Terrors Of The New Column #2: Heed The Tale Of Darth Plagiarist, The Not-So-Wise · 8:00pm Feb 29th, 2020
Once upon a very recent time, there was a relatively new writer. (He'd only been on the site for about sixteen months, waiting four before he risked that vital first chapter.) And like many new writers, he found himself attracted to the ideas of the Displaced subgenre. Especially those portions which could, without irony, flip through the Old Testament for a few minutes before declaring that God needed an upgrade.
So he began to post stories. And for the purposes of this tale, it's sufficient to say that they shared a theme of power. (It wasn't enough to have an Omnitrix: his character needed to have all of them put together.) And he loved to include pictures, sometimes he tossed in gifs, and there are those who might say he was showing the first signs of maturity because he rewrote a chapter after recognizing that the main character had too many powers to keep track of. But he was also collecting upvotes, and doing so despite not being a particularly good writer. Displaced can be something of a back-scratching circle (to keep it polite): people boost each other, because that's part of the way the sub-genre stays popular. At this writing, his stories stand at 168:51, 48:23, and 48:21.
Why the downvotes? It's not just automatic hatred of his sub-genre: there were many flaws in the compositions. The text treated commas as something which happened to other people. Characterization, as with the worst of Displaced, was limited to descriptions of the powerset -- or, for a Mature effort, who the character was sleeping with. Stories were continuing, but nothing had been finished. Admittedly, he wasn't as bad as many there: prior to this month, he only had three stories, all with multiple short chapters. So nothing started and then abandoned immediately -- but nothing completed, and people were starting to notice.
Of course, it's hard to finish stories. Hard to start them. Hard to maintain momentum.
Writing is hard.
But this past Monday, he published the opening chapters of his fourth story. This time, the character (such as it was) had been sent to Equestria as Alexander Anderson, originally from Hellsing. We can skip over the 'buying things from the plot device,' because he did. And since it was Displaced, some people like the original source, and backs must be scratched, the concept began to gather upvotes. Enough to become visible in the New column, which brought in the rubberneckers. People were reading the story. Mission accomplishment.
In fact, mission hyper-accomplished.
Because that story had 1,027 upvotes.
...yes, really. That many. No wonder people were happy to read it! Displaced can be done well, you know: it just doesn't happen often. This was the shining exception, that which keeps us clicking in the hopes that something else will be of quality. A happy day, for a good Displaced author has come among us! But it's also a sad time, because that worthy story has now been waiting four years for an update. Well, maybe someday --
-- I'm sorry. Did you just say something about a temporal contradiction? Nonsense! Here's the story! See for yourself!
...what do you mean, that isn't about Alexander Anderson?
Now it is!
Because writing is hard. And so our young protagonist had decided to make it somewhat easier through letting someone else do it.
However, there are a few problems with that. The first: plagiarism is a dark art and like most such dark arts, any use with less than perfect care will destroy the user. And so the initial recognition came in at Comment #30 (made by ScottHowl2), because Darth had stolen from a story with more than a thousand upvotes and even if it had been four years since the last update, that kind of total indicates an audience which is both going to remember it, still has readers on the site, and just might stumble across what Darth had done. It's a concept which requires the person studying it to understand memory and attention span, not to mention actually having both.
It didn't take much longer for the finer details to emerge. He'd stolen full paragraphs. Just about all of his opening chapters, and the second mistake was that he hadn't altered the original material enough. (This would shortly become a trend.) Robin has his own credo, a code of honor, and it just doesn't fit on Alexander, does it? Completely different personalities and since this 'writer' (who had just earned the first stage of quotes) didn't care about such things, he'd overlooked that. All Darth needed to do was replace names, and that made it a different story.
Except not really.
So at this point, the comments were truly beginning to fly. Those who were just auto-voting because Must Support Displaced continued to praise him: the ones who actually went through text and commentary became worried. More and more people were pointing out the obvious. Links were going up. Word-by-word comparisons of sentences had been publicly made. And so Darth did something not-so-wise: he began to delete those comments, because the first thing you do is get rid of the evidence.
Admittedly, it might have helped if he'd deleted the right comments. Like #30.
Darth really wasn't very good at this.
I'd like to think he didn't understand why people were still talking about it. I truly feel he believed he'd done nothing wrong. But he had to shut everyone up. So the stolen material was removed.
