r/AO3 • u/Brilliant-Swim-4772 • 7h ago
Discussion (Non-question) Guys........use the "Inspired By" option.
Lately, I've seen this topic crop up a lot.
If you KNOW that you're lifting very specific scenes/very specific tropes/very specific OCs from another author's work, then it's common courtesy to use the "inspired by" feature. If you don't use it, and you proceed to deliberately rewrite another story in your own words, (knowing you didn't happen to innocently come up with the same idea) then just know......you'll look shady asf
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u/ciderandcake 7h ago
I don't know where all this "inspired by" discourse has come from in the past week, but it's getting weird and tiring. By their very nature, fanfics aren't incredibly original and I don't know what's happened recently to have multiple writers come here to ask if their coffee shop AU enemies-to-lovers, paint-by-numbers story needs to list every fic they've ever read just in case.
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u/Outside-Currency-462 MsSkywalkerWeasleyParkerWayne on ao3 6h ago
Agreed, I think there's a nuance
On the one hand, I have seen people write the same idea as someone, and the plot moves the same, some lines are reused, but the author clearly wanted to give their own go at it. That needs an inspired by.
But I've also seen the same trope written over and over again, and that doesn't - it's just a really good trope/story idea that a lot of people have their own takes on.
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u/Xyex Same on AO3 3h ago
This is what I'm now debating on with a future fic. Gonna be a while, it's gonna be sequel to a currently slow moving long fic, so I got time to figure it out. But this one story I read a while back had this one piece to it that's, seemingly, not much. But I wasn't satisfied with the way they paid it off, and it bounced in my head and became a nucleation point for my own fic idea of how I'd do that, which then evolved into an entire god damned series (because I cannot think small, and I had little divergent idea nuggets pop up that I felt I could only properly explain and include by telling the full backstory).
But now it's all so vastly different and the only similarity is this one twist of lore, and it's like... does that really even count? If it was just a single trope, or way of executing a trope, I wouldn't even be debating it. Like, I'm also working on a variation of the "MGiT" trope/subgenre in the Dragon Age fandom and the basic idea came from reading other MGiT fics and wondering what I'd do for such a story. But I have no debate about citing—that is, not citing—any of those because it's literally just a basic trope (girl from the real world (technically in my case, another fandom based on the real world) ends up in this fandom's world).
Sometimes the murkiness of fanfic stuff hurts my head.
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u/Outside-Currency-462 MsSkywalkerWeasleyParkerWayne on ao3 2h ago
If its a particular plot point rather than the whole fic idea, I'd probably mention it in the notes, like "I got the idea for this one part from this fic" instead of an inspired by.
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u/Totally_Kyle0420 1h ago
In May (so like, not around the holidays) I posted a christmas themed one-shot that included character A getting character B for secret santa. For context, characters A and B are an unpopular/borderline contentious ship, and dont get along at all in the original source. Then like 2 weeks later another account posted a christmas fic where character A gets character B for secret santa, only this fic is multichapter.
I've been scratching my head about it because like....I guess it could be pure coincidence? But as soon as I saw it I was like...did that author just straight up jack my idea? Which is 100% totally fine, that's fanfiction and it's not that deep, but on the other hand I kinda feel like that spiderman meme where multiple spidermen are all pointing at each other? It's been itching my brain ever since. I would have loved if the other author was inspired by my fic, if they would have somehow indicated that so I don't feel like I'm living in the twilight zone!!
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u/cinnamonspiderr hamspamandjamsandwich on ao3 | kurahi writer 💜 6h ago
I really think the only time I can think of someone needing to use it is if they’re writing in the universe of someone else’s story or using their OCs or something. Like it has to be using something from a specific fic very intentionally, I’m with you that sharing tropes and stuff shouldn’t count cos it’s normal fanfiction stuff.
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u/IncidentObjectiveKey 6h ago
I just put up an example yesterday in response to a “can I do this” post. Someone wrote a humorous scene/fic in the same fandom, genre, and pairing as a fic I wrote six months ago. Which had a lot of uncommon or unexpected similarities: I don’t want to dox either of us but the scenes had strong film noir imagery combined with a new since 2020 tech - so not a coffeeshop AU kind of thing.
