In case anyone of you were wondering what happened to the New Trials plagiarism issue involving a fanfiction.net author who decided to copy and paste New Trials under her account and claim it as her own, there was some drama, some histrionic name-calling, and then the erasing of evidence. Well, this was her response to my (in my opinion very civil and polite) message to her on fanfiction.net. PG-13 because of language (not that it's particularly intelligible):
If you know me, I wasn't insulted by the uncouth response. I AM insulted that it was just a copy and paste message from her profile page (seen screencaptured below with name erased) and didn't reply to my message at all. Sigh. Some people just never learn. I would have loved to get a personalized message, you know? As I mentioned previously, I vehemently hate the world "plagiarism" and its variants because it is misused and overused, but in this situation, because the plagiarizer herself stated that she has stolen and doesn't care she has, then I guess that is what she is. Yeah. She decided to rename "New Trials of CCS" to "New Trials." What makes me sad about this affair is that the individual did not really seem to learn anything from this experience (perhaps other than "don't mess with CCS fangirls,") which was NOT the message anybody was trying to relay to her. I think somebody reported her since then (thank you whoever did), and currently New Trials seems to be permanently removed from her profile.
Truthfully, the individual in me wants to reach out to this girl and try to figure out what is wrong. The realist thinks ignoring is the best measure. As we all know, it happens all the time on the internet and will continue to happen. However, the writer in me just heaves a long sigh. This could have happened to anyone, and one way or another, I might have expected it to happen to me at one point. The person shows no sign of logical coherency, therefore I am not going to think that New Trials was particularly targeted for any reason of logical coherence or devise. New Trials is the variable, the interchangeable factor, and the constant is that individual who could have substituted New Trials for any number of anime fanfiction out there. That is why I am writing this post, because writers ARE helpless in this situation. All we can do is spread awareness. I am grateful to all those who cared enough to point out the plagiarist's wrongdoing, because it is all of you who do bring about relative "justice," but at the same time, I feel bad that you all had to waste time on someone like her and probably woke up to having such an unpleasant copy-and-paste message waiting in your inbox. And I also regret that the plagiarizer herself probably came out of this mess feeling like the victim, that she was flamed and she was wronged.
I went through bemusement at the situation to befuddlement then disappointment. I get disappointed when a person acts according to what is expected of them. What is more cliched than a plagiarist who is seeking attention, denies wrongdoing, can't write proper English (by proper, I mean sentences with punctuation and without profanities and doesn't apply to those who are not native-speakers, but hey, English wasn't my first language either), flames everybody and then quickly destroys all evidence, as is easy to do online? Yeah, I've worked in the legal field, so I'm big on evidence-keeping, hence the ready screenshots of profile pages that keep disappearing. I was writing a longer blog entry trying to make sense out of things, but at the end of the day, I grew weary of making excuses for this individual and really didn't see much resolution to the larger issue at hand which is not plagiarism but why this individual (and many others out there) was compelled to commit this act (as I mentioned before, I classify internet plagiarism differently from academic or professional plagiarism). It could happen to anyone, but it happened to me, so now, it is something that I am going to ponder over. I will love to hear what others feel about this issue and how you would handle this situation because truthfully, I am stumped.
Anyhow, it's all for the better to just let her be. All I can say is, girl you picked the wrong fanfic author to mess with.
I'm really behind on emails at the moment (sorry, I'll get around to replying soon), but to my surprise, I got an email yesterday from a kind reader stating that the New Trials of Card Captor Sakura was being plagiarized on fanfiction.net. This is not really the first time I received such an email that NT was being plagiarized, but the other time it happened, I was far more shocked. The plot was reworked so that it wasn't completely word-for-word, and it was is in the New Trials First Arc days, hence I didn't know how to react, and I just let it slide.
