This was not so much a Flame but more of an accusation. The person who sent this e-mail is basically accusing ShenLong of stealing ideas, characterization and plot from another well known authors works.... in short; Plagiarism

The matter has been dealt with, Shen cleared of any and all accusations and the person who sent the e-mail has since apologized, admitting that they were totally in the wrong.

As a side note here to people out there, Accusing someone of Plagiarism is a very serious charge and shouldn't be taken lightly. When an author is accused of such and are completely innocent such as in this case they are bound to get on the defensive and quite rightly reply to these people in a not too nice a fashion. So if you are going to accuse someone, please make sure you have ALL the facts. The author concerned, once cleared, could easily turn around and sue you for slander.

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

Sent : Wednesday, 10 March 2004 7:31:15 AM
To : GWDeathcythe@hotmail.com
Subject : Fanfic "Chimaera"

Your Gundam Wing work "Chimaera" is really nice and has a good idea as basis material but obviously you failed to mention that you have a model which helps you to get along:
Sunhawk´s works "The Ion Arc" or "The Road Trip Arc".
There is too much evidence in your fic to ignore that you probably had a schematic description of an other theory or fanfiction that accounts for its known properties and was used for further study of its characteristics/characters.
I don´t think it´s plagiarism yet, and i won´t (and don´t have the time to) prove this, but it would be great if people can take note that they´re getting some ideas from somewhere else.

 

Btw. I´m not the only one, who recognized similar/resembling parts.
And you should try to vary your writing style, e.g. almost every new paragraph begins with "Duo did this... Heero did that..."... gets kinda... boring/lame.
Sorry, constructive criticism

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

ShenLong's Reply.....

*Sounds of whistling*

Shen: "Oi, Guys!"

G Boys: "Yo, Shenny. What's going down?"

Shen: "Have a look what I got in the mail." *Points upwards*

Duo: "You have to be kidding me!"

Heero: "Well that's got to be the most idiotic accusation I've ever read."

Shen: "Want to help me reply?"

Wufei: "Love to. My middle name is Justice, remember?"

Shen: "Okay. Let's break this down and see what we can come up with. Ready guys?"

G Boys: "Ready!"

Shen: "Okay, here's the first bit..."

Your Gundam Wing work "Chimaera" is really nice and has a good idea as basis material but obviously you failed to mention that you have a model which helps you to get along:
Sunhawk´s works "The Ion Arc" or "The Road Trip Arc".

Duo: "Well at least she admitted that the idea was good."

Heero: "Hai, but what's this model thing?"

Shen: "I have read both the Ion arc and Road Trip arc and am a major fan of Sunhawk's works, but Chimaera is absolutely nothing like either of these arcs. So therefore I can't see how I have plagiarized them or could use them as a model to base my own fic on."

Duo: "I'd like to know how a male pregnancy fic is a plagiarism of these two fic's that deal with Heero and my getting together and the effects of war and after war along with the major angst that's in there."

Shen: "I e-mailed Sunhawk and she replied with the comments that she couldn't see how or where Chimaera had plagiarized her works. Even she said that Chimaera and the arcs are as different as chalk and cheese!"

Heero: "I guess some people obviously cannot read properly. May I suggest that she goes back to primary school?"

Shen: "Turns out she only read up to chapter 15 and there are 35 chapters already published. *rolls eyes* Anyway, this is what I put in my e-mail back...
[Quote]

'In response to your e-mail....

Firstly the plot bunny for this fic was given to me by my beta-reader, DBZVelena way back in Feb/March 2003. I didn't start writing the fic until October, having spent the preceding 7 months researching the medical facts on Hermaphrodites so as to get the fic as authentic as possible. Please do not confuse the obvious research I have painstakingly done by stating I have used another persons fics as my model.

I am familiar with Sunhawk's works and she is an excellent author but I refuse to be accused of stealing her ideas for my own fic. My fic, Chimaera, is absolutely nothing like Sunhawk's fics. I fail to see how you can say that an MPreg fic using hermaphrodites as the basis is a plagiarism of either the Ion Arc or The Road Trip Arc. Both those arcs are completely different, in fact you couldn't get three fic's that are more opposite!'    [End Quote]

Duo: "Well I would say that pretty much covered the first bit."

