The Weird World Of Mary Sues

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Today let's take a look at the infamous Mary Sue trope- flawless, beautiful, overpowered and all around perfect, these magic sparkly rainbow neko kitsune princess overlords were the bane of every writer and artist's existence in the 2000's and 2010's. But why? Why did Mary Sues come into existence, why were they met with such hatred and vitriol, and why is there still so much drama surrounding them? Well, let's take a deep dive into the trope, it's history, and it's impact on the internet!
❤︎❤︎ SOCIAL MEDIA ❤︎❤︎
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❤︎❤︎ MUSIC ❤︎❤︎
Petz Catz 2 OST
Cheel / Sunday Rain
LuKrembo / Bored
Vylet Pony / Antonymph [ / vyletpony ]
Under Earth / Speed Devil [Provided By Epidemic Sound]
Divorce Applause / Leave It [Provided By Epidemic Sound]
Jerry Lacey / A Feast For A King [Provided By Epidemic Sound]
Bonnie Grace / Scintillations [Provided By Epidemic Sound]
ELFL / Memory Drive [Provided By Epidemic Sound]
Sarah, The Instrumentalist / Rio De Janeiro [Provided By Epidemic Sound]
❤︎❤︎ TIMESTAMPS ❤︎❤︎
0:00 - Introduction
3:30 - A Mary Sue History Lesson
9:19 - Mary Sue Examples
23:27 - Pop Culture Mary Sues
28:41 - Mary Sues And Internet Culture
36:10 - Mary Sues In The Modern Day
❤︎❤︎ DISCLAIMER ❤︎❤︎
All credit goes to the musicians and composers! This video is not meant to target or harass any person. This video does not condone or encourage anyone to harass or contact any person or persons discussed in this video. This video is purely for entertainment and informational purposes.

[@Izzzyzzz]

Go to www.casetify.com/izzy today to save 15% off your order!

[@himetsu7594]

I wish you'd make video about Stardoll

[@LemonMuffinZzZz]

Hi I really like ur makeup!

[@oofbwah2544]

Would love a makeup tutorial✨️

[@itzzzzyor_boi_staticTV]

Izzzyyyyyyyyy !!!!!!!!!

[@bathwater3243]

I could’ve used this a week ago! The case I ordered from there just came in yesterday T.T

[@thanatoast]

I think the whole Mary Sue thing went from an earnest attempt at helping newbie writers avoid a common pitfall to bullying kids for not being immediately aware of said pitfall.

[@necrodeus6811]

Yup. People will take any, ANY excuse to turn to bullying. Being discerning is much less glamorous

[@nakoruruwantspepsi1556]

this is why I was never a fan of "cringe culture" becasue it just seemed like an excuse to make fun of kids being kids

[@agjul]

And sadly the young fans who are aware of that become overly self-conscious about their original characters.

[@spoopyvirgil4944]

@@nakoruruwantspepsi1556 Not just kids but neurodivergent people. Cringe culture is just about bullying neurodivergent people, kids, and neurodivergent kids.

[@SilastheMatchmaker]

Agreed, and I think another part of it (At least for fancharacters and RP characters) is just the need for some rules or baseline. When you're RPing with others, or creating and sharing an fancharacter to interact with other fancharacters, it can be hard for everyone to get along and have fun if there's no clear baseline or rules to follow. And it can quickly spiral because of it. (To put it in simple terms, it's like if you're playing D&D. You don't want to be the Level 1 Wizard in a party where everyone else is Level 20 and ready to verse God himself while if you take one wrong move your character will drop dead from a simple gust of wind.) And it's a baseline or at least understanding between players that's needed which the basic rules of RP etiquette don't exactly cover. I think in part the Anti-Mary Sue craze might have also been in part to try to make a steadfast baseline for everyone.

[@oraclumi]

oh my god i remember being TERRIFIED of “accidentally making a mary sue” so i literally spent hours researching how to make a “good oc” out of fear that i’d be made fun of

[@ArekusaSan]

SAMEEEEE. It made me so critical of others’ characters as well. Nowadays I still have a bit of that cynicism, but I try to be healthy about it and not care about other characters. I’ve realized that I’ve come to enjoy Mary Sues and will defend them with my life

[@numberonebivefan]

Same-,I made warrior cat ocs and worried of them being too overpowered and other stuff-

[@mochiboni2560]

YOOOO SAME XD

[@LemonNote1]

This is why I don't make OCs

[@quetzal6293]

Same I was afraid of giving my otherwise really bland fox character wings because I didn't want to make her a Mary sue Wild time

[@Mumther_Flame]

I love how fandoms go from "innocently making Mary sues" to "WE HATE MARY SUES!!" to "awww Mary sues are so nostalgic we love them"

[@wolfynerd14]

Plot twist: I was a hater at some point, yet still clung to a rainbow gem connected to god powers. Yes, I made it up for my originalish world. I insisted I wasn't making Sues. I still was via that damned gem. They've since been reworked bc they genuinely didn't fit in a seriously written narrative I was weaving for a world, but I find it funny that my little bit of hypocrisy came in the form of a classic Sue trope.

[@Mumther_Flame]

@@wolfynerd14 Honestly I just make Mary sues for fun now but I used to be so scared of making my character too perfect that I gave them so many flaws that they were just miserable- 💀

[@wolfynerd14]

@@Mumther_Flame This entire video makes me want to resurrect the old Sue version of a character I made when I was 8 for the lolz too. It just looks like it'd be fun and also test my artistic skill considerably, since I definitely need practice in color studies (ie color shading and digital rendering).

[@Mumther_Flame]

@@wolfynerd14 That would be so cool lol you totally should :)

[@darienb1127]

"Wait, there all Mary Sues?" "Always have been."

[@mythcat1273]

Shout out to all the people brave enough to share their ancient ocs with the class, I would actually shrivel up into dust if someone saw all my made-up SCPs from late elementary school/early middle school😭

[@SlimeBlueMS]

So like from 3 years ago?

[@HomeAlabama]

god ik for sure get bullied like hell if any my classmates found out abt most of my ocs but im brave enough to share them here lol

[@f3ralidi0t]

SAME I ALSO HAD SCP OCS

[@MuddyLives]

Heaven forbid my elementary, middle school, and early high school ocs ever see the light of day ever again

[@huntforbigfloptober1333]

Wait, imagine a story where LITERALLY EVERYONE is a Mary Sue. Imagine how insane it would be. I kinda wanna write that just for laughs

[@flameindigo8035]

do it and send the link here, that sounds amazing

[@wriothesley_cakefactory]

Eyy that might be really interesting.. Plz share link if u write one

[@redspiderlilys6]

I love that kind of thing "if everyone is op then nobody is op"

[@butterflystampede1945]

That would be epic(ly ridiculous)! I would devour it.😄

[@radioactivepower600nanaspersec]

Please do, I'd love to read something like that :D

[@joshraid1550]

I love how the non Mary Sue character in that diagram had “clumsy” “can’t dance” and “bad at math” as character flaws as though those aren’t the most token ideas of flaws.

[@anarchistsnufkin534]

i remember seeing "clumsy" listed as a mary sue trait, because apparently it could easily be turned into a charming quirk (e.g. character is endearingly clumsy around their crush, but also a very skilled fighter). you just couldn't win.

[@jessecaalvarez-kuykendall7071]

Also, being exactly like Bella from Twilight doesn't make you a good character.

[@Probus-Vir-Mendax]

@@jessecaalvarez-kuykendall7071 To Be fair, she was Emotionally dead even before becoming Vampire. She would be great at "try not to laugh" challenges, with her constant resting B*tch face.

[@potato2880]

as someone who is clumsy to the point of running into every wall in a 50 mile radius and therefore is too clumsy to dance without falling over, and is horrible at both math and geography to the point of calling geography "geometry", I'm extremely worried I will be called out for being the irl version of a mary sue

[@plague_doctor0237]

@@anarchistsnufkin534 As if clumsy people don't even exist... Am I a mary sue for this?

[@_lavender_pebbles_]

i used to have a character called Willow who had black hair covering one eye with some burned off her head because she had uncontrollable fire powers. basically, she was so powerful that she had an outburst and accidentally burned her house down with her parents in it so she ran away to the forest and changed her name to the first tree she found. not really that "mary sue", just kid of bad and overused

[@-Wet_cheese-]

That’s a incredible Mary Sue oc

[@spinningindaffodils]

Workable tbh

[@_lavender_pebbles_]

@@spinningindaffodilspossibly i guess but i hate her too much for that lol

[@WilliamRBl00m]

@@spinningindaffodils SID PFP????

[@WilliamRBl00m]

shes so real for that

[@Grimmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm]

For some reason, I actually kinda like how bright and chaotic Mary sues designs are. It’s extreme randomness has some sorta weird ass charm to me, even though I’m trying to learn how to animate :,)

[@thembo.rxghts]

The “I’m not like other girls” 2010’s era truly brought out the WORST in all of us 💔

[@absolutelyridiculous6743]

Oof, indeed...though we had a version in the early 2000's, too. I'm embarrassed by my former Emo self, but at least it wasn't full-blown lol.

[@anname7373]

This makes me want to write a character who's essence is "I'm not like other girls I'm __worse__"

[@katherinealvarez9216]

I was part of the early 2000s set.