So, I was rather surprised to find an author on fanfiction.net decided to simply copy and paste my work into their account, even kept the title in tact as "The New Trials of CCS." I was actually more bemused by the whole situation more than anything else yesterday; plagiarizers, please at least change the title if you're going to copy and paste someone else's work. More than anything, I was very moved by the reviewers who did stick up for me, and I thought, "Ah, I guess there is justice." What actually irked me was not the copy-and-pasting part; since I like to give people the benefit of doubt, perhaps this is just a young kid who doesn't know better. But then, she did choose to remove my disclaimer and add her own, and it amused me so much, I took a screen shot of it today (I removed her name and ID because I don't want flaming).
I really can't dislike someone who likes Card Captor Sakura, I just can't. So I sent her a polite message reminding her that I am the writer of New Trials and that I would appreciate if she could take down my fanfic. Earlier today, I checked and saw that she had taken down New Trials and changed her ID name. I wasn't expecting an answer to my email/ message, but I guess ideally I would have liked to hear what had motivated her to do so, or at least, I hoped it was just an honest, youthful mistake. Anyhow, I checked a while ago, and it seems like the story and reviews are up again, indicating she might have chosen to ignore my email and message and the reviewers' comments. Her profile states she is 16, so I tried to justify that she might not know better. But how much can I excuse blatant stealing? (I still love you Kai ^_^;). I was thirteen when I wrote that very prologue, and there are many younger writers out there with integrity and common sense, and I think if you are a part of the ff.net community and a fanfic writer, it is minimal courtesy that you don't take another writer's work (also on ff.net) and copy and paste it into your account, with a rewritten author's comment stating, "This is my very first story for Cardcaptor Sakura... I'll continue this story chapter 1 through 95. Disclaimer: I do not own Cardcaptor Sakura and the Characters." I'm sorry, but that disclaimer, and her note at the chapter's end asking, "How do you like things so far?" under her name annoyed me more than the whole copy-and-paste issue.
Truthfully, I am not sure what is worse. Blatant copy and pasting of the text or "reworking" someone else's idea into your own. I am a firm believer that there is no such thing as an original story, only how originally you can present it. I think that all writers and artists begin cultivating their craft by reading and mimicking their favorite authors/ artists. I went to the New York Comic Con last year and listened to an interesting panel of renowned sci-fi and fantasy authors who are at the top of their craft, and was glad to hear that they basically echoed this notion, stating that they too shamelessly get inspiration from every where. I know clearly what authors have influenced me. Same with art. I think a lot of us learn to draw by copying other artists. Eventually, once you get enough practice, you start developing your own style. That is why the term "plagiarism" doesn't rest well with me because it is often overused/ misused and there are many situations where the boundaries do become murky, and I am always on the side of creative progression. However, there are cases when some people do INTENTIONALLY cleverly disguise someone else's ideas and words into their own; but those who are talented enough to rework someone's ideas surely is talented enough to come up with something that is their own? There was someone in school who got caught plagiarizing on a paper, but I was confused as to why she did it because she was our school salutatorian and a smart person. I always figure it's more deceitful when someone with the craft and knowledge commits the act than someone inexperienced or naive.
