Post by Den on Jul 15, 2008 18:42:47 GMT -5
I. All About Sue
Is your character named after yourself or your screen name? (+1)
Is your character described as beautiful? (+1)
"Unusually" or "astonishingly" beautiful? (+2)
The most beautiful Transformer who's ever lived? (+3)
Do the other characters feel intimidated or threatened by her beauty? (+1)
Are her optics an unusual color? (+1)
Do they change color according to her mood? (+1)
Does she have long, flowing hair? (+2)
Do you describe it on the first page of the story? (+2) (or the first post of the RP?)
Do you describe it more than once? (+3)
Is she a recolored and/or "feminized" version of a canon character? (+1)
Is she a Seeker? (+1)
Do you spend more than two consecutive paragraphs describing her physical appearance? (+1) (character apps don't count)
Do you make it a point to mention that she's as tall, or taller, than the average male? (+1)
Does she have wings on her butt? (-20 and you're excused from the rest of the test.)
Does she have more than one alt-mode? (+1)
More than two? (+2)
Is her robot mode surprisingly lacking in the "kibble" that would logically be necessary to transform into all these things (because then she wouldn't be as purty)? (+2)
Does she transform via "magic" or some advanced and/or alien technology? (+2)
Is her name a painfully blatant feminization of a canon name, like "Starscreamia" or "Lady Optimus"? (+10)
Does she have any of the following abilities:
Telepathy? (+1)
Teleportation? (+1)
More powerful than Skywarp's? (+2)
Super-speed? (+1)
Faster than Blurr's? (+2)
Unusually keen senses? (Sight, hearing, smell, etc.) (+1 for each.)
Telekenesis? (+2)
"Magical" powers, often vaguely defined or whatever the situation calls for (including magical healing of self or others)? (+2)
Time-travel under her own power? (+2)
Control of the weather or other natural elements? (+2)
The ability to communicate with animals? (+2)
Precognition or a "sixth sense" regarding imminent danger (including precognitive dreams or visions)? (+2)
Any ability which no canon TF has ever been shown to have? (+3)
ALL of the above? (+100 points and kindly never write anything again.)
Is she:
A brilliant scientist and/or inventor? (+1)
So brilliant that she effortlessly solves problems that Wheeljack, Ratchet, and/or Perceptor couldn't? (+2)
Is she a phenomenally skilled martial artist? (+1)
In Metallikato? (+2)
In some hitherto-unknown Cybertronian martial art that you just made up? (+3)
Is she the only female ever to be trained in this art? (+1)
Is she an incredible sharpshooter? (+1)
At any distance? (+1)
With any weapon? (+1)
If you've made Tech Specs for her:
Are they all sevens and/or eights? (+1)
Nines and/or tens? (+2)
Higher than tens? (+5)
I. We Are Family
Is your character the daughter of a canon character? (+1) (adopted counts)
Is it Starscream? (+1)
Is it Megatron? (+2)
Is it Optimus Prime? (+3)
That your character does not originally know about? (+1)
Because your character's mother (or father) hid her away to "protect" her from something? (+2)
Is your character the sister of a canon character? (+1)
Is it Megatron? (+2)
Is it Optimus Prime? (+1)
Is it Starscream? (+3)
Does she have a twin of the same gender? (+1)
Of the opposite gender? (+2)
Do they communicate telepathically? (+3)
Is she the product of a tragically doomed romance between an Autobot and a Decepticon? (+1)
III. Origin of the Species
Was your character on board the Ark or the Nemesis? (+1)
Is she part-alien or part- any other non-TF creature? (+1)
Is she a non-Cybertronian mechanoid who joined the TFs for whatever reason? (+1)
Is she a human who was turned into a TF? (+2)
No beating about the bush: is she you turned into a TF? (+3)
Do you secretly believe that this is really going to happen some day? (+5)
Seriously, though? (+10)
Is she an alien (organic) who was turned into a TF? (+1)
For any of the above: does she become a TF:
Because she was badly injured by/because of a TF and this was the only way they could save her life? (+1)
Because she wanted to Join In the Fight Against Evil? (+1)
Because Megatron (or Galvatron or whoever) had the idea to turn humans into Decepticons and use them against the Autobots? (+1)
Because she was in love with a TF and this was the only way they could be together? (+2)
Due to a Convenient Unexplained Phenomenon (a dimensional portal, an energy bolt from space, etc.)? (+2)
For Mysterious Reasons of Her Own? (+2)
Because she wanted revenge on an annoying ex-boyfriend? (-100 points and please send me the story.)