[@_kirb_]

Idk, I think the worst part is that it never stopped--it just morphed into something else. There's so, so many young girls that are just NLOGing in other ways, or railroad what being girly or a girl means, or over-celebrating certain parts of it (incentivizing girls to pursue them over others), while ignoring NLOG came about because people obsessively categorize girls and women all the time, that certain girls that conformed were rewarded far more by society, and that in real life, our idea of what a girl or woman is (at least according to what's allowed to be warmly received celebrities and influensers), is very narrow. Age. Features (i.e., POC noses are still under-represented). Bodies (I'm skinny I have actually never seen anyone with my bone structure being a model before). Etc. What we actually celebrate tends to be narrow. Stuff like Tiktok isn't helping because its algorithm actually filters out certain kinds of "unconventional" features and basically promotes stereotypically hyper-feminine/conventionally youthful and beautiful features. While the people that get ahead that don't fit the usual binary usually are conventionally attractive in most other ways. So, almost everyone on certain platforms are conforming to actually extremely specific looks, but there is a tiny amount of hurrah for those that don't. The people curating themselves to be as marketable and consumable as possible are getting almost all the buzz. What gets the clicks will, overwhelmingly, inspire people the most to emulate while unknowingly creating a certain set of expectations around femininity in the greater culture (again annoyingly, but this stuff is ruthless). Beauty standards are, in fact, getting worse even when it other areas they have improved, and likewise, the issues that lead to NLOG becoming a thing are still around...and no it's not just beauty, I just brought it up because it is such a hotbed for a lot of the stress that contributes to someone wanting to NLOG or whatever.

[@xdlr22]

@@_kirb_ you said it so well. The NLOG entire thing is steeped in misogyny and self-hatred by women and marketed to women. Of course it’s still around just in another way. And unfortunately most of the time those prescribed to that NLOG mindset aren’t getting made fun of for being cruel to other women, but more or less because it’s just another way to put women down. 😔

[@LikaLaruku]

It's cute how instead of finding OCs on DeviantArt to mock, you got your fans to submit their own. That's really wholesome.

[@L0rdOfThePies]

I respect that greatly, ever since i was a young cringelet i have been living in fear of any accounts ive had being targeted by the good ol middle 2010s art rant/ cringe comp community

[@sc0ffcat]

@@L0rdOfThePies CRINGELET

[@mmarceline3]

i agree, i loved it and it made me happy seeing what others created as a kid. very wholesome

[@sweetlittlenothing7696]

@@L0rdOfThePies fucking CRINGELET i love this word, is goes into my vocabulary right this instant 😆

[@fbmb1337]

@Cinnamon Toothpaste On the one hand absolutely agree (thankfully I was mostly safe cause I don't think rp posting forums ever got big enough to get roasted publicly on youtube), on the other can we push for cringelet to be a thing now? Its too perfect.

[@Capella-fq9ul]

I used to have a character named Charlie who (here's the quote from my journal) "was a normal girl. But she had a dark secret... she could raise the dead. And she had a scythe. And a cat boomerang." I kinda just got more unhinged as the page went on. 😅

[@every_planet_we_reach_is_dead]

Everybody gangsta til Charlie pulls out the cat boomerang 😤

[@disruptiveimagination8166]

Charlie out here killing more pets than PETA

[@EngineerMonkey-zp3yj]

Shout out to all the Charlie's out there.

[@gayspaghetti3374]

As someone who has fully embraced my cringe and loves looking back on my old "mary-sues" from when I was a kid, I love seeing other people's old Mary Sues or Gary Stus! When my little brother and sister make their first Mary Sue, or Gary Stu, or Sparkle Dog, I cant wait to see it and encourage them to keep drawing and creating! Nothing as amazing as seeing baby's first self insert OC.

[@1The_Kaiju]

I helped my 2 neices make ocs and one was aculy prety cool with a mostly normal grey wolf, with a sort of neclace witch if i remember right had a paw shape and blue right back leg the other one was partecly just bunch of random colors and their both 6

[@poumybeloved]

My brother made a mary sue/gary stu named Rain Whale who can one shot every ocean creature with a rainbow beam, it has 5 dorsal fins and it can fly. He is going to kindergarten, Im so proud of him :)

[@redactedgamersgd1788]

Mary sues hits different when you were new to the writing scene

[@ActuallyRea]

I adore most Mary Sue designs tbh they’re such a look I feel like they’ve aged charmingly

[@lucilucid]

Agree agree

[@umaru-channavidena2059]

I TOUGH I WAS ALONE THANK YOU SO MUCH 🛐

[@bajabl]

Hmm you sure bout that

[@SoggyOpossum]

✨babies first sparkle dog✨

[@pumpkinhxeart]

I know that this was only posted a few minutes ago but how doesn’t this have more likes? You’re one of the most famous youtubers in the art community!

[@malsummers6515]

Someone once mentioned Mary Sues are an answer from kids who were bullied into believing they couldn't do anything and so they made characters that could do anything. Been kinda hard to hate on Mary Sues ever since I read that, it's just a way for traumatized kids to cope and dream.

[@missmadness387]

Agreed, at this point I make characters for myself not for others to judge on.

[@thanatoast]

I don't know about the whole Traumatized kid thing, but most OCs are cringe by default and that's ok.

[@kittykittybangbang9367]

@@thanatoast most fun things are cringy anyway so have fun, plus your happiness should be worth more than the approval of others.

[@Mushezable]

Nah, I made Gary Stus and wasn't traumatised. Do not worry about laughing at mary sues, just don't be mean about it.

[@gregdelvalle6846]

when they get bullied even more for their terrible oc

[@juliashirokova8374]

when I was 12 (2016) I made a 280-picture comic using the pony creator game and free backgrounds. it’s still somewhere in the wild vk pony groups, uploaded from an account that I can’t access anymore because it’s deleted. i reread it every summer. it was never finished, but I decided to please my inner child by remaking it as a full-fledged comic. maybe it won’t happen this year or the next one, but one day I’m gonna call up my old childhood friend who supported me back then and show her that the story still lives.

[@camillehessel7037]

when I was 13, I was REALLY into this niche community on KZbin that revolved around foreign language dubs of Disney movies. People would make ranking videos of their favorite dubs, multilanguage edits of songs, you get the idea. I had a Mary sue at the time that was basically just edgy Elsa and I guarantee that she was only made because I heard the Czech version of let it go and thought it would be a good voice for an oc 😭

[@L_Aster]

I remember those videos!! I just relistened to the czech let it go and you aren’t wrong, it goes hard

[@realnepetaleijon]

all my childhood ocs were 100% Mary Sues. Everytime id roleplay w/ my cousins and siblings I’d always say shit like “He can actually read ur mind um so he dodged.” It was EMBARRASSING and they never wanted to play w me 😭💀

[@kumatorahaltmanndreemurr]

You just unlocked a childhood memory in me! One time as a little kid I was roleplaying with my friends, and we all played as different characters from shows and stuff. I was a totally original character who looked like Avatar Roku and had complete mastery of the avatar state and had perfected every type of bending 😭💀 After a while one friend straight up told me I was dominating the role play and needed to be less OP Edit: I just remembered my character *also* knew karate 💀

[@adelinatimercan5183]

I've had some similar experiences in Animal Jam... The first that come to mind are when I singlehandedly made everyone leave a roleplay by powerplaying and attacking everyone with 'gold beams', and when I tried to persuade someone to give me one of their masterpieces for free because I was 'queen of the night wolves', and promptly got kicked out of their shop.

[@ineedzemedic5810]

GOD I REMEMBER WE DID THIS WHEN WE WERE YOUNGER. I played with one of my neighbors kid and their character always countered every attack with acidic piss.

[@veronicaoviedo711]

@@ineedzemedic5810 ok that's just funny

[@realnepetaleijon]

@@ineedzemedic5810 HELP WHAT?? That’s hilarious oh my god

[@NIGHTBLOODUSAGI]

I always thought Mary Sue was a actual character that people bullied as a sick sense of humor for the majority of my life.

[@PeterGriffin11]

I though she was a character from a book lol.

[@ResidentKieran]

@fatui harbingers. can i say Hi to Tartaglia /J why is there a fatui harbringer bot??

[@Gibmeprimogemss]

@@ResidentKieran Idek, I saw the “fatui harbringers” thing I was so confused 👍

[@ResidentKieran]

@@Gibmeprimogemss i just made a video on it cause it was hilarious lmaooo. why do they want us to learn how to make pizza? as a kaeya main i'd rather cook fruity mushroom skewers lol

[@Duvelle_]

@@ResidentKieran Fancy seeing you here Grimi. Didn't know you also watch Izzy

[@miravox875]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="1177">19:37</a> really is just “It’s too late twilight! I’ve drawn you as the soy jack and me as the chad Alicorn!”

[@every_planet_we_reach_is_dead]

Soylight Sparjak

[@CheezWiz-wz4lm]

My own Mary Sue was a yellow mlp alicorn named Blaze Apple who had an infinite lowing fire mane, was a vampire fruit bat, and had a crush on Flippy from happy tree friends for obvious reasons. She had red magic and was "stronger than all the rest." I'm glad I grew out of Sue characters because it allowed me to turn her from an all-powerful immortal murder vampire into a gay college jock vamp who was just good at playing guitar lmao

[@MrHAH-cd9ku]

From My Little Pony to Marceline

[@micahguillemette3344]

Oh please tell me about the gay college jock vamp!