I can at least understand the motivations of those who plagiarize in the real world, whether it be because of grades, laziness, fame, or most often, money. But why do it on the internet? What is there to profit? People write fanfiction for a various assortment of reasons: self-gratification, to communicate with others with similar interests, to practice writing (?), for entertainment, to fantasize what-ifs... The internet has spawned into a mega-communication network over the past decade; I began writing New Trials in 1999 when I was still using dial-up modem from a long cable that stretched all the way from the living room phone to my room (and yes, nobody could use the phone while I was on the internet). That seems like ages ago. That was before internet became commercialized, and the pages on the net were often pages made by individuals who had a serious dedication to and interest in that subject matter. In a way, it was sort of a haven, a magic mirror doorway to reaching out to others with similar hobbies/interests as yourself. But then came the commercialization of the internet, all the profile pages ie. MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, blogs (yes, I am writing one too), etc., and the internet became more about "me, me, me." Which is fine, so long as you don't try to take the easy way out and steal somebody else's identity or body of work. I'm not really sure what to do in this situation, but I figure that if it's attention she wants, the best thing to do is simply ignore her. I do understand the frustrations of writers (or any other craftsman) who do not receive the recognition or feedback they desire, because I know that fear as well. I remember how nerve-wracking it was to post my first couple chapters, and even rereading my comments then reflect how insecure I felt about releasing my writing to the public. Perhaps this plagiarizer did so because she wanted more readers or wanted her name to be known. Who knows. I just don't know what she was thinking or wasn't thinking--anyone care to enlighten me? I didn't start writing New Trials because I wanted fame or recognition (if you want that, fanfiction writing is not the route to go). I wrote simply because I love to write. Thus, I can't comprehend how copy and pasting fanfiction can bring anyone any sort of gratification. When I began this fanfic, I said, "If I have even one reader left, I will continue writing," and it is that dedication which has carried me through 1,010000+ words. I've been very lucky that even after ten years, I still do have loyal readers to this monster of a fanfic, and I am always grateful for the opportunity I had to communicate with some wonderful people and find people who love Card Captor Sakura as much as I do. I began writing New Trials for self-gratification and for entertainment purposes, but now, I am writing New Trials because I have a story to tell, and I want to finish it because I owe it to the readers who have stuck by for 67+ chapters, and I owe it to myself to finish the project I have dedicated a good decade to. Moral of the story, don't plagiarize off of Wish-chan, or else she will start psychoanalyzing your motives and then jump into a broad generalization on the evolution of the internet instead of finishing up Chapter 67 of New Trials. Second, writing is ENJOYABLE in itself.
On a more positive note, I've been able to communicate with so many creative people ranging from fellow writers, artists, musically talented people, etc. Over the years, numerous people had emailed me regarding using New Trials as inspiration for their various projects varying from fanfics, doujinshi, film projects and even reworking Star-Crossed as a school play. Truthfully, I'm not sure what happened to a lot of these projects, but I've never refused a request till this date regarding the use of NT for personal use, as long as due credit is given (or not given, because what I don't know, I won't know). I will feel very blessed if at the end of New Trials, I can say that this work has encouraged some people to explore their artistic outlets. So if you're going to plagiarize, do it creatively, and at least I'll be entertained. (But 99% of you are awesome and always check in first, and I love seeing everyone's creative work).
Thank you very much for those who defended me on ff.net! That might have been the only bright side to the ugly affair of plagiarism. I still haven't figured out what to do with this individual on ff.net, as she did not respond to my message. Maybe I'll just send her the link to this blogpost. There are many malicious people on the internet, those who intentionally try to harm or hurt others. But really, if a person likes CCS and fanfiction (and presumably New Trials, at least enough to look it up and ctr+v, ctrl+p), then the optimist in me says that person just needs a good hug from Sakura-chan and be pointed in the right direction (and never repeat the offense again).
UDPATE: Seems like ff.net finally took the story down (or not?). I'm not sure what's going on. I didn't mean to rant, but I guess I was more irritated by the whole situation then I thought I was. Hopefully, I will have better news next time. Chapter 67 is a whopping 97 pages at the moment--I'm going to have figure out how to cut it down. ^_^
I've been working so hard to try to finish Chapter 66 in time for Syaoran's birthday, but I think I'm going to be several days late. I've been dealing with some stressful issues in "real life," moving amongst one of these stresses, hence this chapter kept getting delayed. But on the bright side, I've been simultaneously writing Chapter 67, so probably less wait for the next chapter. Hopefully. I hate making excuses, and didn't want to make a blog full of apologies, but I'm also currently very back-logged in emails as well. Anyhow, my priority is finishing the next chapter ASAP! Thanks for having on!
