Nov
14th
2015
Discussion time! · 6:42am Nov 14th, 2015
Let's talk about "Bandwagons" vs "Inspired by"
Sometimes we see stories that scream "bandwagon" to me. Say, like... a certain story with a wrestler makes it to the feature box and suddenly another wrestler story appears a few days later. But could that story simply have been inspired by the other?
How about those that make it a habit of scouting for Feature Box stories then writing their own version of it? Is it just inspiration? Or is it seeking attention.
Bandwagon.
Inspired by.
What's the difference?
Discuss.
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Wanderer D · 749 views
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Bandwagon- lohav and displaced
Inspired by- Would it matter?
When I do it, it's "inspired by." When others do it, it's hopping on the bandwagon.
I think of bandwagoning as when you write a story that's little more than a rip-off of something successful—i.e. it really doesn't try to be a different story, it just repeats a pattern someone else has already shown can be successful.
"Inspired by", to me, suggests that the author may have gotten some ideas from the original, but s/he is running with new ideas of their own, building on what the original did. The elements that are popular may be repeated, but the story actively tries to do something new (like changing up genres and plotlines, or reinterpreting characters).
3541428
hammer? meet the nails head
The problem is.... There IS no difference!!
It requires you to see the mind of the writer - or else find text by them showing it.
Hrm... maybe something related to time and quantity?
I mean, in the fandom I've seen bandwagon effect mainly regarding grim jokes and shipping. A lot of people spam with the same thing. For instance, scootabuse (back then I was a huge fan given the humor OR the drama on such works, you guys can hate me now), it was a huuuuuuuuge bandwagon on the most crude and acid part of the fandom.
Now, inspired by seems like... hrm... something derivated from something else and in a smaller scale (the scale being things derived from it). This seems a bit more frequent regarding fanfics and fangames. For instance, Fallout Equestria.
I think I'm likely to be wrong, though, but these are my two cents anyway.
With that example specifically, it's more along the lines of inspired by, as it isn't an immediate trend. For example, if the feature box became full of wrestling stories.
Bandwagoning is in a way, a form of inspiration. However bandwagoning can become over-saturated after a while too, though. It can devolve from inspiration to trends, or the like. Like creating Crusader stories just because its popular, versus actually finding genuine interest in it.
I think it largely depends on the one who is doing it. It's true that sometimes it can seem like someone is just jumping on the bandwagon to gain popularity but it could be they just found it to be enjoyable and wanted to do something similar. Is that bandwagoning? It can be hard to tell without a discussion with the author since I think the major difference is the attitude it was done with. Otherwise we can call some activist groups a bunch of bandwagoners when they are actually genuinely concerned about what they are talking about. Sorry for the bit of rambling but I hope I made at least a little sense.
The more novel, original, or unique something is, the greater the possibility of it being completely ignored. If you take inspiration from something like 'Jack and the Beanstalk' and create 'Nobody's Boy Remi' the source of inspiration is still as obvious as a the difference between the 'Wizard of Oz' and 'Wicked.' In one instance the inspiration was used to make the character more relatable, in the other case the homage is meant as a Roasting of the ham or Razzing of the turkey in a manner of honoring dedicated service or spitting on their grave.
Movies still borrow inspiration from classic stories. And, writer's like to refer to their antecedents as a way of referencing the material. But, there are also coincidences and parallels that occur in everyones life. Everyone has looked at the moon and seen the sun unless they're blind, even then everyone has felt the warmth of the sun or the crisp evening chill, most people have parents and have felt the sting of an ant, and theory holds almost every living creature with a brain or sentience has a pulse or heartbeat.
It all depends on the motivation of writing. That motivation often shows in the actual writing, in my opinion.
Not mutually exclusive and really hard to tell if you aren't the author yourself unless the quality of the fic makes it obvious. I still remember the Chess Game of the Gods, and then later the 'costumed human becomes their costume in Equestria' or whatever that thing was. Both had serious writers, both had an absolute ton of bandwagoners.
I'd have to really think it out to come up with plausible definitions for both that are distinct.
3541428
I agree with Bradel's definition, though I think there are actually three kinds of stories: inspired by, reaction, and bandwagon.
Stories inspired by another story take some basic idea or plot element and execute on it in a different manner.
