Do you mean in a series set in the same continuity, or across unrelated stories? I can only recall running across any examples of the former, but Nanoochka trained me to want them burned and salted.

I can think of precious few OCs who were carefully crafted and engaging enough that I wanted to see them the first time, let alone tolerate repeated appearances. Of course, I tend not to torment myself by reading authors who indulge themselves this way by returning to their troughs. I can think of at least one OC that I thoroughly enjoyed from a favorite author, that I would be delighted to find elsewhere in her oeuvre. Of course, that author has skill and discipline enough to cast any given scene only with essential personnel. So if any of her OCs reappeared it would be for good cause and I would enjoy them.

Do you mean in a series set in the same continuity, or across unrelated stories? I can only recall running across any examples of the former, but Nanoochka trained me to want them burned and salted.

I'm not clear. He's all over this story--the summary is that an infant Cas is joined to the Winchester family, but to this point it's all about Jet. But if I see him in a summary, I bolt. I'm fairly sure it's not the same continuity because this is the first story I've seen where Cas grew up with the boys. I think he just gets dropped into all the stories.

And...Jet? Really? Was Jeff taken?

Nanoochka trained me to want them burned and salted.

Man, I never finished that. Talk about a "I can write a character better than Kripke and his pals" ire-inducing WIP.

In theory, I swear, I don't mind them. But the SPN world is so massive that if you want good, bad, good turned bad, bad turned good good seeming bad bad seeming good, someone (probably of either gender) they're out there for you.

Yet people marry Jo to Crowley and make him a good guy...might as well be OC at that point.

Hmmm. I've created a few OCs for "It's Already Here"(Hans and Anna's children) and the plan is to have them survive, so they could theoretically reappear in future stories set in the the same universe. But I wouldn't write a story focusing on them without having built up a lot of fannish goodwill towards them in particular and my writing in general.

Here's an explanation of her OC: [link]

OC kidlets make total sense. OC friends feel--it's not quite Mary Sue, but still.

I wished AO3 allowed two more things--author notes, so I know who to stay away from, and messaging.

I make up minor ones, waiters and bookstore clerks and whatever and try to make them a little interesting, but I do figure that people don't read fanfiction to read me(at least, not yet)

Oh! I just realized I've seen a bunch of Teen Wolf fics (across multiple authors, no less) where Stiles has the same twin brother. I've never actually read any of them, because I could hear Dick Tufeld's voice yelling "DANGER, WILL ROBINSON! DANGER!" in my head as I looked over the tags.

I like Scifigrl47s OCs, but generally speaking I rarely find OCs add much to the narrative.

chrismg, your OCs in "It's Already Here" are working very well. They ARE actually important to the story, as it is crafted. So there is little danger of them being silly and intrusive Mary Sues/Marty Stus. I must say I am so taken with the way you write Regina, especially, that she may well be overshadowing how I perceive any OC. But if you craft them as carefully as you keep Regina in character, then I will welcome them any time, in any story you care to put them in. Whereas that OC description that ita just gave the link to... total author self-insertion.