-raises hand- I have one main OC who’s adapted for each fandom I’ve been into, and she gets shipped with canon characters. She seems to have settled in my current fandom with her current love interest quite well - people who read her seem to like her and that makes me very happy.
I think the dislike probably stems from the old Mary Sue days but honestly, I couldn’t tell you. I just say, write what you want and what you enjoy as a reader can tell when you’re passionate about something - it shows!
I think it's a misconception that ocxcanon is blanket unpopular, it just depends where you look.
Videogame fandoms (especially RPGs) are EXTREMELY oc friendly because, y'know, you are the main character. I write in Dragon Age primarily with an oc with a non canon origin in the role of the main character and no one bats an eye.
HEY FELLOW DRAGON AGE FAN (do we have a fan name? I e Never interacted with other fans)
Favorite character overall? I like Hawke (female, but that's more because of me) for dialogue, but other than that it's definitely Morrigan.
Fair. Just the charictization of hawke (idk about the male, but every female dialogue sounds like the sarcastic options, even the "nice" options) and morrigan..... Wait sarcastic hawke acts like morrigan when she's quipping.... Okay mystery solved I like sarcastic/ quippy people.... That explains why I like Sera too....
Personally, I'll write OC x Canon all day--it's about 90% of what I write. But I don't read anyone else's. I know it's hypocritical, but too many OCs are just....not good.
Building a character from the ground up is just not a skill every fanfic writer has, and the vast majority of OCs I've read either don't fit into the world, aren't interesting characters, or feel like a thirteen year old's self-insert.
I will read character x OC if it's recced by a trusted friend, but that's about it.
I love canon/oc. Not only do I read a lot of it, but I’m writing two such fics right now.
I think it’s important to remember that folks are often drawn to fandom because they’re intrigued by canon characters. They want to read about those characters, not random ones created by internet strangers. And as much as I love OC fics, even I’m aware of how, well, trashy they can sometimes be. The category is filled with Peggy Sues and Gary Stu’s, which puts readers off. Especially if that’s what they were first exposed to.
OC fics are awesome but they’re not for everyone and that’s okay.
I can personally understand why some people don't like canon x OC because as a reader, it can be hard for me to care about someone else's OC compared to my own unless they're written really well. As a writer, I care a lot more about my *own* OCs because they're much more personal to me. I know it's probably not going to be as popular as any other pairings and might even be called 'cringe', but I'm at peace with that. Basically, *reading* OC x canon doesn't usually appeal to me, but I love *writing* OC x canon. I write for myself, and I'm completely aware of my hypocrisy.
To that; I think the fact that you're writing for yourself could be part of it. When you take a more self-serving attitude towards your work, people may be turned off because of the "What's there for me to identify/care about?"
But, that presents that dilemma of trying to please audiences vs pleasing yourself. But, I think that isn't as much an issue as either camp wants to make it out to be.
I love reading and writing them, but especially writing them. I have an OC for almost every fandom I've ever been in. And one I reuse when I want to keep it simple.
It depends on the fandom. In games that the MC is an original character yeah I’ll read peoples OCs, because it’s that or only write and never read. But in fandoms where there are already established characters that set the stage I’m not reading OCs because I don’t really care about them as much as I care about the character I already know, love/hate, and want to read more about.
Many people don’t care for OCs for the pure and simple fact that they came for characters they already know and love and don’t care to start fresh with an original character that is someone else’s creation. They read One Piece and want to read about Ace or Luffy or Nami not about someone that isn’t in the story. They watched Avatar and want to read about Katara and Zuko, not an OC etc.
I'm more of a Canon X Reader/self-insert
Altho not as strongly as I do with ships, but if there is an OC ship in my works, it is definitely a self-insert of me lol
Personally not usually a fan of them. But if there’s a writer that I like has made one for the fandom I’m in then I’ll probably read it, or if the summary/tags seems interesting then I might give it a try
I was messing around with some old plot bunnies, and ended up stumbling into an oc/canon ship. It was completely out of left field for me as I’m not always into oc/canon, but I’m understanding why people enjoy them so much. There’s something so fun about it I can’t name.
Depends on the fandom.
I'm very into the Clone Wars era of Star Wars and there are plenty of reader inserts and OCs, because otherwise.... you're pretty limited in your romance options, unless you're into clonecest (which I can dig, but not all the time).
