#Even my little avatar buddy here looks more like a Pokémon

[toastshark]

Artiblock used Block!

…yeppp. It has finally hit once again. Please take this drawing as compensation.

Gimme a few turns until it wears off, but until then I‘m probably just gonna draw doodles for now. (The already requested drawings aren’t cancelled btw, just delayed until I fully get into it again. Or you’re fine with messy doodles, in that case I can probably still do them now)

But hey, drawing this was pretty fun, so it’s already getting better!

[myopinionisimportant]

It's 2021: Here's Why You Should Be Playing Pokémon Go

When Pokemon Go was first released back in 2016, it made a bit of a splash. People were out everywhere, finding wild pokemon, wandering their neighbourhoods, giving each other awkward nods and shy smiles that said yes, I too am playing that thing. A year later, it had just about disappeared from the public consciousness. Five years on, and it's mostly that thing people kind of remember, a bit, not really. But the game is still there, better than ever and improving all the time. And in a world where a lot of things are terrible, it's nice that this has stuck around - at least for now.

So here's why I'm still playing it, and why you should be too.

There's More To It Than You Remember

One of the reasons people dropped off the game was that back in 2016, there wasn't that much gameplay in it. You walked around, got pokeballs from pokestops, caught pokemon, and that was sort of...it. Alright, there was some stuff with gyms as well, but it was pretty limited, and as some players shot up to the higher levels, newer or less dedicated players were largely locked out of participating.

Fast forward to 2021, and...well, there's a lot of new stuff there. The gyms have been revamped entirely so that even brand new players have a chance of defeating other teams and getting their own mons in, there's little missions to complete for bonuses ranging from berries and pokeballs to rare and hard-to-find pokemon, and there's a global battle league for those who like a competition. You can play with a pokemon buddy, feeding them treats, taking photos of them in the world, and letting them follow your avatar as you walk around the game world. They've chucked in battles against roaming Team Rocket members (which, ultimately, let you fight the big boss Giovanni himself). For those (like me) who mostly play alone, there's low-level raids, while large raids let you fight (and catch) legendary pokemon with groups of other players.

And speaking of other players...

Yes, They Know There's A Pandemic

Covid-19 has shaken the world, there's no way to deny that, and at time of writing it looks like it's far from over. For a game that has been characterised by crowds of strangers congregating in parks and around statues, that's certainly a concern to grapple with.

The good news is...well, they have. Some tweaks have been minor, like increasing the distance at which you can interact with stops and gyms so that you don't have to get closer than the other side of the street, or making it so that the battle league doesn't require walking to participate. Others have been more significant, like the introduction of 'remote raid passes' to let people raid from a distance - potentially from anywhere in the world, under the right circumstances.

And what are those circumstances? Well...

It's Friendlier Than Ever

Back in 2016, Pokemon Go was a fun way to get out and meet people in your neighbourhood. However, this wasn't reeeeally something reflected in-game. Sure you could be in the same team as your friends, you could defend the same gyms, but that didn't go very far.

Well, it took a little while, but they've not only let you add friends, they've given you good reasons to do it. If you fight alongside a friend in a raid, your pokemon are stronger. When you trade with friends, you have a chance to guarantee the pokemon will become 'lucky,' a nice little benefit that helps you to power them up. You can send your friends gifts (which you get free from pokestops) that turn into nice little bundles of items, and might have special eggs in there to hatch. And, as I sort of alluded to above, you can invite them to remotely join you in a raid, backing you up no matter where they're playing from.

(And if you'd like some gifts from Australia, my code is 0852 3085 0093)

There's one more thing that I find pretty significant, too:

It's Still Totally Free (If You Want)

Okay, the game has an in-game currency that you can spend real money on, and if you want you can certainly go through it with a pretty decent speed. But, critically, there is absolutely no need to. You can get things that might help you level up quicker or catch more pokemon, but none of that is remotely required to enjoy yourself and do decently in the game. Even if you do want stuff from the shop, you can earn the in-game currency at a reasonable speed, as long as there's a couple of gyms and a few other players around you. I personally have never paid a single dollar for this game in all the time that I've played it - and unlike a lot of other optionally-free games, it's never committed the deep sin of showing me an ad. Which these days seems to be about as rare as a shiny Chimecho.

Basically I just really like this game and I'd like it even better with a few more players.

Join me!

[spartanguard]

a different kind of catch

HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY, @word-bug!!!!!!!! I’d hoped to have this up on your actual bday, but hope it was absolutely amazing and as wonderful and sweet as you are!!! This little CS ficlet was inspired by our mutual continuing love of  Pokémon Go; hope you like it! Love you!!! | 1.9k, rated PG

Emma wasn’t going to let this one go, not this time; she’d come way too close to give up now. She hurried to the spot where her phone told her she’d find her mark, constantly glancing down at the screen to make sure she wasn’t too late.

Everything seemed fine, but she picked up her pace to a jog, impatient to get there as she ran past people on the streets of Boston.

She was almost there—to the Starbucks on the corner—and so close to her prize that she could almost taste it (though that might also have just been the scent of coffee in the air).

Until she collided with something warm and solid just feet from her goal. “Oof—what the hell?”

“Uuh; bloody hell!” the other body shouted out as they both hit the pavement, phones clattering from their hands. Shit, her screen better not be cracked.

“Watch where you’re going, buddy!” she yelled, not looking at the man who ran into her as she scrambled to standing and grabbed her phone. Thank God, not broken—and better yet, there it was!

“Where I’m going?” he protested; she vaguely noticed he had an accent but was too caught up to really care. “Maybe get your head out of your damned phone and you wouldn’t knock over unsuspecting civilians!”

She just waved him off; she had to focus. She’d already missed on her first try, so she threw a berry this time and tried again. It caught...but it broke out. It didn’t run, though.

“Oh, is that the Lapras?” he asked.

“Yes, it’s the Lapras!” she hissed back, not taking her attention off her screen. “I’ve been waiting to catch one of these since the damn game started!” She didn’t have to defend her playing of Pokémon Go as a full-grown adult to some random asshole—not she was finally going to catch one of her favorite Pokémon.

“No, me too; good luck,” he told her, then went silent.

That kind of surprised her, but not enough to distract her from choosing an Ultra Ball. “You too,” she muttered as she wound up a curve ball.

She let go, and the message on the screen said “Great!” as the animation of the ball clasping around the Lapras played. Then she held her breath, waiting—one...two...three!

“Freaking finally!” she shouted; it may have taken two years, but she’d finally got it! (And it was high CP, too!)

“There it is, yes!” the guy echoed moments later. Caught up in the high of the catch, she turned around to give him a high five in celebration of their shared victory.

