Oneshots, Fic previews, and Important updates. [OLD]

Rant 1: The Thing about OCs/FCs

Copy and pasted from my journal on deviantart.

Okay, so anyone who has been a friend of mine for a good while knows that I like FCs (fan characters). I think they're a great way to get started in creating your own OCs - original characters - by providing you with an already-created universe, letting you focus on making your character likeable and well-rounded. 

  However, there is a common mistake that fan-authors make when using their characters in their writing; they introduce their character in a very jarring way. Now what I mean by that is that a lot of the time the author writes them in as if they were naturally in the canon-universe, which can be off-putting because, though the canon characters act like these fan characters have always been there, the reader knows they haven't so it becomes awkward and confusing. That can severely hurt the chance of your audience liking your character or even the fic. Especially when the FC in question is dating or is related to a canon character.   Now don't get me wrong; some of my favorite FCs are either related to a canon character or dating one, but understand that said characters were introduced in a more natural way.    A prime example of characters being introduced in a jarring way is, take a wild guess; The Creatures Fanfics. That's right. There isn't as many now that the Hub's fanfic section was taken down, but on there it was plagued with fics where the main characters were FCs--(or should we call them OCs in this case?)--either dating or related to one of the Creatures and were introduced in a way that was really off-putting. Majority of the time it actually made me not want to read the fics, though fortunately for me I did plow through the first few chapters to find a great fic with a decent FC/OC.   However this isn't always the case; recently I read an Immortalfox fic where there were FCs/OCs in it and it didn't seem jarring because they were introduced in a way that seemed more natural instead of them just being there in the very beginning without introduction.   Another example is a fic called "Pewdie the Bully". Warning, this is a little spoilery but nothing too major so I'll just mention this lightly; Pewdie in this fic has a little sister and she was introduced in such a way that it felt natural. She was introduced slowly and we were able to appreciate her and actually like her. Now Pewdie does have a sister, but since she's almost never mentioned and we don't even know her name she's basically non-existent to the fandom.   So moral of the story; when making FCs/OCs, be careful how you introduced them. First-impressions are always important, even if it's just a fictional character we're talking about!  

tl:dr - Our perception of fan made characters is highly influenced by how they are first introduced in a fic, just like our perception of a person is highly influenced when we first meet them or, unfortunately, by their appearance. Heed my warnings and try to introduce them with the assumption that your readers don't know who the heck they are. If, of course, you want too. This is just a recommendation.