An update to the Plagiary of the Opera!
This was recently posted:
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4559663/1/An_Official_Apology_For_Unknowing_Plagiarsm
(A/N: Sorry, no apology genre. I can only use the ones above. Sorry.)
A Note of Apology and (Hopefully) Explanation for the Unknowing Plagiarism of 'POTO in 15' in 'Pharody'
To All Phanfiction Writers and Readers:
As some of you may or may not know (and as some of you have indeed commented on), I recently posted (and deleted) a parody fic of Joe Schumacher's 'POTO' film from 2004, entitled 'Pharody of the Opera'. Many of you have accused me of plagiarism, when all I was doing was using what I thought was my cousins' script. But if you will allow me, I will explain how I thought this from the beginning.
It all began a few years ago when I was about 12 or so, and first saw JS's POTO film with my older cousins at their house. I found it absolutely enchanting, and a few months later, after having saved up some of my birthday money, first bought my own DVD copy of it. It was only about 4 or 5 months after doing that, that I discovered the joys of fanfiction, and set about reading some of the fics, especially under 'Friends' and 'Scooby Doo' (two of my favored categories), later, 'Edward Scissorhands', 'Sweeney Todd' and 'Monty Python'. Soon, I set up my own account and began writing SD fanfiction; and, thinking myself the greatest thing since sliced bread for doing so, bragged about it to my cousins. The teasing didn't stop for several weeks after that. But I digress.
It was only about a year ago that, when visiting my cousins one weekend, I saw them watching the 'POTO in 15 Min.' video on Youtube, and, because some of the humor in it resembled a few of my cousins' comments about the movie, and even seem to match up identically in some places, I asked them if they had made it. And to my (until recently) delight, now horro, as some of you could imagine, they laughed and said that they had indeed made this film, even providing some of the voices, before having it posted on Youtube by a friend of theirs, who had a better computer for that sort of thing; they even said that they used fake names for the credits, as you can never be too careful on the net about your identity.
And it was after that that every time I came to see them, I continually begged them to have the rights to their script, so that I could post it here on .
For several months, I did indeed, beg, whine, grovel, and plead for them to let me have the script, being such a stickler on plagiarism as I am (as I bet most of you are scoffing at now), and not wanting to take credit for something that I would only partially write, as, unfortunately, I have done recently, and of which I am most ashamed.
But it was only these past two weeks that I gained the solid script on paper itself, even if it was given to me out of extortionism and pity, a bizarre combination, if not a powerful one.
Recently, as some of you may have heard, Hurricane Ike recently hit--no, sorry--mutilated Galveston and tore up most of Houston in its wake and path pretty badly. Because I and my family live in Seabrook, a section of Clear Lake, which is right by Kemah, we had been forced to leave because our house was too close to the water, and was entirely too dangerous to stay by during the Category 4 hurricane. We instead retreated up to San Antonio to stay with my aunt, uncle, and the accursed cousins, and are staying with them still (unfortunately); we've been staying with them for two weeks. And, because Dina and I (my little 6-year old half-sister) weren't allowed to go anywhere, we were all stuck at our temporary home, watching and/or waiting for news on Houston, Galveston, and, hopefully, the area in which our home resided in. Luckily, I was (and still am) allowed to use my aunt's computer for a while, so that kept me from going completely insane.
It was only shortly afterwards that, with pleading and wheedling, I managed to get a hold of my cousins' "original script" of "their" only production on Youtube, if for the price of all of the money I had, which was 47 dollars and 12 cents. But it didn't really matter too much, because I was so happy, so excited; for I now had obtained their script, and hopefully, a story which everyone would laugh at.
It took me little time to write up the first and second chapters, and I posted up the first one just a few days ago, as most of you know altogether too well. But when I saw the majority of the reviews, I was confused. Why was I being accused of plagiarism, when what I had first thought was the original writers of the piece had given me their original script? It made no sense to me whatsoever. So, yesterday, after posting the second chapter, I went to some of the sites that some of you mentioned in you 'tactful' and 'subtle' reviews, and was shocked to find the exact same video to the exact same script that my cousins had supposedly written. Surely, I thought, someone had copied their work and posted it here! But it was not true. It had been posted by the brilliant writer Cleolinda instead, at a much earlier date then the one my cousins had claimed to first creating, writing, and posting "their" idea.
