main
side
curve
  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

Characters The OC Revolution | NEW! 2Q 2024 Challenge Is Up: Friendship

Discussion in 'Fan Fiction and Writing Resource' started by OCDatabaseSock, Sep 28, 2012.

  1. FireKeeper

    FireKeeper Jedi Padawan star 1

    Registered:
    Jun 23, 2017
    I personally have no problem killing OCs. Half of them already are predetermined to live or die( I might change my opinion later though if I see that killing them/ letting them live benefits the plot more). As long as it saves my canon character darlings( yes, I have them, and I am not sorry), their death is justified. Besides, nobody is going to cry for an OC( well, except for maybe other characters in-universe, and even then I try to avoid having them be loved by many other characters, because universal approval of an OC leads to Mary Sues/ Gary Stus, so in most cases few are going to miss them), so better sacrifice them than my beloved canon characters. And yes, I am the terrible writer who would save/ bring back her beloved characters at all cost, even if the most logical/ consistent way would require sacrificing the lives of the one or two OCs.
     
  2. Ewok Poet

    Ewok Poet Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    Jul 31, 2014
    divapilot, Findswoman and Anedon like this.
  3. Sith-I-5

    Sith-I-5 Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    Aug 14, 2002
    I almost have an industry churning out material for my father and adoptive daughter pairing with Mitch Nifesta and Baille Harte. Trying to find a particular file on my PC, I found the acronym I had created on a temporarily dyslexic night - ILS, If She Lived.

    Reminded me that, that girl, I killed her off originally, giving another OC her own headstart in life, as well as Baille's heart (to eat), her starfighter, and her R4 unit.

    "Nobody is going to cry for OCs?"

    Maybe not salty tears, but sometimes you can go to extraordinary attempts to provide a workaround. My mass of stories featuring Baille,. and retiring my premier security agent to look after her, is me AUing my own universe because I couldn't cope with her being killed off.
     
    DARTH_MU likes this.
  4. FireKeeper

    FireKeeper Jedi Padawan star 1

    Registered:
    Jun 23, 2017

    Well, I've never seen readers mourning a dead OC.

    And I know not all universally loved characters are Mary Sues, what I meant was that I am afraid in many of my cases that would be crossing the line. Many of my OCs are already strong in the Force and have some other combat and tech skills that might be useful for them and/ or make sense given their line of work, and one of them is good friends with the original trio. I try not to make them too good or perfect.

    I do have one character who is has large approval among her own faction( which is because she is more calm, calculated and disciplined than her whiny ass predecessor Kylo, has a clear vision of what she wants and what the First Order needs, and a large portion of it is gained by the First Order officers being intimidated by her), but she's one of the baddies, and has her own issues and agendas beneath her cool exterior, and doesn't get as much spotlight as typical Sues do due to working behind the scenes very often.
     
  5. Ewok Poet

    Ewok Poet Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    Jul 31, 2014
    "Well, I've never seen readers mourning a dead OC."

    Read more stories on this board, then! :) A bunch of them have such scenarios and people do mourn dead OCs. Perhaps this is an unique place, I dunno.
     
    Findswoman , DARTH_MU and divapilot like this.
  6. WarmNyota_SweetAyesha

    WarmNyota_SweetAyesha Chosen One star 8

    Registered:
    Aug 31, 2004
    Popping in as a reader who adores well-written and compelling original characters. ^:)^ I would mourn their deaths as much as I would an established character and that is a fact. @};- I can read about the death of an OC if it fits the storyline well. An established character's death too. But there are some that are ouchier than others: Luke, Mara, Leia, and Han. [face_love]
     
    Findswoman , divapilot and Ewok Poet like this.
  7. divapilot

    divapilot Force Ghost star 4

    Registered:
    Nov 30, 2005
    I'm spending most of this year (and four interconnected stories so far) exploring the death of one OC and how that death affects those around him. But then a lot of my stories are OC driven.
     
  8. mavjade

    mavjade Former Manager star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Sep 10, 2005
    I've absolutely cried actual tears for other people's OCs and I've had people upset at the death of my own. All of these characters -canon or OC- are fictional, and we may know the canon characters better, but a well written and well established OC you can grow attached just like to the canon characters.

