How Miya Scored on the Test

(if you really care)

So here it is, the score the Savage Redhead achieved on the Litmus Test. I strove to be as brutally honest as possible, answering even maybe questions as "Yes".

Positive answers are bolded and blue.



Now compare your total score to the list below:

16-25 Borderline case. If poorly or inobjectively written, s/he could be branded a Mary Sue. If handled well, people will forgive you a lot of personal excess.

Miya scored a total of 16 points on the test, which barely but decisively puts her in the "borderline" category. Of course, this means I have to watch Miya like a hawk so she doesn't slip over the line into full-blown Mary Sueism. I could reduce her score by taking away some of the abilities she has that don't really matter to the story, or by cutting some of the character development down, or by not having her get together with the Condor, or making her unrelated to any of the team--but I choose not to because that would make the story less special to me. It's a selfish choice, but I'm the one writing this stuff, and enough people seem to like what I'm doing so I don't feel too bad about it. Writing an original character into an established universe and keeping it real is a constant struggle, but if you care enough not only about your characters, but your readers as well, you can pull it off.

A special note about the very first question: Yes, some people on the Net know me as "Miya" or "Miyae". This was due to some early confusion between me (Emby Quinn) and the character. I used the name "Miya" on the old Center Neptune Telnet talker, and the nick has sort of stuck in certain areas of Gatchdom. I don't consider this to mean that Miya was named after me--if anything, the reverse is true. (Does that make me Miya's Mary Sue character? Frightening thought, that.)

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