I immediately went to confront my cousins about it, even dragging them in to show them some of your reviews. It was only then, after about a 10 minute rant or so at them about how they had ruined my reputation as an original writer that they confessed to me, and, later, to my aunt. My cousins had indeed lied to me, simply because they found it funny that I believed them about it for so long; and because of their lies and greed, my reputation was being sullied and worn down into the mud. I immediately deleted the story after hearing the news, the very one that I had so prized before so greatly, now with words that tasted like poison in my mouth. After that, I then went to my aunt, who scolded them, grounded them for two weeks, and made them give me back my money and apologize.
It was only after that entire ordeal that I began writing this to you on loose-leaf paper, finding the computer repulsive at the moment, a letter of sincere apology to you all: loyal fans, writers, and readers of Phanfiction, probably one of the more intensive categories of fanfiction that there is. I honestly did not mean to plagiarize, and yet I did; and for that you shall see me apologize a thousand times in this letter alone for my idiocy, naivety, and trusting nature. I never meant to take credit, to steal the work of another, which is why I said that, at the beginning of the story, some to most of the parody was from what I believed to be 'their' script.
However, instead of copying the work of family, I stole the work of Cleolinda, the original writer, as I was blind to before this ordeal. If she ever happens to see this, I am so, so, so, so, so, so, so sorry for what I did to you. And, while I could very easily blame my cousins for lying to me, that would be cowardly, for they did not post the story; I did. SO I take complete blame for what I have done, mainly for believing and trusting in family members who have done this sort of thing many times before in a thousand different ways, but also for lying, and stealing someone else's brilliant work, however unintentional it may have been.
I know and fully realize that this apology in letter form may seem a bit cheesy, but it is most sincere. Many of you doubt my words, even as I type them now. But I do speak the truth. All I ever wanted to do was to write something that would make people laugh that hadn't been done in another category before (or sparingly at best), to write a parody that I never knew how to begin or establish in some scenes; except for when I got some help from people I thought that I could trust. It seemed, however, that my better judgement was wrong, and in my mistake, I unknowingly wronged another, more talented person, who is so much better then me in that they needed no help or inspiration when writing such a clever vignette.
I was an idiot, a moron, and unbelievably stupid. I am sorry.
Because of this experience, I will no longer attempt to write Phanfiction, and stick to my more familiar categories of writing, as I see that I cannot succede in it anywhere save for this, an apology for plagiarism unknowing. However, that does not stop me from being a fan, so I will continue to R&R stories here, those that are more original and sucessful then my measly attempt. Because, even if I can't write it, I can still, hopefully, enjoy it.
On a side note, I know that this note is a bit theatrical, and actually quite a bit sycophantic in some ways, as well as self-pitying, but to be honest, what else would you expect from a friendless writer in theater who is the product of the nuclear bombout that was my parents' divorce? To be honest, I don't think so, but that's just my own measly opinion. And again, I know, self-pitying, but to be honest, I only have a few friends, and those are those that exist here on this site online. Nowhere else. That's mainly because I live in my own little world, and in real life, instead of online-life, I am rather angsty, and am considered the most unpopular and weirdest kid in school. Mainly because I don't fit into any of the stereotype cliques that they have there. Shocking, I know. And as for being sycophantic, I really do adore your stories. A lot of them are on my Alerts list so that I can remember and revisit them. That's honestly the truth.
But I never meant to do what I did (don't worry, I hope to finish this up soon too). It has been done to me before when I was younger with a poem on Neopets, which I later found out won an award in a writing contest for Scholastic when I was in 6th grade. It was because of that, and the pain that I experienced knowing that I couldn't do a thing about it, that I swore never to cause someone else the same distress by plagiarizing their work myself. But unfortunately, thanks to misguided trust, I broke that promise. And again (and again and again and again), for that I apologize deeply to Cleolinda the original script writer, and to all of you. I only hope that I may be forgiven for being so naive and trusting of an untrusting group of family members.
Now, as I assume most of you are worrying about, you believe this letter to be nothing but spam. While it is not, do not fret. After three days, when I get back home (we're leaving this afternoon), I will delete this apology letter. But it may be a little longer then that, if the damage my step-dad saw was really as bad as he described it to me, my mom, my half-sister Dina, my older stepbrother Scott, and my sister Casey (even though she's in college in Lubbock). I am extremely grateful that in my mom, dad, and even stepdad's family, no one was hurt. We won't be able to go back home for a while, so we'll be staying with my mom's parents, who are among the steadily rising number of people with electricity and air conditioning. They have a computer that's really old, so we'll have to see when we get there if I can even access . That does not mean that I am ungrateful; I am happier then anything in the world that my family is safe. I am also very sorry for what I have done to you all (get used to this, apologies left and right. I don't think that it'll end anytime soon).