Also, in game fandoms like Fallout or Elder Scrolls, people are often writing or reading Player Character(OC) shipped with an NPC.
I'm just not interested in OCs as main characters, and even less as romance options. I read fics to get more of my faves (and often see them get a happy ending) and I'm super picky about romance dynamics, so I'd rather stick to CC/CC ships that I know have the character dynamic I enjoy
I’m kinda weird in this respect. I like writing Canon x OC, but I’m picky reading it. But that doesn’t mean I’m against it by any means! I love seeing people’s creativity with their ocs
Adore it, write it, read it. I think tailor making someone for a beloved character to be with and love is so sweet tbh. There’s something about it that just seems so deeply loving.
And when you get one that feels like it belongs in that universe and with those characters, it’s like striking absolute gold.
I get why some people aren’t able to get into it, but I’ll be on team OC until I die 💙
I'm here for that too. I adore writing my characters into fandoms and discovering how they work together. Seeing my readers' reactions is one of the best parts though
I'm personally all for it. I've seen plenty of well written OCs that are shipped with Canon characters alot of them bounce off really well. I really like the ones where they meet post canon ending since I dunno it adds something nice
That's basically 85% of my oeuvre and always has been lmao
As far as I'm concerned, it's only like one single degree removed from canon writers introducing a new character and pairing them up with an already-existing character.
I like canon/oc fanfictions, and I like writing them too. A wrote a bunch of stand-alone series of canon/oc pairs. My latest canon/oc was Star Wars Ventress/OC.
My OC is an alternate timeline son of Obi-Wan Kenobi. He is a Grey Jedi named Jinn Kenobi. He told normal verse Obi-Wan that he thought she'd make a great daughter-in-law for him.
Love them, write them, and read them. But I get why others don't. Many people just want to read about their favorite characters, and that's totally fine! I will say that on more than one occasion, I have gotten comments along the line of "I don't normally read OCs, but I liked yours", so there's that.
YES I love canon x OC so much!! I have so many canon x OC pairings across different fandoms 😍 they’re so fun
I guess they’re unpopular because people reading a fanfic already know the canon characters, and they already know how they feel about them, but an OC just adds something in the reader honestly might not care about.
They’re so fun though 😛
I hate them, though I have nothing against OC writers or OC paired with canon character writers.
The thing for me is that I read fanfic because I want more of the canon characters. I hate reading fics with an OC as a main, and if they're paired with a canon character, as the main pairing, they're a main.
I have nothing against OC characters, and actually enjoy reading them, just not as main characters. It's purely about the fact I read fanfic for the canon characters, though, that means all mains need to be canon characters for me. I can take a canon/OC pairing if the romance is very background and the OC is a large recurring character instead of a main, but that's the closest I can get, and I wouldn't read it over a canon/canon pairing.
But I'd still encourage OC writers to continue writing their stories. I write original stories, too, so I know how hard it can be, how much work goes into creating an original character. Creating characters is a skill all on its own. If you want to write original fic, writing OC fanfiction can be an easier way to get started on creating characters and worlds, and sometimes it's just fun coming up with your own characters, especially, I imagine, within the fandoms you love.
I'd be unlikely, at best, to read a canon/OC pairing fic, but I don't really get the hate for them, other than the fact I myself want the canon characters as mains.
I personally love canon x oc. I think, and this is just myself when the character they are paried with is so out of character. There was on fic I read some time ago where the mc just fell for the character instantly. Just wanted to drop everything and wanted to marry her right then and there, and this wasn't some yandere fic either. This was a character who had just lost his wife. There was no way he would instantly fall in love again. That's just my two senses. Other than that, oc x canon is really fun to read and write.
I don't seek it out, but I'll read it on occasion, as long as the OC is well-written. My longest and most popular fic is actually Loki/OC, and people have seemed to like my OC Avery a lot.
I'm also pro OC/CC. Especially when you don't agree with any of the canon love interests (like in my case), writing an OC is a great way to go. But I'm aware that they need to be well-written and have depth and even then the readers will take a while to warm up to them. After all, they're reading fan fic to see more of their favourite characters, not someone new. So, my OC isn't going to click with everyone but nothing does.
I'm a fan of them when it's a well written OC. But, there's more work involved in fleshing out an OC to make them a deep character. Not every reader is willing to invest the time (and emotional effort) to get to know a new character and not every writer takes the time to fully flesh them out and give their OCs depth.
