyable to read.
Sure the ball was dropped, but I can still enjoy the rest.
And you might like Deja Vu No Jutsu, a completed longfic which has a decent load of Shikako Nara in it.
u/Transfuturist [+3] Carthago delenda est. (2 days later)
Shikako
Shikaku, you mean? :P
Thank you for the recommendation. ^^
Sure the ball was dropped, but I can still enjoy the rest.
I can get past it, but it was a severe hit to my enjoyment, and I paused my reading there. I suppose I should get through at least the next chapter so it won't be staring me in the face when I start reading again.
a rationalist quality world
I suppose I should have elaborated a little on my problem with it. It is not just a problem of realism, it is a problem of storytelling. Shikako was exemplary, and I want to see her rewarded for her astounding ability. Not being recognized for it is a shot to my emotions, because it is both something she deserved and something she could have used. It is painful. And the character herself doesn't even recognize that her performance was so good!
I almost wish I thought of her as a Mary Sue, because the level of investment I've given her so far makes my feelings so strong. If the lack of recognition actually made sense in context I would think of this as good writing, but it seems so senseless.
u/Jiro_T [+3] (3 days later)
From what I've read of that so far, it seems that the major problem is that Shikako has no lasting effect on anything. She has managed to change some things in the timeline, but never in such a way that there are any longterm effects. Haku is saved and Naruto is a chuunin and Sasuke is with Konoha... and those things may as well never have happened, since everyone goes on the same missions, Konoha faces the same threats, etc.
u/Transfuturist [+1] Carthago delenda est. (3 days later)
even bigger than the obsessive adherence to canon storyline
I am mad about that, but I knew what I was getting into when I heard that they were sticking to even the fillers like glue. Although why a sane writer would ever bother with the fillers I have no clue.
u/Jiro_T [+2] (4 days later)
Sorry about that, I didn't read the whole post so I didn't see that it was mentioned that explicitly, I just thought it would be better to post here than to post at top level.
I don't mind using the fillers just because they are fillers. Fillers in the actual series can't advance the main plot. Using fillers in a fanfic is not limited by that restriction.
u/None [+5] (3 hours later)
Pretty much what Fist said, it's obsessed with keeping the plot on-rails. It's pretty much the opposite of what I'm asking. The writing was decent character-wise but I gave up when the filler arcs started and the main character started ignoring her knowledge completely.
u/Anderkent [+1] (3 hours later)
Yeah, the filer arcs are harder to stomach :(
u/Subrosian_Smithy [+9] Nudist Beach (12 minutes later)
Myou've got to be kidding me was okay, if you like ponies. An aspiring rationalist is dumped into Equestria... in the body of a cow.
u/DCarrier [+9] (12 hours later)
And stories that go for three hundred thousand words and then stop abruptly without finishing.
u/nerdguy1138 [+2] GNU Terry Pratchett (a day later)
That bugs me like a splinter in my brain!
u/adad64 [+1] Chaos Legion (5 days later)
Yeah, the whole chessverse seems to have died which was really disappointing. I kept checking back every few months to see if there were updates until it was canceled.
u/Geminii27 [+6] (20 hours later)
I just realized I have a hankering for some Rationalist Trixie. It could even be done via the old "Trixie, looking for an edge, finds a book which everyone insists is not magic - or is it?" routine.
u/Transfuturist [+2] Carthago delenda est. (5 hours later)
It definitely had Mary Sue-ness, at least partially unenjoyably. I don't have an actual definition of what constitutes Mary Sue-ness for me, or what parts of it are good or bad. It was somewhat hard to enjoy when I read it, and it may be harder for me now.
u/scruiser [+7] CYOA (7 hours later)
The Mary Sue-ness was actually at a tolerable level for me... it was the lack of overall direction to the plot that really detractedd the story. I mean the main character makes all these careful preparations and their is apparently some conspiracy or something manipulating things behind the scenes, but the story goes off in another direction and then it stops just when it looks like it might get back on track.
Also, it was part of a massive collaboration self-insert project called Chess Game of the Gods where different SI and OCs are transported into Equestria into different bodies. Actually, by the standards of the collaboration, the Mary-Sueness of Myou've got to be kidding me wasn't even that bad, compared to some of the other characters: assassin sword smith diamond-wolf that made a sword so sharp it cuts air, a quarter-demigod Griffin that kills dragons with just a sharpened dragon scale... and those aren't even particularly over the top examples. The collaboration also suffered, I think, from never getting to some of the interesting events the had planned out for the future.
u/Transfuturist [+2] Carthago delenda est. (9 hours later)
Ugh, yeah. Chess Game of the Gods was intolerable, and it was disappointing that Myou've was a part of that. I believe the continuity was a spin-off of Echo the Diamond Dog, or whatever?
Blech.
u/DataPacRat [+6] Amateur Immortalist (9 hours later)
IIRC, I enjoyed the first CGotG story, and after finding out more stories were being written in that 'verse, almost all of which involved high-powered Mary Sue shenanigans, I felt an urge to come up with a story which followed the 'verse's rules but avoided the protagonist being turned into an UberLeet Monster With Cool Powers.
