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Awesome OCs
I know there's a lot of hate for OCs in fanfic, perhaps due to the dreaded "Mary Sue" syndrome, but I've never really understood it. A Mary Sue is most likely a sign of bad and/or inexperienced writing, which means that even if the author stuck strictly to canon characters, the story would probably still be just as bad. It's understandable that people would prefer to read about canon characters because those are the characters they already know and love, of course, and it takes more time for a reader to make that kind of connection with an unknown OC. Still, it's a shame that many people tend to equate OCs with Mary Sues without even having read the fics. So today I thought I'd share a bit of meta about OCs and rec some fics with awesome OCs.
I wrote about OCs last year on Day 8 of a 30-day fanfic writing meme. To sum up briefly, sometimes it's necessary to create an OC to fill a role for which a canon character doesn't exist. For example, when I was writing about Snape and the Maruders' schoolboy days pre-HBP, I had to create an OC for the Potions Master/Head of Slytherin since JKR had not yet introduced us to Slughorn. And well...sometimes it's just fun to write an OC. As I said in the meme, "I think maybe what I find so appealing about OCs is that it's a chance to be creative and write something that's entirely your own while still staying within the bounds of fanfic...sort of like being halfway between fanfic and original fic."
Now on to the recs...
Title: Exposure
Author: lawless523
Pairing: Eiri “Yuki” Uesugi/Shuichi Shindou
Fandom: Gravitation
Theme: #7, superstar
Disclaimer: It’s Maki Murakami’s sandbox; I just play in it. I do not own the rights to these characters nor do I make any money from them.
Rating/Warnings: Overall R for language, nudity, and sexual themes and acts; this section, hard R.
Summary: Being a J-pop superstar whose boyfriend is equally famous has its pitfalls, especially when the media gets involved.
Part 1, Part 2, Part 3
I love fics about the complications of show business and fame, so I was intrigued by the plot of this fic: a nude photo of rock singer Shuichi shows up on the web, and his management/record company do damage control by claiming it's a doctored fake and by offering to replace it with a photo of Shuichi and his lover Eiri (a famous author). The awesome OC who shows up in the second chapter is Miki Sakamoto, the famous fashion photographer hired to do the shoot of Shuichi and Eiri. She looks rather frumpy in spite of her glamorous profession and Eiri observes that she looks "more like a female gnome than a high-end photographer." But she's extremely good at her work, and even more impressive, calmly and easily holds her own against the sharp-tongued and misanthropic Eiri. She's a terrific character and I'm impressed by anyone who can handle Eiri so well!
(My Haru readers might enjoy this fic, since Shuichi and Eiri deal with some of the same problems as Iwaki and Katou--the paparazzi, public opinion, etc.)
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These next two recs come from my 2010 Yuletide rec post:
Tam Lin: This fandom source is the fantasy novel by Pamela Dean, which is based on the Scottish ballad about Tam Lin, a mortal follower of the fairie queen who will be offered up as the faeries' tithe to Hell unless his mortal lover Janet can save him. This modern-day reinterpretation is set in the 1970s at a US college and contains allusions to Shakespeare, college politics, and sexuality, contraception, and abortion. In this version, the faerie queen is posing as Professor Medeous, the head of the Classics Department, and Janet gets unwittingly pulled into the faeries' midst when she meets Thomas Lane (Tam Lin). I don't think I'm giving too much away to say that the novel ends like the ballad does, with Janet triumphing over the queen, but also like the ballad, Medeous issues a vague but ominous threat of future retribution. I always wondered what happened to Janet and Thomas after that, and if Medeous ever made good on her threat, so I was
delighted to find this story:
The Dance of the Faeries by Tiboribi. The main character of this fic is an OC, Thomas and Janet's daughter Cecilia, now an adult. When she goes off to college, she encounters some old friends and old enemies of her parents...
Valdemar series - Mercedes Lackey: As I mentioned in this meme (see questions 5 and 8), Mercedes Lackey is one of my favorite authors, and the Heralds of Valdemar series are among my favorite books.
Chosen's Dilemma by Selenay. In the books, many of the heroes are orphans or are estranged from their families, and come from the lower classes, like Talia, Skif, and Mags. This fic takes a look at two OC Herald Trainees who come from the nobility and have all the baggage that comes along with well-meaning families who don't--or won't--understand the responsibilities of a Herald. A Herald must stand above politics and renounce all hereditary positions and privileges, but Annette's family keeps sending her court gowns that she has no use for, and keeps inviting her to court functions that she isn't allowed to attend. Her friend Raitha has it even worse: she is her father's sole heir, so he is pressuring her to give up her Companion and her Herald status in order to succeed him. It was really fascinating to see a story from the perspective of a different type of Herald than we've seen in the books.
(See individual fic headers for more info. Both are gen and contain no triggery content.)
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Title: Banished; Chapter 1 begins here (I've collected links to all the individual chapters in my Memories for quick reference.)
Author: zephyr_macabee
Summary: After Severus exposes Remus Lupin as a werewolf, Albus Dumbledore decides to punish him by banishment.
A/N: Goes AU after POA; Snape is not at Hogwarts for Harry’s fourth year.
Disclaimer: None of this is mine; it is all JKR’s. This is purely for my amusement.