Example:
Original story: Forever and Again
Inspired story: Forever and Again and Again
In this case, the original story presented Twilight as Celestia's lover, dying of old age and fearful of what that meant for Celestia, and Celestia brings up the idea of reincarnation, and the idea that Twilight might see Celestia again in another life. It comforts Twilight. Thus, the core idea here was "Twilight is in a relationship with Celestia, reincarnation".
Forever and Again and Again, the story inspired by the original, took the same idea and flipped it on its head; here, Twilight was the reincarnated version of Celestia's lover, and the story explored the idea of what that might mean, and how having an immortal lover with a reincarnated mortal one might change the dynamic of a future relationship.
A reaction fic is a story written in response to another story, examining the ideas and elements of that story in a new light. Most parodies fall under this category, but these stories are not necessarily parodies by nature; for instance, several of the stories made after Would It Matter If I Was? were fundamentally reaction fics. Sequels and aftermath style stories are other examples. These stories may or may not be heavily derivative, and may or may not be good, and may or may not stand independently of the original piece, but the core of them is that the story is a response to the original or ideas in the original in some way. Note that these need not even be reactions to other fanfics; many fanfics are written in reaction to episodes.
Example:
Original stories: Faster Than Starlight (deleted from the site), Blink
Reaction fic: Dying to Get There
The original stories explored the idea that Twilight's teleportation was actually a duplication spell that destroyed the original version; the first story, Faster than Starlight, was fundamentally a darkfic based around the idea of how much that might mess with someone, and the idea that Celestia used it as a means of atonement, as every time she teleported, the new her was innocent of any crimes of the original. The core idea was basically "Twilight finds out teleportation is basically suicide."
Blink took the same core idea of "Twilight finds out teleportation is basically suicide", but instead of playing it for darkness, instead plays it for emotion - Twilight decides by the end of the story that despite the fact that she was basically a replica, and so was Spike, that didn't make them any less real, so while the spell was messed up, it didn't mean there was anything wrong with her.
Dying to Get There takes the basic premise and flips it on its head - instead of Twilight finding out the terrible secret of teleportation, everyone else thinks that they have discovered the dark, terrible secret of teleportation... and of course, they're all wrong, and Twilight has to go around telling them WHY they're wrong, while they all have various concerns or existential crises about it. It isn't a parody of a particular story, but more of the general idea of destructive teleportation, and a comedic criticism of why the idea doesn't work in the context of the show universe.
A bandwagon story is a story which takes fundamentally the same premise and plot of another piece and runs with it.
Non-pony example:
Original: Babylon Five
Bandwagon: Deep Space Nine
A bandwagon story need not be bad, though; Deep Space Nine was basically a Star Trek themed bandwagon fic of Babylon Five, but despite that it fundamentally took the same basic idea (space station where a bunch of races intermingle, where diplomats meet and trade deals happen between major political factions in the galaxy, with intrigue and war looming on the horizon) and executed it in more or less the same way, both shows were pretty good, though Babylon Five was probably the better of the two. Still, Deep Space Nine had its own distinct identity and wasn't bad for it.
The issue with bandwagon stories is that their derivative nature can make them feel samey and less than fresh. This is one of the major complaints about Displaced stories - they are all fundamentally the same story, with the only variation being the character who is being pushed between dimensions. In fact, this is a major problem with Human in Equestria stories in general - most of them are fundamentally the same story (human ends in in Equestria because of magic!, something ensues) with only the specifics changed, and many ultimately follow very similar plots.
Another major form of bandwagon story is a non-parody comedic retake of the original piece; parodies by their nature serve as commentary on the original, whereas a more comedic or exaggerated form of the original story which isn't really designed to comment on the original is probably closer to a bandwagon story than it is to a reaction fic.
Does it really matter to the mods? It all seems kind of arbitrary, in my honest opinion. Apparently, some things are closer to plagiarism than others, even if most of those others are almost complete ripoffs of the original.
In all honesty, inspired-by's, bandwagonning, reaction fics, parodies, and plagiarism...these labels really seem as if they are left to the mods, what mood they are in, and whether or not they like the author and/or have a vendetta and/or are playing favorites.
And they (the mods) all are affected by these things.
