About Forbidden Fruits
The stony path of the OFCs
Original female characters do not have it easy in the fanfiction community and it is really hard to find them either. The seemingly overpowerful Mary Sue gave her a bad reputation - although she is only one type of a female original character she has gotten most of the attention. Like an ungrateful little sister she threw a tantrum and kept everyone around her busy.
But while Mary Sue has only headaches and pain to offer for the sentinent fan, an OFC can give an authors means to introduce new perspectives, challenges and other elements in a story without having to resort to misusing canon characters.
At this point you might wonder, why on earth aren't OFCs more popular?
Well, nobody knows for sure, it might have something to do with OFC are considered intruders, suddenly they are there, become close to one or more canons, so some fans might feel threatened, maybe jealous ... oh, yes, I hear the scream "We are not jealous and we feel not threatened by some stupid Mary Sue"
That claim doesn't impress me much anymore - while some might honestly be just making fun of bad characterisation, some fans and hard core shippers, do dislike OFCs simply for hanging out with one part of their OTP - regardless of bad or good writing skill. Just look at how some of the Remus/Sirius shippers went berserk with insults after a new canon character hooked up with Remus.
While we can only speculate to the whole extent of why people dislike OFCs, fact is, she is not very welcome, a lot of pages are aimed (even though probably not all purposefully) at making writing an OFC less and less attractive to the writer.
There are few fanfic writers who haven't yet understood that Mary Sue is meant as an insult and most of them worry too much about their character being labled as one, so some of them being looking for alternate, more appreciate fanfic options.
How in the world can one make an OFC unappealing to a writer?
Few people would want to write about a seamingly untalented person who can hardly keep up with the rest of the cast, who is best put into a corner having nothing major to contribute. Because if your character is somewhat capable, can aid the characters or even do something none of them can accomplish, you are told you are working on a Mary Sue.
There are lots of things your OFC better should not be if she doesn't want to be brandmarked as a Mary Sue. One is only save if she is disliked by almost everyone in the canon, spends little time and has no relation to any of the canons, is butt ugly or at least so overweighted that she has troubles getting up the stairs. And most important - Never, ever pair her with a canon character!
That is at least the impression several communities and Litmus Tests give writers. But they are wrong! More on the Usefulness of Litmus Tests
On the lookout for OFCs
It has become hard to find a decent OFC, they are rare and naturally with so many fandoms out there, it is almost impossible to find them. Especially in bigger fandoms, where certain "canon pairings" are established, or "fanon pairings" - canon characters where the majority of fans feel they belong together.
Of course not all stories are about pairings, but a lot them are written with a certain liasion in mind, some canon or fanon pairing stories have some new characters, too. But they are usually only minors, stereotypical villains or other relatively boring bypassers who have one function before the story goes on.
Where a true OFCs is concerned one has to look quite intensly and often in vain through hundreds or even thousands of stories. Most fandoms are still plagued with badfic. They spring up fast as badfic usually require little work due to lack of canon, grammar, plot. It comes in all shapes and gives the reader the impression to look for a needle in a haystack.
Giving OFCs some room
So in order to put a stop on this, Forbidden Fruits was founded. This community was founded with the intention to make good OFC fanfictions easier to find for the interested reader, but also to help writers with ressources, information and feedback.
It's never easy to write a good fanfiction, especially operating on the assumption that a fanfic needs to bear some resemblance to the canon. So without some assistance, like beta-reader who is familiar with the canon or a ressource that can help out with arrising questions, writers do usually a lot worse than they could, given the proper aid.
One of the biggest problems is probably writing the canon characters "in character", or at least in a way that others could regocnize them from their behaviour and not from the name or the description. Something which is a lot easier done when dealing with already existing characters and already established relations. As a fan we have seen how canons interact with each other.
Keeping general writing tipps in mind, given a good beta, a writer should be fine. Difficulties begin when you walk on new grounds, like a new form of relationship between canons. Usually you will have no trouble getting a liked pair together, for example, the movie showed hidden erotic tension between hero and heroine and a fanfic brings them together in an intimate solid partnership.
Even more help is given to slash writers, they are usually free to explore whatever pairing suits them, little to no insult is given when one or even both of the guys break up with a female canon love interest, when the new couple used to be deadly enemies, personalities are changed and bend etc. Yes, you probably noticed that slash stories often have the same badfic problems that you find with Mary Sues, except that you will hear almost no complains as long as it stays between canon males.
Slash writers have a huge base of betas, web ressources and other supporters - which is a good thing, when someone feels like writing it, they should - no matter if out of character, realism or what genders the pairings have ...
But those who write OFCs should have the same freedom, they also deserve to explore their ideas and likes. Furthermore they should have the same support. People who want to improve fanfics and don't want Mary Sues should stop telling writers - now you can't do that or this, they should rather say try it like this.
Now you probably wonder why you are not supposed to post Mary Sue fanfics here
The owner of this webspace feels that Mary Sue taints the ultimate idea of fanfiction. An OFC does not bend and dominates the canon and the story, she becomes part of it. Due to her spawning habits and general tendency to take over, Mary Sue is banned from this community, before she takes it over, too.
Original Female Characters - Step out of the dark
All stories featuring an OFC in an important role can be posted here. There are few things you should keep in mind, before you post your fanfic. You can find them under Basics at the end of the page or here. It's a guide on what you can post, how to lable and rate your story, as well as how you can review and what doesn't belong in one.
Naturally not all canon characters and fandoms you might like to post about are currently listed, just ask and I will add them. Everyone is welcome to contribute something to this community, there are many ways you can help.
- Of course, post your stories!
- Review what your read, but please be constructive and not deconstructive
- Mention us to people you think that might be interest to publish or read here.
- Make a blend for a character in the size 700 * 200, example
- Offer yourself as a beta-reader
- Participate at the Forbidden Fruits Forum
- Write an article for this site or submit a link to one
- Share your ideas on how to improve the site
