Things I Hate About Warriors Fanfiction

Y'all Need To Behave

So, this rant is a little different. It's not actually about fanfiction, but it is about the warriors Wattpad community. I originally published this in my smb, but I decided to revise it and post it here because I think it's something this fandom needs to see.

I want to preface this by saying it is not an attack or an indirect on any one individual. This is about certain harmful behaviours a lot of people on here. If you recognise these in yourself, please don't get upset, I promise I'm not calling you a horrible person, but I am calling out toxic behaviours. And if the shoe fits...reflect on that. With this rant, I tried to find the line between understanding and harsh, because I don't want to hurt anyone and I know the people engaging in this behaviour are vulnerable and struggling, while still explaining how serious and harmful this is and condemning the behaviour. There are no excuses for this kind of thing. But if there's anything in here that you think it out of line, could be phrased better, or anything you think I missed, please pm me or comment!

Trigger Warnings: Suicide, self-harm, and general mental illness. Please don't read this if you think it will cause you distress!

A lot of us struggle with depression, suicidal ideation, and other mental illnesses. And a lot of us come on here to vent. There's nothing wrong with venting! But there are healthy and unhealthy ways of venting and unfortunately, I've been seeing a lot of the latter.

A lot of you are logging in here, talking about how you want to/are going to hurt or kill yourself,. And you're doing this without trigger warnings through announcements or smbs or other public means. And that just isn't okay. Let your Local Mentally Ill bitch let you in on a secret: people here aren't therapists. We're not your helpline, we're no crisis team. We're a bunch of regular teens/young adults. When you vent here about how you want to hurt yourself, you're not going to help yourself. You're just going to stress people out. I'll be blunt, if you're out here typing "hey I'm about to kill/cut myself" you're being manipulative and verging into suicide baiting territory and it isn't okay. Nobody here can help you. We can't call the police, an ambulance, or your family. It creates these feelings of helplessness and fear among your friends and followers here. It's terrifying. And that's the reason why you do this. You don't reach out to your irl friends or family, not just because you feel like they won't understand, but because they'll offer you help. And you don't want that. So you traumatise an entire community of people so you can get those validating "please don't hurt yourself!!! We love you!!!" comments. It's a way to express your pain and reach out without the risk of someone intervening and providing you with actual help.

You're being attention-seeking. That's a term I don't like to use in the context of mental health. But it's the truth. You're reaching out for help in the only way you know how. You need those validating comments to make yourself feel better, to lift you out of that depressed, about to harm yourself state. It's the only way you feel that you're loved and worth something. There's nothing wrong with a cry for help. When I started self harming, that's 100% what it was. If I'm being completely honest, my first suicide attempt was a cry for help too.

The problem is that your cry for help comes at the expense of your followers and your friends and doesn't actually help you. I've had to talk internet friends out of suicide before and trust me, it's traumatic. It made me feel like I was responsible for someone's else's safety. I've spent hours trying to say the right thing while having no idea what is the right thing, trying to keep my own anxiety at bay, terrified I'm about to lose a friend. No untrained teen should have to shoulder that responsibility. And that's the kind of thing you guys are doing to your audience, and it isn't okay. Your audience cannot be held responsible for your safety or mental health. Doing so is irresponsibly using your platform. And yes, you have a platform, even if it's small. I've seen a lot of people here condemning Draikinator and other public figures all while abusing their platform just like they did. This community is full of kids and young people. We have to make our community safe.