fandomsecrets | [ SECRET POST #2316 ]

⌈ Secret Post #2316 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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[Band of Brothers]

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[Princess Princess]

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04.

[Once Upon a Time]

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[Doctor Who]

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06.

[toby turner/tobuscus/tobygames]

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07.

[Common Law]

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08.

[James May's Man Lab]

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09.

[The Enigma of Amigara Fault]

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10.

[Mad Men]

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[Lost Girl]

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[Twilight]

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[Monsters Inc]

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14.

[Archer]

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15.

[Super Junior / Infinite]

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 03 pages, 062 secrets from Secret Submission Post #331.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 1 2 - broken links ], [ 1 (???) - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ], [ 2 - empty comments ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

'Sup F!S. Possibly this is a thing you get asked about every goddamn day, but maybe not! Either way it could be an awesome discussion.

Generally speaking, when people read fic, they want to read about canon-established characters. Usually main characters, maybe Bob Who Appeared In That One Episode, maybe even ~~Mavis~~ Poopsie The Invisible Wife That No One Ever Meets. However, fandom hates OCs. Even if you need one just to be the cashier at the supermarket for a single scene, someone will hate the crap out of him/her Because Reasons.

Fair enough, right? Just write stuff with established characters as fanfic, then remove all the tell-tale signs of the canon from everything else and call it "original fic" with a wink and a nudge.

Sometimes, though, I really just want to write fic In An Established Setting, without changing any of the canon characters' lives and situations. Preserving all the awesome, dodging all the ships, and still getting to have fun in a universe I've grown to love. But that's pretty certain to be heavy on OCs even if I use all the background characters possible, which, in turn, FANDOM HAETS.

What do you think, F!S?

(In the interest of fairness, yeah, I have an idea for a fic that would require pretty much all OCs and ultraminor characters. Mainly because the canon ended on a down note and left me going, "wait, so the world is DOOMED, even though there's like X,000,000 highly skilled [spoilers] left alive that could maybe [spoiler] or even [spoiler]?" There's really no point to using these ideas as an "original fic", because without the canon denouement, who gives a shit?)

do what you want and don't give a shit about oc hate

that is silly they're not reading your fics at gunpoint

at least i am hoping they are not reading your fics at gunpoint

people don't give very good feedback at gunpoint, though. you're lucky if they hit the kudos button.

I don't care for OCs as main characters, but I see no problem with them as supporting characters around a canon character. In fact they can be a lot of fun!

Just... do it? Write your OC centric canon setting fic. Just mention it in the summary and don't try any 'let me talk about these canon characters as if they are going to play a huge role, when really it is just OCs'.

you probably won't get the biggest audience, but there are plenty of people who do like OC fiction. Just delete the flames. Don't even dignify them with a response and just do what makes you happy.

I don't think too many people care that much if the OCs are only minor. They prefer canon characters because that's what they came to read about, but I really don't think they'll get such a massive hate-on for your cashier that they'll rage quit your fic over it.

That said, there are quite a few well-reviewed all OC fics (but set in the canon universe) in my fandom. Maybe you could do that? And point out that it's all-OC cast in the summary, so people will decide before they even read it whether or not it's for them.

I think OCs are fine if they're done well. I admit that I usually do hate them if they become romantically involved with the main character of the fic though.

I just go ahead and use OCs. I think it's fascinating to explore parts of the setting that aren't or can't be explored by canon characters (or at least not the main characters). That's actually pretty much every fanfic I write!

Fuck the haters, man. Write what you want! It's fun! And freeing! :D

I'm gonna chime in late and say that most people don't like OCs because most people have come to associate OCs with attention-grabbing, badly-written, lazily characterized authorial mouthpieces. For the most infamous example, google "Ebony Darkness Dementia Raven Way".

Canon characters can be both easier and harder to write for, but the main reason they're easier than OCs is because the fic writer doesn't have to make the character, s/he just has to know how that character reacts. If you want to get readers, you're going to have to essentially prove that you know how to make characters that read well, that act realistically, and that are balanced.

If you have any other fic out there that is good, you have a headstart; people will likely go, "Well, s/he was good here, maybe I'll give it a shot."

Otherwise, yeah, a lot of people will simply scroll past because it doesn't have the canon characters in it. But that's true of everything: lots of people don't care because there isn't any X. Just make sure you label it as what's actually in the tin, and you should be fine.

If you'd like, post a note/link up here when you're done! I love reading fics like this, given how much they usually get into worldbuilding and so on.)

i think the way you're talking about using OC's and minor characters could be interesting, because it's still relevant to canon and exploring something important about it that other people may be able to connect to (assuming you planned on publishing this where other people could see it, because if it's just something personal that only a few people you know would care about, just do it and fuck people who come out of their way into your personal space to bother you about doin' it wrong)

otherwise i hate most oc's because they tend to hi-jack the pre-established narrative and make things about them without really adding anything to it, and it's a difficult association to break

this gets magnified when it's a more closed canon where the characters just don't have much interaction outside of their little groups

[ SECRET POST #2316 ]

Tons of OCs, or File Off The Serial Numbers?

Re: Tons of OCs, or File Off The Serial Numbers?

Re: Tons of OCs, or File Off The Serial Numbers?

Re: Tons of OCs, or File Off The Serial Numbers?

Re: Tons of OCs, or File Off The Serial Numbers?

Re: Tons of OCs, or File Off The Serial Numbers?

Re: Tons of OCs, or File Off The Serial Numbers?

Re: Tons of OCs, or File Off The Serial Numbers?

Re: Tons of OCs, or File Off The Serial Numbers?

Re: Tons of OCs, or File Off The Serial Numbers?