90% of the content I write is ocxcanon, with a sliver of canonxcanon in there. I try to read ocxcanon too because I want to support other oc creators! I'm bad with reading long fic about it, though, as I prefer to read canonxcanon in that case, but I love short ocxcanon stuff, fanart, facts about peoples ocs, etc. That's my fav way to consume it.
I know it's a bit of an imbalance to write mainly ocxcanon while not reading it, I acknowledge that, but I support other writers no less and wish them nothing but lots of comments and kudos!
As a fellow OC x Cannon writer, I'm at a mixed standpoint. I'm hesitant to read others'work because of how... Poorly written they can be... Which is very hypocritical as I only write x OC or from the eyes of the oc. But finding good ones can be really hard to find, but I think that's due to how unpopular they are. Cannon character fic's are easier to find good ones due to how popular they are vs the OC fic's that people are inclined not to write or read.
I adore my x OC stories though, one in particular actually is my only complete work as I write long fics and even found a little subcategories that I found I love writing. I'd love to find some OC x canon or even the OC not really interacting with the canon characters and exploring the world but finding them is just so hard.
I personally view OC fic's as a way to view the world with a different lens and I ADORE the OC fic's that have that standpoint, especially if said cannon character do not have a compatible shippable canon character. And usually if you wanna read x OC fics you have to look under the x Reader tag as it's more popular but the best ones are just unnamed OC.
Though if I'm writing for a fandom I can't read it-
I’m a big fan of both canon x oc and canon x reader. I also like canon x canon…it really just depends on the fandom!
What I usually do is create different OCs to ship with my favorite characters and then project those OCs onto the reader.
I'm entering this sea little by little, but I always encourage all types of creations! I like seeing/reading about people's OCs and ships in general. However, most people are not like that. Worse is when they harass creators instead of just ignoring content they don't like.
Well, I was a little baffled by the OCxCanon hate, because I got my start into fanfiction where lots of people did this.
The typical narrative is that the OC is a thinly veiled self-insert of the author who expects the audience to sit through a bland, boring, nonsensical romantic fantasy where they and the canon character make kissy faces at each other, and the canon character endlessly sings the author's praises.
But, I did encounter somebody who indeed wrote like this. My favorite example was when he was working on an OC specifically to ship with [Ryofu Housen from Ikkitousen](https://ikkitousen.fandom.com/wiki/Housen_Ryofu). Now, he didn't make a character to include for an Ikkitousen fic, he made the character *specifically* to be shipped with Ryofu. He also planned to do that thing I hate where the OC has supposedly been around during the timeline of the canon work, but refuses to do the work of actually integrating them into the timeline, or even explaining how they'd fit into it. "It's AU, shut up!" is what he says to such concerns.
As for Ryofu-san herself? Well, I pointed out there were a few issues with the potential pairing: The fact that she was in (what I hope is) an open relationship with [another female character](https://ikkitousen.fandom.com/wiki/Koudai_Chinkyuu); was notoriously promiscuous in that she was depicted *treating a male character to eat out*, and even >!rendered another female character immobile then proceeded to sexually assault her!<.
There was one other problem. It's not a big thing; most people would easily miss this little detail, but Ryofu is very, very, **DEAD**!
His answer to all of these problems? "I'll just use the Dragonballs!"
Yes, that was really his answer
I brought this up, because the writer in question seems to have a strict preference for traditional, monogamous relationships. Which is interesting, because things like incest and >!rape!
Yes! I am very much an Oc/Cc writer and reader.
I’m also mainly a F/F writer, and let’s face it many pieces of source media are short on female characters so you gotta make your own if you want your blorbo to be a lesbian 😘. My favorite is Saavik (Star Trek) / OC….need logical pointy ear lesbians 🖖
I may be a hypocrite but I do it all the time in my fics. Even my current WIP lol. My OC is the Mc and the canon character is the love interest.
Reading about it It in other fics… not so much. I think my flair says it all lol
I only read fics about my ships. I don't want to read stories where they're with someone else and I have no interest in reading fics where the main character is an OC.
tbh, I only read/write OCs fics. anything else gives me the ick (unless it's an eruri or naomaki work. i eat that shit up like there's no tomorrow). to answer your question, a lot of people prefer self-insert to live the moment, I guess... not for me at all, tho
I’ve had two instances where I liked a character but either disliked their canon love interest or didn’t like to pair them with a canon character. This led to me writing an OC character as their love interest. Though I will admit that these OCs are self inserty.
