[ SECRET POST #5405 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #5405 ⌋

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


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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 02 pages, 46 secrets from Secret Submission Post #774.
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

[fscom]

02. https://i.imgur.com/jpStVDp.png

[(Anonymous)]

Nah. I'm not sure specifically what an imagine is. But if it's like, "Hey it'd be cool if there was a fic of [fandom] about [thing] where [this] happens.", no one owes someone else credit for that.

Nevermind that for the amount of stuff I scroll past on many websites, things get stuck in my brain and may come out later and I have no idea where the inspiration came from.

It'd be different if you wrote the fic and they basically copied it word for word.

[(Anonymous)]

Yeah, I was thinking that the writer might have scrolled past it on their dash and couldn't hope to find it again even if they tried. Happens to me at least once day.

[(Anonymous)]

Nah. I'm not sure specifically what an imagine is. But if it's like, "Hey it'd be cool if there was a fic of [fandom] about [thing] where [this] happens.", no one owes someone else credit for that.

It wasn't. It was more like, "Here is a very specific, two-thousand word paraphrasing of a fic I'd love to read, including very specific scenes, story beats, plot points, and narrative dynamics." The fic was very, very clearly inspired by my post. There was nothing vague about it.

Nevermind that for the amount of stuff I scroll past on many websites, things get stuck in my brain and may come out later and I have no idea where the inspiration came from.

I mean, if you are capable of reading a two thousand word condensing of a very specific fic idea and then remembering what you read but forgetting you didn't come up with it yourself...IDEK what to say to that. Sounds fake but ok?

[(Anonymous)]

Imagines are pretty much "fanfic I'd like to see but I don't have the time/energy/skill to write" and you got a fanfic.

They might not even remember where they got the idea, just that it was floating around in their head when they sat down to write.

[(Anonymous)]

Similar to a plotbunny?

[(Anonymous)]

Yeeeeeah... it's generally better to lean on the side of more credit, than less, if you're in doubt. It's amazing how easy it is to hurt someone's feelings.


Even if the writer just notes: "I can't remember which tumblr post I got this idea from - if anyone recognises it, let me know" - that can head off some bad feeling.

[(Anonymous)]

Why post imagines if you don't want someone to make it a reality? I would consider this an amazing gift from the universe!

[(Anonymous)]

From the secret: It could have been such a delightful thing to have happened

There's your answer. I would love for anyone to make any of my fic ideas a reality. But when they use my very long, very specific fic outline as inspiration, and then neglect to make even the most vague mention of "a tumblr post that inspired them," that's shitty. It turns an otherwise delightful thing sour.

[meadowphoenix]

tumblr is used to having the fic posted as a response to the imagine, so I can kinda understand if you're used to that vibe. I also think that if it was more like a fic outline than a one-liner imagine, that yeah, that's less collaborative to me, I would be bothered.

I mean, ngl I'm kinda petty (and honestly passive-aggressive) about this stuff and I would either a) comment, link to my post and thank them with a big review about what I loved (a la "oooh I wondered about just this thing here[linked post], and now the ~fic gods have blessed me. I really loved X, Y Z) or b) link back to the fic in a response to my post, which is mutually beneficial anyway.

[(Anonymous)]

ngl I'm kinda petty (and honestly passive-aggressive) about this stuff and I would either a) comment, link to my post and thank them [...] or b) link back to the fic in a response to my post, which is mutually beneficial anyway.

This is a really good idea, and I may do one of these! Probably the second one, since it seems more chill and constructive. Thanks for reminding me this is an option.

[(Anonymous)]

I sorta know what you mean OP. It's not quite the same scenario, but I'm a fic writer who writes a very distinct characterization-- I'm not saying that as a humblebrag or anything, I just mean that the fandom is mostly one very overused dynamic and I write something very opposite to that, particularly in regards to one character. There's a writer who has come along in the past couple months and has written several fics very similar to mine, with some jokes and descriptions that are basically paraphrased right from a joke or description I've written. They've never credited me and though I know I'm not owed that, it does rub me the wrong way a little bit that they've never even commented on my fics (but HAVE bookmarked them) and won't acknowledge me at all. I'd be fine with something sorta-crediting like "I've seen some interesting takes about X character and wanted to try it myself." I even commented encouragement on their fic, giving them the opportunity to reply and acknowledge liking my writing too, but they didn't. Obviously we all pull ideas and inspiration from things in life and don't even think to give credit for every little detail, but it would be nice if someone has an obvious inspiration in the fandom. It's nice to be nice! Maybe they think they're writing the dynamic better than I could and they're being nice by not calling attention to it or something, I don't know. It's made me feel hurt as well OP, even if I know it's not the most rational way to react.