Couple times a year, I get a little angsty when I get tired of all the songs on my playlist when I write but somehow Yoko Kanno always composes something new to cheer me up. I think I mentioned before how I'm a big fan of Aoi Teshima ever since I heard her voice Therru in the Tale from Earthsea (Gedo Senki). I am especially in love with her first album because it has minimal instrumental bgm and really brings out her fresh and soothing voice. If you close your eyes and listen to the album, it makes you feel like you are standing in thee middle of a vast field of barley in the countryside, the clouds high over your head, the wind blowing from the mountains. I think it's pretty obvious how big of a fan of Yoko Kanno I am, so I was ecstatic to find that Yoko Kanno has collaborated with Aoi Teshima on her new single: Because. The lyrics are all in English and Aoi Teshima's lovely voice is really brought out by Yoko Kanno's piano accompaniment. I heard the song will be part of the Ogura Shun directed movie "Surely Someday," which is scored by Yoko Kanno. The B-side "A Little Because" is a slower rearrangement of the song, and I might even like it better than "Because."
I feel bad because I think I always celebrate Sakura-chan's birthday more than Syaoran's. Oh well, check out the omake I drew two years ago for Syaoran's birthdday and reminisce of dear Wolfie-chan.
One of the most common comments I receive in email is "I wish New Trials was made into an anime," which I feel very flattered about and yet rueful. It is fun imagining what New Trials would look like as an anime, because unlike when I write original stories, when I write this fanfiction, I am often envisioning scenes in animation and transcribing them into words. Hence, it has been fun coming up with songs to associate with New Trials "soundtrack," if it were indeed an anime. Since we have moved into the middle of Arc 4 of New Trials, it was fun making an ending theme for the "last season" of New Trials and culminating everything that New Trials is into a couple minutes.
Song: 紅茶- Koucha/ Kōcha "Black Tea" Singer: 坂本真綾,Maaya Sakamoto Album: Lucy (2001), Everywhere (2010) Composer: Yoko Kanno Lyrics: Maaya Sakamoto The clock-tower that tolls the end of love is waiting for the next hour Can't stop this moment
The cherry-blossoms at the subway entrance will bloom again this year So I guess we’ll grow older by another year Spring has drawn near
As a sign of eternity, The two of us at that time waited for a night when the meteors would come and made a wish
Embracing each other, saying things will never change I was thinking I had obtained everything What remains in these hands is but one thing You were my first boyfriend
It felt like we could go anywhere we wanted by bicycle I even remember the taste of the black tea I drank by the street-side on a cold day
It’s not that I’m lonely This is supposed to be a choice I made myself Yet there are times I want to do nothing but cry
What is there in the future beyond here? How many more heartbreaking goodbyes will there be? The clock-tower that tolls the end of love is waiting for the next hour Can't stop this moment
Embracing each other, saying don't go anywhere, I was thinking I had obtained everything What remains in these hands is but one thing You were my first boyfriend. Lyrics referenced from Miyuki Mouse and Korean translations.
Maaya Sakamoto's 2001 album "Lucy" is probably here strongest collaboration album as a whole with Yoko Kanno (though she has had many other stronger individual songs). She wrote most of the lyrics on the album, including the lyrics for "Koucha," and if you pay attention to the lyrics, the album sort of unfolds like a love story. "Strobe no Sora" is the third song on the album and can be described as vibrant, upbeat and hopeful, which is why I chose it as the ending theme for Arc 2 of New Trials. In contrast, "Koucha" has a twinge of bittersweet nostalgia. (Ironically, the last song on the album is titled "I Throw a Vase from Atop the Hill." Koucha is one of my favorite of Maaya's non-anime songs because it has such a haunting yet lovely tone. I was glad to see the song included in Maaya's new 15th anniversary compilation album "Everywhere" because I think it deserves more recognition.
