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Twilight Forums - Twilighted • View topic - Do people avoid OC stories?




Do people avoid OC stories?

What about Admiral Fic? Captain Fic?

Re: Do people avoid OC stories?

Postby alexajaye on Wed Apr 06, 2011 8:58 pm

I don't know if this is really going to be relevant anymore, since this thread is almost a year old, but I'm new around here (literally), and I thought I'd put in my two cents, since it's late and I've read all the posts with a little bit of trepidation.

I've written many original characters, and I always try to make them as real and honest as I possibly can. I can't say I don't put a little of myself in them or give them characteristics I wish I had, but I only do that to put them off from me as much as I can. Right now, I actually have five of my Twilight stories with an OC as a main character. It's not that I don't like Bella, even though there are days when I want to strangle her and other days when I wish she could've had a backbone, but I don't know. I've always gone against the grain. I've always felt like there was room for something else unlike what everyone else was doing. Most people all write about the same thing - Edward and Bella meet, are immediately attracted to each other, might maybe deny this for a few chapters, but they ultimately give in, and I understand why. That's how it goes in Twilight, so why break a mold that obviously works?

I'll tell you why. Because that's why makes it unhinge a very overdone formula. And I also have stories that are as canon as I can make them with a little change along the way. I actually only have one story with an OC in a main part who's paired with Edward, but it's a pre-Twilight story set in the 1940s. No Bella. No Alice and Jasper. Yet.

My other stories all have Edward and Bella together, with various things occurring throughout the story to carry the plot, and it goes from anything like a revelation of the fight between Good and Evil to the appearance of a half-human, half-celestial baby being Bella's singer. (Yep, she's a star. ;-) )

I don't really hate Bella. I try not to. I just don't like a lot of the choices she makes. As quite a few people have said, she never has to suffer the consequences of her actions, and for that matter, neither does Edward. And I don't really have a need to retell their story from another point-of-view, and I don't really want to know whether or not their story would be different if they themselves were different. So I instead want to see what would have if a different character had entered Edward's life before Bella - a very long time before Bella.

It's a lofty idea, I know. And after reading a lot of comments here, I'm weary of the response I'll get. But I write for me, and if other people like it, then that's great. I hope people give it a chance, but it's not really that important to me. I'd love it if people told me whether they liked it, and if they didn't, I hope they tell me a different reason other than, "I just don't like OC's."

*Fingers crossed*
"The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination." - Albert Einstein

Dark Angel: Light Within Darkness EdwardxOC

The Ties that Bind Post BD ExB

The Choices We Make Sort of Edward/Bella with some Lucy at the end

Rainbows and Storm Clouds - Carlisle and Edward

^My Twilight stories on FanFiction.

Bonding over Debussy and Chocolate Milk

My New story on The Writer's Coffee Shop.

My Photobucket

^Warning: Some spoilers unless you read my stories.

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Re: Do people avoid OC stories?

Postby GraveYarder on Thu Apr 07, 2011 10:22 am

alexajaye wrote:I don't really hate Bella. I try not to. I just don't like a lot of the choices she makes. As quite a few people have said, she never has to suffer the consequences of her actions, and for that matter, neither does Edward. And I don't really have a need to retell their story from another point-of-view, and I don't really want to know whether or not their story would be different if they themselves were different. So I instead want to see what would have if a different character had entered Edward's life before Bella - a very long time before Bella.

It's a lofty idea, I know. And after reading a lot of comments here, I'm weary of the response I'll get. But I write for me, and if other people like it, then that's great. I hope people give it a chance, but it's not really that important to me. I'd love it if people told me whether they liked it, and if they didn't, I hope they tell me a different reason other than, "I just don't like OC's."

*Fingers crossed*


Hey! Welcome! I had forgotten all about this post >.<

The one multi-chapter story I've written is centered around an OC, and I know I don't get as many "reads" because of it. OCs aren't for everyone, but I've read plenty "canon" that were so OOC it was ridiculous.

My fic wife and I hosted an OC Fic Award the end of last year and it was a huge success, so there is love out there :p You just have to find it, and know where to look. OCs are a very black and white topic for a lot of people though.

It's the most important thing that you write for yourself. The moment you stop and start writing for the readers is when thing go down hill.

Thanks for posting! And welcome to the Forum/Fandom!

<3 - GraveYarder03/WolvesCanEatMe
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Re: Do people avoid OC stories?

Postby sadmemories20 on Fri May 06, 2011 1:44 am

GraveYarder wrote:After finding the courage to start writing and working towards potentially sharing my story, it was brought to my attention that no one reads fan fictions involving OC. Any thoughts on if that is true or why that is?

I have read some really awesome FF with OCs, and the present of an OC doesn't personally scare me off. But if I do post up eventually I want people to consider reading my story regardless of my main OC...