Is she a member of a hitherto-unknown "third race" that fled Cybertron during the Great War? (+2)
Is she royalty of any kind? (+2)
That she does not originally know about? (+3)
Is she a member of a non-allied mercenary group that Plays By Their Own Rules and Answers To No One? (+3)
Is she the leader? (+1)
Is this group made up of stunningly beautiful and incredibly dangerous femmebots? (+1)
Are they Feared and Respected Throughout the Galaxy? (+1)
Do they have their own spaceship? (+1)
Or did your character presumably come about in a perfectly ordinary way, because you don't feel her origins are worth going on about? (-30 and thank you, thank you, thank you.)
IV. All You Need Is Love
Does your character fall in love with a canon character? (+1)
Is it Optimus Prime? (+1)
Is it Megatron? (+2)
Is it Starscream? (+3)
Does she fall in love with someone from an opposing faction? (+1)
From a different continuity? (i.e. an Autobot and a Maximal)? (+2)
From an opposing faction AND a different continuity? (i.e. an Autobot and a Vehicon)? (+3)
Did they fall in love within days of meeting each other? (+1)
Did they fall in love At First Sight or The Moment Their Eyes Met? (+2)
Do they defy anyone's direct orders to be together? (+1)
Does one of them defect from their faction so they can be together? (+1)
Do they BOTH defect from their factions so they can be together? (+2)
Do canon characters fight (or otherwise compete) for her affections? (+1)
Does she "reform" a thought-to-be-irredeemably-evil character through The Power of Her Love? (+100 and pass me the Pepto-Bismol.)
Does your character have sex with the object of her affections? (+1)
More than once? (+2)
That you describe in point-by-point detail? (+1)
For more than two consecutive pages? (+3)
Is it a life-altering experience for her? (+1)
For him? (+1)
Do one or both of them cry afterwards because it was so beautiful? (+1)
Did you cry afterwards because it was so beautiful? (+2)
Do they get married? (+1)
Do you describe the wedding ceremony? (+1)
For more than two consecutive pages? (+2)
Including giving the name of every single character who was invited? (+3)
Is the wedding attended by members of opposing factions, because they decided to set aside their differences in order to share in the joy of this wondrous event? (+20)
Does this wedding ceremony bear an astonishing similarity to a late 20th/early 21st century American middle-class Christian wedding, complete with vows, veil, and bouquet, despite the fact that this is far from the only type of wedding ceremony that exists (or has ever existed) on Earth, so to expect giant robots from outer space to use this exact same ritual is PATENTLY ABSURD?!?!?! (Sorry.) (+50)
Do they have a child together? (+1)
More than one? (+2)
More than three? (+4)
Are any of them twins? (+5)
With telepathic powers? (+6)
V. It's a Sad, Sad, Sad, Sad World
Is your character an orphan? (+1)
Were her parents killed in an attack by the opposing faction? (+1)
In an attack by pirates, mercenaries, an alien invasion, or anything other than a canon TF faction? (+2)
Did this attack destroy her entire city or colony? (+2)
Her entire world? (+3)
As a result of this attack, was she Left Alone To Fend For Herself In a Cruel Uncaring Universe? (+1)
Was she Forced To Do Terrible Things To Survive? (+1)
That she deeply regretted doing, because deep down inside she was still a good and kind individual? (+1)
At any point in your character's history:
Was she kidnapped? (+1)
Was she sexually assaulted? (+2)
By more than one individual? (+3)
By a canon character? (+100 points and shame on you.)
