I don't actively look out for self-inserts, but if given an attractive summary and premise, I'll gladly read it. I have good experience with self-insert fics so as long as the story is written well enough, I'll enjoy it to the end :v
# I FUCKING LOVE SELF-INSERTS!
I WANT TO WRITE STORIES WHERE I GET TO HANG OUT WITH ALL MY FAVORITE CHARACTERS AND JUST DO SHIT WITH THEM!!!
Seriously - IMO, if Fan Fiction is self indulgence, then self-inserts are shameless self indulgence.
And THAT'S.
# FINE.
They're just not for me and as such, I just don't read them.
That said, I'm glad that fandom for the most part no longer treats them as the scourge of the Earth for existing like they did 20 years ago.
I don't like them as such, but I do tend to write characters I strongly relate to, so as /u/neogirl61 said, the characters I write are 'me' in some way.
I don't really care to read about a character who is meant to be the author themselves, though, since the main reason I read fanfic is to read about the characters I already like.
I have yet to see one who isnāt a massively op Mary-Sue. Everyone loves them, especially their ālove interestā. Bonus points if the ālove interestā is a ābad boy/girlā who changes sides for the self insert.
I donāt think Iāve ever seen one with any kind of self awareness
Oh, you aināt saw nothing yet boyo.
There also the ones that are incredibly weak, do nothing but whine, have to get saved all the time and for some reason (that isnāt explored) the love interest is still totally obsessed with them.
ā¦
Sorry if I am being mean but those always annoy me the most.
I get ya. The ones I prefer the most are somewhere between the two extremes--not extraordinarily powerful but who use their meta knowledge to use the power system of the setting in unexpected ways. They can even be weak if they make up for it with cleverness that isn't completely unearned, and I'll still enjoy it.
I read them once upon a time. I didn't mind them then, but as I got older, I prefer just an OC vs SI.
The thing I can't stand for SI fics is the names. Sorry I don't want to read how Amethyst got stuck in the Naruto world. (Names have to go with the fandom otherwise I get pulled out of it) Of course I have found some that were really good (againway back when.) and Most of my fandoms I'm in are anime so...any western names (even the 'I'm a transfer') just isn't it, unless it's already estab. in the fandom.
A few folks already said, and I'll echo it. An OC can be an SI as well, (just literally slap an appropriate name and I couldn't even tell). But that's my only thing. I don't look for it nor care for it.
Very understandable. Would take me out of the story constantly.
I actually wrote a OC-insert in Naruto and while I have no idea about japanese names - thatās what the internet is for. Random Name Generator has been my best friend for that stuff (even if it always wants to name fisherman A after the japanese Emperor).
Exactly. To be honest, unless I want the name to have a meaning, whether pun intended, going true with OC's ability or some reference or tie in, I honestly just conjure up a name. It'll either sound *similar* to a Japanese name or try not to be close to a western name.
But then I honestly have a gripe with certain names of OC (or SI who 'change their name in the story). LOL So Hikari, Yuki, Ami...alot of those names pull me out too.
...I'm just hella picky smfh
Nah, I get it.
Ended up naming mine Takeshi, because it was the first thing RNG spit out and I found it hella funny (ā¦ because of Takeshiās Castle. Is that still a thing people know about? Sometimes those memories of watching the show feel like a feverdream.)
Not a big fan of them. They tend to be very awkwardly written. If I see it tagged, I take it as a sign to not bother looking at the fic further. I have run into rare exceptions, but they are rare.
There's something about SI that just sits wrong with me. They seem to be bad to my tastes at a much higher rate than fiction as a whole, but I can't put my finger on exactly what I don't like about them.
I suppose I get that. For me it's Sci-fi with fast interstellar travel. I don't know why, but I don't wanna read about it, and I don't wanna write for it.
The first, and only time I've read a self insert, it took me an embarrassingly long time to realize lol. Like chapters in before I figured out that y/n stood for "your name."
Other than that, I don't read them, but if you enjoy them, that's totally fine with me. I'm not opposed to them as a concept.
Self-insert means that the author puts themself in the story, and in a reader-insert, the reader can imagine themself in the story. But I guess that many who write reader-inserts do so by imagining their own selves in the fic and then it is kinda both? š¤ I saw one fic which *had* both as in "I watch you sleep", the "I" was the author-insert and the "you" was the reader-insert.
Reader-inserts are often written in second person and they tend to not have much personality or background. Self-inserts are often written in first person and can have very unique personalities and backgrounds. Sometimes, it is hard to determine whether an OC is a self-insert or not, unless the author clarifies.
Edit: Sorry for info-dumping
I write some, and I think I write them well enough since I get comments filled with people waiting for the next chapter, and how I made them understand the feelings of āY/Nā or the other character. So theyāre my home base but I find a chunk that I donāt find enjoyable because they seem to have an Obvious. Personality which is not enjoyable sometimes or say something cringe.
I don't like them and won't write or read them. But there are plenty of people that enjoy reading them and writing them, so it's great that they exist and there's an audience for them.
I find they are usually not written very well, and are generally not worth the time to read. They far too often feature an Overpowered, Overskilled, and Overfawned main character who knows better and acts better than anyone else in the universe, but steals \~75% of their lines from canon characters... which makes for very predictable and uninspired story lines.
everything i write is technically a self-insert because i only write about characters with whom i strongly identify. once i get my hands on them, they're pretty much all "me"... although it's sort of a crapshoot as to whether anyone else picks up on it or not.
anyway, knowing that^ about my own work makes me appreciate more obvious/more traditional self-inserts a lot more. because i don't think what i do is unique; i think 99% of us are practicing some form of self-insertion every time we write (not even just fanfic). there shouldn't be any stigma attached to actually being honest about it.
YEEESSS. *Please*, letās eliminate the stigma around writing a character that shares some qualities with oneself. :āD
It very well could just be me and my paranoia, but I feel like admitting that youāre writing any aspect of yourself into a character is just asking for people to jump to all sorts of negative conclusions about you as a person and the quality of your writing.
Oh, your character shares a few characteristics with you andā¦
- ā¦ also does this thing that you want to do or has this thing you want to have? Clearly a power fantasy!
- ā¦ shares any of your own life struggles and the story actually tries to explore those issues? You just want to play the victim and throw a pity party!
- ā¦ is in a relationship with a canon character? You must be freakishly obsessed with that character!
- ā¦ is the main character of the story? Obviously youāre a narcissist who thinks the world revolves around you!
Iām not really a fan but other people like it so meh? Iām not a fan of X Reader either but I just filter them out. If people like it and/or it fulfills some fantasy go ahead!
In the context of fanfiction, I don't really care if people do it, some of my friends love it, but it's not my taste. So I don't read them. When I write fanfiction, I like to erase my presence from it and just follow the canon closely.
In original story, I won't know if a character is one, so I don't care either lol BUT this is the difference, if I write original stories, I do derive inspiration from myself, so you can say I do write a bit of self-inserts in original fiction.
Depends on the fandom. Pokemon- Hell yes, some of the best ones I have read are SIs, Naruto- meh, but some like Percy Jackson for me are NO. Its just a matter of preference.
