changeling | FIFTEH!

I wasn't going to finish this one--it's not really aimed to a story of this genre. Especially since I sort of made up the genre. Ah, well. Deirdre was very snarky and convinced me to finish it. Ah, those wandering pronouns... *fixes*

I am so pleased that my characters don't live in my head the way Buhfly and Bill's do, because Deirdre is a very stong-willed person... bordering on bully. Ah well, we love her anyway.

Deirdre takes the Mary Sue Litmus Test.

What she is...
Is your character the only one of her species in existence? (+2)
Deirdre: The only one of my family, but not of my species.

Because all of the others died tragically? (+5)
Bertie: Well, all your family died tragically.
Deirdre: It doesn't count. It's about species.
Bertie: FIVE POINTS!
Deirdre: I hate you.

Because of unknown reasons? (+1)
Deirdre: No.
Bertie: But...
Deirdre: No.

Is she a fantasy creature that's familiar but rarely used as an avatar (hippogriff, satyr, cockatrice)? (-2)
Deirdre: No.

Is she a normal, real world animal, excluding wolf? (-1)
Deirdre: NO.
Human counts, you know.
Deirdre: Oh. Well, yes then. I'm not a leprechaun.

Is your character described as beautiful? (+1)
Deirdre: No.

"Unusually" or "astonishingly" beautiful? (+2)
Deirdre: HA!

Are her optics an unusual color? (+1)
Deirdre: Optics? OPTICS?
Bertie: I think they mean "eyes".
Deirdre. Ha! No. They're grey.
Bertie: Since when?
Deirdre: Since now.

Do they change color according to her mood? (+1)
Deirdre: Yes, they do. And sometimes, I jump out of my skin and dance around, just in my bones.
Bertie: Um, well, sometimes they do, like this morning, when we were outside and they were bluer than usual...
Deirdre: That's just what grey eyes do. It doesn't count.
Yes, it does.
Deirdre: One night, you'll be sleeping in your bed, and I'm going to come after you. I don't research Egyptian prayer-magic for nothing, you know.
You don't research Egyptian prayer-magic at all.
Deirdre: I do now. *is smug*
That is so cheating.

Is she unusually petite or unusually large for her species? (+1)
Deirdre: Well, I'm tall for a girl, but Bertie's still an inch or two taller, so no.

Does she lack wings (ordinarily wingless creatures count!)? (-1)
Deirdre: What do I look like, the fairy Clinkerbell?
Bertie: ... Isn't that Tinkerbell?
Deirdre: I know what I mean.

Is she wolf-sized or smaller? (-1)
Deirdre: That's me. A great big wolf. Ready to tear out your throat.
Bertie: Really? Only there's a question later on about shapeshifters...
Deirdre: No. I was being metaphoric.
Bertie: Oh. *disappointed*

Is she entirely black or white? (+1)
Deirdre: What am I, a chessboard?
Bertie: Actually, I had a chessboard that was black and silver--

Shiny, metallic, iridescent, sparkly? (+1)
Deirdre: Of course. I'm the fairy of happiness and springtime.
Bertie: ... *shudders*

Does she have a prominent scar on her face? (+1)
Deirdre: No. I have one above my hip where I fell from a horse, once. That's it.

Does her name contain any of the following:
Star/Fire/Black/Dark/Moon/Ice/Silver/Song/Wind (+3 each)
Flame/Night/Dawn/Shadow/Snow/Wing/Heart/Eye (+2 each)
Rain/Strike/Flash/Cloud/Soul/Feathis/Claw/Wolf/Blade/Tear (+1 each)
Deirdre: You know, I can't begin to express my loathing for the sort of people who would gladly answer yes to at least one of the above.

Deliberately misspelled (Starr, Wynd, Klaw)? (+2)
Deirdre: Terribly badly misspelt. My mother meant to name me "Angel of Death", only she spelt it Deirdre...
We already have an Angel of Death in the other universe.
Deirdre: Don't spoil my sarcasm. It was specially salted to last.

Two part name (first and last)? (+1)
Deirdre: I have a first and last name, but neither are two-parters. I do not have a "Mac" before my surname, and I'm not a Wotleigh-Wotleigh (of the Sheffield Wotleigh-Wotleighs).

Both parts composed entirely of words from the above? (+20)
Deirdre: No.

Made up fantasy name starting and ending in the letter a? (+1)
Deirdre: *starts chanting in Egyptian under her breath*
*hurriedly* Moving right along, shall we?
Deirdre: Please do.

Do you use this name for everything you do on the internet? (+5)
Deirdre: *raises an eyebrow*
No. Really, really no.

Got Magic?
Unusually keen senses? (+1 for each)
Deirdre: No. And my sense of humour is being dulled.

Telepathy or empathy? (+1)
Bertie: Well, definitely not the latter.
Deirdre: *glares*

Healing? (+1)
Deirdre: No.

