Plagiarism Report
On October 31, 2009, the moderators of the Supernatural community deancastiel received an email from southernbangel reporting that marcalbabe had plagiarized a BtVS story by tangofic. southernbangel had also commented on marcalbabe's post to deancastiel linking to Chapter 1 of the story in question.
marcalbabe deleted the LJ entry from his/her own LJ and replied to southernbangel's comment as follows:
First off, I did NOT plagerize it. I've never even read that story before. I did take it down so it did not offend the writer or anyone else. I honestly haven ever read her story before. I'm not a buffy/angel fan. Never read any fanfic like that before. But it is taken down. Sorry if I offended anyone. [SCREENCAP]
The moderators of deancastiel took the following actions:
1) Froze replies on the above LJ post.
2) Removed posting access of marcalbabe to the comm pending investigation of the situation.
3) Emailed tangofic; still awaiting a reply. (It is our understanding that southernbangel was made aware of this incident via a post in tangofic's LJ about it.) [11/2/09 - Have heard back from tangofic; confirmation in comments of this post.]
4) Began investigating other fiction posts made by marcalbabe to the community, to include running fic phrases through Google.
After some investigation, we discovered that marcalbabe had apparently recycled recycled his/her own previous work in several other fanfics posted to his/her LJ and/or the deancastiel comm:
This ( community link here) is the same as this One Tree Hill fic. [Edit: 11/2/09 - LJ link appears to have been deleted.]
And this is the same as his/her own Prison Break fic, here, which is recycled from a HET story, which explains why Castiel mysteriously keeps changing from a guy into a girl. [SCREENCAPS NEEDED]
Further investigation turned up one more post to the deancastiel community (strangely timestamped AFTER southernbangel's comment on Chapter 1 of marcalbabe's My Saving Grace). This post was lacking the author tag, and the moderators were able to take screenshots of the story, which is word-for-word a copy of tangofic's Abused, except for name/gender-type changes. [SCREENCAPS] We have included a few passages for comparison purposes:
EXAMPLES
Original Text of Abused by tangofic:
Angel hurried from the room where a very worried and shaking Willow Rosenberg sat. He never liked that he had these two classes so close together and today was no different. He really liked the brainy redhead and was usually glad when she sat next to him to shield him from whichever girl would try to talk his ear off during class. He liked class and usually went there to learn, not flirt. Well, except for his next class.
Plagiarized Text from My Saving Grace, Chapter 2 by marcalbabe:
Dean hurried from the room where a very worried and shaking Anna Novak sat.
He never liked that he had these two classes so close together and today was no different. He really liked the spunky redhead and was usually glad when she sat next to him to shield him from whichever girl would try to talk his ear off during class. He liked class and usually went there to learn, not flirt. Well, except for his next class.
Original Text of Abused by tangofic:
He almost choked when Willow asked him if he knew who Buffy Summers was. He snorted inwardly. Hell yes, he knew who she was! Anyone attracted to females on campus who had decent sight could at least pick her out of a crowd from fifty paces. He wasn't blind and even if he was, he probably still would have noticed her. He lived, slept and breathed the golden girl who shared his Art History Class and he thanked his lucky stars that he had not dropped the class at the beginning of the semester like he had planned. It probably would have been the largest mistake of his life.
Plagiarized Text from My Saving Grace, Chapter 2 by marcalbabe:
He almost choked when Anna asked him if he knew who Castiel Novak was. He snorted inwardly. Hell yes, he knew who he was! Anyone attracted to males on campus who had decent sight could at least pick him out of a crowd from fifty paces. He wasn't blind and even if he was, he probably still would have noticed him.
He lived, slept and breathed the guy who shared his Drama Class and he thanked his lucky stars that he had not dropped the class at the beginning of the semester like he had planned. It probably would have been the largest mistake of his life.
Original Text of Abused by tangofic:
It didn't take him long to notice that she often had a strange bruise here or there. He thought at first she played a sport, maybe field hockey or something. Then as they appeared more frequently, and in strange places, he realized it was something completely different. He didn't know if anyone else noticed or not but he was more overly aware of the tiny blonde than most people. Willow Rosenberg had no idea what she had asked him to do, had no clue that he was already in love with her troubled friend. Buffy was so perfect, so tiny, so wonderfully smart and witty. Whenever she forced out a smile, even a fake one, it damn near blinded him.
