#or mary sues

[kittycowboy]

I am actually so serious I think it really messes with a childs creativity and joy to tell them to never make a mary sue OC. Like that unbridaled form of joy where you make a self insert OC who super cool and everyone loves them and they have every superpower in the world SHOULD be something a kid makes, it nourishes their ability to create things for fun and not be stifled by "oh but what if my character is too overpowered and cringey...". whatever

[tossawary]

This is petty fandom salt, BUT... I've been chewing on this phenomenon that I've been calling "Fandom's Darling". It is related to things like "Author's Darling" and "Mary Sue / Gary Stu" and "Protagonist Halo" and all that jazz, where one character gains a peculiar narrative weight in a story.

"Author's Darling" is when a writer has a favorite character, and the world and all other characters sort of get... warped to put the Darling in the spotlight. It's most noticeable in TV shows with multiple writers, when a character you personally like suddenly has their previous characterization destroyed to make another character look good somehow. Every other character might become weirdly incompetent. The Darling's feelings are treated as The Most Important Feelings in any given situation. The logic of the fictional world seems broken past suspension of disbelief in order to validate this one character's beliefs or skillset or some other fantasy. And so on.

"Fandom's Darling" is what I've been calling the pattern where a fandom essentially crowns a New Protagonist for their fanfiction stories (it's often a side character rather than the original protagonist, but it can also happen to protagonists). This character becomes the self-insert for all sorts of indulgent fantasies, gaining special powers or backstories, and/or becoming the focus of extreme whump, and/or hooking up with all the various hotties, starring in all sorts of tropey AUs, and so on. They're not always an obvious Mary Sue version of themselves, but the character's original personality and interpersonal relationships tend to get warped or dropped completely, and other characters tend to become a little flat around them. I call it "Fandom's Darling" because it's not just one self-indulgent fantasy fic (you do you! Have fun!) with characterization choices that I don't vibe with (I have neither the time nor the desire nor the authority to police anything, I am just venting), but rather a prolific mini-fandom of sorts revolving around this empty doll / fanon version of the chosen vessel character, so it becomes a little unavoidable.

I am salty about this (mildly frustrated) (imagine a soft sigh of disappointment before I just go do something else) because you are FUCKED if you actually liked the canonical version of this character and their interpersonal relationships. It's almost worse than liking an obscure character that no one cares about. There's about a thousand fics starring your fave, but maybe only about a dozen of them are actually rooted in any kind of recognisable canon.

[savagegood]

enemies to lovers? and they were teammates - and roommates? men’s sports have nothing on women’s sports

and this particular guy... cry harder (imagine if women's sports had the funding, visibility and accessibility men's sports are gifted):

[theriverbeyond]

Gideon Nav casually climbing twenty-two (22!!!) flights of stairs to get to the landing field in chapter 1 is yet more evidence that her legs are actually very strong, thank you very much, BUT it is also very funny to imagine her sweating and wheezing hands on her knees dizzy whole body burning thinking what if instead of escaping the Ninth she simply laid down and died

[budgieflitter]

WELCOME TO STRANGEVIEW

oh hey its budgieflitter and her swap aus obsession again descriptions are under the cut 🔽

CALIENTE + LOTHARIO = BEAKER When Don got a date with the Caliente sisters, he thought he won a jackpot. What he did not expect, though, was to wake up next morning on an operation table in their basement. Will this test subject last or the sisters will have to look for a replacement soon?

GOTH = SPECTER Turns out not only relatives are buried in local oligarch's graveyard. Ever since Mortimer's wife Bella mysteriously disappeared, he became more reclusive than he already was. She was not the only victim - all of his daughter Cassandra's fiancés seemed to disappear one by one. Will Alexander get used to living with ghosts? Can Cassandra ever find love again?

BROKE + DREAMER = GRUNT Brandi and Darren found comfort in each other after a terrible tragedy struck their families, however it seems this comfort is about to crumble. Darren is determined to reach the stars someday, and Brandi would rather stay close to the ground. Will Dustin and Dirk ever get along? Will little Beau follow his stepfather's footsteps?

PLEASANT = SMITH

Daniel has been fascinated with space ever since his father's Mars expedition hit the news. Good thing he found a woman whose eyes reflect the beauty of the universe itself. Will Mary-Sue get her long-awaited promotion, and can Angela and Lilith make the right choices when it comes to love?

BURB = CURIOUS Jennifer is interested in the vastness of universe, but for a different reason her brother is. Where is she from? What really happened on her father's Mars expedition? Was it anything like the experience her husband went through during his abduction? Maybe the answer is much closer than she thinks.

OLDIE

Oldies have been a long-time residents of Strangeview. Unable to fulfill her role as a Birth Queen, Coral escaped with her beloved with a tiny alien aboard. Will Herb realize that the result of his last mission as a Pollination Technician is somewhere nearby? okayyyy i had so much fun making this. the idea hit me literally yesteday and i was on the rideee hope u enjoy ^_^

[helgatisha]

(TS4) POSE PACK N04 |& CAS|

Download: boosty | patreon | simfileshare

The author screenshots by @john-ts-sh-ai <3

Cast: Bella Goth, Mortimer Goth, Nina Caliente, Nervous Subject,Mary-Sue Pleasant.