Was she forced into slavery? (+2)
Was it sexual in nature? (+5)
Was she captured by the opposing faction or other evil persons? (+1)
Was she tortured? (+1)
Was her mind forcibly read by a telepath or some kind of evil brain-scanning device? (+1)
Was her mind altered in any way (false memories implanted, brainwashed into betraying her faction, etc.)? (+1)
Did she swear revenge on a particular group or faction as a result of Her Tragic Experience (whatever it was)? (+1)
Did she swear revenge on a particular individual? (+1)
Did she change her name, upgrade her body configuration, or otherwise alter herself in any way because of it? (+2)
At any point in her history, does she change factions? (Going from Neutral to a named faction, or vice-versa, counts.) (+1)
Does she change factions more than once? (+2)
More than twice? (+3)
Do the other characters get so sick of her faction-swapping that they finally just haul off and shoot her? (-50)
Is she insane, or suspected of being insane? (+1)
Does she experience flashbacks or other mental lapses? (+1)
Does she suffer from a pathological phobia of clowns? (-20)
VI. Don't Fear the Reaper
Does your character die? (+1)
Does she sacrifice herself to save the object of her affections? (+2)
To save her entire faction? (+3)
To save Cybertron and/or Earth? (+4)
To save the galaxy? (+5)
To save the entire universe/multiverse/space-time continuum? (+10)
Does she repair a time paradox by dying? (+2)
Does she cause one? (+2)
Is her death witnessed by five or more canon characters? (+1)
Do any of them cry? (+1)
Does anyone shout "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!" at any point? (number of O's and exclamation points may vary.) (+2)
Is it more than two paragraphs long? (+2)
More than two pages long? (+3)
Does she sing "Don't Cry For Me, Argentina" in a loud, bellowing voice? (-10)
Do you describe her funeral? (+1)
Is it awfully similar to an Earth-type funeral? (See the question about weddings.) (+2)
Do the attendees make moving speeches about how wonderful she was and what a difference she made in their lives? (+3)
Are these speeches more than two paragraphs long? (+4)
More than two pages long? (+5)
Does anyone break down and cry in the middle of their speech? (+5)
Did you cry while you were writing it? (+5)
During the funeral, does she come lurching out of her coffin as a hideously decomposed cannibal zombie and massacre everybody in sight? (-20) (Well, I'd like to see that.)
Did she leave a will or any kind of last message? (+1)
Does it begin with an "If you're reading this/seeing this, it means I'm dead" sort of thing? (+1)
Does everyone think she died, but she actually didn't? (+3)
Does she actually die, but somehow come back to life at the end of the story? (+4)
Will she come back to life in a subsequent story? (+3)
In which you blatantly contradict and/or ignore the events of the current one? (+20)
Does someone else sacrifice him- or herself to restore your character to life? (+2)
Does the object of her affections bring her back to life solely through the Power of Their Love? (+50 and you're determined to kill me, aren't you?)
Does she die and get resurrected more than once? (+2)
More than twice? (+3)
More than Optimus Prime? (Never mind, that's not possible.)
VII. And, In the End...
Have you written (or are you planning to write) more than one story centered around this character? (+1)
More than two? (+2)
More than three? (+3)
Do you ONLY write stories centered around this character? (+10)
Have you altered the canon in any way to favor her (i.e., changed the plot of an episode, re-written the Movie so a character doesn't die, etc.)? (+1)
Has she appeared in more than one continuity? (G1, BW, etc.) (+1)
More than two? (+2)
More than three? (+3)
As soon as you hear of a new TF continuity coming out, do you immediately start thinking of how you can involve your character in it? (+5)
Do you get cheesed off when readers don't adore and worship your character? (+3)
Do you resent the suggestion that stories based around your fanchars are not as interesting to other people as they are to you? (+5)
And finally, while taking this test, did you feel periodic stings of recognition, flashes of annoyance, a temptation to say, "So what's wrong with THAT?" or "You're making fun of ME, aren't you?!" etc. etc. etc.? (+1 for each time this happens.)
Scoring:
A negative number: What are you still taking this test for? Go write!
0 to 15: Ehh, it's pretty hard to avoid everything on this list. Don't worry about it.
16 to 30: A few Mary Sue tendencies creeping in. Might want to re-think a few things so people don't start making fun of you.
31 to 45: Definite Sue-ishness. Do some honest self-criticism and see if you can't make the character more interesting.
46 to 60: Warning! Mary Sue in progress! Re-think this character immediately and don't write another fic about her till you do!
61 or higher: Please remain where you are. An actual competent writer will be along shortly to take away your computer and/or break your fingers. Thank you.