Angel moved into class and strategically placed himself somewhere near her as always. He wanted to be close, but not too close. He was afraid if he inhaled too much of her vanilla perfume or if he was within arm's reach he would be tempted to touch her - or even worse - talk to her. For an experienced senior in college, a man who never had problems getting dates, he sure lost his touch when it came to her. She made him feel like a junior high schooler who hadn't had his first kiss when he was near her.
Until today.
Plagiarized Text from My Saving Grace, Chapter 2 by marcalbabe:
It didn't take him long to notice that he often had a strange bruise here or there. He thought at first he played a sport, maybe field hockey or something. Then as they appeared more frequently, and in strange places, he realized it was something completely different. He didn't know if anyone else noticed or not but he was more overly aware of the tiny guy than most people.
Anna Novak had no idea what she had asked him to do, had no clue that he was already in love with her troubled brother.
Castiel was so perfect, so tiny, so wonderfully smart and witty. Whenever he forced out a smile, even a fake one, it damn near blinded him.
Dean moved into class and strategically placed himself somewhere near him as always. He wanted to be close, but not too close. He was afraid if he inhaled too much of his scent or if he was within arm's reach he would be tempted to touch him - or even worse - talk to him.
For an experienced senior in college, a man who never had problems getting dates, he sure lost his touch when it came to him. He made him feel like a junior high schooler who hadn't had his first kiss when he was near him.
Until today.
Original Text of Abused by tangofic:
Today he was too angry to even contemplate being wistful or nervous around her. He blatantly stared at her body, scraping his eyes over her flesh for the wounds he knew were there. His anger was beginning to wane slightly as he saw no marks on her when she bent over to retrieve a pen from her bag. He sucked in a breath in horror as her little yellow top crept up to reveal what would be a golden bit of skin on an unabused girl. Instead there was an ugly purple and yellow bruise covering her side and back, disappearing under her shirt and jeans.
Plagiarized Text from My Saving Grace, Chapter 2 by marcalbabe:
Today he was too angry to even contemplate being wistful or nervous around him. He blatantly stared at his body, scraping his eyes over his flesh for the wounds he knew were there. His anger was beginning to wane slightly as he saw no marks on him when he bent over to retrieve a pen from his bag. He sucked in a breath in horror as his little grey top crept up to reveal what would be a golden bit of skin on an unabused guy. Instead there was an ugly purple and yellow bruise covering his side and back, disappearing under his shirt and jeans.
Original Text of Abused by tangofic:
"Obsessed" is a really strong word. So is "stalker." Both fit Liam "Angel" Angelus. He told himself over the weeks following his conversation with Willow and their subsequent meeting, that he was not obsessed with Buffy Summers, nor was he stalking her and he certainly wasn't in love with her. He was doing a favor for a friend.
He had declined Willow's offer to pay him and he made her promise not to mention his involvement to Buffy or anyone else. He already hated himself for not figuring out sooner that she was in trouble, that her bruises were just as severe as they looked. It was just that he couldn't even wrap his mind around the thought of someone hurting her. Why on earth would anyone want to mar her perfect skin or see sadness in those dazzling green eyes? It made no sense. And it made him want to torture and maim the person responsible.
Plagiarized Text from My Saving Grace, Chapter 2 by marcalbabe:
"Obsessed" is a really strong word. So is "stalker." Both fit Dean Winchester. He told himself over the weeks following his conversation with Anna and their subsequent meeting, that he was not obsessed with Castiel Novak, nor was he stalking him and he certainly wasn't in love with him. He was doing a favor for a friend.
He had declined Anna's offer to pay him and he made her promise not to mention his involvement to Castiel or anyone else. He already hated himself for not figuring out sooner that he was in trouble, that his bruises were just as severe as they looked. It was just that he couldn't even wrap his mind around the thought of someone hurting him.
Why on earth would anyone want to mar his perfect skin or see sadness in those dazzling blue eyes?
It made no sense. And it made him want to torture and maim the person responsible.
A third post made to the comm linked to a Chapter 3 of marcalbabe's My Saving Grace [SCREENCAPS], but like the link to Chapter 1, it leads to a LJ 404 page.
Various versions of some of the above stories can also be found at marcalbabe's Fanfiction.Net account: mysticalforces.