And, as I probably imagine, you are all sick to death of hearing me apologize. But I feel so guilty about it that I must confess and apologize to it repeatedly, because on here, there is no crime worse then what I have committed here this week. I really am very very very very sorry. I hope that one day, I can be forgiven, by others and, eventually, myself (but because I am slightly masochistic, I don't really think that'll be anytime soon), for an innocent (later not to be, though) mistake. I am sorry.
And on a side note to the anonymous reviewer Kate for another of my stories, All I Will Allow: I wouold appreciate it more if you would NOT tell me what I already know (of which you have repeatedly told me) on a review for another story, in the Scooby Doo category no less, the first one I ever wrote on the site! It does not deserve such a heinous review, which I cannot remove because it was anonymous, and apparently, the site won't allow me to remove it. Thank you very much for that. Also, how did you get in contact with her so fast? And WHY did you contact Cleolinda when the story was already deleted? There was no cause for this behavior, and, while I am at to blame, a Personal Message (PM) accessable through the profile page, would've sufficed well enough. But if you do know how to delete anonymous reviews, ANYone, for that matter, I would greatly appreciate it, because I do not want another story, my FIRST ONE, no less, marred by my recent mistakes.
I now (finally) leave you. I willnever be able to completely erase this guilt from my mind of what I have done (see above paragraph as to a partial reason why; most of it, however, is to my own stupidity and the broken promise of never plagiarizing). But I really and truly am sorry.
I now bid you all (again)) a good day and a million new muses for all of your wonderful stories, and for those of you who were kind enough NOT to insult me TOO severely in your reviews.
Forever your faithful reader and reviewer, but never again Phanfiction writer, in a plethora of apologies,
Miranda Wolfe
Also known as: Wolfy the Ironic Ninja
Soon to be: Something Else (because I feel that this experience has forced me to outgrow my old, jokey persona and into a newer, more solemn one then before).
For the last time ever, Toodles.
Love,
-Wolfy-.
P.S. Good Luck and Good musings to you all.
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4559663/1/An_Official_Apology_For_Unknowing_Plagiarsm
(A/N: Sorry, no apology genre. I can only use the ones above. Sorry.)
A Note of Apology and (Hopefully) Explanation for the Unknowing Plagiarism of 'POTO in 15' in 'Pharody'
To All Phanfiction Writers and Readers:
As some of you may or may not know (and as some of you have indeed commented on), I recently posted (and deleted) a parody fic of Joe Schumacher's 'POTO' film from 2004, entitled 'Pharody of the Opera'. Many of you have accused me of plagiarism, when all I was doing was using what I thought was my cousins' script. But if you will allow me, I will explain how I thought this from the beginning.
It all began a few years ago when I was about 12 or so, and first saw JS's POTO film with my older cousins at their house. I found it absolutely enchanting, and a few months later, after having saved up some of my birthday money, first bought my own DVD copy of it. It was only about 4 or 5 months after doing that, that I discovered the joys of fanfiction, and set about reading some of the fics, especially under 'Friends' and 'Scooby Doo' (two of my favored categories), later, 'Edward Scissorhands', 'Sweeney Todd' and 'Monty Python'. Soon, I set up my own account and began writing SD fanfiction; and, thinking myself the greatest thing since sliced bread for doing so, bragged about it to my cousins. The teasing didn't stop for several weeks after that. But I digress.
It was only about a year ago that, when visiting my cousins one weekend, I saw them watching the 'POTO in 15 Min.' video on Youtube, and, because some of the humor in it resembled a few of my cousins' comments about the movie, and even seem to match up identically in some places, I asked them if they had made it. And to my (until recently) delight, now horro, as some of you could imagine, they laughed and said that they had indeed made this film, even providing some of the voices, before having it posted on Youtube by a friend of theirs, who had a better computer for that sort of thing; they even said that they used fake names for the credits, as you can never be too careful on the net about your identity.
And it was after that that every time I came to see them, I continually begged them to have the rights to their script, so that I could post it here on .
For several months, I did indeed, beg, whine, grovel, and plead for them to let me have the script, being such a stickler on plagiarism as I am (as I bet most of you are scoffing at now), and not wanting to take credit for something that I would only partially write, as, unfortunately, I have done recently, and of which I am most ashamed.