For a while, this left him with a story in the Popular column with a word count of zero. People talked about that.
But then the chapters came back, and everything taken from Robin was gone. Now, Alexander was kicking pony rears with a new set of words! It's so easy to hurt the world when you're thirteen feet tall --
-- what's that?
You've watched Hellsing? You say Alexander is a normal-sized human with the worst smile in the world?
Because Darth had found his solution. He had stolen from a story which was four years old, and clearly that had been the mistake. This time, he would grab his chapters from something which had been published earlier in the same month! All fixed!
...only not really.
Because he still hadn't changed enough. Because Alexander isn't thirteen feet tall, although he can stack corpses to twice that just before posing dramatically from the top of the heap. And so people recognized the switch, saying so in the Comments.
Anger was starting to build. Once was bad enough. There are professionals whose careers were destroyed by 'once'. But twice? How stupid did Darth think everyone was? And so there were those who yelled at him, others began to contact the original writers to let them know what was happening to their words, the things they had actually worked at, and Darth did the only thing he could.
He deleted more comments. (Still didn't get to #30.) And then he went offline for about a day.
I'd noticed what was happening by then. Rubbernecking the vote totals: live it, love it, bring a rope because there's quicksand about. I'd openly called him a plagiarist: he deleted that. I went to his userpage, told him that people would have been taking screenshots for reports while also mentioning that FIMFetch exists: he deleted that. He didn't believe in creator's rights, but Darth's fine with censorship. He was getting rid of most of the evidence, except that he kept missing the first piece and --
-- he didn't know what was happening in chat. That some of us had pasted samples there.
From Galand Of Truth:
Around me were seven anthropomorphic ponies. Six looked like the main six from an show I used to watch called my little pony. The other one was an anthro pony that looked like Nightmare Moon from that same show. Looking at them I both felt and seemed taller. If I had to take a guess then I'm around 13 ft tall now. Even then that's me when I'm slouching, like now.
From Monster Of Equus:
When I awoke, around me were seven anthropomorphic ponies. Six looked like the main six from an show I used to watch called my little pony. The other one was an anthro pony that looked like Nightmare Moon from that same show. Looking at them I both felt and seemed taller. If I had to take a guess then I'm around 13 ft tall now. Even then that's me when I'm slouching, like now.
Wasn't exactly going to a lot of effort, was he? Right down to the original errors, not that he'd ever cared to correct his own. (In one long description, his Displaced trio continues to run 'a muck.') Because plagiarism is easy, but getting away with it... that takes work. And the only effort he was putting in was on deleting things.
A lot of things.
Because it was around this time when SockPuppet noticed his other three stories were shrinking.
Whole chapters had gone missing. Read the Comments to find people talking about sections which weren't there...
Now why would that be happening? We'll get to that in a minute. Because this is the point in our story when Darth comes roaring back to the site. He is angry. He's also tired, because he has been working all night. And he is Tired Of This Crap. He has a new chapter for us, along with new images and one whole gif! And he has gone so far as to place something in the "Author's" Note -- we're up to two quotes now -- because he wants us to know exactly how he feels.
We can be pretty sure he wrote this himself.
Here ALL my work now please stop with the hate comments
...well. What can you possibly say to that?
Well, in my case, I got to say "Hello, new follower!" Because he followed me. I can't prove it, but I think he must have followed most of the people who had been so cruel as to call him out. Couldn't miss that notification light. We'd better be good now, because we're being watched.
I'd been on his userpage a few times by then. I verified the follow. I noticed his one remaining blog, in which he basically apologized for an extended absence. Turns out his neighbor changed her wifi password.
And then I said something else.
This is the comment I placed on his 'ALL my work' chapter. (It had reached the point where I was saving copies.)
Oh, it gets better. He decided to follow at least some of the people who called him out, myself included. Because clearly we're the people you need to keep an eye on.
Okay, Darth. I'm speaking directly to you now. And yes, I realize you're probably going to delete this comment. Likely without reading it first. That's why I've saved a copy, and may just repost somewhere you can't touch.
Regardless, let's pretend to talk.
Here ALL my work now please stop with the hate comments
...he said after using four in-story pieces of art created by other people. (And get ready to See Below.)
I feel that little "Author's" Note says a lot about you. Just my personal interpretation of course -- but in that view, this is what you just told us.
You don't think you were wrong for stealing.