Given this information, the moderators of deancastiel can only conclude that marcalbabe has plagiarized from tangofic, if not others. Our investigation of other posts made by marcalbabe is ongoing in order to notify any other authors concerned.
Thank you for your time and attention.
marcalbabe deleted the LJ entry from his/her own LJ and replied to southernbangel's comment as follows:
First off, I did NOT plagerize it. I've never even read that story before. I did take it down so it did not offend the writer or anyone else. I honestly haven ever read her story before. I'm not a buffy/angel fan. Never read any fanfic like that before. But it is taken down. Sorry if I offended anyone. [SCREENCAP]
The moderators of deancastiel took the following actions:
1) Froze replies on the above LJ post.
2) Removed posting access of marcalbabe to the comm pending investigation of the situation.
3) Emailed tangofic; still awaiting a reply. (It is our understanding that southernbangel was made aware of this incident via a post in tangofic's LJ about it.) [11/2/09 - Have heard back from tangofic; confirmation in comments of this post.]
4) Began investigating other fiction posts made by marcalbabe to the community, to include running fic phrases through Google.
After some investigation, we discovered that marcalbabe had apparently recycled recycled his/her own previous work in several other fanfics posted to his/her LJ and/or the deancastiel comm:
This ( community link here) is the same as this One Tree Hill fic. [Edit: 11/2/09 - LJ link appears to have been deleted.]
And this is the same as his/her own Prison Break fic, here, which is recycled from a HET story, which explains why Castiel mysteriously keeps changing from a guy into a girl. [SCREENCAPS NEEDED]
Further investigation turned up one more post to the deancastiel community (strangely timestamped AFTER southernbangel's comment on Chapter 1 of marcalbabe's My Saving Grace). This post was lacking the author tag, and the moderators were able to take screenshots of the story, which is word-for-word a copy of tangofic's Abused, except for name/gender-type changes. [SCREENCAPS] We have included a few passages for comparison purposes:
EXAMPLES
Original Text of Abused by tangofic:
Angel hurried from the room where a very worried and shaking Willow Rosenberg sat. He never liked that he had these two classes so close together and today was no different. He really liked the brainy redhead and was usually glad when she sat next to him to shield him from whichever girl would try to talk his ear off during class. He liked class and usually went there to learn, not flirt. Well, except for his next class.
Plagiarized Text from My Saving Grace, Chapter 2 by marcalbabe:
Dean hurried from the room where a very worried and shaking Anna Novak sat.
He never liked that he had these two classes so close together and today was no different. He really liked the spunky redhead and was usually glad when she sat next to him to shield him from whichever girl would try to talk his ear off during class. He liked class and usually went there to learn, not flirt. Well, except for his next class.
Original Text of Abused by tangofic:
He almost choked when Willow asked him if he knew who Buffy Summers was. He snorted inwardly. Hell yes, he knew who she was! Anyone attracted to females on campus who had decent sight could at least pick her out of a crowd from fifty paces. He wasn't blind and even if he was, he probably still would have noticed her. He lived, slept and breathed the golden girl who shared his Art History Class and he thanked his lucky stars that he had not dropped the class at the beginning of the semester like he had planned. It probably would have been the largest mistake of his life.
Plagiarized Text from My Saving Grace, Chapter 2 by marcalbabe:
He almost choked when Anna asked him if he knew who Castiel Novak was. He snorted inwardly. Hell yes, he knew who he was! Anyone attracted to males on campus who had decent sight could at least pick him out of a crowd from fifty paces. He wasn't blind and even if he was, he probably still would have noticed him.
He lived, slept and breathed the guy who shared his Drama Class and he thanked his lucky stars that he had not dropped the class at the beginning of the semester like he had planned. It probably would have been the largest mistake of his life.
Original Text of Abused by tangofic:
It didn't take him long to notice that she often had a strange bruise here or there. He thought at first she played a sport, maybe field hockey or something. Then as they appeared more frequently, and in strange places, he realized it was something completely different. He didn't know if anyone else noticed or not but he was more overly aware of the tiny blonde than most people. Willow Rosenberg had no idea what she had asked him to do, had no clue that he was already in love with her troubled friend. Buffy was so perfect, so tiny, so wonderfully smart and witty. Whenever she forced out a smile, even a fake one, it damn near blinded him.
