Sedlec Ossuary, Kutn Hora (Czech Republic).

Sedlec ossuary, Kutná Hora (Czech republic).

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"Killed our sugar daddy and took over his alien garbage planet check!!"

an interview with didion

honestly, the issue with mary sue's isn't that they're perfect, or that they're self-inserts, or the thousand and one thinly veiled misogynist reasons pop-culture has come up with (as if male mary sues aren't ten times more common), it's that they're interesting, at the expense of every other character. your protagonist with the extreme skillset and beauty and a 5-syllabic name isn't a mary sue in a world where literally every other character is just as fascinating. they are a mary sue in a world where everyone is called jane who have no special skills at all and is completely average looking and constantly bested professionally and academically and romantically by your protagonist portlansia muskgrave the 3rd.

That was the issue with sherlock in sherlock BBC. he was so smart and so wacky and so special in a world where every other character existed just to drive in how special he was that he sucked the soul of the story.

in contrast, let's see atla. every character in atla can be considered in mary sue if seen in isolation. the chosen one with the funky tattoos and the dead race and special powers. the beautiful waterbender the hero IMMEDIATELY falls for who literally becomes the strongest waterbender over the course of a summer. the blind 12 year old who invents metalbending in an hour. the scarred yet handsome emo prince with the tragic backstory and daddy issues. the beautiful princess prodigious enough to literally take down the chosen one with a single strike. the non-bending genius who crafts battle plans/invents hot air balloons/masters swordfighting in day/literally has a space sword.

YET none of them feel weird, or out of place, because they exist in the story together. time and attention are distributed, so no single character can overshadow the narrative and every other character. despite being ridiculously OP in every way, all these characters feel grounded and real because they exist in relation to each other.

therefore, in order to fix a mary sue, you don't have to tone them down. you need to give other characters just as much love and attention.

Guide to chess pieces