Is your character named after yourself or your screen name? (+1)
Is your character described as beautiful? (+1)
"Unusually" or "astonishingly" beautiful? (+2)
The most beautiful Transformer who's ever lived? (+3)
Do the other characters feel intimidated or threatened by her beauty? (+1)
Are her optics an unusual color? (+1)
Do they change color according to her mood? (+1)
Does she have long, flowing hair? (+2)
Do you describe it on the first page of the story? (+2) (or the first post of the RP?)
Do you describe it more than once? (+3)
Is she a recolored and/or "feminized" version of a canon character? (+1)
Is she a Seeker? (+1)
Do you spend more than two consecutive paragraphs describing her physical appearance? (+1) (character apps don't count)
Do you make it a point to mention that she's as tall, or taller, than the average male? (+1)
Does she have wings on her butt? (-20 and you're excused from the rest of the test.)
Does she have more than one alt-mode? (+1)
More than two? (+2)
Is her robot mode surprisingly lacking in the "kibble" that would logically be necessary to transform into all these things (because then she wouldn't be as purty)? (+2)
Does she transform via "magic" or some advanced and/or alien technology? (+2)
Is her name a painfully blatant feminization of a canon name, like "Starscreamia" or "Lady Optimus"? (+10)
Does she have any of the following abilities:
Telepathy? (+1)
Teleportation? (+1)
More powerful than Skywarp's? (+2)
Super-speed? (+1)
Faster than Blurr's? (+2)
Unusually keen senses? (Sight, hearing, smell, etc.) (+1 for each.)
Telekenesis? (+2)
"Magical" powers, often vaguely defined or whatever the situation calls for (including magical healing of self or others)? (+2)
Time-travel under her own power? (+2)
Control of the weather or other natural elements? (+2)
The ability to communicate with animals? (+2)
Precognition or a "sixth sense" regarding imminent danger (including precognitive dreams or visions)? (+2)
Any ability which no canon TF has ever been shown to have? (+3)
ALL of the above? (+100 points and kindly never write anything again.)
Is she:
A brilliant scientist and/or inventor? (+1)
So brilliant that she effortlessly solves problems that Wheeljack, Ratchet, and/or Perceptor couldn't? (+2)
Is she a phenomenally skilled martial artist? (+1)
In Metallikato? (+2)
In some hitherto-unknown Cybertronian martial art that you just made up? (+3)
Is she the only female ever to be trained in this art? (+1)
Is she an incredible sharpshooter? (+1)
At any distance? (+1)
With any weapon? (+1)
If you've made Tech Specs for her:
Are they all sevens and/or eights? (+1)
Nines and/or tens? (+2)
Higher than tens? (+5)
I. We Are Family
Is your character the daughter of a canon character? (+1) (adopted counts)
Is it Starscream? (+1)
Is it Megatron? (+2)
Is it Optimus Prime? (+3)
That your character does not originally know about? (+1)
Because your character's mother (or father) hid her away to "protect" her from something? (+2)
Is your character the sister of a canon character? (+1)
Is it Megatron? (+2)
Is it Optimus Prime? (+1)
Is it Starscream? (+3)
Does she have a twin of the same gender? (+1)
Of the opposite gender? (+2)
Do they communicate telepathically? (+3)
Is she the product of a tragically doomed romance between an Autobot and a Decepticon? (+1)
III. Origin of the Species
Was your character on board the Ark or the Nemesis? (+1)
Is she part-alien or part- any other non-TF creature? (+1)
Is she a non-Cybertronian mechanoid who joined the TFs for whatever reason? (+1)
Is she a human who was turned into a TF? (+2)
No beating about the bush: is she you turned into a TF? (+3)
Do you secretly believe that this is really going to happen some day? (+5)
Seriously, though? (+10)
Is she an alien (organic) who was turned into a TF? (+1)
For any of the above: does she become a TF:
Because she was badly injured by/because of a TF and this was the only way they could save her life? (+1)
Because she wanted to Join In the Fight Against Evil? (+1)
Because Megatron (or Galvatron or whoever) had the idea to turn humans into Decepticons and use them against the Autobots? (+1)
Because she was in love with a TF and this was the only way they could be together? (+2)
Due to a Convenient Unexplained Phenomenon (a dimensional portal, an energy bolt from space, etc.)? (+2)
For Mysterious Reasons of Her Own? (+2)
Because she wanted revenge on an annoying ex-boyfriend? (-100 points and please send me the story.)
