My name is Schopenhauera- or is it Mary Sue?

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I am writing a novel for fun (i.e. I am not trying to publish it), and the main character, Schopenhauera Shuganoff, is based on yours truly. Even though it's the farthest thing from fanfic, I worry about her turning into the dreaded Mary Sue, if only because it's all so semi-autobiographical. My friends, tell me if I have birthed a Mary Sue:

starred (*) items I explicitly share with the character. Twice-starred (**) items I sort of share, or have experienced something similar. A @ sign means she is totally different from me in that area.

Sex: F*
IQ: 165**
Neurostatus: Aspie*
Race: white*
Politics: conservative in behavior, but liberal in general attitudes.**
Religion: Catholic*
Age: 15@
European sensibility: German intellectual**
Morality: above par, but not quite a saint**
Sign: Capricorn*
Personality: idealistic, somewhat tormented at times, and complicated. Intellectual and introspective. Either behaves much more or much less maturely than her age depending on the day, and is thus dubbed by many as an "idiot savant". A touch too interested in death. The book concerns how this girl gains wisdom.
Likes: Learning, religion, her mother, humor, rules, routine, security, history, reading, medical science.
Dislikes: conflict, chaos, imprecise language, noise, the very thought of sex, arrogance, curebies, and Thomas Pynchon (not my least favorite writer, but every character needs a literary enemy!).
Abilities: above-average intelligence, cleverness, strong ethics and integrity, philosophic abilities.
Weaknesses: naivety, Catholic guilt, prudery, inability to access material gain from high intelligence, poor social skills, and, of course, a healthy dose of human nature.

What's a Mary-Sue (or Gary-Stu) character type?

I might want to recognize if the 2nd most important character of my novel I'm writing for fun, Janick, is one (but some calculus students pressured me into publication).

Starred (*) items I explicitly share with the character. Twice-starred (**) items I sort of share, or have experienced something similar. A @ sign means she is totally different from me in that area.

Sex: F@
Neurostatus: Aspie*
School level: College (Quebec first year - roughly U.S. 12th year)*
Politics: liberal*
Religion: none*
Age: 18*
College program: Pure science*
Morality: above par, but not quite a saint*
Personality: Uncomplicated, but she is obsessed with her physical friction coefficient as she strives to be the smoothest girl in the world. Also, she is quite honest with the people she lives with and she wants to help people from all around the world with their scientific issues, using her telepathic ability.
Likes: Learning, mechanics (as in a part of physics), her mother, mathematics, poetry, free trade and telepathy
Dislikes: conflict, chaos, arrogance, protectionism and the Marquis de l'Hôpital (not my least favorite mathematician, but a calculus-based novel does not exist if no important character does not have a mathematical enemy!).
Abilities: Long-range telepathic broadcasting, scientific ability
Weaknesses: naivety, obsession for her friction coefficient, excessively tawdry in regards of her telepathical abilities, and, of course, a healthy dose of human nature.

Notes: Here are the subjects covered in the series:
The 1st book does not have much in the way of academic content - completed
The 2nd book is based on my class notes of differential calculus, general chemistry and mechanics (physics) - completed
The 3rd book is based on my class notes of integral calculus, aqueous solution chemistry and electromagnetism (physics) - current; will require the entire semester to complete
The 4th book will be based on my class notes of linear algebra and modern physics.
An eventual 5th book will be based on multi-variable calculus.

A Mary Sue is a character that represents the author's desires. All autobiographical characters are not Mary Sues, but it is easy to start living vicariously through a character, making them too sexy, too moral, too exotic, too talented, and too intent on fulfilling your own fantasies. Wikipedia has a good article on it. All young authors such as myself have to worry about Mary Sue-ification, even if we know better, because the young are naturally self-indulgent.

This might help

avoiding the dreaded mary sue: http://community.livejournal.com/rp_tutorials/935.html

(I saw this somewhere else, but I can't seem to find the link)

PSuedo topic (pronounced as in Pseudo)

I am glad my intelligence is in the average range.

Writers write what they know. I am Sartresue. This is my desire. If I desire to live through my characters, then this is my choice. I do not wish to be censored. I am not young. I am who I am.

Is Schopenhaura the feminization of Schopenhauer? Authur may be rolling around in his remains.

He had a strong will. But his pessimism is how people remember him.

This is why I am not Schopenhauer(a)sue. I will be a honorary Marysue, though. Quite contrary.

Schopenhaera is a feminization of Schopenhauer. Her father, a hardworking cynic, gave her that name because he loved Schopenhauer. Her mother wanted to name her Summer.

A name by any other rose (Mary Sue) would be as thorny topic

Indeed, write that which you know. This is what writers do. (Paligraphia, no doubt)

The name Summer, though sunny, is not as strong as Schopenhauera.

Novels by the young are always in demand, if only because they were written by the young. If it is pessimistic, so be it. Write on, and post something interesting. I like to read (hyperlexic). My NT daughter likes to read, too.(':study:')

http://www.springhole.net/quizzes/marysue.htm

A girl named Sue, a boy named Stu topic

Wow. I am glad I took the test! Hello, Mary Sue, goodbye Sartre! (pronounced Sart, for all you non-Francophones).

I like her. I really like her. Just like a dark and stormy night, Mary Sue, in all her perfection, arose from the ashes of a dream, from the pataphor of her soul, to ascend to the heavens above, and like a phoenix, become reborn as...(fill in the blanks).

I learned something new today. And I have not lost my irony!

is she hot?

She is pretty but not conventionally hot. Even if she was hot, she wouldn't be a lot of fun due to her temperment.

Schopenhauera is a little too much. However, I don't think your character is a Sue. Now if she was stunningly gorgeous with flowing [insert color of choice] hair and color-shifting eyes* and an angsty past, then she'd probably be in that category.

* I actually do have eyes that could be called color-shifting, since they kind of appear to change from blue to green depending on the light and what I'm wearing. It's cool, but not all that it's cracked up to be.

from the Godawful Fanfic site:

A Mary Sue has the Boldness of Kirk, the Compassion of McCoy, the Wisdom of Spock; and sleeps with all 3 of them...

I was once gang-raped and tortured by a rabid swarm of Mary Sues. I've never been the same since.

care to share where did that happen?


hehe

Dr. Sue's topic

This forum has become a witty diversion from my otherwise uneventful life. I would love to do more research and find the Uber Sue, the mother of all Sues, the smoking Sue gun. Wake up, little Sue-zee.

My 13 year old NT daughter is still waiting to read something here.

Hail Mary, now you are at least the mother of this Sue.

Last edited by sartresue on 02 Mar 2008, 6:03 pm, edited 1 time in total.