Are Barricade Boy x female OC fics overdone?

[Aurelia Combeferre]

A beta helps.

Now I've done OCs, but I've made sure that they never take the focus away from the guy they are paired with. Of course it may seem non-feminist at times, but I'm writing within the conventions of the day and I have to remember that.

[MmeBahorel]

And I think what Aurelia just said is the key: OOC frequently just means "out of period" with this fandom. The most annoying ones are too modern - they behave in ways that they shouldn't really conceive of, and the characters around them don't react in a natural way to that behaviour (thus giving the whole "Mary Sue is the new centre of the universe" aspect). And a beta well-grounded in the period can help if you're unsure of yourself/your own research.

But sometimes you just have to write it and not worry so much before it's on paper. Because how do you learn without daring to possibly screw up? You have to have something for a beta to read, after all (I wrote absolute Mary Sue crap as my first fic, which was never finished yet posted publicly, and god help me, people liked it. But even among the Mary Sue crap, I was careful to situate her in her historical period and I still look on it as terrible writing but an idea with merit. So if I cared to go back to it, it's entirely salvageable. And that may be the key - if the idea is good, the character is probably not a complete Mary Sue and a beta can help you find ways in which it can be cleaned up.)

[deHavilland]

Jumping on the beta part of the conversation to throw in "pick a beta, not a friend." You want someone to call you on what you've written. If you want someone to just tell you that your story's good, sure, show it to a friend. But if you want someone to actually critically read through and tell you not just that you've spelled something wrong but that maybe what this character is doing isn't quite right, make sure you're sharing your work with someone who is actually going to do that. Otherwise the whole beta reader thing does nothing.

[IBelieveInYou]

Of course you don't want a friend, I completely agree. I believe that it is more important to have someone to tell you what you're doing wrong with a character or with the plot or with the writing than the grammar styles themselves. I am currently searching for a beta reader.

[Rachelle]

I'd get a friend to check for spelling and minor grammatical errors but anything more than that I'd need someone else. I may need a beta for later chapters of my fic. For the first few chapters I'm just going to ask people to post their critique below it in the thread where I'm posting it.

[LadyEponine]

In reply to everyone because this post got more replies than I thought it would lol
I just think it's safer to go with an already written character, however I contradict myself AGAIN by saying that I feel like just throwing Éponine in with someone isn't always good either.
I make no sense ignore me lol
However, I'm so very guilty of pairing Éponine with people, I'm writing one right now. I guess the only exception is if the fic is written so wonderfully and perfectly.

[patronnminette]

I'm guilty as charged: most of my fic!amis have mistresses with names and occupations and complicated relationships. I read a lot of fic pairing amis with original characters and for the most part, I enjoy it. Most of the boys have lives outside of their revolutionary activities (Bahorel especially) and I think developing the world they live in is important. As long as the pairing stays true to the brick, the time period and the personality of whichever ami it focuses on, I'll lap it up.

The only real problem I have is when some OC waltzes into Paris and substantially changes their lover. No, Grantaire isn't going to suddenly stop idolizing Enjolras or quite drinking because Marie Suzette #24601 shows him the power of love.

If you can formulate a character that's realistic and fun to read about, go for it.

[Rachel]

I'm guilty as charged: most of my fic!amis have mistresses with names and occupations and complicated relationships. I read a lot of fic pairing amis with original characters and for the most part, I enjoy it. Most of the boys have lives outside of their revolutionary activities (Bahorel especially) and I think developing the world they live in is important. As long as the pairing stays true to the brick, the time period and the personality of whichever ami it focuses on, I'll lap it up.

The only real problem I have is when some OC waltzes into Paris and substantially changes their lover. No, Grantaire isn't going to suddenly stop idolizing Enjolras or quite drinking because Marie Suzette #24601 shows him the power of love.

If you can formulate a character that's realistic and fun to read about, go for it.

But a character gradually changing overtime because of another character who they fall in love with is very much possible.

[patronnminette]

I'm guilty as charged: most of my fic!amis have mistresses with names and occupations and complicated relationships. I read a lot of fic pairing amis with original characters and for the most part, I enjoy it. Most of the boys have lives outside of their revolutionary activities (Bahorel especially) and I think developing the world they live in is important. As long as the pairing stays true to the brick, the time period and the personality of whichever ami it focuses on, I'll lap it up.

The only real problem I have is when some OC waltzes into Paris and substantially changes their lover. No, Grantaire isn't going to suddenly stop idolizing Enjolras or quite drinking because Marie Suzette #24601 shows him the power of love.

If you can formulate a character that's realistic and fun to read about, go for it.

But a character gradually changing overtime because of another character who they fall in love with is very much possible.

True but I'm very, very wary of a fanfiction doing this well. I'm sure it has been done but in my experience, to do that sort of character arc justice, you need a long!fic (10,000+ words) which most writers are interested in.

[Aurelia Combeferre]

Writing an OC as part of the character's background is perfectly fine. In a way it's a gapfiller since it was mentioned that nearly all the boys had their mistresses.

But yes, going OOC because of a woman is another story altogether.

[CeridwenLynne]

I don't have a problem with OCs as long as they do not become Mary Sues or Gary Stus. I think that is the challenge of writing any fanfic. I was really proud of a short story I had written back in high school but when I took the "is your character a Mary Sue" test I was surprised. My male lead character was definitely a Mary Sue or as I like to say a Gary Stu. He was too perfect. I went back and rewrote the story giving him a few flaws and imperfections.