I'll admit that things kind of escalated, especially once time travel shenanigans became merged into the CGotG timeline. And that, after a while, my urge to keep writing went away before I came to any resolution. One benefit of the latter, is that once I started writing my next piece of long-form fiction, I've been keeping in mind how I plan on bringing it to a finish - I haven't always kept the same finish in mind, but I've always had /a/ finish in mind, so no matter how low my urge to write becomes, I'll be able to tie up the story, unlike Myou've.
u/scruiser [+3] CYOA (a day later)
I'm glad it was a learning experience for you. I did definitely enjoy reading it, it was just annoying gradually realizing that it was a deadfic. On my second read through of it (I liked it enough to read it a second time, I think I did the reread in-between HPMOR updates and before /r/rational had regular updates of new stuff), I noticed how the plot wasn't really reaching a conclusion or wrapping but instead adding new threads and twists.
Also, by the way did the other CGotG authors reach a plan for a finale arc? It seems like you and the other authors liked dropping hints and foreshadowing of some epic climatic battle against Tirek or the smooze or some other ultimate evil, but they never actually got that far. Plus, even if they had, I don't think it would have been really able to hold my attention because some many of their SIs and OCs were so OP even some ultimate evil from the dawn of the universe would have been smacked down without too much drama beyond the usual mid-fight power-ups.
Oh, did you have a magic system worked out? It sounded like your OC was going to eventually figure out something besides "Latin words are magic", and it looked like you had an interesting unifying mechanic in mind. If you aren't saving it for a future story, do you mind sharing?
so no matter how low my urge to write becomes, I'll be able to tie up the story, unlike Myou've.
Maybe I'll take another look at your post apocalypse/singularity SI fanfic. I recall reading the first book of it, enjoying it at least moderately, but then realizing you had six books or whatever planned and I decided to hold off reading it after recalling that Myou've never got finished.
u/DataPacRat [+7] Amateur Immortalist (a day later)
Also, by the way did the other CGotG authors reach a plan for a finale arc?
IIRC, plans were made for an event set some years in the future, where all the remaining (surviving and non-forfeited) chess-pieces got together in some scheme by which one of the pieces would finally win the Game, get the wish, have that piece's reasonably mortal-friendly deity win the stakes, and generally bring things to a close.
Oh, did you have a magic system worked out? It sounded like your OC was going to eventually figure out something besides "Latin words are magic", and it looked like you had an interesting unifying mechanic in mind. If you aren't saving it for a future story, do you mind sharing?
At some point in Missy's future, she travels back to Equestria's past, performing various actions that set into motion long-term plots culminating in the present-day of the Chess-Game. One such action was adjusting Equestria's magic field so that it would respond to Latin-style invocations. Or, put another way, the reason spell-style magic works in the CGotG universe at all was... a wizard did it. :)
u/AugSphere [+12] Dark Lord of Corruption (21 minutes later)
Roll the Dice on Fate is aiming for this, but it's ongoing and isn't very far along yet.
u/scruiser [+5] CYOA (7 hours later)
Thanks for the rec! I just got into the first chapter, but I can already tell I am going to like it... I've read 5 or 6 Naruto self-inserts (I've lost count... Dreaming of Sunshine, Walk on the Moon, The Forge's Fire, Rotten Rowan, a bunch of snippets of self-inserts, and 1 or two more that I foget), but this is the first self-insert that has the SI immediately being excited about it instead of angsting for their first year as a baby.
And reading further... an interesting reincarnation mechanic.
u/PeridexisErrant [+9] put aside fear for courage, and death for life (10 hours later)
Walk on the Moon is one of my favorite Naruto fics in general. The protagonist is genuinely interesting, and seems so damn sure that the psych conditioning all ninja kids isn't doing anything to her adult mind...
u/GaBeRockKing [+3] Horizon Breach: http://archiveofourown.org/works/6785857 (2 days later)
Definitely mine as well. Altruistic SI's are far more common, so it's fun seeing a self-interested utilitarian.
u/Transfuturist [+1] Carthago delenda est. (9 days later)
Oh. My gosh. From your comment and /u/GaBeRockKing's reply, I am almost positive that I am going to love this.
u/scruiser [+2] CYOA (9 hours later)
And I have gotten further into it... Spoiler
u/FuguofAnotherWorld [+3] Roll the Dice on Fate (a day later)
Oh cool, people are reading my stuff. That's always nice :)
Just a PSA here, I wouldn't bother reading the last 4 updates: they're destined to end up in bin. I came to the realisation that they were happening because I wanted them to happen and not because of an in-universe reason, so they're getting scrapped. There's the trouble with scrapping canon: I have to figure out what to replace it with.
u/AugSphere [+1] Dark Lord of Corruption (a day later)
The perils of trying to write rational fiction, eh? I appreciate your commitment to making events follow in-universe causes.
u/FuguofAnotherWorld [+4] Roll the Dice on Fate (a day later)
A World Full of Monsters is a good Naruto SI and probably exactly what you're after, if likely dead.
