#its not too late to apoligize and give credit | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

kenobster · 11 months

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u know, once upon a time in a fandom far, far away, my most famous fic was plagiarized. it wasnt word for word, so ao3 didnt do anything abt it. but it was exactly the same. the dialog was paraphrased. Character A threw up, Character B tossed a rock, Characters A and B made a plan to escape. this fic was a perfectly regurgitated summary of my fic. and it was truly, deeply lame.

u know what would have solved the problem entirely? u know what woulda made me see that fic and feel delighted elation instead of nauseous despair?

one link. one mention. one "inspired by" entry.

any of those.

a couple weeks ago i read a fic (published in 2022) that coulda been written better (seemed to lack Passion), but i enjoyed it nonetheless. i commented my enjoyment. today, i woke up, started reading another fic in my queue, and... lo and behold. its the same fic. exact same plot points. but written better (aka more passionately). and published in 2021.

as an author (especially as one who experienced this myself), i am appalled and upset on behalf of the original author.

as a reader, I'm incredibly disappointed. i already know whats going to happen. i dont feel the intended surprise or shock or horror while reading the 2021 fic... bc the thief-author didnt only rob the original author of their work.... they ALSO robbed ME.... of the freshness of the original fic's sensations.

and ya know, its a true tragedy bc it didnt have to happen like this. if id known the truth, i STILL would have read both fics. i still would have enjoyed both. i still would have commented my enjoyment on the 2022 fic. the only difference is that i would have enjoyed both MORE if the thief-author had credited the original author and let me read them in the order i preferred.

if ur gonna rewrite someone's fic, that's fine. thats great. thats a thing you can do! IF u are upfront abt it.

i think probably thief-author felt too much shame thinking their ideas weren't their own to acknowledge the elephant in the room. but thief-author - there IS no shame. if u'd. fucking. credited. i would have loved to see the changes u DID make. the addition of mpreg and a crispier vader and the tea mugs - those were YOURS. i would have read fic 1 and been like ah, yes, cake, good cake, and then read fic 2, thinking yay, two cakes and wow what a bunch of fun surprises to boot.

but ur a thief. so now ill never recommend ur fic in tandem with the original. ill never recommend ur other fics even if those ideas are ur own. ill remove my bookmarks and my comments and my kudos if i can. u didnt gain anything by avoiding credit. u lost something.

dont be like author-thief.

its okay to take ideas. fandom is transformative by nature. but show respect to ur fellow authors and readers. acknowledge the original. ur shame is not protecting u; its actually undoing u. u'll be happier and freer if u give credit where credit is due.

#no im not gonna call author thief out by name #ull have to find it urself #orginal fic author is chunni tho #and their fic is called 'what you are and what youll never be'#if author thief sees this #its not too late to apoligize and give credit #u know what u did #let us forgive u ❤#personal #not SW related

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