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dancingisdangerouss · 2 years

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Plagiarism PT 2

“Not that you…” (verbatim) Square/squarely Lurch/Lurched Relentless Concluded “Nimble fingers” (verbatim) Remembrance- This one took me a while to decide on; like, I was racking my brain for hours before I remembered (hah) this word. Very uncommonly used. Impish “Leaning into” (something/a feeling/not a person) Taking on (not in a fight sense; e.g. “taking on a darkened face”) “Splayed out” Immobile Paunch (everyone describes Al as being bulked as fuck, but I feel like he’s got a little tummy, and describe him as such. Mine: “with some minor stomach paunch,” Hers: “slight paunch of a stomach visible”) Bolted (running, not a lock); also “bolted upright” used verbatim Remnants Bulky (of physique) Indistinct Renewed “Stung like hell,” also verbatim Mockingly “You couldn’t bring yourself” (verbatim) Keened/Keening Relent Stifling “Stock-still” (verbatim; I have never seen this word used outside of one book) Advancing Deliriously “All but…” (verbatim; e.g. “all but cried from it”) Elevated Intently Medieval (I…did not at all expect to see this one used in another grabber fic, lol) Peeled Jutting Ravenous Blood turning pink down the drain in the tub/shower (which, fun fact, I also found out is inaccurate and fixed in BA! Blood turns yellow in water, not pink) Jarring Vaguely aware (verbatim; Mine: “you were only vaguely aware,” Hers: “You were only vaguely aware”) That one’s word-for-word. Mulled/Mulling Fire (Mine: “Yes, he quite liked her fire,” Hers: “she had some fire which he certainly found endearing”) Also, Al also mentions in mine that he finds her anger/fight endearing. Nagging Persona (uncommonly used) Purposefully Split-second Predator hunting prey (used a lot in fics, but worth mentioning) Disquiet (I NEVER see this one) Noted (noticed is used most often, noted? Not so) “Made a mental note” (taken verbatim) Interactions Phantom (not of the opera lol) Dribbling ”Sweet thing,” “Little thing.” These terms are used a lot in works, but not quite as often. Mostly the terms I see in fics (grabber and otherwise) are “dove,” “pet,” “bunny,” (that one my friend first used, and then it exploded as the grabber’s “official” pet name, apparently), “doll,” “darling.” I thought I was being unique by making it a condescending term VS something endearing (I had an ask eons ago that asked me what my pet names for Al were, and explained in the post that I liked using “thing” as Al’s way of dehumanizing Y/N). Extended Mortified Cornered Lustful In a fashion (manner) Wield Quell Permeate Absentmindedly Rustling Towering Mantra Effervescent (I would say this one only since it came after mine, because everyone must know this word after the whole effervescent Edward-Twilight-Snail thing hahaha) Haphazardly Manifest “Brute force” (verbatim) Stance Considerably Ventured Ascertain (rarely used from what I’ve seen) Hurriedly Inflict Sated Motionless Whisked Searing Tiled floor and linoleum floor (tiled did not really bother me because, what else can ya call it? But I researched old flooring for Al’s new home, and soon after I used that word, it popped up in her fic). Strayed “Feather-light” (verbatim) Quickening Involuntary Calculated Petrified Caged (by body) Soothed Hungrily Feeble Incensed (uncommon/not used much) Inadequate Dull pain Embedded Albeit (not used much) Coy/coyly Merciless Obscene Reprieve Glinted Indignant Wreak (“wreak havoc” used verbatim) Pivot Endeavor Trepidation “A wave of nausea” (used verbatim) Evolve Audible Cringe Disjointed (I have not personally seen this one anywhere outside a book) Disregard Muffled “Not unlike…” (e.g. “not unlike a cat”) Erupted Engulfed Instantaneously (uncommon) Crumpled Waggling Despite/in spite of Betrayed/Betrayal (Mine: “terror in your eyes betraying you,” Hers: “the gleam in his eyes betrayed him”). Exquisite Resolve Expel

Convulse Continued (not “continued to read” but “her continued reading” sort of phrasing) Rooting/rooted Swivel Execrable- THIS ONE. THIS ONE THIS ONE. I have only ever once seen this word before, and love it to death. No one ever uses it. It just has such a nice bite to it! So seeing that pop up was a HUGE indicator to me. I think it’s one of the words that finally made me change my mind on whether I was being paranoid. Tell-tale Ensure Affronted Draped “Guilt-ridden” (verbatim) Euphoric Syrupy- Maybe I’ve just personally never seen it, but I thought I was being clever with this term! I’ve never seen it used in the context of cum, and thought it might even sound a bit odd, but I went for it. It’s…VERY strange to see it then used in a sex scene quite soon after mine. Dabbed Grazing Sated Façade Dissipated Distinctive “Cramped space” (verbatim) Strayed Contented Muster

Yikes, that took a long-ass time. But I, like Reader, can be stubborn.

