I will admit that in years past, I always hated Valentine's day, I usually found that the day was only a way to piss off the single people and say that "if you don't have a signifcant other, well that's too bad for you.. you don't get a special day, HA!"

But now that I do have someone in my life, I can understand it's not really about that... it's more the fact that some people cannot find love and that the ones who find Love.. true love.. [I know.. strange to say such a thing in this day and age.] then the day simply reminds you that you should cherish what you have... or if you haven't found it yet.. don't give up.. there could be someone out there in the new future.

And onto your rant, I will agree with you.. not every person with a "Dark Past" is a mary sue.. Would The Shredder be a Mary sue? or would Kain from the "Legacy of Kain" Video Games also be considered as such? No.. it's just people's way of starting an unnessecary flame war. I only think the true "Mary Sue" character's are the ones with NO past.. and are just evil.. for the sake of being evil...

Which alot of Disney Villians happen to be

I think it depends on my mood for Valentine's Day, really. Sometimes I'll like it, and other times I don't.

Reasons why I do like it - eh it's because hearts have always been my favorite shape. I always loved it ever since I was a little girl. Plus, I love to love. Why not?

Reasons why I don't like it - because it's a reminder to me about how I should never get hooked on a holiday. Because that's what happened years ago. That was a big mistake. And plus - do we really need a holiday to tell someone you love them? It's just for companies to have goods whored out for people to buy them.

But another thing about characters being Mary Sues - I can understand if one character is depicted as one if they are perfect. NiNi is anything but for example. She's not entirely the best in fighting (even though she has her moments), depending on the circumstances she can make herself gullible to let her emotions take over due to thinking more with her heart than her mind. Heck, she's even a TERRIBLE swimmer. XD That's just to name a couple examples.

But then again, fairy tales are full of Mary Sues, and yet people love them. So I don't see how that makes things any different. ^_^;

I had someone try to petition to get me banned on Gaia once, just because I said I didn't like too preppy girls. They are a pain, but I wasn't aiming at anyone specifically. It was ridiculous, she kept spamming my comment box until I blocked her. She was one of the most immature people I had the displeasure to run into on Gaia.

I feel your discontent. Augh... I swear, if someone pulls that shit with you and I'm nearby on Gaia, I may just end up letting the bitch out of the cage. :| She's been locked up for awhile, but lately I've been itching to just be a bitch to people again. But, I try and calm myself.

Feh, I never feel anything on Valentines day. Only reason I celebrate it, is because it is my mother's birthday. (I unfortunatley wasn't able to make it out this weekend to grab the present she wanted though, so I will have to try tomorrow with the late-b-day crap. x_____X)

She wanted the Star Trek Cook Book.

XDDD She's a Sci-Fi nerd. Totally.

Eh, I never get my characters bashed to my face. Never happened before... probably because my style isn't quite popular or wanting to me seen by millions of people who have/don't have lives, so I have less hate showered. ^^'

I personally like NiNi, she's a cute character, with an interesting design and personality. Everyone has their taste in characters, but I find it ridiculous when people go to the point of making internet wars over fictional characters. I do end up (sometimes) getting into those, but not in that spazzing way. More of a common sense way, and facts of the character. Then I like to mention to everyone of the fictional-ness. XD And see if I PWN any n00bs. > x>

LOL First off, your mom sounds awesome. XD

Second, that's pretty depressing when people want to petition people who say something that they don't like. Like you said - as long as you aren't targeting anyone. I mean hell, I could say I don't like stupid people. Would I get a petition then to have me banned? XD

But the whole thing about bashing fictional characters, I can understand it to an extent, but when it comes to people taking it overboard and not giving valid reasons as to why they don't like a particular character, it's ridiculous.

Sure, I can understand why people sometimes may not like NiNi, that is entirely fine. I respect that. But I don't respect people that go on in a ranting and sometimes hurtful manner. NiNi is NOT perfect. I mean good Lord, she's a turtle and is a terrible swimmer for example. XD

XD LOL. Only if the stupid actually understand for once. :B

Also--I understand the extent thing, that's exactly what I mean by it. The people who take it overboard... augh... I just wish I could pull them out through the computer screen, and bitch slap them like silly.

XD LOL. That would suck if she lived in the water. :B

I know... especially when people bash a fan character, that has nothign to do with them. [/sigh]

Makes me wish we could kill n00bs in zOMG, but noooo Gaia has to be friendly.

Raph: ...you're a turtle and you can't freakin' SWIM?!
NiNi: T^T I'm SORRY!

Yeah I mean people bash at fictional characters as if those characters did something to them. The more I think it, the more I have to laugh though. xD

Brookelynne: Leave her alone. >:U

XD I know... laugh at the morons, who feel the need to believe in a fictional vendetta. Heh.

Eh, I never really got into zOMG. I tried playing it before, but then it just got a bit to much for me, and I slowly found it a bit boring. > x< I guess it's because maybe I'm just not that much into quite a lot of online games. XD I like a few, like hunting/shooting games. > x> When I was at the AI, whenever we went on a break during that week, we played this alien hunting game. I can't remember what it was called, though... it was fun! X3 I slaughtered everyone one game. I was like, 'YEAAAAAH. DON'T MESS WITH THIS BITCH.' XD

LOL I usually go to zOMG! these days for the daily chances to get some free stuff and gold. Sometimes at Gold Beach I'll fight stuff if a treasure chest is available though. It's a lot of fun.

XD They made a place called Gold Beach? Awesome. > x>

Yep! If you go up to Bassken Lake there's a road at the top right that should lead you to it. If you go to the road at the top left in Bassken Lake, that'll lead you to another beach area.