You think we were wrong for calling you out.(Remember, kids: when you're caught red-handed in the middle of a crime, the only fault belongs to those who passed the law. Clearly they just didn't understand how special you are.)
You wrote a new chapter? Well, that's what you're claiming, anyway. Y'see, there's this website. I think you may become very familiar with it, at least by proxy. Because one thing you did do with the posting of this story was to inadvertently create a very attentive readership. They'll be wondering what your latest work reminds them of, and some of them are probably going to double-check.
But still, you claim to have written a new chapter. Your own work! And so the problem is solved! We all have to forget about this now!
No.
It isn't.
We won't.
Because you went after 'hate comments.' That's what was in the wrong. Anyone pointing out what you did was making a 'hate comment', and how dare we.
There's something else you could have done. You didn't bother. I'm not sure you perceive any need to take that course. But can you guess what you didn't do?You.
Didn't.
Apologize.Hey, remember these guys? The actual writers whose work you stole? Did you tell them you were sorry? In fact, did you tell Kronos that you're still taking his work? Because this is how Galand Of Truth opens.
I'm sure you know how things work. I went to anime expo dressed, or geared up, as Galand of Truth. All I needed was his halberd. I found a guy who was selling a lot of different weapons from different shows. I felt light headed as soon as I grabbed it. I soon blacked out right after.
And here is how your completely rewritten, totally original new chapter begins.
I'm sure you know how things work. I went to anime expo dressed, or geared up, as Alexander Anderson. All I needed was his Bayonets. I found a guy who was selling a lot of different weapons from different shows. I felt light headed as soon as I grabbed it. I soon blacked out right after.
...right.
So you haven't exactly stopped, have you? And you didn't apologize. Not to them, because someone who's still doing it might not see a need. You certainly haven't told your readership that you're sorry: same reason?
Also, someone in the site's chat noticed a little detail last night.
You have three other stories.
Quick question: why did you just delete chapters from two of them?
Better question about those chapters: who actually wrote them?You haven't apologized. You've just gone for 'hate comments,' because we're the ones in the wrong. And how can we possibly think you were ever in error?
Because we're writers. And you're a plagiarist.
Maybe if you were an actual writer, you'd understand just how bad this is. When you dream for a living, having someone claim your visions always offends. With real authors, it's easier to get forgiveness for murder than plagiarism: at least with murder, you might get a decent story out of it. You committed Unoriginal Sin and in my interpretations of the signs, you still don't care.
And then you followed me, as one of those who called you out? So I'm the one who has to be watched, because it's catching you that's the real sin. Or maybe I should be flattered: you might have decided my work is worth stealing. (You may want to note that my so-called style is slightly recognizable.) But it doesn't matter, because if you stole from me? Courtroom. Hope you've got a lawyer ready. And as for following... you'll never get a word in on a single story or blog. I've already guaranteed that.
But in the end, it's not about me: nowhere close. It's about your plagiarism. Something you not only haven't apologized for (not that such would have much sincerity now anyway), but are continuing to do. I can see you doing it. I've captured and quoted it. I don't exactly have a reason to believe you're going to stop.
You want forgiveness? Head for the house of worship of your choice. It won't mean anything for the way I personally feel, but maybe you'll get a deity with exceptionally low standards.
You want redemption?
EARN IT.
He had a response for that.
To wit, he unfollowed me.
Get rid of the evidence, y'know.
By the way, Comment #30? Was still there.
(I was joking about it in chat that night: how if you steal from me, you inherit my Hatedom and I will point them at you myself. If nothing else, they'll nail you for lack of taste. Dear gawds, the instant anyone spots capitalization on Sun and Moon, the jig is up... And there was also a question as to whether someone would decide their best way to site fame was through reposting My Little Dashie. It's been over eight years, y'know. Who's gonna remember?)
But that was his only response. He didn't compose a counter-comment. He certainly didn't apologize. I'm not sure he ever really saw that he was doing something wrong. Or maybe he was redlining: fine, I've been caught, let's see how many more people I can offend before the engine blows out. Maybe...
I was right about one thing, though.
He had, rather inadvertently, created a very attentive readership.
Also, search engines exist.
So this time, his personally-rewritten, ALL his '''work''' chapter contained a scene with Celestia & Luna. That hadn't been present in any previous version -- but of course, this is his ''''work''''and so revisions have been made.
Only not really.