[@melanieschwarz2181]

Oh man! My mom was the best when it came to My Little Pony OC’s. All of my siblings liked to draw, including me, so my mom took our OC’s and turned them into stuffed animals! They were so beautiful and I loved them so much

[@BoiFluffyFurry21]

I wish I had a mom like yours, hell it so much fun making characters and it can be a form of bonding between me and my mom 😭😭.

[@noranizaazmi6523]

That’s so cute!

[@Waterdrinker2.0]

Thats a Cute mother and children bond😊

[@katiarepublic7057]

I NEED to do this wiht my old MLP OC holy shit-

[@standard-carrier-wo-chan]

Broooo please what's your mom's rate per plushie? I'd like to commission.

[@warandpoetry9542]

How dare they call them “sparkle dogs” when “furry sues” was right there

[@outer1329]

YESSS

[@mi1kguts]

cuz tbh most young furries make their sona a wolf lol

[@ZeldaTheSwordsman]

"Mary Sue" hadn't cross-pollinated from criticism of fanfiction nearly as strongly at the time the term "sparkledogs" was coined. Plus the majority were canids.

[@snowkitten3285]

@@mi1kguts young fur me making my fursona a cat: *I beg to differ*

[@MaxKarmaCat]

While it's true cats are very common, you can't deny it: Canines are the most popular choice.

[@Jyetra]

As someone who lurked in public chats websites as a kid. Watching two OP mary sue/ garry stu duke it out rp fighting was always fun to watch. Both would constantly receive injuries that would kill someone and shrug it off. Countering with the same fabled "kill you instantly" style of moves. With neither accepting defeat it would go on for awhile, atleast until one had to go.

[@NosebleeddeGroselha]

I never got the whole thing against making OCs to ship with canon characters. It’s one thing if your OC is a self-insert, I had my fair share of self-insert OCs I made just to ship with my comfort character lol but some people seem to have a problem with making OCs to have any relationship with canon characters, period. I find that so arbitrary, creating and inserting characters that make sense inside a canon universe is a super fun writing exercise. It requires you to analyze the original work and think how could a new character fit in there.

[@jadestrider2660]

The only time a Mary Sue can be “harmful” in my opinion is if it is used in a roleplay to actively outclass/kill other peoples characters and derail the story. Otherwise go hog wild lol

[@yuki97kira]

Remembered being in a dnd server with someone with these sorts of characters.. The story was boring.. Some even "borrowing" already existing characters.. It was all "this is the princess/main person who are corrupted by darkness" The worse part? They went on and on on how great their writing is. Whenever people comments on it, they always.. ALWAYS try to dismiss it and "argue" with people

[@giant_internet_nerd]

Yeah

[@koopie_koop]

i don't know about you, but i think that professional screenwriter or published author shouldn't write a mary sue. otherwise why would i want to pay for the level of writing that i could found on any fan fiction website of my choosing made by a 13 y.o that in some cases actually have better writing for free?

[@jadestrider2660]

@@koopie_koop Bad take. Doesn’t matter if they’re “professional” or “published”, it’s still their creative work, they’re free to create what they want. No one is forcing you to spend money on it.

[@mastertofu]

Lmao, in the Dragon Ball fandom, pretty much every OC is created to be better than the other roleplayer's XD

[@Jovian12]

I swear all OC creators go through this same pipeline. Making mary sues, to hating them/being scared of creating them, to being chill with them and finding them cute/cool as the fun self-insert wish fulfillment they actually are. That's growth.

[@Dizoolixa]

​@@vitaminwater9662 They were

[@jamzee_]

Im in this comment and I don’t like it. Tho but fr you go from basically making yourself a self insert power fantasy, to making essentially a depressed version of yourself, and then you shift back to just, doing whatever you want without caring. lol I went from a Fox anthro me character who could shapeshift, to a dude wearing a porcelain madi gras mask and basically just being me but with thirteen “he’s sad”, to just being “hey, its my self insert/avatar, i draw myself as a dude with tree branches as antlers… I may be cringe, but I am free.”

[@RainWelsh]

@@jamzee_ for me these days it tends to vary depending on whether something’s just for me or for general consumption, too. Virtually everything I watch/read I’ll have my own self-insert that only exists within my own mind. I never write fanfic, it’s all just a series of daydreams, but they’re self-insert OCs nonetheless, and they’re all the most wish-fulfilly, cringey, Mary Sue-enest things to have ever been dreamt up. And that’s fine, because I’m never going to subject any innocent bystanders to them; in the safety of my own mind, I can be as cringe as I care to be. When it comes to writing content I actually want people to engage with, however, I try to make everyone a little more rounded lmao

[@kalopsiawitch9538]

@@jamzee_ PREACH

[@kalopsiawitch9538]

Yes 👍🏼 loving it 😊

[@Hexes666]

I remember when I was a kid, I had a "super bad ass edgy" Kitsune character called Starling, who was quote: "A smart, clever, snappy, beautiful, independent, and powerful Kitsune with beautiful bright orange fur that glowed in the sun." She was part of a prophecy and saved the world from the evil queen or something. She also had pegasus wings and super powers, of course.

[@ivoryhammitt8885]

When I saw all the other mary sues, I thought "I wish mine had been that creative" All I really wanted my self insert characters to do when I was a kid was levitate, but I kept convincing myself that was too powerful. I did make one OC who was an all-powerful god within his pocket dimension who stole people who were about to die to be his test subjects for weird laws of physics and body mods, but he was kinda supposed to be the villain who regrets it and accidentally makes heaven for the majority of people. Turns out I was disabled and was trying to have characters who were not in constant pain from having to walk. I have a wheelchair now :)

[@despairlilies9255]

I think the whole Mary sue hate train completely destroyed a part of my creativity, making me terrified of being cringe and being obsessed with others approval that I couldn’t even make a backstory for ocs

[@hearsepuppy]

no fr... like this vid is hilarious and im not mad at all but SO many of the things being made fun of are my characters exact traits and my feelings are hurt lmfao i cant help it its fun to have a quirky character

[@VonKellcsiis]

then I believe it's time to embrace cringeness :}

[@revvrk]

same,I have stopped drawing but if I do it again I should stop worrying about what others think as i always limited myself by that and it really is horrible, I think that's why I lost my taste for drawing as the comment above, i should embrace the cringe lol sorry if english is bad i used translation for some parts

[@senpaitwinsgacha4450]

I made 2 OCs who have some Mary Sue traits, but they aren’t superheroes or goddesses.

[@kirum65ack53]

just make a balanced character and if people tell you its a mary sue then fix it

[@udenszales]

mary sue is a paradox- seemingly "perfect" and "everyone loves them", yet, sometimes theyre despised for being so perfect, which makes them not perfect anymore

[@dianacarinao6667]

I mean, you have a good point

[@Karin-fj3eu]

Hmmm is that what happened to Mary Sue Pleasant in sims 2 or was that something else?

[@every_planet_we_reach_is_dead]

I've just realised that this is basically the premise of Tomie.

[@sauridaes]

i had a warrior cats self insert mary sue oc named rainheart/rainstar in like 2008 who was a medicine cat told by star clan that she needed to go start her own secret fifth clan that would become the best and most honorable of them all. i love her dearly and have such fond memories of her, even if she’s “cringe”.

[@bubbledafoxy]

i like that oc!

[@Lunailee]

i volunteer my oc to join the 5th clan

[@bubbledafoxy]

@@Lunailee me too

[@ferretqueen2908]

My warrior cats oc's are all based on real people to the point where I basically translated my life into Warriors, which is pretty interesting since I've been reading it for over a decade

[@TakashiDemonServant]

I used to have one but I went back to my elementary book and did a redraw of her and made a better story. Basically I turned her into a monster high inspired character

[@TakashiDemonServant]

My main oc, well there’s a lot to explain for him. He’s a multiverse oc and let’s say not overpowered and I usually have him as a villain. Sometimes he dies, sometimes it’s happy it just depends on which fandom I decided to be active on each day.

[@EdmondDantes224]

I remember the exact moment I stopped taking accusation of "this character is a Mary Sue" seriously. It was when, back when I wrote fanfiction, one of my stories had a part where a mailman delivers a letter.... the mailman was not even really a named character and he disappears from the story after delivering that one letter.... and yet, just because he wasn't a named character from the source material, I suddenly was hearing cries that he was a Mary Sue self insert. I wish I was joking.

[@seventy_eight]

f

[@lemonade2879]

mailman sue 😔💔

[@iheartdaftpunk]

Istg sometimes I lose braincells because of these kinds of ppl 😃🔫

[@lilwoofs]

Of course people thought it was a self insert, who doesn’t want to be a mail man! In all honesty though I understand that, as a fanfic writer I never put any characters that wasn’t in the source material in my fic for fear that something like that would happen, over time I started to care less, but like it’s just weird that people care so much? And will try to call out and make fun of the littlest things.

[@EdmondDantes224]

@@lilwoofs Yeah, honestly as I got older I started to feel like fanfic writing as a whole was.... well, people always say its good training for being a real writer.... but the problem is, I feel like it imparts all the wrong lessons, because fandoms have fundamentally different desires and expectations than, say, a guy picking up a random book off a shelf might. As such, a lot of the lessons you learn from writing fanfiction are basically not usable in a non-fanfiction context, and in fact can trap you.

