Disclaimer: Pokemon is owned by Sastoshi Taijiri.
"Many of us crucify ourselves between two thieves - regret for the past and fear of the future." – Fulton Oursler
This oneshot is dedicated to those who have had to experience the disappointment and/or frustration as detailed, in addition to the misfortune of being in such a position to begin with. Don't hesitate to share your experiences in a review, but please be polite.
*sound effects*
Website text
"OC submitter's thoughts"
"OC submitter's conscious' thoughts"
*click click* "Ok, here we go."
"Favorites" *click*
"Fanfiction" *click click* "Finally reached the site at last."
"Sign In" *click*
Login
*type type type*
*type type type* "What's the point?"
Password
xxxxxxxxxx "Alright then."
Remember me for 3 days. "Sigh." *click*
Login *click*
Forgot Your Password?
* Remember me will only work with browser cookies enabled. Do not use in a public terminal.
If unable to login, clear existing browser cookies and ensure your computer's clock is accurate. "Whatever."
"Finally logged in. Why on earth do they keep checking for my e-mail address? Anyways, let's see here."
"Inbox" *click*
"Ahh...a reply. I've been waiting for this one. *pause* Please say yes. Please say yes. Sigh, suspense is killing me. Might as well get it over with."
From: xxxxx
Re: My OC for "xxxxx"*click click*
Hey there. Thanks for your interest in "xxxxx", and especially for submitting that OC of yours. I regret to inform you that I have had to turn away several submissions, yours included. There's just not enough free slots in the story to support all of them. I hope you understand. I very much liked your OC though, and look forward to hearing more from you in the near future. Once again, please accept my apologies in the matter. Have a good day.
"What? Sigh."
"Logout"*click*
"It would seem that he was rejected."
"Yeah, but why? How come all those other OCs were picked then? I mean, I thought the author had a great story idea, in my opinion, and I really wanted my OC to be a part of the action."
"I'm sure that's what several others felt as well, you know, like the author mentioned, your OC's not the only one that got turned away, you know."
"But why wasn't he accepted? Was it his personality? I made sure to include several faults so he didn't become a Mary-Sue. His team of Pokemon? That can't be the case, since I didn't put those Pokemon I was told not to."
"What? No Legendaries?"
"WHAT? Of course not. You know how many authors are against that! If I had ten bucks for each author that allowed Legendaries on an OC's team, I'd need to work three jobs to make ends meet. Sheesh."
"Alright. Alright. Just teasing ya."
"Not funny."
"Fine, but is there anything else about him the author might not have liked?"
"I don't know, his backstory seemed fine and unique, at least as far as I can tell. None of that stereotypical stuff I've seen permeating the fandom lately. I'm sure I conformed perfectly to what was requested. Sigh. You think he was rejected just because the author didn't like him, for whatever reason?"
"It's possible. Ultimately, it's up to the author to decide what characters he or she wants in the story."
"You think that response to me was somehow, I dunno, sugarcoated?"
"Now you're delving too deep into this. Besides, I'm sure that author had good and genuine reasons to turn down your OC. I know you're disappointed, but this isn't the first time that happened, you know."
"Yeah, I remember that one time where I held off submitting an OC because it was the first time I saw that particular author's work. I mean, you have to admit, when I first saw the story, it was only in its first chapter, and I was worried about how my OC might be portrayed, know what I mean?"
"So you decided to wait a few chapters, see how the plot develops, so you could make an adequate judgment, even though several others were submitting their stories from the get-go. Huh?"
"Yeah, and I could just kick myself for doing so."
"By the time you got your 'sneak peek' into the story. It was too late, wasn't it?"
"Indeed. All those other people submitting OCs should have been a dead giveaway that the storyline was going to be popular, or at the very least, the author. I still look at that story, review it, and wonder what could have been, you know?"
"Yeah, but you can't keep dwelling on it, or the regret will eat you straight up. What's done is done. Perhaps that same author might have another OC submit story. If he or she does, which I strongly believe is the case, then you'd better hurry. From what I have seen, there seems to be no shortage of willing submitters. "
"Alright, I guess I'd better get right on it then."
"Perhaps your OC might be accepted this time. I mean, since you have an idea of how that author writes, and you badly wanted your OC to be a part of his or her previous story, the plot for the new story may be just as appealing. And while you're at it, you might want to ask that other author why your OC was rejected. Maybe some inside comments from him or her might help you in constructing a better OC. "
"I can't argue with that logic. You're right, now if you'll excuse me, I have an OC to figure out, and an author's opinion to ask."
"*chuckle* Good luck."