Because I envisioned this as the ending theme to arc 4 of New Trials, I felt obligated to include symbolism and whatnot in the video. I actually had two main themes going on. Because of the refrain in the chorus, "Everything is fading with the bell, ringing to me it's time to go," I had to use Cinderella theme. This is not the first Cinderella reference linked to Maaya and CCS; the B-side to Card Captor Sakura opening 3 single, "Purachina" (Platinum) is "24" (both Yoko Kanno songs), which is a homage to Cinderella. It's an adorable song, with lyrics in English. And of course, you can't forget the hilarious CCS episode where Touya and Yukito participate in their class production of Cinderella for the cultural fair. Cinderella is a good old happily-ever fairytale but really is an allegory of the persistence of time, as the spell breaks after 12'o'clock. What happens when the clock-tower strikes midnight?
The other theme was the rain scene, which I don't know if you recognize from the end of Chapter 59: Thundercloud. I mentioned that I get inspiration from many different things when writing New Trials, and I think this is a situation where I drew the scene before writing the scene. The idea probably started with me wanting to draw Sakura and Syaoran sharing a green umbrella in the summer rain. Most of the key S+S artwork in this AMV is from over a year ago, because I conceptualized this video before my first ending theme for New Trials to Maaya Sakamoto's "Strobe no Sora" and then didn't have time to work on it. My first New Trials AMV was the Arc 3 season finale trailer. I never studied film or animation or anything of the sorts, so it's been a fun process figuring out how to do things. The first New Trials trailer was painstakingly made frame by frame in Windows Movie Maker on my old laptop which really didn't have enough RAM capacity to render videos, so working with Sony Vegas makes editing so much easier. I still dream of having a large screen monitor and all the proper equipment for digital art and video editing, which is sort of out there for me because I am far from the art field and in the meantime have to work with the small screen of a widescreen laptop which seems to stretch out everything I draw.
I probably had the most fun making the 10 second preview for the "Next Episode of New Trials," Episode 62: Sakura and Syaoran and the Fashion Show (aka Chapter 62: Designs in Crime), same as how I had most fun making the preview for Episode 1: Sakura and Syaoran and the New Beginning (named after the fashion all CCS anime episodes are named--it's all Sakura + something something). I love how Irino Miyu's voice has matured, and it's a pity I can't bring Makino Yui and Irino Miyu and make them act out S+S scenes. My next goal is making an opening theme to New Trials with Utada Hikaru's "Sakura Drops," which I think I have wanted to make since 2001, but back then, I didn't have any video editing skills whatsoever. Most of the main characters of New Trials make an appearance in the ending theme. Can you identify them all?
CCS: The Girls of New Trials by ~wishluv on deviantART The Female Descendants of the Great Five: Kara Reed, Tanaka Miho, Kinomoto Sakura, Li Meilin, Daidouji Tomoyo and Chang Eron. (Representing Landon Reed, Mizuki Mayura, Amamiya Hayashi (both Sakura and Tomoyo), Li Shulin and Chang Ruichi and Risa.
I had a lot of fun drawing everybody's outfits and it is Kara Reed's color debut. I remember I posted up a pencil sketch of her up in the Yahoo Group years ago and everybody speculated who she actually was. Some people guessed correctly that she was associated with Mizuki Kai based on her punk outfit. I'm glad I got to finally introduce her. This is my first time posting up a colored picture of Miho as well, though I have quite a few Miho art that I just haven't posted up yet. She used to be a rather annoying little girl in the New York Saga in Arc One, but now, she's quite popular. She's the youngest in the group and is like everyone's little sister. She's actually wearing the Mizuki locket, but it's hard to tell. Sakura has gone through a lot over the past arc of New Trials, most notably a hairstyle change. But it's fun drawing her with both long hair and short hair. Meillin is probably the character who has evolved the most since CCS days. Truthfully, she is my favorite character to draw because she has sharp features; I used to not like her in the CCS anime when she was first introduced because she was such a pretty character and I felt concerned about her as Sakura's rival. I also like drawing Tomoyo a lot; I guess I'm partial to drawing long dark hair. Tomoyo's the character I ironically worry about the most (considering she probably has the least amount of drama in her life). And Erika has surprisingly grown on me over the past 65 chapters. Considering how spoiled and selfish she can be, she is quite self-aware of herself. She's actually one of the characters I look forward to writing about in the upcoming chapters.
