I see you write ocs, what can I do with a Mary Sue oc that makes it less cringe lol?
Hi! I do, and I do have a small bit of advice.
Basically, you need to meet 2 points
You can meet 1 by giving them genuine, relevant reasons for why they're like that.
So if theyre stupidly OP with a shit ton of powers (based btw), tell your fans: why? Do they have a reason for learning all those powers? Do they use them all at least once, or are there reasons why they dont use them all?
If theyre the type who everyone likes no matter what, why is that? Are they charismatic all the time, are they just always that nice, are they a people pleaser, are they lying, and why is this relevant? Does it help them progress? Does it attract bad people? Do they have to go alone at some point and realise how hard things are without their friends? Do they have to be hard on people sometimes, or maybe even their likability hurts others in some way and they have to fix it?
If they're the type to have a bunch of trauma, why is it all on them? Are they an easy target, or do others know about all their past trauma and use it against them? Does any of it happen in your story or does it all happen before? Maybe they have to push past that trauma or they'll fail, maybe they have even physical effects from what they've been through.
If theyre the type with a lot of hybrid species, why? Can they use this to their advantage? How do the characters they work with react? Is it normal in your world or not? Do they have any instincts or needs that might hinder them where normal people would not?
And you can meet 2 by giving their details depth.
Do their powers drain them? Do they experience symptoms of powers that clash? Are there easier ones that aren't useful and harder ones that they have to use a lot? How do they refuel their powers, and is it harder with a bunch of different ones? Maybe they have to pick one to refuel, maybe if they overuse certain ones and underused others, they can even lose them.
If everyone likes them, how do they handle it? Do they like it or not? Why? Do they try to change it in any way? Does it put pressure on them? Maybe they have conflicting friendships and they have to choose sometimes, how do they handle that? How do the rare people, if any, who dont like them, react to their popularity?
If they have a crap ton of trauma, what does it do to them? Think of their trauma responses affecting their normal day to day life, not just their plot points. Think of what scars they might have, physical or mental. Maybe it affects how they present, and maybe their inner self is different.
If they have a lot of species combined in them, maybe this hurts because its not supposed to be like that, maybe they have conflicting needs between some species. Are they happy woth their species? Maybe they get dysphoric about it, maybe they even wish they had more hybrid parts, consider why and what they want to do about it.
I cant think of anything else off the top of my head but if you want more, ask. Love talking about OC stuff lol