Healing that works completely and perfectly regardless of the affliction in question? (+10)
Deirdre: No. *starts toying with a pencil in a threatening way*

Control of the weather or other natural elements? (+1)
Bertie: You wish, eh, Dee? That church picnic last Sunday wouldn't have rained out!
Deirdre: Indeed. For there is nothing I love more than a fête. And don't ever call me Dee again.

Precognitive dreams or visions? (+1)
Deirdre: No.
Hey, that'd be really cool...
Deirdre: *gives gaze of steel* No.

Is she a shapeshifter? (+1)
Deirdre: No.
Bertie: *sulks in the corner*

With more than two forms? (+2)
Deirdre: No. In fact, I'm going to save time and answer the next three right now: NO.

More than three? (+3)
Unlimited forms? (+10)
ALL of the above? (+100)

What's she do?
Does she have a beautiful singing voice? (+1)
Deirdre: Do you know, I've never had the opportunity of finding out. *whistles under her breath*

Is she royalty? (+1)
Deirdre: My father always claimed we were related to Banquo, but I am afraid that was probably wishful thinking.

Is she the most powerful or high-ranking of his kind? (+3)
Deirdre: I am Queen of Historians. When we meet in our secret chambers beneath Parliament House, we drink ewe's blood and they sacrifice a goat to My Glory.
Bertie: *eyes popping out* Really?
Deirdre: No.

Is she the very best at what he does? (+3)
Deirdre: *preens* Well, I don't like to brag, but...
Bertie: So why'd you have to pull me in to interpret those illustrations?
Deirdre: *ignores*

Is she a phenomenally skilled warrior? (+1)
Deirdre: With a cheese-knife, perhaps. Or with witty repartee. Mind you, I'm starved for competition.

With any weapon? (+1)
Deirdre: No.

With a Very Special weapon? (+2)
Deirdre: *yawns*

Passed down to her by a dying family member or master? (+3)
Bertie: Hey, maybe this one! What did your father leave you?
Deirdre: The house. His debts. So unless one can attack infidels with the West Wing, I don't think this counts.

Is it magical? (+2)
Deirdre: No.

Is it named? (+1)
Deirdre: Well, yes. It's a house.
I think they mean the weapon.
Deirdre: Well, language is simply giving names to things, really, isn't it? So merely calling something a "weapon" is immediately naming it--
Nevermind.

With one or more of the words from the list? (+10)
Deirdre: No.

Does she have a perfectly normal history that you don't get into? (-10)
Deirdre: YES! *is smug* I believe this takes me into the negative.

Have you written down the character's history in story form? (+1)
Nope.

Was she captured and/or abused by humans? (+10)
Deirdre: No more than the usual parental trauma. I'm told it prepares us for life.

Was she adopted? (+1)
Deirdre: No.

Is hse a human who was turned into his current form? (+1)
Bertie: Well, her brother told me once that she was human, but I've never seen any evidence for it... *catches Deirdre's look and runs*

Is she a member of a rogue team that plays by its own rules? (+1)
Deirdre: Insofar as Dr Hague condescends to have me as his partner, despite the fact that I'm a woman, you could argue yes. But attitudes are changing--
I'm sure that's enough. We'll just go with "no", shall we?
Deirdre: I'm pleased you see things my way.

Is she the leader? (+1)
Deirdre: Dr Hague is our project leader--
Bertie: *collapses into giggles*
Deirdre: What? WHAT?

Is she your Otherkin/Furry/Were "trueform"? (+10)
Deirdre: What?
*explains*
Deirdre: Emphatically NOT.

Do you secretly believe that someday you're going to transform into him? (+5)
Do you publicly believe that someday you're going to transform into him? (+10)
Deirdre: No, and no.

Bonus question: In making your character, did you borrow ANY idea, be it in name, terminology, world, physiology, or function, from Mercedes Lackey? (+20)
Being that I've never read a Mercedes Lackey book, I'm going to go with no, here.

And the score is... negative three. Ish.

Negative infinity to 0: Congratulations. Your character may be a Mary Sue, but it's hard to tell. She's probably warped reality so that she'll never be classified as such. You're officially her bitch.
0-5: Congratulations! You have created an original, believable, and interesting character!
6-10: Your Mary Sue tendencies are few and small enough that they probably don't matter much.
11-15: Borderline.
16-20: I'm sorry, dude, but you're pretty much a Mary Sue.
21-30: This is prominent enough that you might seriously want to consider making changes to your character so as not to annoy your neighbors.
30 or more: Please do not come near me.

Deirdre: Ha! Of course, we could do this for you, Bertie, but I believe it requires you to have a personality first...
Bertie: What are you insinuating?
Deirdre: Oh, nothing, dear. Do run along, Bertram dear.
Bertie: But my name's Robert...
Deirdre: *smoothly* Of course it is. How's your Aunt Agatha?
Bertie: *thoroughly bewildered* I don't have any aunts...