Things I Hate About Warriors Fanfiction

Bullying

I'd love to be complaining about people writing bullying wrong.

But I'm not.

I don't have nearly enough experience with bullying to know what's written right, and what's written wrong. I've only experienced bullying once, and it was the most minor thing ever. I don't even think it can be called bullying. Also, I was five and can't remember it.

Now, what I'm actually talking about, is how the protagonist is always the victim, and never the bully.

I mean, being a victim is good, right? I mean, you're a good person! You become so much kinder because of what you went through.

If that's how you think, listen to me, you little fuck.
You are romanticising abuse/bullying. Being a victim can really fuck you up.

We all know the typical fanfic. Poor, undeserving protagonist is bullied. Protagonist does something amazing, usually saving the life of the bully. Then, the bully feels guilty and apologized, and dear, kind protagonist forgives them. Bonus points if said protagonist goes on to be Clan leader.

That's all fun and games, but we've heard it all before. Not to mention it's unrealistic. You might want to make your protagonist some beautiful, divine, forgiving cat, but can you really forgive someone who hurt you that much? You certainly shouldn't have to.

The thing that makes those kind of stories interesting, is the character development. What are the main character's feelings towards the bully? Do they end up hating themselves (Of course they do, we just love those kind of "Everyone hates me!!1!" Characters. No, really. While it's more acceptable in this case, it's more likely that your protagonist would have some friends, even if they were being bullied.)  Do they end up hating the bully? How do their feelings change and progress throughout the story?

Now that's interesting, but I think it would be good to think about the bully's perspective.

"But I don't want to do that! A bully is bad!"

You're right there, kits. Bullying is a terrible, terrible thing. But the thing is, it would be interesting and unique. You shouldn't be afraid of making your character bad.

Think about it. What is the reasoning behind the bullying? Prejudice? Jealousy? Or are they just so easy to hurt?

What are the bully's feelings while doing it? Satisfaction? Guilt?

Guilt is more common than you think. I'd imagine that you know you're doing terrible things, and you're guilty, but you can't stop.

You could even give them a history. Most bullying fanfics are written as a "They always hated me for no reason!" But that's very uncommon in real life. It's usually between once friends, maybe the victim made the first move.

I think that there needs to be more stories written from this perspective, on the mere idea of originality and interest.

Just make sure you don't romanticise the bully.