we need to talk about self insert ocs.

but how does this affect lebron james legacy???

Aizawa is literally Horikoshi's self insert. He took the things he thinks are the worst traits of himself and put them into Aizawa. Decently closely including appearance, even! Aizawa's an extremely loved and vital-to-the-story character with a cool as hell very OP when used well power. No one says Aizawa is cringe. Why?

'Some franchises inspired me so much, i had to insert myself into it' I have NEVER felt so seen.

"Self inserts are cringe" me when I don't like having fun and experiencing whimsical joy in my life

Self insert OCS are literally what got me started as an artist, please never let anyone tell you not to interact with a fandom the way you want. <3

i feel like people don’t understand that those canon characters are just the creator’s ocs! cringe is dead! do that you want! if you’re happy, and not harming anyone, then why should you stop?

Most people don’t even connect that self inserts and sonas are the same thing. Most think self inserts are childish and poorly written, while sonas are cool and something you are encouraged to make in art challenges. It never crosses their mind that they are the exact same thing.

I view self inserts as a way to interact with comfort characters and belong to a world you love! Its a great feeling to draw those things😊

I am a fully grown woman and I will always advocate for and love any and all self inserts. They're such a fun, self indulgent method of self care and self love. It's an expression of love, both for the media we consume and for us as a person. I went through a good part of my 20s ashamed of them, because I was publicly shamed for them by a person I considered close, and man, did that ever impact me badly. I closed myself off from one of the best and healthiest creative outlets I had. The moment I got over this shame by drunkenly making a self-insert Tumblr blog I flourished, and so many people came to support me there too, loving my self inserts as much as I do. I also feel like a lot of OCs are, in a way, a mirror of the author, exploring parts of them through characters they make. It's also funny, because I have noticed a pattern where the same people who shit on self insert OCs will often consume so much reader-insert fics. Like girlie, self inserts and reader inserts are twins, siblings formed in the same cringe blaze, they are inseparable. And in the end, some of the most renowned pieces of literature, like Dante's Inferno, are self insert fanfics in the end

Don't kill the part of you that is cringe, instead kill the part of you that cringes! Make as many mary-sue over-powered awesome cool beautiful self-insert OCs as you want, it's fun to go ham and not care what other people think. Obviously if you want to make an actual story, then yeah you'll need well-developed, diverse characters, but sometimes doing stuff for fun is...fun. Don't let anybody dictate how you make your art -- HAVE FUN!!

"Some franchises inspire me so much I had to insert myself into it" is so relatable! Edit: I genuinely held myself back from showing my self insert OCs when I heard some people's general distaste for them. But now I've just let go and started to enjoy my art a lot more. It's OK to draw things just for yourself!

regardless if the art is “bad” or “cringe”, i honestly hate when people hate on people having fun. like, i understand when things are ACTUALLY problematic (like drawing CP or promoting SH behaviors), but if it isn’t harming anyone, why do people care so much? why is it “cringe” to just have fun? it may not be “cool” or “good” but who cares. if it doesn’t affect you, live and let live! especially with furries and OCs, as long as they aren’t harming anyone or promoting harmful behaviors, then it’s really not a big deal.

Any beginner artists reading this, you better go out there and make as many mary-sue, cringe, overpowered ocs as you want!

Ok, honestly I LOVE this. Deku is honestly overpowered and so is, like, pretty much everyone else, so this makes sense, it fits, and I love it.

I think it's so important for artists to be "cringe" honestly. I don't have any self-insert characters (atleast I wouldn't classify them as that) but I have many ocs for series I like and some are paired with canon characters cause.. it's fun.. why not! I love this series so much I wanted to explore it with new ideas and characters!!! I loved hearing you talk about your bnha oc, the excitement and love you have for them is incredible and reminds me a lot of how me and my sister talk about our characters together lol Anyone who finds self-inserts or fan characters annoying need to loosen up and have fun sometimes. You don't have to make any yourself but maybe just ask people about their characters and see how important they are to their creators and it'll give you a different view on characters like that in the future. All of my ocs have a piece of me in them, some are more obvious than others but I'm there in all of them, and I think that's the same for everyone who makes characters, even in movies and books.

this video healed something in me, its so refreshing to finally see someone saying that its okay to make self insert ocs and so many others agreeing in the comments :') i would absolutely love to learn more about your self insert ocs!!!

I feel like every oc has a part of their creator in them. Soooo GO WILD! Art is supposed to be FUN! Being in a fandom is supposed to be FUN!

I created my first OC while I was in elementary school. As I recall he was a perpetually upset chain smoking failed writer. When I took the drawing to school ,the first question I received was "is that a boy or a girl" this became a theme throughout my life.

I love self insert ocs! also, if a writer is young, it can be daunting the create a whole character and world for them to live in, don't make fun of young writers who make self inserts, be honest, we all started there. self inserts can also be sophisticated and deep, they don't have to be interacting with the characters in the show/book, they could just live in the world with their own life and story.

“Don’t make them op or a Mary sue!” And what if I do??? Is the cringe police gonna get me???