>>136115725Let me have a try at an analogy.
Imagine you were watching the pilot of some tv show. And you really liked it, it's creative, new, and interesting. Though not too many people have watched it, the show gets made and gets a fanbase in it's first season. Though the second season already shows decline, you thoroughly enjoy the show. Now, since it stopped after the second season, you forgot about it. Years later, all of a sudden, you find furry inflation art of one of the main characters online, and generally hear people talking about the show everywhere. You wonder and check it out again, noticing that there are new seasons! It's at season 8 now, but less than a shadow of itself since the fans of season 2 took over. It's now filled with mary-sues and has nothing to do with the original seasons anymore, so much that the original team refuses to talk about the show and you feel ashamed to admit to ever having liked it while girls run around shipping the protagonist with his dog.
It's the same with "memes" or just that former OC, though one could even be the creator in that case.