So people always raise a stink about fanart getting more recognition than original art on tumblr. And I get it. It takes the same amount of effort on your part to draw an OC as it does to draw a popular character, and only one gets a significant amount of notes. That can be annoying.
But here’s the thing: That popular character is already part of an emotional journey to the viewer, whereas your OC is probably not. Your viewers have seen the popular character try and fail and live. They are loving the story behind the art. All the notes you get on that post? That’s you standing on the shoulders of storytelling giants.
In contrast, when you upload a picture of your OC, most people just see lines on a page. It’s a hard sell because they know nothing about your character’s story.
Basically what I’m saying is this: If you want people to love your original content as much as they love your fanart, you’re going to have to work just as hard as the creators of the popular things did. Take your viewers on a journey and they’ll start to see your characters as more than lines on a page.