Brain melting, cranky rant

I encourage everyone to follow their heart and write what makes them happy, what makes them feel satisfied creatively.

That said, the sheer volume of stories with unprotected sex, unplanned pregnancies, self-harm, trips to Hot Topic, suicide attempts, and incredibly in-depth outfit description (and even pictures!) is mind-numbing. Personally, when any of that stuff comes up, I'm just like, 'Ah, fuck, really? Again?' I wish that stories with that shit came with a disclaimer so I could avoid them.

To each their own, of course.

@anathema
Stories with those like polyvore links or whatever drive me insane. The second I hit anything like that or even any of the above things you mentioned, I'm done. I refuse to read on. The only thing I will link in my stories are my characters because I know some people like a visual but I only do that in the summary. Outfit details are too much. Hot Topic trips are too much. Young girls having unprotected sex and unplanned pregnancies in stories is way too much. I use self harm very rarely in my stories and I never go into much detail if I choose to use it. And I use depression in my stories sometimes but that's just because I have mild depression myself and it helps me cope with it when I write about it. But all of my characters are of age and are able to properly deal with things like that. I think a lot of people use those things just to get more readers. Stories with those things are, unfortunately, very popular.

I don't hate all stories with those things in them by any means. The garbage I have written is full of stereotypes as well- focused on Andy, full of smut, and uses lots of creative anachronisms to make what I want to happen occur. However, I've just gotten so overwhelmed with the, I dunno, repetitive, predictable, frustrating, plot-lines. I hate seeing such thoughtless behavior all the time from the protagonist. I just want to be like, 'dude, did your high school not have an adequate sex Ed class? Your story implies (whatever bvb member) doesn't give a second thought about condoms- really? Do you really think having a kid at 17 is awesome?' I also don't mean to belittle people struggling with mental health issues or self-harm. However, I know, as someone with a past history of significant self-harm, that it can be very triggering to read about. And many if the stories almost glamorize it or give it a certain mystique, which is, to my view, unethical. I leave it out of mine. I dunno. I am 33, and as an older person, it's so disappointing to read the same tripe coming from young minds over and over again. I know it's "just fan fiction," but the second I hit some of that shit, after starting to really like a story, I just think, what a fucking waste... Like, seriously, has no one else on here, besides me, heard of a mirena iud? Or plan b? Or an abortion? I've seen exactly two characters go to therapy(same story), and maybe two dozen have committed suicide. Fucking stupid. Though it's odd when authors try and describe things like drug addiction or sex when they clearly have no personal experience, it honestly bothers me less, because it doesn't implicitly spread acceptance for bullshitery.

@anathema
I always put a warning on my chapters if I feel that something I wrote may be triggering but otherwise, I usually try to keep things pretty kosher. I guess younger writers don't have the ability to create drama and interesting plot lines without using the same things over and over again. I can't blame them for not knowing a whole lot about sex-ed because I know at 15, I didn't know much about it, but it is annoying to see girls writing stories about pregnant 15 year old girls with men age 22+. And it's sad to think that they're glorifying and romanticizing self harm because it will get them reads and views. I'm sure some of them probably even think it's okay to romanticize things like that. It may just be an age difference thing as well, perhaps. I definitely agree with many of your points, but the way I see it, when I was writing at age 16-17, I wrote a lot about what girls are writing about now. Now that I'm 20, I write about much different things. It's probably just an age thing and what types of experiences each person from each age group has had. At 33, you've had many more experiences than someone my age has had, and definitely someone who's only 15 years old. I look back at some of what I wrote when I was 16 and shudder. I can't believe I wrote stuff like that. Now I usually just try to incorporate things I've had experience with or things that I know about. I'm in college right now for dance so most of my characters are dancers because I know it well.

