Forum-based Roleplaying : New grounds for Mary Sue

Forum-based roleplaying is a fascinating yet slowly disappearing phenomenon that whilst has not received considerable scholarly attention is still interesting from an academic angle. My exact reason for choosing this topic is due to my personal love for the topic and how I have not actually seen much coverage on it in studies. It has numerous nuances well worth inspecting but my thesis paper only approaches one of its most perplexing features: the connections between the characters and the users. I argue that the Mary Sue phenomenon of fanfiction also applies to roleplaying. In order to establish my point, I attempt to show the similarities between the wish-fulfilling author inserts in both genres using J.M. Frey’s Sue checklist in Water Logged Mona Lisa: Who Is Mary Sue, and Why Do We Need Her? My other aim is to stress the necessity of the Mary Sue phenomenon in forum-based roleplaying, since the medium both requires wishfulfilment and self-insertion in order to properly function. This is not through the user’s conscious decision, and whilst in fanfiction Mary Sue characters often end up being detrimental to the final product, forum-based roleplaying deconstructs the trope into a form that is significantly easier to enjoy and also crucial for the genre.