[@RapaceHawk]

As a kid on the internet I became so afraid of accidentally making Mary Sue OCs (I had received horrible comments, been harassed, reposted on "cringe oc" blogs, etc) that I started looking at those "How to not make your OC a Mary Sue" guides, which led me to read more about character design, which led me to watch chara design courses on KZbin, which eventually... led me to become absolutely IN LOVE with character designing and concept art. I'm a professional character designer now, haha.

[@NonsensicalTrickster]

Oh my goodness this is me too!!! I love character design so much and my favorite thing to do is help other people flesh out characters and stuff! Usually by just spitballing ideas at them and letting them pick if they thing they're cool ideas for their characters or not (I play a lot of d&d and sometimes am DM). My dream is to be a professional character designer for animation and stuff. Not sure if it'll happen but a man can dream.

[@deedferreira4211]

Who knew that childhood cyberbullying and trauma was the perfect recipe to become a professional character designer lmao

[@Lovangeline]

TELL THE PEOPLE WHO HARASSED YOU SO THEY CAN FEEL EMBARRASSED

[@lorenaalves2222]

Hahaha, me too! I'm a designer because I was so afraid to make these types of characters, and I was into D&D a lot so I was always making characters all the time. It revealed to be one of my passions

[@h0lodm0966]

same here except i write now lol

[@Doc_Fun]

Honestly a toxin themed xmen character called "Nightshade" is pretty appropriate. The design could use some workshopping but it's definitely workable.

[@salomekayano7695]

I had a BNHA oc I created when I was fifteen (kinda late yes). Her quirk was to steal others quirks permanently so she had four different quirks : telepathy (I had precised up to five tons, thinking it was a good restriction), healing, stopping the time for 5 secondes and an other overpowered quirk called "control" (in a nutshell, she could control any element as long as she touched it, being able to transform a pebble into a cliff or a spark into a giant fire). She was obviously a UA student but was hiding her stealing quirk and only used the control quirk. Her name was Ameshiro Atashi (weird japanese sounding name I came up with) and she was in love with Deku

[@marsmallou]

it’s pretty astounding how (some) people think it’s fine to draw literal circular balls with country flag colors on them along with stereotypes is fine, but making your character a rainbow emo pony with the power of having all the powers is wrong 💀

[@GanymedeTheCorgiCat]

I KNOW OMG-

[@bleachfangirl015]

Why would you remind me of Countryhumans in 2022? Is the pandemic not enough 😂😂

[@TeapotFrogchild]

I will never understand why that was a thing.

[@liberpolo5540]

I COULD NEVER UNDERSTAND-

[@ingridc0ld]

Pretty much anything young and teenage girls like will be ridiculed.

[@SeaBlueJay]

All my potential "Mary Sues" were suicidal, lonely and couldn't control their powers, often losing fights and friends. I feel like this says a lot about my mental state at the time.

[@Kyrusisgone]

Same 💀

[@Blackcatinruemourge]

Same😨

[@detectivebroppy1523]

I'm not even sure my main OC is a mary-sue or not and I'm worried for that. I feel like she maybe started off that way (cause I wrote her officially when I was 9) but as I got older I feel like she probably became less and less

[@UnkownWonders]

Sounds more like anti sue

[@wolfynerd14]

This. Don't expose my ass. XD

[@ChaosGamer123]

I find it funny how there's the whole Mary Sue trope, and then people hear about my god oc/persona for the first time and call him that, and then they realize, oh shit, everyone in this story you wrote are gods or immortals in some way. And they instantly end up loving my story, what a surprising twist of events.

[@ipupi8784]

I want to read it now...

[@chimaeraperseus2308]

I think the only place where "Mary Sues" really suck is in roleplay spaces, because it makes balencing really hard. Its difficult to tell stories if there are no flaws.

[@kaeley9251]

i was so down bad for zuko i came up with a “love bender” so he would feel warm and fuzzy with me 😭 can’t even express how much this self-imposed trope haunted me in other series

[@Lyexsah]

Honestly that's both hilarious and adorable.

[@reiphas]

That is the best thing I've seen lmao. I love people sharing their cringe OCs and I'm glad this was my childhood

[@graycat7704]

I can’t get over this concept 😂😂😂

[@anerrorhasoccurred8727]

“Lovebending” sounds both hilarious and creepy 😭💀 this comment gave me a good laugh thank you OP

[@zitrinex3400]

@@anerrorhasoccurred8727 pls that's so true-

[@asterianmonarch]

I remember I was so ashamed of having "mary sue" characters that I literally stopped creating original art for almost two years, and still don't share my original characters with actual stories with anyone but my closest friends because I really don't want to deal with characters that are very comforting for me being ruthlessly mocked

[@OddSilentMoth]

Same, I have only one or two original characters that I am just too afraid to share because they are very personal and comforting to me.

[@idoh2195]

Same here quq

[@Someone-kf8xe]

yep exactly exept it extended further to me, the fandom was just so toxic back then that I gave up on art as a career entirely, I still draw, paint, make clay sculptures, animate and all the fun art stuff but I just don't share it nor do I ever think I'll pursue it as a job, I keep it all to myself and barely even share it with my friends

[@EternaMidnight]

@@Someone-kf8xe That's sad, I wish you were able to comfortably share it somewhere

[@SquishieTeeeth]

I never knew there was a term for this concept! It brings me back to my childhood, when I'd create characters who were severely overpowered, and unnecessarily talented. My only regret is that my art and plotlines weren't connected because I didn't have faith in my ability to draw these "perfect" characters 😂

[@francescaa7829]

one of the worst friends I ever had kept angrily calling me a Mary Sue when we were teenagers together. Now I’m wondering if she realised that I am not a fictional character and was just a sad teenage girl

[@Mimsadoodle]

I remember how I lost my mind when I found out what Mary Sues were in the sixth grade, I literally made all my OCs horrible just to avoid any of them being called Mary Sues 😭

[@ShallowVA]

In hindsight, Mary Sue hate was kinda just adults bullying children online into suppressing their imagination.

[@Fr0gg37]

@@ShallowVA omg fr

[@Periwinkleaccount]

Mission failed successfully

[@L0rdOfThePies]

Yeah i tried to remove any ounce of personality from my ocs as a kid lol, they were like cardboard boxes with anime eyes at that point

[@agjul]

@@ShallowVA Yup. And if anyone's actually cringe, it's those adults and teens who decided making fun of kids having fun is a worthwhile endeavor lol.

[@WafflesX3XD]

as someone who’s first oc was “waffles the eevee, a lol random all powerful being married to alter cipher, bill cipher’s tsundere twin brother who could transform into an alicorn”, mary sues have been a prominent part of my artistic development lmao. really enjoyed this video

[@YourPalMal23]

I'm sorry but the thought of bill cipher having a tsundere twin brother made me laugh so hard 😭

[@illford6921]

Bro just swapped TV shows like 3 times 💀

[@ERR0RC0DE2]

the ultimate crossover

[@hieovri]

TSUNDERE HAHAHA

[@randomnoob101flyhightweek]

tsundere twin brother, and to bill?!?!?! XD

[@Shmangoz]

Good lord. I remember in the third grade I made mlp OC that was… 1. Fluttershy’s sister 2. Alicorn 3. Basically the design of princess celestia in that one episode when she was turned goth, but as a regular looking pony design. 4. Most powerful of them all 5. Dating Big Mac bc I had a huge crush on him 💀

[@119Agent]

As a 1970’s Star Trek fan fiction reader, you cannot fathom how common this trope was at the time. New Starfleet Academy graduate, youngest ever, highest accolades, gifted at everything and anything, loved by all, and oh my god the PLOT ARMOUR. They are invincible. It was really just in fandom until Luke Skywalker, the paramount of the Mary Sue.

[@PoshHyena]

Well, my grandmother's name is Mary Sue and she actually WAS perfect. Her only known flaws, actually, were that she didn't have rainbow scene hair or date Gaara from Naruto. She made outstanding seasonal sugar cookies though. RIP, grandma, I miss you. You could have had it all if you had just invested in a bottle of Manic Panic 😔

[@mavericktjo4548]

Your grandma was a good woman. My condolences goes to you.

[@urmom-zh6zs]

mary sues need to be brought back bc theyre literally so fun to make. there is no reason that my oc shouldn't be able to tame the most dangerous SCPs, fly, make everyone fall in love with her, and also be able to spawn weapons from nowhere and take down armies

[@cosmiccurlyq4586]

U KNOW EXACTLY WHAT'S UP!! HELL YEAH

[@LunarCrystalFurryArtist]

Or be a Mary sue because of a twisted memory of a loved one, or apear to be a Mary sue but have some (really) big twist, or just be a Mary sue to add flavor to a angst filled world, or or or (insert for examples XD) . also the weapons power could be like based off a elemental power? (Ex one of my O.Cs: can shoot some of the feathers frm their wing and then control them.) Sorry for rant XD, also I think the reason we hate on Mary sues is if there is NO imperfectness near them, (no flaws or no imperfect friends/love interest/sibling) yet again sorry for the rant!

[@camhearsch875]

it means that you have an unhealthy complex. your parents didnt give you enough attention A child, so you feel the need to make outrageous characters for attention. Sorry.

[@cosmiccurlyq4586]

@@camhearsch875 Or- Hear me out- It's fun to make outrageous characters that simply exist to be outrageous. No character development required they're just nuts. Wouldn't you like to try it for yourself?

[@camhearsch875]

@@cosmiccurlyq4586 no because i know all my mental issues and history. jesus not everything is a debate, you know. you must be a child that is unfamiliar with how the world is. You will learn.

