Plagiarism alert!
I was randomly browsing through fics today and I ran across a bunch of hikago fics by radiosilence over at Dreamwidth.
So I clicked on one randomly and went, ....WAIT A SEC.
Excerpt from "the nightengale" (sic): eta: journal has been deleted; alternate link for this fic is here on her LJ here, archived at my website.
Now here's an excerpt from my fic A Whole New Apocalypse:
Yeah, so, I don't think I'm crazy for feeling that these passages are way too similar for my personal comfort as the author of the original fic.
Looking at the rest of the list, she has a bunch of other fics that really twig me the wrong way (Updated links: here. Like a fic where Hikaru is a manga advisor (eta alternate link here) and another where he's a medium (eta alternate link here) - both total rip-offs of other Hikago fics, I think by aishuu???? And stylistically, in fics like this one (eta alternate link here), I feel like I'm seeing things taken from zoesque and mirabellawotr and others, but I'm just not sure. Eta: so far, we have not found any evidence of plagiarism in the last fic that I mentioned above, and as it was co-written I wish to clarify that I do not wish to implicate the co-author.
I'm definitely sure about the excerpts above.
I also did some more digging, and I found an instance of this writer plagiarizing an entire fic by two_if_by_sea. Here's Cathy's (beautiful) original fic versus what appears to be an unauthorized remix of the same with no credit. (eta alternate link here.)
She's also written in Prince of Tennis fandom (alternate links here and here and Ouran fandoms and I'm willing to bet she's plagiarized from authors in both. It really boggles my mind that people think they can get away with things like this just because the internet's a big place.
So, yeah, SHUN HER, discredit her, go forth and spread the word. Let the trumpets of indignation sound!
eta: She also appears to have been "inspired" by the concept of the Ouran fic group
as well: details with link in this thread. Some more alternate fic links:
alternate link for her hikago fic 'all grace of youth'
alternate link for her hikago fic 'cell block tango'
alternate link for her hikago fic 'eschatology'
alternate link for her hikago fic 'of dreams and lost things'
alternate link for her hikago fic 'studies in light and shadow'
alternate link for her tenipuri fic 'gratitude of cranes'
alternate link for her tenipuri fic 'free to do anything'
alternate link for her xXxholic fic 'Five Relationships Watanuki Kimihiro Never Had (And One He Did)'
And now it appears that lundi has deleted her general journal as well as her fic comm,
. She has given a vague explanation here.
Okay, look. Much like Kaavya Viswanathan, fic writers can't rest on their *intentions* or their inspirations. Once the pen hits the paper you're responsible for your output. It doesn't matter if you *realized* you were plagiarizing or not. You still did it. I remain astonished at how hard this concept is for people to grasp.
Final Edit: lundi has responded to a private email from two_if_by_sea which is screencapped here.
Final final edit, 7/30: I am done having this debate. I have explained my position and given a full run-down of the direct lifting of passages from my fic here. two_if_by_sea has done likewise here. I will not be responding to further comments about this, on this post or elsewhere. If you are lundi and you wish to contact me to apologize, you may email me. If you are an author who has been plagiarized, you may email me. All other comments, IMs, emails, or other attempts to contact me about this issue will be ignored.
I sat in a fandom chat last night in which Lundi participated. During that time, I was told that I was a reactionary hypocrite who should learn to better control my "minions," that "all fanfic was just plagiarism," and that I should have known better than to publicly post about something so serious as an accusation of plagiarism. Not once was Lundi invited to speak for herself, or questioned about anything she did. The writer in question, lundi, has now restored her journal *and* reposted her plagiarisms of my fic and Cathy's, with no credit to myself and only a "recommendation" of Cathy's fic. She has yet to give any detailed public defense or explanation of her actions, while I am still being flamed by people who are outraged on her behalf. I am disgusted, I am disheartened, and I am done.
Edit, 7/31/09: tongari has weighed in with her opinion, which I would encourage everyone to read.
So I clicked on one randomly and went, ....WAIT A SEC.
Excerpt from "the nightengale" (sic): eta: journal has been deleted; alternate link for this fic is here on her LJ here, archived at my website.
