Thanks to Melissa Wilson for the original Mary Sue Litmus Test that inspired them all. This test was written by Laurel (Sailorhathor), inspired by Melissa's original test. Thanks to AlvaFan and Rekka for the beta tests. A Mary Sue is an original character in a fanfic who possesses certain qualities and acts out familiar plots that, in general, annoy the reader, and make for some pretty bad stories. They are often self-insertion characters, just the author in a thin disguise, or an ideal version of the author. Not all original characters are Mary Sues (many of them are very good), and not all self-insertion characters are bad, but most Mary Sues are (IMO). I've heard more than one story of why they are called "Mary Sues," so your guess is as good as mine as to which one is correct. A friend of mine with tons of ancient fandom experience told me it had something to do with Doctor Who, but the online stories are different. ::SHRUG:: ^_^ It would be pretty hard to write Miracles fanfic in which a paranormal case is investigated without using original characters. So please understand, I am not running down original characters in general. Using events from your own life and experience in your writing is not necessarily a bad thing; after all, they do say 'write what you know.' However, a line can be crossed here, and that line is usually drawn in the sand by a Mary Sue. Are you unfamiliar with what makes up a Mary Sue? Are you concerned whether or not your original character in a Miracles fanfic is a Mary Sue? That is the purpose of this test. It has been tailored to the Miracles universe. I am not saying that all of the ideas on this test are automatically bad in and of themselves. Using any of them does not necessarily make a story suck. I actually think quite a few of these ideas could make good stories. It's just that often, these sorts of elements combine in big numbers to make some pretty awful Mary Sue stories. The sheer number of them is what counts, for the most part. These examples are not about any story in particular. They are just examples I came up with based on the typical things seen in Mary Sue fanfics. And yes, it is possible for a male original character to be one too - he'd just be a "Marty Stu." If you are testing a male character, just change all the female pronouns to male pronouns as you read along. Scoring - Give yourself 1 point for every question to which your answer is "yes." If your answer is "sometimes," "kind of," "maybe," or in the neighborhood of "it depends," score that a "yes." If the question says, "Give yourself 5 points," write down 5 points instead of 1. (Some examples are heavy indicators of Mary Sueism.) Be honest with your answers, or there's no point in taking this test. Each original character should be scored separately (duh). You will find the scoring key at the end. Now get your pen and paper, kiddo! It's test time! A word of warning: This test does contain spoilers for episodes 1-13. Did you name the character after yourself in any way? (Give yourself 5 points) Did you give the character the name you wish you had? (Give yourself 5 points) Is the name exotically beautiful? Does the character look like you? (Give yourself 5 points) Does the character look the way you wish you looked? (Give yourself 5 points) Did SQ meet her investigating a paranormal experience that actually happened to you? Does the character look an ideal age though they are much older or younger? Is she eternally youthful, literally or just in appearance? Does she have an "attitude problem" that at least one canon character finds appealing about her? Is she extremely attractive? Does at least one canon character find her looks and personality very appealing? Do her looks make another canon character jealous? Does the attraction between her and the first canon character make another canon character jealous? Is her story just a slightly veiled version of an existing Miracles episode? Is she really just a slightly veiled version of Paul, Alva, Evie, Poppi, or some other character who has been on the show? Is she really just a slightly veiled version of you? Is she somehow superhuman? Does she have amazing fighting skills? Is there at least one scene in your fanfic where the canon characters are somehow restrained or hurt so all they can do is marvel over your character while she kicks Bad Guy ass all by herself? Does she kick ass better than Evie? Does everyone at SQ trust her implicitly? Can she do many, many things perfectly? Are you considering/have you written an entire series based mostly on this character? Does she show up in the story before any of the canon characters do? Is she the main focus of the story? Is she an excellent singer, and/or does she play a musical instrument really well? Is that instrument a piano, violin, cello, flute, or harp? Does her musical taste mirror your own? Does the character have the same job as you, and/or enjoy the same hobbies? Is her personality strikingly similar to yours? Does everyone in the story love your character? Do all the right people hate her? Does Matty instantly like her? Does your character have any supernatural abilities? Do these powers make her a bad-ass (in other words, can she use them for very effective defense, cause really big explosions with them, use them to end the world or save it, etc.)