[@pressedrose1]

i love how when you show pics of people’s ocs they’ve sent you, so many of them have redraws! like these characters still have a lot of love 🫶 i still have one of my older characters from when i was in middle school. she’s changed quite a bit but she’s still a crazy goth lady named Santelle! she definitely fell into the anti sue trope-nobody liked her-but now she has friends ❤️

[@meowLy_]

i had an oc called Aqua who was the daughter of the Water Queen. Her siblings were very rude to her and she was super close to her uncle Bluebelt (yes that was his name, i have no idea where i got it from) because he helped her go on adventures when her mother wanted her to be a steroetypical princess. Her hair was blue and her skin was comoletely white. Whenever light passed through her skin it did that cool rainbow effect and it made her skin look clear. I don't think she had any powers but she was very cool in my head and i still treasure the memories i have with her:) I think there was more mary sue stuff to her that i forgot over time since i made her when i was 10-11

[@every_planet_we_reach_is_dead]

The rainbow effect thing is a very cool idea for a water diety or a ghost.

[@composer_15]

I was told to *unalive* myself because I wrote a mary sue fanfic. I was a tween at the time. There was actually kind soul who messaged me and told me that this guy was a troll and to please not follow his unhelpful advice. This kind soul was actively spending their free time tracking the troll and following up on the authors he commented on.

[@kkuudandere]

genuinely kinda hope that guy worked on his deep rooted issues, if just for his own sake. that CAN'T be healthy or sustainable

[@AllyInReality]

May that kind soul be protected for all eternity

[@Stubbormly]

I was on amino making my own stories about my character who was used as an experiment who somehow met Jeff the killer, and this guy commented “this is unrealistic”… Bro it’s creepy pasta 😭

[@CommanderWiggins]

Man, the whole anti Mary Sue culture was so wild back in the day. I was totally one of those people who went down the "Mary Sues are a crime against humanity" pipeline. I don't think I was ever outright mean to anyone or gave unwelcome criticism, but I still feel bad about my behavior because at the end of the day, I was contributing to a culture that was surpressing the creative expression of kids.

[@AlexReynard]

People who were using the term "Mary Sue" to make fun of people just startin out writing or drawing were simply bullies at heart. If I still use the term, it's always in reference to, like, well-paid Hollywood scriptwriters making inauthentic, lazy characters when they know better. That's where the term belongs.

[@eldrichnemo9312]

same here, we're talking circa 2000 when I was a very young adult thus "too old" and "too cool" for stinky Mary Sues! I followed LJs that roasted them, especially in the HP fandom. Even though there were rules about not harassing those people aka 'don't touch the poop' there's no doubt were hurt feelings and for what? For me to be like 'not like other girls' and feel superior? Joke's on me, turns out I was not a girl, I just didn't understand that at the time.

[@ImaginaryAlchemist]

I was one of those kids who made Mary Sue characters, when I saw how hated they were it made me cringe at myself lol

[@Lily-pe8ml]

I was right with you! I remember making videos about it and I even was 'cancelled' once (it wasn't called cancelling, but obviously the original owners of the OCs found my channel). I just lied about my age and eventually privated the videos lmaooo

[@every_planet_we_reach_is_dead]

Oh god, my Pokémon OC's were a trio of Mary Sue besties who had tragic backstories 💀 they consisted of: - Cora, an explorer/safari ranger who had (direct quote) ✨ long black hair which tumbled down her back like a waterfall ✨ and an exclusive, super powerful partner Pokémon which she found in a cave. She was homeless because her parents wanted her to be in an arranged marriage and they dramatically chased her out of the house for saying no, and then her dad showed up later working for the evil team that I made up. - Luna, the most blatant self-insert who could talk to her Espeon via psychic link. It also let her see into the future. Her backstory was by far the edgiest, her entire family (except her sister) was killed by the evil team and they basically enslaved her, but she fed a stray Eevee through the bars on her window until it evolved and broke her out. Ever since then she had edgy visions which nobody else understood. In terms of personality she was a "quirky" neurotic weirdo who annoyed people, but every Pokémon she met automatically loved her lmao. She also dressed like the bastard child of a Soul Eater cosplayer and a swamp witch. - Star, AKA a shameless ripoff of the blonde GirlsGoGames mascot 😂 I think there was an entire prophecy about her because she was magical or something?? Her partner was a Dratini because of course it was. She was found in the forest as a baby and grew up in a village which shunned her for being different, except for the time where she casually befriended a Shaymin. In hindsight she was kinda like N before N existed. Some funny trivia I remember: - the entire friend group was dysfunctional as hell, Star and Luna would enable each other's worst traits and Cora allowed it because she thought it was funny - Star burned down an entire forest and was instantly forgiven because she cried - Luna called Star 10 minutes later than she promised and Star responded by having a full-on mental breakdown - Ash Ketchum himself appeared at one point and fell madly in love with Cora, but I got bored of writing it so she abandoned him in a cave - Luna's Espeon would constantly, CONSTANTLY encourage her to respond to her problems with violence - Cora's would-be husband turned out to be the evil team leader's son, who was basically just emo Silver minus the Pokémon abuse (and in VERY ANGSTY love with Luna because of course he was) - all three of them would casually start singing Evanescence songs to express their feelings

[@sc6658]

Honestly I’m of the opinion that “Mary Sues” are kind of a stage that every creative person goes through when first beginning to write characters. They’re not well-written by any stretch but they’re a first foray into character design and more broadly character creation for almost everyone. That said there’s nothing morally wrong with having them in your character arsenal- they can be fun- but I think the term in its ideal usage can be utilized to highlight a specific kind of writing issue for people who want to write compelling characters for an audience one day.

[@jello4835]

Male power fantasies are literally everywhere (Bond, Indiana Jones, Rambo) and it will always infuriate me that young girls were not only deprived of seeing themselves in such a role, but mocked for filling the void with fan content. Even in casual online spaces, we put girls through the wringer for daring to imagine that someone like them could be powerful and special.

[@bluesheep7]

This!!! You're so correct, omg. Adding that some of these characters (cof, cof, Indiana Jones, cof!) treat their love interest horribly and they get the excuse, "well, he's just like that! So badass!". I've heard that shit so many times, ugh.

[@hemanownsyou]

What infuriates me are people like you whining and crying about "male power fantasies," even though the characters you mentioned aren't even mary sues. There is a difference between power fantasies and mary sues. Today, young girls have tons of "power fantasy" characters with those annoying "strong, independant women" characters. Saying girls don't have those power fantasy characters is a straight up lie.

[@hemanownsyou]

@@bluesheep7 No, she isn't correct. And you are full of crap if that's who you think Indiana Jones. I actually watched the movies and he doesn't treat love interests horribly. Also, his love interests aren't exactly perfect little angels.

[@sertaki]

Who hurt you?

[@chocolattemocha8512]

@@hemanownsyou did you escape from the 2010’s? calm down lol

[@wedzoneszczury]

I really apreciate that Izzy "isnt making fun of" the themes she talks about. Kids are just having fun and shaming them for liking that stuff even if it is cringe, makes them grow up really fast and fear being made fun of. Thanks Izzy

[@deadeyeguys]

i think that's why izzy is one of my favourite channels. i know that they're not going to make fun of the things that they talk about, and that's pretty refreshing, at least to me.

[@durandus676]

I like how she approaches it as a healthy hobby and not doubling down like some “positive” takes go with encouraging obsession. Not just this just in general, Izzy has very grounded level headed takes that are just aging like fine wine.

[@criesincryptid]

@@SpadeBent the poking fun usually goes over the top. It's such a prominent trope because it's a beginner writing problem so it's young kids often getting the brunt of the teasing.

[@naolucillerandom5280]

@@SpadeBent Not dumb, just inexperienced. You need analysing and practice to build any kind of skill. Most of your first attempts at anything aren't going to be the best you can do. Making fun of kids too much often discourages them from trying.

[@spoopyvirgil4944]

@@SpadeBent "Are you saying kids are dumb?" I mean, I thought I could walk on water like a pond skater when I was a kid. And I thought the sky was a dome like the one room from Spirited Away.

[@madcatpocketreaper2230]

I need a story where the whole main squad is a bunch of mary sues who got together to break the laws of the world and their interactions just have the vibe of like drunk girls complimenting each other in the bathroom. I so wanna see something sweet like that... Everyone hyping eachother up, teaching each other their universe shatering moves, borrowing clothes from one another because "no no, that skirt suits you sooo much better". It would feel like those old cringey rps with your online friends and I crave it...

[@ajtrotter64]

God this video took me back. I remember my first OC that I know realise was a Mary Sue. Her name was Ocean Hellfire she was a half demon princess, half human with bright blue hair and red eyes. She dressed all grunge and had a magical necklace from her mum who obviously died cause backstory. She could wield a legendary black sword, grow huge bat wings and fly, she could go full demon because of angst… oh yeah and she had a crush on my other OC Fang who was basically her in the reverse… half angel all good n stuff… God this was so cringe but I look back fondly on them, they were my first OCs I loved making and were the start of my passion for art and character design.

[@ProjectSNT]

*raises hand* Guilty. I was so ashamed of my mary-sue ridden past that I became one of those haters. Now I literally don't care, and I have embraced my old Sonic mary-sue. It's just way more fun that way!

[@LpsBagelSisters]

haha Love SNT!