@thatscalledyes
Yeah, what you're saying is totally valid. Even when I read that kind of stuff I don't give bad ratings or make super-shitty comments because I don't want to discourage people from being creative in their own way. Thus why I had to post about it here- I just had to get it out somewhere!

even now, a story I was reading has gone down the road of unprotected sex. I think the character is even a minor. Ugh.

@anathema
I totally understand and I get that it's frustrating. I've pretty much given up reading fan fic that isn't my own. It's not worth it to look through and find a decent story anymore. Some of them used to be so good and now all of them have pretty much gone down hill

I look for stories to read and their all the same. i even had people steal my story (literally word for word) and say it was theirs. then i had people copy it and it came out terrible. its flattering, but please, just no. i started writing at 13, on another site. I've been here for awhile. i'd like to think i've gotten better.

@anathema
I know exactly what you mean.
It kills me to see the stories on here that trivialize depression, self-harm, suicide and the like by minimizing it down to a character trope. Like, "Lol! I'm a klutz!" Instead, it's, "Lol! I'm depressed! How quirky!" It's not a quirk. I would literally kill to not be depressed. I would kill to not have that shit weighing me down.
There's also the horrifyingly boring scenario of the "getting ready for a concert" chapter. Like, I don't care what you look like in your story. I want to see character development and interaction and some actually interesting shit.
God - unprotected sex. That's really, very unhealthy for both people involved, though the one with female genitalia involved clearly is at more of a risk than the man. This can transmit disease, or worse - children. It's bad for the tweens on this site to read that shit and think it's okay.
And the smoking. Oh my god. Don't let people think it's cool. It's stupid. It's bad for you.
Even worse - all of these writers are writing underage smut. As in - adult band member + minor. 15-year-old OCs fucking Andy around every corner. Don't even get me started on the incest.
There's also a glamorization of abuse in fanfiction. If you're going to have an abusive relationship be the center of the story - the OC cannot stay in the relationship. Abuse does not equal a dom/sub relationship - that's perfectly consensual. The manipulation that occurs in these stories only leads to a creepy, stockholm-syndrome-y love that makes my skin crawl.
I honestly think that the ability to include what characters look like takes away from the whole experience. I want to imagine. If you just show me, it ruins the fun! And fuck polyvore - I don't care what your outfit looks like.
And fuck Hot Topic too. That shit is so expensive.

... I'm just really angry, I'm sorry.

@mygrains
Same! I'm too poor so I'm saving up. I keep my outfits simple but interesting, just like in real life. And I don't like incest or pedophilia, considering that I was molested aso a 5th grader. And depression ain't a quirk. It sucks ass and drives me up a wall. Anyhow, I'm sick of the abuse. For example, in my fanfic, Jinxx has similar issues to mine but it's realistic and Jake won't hurt him. I hate the abuse and underage sexual contact. And the smoking...

Don't even get me started

@BandyBandBands
I stopped shopping at Hot Topic a long time ago. I stop in sometimes if there's a clearance sale or to see if they have a specific shirt I want.
That really sucks, man. So sorry to hear that. :// It bothers me a lot - the underage thing - because I know a lot of teenaged girls that fall for adult boys and just don't get that they DO NOT love them. An adult has no business fooling around with a teenager. It's unhealthy to let impressionable kids on these websites think that it's okay.
Problem is, I'm a sucker for stories with possessive dudes. But it's conflicting, because that situation is most often an abusive one. I think it wouldn't be as bad if the relationship is acknowledged as an abusive one, and it is actively remedied or terminated.

... God, I talk a lot.

@thatscalledyes
You know what sucks is that so many really good ones get abandoned! Have any favorites to recommend?

@AshesToAshes13
That fucking sucks, dude, I'm so sorry! I have no idea if my stories are original, I didn't bother to check. They are to me?

