Librarian IAC Member Offline I may be blonde but... Posts: 657 Location: Washington (not DC) The final word on Mary Sues Sep 9th, 2011 at 3:28am Print Post http://www.springhole.net/quizzes/marysue.htm It's a quiz. If you only have one solution to a problem - you're not trying. IP Logged
Neesierie Colonel Offline Straker, somehow it's always about you. Posts: 990 Location: Fulton, MO Re: The final word on Mary Sues Reply #1 - Sep 9th, 2011 at 3:53pm Print Post That's not a bad quiz. Thanks for sharing it! The one I saw about a year ago really stunk. (As in; if your character wasn't blind, deaf, and handicapped, they were a Mary Sue.) BTW, Nyt came out as not a Mary Sue! The sky is not the limit; nor are the stars. WWW IP Logged
Librarian IAC Member Offline I may be blonde but... Posts: 657 Location: Washington (not DC) Re: The final word on Mary Sues Reply #2 - Sep 9th, 2011 at 6:04pm Print Post My Kathryn comes out with 'definite Sue-like tendancies'. No surprises there. Straker, on the other hand (if he were an original character rather than a canon one) is definitely a Sue. If you only have one solution to a problem - you're not trying. IP Logged
Neesierie Colonel Offline Straker, somehow it's always about you. Posts: 990 Location: Fulton, MO Re: The final word on Mary Sues Reply #3 - Sep 9th, 2011 at 6:56pm Print Post You noticed that too? Actually, most of the regulars for UFO are Mary Sues. It's just that they don't get labeled that when they're a guy. I liked it that this quiz includes all genders. I'll bet that pissed some writers off! The sky is not the limit; nor are the stars. WWW IP Logged
Librarian IAC Member Offline I may be blonde but... Posts: 657 Location: Washington (not DC) Re: The final word on Mary Sues Reply #4 - Sep 9th, 2011 at 7:21pm Print Post The test certainly gets you thinking about whether or not your characters are too perfect or charming or brilliant or whatever. And I do like that they included RPG characters as well - too many people (especially teens) want to play the 'outsider from...' with the tragic past and expert in too many unrealistic things. Even though there are supposed to be mechanisms to keep that from happening. Of course, in an RPG there is always that half-elf with a thing for poisons and sharp pointy things ready to poke a few holes in the holier-than-thou know-it-all paladin/dragon-slayer/half-whatever from Rokugan who speaks twelve languages fluently but can't figure out why the resident bard and the healer-priest are perfectly willing to look the other way when the half-elf puts scorpions in his bedroll. : If you only have one solution to a problem - you're not trying. IP Logged
Citlalyani Recruit Offline UFO Rocks! Posts: 12 Location: Manchester (UK) Re: The final word on Mary Sues Reply #5 - Apr 5th, 2014 at 10:08pm Print Post A male Mary Sue is sometimes called a Marty Stu. See the Wikipedia page called Mary Sue https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Sue « Last Edit: Apr 7th, 2014 at 1:40pm by Citlalyani » IP Logged
SHADO Librarian IAC Chair Offline UFO Rocks Posts: 221 Location: Washington (not DC) Re: The final word on Mary Sues Reply #6 - Apr 6th, 2014 at 2:56pm Print Post I've observed that Marty Stus aren't called out as such nearly as often as Mary Sues. Probably because so many male protagonists in commercial fiction are too skilled, too good-looking (except for that charming scar that just makes him look rakish) to be anyone in the real world - but they're the hero. The Administrator. WWW Facebook IP Logged
Neesierie Colonel Offline Straker, somehow it's always about you. Posts: 990 Location: Fulton, MO Re: The final word on Mary Sues Reply #7 - Apr 9th, 2014 at 8:49pm Print Post "Nearly as often?" How about almost never?!?!?!? Can't mess with the cool dude hero, after all. Just the woman who's standing at his side during the crisis. It's always the same old situation. : The sky is not the limit; nor are the stars. WWW IP Logged
SHADO Librarian IAC Chair Offline UFO Rocks Posts: 221 Location: Washington (not DC) Re: The final word on Mary Sues Reply #8 - Apr 9th, 2014 at 9:14pm Print Post I was trying to not be too snarky - but then my favorite current hero (aside from Clark Kent) is Bernie Little by Spenser Quinn - even his dog (who is the narrator) knows he is far from perfect. "No, no, don't put the check in your shirt pocket. You know what happens when you put the check in your shirt pocket..." The Administrator. WWW Facebook IP Logged