Is she a member of a hitherto-unknown "third race" that fled Cybertron during the Great War? (+2)
Is she royalty of any kind? (+2)
That she does not originally know about? (+3)
Is she a member of a non-allied mercenary group that Plays By Their Own Rules and Answers To No One? (+3)
Is she the leader? (+1)
Is this group made up of stunningly beautiful and incredibly dangerous femmebots? (+1)
Are they Feared and Respected Throughout the Galaxy? (+1)
Do they have their own spaceship? (+1)
Or did your character presumably come about in a perfectly ordinary way, because you don't feel her origins are worth going on about? (-30 and thank you, thank you, thank you.)
IV. All You Need Is Love
Does your character fall in love with a canon character? (+1)
Is it Optimus Prime? (+1)
Is it Megatron? (+2)
Is it Starscream? (+3)
Does she fall in love with someone from an opposing faction? (+1)
From a different continuity? (i.e. an Autobot and a Maximal)? (+2)
From an opposing faction AND a different continuity? (i.e. an Autobot and a Vehicon)? (+3)
Did they fall in love within days of meeting each other? (+1)
Did they fall in love At First Sight or The Moment Their Eyes Met? (+2)
Do they defy anyone's direct orders to be together? (+1)
Does one of them defect from their faction so they can be together? (+1)
Do they BOTH defect from their factions so they can be together? (+2)
Do canon characters fight (or otherwise compete) for her affections? (+1)
Does she "reform" a thought-to-be-irredeemably-evil character through The Power of Her Love? (+100 and pass me the Pepto-Bismol.)
Does your character have sex with the object of her affections? (+1)
More than once? (+2)
That you describe in point-by-point detail? (+1)
For more than two consecutive pages? (+3)
Is it a life-altering experience for her? (+1)
For him? (+1)
Do one or both of them cry afterwards because it was so beautiful? (+1)
Did you cry afterwards because it was so beautiful? (+2)
Do they get married? (+1)
Do you describe the wedding ceremony? (+1)
For more than two consecutive pages? (+2)
Including giving the name of every single character who was invited? (+3)
Is the wedding attended by members of opposing factions, because they decided to set aside their differences in order to share in the joy of this wondrous event? (+20)
Does this wedding ceremony bear an astonishing similarity to a late 20th/early 21st century American middle-class Christian wedding, complete with vows, veil, and bouquet, despite the fact that this is far from the only type of wedding ceremony that exists (or has ever existed) on Earth, so to expect giant robots from outer space to use this exact same ritual is PATENTLY ABSURD?!?!?! (Sorry.) (+50)
Do they have a child together? (+1)
More than one? (+2)
More than three? (+4)
Are any of them twins? (+5)
With telepathic powers? (+6)
V. It's a Sad, Sad, Sad, Sad World
Is your character an orphan? (+1)
Were her parents killed in an attack by the opposing faction? (+1)
In an attack by pirates, mercenaries, an alien invasion, or anything other than a canon TF faction? (+2)
Did this attack destroy her entire city or colony? (+2)
Her entire world? (+3)
As a result of this attack, was she Left Alone To Fend For Herself In a Cruel Uncaring Universe? (+1)
Was she Forced To Do Terrible Things To Survive? (+1)
That she deeply regretted doing, because deep down inside she was still a good and kind individual? (+1)
At any point in your character's history:
Was she kidnapped? (+1)
Was she sexually assaulted? (+2)
By more than one individual? (+3)
By a canon character? (+100 points and shame on you.)
