What it says on the tin.
Some ranting, some advice, some archaic reference, and a lot of cussing. My take on how I think fanfiction should be written and some of the biggest problems with it right now. Because I may not be the best at writing, but...
I'd make a reference to a Boyz II Men song here, but I don't actually know any, so we're just going to breeze right past this failed attempt at a joke.
Male OCs are a rare species amongst Marvel fanfiction, especially as main characters. Which, honestly, is understandable. It's a mostly female writer base, writing for a mostly female demographic. For all this push to get more male OCs, I personally don't really get it since it doesn't satisfy the target audience but whatever, maybe that's just me overthinking it.
Still, when people go to write male OCs it... somehow manages to fall apart? Like, y'all change the pronouns of your main character to he/him and suddenly don't know how to write. It's weird and I don't get it, because the same logic never seems to apply to writing canon male characters.
The biggest problem I see with male OCs stems from some inherent heteronormative and sexist ideas people subconsciously have. I know what you're gonna say, you think all genders are equal uwu, well I said subconscious so shut up and sit down and try to unlearn everything society taught you for a hot second.
Male OCs are often written as caricatures or stereotypes of men. They don't show their feelings, they're aloof and stupid, they're strong, they're suave and sarcastic, etc. And if they're not, then they're some soft uwu boy who just needs to be protected. There's never an in-between or any depth.
Men are people. Put down your weird rhyme about Jupiter and college and actually consider the harmful stereotypes you're perpetuating when you assign all male OCs these "masculine" traits, and dismiss anything remotely feminine.
Most ideas about men are not just "the way men are", they're products of stereotypes. We see all men as ego-centric because society treats men like they're the best and they're rewarded for arrogance based on false biological ideas. (ie, the "alpha male" myth) If you have a male character who was raised in a healthy home, he's not going to have that toxic behaviour or mentality towards his own ego. For fuck's sake, chivalry isn't dead, it's an outdated and sexist idea on how men should treat women simply because they are the superior gender.
Like female OCs, your male OC's personality should be based around his upbringing and the environment he lives in. If he grew up with a rough and tough hunting father who lived through the OC by making him join every sport, yeah, the OC might be a pretty stereotypical "jock", but he might also have some deep-rooted self-esteem issues and feelings of never being enough for others. He's also probably the main character of a YA movie where he gets to tell his father some iconic line like "No dad, that's your dream." because that character archetype has been beaten so dead. But on the other hand, if he was raised by a drug addict parent and forced to raise his younger sibling, he's probably very responsible and protective by nature. Nurture heavily affects a character, regardless of gender.
Gender can have heavy effects on one's personality. That's a simple product of how our society treats men and women differently. However, you can't shape a male OC around the way that society treats men. It's gross, and it's been done. So crawl your ass out of the box and think a bit differently.
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