Digging into the history of the “Mary Sue”

In this new video, YouTuber and fandom expert Jill Bearup digs into the history of the fanfiction "Mary Sue" and offers a compelling defense of the much-maligned character archetype. The video is part of Bearup's ongoing "History Of Fanfiction" series, which started with her delightful argument that Virigl was a Homer fanboy:

Bearup also uploads all sorts of great videos about pop culture, fandom, and feminism, like this exploration of whether or not you can slut-shame fictional female characters: