Quote Originally Posted by lowfyr View Post
Does anyone ever use the term "Mary Sue" in the Right way? And if you say Ares has his reasons the same holds true for the Captain Marvel Villians.
And again you got the term wrong bland does not mean "no reason"
I do. (A female self-insert and wish-fulfillment character in a Star Trek fanfic.)

Which is why I almost never use the term, notwithstanding that is has become connotated with dismissal of female writers.

However, discussion about the term, the use of the male "equivalent" Gary Stu (about as badly misused), and some reading led me to start developing an idea for what I call the "friendship fantasy". A young character, often misunderstood in their old social environment, leaves it and finds a new group of people where they fit and gain friends. Often they find (or stumble upon) easy solutions to complex personal or interpersonal issues. They selflessly help—either by volunteering or after being asked—nearly everyone around them, one of which often is another loner. However, they tend to be overachieving and never ask for help, which often turns out to bite them somewhere in the plot.

Bringing this back on-topic, one can see bits and pieces of this in Birds of Prey, though it's more in the aggregate and not tied to any specific character.

It's rather clear that every one of protagonist characters are stuck in bad spots. Harley Quinn was dumped/broke up, and has no friends. Renee Montoya got stuck in a career dead end. Black Canary is underpaid and with a boss which sees her as someone to be used. Cassandra Cain is placed in a bad foster home. The only one of them who actively asks for help is Renee, and that is due to the investigation and to help Cassandra. However, Renee, Black Canary, and Harley Quinn all choose to go to the assistance of other characters, without being asked, and those interventions prove central both to them getting through the day and creating the personal connections between them.