I’ve been stuck on my slightly more serious sexswapped Jean fic for a while and it’s kind of a shame since writing it has really helped me with some things. I wanted to pair her up with Ace (who turned himself into a chick for one orgasm but can’t do it and is stuck that way) for laughs but couldn’t think of anything interesting to DO. But now I actually have a pretty interesting idea of them both kind of losing their purpose in music since Jean can’t use it as an easy pussy magnet and Ace doesn’t have the guitar as a dick extension thing anymore. They get together and kind of have a jam session trying to find their groove and purpose again. Honestly it’s based on how I liked the idea of guitar but never committed to it because there is such a sexual expectation with it and I’m just… not that at all irl. Might give me a reason to noodle around a bit after years of doing nothing to find some idea of how to write it

You seem to be one of the best oc creators in the fandom and I was wondering if you had any advice on mtl ocs? I wanna make one but I'm not sure where to start!

Goddamn, anon. That's one hell of a compliment to wake up to, but I'm glad you like my characters all the same. Truth is, this fandom is full of very fleshed-out, intricate OCs. Utterly jam-packed. I only think mine get a lot of attention because I present their stories in a visual media, as I am extremely, extremely lucky to have the time and energy to do so. I'm also old and benefit from having my characters for over ten years. I have had a lot of time to get to know them.

That said, entering into a fandom with a lot of excellent OCs might seem a bit intimidating, but the first thing you have to remember is that it's a fandom space and it's all about having fun. We're all really supportive of each other in this arena, which is another rare thing for fandoms in general -- but here in MTL you shouldn't be afraid to just dive right in.

I'm not sure if you're more of an artist or writer, but the first real piece of advice I can give is that there's no wrong way to make a character. For me, drawing them is most helpful, but you might also want to get their traits down on paper, first. What do they look like? How do they move? What are their basic personality traits, too? Any way you want to tackle it is fine. If you do happen to be a visual artist, I just happen to have a little tutorial I made on character design, right here.

Honestly, I think another thing that Baen-Shee benefits from is the fact that I made a whole group of them, instead of just a one-off individual. There's a built-in sense of "Oh, it all fits!" when you make multiple characters, and have them all taking on different roles. In this case, they're a band, so you can play off traits typically associated with people in their individual musical sweet-spots: Confident frontwoman, badass lead-guitarist, cocky drummer, mysterious bassist, demure rhythm-guitarist, etc. They're also a family, and you can work within those associations. And, as you'll come to find out - they're also a bunch of superheroes, so you can work with associations tied to their elemental powers. It's all reciprocal when you do work on multiple characters at the same time - you can see what I mean when you look at their individual character sheets and compare them.

Also, don't be intimidated by making a band if you yourself have never been in one. I think this is one of the things that holds a lot of people back from making MTL OCs, specifically. First of all - this fandom is full of original characters who are not, themselves, musicians or in any way inclined. Don't feel like you have to have a character that is in music in some way. Second, if you do want to make an ensemble act -- Just model them after a band you like and go from there. If you're caught-up on details about how certain aspects of music and instruments and all that work, I have a tutorial for that as well and plan to make more. You don't have to be a band-guy to be in this fandom. Hell, you don't have to be a "music" guy. You just have to be creative!

So, now we've come to the part where I say you can basically take everything I just said and throw it out the window if you only want to follow one rule. And that rule is this:

Give your character a story that will make people care about them.

If your audience can read a story about this character, step into their shoes for a while, and find a place of comfort, there - congratulations! You have written a good character. Are there small intricacies to this and could I go on for days and days about what all this means and what ways you can go about doing this? For sure - but until I get the time to do that, rest-assured that people will be drawn to revisit stories about your OC, the more they find themselves caring about them. And the key to that is putting them in situations where the reader finds themselves rooting for them. I really think this is the biggest way to win an audience over for an OC (or a pile of them, as the case may be). One small point of advice, though: Try not to step on other characters' toes as you do this. Especially the canon cast's. Unless it's funny. Then, go nuts.

I promise more tutorials on this in the future, anon. I invite you, meanwhile, to go check out the Metalocalypse OCs Wiki and study the characters you find interesting. See how they're put together, and pay close attention to what makes them compelling to you. It'll surely give you ideas for your own OCs. @thatwritingho has put a ton of work into it, and you're sure to want to spend hours there, if you're into making characters of your own.

As I said, there's a lot to this - but I hope to explore it in even greater detail, in future posts. Hope the things I linked and what I've said here so far though, is of use to you!