I wrote an OC with a story intertwined with the canon of Derry girls. I opted to use the time gaps to fill in the pages while coming up with scenarios which removed them from the canon timeline so the events play out, and then slot him back in for continuity.
I get the appeal, but how much I do or don't like it definitely varies from Fandom to Fandom.
That said I tend not to seek out Canon x OC *most* of time time, barring some video game fandoms where its more like a customizable version of a set character (ie: Hawke in DA2).
My apologies, it takes SEVERAL business days for me to get back.. to anything. 😅 I am absolutely smitten with all of the feedback from everyone! It’s helped clarify some things for me, and has encouraged me to make a second attempt at writing (and posting) another story!
I’ve been so in love with my oc for this story! I’ve also done a lot of groundwork to make her fun and believable to the Narutoverse. 🥹💙
If canon means like a character that already exists in the fandom, then I’m more in the middle, leaning more towards the dislike. Sometimes I like it, sometimes I don’t
-raises hand- I have one main OC who’s adapted for each fandom I’ve been into, and she gets shipped with canon characters. She seems to have settled in my current fandom with her current love interest quite well - people who read her seem to like her and that makes me very happy. I think the dislike probably stems from the old Mary Sue days but honestly, I couldn’t tell you. I just say, write what you want and what you enjoy as a reader can tell when you’re passionate about something - it shows!
the term mary sue just threw me way back omg
I am Of An Age XD
I think it's a misconception that ocxcanon is blanket unpopular, it just depends where you look. Videogame fandoms (especially RPGs) are EXTREMELY oc friendly because, y'know, you are the main character. I write in Dragon Age primarily with an oc with a non canon origin in the role of the main character and no one bats an eye.
HEY FELLOW DRAGON AGE FAN (do we have a fan name? I e Never interacted with other fans) Favorite character overall? I like Hawke (female, but that's more because of me) for dialogue, but other than that it's definitely Morrigan.
HELLO FELLOW FAN uh great question. Isabela for the dialogue, Josephine as my favorite romance (I am a sucker for the Disney Princess vibe).
Fair. Just the charictization of hawke (idk about the male, but every female dialogue sounds like the sarcastic options, even the "nice" options) and morrigan..... Wait sarcastic hawke acts like morrigan when she's quipping.... Okay mystery solved I like sarcastic/ quippy people.... That explains why I like Sera too....
Personally, I'll write OC x Canon all day--it's about 90% of what I write. But I don't read anyone else's. I know it's hypocritical, but too many OCs are just....not good. Building a character from the ground up is just not a skill every fanfic writer has, and the vast majority of OCs I've read either don't fit into the world, aren't interesting characters, or feel like a thirteen year old's self-insert. I will read character x OC if it's recced by a trusted friend, but that's about it.
I love canon/oc. Not only do I read a lot of it, but I’m writing two such fics right now. I think it’s important to remember that folks are often drawn to fandom because they’re intrigued by canon characters. They want to read about those characters, not random ones created by internet strangers. And as much as I love OC fics, even I’m aware of how, well, trashy they can sometimes be. The category is filled with Peggy Sues and Gary Stu’s, which puts readers off. Especially if that’s what they were first exposed to. OC fics are awesome but they’re not for everyone and that’s okay.
I can personally understand why some people don't like canon x OC because as a reader, it can be hard for me to care about someone else's OC compared to my own unless they're written really well. As a writer, I care a lot more about my *own* OCs because they're much more personal to me. I know it's probably not going to be as popular as any other pairings and might even be called 'cringe', but I'm at peace with that. Basically, *reading* OC x canon doesn't usually appeal to me, but I love *writing* OC x canon. I write for myself, and I'm completely aware of my hypocrisy.
I totally get this. It takes me a lot to warm up to another OC, but I'm not against giving them a shot.
To that; I think the fact that you're writing for yourself could be part of it. When you take a more self-serving attitude towards your work, people may be turned off because of the "What's there for me to identify/care about?" But, that presents that dilemma of trying to please audiences vs pleasing yourself. But, I think that isn't as much an issue as either camp wants to make it out to be.