If I remember correctly, the "real" type of Mary Sue, or at the very least the kind that is considered a bad/poorly written character is the kind that is overpowered, can get away with pretty much anything in the established universe, or has an unrealistic affect on the story or characters, like making it look like the story revolves around them rather than established characters. Your character doesnt seem to be anything like that.

And accusing every character with a dark past of being a Mary Sue is just stupid. What, do they consider the actual Turtles that too? They're mutants, shunned by society and forced to live their lives in the sewers with the knowledge that they are the only ones of their kind. That doesnt exactly sound like a happy childhood to me

Yeah I try not to make NiNi appear as thus. I mean she does have sue qualities - that I will never deny, but reasons people have for saying she is a sue to me just don't sound realistic. I just don't even see the need to even have a term like Mary Sue when in reality it doesn't make sense.

Technically though, Mary Sue can apply to real life people as well when you think about it.

I swear, people will bash characters by calling them a sue for even their interests. Like NiNi likes fairy tales, she likes cooking, and sometimes she sings for example. But here's the thing - a lot of people like singing, cooking, and fairy tales. And besides I never said that NiNi was the GREATEST singer for example. ^^;

Exactly, the term really only applies to unflawed characters who can never lose at anything, ever.

Very true. It's a shame how people get so misguided as to what the term even means. Maybe that's just DeviantArt, I dunno. I see more hate there and it's kinda creepy.

Its the sheer volume of users on DA, it naturally means that the haters will be more as well. Not to mention more vocal.

I understand why people are vary of OC's, its disturbing how "fans" will twist something, but yeah, people can be very... rabid about stuff thet like

Got to agree with pretty much everything you said here. I have a lot of OCs of my own, to be honest. And I tend to pair them with canon characters. The thing is, I at least try and work my characters around that character and the fandom so that the pairing makes sense, you know? Sometimes it's not even love, but simple lust between the characters because that's what works. And it's my own fanverse, so who is it hurting? There will always be as many fanverses as there are fans, if not more.

Believe it or not, this isn't my first FA account either. I had to move from that one to this one. Why? Because two people trolled me to the extent that I couldn't delete all the crap comments they posted. Not to mention FA doesn't let you hide or delete comments from your own submissions anyway. So I thought it would just be easier to start fresh. And why did they troll me? Because I paired my OC, Silent with Starscream, and I suppose this interfered with their idea that Starscream and Megatron were gay for eachother(which I honestly never got that logic seeing as they hate eachother and attempt to kill eachother on a regular basis. But if that's what some people enjoy, who am I to stop them? That's their fanverse, not mine). This is not the first time I had been bashed for drawing Starscream in a straight pairing either. But I honestly don't like Slash/Yaoi, so what can be expected? They never go into the characters sexuality anyway, so it's really open-ended for anyone's fantasies, don't you think?

Now, honestly, I feel that my characters(or at least most of them) really go into a wide range. Some are pretty, some are fairly plain, and some are drop dead gorgeous. Some are shy and girly, others are outgoing tomboys, and still others are in-between. Sadly ALL of these things apparently make a Mary Sue, so what can you really do? Nothing you create is ever going to be good enough for the 'sue-bashers.' And creating OCs to have no connection to the canon characters isn't going to help either because then what place will they even have in your story? Are they supposed to just stand by and do nothing but fill in an empty space that was never there to begin with?

As for people who get mean when you have your own opinion, its their own fault that they're going to live in a boring world where everything is so black and white. Opinions are like asses. Everyone has one.

Anyway, Happy V-Day. Here's hoping its a good one.

See - that's another thing. If people don't like a female OC paired with a canon male character, they are usually ones that prefer canon characters to go gay with each other. I have nothing against that, but some people who are fans of that and are against sues are just as bad as people who make their OCs superior to canon characters. It's just downright creepy.

Personally, I support anyone that makes an OC. Because they're showing creativity and their what-ifs. It's what makes it fun!

I don't even see what the big deal is. The whole point of fandom is to have fun with it. Anything that someone writes or draws does not make it canon. It's what the original creator makes is what really happens.

I really wish some of those people would realize that technically considering how the definition of Mary Sue keeps changing so much that real life people would be considered as Mary Sues as well. Because of having dark moments/pasts, liking certain interests (apparently having a character that likes cooking is considered as a sue according to what people have told me when it came to NiNi) would make you a sue apparently. It's so backwards.

Why can't people actually focus on more dislike towards something that actually has a worldly impact like racism, war, hatred - any of those things. Maybe it's because people don't think about the positive things as much anymore.

Who knows? One thing I've noticed too is that if you don't like slash and yaoi and you dare to make it known that 'I don't draw/look at it because I don't like it' when asked, that makes you a homophobe. I've had people actually imply this about me and it just about makes me want to introduce them to a couple of my friends. A bisexual girl who used to have a crush on me and a bisexual guy who I talk about cute cartoon guys with. But for some reason, there's this crazy idea that personal preference in your fantasy world defines the kind of person you are in real life. It's just ridiculous. >.<

And honestly, you're right. Everyone has something in their past that is a major thing. Everyone has hobbies. If those are things that make your characters Mary Sues, then what does that make the human race as a whole? It's unrealistic to have a character with no strengths or weakness and no likes or dislikes. And while creativity isn't about realism, it still still should at least be realistic enough that a real human being coul connect to it on an emotional level. That's what makes characters interesting. A character with no strong feelings on anything and who has nothing special about them at all is boring.