OCs in fan media

[Lux]

This idea came from a discussion on this board about the fan movie called Snowdrop. This also comes from my experience as a fan fiction writer who has seen some stories that features an OC get negatively criticized just because there's one in there.

So, do you think it is acceptable to have OCs in fan fiction, fan art and fan movies or do you prefer media that only features the ponies we all know from the show?

I know there are different factors involved like whether said OC is a Mary Sue or not, but this is just a general opinion thread.

[RarityDash]

I like to see well written characters in media, fan made or not. Whether they're original characters or cast characters doesn't matter. They have to be well written, believable and preferably interesting.

Snowdrop didn't work for me because I couldn't see past the rather shallow attempts at emotional manipulation that went into every aspect of the writing for the character, not because the character was an original character. The same vein of story starring a pony from the actual cast would have been equally unappealing to me.

[QuickLime]

It all depends on how they are presented, SnowDrop was terrible as a character because all we focus on is "the poor sad blind filly with no friends waaah" that doesn't make a good character EVER

[Rosewind]

I'm not really sure -- I guess it depends on the OC design. OCs are often a reflection of the creator's "ponified" self; we often get a lot of push back with character design for WoE because that design often doesn't reflect what we can allow in the game. I think it only becomes a problem when the creator suggests that their character is canon to the cartoon in some way, which seems extremely pretentious to me. I understand there was some drama with a character from a fanfic named Nyx that sort of fell into this category. Random OCs may as well be background characters to me. A good example is Picture Perfect Pony. I know a lot of the characters in that video are from friends and family of the ones who created it, but they mean nothing to the viewer unless they know those people personally.

The Snowdrop thing is polarizing because of how the story was designed. Yes, the character is terrible and the story follows suit, but the design was to evoke a cheap emotional response in the first place. It's also interesting this happened in Equestria's "past" -- "young" Celestia has a fan-interpretation of having pink hair, which gives some modicum of believability that this character could have existed at some point in the (fan) canon -- albeit by realistic FiM design, I doubt ponies would make fun of another for having a terrible disability like complete blindness.

[MyLittlePonyTales]

With fan works, I'm more likely to avoid a story or piece of media if it has an OC as a main character. I mean, I've read and I do write, stories with OCs in them. But I've just found that a lot of stories involving OCs just feel like self-inserts, a story written more on a personal level of how a person imagines their time in Equestria. It doesn't even have to be a human turns pony kind of deal, there are just a lot of stories that I get a vibe that the OC in the story is representing the author. There is also the trouble of a lot of OCs being Mary Sue, which is another reason I tend to avoid fics that have OCs. Although there is a tumblr, http://askmaryandsue.tumblr.com/ , that I enjoy reading--if only because the author realizes how ridiculous Mary Sues are and does the tumblr clearly for the lols. The thing is that, a lot of the time, I don't want to read about what some other pony is doing in Equestria. I want fics to expand upon the show, to write lore and make me think, maybe actually feel, that this really could belong in the series. That's another thing. Having had to study the show a bit more thoroughly for Canterlot related things in the past, I've delved a little deeper into the world, studied it, and kind of have a real understand of the world Faust built. So when something happens in a fic that meshes with the show, like some superfluous technology or oober power (even if used by the main cast), it can wreck the fic for me, because it doesn't fit into the world of the show. Then again, there are those things that I see in fics that I think... that would never show up in the show, but I can totally see it happening in the universe if the target audience were not still little girls, and the show not rated G. And I like expanding upon the universe of the show, but in a natural way.

[Lux]

Yeah, I agree about the perspective. No one wants to read or see a Mary Sue/ Gary Stu character or about something that is not part of Equestria like new technology and such.

As for putting an OC in the background, I like ones where the mane six are treated as an equal level to the so-called background ponies rather than celebrities, because that's how I would think ponies like Twilight and Fluttershy are treated. I also like when OCs meet the mane six just like any other pony would rather that as a rabid fan colt or filly.

So my idea of adding an OC into a story that works would be this:

"OC pony moves into Ponyville to start a new life. She is homesick and misses her friends back home and wonders how ponies will treat her in this new town. Then one day she meets an excitable pink pony who helps her to make friends and get used to her new home."

No Mary Sue, no rabid fans, and a nice slice of life story.