Heero: "Hai, I agree."

Shen: "So here's the next part guys...."

There is too much evidence in your fic to ignore that you probably had a schematic description of an other theory or fanfiction that accounts for its known properties and was used for further study of its characteristics/characters.

Duo: *scratches head* "Translation please?"

Heero: "Reading that I would say she's trying to impress with big words."

Quatre: *strolls in with a dictionary* "It's really quite simple. Let's break the sentence down. The first bit we know is saying that there is evidence of Sunhawk's 2 arcs in Chimaera..."

Duo: "I'd like to know where."

Shen: "Me too."

Quatre: "Now let's look at schematic description...According to the dictionary schematic is to have laid plans, underhanded or otherwise, so we have that Shenny took the plot description from another fic for her own."

Duo: "Ahhh..."

Quatre: "Moving to the last bit about characteristics and characters and known properties. I would interpret that as Shen pinched Sunhawk's idea, changed it a little bit to suit her own fic then based her characters on those from the arc, giving them the same quirks as Sunhawk has."

Trowa: "So what does that all mean when you string it together?"

Quatre: "It means that throughout Chimaera you can find many quotes and or same settings as in the 'arcs' that Shen couldn't be bothered to work out her own plan for Chimaera so she stole the one from the 'arcs' and using the basic researched evidence in the arcs to give her own fic more authenticity. Also the way she writes/portrays the characters in Chimaera is supposedly exactly the same as in the arcs."

Duo: "In a nutshell, Shen stole Sunhawk's fic's and changed them to suit herself then called it Chimaera?"

Quatre: "Yes."

Duo: "I still don't see how a male pregnancy fic is anything like the plot line or characters from either arc."

Shen: "You and me both, Duo."

Heero: "So what did you put in your reply?"

Shen: "Ahhh.... Have a read...."

[Quote]

I'd like to know where this so called 'evidence' is in my fic as I cannot find anything at all that relates to Sunhawk's works. I write my characters in the light that I perceive them to be... my interpretation of them from the series. Everyone has their own perception of the characters and while some are similar there are also a lot that are different. Also I write my fic's based on plot bunnies either given to me, requested or that I come up with myself, I also acknowledge the use of anyone's ideas or inspirations in a fic, should I have used them. I have no need to plagiarize another's works. I have more than enough success with my own works.

[End Quote]

Duo: "Well I would say that pretty much sums up that bit."

Heero: "What about the next bit?"

Shen: "Okay, here's the last bit of that particular part."

I don´t think it´s plagiarism yet, and i won´t (and don´t have the time to) prove this, but it would be great if people can take note that they´re getting some ideas from somewhere else.

Wufei: "I thought you always made a note in your fic's if you have used anything from somewhere else?"

Shen: "That's correct. If you note in the notes that precede each chapter of the fic I have a) dedicated it to Velena who gave me the plot bunny and b) Thanked Yami_Tai who came up with the title. Also I have put in the web site address for where I took my information from along with the name of the book and author I'm using for the fetus progress and general pregnancy information. I ALWAYS make a note in the blurb at the top of a fic of anything that isn't my own mainly to let people know that it isn't and give credit to where I have gotten it from and also to avoid being sued (as in disclaimer and also lyrics for song fics) plus to prevent this sort of thing from happening."

Duo: "I know why she say's she wont persue it as plagiarism."

Heero: "Share..."

Duo: "Well, she can't prove it because it isn't true."

Shen: "Exactly!"

Wufei: "And if you were getting your ideas from somewhere else you would say so, even I know that from all your other works."

Shen: "I believe in giving credit where credit is due."

Duo: "Besides, why would Shen want to pinch someone else's fic? I mean, you only have to look at the awards page to see the number of awards her fics have won. It's obvious that she writes well enough herself without having to steal someone else's stuff!"

Shen: "Why thank you, Duo."

Duo: "My pleasure."

Heero: "Hn. So what did you say about the last part then?"

