I played OCs when I started dwrp very recently. Then I swapped to canon characters but I like weird characters from obscure canons so I almost never have castmates or people who are canon familiar. When I tag out and try to respond to tags within a day or two I get a lot of tags and interest because people care about my character via the cr. It takes more work and requires you to be more critical about what's not working about your own shit, but the pay off is great.
Re: RP WOES
I played OCs when I started dwrp very recently. Then I swapped to canon characters but I like weird characters from obscure canons so I almost never have castmates or people who are canon familiar. When I tag out and try to respond to tags within a day or two I get a lot of tags and interest because people care about my character via the cr. It takes more work and requires you to be more critical about what's not working about your own shit, but the pay off is great.