- But mostly he wonders why when he thinks of it he thinks of Touya Akira, and the way his eyes look when he asks, “Well, Shindou? Aren't we rivals? Why aren't you playing me seriously?” Its echoes are in the shift of light across the knife-blades of his cheekbones that says, don't leave me behind. “What are you talking about, you idiot?” Hikaru snaps instead of thinking, instead of thinking any of those things. “I am playing you seriously!” .... So he looks at Hikaru and says, “Is there someone else-something else? Am I not your rival any more? Why won't you play me seriously?” and the look on his face freezes Akira's blood, turns him to stone and cold iron, and Hikaru snaps “Of course I'm playing you seriously, you idiot!” but lying is so easy, so easy, and so is turning away. .... Hikaru stretches out a hand, feels as if it is the darkest hours of the night and all of his forgotten ghosts are whispering their old grievances over his head. All their dying regrets. “No, Touya,” he says, “it's not-of course you're my rival! I would never-I wouldn't ever leave you, I couldn't-”
Now here's an excerpt from my fic A Whole New Apocalypse:
- “You don’t play me seriously, Shindou,” Touya replies. There is an urgency in his voice that makes something in Hikaru’s gut twist miserably. “You haven’t for days. You’ve either moved beyond me or you’ve completely lost your mind because the way you’re playing you can’t be serious. And you won’t admit that you’re not playing me seriously so I can only assume you no longer see me as your competition.” .... “If…if you’ve passed me,” says Touya, and his voice is a shaky, hoarse whisper-Hikaru suspects if he looks up he would see that Touya’s face is white as well. “Then-then wait for me to catch you again.” His voice drops even lower. “Don’t leave me behind.” ..... “Touya,” he says uncertainly, and then stops, because telling somebody how you never ever want them to leave you, ever, ever, ever, just when they need to hear it most, isn’t something he’s good at. I’m sorry, Sai, he thinks, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, and he stammers, “Don’t be stupid.” Touya bows his head very low, and clutches onto Hikaru even harder. Hikaru blurts out, “It’s not you. I haven’t passed you and I’m not going to pass you. It wouldn’t be fun anymore if it wasn’t with you.” He isn’t even sure what he means by that but Touya isn’t shaking so much and his grip has loosened a fraction, so Hikaru keeps talking. “It’s my problem, not yours, and I’m working on it but it’s not you, honest, so don’t be such an idiot. I’d never leave you behind, Touya, geez, who do you think I am, anyway?”....
Yeah, so, I don't think I'm crazy for feeling that these passages are way too similar for my personal comfort as the author of the original fic.
Looking at the rest of the list, she has a bunch of other fics that really twig me the wrong way (Updated links: here. Like a fic where Hikaru is a manga advisor (eta alternate link here) and another where he's a medium (eta alternate link here) - both total rip-offs of other Hikago fics, I think by aishuu???? And stylistically, in fics like this one (eta alternate link here), I feel like I'm seeing things taken from zoesque and mirabellawotr and others, but I'm just not sure. Eta: so far, we have not found any evidence of plagiarism in the last fic that I mentioned above, and as it was co-written I wish to clarify that I do not wish to implicate the co-author.
I'm definitely sure about the excerpts above.
I also did some more digging, and I found an instance of this writer plagiarizing an entire fic by two_if_by_sea. Here's Cathy's (beautiful) original fic versus what appears to be an unauthorized remix of the same with no credit. (eta alternate link here.)
She's also written in Prince of Tennis fandom (alternate links here and here and Ouran fandoms and I'm willing to bet she's plagiarized from authors in both. It really boggles my mind that people think they can get away with things like this just because the internet's a big place.
So, yeah, SHUN HER, discredit her, go forth and spread the word. Let the trumpets of indignation sound!
eta: She also appears to have been "inspired" by the concept of the Ouran fic group
as well: details with link in this thread. Some more alternate fic links:
alternate link for her hikago fic 'all grace of youth'
alternate link for her hikago fic 'cell block tango'
alternate link for her hikago fic 'eschatology'
alternate link for her hikago fic 'of dreams and lost things'
alternate link for her hikago fic 'studies in light and shadow'
alternate link for her tenipuri fic 'gratitude of cranes'
alternate link for her tenipuri fic 'free to do anything'
alternate link for her xXxholic fic 'Five Relationships Watanuki Kimihiro Never Had (And One He Did)'
And now it appears that lundi has deleted her general journal as well as her fic comm,
. She has given a vague explanation here.
Okay, look. Much like Kaavya Viswanathan, fic writers can't rest on their *intentions* or their inspirations. Once the pen hits the paper you're responsible for your output. It doesn't matter if you *realized* you were plagiarizing or not. You still did it. I remain astonished at how hard this concept is for people to grasp.
Final Edit: lundi has responded to a private email from two_if_by_sea which is screencapped here.
Final final edit, 7/30: I am done having this debate. I have explained my position and given a full run-down of the direct lifting of passages from my fic here. two_if_by_sea has done likewise here. I will not be responding to further comments about this, on this post or elsewhere. If you are lundi and you wish to contact me to apologize, you may email me. If you are an author who has been plagiarized, you may email me. All other comments, IMs, emails, or other attempts to contact me about this issue will be ignored.
I sat in a fandom chat last night in which Lundi participated. During that time, I was told that I was a reactionary hypocrite who should learn to better control my "minions," that "all fanfic was just plagiarism," and that I should have known better than to publicly post about something so serious as an accusation of plagiarism. Not once was Lundi invited to speak for herself, or questioned about anything she did. The writer in question, lundi, has now restored her journal *and* reposted her plagiarisms of my fic and Cathy's, with no credit to myself and only a "recommendation" of Cathy's fic. She has yet to give any detailed public defense or explanation of her actions, while I am still being flamed by people who are outraged on her behalf. I am disgusted, I am disheartened, and I am done.
Edit, 7/31/09: tongari has weighed in with her opinion, which I would encourage everyone to read.