fateofshadow

I read self-insert/OFC/OMC fiction. Here's why:

1) They can bring a new perspective to an existing universe. Yes, this is usually a white, heterosexual, middle class perspective but I don't think this is always a bad thing (some deviation on this would be nice though), provided the canon characters don't start adopting everything the OC does/says/thinks/feels- a little cultural bleed is nice, a lot is just colonial fiction. I love to see the clash when a character with modern values (and laziness, reliance on technology, low pain threshold, etc) finds themselves in a completely foreign land. Naruto, Avatar: The Last Airbender, Inuyasha- these are all universes are chock-a-block with civil war and it's great to see OCs dealing with the moral ramifications of that (Kagome kinda counts as the outsider perspective though, I wish I could find a good rewrite of the manga- the premise was good but urg, characterisation and shipping...). Yes, OCs, the magical powers that you received on arrival to this verse are very shiny but what are you going to do with them?

2) Language barriers. I freaking love language barriers. I love how much interaction there is (and misunderstandings) when two characters have to mime and communicate with tone, music, code, etc. When the two parties start to understand one another with prolonged exposure or come up with their own bastardised half-way language in order to get things done. Characters shoved together in extremely adverse circumstances that have to learn to get along despite linguistic separation... yesssss.

3) I do like the 'oh I know this fandom inside out, I can solve all these major problems so that everyone's happy :DD' premises. I especially love when they go wrong. Not leading to character death or the end of the world, nothing like that. I just like it when the verse in question is so much more complicated when it's brought to life outside of the anime/TV series/book/whatever. Shattered fan assumptions followed by learning from their initial mistakes (and likely making any more as they continue to acclimatise to reality) FTW.

4) In many fandoms, it's difficult to find good female characters who get enough screen time and don't become nothing more than 'the romantic interest'. Unfortunately it's very hard to find gen OFC fics. And yet there's so much potential for feminist insight in an OFC fic, especially in fandoms that have so little female influence (silly FOS, fic iz for shippin). There's a Naruto fic (which I have alerted but can't find right now) where an OFC ends up in the body of a young Hinata around about the time of her failed kidnapping. It offers a lot of insight into the Hyuuga clan and it is not a lovey-dovey fic. In fact it's rather dark and (aside from the body possession thing) could be completely canon. Showing the kind of person Hinata could be (when she is a sweet yet ineffectual, vaguely stalkerish wallflower in canon) is really interesting and makes for a rather good fic in my opinion.

I'm not going to touch the Mary-Sue topic. Except to say that I'm sick of hearing that canon female charcters are MSs when their male counterparts can pull all the godmodding they like out their arses and get no flack for it. And I'm talking about female ninja, magic users and superheroes for goodness' sake. Heaven forbid that anyone with ovaries be awesome.

Going to throw together a list of good OC fics tonight. Any recs?