Without thinking, their hands slapped together, and then she got a look at him—and, woah, he was a catch, too: dark, disheveled hair hung over his forehead, just above his bright blue eyes, sparkling with happiness; a grin was playing at his lips and his sharp jaw was dusted with gingery scruff; and he may as well have been dressed like a modern Pokémon trainer because who honestly wore waistcoats anymore? (Though she didn’t recall anyone from the anime with that much chest hair...not that she was complaining.)

He seemed just as taken aback as she was, and their hands kind of hung in the air after their high five until they realized what they were doing and dropped them, both suddenly aware of how awkward they were being—not that it really mattered when they were celebrating a video game based on a television show that was originally targeted at children.

“Congratulations, love,” he offered, nodding toward her phone. “Is it a good one?”

“Yeah,” she answered, kind of shyly. “Yours?”

“Pretty good.” They stood there for another moment, unsure what to do; she should probably keep walking, considering she had an egg close to hatching, but then he spoke up again. “I do apologize for the collision; I believe I was just as focused as you were on catching that. Let me buy you a drink to make up for it?” he said, tilting his head at the Starbucks. “Maybe a Pokémon Go frappuccino?” he suggested, winking poorly.

She just scrunched her nose and giggled; she’d had that once and it was way too sweet for her. “Nah, that’s too much,” she replied. “But I guess I could go for a hot chocolate?”

“Sounds perfect.” He gestured toward the door, but then raced ahead to open it before she got to it.

“So now you’re a gentleman?” she teased.

“I’m always a gentleman,” he answered smoothly.

She shivered a bit; damn, this guy had an effect on her, and that almost never happened. But most guys weren’t as unashamed about Pokémon Go as he was. “Does the gentleman have a name?” she enquired.

“Killian.”

“Emma.”

They got in line and both busied themselves with their phones while waiting to place their orders. “You know,” she started. “That’s probably a good name for a Lapras.”

“What is?” he wondered.

“Killian.” She liked saying his name; it was unique, and her Lapras was male, after all.

He grinned—a real one this time, and brilliant. “I suppose I could say that Emma is, too.” Oh, and she liked how he said her name, too.

“Seems like a pretty good way to honor the moment,” she decided.

“Aye,” he agreed, and they placed their drink order.

While they were waiting for their beverages at the other end of the counter, she couldn’t help but glance over as he scrolled through his collection. “Damn, how’d you get all those Mr. Mimes?” He had a ton, whereas she would likely never even get one—stupid geo-locked Pokémon!

“I just moved here from the UK,” he explained. “They’re everywhere over there. But I’ve yet to see any Tauros now that I’m here.”

“Yeah, you don’t see too many in the city; but out of town—tons. Actually, I have a couple strong ones, if you wanna trade?” Technically she’d been saving those for her brother—one of the only other people she knew who played and was amassing a Tauros army, for some reason—but she could totally spare one to a good, mutually beneficial cause.

“I'd love that!” he gushed. Their drinks were up, so they grabbed them and found a little table in the corner. “Pardon the awful line,” he started after they sat, “but what’s your number?”

She snorted, but it was probably the first time in ages she was happy to give someone her “number”. “It’s 1022 0206 0620.”

He typed it in and then proclaimed “sent! To SwanGirl83.”

“That’s me,” she confirmed, and she got the notification on her end a few seconds later. “xJollyxRogerx24?”

“Aye,” he replied. She took a moment to observe his avatar; it was a pretty close representation, though dressed as close as possible to being a pirate, complete with eye patch. “I take it you’re a Captain Hook fan?” she quipped.

“Ha, yeah,” he laughed. “It’s not quite a hook, but same idea,” he added, holding up his left hand—which she suddenly realized wasn’t a hand, but rather a gloved prosthesis that matched the ones his avatar wore.

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry—I didn’t mean—I didn’t even see…” she stammered; of course she’d put her foot in her mouth with the hottest player she’d ever come across; she could feel a Golem-like rock forming in her stomach.

To her surprise, though, he just waved her off. “No, no—you’re fine, lass; I’m the one making fun of it in the first place,” he assured her. Then his eyes bounced between her and his screen for a second, before stating, “I hope this isn’t too forward of me, but I daresay I prefer the actual Emma. Though that’s quite the fetching romper.”

She blushed a little, both at the compliment and the fact that she hadn’t changed her avatar’s outfit since the game started. There was just something so...Pokémon about that one-piece and leggings. “What can I say? I like to be comfy.”

“That implies you actually own a romper, then.”

“Ha, I wish!”

He replied with an almost goofy leer, eyebrow arched in amusement; she just shook her head, laughed, and promptly hid her embarrassment at walking into that by hiding in her hot chocolate.

“So, Pikachu as your companion?” he continued, apparently studying her via whatever symbolism could be found by her choices within the game.

“Yeah,” she said after she swallowed. “Can’t go wrong with a classic. And I like yellow.”

“I can see that, with you being yellow team and all.” He had her there.

“I’m guessing you like red, then, being Team Valor and with that shiny Gyarados there?” she guessed.

“Oy, he’s badass!” he protested, but then relented. “But yes, that’s part of it.”

They processed the trade, both finally adding another to their almost-completed Pokédexes, and then she sent him the most Boston gift she had on hand: Fenway Park. And he apparently sent her the most London one he still had: Big Ben. They shared giggles over that, and continued to chat—a bit about the game, comparing each others’ current stashes of Pokémon, but then it went onto work, family, friends, all that normal stuff, though it turned out neither of them really had much in that department.

Usually, she avoided romance altogether; she’d only found heartbreak there, and something told her Killian had, too. But what were the odds that she’d literally run into someone who shared so much with her, in addition to one of her favorite hobbies? For the first time in ages, she actually allowed herself to hope for something like that; hopefully he couldn’t see the Luvdiscs swimming in her eyes.

“Hey, there’s a raid a block over; I need to beat one for a research task.” His voice pulled her from her daydreaming. “Would you care to join me?”

She glanced at her screen; it was just a Ninetails, but she could always use another one. “Sure!”

They left the Starbucks—both hitting the Poké Stop there one more time for good measure, as well as a couple more on the way—and found the “gym” (actually just an ugly statue; it never ceased to amaze her the sorts of things that were considered “monuments” in this game). To the casual passerby, it probably looked like they were just two strangers immersed in their phones, but partnering up with Killian to takedown a foe was actually bringing them closer; seeing that red Gyarados in action was incredible, even if she was focused on what her Vaporeon was doing, too.

