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Ah, here we are, my pet peeve when it comes to OCs- looking angelic.
I mean, why tf do so many of the fem!OCs have 'flowing, blonde locks', or 'deep blue orbs', or 'a perfect, willowy figure'/'a body that curved in just the right places', or 'perfect skin'?
It makes no sense.
And while where's there, let's talk about how, in a majority of books I've read, the OC is white? I mean, POC, African-Americans, Africans and Asians are here on this Earth too!
Now, you might be thinking, "Addie, you hypocrite, all the people on your covers are WHITE!"
Yes, I have a lot of white OCs, and I'm not proud of that fact. But to be honest, in many characters, I just couldn't find a person with the right skin tone, so I had to go for what I had.
Moving on, let's talk about common male appearances.
The most common adjectives I've seen used are, 'tall', 'dark', 'handsome', and 'muscular'.
What happened to skinny boys? Boys who don't look like they work out for hours everyday? THEY EXIST TOO!
Please, make your OCs more realistic. Not all teenagers are supermodels. How about giving your character some acne, out of proportion body, stretch marks, or freckles? Maybe even give them a little self consciousness about their appearance? Being a teenager means you've compared yourself to others and felt bad about how you look at least once in your life.
And if you deny that, then, well, either you're lying or you look so good ( Or think that you look better that everyone else ) that you don't feel the need to bring yourself down because people always seem to look so much better than you.
As Olivia Rodrigo puts it, "Their beauty's not my lack, but it feels like that."
Let's all make a list of things you can give your OCs to make them seem like human, and comment if you think I missed any.
1. Acne- Pimples are common to teenagers, so you can give them acne outbreaks across their face or just a few pimples here and there.
2. Stretch marks- Stretch marks come into being when the body grows too quickly, like when you get a growth spurt or get pregnant, and the skin is stretched out. These stretches show in the form red, vein like things on the skin that rise up slightly.
3. Out of proportion body- During the teenage years, we're all growing, and not all body parts grow at the same pace. By the time full growth is achieved, however, the body will be proportionate.
4. Freckles- I think we all know about freckles, and we also know how people are teased for them. So, maybe give them a dusting of freckles across their nose and cheeks, or all over their face in general?
5. Overweight/Underweight: Y'all, fat shaming and skinny shaming exist, and you can make those one of the few problems your OC faces. Maybe give them, in case of a female, POCS ( Polycystic Ovary Syndrome, it causes irregularities in the menstrual cycle ( We'll have a whole chapter on this ), excess hair growth, and obesity ) or make them over weight and underweight, because not all girls have to be size twos or threes.
6. Other skin problems: People on this planet do not have flawless skin. Many people do have skin problems such as rosacea, vitiligo, eczema, so please integrate them into your OC. It'll be a first in all the stories I've read, a person with skin problems.
That's all I can think of for now. If you comment any other thing I can add, I'll look into it and add a section on that as well.
I hope this chapter helped, next one will be: No matter what, Hamartia is a must.