But it was only these past two weeks that I gained the solid script on paper itself, even if it was given to me out of extortionism and pity, a bizarre combination, if not a powerful one.
Recently, as some of you may have heard, Hurricane Ike recently hit--no, sorry--mutilated Galveston and tore up most of Houston in its wake and path pretty badly. Because I and my family live in Seabrook, a section of Clear Lake, which is right by Kemah, we had been forced to leave because our house was too close to the water, and was entirely too dangerous to stay by during the Category 4 hurricane. We instead retreated up to San Antonio to stay with my aunt, uncle, and the accursed cousins, and are staying with them still (unfortunately); we've been staying with them for two weeks. And, because Dina and I (my little 6-year old half-sister) weren't allowed to go anywhere, we were all stuck at our temporary home, watching and/or waiting for news on Houston, Galveston, and, hopefully, the area in which our home resided in. Luckily, I was (and still am) allowed to use my aunt's computer for a while, so that kept me from going completely insane.
It was only shortly afterwards that, with pleading and wheedling, I managed to get a hold of my cousins' "original script" of "their" only production on Youtube, if for the price of all of the money I had, which was 47 dollars and 12 cents. But it didn't really matter too much, because I was so happy, so excited; for I now had obtained their script, and hopefully, a story which everyone would laugh at.
It took me little time to write up the first and second chapters, and I posted up the first one just a few days ago, as most of you know altogether too well. But when I saw the majority of the reviews, I was confused. Why was I being accused of plagiarism, when what I had first thought was the original writers of the piece had given me their original script? It made no sense to me whatsoever. So, yesterday, after posting the second chapter, I went to some of the sites that some of you mentioned in you 'tactful' and 'subtle' reviews, and was shocked to find the exact same video to the exact same script that my cousins had supposedly written. Surely, I thought, someone had copied their work and posted it here! But it was not true. It had been posted by the brilliant writer Cleolinda instead, at a much earlier date then the one my cousins had claimed to first creating, writing, and posting "their" idea.
I immediately went to confront my cousins about it, even dragging them in to show them some of your reviews. It was only then, after about a 10 minute rant or so at them about how they had ruined my reputation as an original writer that they confessed to me, and, later, to my aunt. My cousins had indeed lied to me, simply because they found it funny that I believed them about it for so long; and because of their lies and greed, my reputation was being sullied and worn down into the mud. I immediately deleted the story after hearing the news, the very one that I had so prized before so greatly, now with words that tasted like poison in my mouth. After that, I then went to my aunt, who scolded them, grounded them for two weeks, and made them give me back my money and apologize.
It was only after that entire ordeal that I began writing this to you on loose-leaf paper, finding the computer repulsive at the moment, a letter of sincere apology to you all: loyal fans, writers, and readers of Phanfiction, probably one of the more intensive categories of fanfiction that there is. I honestly did not mean to plagiarize, and yet I did; and for that you shall see me apologize a thousand times in this letter alone for my idiocy, naivety, and trusting nature. I never meant to take credit, to steal the work of another, which is why I said that, at the beginning of the story, some to most of the parody was from what I believed to be 'their' script.
However, instead of copying the work of family, I stole the work of Cleolinda, the original writer, as I was blind to before this ordeal. If she ever happens to see this, I am so, so, so, so, so, so, so sorry for what I did to you. And, while I could very easily blame my cousins for lying to me, that would be cowardly, for they did not post the story; I did. SO I take complete blame for what I have done, mainly for believing and trusting in family members who have done this sort of thing many times before in a thousand different ways, but also for lying, and stealing someone else's brilliant work, however unintentional it may have been.
I know and fully realize that this apology in letter form may seem a bit cheesy, but it is most sincere. Many of you doubt my words, even as I type them now. But I do speak the truth. All I ever wanted to do was to write something that would make people laugh that hadn't been done in another category before (or sparingly at best), to write a parody that I never knew how to begin or establish in some scenes; except for when I got some help from people I thought that I could trust. It seemed, however, that my better judgement was wrong, and in my mistake, I unknowingly wronged another, more talented person, who is so much better then me in that they needed no help or inspiration when writing such a clever vignette.
I was an idiot, a moron, and unbelievably stupid. I am sorry.