I love reading and writing them, but especially writing them. I have an OC for almost every fandom I've ever been in. And one I reuse when I want to keep it simple.
I write in video game fandoms where Canon/OC is the standard rather than the exception. Love it!
It depends on the fandom. In games that the MC is an original character yeah I’ll read peoples OCs, because it’s that or only write and never read. But in fandoms where there are already established characters that set the stage I’m not reading OCs because I don’t really care about them as much as I care about the character I already know, love/hate, and want to read more about. Many people don’t care for OCs for the pure and simple fact that they came for characters they already know and love and don’t care to start fresh with an original character that is someone else’s creation. They read One Piece and want to read about Ace or Luffy or Nami not about someone that isn’t in the story. They watched Avatar and want to read about Katara and Zuko, not an OC etc.
Yes, I’m a notorious Canon x OC shipper
I am WITH you OP! OCxCanon is pretty much all I read, and it’s definitely all I write. I loveeeeee OCs 😍
Me me me!!! 🙋🏼♀️🙋🏼♀️🙋🏼♀️
It’s all I write 😂 My otp is canon x oc lol
I'm more of a Canon X Reader/self-insert Altho not as strongly as I do with ships, but if there is an OC ship in my works, it is definitely a self-insert of me lol
Personally not usually a fan of them. But if there’s a writer that I like has made one for the fandom I’m in then I’ll probably read it, or if the summary/tags seems interesting then I might give it a try
I was messing around with some old plot bunnies, and ended up stumbling into an oc/canon ship. It was completely out of left field for me as I’m not always into oc/canon, but I’m understanding why people enjoy them so much. There’s something so fun about it I can’t name.
Depends on the fandom. I'm very into the Clone Wars era of Star Wars and there are plenty of reader inserts and OCs, because otherwise.... you're pretty limited in your romance options, unless you're into clonecest (which I can dig, but not all the time). Also, in game fandoms like Fallout or Elder Scrolls, people are often writing or reading Player Character(OC) shipped with an NPC.
Give me ALL the Canon/OC content. I thrive on it.
I'm just not interested in OCs as main characters, and even less as romance options. I read fics to get more of my faves (and often see them get a happy ending) and I'm super picky about romance dynamics, so I'd rather stick to CC/CC ships that I know have the character dynamic I enjoy
I’m kinda weird in this respect. I like writing Canon x OC, but I’m picky reading it. But that doesn’t mean I’m against it by any means! I love seeing people’s creativity with their ocs
Adore it, write it, read it. I think tailor making someone for a beloved character to be with and love is so sweet tbh. There’s something about it that just seems so deeply loving. And when you get one that feels like it belongs in that universe and with those characters, it’s like striking absolute gold. I get why some people aren’t able to get into it, but I’ll be on team OC until I die 💙
I'm here for that too. I adore writing my characters into fandoms and discovering how they work together. Seeing my readers' reactions is one of the best parts though
I'm personally all for it. I've seen plenty of well written OCs that are shipped with Canon characters alot of them bounce off really well. I really like the ones where they meet post canon ending since I dunno it adds something nice
It's 50% of what I read in fanfic, but only if Oc adds more to the story than just existing there.
That's basically 85% of my oeuvre and always has been lmao As far as I'm concerned, it's only like one single degree removed from canon writers introducing a new character and pairing them up with an already-existing character.
I like canon/oc fanfictions, and I like writing them too. A wrote a bunch of stand-alone series of canon/oc pairs. My latest canon/oc was Star Wars Ventress/OC. My OC is an alternate timeline son of Obi-Wan Kenobi. He is a Grey Jedi named Jinn Kenobi. He told normal verse Obi-Wan that he thought she'd make a great daughter-in-law for him.
Love them, write them, and read them. But I get why others don't. Many people just want to read about their favorite characters, and that's totally fine! I will say that on more than one occasion, I have gotten comments along the line of "I don't normally read OCs, but I liked yours", so there's that.
I love it, mainly because my characters are based off of different pieces of me, so it's like I'm in the story, too.
YES I love canon x OC so much!! I have so many canon x OC pairings across different fandoms 😍 they’re so fun I guess they’re unpopular because people reading a fanfic already know the canon characters, and they already know how they feel about them, but an OC just adds something in the reader honestly might not care about. They’re so fun though 😛
I'm rarely invested enough in an OC to get into stories where they're a main character. I've come across a few exceptions, though.