Frankly, it's all bullpuckey to me. Without some sort of set standard outside of the whim-of-the-day/hour/minute by the mods, any fic can get screwed, and there is nothing we can do about it.
But then again, that is my opinion and I could be wrong.
I'm not.
But I could be.
I think 3541605 hit the nail on the head, with one further addendum. There is the occasional case of genuine coincidence. Sometimes a story has nothing to do with a very similar one beyond the authors going through similar thought processes. Of course, it can be very hard to tell when this sort of thing happens; you have to take the second authors' word for it.
Example:
Earlier story: Oops! I'm Equine Again
Later story: Oversaturation
Bandwagon, to me, isn't so much a single story as a concept for several stories following the same theme, with very little different. I think we can all remember when the big alicorn fics like Immortal Game, Duties, and so on started to rear their heads, that there was a sudden influx of alicorn stories as well, trying out the same with "X character suddenly becomes Alicorn." Or Vampire fics followed by My Roommate is a Vampire (correct me if I'm wrong, but I think that's the first "Big" one that came out), or--let's not forget--Two Score Divided by Four stories. Basically, the way I see Bandwagons is a group of stories following the same premise and, while different, still doesn't seem to stand out much.
And inspired fic, for example, is more about taking a concept or idea from another story, molding it into something that is your own, and writing a story off of that. 3541605 explained that rather well, even if some of the examples he gave looks a little too much like rip-offs, or seemed too close to copies for my tastes. Essentially, a story being inspired by another story is pretty much what the word insinuates: There are aspects or premises which you can recognise, but the story is still fundamentally different. For example, The Immortal Game could inspire someone to make a War Fic. It need not have alicorns or demi-gods/gods play a part in it, but simply be a war. It's the same concept (perhaps), but still very different.
3541623
This has nothing to do with mods classifying things. D just wanted to start up a discussion for the sake of having a discussion.
No offense, but trying to define "bandwagon" and "inspired by" is like trying to define the genre "Horror" and the "Top Sellers". While one has a structure, rules and clear objectives that writers must follow, the other is just a category based on the subjective perspective of the readers.
An "inspired by" might take one or many elements of another story, and these elements might be anything: Characters, Premises, Ideas, or even the whole story just to give it their own interpretation.
A "bandwagon" is certainly an "inspired by" fic. That gives the impression the author is taking advantage of the fame of the source to impulse his/her own success.
Recently in the Lunaverse an author started a story with the premise of being "Past Sins" in Lunaverse (Being a Filly Celestia and Trixie taking care of her). But that doesn't sound "Badwagon" to me. Does it sound to you? Perhaps it is to you.
Can you consider the story to be Bandwagon if you don't recognize the source?
Can you consider a story bandwagon if the source is not much a success but has better ratings that the author in question?
Can you tell as a fact that the author intention is to gain popularity by using a specific source of inspiration to call it "bandwagon"?
3541802 I just find it funny that this mod is asking questions about this topic, in the first place.
It's a sore spot, is all.
I believe the real difference comes from what the writer is trying to achieve. If they are simply looking for popularity, it's bandwagoning, but if they genuinely admire the story and wish to white something similar, it's inspiration. Of course, just because someone writes a story in a style doesn't mean it's bandwagoning. Good examples of both can be found in the 'Displaced' and 'Chess Game of the Gods'. While both have far more bad stories than good, you can see that some of them are actually trying to make a good story from a concept they genuinely like, while others are just looking for attention.
One can usually tell the difference between the two by the effort that has gone into it. This doesn't mean 'good stories are inspired and bad are bandwagoners, as many bad stories still had a lot of effort put into them. There is a level of creativity that anyone should be able to achieve, yet the majority of bandwagoners don't even achieve that much. The way I see it, I don't mind if a story is a bandwagon story, as long as the author tries to make it a good bandwagon story.
I, myself, am working on a story inspired by The Sweetie Chronicles. It's quite different, with two OCs hunting demons they accidentally released and is more of a humorous, fun experience, but I'm sure people would easily be able to tell where the idea came from. This is 'inspired' because, to be honest, It don't really matter if it gets popular (not to say I don't want it to be), I like the idea and want to try my hand at the idea. Who knows, maybe it will get popular and there will be a triple crossover with it, TSC, and some other story.
