Now let's be really honest here...

We have all seen this too many times to ignore it. 

Have you ever come across a fanfic where Elena is a manipulative bitch (excuse my language though, this happens such a lot of the times that I tend to lose my calm while writing it over and over again), Caroline is nothing more than a psychotic retard, Rebecca is a whiny wimpy brat etc etc the list could go on forever and ever and ever...

Take a deep breath...

Be calm...

Good.

Anyhow, the point is that the Out of Character syndrome or commonly referred to as the OOC syndrome is what's affecting a lot of authors on this site.

The OOC is basically when authors twist up a canon character so badly that he/she ends up as a wholly different character.

Now I am definitely not saying that you must fit characters into canon stereotypes, of course you can bend the rules here and there. But please do not bend it to such an extent that the character becomes unrecognizable.

And if I spot a story which has this problem, then all I have to say is:

Consider a few examples.

1. Damon being portrayed as a good guy. Okay, we all know Damon isn't entirely bad, he has a good side in him buried deep inside but it doesn't mean that you're going to switch his persona in half a second.

You do not possess a magic wand. Therefore, you can not do it. This is not AbraCadabra this into HocusPocus that.

Damon himself confessed to being an eternal stud. It won't take a single glance at a pretty lady for him to shift 180 degrees altogether.

No effing way.

2. Stefan full on swing in Ripper mode. I get it that he may have this teeny tiny problem over blood control and stuff but that doesn't mean that he won't do anything to stop it or try nothing to keep himself in check.

Stefan will not go down the streets of Mystic Falls draining out every single person he sees then breaking his/her neck.

No. Definitely no.

3. Caroline being a Mean Girl 2.0 with no brain at all and absolutely no human feelings. She does not have the emotional sensitivity of a radar, folks, accept it.

Caroline is one of the most underrated characters in the whole TVD fandom and she surely didn't deserve that. If you look a bit closely you will find that Caroline Forbes is vastly different from what you see her as in Wattpad books.

This thing better get fixed quick.

4. Elena being a jealous, possessive, manipulative little brat who can't stop whining and does not care at all about other people.

Please, authors, have you ever read the books?

Elena once took the hits for a stranger slave woman who was being beaten to a pulp by her master, when she and Damon went to the Dark Dimension to rescue Stefan from Shi no Shi (if you're lost on what I'm talking about then I may as well tell you that this happened in one of the chapters from the book The Return; Shadow Souls).

She is not a bitch. Case closed.

[I am not a big fan of Elena Gilbert myself but that doesn't mean I'll portray her as something which she is not. No way. If you let your personal hatred or likings bias your writing, then sorry to say, you're not a good writer].

5. Kol Mikaelson being respectable and non-flirting.

...

Is that even possible?

...

No.

6. Katherine being nice. Nice...? There was this one story I read in which Kath was practically Elena 2.0. 

And trust me, that doesn't help in anything.

Katherine Pierce is awesome the way she is. Please don't change her character because that is so not her and that makes her so less cool.

7. Alaric is not some dude looking for the love of his life, okay? He had his love and that was Isobel and later on some people like to ship him with Jenna or Caroline or some other lady I forgot what her name was, Jo maybe (I might be wrong though, don't really remember her)... 

But please he's a freaking history teacher and he does not have the kind of character to get attracted to some random OC just because she's half his age and tries to be all mature and antique loving. 

No. 

No. 

No. 

8. Jeremy Gilbert... How do I even begin to describe the injustice done to him? True he is Elena's brother and you all naturally expect him to be cool and cute and super nice but... 

Bam! Reality Check!

Jeremy is a disturbed soul. He has suicidal thoughts, gets depressed easily, blames himself for everything and is pretty much downcast until he turns into a Vampire Hunter.

So if anyone is going to portray him as a gansta sort of high school student who does drugs on purpose and is some internal mafia kinda bad boy...

Then I might just have to move on from it.

9. Kai Parker was a psycho/sociopath who doesn't know how to experience emotions. He has been devoid of love and stuff like that so he probably won't fling himself at a beautiful girl he just met.

Enough said.

10. Enzo was typically quite badly pissed off at Damon for leaving him to burn in the fire at Augustine. Damn, he hated him. 

So you can not write a chapter where Enzo meets Damon, both look into each other's eyes, see the brotherly feels and hug each other like old friends.

Hell, no.

Enzo keeps grudges so him being friends with Damon again would require a lot of time, effort and convincing.

Even in the fictional world not everything can be shiny glittery or lovey dovey at first sight.

11. JENNA SOMMERS IS NOT AN ABUSIVE AUNT/MOTHER. NO F*CKING WAY.

I can't even...

Whatever...

Deep breaths...

I think this chapter is driving me wrecked...

Okay... 

So she isn't abusive. She can not be abusive. She is the Molly Weasley of the TVD fandom. 

Jenna is simply not like that. In the whole series she is the most caring, understanding and motherly person.

So she doesn't abuse Elena.

Nor Jeremy.

Nor any other OC.

Flat no.

12. Matt Donovan stealing girls... No effing way.

Matt is this cinnamon roll/smol bean/whatever adjective you use to describe a harmless innocent person. He is the least likely of the whole TVD universe to go out on a stealing girls spree.

Nope, not happening.

13. Tyler Lockwood might be an ignorant, arrogant, perverted bully/bad boy but he is not the villain of the series. Mostly Tyler was controlled by Klaus so you guys know who the real villain is. 

Tyler portrayed as a hardcore villain who will do anything (slit throats/break bones/kill/torture) to achieve his target is so wrong.

He didn't want to be a werewolf. He feared it. He feared that he would kill somebody and the curse of the Lockwood family would fall on him.

So clearly, Tyler is not even half as bad as he is portrayed in fanfics.

14. Bonnie is a witch but that certainly does not make her a back stabbing bitch.

I'm tired of fanfics in which Bonnie is a conniving witch in a sorcerer's hat brewing up some evil spell to finish off the lovely OC.

Avoiding OOC Syndrom:

The only way you can avoid having characters turn out as entirely different beings, is to keep your personal opinions aside, watch the shows, read the books, do a little bit of research, ask your fellow friends about what they think about the character's image and personality and after you have a clear layout on each character's outlook set in your mind, then start writing.

***

That is all for today.

Stay tuned for the next chapter.

And excuse me for getting carried away at a few points in the chapter. I just couldn't control myself when I came to the Jenna part.