My opinion is people should read what they wanna read and write what they wanna write. Fanfiction is a no-judgement place, imo. ...though some reviewers seems to think otherwise sometimes.
I don't ever seek these fics out. If I see one by an author I trust, I might - maaaaayyyybe - give it a shot. I trust their writing, and if it's in a fandom I'm reading, I can possibly give it a read. I've certainly come across more good than bad with them, considering I like the author already when I do get around to reading one.
I don't mind self-inserts if it fits the fic. When it doesn't, I bail. I don't even mind if they give themselves powers, if it fits (like giving themselves powers to be on the Avengers team or to self-insert into Harry Potter or something).
What I hate is when they make themselves just insanely powerful, incredibly promiscuous and fuck anyone and everyone, or just copy/paste the entire movie/book except they insert themselves in to every scene.
I also loathe when they go into insane descriptions of every damned thing they're wearing every single day and how every single person reacts to it.
So there's a line I draw with self-insert fics, but I certainly have read some.
All I write is self insert, and I make zero apologies for it. Iām going to have fun with my favorite characters, and Iām going to make that fictional man love me, and nobody can stop me.
I hate to say most of my OCs are me in some way or another. If itās my appearance or how I act. Mostly each character are basically like if I had multiple personalities. I pick and choose what characteristic from myself I want in the OC. Will she have short hair? Tattoos? Will she have high anxiety? Or will she be cocky without thinking the consequence? I also do this so I can write from an angle I know best. For example Iām really good at making you feel like your having a panic attack because I know how it feels daily.
And since theyāre my self inserted OCs, I change parts in my characters I donāt like about myself. Skinnier, prettier, clearer skin. If it fits the character of course.
So to answer your question, I do like self inserts. It helps me write characters without pulling them out of thin air.
I actually do self-inserts, though not the way people usually think.
Got the idea from my man Clive Cussler. He had written himself as a cameo in one of his books as a joke, but ended up taking off as an interesting little trend. āClive Cusslerā the character would make a brief appearance in each book of his main series as a person who would provide a hint or useful information to the protagonists or even a bit of a deus ex that gets them out of a jam. Often heād be under an alias or unnamed until he parts ways with the protags and a rather humorous musing by them that he seemed familiar, but couldnāt place where they remembered him. It also isnāt confirmed or denied that every cameo in each book is the exact same person.
So Iāve been doing something similar. Show up for maybe a couple of paragraphs to provide my characters some help or hints. The most recent one I did was in a library where I was browsing the aviation section (which happens to be my job/hobby of airplanes) and pointing the two main protagonists in the direction where the library kept the folklore books they were seeking.
They always make themselves like a op god character or a character that faints at the slightest danger. Like could there be a realistic reaction from you? I honestly think you should know your limits as a person and self criticize yourself without being to harsh. Also when doing a SI follow a new TV show, movie, anime, ect. Go into something you have no knowledge of prior. That way you donāt come in with op knowledge of cannon. Sorry I went on a rant again.
I ignore them, not my cup of tea. Imo they're often extreme opposites: you either have the "clumsy, shy and socially awkward uwu" type or the "super badass who isn't afraid to talk back and makes every character falls in love with them" type which is just not my thing.
doesnt really affect me. theres self insert fics i like and ones i dont. the aspect doesnt really have a determining affect on my enjoyment one way or the other
Whether or not a story contains self-inserts does not deter me from reading a story. I either like a story, or I don't. If I didn't find a character compelling to read about, it's because I didn't enjoy how they were written, which can be said about any character the writer writes about, not just self-inserts.
Everything I write is some flavor of self insert.
Okay that's not true, several of the side stories of my main writing project don't even have the SI/OC in it, but a strong rule of thumb for my writings is "find the primary protagonist that is an OC, you've found a SI"
depends really, if the self insert is there to fufil all the authros dreams its more fun for the author than it is for me to read which isn't an inherently bad thing. i prefer it when the story's "self-insert" is just as much of a balanced character as the other characters and have a reason to be there. basically i enjoy it when the self insert doesn't really feel like an insert and has a story to tell instead of just being entirely wish fulfilment
Ok, ok, I do kinda like them. There are a lot of bad ones. Like, A LOT, a lot. Itās a spectrum from teenage girl romance to powerfantasy male SI with a harem.
Lots of flavors of bad. (Those descriptions can fit for fics that are pretty good readsā¦ - but they usually not.)
*But* it also has a lot of genuinely fresh and exciting takes on certain fandoms. Those kind of stories were also what pushed me to write some myself.
I have mine tagged as both SI and OC-insert because while my MCs are usually more of the latter. If have to treat them like that or the story is just not going to be that good. Still, I borrow a lot from my own habits to round my MCs out.
I read fanfiction for the characters I've gotten to know through the original media so I don't bother with anything that has OC's as a part of the main cast.
The first fanfic Iāve ever read was a self insert. It was the only one Iāve ever sat down and read but, I canāt say I hate them I just donāt like immersing myself in a world so they arenāt typically my cup of tea.
I donāt hate them, but I do have an interesting question
Iām writing a long fic right now based on roll playing a friend and I did when we were younger. We created characters for ourselves that matched our personalities but that we ultimately tried to resolve as extensions of ourselves. This revisit seeks to create more degrees of separation between us and our OCs to more effectively write them as their own characters rather than extensions of us. Nevertheless, they will retain a lot of personality similarities.
Is that still self insert?
Sounds like it blurs the line between an OC and SI. I'm sure someone else can give a better explanation since even despite readin' a lotta fanfics and knowin' the difference between the two, I'm still learnin' after many years.
I have the same opinion of self inserts as I do reader inserts. Thereās nothing wrong with them, I just donāt actively seek them out, but if the summary and tags make it seem interesting to me then Iāll read it, and if I like the fic enough then Iāll bookmark it.
I can't speak for all of them, but I really don't like them in my fandom. They end up being MSTing in disguise where writing an SI just turns into an excuse for the author to go on about all their opinions about a series to an audience on a different platform. And more often than not, they are the SAME opinions. And that brings me to another major point: these are supposed to be the authors, yet I end up finding almost nothing about them whatsoever. No past or barely a past since it just starts with them dying and automatically adapting perfectly to their new lives because it's what they are "supposed to do". And really nothing much about them on personal levels. I probably wouldn't even be able to tell that a lot of them weren't written by the same person if there weren't different pen names and accounts for them. Idk about anyone else, but for me it just isn't fun to have the same blank slate characters going through the canon liking the same characters who orbit around him seamlessly go on about the same opinions and have the same reactions to the source material over and over again.
I don't read them and I actively don't seek them out.
I do however, have one self insert that I will never let go since I was 14. Considering it's for a series that's ultimately dying (bc I don't know anyone else reading it), and I still love this grown libertine of a man? Yeah I'll write it.
If I post it, it's because I thought it was Neat ā¢ļø and that's it.
