OC's In Fandom
Aug. 24th, 2011 09:16 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
deirdre-aithne.livejournal.com posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
hd_writersSo, I've got a question, and as far as I can remember, no one's asked it yet on the comm. And since it's very relevant to my current H/D project, I figured- why not?.
How much of a place do you see for OC's in fandom and fanfiction? Specifically, I'm interested in everyone's thoughts about their home as supporting cast, not as members of the main pairing of the fic.
An OC who used to date Harry or Draco and played a large part of their backstory and is discussed, but never seen, or an OC who has a decent amount of screen time to serve the plot, or to provide a friend to one of the main characters- do these people have a place in fanfiction?
Or should all characters be canonly (making up words like woah!) recognizable, even if it wouldn't suit their characters to use them?
How many OC's is 'too many'?
*eagerly awaits some opinions*
And, if you happen to have a moment, why not drop by the OC POLL on my journal? *bats eyelashes*
How much of a place do you see for OC's in fandom and fanfiction? Specifically, I'm interested in everyone's thoughts about their home as supporting cast, not as members of the main pairing of the fic.
An OC who used to date Harry or Draco and played a large part of their backstory and is discussed, but never seen, or an OC who has a decent amount of screen time to serve the plot, or to provide a friend to one of the main characters- do these people have a place in fanfiction?
Or should all characters be canonly (making up words like woah!) recognizable, even if it wouldn't suit their characters to use them?
How many OC's is 'too many'?
*eagerly awaits some opinions*
And, if you happen to have a moment, why not drop by the OC POLL on my journal? *bats eyelashes*
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no subject
Date: 2011-08-25 04:04 pm (UTC)OC's that are discussed but not physically in the story (ie. little screen time) can be useful, but I personally find a story boring if there are too many of these. It kills one of the points of "fanfiction" which is to use what was given to you by the original author. If the OC's have a great deal of screen time, however, they are more likely to affect the outcome of the story and are therefore not so out-of-place as those with little screen time.
OC's can add mystery to a story, because you don't know about them yet. You wonder how they will interact with the cannon!Characters. You don't know if they're crafty and sly and everything you're being told about them is a lie, or if you can trust them like you can trust a hufflepuff.
I'm not so sure what you mean by "canonly", but if it means what I think it does, I would say No. It makes the story awkward and personally, it looks like you're trying to shove random people into wrong parts. If you can't find a canon character to use, use an OC. No one will blame you.
But that's all just my opinion *winks*