How come... (Question inside)

The Random Fox

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Nobody wants to role-play OC x CC if someone doesn't want to double? I have tried to put up some advertising for fandoms but nobody's willing to give it a shot because I always mention that I don't do doubling because I only have experience as role-playing as my OC and I don't want to butcher a Canon Character. Should I just give up on looking for OC x CC?
 
The simple answer is most fandom roleplayers are exactly like you. They don’t like to play canon characters. They want to be able to play their own OC rather then someone’s else’s character.

So if neither you nor your partner wants to play the canon character then there has to be some kind of compromise. Because if they have to play a character they don’t want to play then you should do the same.

Now to be fair there are people who like to play canon characters but a lot of them prefer canon pairings. It’s rare to find someone who plays canon characters across from OCs.

I don’t mind personally but I think I have only ever seen one or two other people who actively prefer canons in the canon x oc arrangement.
 
I mean, it would be nice if someone tried to give it a shot. Honestly it's kind of disheartening. This has happened to me a lot across different sites. I'll admit that I am not a very good writer and trying to juggle both an OC and CC is torture for my brain.
 
I think a good thing to do going forward is ask yourself “What am I doing to make this fun for my partner?”

I recommend actually trying OC x OC pairings for now and just telling your partner “hey I really like to pair my OC with a character like Canon could you play someone like that?”

Because this way both you and your partner get to find a way to make the roleplay fun. Rather then it just being “I want you to do this thing for me because I don’t feel comfortable doing it myself.”
 
Your OC needs to be appealing in some way. Like Nerdy Tangent said most people are interested in pairing CCs together; they’re familiar with set characters and already have an established attachment to them. I used to be able to do CC x OC but I don’t do CC atm bc I’m going through a lot of transitions at once in my life and it’s exhausting. Keeping up with CC requires the other person to keep up with source material while the OC player only has to go off of their own muse.
 
I don’t mean this in an accusatory way, but isn’t it a bit hypocritical to expect people to give something a shot when you yourself are unwilling to do the same? I understand worrying about not doing a canon character justice, but I’m sure nearly everyone that would play a CC for you also feels the same. That’s a stress they would have to deal with to RP with you, one that you wouldn’t tolerate in return. If you wouldn’t join a CC x OC RP as the CC, then how can you expect others to?

Also, take this with a grain of salt since I don’t know you or what you come to RP for, but you might want to try a fandom RP that’s OC-only or OC-focused if you’re unsatisfied with the engagement in your CC x OC plots. That way you could still write your OC and do fandom stuff while actually having people to RP with
 
I don't really think it's a fair deal to ask someone to play a canon to ship with your OC without offering anything in return. There's some people out there that'll disagree, of course, but most (not all) people who play within fandoms let it be somewhat of wish fulfillment for them to some extent. That said, if you're really worried about butchering a canon character and want to keep playing just OCs, then I don't think you should give up. Every Roleplayer has to look for their specific interests or preference, little or small, and it's better to not compromise, in my opinion, because then you'll likely be losing interest and walking away faster. Then again, you might find something new you like, so it's a bit of a balancing act either way.

Either way, best of luck to you.

I hope you can find what you're looking for.
 
In large part, what the key point has already been established by what others have said. However, after taking a look at your interest checks, some things to add stood out to me.

First, they all had several aspects to them that really hurt your chances. I wouldn't necessarily call them mistakes, as for the most part they aren't anything inherently wrong, but they are things which cut at the potential takers considerably, and one thing to know about interest checks, is that the changes in the chance of someone taking your RP is not linear with the reduction or increase of potential audience, but exponential, due to factors of luck and timing played a much greater role the smaller the potential audience is.

  • Your interest checks are persistently focused on one or two potential RP topics. Anyone not interested in that very specific thing is not going to be interested in the roleplay you're offering.
  • To my knowledge, most players prefer to play female characters. A female x male pairing where the other person has to play a male is therefore cutting over half of the audience you had left.
  • All of your interest checks are extremely short. While a massive text wall isn't needed, and you do provide the essential information (most of it anyway. You are missing the expected post pace and availability), it can come across as uncommitted or low effort.
  • You have a tendency to start bumping extremely fast, as in within the same day. This comes across as needy and impatient, and reinforces the poor perception of the short interest check. As a rule of thumb, I would give it three days before even considering a bump.
  • PM and discord only means you're also excluding anyone who prefers to RP in threads.
  • Getting more specific the fandom in this thread seems to be obscure. That is just my speculation based on the fact I've never heard of it and the older-looking artstyle. In other words, what you're seeking is a cannon character of an obscure or relatively obscure show, of a gender most people are uninterested in playing.
  • This one was less specific, but it did come across in reading as a much worse attitude than your other interest checks. It felt a little tone deaf, simultaneously sounding almost hostile and throwing in a dry "have fun". Of the things I discussed so far, this one is the only I think is something that outright wrong as opposed to simply reducing the potentially interested people. Fortunately, it's a problem that only seems to have been present in this particular interest check.