So basically, any thoughts on OC? or OC fics?




Great post! It's very nice. Thank you so much for your post.
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Re: Do people avoid OC stories?

Postby GraveYarder on Sat May 07, 2011 9:08 am

You're welcome ;) We have had a lot of really good replies!
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Re: Do people avoid OC stories?

Postby PrincessRosetta on Fri Jun 10, 2011 10:55 pm

I'm new here, finally replying to this (eep, even though it's a month old, sorry xD) I'm also writing an OC/Edward fic because I hate Bella, like, a lot.

I had no idea how much alike you and I were, marielondon. It's really funny, and I might seem like a stalker, but I promise I'm not. :P I've read La Vie En Noire on ff.net and fell in love with it. That story and maybe one or two others are the ONLY decent Edward/OC fics I've found. >.< So I wanted to write my own, and I've been researching my butt off, and working day and night on this thing (ugh. 1:52 AM...), and I wanted some input from the fandom on how this might be received, and I stumble across this post. I saw marielondon's first reply and I was like, "Hey, that sounds like La Vie En Noire" and then I saw the banner and WHOAAA. It's a small Internet after all. xDD

So anyway, wow, what an interesting thread. Awesome!
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Re: Do people avoid OC stories?

Postby Arlyn22 on Mon Dec 19, 2011 10:24 pm

I realize that this post is fairly old. However, I felt the need to share a rather extraordinary Edward/OC fic that I found on ff.net, The Story Of Sarelle. I think the author did a wonderful job of introducing an OC yet staying canon to the characters and the story overall.
I look forward to reading some of the stories that have been recommended in this thread as it is so hard to find decent Edward/OC fics.
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Re: Do people avoid OC stories?

Postby Ambray on Wed Dec 28, 2011 12:40 pm

I first discovered OC stories in LOTR fanfiction.

The good ones I read were great. It was very, very interesting to see how characters we know and love react to a whole new personality both we and them have never encountered before.
However, I can see where the stigma came from. I came across many that were absolutely terrible. But then, isn't that also true for the run-of-the-mill type of fanfiction? You get both good and bad writers. It's not just exclusive to people that write with OCs.
Same is true for people that say OCs are just Mary Sue's. Why isn't that true for other types of fanfiction? Especially AU. How much of Twilight fanfic is canon? I'm sure a lot of the 'Bella's' in fanfic have some of the author written into them.
So where this stigma comes from is beyond me.
I now love OCs, as it's fun to experience something different after reading about the same characters over and over.
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Re: Do people avoid OC stories?

Postby alexajaye on Wed Dec 28, 2011 4:28 pm

Ambray wrote:I first discovered OC stories in LOTR fanfiction.

The good ones I read were great. It was very, very interesting to see how characters we know and love react to a whole new personality both we and them have never encountered before.
However, I can see where the stigma came from. I came across many that were absolutely terrible. But then, isn't that also true for the run-of-the-mill type of fanfiction? You get both good and bad writers. It's not just exclusive to people that write with OCs.
Same is true for people that say OCs are just Mary Sue's. Why isn't that true for other types of fanfiction? Especially AU. How much of Twilight fanfic is canon? I'm sure a lot of the 'Bella's' in fanfic have some of the author written into them.
So where this stigma comes from is beyond me.
I now love OCs, as it's fun to experience something different after reading about the same characters over and over.


You are a rare breed, and I commend you for it. Most people don't like OCs, and I can also understand why. I just wish more people gave them a chance.

Especially for my stories' sake. ;-)
"The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination." - Albert Einstein

Dark Angel: Light Within Darkness EdwardxOC

The Ties that Bind Post BD ExB

The Choices We Make Sort of Edward/Bella with some Lucy at the end

Rainbows and Storm Clouds - Carlisle and Edward

^My Twilight stories on FanFiction.

Bonding over Debussy and Chocolate Milk

My New story on The Writer's Coffee Shop.

My Photobucket

^Warning: Some spoilers unless you read my stories.

Image

^^awesome banner made by Me

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^^ Banner made by me for my new story <-- Check it out
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Re: Do people avoid OC stories?

Postby Sylvianna on Wed Dec 28, 2011 6:19 pm

My perspective on this topic as a fanfic reader only is this:

- Do I avoid them? Not conciously, but I don't seek them either. However I am much more demanding with the synopsis than with canon characters and, once I've read the synopsis, I don't usually feel hooked so I turn to other fics. In a sense, that's the same I did when I started reading Twifiction. At that time I would only read AU but I would occasionally read AH if I found the premise really interesting. With time, certain very good AH stories made me relax my demands quite a bit, though I don't know if that's ended up being a good thing, since now I am often frustrated with the new fics I find. I guess I should not complain because for a time I enjoyed some very nice fanfics.

