Original Characters

I've been a member of the My Little Pony Friendship is magic fandom since this summer and have noticed that there is an irrational hatred of OCs present.  In a fandom which will give detailed personalities and backstories to ponies that never utter a single line they seem to have a kneejerk reaction against OCs.  As a disclaimer I know that I'm not that good of a pony artist yet, and yes my OCs are artistically subpar.   I could use improvement on that front.   But what I'm talking about is the general idea in fandom that OCs are worthless wastes of effort.  Now I will briefly invoke tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php… law.  90% of anything is crud.   The thing is that applies to all art, regardless of the subject.   Those who have seen my Luna drawing know that it isn't much better than my other drawings, being slightly out of proportion, and with inconsistent lines.  

The main argument against the creation of characters usually boil down to 1) They break the rules of the universe and 2) they take attention away from the canon mane cast.  To the first I say that most OCs I have noticed have nothing that seems like it would break the rules of the universe, most are ordinary ponies with ordinary talents, there are very few OCs that are too dark to fit in the setting, and according to mlp-fim.deviantart.com/ the poll of the largest FIM fan poll on the subject, that most OCs completely fit into canon (despite a 9% alicorn rate).  In a show like FIM there are other ponies allowed to have all ranges of talents, so my definition all characters are mostly defined by skills, OCs aren't much different.  As for the second point.  Friendship is Magic is rightfully praised for its well developed characters, all believably flawed and rounded which still having admirable traits.  I can understand why people are drawn to care about them.  But the fact is that FIM has created a vast setting far wider than just the scope of Ponyville, and there are subject matter the show will probably never get into unless there's a major change in direction.  The history of Equestria, its politics, the homeland of the zebra people.  There's a lot that hasn't been explored in canon and will probably never be explored.  In order to really look into those categories you need OCs.  I for example am in the process of writing a fan fiction exploring the justice system of Canterlot, what happens when ponies commit crimes?  How do forensics work in a world which is powered by magic rather than science, and where it's possible to kill somepony without even touching them?  What about the dynamics of cities of of a single type of pony rather than a small community that contains all three types of pony?  Is it really likely that said scenario can arise using JUST the previously established cast? I'm not saying that there's anything wrong with writing the show with canon characters with a plot that is possible to occur on the show itself.  It's just doing so is limiting, and there's a lot that can't be done with that.  As for the OCs that interact with the mane cast on their own ground, Why is that different from a previously unestablished character (like Luna) interacting with them?  If Derpy were to gain a personality and interact with the MC why would that be any different from just writing in a new character into the fan fic?

The main reason that OCs seem to be disliked in this fandom is that there are indisputably a lot of them and many are just pony versions of the artist.  But there are three reasons for that and those reasons are similar to what makes up like the show in the first place. 1) The artstyle is simple, colorful, and clean.  2) There are many ways to make a pony distinct (both by pony type and by the cutie mark) and 3)  Equestria is a place that's idealistic and very different from our own world.  Why is it so terrible that someone wants to draw themselves as a pony, trying their best to capture the spirit of the shows simple design and wondering what their place would be in a world like this?   If the art is bad, sure that's one thing, but why is the idea of art centered around non-canon ponies a problem?   The thing is quality standards more than anything else, good strict standards and useful criticism for those who don't meet those standards.  If most OCs are crappy how about advice for the beginners that can only draw crappy OCs?   This is my stance on this issue, and I'm honestly driven to improve my originals, and write a story that couldn't be told in canon with them.