107. Except that Mary Sues, by their nature, warp the story to be All About Them, make other characters around them act unrealistically, and often spout the author's moral viewpoints unaltered.
Tutu's a classic-princess type of character (only with more agency, which is awesome), and some people find that annoying, but she doesn't have the narrative flaws of a Mary Sue. Other characters react to her in believable, organic ways, and she's simply the heroine of the story rather than its constant central focus.
I agree that her clumsiness is a moe trait rather than a "flaw," but I also don't think that she needs huge gaping flaws; her hesitance about her own feelings and her insecurity over her dual (or triple) identities work well enough.
I think that "Mary Sue" has become diverted from its original intended meaning of "a character who takes over the story and other characters and warps them to better show off himself or herself" into "a character who has certain personality/design/backstory traits that were associated with fanfic characters written to take over the story." And honestly, it's not very useful that way.
119. Mmm, delicious trolling.
121. You know, I've enthusiastically defended girly girl characters for much the same reasons as you, but I'm starting to wonder lately if that's what discussion of female characters in fandom has come down to. Because...it's a lot more complicated than that.
Edited to add that I overreacted to 121; honestly I pretty much agree with everything there. I'm just starting to get jaded with and suspicious of the whole "girly girls vs. tomboys" argument.
no subject
Tutu's a classic-princess type of character (only with more agency, which is awesome), and some people find that annoying, but she doesn't have the narrative flaws of a Mary Sue. Other characters react to her in believable, organic ways, and she's simply the heroine of the story rather than its constant central focus.
I agree that her clumsiness is a moe trait rather than a "flaw," but I also don't think that she needs huge gaping flaws; her hesitance about her own feelings and her insecurity over her dual (or triple) identities work well enough.
I think that "Mary Sue" has become diverted from its original intended meaning of "a character who takes over the story and other characters and warps them to better show off himself or herself" into "a character who has certain personality/design/backstory traits that were associated with fanfic characters written to take over the story." And honestly, it's not very useful that way.
119. Mmm, delicious trolling.
121. You know, I've enthusiastically defended girly girl characters for much the same reasons as you, but I'm starting to wonder lately if that's what discussion of female characters in fandom has come down to. Because...it's a lot more complicated than that.
Edited to add that I overreacted to 121; honestly I pretty much agree with everything there. I'm just starting to get jaded with and suspicious of the whole "girly girls vs. tomboys" argument.