[ SECRET POST #5079 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #5079 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.


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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 02 pages, 33 secrets from Secret Submission Post #727.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

Writing Questions

[(Anonymous)]

Because I got one

Is this a homophobic/bad trope

[(Anonymous)]

Is it a bad trope to have a single sister among many boys who is a lesbian/wlw and partially blames being surrounded by men for it? In an original project I have a bisexual (heavily preferring women) woman who is the youngest of eleven brothers and sometimes blames having so many men around her for preferring women.

But I don't want to do something offensive.

Re: Is this a homophobic/bad trope

[(Anonymous)]

Having a bi character that has lots of brothers isn't homophobic. Implying that her sexuality could have been influenced by environmental factors is not great though. There's no strict scientific explanation for human sexuality variations, but I believe it's been thoroughly debunked as being the result of environmental factors.

Additionally, the idea that homosexuality could result or be influenced by environmental factors is heavily pushed by homophobic institutions. Especially those that insist that homosexuality is curable.

Those institutions have caused a lot of harm, and continue to do so. I think even the suggestion of an environmental influence on someone's sexuality is therefore best avoided altogether.

Re: Is this a homophobic/bad trope

[(Anonymous)]

Thanks.

Re: Is this a homophobic/bad trope

[(Anonymous)]

This. I don't think anything good comes from implying that one's environment can influence one's sexual orientation. It's too close to the idea that you can make someone gay or conversely, pray away the gay.

Re: Is this a homophobic/bad trope

[(Anonymous)]

I'm not a fan of the "girl who's tomboy because she has sooooo many brothers" cliché and the addition of "my brothers made me bi" is even worse. Sorry.

Re: Is this a homophobic/bad trope

[(Anonymous)]

No need to be sorry I wanted to know if I should avoid it. Looks like I should.

Re: Is this a homophobic/bad trope

[(Anonymous)]

You could rescue it by editing out any hint that having brothers made her bi and say instead that perhaps realizing that she felt the same way about girls as her brothers did (assuming they're straight) made her realize that she was bi.

Re: Is this a homophobic/bad trope

[(Anonymous)]

The bigger question I have is why "blame" is involved in the character's perception of her own sexuality.

Re: Is this a homophobic/bad trope

[(Anonymous)]

Well she was born in 1916 and the current time is in the 1950s

Re: Is this a homophobic/bad trope

[(Anonymous)]

But does the character herself feel like being bisexual is bad? Because if she doesn't, "blame" doesn't make sense.

Re: Is this a homophobic/bad trope

[(Anonymous)]

... I think this is well in the realm of something someone may think to or wonder about themselves, and that it can be written about well or used to create a complicated character. But it’s a hoary trope with homophobic roots, so even if it’s used thoughtfully (or ironically, like if the character “blames” her brothers entirely tongue-in-cheek or as self-defense), its presence may still offend or turn people off quickly.

Re: Is this a homophobic/bad trope

[(Anonymous)]

SA - just read your mention that MC is born in 1916 and it’s set in the 1950s. Honestly, I think that is a mindset that fits the time period. I guess I’d advise considering carefully why or how this detail fits in with what you’re working to get at with your writing.

Re: Is this a homophobic/bad trope

[(Anonymous)]

"Sick of men" is a real claim made by many women as to why they're lesbians. Whether it's the true reason or not isn't relevant, because if a real person can believe it about themselves, so can a character. It's more offensive to me that everyone expects only queer characters with the most correctly woke views of their sexuality. That idea shits on so many of us and implies we're not valid.

Re: Writing Questions

[(Anonymous)]

A little while ago I asked for advice about writing better erotica because, frankly, I suck. No pun intended. XD

Aaaanyway, the advice I got was really helpful - thanks FS! Most people suggested studying what works in other people's work, which I have been doing.

My question now is, when you are using other people's work as inspiration then where the hell is the line for plagiarism?

At the moment I have been breaking down paragraph flows sentence by sentence, trying to mimic the flow. I'm not copying words or actual sentences, but it still feels like plagiarism. :/

None of this has been posted yet, so still all academic at this point.

Re: Writing Questions

[(Anonymous)]

Hmmm. I don't think I've ever "broken down" line for line whatever works I have liked -- I think what I tend to do (and thus avoid plagiarism) is tease out what exactly I liked or found alluring about what the author wrote or the way they wrote it. How do they use the words? Do i like it because they were graphic? how graphic? Or do I prefer that they went into the feelings of both characters or one? These kinds of questions. What kind of language did they use? Is more action based? Emotion based? etc.