    I've also had an OC of my own die that I didn't expect and in a way I didn't expect and it was quite emotional for me. He wasn't all that established of a character because the story was from the POV of his father but I feel like people were still moved by his death. Any emotion can be written and it can be moving even if it's something that is very short. It's all in the writing.
     
  9. DARTH_MU

    DARTH_MU Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Feb 9, 2005
    Does anyone think the order of the stories for the dead OC get fanfic published matter? That is to say, if OC Acee dies in the first of an fanficcer's writing, and no matter how many more stories features the OC Acee, people won't cry, because OC Acee was dead already as far as the readers are concerned?
     
  10. Sith-I-5

    Sith-I-5 Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    Aug 14, 2002
    These things are in the moment. Unless you joined the series, pro or fan, later than the OC death, and see that character around, and then went back to the first story where the character got killed off, a) you would not know that they appear in later stories; and b) probably would not be thinking about later stories.

    If the first story is the first one you read, thinking about later ones would be a distraction. And if a story cannot keep you engaged enough to stop your mind wandering, it might lose a reader.

    It all depends on how aware you are that the character will appear again, I suppose.

    Take the US crime series Criminal Minds for instance, I love that team of agents. I take it personally if something happens to one of my people. I can watch earlier seasons than I have reached, and see one go through some serious or depraved ****, and even if peripherally aware that they get rescued later, it doesn't make it right, and I am getting emotional in the scene, at that moment.

    So the order of the series probably doesn't matter.

    In sharp contrast, the 1960's puppet series, Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons. The whole premise of the series is that Captain Scarlet is indestructible, and cannot die. As an adult viewer, you realise that this description is smoothing over a lot of detail. He ******* can die, and in such horrific ways that if this wasn't a children's series, he would be seriously traumatised; it is just that he comes back somehow.

    But I digress. Once you have asked Mum, Dad, Guardian, what "indestructible" means (that long ago, we didn't have internet, research was slower), because you are literally told going in, that this is his special skill, so don't try this **** at home kids, I don't think his various demises have that much emotional impact, apart from maybe a wince and a cringe?

    As a little boy watching, I probably would not have cried. I might have noted aloud, "This is not going to turn out well."

    As an aside, I did security a few times at Star Wars conventions at Elstree (English town where SW was filmed), and one of venue security guards, surname of "Scarlett", told me that his school "friends" constantly tried to kill him, just to see if he really was indestructible.

    Bless.
     
  11. Mistress_Renata

    Mistress_Renata Manager Emeritus star 5 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Sep 9, 2000
    Maybe. It depends how they are depicted in that first story. If they've been given some interesting buildup, then people will be sorry. Although if the death comes at the end of all of those other stories, where people have become invested, then yeah, it's going to be more of a gut punch.
     
    Findswoman likes this.
  12. OCDatabaseSock

    OCDatabaseSock Jedi Grand Master star 3

    Registered:
    Dec 17, 2004
    The death of an OC. With the 4th of July celebrations in the USA tell us about your OC and involvement in the fight for freedom. Some made sacrifices and others paid the ultimate sacrifice
     
    Ewok Poet and Findswoman like this.
  13. leiamoody

    leiamoody Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Nov 8, 2005
    There are two characters I've written about who died in the midst of sacrifice. These deaths occur about 500 years apart, but do have the themes of self-sacrifice in common.

    The first OC I've written who performed an obvious act of self-sacrifice was Naima Kairos. A senator from Aeithera, involved in a secret romance with a Jedi Master, she knew before going on a certain mission that she was going to have to perform this act due to certain mystical visions encountered by a Whills shaman she had visited just prior to the mission. (Long story, short movie on that angle)

    As for the final mission...she is contacted by an old Senate colleague friend to help intervene in a crisis involving a group of guerrilla warriors on the planet Knosce. She goes to the planet accompanied by a small group which includes her Jedi boyfriend. This group is kidnapped by the guerrillas and held for ransom. Eventually it comes down to the leader of the group deciding to kill one hostage in exchange for releasing the other prisoners. Naima offers to be the one killed.