3541704 I had a similar experience. I had started writing my own story, Into the Black, several weeks before Gyvon's On the Wings of Angels was first published (though mine was published after), but both share quite a few similarities, especially in the beginning. Of course, both had plenty of differences, too.
3541848 I'm not just a moderator tho. I am also a prolific author and a regular blogger that likes to engage the community. Pretty much like 3541802 said: The reason I'm asking this, is because I'm interested to see what people think. There are very few instances when bandwagons even become an issue for moderation, but this is—again—not about moderation. If this is bringing bad memories for what I think it is, I apologize, but that wasn't a case of bandwagon-ing either. As you can see from some comments, we have quite a few in-depth looks at it, which is what I was aiming for.
3541830 But doesn't your definition apply only if it's a single fic imitating the other as a form of "inspiration"? Bandwagons also tend to be a bunch of people "being inspired" by a story and basically reproducing most of the setup with a single changed character for the most part, and ending up creating groups where they promote their "universe" and invite more and more people to do the exact same thing with just a slight difference.
3541605 I like this... but wouldn't you say that reaction fics can be a result of and/or create bandwagons? Specifically for Would it Matter, there were a lot of "parodies" that suddenly popped out when it proved to be a popular/infamous topic. It seemed like a cheap way to get attention, which is a great part of what the term bandwagon implies.
3541526 I think that's one of the big things... you can claim that you were just inspired, but if it was inspiration, why are you following the exact same formula twenty other people already did? I already thought of a very easy way to do a human in Equestria with borrowed superpowers fic that is not actually "Displaced". It took me, literally, between when I started typing this specific reply up to the word "formula." I was probably just struck by sudden inspiration, true, but authors should also consider doing things differently instead of formulaic.
3541498 3541491 3541441 3542181 3541426 And this is a very, very good point. The motivation/mentality is always the biggest factor in this, and why some bandwagons are obvious and some aren't. One of the issues I guess, is, does doing it just because you're having fun, and not because you want to be popular count as jumping on the bandwagon?
3541497
I... I'm almost afraid to ask how those two are related to the point of being "obvious". Nobody's Boy Remi is drastically different than some social climber stealing the gold from a giant. Unless you're talking about the book, which I haven't read, but with a title like: "Without Family" I don't know.
3541477 Wouldn't you say that it's not a bandwagon per se until it becomes very popular?
3541443 Well, Scootabuse was more of a concept that a lot of people used, but it wasn't necessarily a bandwagon in the sense we use it... it wasn't repetitive of the same structure and story with a single change, basically.
3541437 There is.
3541431 3541428 3541761 And this is my general impression as well. Titanium Dragon's additions make sense too, but is it such an easy thing to distinguish? If someone jumps into the bandwagon for popularity's sake, and claim that they're doing, say a Displaced fic, but the moment their character arrives everything is done differently... is it still bandwagon?
3541421 A prime example of the issue at hand.
3541419 The first example, definitely. The second, not so much.
3542245
I have read 2/3 of the book Sans Famile, and watched the anime. You yourself admitted the plot of Jack and the Beanstalk was about a social climber. I was illustrating that Nobody's Boy Remi took 'inspiration' from Jack and the Beanstalk and that Wicked had used bandwagon appeal to revise the Wizard of Oz. Surely, you don't think the storyline involving Rosette was a coincidence. How many families are so poor they have to sell a cow? Cows are usually sustainable, they can eat grass for pete's sake and their waste can be used as a fertilizer. Milk, butter, creme, and other dairy products can be made and sold at market along with their calves.
You know what, I've changed my mind, Sans Famile/Nobody's Boy was about a poor little orphan boy who lost his mama, was sold into slavery, became a talented musician, made friends in low places, eventually discovered his mother was alive, ran off to become the best lawyer since Atticus Finch, and later discovered he was a member of the royal family. That's totally never happened before in fiction. I imagine his background story is as original as Joseph and the Technicolor Dream Coat... or Little Orphan Annie's. The story wasn't inspired it was bandwagon, and a pale forgery at that.
Inspiration involves borrowing elements of setting and archtype but making it uniquely your own, Bandwagon involves making just enough changes to play Captain Ersatz.