? Can she heal people, much like Tommy could? Does it make her sick, or kill her little by little? Does she have a special connection with animals (like talking with them, empathy, ability to control them and get them to attack for her/protect her or a canon character)? Does she have the power to bring people back from the dead? Does she resurrect Alva or Paul's mother? Does she have a beautifully tragic past? Was she abused or neglected in some manner as a child? Has she been raped? Was she once in an abusive relationship? Does a canon character somehow avenge the abuse or rape in her honor? Has she ever had an eating disorder? Has she ever been a "cutter" (cut herself on purpose more than once)? Has she ever attempted suicide? Is the discovery of this abuse/rape/eating disorder/cutting/suicide attempt a major plot point in your story? Has she ever done any modeling? When she's not in the room, do the canon characters wonder where she is and/or talk incessantly about her? (Poochie's a Marty Stu!) Is your character asked to join SQ? Upon first meeting? By Alva? Does she replace Paul, Alva, or Evie when she joins? Does she live in the SQ office? Upstairs, with Alva? On a permanent basis? Does she have more "special gifts" than Paul? (In other words, is she a better medium than him?) Does she have better instincts/is she more emotionally sensitive to the clients than Paul? Is she Paul's replacement at the Archdiocese? Does Poppi love her more than Paul? Does she help Paul find his real dad? And single-handedly help them smooth things over and make nice? Does she get hurt more than Paul? Does she get more head injuries than Paul? Does she know Paul from the orphanage? Does she know more languages than Alva? Does she know more about the supernatural/occult than Alva? Does she use more supernatural/occult terminology than Alva (such as "psychokinetic" and "apport")? Is she smarter than Alva? Has she written more articles on the paranormal than Alva? Is she one of Alva's old Cambridge schoolmates? Does she manage to get Alva and his father to make up? Does Alva tell her all of the secrets he keeps from the others? Does she also have a bullet in her head? Is she a single mother that does it better than Evie? Is she a policewoman/former policewoman? Who also left the force for some reason? Does that reason relate to the supernatural and/or getting shot? Does she balance out Paul and Alva better than Evie? Does she make everything nice-nice between Evie and her jailbird ex? Has she seen the words "God is Now Here" written in her own blood? What about "God is Nowhere"? Is she both a "God is Now Here" and a "God is Nowhere" person like Paul? Has she seen "Help Us" written in her own blood? Has she seen some other word/phrase written in her own blood? Does Tommy talk to her too? Does Tommy tell her more revealing things than he tells Paul? Is she somehow a long lost sister of Paul, or some other relative of his? An old friend? Is she related to any of the other canon characters, or an old friend? Is she somehow miraculously Poppi's biological daughter (though he stated on the show that he has no biological children)? Is she really the child of one of the canon characters come back from the future? To warn them of their impending death/some other great tragedy they must prevent? Does the kid go back in time to have sex with her own parent? (Yes, I have seen this in other fandoms - if you answered yes to this question, you are more sick and twisted than I could ever hope to be.) (For the males) Is he Matty all grown up? (My name is Mateo Santos, and you killed my father. Prepare to die.) Is she extremely pious? Do any of the canon characters have cryptic dreams about her before or after they meet? Are the dreams prophetic? Do the dreams guide him/her to her? Does she have a twin or clone? Is that twin/clone evil (or good, if you're primarily writing about the evil twin)? Is she a clone of a canon character? When something bizarre happens, do people call her before they call SQ? Does Alva call her when he's stumped for ideas on a case? Is she a member or the leader of a rival paranormal investigation group? Does this group have a better track record than SQ? Is she really an angel? Is she a demon? Is she a saint? Is she a ghost/really dead? Who falls in love with Paul? Is she a god? Is she God? Is she a Biblical character? Is she a character from mythology? Is she a doppelganger? Is she a doppelganger of a canon character? Is she another "Little Miss Lost"? Does she have a killer twin like Travis? Is she a killer twin like Jimmy? Is she some other sort of supernatural/fantasy being, either full blood or half? Is she a hemography expert? Is she a very devoted, but also very sexy, nun (or priest for Marty Stus)? Was she created solely to have sex with one of the canon characters? (This also makes her a