![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
If You Are Female......
....and are sexy....
...powerful...
...and are special....
...did something first....
...or did something no one else could do...
...if you are the main character and own that...
...or have a tragic past or romantic entanglements...
...or I don't think your flaws are flawed enough...
...or you aren't hated by everyone....
...or your book has some examples of weak writing...
...or I just don't like you....
YOU'RE A MARY SUE.
To which I say:
....and are sexy....
...powerful...
...and are special....
...did something first....
...or did something no one else could do...
...if you are the main character and own that...
...or have a tragic past or romantic entanglements...
...or I don't think your flaws are flawed enough...
...or you aren't hated by everyone....
...or your book has some examples of weak writing...
...or I just don't like you....
YOU'RE A MARY SUE.
To which I say:
FUCK YOU, FANDOM & ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
fandomsecrets .
fandomsecrets .Tags:
no subject
no subject
no subject
no subject
But if they have a penis, then they're an awesome character.
no subject
I read it (with a LOT of cynicism) for the occasional "real secret" that actually slips in there, or the occasional smile.
Notes to the knuckleheads:
"I ship it" isn't a secret....
"I judge you" means you haven't noticed your own glass walls yet...
"My fandom is Ossim" is nice, but we've noticed already
"My fandom sucks" is too bad, but we've noticed that too.
"I wish I was him/her" is your secret, but it's a sad one.
"I've told everyone *except you, my best friend*" is passive aggressive bullshit, that makes me damn glad I'll never know you.
Sadly, if they stripped it down to real secrets - the painful, hidden, and sweet things in the postcards from the original concept... you'd have not much material at all.
no subject
no subject
You certainly wouldn't be able to put out a post every single day.
I read it (with a LOT of cynicism) for the occasional "real secret" that actually slips in there, or the occasional smile.
Same here. And periodically I'll cut myself off and say no more fandom secrets for a couple of weeks.
no subject
(And yeah, yesterday I was flipping through the post going, "Nope, not secret. Nope, not that one either....")
They've definitely lost the very point of the original Post Secret concept... That there are some things people cannot talk about to the others in their lives for whatever reason... and that secret is eating them inside. It is better off for the holder to surrender that secret to anonymity. True secrets add a psychic weight to the soul and are a huge burden.
no subject
Oh, so much yes.
And you're right about the weight secrets have. It's a shame so many people don't use it for what it's really intended for.
no subject
no subject
People need to learn the real definition of Mary-Sue and how it applies to hardly anyone.
This. This to infinity.
My list? Bella Swan, Anita Blake, and that idiot hero of the Wheel of Time Series.
no subject
...I hate fandom, too.
no subject
Birth control. Yep. God forbid a chick have sex without relying on authorial kindness to avoid getting knocked up.
no subject
A big reason why I avoid F_S these days. I see enough of this shit in real life anyhow.
no subject
no subject
no subject
Oh, F!S.
Being a Mary Sue is, I think, sort of the fandom equivalent to weight in real life. There isn't a way to win--there's just no way to write a character with a vagina that won't lead to a huge chunk of fandom turning into judgmental asses. I mean, you can't please everyone. But female character you don't like does NOT mean she's a Sue, and real Sue's in published work are pretty rare. I can think of... maybe three or four, and at least one of them is male. Any female lead will have a lot of people complaining that she's too much of a Sue while others are still complaining that she's not strong enough/smart enough/useful enough.
no subject
And it was actually a couple of secrets that prompted this.
can think of... maybe three or four, and at least one of them is male.
Same. If you have a problem with an author's writing actually TALK ABOUT WHAT IS WRONG WITH THEIR WRITING. Don't just slap the label 'mary sue' on a character and move on.
no subject
Unfortunately, it's gotten to the point where it doesn't actually mean anything, other than that the character is female. As though men never write total wish fulfillment characters. Hah.
no subject
Yep. That's the whole problem in a nutshell.
no subject
Not really.
Mary Sue usually means either an author insert or an idealized character or both.
Calling a character a Mary Sue usually implies that there is not redeeming quality about the character or the work itself and is often used INSTEAD of saying 'I have a problem with the writing here and here' which is actually something that could lead to a discussion.
Calling Mary Sue often comes across as both misogynistic and inflammatory.
Personally, there are three honest to god Mary Sues who I can't think of as anything else (all from published work). Everything is just weak-to-bad writing, imho.
Just as much as I'm tired of the flipside: people calling me a misogynist because I don't like every single character who just happens to have a vagina.
Yeah, way to betray the sisterhood there, rachel. Don't tell my you also didn't read the memo about hating all male character, too?
no subject
The problem is not the term "Mary Sue" or "Gary Stu." It's the people who throw those terms around without understanding what the hell they mean and using them in place of saying "I don't like this character for Shallow, Baseless Reason A.
This. I mean, I would even AGREE with some of the comments about their being problems with how some of the characters are written - but those problems DON'T mean the characters should be written off as Mary Sues.
no subject
I thought the point of "I ship it" secrets was for posting about ships that you secretly support but are ashamed/nervous about admitting to supporting openly, but it seems like people mostly just post random pairings.
And "Obscure Character XYZ is awesome" is really all about finding like-minded individuals.
no subject
It is a good way to get an idea out there if you want to hear what other people think but don't want your name attached to it.
And "Obscure Character XYZ is awesome" is really all about finding like-minded individuals.
*nods* Which actually, seems like a surprisingly positive use of f_s.
no subject
I disregard ANY Mary Sue accusation against a canon character. Mary Sues are in fanfiction. If you are so inclined to bitch and whine about a canon character you deem a Mary Sue, AT LEAST use the shitty term "Canon Sue". I'll still disregard it anyway.
no subject
no subject
Of course though, a character can be labeled a Mary Sue if they are the exact opposite of some of the things stated on the above list. No winning.
It sucks, really, that some would jump down the throat of a character because she was labeled as such. A lot of the time it's a very narrow minded judgment.
Oh, Fandom, sometimes I hate you just as much as I love you. It makes me want to give it a great big hug with my hands around it's throat.
no subject