shikikira

[shikikira]

[shikikira]

Is she vixen or whore?

An intellect or bore?

The choice always lays with the beholder.

Should it matter?

I think not.

For she knows what she’s got,

and that knowledge has always consoled her.

[shikikira]

Mary Sue, what are you? or why the concept of Sue is sexist

Looks like this essay was needed, so I went ahead and did it. Not sure I said everything I wanted to say, but I tried.

So, there’s this girl. She’s tragically orphaned and richer than anyone on the planet. Every guy she meets falls in love with her, but in between torrid romances she rejects them all because she dedicated to what is Pure and Good. She has genius level intellect, Olympic-athelete level athletic ability and incredible good looks. She is consumed by terrible angst, but this only makes guys want her more. She has no superhuman abilities, yet she is more competent than her superhuman friends and defeats superhumans with ease. She has unshakably loyal friends and allies, despite the fact she treats them pretty badly.  They fear and respect her, and defer to her orders. Everyone is obsessed with her, even her enemies are attracted to her. She can plan ahead for anything and she’s generally right with any conclusion she makes. People who defy her are inevitably wrong.

 God, what a Mary Sue.

I just described Batman.

  Wish fulfillment characters have been around since the beginning of time. The good guys tend to win, get the girl and have everything fall into place for them. It’s only when women started doing it that it became a problem.

TV Tropes on the origin of Mary Sue:

The prototypical Mary Sue is an original female character in a fanfic who obviously serves as an idealized version of the author mainly for the purpose of Wish Fulfillment.

Notice the strange emphasis on female here. TV Tropes goes on to say that is took a long time for the male counterpart “Marty Stu” to be used. “Most fanfic writers are girls” is given as the reason. So when women dominate a genre, that means people are on close watch, ready to scorn any wish fulfillment they may engage in. This term could only originate if the default was female.

 In fact, one of the CONTROVERSIES listed on the TV Tropes page is if a male sue is even possible. That’s right, it’s impossible to have an idealized male character. Men are already the ideal.

 In our culture, male tends to be the default. Women take on the distaff parts. “Him” and “mankind” are what humanity are, “her” and “womankind” are secondary. Yet this isn’t true for Mary Sue as a term. That name was created first. It was a Star Trek fic that coined it and the female designation was likely a big reason it caught on. Thus, a female name is the default to use when describing idealized characters. Marty Stu and Gary Stu are only to be used if you’re discussing men specifically.  Heck, there isn’t even an agreed upon term for them. So the only time female can be default is when discussing a badly written character, someone who is more powerful or important or liked than they should be allowed to be, someone the plot focuses on more than you would like, someone you don’t want to read about. Hmmm.

 What’s really wrong with a thirteen year old girl having a power fantasy, even if it’s badly written?  Who is it hurting? Men have baldly admitted to writing power fantasies and self inserts since the beginning of time. How many nerdy, schlubby guys suddenly become badasses and have hot girls chasing after them in fiction? See: Spiderman- blatant everyman who happens to  stumble across amazing powers and catch the eye of a supermodel.  Mary Sue is considered the worst insult to throw at a character as it renders them worthless. But since when are idealized characters automatically worthless? Aren’t all heroes idealized in some way? Don’t all heroes represent the author in some way? Aren’t these characters supposed to be people we look up to, people who represent human potential, the goodness that we strive for? Fantasy by nature is idealized, even the tragic ones.

 If you look at the TV Tropes page for Mary Sue, it’s ridiculous. You can be a sue for having too many flaws, or not enough, for fixing things or messing things up, for being a hero or a villain. And of course, this is specifically pointed out as a trope related to the Princess and Magical Girl genres- genres aimed towards women are naturally full of Mary Sues.  Magical girls are powerful and heroic and actually flaunt femininity as a good thing. They are a power fantasy designed for girls. So of course, a girl using traditionally feminine traits to dominate and triumph means she’s a sickeningly pure Mary Sue who makes everything go their way. Feminine traits are disdained and look down on, so when the positive feminine traits are prominent, the reader has an aversive reaction. How can a character be so feminine and triumph? She must be unrealistic, she must be badly written, because everyone knows it is impossible to be feminine and powerful.