In no time at all, they’d knocked out the Ninetails and had both caught it. “I apologize if this is forward, Swan,” Killian said, “but we make quite the team.”

She couldn’t refute it. “Yeah, we do.”

Battling in raids together became a regular thing, and he was the first person she reached Best Friends level with (much to David’s chagrin). She jokingly bought him an eye patch for Christmas; he seriously bought her a romper.

And then, a couple years later, he proposed to her with a diamond ring nestled inside a Poké ball. People could rag on the game all they wanted; for Emma and Killian, it had been the best thing ever.

Hope you liked it and that maybe you got a birthday Lapras! also tagging a few others who I think still play/like it: @initiala @killian-morelike-killingme @distant-rose @queen-mabs-revenge @forestiyari @kat2609 @optomisticgirl @xpumpkindumplingx @wingedlioness @biancaros3 

[scifrey]

On February 10th, 2017 I had the fantastic opportunity to speak to a group of students and faculty from Grant MacEwan University in Edmonton, Alberta, about Fan Fiction, Mary Sues, and #DiversityMatters.

Above is the audio (slightly cleaned up - please forgive my inability to clean it up further) and below transcript of that talk.

Transcript:

Mike Perschon:

So, our keynote speaker is J.M. Frey. And she is from the Toronto area. I can say the “Toronto-area,” that’s a quick way of saying–

J.M. Frey

It’s a good way of saying it.

Mike Perschon:

–it and everything.

Uh, she is a science fiction and fantasy author. She’s a pop culture scholar.  She’s going to be talking to us about some of that stuff tonight. She often appears as a guest on podcasts, television, and radio programs. Okay, she’s got a book coming out later this year, the third in the series – the fantasy series – she’s has been writing for the past few years and, uh, she’s got a whole bunch of other creative projects on the go.

Tonight she’s going to be talking to us about how “Your Voice is Valid” and the idea of the “Mary Sue”.

So if you’ve seen that term in pop culture, and was confused what it was or, perhaps, gotten misinformation, you’ll find out exactly what that is.

[Applause truncated]

J.M. Frey:

Thank you very much for inviting me, everybody.

Thank you to the student organizers. Thank you to the faculty organizers. I really appreciate it.

I—ah-ah! First off, I’m gonna say: I’m going to have my notes with me, and I apologize, ‘cause talking for forty-five minutes is—a half hour! I promise, it’s a half hour!—without notes is a little much.

Um, so I just wanted to say thank you to Grant MacEwan for inviting me. Um, this is the first time in Edmonton, and I’m looking forward to exploring it. I think I was maybe promised roller coasters? I don’t know…

I do want to, in particular, thank you Mike for inviting me and for being my designated buddy while I’m here in Edmonton.  It is an honor to sleep in the same guest bed that Gail Carriger once slept in.

And secondly, I do want to say thank you to everyone else for being here. I do in my brain still think of myself in my brain think of myself as your age, even though I have been out of academia for… oh… a little bit over a decade. But I loved being you guys, I loved this moment of my life. Ah, this weekend is going to be so awesome, you have no idea.

But of course before the awesome happens, you’ve have to listen to a keynote and you’re probably wondering who this hobbit in the front of the room is, getting between you and these amazing burgers that I’ve heard about?

We don’t have “Red Robin”s in Ontario? So apparently I’m in for a treat. I’m very excited about it.

So, my name is J.M. Frey. I’m a science-fiction and fantasy author, a screenwriter, and a fanthropologist. And I have a declaration to make. A promise. A vow, if you will.

And it is this:

If I hear one more basement-dwelling troll call the lead female protagonist of a genre film a “Mary Sue” one more time, I’m going to scream.

I’m sure you’ve all seen this all before. A major science fiction, fantasy, video game, novel, or comic franchise or publisher announces a new title. Said new title features a lead protagonist who is female, or a person of color, or is not able-bodied, or is non-neurotypical, or is LGBTQA+.

It might be the new Iron Man or Spider-man, who are both young black teenagers now. The new Ms. Marvel, a Muslim girl. It could be Jyn Erso, the female lead of the latest Star Wars film, the deaf Daphne Vasquez from Switched at Birth, or Alex in Supergirl, who was just recently revealed to be a lesbian still coming to terms with her sexuality in her mid-thirties, or Dorian in Dragon Age, who is both a person of color and flamboyantly queer.

And generally, the audience cheers. Yay for diversity! Yay for representation! Yay for working to make the worlds we consume look more like the world we live in! Yaaaaay!

But there’s a certain segment of the fan population that does not celebrate.

I’m sure you all know what I’m talking about.

This certain brand of fan-person gets all up in arms on social media. They whine. They complain. They say that it’s not appropriate to change the gender, race, orientation, or physical abilities of a fictional creation, or just protest their inclusion to begin with. They decry the erosion of creativity in service of neo-liberalism, overreaching political-correctness, and femi-nazis. (Sorry, sorry – the femi-“alt-right”).

It’s not realistic – women can’t survive in space, they say, it’s just a fact. That is a direct quote, by the way. Superheroes can’t be black, they say. Video game characters shouldn’t have a sexual orientation, (unless that sexual orientation is straight and the game serves to support a male gaze ogling at half-dressed pixilated prostitutes).

And strong female characters have to wear boob armor. It’s just natural, they say.

They predict the end of civilization because things are no longer being done the way they’ve always been done. There’s nothing wrong with the system, they say. So don’t you dare change it.

And to enforce this opinion, to ensure that it’s really, really clear just how much contempt this certain segment of the fan population holds for any lead protagonist that isn’t a white, heterosexual, able-bodied, neurotypical, cismale, they do everything they can to tear down them down.

They do this by calling that a “Mary Sue.”

When fan fiction author Paula Smith first used the term “Mary Sue” in her 1973 story A Trekkie’s Tale, she was making a commentary on the frequent appearance of original characters in Star Trek fan fiction. Now, most of these characters existed as a masturbatory avatar – wanna bone Spock? (And, um, you know, let’s face it who didn’t?) They you write a story where a character representing you gets to bone Spock.

And if they weren’t a sexual fantasy, then they were an adventure fantasy – wanna be an officer on the Enterprise? Well, it’s the flagship of the Starfleet, so you better be good enough to get there. Chekov was the youngest navigator in Starfleet history, Uhura is the most tonally sensitive officer in linguistics, and Jim Kirk’s genius burned like a magnesium flare – you would have to keep up to earn your place on that bridge.

So this led to a slew of hyper sexualized, physically idealized, and unrealistically competent author-based characters populating the fan fiction of the time.

