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[Mulch Diggums]

I have faith in you.

[deadlycairn]

Also, one of my most used (in my head at least) characters also scored a 66 on a Mary Sue Litmus Test. Not sure about the reliability of that, but that's still a BIG score. Having afterwards looked up the definition of the Mary Sue, it seems that it is anyone who either has everything perfect/better for them or who has everything worse. I think part of the culprit was the test scoring for both at the same time, as well as scoring fantasy characters higher. And now I feel conflicted because now I'm just trying to justify the score.

Oh well, he won't show up in this piece of writing (maybe I should call him Gary though )

[Aqizzar]

Just got a 62 on a principle original character I've been bouncing around.

The thing is, any experience with writing or book on character development will tell you that about a quarter of those questions are perfectly valid hooks.  Let's face it - unusual people are interesting, and it is damn hard to write an interesting story about an ordinary person going through ordinary events.  That's exactly why the words Interesting and Ordinary exist.  I think a character who came out under 20 or so would be flatly dull.

Now 62 might be a bit much, but a good chunk of the character interaction and development revolves around being a bit odd.

[Strife26]

Here is a poem I wrote for English. It was supposed to be based off of "Spoon River."
So it's a guy talking from beyond the grave. I decided to take a different slant with it.


Maximilian Trifes
One Who Pondered

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

What is the nature of that final embrace?
I had always wondered how death would feel
Not knowing what to do, I enlisted
I worked hard, yet never focused
I deployed to the desert, where I fought

I never saw it coming
I had expected my own death
Yet that chopper-hitting rocket took me by surprise
I didn’t have time to fire a last goodbye
When we crashed into the sand

I think that I died upon impact
Yet, if I’m dead, is this it?
Not what I expected:
A heaven, a hell, or a fiddler’s green.
I thought only of death for this?

I doubt that I could have changed my life.
But why then, am I speaking from beyond the grave?
Who can hear this?
Is this death?
Or a fourth wall?

[JoshuaFH]

I'm no poem afficionado, but I liked it. Sorta awkward how you openly admit to breaking the fourth wall through.

and anyone worrying about the possibility of the their character being a Mary Sue should remember: Tropes are not bad.

[Mulch Diggums]

What exactly is a Mary Sue?

[inaluct]

One of those characters who has naturally purple eyes and ash blond hair and is supernaturally beautiful and saves Hogwarts from a nuclear holocaust and has wings and and and

[JoshuaFH]

What exactly is a Mary Sue?

The definition varies from person to person, but as I understand it, it's a character that is so PERFECT that it pulls the reader out of the story. The plot literally bends around this character and accomodates to this characters desires. The story is unjustifiably disrupted by this characters existence, and no other character bats an eye at their behavior.

Of course, a character can be very beautiful, talented, and whathaveyou without being a mary sue, it's only when these characteristics consume and outshine every other character to the point where they might as well not even matter defines a Mary Sue.

The term Mary Sue comes from a Star Trek fanfiction about an original character named Mary Sue who trumped every other already established canon character in anything and everything.

[Mulch Diggums]

Thats why I dont read fanfics.. Might read DF fanfics if any ever gets made, though. =]

[Heavy Flak]

Thats why I dont read fanfics.. Might read DF fanfics if any ever gets made, though. =]

Might I direct you to the DF Community Games and Stories subsection? 

[Mulch Diggums]

Those dont count

[deadlycairn]

I believe my character was scored highly for being a little bit (read: massively) overpowered. He's the main character and it's justified though, so ah well.

Also, I'm back to the drawing board for ideas. At this rate I will probably not get something out this week.

[Strife26]

Strife scored 56. And that is only using the Strife from the story I was going to write for this (who doesn't remember or have much of a backstory).

I cheated it down too.

I don't like MS tests!!

50+ was 'kill it dead'

[Mulch Diggums]

Uh..what are these scores from?

[Strife26]

I googled mary sue li (suggestion box)

You'll get a site that'll let you check off parts of your character.