Genesis
"Gee, golly, gosh, gloriosky," thought Mary Sue as she stepped on the bridge of the Enterprise. "Here I am, the youngest lieutenant in the fleet - only fifteen and a half years old." Captain Kirk came up to her.
"Oh, Lieutenant, I love you madly. Will you come to bed with me?"
"Captain! I am not that kind of girl!"
"You're right, and I respect you for it. Here, take over the ship for a minute while I go get some coffee for us."
Mr. Spock came onto the bridge. "What are you doing in the command seat, Lieutenant?"
"The Captain told me to."
"Flawlessly logical. I admire your mind."
— A Trekkie's Tale, 1:7
About
"Mary Sue" is a colloquial term to describe characters that, according to the speaker, have an unrealistic lack of personal flaws or conflict. The term is widely used as a pejorative for poorly written characters. Usually a Mary Sue is created because the author fails to build report about the character, instead using their love as a character as a starting point, which leads to poorly written stories.
These are all understandable complaints, and none of them will be welcome in this zine. This is a zine explicitly about engaging with wish fulfillment. It is an experiment about unshackling ourselves from the need to worry about "good writing" and the healing potential of that practice. The world is on fire, both literally and metaphorically, and in dark times what we need is not some well-balanced tale about the realistic struggles of flawed people, we need hope. We need joy. We need to remember there are things that are worth surviving for. This zine is about doing that.
It is also about allowing people who might not otherwise be allowed to, take a stab at writing, without having to worry about judgment. If you don't normally write, or do but don't think it's any good, this zine is for you. Here, none of that matters. We want you to bring us your fantasies, your self-inserts and most of all to bring us your Mary Sues! "Wanted: Mary Sue" is a zine heavily centered on reader submissions.
We will aim for each issue to consist of three sections:
- Dear Melissa: an introductory letter by the curator (that would be me)
- Dear Mary: Reader submitted stories, we'll aim for 3-5 per issue, but this is subject to amount of submissions. This is the main aim of the zine and the kinds of story we are interested in will be explained further below, but if you're unsure the answer is probably, "more than you think".
- Dear Anne: Named after the diaries of Anne Frank, this section is dedicated to journal style, slice of life stories about the life of real trans people. Many important historical records have come from ordinary people writing down ordinary things (like the diary of Anne Frank). We do not know what the future will hold for trans people, but it does not look easy. This section will function both as an archival project as well as reminding people that life goes on, that no matter what they try, we will always be here, and we will have our lives despite them.
Submissions
Submissions of any kind can be emailed to submissions@wantedmarysue.works. They should include:
- Your submission in a separate attached file, written in GitHub Flavored Markdown. Preferably this file should be called
text.md. If you need any special formatting not possible in this format please contact curator@wantedmarysue.works prior to submission and I will discuss the possibilities with you. Please use a h2 header (i.e. '##') for your title. - A Name or pseudonym to be credited by (if any)
- Any additional license you'd like to be attached to your work. (see below for more information on licensing for submitted works)
Both the name you want to be accredited by and additional license (if any) should be mentioned in the email in which you submit your work, though they may also be additionally mentioned in the file itself for extra portability in either an optional front or end matter which should be separated from the main text by a +++ (three plus symbols) on a separate line.
We do have a few rules about submitting to this zine:
- The work has to be in English
- it should be 5000 words or fewer, though there is no need to hit that word count, shorter stories are equally welcome!
- It cannot contain overt bigotry or slurs, including but not limited to, transphobia, homophobia, racism or ableism. I am keenly aware that this might more pressure on some identities than others to sanitize their experience and that I, as a white, autistic trans woman, may not always be able to make that call. I will try to be fair, consistent and non-gatekeepy, but this rule will be enforced at my discretion. The guiding principle will be that I want people in a dark place to be able to pick this zine up when they need to. This does not mean we cannot speak to our experience, but this zine is about the happy moments, and as such should focus about that. Brief mentions of such topics are acceptable, for example as in "It was so refreshing to be in a place free from transphobia for once". Obviously there is a subjective element to this, but we have to draw the line somewhere. However, I am always open to have a dialogue about these issues. Whenever possible authors will be given a chance for revisions whenever I feel this line is crossed.