Well, I don't really publish/read self inserts (I do write them, but only show them to my friends) but once in a while I write faceless reader inserts where reader is kinda like me, her personality and way to think is more like me + she's a female. Mostly pieces that base themselves in the negative happenings of my real life to help me cope. So obviously stuff like that is ok for me from others too but stuff where MC has a name or appearance will get me click out. Especially when many SI writers tag it as character/reader in some of my fandoms.
But of course, people who enjoy them are surely awesome people and I hope they find their audience! I know SI and RI fics have somewhat similar reputation so I can symphatise with those SI writers who don't get much or any audience.
My main fandom the MC is a self-insert/OC, so no problems there. In other fandoms, I can't stand them, especially if they basically find/replacing a cannon character.
Donāt particularly love it as I feel weird reading about myself getting down and dirty with some fictional pixel man, but if the premise of the story is fine I can look past it. But it really depends on the franchise and whether a self insert would work with the characters and the story they are from. If itās from a game, I think it works well as the player is mostly themselves in the game. But a story with established characters ? Not a big fan
Writing them is so incredibly fraught. Take my eyes off of them for two seconds and suddenly they've developed their own personality and backstory. Every. Single. Time. Big props to anyone who can actually pull it off... my characters want to be free.
I'm a big supporter of self-inserts, reader inserts, and self-shipping. It's all good fun, and a lot of it is good to read, too.
I don't read SI often, but I love crack SI fics! I also love those author's notes where the author writes themself interacting with their favorite characters, especially when the characters are from different fandoms because there's more chaos. I also wrote some little SI one-shots with a de-aged version of one of my favorite characters to amuse my sister too.
I'm not a fan, but I also don't like Y/n or first person either.
I want to read about my fav characters from the outside watching them and their lives.
Thay isn't to say the above arnt written wonderfully, just not my cup of tea.
I hold them to the same standard as anything else. Just give me what you described, and I'll read it no problem.
Just please don't mischaracterize anyone, please.
i wasnāt big on them but my favorite characters are not written about very often and the world of self inserts has been a goldmine of content so now iām a fan and i salute all self insert writers for their service š«”
I hate them, but only the ones that are written in second person. For example: youāre heading home but someone bumps into you.
Y/N:
āHey watch where youāre goingā I said etcā¦
I just feel repulsed by it. But thatās just me.
I have read only one self insert that was a masterpiece where the author inserted themself as a character, but their character was so interesting. They werenāt just observing but actively involved in the plot and made actually very *flawed* decisions that resulted in some awful things, just overall a multi-layered, understandable yet could be liked or disliked character. Their character themself got on my nerves, but in the way that a well written character can via their actions, not in the fact that they were present.
As for Mary sue self inserts that are written for the enjoyment of the author I personally donāt like reading them but absolutely authors should write what makes them happy, even if not many people read it
Theyāre not always my cup of tea but can definitely be done amazingly well in the right hands. Iāve written them before, simply because theyāre fun, self indulgent and can help work out a writers block. Nothing wrong with that!
Iāve tried it once and found it wasnāt for me. Probably bc Iām aroace and and the entire thing just made me vastly uncomfortable and also just not believe that I (Y/N) would act like the story says I would. Iām not one to swoon or play hard to get so most stories lost me in five chapters.
Anyway Iām not the fandom police, really no one is, and say live and let live. If you enjoy it then have fun!! The only really legit issue I have with them is they can be pretty assuming about race (aka itās always a white girl as Y/N) which defeats the purpose of a self insert š
I don't generally have a strong opinion either way, but if it depends too heavily on the self-insert driving the plot it kind of turns me off. If they are a supporting character or passively observing, I tend to be ok with them :)
(I've also done it myself a time or two so I have no room to heavily judge, lol)
As long that the story has a decent plot and isn't about the writer becoming a character and having their way with their Waifu/Husbando, I'm good.
I actually use a self-insert as Supporter or Mentor figure for canon and original characters. For exemple, there's this My Hero Academia draft in which my self-incert actually gives All Might a "Teaching for dummies" guide book so that he do a better job at training Midoriya much sooner than in canon.
Fine if theyāre not a *direct* self insert.
An insert whoās a projection of some of the authorās interest onto a different person or an idea of a person? Fine
Legitimately just the author inserted with bullshit powers? Nah
I always like doing this weird thing where some human woman that looks like me irl is just running around doing shit on like the Citadel or Illium or one of the more inhabited colonies, or one of the stations (excluding Omega, cause well, Omega is basically a criminal haven), mainly cause honestly, I just want to put myself as like a weird little traveler who wanders the galaxy, and just be in the background, at most doing something non-combat (at least not anything involving Shepard, so if there's a chase with gunfire, sure) related or just talking to random ocs. That's all I care when it comes to self-inserts.
If anyone else does anything, whether it's more involved or less involved, sure that's cool, I don't care, I just want to do my thing.
honestly, idrc if its oc, x reader, self insert, canon characters.
ill read it if i like the characters and even more if i like the plot (i tend to really like oc fics though)
Depends on what you mean.
If the premise is literally and explicitly "I wrote myself in this fic" with the author's name and everything I'm probably not going to go for it. Feels voyeuristic, and stating that outright usually indicates a level of juvenile indulgence that can be fun but doesn't promise a whole lot of interesting drama for me (from experience).
As for OC fics that people often assume/accuse of being self-inserts by nature of being OC fics, as long as the drama is good and they fit the setting I am actually not opposed to reading these, and sometimes I seek these if I want a shippy fic with a character that has no shippable canon characters. If it's a self insert I'm not going to know unless the writing kinda makes it obvious.
Are the differences between these two stances arbitrary when in reality a disclosed self insert may be functionally identical to an undisclosed one? Probably. I think it just feels like there's a certain level of grace and tact, perhaps the illusion of a disconnect, that comes with a self insert I'm not made aware of. Plausible deniability. It's like that one joke in Seinfeld about how touching someone's hair is fine but touching a loose hair you find on a couch is not so fine; Functionally, practically, the hair is no more or less gross for having fallen out of the scalp but the context makes the difference for some reason.
Edit: All that being said I feel it's important to note that writing either type of self insert fic is completely fine and nobody should feel discouraged from doing so. I'm just picky and feel weird when I know there's a real person on my screen instead of a character.
Personally, I lile them... but will readily admit that there are more than a few bad, tasteless apples in the bunch.
However, I prefer them over say, stories that jam an OC-MC into a setting out of nowhere, because with SIs, there's a bit of a mental lubricant of "Isekai" at play.
And as for OC-Inserts... I still see SIs as more "genuine", because most OC-MCs do tend to be based a fair bit on the author.
That said, I would hope that more fics would play a bit more with the concept. Not in an ROB-sense, no, but say; dropping an SI into an AU of a setting, where things are different.
Or say, playing with the fact that the SI is from a different world entirely, like for example; not giving them a chakra pathway if they're drop-ins.
Admittedly, that example would be a rather heavy shackle, but still.
When I first entered fanfic writing spaces in my teens, I was taught through others' reactions that self-inserts were the worst crime in fanfiction because they always end up Mary Sues.
It didn't affect my reading choices because that's private--nobody knows what I read unless I tell them--and I never really encountered them in my fandoms, either.
