[ SECRET POST #2448 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #2448 ⌋

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

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 02 pages, 051 secrets from Secret Submission Post #350.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[fscom]

03. http://i.imgur.com/7oUlD35.jpg

[(Anonymous)]

I don't need warnings for them, but I'd like to know before reading if the story is mainly centered around an OC/it's an OC/canon character romance. Because I'm not interested in those. Is tagging the same thing as "warning" now?

[dreemyweird]

This topic was discussed about a 1,000,000,000 times already. Many people read fanfiction because they want more stuff about canon characters. They don't want OC-centric stories.
OCs as minor/secondary characters=OK, OCs as main protagonists=needs to be indicated.

That being said, I think this secret is very pretty.

[bringreligiontothewamwams]

You have failed to understand the difference between a tag, a warning, and trigger warning (or stupid twatting bullshit as the last sometimes known).

[(Anonymous)]

Because people generally read fanfiction for canon characters, NOT OCs? Not that they're all bad, but personally If I wanted OCs as a focal point, I'd read original fiction.

And I don't need a 'trigger warning' so much as a just mention that 'hey, this contains OCs!' if they're going to be a major character. I don't NEED it, but it would be nice.

As someone who religiously warns for OCs

[(Anonymous)]

Thank you.

I mean I understand warning to avoid trouble. But I don't like how some flip out over OC fics.

I think fandom is a bit silly about it. While I've seen some people write horrible OCs. I've seen people be big drama queens about happening upon a fic.

I mean seriously. So you stumbled upon a bad OC. I don't see how this warrants cussing out the author and telling them to take the story down "NOWNOWNOWNOW". Or leaving some ambiguous bizarre ramble to express your dislike. (one person left someone a review that was nothing but a grossly worded description of a sweaty basement dweller chanting something on a fic that was standard 13 year old suefic fare.)

I just I get giving critique but there's a lot of people who are big fucking babies about reading what they don't like.

(also, except in extreme cases where someone is deliberately attacking people or being racist or offensive in their fics (or writing edgy shit that triggers people) ordering someone to take down a fic because you don't like it is just as bratty as shrieking at people who give you good advice.)

[(Anonymous)]

I think "warning" can mean many things...though I'd just describe the fic as having an OC(s) in the description myself. But I don't think it's so bad.

The general stigma against OCs, however, is kind of annoying.

[queerwolf]

Tagging for something isn't necessarily warning for it, just letting readers know it's there. Most readers of fanfic want to read about the canon characters. OCs aren't inherently evil; as secondary/tertiary characters? Fine. But as someone upthread said, if I wanted to read about OCs as main characters, I'd read original fiction or a published novel instead.

[(Anonymous)]

As others have said, I don't think it's considered a warning so much as a tag, or a description. Like AU fics or crossovers (which I personally love, but others hate). That said, I think it's a false equivalence to compare original fic with fanfic. The expectations are not the same from the start, and trying to claim they should be is missing the whole point of fanfic.

Secret 3 - Original Characters in fanfiction

[transcriptanon]

[Picture is a red plate with the word "WARNING!" on it.]

I think it's silly that people need (or think they're entitled to) warning for Original Characters. It's not a trigger and if you're so worried about encountering non-canon characters how do you handle reading anything that isn't fanfiction?

[(Anonymous)]

I read fanfiction and original fiction for different reasons. I read fanfiction to get more stories about characters I already love (and I usually read stories that are specifically about the canon characters I do like, not the canon characters I don't like). So just like I'd like to know if a fanfic is about main character A or main character B before I start reading, I'd like to know if there are any (important) OCs in it. I don't want to be surprised by your OC any more than I'd want to be surprised by a canon character I don't like appearing in the fic.

On the other hand, I read original fiction for new stuff. BUT I usually read original fiction on recommendations. Things like someone telling me that the main character is funny or interesting or whatever. I don't know shit about your OC. I don't have anyone's recommendation that your OC is interesting or well written. And I personally have better times to do than read completely random shit on the internet in the hopes that I might just stumble across something good amidst piles of stuff that doesn't interest me.

[ninety6tears]

It could be there as more of a "If you're the type to get to any OC and then blow up the comments page about obnoxious Mary Sues, you can move right along" type of warning. (Unless it's not given as a warning at all, which is just a good use of AO3 tags.)

[(Anonymous)]

It's just considerate. I mean if it's going to take up a significant part of your story wouldn't you want to summarize that so people can know if that's what they want to read about or not?

Just a friendly reminder that

[(Anonymous)]

not all fic centered around an OC are horrible spotlight-stealing atrocities.

What about fics that feature the world but focus on something going on somewhere else.

Daily life for someone in one of the 12 districts. Normal life for the average Hogwarts student who isn't the Chosen One? Sometimes it can be fun to explore the world separate from the canon characters.