ENG | You will NEED

- andrew’s pose player

or WW (tutorial)

- teleporter any sim (x1 on the same spot)

or using mc command center

Including: 30 poses

unisex

all in one

CAS - mean or horse lover trait

| Tag ‘’ helgatisha ‘’ so I can see it

– The poses all of them are from the CAS traits and slightly edited. I hope it will be useful for you –

RUS | Вам НУЖЕН

- andrew’s pose player

или WW (урок)

- teleporter any sim (1 шт. в одном и том же месте)

или с помощью  mc command center

входит: 30 поз

унисекс

все в одном

CAS - черта характера задира или любовь к лошадям

| Тэг ‘’ helgatisha‘’ так я увижу ва��

please read and respect my tou

Linktree

[mummer]

thinking about this

[yeehawpim]

a comic about mary sues

[rasoyas]

oh mary-sue… i wonder if your memory remembers me like i remember you 🕊️

[cami-cosmos]

I'm glad self-inserts and mary sues have been (for the most part) accepted by fandom. Or, at the very least, they aren't as hated on and attacked as they were in the past.

In the ye olde days™, 12-year-old me was absolutely terrified of making a "mary sue," to the point that I wouldn't post anything I made. Even worse, the characters I did make were dull and boring to achieve "realism." God forbid would I even THINK of making a character that was anywhere close to me as a person. Luckily, I was able to grow past this and started making art that made me happy, no matter what others might think. But what about the other 12 year olds who saw that their OCs were "bad" and got discouraged? There's so many people out there who stopped engaging in art simply because they made an OP character.

Creating characters is about expressing your creativity and feeling a connection to your art. It's going to be a different, unique experience for everyone. For one person, that might mean making a gritty, realistic OC. For another, it could be making a perfect version of themself to ship with a character they like. If making that "bad" mary sue is what makes someone happy, let them do it! Focus on what makes you happy and thats what matters. (live and let live basically).

Basically, if you want to make a character, DO IT!! Make that Undertale self-insert that dates Sans! Draw your neon pink alicorn princess pony! Feed your inner-child and create what makes you HAPPY!!!

[newts-gay]

where is my alicent “i shall have one of her son’s eyes in return” hightower?

where is my alicent “you may do as you wish husband, when i am cold in my grave” hightower?

where is my alicent “congratulations, stepdaughter. what a blessing this is for you” hightower?

where is my alicent “do keep trying ser laenor, sooner or late you'll get one that looks like you” hightower?

AND

don’t even get me started on alicent “bastard blood shed at war” hightower

she would have been way too powerful for anyone’s screen (especially with olivia’s brilliant performances) and tb stannies kept her from us

[somewhereincairparavel]

there's just something about reyna being so desperate for a romantic connection after venus tells her that she'll never be loved by a demigod. when she was even willing to date octavian, when she immediately latched on to percy after he arrived at camp, and then, of course, her unrequited feelings for jason.

this is partly why I dislike people blaming jason for "leading her on" because there's absolutely no canon evidence to suggest that reyna was vocal or obvious about her feelings to jason or ever made a move about it. especially considering the venus incident where reyna had begun to avoid him. it would've ironically given jason the opposite impression. it's only mentioned that they shared something special, which could just as easily allude about their close friendship. jason said that he never felt anything romantic towards reyna, they were both pretty restricted when it came to love because they had an image to withhold at camp, they also had this external pressure of being the potential picture perfect couple. he liked sharing roman history knowledge with her as a best friend, they wanted to visit cool historical monuments together, which he appreciated, and he trusted her deeply, but that was all there ever was to it. their connection was dominated by sweet platonicity, in his perspective, atleast.

reyna misinterpreting jason's behaviour as something romantic also makes sense to her character because she wanted to be loved that way. it was reyna's wishful thinking that caused her inevitable heartache and that adds nuance to her character.

reyna had her own faults in the downfall of jason and her's friendship, just like jason did. and that makes them good characters. they both refused to reach out bc of hesitation and it isnt just jason's fault as the fandom claims it to be.

when jason said reyna distanced herself from him and was never quite the same around him after the venus incident?? do people not understand that jason's hesitation to reach out must have stemmed from that?? worried that she'll distance herself again?? or when reyna greeted piper in boo and didn't even take a glance at jason? reyna had too much pain inside of her so she couldn't reach out. and that's okay.

they never ended up clearing the air because of this lingering hesitation, causing reyna to have everlasting guilt after he passed. and that is also okay. they were just kids who cared about eachother but didn't know better.

their relationship is way more complicated and heartbreaking and reducing it to "jason lead her on and broke her heart, he's the real red flag" does injustice to BOTH their characters.

[kamisden]

redesign of my mounders ants in honour of the new season coming soon >:))

they keep grabbing bdubs' flowers to be all cute and stuff (he doesn't like it)(lie)

[retquits]

lifeweaver overwatch i need healing i need healing i need h

[caliblorn]

Caved in. I may be cringe but I am free.

Heliand Galerion, they/them.

[madame-helen]