But inserting a trumped-up version of yourself into a narrative wasn’t invented in the 1970s. I mean, Aeneas was totally Virgil’s Mary Sue in his Iliad knock off, Dante was such a fanboy of the The Bible that he wrote himself into an adventure exploring it. Uh, Robin Hood’s merry men and King Arthur’s Knights of the Round Table kept growing in number, and characteristics with each retelling; and even painters have inserted themselves into commissioned pictures for centuries.

This isn’t new. This is not a recent human impulse.

But what Paula Smith and the Mary Sue-writing fan ficcers didn’t know at the time, was that they were crystallizing what it means to be an engaged consumer of media texts, instead of just a passive one. What it means to be so affected by a story, to love it so much that this same love bubbles up out of you and you have to do something about it.

Either in play, or in art. So for example, in pretending to be a ninja turtle on the play ground, or in trying to recreate the perfect version of a star fleet uniform to wear, or in creating art and making comics depicting your favorite moments or further adventures of the characters you love, or writing stories that encompass missing moments from the narratives.

“Mary Sues” are, at their center, a celebration of putting oneself and one’s own heart, and one’s own enjoyment of a media text, first.

So, heh, before I talk about why this certain segment of the population deploys the term “Mary Sue” the way it does, let’s take a closer look at this impulse for participatory play.

Here’s the sixty four thousand dollar question: where do “Mary Sues” come from?

I’d like you all to close your eyes, please.

Think back. Picture yourself outside, playing with your siblings, or the neighbour’s kids or you cousins…. and You’re probably around seven, or eight, or nine years old… and…

Think about the kind of games you’re playing. Ball games, chase games, and probably something with a narrative? Are you Power Rangers? Are you flying to Neverland with Peter Pan? Are you fighting Dementors and Death Eaters at Hogwarts? Are you the newest members of One Direction, are you Jem and the Holograms or the Misfits? Are you running around collecting Pokémon back before running around and collecting Pokémon was a thing?

Open your eyes.

That, guys, gals and non-binary pals, is where Mary Sues come from. That’s it. It’s as easy as that.

As a child you didn’t know that modern literary tradition pooh-poohs self-analogous characters, or that realism was required for depth of character. All you knew was that you wanted to be a part of that story, right.  If you wanted to be a train with Thomas and Friends, then you were a train. If you wanted to be a  magic pony from Equestria, you were a pony.  Or, you know, if you had brothers like me, then you were a pony-train.

Self-insert in childhood games teach kids the concept of elastic play, and this essential ability to imagine oneself in skins that are not one’s own, and to stretch and reshape narratives, is what breeds creativity and storytelling.

Now, think of your early stories.

You can keep your eyes open for this one.

As a child we all told and wrote stories about doing what, to us, were mundane everyday things like getting ice cream with the fictional characters we know and love.

So for example, my friend’s three year old tells his father bed time stories about going on walks through Home Hardware with his friends, the anthropomorphized versions of the local taco food truck and the commuter train his dad takes to work every morning. He doesn’t recognize the difference between real and fictional people (or for him, in this case, the stand ins that are the figures that loom large in his life right now as a three year old obsessed with massive machines). When you ask him to tell you a story, he talks about these fictions as if they’re real.

As we grow up, we do learn to differentiate between fantasy and reality. But, I posit that we never truly loose that “me too!” mentality. We see something amazing happening on the screen, or on the page, or on a playing field, and we want to be there, a part of it.

We sort ourselves into Hogwarts Houses. We choose hockey teams to love, and we wear their jerseys.    We buy ball caps from our favorite breweries, line up for hours to be the first to watch a new release or to buy a certain smartphone. We collect stamps and baseball cards and first editions of Jane Austen and Dan Brown. We want to be a part of it. And our capitalist, consumer society tells us to prove our love with our dollars, and do it.

And for fan creators, we want to be a part of it so badly that we’re willing to make it. Not for profit, but for sheer love.

And for the early writers, the newbies, the blossoming beginners, Mary Sues are where they generally start. Because those are the sorts of stories they’ve been telling yourselves for years already, right?

Yet as we get older, we begin to notice a dearth of representation – you’re not pony trains in our minds any more, and we have a better idea of what we look like. And we don’t see it. The glorious fantasy diversity of our childhoods is stripped away, narratives are codified by the mainstream media texts we consume, and people stop looking like us.

I’m reminded of a story I read on Tumblr, of a young black author living in Africa – who, I’m going to admit, whose name, I’m afraid, I wasn’t able to find when I went back to look for it, so my apologies to her –  and the story is about the first time she tried to write a fairytale in elementary school. She made her protagonist a little white girl, and when she was asked why she hadn’t chosen to make the protagonist back, this author realized that it hadn’t even occurred to her that she was allowed make her lead black. Even though she was surrounded by black faces, the adventures, and romance, and magic in everything she consumed only happened to the white.

This is not natural. This is nurture, not nature. This is learned behavior. And this is hegemony.

No child grows up believing they don’t have place in the story. This is something were are taught. And this is something that we are taught by the media texts weconsume.

Now, okay. I do want to pause and make a point here.

There isn’t anything fundamentally wrong with writing a narrative from the heterosexual, able bodied, neurotypical, white cismale POV in and of itself. I think we all have stories that we know and love and like to tell that are like that.

And people from community deserve to tell their stories as much as folks from other communities.

The problem comes when it’s the only narrative. The default narrative. The factory setting. When people who don’t see themselves reflected in the narrative nonetheless feel obligated to write such stories, instead of their own. When they are told and taught that it is the only story worth telling. ‎

There’s this really great essay by Ika Willis, and it’s called “Keeping Promises to Queer Children: Making Room for Mary Sue At Hogwarts“. And I think it’s the one – one of the most important pieces of writing not only on Mary Sues, but on the dire need for representation in general.

In the essay, Willis talks about Mary Sues – beyond being masturbatory adventure avatars for young people just coming into their own sexuality, or, um, avatars to go on adventures with – but as voice avatars. Mary Sues, when wielded with self-awareness, deliberateness, and precision, can force a wedge into the narrative, crack it open, and provide a space for marginalized identities and voices in a narrative that otherwise silences and ignores them.

This is done one of two ways. First: by jamming in a diverse Mary Sue. And making the characters and the world acknowledge and work with that diversity.

Or, second: by co-opting a pre-existing character and overlaying a new identity on them while retaining their essential characterization. Like making Bilbo Baggins non-binary, but still thinking that adventures are messy, dirty things. Or making Sherlock Holmes deaf, but still perfectly capable of solving all the crimes. Um… making James Potter Indian, so that the Dursleys prejudiced against Harry not only for his magic, but also for his skin color. Making Ariel the mermaid deal with severe body dysphoria, or giving Jane Foster PTSD after the events of Thor.

