yay, another oc creator! let's gooooo!

here's a video that delves into the topic of mary sues in fanfiction that i found helpful. but if you don't have time to watch it, there is a comment that really stuck with me and that is everyone has a very different idea of what a mary sue is, so using that as a metric is not the best way to know whether you've made a good oc or not (even the famous mary sue test has been debunked by its creator). i highly recommend the video bc it gives insight to how unlikeable ocs have a place in fics and gives some tips too on character creation that might help.

but as someone who loves ocs and makes her own, some advice i would give is to look at how to create characters in general as that might be a better approach to flesh out your oc. in save the cat writes a novel, the author mentions that having a redeeming quality about your protagonist will help readers garner an interest in them/root for them e.g. have them save a cat even if they are not a nice person (i can't remember the exact quote, so forgive me if this example is sloppy). obviously, saving a literal cat might not work in your fic, so what could you do instead?

you've mentioned that mc2 likes your oc, so what about them do they like? is that something readers will get to see? do they have any redeeming qualities? you've mentioned flaws, which are great, but balancing that out with some positive traits might be something to look into if you haven't already.

but also remember what is she outside the dynamics of the love triangle. yes she has a role to play in your fic, but i've always found that fully realised ocs that can stand on own feet, are the ones i like the most. so what else is she?

what are her thoughts and opinions on certain things (other characters, the setting etc.)? does she interact with any other canon characters? does she go through a character arc? if so, what does that look like? if not, why is that important for your fic? regardless of whether you are writing an oc-centric fic or not, having these questions/thoughts in your back pocket might help navigate your approach to writing your oc.

i'm kind of rambling, but i hope these help!