3542400 I wouldn't say that Wicked used a bandwagon appeal... to be fair, the last book in the Wizard of OZ series was published in 1920, with the Wonderful Wizard of OZ being published originally in 1900. Wicked is an exploration of a darker side of OZ, not a bandwagon. The Technicolor Dreamcoat is a re-interpretation of a centuries-old story, adapted for musical theatre. That's not a bandwagon either.
Additionally, despite the sarcasm in your reply, unless Remi's author said that he was inspired at all by Jack in the Beanstalk, it's your assumption that it is. And that's assuming that's in the book and not in the tv series, given that animation studios sometimes add their own things to a story with filler episodes that are often less than original. Selling farm animals to settle down disputes of ownership, payments due or surviving is something that comes up even in the Old Testament, Greek tragedies, etc. Just because stuff happens that echoes other stories, it doesn't mean it's inspired by them or a bandwagon.
Get your definitions straight before you attempt sarcasm to make an invalid point.
"Bandwagon" in the discussion here is a specific thing that happens when something is popular and immediately someone else jumps and does something just like it to get attention. Case in point, when Disney's Beauty and the Beast came out in home video, several other cheaper animation companies jumped into that bandwagon with their own animated versions of B&B. Same here, when an author comes out with something more original in its telling or conception that most of the other stuff, gets attention and then a bunch of other people start doing pretty much the exact same premise with little changes.
3541428
This is pretty accurate, I'd say. Also, bandwagoning is like when one person writes a futa Chrysalis story, then for the next couple weeks, half the stores in the new queue are futa Chrysalis stories.
3542504
3542482
Yeah, there's a good point you're both making (and probably other people I'm not going to dig through as well), that I totally overlooked in my original comment, and that's the timeliness aspect. You can be inspired by something any time after the original work was created. You can only jump on the bandwagon for it while the original work remains a big deal in your readers' consciousness. (Reactions, as 3541605 mentioned, fall somewhere between the two I think. I've seen plenty of people react to major pillars of ponyficcdom just after they've read them, but most reactions come in the same period as bandwagon fics.)
There's some slop, obviously. In ponyfic, you can pretty much bandwagon/react to "Fallout: Equestria" any time you want. "Twilight Sparkle Is Hot for Peaches" or "Fluttershy Makes Philosophically Dubious Assertions", though, have a much shorter reaction lifespan.
Come to think of it, you could probably treat these things pretty much like radioactive isotopes where they've got some sort of reaction half-life. You might even be able to build a regression model for that half-life based on a few key components. I think I probably have better things to do with my time (for the moment), but this seems like it could be a fun little research project.
Damn, I need undergrads I can throw research projects at.
3542245 I, and many others, have been given reason to question the objectivity of the mods, which frankly has made us question everything you guys do and say.
You have only yourselves to blame for it.
This could be true, but the reaction fic (to both episodes and fics) is one of those odd little things...most of the time, they are the exception, the feelings of the author toward a specific situation, or event. Not many authors do them simultaneously, and so they remain somewhat under the radar; a known presence, but certainly not a force...
And then you get the whole "Would It Matter" thing, where the piece is both popular and inflammatory, and manages to rouse the passions of people who loved it, thought it was okay (like me; fairly well-written, but an obvious and blatant strawman argument), and hated it.
The question the above quote raises is whether or not reaction fics are a cheap way for writers to get attention. This raises another question of intent, and whether or not anything an author does could be construed as such. A blog post about a new chapter, a new side story for the current story they are writing, putting art in the chapter...all things do to get attention from their fans and/or newcomers.
Frankly, implying that reaction fics are essentially authors flashing boobs for cheers is a little insulting and cheapens the art of what we all do, somewhat. It does those who partake a disservice. There are some who do them to attention grab, yes, but the majority who write them do so because they see something that has inspired them to take a different stance or path than the original, something that won't leave them alone. They write it, and then post it.
Which, in and of itself, is fanfiction, in a nutshell.
I suppose the only real way to tell the difference between inspiration and bandwagonning would be retrospect.
Of course, one also has to ask...does being on the bandwagon make a fic, by dint of beinf on the bandwagon, bad or not worth reading? The term "bandwagon" does seem to infer a certain sense of worthlessness.