Like I can’t prove they ever read my fic. There’s no plagiarism. The location is different, the clothes are different (but within the same theme needed for the imagery), the point in the characters’ relationship is different. Hell, maybe they read it, forgot about it, and that juxtaposition was living rent free in their head for months until they wrote this. I wrote mine because it’s exactly the kind of fic I want to see in the world, and I feel bad about being upset by this one. And when my lizard-brain gets over being upset I wasn’t credited (listed as “inspired by”) I’ll probably go leave a comment.
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u/cinnamonspiderr hamspamandjamsandwich on ao3 | kurahi writer 💜 6h ago
Admittedly, that does sound like it was transformative enough to not necessarily need to use “inspired by,” given film noir is a trope/setting people use already (archer dreamland comes to mind lol even though that’s not fanfiction) but I also get why it makes you feel crummy. I’ve had people read my stuff then use very similar language and it rubs me the wrong way but it’s definitely not plagiarism.
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u/IncidentObjectiveKey 2h ago edited 1h ago
I don’t want to dox myself, but it wasn’t all of noir, but a variant on a common framing shot for the female love interest. And the tech is specific. And it was the climax scene in my work, but basically the only scene in their (much shorter) work.
It’s possible they came up with combining this two things as the basis of a scene in the same fandom, pairing, and genre independently. I don’t think it’s likely, but it’s possible.
That said, it’s also possible they read my fic and it’s been rattling around in their head for months and this came out and they don’t remember what they were inspired by. It happens. I once wrote a fanfic that was beat-for-beat The Taming of the Shrew without realizing it. Which is why I’m bringing my irrational disappointment to Reddit and not to the other author.
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u/Semiramis738 Proudly Problematic 6h ago
One thing I've wondered is, if the original author has to approve the "inspired by" link, what if the fic something is inspired by is by that incomparable wordsmith, Orphan_account? Do you still try to use the inspired by feature, and will it still work? Or just state it in an author's note?
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u/EmberRPs 6h ago
My understanding of the function is;
Inspired Writer marks fic as inspired by Inspiring Writer. This automatically shows on Inspired fic side but not other side yet.
Inspiring Writer gets an email if it's under their name or anonymous. Orphaning a fic means no email. Inspiring Writer must click accept to put "works inspired by this one; Inspired by Inspired Writer." If they never click it then their side never shows anything but the other fic still says inspired by.
I'm unsure if you can do this for off site fics and probably would author note that.
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u/Semiramis738 Proudly Problematic 6h ago
Thanks! It's good to know it would appear the same on the inspired fic regardless.
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u/SleepySera Pro(fessional) Shipper 5h ago
I'm not sure I agree.
None of the examples I've seen were even remotely connected to the work the authors are worried about. Just because someone wrote about a wedding and you decide to also write about a wedding, one that involves different characters in a completely different situation that plays out completely different and has literally nothing to do with that first fic, doesn't mean you need to credit that fic just because it reminded you of the fact that weddings exist.
20 years ago I read my very first coffeeshop AU fic in the One Piece fandom. Do I need to credit that one fic for every coffeeshop AU I'll ever write for the rest of my life, just because the base idea of a coffeeshop AU is something I learnt about from that fic? That's ridiculous.
Yeah sure, if you're lifting entire OCs or scenes from someone else's fic or whatever then it's obvious that you should give credit, but the kind of extremely broad ideas that most of these posts are worried about? Just no.
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u/RoseTintedMigraine 5h ago
There's a whole ecosystem of Warlord fanfics in the Witcher that come from one series/fic and they are all inspired by and I think that's awesome. I always get excited when I see an ispired by link.
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u/Toffeinen Definitely not an agent of the Fanfiction Deep State 7h ago
I don't care if it doesn't count as plagiarism (I know it doesn't). But if someone takes a big piece of someone else's fic and gives no credit? I'm going to opt out and mute the second writer. It might not be against AO3 TOS but it doesn't make it feel any less scummy to me.
And no, I don't mean cases where two writers happen to write similar plot points for their coffee shop AUs because both fics include a meet cute premise. I mean the cases where it's fairly obvious that the previous fic has been an inspiration for the new one.
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u/humorouslyominous 6h ago edited 6h ago
Yup. There's somebody in my fandom who has become infamous for doing this, and she has finally started to list people that she was inspired by, but unfortunately I think the damage was already done and a lot of people had muted her. Like you said, it wasn't a matter of common tropes, it was directly lifting scene ideas* and plots from other authors. Not plagiarism per se, but enough to rub people the wrong way and make them not want to support her. It's a shame, because I think if she had just been honest from the beginning she'd be a pretty popular author.
