I find that people in this day and age tend to glorify suicide, cutting, and prostitution.
Agreed, which is really rather stupid because
none of those things are Happy Fun Candy Land. Seriously, while I tend to talk about my experiences with bullying and abuse with my friends for support (and because I'm only now this close to getting over it and actually feeling ready to participate in society), I'm not proud of it, and if anything, I really wish I could have actually done something to stop it. There wasn't anything dramatic about it; I didn't even realize what was going on until I stopped and thought about what was making me so miserable back then. Moreover, I was in a situation where I had people there to help me, but no one knew what was going on because I just couldn't tell them. So, to see characters get bullied and pushed around with teachers just standing by and doing absolutely nothing, with parents taking all the wrong routes (usually in fic abusing them even more), and with the only solution being just to shrug off that life and go have fun in another... yeah, that last bit's the real fun bit because it's practically telling people who actually lived through that that their misery is only good for entertainment purposes and that the only way out is basically to stop being who they are. Or even better, to kill themselves.
Actually, come to think of it, that's another reason why I can't stand rebirth fics. Even if they don't mean it, they tend to imply that it's a good idea to kill yourself. I mean, you've got characters who do that, and then they're rewarded by having awesome adventures. Sure, it might not be what they wanted for an afterlife, but... yeah.
But you're right in saying that it's a phase, and it's probably popular among the teens because puberty really messes with a person and forces them to be a little inclined towards the overdramatic. (Or a lot, in some cases.) And wishing that publicity for the fics that glorify crap like that would just die down won't stop someone from writing
another morally terrible fic full of crappy treatment of the actually depressed, so not much else to say here besides, "Yes, it makes me feel like a pile of sunshine and daisies."
I don't know why people even post stories on DeviantART, there are really better places to post stories. <_<
Easy praise. b)'')b If you have friends (particularly ones in high places in the dA fandom) or write about a certain character, you're guaranteed one-liner praise reviews and a ton of favorites, regardless of the actual quality of your fic. It's easier to get praise on dA than it is to get it on FFNet, actually.
Reviews to begin with, on the other hand, is a bit more difficult.
I've always tried to get into LiveJournal fanfiction, but I never like the format of it.
You're not missing much. There's basically the anon meme, a few comms run by Windsong (LJ fic BNF whose work is best described by TVTropes as "people talk and nothing happens"), and a few outlying comms that are practically dead. 99% of the content of LJ fic tends to be about characters acting massively OOC as they have sex and emo over life. The other 1% is
written by me gen fic no one actually reads. It's in part because, as someone once told a friend of mine, the general mindset of LJ writers is that the only reason people write fanfic is to pair characters off. Which is stupid and annoying and completely wrong, but if it floats your boat, by all means, go ahead and paddle down the Mississippi. Just don't force it on me or assume I'm taking you seriously.
Maybe it's because LiveJournal caters to an older audience?
Most likely, yeah. Either that or teenaged girls/people who think like teenaged girls. It doesn't really help that the mindset I'd described not too long ago is a general one you'll find in pretty much every single fandom that's on LJ.
It's fine, Jax, everyone has their Berserk Button (I will save you hours of your life and not link to TVTropes). I can get really rant-y on certain subjects too, especially when they're related to character bashing and stuff like that.
*high fives* Thanks for understanding.
Sorry about the signature color.
Yet you're still using it.
Point of clarification: When Dagzar mentioned your color, she meant the color of your posts. As in, you're right now using a bright-pink font to write, and this tends to not agree with a lot of skins. I'd like to mention for the record that I'm using Unova's Violet Masquerade, which has a light background but tiny font. As a result, yeah, it's a bit difficult to read what you have to say.
Also, the same could be said for Serebii, its green background, and your use of cyan font. Not exactly easy on the eyes there, either.
Really, it's best to just leave your fonts default to avoid forcing people to squint, but usually, I personally don't care what font you use in your posts so long as you don't use it in your fanfiction. (Except you do, so yeah, you'll probably want to think about maybe getting rid of the font color tags around all of your posts.)
Also, side note to Dagzar, but yeah, it's totally not working for me, either. IDK. IDEK.
Fakemon. They are so overpowered... don't get me started. Especially ones who are "Pikachu's long lost brother/son/uncle/etc"
First off, point of note: The term "fakemon" refers to fan-created Pokémon. They're not canon Pokémon like Pikachu only as original characters. They're complete species.
Second, I'm pretty sure no one writes about Pikachu with a long-lost brother/son/uncle/whatever. Pikachu generally doesn't get Stu family members associated with it. (Ash, on the other hand...) Generally, fakemon are Pokémon completely separate from existing species, so fakemon authors don't really do things like say, "THIS IS FLAMECHU, PIKACHU'S SECOND COUSIN."
Third, not all fakemon are overpowered. Quite a lot of them are actually parts of fan-created regions, so many fakemon are more or less pretty much like normal Pokémon. Sure, there's also a number of fakemon authors who create their own legendaries and do ridiculous things, but for the most part, yes, they're generally made for journey fics that take place in new regions.
The main weakness fakemon fics suffer is the fact that not a lot of thought is put into them for the most part. It takes a lot of effort to come up with your own species. You need to know not only how to describe them but also what the limits of its powers are, what moves it can use, what kinds of habitats it's used to, and most importantly,
why you can't just use a canon Pokémon instead. For example, I once read a fanfic where the main character's starter was a fire-typed horse that was basically exactly like Ponyta except for the name. (Same abilities, same moves, everything.) I called the author out on it, and no matter what he tried, he couldn't find a suitable explanation to tell me why he couldn't simply replace it with a Ponyta. Point is, just because you create a Pokémon doesn't necessarily mean you should use it.
But that doesn't mean you shouldn't use it because it's powerful, and in fact, a lot of pretty cool fic revolves around fakemon in some capacity or another. (Lost Evolution, for example. The Quest for the Legends, for another.
Ultimatum for an even better one.) And in my opinion, if done right and if you happen to be awesome at world-building, I personally think it's a great way to show off your creativity and attention to detail. But in order to pull it off, yes, you'll have to put a lot of thought into what you're doing, which a lot of people (especially on FFNet) unfortunately don't.
Edit: Ninja'd! Man, we're starting to get awesome again!
Misheard Whisper said:
(i see your mention of new game there what are you up to :p)
Just going :( at the number of people who probably are only like, "OMG NOSTALGIA LET'S GET ON THE BUS AND BE ALL NOSTALGIC" instead of "OMG LET'S TALK ABOUT YOUR FIC." Oh, half of Imaginative's reviewers.
icomeanon6 said:
"Oh! Oh, yes! Oh Nigel, fornicate me!"
I thought I told you to stop listening in on my nightly escapades. >:|
And whatever my girlfriend calls me is none of your business.