@mygrains
Dude, you are preaching to the choir. I try to keep my ranting about smoking to a minimum because it would be hypocritical, in my case, but I ducking hate smoking getting portrayed as cool or acceptable or rebellious. It's carcinogenic, teratogenic, and expensive. I started when I was 14 because I wanted to die, and smoked for 16 years. It was hell but o finally managed to quit. My final year of vet school (3 years later), I had a severe mental breakdown and relapsed. I almost managed to quit again, but my new job has turned out to be so stressful, I just can't do it yet. I'm so fucking ashamed and its fucking unprofessional. I feel like shit, I stink, it's gross. Never, ever start smoking. But for fucks sake, if you must, don't smoke marlboros, that's like super-gross. Eeew Andy. And I also have dysthymia, as well as periodic episodic major depression. So I agree, mental health stuff is nothing to take on lightly. I'm so profoundly unhappy, when people make it have a sort of mystique, I want to laugh. My world view had only ever cost me friends and relationships, it has never made me look cool. It also makes me wish I would die every day, despite treatment since I was 16. Though, to be honest, I hate insertion of rape as a casual plot element, or sexual abuse, without a HUGE trigger warning, far more.

@BandyBandBands
Fucking amen, dude. I don't remember the last time I was in s mall or a hot topic. When I was wee I used to like checking out their action figures.

@anathema
Sorry to hear that you're having trouble quitting right now. Best of luck to you, dude.
Something that makes me scream with secondhand embarrasment is the "tragic past" character trope. "My parents didn't accept the fact that I listened to ALT-ROCK and WORE BLACK and I was BULLIED by JOCKS in the LOCKER BAY. I NEVER BELONGED! NOBODY ELSE IN THE WORLD IS LIKE ME!" I can't. I literally can't read that tripe. Not only is it overdramatic, but it is so far-fetched. Though it is not the same as it is in year's passed, you'd have a really fucking hard time NOT finding someone who likes rock music and shops at Hot Topic. I get that a lot of the negative punk stigmatism stems from small-town, conservative mindsets, but I really doubt that these fanfiction writers know that.

I think the only remedy to my complaints is to either stop reading fanfiction, only read my own, or to stop being an old-person and throw myself to the wolves (i.e. - prepubescent tweens.)

@anathema

Sounds self absorbed, but my stories-especially my Burn Series and my Demon and Angel Series-are very well written and don't really contain much of any of this. There's a story I'm currently updating-Love and Other Drugs-which is also good, in my opinion. Good writers and their stories are out there, it's just hard to find us because we're some of the most unloved and underappreciated on this website.

@Broken Wing
Haha, ironically, I am in the middle of a demonic love. I am crazy about it, I love it! It is one of my favorites that I have ever read! You might like my lonesome old Jerome story, because it is atypical in some ways, it has an older character, etc. BUT it has a LOT of smut and a few very stereotypical elements. My succubus story is incredibly smutty, so I'd only suggest it if you like fantastical smut. I'm just an old perv. I'll definitely check out you others. :)

@anathema

I'm glad you're liking it so far. I suggest after reading that story and it's sequel (We're Setting Worlds On Fire) that you start with the Burn Series, which starts with A Love By Mistake.

@anathema
ugh that is the worst. I was reading one called Liquid Harmony two years ago that just never got updated again. Unfortunately I can't really think of any good ones I'm currently reading. I rarely read stuff on here anymore

@thatscalledyes
Some good ones (NOT an all-inclusive list, I haven't been around that long): my perfect weapon, cast from heaven we are your saviors [sic], (if you like that sort of thing, fifty shades of Andrew Biersack is well written), forsaken I walk the night alone, the pits is different, if you like smut, Andy Biersack oneshots is the best I've ever read anywhere in my life, EXCEPT that it's all unprotected, the devil's bargain, beauty and the beast, my fallen angel, stitch these wounds with me tonight, rise from the ashes, run run as fast as you can, shadowglass, psychos (fucked up but interesting), offline (one of my all-time favorites ever, a must-read), something wicked this way comes, last resort (different!), in the place I hide (wonderful), the wild ones, deathless beauty... That should give you something that catches your interest. :)