- What have I against OC characters? Well, for one, it's gotten to a point in Twifics when it is already really difficult to find good stories with canon characters either in AU or AH settings so I don't want to even think what I would find with original main characters.

Another reason is that in the best of cases, I can count the amount of fics with good original secondary characters on the fingers of one hand and I can say I haven't even been that "lucky" with the very few stories I've tried reading with OC's as main characters in non-romance stories ( I think you'll find soon why I make this distinction).

I have read fictions with OC's in other settings and I've found that only when cannon characters are used as secondary characters or not used at all is when I've found the stories more enjoyable, provided that the author abides by the rules of the setting ( the world in which he or she is writing the story).

But in Twilight I haven't found quality stories like those.

There is also another factor to consider, I guess, which is idealization of couples. Some readers like me find they want to relive the experience of the epic romance (HEA or not, that's another matter) they've found with a certain couple but they feel that having one member of that couple in an epic romance with a different character is not very enjoyable. It is like idealizing Romeo and Juliet and then reading lots of stories about epic romances between the same Romeo and different women or Juliet having epic romances with different men. It water downs the "epic" in the sense of a truly unique thing that happens rarely.

It is different with stories that are not romantic in their core or the romance is not shown as unique and epic. For instance, a James Bond fic introducing a female OC. I've seen Bond with so many women already that what is another one?

But when you feel you've found a "match made in Heaven" between two characters from a romance film or novel, it is difficult to accept one of those characters in love with others at the same level. I guess it has to do with the concept of "the one" so many people believe and use when writing romances.

In that sense, whatever it is that doesn't allow me to enjoy non-canon couples is the same thing that doesn't allow me to enjoy a "mated" Twilight character having an epic romance with an OC.

It's like reading a "Casablanca" fic with Rick having experienced epic love with the girl who sings The Marsellaise or an original character instead of Ilsa. Or Jesse meeting an OC in Vienna, instead of Celine (Before Sunrise). It would taint, so to say, the feeling that couple left imprinted on me while watching the films. Only thinking about that possibility leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I don't know if I am making any sense.

I don't criticize the practice because I think authors ought to explore whatever their creativity inspires them to. It's just that I don't think I am in the right mindset to appreciate the exercise.

In summary: I would read quality OC stories provided that the OCs are not substitutes for a canon character.
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Re: Do people avoid OC stories?

Postby alexajaye on Wed Dec 28, 2011 11:05 pm

The thing about this particular fandom I've discovered is that all the stories I've read are all the same. They all have the same characters. They all have the same plot. Some of them all have the same settings. I've probably said it before in other threads on other forums, but almost all of the stories have the same "will they/won't they" crap that was never an issue in the series to begin with.

From the moment Bella met Edward, we as readers KNEW she would be with him, and I don't think it had anything to do with the jacket sleeve telling us so. She was the "heroine." He was her "hero." Whether SM meant to, she created a formula for anyone who wanted to take her characters and put them in a different "universe" but still have the same outcome.

As I said previously, the first stories I wrote of Twilight were all Canon, and they all followed up Breaking Dawn in some form of fashion. I'm not really sure what drove me to write my OC. Realistically, did I want to see what Edward would be like without Bella? Yes. Does this mean I only read stories with OCs? No. As a matter of fact, most of the stories in my favorites list are almost all Canon.

But I'm an artist. I create, and sticking me in a little box where there's no room to stretch if I get a cramp is like, well, sticking me in a box where there's no room to stretch. Are all my OCs based off people I know? No. But I do draw from my wishes and wants and the like for what I think they should be.

There are bad OCs. I've read a few of them. My favorites are the ones where someone from our world stumbles into Twilight through no other means than the writer's way of saying, "yeah, that could work." What I really find amazing is that a lot of the stories I've read with this premise have gotten a big response -- probably good and bad.

There are also good OCs. Do I think mine are good? Of course I do. They're like my babies. I think they're perfect, even when they're obnoxious. But if I don't at least attempt to create new characters, working off something someone else created will start to feel like I don't have the ability anymore, and for me that's a lot like sitting in the middle of a gigantic body of water with no wind in sight and no tides to carry me to a deserted island where sparkly vampires scare away the fish.

Should everyone give OCs a chance? Do I really have to answer that?
"The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination." - Albert Einstein

Dark Angel: Light Within Darkness EdwardxOC

The Ties that Bind Post BD ExB

The Choices We Make Sort of Edward/Bella with some Lucy at the end

Rainbows and Storm Clouds - Carlisle and Edward

^My Twilight stories on FanFiction.

Bonding over Debussy and Chocolate Milk

My New story on The Writer's Coffee Shop.

My Photobucket

^Warning: Some spoilers unless you read my stories.

Image

^^awesome banner made by Me

Image

^^ Banner made by me for my new story <-- Check it out
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