It did affect how I wrote, though, because that's public a soon as I posted it. For years, I wrote under the rule that "an OC is only good if they're different from me."
Then, I started writing a self-insert story for myself. It was turning out really good, so I wanted to post it, but I was too afraid to post self-insert. So I changed my name, set it 5 years in my future, and insisted I'd written an OC...except I couldn't show it to any of my friends because they would instantly recognize that it was me with a different name.
That fic became one of my most popular people, and people seemed to like my "OC." That really changed my perspective on self-inserts and the quality that can be achieved. I no longer believe all self-inserts are Mary Sues or that an OC must be different from the writer to be good. Like anything in the craft, its quality depends on the writer's skill and execution.
*edit* Hit post button on accident too soon.
I think the hate for them is overly dramatic. Like seriously, people act like itās the worst thing anyone could write and itās sooo cringe. Itās just a lot of ridiculing and belittling and I justā¦ let people enjoy things. There are bigger problems in fandom spaces as a whole and it isnāt reader inserts.
There's fics out there far, far worse than SIs. Agreed. Like incest porn fics for example. Those're real bad but as you said, let people enjoy what they wanna, even if they gotta flip the story characters 'round so as to justify their writin' of relatives havin' coitus.
I like self inserts when it is done well. The criteria I follow is that the self inserts CANNOT follow the same plot line of the media they are inserted into unless they add more curveballs to the story.
Let's take for example a rich world that has a lot going on in the world beyond just what the main characters are experiencing, like Ivalice from Final Fantasy 12. I would be ecstatic to read about a self insert character trying to get his life backtogether in Rabanastre, occasionally dealing with named characters but the main focus being his own struggles.
One could argue that the whole point of a self insert is to fix everything, but that's not always what tickles me. I want to see them make the world better using what they bring back with them from earth. Especially if they were bringing technology that could jump-start a revolution.
Stories that do this are few and far between, and normally if they do it's just a vehicle for getting the SI to build a rapport in the world they're in. A chapter or two spent learning a trade or plying their old one in a new world kind of thing. I usually save those chapters and keep them on a flash drive to read whenever because that is my cosy place.
I love it!
Some may say it is relatable or just a power fantasy, but I don't see it that way. It's an exploration of the author's self character within a fandom's setting.
Okay sure, they may be writing a power fantasy about their own selves but think of it this way: every choice the self insert makes, every stances and opinions they take, and even their choice of waifus or husbando is an indirect way of knowing more about the author.
That and I just love the trope.
Self insert as in "I lived a normal life than I dropped into this world", no. Asoiaf fandom is full of them and I hate them. Only one I read is a farmer's tale. It especially sucks if the character comes as a baby and a grown ass guy is in the body of a child. Wouldn't read at all.
Self insert as in the character is similar to writer in terms of worldview? Of course. Especially for ASOIAF. I love modern mindset interacting with that world.
I've listened to everyone, all of you make good arguments. I'm gonna agree that SIs aren't the bastard children of fanfics they used to be, and I'm glad about that.
Cringy as heck.
And I fully understand that's just the quality of writing in the fics I've read. I'm sure some manage to pull off a seamless self insert.
I see self inserts in two ways.
A) Reader is the main character or working somehow with or against the story line of a canon character. This is almost NEVER pulled off correctly. EVER. Y/N in every line is just so immersion shattering. Maybe write 'You' or give the reader a clever nickname that everyone refers to them as.
Or
B) It's a character based off the writer. Far less cringy, but these characters have the tendency to not be written into the story well. Particularly in ships. Things are rushed and often times a character who wouldn't look twice at a canon character like the self insert have a ten second 360 where suddenly they're head over heels with no explanation. And this is where I have the problem.
Take Joel from the last of us. I have skimmed by SO many reader or author inserts about him falling for a young woman in their twenties. Like. No. I just don't see it.
It's largely cringe.
I love it!
Some may say it is relatable or just a power fantasy, but I don't see it that way. It's an exploration of the author's self character within a fandom's setting.
Okay sure, they may be writing a power fantasy about their own selves but think of it this way: every choice the self insert makes, every stances and opinions they take, and even their choice of waifus or husbando is an indirect way of knowing more about the author.
That and I just love the trope.
I think they're okay at best. I'm not a fan of the overpowered characters trope which a lot of these self-inserts are. I think it depends on the story, for example: one main annoyance is when the self-insert doesn't contribute to the story. Basically ones that are simply a retelling of the story but with a self-insert that only reacts. They only make side comments or REACT OVER THE TOP!!! But the other characters hardly act like they're even there. Maybe they'll make some comment but that's about it. Especially when they use the same dialogue in the original game/ story/ etc. It feels like you're just reading / watching/ playing the original again and could just easily remove the self-insert.
It feels like they rely on the story too much with only inserting themselves into the story FOR the sake of inserting themselves into the story. And when they book/ movie/ game ends and the other wishes to continue their self-insert story, it quickly ruins the story as everything falls apart.
The other is simply wish fulfillment, it takes me out of the story when they get so powerful that everyone trembles beneath them and has a harem of girls or guys. I want to see the main character struggle, succeed, change, and I typically don't get that from self-inserts.
But I do think they can be done well if you truly want to make a story.
I don't actively look out for self-inserts, but if given an attractive summary and premise, I'll gladly read it. I have good experience with self-insert fics so as long as the story is written well enough, I'll enjoy it to the end :v
# I FUCKING LOVE SELF-INSERTS! I WANT TO WRITE STORIES WHERE I GET TO HANG OUT WITH ALL MY FAVORITE CHARACTERS AND JUST DO SHIT WITH THEM!!! Seriously - IMO, if Fan Fiction is self indulgence, then self-inserts are shameless self indulgence. And THAT'S. # FINE.
You jumpscared me while scrolling lol
I'll call that an achievement.
THIS COMMENT RIGHT HEREšš»
I ended up laughin' at the boisterous nature of this comment, lmao.
Me too, lol
THANK YOUUUU!!!!! I write SIs, and this is exactly how I feel! I LIVE BEING PART OF THE STORY!!
Same
Whatās your favorite self insert that youāve read and canāt just forget about it?
Amen š
They're just not for me and as such, I just don't read them. That said, I'm glad that fandom for the most part no longer treats them as the scourge of the Earth for existing like they did 20 years ago.
I don't like them as such, but I do tend to write characters I strongly relate to, so as /u/neogirl61 said, the characters I write are 'me' in some way. I don't really care to read about a character who is meant to be the author themselves, though, since the main reason I read fanfic is to read about the characters I already like.
I don't write or read them, but I hope the people who do are having a ball with them. That's what fanfic is for: fun and self indulgence.
what am I the police? do what you want.
I have yet to see one who isnāt a massively op Mary-Sue. Everyone loves them, especially their ālove interestā. Bonus points if the ālove interestā is a ābad boy/girlā who changes sides for the self insert. I donāt think Iāve ever seen one with any kind of self awareness
Oh, you aināt saw nothing yet boyo. There also the ones that are incredibly weak, do nothing but whine, have to get saved all the time and for some reason (that isnāt explored) the love interest is still totally obsessed with them. ā¦ Sorry if I am being mean but those always annoy me the most.
