u/Either_Being_5941

Update:

Thank you to everyone who commented on my post. I didn’t want to get too personal, but I’d like to summarise the main points and try to write a bit more background info here.

I think that, by interpreting my story in ways I hadn’t originally intended, my readers and my friend helped me realise that my OC was written as an abusive character. I actually based her on my own stepmother, and those specific scenes, for example: the child being starved and being left out in the cold by my OC. Those were things I experienced growing up.

Perhaps I was naive and stupid, but I idolised my stepmother a lot because she was considered the most beautiful woman in my village. I guess I’ve spent years filtering my trauma, if that is even possible? So I didn’t realise I was projecting it into my writing until now. I’ve made a mistake, but I’m grateful to have learned this through fanfiction rather than repeating these patterns if I ever have children of my own. I am very committed to becoming a better writer and a better person.

Original post:

I’ve realised that I’ve made a considerable misstep, a failure of perception that I find both infuriating and rather humiliating. My over-investment in my original female character appears to have severely skewed my narrative judgement. A comment on this very meme/joke post really served as a dose of reality.

I’ve recently worked on my first multi-chapter fic, pairing my OC with a canon male character who’s quite popular and well-loved within the fandom. In my head, I believed that this story was a masterpiece. Everything seemed to align perfectly: their romance, the development of their relationship, their backstories, even the angst and action.

I had a regular reader who commented on every single chapter, offering heartfelt praise and deep dives into their love for my writing and the story itself. This continued until around chapter six, when I introduced the male lead’s adopted daughter and subsequently injected a significant amount of conflict between her and my OC.

In my own mind, all of this was perfectly justified. I didn’t see my OC as a Mary Sue because she has her flaws and struggles, but... whenever the adopted daughter acted disrespectfully towards her, I had other characters step in to defend my OC and reprimand the adopted daughter. And I genuinely didn’t set out to bash the adopted daughter because I felt this was her intended behaviour.

I was quite proud, expecting my regular reader to be fully on board, cheering for my OC. But, wouldn’t you know it, ever since chapter six, the only feedback that I’ve received from them has been their lamentations about how the adopted daughter deserved better and why the adults were so unreasonably harsh towards her. I’ve tried explaining in every single reply, pointing out that the adopted daughter is a disruptive teen, which is why people don’t warm to her, and that she’s actively trying to sabotage the relationship between the male lead and my OC.

I even found myself adding author’s notes to each chapter, explaining that the adults’ actions were justified because the adopted daughter is an awful person who says and does awful things. This reader was kind and seemed to grasp my points, but I suspect they still didn’t truly get it. Now, they’re commenting on how clever I am to write about an “abused OFC undergoing a full cycle to become abusive” towards the adopted daughter, calling it interesting. I felt I had to gently correct them, saying they’d misunderstood quite a bit, but that it was understandable, as the full narrative and all the nuances exist only in my head. I implied that they hadn’t picked up on all the clues and asked them to be patient before jumping to conclusions.

Things got worse as I’m nearing the end of the fic and have attracted four more readers. I felt very lucky because they’ve all been so kind, but… they’re all drawing similar conclusions and impressions as my first reader. One misunderstanding, I could perhaps dismiss. But when four more people interpret it the same way? I think that it signals that something is wrong with my writing.

I’m sitting here, thinking and reflecting and realising… they were actually right. I was so caught up in making my OC relatable and desperately trying to avoid the dreaded ‘Mary Sue’ label that I failed to see I’d inadvertently created one. I’d given her such superficial flaws, using the adopted daughter as a convenient source of conflict. Now I can see why all five readers sympathise with the adopted daughter. Because, apparently, her actions and words were all consistent with her character and circumstances. But because I loved my OC too much, the narrative has consistently pushed the adopted daughter into an unfavourable light.

I suppose the point of me posting this is… well, I’m just glad that instead of blaming the readers for not quite getting it, I actually sat down, had a think and stepped away from my story. I can tell you that writing fic is my happy place. I always have fun with it. I know I don’t owe my readers anything, and they owe me nothing either. But still, I love to keep improving.

Thank you for reading.

Edit: Please forgive me if I don’t reply to every single comment. As I’ve mentioned to someone, this has all been quite overwhelming, even though I know it is bound to happen when you post on the internet. I just want you to know how sorry I am if I shocked anyone with my own obliviousness. I don’t have anything left to prove, explain, rant about or celebrate. I just posted this hoping to find a bit of understanding so we could all pat each other on the back and get back to writing for the fandoms we love, but I know better now. I will go and focus on rewriting my story with a much better plot and a good understanding of power dynamics and family relationships.