The Firestorm
I've been going through the posts that I missed while away and came upon some replies...pages of them...dedicated to the question of whether Erestor is a Marty Sue. It was courageous to post and it did make me think. I do not however agree with the contention that he is a MS, though there were some good points made.
Call me shallow, but I like to read about good looking males. Erestor is often portrayed as handsome but he is far from alone in that. He has also been portrayed as horribly scarred. Vesta did a wonderful job of that recently. Quite often he is the councilor who is known for his bad attitude more than his looks. He has also been plain or coldly beautiful until an event occurs that brings out his inner beauty or cracks the facade. Of course there are fics where he is incredible...and I love them. I just don't see that as Marty Sue.
As far as his job, he was councilor at Elrond's Council. Of course he is going to be written as councilor. He is also often portrayed as having a warrior background which just makes sense. If he lived through particular periods of history it would be natural to take up arms if the skill was there. It does not seem odd that such an elf might then give up those arms. Beyond all of that though are the portrayals of Erestor as something entirely different. Off the top of my head there is the oh so hot, sexy and handsome harem dancer as done by the lovely Vesta. (Thank You, Thank You, Thank You for writing a sequel.) Then there was the forensic detective as written by the incredible team of Sian and Fim. (really loved that one) Both were wonderful and neither fit the mold.
The pairings are really a matter of personal taste. The pairing of Glorfindel and Erestor works and is popular. Some people do not read anything else. While I love that pairing, I enjoy others as well... with one exception. Vesta wrote a Gothmug pairing to satisfy a request. That was just scary. Poor Erestor! I don't think he cared for it either...not one bit.
While everyone will agree that there are cliches, I for one do not see it as a Marty Sue. That is just my opinion. It was interesting to see that viewpoint expressed. It had never occurred to me that some people might see the character in that light. The author of that post certainly got people's attention! Since everyone in fandom seemed to address that, thought I'd jot down my opinion as well.
Call me shallow, but I like to read about good looking males. Erestor is often portrayed as handsome but he is far from alone in that. He has also been portrayed as horribly scarred. Vesta did a wonderful job of that recently. Quite often he is the councilor who is known for his bad attitude more than his looks. He has also been plain or coldly beautiful until an event occurs that brings out his inner beauty or cracks the facade. Of course there are fics where he is incredible...and I love them. I just don't see that as Marty Sue.
As far as his job, he was councilor at Elrond's Council. Of course he is going to be written as councilor. He is also often portrayed as having a warrior background which just makes sense. If he lived through particular periods of history it would be natural to take up arms if the skill was there. It does not seem odd that such an elf might then give up those arms. Beyond all of that though are the portrayals of Erestor as something entirely different. Off the top of my head there is the oh so hot, sexy and handsome harem dancer as done by the lovely Vesta. (Thank You, Thank You, Thank You for writing a sequel.) Then there was the forensic detective as written by the incredible team of Sian and Fim. (really loved that one) Both were wonderful and neither fit the mold.
The pairings are really a matter of personal taste. The pairing of Glorfindel and Erestor works and is popular. Some people do not read anything else. While I love that pairing, I enjoy others as well... with one exception. Vesta wrote a Gothmug pairing to satisfy a request. That was just scary. Poor Erestor! I don't think he cared for it either...not one bit.
While everyone will agree that there are cliches, I for one do not see it as a Marty Sue. That is just my opinion. It was interesting to see that viewpoint expressed. It had never occurred to me that some people might see the character in that light. The author of that post certainly got people's attention! Since everyone in fandom seemed to address that, thought I'd jot down my opinion as well.