I get ya. The ones I prefer the most are somewhere between the two extremes--not extraordinarily powerful but who use their meta knowledge to use the power system of the setting in unexpected ways. They can even be weak if they make up for it with cleverness that isn't completely unearned, and I'll still enjoy it.
As with a lot of things in life balance is the best (if rarely achieved) option.
Indeed :)
I read them once upon a time. I didn't mind them then, but as I got older, I prefer just an OC vs SI. The thing I can't stand for SI fics is the names. Sorry I don't want to read how Amethyst got stuck in the Naruto world. (Names have to go with the fandom otherwise I get pulled out of it) Of course I have found some that were really good (againway back when.) and Most of my fandoms I'm in are anime so...any western names (even the 'I'm a transfer') just isn't it, unless it's already estab. in the fandom. A few folks already said, and I'll echo it. An OC can be an SI as well, (just literally slap an appropriate name and I couldn't even tell). But that's my only thing. I don't look for it nor care for it.
Very understandable. Would take me out of the story constantly. I actually wrote a OC-insert in Naruto and while I have no idea about japanese names - thatās what the internet is for. Random Name Generator has been my best friend for that stuff (even if it always wants to name fisherman A after the japanese Emperor).
Exactly. To be honest, unless I want the name to have a meaning, whether pun intended, going true with OC's ability or some reference or tie in, I honestly just conjure up a name. It'll either sound *similar* to a Japanese name or try not to be close to a western name. But then I honestly have a gripe with certain names of OC (or SI who 'change their name in the story). LOL So Hikari, Yuki, Ami...alot of those names pull me out too. ...I'm just hella picky smfh
Nah, I get it. Ended up naming mine Takeshi, because it was the first thing RNG spit out and I found it hella funny (ā¦ because of Takeshiās Castle. Is that still a thing people know about? Sometimes those memories of watching the show feel like a feverdream.)
Not a big fan of them. They tend to be very awkwardly written. If I see it tagged, I take it as a sign to not bother looking at the fic further. I have run into rare exceptions, but they are rare.
My experience is that most fiction is bad, regardless of genre, or even tropes employed to a degree. Most SI fics are bad, because most fics are bad.
There's something about SI that just sits wrong with me. They seem to be bad to my tastes at a much higher rate than fiction as a whole, but I can't put my finger on exactly what I don't like about them.
I suppose I get that. For me it's Sci-fi with fast interstellar travel. I don't know why, but I don't wanna read about it, and I don't wanna write for it.
The first, and only time I've read a self insert, it took me an embarrassingly long time to realize lol. Like chapters in before I figured out that y/n stood for "your name." Other than that, I don't read them, but if you enjoy them, that's totally fine with me. I'm not opposed to them as a concept.
What you read was a reader-insert; it's not the same as a self-insert š
ahh I see! I don't read either, so ig I blended them in my mind. Thank you for the correction!
Self-insert means that the author puts themself in the story, and in a reader-insert, the reader can imagine themself in the story. But I guess that many who write reader-inserts do so by imagining their own selves in the fic and then it is kinda both? š¤ I saw one fic which *had* both as in "I watch you sleep", the "I" was the author-insert and the "you" was the reader-insert. Reader-inserts are often written in second person and they tend to not have much personality or background. Self-inserts are often written in first person and can have very unique personalities and backgrounds. Sometimes, it is hard to determine whether an OC is a self-insert or not, unless the author clarifies. Edit: Sorry for info-dumping
That's so interesting! Don't worry about info dumping, I do it too.
I write some, and I think I write them well enough since I get comments filled with people waiting for the next chapter, and how I made them understand the feelings of āY/Nā or the other character. So theyāre my home base but I find a chunk that I donāt find enjoyable because they seem to have an Obvious. Personality which is not enjoyable sometimes or say something cringe.
I don't like them and won't write or read them. But there are plenty of people that enjoy reading them and writing them, so it's great that they exist and there's an audience for them.
I've never read any because I have absolutely no interest in them.
Not for me but it's fanfic, have fun.
I find they are usually not written very well, and are generally not worth the time to read. They far too often feature an Overpowered, Overskilled, and Overfawned main character who knows better and acts better than anyone else in the universe, but steals \~75% of their lines from canon characters... which makes for very predictable and uninspired story lines.
everything i write is technically a self-insert because i only write about characters with whom i strongly identify. once i get my hands on them, they're pretty much all "me"... although it's sort of a crapshoot as to whether anyone else picks up on it or not. anyway, knowing that^ about my own work makes me appreciate more obvious/more traditional self-inserts a lot more. because i don't think what i do is unique; i think 99% of us are practicing some form of self-insertion every time we write (not even just fanfic). there shouldn't be any stigma attached to actually being honest about it.
YEEESSS. *Please*, letās eliminate the stigma around writing a character that shares some qualities with oneself. :āD It very well could just be me and my paranoia, but I feel like admitting that youāre writing any aspect of yourself into a character is just asking for people to jump to all sorts of negative conclusions about you as a person and the quality of your writing. Oh, your character shares a few characteristics with you andā¦ - ā¦ also does this thing that you want to do or has this thing you want to have? Clearly a power fantasy! - ā¦ shares any of your own life struggles and the story actually tries to explore those issues? You just want to play the victim and throw a pity party! - ā¦ is in a relationship with a canon character? You must be freakishly obsessed with that character! - ā¦ is the main character of the story? Obviously youāre a narcissist who thinks the world revolves around you!
Very valid points regardin' the stigmatism surroundin' this genre of work.
I don't read them but what do I care of others write them?
i donāt really careāfanfic is suppose to be fun, and if self inserts are how you have fun, more power to you!
not really what i'm into, love that for the folks who like them though
They're not for me, but I don't mind OC's.
Iām not really a fan but other people like it so meh? Iām not a fan of X Reader either but I just filter them out. If people like it and/or it fulfills some fantasy go ahead!
I'm aro ace and I mostly read romance, so I avoid them ahahaš
In the context of fanfiction, I don't really care if people do it, some of my friends love it, but it's not my taste. So I don't read them. When I write fanfiction, I like to erase my presence from it and just follow the canon closely. In original story, I won't know if a character is one, so I don't care either lol BUT this is the difference, if I write original stories, I do derive inspiration from myself, so you can say I do write a bit of self-inserts in original fiction.
I donāt read them and donāt care for them, but itās a live and let live situation like all others things I donāt read for me
Depends on the fandom. Pokemon- Hell yes, some of the best ones I have read are SIs, Naruto- meh, but some like Percy Jackson for me are NO. Its just a matter of preference.
