honestly writing an OC in this community is another set of issues.
the soul crushing feeling when you see “no OCs” in someones rules
constantly having to dumb down your canon
adjusting to adapted canons
the amount of your own canon and lore you have to sacrifice to do that
when you mention wanting to write a canon, people that have never shown any real interest in your OC jump out of the woodwork to encourage you to do it
when you do it, and that canon gets more attention than your OC ever did
the alternative of that: when your first character was canon and you transition to writing an OC, people suddenly disappear
fandom OCs that outgrow their fandoms and muns that feel they have nowhere to put them
endlessly worrying if your character is too sue-ish, even after x-amount of years
TRIPLE THAT IF YOU’RE PLAYING A FEMALE OC
oh my god female OCs need their own post
female OCs constantly being underestimated and dismissed; being held to a different set of standards than other OCs
honestly i know people that are straight up afraid to write a female OC for these reasons. they’re discouraged before they even start because they know they will never get the same acknowledgement
people assuming simple, stupid things about your muse (can we all agree to stop guessing whose muse is taller and just look from now on?)
feeling like you have to jump through hoops to keep up with everyone else and keep your character fresh and interesting so people don’t lose interest
canon blogs that shit on OCs– you realize you were OCs too right? what would the original writer of your canon think?
no seriously, it can be so discouraging writing an OC. how many ideas are you killing by snubbing OCs? the future of creative media is in our hands!
has someone stolen my canon?
is my canon too similar to someone else’s?
do they think i stole their canon?
and what do you do when somebody does steal your canon? it can be so hard to prove and it’s so easy for it to be dismissed
having your OC written off because of the face claim choice– that face is constantly typecast, nobody can take it seriously, they’ve been overplayed and ruined. (we love you, nina dobrev and 1D OCs, you’re doing gods work)
honestly, i’m sure i could keep going. if you ask your local OC muns, they’ll be able to tack a few of their own struggles onto this list. hell, i encourage you to!