Anhrefn and DH's guide to OCing

[Scottish9]

Heyo plebians, what's up?

Dee, I'm fairly sure that's not how you're supposed to speak to potential readers....

Fight me, Anhrefn.

*sigh*. Hello! Welcome to "Anhrefn and DH's guide to OCing", a character guidepost made by Scottish9 and hosted by DH and Myself!
Now, you may be wondering; who the heck are we?

We are two of Scottish's OCs! I, DH, am Kirin-type creature. I'm sassy and proud of it.

And I am Anhrefn. I am an alien species, but I've been told I look similar to the creatures earth-people call dragons?

Yeah, dragons. And she's deaf.

...Thank you, Dee. Now, you may also be wondering what this is about. Well, We will be doing two kinds of reviews. The first kind is when we pull an OC (usually a jokesue or something similar) from the internet and critique it for your learning benefit.

The second is when you PM Scottish an OC of your own for us to critique!

Now don't worry, we'll be nice in our critique of your guys' OCs. However, we'll give you the truth and no sugar-coating.

You have been warned! Mwuahahahaha!

...Was that necessary?




~~~~~~~~~~~

Yep! This is where two of my OCs, Windgon Anhrefn and 'Kirin' DH, rate your OCs and use unknown OCs as models! They, and I, have a few rules.

~Please be nice. No cussing, no hating, and no complaining about the critiques.
~DH's text is in red, and Anhrefn's is in blue
~Enjoy! Feel free to post on here with suggestions!

~~~~~~~~~~~

OC submission form
If you want Anhrefn and DH to critique an OC of yours, just send in this form to my inbox!

Code: Select all

Username (will be removed at your request from here):
OC image:
OC name:
Age:
Gender:
Positive traits:
Negative traits:
Personality:
Likes:
Dislikes:
Fears:
Triggers:
Calming agents:
Backstory:
Relationships:
Quirks/flaws/powers:
Other:

[Scottish9]

Ok, well, the internet hates us. We don't wanna pull any copyrighted materials and we don't wanna torture ourselves by deliberately making Mary-Sues...

So we just decided to outline some general points that apply to all/most OCs.

Anyways, here goes!

Section one: Colors/appearances

1. RAINBOWS

Rainbows are just too colorful and busy to have any real place in a character's fur/skin. This are a huge MS indicator

2. Black/red are main colors

Another big indicator. This means the character is trying to hard to be edgy. Never works out well. Fun fact!
DH used to have a red base, but now she's a nice cremello.

Fight me, Anhrefn

No

3. Scars, tattoos, and accessories

It's fine to have one or two, but if there's a bunch, you're trying too hard to be edgy/cutesy/whatever. The last doesn't really apply to humanoid OCs.

4. Rare colors
These would be blonde/ginger hair and green eyes in humans, and coat colors like albino/black/etc. in animals.
They're rare for a reason; not many have them! If you want an OC that truly makes sense, give him/her a sensible color scheme.

5. "The most___"
Your character is NOT the most pretty/curvaceous/charming/whatever. So don't make them so! Sure, he/she is still pretty, but beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Nobody will ever be the best.

6. Mix it up
Or don't. Hybrids are cool and all, but they're rare and are bound to have problems due to incompatible gene combinations. Being a hybrid isn't just a ticket to cool.

7. Copycat
I will be forced to dismember you if you make your character a copy of a canon character in its fandom.

Dee!

What? It's the truth!

8. Age

There are sooooooo many teen/young adult OCs.

Too many. Mix up the ages!

Section two: Names

1. Nonsense names
Now, this doesn't mean that every character has to be named John or Sally. But don't name your character something like Kiolane, which is made up (hopefully).

2. Name meanings
Yes, Scottish was slightly guilty of this when naming me. In case you're wondering, Anhrefn means disorder in Welsh. But Your character's personality was unknown (most likely) when he/she was named, so don't give a name that exactly reflects the personality.

Bro, you are NOT chaotic. I think your name is ironic.

Section 3: Personality

1. If the shoe fits...
Please, do not make your character's clothing go as a DIRECT clash to their personality. If he/she is shy, the wardrobe is probably gonna have darkish, baggy clothing.

2. Balancing act
Balance your character's good traits with the bad. I think Scottish goes 3-on-3, so 3 good and 3 bad, for starts.
Also, steer away from the cliche combinations and don't be afraid of neutral variants of traits.

3. Branch out
Don't be afraid of the thesaurus! It might give you personality words that sum up your character more than the stereotypical descriptions do.