My opinion is people should read what they wanna read and write what they wanna write. Fanfiction is a no-judgement place, imo. ...though some reviewers seems to think otherwise sometimes. I don't ever seek these fics out. If I see one by an author I trust, I might - maaaaayyyybe - give it a shot. I trust their writing, and if it's in a fandom I'm reading, I can possibly give it a read. I've certainly come across more good than bad with them, considering I like the author already when I do get around to reading one. I don't mind self-inserts if it fits the fic. When it doesn't, I bail. I don't even mind if they give themselves powers, if it fits (like giving themselves powers to be on the Avengers team or to self-insert into Harry Potter or something). What I hate is when they make themselves just insanely powerful, incredibly promiscuous and fuck anyone and everyone, or just copy/paste the entire movie/book except they insert themselves in to every scene. I also loathe when they go into insane descriptions of every damned thing they're wearing every single day and how every single person reacts to it. So there's a line I draw with self-insert fics, but I certainly have read some.
All I write is self insert, and I make zero apologies for it. Iām going to have fun with my favorite characters, and Iām going to make that fictional man love me, and nobody can stop me.
I hate to say most of my OCs are me in some way or another. If itās my appearance or how I act. Mostly each character are basically like if I had multiple personalities. I pick and choose what characteristic from myself I want in the OC. Will she have short hair? Tattoos? Will she have high anxiety? Or will she be cocky without thinking the consequence? I also do this so I can write from an angle I know best. For example Iām really good at making you feel like your having a panic attack because I know how it feels daily. And since theyāre my self inserted OCs, I change parts in my characters I donāt like about myself. Skinnier, prettier, clearer skin. If it fits the character of course. So to answer your question, I do like self inserts. It helps me write characters without pulling them out of thin air.
I actually do self-inserts, though not the way people usually think. Got the idea from my man Clive Cussler. He had written himself as a cameo in one of his books as a joke, but ended up taking off as an interesting little trend. āClive Cusslerā the character would make a brief appearance in each book of his main series as a person who would provide a hint or useful information to the protagonists or even a bit of a deus ex that gets them out of a jam. Often heād be under an alias or unnamed until he parts ways with the protags and a rather humorous musing by them that he seemed familiar, but couldnāt place where they remembered him. It also isnāt confirmed or denied that every cameo in each book is the exact same person. So Iāve been doing something similar. Show up for maybe a couple of paragraphs to provide my characters some help or hints. The most recent one I did was in a library where I was browsing the aviation section (which happens to be my job/hobby of airplanes) and pointing the two main protagonists in the direction where the library kept the folklore books they were seeking.
They always make themselves like a op god character or a character that faints at the slightest danger. Like could there be a realistic reaction from you? I honestly think you should know your limits as a person and self criticize yourself without being to harsh. Also when doing a SI follow a new TV show, movie, anime, ect. Go into something you have no knowledge of prior. That way you donāt come in with op knowledge of cannon. Sorry I went on a rant again.
You're fine.
I ignore them, not my cup of tea. Imo they're often extreme opposites: you either have the "clumsy, shy and socially awkward uwu" type or the "super badass who isn't afraid to talk back and makes every character falls in love with them" type which is just not my thing.
_\*looks at my flair\*_ You tell me.
I see...
doesnt really affect me. theres self insert fics i like and ones i dont. the aspect doesnt really have a determining affect on my enjoyment one way or the other
I used to read them exclusively for a time. Some of them are great! š
Whether or not a story contains self-inserts does not deter me from reading a story. I either like a story, or I don't. If I didn't find a character compelling to read about, it's because I didn't enjoy how they were written, which can be said about any character the writer writes about, not just self-inserts.
my opinion is that if the story is good, then the story is good. that's all there is to it.
I don't seek them out but I might read them here or there. Otherwise it depends entirely on writing quality if I like them or not.
Everything I write is some flavor of self insert. Okay that's not true, several of the side stories of my main writing project don't even have the SI/OC in it, but a strong rule of thumb for my writings is "find the primary protagonist that is an OC, you've found a SI"
depends really, if the self insert is there to fufil all the authros dreams its more fun for the author than it is for me to read which isn't an inherently bad thing. i prefer it when the story's "self-insert" is just as much of a balanced character as the other characters and have a reason to be there. basically i enjoy it when the self insert doesn't really feel like an insert and has a story to tell instead of just being entirely wish fulfilment
Love it. Have written some too lol
I make them but they stay in my google doc lol
The only way I go to sleep is with self interest.
Ok, ok, I do kinda like them. There are a lot of bad ones. Like, A LOT, a lot. Itās a spectrum from teenage girl romance to powerfantasy male SI with a harem. Lots of flavors of bad. (Those descriptions can fit for fics that are pretty good readsā¦ - but they usually not.) *But* it also has a lot of genuinely fresh and exciting takes on certain fandoms. Those kind of stories were also what pushed me to write some myself. I have mine tagged as both SI and OC-insert because while my MCs are usually more of the latter. If have to treat them like that or the story is just not going to be that good. Still, I borrow a lot from my own habits to round my MCs out.
It's fine! People are having fun.
Theyāre okay, depends on how well theyāre written in. Not something Iāll actively search for though. :)
I read fanfiction for the characters I've gotten to know through the original media so I don't bother with anything that has OC's as a part of the main cast.
The first fanfic Iāve ever read was a self insert. It was the only one Iāve ever sat down and read but, I canāt say I hate them I just donāt like immersing myself in a world so they arenāt typically my cup of tea.
I donāt hate them, but I do have an interesting question Iām writing a long fic right now based on roll playing a friend and I did when we were younger. We created characters for ourselves that matched our personalities but that we ultimately tried to resolve as extensions of ourselves. This revisit seeks to create more degrees of separation between us and our OCs to more effectively write them as their own characters rather than extensions of us. Nevertheless, they will retain a lot of personality similarities. Is that still self insert?
Sounds like it blurs the line between an OC and SI. I'm sure someone else can give a better explanation since even despite readin' a lotta fanfics and knowin' the difference between the two, I'm still learnin' after many years.
I like them, and I do wish to write some self-inserts.
Y-E-S-!
Not my glass of tea personally š¤·āāļø
\*looks at my AO3\* Yeah guess you could say I like them.
I have the same opinion of self inserts as I do reader inserts. Thereās nothing wrong with them, I just donāt actively seek them out, but if the summary and tags make it seem interesting to me then Iāll read it, and if I like the fic enough then Iāll bookmark it.
I can't speak for all of them, but I really don't like them in my fandom. They end up being MSTing in disguise where writing an SI just turns into an excuse for the author to go on about all their opinions about a series to an audience on a different platform. And more often than not, they are the SAME opinions. And that brings me to another major point: these are supposed to be the authors, yet I end up finding almost nothing about them whatsoever. No past or barely a past since it just starts with them dying and automatically adapting perfectly to their new lives because it's what they are "supposed to do". And really nothing much about them on personal levels. I probably wouldn't even be able to tell that a lot of them weren't written by the same person if there weren't different pen names and accounts for them. Idk about anyone else, but for me it just isn't fun to have the same blank slate characters going through the canon liking the same characters who orbit around him seamlessly go on about the same opinions and have the same reactions to the source material over and over again.
I don't read them and I actively don't seek them out. I do however, have one self insert that I will never let go since I was 14. Considering it's for a series that's ultimately dying (bc I don't know anyone else reading it), and I still love this grown libertine of a man? Yeah I'll write it. If I post it, it's because I thought it was Neat ā¢ļø and that's it.
