How I feel about this character

As a fellow writer, I love that there's a character who writes for fun. Her moments of writer's block and hyper focusing while writing are totally relatable.

When I first started playing More Friends of Mineral Town, I didn't have much of an opinion on Mary because I wasn't able to woo her. I had triggered her first rival event with Gray and thought it was really cute, but I never thought to go to the library to befriend her – I rarely went in that corner of town. But after I got my character married, I spent more time befriending the villagers. I really liked Mary's dialogue. Her support of the main character's marriage is so sweet and genuine.

As I spent more time befriending Mary, I started talking more to Anna and Basil as well. Their family has some very interesting dynamics, and they're really fun to explore as characters!

All the people I ship romantically with this character

I really miss the rival system in the newer systems, but it does make the ideas for writing/shipping a lot more open. I've seen some really cute characters paired together I never thought of.

Maria/Mary x Harris – I think these two are so sweet together. Harris is such a kindhearted and shy person in HM64, and I really loved the event with Maria where he tells Maria that she doesn't need to buy that shady salesman's products to be beautiful – she already is. Him standing up for her when he is shy himself is so precious to me, and knowing that Maria has a history of having trouble saying no to the salesman's offers (she ends up being talked into buying some watermelons in another event) just makes this all the more sweeter. Yeah, it's a little cliché, but it's adorable and I like it. I think their personalities would mesh well together in Mineral Town as well!

Mary x Gray – I really feel like Mary would've been so great with Harris, but I also enjoy her with Gray. She is the gentle nudge Gray needs to be kinder to himself. Her gentle encouragement is something that Gray has needed so desperately. Their post marriage event is really sweet, too – Gray's worries about Mary overworking herself and being the voice of reason when she is burning herself out is a nice way to round out their relationship. I also really love him being so encouraging of her writing – it's a sweet detail, and she knows that he goes through a lot of books (plus a bit of a blunt personality) so she knows that her story is in good hands that will give her honest feedback. Their chemistry is just so sweet, and they're probably my favorite canon couple in FoMT.

Mary x Farmer – I like Mary's pensiveness and the events with her are pretty dang cute. Choosing to share a favorite book with the player is so dang sweet, and so intimate in a way. Everyone has their own unique experience while reading a story, and her recommending one that brought her to tears was really precious.

Mary x Elli – A fun rare pair. I can already see the two of them reading books together by the fireplace. I think Mary would be great with Stu, too, teaching him about the bugs he catches, and Stu would have someone he could show off his bugs to. Mary sharing her knowledge on insects might actually help Elli overcome her dislike for them, too. I could also see both of them having an interest in herbal remedies and teas. They both have such sweet personalities, too. <3

Mary x Cliff – As I mentioned in my Cliff ask, I think these two could have really good chemistry. Mary's gentleness could help Cliff out of his shell, and I think once he got comfortable, he would have some interesting stories to share with Mary. Maybe they could even write a book together about his travels! I could see them being really encouraging with one another, and I think it's a sweet pair.

My non-romantic OTP for this character:

Mary/Elli – They're great as lovers, they're great as friends. They're just great.

Mary/Doctor – I was just thinking on this one and I could imagine Mary helping the Doc with finding the right resource materials he needs for his studies. I could imagine them bumping into each other sometimes when Mary's family takes their trips up to Mother's Hill. And since I headcanon Mary and Elli being close with one another, I could see him being added to her friend group.

Mary/Gotz – Again, I could see these two bumping into the mountains, and perhaps Mary's treks with her family remind Gotz of his own family. I feel like he'd look after her protectively.

Mary/Thomas – I still see Harris and Mary as close as well, and, again, Thomas would be included in there. I can imagine their families having dinner together regularly.

Mary/Stu, May, and Carter – I mentioned the common interest of insects above, and I think she'd be great with helping encourage his curiosity and eagerness to learn. May could very easily be lumped into this as they pick wildflowers together and look at ladybugs, butterflies, and frogs. I imagine Mary coming to pick up Stu from the church on occasion and since Mary plays the organ in the music festival, it's only logical she has to go over there to practice at times. I feel like Mary and Carter would have a polite, but not very close friendship with one another.

My unpopular opinion about this character

I can totally imagine Mary choosing to live a happily single life even if other romancable people were available. She's a very well-rounded person who has goals in life and a job at a place she enjoys. Her relationship with her parents isn't perfect, but I could easily imagine her friends recommending her to take her book to a publisher and gaining more confident in herself and ultimately deciding to convert the top floor of the library into a cozy apartment and running the library while writing books – living the dream! <3

I do feel like both of Mary's parents are toxic/neglectful to her in one way or another. During the Goddess Festival in HM for Girl, Anna states that she wants Maria to have a boyfriend if you have Gray as your date. Mary states she can't see well without her glasses. That whole situation makes me uncomfortable – Anna's too focused on what she thinks a young woman should want and do, and Mary is too timid to speak up for herself. Basil seems to be so absorbed in his work that he doesn't make much time for his family. In HM for Girl, he even says some really cutting things about Mary that are just heartbreaking - they don't seem to really know that she's putting so much energy into her novel. I really get the impression that both parents just want Mary to follow their own footsteps and neither of them try to relate to her.

In the same vein, I absolutely HATE that Mary/Marie/Maria removes her glasses for her wedding. I am so tired of characters removing their glasses for formal wear. You could argue that she put in contacts, but they live in a pretty rural area, and that's not really the main point. Glasses are very common, and they don't make someone unattractive.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon.

I wish that the player character was able to read her novel. Well, I guess you can in BTN/HM for Girl, but I was thinking of the one in FoMT that she lets Gray read.

I guess it's also pretty obvious I wish that Mary wore her glasses during formal events as well. It would be cute if they wore pajamas at home, and I could see her without glasses when she's in bed. That would be a cute touch to the games.

But for a more serious thing that I wish had happened for Mary is that her events slowly let her gain some independence from her parents, Anna in particular. It would be interesting if the characters changed their dialogue for the festivals if they had higher friendship/heart levels, and the more you befriended Mary, the more confident she became. <3