Roger, Roger is the tale of a SI being put in to a regular b2 battle droid during the Clone Wars with foreknowledge of the animated series. Mostly focuses on military battles and the deceptions and plans the droid has to make use of to avoid being slagged by his sith masters. Gets a little sueish towards the end. Hasn't updated in a while.
Catalyst.exe is the story of a proper AI in mass effect with game foreknowledge. Gets up to many of the ridiculous things you might expect a full power AI to get up to and is a surprisingly faithful rendition of AI in general. However, it also has the problem that the MC is a full power AI. So while that may or may not count as Sue powers as far as you're concerned, she's never going to be weak.
Effloresco Secundus gets an honourable mention. It's not technically an SI, rather it is Hermione Granger in Sakura's body. I'm reccing it because it has wonderful fight scenes, the main character is decently rational (if not formally rationalist) and the characterisation is extremely well done. If your tastes are anything like mine, you'll love it.
I could have sworn there were more stories like this out there, but I guess I misremembered. Anyway, enjoy.
u/DataPacRat [+8] Amateur Immortalist (38 minutes later)
May I direct your attention to "S.I.", reviewed and rated here?
u/Empiricist_or_not [+7] Aspiring polite Hegemonizing swarm (7 hours later)
Worth reading IMHO. The author wakes up from being cryonicly frozen, after a bad singularity and is trying to prevent another one as he explores the world of a broken singularity. Much hikinks ensue. There are some Mary Sueish aspects, but they are mitigated by the fact that it is implied seems some super-intelligences are using the main character in their schemes.
u/LunarTulip [+3] (5 hours later)
It's been a while since I read Sleeping with the Girls, but from what I can recall it was at least great on the munchkinism front, and possibly also on more general rationality.
u/None [+2] (21 hours later)
I've heard great things about this one, but I don't recognize most of the animes it's based on, sadly.
EDIT: Nevermind, this is really good and aside from the first universe the main character usually explains the must-know concepts.
EDIT2: Oh god, the second volume fully embraces genre savvyness. I'd never read anything like this, even though the SI really isn't trying to fix the plot, just fix his own fuck-ups.
u/LunarTulip [+1] (23 hours later)
I read through it having only even heard of one of them, and having never seen that one, and still had a great time with it. Familiarity with the source material would probably help, but it's definitely not mandatory.
u/None [+1] (8 hours later)
Yeah, I agree. Shame it's unfinished
u/itaibn0 [+3] (2 days later)
I'm worried I'm gonna get hate for saying this, but what about HPMOR? Or are you referring only to characters that are explicitly self-insert but not ones heavily inspired by the author's traits?
u/None [+2] (2 days later)
If HJPEV knew the plot of his first year, sure.
u/Nighzmarquls [+1] (2 days later)
I was getting that vibe through HPMOR, you are not alone.
u/Nighzmarquls [+2] (8 hours later)
Well, when I STARTED OMGMG it was a future projected self insert.
But honestly the character and my self has diverged so much due to things changing about how life went that it's more a loose kind of similar to me kind of character.
u/aeschenkarnos [+2] (12 hours later)
/u/eaglejarl's The Two-Year Emperor probably counts.
u/None [+1] (3 hours later)
[deleted]
u/Escapement [+4] Ankh-Morpork City Watch (4 hours later)
I rate this fic "guilty pleasure"/10. It's got a Mary Sue SI who is sort of fun to read about but not really realistic in any sense. The SI barely seems to have, like, actual goals, so her progress towards her non-goals is erratic at best. There's a lot of filler and repeating stuff that already happened etc. Also, a lot of characters are distorted by the SI's presence. Wildbow wrote the following description of a Mary Sue:
I've said it before, rephrasing: a Mary Sue is a character that bends the rules of the story (narrative, characterization, natural laws of the setting) much as a black hole bends light. Their existence will bend the rules.
In another sense, the character distorts everything around them.
The danger in tacking some flaws on is that you'll still be creating that dissonant, weird distortion where someone's reading what's going on and feels like things don't add up.
This description fits the protagonist of Of the River and the Sea to a tee - her presence makes other characters abandon all sense and act erratically and stupidly.
I still enjoy it as a guilty pleasure because it's often amusing.
u/FuguofAnotherWorld [+2] Roll the Dice on Fate (a day later)
I just enjoy it as a straight pleasure, not even guilty. The writing style tickles me pink and I like the idea of all these things happening.
u/GaBeRockKing [+1] Horizon Breach: http://archiveofourown.org/works/6785857 (2 days later)
I liked the character just fine, but was eventually turned off by purple prose and slow pacing. for a few dozens of thousands of words, it wasn't going anywhere, so I stopped reading. It wasn't bad in any sense of the word, just not my style.
u/None [+2] (4 hours later)
Man, the narration style is really weird and dark. Don't know if I can get into it. What do you mean by high quality?
u/cowsruleusall [+1] (6 hours later)
Good point. The more I think about it while I'm not actually reading it, the more I realize it's very Mary Sue-ish and scattered.
u/Nevereatcars [+1] The Greatest Is Behind (12 hours later)
Deleted, what was it?
Nevermind, Escapement title-drops it.