I like to call this voice avatar Mary Sue a Meta-Sue, because when authors have evolved enough in their storytelling abilities to consciously deploy Mary Sues as a deliberate trope, they’re doing so on a self-aware, meta-textual level.

So that is where Mary Sues comes from. But what is a Mary Sue? How can you point at a character and say, “Yes, that is – definitively – a Mary Sue”.

Well, Mary Sues can generally be characterized as:

-Too perfect, or unrealistically skilled. They shouldn’t be able to do all the things they do, or know all the things they know, as easily as they do or know them. For reasons of the plot expedience, they learn too fast, and are able to perform feats that other characters in their world who have studied or trained longer and harder find difficult. So like, for example, Neo in The Matrix.

-They are the black hole of every plot – every major quest or goal of the pre-existing characters warps to include or be about them; every character wants to befriend them, or romance them, or sleep with them, and every villain wants to possess them, or kill them, or sleep with them. Makes sense, as why write a character into the world if you’re not going to have something very important happen to them. So like, for example, Neo in The Matrix.

-A Mary Sue, because it’s usually written by a neophyte author who’s been taught that characters need flaws, has some sort of melodramatic, angsty tragic back-story that, while on the surface seems to motivate them into action, because of lack of experience in creating a follow-through of emotional motivation, doesn’t actually affect their mental health or ability to trust or be happy or in love. So, Like the emotional arc of, I dunno… Neo in The Matrix.

– A Mary Sue saves the day. This goes back to that impulse to be the center of the story. Like, Neo in The Matrix.

-And lastly, Mary Sues come from outside the group. They’re from the ‘real world’, like you and I, or have somehow discovered the hero’s secret identity and must be folded into the team, or are a new recruit, or are a sort of previously undiscovered stand-alone Chosen One. Like, for example, Neo in The Matrix.

Now, as I’ve said, there’s actually nothing inherently wrong with writing a Mary Sue. Neo is a Mary Sue, but The Matrix is still really good. So there’s nothing really wrong with it.

The first impulse of storytelling is to talk about oneself. All authors do it. Ww write about ourselves, only the more we write, the more skilled we become at disguising the sliver of us-ness in a character, folding it into something different and unique.

We, as storytellers, as humans, empathize with protagonists and fictional characters constantly – we love putting our feet into other people’s shoes. It’s how we understand and engage with the world.

And we as writers tap into our own emotions in order to describe them on the page. We take slices of our lives – our experiences, our memories, our friend’s verbal tics or hand gestures, aunt Brenda’s way of making tea, Uncle Rudy’s way having a pipe after dinner, that time Grannie got lost at the zoo (mouths: wasn’t my fault!) – and we weave them together into a golem that we call a character, which comes to life with a bit of literary magic.

I mean, allow me to be sparklingly reductionist for a second, but in the most basic sense, every character is a Mary Sue.

It’s just a matter of whether the writer has evolved to the point  in their craft that they’ve learned to animate that golem with the sliver of self-ness hidden deep enough that it is unrecognizable as self-ness, but still recognizable as human-ness.

That certain segment of the fan population has been telling us for years that if we don’t like what we see on TV or in video games, or in books, or comics, or on the stage, that we should just go make our own stuff. And now we are. And they are losing their goddamn minds! “Make your own stuff,” they say, and then follow it up with “What’s with all this political correctness gone wild? Uhg. This stuff is all just Mary Sue garbage.”

Well, yes. Of course it is. That’s the point. But why are they saying it like that?

Because they mean it in a derogatory sense.

They don’t mean it in the way that Paula Smith meant it – a little bit belittling but mostly fun; a bemused celebration of why we love putting ourselves into the stories and worlds we enjoy. They don’t mean it the way that Willis means it – a deliberate and knowing way to shove the previously marginalized into the center. They don’t even mean it the way that I mean it. And for those of you unfortunate enough to be in Dr. Perschon’s class, and have read The Untold Tale you’ll know: as a tool for carefully deconstructing and discussing character and narrative with a character and from within a narrative.

When a certain segment of the fan population talks about “Mary Sue”, they mean to weaponize it. To make it a stand-in for the worse thing that a character can be: bland, predictable, and too-perfect. Which, granted, many Mary Sues are. But not all of them. And a character doesn’t have to be a Mary Sue to be done badly, either.

When this certain segment of the fan population says “Mary Sue”, they’re trying to shame the creators for deviating from the norm - the white, the heterosexual, the able bodied, the neurotypical, the straight cismale.

When this certain segment of the population says “Mary Sue,” what they’re really saying is: “I don’t believe people like this are interesting enough to be the lead character in a story.”

When this certain segment of the population says “Mary Sue,” what they’re really saying is: “I don’t think there’s any need to listen to that voice. They’re not interesting enough.”

When this certain segment of the population says “Mary Sue,” what they’re really saying is: “This character is not what I am used to a.k.a. not like me, and I’m gonna whine about it.”

When this certain segment of the population says “Mary Sue,” what they’re really saying is: “Even though kids from all over the world, from many different cultural, religious and ethnic backgrounds have had to grow up learning to identify with characters who don’t look or think like them, identifying with characters who don’t look or think like me is hard and I don’t wanna.”

When this certain segment of the population says “Mary Sue,” what they’re really saying is: ”Even though I’ve grown up in a position of privilege and power, and even though publishing and producing diverse stories with diverse casts doesn’t actually cut into the proportionate representation that I receive, and never will, I am nonetheless scared that I’ll never see people like me in media texts ever again.”

When this certain segment of the population says “Mary Sue,” what they’re really saying is: “Considering my fellow human beings as fellow human beings worthy of having stories about them and their own experiences, in their own voices, is hard and I don’t wanna do it.”

When this certain segment of the population says “Mary Sue,” what they’re really saying is: “I only want stories about me.”

They call leads “Mary Sues” so people will stop writing them and instead write… well, their version of a “Mary Sue.” The character that is representative of their lived experiences, their power and masturbatory fantasies, their physical appearance, their sexual awakenings, their cultural identity, their voice, their kind of narratives.

Missing, of course, that the point of revisionist and inclusive narratives aren’t to shove out previous incarnations, but to coexist alongside them. It’s not taking away one entrée and offering only another – it’s building a buffet.

Okay, so who actually cares if these trolls call these diverse characters Mary Sues?

Well, unfortunately, because this certain segment of the population have traditionally been the group most listened-to by the mainstream media creators and the big money, their opinions have power. (Never mind that they’re not actually the biggest group of consumers anymore, nor no longer the most vocal.)