Has anyone here met Hotel Chicken? HC knows how a search engine works. So he ran a sentence from the Princess scene through it, and...
...hello, Warrior To Hero.
(2018. Because the key to Darth's survival was splitting the difference!)
Here's a sample from the original.
Luna rolled her eyes at celestia's worrying "Nonsense Tia, just you wait. Captain sharp blade will arrive and tell use everything is fine" just as she finish the throne doors were opened reveling lieutenant green breeze escorted by a solar and lunar guard.
And this time, Darth got creative.
Luna rolled her eyes at celestia's worrying "Nonsense Tia, just you wait. Captain Sharp Blade will arrive and tell use everything is fine" just as she finish the throne doors were opened reveling L.T. Gold Glow escorted by a solar and lunar guard.
He changed one name while putting capital letters on another.
Effort!
So. Let's review.
He posted a story about Alexander Anderson from Hellsing.
In fact, he posted three of them in succession.
None of which were his.
It's possible that there were even more authors involved: HC didn't check every scene. But by Take #3? A little bit of Galand, a whole lot of Warrior... this story is being stitched together from other stories, and the seams are showing.
So what was Darth doing? A majestic I-don't-care? Nyah-nyah, no one cares and you can't do anything about this? Hey, I'm a '''''writer'''''!
I don't know. I just filed a report, and I wasn't exactly the first person to do so. Writers had been notified, readers were angry, messages were flying in all directions... and Darth just kept taking things down, putting up new ones, and I think if he'd had a little more time, there would have been another round of thefts. I don't think he cared.
It's not his fault for stealing. It's ours for saying stealing is wrong.
The moderators, upon reaching his trouble ticket, decided to disagree.
Darth's been banned for a few days now. I haven't named him here (and if you know who it is, you shouldn't either) because site rules prohibit going after active users, and I'm not sure the ban is permanent. (Once we pass a week, the odds go up.) But it's probably the forever hammer, because plagiarism is the sin which isn't forgiven. And technically, he did get a few warnings. Everyone kept trying to tell him...
I posted the video on his userpage. You know the one. I told him it was traditional. It's not as if he can delete it right now.
I don't know what Darth was thinking, or if he ever cared to think at all. But if I had to guess? He might still believe we're the ones in the wrong. And I was tempted to look for his chosen name on other fanfic sites, see who else might have been hurt, because the lesson probably wasn't learned and...
...but that's stalking of a sort. So it stops here.
The three stories which we know he stole from? I won't hear a word spoken against any of them. Not today. Go forth and read them if you like. Upvote here and there. Because maybe there's errors of punctuation and capitalization, grammar mistakes and possibly a cliche' or two...
...but all of those things were written.
Three people labored to post those stories. It wasn't done perfectly? Then it was still their labor. They created. Stare at the screen until drops of blood form in your hair. When they drip into the shape of words, you're a writer -- and that trio is comprised of writers. As opposed to Darth, who is now and forever after nothing more than a thief.
Is there a lesson here? None he might care to learn. But if you want one...
On this site, you can post the most nightmarish stomach-turning stories to ever induce vomit. And some do. That's their taste.
But they'd better be your stories.
Blog title suggested by ChudoJogurt and used with permission.
Because I'm not Darth.
Ironic. He could save others from recognition, but he could not save himself...
Well, someone had to say it. But yeah, it takes a lot more of one's own creative juices to marinade theft into inspiration. And hate-following those who called him out is a special level of petty.
His last chapter was named "How Far am I Willing To Go"
Now we know.
It's great to learn because knowledge is power
Yes, the one thing that I learned writing term papers
"It's NOT plagiarism if you footnote it properly"
Ah, drama. Sometimes ignorance really is bliss.
"it's not a story the Jedi would tell you."
"Yes they did."
"No, 'cause it's mine and—"
"No, I'm pretty sure it was their story. I think you stole it."
5211874
Hmph. Used with permission: I just had to put in that last part, because it was a long post-chapter night with very little sleep. (I have a permanent record of the request & response in the site's Discord chat log.) So nyah-nyah.
5211877
Internet drama! Like real drama, only lower-calorie and with double speed on all rushes to judgment!
A lot of people missed this one. (Aragon, upon hearing the summary, was briefly bemused.) But I wanted to recognize it as an official Terror -- and also have it serve as an (ignored) object lesson to future plagiarists. Because if the source of your theft was ever posted in public, then someone remembers it.