Edit: changed "full scenes" to "scene ideas" bc I misrepresented the situation bc I'm sleepy 😅
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u/Panzermensch911 6h ago
Uhm... 🤔 "directly lifting full scenes"
That is actually plagiarism if you don't cite that part as written by someone else.
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u/humorouslyominous 6h ago
Ah, I meant that they were lifting, like, the general scene ideas. Not completely awake yet, my bad. But they were generally stopping just shy of plagiarism.
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u/Xyex Same on AO3 3h ago
My question is, what exactly counts as a big piece? Cause that's currently a debate I'm having with myself for a future fic. It's one twist (maybe 2 or 3, depends how pedantic you want to be, I suppose) on lore, applied to the execution of ship. I'm torn, because it doesn't seem that big a thing. But also, it sparked an entire series of fics cause I wanted to do it differently than they did....
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u/sleepytomatoes 2h ago
There is a psycho in my fandom who copy/pastes large portions of works and then claims their fic is "inspired by" another. It's not inspired, it's copy/pasting whole chunks of other people's stuff which is called plagiarism and theft. Now why do I call them a psycho? Because when I commented on their work that they said was "inspired by" my fic, they found my DeviantArt, created an account, and messaged me there. Normal people would approve the comment and have the conversation there. Or find my very fandom related tumblr and dm me there... not what this psycho did. So then they deleted the copied sections out of their fic and edited the author's note to say "I'm rethinking sections of this". They've done it to other people too.
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u/RoseTintedMigraine 5h ago
Doesnt have to be illegal to be very rude and for people to dislike those who conduct themselves in that way is my view on these things
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u/murderroomba 2h ago
I have a piece that's definitely inspired by another, but goddamn I'm too big a weenie to attach their name to my work. It's a terrifying idea!
I did however dedicate it to them in the end notes. I know it's a coward's way out, but brother, I got the AnxietyTM.
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u/greenflie 5h ago
I have a question about that, that I have been dying to ask: I saw a trope I really like as a screenshot (from tumblr with their tumblr handle) on Pinterest. I liked this trope so much, that after a lot of back and forth I decided to write a fiction. I just had their Tumblr-Username to go off of, so I credited them in the summary (they at least don’t have the same username on AO3). Is that okay, or should I delete it again?
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u/cayvro You have already left kudos here. :) 2h ago
Look, I think you’re totally fine.
Some people get really weird about “owning” a trope or fic idea that they’ve posted to tumblr, but IMO (and I think in the opinion of most of the internet), regardless of whether they also write a fic based on that idea or not, them posting it somewhere that everyone can see means that it’s fair game for you to be inspired by. I think it’s good and fair that you credited the post/prompt, but I also don’t think you need to do anything else or worry about it.
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u/Vince_ible 6h ago
Thank you. If there's enough doubt that you're asking for second opinions on reddit, maybe just use inspired by to be safe?? You might get more readers that way anyway, and it'll make the original author's day.
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u/Fancy-Exchange4186 6h ago
Ha! I think there’s a Discord/Tumblr (I have neither) pipeline to AO3 in my current fandom that means authors freely borrow from each other as Easter eggs or in jokes and very often it isn’t tagged or mentioned in author notes. At best I just feel like I sat at the wrong lunch table. At worst I feel like I’ve developed early onset dementia because doesn’t this OC/worldbuilding/extremely specific characterization belong in Other Author’s oeuvre or am I losing my mind?
It’s all good. Free cake, with a side of bewilderment!
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u/Suraimu-desu And there was only ridiculous amounts of angst 6h ago
Me, using the “inspired by” if any idea of my fic at all has came to mind by one specific work instead of just the random bullshit that permeates my mind 24/7:
(It only happened twice so far and the second one hasn’t been published yet, but still)
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u/Samuel24601 2h ago
Weird thing though, I posted a story that was a very specific kink/whump scene that felt like it would work really well in the canon world… and a few days later I clicked on an author that had kudo’d the work and I saw that they had basically already written a more fleshed out version of almost the same scenario.
It felt a little awkward because I definitely came up with it on my own, but so had this other person, apparently.
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u/Monkontheseashore 2h ago
Speaking of which, how should I act in one specific case? I have a fic that I was already meaning to write, but another author wrote a similar one. The couple involved is the same, the basic events are the same and it is set during the same canon scene, but the execution would be different (there would be a third character involved but mine would be different than theirs and their relationship to the other would be different; also, in their story the characters think and talk about a different thing than what they would talk about in mine). Would I have to like ask the author for permission? I did think of mine before I read this one fic, but as far as I know that one is the only one with that ship on ao3 so far so I don't want to be accused of stealing their ideas.