- You accept that this is a passion project, run at the time of writing by a single person, and therefore everything will be done on a best-effort basis.
- Reprints or stories printed elsewhere are eligible for submission as long as you hold the copyright to any materials submitted.
Dear Mary submissions
In dark times such as these, stories like the ones above are exactly what we need. "Wanted: Mary sue" is a zine about identities and wish fulfillment. The zine is very firmly centered on trans identities, however other identities including but not limited to black, indigenous, neurodivergent, or plural identities are all welcome as well, as are, of course, any combination of identities. Aside from these items, basically any genre (romance, fantasy, sci-fi, fan fiction, you name it) is fair game. This is not an experimental art journal, so perhaps some of the more esoteric experimental poetry pieces might not find their home here, but we aim to be as welcoming as possible.
As for the content: the golden rule is that the stories should be affirming of whatever identity is depicted. Whatever you feel affirms your identity whatever you decide that to be and however you want it affirmed is what we want to depict here. No explanation of your identity, what exact elements are affirming and why are needed (though of course allowed should you wish to.) This is a space for us and that includes not having to explain yourself to whatever extent is realistic. Opening yourself to happiness can be a very tough process, and one we have to practice at. This is one place to do just that.
Dear Anne submissions
This section is governed by most of the same rules as the "Dear Mary" submissions but with a more non-fiction and autobiographical focus. As such it also relaxes the previous rules somewhat. The lives of trans people are as diverse as there are trans people in existence. Knowing about the experiences of our siblings can help us imagine a world of normalcy for each other, as well as giving others insight into our lives as normal humans.
Submissions for this part of the zine should detail a normal day in your life. Yes, I'm serious. A boring, normal day in the life of the author. Due to the ubiquitous presence of bigotry in our lives this relaxes the "no bigotry" rule for Dear Marry submissions somewhat, but not completely eliminates it. I want people who read these stories to be able to remember that our lives exist outside of bigotry, that we are not wholly defined by it, but continue to live normal, at times uninteresting lives.
As such it also doesn't have to be as overtly affirming or happy as the other submissions. Submissions for dear Anne, can be as boring and as uninteresting as you like. Here there is no need to embellish or editorialize your life, just describe it as you wish. The one other addition to this, is that I urge you to be mindful of other's privacy if you decide to submit to this. If you choose not the anonymize people at least be sure you don't reveal anything about them, they do not wish revealed and if possible ask their consent before submitting. This is not something that I can enforce, so this will depend heavily on the honor system.
Copyright and licensing
If you submit a story to this zine, you will remain the copyright holder, it will remain your intellectual property. However, to submit work to our magazine, authors must agree that their submissions will be distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial No-Derivatives (CC BY-NC-ND) license or a compatible, more permissive Creative Commons license of their choice. This means your work can be freely shared with proper attribution, for non-commercial purposes, and without alterations, unless you choose to allow broader reuse. I feel that this is the best compromise between author rights and the rights necessary for the distribution (and intentions) of a project such as this. Note that these licenses, once issued, CANNOT be revoked (this is a requirement imposed by the license text, not this zine specifically). By submitting, you confirm that you accept these terms for any accepted work.
Royalties
This zine is operated out of pocket at the time of writing, and may be sold at cost price down the line. Either way this zine is not intended to make a profit. As such, I unfortunately cannot offer royalties or payment for publication in this magazine. When you submit a story to this zine, you do so knowing that I cannot pay you for it. I would love to pay accepted submissions, and if the zine somehow gains a significant enough following for it to become a relevant discussion this topic may be revisited, but for the foreseeable future, this is extremely unlikely.