Ruth Sadelle Alderson

Oh, I don't think I'm at all saying we Mary Sue characters consciously (and I don't think that was the Krycek conversation, either). I think it mostly happens without us noticing, but once I notice it's what I'm doing, I find myself uncomfortable with it.

The two problems I, as a writer, have with Mary Sue-ing characters are (1) I worry that it makes them out of character and (2) I worry that people will notice and know a lot more about me than I intended them to (the large number of responses to brown_betty's Oh My God, I Can See Your Id! post seems to suggest that that's actually a legitimate worry). As a reader, I might not notice that Mary Sue-ing is the reason for an ooc character. I do, however, tend to pick up on someone putting too much of themselves into a character, and it makes me uncomfortable - I come out of it feeling like I know more than I wanted to about the author, and the idea that the author doesn't realize she's given away so much of herself makes me squirm.

I've been thinking about that critical feminist brain: my critical feminist brain occasionally pops in to ask, "Do you like sub kink because you like sub kink, or do you like sub kink because you've internalized the traditional narrative that says women are submissive?"

Saying directly how much I like kink fic in this post and the recs request post was so revealing that making kink recs doesn't seem that much more exposing. (I will admit, though, that I walked around blushing all day the day I made the anal beads rec.)