Shen: "Well... Don't get me wrong, I am open to constructive criticism but again this isn't really a valid point. Having skimmed through the entire fic so far I would say that roughly a third of the paragraphs start out with one of the characters doing something."

Wufei: "That would make perfect sense to me."

Shen: "Here's what I said in response...."

[Quote]

In relation to the last part, not all paragraphs start out that way, in fact I would say possibly around a third of them do. Having read several novels by well known authors it's funny to note that they also tend to write mainly in this style. The style I use works well for me, the feed back I have received over the years in regards to my fic's also says that the style is fine. I guess that the various judges in the various fic comps must also think my style is okay, why else would my fic's have won the awards that they have? I have no intention of changing my style... why fix something that isn't broken?

[End Quote]

Heero: "I'd say that covers it pretty well."

Duo: "Me too."

Shen: "I thought it did too. Don't get me wrong guys, I know there are many other authors out there who's writing and works are far superior to mine and I admire them, they are my inspiration to keep going, to improve my stuff and hopefully one day I will be able to write as well as they do."

Quatre: "Oh, well said, Shen!"

Shen: "Thank you. Now to conclude my e-mail I finished with the following..."

[Quote]

To conclude I suggest that you get your facts straight before accusing someone of plagiarizing another's works. I have also notified Sunhawk of your e-mail as well as the Plagiarism Police Patrol and my beta's, one of whom gave me the plot bunny for Chimaera, so you may or may not hear from them.

Whether you continue to read this fic or not is entirely up to you, it makes no difference to me. The fic is obviously popular for its original and *realistic* approach to the subject of hermaphrodites and male pregnancy, I'd say that with well over 14,000 hits on the various sites it's archived at and a combined response by readers in excess of 800 replies in either e-mails or direct to site I'd say the fic must be doing something right. If it was a plagiarized work then surely it would have been stopped well before chapter 35?

[End Quote]

Heero: *whistles* "Wow! That's some fic then. Awesome!"

Duo: "I guess we must be pretty popular then, hey Heero?"

Shen: "I'm seriously considering getting a 'press secretary' just to answer all the e-mails and replies I get whenever there is a new chapter posted up! It takes me well over two hours to respond to them all individually but I really don't mind. I love getting the responses, to hear what people are liking or disliking about the fic and if they can take the time to let me know what they think then the least I can do is reply to them and thank them."

Duo: "So, after all this what happened?"

Shen: "Sunhawk very kindly e-mailed me back and couldn't find anything in Chimaera that remotely resembles either of her arcs and was quite surprised that someone would think it did!"

Wufei: "What about the Plagiarism Police Patrol?"

Shen: "They also e-mailed me and wanted to know where this person was coming from as they could find no evidence whatsoever to support the claim."

Duo: "So what now?"

Shen: "I had another e-mail from the person concerned the next day admitting that they had made a mistake, that they hadn't considered anything really at all and were basically bored shitless and looking for something to do so they thought they would pick on me and throw around accusations. I don'\t think they stopped to consider for one minute the consequences of their actions."

Wufei: "You should always have the necessary facts and proper evidence before accusing someone of something as serious as this."

Shen: "That's right, Wufei. If you go off half cocked without proper proof and accuse someone of something and then that person is proven completely innocent you could find yourself on a slander charge."

Wufei: "You gotta love the justice system."

Shen: "Yes you do. Anyway, she has apologized and I have accepted the apology."

Duo: "I knew you weren't the type to hold a grudge." *huggles Shen*

Shen: "There's no point in holding a grudge, Duo. It isn't going to solve anything and besides I don't want to waste my time on that, I'd much rather be writing."

Heero: "I'd much rather you get writing too. There is the matter of a few Lemon scenes in some fic's you have in the pipeline that need to be finished."

Shen: "Oh shit! I'd better get back to them, hadn't I?"

Duo: "It would be nice if you could finish some of them soon."

Shen: "Okay, okay, I get the hint. Thanks for helping me respond to this guys."

G Boys: "You're welcome, Shen."

Shen disappears to continue writing her fic's, the G Boys go back to their usual haunting of Shen's muses.

~ * ~

 

Back to Flames

Back to GW Authors Main Index