Personally I sometimes read fanfiction to read about the world. and sometimes writers just want to try something a little different. Maybe Pokemon fan wants to write about an original trainer /coordinator out on their own Pokemon adventure.

I know people should warn for them. But I hate when people say "nobody wants to read about an OC" as a sweeping judgement.

[(Anonymous)]

Warnings are not needed, backdrop Oc's characters need not be mentioned - but if the main character is an OC? People want to know. We're here to read fanfiction, about characters we know. Not a story where the canon characters play backdrop to your shitty OC

[iggy]

...because if it's in the canon then it's not an OC?

That being said I don't need warning for OCs on the whole, but I certainly want to know if the OC is going to be the main focus of a fic or involved in a pairing. I don't read fic for OCs, I read it for stories about my favorite characters.

[(Anonymous)]

I don't need a warning, but how hard is it to tag that you're gonna write an OC and hook it up with a main character? It's fine if you give Felicity a brother but if the story suddenly goes from a Team Arrow fic to how Felicity's OC sister meets Oliver and then their relationship, and I wasn't warned that it was going to be an OC/Oliver fic instead of a gen Team Arrow fic,yeah, I'm gonna be pissed. Tagging and warning aren't the same thing, but don't let me invest my time in your self-insert, Mary Sue OC fic.

If, however, you start the story warning that it's Steve/OC and it's all character building for Steve and how he met this OC and grew from a "man out of time" to someone who found out who he could be in the future, maybe I'll read it, maybe I won't, but at least I knew what I was getting into when I started.

To the people saying all OCs should be warned

[(Anonymous)]

What if I were to choose a canon extra who isn't given much thought in canon and expand on them. Nothing excessive of crazy in backstory really just slice of life or them watching the events of canon.

Like one of the students sorted in Harry's fourth year? Technically they are a canon character but with no canon established personality. If I wrote about them and didn't tag,would this be an unforgivable sin?

[(Anonymous)]

I don't get bent out of shape about it, I just don't tend to read fic about OCs because I read fic for the canon characters (and especially certain ships). That being said, if a fic looks good, I'll read it, regardless of OC POV. If it turns out the OC doesn't work for me, backclick.

[blueonblue]

I don't read fanfic to read about OCs, and it is kind of annoying that when writing case fic I have to bring in original characters because otherwise Sherlock would have no one to investigate and Lestrade would have no one to arrest. Molly and Mrs Hudson can't commit every crime.

Or maybe they can. That's my next fic.

(Always late to the party...)

[(Anonymous)]

It's not a warning, but a tag I'm looking for.

Just as I would want any characters or pairings tagged, so that I know what I'm getting in to when I start something or know to skip over it if I don't particularly wish to read it.

(It would kind of be the equivalent of knowing before hand that the spinoff to the published novel series you've been reading is not about an established character from the novels continuing on with his/her adventures, but a new character starting adventures that will, in no way, intersect with the original set of novels.

Some may read for the extension of the world the author has created, while others may take a pass because they only care about the characters in the original novel series.)

Wait wait wait...warnings or tags?

[nyxelestia]

Because, see, a lot of people (including occasionally me, though I try not to) tend to use them interchangeably.

Tags just kind of tell you what's in the story - characters, pairings, content, etc

Warnings are a specific subset of tags meant to inform readers of content that commonly triggers people.

A lot of people seek out things with 'warnings' instead of being triggered by them, while others often are triggered by things that don't get warnings tags but are sometimes tagged/content-tagged. So that leads to a lot of overlap or interchanging usage.

So, warnings - as in, meant to inform readers of a potential trigger - definitely shouldn't apply to the mere existence of an OC. But I don't think it's unreasonable to want a content tag for an OC, either, considering we usually tag just about everything else in a story.

[(Anonymous)]

I don't want people to WARN for OC fic, I want them to TAG it as OC fic, just as I want them to tag for drama, hurt/comfort, comedy etc. OC writers need to realize that OC fic is a fanfic genre, and people have been tagging their fic with genre for as long as I've been in fandom.

[mimi-sardinia.livejournal.com]

I've read a lot of fic over the years. I've read Mary Sue, I've read fics that turn canon characters into Sues, I've read fics with minor OCs, fics with major (lead role) OCs, and fics with minor OCs that become major OCs due to development.

They are all different beasts and people often conflate one or more of them with the other, more negative types.

Major OCs in lead roles are not universally the devil of fanfiction, but most Mary Sues are that type of OC. OC tags make people scrutinize the fic summary a little closer to determine if it shows the warning signs of the OC being a Sue.

I like having an extra sign that helps me avoid Mary Sues. I hope that the sign does not make me ignore good fics with well-written OCs.

Preach!

[(Anonymous)]

I know that this issue can go either way, but I wholly agree with the way you've framed it here. :)