 Let’s look at what kinds of Mary Sues people will point to. People will claim a female character is a Mary Sue if she is a love interest. Put a female character within a foot of a male character, and people will scream “Mary Sue!” Why does someone falling in love with her make her a Mary Sue? Well, she hasn’t “earned” this awesome dude character’s love. What has she done to show she’s worthy of him? Fans miss the irony that this line of logic makes the male character seem more like the Sue in Question, as he’s apparently so perfect one has work for his coveted love and praise.

  The idea that woman has to “earn” any power, praise, love, or plot prominence is central to Mary Sue.  Men do not have to do this, they are naturally assumed to be powerful, central and loveable. That’s why it’s the first thing thrown at a female character- what has she done to be given the same consideration as a male character? Why is she suddenly usurping a male role? “Mary Sue” is the easiest way to dismiss a character. It sounds bad to say “I don’t like this female character. I don’t like that this woman is powerful. I don’t like it when the plot focuses on her. I don’t like that a character I like has affections for her.”  But “Mary Sue” is a way to say these things without really saying them. It gives you legitimacy.

 If a character is badly written, there’s generally something much more problematic than idealization going on. The plot will be dull and the character will perpetuate harmful stereotypes while other characters act oddly.  For instance, Bella Swan is one of the only characters I’d even begin to classify as a Mary Sue, yet it’s not really her supposed Mary Sue traits that bother me. I don’t mind that she gets what she wants and everyone loves her, that she’s Meyer’s power fantasy. What I actually mind is that Stephenie Meyer has her perpetuate harmful anti-woman stereotypes- women need to be protected, women are shallow, women’s worth rests in desirability. That’s what’s actually harmful about her and worth discussing. I would criticize that rather than even get to the fact Bella got to be “too perfect and powerful”- that’s just a tiny, insignificant thing not worth mentioning in a huge pile of problems.

 And that’s why I don’t call characters Mary Sue anymore. There’s really nothing bad about a power fantasy or wish fulfillment. It’s what’s fiction’s about.  If one of my characters is called a Sue, I’ll proudly say “yep”, because that must mean that she broke out of that box a female character is supposed to be in.  So I’ll go and say it: I love me some Mary Sues.

[shikikira]

6 Ways To Spot An Unhealthy Relationship

When someone says they’ve fallen in love with you, it can be hard to tell if they love you in a healthy way, or if their love is tainted. Here are six key differences:

1. Giving freely vs. giving to get.

Real love is based on a desire to give to the other when the need arises, without expecting something in return. You trust each other to have one another’s back, and to be there for each other. Tainted love seldom gives without a price—giving is only a way to get something back, not a way of caring.

2. Knowing each other vs. changing each other.

People who love in a healthy way work to know each other by building maps of each other and working hard to discover more and more of who each other are. Tainted love demands that you change into what someone else wants you to be. It doesn’t care who you are, just that you conform to its demands.

3. Privacy vs. exposure.

A healthy love creates areas in the relationship that are private, where no one else can enter in. Real love protects the time the two of you share, your knowledge about each other, and the unique things the two of you do with each other. Tainted love provides no privacy—your weaknesses become the butt of jokes; details of private events like kissing are shared with anyone who will listen, and time together is given away to anyone but you.

Keep reading

[shikikira]

Sdghghsldghwhgoghenksdglskjdg

[shikikira]

abortion that late should 🚫❌

I did not know that in 7 states in America, you can carry out an abortion the day before you give birth (allows abortion at any time). That’s so fucking disgusting. And other states allow abortion up to 28 weeks. That’s not a ball of cells no more, that’s a damn baby. It’s good that abortion is legal but not the fucking late into the pregnancy 😷😷 nasty

[shikikira]

Literally no one who follows me is going to know what this means, but HBomberguy, a Youtuber known for Video Essays about pop culture and gaming made a promise that he would live stream himself playing Donkey Kong 64, in its entirety (including picking up every single banana) and all money would go to a UK charity for trans youth (Mermaids) and his initial goal was $3,000 and now it’s been 26 hours into the stream and he’s already over $51k. I just need people to know about this https://m.twitch.tv/hbomberguy

[shikikira]

Teach Consent | End Rape Culture | Yes Means Yes

If She’s Not Having Fun You Have To Stop

“We’ve begun to raise daughters more like sons… but few have the courage to raise our sons more like our daughters.”

