samatethecookie | Mary Sues.

Why the Culture of Mary Sue Shaming is Bully Culture is an interesting meta about a problem I hadn't considered before.

Admittedly I poked fun at so-called Mary Sues in the past under my previous livejournal account--the most recent one is only a few years ago, ~~and I might dig out that entry because I forget the year I posted that entry~~ never mind, it was four years ago, I checked, so it wasn't that recent but it was still less than five years ago--but I never stopped to consider what it means to the authors of these stories, or how the term's adopted another set of problems that everyone tends to overlook. Or, call myself out on the hypocrisy since uhhh, I WROTE OFCs, TOO.

And since I'm sick of some of my favorite female characters being called Mary Sues to question their worth in canon--such as Tifa from Final Fantasy VII, Terra from Teen Titans, and Kairi from Kingdom Hearts--and I'm aware of how problematic this term is, I'd like to see it die, too. Or at least, see something change.

Here's a snippet from the meta.

boosette didn't write this, it was only included within the text to further prove the points raised in this meta:

No, “Mary Sue” has to go. Not only is it being applied too broadly to exclude female characters in general, but it is being used to devalue the writings and fantasies of young women. (Tolkien fan Dawn, at The Midhavens, March 2009)