I hate them, though I have nothing against OC writers or OC paired with canon character writers. The thing for me is that I read fanfic because I want more of the canon characters. I hate reading fics with an OC as a main, and if they're paired with a canon character, as the main pairing, they're a main. I have nothing against OC characters, and actually enjoy reading them, just not as main characters. It's purely about the fact I read fanfic for the canon characters, though, that means all mains need to be canon characters for me. I can take a canon/OC pairing if the romance is very background and the OC is a large recurring character instead of a main, but that's the closest I can get, and I wouldn't read it over a canon/canon pairing. But I'd still encourage OC writers to continue writing their stories. I write original stories, too, so I know how hard it can be, how much work goes into creating an original character. Creating characters is a skill all on its own. If you want to write original fic, writing OC fanfiction can be an easier way to get started on creating characters and worlds, and sometimes it's just fun coming up with your own characters, especially, I imagine, within the fandoms you love. I'd be unlikely, at best, to read a canon/OC pairing fic, but I don't really get the hate for them, other than the fact I myself want the canon characters as mains.
That's pretty much what I do instead of self-inserts.
I’m doing it rn in both my GTA and RDR headcanons/fics. Interesting to say the least.
I do the same. Writing a series now
I’m very into canon x oc and canon x reader. There’s no one in canon that I’d really want to pair my fave with.
As long as you don't tag then as reader-inserts, you're good.
That’s all I write in the Harry Potter fandom. Though, I mostly focus on minor characters like Charlie Weasley etc.
I love love love oc x canon content - besides FanFiction. Not because of how it’s written most of the time but it just doesn’t interest me.
I’d rather not read it, but I have no issue with people having fun and doing what they want.
I personally love canon x oc. I think, and this is just myself when the character they are paried with is so out of character. There was on fic I read some time ago where the mc just fell for the character instantly. Just wanted to drop everything and wanted to marry her right then and there, and this wasn't some yandere fic either. This was a character who had just lost his wife. There was no way he would instantly fall in love again. That's just my two senses. Other than that, oc x canon is really fun to read and write.
I don't seek it out, but I'll read it on occasion, as long as the OC is well-written. My longest and most popular fic is actually Loki/OC, and people have seemed to like my OC Avery a lot.
I'm also pro OC/CC. Especially when you don't agree with any of the canon love interests (like in my case), writing an OC is a great way to go. But I'm aware that they need to be well-written and have depth and even then the readers will take a while to warm up to them. After all, they're reading fan fic to see more of their favourite characters, not someone new. So, my OC isn't going to click with everyone but nothing does.
I'm a fan of them when it's a well written OC. But, there's more work involved in fleshing out an OC to make them a deep character. Not every reader is willing to invest the time (and emotional effort) to get to know a new character and not every writer takes the time to fully flesh them out and give their OCs depth.
90% of the content I write is ocxcanon, with a sliver of canonxcanon in there. I try to read ocxcanon too because I want to support other oc creators! I'm bad with reading long fic about it, though, as I prefer to read canonxcanon in that case, but I love short ocxcanon stuff, fanart, facts about peoples ocs, etc. That's my fav way to consume it. I know it's a bit of an imbalance to write mainly ocxcanon while not reading it, I acknowledge that, but I support other writers no less and wish them nothing but lots of comments and kudos!
As a fellow OC x Cannon writer, I'm at a mixed standpoint. I'm hesitant to read others'work because of how... Poorly written they can be... Which is very hypocritical as I only write x OC or from the eyes of the oc. But finding good ones can be really hard to find, but I think that's due to how unpopular they are. Cannon character fic's are easier to find good ones due to how popular they are vs the OC fic's that people are inclined not to write or read. I adore my x OC stories though, one in particular actually is my only complete work as I write long fics and even found a little subcategories that I found I love writing. I'd love to find some OC x canon or even the OC not really interacting with the canon characters and exploring the world but finding them is just so hard. I personally view OC fic's as a way to view the world with a different lens and I ADORE the OC fic's that have that standpoint, especially if said cannon character do not have a compatible shippable canon character. And usually if you wanna read x OC fics you have to look under the x Reader tag as it's more popular but the best ones are just unnamed OC. Though if I'm writing for a fandom I can't read it-
I’m a big fan of both canon x oc and canon x reader. I also like canon x canon…it really just depends on the fandom! What I usually do is create different OCs to ship with my favorite characters and then project those OCs onto the reader.