[@KellyLuvsYou]

💀 i had one and I am dead As a kid they had so many Braclets And there name was prob Mabel or Susan i hate little me :)

[@KellyLuvsYou]

@@LpsBagelSisters same lol

[@Suzune-P]

Your sonic oc looks awesome though!

[@Mushybff]

I remember SNT! I loved all your SNT videos when I was little!

[@breepurple5501]

I made a Mary Sueh-ish character just to make her the dead elder sister of my main OC, so her perfectness was more of a twisted memory of a young grieving girl

[@daddycool7316]

actually love that that’s super interesting

[@breepurple5501]

@@daddycool7316 oh thank you!

[@supergeeky7529]

love that idea!!!!

[@delreydaddy5810]

tbh a good OC driving force, this kinda "you must be as perfect as your sister was" energy, but also since the character is dead, their "perfectness" may be plausible and just a glorified memory of a lost closed one

[@arambles1]

Omori moment

[@lalapopuwu9419]

I had MLP OC that was alicorn and her name was Equestria(they named the country after her!) She created all the monsters and she had her own monster dark side. She had also vitiligo and rainbow mane. Till this day she is the most precious MLP OC I have. She has gone trough so many changes but the name stick to her till this day. She was of course, the most powerful pony of all time.

[@emilygratz9203]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="1349">22:29</a> i love how instead of calling it a "mary sue" they just called em ✨sparkle dogs.✨ And that title sounds cool and hella better frfr.

[@eatsteas]

I vividly remember being in the my little pony fandom on good ol deviantart back when it was popular and there was this 14 year old girl who had a "mary sue" mlp oc and she got so much backlash for it she kept redesigning her oc to make her less of a mary sue but people were never satisfied. i think she ended up putting her up as an adoptable and the person who got it said they were gonna redesign her completely. kinda messed up looking back on it.

[@spoopyvirgil4944]

The true people who are cringe are those who make fun of others for being "cringe".

[@eatsteas]

@@spoopyvirgil4944 oh totally. especially when they're making fun of literal children having fun

[@thepinkestpigglet7529]

People just want to be bully children 😔

[@MadamChriss]

That definitely sucks that she couldn't have her fun :( i remember vividly watching "how to make a good oc" videos because of how scared i was on making a Mary sue

[@bakaichigo]

I REMEMBER THIS! I always thought it was sad :(

[@inanator]

I used to be so afraid of making Mary Sues that all my characters were kinda bland but now I have come full circle and make all the edgy and over the top ocs my middle school heart could only dream of.

[@AoiUsagiOtoko]

same and i'm having the time of my life doing so tbh! screw subtlety i'm gonna draw my cool femboy vampire oc all the time forever 😤

[@gumi1098]

sorry, unrelated to the video, but I LOVE YOUR LOOK! THE OUTFIT, THE MAKEUP, THE HAIR, THE JEWLRY, IT ALL COMES TOGETHER AND JUST EVERYTHING ABOUT IT AAAAAAAAH YOU LOOK SO AMAZING I CANNOT LIKE DUDE THATS SO MY GOALS RIGHT THERE AGFYUIJHGFTYUIO

[@Baldgo]

I love sparkledogs oml they're amazing.

[@discodog4582]

i agree that mary sue ocs are pretty much just harmless fun and a form of escapism for kids, and if it makes them happy, good for them. But I gotta admit, once they’re brought into a setting where people other than the creator has to deal with them, they can get really irritating. I’ve dealt with mary sue dnd characters, rp characters, and mary sues in collaborative writing projects and those sorts of characters are flat-out insufferable to work with when they aren’t actually your own character because they ruin the fun for everyone else by breaking the continuity of the world, immediately resolving every conflict, and just taking all the moments in the spotlight from other players/characters. To be fair though that’s kind of a completely separate problem

[@anerrorhasoccurred8727]

Also, when the Mary Sue OC moves from some DA roleplay account to a professionally published/broadcasted work 💀 somehow it’s even worse if they’re _not_ the main character and instead some side character who shows up halfway through the series to throw a wrench into everything.

[@vindeltrapp]

Yeah, I remember trying out some fiction role playing in a forum online (around 2007 before social media took over the function of forums) when I was in my early teens and one girl had a Mary Sue character that immediately resolved every single conflict I tried to introduce. Every other participant in the forum got bored of it and quit, and I’m still annoyed at this random 12 year old girl to this day…

[@OseiBayard]

Mary Sou DnD types are so frustrating... A watched a whole dnd group dissolve after a boss fight when the Mary Sou player had a screaming match with the DM.

[@evilminionnumber2]

Once had someone's Drama Sue borrow one of my dudes to help her character give birth and it was like, WTF no.

[@Tayday12]

i think that observing mary sues on their own as harmless fun and then observing them SEPERATELY as a problem when it comes to joint projects are.... honestly, that's such a //mindblowingly// good take. That really explains the whole phenomenon very neatly. I applaud the critical thinking.

[@renhyde1447]

When I was 12 I used the Mary Sue litmus test religiously and when I got into a fight with any of my friends I would take the test with one of their characters and try to see how many points I could rack up on them. I never told them the results I just would silently stew in my frustration.

[@TheNumnutRandomness]

Seeing all these Mary Sue memes just took me on a TRIP. I literally had the Mary Sue litmus test _bookmarked_ and hung religiously onto the "just b/c your character scored high, doesn't necessarily make them a Mary Sue" bullet point 😭

[@Neon99]

Oh my gosh that is so funny

[@grazgrain]

It’s not even accurate tho like literally all my characters get over the threshold on that and they’re the most flawed beings to exist 😭😭

[@renhyde1447]

@@grazgrain oh I've tried taking it again a few years ago out of curiosity and characters I have now that I think are more well rounded and fun scored high. It's definitely not accurate and a product of its time.

[@grazgrain]

@@renhyde1447 yeah, the creator said that they think it's innacurate now

[@hyperf1sh161]

Omg I had a warriors oc named Nightclaw who was the most edgy character I had every made. She was a Siamese with the same missing eye as Brightheart, she had bangs covering one eye (of course) and she was “not like other cats”. She became leader of shadowclan because of course she did. Oh and also she had a tooth collar like Scourge even though she was a clan born cat. I recently just made an Arcane oc who’s just a chick working as a janitor at The Last Drop. Gotta love improvement.

[@Eviloohoo]

One of my first ever oc’s was named Pyro. I made her when I was in fourth grade and if I remember correctly, she was basically a recolor of Chara from Undertale with a backstory of being a murderous demon wolf girl who was grown in a lab or something. It’s crazy how much I’ve grown as an artist and character creator over the years since I created Pyro and though I never knew what a Mary Sue was at the time that the oc was created, I think making chatacters like that is a universal experience for most artists or writers who started out young

[@squishyeggg7251]

I remember someone called one of my OCs a Mary Sue cause she wore a sexy outfit once. It literally shook preteen me to my core 🤣

[@kaigrant88]

My preteen writing of my character being called a Mary Sue because I literally made her like what I liked and apparently because I listen to rock music and my character liked it, it was an edgy Mary Sue

[@doesbadart13]

My name is Luna and I get called a Mary Sue even today because people think I'm faking it 😭

[@noizepusher7594]

@@doesbadart13 damn your parents were trying to make a marry sue

[@The_Bird_Bird_Harder]

@@doesbadart13 Had a friend named Luna in 4th grade. Not that odd of a name. (Though technically it was a nickname derived from her proper name which is Chinese, and I have forgotten.)

[@monarch3495]

Now that I’m older, I love Mary Sues, they’re often young people’s first foray into writing, it helps them learn to explore expressing themselves, and you get to be anything you want to be! That’s so cool! Who cares if it’s not pulitizer worthy? My friends and I had fun writing those characters and they have a soft spot in my heart 💕

[@ratboygirl]

yeah same LOL it’s sorta like a right-of-passage for kids getting into art and/or writing. cringey? yeah sure but as long as they’re having fun that’s all that matters ^^ eventually they’ll learn how to flesh out a character a bit more and make them more interesting and balanced but until then, i never want to discourage them from creating just because it’s “cringe”

[@MizuhanaVT]

@@ratboygirl kinda debatable. We can see from a lot of artists and writers post Mary Sue after very stringent block and harassment policies came into play, their work simply never improves or in some cases continually gets worse. Harassment is never ok but criticism isn't harassment and a lot of criticism has become impossible to give because it's labeled harassment.

[@ratboygirl]

@@MizuhanaVT i never said anything about harrassment/criticism? but like i agree with you in a way. on the other hand tho unsolicited advice will not be taken regardless my comment was moreso targetted at those ppl who make "cringe compilations" and it's literally just a video of young people's art and stories. of course they're not gonna be good, they'll find out later lol. until then let them have fun

[@MizuhanaVT]

@@ratboygirl Never said you did mention harassment or criticism but I felt it was important to say I wasn't defending it since they was a sizable portion of the video and why critiquing it was bad.

[@ratboygirl]

@@MizuhanaVT sorry friend i don’t do well with tone over text :)

[@wobblyice1028]

I had a glitter force (yes glitter force not precure) mary sue oc as a kid. She controlled earth, plant, air, life and animals. My friend made a counter oc to mine who controlled everything opposite to the... things? listed beforehand. They coulf fuse like steven universe characters to make a all holy godess who everyone loved. Hers was called 'lunala' and mine was called 'sol'.