Chibi Sakura x Syaoran Bunnies by ~wishluv on deviantART This fanart is in reference to the newest chapter of New Trials, Chapter 65: Cohabitation, Part Deux. The outfit is totally courtesy of Tomoyo (they come in all pastel colors with matching mitts and a cat version as well). I want a bunny hoodie too. There is something about Syao-chan here that I just want to pinch him and bother him. I actually wanted to draw Touya even more though. It is sort of Easter themed. Happy Birthday to our beloved Card Captor Sakura! CLAMP really likes April's Fool Day, I think.
Today, I wanted to feature Yiruma, a word-wide renowned South Korean pianist and composer. He spent six years in Osaka and studied in King's College London. His pianos pieces can be heard in numerous Korean show programs, dramas and on the radio. His most famous piece is probably River Flows in You, which became popularly mistaken as Bella's Lullaby before the Twilight movie was made. It is a simple yet resonant melody which I think can touch your soul, hence why it has such universal appeal.
I recently discovered that there was a vocal version to this every-so-popular song. In the past several years, Yiruma decided to write lyrics to River Flows in You and sometimes performed it live in his concerts. He mentioned ever so humbly that his original dream was to become a singer-songwriter, but early on, he realized that his vocal skills were lacking, hence concentrated on just composing. His voice is really good though, and he was just being modest. I really like the different vocal versions of River Flows in You, and the lyrics are simple yet poignant and match the piano so well, and I love the added strings. Much of the poetic syntax is lost in translation, unfortunately. The following version is from Yiruma's newest mini-album Movement on a Theme and is sung by Ruvin.
Yiruma - River Flows in You - 너의 마음속엔 강이 흐른다 (vocal ver.)
If there is one road that is just for you Then it is in you right now If you can endure through it Then put your trust in that place.
Holding you, holding you, it's in you, river flows in you Slowly, more slowly, there is a river flowing in my heart Holding you, holding you, It's in you, river flows in you Waiting, at the end of the waiting, will I be there?
I want to throw my heart towards you So that I can always feel you If you can just endure it through Then try putting all your trust in this place.
Holding you, holding you, it's in you, river flows in you Slowly, more slowly, there is a river flowing in my heart Holding you, holding you, It's in you, river flows in you Waiting, at the end of the waiting, will I be there? Holding you, holding you, it's in you, river flows in you Slowly, more slowly, there is a river flowing in my heart Holding you, holding you, It's in you, river flows in you Waiting, at the end of the waiting, will I be there?
Happy Easter!
Edit: Kirei Blossom reminded me that lunyareli made a New Trials AMV for my birthday 2008 using Yiruma's River Flows Through. Yiruma was looped on my playlist while writing Chapter 65, and I was constantly wondering why River Flows Through matches my mood when writing New Trials so much. Kudos to Kirei for solving that mystery as well and thank you again to lunayreli for making such a lovely AMV which you can view below. Ah, I am sad that my memory is getting so bad while am amazed at the subconscious mind's consciousness.
If you know me, I wasn't insulted by the uncouth response. I AM insulted that it was just a copy and paste message from her profile page (seen screencaptured below with name erased) and didn't reply to my message at all. Sigh. Some people just never learn. I would have loved to get a personalized message, you know? As I mentioned previously, I vehemently hate the world "plagiarism" and its variants because it is misused and overused, but in this situation, because the plagiarizer herself stated that she has stolen and doesn't care she has, then I guess that is what she is.
Yeah. She decided to rename "New Trials of CCS" to "New Trials." What makes me sad about this affair is that the individual did not really seem to learn anything from this experience (perhaps other than "don't mess with CCS fangirls,") which was NOT the message anybody was trying to relay to her. I think somebody reported her since then (thank you whoever did), and currently New Trials seems to be permanently removed from her profile.