Was she forced into slavery? (+2)
Was it sexual in nature? (+5)
Was she captured by the opposing faction or other evil persons? (+1)
Was she tortured? (+1)
Was her mind forcibly read by a telepath or some kind of evil brain-scanning device? (+1)
Was her mind altered in any way (false memories implanted, brainwashed into betraying her faction, etc.)? (+1)
Did she swear revenge on a particular group or faction as a result of Her Tragic Experience (whatever it was)? (+1)
Did she swear revenge on a particular individual? (+1)
Did she change her name, upgrade her body configuration, or otherwise alter herself in any way because of it? (+2)
At any point in her history, does she change factions? (Going from Neutral to a named faction, or vice-versa, counts.) (+1)
Does she change factions more than once? (+2)
More than twice? (+3)
Do the other characters get so sick of her faction-swapping that they finally just haul off and shoot her? (-50)
Is she insane, or suspected of being insane? (+1)
Does she experience flashbacks or other mental lapses? (+1)
Does she suffer from a pathological phobia of clowns? (-20)
VI. Don't Fear the Reaper
Does your character die? (+1)
Does she sacrifice herself to save the object of her affections? (+2)
To save her entire faction? (+3)
To save Cybertron and/or Earth? (+4)
To save the galaxy? (+5)
To save the entire universe/multiverse/space-time continuum? (+10)
Does she repair a time paradox by dying? (+2)
Does she cause one? (+2)
Is her death witnessed by five or more canon characters? (+1)
Do any of them cry? (+1)
Does anyone shout "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!" at any point? (number of O's and exclamation points may vary.) (+2)
Is it more than two paragraphs long? (+2)
More than two pages long? (+3)
Does she sing "Don't Cry For Me, Argentina" in a loud, bellowing voice? (-10)
Do you describe her funeral? (+1)
Is it awfully similar to an Earth-type funeral? (See the question about weddings.) (+2)
Do the attendees make moving speeches about how wonderful she was and what a difference she made in their lives? (+3)
Are these speeches more than two paragraphs long? (+4)
More than two pages long? (+5)
Does anyone break down and cry in the middle of their speech? (+5)
Did you cry while you were writing it? (+5)
During the funeral, does she come lurching out of her coffin as a hideously decomposed cannibal zombie and massacre everybody in sight? (-20) (Well, I'd like to see that.)
Did she leave a will or any kind of last message? (+1)
Does it begin with an "If you're reading this/seeing this, it means I'm dead" sort of thing? (+1)
Does everyone think she died, but she actually didn't? (+3)
Does she actually die, but somehow come back to life at the end of the story? (+4)
Will she come back to life in a subsequent story? (+3)
In which you blatantly contradict and/or ignore the events of the current one? (+20)
Does someone else sacrifice him- or herself to restore your character to life? (+2)
Does the object of her affections bring her back to life solely through the Power of Their Love? (+50 and you're determined to kill me, aren't you?)
Does she die and get resurrected more than once? (+2)
More than twice? (+3)
More than Optimus Prime? (Never mind, that's not possible.)
VII. And, In the End...
Have you written (or are you planning to write) more than one story centered around this character? (+1)
More than two? (+2)
More than three? (+3)
Do you ONLY write stories centered around this character? (+10)
Have you altered the canon in any way to favor her (i.e., changed the plot of an episode, re-written the Movie so a character doesn't die, etc.)? (+1)
Has she appeared in more than one continuity? (G1, BW, etc.) (+1)
More than two? (+2)
More than three? (+3)
As soon as you hear of a new TF continuity coming out, do you immediately start thinking of how you can involve your character in it? (+5)
Do you get cheesed off when readers don't adore and worship your character? (+3)
Do you resent the suggestion that stories based around your fanchars are not as interesting to other people as they are to you? (+5)
And finally, while taking this test, did you feel periodic stings of recognition, flashes of annoyance, a temptation to say, "So what's wrong with THAT?" or "You're making fun of ME, aren't you?!" etc. etc. etc.? (+1 for each time this happens.)
Scoring:
A negative number: What are you still taking this test for? Go write!
0 to 15: Ehh, it's pretty hard to avoid everything on this list. Don't worry about it.
16 to 30: A few Mary Sue tendencies creeping in. Might want to re-think a few things so people don't start making fun of you.
31 to 45: Definite Sue-ishness. Do some honest self-criticism and see if you can't make the character more interesting.
46 to 60: Warning! Mary Sue in progress! Re-think this character immediately and don't write another fic about her till you do!
61 or higher: Please remain where you are. An actual competent writer will be along shortly to take away your computer and/or break your fingers. Thank you.