MaryOoh!) ;D Does she have sex with a canon character? More than one canon character? Did the canon character initiate the sex? Does she fulfill a fantasy of yours through the sex? Was she created solely to be a love interest for one of the canon characters? Is she one of Paul's ex's? Does she make him more jealous than Rebecca did? Do any of the canon characters fall in love with her? Is she "the love of" the life of any of the canon characters? Do two canon characters fall for her and fight over her? Does all of SQ fall for her and fight over her? Does she play matchmaker and hook up the two canon characters that you think should be a couple? Does loving her/caring for her seriously cloud the judgment of any of the canon characters? Does her presence make any of the canon characters act way, way out of character? (Don't count this if your character has some sort of power that causes people to act out of character.) Does someone consider leaving SQ for her sake? Does she marry a canon character, and/or get impregnated by one (does he impregnate Evie for the Marty Stus)? (Please don't even talk to me about male pregnancy on this one. The idea of either Paul or Alva being pregnant is absolutely laughable. You're on your own with that idea! Unless it's a comedy.) Does she constantly take insulting shots at the canon character you don't like? Does she get away with it? Because the canon character you do like always sticks up for her? Does he/she also openly laugh at the shots your character takes at the other? Does the character like "the finer things in life" because you think that makes her sophisticated? Is she stinking rich? Did she inherit all her riches when her parent(s) were killed by a paranormal event? Were they murdered by Chad Goodwell? Did her (possibly) controlling parent(s) try to give her a fortune/a very lucrative family business, but she refused it nobly for personal reasons (like Alva)? Did those personal reasons involve the paranormal? Does Mr. Friendly/The Darkness really want to corrupt your character? Is Mr. Friendly/The Darkness afraid of your character? Is she one of Friendly's helpers/an agent of The Darkness? Is she Friendly's superior? Does The Darkness want her more than anyone at SQ? Does your character not know about her connections to evil, but will find out in a major plot point later? Is this character your ideal friend? Do you have trouble understanding why other people would not love this character? Do you get really defensive when someone criticizes the character? Do you take this criticism personally? Have you ever play-acted/role-played that you were her? Does she save the life or lives of any of the canon characters? At the price of her own life? Does she use her bad-ass fighting skills and/or supernatural powers during this act? Does she do it on her own/without any help? While the canon character(s) are restrained, hurt, or just stand there for no apparent reason and watch her do it in awe? Does the act she performs prevent an Apocalypse/the end of the world? Do any or all of the canon characters grieve heavily over her death/coma/whatever debilitating state this act left her in? Does her death/debilitating state make anyone turn evil? Does something about her memory or a visit by her ghost make him/her become good again? Does she somehow return from the dead or wake up from the coma? Have you rewritten the canon story so that your character is the one who did the really special thing instead (such as, she was the first to see, "God is Now Here;" she's the person Tommy actually died to heal; she's the one who really committed suicide to talk to Tommy in order to find Matty, etc.)? Did the canon material have to be rewritten quite heavily in order to include her somehow? You did this and yet refuse to call it an alternate universe story? Did you write your fic as an alternate universe story just so it would be "okay" to make huge changes to the canon involving your character? You're done! Scoring Key: 0-15 Points: Good for you! It's unlikely that your character is a Mary Sue. You have resisted The Darkness. 16-30 Points: This character is on the edge between our world and The Darkness. Readers may overlook it, or this character may be followed by taunts of "Mary Sue" wherever she goes. It all depends on how well you write. I hope you're good! 31-44 Points: Your character is a card-carrying Mary Sue! She'll always be admitted to the Mary Sue Lodge, and doesn't even need the password. There's a reason the show is about Paul, Alva, and Evie, you know. Consider improvement. 45+ Points: Your character is the head of the Mary Sue Lodge. The Darkness... it wants. And you feed it. Do us all a favor and rethink your creative motivation. Just to be fair, I WILL put my own characters through this test AND tell you the results. If your response to this test is, "Oh my God, I scored REALLY high! What do I do now?" you could read my tips. A MaryOoh = My term for a character created solely to have sex with a canon character. You're supposed to moan the "Ooh" part like you're having a reeeeally good time. ;D