Angel moved into class and strategically placed himself somewhere near her as always. He wanted to be close, but not too close. He was afraid if he inhaled too much of her vanilla perfume or if he was within arm's reach he would be tempted to touch her - or even worse - talk to her. For an experienced senior in college, a man who never had problems getting dates, he sure lost his touch when it came to her. She made him feel like a junior high schooler who hadn't had his first kiss when he was near her.
Until today.
Plagiarized Text from My Saving Grace, Chapter 2 by marcalbabe:
It didn't take him long to notice that he often had a strange bruise here or there. He thought at first he played a sport, maybe field hockey or something. Then as they appeared more frequently, and in strange places, he realized it was something completely different. He didn't know if anyone else noticed or not but he was more overly aware of the tiny guy than most people.
Anna Novak had no idea what she had asked him to do, had no clue that he was already in love with her troubled brother.
Castiel was so perfect, so tiny, so wonderfully smart and witty. Whenever he forced out a smile, even a fake one, it damn near blinded him.
Dean moved into class and strategically placed himself somewhere near him as always. He wanted to be close, but not too close. He was afraid if he inhaled too much of his scent or if he was within arm's reach he would be tempted to touch him - or even worse - talk to him.
For an experienced senior in college, a man who never had problems getting dates, he sure lost his touch when it came to him. He made him feel like a junior high schooler who hadn't had his first kiss when he was near him.
Until today.
Original Text of Abused by tangofic:
Today he was too angry to even contemplate being wistful or nervous around her. He blatantly stared at her body, scraping his eyes over her flesh for the wounds he knew were there. His anger was beginning to wane slightly as he saw no marks on her when she bent over to retrieve a pen from her bag. He sucked in a breath in horror as her little yellow top crept up to reveal what would be a golden bit of skin on an unabused girl. Instead there was an ugly purple and yellow bruise covering her side and back, disappearing under her shirt and jeans.
Plagiarized Text from My Saving Grace, Chapter 2 by marcalbabe:
Today he was too angry to even contemplate being wistful or nervous around him. He blatantly stared at his body, scraping his eyes over his flesh for the wounds he knew were there. His anger was beginning to wane slightly as he saw no marks on him when he bent over to retrieve a pen from his bag. He sucked in a breath in horror as his little grey top crept up to reveal what would be a golden bit of skin on an unabused guy. Instead there was an ugly purple and yellow bruise covering his side and back, disappearing under his shirt and jeans.
Original Text of Abused by tangofic:
"Obsessed" is a really strong word. So is "stalker." Both fit Liam "Angel" Angelus. He told himself over the weeks following his conversation with Willow and their subsequent meeting, that he was not obsessed with Buffy Summers, nor was he stalking her and he certainly wasn't in love with her. He was doing a favor for a friend.
He had declined Willow's offer to pay him and he made her promise not to mention his involvement to Buffy or anyone else. He already hated himself for not figuring out sooner that she was in trouble, that her bruises were just as severe as they looked. It was just that he couldn't even wrap his mind around the thought of someone hurting her. Why on earth would anyone want to mar her perfect skin or see sadness in those dazzling green eyes? It made no sense. And it made him want to torture and maim the person responsible.
Plagiarized Text from My Saving Grace, Chapter 2 by marcalbabe:
"Obsessed" is a really strong word. So is "stalker." Both fit Dean Winchester. He told himself over the weeks following his conversation with Anna and their subsequent meeting, that he was not obsessed with Castiel Novak, nor was he stalking him and he certainly wasn't in love with him. He was doing a favor for a friend.
He had declined Anna's offer to pay him and he made her promise not to mention his involvement to Castiel or anyone else. He already hated himself for not figuring out sooner that he was in trouble, that his bruises were just as severe as they looked. It was just that he couldn't even wrap his mind around the thought of someone hurting him.
Why on earth would anyone want to mar his perfect skin or see sadness in those dazzling blue eyes?
It made no sense. And it made him want to torture and maim the person responsible.
A third post made to the comm linked to a Chapter 3 of marcalbabe's My Saving Grace [SCREENCAPS], but like the link to Chapter 1, it leads to a LJ 404 page.
Various versions of some of the above stories can also be found at marcalbabe's Fanfiction.Net account: mysticalforces.
Given this information, the moderators of deancastiel can only conclude that marcalbabe has plagiarized from tangofic, if not others. Our investigation of other posts made by marcalbabe is ongoing in order to notify any other authors concerned.
Thank you for your time and attention.