I lost my fire for my OC post. Basically I was gonna say I feel, at least in the few fandoms I’m in, that Tumblr RPing has formed a sort of biased prejudice over Original Characters. It might be just me, I dunno, maybe I just suck at attracting partners but somehow it still feels… empty. I hardly see the canon blogs I follow interacting with OCs. And in one of them, it’s very cliquey among the small group of characters the movie has. I haven’t seen them interact with anyone else. I used to see OCs in the tags all the time but recently they’ve gone inactive, or even deleted. I was told last night by someone that they gave up on their OC blog because it was being ignored and made a canon character. That is a problem. Roleplaying should be fun for everyone not just canon characters. I think canons are lucky. They get a character that’s already made and even in the media so people know them. OCs are made from scratch and many have not been seen anywhere. The people behind them put love and effort into these characters and it’s just sad to see them give up because no one is noticing them.
Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not talking about not wanting to RP with someone because of other reasons like the characters just don’t click, or there’s no chemistry to get something going, stuff like that. I’m talking about not rping with someone purely from the fact that they are an original character - developed or otherwise. I, for one, I have several OCs here on tumblr. Two of them right now have my motivation and for two years, they’ve been mostly ignored. Besides a couple on one account, they don’t have any relationships with any characters, no friends, and getting a thread going on them is rare. But I’m still here because I love them and I want others to see these characters I created myself, with my own mind, from just a sudden spark of an idea I got. People have told me they love them. And yet here I am with blogs covered in enough dust to choke a rhino.
It’s difficult, when even people who are following them don’t send in memes, or interact. Like, why bother following if you’re not going to at least do… something? You know? I make IC posts all the time to showcase a little of who my characters are. I make OOC posts all the time to show I’m friendly and I’m seeking partners. And still.. nothing. Silence. I literally feel like I’m doing this all the time.
That’s the other thing my issues lie in. Is having silent followers. I’d rather not have any.
People who have OCs are abandoning them, or not approaching others first because they don’t feel welcome. They’re ignored, looked over, or dropped without warning. 'But I had a bad experience with an OC in the past' Ya, I’ve been told of some pretty bad OCs in the past. The person they interacted with might be apprehensive after, but that doesn’t mean just shut them all out and decide none of them are worth your time anymore. If they’re REALLY that bad, you should probably give them a little advice, or constructive criticism, if they’l accept it.
Poorly written, under developed OCs aren’t going to get any better if they’re just ignored. The only way to get better at writing is to write more. The only way to get better at writing is to write more. The only way to get better at writing is to write more. If it’s poor writing that’s keeping people from interacting with OCs, then step up and help make them better. But everyone has a different style of rping. If their doesn’t click with yours, then nothing can be helped. But if they’re making basic grammar mistakes, give them a little message saying so. The basics of writing should start with grammar, punctuation and capitalization. The style can form from there. We all started writing pretty shitty in the beginning, and we can only get better from there. Instead if just dropping them because they’re horrible, how about offering some advice? If they don’t want it, then you can go your separate ways. Can’t help those who don’t want to be helped.
'Why don't you just ask people to RP with you then?'
Because not one of my threads where I have approached first have ended well. I have been passed over in favor of other threads. The partners I’ve asked didn’t show interest in my character or our plot. Not just one or two. I’ve tried asking around first, trust me. Two years of being dropped kinda takes the confidence out of a person. I feel like I need to try three times as hard to be even remotely interesting for my partners to keep them with me. But when someone asks me first? It’s like the sky split open and a choir of angels are singing. We get along great, the thread just keeps going, I make a friend with the mun. But those kinds of people seem to be once every blue moon. I feel like because I’m an OC, I can’t approach other people first anymore. So I’m always stuck in a dilemma of wanting to RP but feeling like there’s a wall between me and everyone else. I don’t feel welcomed by anyone, because of this looming feeling that no one wants OCs here. I haven’t even been directly TOLD anything, I just get this overall feeling. I’m not just speaking from my standpoint. I’ve heard stories from other OC creators who feel the same way. "Oh, well they’re a mary sue. Most OCs are Mary Sue—"
No. No. No. Forget you ever heard that term. Don’t tack it onto a character that has a trait you may not like. Mary Sues are unbelievable characters, and that term has been slung around so much it has lost its original meaning. We all have at least ONE OC (or hell even a canon character) lurking in the beginning stages of our hobbies that’s a raging Mary Sue because at the time we didn’t know diddly squat about character creation. Don’t pretend they’re not there. And look at yourself now. From that point, progress was made. Characters were fleshed out. We learned. (Also, there are many POPULAR canon characters harry potter out there that bomb the mary sue litmus tests so, that excuse deflates faster than a whoopie cushion, complete with the satisfying wet squelch at the end.) While there are some OCs out there that fit the description, there’s ALWAYS room for improvement. No characters are perfect. People are not gonna create a character from the get-go and have a shining diamond. No, they might be unpolished and need refining. Like I said, canon characters are lucky because you all get a character that’s already set. We didn’t see the gritty parts of their development that the original creator went through. Sometimes canons are nicely polished and good to go from the start. OCs don’t get that luxury. How else will they learn and develop if they don’t write for themselves or use RPing as a tool for progression. Often times OCs are abandoned before they get a chance to really become anything. I find that really sad.
I don’t really know what my point was. I think I just wanted to vent. I just hate hearing stories about how people don’t RP with their own characters anymore because no one wants to RP with them. No one should settle for a canon character JUST to get roleplaying done.
I also feel that typing this out is my way of saying I dont want to deal with this. I don’t want this to become the norm of roleplaying for the future where canon characters are all there are. Give OCs a chance to grow and become characters. Be that someone who a RPer can look up to, and think back on like ‘Thank you. Thank you for writing with me.’
Canons and OCs alike need to help each other out sometimes. And help keep this hobby fun for generations now and generations after.
For crying out loud we’re adolescents and adults writing stories about fictional characters, c’mon people. This hobby should be fun for everyone.
Can this get more notes please? It’s reasons like this that many of us don’t have the courage to play as our ocs and that’s not fair. I play cannon characters not just because it’s fun, but mostly because OCs are always turned down, and I’d really like to end that prejudice. Rping in tumblr should NOT be a cannon based world.