Incidentally? I have incoming plagscan referrals on a couple of stories. I don't know why. They just pop up here and there, and I'm pretty sure I'm not the only person that happens to. Maybe someone's ultra-desperate for that sweet theoretical court case settlement money...
I found a 1959 one-franc coin today. Would they like that?
I think Darth took the entire thing from chapter nine of Warrior to Hero and only really changed the fight scene since the fight scene in the original was a lot more complex and bizarre since that author had nine chapters to build up the story and the enemies. I think the only enemy from the fight Darth kept were the timberwolves and then he just skipped to the royalty scene. I honestly wish I saved the story so that I could make sure.
Also, I can't take credit for finding out about the plagiarism. I was just the most vocal about it once someone else pointed it out. I'm actually surprised Darth never deleted my comment.
Great review/summary of the story and events respectively by the way.
My hypothesis is that either (1) he was 12 years old and didn't know that plagiarism is A Very Bad Thing; (2) went to a lousy school that didn't teach that plagiarism is A Very Bad Thing; or (3) given his writing ability, both.
...And so it was said...
"Nothing of value was lost."
~Skeeter The Lurker
I should mention that I'm a professional scientist. I've witnessed plagiarism scandals in real life and seen careers (that were preceded by half-million-dollar educations) ended. Let's hope our friend has learned his lesson before he tries it somewhere it can actually hurt him.
5211915
Yours stood out because it was the one he never deleted: I may have missed something earlier up the line which was replaced by stones in the Yellow Bricked Road. (I do think you were the first person to post a text comparison with Robin's code, so take a lap for Evidence.) So credit to whoever did first spot it -- but I didn't show up in time to see who that was.
I saved a copy of the third version's opening chapter, just in case the moderators needed to review it. (I don't know if anyone has Take #1 or #2.) This is the whole of the text, with the images left out.
So your memory is accurate: the fight, and then straight to the castle.
5211892
That was meant as a JOKE
Sorry if I hit a nerve. IMO you're a GREAT writer & one of only 2 that I follow
It's a family joke
If God had sent the first plague to Egypt & then sent me to console Pharoah for the first plague, He could have gotten the Jews out of Egypt a lot quicker and saved eight perfectly good plagues
But, God was merciful & spared Pharoah that much, at least
Maybe if I'd said "Bazinga"?
Only be sure always to call it please "research"!
Wow this is exactly the kind of shit storm I wanted to avoid with gimmick68.
I read their featured story "After Words" and realized we both wrote the exact same sentence almost word for word. I was freaking out. My work remains unfinished and unpublished, I'm over thirteen thousand words in and the entire plot hinges on that sentence, their work got featured! There was no way people weren't gonna think that I copied them. But I contacted them and they were totally cool about it.
I know how much blood and sweat goes into writing and I'm not gonna steal anybody's hard work.
There's no excuse for plagiarism.
5211931
See above.
I have a chat log and I'm not afraid to use it.
(I recognize that y'all are having fun, but I've been plagiarized. Class project. I was not happy.)
Ye gads, it's been a long time since I hit that one story that immortalized The School of Good and Evil. (and all my hosted graphics went away so I can't point out the word by word duplication there.) I was so happy because it seemed to be such a good story... (Worse, when I checked out the book from the library, I found the first couple of chapters to be wonderful, then the quality dropped like a stone. Sigh.)
Damn, it's amazing how far entitlement and a lack of self-awareness can take you... all the way to the webpage where someone else wrote the actual words you claim ownership of in your story.
Honestly, what is even the appeal of plagiarism? If you want to be a good writer, why wouldn't you write?
The thing about FanFiction -- maybe the most important thing of all -- is that the writer acknowledges that they own nothing. Oh, it doesn't always have to be said. Some people will open their stories with the little disclaimer about owning nothing, and that's fine, but it's sort of implied right from the start. This is a piece of FanFiction, so by definition, anything you recognize isn't the property of the author. Everyone who reads FanFiction goes into the pages of the story with that implicitly agreed-upon beforehand. And that's fine.
But that means that what we write is a labour of love. We know we don't own the stories. We're getting nothing really tangible out of it. A few of the very best of us will get followers and donations. Those who can write passably well will enjoy upvotes, positive comments, and the warm glow of knowing we have our own little fans. And even those who never reach those lofty heights will experience the joy of having created. Of standing back and looking at their product, however unpolished and flawed it might be, and knowing that I Made This. That they created this little homage to their fandom and they can be proud of it. They don't own the show, they don't own the proceeds, but they own their ideas and their love and their willingness to create, and those things merged to create the story.