4. Paradox
Such as the classic "Nice, but can be mean at times".

I get it. Get someone angry enough, and they'll act in ways they normally wouldn't. But that's NOT their normal personality. It's them reacting to a situation.

Having two traits in a personality that clash directly just makes no sense, so don't do it.

Section 4: Backstory

1. Death and Destruction

Don't make the backstory a total tear-jerker. I've seen some where I've thought "is it even possible for that many catastrophes to happen to a being in 14 years of life?" Don't go there.

2. Disabled
We need more disabled characters, or honestly, just more characters with flaws!

[Scottish9]

Ok, we have a confession to make.

We haven't gotten any requests for character critique, so we just decided that for now, we'd delve beyond the points we last outlined and talk about certain breeds/species/fandoms.

First up: Dogs!

Man's best friend, and arguably the most popular RP genre out there. Almost everyone has a dog OC or three.

But a lot of people are making some errors in the making of their dog OCs.

So let's get to it!

1. To spay or not to spay

It seems to me that every dog OC these days is intact. While there's nothing wrong with an intact dog, sometimes they are not the most RP-appropriate OCs.

You need to consider the context of the RP. If it's a post-apocalyptic feral dog RP, then be all means have an intact character!

But if it's an RP with humans present and active in the RP's universe, more than one dog will be sterile.

Of course, you can always have an intact dog as an OC and just switch their status to sterilized if apporpriate.

2. Which breed?

I'm gonna attempt to list the most common/popular breeds for OCs
~Huskies/malamutes
~GSD
~Australian shepherd
~Akitas/Shibas
~honestly, any big breed or breed with pointy ears/wolfish characteristics

Where are the small breeds? The breeds with lop ears? Honestly, the RP community draws from such a small pool of breeds, when there are so many to choose from!

Calm down, Dee. What I recommend is looking up rare/unknown dog breeds and finding one that strikes your fancy.

Or you could use your pet dog's breed/mix as your OC. Scottish does that with her Scottish Terrier OC, Mac.
I have noticed more people doing this, so kudos to you!

3. Through the Ages

Here's a quick dog life cycle, for you guys. Bigger dogs are slower to mature, but die younger.
~0-2 months - dependent on mother.
~2-6 months - weaned, still a puppy
~6-12 or 18 months, depending on breed - adolescent, going though puberty. Is sexually mature at 12-18 months
~18 months - 4 to 7 years, depending on breed - young adult. Begins slowing down towards latter years of this stage.
~5-8 to 10 years - middle aged. Slower
~9 to death - elderly

[Scottish9]

A big thank you to cosmic-quark for letting us critique his/her OC!

Yeah! You can find the OC here!

Now, let's get this party started!

...I can't believe I just heard you say that...

Ooh! Before we get too deep into this, we just wanna say that this is an angel OC, and neither us, or Scottish, or any of Scottish's other OCs have had much experience with angels. Sooooo, take this with a grain of salt if necessary!

1. Name: Sarakiel

Ok, I do know that a lot of the non-archangel angels have names ending with -iel. So, this name seems perfectly in line with that.

Plus, her nickname Sara can help her go less noticed in human society.

Species: Angel

I really have no opinion, good or bad. However, I have not seen many actual angel OCs. Not to be confused with angel characters made up for a specific RP.

Gender: Currently female

Do angels gender-shift? I suppose they can, as angels are effectively spirits and spirits often have no gender...

Appearance: 5'6", pale and angular. Green eyes and shoulder-length red hair.

Ok, I'll deal with the hair and eyes. First off, thank you for going with red here. Red hair may be rare naturally, but I don't think I've seen it even once among OCs.

That being said, you have missed a key element to the red-hair-green-eyes ensemble. It is genetically impossible to have red hair and green eyes without having facial freckles. And while she is an angel, I would suggest giving her a few freckles to help her blend in more.

I like the words used to describe her physique. So often, females are described as 'curvy' or 'slim' or other such words that denote a large bust and hips. Frankly, this bugs me. But you used angular, which gives me a better image of what she looks like. So kudos!

Outfit: Black tank top, forest green jacket, brown boots, angelic blade.

Ok, I want her outfit.

You can't wear it, Anh. You're like the size of a large horse!

But I do! It's simple, practical, and very neat-looking!

Ok, I agree. But maybe stow the blade? You might scare an earthling.

Personality: NOT an angel, fascination with humans

Ok, I got confused. Why use angel in all her bio, then say she is not?

But interesting backstory on 'angels' and their aloofness.