Breaking down those components (instead of a line by line transposition) and then applying them (that is, your raw materials, the answers to those questions above, those elements you very much liked) to your own style, and adapting that to the characters and circumstances, you will have something original. In my opinion, anyway.

I've lately been reading some fic where I find I really like the smut this writer makes -- and I ask myself these questions, in order to maybe apply some of that to my own stories. Maybe. I try to consider what is hot to me, what I like, and what I would like to see. And doing it my own way. I don't want to be a copy of this author. She's fabulous. I want to like my own writing too -- influenced by it or not.

If you want to share a passage from something you like and we can work on it here, I'd be happy to show you what I mean!

In any case, good luck!

Re: Writing Questions

[(Anonymous)]

(Cozy Werewolf Anon)

copying more than 50 words preferably in a row is considered plagarism. Look up copypastecris for an example. (She managed to plagarize up to 80 authors last I knew. Like and then a year later the RWA imploded so and that was last Christmas sooo. I'm waiting on the 2020 Author scandal that's not JKR being JKR.)

copying storylines beat for beat is considered plagarism outside of following specific genre conventions. (which I can't remember the words now but look up the Omegaverse case on youtube, Lindsay Ellis did a great job of explaining.)

Using song lyrics is plagarism

If you're just going for style, and sentence structure type beats and using your own words, you should be fine. It's ripping scenes wholesale with exact descriptions (gestures at Cassie Claire) that will do it.

Re: Writing Questions

[(Anonymous)]

Is this fanfic or 100% original? Trying to mimic sentence structure/flow in fanfic isn't plagiarism. Arguably, it's what you're supposed to do, and it's harder than it sounds.

It's not plagiarism in original fic either, but you do run the risk of critics saying that you sound like you've been reading too much (whatever is inspiring you).

Re: Writing Questions

[(Anonymous)]

It's probably not plagiarism if you don't overdo it, basically. Like, if you copy the basic beats of a scene [scary thug shows up, cunning hero defeats him by trickery, scary thug swears loyalty after being beaten and shown mercy, for example], that's fine.
However, if you write "Blazing Saddles (but all the genders are flipped and it's in space)" then yeah, that's plagiarism.

Re: Writing Questions

[(Anonymous)]

I want to write Glee fanfic but I keep wanting to introduce too much realism - like, people getting punished for all those violent assaults and stuff - and it's making things too difficult. If I have Sue put on notice and half the football team expelled in the first three chapters, what am I going to do with the rest of the story?

Re: Writing Questions

[(Anonymous)]

That's only realism (maybe) if you're writing towards the end of the series or a modern AU. I lived near Lima, OH in 2009 and if you think the high school football team would have been expelled for anything short of a blatant felony in front of multiple 3rd-party witnesses, you're fooling yourself.

Re: Writing Questions

[(Anonymous)]

If I were a cunning and spiteful person who could afford a camrecorder and who knew that physical assault was a daily event, do you think "3rd party witnesses" would be that difficult? Honest question, not sarcastic - I'm only familiar with US highschool culture though tv.

Re: Writing Questions

[(Anonymous)]

Okay, I've been struggling with this for a little while now and I just don't know how to deal with it.
I'm working on a Harry Potter AU story where the horcrux in his head is very important to the plot, and I'm having a lot of trouble describing it/him*. I mean, the way it's described in the book is pretty gross - like a malformed infant, more or less - and like... I totally understand the basic problem of describing spiritual degradation in visual terms, but I also don't want to equate "looking weird"=“being evil”.

What I want is to describe the horcrux basically going through what Smeagol did in becoming Gollum, but in reverse, as it/he becomes saner and less spiritually messed up; but I don't want to be ableist about it. I have no idea what to do, I'm just about ready to write it however I can and just drop a "not a commentary on real people" disclaimer in the notes.


*I haven't decided on the right pronouns yet but that's way less stressful for me, lol

Re: Writing Questions

[(Anonymous)]

That's a tricky one. JKR's pretty blatant about the ugly=bad stuff.

I think you could avoid some of the grossness if you focus less on how the horcrux-baby is shaped and treat it more like going from malnourished/neglected to properly cared for. That's just one opinion though.

Re: Writing Questions

[(Anonymous)]

Maybe I could get really metaphorical about it? I mean, we're talking about souls here, I don't have to describe it strictly in terms of arms and legs and face. I could say stuff about fruit un-rotting, a withered flower turning back to bloom, an abandoned house having its roof made sound and its floors cleared of weeds...

It still feels a bit dodgy, but it's a lot easier to write, and if I can just get this down I can move on and write more of the actual story!