I suppose another way of looking at it would be how well a story that says "inspired by" on the tin holds up to close scrutiny. Taking an objective look at it, is it merely a story that is different-but-similar enough to be forgotten easily, or does it stand out from the pack? How many alicorn OC's exist, and yet almost everyone has heard of Nyx. Why? Because her story stood out.
Fallout: Equestria is, quite literally, the stuff of legend, one of the (if not THE) fics we as a fandom present to prove that ponies can be for adults, too. How many "bandwagon" fics for it are there? Yet there are two that automatically stand out when asked about stories inspired by the original: Pink Eyes and (Celestia help me, I am only 1/3 of the way through it...) Project Horizons. Why do we think of them?
Because they are well-done enough for them to claim to be inspired by the original.
Not that there aren't other fics that are good in these fandoms and more.
But I think what separates inspiration and bandwagon is both time and quality. They allow us to sift through the crappy (what is this i dont even)-to-average (I would read it again sometime) fics for the diamonds that truly shine.
Even if it's a fic that you cannot help but like, even if you hate it, sometimes you have to be objective and give it its due.
3542579 We mods never said we were perfect, but to put the blame solely on us is also erroneous. Specifically in certain cases that got a lot people upset due to a moderation decision, but also involved a huge amount of a certain user basically sending his lackeys to argue for him instead of trying to at least be polite with the one person that attempted to reason with them. But, that's in the past, and should remain there. Future instances of said user even needing help at all, are thankfully not going to reach me. And if they do, I have a handy delete button for such an occasion. I'm sure that user is familiar with the phrase "do unto others" and such.
As to your response-fic point... yes, it is difficult to see if it is jumping into the bandwagon, given that the only stories that generate that kind of reaction are usually exploding in popularity at that point. The way I look at it, a response fic shouldn't just be a rewrite of the same story, with straw-characters doing the talking head show for the author's voice, if it's not bandwagoning or pretty much just rewriting. A response fic is not automatically a parody either, especially if it's not funny (which is a general requirement of parody).
I've seen excellent response-fics that deal with the same issue being portrayed in completely different ways, and expose their position in it while actually being an original story that doesn't just take the same title, plot and narrative and twists it for attention.
I've done it myself: The Pain of Eternity is basically a response-fic to the "Immortality is BAD" cliche. It didn't sit with me that everyone wanted Luna, Twilight, Celestia, Discord, Chrysalis and Cadance and just about any villain that might live for a long time be nothing but emos, so I wrote my own story to address that issue. Because if the problem is a topic, then the story or stories that originated the problem or reaction are actually less relevant than the message and could be simply placed on the description as: "My response to X fic." It really isn't any deeper than a simple reply saying that I disagree, without forcing my actual words through characters that wouldn't act like they're part of the Westboro Congregation and Twilight is Fred Phelps.
Bandwagon stories being good tho, that's a very good point to bring up. I don't think being part of a bandwagon would automatically make a story bad, but the negative connotation does imply that the bandwagon-ing stories are essentially bootlegs of inferior quality that may or not be charming in their own way, but still will tend to disappoint. It takes a lot of effort to liberate from that stigma.
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3542629 Luckiy for me that I'm not a lackey.
And I believe that you give this particular person a bit too much credit.
And I am glad you are familiar with that phrase...but you forget the second part...
Do unto others...as you would have them do unto you.
Not ...because they shall do unto you.
Not...unless they do not do so unto you.
Just...as you would have them do unto you.
It isn't a promise of equal treatment; merely a call to be the bigger man.
And I saw and still see failure on both sides...myself included.
And Wanderer D? I am sorry; please forgive me for coming up in here and talking out of both sides of my mouth. I shouldn't have done that, and I was wrong for it.
As for the stigma, you are completely correct...the question is, how do we fet rid of that stigma? There are some good-to-great fics out there, lost in the mire...
3542651 Water under the bridge.
As for the stigma... a part of me wants to say that author respectability is a big factor. If a bandwagon-type story is the first thing an author attempts, then there's very little to even suggest that it could possibly be good. It's an additional negative to it. But, if an established author that has proven to be able to tell good original stories takes up a bandwagon story, there's that balance that comes with them being known for quality work that appeals to the readers. It's the only way I can see it being done with the big bandwagons.
