Secondary characters' views of the MC

[Ireth]

I'm working on a story with an MC who is autistic, and whose thoughts and mannerisms are taken pretty much wholesale from myself. (It's a fanfiction story with a self-insert MC, if anyone's wondering. And no, I don't intend to turn the character into someone different.) I'm trying to be as honest about myself as possible, and neither downplaying nor exaggerating my good and bad traits. My problem is in establishing what others think of her without making those characters come off as wholly unsympathetic, or turning my self-insert into a Mary Sue. (I'm mostly writing this way in defiance of the idea that "self-insert" and "Mary Sue" absolutely always overlap completely.)

Basically, I want make it clear that they find some of my traits awkward and off-putting rather than endearing, while still keeping them and me likeable. (Examples of such would include my hypersensitivity to negative emotional stimuli like teasing or gossip, my inability to read faces and tones of voice [see below], and the fact that I sometimes completely forget to eat more than once a day. And not always because I'm "in the zone" as a writer, either.)

Thus far the story is written mostly in first-person, with one scene early on from a secondary character's POV, in which he talks about me to his colleagues while I'm not present. It's important because a) it makes things clear that these characters do not find me a paragon of perfection (as they would if I were trying to write a Sue), and they remark candidly on my abilities and disabilities in equal measure; and b) because it establishes an antagonist's opinion, and foreshadows later events. (Said scene is not from the antagonist's POV, but he is very vocal about his disdain for me/the MC. He is also called out by the other characters as being an idiot for it, as he completely misrepresents me in his views--even so far as to accuse me of being an agent of Middle-earth's Satan equivalent, simply because I appeared out of nowhere and nobody knows what I am yet. [The story takes place in a time and region where the elves had not yet encountered humans.])

I don't want to have too many of this type of scene, though, because it would come across as the characters having nothing better to do than gossip about the MC. But establishing their opinions through the MC's POV is very hard. Especially since a) there's a language barrier between me and the other characters for the beginning of the story, and b) I also don't have glasses with me at first, so seeing people's expressions and other things in any sort of detail is impossible. While both of those are mitigated eventually, the fact remains that I have a hard time reading emotions from facial expressions and tone of voice at all, so that wouldn't come across effectively in my POV.

I think I've rambled on enough for one post. Any thoughts on this?

 

[Tom]

It sounds like a refreshing concept--proving that just because a character's a self-insert doesn't mean he/she's a Mary-Sue. I think that as long as you balance out positive and negative perceptions of your protagonist, it will work.

I actually had an idea similar to this recently. I would like to write a Supernatural fanfic where a hunter character who's essentially a self-insert crosses paths with the Winchester brothers and helps them hunt down a Big Bad that's been eluding them. I feel that playing up my negative qualities (sarcasm, quick temper, inability to work with others, concentration issues...) for this character is the best route to go, since most Mary Sue self-inserts are portrayed with the emphasis on the positive.

 

[Ireth]

Thanks, Tom! Though I think my original question got lost in the rambling... XD How can/should I establish the secondary characters' opinions of the MC, if the MC's POV is so inherently inadequate to get it across? Would having scenes from other POVs work, or would it come across as gossip?

 

[Tom]

I think having scenes from the other POVs would work well. It wouldn't seem like gossip--I mean, this girl that they know nothing about and can't communicate with and aren't even sure what she is just dropped into their world. I imagine they'd discuss it, and you could have the characters voice their opinions about her that way.

 

[Ireth]

True, true. But my problem arises once the language barrier is overcome, the other characters have a name for the MC's race, and they're on their way to find other humans in Middle-earth. Would it still be effective? I don't think they'd remark on some of those aforementioned awkward traits directly to the MC's face, and if they did it might end badly. :/

 

[Tom]

Hmmm. I don't know. Tolkien's elves were pretty direct--I can't see them dancing around awkward subjects. Maybe they could ask the MC questions, because they're curious about her and this new race she belongs to. Like, "Do all humans...[insert trait]?" "Is this what humans do when...[insert situation]?"

If the questions are framed as just curious inquiry, with a real intention to gain new knowledge behind it, I don't think they would come across as rude prying.

 

[Ireth]

That makes a lot of sense. ^^ I'll do that, then.

 

[Feo Takahari]

This might be a stupid question, but do you intend to give yourself character development? With anything other than a self-insert, I'd say to have the character screw up, get called out for it, and try to make up for it. You could have characters be angry because they have reason to be angry.

 

[Ireth]

This might be a stupid question, but do you intend to give yourself character development? With anything other than a self-insert, I'd say to have the character screw up, get called out for it, and try to make up for it. You could have characters be angry because they have reason to be angry.

The question there is "what things can I have my character screw up at?" I'm not going for an epic save-the-world plot here or a retooling of the canon plot to revolve around my MC, because that has been done to death in fanfic more than the original story. I'm deliberately keeping the stakes rather small, and the theme is along the lines of "you don't have to do great things to have a great impact on the world". The trouble with trying to give a self-insert character development is trying to be true to yourself while allowing for growth and change. Adding a fantastical situation to that makes it all the more complicated.

 

[Feo Takahari]

So you're writing a character who's static, who doesn't make any mistakes, and who doesn't accomplish much, and the most pressing issue that could ruin the story is whether he's a Mary Sue? It sounds like there are several bigger issues at hand.

 

[Ireth]

So you're writing a character who's static, who doesn't make any mistakes, and who doesn't accomplish much, and the most pressing issue that could ruin the story is whether he's a Mary Sue? It sounds like there are several bigger issues at hand.

I never said she doesn't make mistakes and never changes. I was asking aloud how I might allow her to do those things. I've never been much of a rule-breaker, so that's not really a viable option for the other characters to go "What the H*ll, Hero?" at me. So I have to find other ways for me to fail.

Nor did I say she doesn't accomplish much. I did say that the theme is about small deeds having great impact. She might not bring down the walls of Angband or cross the Great Seas to reach Valinor, but she impacts the world in other significant ways, making ripples that spread and beget others.