Now, onto the scenes. The plots themselves were super similar, but she told me when I confronted her she planned to take a different direction, so I was like eh, a’ight. But here’s what I found in both fics:

Y/N being an English nerd, introduced carrying a book bag, gabbing about books. Not a terribly uncommon interest for a character to have, but odd that they were both introduced in the first chapter that way.

Al finding her photo ID in her wallet and already knowing Reader’s name, and also her not lying about her name

Y/N unintentionally being kidnapped/not the original target, being knocked out cold with him beating her in the head/face VS the spray knocking her out, Al deciding that he might actually have use for her

My line: “In the midst of the scuffle, you had somehow managed to get to your feet, planting them on the ground outside the vehicle. Freedom was just a few good strides away, but your abused body had finally thrown in the towel.” Her line: “Last chance, both your feet still touched the outside ground, and your mind begged you to do something. Too late.” This one was really weird. I wanted Y/N to get her feet on the ground to try and get away in a last-ditch effort, so I could write him then pulling her back into the van. So…a very odd similarity, of all things?

Al forcing Y/N to say who she belongs to while beating her

Y/N thinking of using the tank lid as a weapon (I think one other fic did this too, but only after mine did it first)

Also Y/N hiding behind the door as an escape method

The thing with the rings. Granted, it wasn’t the same exact thing, but the use of a ring was also something that raised a brow, so soon after I introduced that scene with the engagement ring (I thought I was being clever, doing that instead of the usual collaring and whatnot they do with BDSM petplay stuff).

Al warning Y/N not to bite his dick

Y/N coming upstairs for Naughty boy (like the movie) but then Al is sitting there beckoning her to come over.

Y/N having nightmares and Al wondering lustfully if she’s crying out because she’s dreaming about him.

Al interrogating Y/N about her sex life (or lack thereof)

Y/N vomiting after blowjob (seen in fics, but not often because it’s not considered sexy)

The string of saliva between them that parts when they stop kissing. I’ve no doubt seen this in multiple works before, but it’s something I’ve used in all three of my fics (y’all haven’t seen the third one yet though~). It’s not uncommon, but also not used enough to not raise any brows.

Using scissors to cut her bra straps off (another very weird coincidence). I mostly did that because I realized that, with the way she was situated, he wouldn’t be able to get her bra off even with the clasp undone in the back, so I added the scissors in as a last-minute means of removing the bra. So…yeah.

Y/N’s nightmare about being chased down a dark corridor

The bathing scene, which came very soon after I had posted mine.

Al feeling bad for Y/N suffering when it’s not by his hand/conflicted about liking her pain but also disliking it.

Al calling Y/N “perfect” again and again

Y/N pissing Al off after he did something to her by remaining stubbornly mute and not acknowledging him

Having a romantic dinner date with Al, and Y/N prodding at her food (both noodle dishes)

The Mask Reveal. The big thing that stood out to me was that both Readers found it odd that they had seen the top and bottom halves of his mask, but he looked different unmasked. I personally haven’t seen any other fics say that before. Hers: “It was strange, you thought, how each half of his face seemed so different to the unfractured whole he had unmasked.” Mine: “Okay, so he did look different without the masks. It made little sense in your mind, seeing as you had seen both the top and bottom halves of his face. Surely piecing those two together would create the same visage as what lay beneath, right? …Evidently not.”

Again, take some of these with a grain of salt. Obviously there are cliches in fanfic, but the timing of some of them (the ring after the ring, the bath after the bath, the dinner after the dinner) were posted pretty close together.

Here are a couple more Spot-The-Difference Quotes:

Mine: “It was gratifying to know she could still serve a purpose to him,” Hers: “maybe it could still serve his purposes for the game.” (additionally, the fact that both my Al and hers intended to use her for sex, have some fun, and then kill her, but found her to be endearing).