- Gloria Steinem, feminist, journalist and activist

“This is what consent looks like”- Planned Parenthood

Lots of sharable graphics / printable posters from this awesome campaign here

Watch Sad13’s (Speedy Ortiz’s Sadie Dupuis) “Get a Yes” Video

Source  

More info:

7 Rules For Fun And Consensual Sex, Courtesy Of Planned Parenthood

Education about consent is sexual assault prevention.

More posts on teaching consent and consent culture

[shikikira]

instagram | rusticmallows

[shikikira]

2019-11-24

https://www.instagram.com/hwantastic79vivid/

[shikikira]

2019-11-03

https://www.instagram.com/hwantastic79vivid/

[shikikira]

[shikikira]

some of y'all didnt grow up as the person nobody has a crush on and it really shows

[shikikira]

10 YEARS SINCE THE BEST BOYS EVER CAME INTO MY LIFE I CANT EVEN

[shikikira]

[shikikira]

Masanari was surprisingly like a doting older cousin

i hope to see them interact more in the future. hanzo's a sly snake and is sin personified while hotaru is a genuine and innocent firefly - and i love them both.

[shikikira]

Tips on Character Consistency

Patreon  for early access & exclusives || Ko-Fi

Masterlist || Work In Progress || Studyblr || Studygram

–

Have A “Get Into Character” Routine

If you’re having an unusual amount of trouble keeping a character and their behaviors and thought process consistent in your writing, it might just be that you’re not used to being in their head. This is especially common with first person POV stories, and I recommend surrounding yourself with things that embody them as a person, make a playlist of songs that you know they’d enjoy and listen to it before you write (or during, if you listen to music while you draft), and do what is necessary to make their actions and thoughts create a distinct, unmistakeable person. 

Have A Short List of Details To Pay Attention To

Characters and people are both complex, and therefore it’s difficult to reduce them down to a few key things that set them apart from others. However, when you’re writing, it can help with getting their tendencies down if you focus on 4-5 things you can emphasize in their actions and (inner or outer) monologue. Be holistic in the way you summarize them by picking vastly different aspects of their personality. Focus on one of their fatal flaws, one of their most admirable traits, one of their habits and how it can be good and bad for them, their attitude (outward and inward), etc. 

Know Their Mindset

Everybody has a unique way that they think about the world that is formed by their environment, experiences, and motivations. If you’re having trouble conjuring this mindset as you develop them in your writing, it may be a sign that you just have to sit down and map it out. Pick 3-5 moments in their life that shape their very thought process. Analyze their background and speculate about the many ways this might affect their thoughts and actions in various situations that might present themselves. Randomly choose five situations that may come up in your story and really think hard about how they would want that situation to go and why. 

Know Their Values

Nobody has the same definition of right, nor wrong. This is key to the way people live their lives, and it’s imperative that you know your character’s definitions and how they were formed. It’s also important to know your character’s limits outside of these definitions. What would make them do something they see as wrong? What would it take to convince them that what they believe is wrong is okay? You’d be surprised how relevant this is in any kind of story.

Know Their Motivations

As I previously mentioned, it’s important to know what they want. However, it’s important to look deeper than simply what they’re after. What do they think they want? What to they actually want? What do they need? How does this affect the conflict and other characters day-to-day?

–

Support Wordsnstuff!

FIND MORE ON WORDSNSTUFFBLOG.COM

If you enjoy my blog and wish for it to continue being updated frequently and for me to continue putting my energy toward answering your questions, please consider Buying Me A Coffee, or pledging your support on Patreon.

Request Resources, Tips, Playlists, or Prompt Lists

Instagram // Twitter //Facebook //#wordsnstuff

FAQ //monthly writing challenges // Masterlist

MY CURRENT WORK IN PROGRESS (Check it out, it’s pretty cool. At least I think it is.)