And now, Mary Sue

The fannish-inclined among you should go read seanan_mcguire's new post I know a little girl and her name is Mary Mac: The Misuse of Mary Sue. (And then you should go read her books too... can't remember if I've said on here, but I recently read One Salt Sea, which is one of the best of the Toby Daye books thus far.) I definitely think it's worth examining that the term "Mary Sue" is usually thrown at female characters--often by female fans!--as an easy way to dismiss them.

Also, from her essay...

We've all met her. She's the violet-eyed, crimson-haired, secret daughter of Amadala and Obi Wan, sent to be raised on the hidden planet where the last Jedi ran to escape the war, and she has just emerged back into the universe with her spinning light saber batons to save her half-brother Luke from falling to the Dark Side.

I would probably read that! And I bet d4ni would too! It's that shared love of Star Wars and bad fanfic.