Ello, same anon here lol
DUDE, it is the BIGGEST pet peeve of mine when people tag a fic x reader but it turns out to be an oc, or like they give them like a full name (not just a nickname) and an appearance and PHMYGODDDDDDDDD WHY WOULD YOU LABEL IT AS A READER FIC WHEN ITS NOT?!?!???!?? LIKE GURL U GET MY HOPES UP AND THEN VIOLENTLY CRUSH THEM TO SMITHEREENS A SECOND LATER WHY WOULD U DO THISSSSSS
It drives me INSANE
Like you said, no hate to x oc fics, but my god WHYYYY do ppl have to label as x reader WHEN ITS CLEARLY NOT PLS SPARE MEEEEEEEE
🥲pain
Deadass in cathartic tears w you right now anon.
Hard agree w the caveat that I don’t mind the reader having a stated appearance if they’re something other than human(Like cybertronian or equestrian readers for example.) But other than that, it’s typically pretty alienating. I know there’s crossover. I know it’s a spectrum. I know there’s readers that need to be more fleshed out as a character for the plot and that’s a totally valid sacrifice to make of your immersion. But bro if “my” hair is purple and “my” eyes are green and “my” tits are huge and perky and “my” name is Cindy or Rudy or Ophelia and you’re dictating everything “I” do back to me in first or third person, then IDK how to break this to you, but that’s not me. That’s not a reader. That’s not anyone other than your MC and your MC alone.
This whole thing is like getting icecream knowing there’s only a 50/50 chance you’re actually gonna get the flavor on the box. No, I don’t hate chocolate. At all. But if I keep opening boxes that clearly say “strawberry” on the front just to find chocolate for the 30th time that day, it gets old.
I typically can’t get into OC fics because of my nuclear-fallout levels of jealousy, but there are exceptions. I'll read one if the premise or the OC themselves grips me for some reason or another. I will not read an OC fic if it’s labeled as reader, no matter how neat they are or interesting the premise is, because I am a big weepy bitch baby and my trust was broken so I’m gonna go cry in the corner.
Likewise, there’s people who can’t fucking stand readers or anything written in 2nd person POV,(I’m told *not* having a character to act as a buffer between them and the action is supremely uncomfortable for some) and they’ll nope out of an /reader fic that’s labeled as OC.
OC and Reader-insert authors, please know that if you intentionally tag your fic as both, or one that it's not because you think it’ll reach more people, you’re doing the opposite. If you’re writing OC fic and call it reader-insert, then you’re *hiding* your fic from the people who only want to read OC. If you have a reader-insert fic and call it an OC, you’re hiding it from people that only want to read reader-insert.
The people who enjoy both reader-inserts and OC fics will click on it regardless.
You are not missing out on views if you tag your fic correctly. You are increasing them.