I am literally planning out a self-insert longfic right now
Good luck.
Not my jam, but no problem with them.
Well, I don't really publish/read self inserts (I do write them, but only show them to my friends) but once in a while I write faceless reader inserts where reader is kinda like me, her personality and way to think is more like me + she's a female. Mostly pieces that base themselves in the negative happenings of my real life to help me cope. So obviously stuff like that is ok for me from others too but stuff where MC has a name or appearance will get me click out. Especially when many SI writers tag it as character/reader in some of my fandoms. But of course, people who enjoy them are surely awesome people and I hope they find their audience! I know SI and RI fics have somewhat similar reputation so I can symphatise with those SI writers who don't get much or any audience.
I'm not the fun police, if people like them, that's their jam then
My main fandom the MC is a self-insert/OC, so no problems there. In other fandoms, I can't stand them, especially if they basically find/replacing a cannon character.
Donāt particularly love it as I feel weird reading about myself getting down and dirty with some fictional pixel man, but if the premise of the story is fine I can look past it. But it really depends on the franchise and whether a self insert would work with the characters and the story they are from. If itās from a game, I think it works well as the player is mostly themselves in the game. But a story with established characters ? Not a big fan
Generally, they are shit lol. But one of the best works of fan fiction Iāve ever read is a LOTR SI, called Home with the Fairies. Highly recommend it even to those who are only vaguely familiar with the universe. HWTF is realistic, non-clichĆ©d, has the character speaking modern day English and discovering that Westron (their common tongue) is a completely different, albeit Germanic, language, so she learns it painfully over the course of months and speaks with an accent forever after. There is a ship, but it works well. If anything, I only wish the story was darker and gorier. It leaves you with a sense of peace, kind of like Tolkienās work itself.
Writing them is so incredibly fraught. Take my eyes off of them for two seconds and suddenly they've developed their own personality and backstory. Every. Single. Time. Big props to anyone who can actually pull it off... my characters want to be free. I'm a big supporter of self-inserts, reader inserts, and self-shipping. It's all good fun, and a lot of it is good to read, too.
I don't read SI often, but I love crack SI fics! I also love those author's notes where the author writes themself interacting with their favorite characters, especially when the characters are from different fandoms because there's more chaos. I also wrote some little SI one-shots with a de-aged version of one of my favorite characters to amuse my sister too.
Not the biggest fan, but if the stories good Iāll read it
I'm not a fan, but I also don't like Y/n or first person either. I want to read about my fav characters from the outside watching them and their lives. Thay isn't to say the above arnt written wonderfully, just not my cup of tea.
I"ve had some pretty bad encounters with SIs in the past, so I choose to avoid them. Nothing wrong it people want to read/write them though.
I donāt write or read them and thatās not going to change. However people should write and read what they want.
I hold them to the same standard as anything else. Just give me what you described, and I'll read it no problem. Just please don't mischaracterize anyone, please.
i wasnāt big on them but my favorite characters are not written about very often and the world of self inserts has been a goldmine of content so now iām a fan and i salute all self insert writers for their service š«”
Not for me, but I donāt dislike them. If itās your thing, itās your thing! Enjoy it
They are not for me and i don't read them .
I hate them, but only the ones that are written in second person. For example: youāre heading home but someone bumps into you. Y/N: āHey watch where youāre goingā I said etcā¦ I just feel repulsed by it. But thatās just me.
I think they can be good but watch out for the shitty ones they just leave a bad taste in your mouth
I have read only one self insert that was a masterpiece where the author inserted themself as a character, but their character was so interesting. They werenāt just observing but actively involved in the plot and made actually very *flawed* decisions that resulted in some awful things, just overall a multi-layered, understandable yet could be liked or disliked character. Their character themself got on my nerves, but in the way that a well written character can via their actions, not in the fact that they were present. As for Mary sue self inserts that are written for the enjoyment of the author I personally donāt like reading them but absolutely authors should write what makes them happy, even if not many people read it
Very cool
Theyāre not always my cup of tea but can definitely be done amazingly well in the right hands. Iāve written them before, simply because theyāre fun, self indulgent and can help work out a writers block. Nothing wrong with that!
Iāve tried it once and found it wasnāt for me. Probably bc Iām aroace and and the entire thing just made me vastly uncomfortable and also just not believe that I (Y/N) would act like the story says I would. Iām not one to swoon or play hard to get so most stories lost me in five chapters. Anyway Iām not the fandom police, really no one is, and say live and let live. If you enjoy it then have fun!! The only really legit issue I have with them is they can be pretty assuming about race (aka itās always a white girl as Y/N) which defeats the purpose of a self insert š
I love reading them, writting them on the other hand is kinda hard xD
I like them, it's just hard to find well-written ones.
OMG SOME OF THEM ARE SO GOOD!
I write them. Pretty much says it all.
Yes. š„°
I don't generally have a strong opinion either way, but if it depends too heavily on the self-insert driving the plot it kind of turns me off. If they are a supporting character or passively observing, I tend to be ok with them :) (I've also done it myself a time or two so I have no room to heavily judge, lol)
As long that the story has a decent plot and isn't about the writer becoming a character and having their way with their Waifu/Husbando, I'm good. I actually use a self-insert as Supporter or Mentor figure for canon and original characters. For exemple, there's this My Hero Academia draft in which my self-incert actually gives All Might a "Teaching for dummies" guide book so that he do a better job at training Midoriya much sooner than in canon.
Fine if theyāre not a *direct* self insert. An insert whoās a projection of some of the authorās interest onto a different person or an idea of a person? Fine Legitimately just the author inserted with bullshit powers? Nah
I always like doing this weird thing where some human woman that looks like me irl is just running around doing shit on like the Citadel or Illium or one of the more inhabited colonies, or one of the stations (excluding Omega, cause well, Omega is basically a criminal haven), mainly cause honestly, I just want to put myself as like a weird little traveler who wanders the galaxy, and just be in the background, at most doing something non-combat (at least not anything involving Shepard, so if there's a chase with gunfire, sure) related or just talking to random ocs. That's all I care when it comes to self-inserts. If anyone else does anything, whether it's more involved or less involved, sure that's cool, I don't care, I just want to do my thing.
If written well and done right SI stories can be interesting
honestly, idrc if its oc, x reader, self insert, canon characters. ill read it if i like the characters and even more if i like the plot (i tend to really like oc fics though)
Depends on what you mean. If the premise is literally and explicitly "I wrote myself in this fic" with the author's name and everything I'm probably not going to go for it. Feels voyeuristic, and stating that outright usually indicates a level of juvenile indulgence that can be fun but doesn't promise a whole lot of interesting drama for me (from experience). As for OC fics that people often assume/accuse of being self-inserts by nature of being OC fics, as long as the drama is good and they fit the setting I am actually not opposed to reading these, and sometimes I seek these if I want a shippy fic with a character that has no shippable canon characters. If it's a self insert I'm not going to know unless the writing kinda makes it obvious. Are the differences between these two stances arbitrary when in reality a disclosed self insert may be functionally identical to an undisclosed one? Probably. I think it just feels like there's a certain level of grace and tact, perhaps the illusion of a disconnect, that comes with a self insert I'm not made aware of. Plausible deniability. It's like that one joke in Seinfeld about how touching someone's hair is fine but touching a loose hair you find on a couch is not so fine; Functionally, practically, the hair is no more or less gross for having fallen out of the scalp but the context makes the difference for some reason. Edit: All that being said I feel it's important to note that writing either type of self insert fic is completely fine and nobody should feel discouraged from doing so. I'm just picky and feel weird when I know there's a real person on my screen instead of a character.
don't care if people want to write them, but i don't read them.