Considering the issues, you want something highly highly specific, but that comes at the price of gutting the size of your potential audience. I think your original plot interests are wide enough that if you simply come up with enough variations in the form of different plots under the same overarching concept (say several variations of potential dhampir vampire hunter x human plots) and just give those plots an interesting description, you could greatly improve your chances there. As for the fandom, unfortunately I think this one is a bit too niche to work out without a greater level of compromise.

In addition to the above, your interest checks could use a bit more of simply thinking of why a player might want to work with you. Not picking you as a partner is not simply a question of thinking you do or don't meet certain standards, it's one of you meeting them better than the alternative, that is to say, better than other people offering roleplays the person might be interested in. It is therefore imperative that you think about what about what you have to offer - as a partner, yes, but also in the plots / roleplays you're offering - is what is meant to be the appealing part to the partner. Don't just come in assuming that just because it's X fandom or just because you feel it's an interesting plot that the partner will automatically think the same. After all, even if the plot is interesting, if their role within it isn't appealing to them, it's no good anyway. I think your interest checks are currently too focused on your personal wants, when the main purpose of an interest check is appealing to your potential partners. The thing others have talked about, albeit not directly about your interest checks, is also something I think is a symptom of this. You know what you want in the OC x Cannon pairing, but I don't think you are giving the due thought as to whether or why it would be appealing to others.

In any case, I hope you find this helpful, and best of luck in your search! Happy RPing!
 
Yooooo, as someone who prefers to play canon (masc) characters in cc x oc (or in fandom rps in general) and not doubling, I have some insight although don't take my word as absolute truth to other roleplayers who have this preference.

First, I love roleplaying as canon characters because there tends to be aspects I want to explore in that character thematically that I just don't want to develop in an original character. To me, saying you're afraid of "butchering a canon character" is valid but puts expectations for me to deliver your standards of said character. What if I make the character do something you don't like? Will I be chastised for it? That's not a risk I'm willing to take because I can find someone else who's willing to be in the same weird/anxious headspace with me and offering to double out of courtesy is a silent green flag.

Second, it's very true that people prefer to play their OC (usually female) against a canon character - and it's almost always romantic. Some people just need to recognize they should dive into an adjacent hobby called fanfiction writing. That being said, because the demand is high, you are competing with everyone else essentially to reel someone in who's willing to rp as the canon character. The more niche, the less likely someone will be up for it. I would suggest generating multiple plot hooks with specific characters in mind but always reiterating that these are loose concepts and not concrete "must happen this way" story beats. Essentially, you're throwing things at a wall and hoping something sticks. Sometimes nothing sticks and that's ok.

My advice: Join and read roleplays of fandoms you enjoy. There's enough people out there who play canon characters, and probably specifically characters you want to rp back and forth with. If you like someone's writing in that character, you can cold private message them if they're willing to 1x1 with you or at the very least you just learned how someone roleplays a canon character by reading along and reflect that onto your own writing. A lot of times, you make friends in group rps and cc x oc can magically happen.

To answer your question as frank as possible: Should you just give up on looking for OC x CC? If you've considered all the comments thus far and still firm about not even attempting to play a canon character, yes. There's a certain type of empathy/leeway you give to your rp partner you can only gain from being in their shoes once. Roleplaying is a collaborative effort with comradery as a requirement.
 
Maybe I'm just not that great at roleplaying, or writing. Also, I wouldn't criticize people if they made a canon character do something different. I actually like people who can tweak Canon characters a bit. I look for people who have experience with roleplaying that character because I know I sure as hell don't. I don't want to give up looking for OC x Canon, but I also don't want to feel like I'm obligated to double if romance is involved, because like I said before, my plots are usually short story based between only those two characters. It's just frustrating honestly. I kind of feel like just because I prefer to roleplay a certain way, and I can't do all of this other attention-grabbing complex stuff, that I'm not worth roleplaying with and it hurts and it pushes me away from wanting to get better.
 
There will always be someone out there who will want to play a canon character for you without doubling.
You just might not find them in traditional search thread ways. That's all I'm saying.

Good luck with your search.
Good vibes only~
 
I think Idea gave you some pretty concrete advice/suggestions. RP is supposed to be a fun pastime, yes, but sometimes it takes work, effort and patience in finding someone you click with when you narrow your own playing field.

Take some advice to better yourself and stay positive. I know you’re going through a hard time right now but most players don’t want to see signs of negativity from a potential writing partner.
 

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