So, this is where you come in.

You have the power to take the Mary Sue from the edge of the narrative and into the centre. And you do can do this by normalizing it. Think back to that author who didn’t think little black girls were allowed to be the heroes of fairy tales. Now imagine how much different her inner world, her imagination might have been at the stage when she was first learning to understand her own self-worth, if she had seen faces like hers on the television, in comics, in games, and on the written page every day of her life.

And not just one or two heroes, but a broad spectrum of characters that run the gamut from hero to villain, from fragile to powerful, from straight to gay, and every other kind of intersectional identity.

You have the power to give children the ability to see themselves.

Multi-faceted representation normalizes the marginalized.

And if you have the privilege to be part of the passing member of the mainstream, then weaponize your privilege. Refuse to work with publishers, or websites, or conventions that don’t also support diverse creators. Put diverse characters in your work, and do so thoughtfully and with the input of the people from the community you are portraying. And if you’re given the opportunity to submit or speak at an event, offer to share the microphone.

–Sorry, I always get emotional at this part. Ah-heh!

The first thing I did when actor Burn Gorman got a Twitter account was to Tweet him  my thanks for saving the world in Pacific Rim while on a cane. As someone who isn’t as mobile as the heroes I see in action films - who knows for a fact that when the zombie apocalypse comes I will not be a-able to outrun the monsters – it meant so much to me that his character was not only an integral and vital member of the team who cancelled the apocalypse, but also that not once did someone call him a cripple, or tell him he couldn’t participate because of his disability, or leave him behind.

Diversity matters.

Not because it’s a trendy hashtag, or a way to sell media texts to a locked-down niche market, but because every single human being deserves to be told that they have a voice worth listening to; a life worth celebrating and showcasing in a narrative; a reality worth acknowledging and accepting and protecting; emotions that are worth exploring and validating; intelligence that is worth investing in and listening to; and a capacity to love that is worth adoring.

White, heterosexual, neurotypical, able-bodied cismales are not the only people on the planet who are human.

And you have a right to tell your story your way.

Okay, so I’ve basically spent thirty minutes basically cribbing my own MA thesis, and for what? Why? Well, you’re here for a conference focused on Narrative and Identity, right?

Calling something a “Mary Sue” in order to dismiss it out of hand, as an excuse to hate something before even seeing it, is how the trolls bury your Narrative and your Identity.  We are storytellers, all of us. Every person in this room.

Whether your wheel house is in fiction, or academia, or narrative non-fiction, we impart knowledge and offer experience through the written word, through the telling of tales, through leading a reader from one thought to another.

The root of the word “Essay” is the French “Essayer”. A verb meaning, “to try”. To try to convince the reader of a truth in an academic paper is no different than trying to convince a reader of an emotional truth in a fictional piece. Tout le monde doit essayer.

And we none of deserve to be shouted down, talked over, or dismissed. No one can tell you that your story isn’t worth telling. Of course it is. It’s yours.

And don’t let anyone call your characters, or your work, or you a ”Mary Sue” in the derogatory sense. Ever again.  Ever.

Or I am going to scream.

Thank you.

[kiramekisakurai]

Takumi, Odin and Xander? I like reading what people think about Xander, lol.

Hello! Likewise; reading about Xander has almost become a pastime of its own for me as of late. :P Interesting stuff. -And now, here’s a very long post.(^_^)

1. How I feel about him/her

Thiiiis guy. At first, I couldn’t help but be annoyed when he wouldn’t freely give me his trust as all the other Hoshido siblings had, (then Xander came along, and) but should I have been in his place, what would I have done? Excellent question. Considering the placement of events he wouldn’t have been quite old enough to remember Corrin, and will have already had his own reasons to bear distrust (more explanation below with sibling relationships).

He’s a slow-burning character with development (and flaws, which make him all the more easy to relate with), more so than the other Hoshidan royals, as far as I’d noticed at this moment.

2. Who I ship him/her with romantically

I ended up marrying him to Azura in Revelations, but I’m not quite sure why; I want to say it’s because when I played Birthright first had saw her heal him with her song, I was quite moved and kept this alternate storyline point in the back of my mind.

3. Who I ship him/her with platonically

Leo. 8| They’re frenemies and hate different things for the same reasons, but sometimes hate the same things and that’s how they bond.

4. What do I like about this character

There’s a lot to love about Takumi, from my perspective. He’s got the burden on him of being the younger sibling, always standing in the shadows of his older brother (much like his Nohrian equivalent, Leo), and as a result may sound like he has a somewhat jaded outlook on certain things at times in addition to being overly competitive as well as a perfectionist. While I don’t have siblings, I do have peers and often feel as though I’m “shrouded by the shadows of my predecessors” in different circumstances, but am often told I have nothing to worry about because there’s only one me, much like there’s only one Takumi. Besides, Takumi is the one who often saved me during many missions. :’D

His endearing fatherly relationship with his son(s) is also fantastic too (which in my case, is both Shigure and Kiragi).

5. Would I marry this character

When I play through Birthright once again, I very well may marry him (but it’s a tough choice, because there’s also Jacob, who I also adore).

6. What would I do if this character was real

I’d tell the poor guy to chill a little, but I’m a 100% pure®︎, verified✔️non-confrontational™️person by circumstance. Regardless, I might want to try to approach him to make small-talk (unusual for me!) but knowing him, I’m sure he’d give me his Tacomeat Face®︎ and take wide strides to avoid me thinking I’m Nohrian based on the way I dress and my general disposition.

1. How I feel about him/her

He reminds me of all the kids I used to hang out with back in middle school, junior high, and high school who were involved with band but also regularly brought their entire Pokémon/Yu-Gi-Oh!/Digimon/Magic card decks to school with them to duel/show off. They somehow also memorized every artillery, weapon, and aircraft used by the US and German military during WWII and could emulate sounds for each one of them. Oftentimes, they had a disposition to speak in role-play (they did that too), but excelled in both school and in social life. I did not always know what they were talking about when they went on their great digressions, but I always listened; in return, they listened to my digressions of similar interests. Many of them have gone off to become writers, software designers, public representatives, and actors. These people, each and every one of them, resonate with me as the Odins of my childhood.

2. Who I ship him/her with romantically

I had no idea who to marry this guy to, since “aching blood” seemed too strong for many, but Selena ended being a great match for him! Coincidentally enough, I was just asked about Selena and talked about this a little while ago.

3. Who I ship him/her with platonically

His “retainer buddy” Niles, because someone has to balance sinnamon rolls with cinnamon rolls.

