Sometimes I can't help but realize how dead oc culture is and how much of an issue it is yet barely talked about.
Back then communities used to be so much more tight-knit, because they were in old forums much harder to come across and (generally) dominated by neurodivergent people that could bear to care more about their interests than others (plus connect with others like them)
But after the covid lockdown it just sorta feels like normies infiltrated those spaces + forums were dying already. So as a result, all you're left with is spaces that do still have talented artists, but nobody to listen to them anymore, unless you have a mass following.
And the problem is, there certainly are people that do still care about ocs, but they don't express it. They don't let the artists know they appreciate their original works. All they do is like and repost in silence, while the other portion of people treat artists and their art as something to consume, treating them as machines.
I am obviously not pointing fingers at anyone here and highly doubt this is done on purpose, but actions still have an impact, and you can't deny the fact that a lot of artists are very, very discouraged from sharing their original characters and stories because there's just nobody. And that's just so wrong. Not even fandom ocs anymore, people just. Stopped caring
So what I mean to communicate with this is, please, let artists know you appreciate their original art. Compliment their character, ask about them, show some interest, if you're on Tumblr, write something nice in the tags instead of just #not my art #reblog. You may not feel like it, but it genuinely can make someone's day, and it doesn't require much effort or energy to type a small nice comment. Heck, if you're an artist and have the time and might to do so, draw their oc, or draw your oc and theirs interacting. This kind of stuff has just completely disappeared, it's like people forgot how fun it was.
And again, I must feel the need to clarify, nobody is horrible for not following this - I don't want to make anyone feel like that. This is rather an invitation and encouragement for others to set up a nice habit of actually engaging with artists' ocs instead of acknowledging them in silence
romaincrisis
origamiaround
kaledo-art
stormborns
jacobvanloon