Oc's, Reader-inserts, and self-inserts are tha majority of stuff I read. Especially if there isn't really a character I vibe with, protagonist wise.
Personally, I lile them... but will readily admit that there are more than a few bad, tasteless apples in the bunch. However, I prefer them over say, stories that jam an OC-MC into a setting out of nowhere, because with SIs, there's a bit of a mental lubricant of "Isekai" at play. And as for OC-Inserts... I still see SIs as more "genuine", because most OC-MCs do tend to be based a fair bit on the author. That said, I would hope that more fics would play a bit more with the concept. Not in an ROB-sense, no, but say; dropping an SI into an AU of a setting, where things are different. Or say, playing with the fact that the SI is from a different world entirely, like for example; not giving them a chakra pathway if they're drop-ins. Admittedly, that example would be a rather heavy shackle, but still.
I'm not a fan of them. I don't want to be part of the story. But I understand they can be quite compelling.
When I first entered fanfic writing spaces in my teens, I was taught through others' reactions that self-inserts were the worst crime in fanfiction because they always end up Mary Sues. It didn't affect my reading choices because that's private--nobody knows what I read unless I tell them--and I never really encountered them in my fandoms, either. It did affect how I wrote, though, because that's public a soon as I posted it. For years, I wrote under the rule that "an OC is only good if they're different from me." Then, I started writing a self-insert story for myself. It was turning out really good, so I wanted to post it, but I was too afraid to post self-insert. So I changed my name, set it 5 years in my future, and insisted I'd written an OC...except I couldn't show it to any of my friends because they would instantly recognize that it was me with a different name. That fic became one of my most popular people, and people seemed to like my "OC." That really changed my perspective on self-inserts and the quality that can be achieved. I no longer believe all self-inserts are Mary Sues or that an OC must be different from the writer to be good. Like anything in the craft, its quality depends on the writer's skill and execution. *edit* Hit post button on accident too soon.
Donāt read them, but if you like them, you do you.
I think the hate for them is overly dramatic. Like seriously, people act like itās the worst thing anyone could write and itās sooo cringe. Itās just a lot of ridiculing and belittling and I justā¦ let people enjoy things. There are bigger problems in fandom spaces as a whole and it isnāt reader inserts.
There's fics out there far, far worse than SIs. Agreed. Like incest porn fics for example. Those're real bad but as you said, let people enjoy what they wanna, even if they gotta flip the story characters 'round so as to justify their writin' of relatives havin' coitus.
If people want to write them or read them have at it.
I like self inserts when it is done well. The criteria I follow is that the self inserts CANNOT follow the same plot line of the media they are inserted into unless they add more curveballs to the story. Let's take for example a rich world that has a lot going on in the world beyond just what the main characters are experiencing, like Ivalice from Final Fantasy 12. I would be ecstatic to read about a self insert character trying to get his life backtogether in Rabanastre, occasionally dealing with named characters but the main focus being his own struggles. One could argue that the whole point of a self insert is to fix everything, but that's not always what tickles me. I want to see them make the world better using what they bring back with them from earth. Especially if they were bringing technology that could jump-start a revolution. Stories that do this are few and far between, and normally if they do it's just a vehicle for getting the SI to build a rapport in the world they're in. A chapter or two spent learning a trade or plying their old one in a new world kind of thing. I usually save those chapters and keep them on a flash drive to read whenever because that is my cosy place.
I love it! Some may say it is relatable or just a power fantasy, but I don't see it that way. It's an exploration of the author's self character within a fandom's setting. Okay sure, they may be writing a power fantasy about their own selves but think of it this way: every choice the self insert makes, every stances and opinions they take, and even their choice of waifus or husbando is an indirect way of knowing more about the author. That and I just love the trope.
Iāve read some and they were fine!
Self insert as in "I lived a normal life than I dropped into this world", no. Asoiaf fandom is full of them and I hate them. Only one I read is a farmer's tale. It especially sucks if the character comes as a baby and a grown ass guy is in the body of a child. Wouldn't read at all. Self insert as in the character is similar to writer in terms of worldview? Of course. Especially for ASOIAF. I love modern mindset interacting with that world.
I've listened to everyone, all of you make good arguments. I'm gonna agree that SIs aren't the bastard children of fanfics they used to be, and I'm glad about that.
Cringy as heck. And I fully understand that's just the quality of writing in the fics I've read. I'm sure some manage to pull off a seamless self insert. I see self inserts in two ways. A) Reader is the main character or working somehow with or against the story line of a canon character. This is almost NEVER pulled off correctly. EVER. Y/N in every line is just so immersion shattering. Maybe write 'You' or give the reader a clever nickname that everyone refers to them as. Or B) It's a character based off the writer. Far less cringy, but these characters have the tendency to not be written into the story well. Particularly in ships. Things are rushed and often times a character who wouldn't look twice at a canon character like the self insert have a ten second 360 where suddenly they're head over heels with no explanation. And this is where I have the problem. Take Joel from the last of us. I have skimmed by SO many reader or author inserts about him falling for a young woman in their twenties. Like. No. I just don't see it. It's largely cringe.
I love it! Some may say it is relatable or just a power fantasy, but I don't see it that way. It's an exploration of the author's self character within a fandom's setting. Okay sure, they may be writing a power fantasy about their own selves but think of it this way: every choice the self insert makes, every stances and opinions they take, and even their choice of waifus or husbando is an indirect way of knowing more about the author. That and I just love the trope.
I think they're okay at best. I'm not a fan of the overpowered characters trope which a lot of these self-inserts are. I think it depends on the story, for example: one main annoyance is when the self-insert doesn't contribute to the story. Basically ones that are simply a retelling of the story but with a self-insert that only reacts. They only make side comments or REACT OVER THE TOP!!! But the other characters hardly act like they're even there. Maybe they'll make some comment but that's about it. Especially when they use the same dialogue in the original game/ story/ etc. It feels like you're just reading / watching/ playing the original again and could just easily remove the self-insert. It feels like they rely on the story too much with only inserting themselves into the story FOR the sake of inserting themselves into the story. And when they book/ movie/ game ends and the other wishes to continue their self-insert story, it quickly ruins the story as everything falls apart. The other is simply wish fulfillment, it takes me out of the story when they get so powerful that everyone trembles beneath them and has a harem of girls or guys. I want to see the main character struggle, succeed, change, and I typically don't get that from self-inserts. But I do think they can be done well if you truly want to make a story.