4. What do I like about this character

I implicitly and talked about this in a nostalgic way back in the first prompt, but this guy reminds me of childhood acquaintances, which reminds me of simpler times, as a result.

Here’s something curious: during the A support conversation with the Avatar, Odin finally comes up with a name for his incredible pose, which just so happens to be “Shadow Glitter.” Alright, so this doesn’t sound so spectacular for me to mention on the surface, one would think, but it is. You see, he named it after me. Yup, it’s true. More specifically, he named it after my in-game character, Kirameki (キラメキ), which means “glitter.” I didn’t even know of this support when I named my character. Goodness, I’ve used “Kirameki” for years (look at my blog’s name, after all). It’s coincidental, but I think it’s adorable and made me really smile that day, which I needed x100.

5. Would I marry this character

I’m not sure, but there’s always a chance.

6. what would i do if this character was real

We’d probably become fast (platonic) friends interested in pretty similar things, but he would do most of the talking, I’m afraid!

1. How I feel about him/her

I apologize in advance, yet I couldn’t help but get a little personal here. It’s not often I find a character with whom I can relate with on such a deeply personal level, down to the very point that it’s physically and emotionally painful (which I admit is embarrassing, but hey I’m going through some rough times and ¯\_(ツ)_/¯), but here one is.

H o w e v e r . There are several stark contrasts between him and I, mostly surrounding the circumstances of immediate family: I have no siblings, and have an excellent relationship with both my parents, which is stronger than any bond I’ve shared with anyone else in this life I’ve lived. They’re also my best friends, after all. In some ways, I’m as much “their retainer” as they are “my retainers.”

Furthermore, I was born more like Leo: school came easy for me, and I continue to excel without too much of a struggle (but of course, grad school does indeed require more work). Because of this, however, here’s where the likeness to Xander comes in: being an only child, being the first-generation to go to and graduate from college, being the first in the entire family to go to grad school, living around resentful family members who wish for your ruin, and finally the lament of your own by-gone dreams ever lingering on the edges of your mind can make you feel like a battle-worn crown prince/ss. Like Xander, it has fallen upon me, partly due to my own aspirations but somewhat by fate, to shoulder heavy responsibilities which may ultimately overwhelm me —and like Xander again, he doesn’t know who or what he has to turn to, only that it is HE who must overcome it all to fulfill his oath. What a feeling.

2. Who I ship him/her with romantically

On a lighter note, Corrin. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I’ve been reading so much cute, fluffy doujinshi over on Pixiv, you have no idea

3. Who I ship him/her with platonically

I adore the strong bond he shares with his siblings; I’ll never know what that feels like, and it’s such a dear thing [insert the adorable and incredibly well-done Nohr sibling group hug fan art here].

4. What do I like about this character

Yet again, I spent the first prompt talking about this a little bit, but let’s see if I can get some new information flowing.

He’s awkward. We can tell he’s not comfortable getting out of his teeny-tiny comfort zone (“elbow-room?! What elbow-room!? Referring to one of his skills), but dear goodness, does he try. He tries for his loved ones, for his country, and for the good of the future. But he’s still so awkward at making small talk, it’s adorable; I get second-hand embarrassment and realize I’m hypocritical feeling this way considering I’m terrible at small talk too; “let’s talk business or let’s adjourn so I can do more business elsewhere.”

He’s genuine. Long story short, he’s got no time to be anything but, again, for his loved ones and his kingdom.

He’s respectful, —to both his friends (no matter the social rank) and foes. Regardless of the odds, he’s as diplomatic and respectful as he can be under the nasty circumstances.

He’s a workaholic, much to his own undoing. (Hey look, I too am one and also don’t know when to stop. What a coincidence.) Note: while useful, this is not always a good trait and is one which can be very, very easily taken advantage of. He’s found himself at the mercy of this situation often, much like I have, as many of us have.

He’s highly intelligent, yet often oblivious (especially in commoners’ ways, thanks to his early sheltered life).

He’s apparently got great handwriting, which for me is a treasure; I too take pride in my handwriting, and really liked reading this little note about him. (*^_^*)

He’s not just another cold, cardboard, bland, stoic, big brother stock character added to the story. Instead, he’s got a story of his own which he’s willing to share, while he listens to yours and even attempts to offer some advice. (I’m remembering his support logs with Hinoka, Sakura, Kaze, Mozu, and Felicia here).

He’s pretty (/^/ω/^/)

5. Would I marry this character

I did. Twice. And I’ve only played all three games once so far. c:

10/10 would marry again

6. What would I do if this character was real

[Kirameki.exe stopped working. Please contact system administrator for assistance.] Which is strange, considering he’s not quite my type in the physical sense, albeit quite close. Fun (but unchecked) facts: if he was indeed real, he’d easily be more than 12in (30.5cm+) taller than me. That’s more than enough reason for my graphics driver to crash, amirite? *ba dum tshh*

Levity aside, and should I already have a good idea of what his real-life personality is like based on the games (rock-solid logic, here), I really would “want to get to know him better” in not quite yet in the ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) way (yeah yeah I know what you’re thinking), but rather in a friendly manner. He’d make a warm companion, and I admit that it would be nice to finally share with someone these aspirations and pains. I would just hope he’s more forthcoming than I am and also approach me somehow, considering I’m far more shy than I sound here.

[infotainmentplus-blog]

Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery tips and tricks: Become a master witch or wizard! The wizarding world has finally magicked its way onto mobile with Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery for Android and iOS devices. The RPG adventure is available now from the Play Store and has already amassed over 1 million downloads from us mere muggles. While we’ve seen plenty of games set in the Harry Potter universe over the years — which, bar the excellent Lego series, have usually been rubbish — but Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery is the first game to release under Warner Bros’ Portkey Games banner, with Pokémon Go developer Niantic’s Wizards Unite expected later this year. Editor's Pick 15 best Android games of 2018! Gaming on mobile has been improving at a far greater rate than any technology that came before it. Android games seems to hit new heights every year. With the release of Android Nougat and Vulkan … With the franchises’ eponymous Boy Who Lived brushed aside, it’s time for you, a new student at the legendary school of witchcraft and wizardry, to grab your study books, take hold of your wand, and don the sorting hat. In this guide, you’ll find essential tips and tricks for excelling in classes, leveling up your attributes, and gaining points for winning the House Cup in Jam City’s latest title. How to get more energy without spending gems One thing you’ll notice within just a few minutes of playing Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery is that it’s unashamedly a free-to-play experience where every important action tied to progress through the story will drain your character’s energy (indicated by the blue bar in the top right with a lightning symbol). Whenever you run out of energy you’re given the option of refilling the meter by spending 55 gems — ostensibly the game’s premium currency. Unfortunately for players looking to hang onto their cash, those pink crystals are pretty rare and are required to buy the best clothes and accessories for your avatar. The simplest way to regain energy is putting the game down and waiting. You start the game with a 24 maximum Energy cap and a single unit takes a full four minutes to recharge, even if you close the app. That means it’ll take just over an hour and a half to fully refill your energy bar. Instead of just twiddling your thumbs, however, there are a few ways of regaining energy while still playing. The first is by hitting a new level, which completely refills your energy bar. Take advantage of this if you ever see the level bar about to tick over (shown inside your profile menu in the top left) by burning all of your energy first. You’ll also receive energy refills from finishing certain tasks early on in your adventure. You will also occasionally see energy show up as an optional activity reward. Only pick energy in this scenario if you’re absolutely desperate as there are usually far better rewards on offer — we’ll come back to why a little later on. Hogwarts is a huge place. Be sure to explore the grounds and grab extra energy. The final way of refilling your energy bar requires a bit of sleuthing. On your travels around Hogwarts you’ll see plenty of decorations adorning the school halls and characters milling around doing magic stuff. What you might not know is that tapping on certain objects will give a minor energy boost. Keep an eye out for portraits, books, torches, statues, and anything that looks out of place and give it a tap just in case. The same goes for House Elves which will randomly appear throughout the castle and will always reward a handful of Energy. It’s worth noting that all of these objects reset every six hours, so be sure to keep visiting them throughout the day. On a final note, you can increase your max energy by completing Flying lessons. In your first school year, you’ll only have access to three lessons, but more will unlock in later years. Ravenclaw for life. How to earn House Points and win the House Cup So you’ve stuck the grumpy old sorting hat on your head and chosen which House you want to represent (which isn’t how that works in the Harry Potter universe, but go with it). Now, as a fresh member of House Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw (the best one), or Slytherin, your goal is to win House Points and bring glory to your housemates by helping bring home the coveted House Cup. There are a few ways of claiming those precious points, but most will come from progressing through the main story and completing lessons. Make sure you always nail your demonstrations — which we’ll come to shortly — and try to get as many bonus stars as possible during lessons. Knowing your Harry Potter trivia (or Google Search) will help you along your journey. Be aware, however, that it’s far easier to lose House Points than it is to earn them. While it may be tempting to start a lesson while waiting for the next story quest to unlock, you should never attend class unless you know you can finish it. Lessons come in one, three, or eight-hour increments, with increasing rewards. To complete each lesson, you’ll need to use up energy to fill up the experience bar and hit the required number of stars. While it may be tempting to go for the bigger rewards, if you fail to hit the minimum requirement you’ll be docked House Points. Failing demonstrations and answering questions incorrectly can drop you a few points here and there too, but as a general rule, don’t upset your tutors by bailing on your classes! Follow the line. Easy. Nail demonstrations and become a dueling master Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery is a story-driven adventure where you’ll spend most of your time chatting, exploring, and uncovering secrets, but there some parts of gameplay that require a bit of action and skill from the player. The first you’ll come across is demonstrations. These will crop up during lessons when casting spells, mixing potions, and more, and come in two main flavors. One is a simple game of tracing a specific pattern without going outside the lines. These are incredibly simple and shouldn’t cause many players any problems. Some demonstrations will mix it up a bit with a reflex challenge where you have to hit the screen when one circle matches another. Again, these are fairly easy, but the game does a fairly poor job of telling you what to do. Take your time and you’ll be fine. The other main gameplay feature is dueling, which is essentially just rock-paper-scissors with wands. Aggressive beats Sneaky, Defensive beats Aggressive, Sneaky beats Defensive. Simple stuff. Be a good, rounded pupil No RPG is complete without character traits, and Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery is no exception. Your character has three attributes: courage, empathy, and knowledge. Each will level up as you progress through the game as rewards for completing story quests and other side tasks. All three attribute stats are equally important. Now, If you’ve picked, say, Gryffindor, as your House, you may be tempted to pool all of your stats into courage like the heroic Harry Potter himself. Unfortunately, if you do that you’ll also be missing out on some tasty bonus rewards. As you play through the story, you’ll encounter brainiacs, scaredy cats, and a sneaky Slytherin who constantly conspires against you, each of which will need to be handled in different ways. In some cases, you’ll see optional dialogue lines that are gated behind an attribute level. These responses will give you the best rewards, but you’ll need to have leveled up that specific attribute beforehand. Put simply, make sure you level up every attribute or you’ll be stuck picking boring responses and missing out on crucial bonuses. You clearly haven’t read the books, lady. Making friends Speaking of bonuses, those attributes will also help you tighten those bonds of friendship with your fellow witches and wizards. When you’re not trying to uncover the mystery behind your brother’s disappearance or attending classes, you can drop in on a select bunch of characters, with more unlocking as you progress through the story. From time to time these characters will have a handshake icon above their heads, which indicates they’re ready to hang out. This will cost you a small amount of coins. Aside from buying certain new robes, outfits, and accessories those coins are fairly useless otherwise so spend away! Be nice to Ben. These interactions hinge on those aforementioned attributes. If your stats don’t match the requirements shown before starting the activity then just come back later. You’ll also get bonus points towards leveling up your friendships if you have higher attributes. Gameplay-wise, you’ll need to listen closely to what your buddy is saying and pick an appropriate response from a choice of three answers. One of these will be outright wrong. The other two are technically both correct, but the one which most fits the scenario will reward you with more points. You can guess which response is the best by taking account of the character’s mood, which will fit into one of the three attributes. For example, when you’re talking to Ben, Hogwarts’ resident worrier, you’ll want to avoid “courage” responses or you’ll scare him off. Likewise, for your nerdy friend Rowan, you can get away with “Knowledge” answers because she’s a smarty pants. Always pick gems (or attributes) as a reward When you successfully complete a quest or hit a bonus star during an activity, you’ll be given the option of choosing between three rewards, which can be either coins, gems, energy, or attribute boosts. Bluntly, always pick gems. Pick. The. Gem. Gems can be an absolute lifesaver if you need a last minute energy refill and unless you’re happy to start spending real-world money, the best way of gathering more is saving those bonus rewards. If gems aren’t available, my advice is to go for attribute boosts. Energy and coins are fairly common rewards throughout the game and you’ll get more with attribute bonuses anyway. Unless you really, really need a few more coins to grab that swanky robe you’ve been coveting, start hoarding those gems and attribute boosts! Do you have any tips and tricks to share with your Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery loving peers? Then cast a spell in the comments! , via Android Authority http://bit.ly/2rdRmkX