After skimming through some recent fanfics on here, specifically SHINee, I found that a few certain elements were prevalent in most, if not, ALL of the ones I read through. This has really started to irk me since it’s the same exact elements and ideas circulating from story to story without any originality nowadays. I would’ve smashed my head against the keyboard many, MANY times by now. Is it really that hard to put a twist to your cliché love story? Or your angst/pity party?

I will break down each and every ing element that is repeated throughout the stories I read through.

Firstly, allow me to explain the men’s personalities in these stories.

Don’ts:

Onew: A ing chicken maniac. He cares only about himself and chicken. Has no concern for the OC or the protagonist female character in the story. Usually portrayed as a massive ert or awkward individual.

Seriously, are you kidding me. Are you, a writer, really resorting to idiotic, face-palm worthy, monstrosities of jokes that is Onew and chicken?! He is NOT, and allow me to reiterate, NOT in love with chicken! If he ate chicken three times a day, twenty four-seven, like it says in your fanfic, I’m sure he would’ve ing dropped dead of a heart attack by the second chapter! Quit using Onew and chicken as a lame excuse for a plot device, because frankly, the readers out there who are quite picky, (guilty as charged) will want to yell at the top of our lungs and immediately toss your story in the garbage. Do some research on the man! There’s plenty more to Onew than chicken!

Jonghyun: Biggest player of the high school your OC transferred to. He plays with every girl’s heart until suddenly deciding to fall in love with yours, for whatever reason. Apparently he’s also a major douche bag in the story.

Another face-palm worthy personality that makes me want to rip my hair out by the roots. At the very least, if you’re going to slap this kind of a personality on to him, add a sensible twist to it! Maybe Jonghyun has a hidden social disorder or something. I really doubt if there was a douche bag like that in real life, he would change in a finger snap once your OC and he start dating. Let’s be realistic, okay? No one will dramatically and suddenly change like that in real life. Sometimes this kind of description is creative when certain writers challenge it beyond its limits, but most of it is repetitive and boring with absolutely no twists.

Key: Another major douche bag in the plot of many stories. When your OC transfers to the school he’s at, he immediately hates her guts and walks all over her like . Suddenly, he develops feelings for the girl and will do anything to get her.

Why? Seriously, why? He’s almost like a doppelganger to Jonghyun in these kinds of stories! I cannot count how many times I’ve seen this exact personality for Key. If a guy like him treated me like once I transferred, I’d make him kiss my , not fall for him too! As I said, sometimes these kinds of personalities can be exciting if used correctly, but I’d definitely be turned off once this ‘douche bag’ falls in love with the protagonist and she returns his love. Why is Key nearly always the douche bag/jerk/arrogant in stories? Is it because of his slight sassiness portrayed in real life? Give me a break. Like with Onew, there’s more to the man.

Minho: The savior of us all. He always, always, ALWAYS comes to save the day when your OC is in distress, and even beats some of the antagonists’ asses with his awesome, bare hands. Almost always the one to fatefully fall in love with your OC, in which the two are swallowed by an influx of drama from their friends.

I want to bang my head against my keyboard each and every time I read a plot or even a chapter like this. My question is why Minho? I understand that his personality in real life reflects some of the stories on here, but why is it ninety-five percent of the time Minho?! I honestly think that at least half of the writers on here don’t even know the definition of charisma. If you were charismatic, you wouldn’t go around beating everyone’s like you’re the Hulk. Oh, and by the way, he’s not as quiet/shy/socially challenged as many make him out to be, seriously. If you’re trying to keep your story realistic, pull out a dictionary and look up the ing definition of charisma!

Taemin: The awkward, sometimes homoual, teenager who is picked on and saved by your OC. May also be your character’s best friend or companion when they struggle through the hardship that is ‘high school’. The story usually ends with your character falling in love with one of his friends first, which is usually either Jonghyun or Key; and then realizing she loved her best friend, Lee Taemin, ALL ALONG.

No. Need I say more? Why is he accepting the fact that others are picking on him in the first place?! Why doesn’t he fight back or even report them to the school’s principal, or the like?! If he’s already famous and a part of SHINee in your story, why doesn’t he do anything about it still? Challenge the limits of your story, do some research, make it believable.

It seriously angers me to no end with all of the same exact stories that are being replicated every day on AFF. Honestly, I’m not a fan of clichés or even love stories for that matter, but if yours has an incredibly unexpected plot twist or something similar, you can bet your I’ll keep reading your story after the first chapter.

I’m so sick and tired of seeing the same plots and the same descriptions for so many stories on here. Why is it always SHINee that falls in love with the girl? Why does the girl move to South Korea and meets ONLY SHINee? Why does she, out of all of the females on the planet, get to move in with SHINee? Why is she basically a Mary-Sue in these cliché, drama-infested, high school stories?

I read critic’s reviews a lot, and I must say, if I had to review all of the SHINee stories that they were presented with, I would rip the story to shreds and correct every, single, little detail that irked me just so a new and even better writer can be reborn on AFF. I literally would, for the simple fact that I like a little thing called originality when searching for a good fanfic; I’d double check the personalities, the plot, the writing elements, everything.

Self-conscious writers seriously need to step out of the commoners circle and immerse themselves in a whole, new one.