I feel like her fascination might be a bit cliche, as a lot of people have supernatural OCs that show a fascination with humans. This also reinforces DH's point of putting her knife away.

Ok, here are her traits: determined, strong-willed, almost overconfident, inexperienced with humans, utilitarian,
coldly logical.

Well, I laughed at the 'inexperienced with humans' part! That does away with some of the cliche I pointed out regarding her fascination.

The overconfidence makes for a nice fault, and one I haven't seen too often.

The strong-willed/determined combination is a frequent sight and thus a bit cliche, but many people and animals have this in real life. So it's not terrible.

But I have some issues with the utilitarian/cold-logic combo. You see, many people who are one of those traits do not possess the other. They are paradoxes that I honestly can't see working together.

Sexuality: pan

This screams cliche to me. Almost every OC I see these days are Bi or Pan.

Setting: angelverse

Don't angels live in heaven? And don't forget to include earth!

Backstory: Conflict with Melanie over goals/motivation, learns to focus on details as well as overall big image, feels guilty after demon's death, discover's friend's guilty secret and sees the world is more gray than anything, thrown from home, learns to cope with the 'stripping' and love, regains power.

Ok, this is quite the history. I have some issues with the ending wrapping everything up so neatly.

Why?!

I like sloppy endings. Besides, I didn't think it was possible for a fallen angel to regain its powers.

But seriously, rarely does a story have such a neat ending.

However, I like her long path to realization that the world is a gray-toned mess and that we often DO have to do questionable things.

So, overall: good looks and decent personality/backstory. I like this character!

[Scottish9]

We're Baaaaaaaacccckkkkkkk!!

Hey there guys! Welcome back! Again, thank you to cosmic-quark for our first critique session!

Now, we've actually gotten a How-to request! ~Glaceon~ asked us for a Warriors guide.

Tell the truth though, we don't know too much about Warriors other than they're cats with coded names and the medics have to be single forever.

So we figured "why not just make this a general Cat OC guide?" Warriors are cats, so it shouldn't be too difficult to apply this to your Warrior OC!

Anyways, bombs away!

1. Pick your breed

I have seen a lot of just generic cat OCs out there. They seem to be some sort of American shorthair/tabby cat.

But there are sooo many neat cat breeds out there! Scottish fold, Siamese, Mesopotamian Blue, and so many more!

Once again, Google 'cool cat breeds' and maybe choose one you like!

However, generic cats ARE the norm when they are living the feral life. So choose what we've said based on where your cat comes from. Heck, maybe a second-gen hybrid would be cool!

2. Spay and neuter?

See our discussion in the dog guide about spaying and neutering. This especially applies to 'kittypets' in the Warriors fandom.

3. Eyes

Save for a few breeds (Siamese, Tonkinese, etc. And white cats), most cats have green/hazel/yellowish eyes.
Blue just isn't very common. Neither are odd eyes.

Ooh! And if your cat has odd eyes, most of the time, one is blue.

And the ear on the side with the blue eye is usually DEAF. This is because most odd-eyed cats are white and white cats have issues.

4. Names

Ok, we actually do know a bit about Warriors names.

Don't name after their eyes! Kittens, like most animals born in litters, are born with eyes sealed shut. They open some time after birth, but are always blue. Pigmentation comes even later, too late for a naming.

Also, names on a cat's backstory, birthplace, or events surrounding birth are frowned upon.

Essentially, you should name a cat for physical traits it displays in infancy, or sometimes; its disposition or skills.

5. Fur

Ok, we're assuming you're going with some unknown cat mix if you're reading this part.

If you're going with a purebred cat or a known hybrid, find its breed(s) and make the coat color accordingly.

White marks are a good way to go if you want some acceptable originality to add to your bland-looking mackerel tabby tom. Remember though, bottom-up when it comes to white!

This means white normally starts near the paws and goes up.

Also remember, tortoiseshell tabby marks are almost exclusively female. If a tom has them, he is 99% likely to be infertile. That's just how the genes work on the sex chromosomes (XX for females and XY for males. The Y has hardly any genes,
which complicates things for fellas at times as the X's genes would easily dominate.)

And cats with pure white fur? 99% of the time, they have only blue eyes, and more oft than not will be deaf.
Because white genes suck, making them likely to have fun stuff like cancer and sunburn!

[Scottish9]

Still nothing. We're always open for guide requests/OC critiques! Just shoot Scottish9 a PM!

That folks, has been your advertising for the day. Let's move on.

I really hate you sometimes, Dee.

