User blog:Shadowed Crystal/Heeey, let's talk about OCs and how to prevent making a perfect pretty!

So, guys, remember that new rule about in-depth cats?

Wellll

I'm making a guide on good OCs and how to avoid making them a mary-sue/gary-stu because I'm as crazy and hell and I obsess over characters with novels for personalities !

Appearance––
Don't get me wrong, a short description is okay when you're filling out the form when making your cat. However, try to keep it realistic; cats do not have rainbow eyes or absurd fur colors like violet or green. I know most of you guys already know this, but try to remember it when you're making one.

Cats may appear to be attractive or handsome in appearance, and they won't be marked as "perfect" for it. However, don't make them like Spottedleaf, with the absurd, flawless details and eyes like "clear, shining day"! If you do, at least make them completely different in personality to keep balance.

Another thing about appearance: multi-colored eyes are rare. They're not impossible, but most of the time, WHITE cats are the one with those type of eyes, and that's because of their EPISTATIC WHITE GENE. Bi-colored cats, or tuxedos, have different colored eyes because of the WHITE SPOTTING GENE, which prevents the pigment from reaching one eye. White cats with two different colored eyes may sometimes go deaf in one year as they age, but it's not common. The Japanese Bobtail are usually CALICO if they have two different colored eyes, so please, keep that in note if you're making that type of cat.

Personality––
Kay, this is the thing I most want to talk about.

Remember that this is WARRIORS, where cats have HUMAN personalities. "Brave, kind, loyal, sociable, and loving" does not cut it! Think about humans when you're making this. Are you flawless? No! Do the same for the cats. Make them develop as they age, make them have flaws, make them humane.

Yes, you can have a lot of good traits for the cat, but remember that there needs to be balance in the order. S/he may be "kind, loving, and smart", but maybe s/he can also be "passive, insecure, and selfish". And state a reason for many of the traits- is there a reason this cat is _____? Does it have to do with their past life? Don't make them stay the same as they grow; we develop and grow wiser as we age, no? They can grow up to be more aggressive or reserved or whatever as they grow, just make their personalities develop.

Don't make your cats like "S/he is kind, loving, brave, and smart. Every she-cat/tom loves her, and s/he can make friends with everyone and everything! S/he loves peace, and everyone looks up to him/her for it. S/he is soft, but s/he will be vicious and strong in battle". Let me repeat it: do NOT make your cat like that. That is an obvious sign of mary-sue/gary-stu, especially if that's all you have for your cat. And don't add petty little flaws to your cat like "s/he can be too strong in battle, and ends up killing a cat on accident". That's silly. Very, very, silly.

Having an LGBT char also does not count as a flaw for this. Heck, cats are usually bisexual, and if there aren't any female cats in heat, the males will just do each other! Welcome to nature, guys.

Don't forget that this goes for all your other characters too, whether they'd be human or troll or whatever you want. NOBODY'S PERFECT.

History/life––
A character with a tragic background story is not considered to be a mary-sue/gary-stu, unless their personality and appearance is flawless.

There's not much to say about a character, but maybe their history could do with how their personality is. Maybe they were formerly from somewhere else and are quiet due to their insecurities about not fitting in. I don't know, do whatever you want for this, but keep it realistic. Don't make it "So and so went to a magical kingdom of dinosaurs and fairies and lived there for a period of time" or "so and so was caught in a lab experiment with his parents and gained ghost powers since his DNA got mixed with ectoplasm". Sorry to break it to you guys, but that's absurd. No matter how awesome Danny Phantom is.

Names––
Warrior cats don't have unrealistic names, unless they were formerly a kittypet or a cat outside the clans. Even then, their name would usually change, or a suffix will be added on to it, depending on how possible it is. For example, if a cat named Calliope decided to join the clan and change their name, their new name wouldn't be Calliopestarlight. It would be Elkfang or whatever, something related to nature. If a cat named Mint joined the clan, they would keep their name, and it'd probably be Mintclaw or whatever their suffix would be.

Prefixes and suffixes cannot be fantastical, like Candleblazer or Ancientruins. Cats don't know what a candle is. They don't know what to call a ruin. Keep it natural.

Eye colors also do NOT matter in this, unless an adult cat with an already decided eye color joins the clan. All kittens have BLUE EYES, not SILVER or GOLD or PLATINUM. So they wouldn't be named after their eye color if they were born in the clan, because their eye color wouldn't be decided at that point.

Skills and Abilities––
Honestly, I don't know what the Erins were thinking when they made the power of three. But either way, it was a power that StarClan itself granted to them, and it probably wouldn't happen with every other cat. That'd be godmoding. Cats do NOT have powers, and the only time they should is if they're about to save the clans from a rising Dark Forest with a bunch of un dead cats about to attack them.

Skills should be reasonable, too. Cats shouldn't be perfect at everything- maybe they're good at climbing but bad at swimming. Maybe they're fast but they're weak. There should be a chink in the armor.

This is all I can think up for now. But remember guys:

Karkat's going to kill Gamzee

Nobody is perfect. Let it be human or an alien or an animal- NOBODY IS PERFECT.

NOW DON'T BE AN IDIOT AND MAKE A MARY SUE/GARY STU.