Which means that THE Sin, the worst thing a FanFiction writer can do, is plagiarise another.
If you steal... you didn't create anything. You didn't show your love for the Fandom. You looked at people better and more devoted than you, and saw the warm glow that they were feeling, and you wanted it for yourself. And so you took it, hand over fist, trying to claim it all. You didn't care that you weren't entitled. You didn't care that it belonged to someone else. All you cared about was that little box with the green numbers that ticked up because that meant that people liked you and surely something as unimportant as how or why they liked you didn't matter, right?
As FanFiction writers, we don't own the source. We don't own the characters. We don't own anything except our ideas, and our love, and our willingness to create, and you took even that from us.
Which is why nothing can unite a Fandom faster than finding a Thief. And while they'll cry that it's bullying, that it's mob justice, that it's wrong... it's actually the only form of justice that can ever exist. Because the Thief stole love from us, and when we downvote, when we unfollow, when we post negative reviews, we are doing the only reasonable thing we can ever do.
We are taking that love back.
It's been a very long time since I wrote FanFiction of any kind. I haven't even written any in the MLP fandom; my history can be traced back to X-Men and Batman and other such things. Truth be told, I was drawn to FiMFiction not by liking the original show, but because I was drawn by the quality of the FanFiction. I've still probably watched less than one in four episodes of the actual show. And honestly, at this point, I think I'm more familiar with the Fandom versions of the character than those of the actual show, which means I may never get around to writing anything for myself. Heck, I'm quite sure that the version of Luna that exists inside my head has a lot more in common with Estee's version than Hasbro's one. But even as someone who's never written for MLP, I know exactly what this all is.
This is a place for those who have ideas, who have love, who have the willingness to create. And if you have none of those things, you have no place here. You have committed THE Sin, and you deserve whatever you get.
It's not the crime, it's the cover-up.
Imaginary Property rights are already a dubious concept in fanfic. Even a very talented author like Estee does not have any particular rights to her work, Hasbro Inc owns everything forever and we all live on its sufferance. Remixing is an art unto itself too; if he wanted to cut and paste snippets into something else I would be perfectly willing to judge it on it's own merits, even if the source authors disapproved. It might be a fun challenge to create a sort-of coherent story out of JUST plagiarism! This ham-handed censorship and evasion illuminates his own thoughts on the matter though: the wicked flee when no man pursueth.
5211931
Ack! Beat me too it!
In one word he told me secret of success in mathematics fanfiction:
Plagiarize.
Plagiarize!
Let no one else's work evade your eyes!
Remember why the good Lord made your eyes!
So don't shade your eyes!
But plagiarize! Plagiarize! Plagiarize!
5211935
I throw myself on the mercy of the author.
Because nobody ever accused me of making wise decisions.
Somehow, out of this entire blog, this is the sentence that truly adds that cherry to the shit sundae that is Darth Plagarist. Because how else would this shining specimen be getting Internet than by leeching it from someone else
.
5212007
Well, there's your problem right there. They're "writing" for popularity, which even if you're not a plagiarist still doesn't require being a good writer. Stephanie Meyer proved that not merely by the obvious means, but by EL James' replication of her success. 5211922, as a Real Scientist™, can explain why this is important.
This amuses me because the modern concept of the Christian God is in fact considerably more powerful than the one depicted in the Bible. (The specific part I'm thinking of was Cain inventing perjury shortly after he invented murder)
I think I spent about five minutes trying to figure out which is the plagiarizer and the plagiaree(?). I scrutinized the wording and the links and finally got it.
Anyway, this was an interesting read, for both the content and the style. So, yeah. I think I can understand that, regardless of quality, works have blood, sweat, and tears put into them. I often modify game mods to my own standards*, and the coding there is hard enough, I can't imagine what creating one from scratch would take. (I now have a crystal clear understanding of AND OR NAND NOR.) The same goes for stories, which are in a different realm but are the same at their core.
*No, it isn't plagiarism.