We've decided to add 'Make your case' to our repertoire. 'Make your case' is when we put an unknown/unloved breed or species or type or whatever in the spotlight and state why we think it'd make a good OC!

Since it's objective, these cannot be requested, unless we haven't done one in a while and you PM 'do another make your case!'. We pick the critter and reasons.

Today's subject is the Scottish terrier!

Here is a link to some info if you want it (click),
but we encourage you to do your own research as always.

Let's go!

1. Looks and colors

Quick, name the colors that everyone thinks Scotties come in!

Uh, black.

This is not the case with Scottish terriers! Yes, the icons and iconic Scots are all shown as black/dark gray, but Scottish come in many more colors!

Here is a complete list:
~classic black
~wheaten. this can be near-chocolate, fiery, ginger, straw, corn-silk, and nearly white. Never pure white, however.
~brindle. Often a dark base white wheaten coloring mixed in as streaks and flecks. Makes for some neat patterns. It's hard to describe, so look it up!
~Iron gray. These are weird, and they often look like lighter versions of their black siblings, with some frosted tip action.

Also, the nigh-unheard of throwback coloring! Look it up; it's essentially a Scot with patches of white and black, often a black head and mainly-white body.

And Scottish terriers can have markings! These often occur on black or brindle individuals and take the form of concentrated patches of wheaten. They often occur on the face (beard especially), chest/belly, and shoulder area. They look like piebalds!

So even though Scottish terriers always have brown eyes and black noses, this gives you plenty of options to make a unique Scot.

Fur color aside, Scottish terriers just look like little fluffy balls of anger. They have glorious floof on their legs/sides, eyebrows, and muzzle, but this can be trimmed short to make a more rugged dog. And their eyebrows move with their moods!

They may be short, but their perky tails and ears make them look so cute!

2. Combat capabilities

A lot of people want dog OCs that can hold their own in a fight. Let's lay out the five points of Scottie combat,
shall we, Anh?

Yep. Number one: their jaws.

Scottish9 has some Scottish terriers, and her next-door neighbor had a GSD (RIP Honeybear). One day, she and the neighbor compared her Scotties' teeth and jaws to the GSD. The verdict? Inch for inch, Scottish terriers have as big a jaw and teeth as GSDs. That's a lot of power for a terrier, and the Scottie knows how to use it. Those teeth can do some real damage. Scottish has seen it, and she says it's not pretty.

Number two: their stature

This may seem like a disadvantage, but Scotties are very hard dogs to tip over. Their low center of gravity keeps them grounded and solid as a rock. Any dog looking to flip them is gonna find his nose in a steel grip of toothy pain.

Number three: their high muscle content

Scottish terriers were bred to fight badgers, animals as big or bigger than them. Thus, they were developed to be little balls of muscle. And they still are. Mac can easily pull around his own weight (30 pounds) and much more. Not a scrap of fat on a well-kept Scot, and they're tough as nails.

Number four: Their attitude

Terriers are the only AKC group that is recognized as having a group task of actually killing vermin. Thus, they have a high kill drive and will rise to any challenge. They are tough and will stand their ground against all odds. They also have very keen senses to track quarry.

Number five: their fur

Scottish terriers have a tough-to-pierce double coat, and their thick, long fur often resides around vital areas such as the neck,
face, chest, and legs. It is difficult to actually do any harm to a Scottie by biting it due to these factors.

[Scottish9]

...Well, this one ought to be rich. Scottish says coyotes are the next on the docket.

Ooh, I love coyotes! Let's go!

Number one: They are just as socially-oriented as wolves.

Ok, so coyotes have kind of a basic pack structure. The Alpha pair (normally the only breeding pair) builds and runs the pack, and their youngest litter and a few more (sometimes as many as 12!) adult coyotes live under them. There are usually a couple Betas, who are the Alphas' grown pups that babysit and watch the borders. The rest are unrelated adults.

Obviously, they have a territory they defend from outsiders and the subs help hunt. Packs often get rearranged in the fall, when most pups leave (save for the Betas), recently-evicted pups make or take packs, and wanderers try and join existing packs.

Territory size is much smaller than a wolf's, so if you made an RP with coyotes, conflict would be much more imminent. Also adding to the drama is the fact that there are many more lone (and seeking) coyotes than there are lone wolves.
They are called rouge pairs (mates) and nomads (singles). And while they often avoid each other, in winter, loners create loose bands and pose a real threat to established packs.

Number two: There are 19 subspecies. That's a lot of color, build, and marking options to choose from. they also have a wide range, so any setting within the American continents is ok!

