The 30 Day Fanfiction Writing Meme :: Day 8.

8 – Do you write OCs? And if so, what do you do to make certain they're not Mary Sues, and if not, explain your thoughts on OCs.

Yes, indeed, I do write a lot of OCs. I love all my OCs. My oldest and most written OC is Ursula Parthenos. She was in one of my first fics, and she was very much a Mary Sue. I've always paired her with Spike. She's evolved over time into a much more full-fledged, well-rounded character. She went from being a hypersexual mullo (a type of vampire) with a siren song voice to a pregnant video store clerk-and-pub-waitress/failed singer who is barely scrapping by in her London flat. She's matured, and I think she's become a perfect partner for Spike. In my unposted-on-LJ fic the River That Flows, in which she first appeared, Ursula was just... well, she was an insufferable Mary Sue, but by the time James revealed his Spike movie idea and I started to rework her character to be better in my unfinished comic London Calling, I think that she's become an endearing character. I hope that she is, at any rate.

My thoughts on OCs are that OCs are wonderful. Characters come in and out of the canon show all the time, providing a rich tapestry to the story even if we only hear from them once; I think that the same is true for fanfiction OCs. If a person wants to have a Mary Sue/Gary Stu specifically in their story, go right ahead. Let your freak flag fly because you never know what that Mary Sue might lead to storywise. Seriously, I rewrote the River That Flows about seven times, and each time I made Ursula a little less intolerable, but eventually I gave up on the fic all together because of some hatemail I got, but she shows up in some of the first ficlets/drabbles I posted on LJ in her still crazy Mary Sue form. I think she's less awful now, and I've gotten positive feedback about her inclusion as a character, and she's even appeared in someone else's fic! *waves to sistercuervo*

Here's a list of my OCs in order of oldest to newest and the fics in which they appear... I have A LOT of OCs...

( I didn't realize there were so many.... )

( Cut for the answer to Days 1-7 and the other 22 questions for the upcoming days... )

The 30 Day Fanfiction Writing Meme :: Day 8.

8 – Do you write OCs? And if so, what do you do to make certain they're not Mary Sues, and if not, explain your thoughts on OCs.

Yes, indeed, I do write a lot of OCs. I love all my OCs. My oldest and most written OC is Ursula Parthenos. She was in one of my first fics, and she was very much a Mary Sue. I've always paired her with Spike. She's evolved over time into a much more full-fledged, well-rounded character. She went from being a hypersexual mullo (a type of vampire) with a siren song voice to a pregnant video store clerk-and-pub-waitress/failed singer who is barely scrapping by in her London flat. She's matured, and I think she's become a perfect partner for Spike. In my unposted-on-LJ fic the River That Flows, in which she first appeared, Ursula was just... well, she was an insufferable Mary Sue, but by the time James revealed his Spike movie idea and I started to rework her character to be better in my unfinished comic London Calling, I think that she's become an endearing character. I hope that she is, at any rate.

My thoughts on OCs are that OCs are wonderful. Characters come in and out of the canon show all the time, providing a rich tapestry to the story even if we only hear from them once; I think that the same is true for fanfiction OCs. If a person wants to have a Mary Sue/Gary Stu specifically in their story, go right ahead. Let your freak flag fly because you never know what that Mary Sue might lead to storywise. Seriously, I rewrote the River That Flows about seven times, and each time I made Ursula a little less intolerable, but eventually I gave up on the fic all together because of some hatemail I got, but she shows up in some of the first ficlets/drabbles I posted on LJ in her still crazy Mary Sue form. I think she's less awful now, and I've gotten positive feedback about her inclusion as a character, and she's even appeared in someone else's fic! *waves to sistercuervo*

Here's a list of my OCs in order of oldest to newest and the fics in which they appear... I have A LOT of OCs...

( I didn't realize there were so many.... )

( Cut for the answer to Days 1-7 and the other 22 questions for the upcoming days... )