David Johnston wrote:

You know, it's not true that SIs are "usually godlike".  At this point
there are plenty of SIs about ordinary goofs who for some reason become
instant friends with the heros of the series and get to date Nabiki or
become the fifth Knight Saber...

Usually, my problem is western or european gaijin = self insert. Which
of course is a stereotype. Kind of stupid.

That being the case, I wish self inserters would stop putting that
silly, "Unlike the others my character will not be godlike" disclaimer
in, particularly since those who dislike SIs don't dislike them for the
godlike powers they are given.  Typically a Self Insert is given
slightly more power than the average major character (but frequently not
more than the lead), is pampered by having all of his favourite
characters instantly like him as much as he likes them and can use his
omniscient knowledge of the people and events of the series to twist
them as he desires.

I've noticed alot of people jump in reply to how their character gets
treated like garbage, just like the rest of the characters. That in
itself is kind of hokey, because you -want- to be there otherwise the
story wouldn't be written, and you couldn't really be having it that bad
unless you were in the same boat as the characters; that is at the whim
of -another- author. 

Why do people dislike this?  The Self Inserter is obviously fond of
himself and will frequently distort character and plot to make himself
the center of attention, rather than concentrating on writing good
character and plot.  Further, all too often, the Self Inserter simply is
not a good character in his own right, perhaps because he's basicly
dull, or because the Self Inserter isn't prepared to reveal his
character in sufficient depth to make himself a good character.

Rather, I say he values his fandom very highly to give either a> the
series that much thought in context to himself and reality, or b> to
think of his existance in reference to the series.
 

That's not to say there haven't been good self-inserts.  I can think
of three.  Bubblegum Zone, that Gaffney Crystal Tokyo thing, and some of
Godboy's series (although I think it's a smidgeon on the aimless side,
so is a great deal of OMG).  There are a couple of others, where
character inserted is more like Everyfan than the author that aren't
bad.

which is about one step away from saying Western Gaijin = Self Insert,
which quite frankly is dumb. 

Yet an Asian Gaijin seems perfectly normal. ..go figure.

All in all thought, too many self-inserters never stop to wonder "Am I a
good character?", and "Are people reacting believable to me?"  Hey,
that's OK.  Self insertion is frequently written for the benefit of
the author, not the readers.  But if you are wondering why nobody seems
to like your self-insert, ask yourself these questions.

An even better tip; don't wander, ask them if they've read it.

:]

-TJ
-CSY head
-FFIRC head