Number three: These are powerful predators. They can run up to 43 mph (roadrunner can only do 25, so yes,
your childhood is a lie) and they work in packs to bring down everything from the fleet jackrabbit to the mighty Mule deer and even Mustang! They also work with badgers to hunt ground prey. Badgers dig it up and coyotes run it down.

Coyotes get a bad rep for being cowardly scavengers that steal your leftovers and eat your outdoor cat. Honestly,
any predator in the area will do that - cougar, bear, feral dog, and even wolf. True, coyotes will eat just about anything they can get into their mouths, but still.

Number four: Coyotes don't destroy the environment.

You'd better not shoot Scottish9 any angry PMs over this. Sorry, but these facts and incidents are true and witnessed by her.
You can hold your own opinion about wolves, but the facts speak.

Wolves have trashed Scottish's home. Deer and elk were plentiful before wolves invaded her state (and while coyotes were abundant), and farmers of cattle flourished. Nowadays, deer and elk are scarce, and the farmers suffer. Wolves even go after humans; Scottish once had a very scary run in with a just-beginning-to-hunt wolf pup.

The coyotes kept the balance. the wolves destroyed it. This is the same in Yellowstone, Oregon, and elsewhere.

Number five: Coyotes have the largest amount of vocalizations of any American mammal (no wonder their scientific name translates out to Song Dog!). Grand tally: 11!

Number six: The Coyote is prominent in Native American folklore, possibly more so than any other animal. That would make for a cool power-OC plot.

[Scottish9]

Guess we're on our own again, Anh

Yep, still no requests. Bummer.

Anyways, today's deal is a guide! To what, you may ask? Horses!

After dogs and cats, horses might be the most popular species for an OC. And why not? They're gorgeous and iconic,
and more than a few of you have probably ridden one (or maybe even own one!)

So let's get to it!

1. Breed

There are so many horse breeds out there, from the minuscule Falabella to the towering Shire, from the dainty Arab to the versatile Quarter Horse. It can be very hard to choose just one (or a specific mix)!

But it would be to your benefit to choose what breed/mix your horse is from the start. This not only gives you an appropriate build, but it helps you choose accepted colors/markings. For example, Friesians mainly come in black, or rarely chestnut, and a small star is the only white mark.

2. Build

Once you've chosen a breed, choose a build that is accepted for the breed. If it's a mix, choose a mid-way build.

3. Colors

The most common colors will be black or some variant of chestnut or bay. Black is black all over, chestnut is a kind of red-brown all over, and bay is a darker red-brown with black lower legs, muzzle, mane, and tail. Gray genes make these colors gradually fade to white

The cream gene (which gives cremello, palomino, and the likes) the dun gene (which gives dun, buckskin, and the like) and the silver gene are all very rare. Don't really go here.

Horse genes are a huge mess, with dilutions, extensions, amber/pearl genes, and more. Feel free to do your own research!

4. Markings

Ahh, here we go. Markings!

Body markings:
White: If white is over the eyes, the eyes are blue
Tobiano is a common paint marking that flows from the top down.
Sabino is another paint mark that goes from the bottom up. Often less clear-cut than Tobiano
Overo is often called Frame Overo because the white is 'framed' by the base color.
Rabicano is whitish roan on the underbelly
Splash white is a touchy beast and can look like anything. Often produces mostly-white or medicine-cap horses. Often on legs and face
Appaloosa is also touchy. They can be blanket or snowcap (white centered around hips, can just be solid white or spotted) or just generally white-spotted. Not to be confused with birdcatcher
Birdcatcher is a few random white spots

Colored markings:
Leopard appaloosa has dark spots on a white base
Bend-Or has dark spots on a dark base. Softer than appaloosa
Brindle is very rare, and is faint striping of a lighter version of the base
Primitive markings show up in dun horses, and include eel/dorsal stripes, darker muzzle, and striping on upper legs
Piebald is essentially reverse splash white

Hoof/leg markings - these make the hooves paler than normal
Stockings are high white marks that go to about the knee/hock, sometimes higher or lower
Socks are white marks that go higher than the fetlock, but sometimes just to it.
Pastern is a mark that stops below the fetlock
Coronet goes just barely above the hoof (a thin white band)

Face markings - these can be altered by paint markings
Blaze is a wide white stripe on the face
Stripe is essentially a narrower blaze
Bald face is a wide blaze that goes to or past the eyes, making blue eyes.
Star is a white mark around between the eyes
Snip is a star between the nostrils
These can be connected, broken, skewed, or crooked