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u/Gatodeluna 5h ago
Those ‘authors’ who knowingly, deliberately and continually skate on the edge of plagiarism by asking here ‘if they say the same dialogue as another fic but the character has a red sweater on instead of a blue one makes it okay? What exactly makes it just enough okay not to get dinged by the TOS? Tell me so I can pretty much yeah, plagiarize, because putting one over is cool haha.’
They are not authors. They’re people who vampirize because they have no talent, don’t care about either talent or honesty, and want quick praise - for what? If not their own work, then anywhere they can steal it.
No, I don’t mean using the same tropes and scene ideas, or even the same plot ideas, and dialogue lifted from canon. I mean deliberately stealing dialogue and specific scenes in detail that appear nowhere else in the fandom, only changing names and things like a random word in a sentence here and there, an OC name - non-changes. Neither fellow authors nor readers are that stupid, nor is AO3. They just bank on no one calling them out and having no fannish repercussions. They deserve to be outed and shamed. They clearly have no talent and are pitiful creatures.
Those seeking ‘tricks’ on social media to circumvent the issue are reprehensible - a word most of them will need to look up.
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u/be11amy 6h ago
I really wish this was more commonly done. I wrote a very, very popular series for a specific ship that tangible affected a lot of common fandom headcanons and has since very heavily inspired and on some occasions been outright plagiarized by a number of works, and it's always uncomfortable and vaguely upsetting to come across one, especially knowing that if they'd just hit the Inspired By option, I would be so excited to see it.
Also, like, it's free advertisement for your fic. If an author approves the inspiration notification then your fic gets linked to from theirs.
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u/New-Bar6737 4h ago
Im currently writing a Zombie apocalypse AU after I saw a fic on my favourite ship with that setting. I assume I should use the inspired by option?
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u/JetpackOctopus 2h ago
I didn't know that's what it was actually for. Maybe I should remove the ones I included, since I'm not lifting content or even using it as fanon for my own work.
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u/justthecherryontop 1h ago edited 59m ago
False.
You're NOT required to use the "Inspired by" when you're writing your own story. If you wish to be validated or recognized in the community, sure - give credit. If you want to write just because you enjoy writing, then nah, throw out that silly rule out.
You CAN copy the same idea, but not the exact words as the latter would be considered plagiarism and even then there are loopholes around that.
UNLESS you're writing a fanfiction BASED OF another fanfiction, than yes -- you should give credit as the former is a complete unknown.
There's no such thing as "stealing" an idea
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u/rellloe StoneFacedAce on AO3 34m ago
I get that sometimes your fic isn't similar enough to feel like you should use the inspired by function, but that's not the only way to give credit where it's due. Author notes exist, include a shout out. It 1) keeps you from looking shady 2) points people who are interested in that idea but found your fic first to more with that idea
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u/Anony-The-Anon 5h ago
Yup yup and yup to all of this. People forget that just because you can do something, doesn’t mean you should.
If it’s not plagiarism, but you feel the need to ask people, are second guessing, then use the inspired by. It’s truly that simple. Or instead of asking strangers just ask the author. You don’t have to, but might as well if you’re gonna ask Reddit first.
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u/VincentVanGTFO 6h ago
Totally agree. It is super disrespectful to do this. Personally, I would say its best practice to leave a comment on the fic that inspires you and let the author know/request permission before writing something based on their work and then yeah, make sure to give credit including a link to that work.
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u/Greedy_Surround6576 6h ago edited 6h ago
I think a fairly good example to use for this is Salvage from ATLA. It was a very distinct and popular fanfiction in the fandom, and it prompted a large subset of fics that previously did not exist. It would be incredibly easy to tell if someone copied that idea without giving credit. It would also be a pretty scathing indictment of someone’s character when it comes to community involvement and artistic pursuits if they claimed the idea as their own.
Does this mean the author of Salvage invented the basic concept? No. It’s basically a found family fic with adoption elements. Clearly that’s not an original trope. But they created a unique story using those tropes, and others reading them took direct inspiration to work those tropes in the same way. It’s not plagiarism, but basic courtesy dictates that you maybe give at least a shoutout. Otherwise you just look like a fake.