09/10/2011

Yesterday, I've been unfairly accused of plagiarism by another author in that site (who, I will have the tact not to name; especially since apparently, she plans on adding a "bitchy note" to her next chapter to mention it so you'll know soon enough, I guess)

This author, who I followed on Twitter and who followed me back (but she blocked me now) explained that some time ago she discussed about the content of her next chapter (not published yet) on her timeline (actually, asked people to prompt her for ideas). This is true. She did discuss prompts indeed, to which I even participated, suggesting "House cooking a nice dinner for Cuddy and then taking her doggy style on the kitchen counter." Many other people, I assume, must have participated in those prompts as well, some I don't even follow, which means I couldn't see or read all their tweets. What I recall of that period, and don't contest, is that it led to some mentions of massage, bath, anal sex, oral sex, all kinds of sex, and Rachel being a "cockblocker"; none of which being clear, or detailed enough to allow anyone to infer what it would eventually turn into in the final written version of the chapter this author was about to write.

She's worked on it and I can't tell what's in it because I haven't read it since it's not published, but apparently, in the end, it was supposed to contain (and even of that I'm not quite sure) a massage scene, followed by oral sex. So because of that, and given the content of my last chapter, this author claimed yesterday that since I read her timeline, I would have seen the clear scenario that she intended on developing via those tweets, and would have then slyly stolen it "in the exact same pattern" she wanted to write about, to use it in my chapter.

I can't prevent anyone from having very strong feelings about some things they would perceive as similar to their own creation, but that accusation is extremely hurtful for me and completely groundless.

Anyone that reads my story and knows me, even just a little (at least I want to hope that's the case) perfectly knows that plagiarism is the LAST thing I would do to an author. I've been plagiarized myself several times, and I know how it feels. That fanfic, IYLM, that you read here now, was once published in that same site by someone else that used MY penname (that was before I registered myself to the site) and posted my chapters, word for word, up to the 20th, until a multitude of emails some friends and I sent to the mod team finally led to them deleting the publication and the author's account. So yes, I KNOW what plagiarism is and that's why I hate the very idea of doing that to anybody.

I've myself recently asked for prompts for a one-shot and someone suggested me to write about House and Cuddy's mysterious week-end to Mont Saint Michel. I've said no and you know why? Well I said no because, ironic fact, the same author that accused me of stealing her next chapter's "pattern" and calls it plagiarism, had already written a one-shot about that week-end and, as I explained then, it was unconceivable for me to duplicate an idea I already knew about, even though I would surely have done it differently.

I'm at a loss for words to express how this messed-up situation makes me feel… Massage, House cooking dinner for Cuddy, oral sex, those are ALL situations I have already depicted in that story, several times in previous chapters. I don't consider them "original" ideas, as I'm sure dozens of authors here must have already used them as well. Furthermore, the way my last chapter unravels is deeply intricate into a storyline that I've outlined in its ENTIRETY a long time ago. It's anchored in the context of previous chapters and also serves to introduce the upcoming development of the story (my previous A/N – after chapter 72 – indicates that, given how I know exactly where this story is going, I had even considered quitting it because of the similarity that I saw with Bombshells by the time it aired.)

So I would NEVER, because I can't, use similar ideas that I know of for my stories. I already have enough of a hard time debating with canon and convincing myself that my work can still be perceived as "personal" even if it's based on characters I didn't create, and therefore determines part of the direction my stories are taking in spite of me. Like I wrote in the preamble of my last chapter, I wasn't even able to write just gratuitous sex because as it turns out, IYLM is too much locked and outlined to allow me to wander in situations that don't have a point for my plot (I could however probably write gratuitous sex once, but for a one-shot…). Everything House does in the last chapter, as well as Cuddy's reaction has a meaning which is related to my story and makes sense in light of the past events AND upcoming ones. I didn't throw it out there as a filler, and IF the very idea of me needing to plagiarize someone else's work to write was conceivable in my world, I couldn't have made another person's ideas fit into my story AND at the same time, write them in "the exact same pattern" they use for their work, which is completely different, with a different time setting, a different plot, and different major influencing characters anyway.

I really hope that you will all see that this story exists and makes sense on its own and that there is no rational reason for me to feel the need to steal someone else's ideas to make it move onward.

Thank you for reading. And most of all, thank you for your kind words, here and elsewhere.

Maya.