(my) immortal is a fan-fiction of legend, known to many who wander the dark and strange twisted places of the internet. It clearly sprang from the mind of a preteen girl obsessed with the ideas of passion and romance, with no practical ideas about sex or love from which to draw. It reeks of the temporary obsessions of youth – dark, Gothic and gloomy outlooks on life, vampires, blood, spikes and heels and lace and eyeliner – so much eyeliner. It drapes itself in the silly music of alt boy bands and in the preteen girl illusions about popularity, sex and fate.
And it is terrible.
Terrible, terrible drivel.
That fact makes it all the more miraculous that (my) immortal: The Web Series works on as many levels as it does. It is nothing short of brilliant that the creator takes the vapidness of the plots, the empty shell characters of the Mary Sues, and the awful writing and uses those very things to create something beautiful, meaningful and dare I say – deep.
The term “Mary Sue” has been around, historically, since the first Star Trek fan-fiction made its way into the world. It refers to a character “usually written by a beginning author. Often, the Mary Sue is a self-insert with a few “improvements” (ex. better body, more popular, etc). The Mary Sue character is almost always beautiful, smart, etc… In short, she is the “perfect” girl. The Mary Sue usually falls in love with the author’s favorite character(s) and winds up upstaging all of the other characters in the book/series/universe.” (Urban Dictionary)
In (my) immortal: The Web Series, the main character is a Mary Sue – Enoby Darkness Dementia Raven Way. She is a beautiful goth, a brilliant wizard, and presents herself with all the self-importance and self-confidence her author imbued her with. The joke is that the audience knows that she’s a Mary Sue, and the rest of the people interacting with her exist somewhere between the Hogwarts of the books and the world as we know it – they are often confused by her Mary Sue traits and the strange way that she thinks, not realizing they are the minor characters in her story. For instance, she insists bands like Simple Plan and My Chemical Romance are “goth” bands, and when other characters mention real goth bands, like Dead Can Dance and Lacuna Coil, she deadpans, “Who?”
Enoby believes that all the people she hangs out with need to be as goth as she is. She hangs out with Harry Potter, The Boy Who Lived, and fondly calls him, ‘Vampire’. Ron is ‘Diablo’, and at the start of the series Enoby is dating a less than interested Malfoy. She warns Hermione that someone might think she is prep with all that reading and studying she does, and it takes a few episodes for her to wise up to how awesome The Brightest Witch of her Age actually is.
The great thing that this series does is take the three major characters from the Harry Potter Series (and Malfoy) and really flesh them out as characters who have all the traits you are familiar with, as well as a few more, and who have flaws as well. For instance, Harry is still the Chosen One, who is a reluctant hero and also a person willing to step up for others. Here he is also a gay character having feelings for Malfoy, and admits to being a messed up person emotionally due to everything he’s been through, but says he keeps trying, because that’s who he is. He meshes well with this series’ Malfoy, who is still the rich boy who can be a bit of a selfish jerk, except here we see how he is feeling pressured by his father’s expectations and position in society. The story line positions a relationship with Harry as his outlet for these confusing and conflicting emotions, and the attraction feels real. Ron is somewhat bumbling, and shy, but also funny and sarcastic, providing a lot of the series’ jokes and one shot facial expressions, especially reacting to some of the outrageous things that Enoby says throughout. The ongoing conflict for him is feeling left out as the other characters couple up and hook up, and we know he has feelings for Hermione but trouble working up the courage to express them. He’s always on hand to assist in the big battles but, like in the books, seems to be delegated to the sidelines.
Hermione is the character that I find most fascinating. Here she is still the quiet bookworm who can be a know it all, but makes sure to reveal that she has a fiery side when she feels passionate about something. It’s great to see her emotional turmoil when she feels an inexplicable attraction to Enoby, and tries to reason it out, because reasoning is how she deals with everything. She is smart and savvy – and apparently, in the many fight scenes, brilliant at wand dueling. The series really seems to position her as the hero and the strength of the group, binding all the different personalities together and being a kind of matriarchal force of goodness against all the evil plots being hatched against her friends. It is she who’s story line most closely intersects with Enoby’s, and in fact the story of their friendship is really the story of Season One, culminating in an awesome battle at the end and a cheesy-not-cheesy speech about friendship and love.
What may be the ultimate testament to the writing of the series is Enoby herself. When we are first introduced to our Mary Sue du jour, she is almost unbearable in her annoying-ness. She puts down everyone and everything around her, noting that things aren’t dark or Gothic enough and declaring her hatred of all things “prep.” The group seems to be dragged around by her will alone, afraid to say no or knowing that if they did she would find a way to make them do what she wanted anyway. She’s the friend no one really remembers making friends with, but that always seems to be around anyway, and believes she’s the most important person in the room all the time. She’s oblivious to the frustrations and confusion of those around her, and will often dismiss criticism or corrections – which in itself is half the joke. She becomes endearing throughout the series, as we realize she will fight the bad guys with a fierce passion, and protect her friends, even if they will never be as cool as her. Her real humanizing moment comes near the end of the first season after she discovers her boyfriend Malfoy in a compromising position with her friend Harry – and reacts with a real hurt and hopelessness that’s very relate-able. It’s in the reconciliation of this group of friends that the big bad gets defeated at the end of season one, and it’s these friendships that hook you and make you want to watch more.
Season Two introduces the character of Tom Riddle, who easily seduces Enoby with his Gothic and Vampire ways, along with the fact that he shops at Hot Topic and is in a Goth Band. It’s hilarious to see the group’s reaction to the casual admission by Enoby that she’s dating Tom, and makes for a great series of jokes and funny moments at the start of the season. The conflict serves to test Harry and Malfoy’s relationship, pushes Ron to the point where he declares “Ron’s Day” to finally try to give himself some agency, and introduces another Mary Sue to spar a conflict between “The Sue of Light” and “The Sue of Dark.” If you’re thinking that it sounds ridiculous, that’s kind of the point, and that’s the kind of show this is – a show that pushes the boundaries of over the top fan fiction and uses crazy plots and even crazier characters to evoke moments of real tenderness and camaraderie. Another of the show’s strengths is the soundtrack, appropriately punk and evocative of college nights with friends back in the days where you were still discovering who you wanted to be. I suppose that’s another part of the charm of the series, as we can all relate to that time in our lives where we weren’t sure who we were or where we were going, but we knew who we wanted to go there with.
Overall (my) immortal: The Web Series is an impressive project that manages to make something wonderful out of what is widely known as the worst fan-fiction of all time. And that is no small feat.
