For some reason, I felt compelled to respond to this. I can't
understand why since I myself really don't like self-insertion fiction
either. But then, the one fanfic I generally DO work on is SM, and lots of
people don't like SM either. C'est la guerre.
	In any case...despite Lavallee-san's rather blatant dislike for
self-insertion fiction, I think this C&C goes a BIT overboard. And I think
this on many, many accounts...granted, I'm certain more than a few of
these accounts are exaggeration used to prove his point, but I could be
wrong. At any rate...
	1.) The author of a self-insertion fic is obviously trying to
boost his ego:
	Now, this is just flat-out ridiculous. I'm not going to say that
it doesn't happen, because it does. I MUCK as well as write and I can tell
you flat out that a lot of people take overly powerful characters so they
can feel better about themselves. But that's not the point...to say that
EVERYONE does this is absurd, and to imply that even a MAJORITY of people
do it is almost as absurd. Fact is, EVERYONE'S got an ego. I mean, if
you're going to put yourself in a story as a writing device, who WANTS to
be cannon fodder? And let's face it, no matter how we think of ourselves
(or, as John implies, how much SEX we have, how many FRIENDS we have,
etc...) we would be CANNON FODDER in an anime universe. People want to
think of themselves as important (as, I believe really, this rant about
self-insertion fics has shown us, but that would be highly improper to say
and I certainly wouldn't imply that...) and as such give themselves the
necessary equipment to BE important in a universe where they might
otherwise quickly become a wallstain or a secondary character. 
	I guess that the request for realistic self-insertion isn't all
that bad. But at heart I think it's rather ludicrous. Yes, wouldn't it be
NICE isf fanfiction were realistic but I THINK (now don't get me wrong
here, I'm just assuming) that we're writing, in the anime fanfiction
genre) about THINGS THAT DO NOT EXIST. Yeah, wouldn't a character with a
ton of culture shock be funny, wouldn't it be great if he was running for
his life and screaming incoherently about the wonders of
chi/magic/technology/etc., but I think for the person writing it, unless
that's the STYLE they choose to take, that really kind of defeats the
purpose of putting yourself in a situation as anything more than a
peripheral character IN THE FIRST PLACE. Maybe that's just me.
	I know for certain that this sort of comes up in my O-Files fic
(especially the part I'm currently writing) and I have seen previously in
Bailesu's "Lemon Sherbert" (and probably a host of other perfectly
readable fanfiction also)...the author is commonly used as a godlike
character (ie, s/he's the AUTHOR) but they generally have no more to do
with the story than to serve as a comic device (this is less often found
in serious fiction, for sure). I think there can BE a happy medium of
realisitc toned-down self-insertion characters, and making a
self-insertion character the main focus, with a host of unreal powers,
etc.
	Further, I don't think this is very fair to those of us with deep
attachments to characters. It sounds silly, but we're otaku: these are the
characters we know and love (hence we want to see ourselves in their
universe, feel a part of it)...there's more to self-insertion than just
"Hi! My name is Bill the Super-Saiyajin, Goku's long lost cousin! Watch me
blow up that star system!" Some people can and DO write perfectly
wonderful self-insertion without you ever even noticing it. How? They make
themselves part of the characters they're writing. Even if they don't
appear in NAME, they're putting a piece of themselves into a character and
using that to explore a universe they find fascinating but could never
visit RL.
	In closing, it would appear my own rant is getting rather
off-topic and sounds a bit absurd as I reread it. But I think I can sum
this up in general...it's ridiculous to say that all the writers of
fiction you don't like have psychological problems and need better lives,
and even more so to say they should never do it again simply for your
benefit. God gave us the subject line and the delete key; let us use them
in His name for His glory. ;
	</rant>
	>Lina

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"Wherever monsters rampage, I'll be there to take them down...wherever
treasure glitters, I'm there to claim it...whenever an opponent rises to
face me, victory shall be mine!" -Lina Inverse, Slayers TV Op.
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Todd Harper: lina@wwa.com, lina@maison-otaku.net
University of Wisconsin@Madtown and overall violent yet friendly guy =)
http://www.maison-otaku.net/~lina
The O-Files!: http://www.maison-otaku.net/~lina/ofiles
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