Because of this experience, I will no longer attempt to write Phanfiction, and stick to my more familiar categories of writing, as I see that I cannot succede in it anywhere save for this, an apology for plagiarism unknowing. However, that does not stop me from being a fan, so I will continue to R&R stories here, those that are more original and sucessful then my measly attempt. Because, even if I can't write it, I can still, hopefully, enjoy it.
On a side note, I know that this note is a bit theatrical, and actually quite a bit sycophantic in some ways, as well as self-pitying, but to be honest, what else would you expect from a friendless writer in theater who is the product of the nuclear bombout that was my parents' divorce? To be honest, I don't think so, but that's just my own measly opinion. And again, I know, self-pitying, but to be honest, I only have a few friends, and those are those that exist here on this site online. Nowhere else. That's mainly because I live in my own little world, and in real life, instead of online-life, I am rather angsty, and am considered the most unpopular and weirdest kid in school. Mainly because I don't fit into any of the stereotype cliques that they have there. Shocking, I know. And as for being sycophantic, I really do adore your stories. A lot of them are on my Alerts list so that I can remember and revisit them. That's honestly the truth.
But I never meant to do what I did (don't worry, I hope to finish this up soon too). It has been done to me before when I was younger with a poem on Neopets, which I later found out won an award in a writing contest for Scholastic when I was in 6th grade. It was because of that, and the pain that I experienced knowing that I couldn't do a thing about it, that I swore never to cause someone else the same distress by plagiarizing their work myself. But unfortunately, thanks to misguided trust, I broke that promise. And again (and again and again and again), for that I apologize deeply to Cleolinda the original script writer, and to all of you. I only hope that I may be forgiven for being so naive and trusting of an untrusting group of family members.
Now, as I assume most of you are worrying about, you believe this letter to be nothing but spam. While it is not, do not fret. After three days, when I get back home (we're leaving this afternoon), I will delete this apology letter. But it may be a little longer then that, if the damage my step-dad saw was really as bad as he described it to me, my mom, my half-sister Dina, my older stepbrother Scott, and my sister Casey (even though she's in college in Lubbock). I am extremely grateful that in my mom, dad, and even stepdad's family, no one was hurt. We won't be able to go back home for a while, so we'll be staying with my mom's parents, who are among the steadily rising number of people with electricity and air conditioning. They have a computer that's really old, so we'll have to see when we get there if I can even access . That does not mean that I am ungrateful; I am happier then anything in the world that my family is safe. I am also very sorry for what I have done to you all (get used to this, apologies left and right. I don't think that it'll end anytime soon).
And, as I probably imagine, you are all sick to death of hearing me apologize. But I feel so guilty about it that I must confess and apologize to it repeatedly, because on here, there is no crime worse then what I have committed here this week. I really am very very very very sorry. I hope that one day, I can be forgiven, by others and, eventually, myself (but because I am slightly masochistic, I don't really think that'll be anytime soon), for an innocent (later not to be, though) mistake. I am sorry.
And on a side note to the anonymous reviewer Kate for another of my stories, All I Will Allow: I wouold appreciate it more if you would NOT tell me what I already know (of which you have repeatedly told me) on a review for another story, in the Scooby Doo category no less, the first one I ever wrote on the site! It does not deserve such a heinous review, which I cannot remove because it was anonymous, and apparently, the site won't allow me to remove it. Thank you very much for that. Also, how did you get in contact with her so fast? And WHY did you contact Cleolinda when the story was already deleted? There was no cause for this behavior, and, while I am at to blame, a Personal Message (PM) accessable through the profile page, would've sufficed well enough. But if you do know how to delete anonymous reviews, ANYone, for that matter, I would greatly appreciate it, because I do not want another story, my FIRST ONE, no less, marred by my recent mistakes.
I now (finally) leave you. I willnever be able to completely erase this guilt from my mind of what I have done (see above paragraph as to a partial reason why; most of it, however, is to my own stupidity and the broken promise of never plagiarizing). But I really and truly am sorry.
I now bid you all (again)) a good day and a million new muses for all of your wonderful stories, and for those of you who were kind enough NOT to insult me TOO severely in your reviews.
Forever your faithful reader and reviewer, but never again Phanfiction writer, in a plethora of apologies,
Miranda Wolfe
Also known as: Wolfy the Ironic Ninja
Soon to be: Something Else (because I feel that this experience has forced me to outgrow my old, jokey persona and into a newer, more solemn one then before).
For the last time ever, Toodles.
Love,
-Wolfy-.
P.S. Good Luck and Good musings to you all.