3542482
Dismissing seemingly irrelevant material that is culturally present because it doesn't match your concept as being the source of inspiration unless the author specifically says that was the case is precisely why people would rather bandwagon. And yes, I am aware of dual-ling partners. The film industry practically flounders on the concept and Asylum Studios uses "bandwagon" as its business model. I saw the plot of 'Killers' five or six times from different studios and four or five different versions of war of the worlds in the same year. Bones recently aired an episode that was strikingly similar in plot to an episode of Forever not two weeks ago. And, as mentioned in my first post, there are events in peoples lives that tend to be universal. A level of cultural exposure or emersion isn't always one of them, but marketing companies rely on this to develop a brand identity based on bad faith. As the worlds oldest, and most oft published, book I don't think there is anyone in the western world that would deny taking some inspiration from the bible if asked directly. But, I sincerely doubt they'd mention it on an acknowledgment page or bring it up in a casual conversation.
Plus, there is always the possibility that two people on either side of street, county, state, government, country, or planet, came up with the same concept independently of each other based on case studies, personal experience, education, or social studies, among other forms of personal extrapolation; logical or otherwise. I have a relative that didn't speak for the first five years of their life, that doesn't mean I drew inspiration for crafting a similar character from Song of the Sea. Obviously, there was more than one person on either side of the pond that had a connection to someone with a similar issue. And, while I can identify with them on one level there are levels that I cannot connect with, such as their mythology. Even with a limited exposure (or understanding of their mythology) I could sit in a theater or a big comfy couch in wonder towards the end of the film, and ask myself "what the hell they were thinking?". I prefer to think one aspect of the story was 'inspired' by actual events. As with the case of graveyard of the fireflies, it's possible what was made was made as a form of crude therapy or seeking social acceptance through self comfort. In much the same way events that took place in 'Whisper of the Heart' could be seen as the 'inspiration' for 'The Cat Returns' despite both being independent alternate universes of each other.
As far as I'm concerned reinterpretation is the same as retroactive continuity. How is that not Bandwagon? Hollywood filmmakers do it all the time. I mean, you don't honestly think '10 things I Hate About You' is that fundamentally different from Shakespeare's 'Taming of the Shrew' as performed by Elisabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. I realize there are movies that use titles of classic movies every five years or so, no doubt in order to get people's behinds into the velvet seats, when they aren't making remakes, reboots, or sequels. I know for a fact the poor orphan that discovers they're of noble birth is older than Charles Dickens and Hans Christian Anderson. And, the notion 'some morons have all the luck' is older that Forrest Gump. Eleanor Roosevelt's quote that "great minds talk about ideas, average minds talk about events, and small minds talk about people." While a fine play of words that doesn't set limits on what is discussed, all the same they still limit her ability to take inspiration from small minds that by definition would rather talk about people, because she's already boxed them up and put them into stowage. Which is a real tragedy because she probably missed out on some really compelling subject matter that could have changed lives or profoundly altered her personal point of view.
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Not necessarily. A chain of 'inspired by's doesn't sound right in my ears. I'd rather call that a bandwagon, albeit a less popular one.
Then again, it depends on personal definitions in the phrase 'very popular'.
3542245 I guess you're right about it being a concept... but then again, it was a concept they kept repeating over and over again. A good bunch of people embraced the concept, and though most scootabuse was different from each other, the primary idea of ponies abusing scootaloo (mainly rainbow dash) was explored by a lot of people,
Maybe I'm wrong on this, but I thought bandwagon referred to repeating a concept disregard the structure rather than repeating a concept and structure. I mean, more like, the bandwagon is the main premise rather than its execution. I hope I phrased that right.
3542245 Again, I think it comes down to 'why'. If one jumps on the bandwagon because they find it fun, it's still bandwagoning, but it's good bandwagoning.
I think it comes down to the reason you wrote it. For example Jetfire's "Dangerous Business" is clearly inspired by the tales of Gilgamesh. The tales obviously weren't tearing up the feature box they used it because they were inspired to mimic it.
An example of a bandwagon would be the outright epidemic of "Luna Does X" stories a few years ago. They were popular so everyone it seemed had to rush out their own.
But hey that's just one little bear's opinion.