[(Anonymous)]

Thank you for understanding, anon! The feeling you're experiencing sounds very much like what I'm feeling, and frankly, even if I hadn't had my own experience with feeling stepped over in this way, I would still feel incensed on your behalf.

This person may not owe you a writing credit, but I honestly think they do owe you an acknowledgement. Not legally, obviously, but they owe it to you in the sense that it would be the honest, polite, kind thing to do.

If it's any consolation, the reason they're so determined not to acknowledge you at all is probably specifically because they feel like they're cribbing a lot off of you and they're insecure about it. IDK if that's what happened in my case, but I'd bet money it's what's happening in yours.

[(Anonymous)]

Honest question: why do people feel it's okay to use someone's idea and not credit them for it? I'm not talking about "they don't remember/they weren't aware/etc.", I mean a person read a tweet/an imagine/a fic and decides, yeah, I'm going to write my version of that. Why is it that because "it's just an idea", it doesn't matter that it comes from someone else? I've always wondered that, because it's something I've seen here a couple times and I don't get it.

[(Anonymous)]

I’m pretty sure part of it is that the legal definitions don’t indicate that anyone can own an idea at the level of a basic “imagine” or “plot bunny”.

And I think there’s a feeling that just coming up with the idea is the easy part and therefore not worth as much as the actual slog of writing.

Note: it sounds like OP’s case is a bit different, given how detailed their “imagine” was. And I don’t have any horse in this race, just trying to explain what I’ve heard from others.

[(Anonymous)]

Because a lot of people get butthurt when they are expected to do anything for the sake of social good, unless there is a pre-established law that says they have to.

By this logic, the idea has to be so indisputably stolen from someone else that the law will deem it IP theft, which takes quite a lot. And it's a good thing that the law is usually extremely hard-pressed to rule in favor of IP theft, because we don't want to make it difficult and legally dangerous to create new art. But consequentially the butthurt pissbabies feel that if the Law doesn't force one person to credit another person for use of their idea, then how dare anyone try to make them feel that they ought to acknowledge another person for their idea?! There's no law! They have every right not to do it! Every right! *eyeroll*

[(Anonymous)]

So, you write obsessively detailed imagines that you never make into actual fics, and that's your thing. Cool. We all need a thing. If one of your friends wrote a fic based on your imagine, the polite thing to do would be to treat it like a prompt fill and link back to the original prompt. You know, if you're old enough to remember prompt fills and pre-tumblr/twitter manners.

Thing is, you did this on tumblr, where you're self-admittedly kind of a nobody. And the average age of the people picking up prompts is, like, 15. And there aren't really community interaction rules because tumblr's designed for posting and reblogging content, not developing relationships. So it's not very realistic to expect that the random teenager who wrote a fic based on your imagine would sift through the reblogs to find the original poster and give them credit.

Besides which, as multiple other people have pointed out, you aren't the mastermind behind the Flaming Homer. You described a drink that you wished someone else would make and someone else made it. Thank the author for writing a story based on your imagine and move on with your life.

[(Anonymous)]

I mean, I'm in a discord with this person and we have spoken. Also, if you actually try reading the secret, you will see that I specifically said I wouldn't have minded even an oblique acknowledgement of "a post they read on tumblr." But go off, I guess.

Also, nah, not gonna thank someone for using my content and neglecting to mention anybody else was involved. Honestly, side-eyeing you pretty hard rn.

[(Anonymous)]

What on earth is an "imagine"? Is this some social media thing?

[iff_and_xor]

https://fanlore.org/wiki/Imagine_(genre)

It's basically a "short fanfic or descriptive passage" imagining a particular fanfic scenario. For example, a prompt like "imagine your OTP arguing about where to go on a date". And then there might be a detailed description of how the scene would play out.

[(Anonymous)]

It comes from "imagine Dean Winchester is your boyfriend and romantic/smutty thing happens."

[(Anonymous)]

When you have an idea for a fic that you feel passionately about, but you know you're never going to write it, or you don't have time to write it at the moment, or you want to see if there's interest for it, so you write out the concept of the fic and post it. Imagines vary broadly, from short and general to detailed and practically fics unto themselves.

[(Anonymous)]

It’s a plot summary for a fic that doesn’t exist.

[(Anonymous)]

The takeaway from this should be that you should start putting your imagines on AO3 yourself. You wouldn't be the first, and 2k words is longer than most. You'll get all the credit for your imagine. Also, since AO3 has an actual commenting system, the culture is already established that if someone wants to write something based on your work they ask you first and if you agree they credit you directly and/or link back to your work.

[(Anonymous)]

I agree. But you can still reply to people on Tumblr, so it’s not like there’s no way to speak to people there.