A small FAKE wank
The FAKE fandom might be small, but its wank is unforgettable...
Wildefyre is a fanfiction writer. Even though her stories aren’t particularly good, everytime she recieves any sort of criticism she claims she’s been flamed and vows to never write again. At least, of course, until her fangirls beg her to keep enlighting their lives.



Since September, Wildefyre had been writing a story called “Disgraced” and posted it at Media Miner and Adult Fanfiction.net. Last week, she recieved the following review (I'm posting it here complete given that, as you might guess, she’s already deleted it).

"Greetings Wildfyre
I am a long-term lurker/fan of anime/manga/all things yaoi, and I am posting this review of your latest fanfiction effort, Disgraced, which I have been following here on Adult Fanfiction since you first started posting it, back in September of 2004. I have read all of your previous FAKE fanfiction, and I have to say that Disgraced is by far your best work to date. You have attempted to tackle a very complex plot and have done some wonderful things with it. Your development of lesser characters from the FAKE cannon, including Berkley, Drake and JJ has been well handled, and your narrative style for this particular story also flows very well and works wonderfully with the scenarios you have established.
The fanfiction world for FAKE is an active, yet relatively small community. (When compared to such fandoms as Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Inuyasha, or Star Trek, just to name a few.) Most of us FAKE fans have read all, if not most, of the available fanfiction out there and are desperate to continue enjoying the wonderful world that Sanomi Matou has created. There are several wonderful stories and arcs out there, written by some very talented writers, which are well handled, inventive, and yet manage to remain in character and respect the cannon that Ms. Matou has created. When a reader finds one of these jewels they shout for joy from the rooftops, and try to share it with as many people as possible, all of the while checking everyday (sometimes several times) for the latest author updates. Of course, with the community being as small as it is, that leads to some serious drawbacks ? the main one being the limited amount of actual stories available. So we as fans read and reread the good ones by our favourite authors, all the while desperately awaiting any new talent that may care to take the field.
It is with that in mind that I've noticed something disturbing in your latest fiction. Several of the ideas that seem central to your latest plotline seem undeniably similar to work I have seen posted by other authors, one author in particular. I can give you three points in particular. Firstly, the fact that during the hostage situation in the bank, one of the stipulations for the freeing of the hostages is the release of the main culprit's brother from prison. Secondly, the rape of Dee by said culprit. And lastly, once the situation is over, Dee's resolve not to tell Ryo about what has happened to him. All three of these points have been or are developing into crucial elements of another's fanfiction work, namely Swordy, in her Crash and Burn arc. In Swordy's work Crash and Burn, Dee is kidnapped and held hostage, with the stipulation of his release being the freedom of the kidnapper's younger brother from prison. In that same story-line, Dee is also sexually molested while in captivity and it has a devastating effect on his psyche. As a result, he decides not to tell Ryo, in an effort to get his life back to as normal as possible. Yet, in Swordy's latest work, Crash and Burn ? Somewhere in Between, the fact that he did not tell Ryo ends up being a CRUCIAL plot point that sends many of the subsequent events in motion.
Now while I am not saying that you haven't taken these concepts and developed them in a different direction, you can not deny that the similarities are there. Two of Swordy's works were finished earlier last year, and she is still currently working on her latest piece. People do do different things with ideas, and the nature of fanfiction is such that the foundation of any work is borrowed from a pre-established source. But sometimes the seed for ideas take hold while we are reading something else, and oftentimes we do not recognize their source. This is just something you may want to be aware of, because it is detrimental to the fandom and the members of that fandom. There is so much room for story development in the FAKE world, and the talented authors out there have a wonderful field to play in. And if nothing else, while borrowing ideas is OK, one should at least provide credit where credit is due, or "give a shout out" to the source that has proven to be the inspiration. It is only fair.
As a fellow fan, I just thought that that might be something you want to consider as you further develop your latest work.
I wish you the best of luck in all of your latest fictional pursuits.
A Fellow Fake Fan
BlueSimplicity"

After her initial reaction, she deletes the story. All that is left is a now-deleted note in which she asks for forgiveness and, of course, swears she will never write again (yawn, I mean, woe).

Fangirls beg in the now-deleted reviews page and on her lj... but it seems that more persons are becoming aware of her usual tactics, including some anonymouses that question her right to reproduce.

Of course, she’s already threatening, I mean, promising to write again.

Hooray.

There was a post about her last year, but I’m too lazy (and on dial-up) to look for it right now.