Mine: “We’re going to put that misbehaved little mouth of yours to better use,” Hers: “I think we can put that mouth of yours to better use.”

Mine: “I really don’t know why I thought you’d tell me the truth,” Hers: “You didn’t know why you thought to expect a rational answer.” (both are Y/N speaking)

Mine: “What have I told you…” His voice deepened, taking on a menacing edge worthy of a blade, “about lying?” Hers: “Being good also means telling the truth- what did I say about lying?” and “What did I say about fucking lying to me, Y/N?!”

Mine: “he trailed the faint blue outline of a vein along her thigh,” Hers: “he mapped your blue veins with his finger pad.”

Mine: “Soft kisses along your collarbone, down between the valley of your breasts,” Hers: “hand moved up your chest, between the valley of your breasts, fingering your collarbone.”

Mine: “You shifted into a sitting position” Hers: “You hoisted yourself up to a sitting position” AND Mine: “he eased her into a sitting position,” Hers: “[he] dragged you to a sitting position.”

Now, structuring! The big one I’m unhappy about. These are the most notable things I could put into words regarding how her style is just like mine (which is odd, since she told me she was an English major, and a lot of the choices I make are frowned upon by most English departments, which I mention more on below…). Here they are:

-Using parentheses to convey other/additional thoughts. Everyone uses this; it’s a fun way of breaking up text! But again, I seldom see any stories that use this as much as I do (I’ve even been chastised by teachers before for using them so liberally, but I love them so much I don’t care). So to see someone else doing them just as much as I do was weird.

-Using breaks—very often. Again, everyone loves an abrupt break in convos, but they’re another tool I have been told I abuse in my writing. But I like the way it breaks things up like real language/conversations, so it’s another grammatically-frowned-upon thing to do too often. I also like to do breaks that go like this—

Into this. Or, into—

….This. As always, people use these, but not very often. It’s usually interspersed.

Because I imagine this spacing can be jarring to some people.

But it’s by no means not something commonly used in writing, so not a huge flag.

-I don’t know how to actually verbalize this one, so… I’m going to give two examples to see if you catch onto the writing similarity in it. “He was a gallant man, a man of value, of integrity…” VS “She strolled by in a yellow dress, a blooming sunflower in cloth…” ?? Make sense? Not sure how to explain that one.

-The use of questions? All the time? Like, a lot? All the time? Because I like Reader to have an inner war dialogue constantly? Everyone uses italics and portrays the protagonist’s thoughts, that’s what we do. But the dropping of questions? In a line? Like this? Constantly? That’s another writing quirk I do.

Speaking as someone who has many English major, English nerd, and bookish friends who frown upon these things listed above, it baffles me that another English major would use all of these when I’ve literally been slapped on the wrist for it.

Also, just for the sake of solidifying these, I went through some randomized tags on AO3 and selected the first fics that came up, and none of them were structured the way mine is. As said before, if the author had any previous works to draw on to prove that their style is exactly like mine, then I would be immediately convinced.

But to have a very first fic, in the same fandom, with almost the same exact plot (in the beginning, anyhow), with the same pairing (GrabberxReader)? Having just one or two of those would not raise any alarms, but together they really draw my attention.

So…yeah. I was really anxious about it in the beginning and felt like I was losing it, and convinced myself I was just going through a rough time (I was) and that I was seeing things. It upsets me primarily because I am a forgiving person by nature. You can do some reallllllly shitty things to me, but if you earnestly apologize, I’m a fat sap and can’t hold onto the resentment. I don’t like feeling like that. I’d rather you just be upfront with me so we can resolve the issue and move forward.

I'm also very disappointed to see that my fics, which I pour my entirety into and spend weeks cultivating, have been getting mini "good job" comments, whilst hers continues to get lengthy, detailed, very specific and well-thought-out comments. Like, what's up with that, guys? I literally put considerable thought into every sentence I write, so it would be nice if the Original work got more feedback :/

But I digress.

This is more than enough for me, but I’ll let y’all make your own determination. I’m not going to be an asshole and report her or anything like that, or tell her to stop writing. I just think readers should be informed going into it and make that decision themselves on whether this argument is valid or not.

If you read this and still think I’ve got screws loose (I do, just not in regards to this), that’s fine, I’m not making you do anything. I’m just putting what I have out there so y’all understand where I’m coming from/my reasoning for this.

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