A Brief Marvel Avengers Movie-Verse Rant
Aug. 14th, 2012 11:15 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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I swear, Darcy Lewis' middle names must be "Mary" and "Sue".
That is all.
(This rant brought to you courtesy of a lot of Avengers Movie-verse fanfic, from various different authors, where Darcy Lewis gets to be a sorta-sidekick-in-training for just about everyone on the Avengers team, and apparently has the super-secret superpower of superhero wrangling. I keep meaning to watch the Thor movie just to find out whether her apparent ability to be a useful plot device under all circumstances is canon or not).
That is all.
(This rant brought to you courtesy of a lot of Avengers Movie-verse fanfic, from various different authors, where Darcy Lewis gets to be a sorta-sidekick-in-training for just about everyone on the Avengers team, and apparently has the super-secret superpower of superhero wrangling. I keep meaning to watch the Thor movie just to find out whether her apparent ability to be a useful plot device under all circumstances is canon or not).
(no subject)
Date: 2012-08-14 03:47 pm (UTC)From the fic I've read, she isn't exactly being made into the perfect queen of everything so I really haven't had the same reaction.
(no subject)
Date: 2012-08-14 11:29 pm (UTC)It's possible to have a Mary-Sue who's absolutely normal - the true Sue test isn't about her, it's about the way that canon is warped around her.
So far, in the range of Avengers-verse fanfic I've read, I've seen Darcy Lewis paired up with every available male Avenger except Iron Man (Thor doesn't count as "available"), and I'm expecting to see the Darcy/Tony stuff materialise any day now. She's been employed by SHIELD and put into a lab setting (even though everything I've read implies she isn't a science major, and never was) rather than just handed a non-disclosure agreement and a payoff to deal with her college loans. She's inevitably working in New York (regardless of where Jane may have been based previously or where her studies might have been taking place). If she's present in SHIELD, she comes into contact with the Avengers almost as a matter of course, rather than being shuffled off into the back blocks of administration to wrangle paper rather than superheroes. She's treated as almost supernaturally likeable - nobody gets irritated with Darcy except possibly Nick Fury (and Nick Fury gets irritated with everyone). If Darcy shows up in a story, she's present as a plot device - a sort of walking, talking deus ex machina.
She may not be a canon Sue (as I said above, I'm wanting to see the Thor movie in order to find out whether or not this is the case), but she's certainly being used as a Sue stand-in by a number of writers.
(no subject)
Date: 2012-08-15 07:51 am (UTC)Anyway I'm not seeing this with Darcy. Neither the self insert bit nor the Mary Sue. Maybe I've just read less or stuck to better fic than you, who knows.
(no subject)
Date: 2012-08-18 09:22 pm (UTC)She's okay in canon...
Date: 2015-11-28 02:15 am (UTC)From what I've seen of her so far, she's the young, snarky,busty, pop culture referencing girl who is well liked by ALL the Avengers, is in a serious relationship with one or two at the same time, is constantly credited with being the 'heart' of the team who bakes them pie after they come home from missions and is always a shoulder to cry on and who is A) either entrusted to a SHIELD position because Coulson or Fury adore her or B) plays mother hen to Jane, Bruce and Tony who all adore her.
Suddenly, this taser wielding girl is a SHIELD agent being personally trained by either Black Widow or the Winter Soldier, complimented on her prowess with firearms, and considered an asset to agents like Hill, Coulson and Fury. All while managing to keep her peppy, upbeat nature.
Some of the Darcy/Loki stuff is okay if she isn't being written as the reason why Loki suddenly falls in love with the earth and humanity. I mean, Darcy/Loki is at least keeping her inside her own medium (the Thor movies)
But you can hardly read an Avengers ensemble fic these days without this random popping up.
I've literally just finished reading a fic where this character SHOOTS Deadpool after reminiscing like old friends and manages to name check both Wolverine and Storm for no apparent reason other than to make her relevant and credible as a character who could shoot Deadpool and get away with it.
Her fandom is rife with those kind of fics. If that isn't a Mary Sue then I dont know what is.
(no subject)
Date: 2013-03-24 01:02 pm (UTC)Under the circumstances I'd say it's realistic that someone with her talents who's already aware of Thor's situation would be a top target for recruitment by both SHIELD and the Avengers, and not just to get her out of the way. I won't say she's never been misused in fic, but per canon she really is pretty awesome. More so than Rick Jones, who's the comics-canon guy usually in the slot we often see Darcy fill in fanfic.
~