How to make such a well rounded OC with so much canon character interaction?
Over the last few weeks, I’ve received this question, and questions like this, a lot. As in, at least fifteen times “a lot”. And I’ve never been quite sure how to answer, because roleplay – writing in general, but especially with other people – is a very personal experience. It’s very ingrained in not only who you are as a person, but who your character is, as well. Things that work for me, Serena, may not work for you, Anon, because we may not be the same person, write the same characters, in the same fandoms, in the same way. Things that would be genuine and right for you to do would make no sense for me to do, and vice versa. Some people have great success hopping on every now and again, formatting no replies, and focusing on a few select partners. Others have great success spending hours formatting everything, spending a lot of time on aesthetics, and talking to a lot of people. It’s really unique to who you are as an individual. From blog to blog, I even run things differently. So I’ll attempt to answer this ask ( that I received about fifteen years ago ) as well as I possibly can.
First of all, I want to say thank you! Because I believe this is meant to be a compliment. You said she’s well-rounded, and I know many people on this website quantify “success” with “canon character interaction,” so I thank you for thinking Aella’s a good character and is successful. That’s not ever personally been my goal, however, but more on that later.
I’ll start with the well-rounded OC portion. As I’m sure most of the people who follow me know, I’ve been writing Aella consistently on Tumblr for about 5 years. She’s very well-developed to Star Trek, but you may or may not notice she doesn’t have a lot of other verses, because, uh… she’s very well-developed to Star Trek. I’ve read the Memory Alpha and Beta pages for Vulcan and Betazed about 90 billion times in order to get context for the world. I watch Star Trek almost daily in order to get context for my world. Though I’ve always been a believer of Nature over Nurture, a lot of where I got my cues was from knowing her world and her context very, very closely. I spent a lot of time asking myself in-depth character questions, imagining her in different situations. I wrote drabbles, I got to know her. No one knows my girl better than I do. And that’s true for every muse and their mun. I learned and memorized how she was in every year of her life, found out how much or how little would change. It did take time, though. Quite… a bit of time. I used to write a three+ paragraph starter for every single follower. ( I was brand new to Tumblr, I didn’t know what I was doing, I was too soft and silly. ) That may have helped me kick-start it.
Now… the canon character question. As interaction with canon characters has never been my goal, I can’t really give you an answer. This differs from fandom to fandom on such a wild basis. The Star Trek community, as a whole, is very good, very welcoming, and very open, so I’ve had great fortune here, but it did take a long time. It took years to gather interest in Aella, but I never felt… slighted, if that makes any sense? I never quantified success in how many people followed me, how many interactions I had, but rather, the stories I wrote. And I think, perhaps, my focus on telling good stories and having fun on here may come through to others, hence my “popularity”. If my starters went unanswered, I wasn’t bitter. If people didn’t follow me back, I didn’t care. I unfollowed people, I reached out to more. I found people who wanted to be friends – I never made people who didn’t want to be my friends my friends.
Since I can’t answer canon character, I’ll answer this as though you said interactions in general. Personally? I just keep my focus clear. I’m here to have fun, write good stories, and spread positivity! So that’s what I do. Every time I’m on the dash and I see an ooc post from someone, I leave a nice comment. I always send in character building memes that someone reblogs. I always observe reblog karma. I offer to do things on people’s wishlists. I welcome people to the fandom. I send nice messages, I ask for Discords. I plot a lot. I reach out to people a lot. And if they ignore me, if they reject me, if they say nothing, I let it go. I don’t think about it. I could not tell you, right now, how many people I have following me, or how many people I’m following. I genuinely have no idea. And I don’t… care, as rude as that may sound? Because that’s not my goal. That’s not my focus. That’s not why I’m here.
Listen, I understand how hard it is to have no one interested in your character, be it canon or original character. For two years, I wrote Aella exclusively with two people, and they both ceased being my friends and left Tumblr RP. I wrote three canon characters in a Disney group that fell apart, and I lost every single one of those friends I had spent hours, nights, years with. I wrote an original Disney character that had less than ten threads in the year I wrote him. For years, the only one who wrote with Willow was my husband, and then he left Tumblr RP. I’ve spent genuine, literal years reblogging memes, making starter calls, reaching out to people, and being completely ignored. So I get it. I get how hard it is to feel alone, to feel like you have no friends. I get how it is to do your best and have it not be enough.
The difference, I guess? I found things to celebrate rather than belabor. My two friends left Tumblr RP? Fine, reboot Aella – yay, I finally get a chance to do my tags right! My Disney group fell apart? Fine, change the blogs to independent – yes, I can finally follow that cool Indie blog I wanted to write with but couldn’t while I was in the group! No one’s writing with Willow? Reboot her, start following people like wild – yay, I get to reintroduce her, I get to make so many things up myself, this is great! I specifically aim to make my dash a safe place. I unfollow blogs that don’t want to interact with me or upset me to see. I backlist tags I don’t like. I just make my dash safe and inviting and fun for me. Tumblr isn’t a hellsite if you don’t let it be one. There are a lot of wonderful people on this site to interact with. Like anything, you just have to avoid what’s going to be harmful and bad for you.
Remember, this is a hobby! You’re supposed to have fun!
To close, I’ll leave some tips that help me, personally connect with other people, and I’ve noticed have given me great assistance in forging writing relationships with others. Again, I can only speak from my personal experience. What works for Serena may not work for you. Do what’s authentic to you!
Making headcanon posts, often!
Not being passive aggressive or making fun of others on the dash.
Offering to do starters for others!
Being genuinely, truly interested in other people’s characters, stories, or lives. Be the kind of partner you’re looking for!
Being forgiving and not taking things too seriously.
Checking up on others and making investments into the muns as muns.
On that note, prioritizing mun over muse! Your reply is less important than someone else’s wellbeing.
Making sure to match length and effort as much as possible!
Not putting others on a pedestal or belittling others for their success.
I wish you well on your journey, and please remember to have fun. Find out what you want ( e.g. do you want a lot of partners or just a few, a lot of stories or a few, a lot of AUs or… you get the point ) and focus on it, and move on from what’s not working. Be safe, love you!
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