(If this sounds familiar, I've recced it before on
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lupin_snape and Snapedom in the past.)This is an AU in which Dumbledore banishes Severus to an American school of magic (the Shaman Institute of Arizona) as punishment for outing Remus as a werewolf. However, this turns out to be the best thing that ever happened to Severus. The fic was written pre-DH, but the author's manipulative!Dumbledore, who places the greater good above an individual's welfare (in this case, Snape's) is remarkably prescient of the the canon Dumbledore that we see in Book 7. And the emotionally broken, guilt-ridden Severus in the fic also foreshadows the glimpses of Snape that we see in the book.
The teachers at the Arizona school are all great OCs, like the stern but compassionate Headmistress Margaret Twofeathers who takes Severus under her wing and helps him find healing and redemption, and Shaman-trainee Nathanial Stormcloud who picks Severus up from the airport and helps him acclimate to his new home--including taking him to Wal-Mart to buy some more practical clothing! It was really interesting to see a type of staff and school that was completely different from Hogwarts--one that integrates magical and Muggle ways, and one that is much more supportive of its students.
There is also a sequel to this fic called The Chili Cook-Off in which Harry and Sirius come to visit Snape and Lupin in Arizona.
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Title: That Dear Octopus
Author: westernredcedar
Summary: Severus has cultivated a life isolated from his family, but now his estranged mother and grandmother have rescued him from the brink of death. Oh, and then there is Remus...
Rated: PG
Characters and Pairings: Severus/Remus, Minerva/OFC, Eileen
Warnings: AU, in that this is a post-DH Remus/Severus
Word count: ~16,500 total
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3
(This rec is also based on a previous Snapedom post.)
This story introduces the marvelously witty, funny, and strong-willed OC Leonora as Eileen's mother and Snape's grandmother--and also McGonagall's lover. She utterly charmed me as a reader, but at the same time, I can see how difficult it must have been for Eileen to be her daughter. Eileen has been estranged from both her mother and her son for years, until she receives a letter from her mother telling her that Severus needs their help.
Leonora is charming--but not necessarily the best mother in the world; certainly Eileen doesn't think so. Eileen isn't blameless either; she disowned her son twenty years ago for taking Lupin as his lover, although it's not entirely clear at first whether it's Lupin's gender or his lycanthropy that offended her. She's also involved with an anti-werewolf protest group.
And yet, when Snape is in danger, Eileen and Leonora set aside their differences to save him. And of course Lupin comes back into the picture, as well, as a widowed single father, and all the various parties struggle to reconcile their conflicting feelings for each other, and decide whether they're going to make the attempt to be a family or go back to their old estrangements. I highly recommend this story to Snape fans, particularly those who would like to read some speculation about what his family would be like.
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Title: The Blue Door
Author: snegurochka_lee
Characters: Remus/Severus, Remus/Bill
Rating: NC-17
Word count: ~37,200 total
Warnings: Adultery
Summary: There is no situation, no opportunity, no sudden, aching desire that a werewolf can't control. Any man who says otherwise is just a man looking for an excuse.
Notes: Written for the
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lupin_snape Fantasy Fest for the following request: Remus is caught cheating on Snape, whether a one night stand or an affair. Actual infidelity less important than emotional fallout and trust issues. Post-Hogwarts. Hopeful/happy ending is preferred!Previous parts: Author Notes and Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5
This has to be one of the all-time best Snupin fics out there, even though it will put you through the emotional wringer. I normally dislike adultery fics, but I was completely hooked on this one. Remus blames his uncontrollable lust on his lycanthropy, thereby making it not his fault when he cheats on Severus with Bill. Then his world and Severus's are ripped apart when they are confronted with scientific evidence that the so-called werewolf sex drive is only a myth. But Remus is not wholly a villain and Severus is not completely innocent--they've both done things to hurt each other, in the past and in the present. (Although I must admit that I was furious with Remus for cheating on Severus--almost as angry as I would be with a real person, which just goes to show how emotionally invested I got in the fic!) And in spite of all the pain they've caused each other, there is still a strong bond between them--perhaps strong enough that they can manage to get through this if they're able to be honest with each other.
The awesome OC in this fic is Charlie's Romanian wife, Marina, who has been assisting Severus with his research on werewolves. She's a wonderful, vivid character who's a loyal friend to Severus, and a strong woman who is able to hold her own among all the strong male characters that she's surrounded by, and who doesn't take any crap from anyone. I love her so much that she's become almost canon to me, and it's hard to picture Charlie being married to anyone else.
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I know there are other fics out there that have great OCs, and I don't mean to neglect them--these are just some of my favorites. If anyone out there has some awesome OCs (your own or someone else's) that you'd like to share, please feel free to rec them in the comments!
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There's a lot going on in that story; it's my longest one-shot. So while Miki is important, she's not as central as downstairs neighbor Granny Otoomo is to Overflow, in which Shuichi falls asleep while the bath is running and the ensuing flood damages the ceiling of Granny Otoomo's bathroom as well as the floor of Eiri and Shuichi's.
I have another Gravitation OC who I'm not going to mention now because I'll be revisiting him in another story soon, but he's even more central to the stories he's in. He was the POV character in the story I already wrote about him.
I'll have to think about fics with OCs and come back with any recs I come up with.
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