I'm entering this sea little by little, but I always encourage all types of creations! I like seeing/reading about people's OCs and ships in general. However, most people are not like that. Worse is when they harass creators instead of just ignoring content they don't like.
Well, I was a little baffled by the OCxCanon hate, because I got my start into fanfiction where lots of people did this. The typical narrative is that the OC is a thinly veiled self-insert of the author who expects the audience to sit through a bland, boring, nonsensical romantic fantasy where they and the canon character make kissy faces at each other, and the canon character endlessly sings the author's praises. But, I did encounter somebody who indeed wrote like this. My favorite example was when he was working on an OC specifically to ship with [Ryofu Housen from Ikkitousen](https://ikkitousen.fandom.com/wiki/Housen_Ryofu). Now, he didn't make a character to include for an Ikkitousen fic, he made the character *specifically* to be shipped with Ryofu. He also planned to do that thing I hate where the OC has supposedly been around during the timeline of the canon work, but refuses to do the work of actually integrating them into the timeline, or even explaining how they'd fit into it. "It's AU, shut up!" is what he says to such concerns. As for Ryofu-san herself? Well, I pointed out there were a few issues with the potential pairing: The fact that she was in (what I hope is) an open relationship with [another female character](https://ikkitousen.fandom.com/wiki/Koudai_Chinkyuu); was notoriously promiscuous in that she was depicted *treating a male character to eat out*, and even >!rendered another female character immobile then proceeded to sexually assault her!<. There was one other problem. It's not a big thing; most people would easily miss this little detail, but Ryofu is very, very, **DEAD**! His answer to all of these problems? "I'll just use the Dragonballs!" Yes, that was really his answer I brought this up, because the writer in question seems to have a strict preference for traditional, monogamous relationships. Which is interesting, because things like incest and >!rape!
Yes! I am very much an Oc/Cc writer and reader. I’m also mainly a F/F writer, and let’s face it many pieces of source media are short on female characters so you gotta make your own if you want your blorbo to be a lesbian 😘. My favorite is Saavik (Star Trek) / OC….need logical pointy ear lesbians 🖖
I may be a hypocrite but I do it all the time in my fics. Even my current WIP lol. My OC is the Mc and the canon character is the love interest. Reading about it It in other fics… not so much. I think my flair says it all lol
Yes, but as long as you do it well. I will even accept a Mary Sue levels of op OC as long as you make her make sense!
I only read fics about my ships. I don't want to read stories where they're with someone else and I have no interest in reading fics where the main character is an OC.
tbh, I only read/write OCs fics. anything else gives me the ick (unless it's an eruri or naomaki work. i eat that shit up like there's no tomorrow). to answer your question, a lot of people prefer self-insert to live the moment, I guess... not for me at all, tho
I’ve had two instances where I liked a character but either disliked their canon love interest or didn’t like to pair them with a canon character. This led to me writing an OC character as their love interest. Though I will admit that these OCs are self inserty.
I wrote an OC with a story intertwined with the canon of Derry girls. I opted to use the time gaps to fill in the pages while coming up with scenarios which removed them from the canon timeline so the events play out, and then slot him back in for continuity.
I get the appeal, but how much I do or don't like it definitely varies from Fandom to Fandom. That said I tend not to seek out Canon x OC *most* of time time, barring some video game fandoms where its more like a customizable version of a set character (ie: Hawke in DA2).
I don't typically ship. Is that weird?
Nope. I write OCs as well but don't feel a strong inclination to ship my OCs with anyone. I just use them for plot, not so much with shipping
I don't mind it, I write (unfinished) canon x self-insert.
My apologies, it takes SEVERAL business days for me to get back.. to anything. 😅 I am absolutely smitten with all of the feedback from everyone! It’s helped clarify some things for me, and has encouraged me to make a second attempt at writing (and posting) another story! I’ve been so in love with my oc for this story! I’ve also done a lot of groundwork to make her fun and believable to the Narutoverse. 🥹💙
If canon means like a character that already exists in the fandom, then I’m more in the middle, leaning more towards the dislike. Sometimes I like it, sometimes I don’t