The only time plagiarism is funny is when it is deliberate and done openly - like one fanfiction site that actually held a plagiarism contest. The rules were you had to put together a story using bits and pieces from others' stories and nothing else. You had to try and tell said other authors that you were doing so for the contest, but it wasn't actually asking permission to do so... technically (because if you had permission, it wouldn't be plagiarism, technically). Some of the stories were hilarious, especially with the 'writers' trying their best to put strings together and keep them as close to contiguous as they could (some just didn't even bother); but the one hard rule was that you couldn't use your own works in these stories (after all, you cannot plagiarise yourself; that's an actual part of the real-world law on the subject). In the end, it was a real laugh-fest and nobody was really hurt over it.
There was one section I still remember from one 'story': one 'writer' had managed to get sixteen different characters from different universes together in a conference call and managed to keep things only subtly incoherent throughout the tale.
5212122
That's why it's called a programming language. The main difference is that you're talking to a computer instead of a person. Computers are much stupider than humans, but make up for it by being able to be stupid at the speed of light, which can sometimes look smart from the outside.
5212009, 5211935
II’s so upsetting to see this happening on a fan fiction site, but unfortunately not surprising given that nature provides an equal number of assholes to brains. We’re right to be angry about this, but let’s not let it discourage any legitimate author from posting and sharing their stories.
5212007
Depends. Some people use it as a crutch, to get a foot in the door so‐to‐speak, and then use the acclaim gained there to shine a light on their actual work. This is possibly the dumbest thing anyone with actual talent can do. If they’re anonymous enough and get caught early they just disappear. Whether they go legit and start afresh or whether they simply try again but more carefully is anyone’s guess. But assuming it manages to go undiscovered long enough that the plagiarist manages to excel on their own merits? There will inevitably come a time when the plagiarised earlier work is discovered, which then destroys their legacy and brings everything they’ve accomplished into doubt.
More rarely, it’s little more than a somewhat novel variation on trolling. Either to make everybody look like an idiot when the plagiarist reveals that nobody realised that they copied some incredibly famous work or simply the malicious glee of having wasted thousands of hours of people’s lives.
5211931
You beat me to it - that was my first response as well (My dad sas something of a Tom Lehrer fan). Oh well, saves me looking it up.
I guess the guy's logic is that as we are copying from MLP (I mean, we are using the same characters without permission, some bits are pulled straight from the show and some stories are even rewrites of show episodes) then it must be OK to take someone elses story, file the serial numbers off and then reissue it.
And of course he is not so much missing the point as shooting in the exact opposite direction. Yes, we are technically ripping off an existing product (and Hasbro deserve praise for the way they have handled it over the years). Yes, there has always been various degrees of copying in the fanfiction arena. These things arent new - they have been going on before there was a fanfiction community. But no matter how many homages and callouts you put in your writing, the writing itself should be yours.
To quote from Lord Valentine's Castle: No bird flies with anothers wings.
So he steals other stuff too I see.
I considered plagiarizing this blog wholesale and posting it on my own, but maybe people aren't in the mood for that kind of joke right now. Maybe if I wait eight years, or like a month or whatever, it'll work
5212126
Okay, now I have to see this. Would you mind DMing me a link?
5212091
A thought inspired: If we take the holy works of the Abrahamic faiths as gospel(please excuse the wordplay inherent, there), G-d would theoretically become more powerful with each of G-d's creations that have been born, lived, died, and returned to G-d, thus adding their own distinctiveness to G-d and/or giving G-d more free-willed beings to study and further refine G-d's theory of the mind. To wit: Cain invented Perjury, and G-d learned to trust, but verify.
EDIT: By "Gospel", I mean an unbiased, infalible record of the limits of G-d's capabilities.
5212694
I wish I could. The site's been gone now for almost a decade, along with everything they uploaded to it. I lost pretty much all of the stories I downloaded from there about three computers ago. Sorry.
Funnily enough, I started doing this in some of my fics after seeing it in yours. I like the implied mysticism and Formal Fantasy thing.
He plagirized a fan fiction story.
Really?
Also isn't displaced the one where its a crossover but they've sucked out all those yucky things like characters and established canon and, dare I say, flaws, and inserting themselves and filing away all the things that made them them, thus suggesting that sure, this character was fine, but it was time someone did it properly. which in terms of writing is like slapping Kohta Hirano in the face with the vivisection-ed innards of his soon to be dead dog.
5211931
Huzzah! A man of quality!
5213699
Yes and yes. That was part of the joke in the very first paragraph.