    The other OC is a Jedi Knight named Josym Huranz who is killed during the Battle of Tellanroaeg during the implementation of Order 66. He is killed in the act of protecting three padawans who were in his charge by being shot by a clone trooper at point blank range (a single blaster shot through the chest). In a situation similar to Naima, he foresaw the manner of his death, and being a Jedi, decided to honor that vision, despite the fact he was originally a conscientious objector and didn't wish to participate in the Clone Wars. His death ultimately becomes an inspiration to his nephew and namesake, Josym Di'sallach, when he becomes a Jedi several decades later.
     
  14. Thumper09

    Thumper09 Force Ghost star 4

    Registered:
    Dec 9, 2001
    *raises hand* I've mourned the death of OCs. I even specifically remember the time, years ago, when I was reading a story by one of my favorite OC authors and I was truly saddened at the death of an OC antagonist whom I had started out disliking intensely. Good writing and good character development is good writing and good character development, regardless of who first thought up the character. (Luke, Han, Leia, Chewie... they're all just George's OCs. I remember lots of people being upset about Chewie's death in the EU. ;) )

    I have a decent idea of the ultimate fate (when/where/how) of all of my main OCs, but they're Rebel starfighter pilots so not all of them will be surviving to old age. They're a tight-knit unit so any casualty does have significant ramifications in the group, and the interpersonal dynamics go haywire and then have to readjust.
     
  15. Mira Grau

    Mira Grau Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    May 11, 2016
    I´ve defenetly felt bad for the deaths of OCs in stories I read, both in fanfiction as well as original fiction.
    And I agree with Thumper09 that technically all characters are someones OCs.

    For my own OCs I´ve killed several of them before but I never enjoy it. Usually I want their deaths to have a meaning, to impact the other charcaters.
    One thing I really don´t like in fiction is when characters especially in longer series just forget about their deceased friends and never mention them again. (For example Luke never really mouring or thinking back to Owen and Beru in both the movies and the EU) So I have my characters usually avert this and think back to their fallen friends and family members.
     
  16. Sith-I-5

    Sith-I-5 Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    Aug 14, 2002
    This has been asked before. I remember detailing the Alliance ops and slave liberations that Mitch Nifesta and his adopted padawan, Fenlaka Zula, got involved in.
     
  17. OCDatabaseSock

    OCDatabaseSock Jedi Grand Master star 3

    Registered:
    Dec 17, 2004
    The holidays are over, back to school, work and whatever. And the summer-challenge has come with four great stories. Voting will end on september 9 23.55 Pacific time



    Summer challenge
    This is the SUMMER CHALLENGE provided by Ewok Poet

    Your character has lost something or somebody and needs to get it back. The story can be comical or serious.

    prophesy the rogues a star wars kindom hearts crossover
    Theodore Hawkwood

    families
    Author: DARTH_MU

    the dancer and the thief
    author: Chyntuck

    keeping up with the calrissians back again
    author: Mistress_Renata
     
    Ewok Poet, Findswoman and Chyntuck like this.
  18. DARTH_MU

    DARTH_MU Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Feb 9, 2005
    voted

    :)

    Also, OC dueling circle?
     
  19. Sith-I-5

    Sith-I-5 Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    Aug 14, 2002
    OC duelling circle?

    What's that?
     
  20. Ewok Poet

    Ewok Poet Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    Jul 31, 2014
    Forgot to vote. Darn! :/
     
  21. OCDatabaseSock

    OCDatabaseSock Jedi Grand Master star 3

    Registered:
    Dec 17, 2004
  22. Ewok Poet

    Ewok Poet Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    Jul 31, 2014
    Findswoman likes this.
  23. Gamiel

    Gamiel Chosen One star 9

    Registered:
    Dec 16, 2012
    Missed the vote, but congratulation Chyntuck
     
    Findswoman likes this.
  24. Joinerversers

    Joinerversers Jedi Master

    Registered:
    Feb 11, 2007
    Congratulations for winning, Chyntuck.
     
  25. Findswoman

    Findswoman Fanfic and Pancakes and Waffles Mod (in Pink) star 5 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Feb 27, 2014
    Congratulations on a very fine win, Chyntuck! =D= I am still in the process of catching up with the story, but I very much like the look of it, and I look forward to seeing what you'll come up with for the next challenge. And many thanks to all who took part. :)