[@myl-mations1487]

I work at a daycare and I'm happy to announce that even in this generation, playground roleplay mary sues still exist. There's this one kid that constantly heals everyone whenever they pretend to get hurt and always say things like "and I grow wolf ears and you're really shocked" and I kid you not, one time they named themselves "Diamond Axe Wolf."

[@every_planet_we_reach_is_dead]

That's so cute I can't 😭

[@jolterian]

i used to love jokingly making mary sue ocs like they're so fun to make since you don't have to follow any form of "rules"

[@esthershih5575]

no same. I just wanted to insert my mary sue OCs into whatever show i wanted and rewrite the plot around them lmfao

[@rolboo6158]

I miss making joke mary sue ocs, like, they were so fun to design;;

[@methequin7239]

i still do that, i love drawing stupidly over the top characters! can highly recommend

[@rolboo6158]

@@methequin7239 Now I kinda wanna do that

[@jolterian]

@@rolboo6158 i’m gonna do it lol

[@sushiferz]

fun fact: in seventh grade, one of my english assignments was writing a short story and sharing it to the class. my friends and i thought my immortal was so funny that i made a my immortal fic in the pov of draco getting attacked at the mcr concert. i shared it in front of the class and only my friend group found it funny. i got a low score lol

[@catfan913]

oh noooo lmaooo

[@jessicamuir8696]

oof

[@derismiccube2414]

I hate when teachers low score creative writing assignments, especially ones that are younger, because it should just be about writing something fun that you enjoy

[@katethevampire]

Bro you got to get creative on the writing assignment. One time I wrote a whole essay about a character breaking into a school to find the last clue to a scavenger hunt. I looked up prices for local soda shops in Utah so my character could do the math about how many slushies they could get with the prize money. ( also is that a Cleo pfp I see? )

[@UnreasonableOpinions]

Frankly the entire grade of a creative writing assignment should award any genuine attempt at expression a decent mark just for managing to try. High marks can be there for people who excel, but downgrading people for not being creative enough in a social milieu that punishes any form of earnestness is nonsense.

[@SpinnerWheelBird]

I used to have this one character called “Choco” She was mysterious, loved and great at everything, i dont much know how to describe her but i still find her important and am using her for one of my stories although her character has been changed a bit with personality and design, she’s also only a background character yet a great memory.

[@drunkenmozzie4712]

My first OC I'm proud of is a little fox called Peanut. I wanted to use her for multiple Fandoms, so I made her able to travel between universes and aware of there being multiple universes. She's an extrovert who loves to make new friends. She travels between universes by finding cracks where two universes closely touch, and just traveling through them. To balance her out, she can die, but when she does, every other version of her in other universes gets to experience it too, with all their senses! Oh, and also she's way to trusting and while she does have solutions and seems to know a lot, she still doesn't seem to get she can't trust people. Another flaw she has is She's extremely emotional, and let's her emotions control her. I ran her through a Mary sue thing and it said she was borderline a Mary sue, so I also tacked on that she can't really fight, she just attacks like a cyote/fox and does get beat up a lot. And I also clarified that while people can be attracted to her friendly personality, people who don't like extroverts won't like her.

[@calvinaccount1339]

My first proper OC was a French fish who was also my fish husband. He played the trombone and was basically a time God, but it was OK that he was overpowered because he was my fictional fish spouse. He and I also canonically had a child, even though a fish and a human who are both AMAB can’t typically produce fish children. Anyway I think having complete and total control over how time functions makes him a Mary Sue.

[@Xunizal]

Just being really OP doesn't necessarily make him a mary sue; It can be easy to fall into that mindset, though. You can always try to balance those time powers in some way. As some examples of flaws you could give them: Time powers obviously wouldn't affect someone who transcends time and space, so it's not like your character would be able to defeat EVERYONE he meets through said powers. He could also have a limited radius in which he can control time. Depending on the character, it may be harder to balance them, but at the end of the day, you just need to make sure that your character has flaws of some kind. Many of mine, as overpowered as they are, have a fair share of weaknesses--be it something physical or mental. The character depicted in my avatar, for instance, is a doctor and an insanely powerful vampire lord. However, one of his weaknesses is that if he doesn't feed on blood like he's supposed to, he will lose control of his actions and risk lashing out at his patients. It is a flaw that he must constantly keep in mind or risk hurting someone he cares about.

[@ricesandarling594]

FISH?

[@mamaihitmytoe2922]

Damn- 🐟 husband

[@sangonomiyakokomi5764]

@@Xunizal I also have an overpowered oc, her flaws are that her powers are influenced by her mental state and emotions. If she feels any negative emotion depending on how strong it is it could risk hurting her loved ones (or unintentionally harm an entire country as the kind of creature she is is very dangerous and are usually killed before they do any more damage than when they first awaken). So she constantly needs to control her feelings, going to therapy regularly so she can function "normally" without unintentionally hurting people whenever she has a mental breakdown. She reminds herself to always remain calm no matter how bad a situation is otherwise she risks hurting people similar to your oc in a way. Idk but she's just an oc I made up for fun, and yeah I agree being OP doesn't automatically mean mary sue. As long as they're not literally perfect in every way it could be fine. But at the same time it is possible to write a perfect character with depth, you just need to put more work into such a character to make them interesting. I think Elysia from honkai impact could be an example, though she was pretty much designed to be "perfect" the way the developers wrote her made her interesting and charming in my opinion.

[@stephaniesheep1147]

Idk but a fish husband sounds adorable

[@cathackz]

the "going from having mary sue characters to hating them" pipeline thing is SO true. i'm glad u brought up the phase in 2016 where suddenly everything was being deemed "cringe" - i went from having a rainbow dash recolor oc named golden wings who was the fastest flyer in all of equestria to trashing every last bit of old art i could find. i think that era caused a lot of people to be ashamed and even scared about having ocs in case they were ridiculed

[@riverdaisy4215]

almost everyone’s gonna have a Mary Sue or self insert the important thing is that shit never gets professionally published

[@gingaswagger7969]

FR one of my biggest regrets in life is scribbling over my warrior cat oc, Oddstar's comic... i spent hours making it, only to deface it beyond recognition when I was going through my "anti cringe" phase.

[@cathackz]

@@gingaswagger7969 I DID THE SAME THING it got to the point where i soaked my marker drawings in water so that they were literally unrecognizable 😭 that era of the internet changed my way of thinking for the worst honestly i'm so glad i've learnt to keep my art and embrace what ppl deem to be cringe

[@YuugaoMegami]

Were you even a part of mid-00s fandom culture if you didn't go through the 'Mary Sue to Anti Sue Pipeline'?

[@soursweet2433]

2016 damaged too many people.

[@cloudypartymuffinyt]

This video made me realize that my Dreamworks Trolls OC (and yes, I am indeed referring to those tiny, glitter-loving critters who make fart jokes. I made the character when I was a bit younger and a bit more into the franchise than I am now) is not only a somewhat self-insert, but also a bit of a “mary sue”. She’s a half troll-half fairy lab expirament with magic powers, and I used to ship her with Creek (not anymore tho, I now don’t think she’s really into dating). She’s also disabled (deformed leg and inability to use her hair like other trolls), and lives on the outskirts of Pop Village in a really cool house. She actually first came from a dream of mine where she was playing a version of hockey that used pillows instead of pucks, and I have kept her liking the strange sport as a character trait despite not actually knowing how to play hockey myself 😅. I still kinda care about her from time to time as I don’t completely hate Trolls and think she’s cool, but not as much as I used to. Edit: Her name was Pepper btw (don’t know where that name came from, but I think it’s cute)

[@tami7992]

As a small kid I had a Mary Sue character called "Rainbow Regenbogen" (Regenbogen just means rainbow in german so she was called rainbow rainbow) who was a horse with blue fur and a rainbow hair, a horn and wings (no, she wasn't based on Rainbow Dash) and she was the guardian of her homeland and fought evil, was super nice and loved by everyone. I don't remember much of her but I do remember that she had no flaws 😂

[@CandiceCotton]

I remember being dogpiled when i was, like, 10 by older teens and just actual grown-ass adults who were mad about my "Mary-Sues". It's so sad how kids like me, who were just trying to have fun and create something, were and still are treated. I never let it get to me but I know there's others like me who were discouraged from creating because people can't just let kids be kids =(

[@succubunnie]

I faced the exact same issue but I was 12. It’s easy to be brutal when you can hide behind a screen.

[@firstnamelastname7244]

God, I hate it when people do that. Like, wow, you're better at writing nuanced characters than an elementary schooler who likes warrior cats. Congratulations.

[@L0rdOfThePies]

The same thing happened to me and often continues to happen to me because of my cringe content on my channel (some very sad people on the internet go to my channel as they have no good argument points left :-( oh no ) I lived through the days of sans fangirls cringe comps and i often had people come to my pages on defunct art apps to tell me my ocs are bad and my art looks like shit ..so everytime i come across a young artist nowerdays i usually cheer them on and tell them exactly what i liked about their art, im sure y'all know they appreciate it :-) the next generation of artists needs love so that they dont turn out the same way me and a few of my friends did. Even if harassing a kid doesnt effect you it hurts them long term

[@Ourxz]

Holy shit, I hope ur ok

[@Keyndoriel]

I dont wanna say I "get" kids bullying eachother, but christ you'd think grown ass people would have something better to do than bully someones first writing project

[@Spineless-Lobster]

Don’t forget those characters who would have an “evil side”. I remember making copious amounts of half-good half-evil OC fanart.