Author's Notes: Okay, before I get flamed for this, I just want to make one thing very clear. This is by no means an attack on authors who reject OCs, for whatever reason. In fact, I admire authors that are audacious enough to take other peoples' OCs. Asking for OCs can be quite intimidating for some authors because they don't know what sort of characters they are going to get from interested readers. They may also wonder if they can portray such characters correctly to begin with, and please the person who submitted them. Therefore, they are taking quite a big risk in asking for OCs, in my opinion. OCs are a way for readers to submit their own input into the story, and they do in part, dictate the direction the story is going to take, depending on how much of an impact the author decides they will have on the plot.
Accepting an OC is also a big commitment on the part of the author, since chances are that the characters picked will play big roles for the duration of the story. Some submitters may just stop reviewing and "go quiet" after a few chapters, but the author can't just erase the OC (depending on the OC's importance, at least not without some serious disruption) from the story because there's no feedback from the original submitter. Thus, they will still have to keep portraying the OC anyway, despite the absence of the submitter. Therefore, I believe authors are doing readers a service in allowing OCs and they should be commended for that. The purpose of this oneshot is mainly to give insight on how one might feel and what he or she might think were an OC rejected by an author whose story he or she wanted to be a part of.
Of course, on occasion, an author might receive more OCs than needed for the story. Someone will have to be turned away, and that would no doubt result in a disappointed or even angry (let's hope it doesn't go to that point) submitter. I guess that's the feeling I tried to emulate when writing this oneshot from a submitter's POV. Of course, if your OC was ever rejected, you may rightfully wonder why. And lots of reasons, some wilder than others, may circulate in your head. Did the author dislike your OC for being a Mary-Sue? If your character really was a Mary-Sue, well no offense, but you should have seen the rejection from a mile away. I guess what I'm trying to get at is the fact that not every OC may make it into a story, and at the end of the day, it could have been that there just wasn't enough room for him or her. Looking at your OC's profile, you might think that there's nothing off or wrong about the character, but understand that authors almost certainly have harder jobs that OC submitters, and the rejection was probably justified in the author's opinion, and his or her decision should be respected. That being said, you are welcome to ask why your OC was rejected and the author may very well have good reasons. Just so no one leaves the issue thinking that the other side hates them over the decision.
And there's another topic about OCs I decided to address. Let's face it, some people put a lot of work into an OC, especially if the character is meant to be submitted to multiple stories and adaptable to multiple situations, so multiple authors may find something to like about the character. That being said, some of us may gat a trifle overprotective over our OCs and worry about how any given author might portray them. When looking at the story of an unfamiliar author, especially when it has just started, some of us may be inclined to "wait a bit". You know, see if the future chapters of the story get any good before deciding to submit an OC. But by that time, it may very well be too late, and the author has all the OCs he or she wants. If an author is quite famous, you can expect a torrent of OC submissions, and it might be a giveaway that the plot is something to keep an eye out for, if you know what I mean. If you ever found yourself in this unfortunate situation (I know I have), you may just want to kick yourself for not having the foresight to submit an OC earlier. I guess that's where this oneshot's quote plays into it all, some are afraid but interested in how future plot may turn out and whether or not they should submit an OC. But when the point is reached where they decide to submit one, it's too late and all they feel about it is anger, disappointment or regret. Dwelling on that mistake won't help anyone, so I suppose it's a lesson that should be learned and a heads-up to keep an eye out for future works by the author, in case another OC submit story comes along. Knowing the author's work by then, the decision to submit an OC to that future story might just be made all that easier for you.
When writing this oneshot, it is pretty obvious, but I decided to do a first person POV of an OC submitter to this site. I admit that I had Pokemon on the brain when I wrote this, but the concept can easily be extrapolated to OCs for any fandom. Just change the references accordingly. I also decided to keep the story and the submitter ambiguous so it could be anyone. The OC may be identified as male, but that can be changed if the reader so feels like it. As one can tell, the person's OC was rejected, and he or she is then dwelling on why that was the case. The idea for the OC submitter to have a "conversation" with his or her conscious came to me because I thought it would bring things to a more personal level, with the conscious serving as a voice of reason, if you will. Besides, I know some people have such mental conversations with their conscious. If the idea doesn't sit well with a reader, it could be changed to a very close friend instead. Inspiration for this oneshot came partly from my own experiences and the fact that I'm awful at coming up with an original plot, so I submit OCs as a way of seeing how well I do at making my own characters, as well as advising other authors on how they could improve their stories. After all, OC submitters do write part of the story by nature of how their OCs are constructed and impact the respective plot. It's just up to the author to decide how much involvement in the plot to give the OCs.
In closing, this oneshot contains a second dedication, to the authors who were kind enough to accept the OCs I submitted to their stories, and patient enough to put up with any changes or suggestions to my characters and the story plot I may have had. You know who you are. I hope this oneshot hasn't offended anyone, authors and OC submitters alike. If so, feel free to drop me a PM and I'm sure we can discuss things in a civil manner. Reviews and constructive criticism are welcome. Flames will be deleted.