[@Stubbormly]

No because I did this too- I had a speedart on my channel of my edgy sad persona with an inverted colors half 😋

[@Snips.Snails.Fairytales]

I think I had one that was possessed by the spirit of a vampire that would be brought out by the super hot villain OC. Man good times.

[@tortleproductions6331]

OH MY GOD, YOU JUST REMINDED ME OF MY BATIM OC THAT WAS ESSENTIALLY BENDY 2: ELECTRIC BOOGALOO BUT GENDERBENT AND HIS SISTER AND CRAP. AND ALSO DATING BORIS FOR SOME REASON.

[@spiderdad8276]

omg the art where its a character split and one side of them is happy and the other side is bloody and evil. those were the best i swear

[@shickzander]

I still do this lmao.

[@Powerfantasyforever]

My sister and I used to play this game with our toys called silverhorn island and I had this unicorn toy that I named moonsilver she was pretty much a female version of star swirl from mlp and could do absolutely anything with her magic I remember one session of the game my sister just made all her characters think moonsilver wasn't real in some sort of attempt to power trip me

[@rosaspaulding6851]

the edit of sienfeld at <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="805">13:25</a> actually made me spit out my coffee. the best image ive ever seen i think

[@VertumnaSkies]

literally the most cathartic thing i ever did was sit down and force myself to write an extremely mary-sue oc. just hands down said to myself “idc if she’s cringy, she’s gonna be WHATEVER I WANT”. i’d been so traumatised by seeing ppl getting hunted for sport bc their characters were borderline interesting for a change that i realised i’d forgotten how to write anything actually engaging and fun. i still use that character from time to time, albeit a little more toned down, and she’s become a staple of the small group i share my writing with

[@scout8145]

I want to try this! Thank you for the inspo! I also have a lot of weird art trauma and it scared me out of a bunch of art forms that I want to reconnect with now

[@madokazzzsilly]

I have a character whos realistic but looks like a bit of a mary sue. White angel wings, literally a 3'6 axolotl god, based off of the blue axolotl from minecraft but is very feisty and can be irresponsible at times, and although they are a good fighter, their reflexes are absolutely horrible and theyre basically blind.

[@Eblake3112]

Furries are being hunted for sport and I don’t like that

[@annaluizaaraujo8264]

Wholesome!!

[@pancakeandwaffle4849]

I mean one could argue that since the character was written with the tropes in mind and the writer make conscious decisions giving them those traits they are not really mary sue since they are written to actually fit the story and universe unlike the traditional world bending mary sue

[@DominationofProcrastination]

Don’t forgot the Mary Sue’s lecturing the whole cast for being ignorant and they all just stand there gaping in blank awe of her intelligence and morals

[@grain9640]

sometimes I see "horrendous and edgy backstory of infinite suffering" duct taped on as an after thought/defense, lol I did this but it didn't make it a better written character, because I had no clue what I was doing just "why should u listen to my character's insightful and intelligent monologues? BECAUSE THEY BEEN THROUGH CRAP AND IT WAS TERRIBLE, AND NOW THEY ARE STRONG AND EDGY DON'T ASK QUESTIONS"

[@Office_chair]

Okay so basically Mary sues and y/n's are basically the same except one is a your name in a fanfic.

[@starboycesar]

@@Office_chair yep

[@Office_chair]

@@starboycesar well I mean that's basically what it sounds like. That they're both the same thing.

[@r4tsrc00l]

this was such a healing watch, i still vaguely remember my mary sue

[@user-hz5oi7bq2x]

I had my own Mary Sew at the age of 12. She was a part of Marvel Univerce and one of the X-men and a Hellfire Club. She had a third purple eye and was some kind of a being which takes care about timelines. She had an special vision. When she saw a tree she could also see a seed and a rotten piece of wood thousands miles away from the place where tree was standing. She could also change some events and all history if she wanted. No limits at all. She was a friend of Emma Frost, Selene Gallio and other members of Hellfire club. Actually she helped me survive throw some tof times of my life and now I have a tatoo made in her honor. She also was named after me

[@sam7162]

i was obsessed with taking the mary sue litmus test as a kid and there was a “de-sueifer” question (that takes away from your score) that was something like “if your character is a hybrid creature, do they have the weaknesses of both species instead of the strengths?” i thought that was a super cool idea for an edgy anti-mary sue story. buuuuut of course i ended up making an edgy sue 😭

[@anerrorhasoccurred8727]

Having a blend of strengths and weaknesses is interesting and pretty realistic imo. Like, if your character is part bird or something, maybe their light weight allows them to fly but also leaves them prone to serious injury.

[@anerrorhasoccurred8727]

The biggest Sue I ever created was a Tokyo Mew Mew OC. She was an Amur Leopard girl named Cocoa with a white, “ripped-up wedding dress” costume, and everything I wrote her in got _super_ dark (repressed trauma go!) She was such a blatant self insert that she’d even moved to Tokyo from the UK 😭 I think her weapon was a violin crossbow that could create huge lightning strikes/booms from the music. The reason I made her is pretty wholesome though. An ad came on TV about how badly endangered these leopards were and little 9 year old me took it as my personal duty to spread as much awareness as possible.

[@anerrorhasoccurred8727]

Also, I’ve just remembered that she was the tsundere scientist’s childhood friend, but they reunited and fell in love as teenagers. LUCKILY that stayed a secret between me and Notepad bc I was too embarrassed to rp romance with other people, but _my god_ it haunts me 😭

[@emexdizzy]

That's neat, the tidbit about caring about the endangered Amur leopard.

[@microwavemad]

the violin crossbow idea is like. very cool

[@Raexai]

So wholesome u.u

[@lobstersonskateboards3988]

Honestly that violin idea sounds really cool. I could imagine something like that in a show

[@TheSparklyMisfit]

I remember preteen me starting out in the Sonic fandom with a bright teal, super cool fox girl who used roller skates to speed around and dated Sonic. I had fun, vibing and making other characters, Only to discover anti-sue art critics and after watching them went into a full panic, redoing absolutely everything and everyone just to not end up in one of their videos. It was awful and felt like one of my escapes was then a full blown chore to make sure my characters were perfect, but not too perfect, and ABSOLUTELY NO official and fan character shipping. Nowadays, I still have and use that fox girl along with many others, and just go back to vibing and having fun like I used to, regardless how anyone feels about them, even back to those OC x Canon ships that were DEEPLY frowned upon lol I'm also glad a majority of said "Anti-Sue critics" are also looking back and regret being so harsh to children over just trying to have fun in a fandom they love. And I really hope we can just continue that, because no one should panic the way I and many others did just trying to enjoy themselves in an escape from the everyday.

[@liquuid6958]

I remember making an alicorn OC. Her name was Atari and she was an absolute slayer at video games, but she focused so much on her gaming that she never learned magic. She literally can’t do anything except write poems and play video games. Her color pallet was rather normal, just black with a darker red and darker blue. I honestly don’t think she’s a Mary Sue, I just thought it’d be funny to have an alicorn that doesn’t know any magic at all.

[@superfudge_69]

That’s pretty slay tbh I like the idea of her being such a gamer that she doesn’t even learn magic lol

[@rainandhail67]

I grew up in a toxic household so having that comfort and expression in my mary-sue mlp oc's was empowering. It was easy to process the complex emotions that came with being a preteen in a dysfunctional household when you could just imagine those emotions in an edgy and dramatic backstory to this self insert. Not being held back by anything, character creation guides or even the lore of the universe, felt so comforting in a world where you don't have control over anything even yourself. I think every creative person needs at least one OC that they can go all out in, screw the guidelines and just make something that makes _you_ happy.

[@xdlr22]

Yessss fandoms are for fans to have fun in. I never hated on the eye gouging designs because that was just someone having a good ol time. Now the “do not steal” and “you’re copying me!” Part of it was what was annoying since… you know… most of these characters were born of the same fandoms or ideas and not usually very creative in limitations or origins.

[@ohnoitsthetrash128]

I had a Sue for a while that I absolutely adored. He was a super famous singer that sang solely Fall Out Boy and Panic! at the Disco, despite his story taking place in 1982. His name was Michael if I'm remembering correctly, and he frequently got possessed by some overpowered spirit during concerts that would go out of its way to attempt to murder everyone who attended. funny thing is, I never really let go of this character, and have put a massive amount of effort into un-sue-ifying him. It's not perfect yet, but there's definitely been improvement lmao.

[@kiyavi]

Ahhhhh I love it!!

[@chocobear4078]

Honestly, the idea of a famous singer being constantly possessed by a murderous spirit is hilarious to me. It could work as a comedy.

[@TheAbigailDee]

There IS SUCH A FUN STORY HERE I see why you've held on to him

[@ohnoitsthetrash128]

@@chocobear4078 That’s a good idea! I think one of the reasons the original story kinda failed is because it took itself WAY too seriously. Maybe dark comedy would be more fitting!

[@lananahapetian3735]

Already love the description, it's a very good setup for a fun dynamic between Micheal and his "spirit".

[@markthesapphicdumpsterfire1745]

I made several Mary Sue’s as a kid, but because they were all in the same story they actually canceled each other out.

[@markthesapphicdumpsterfire1745]

Accidental Writing tips for when you just don’t care and write Mary Sue’s into your stories: Make every main character one, just make their power focus on one element or thing, different one for each, and you should be all good!