Are people really this stupid?

[switch842]

If any of you know Pepe's Place, this post concnerns that. I'm on the mailing list for the site updates and Pepe just posted something rather shocking and disturbing: Apparently, someone, thought it would be OK to take her story, An Act of Pain (which is brilliant and you all need to go read now), and write a sequel to it without her permission. It was called "An Act of Compassion" and was apparently posted at the Alphagate. As if that wasn't bad enough, supposedly, it was completely un-betad and a horrible piece of shit. If any of you are on the list, you know it takes her months or even years to finish her stories. And they are worth that much time. That someone just decided to whip out this piece of shit thing in a day or two is so unbelieveably rude and....something, I just want to find whoever did that and bitchslap them. What makes people think they can do this? Is there no sense of etiquette or right and wrong any more? It's just so unbelievable rude, I don't know what to say. Luckily, the site it was posted on has taken appropriate action and the story has been taken down and I'm sure something said to the author, but stil.... I want to write back to Pepe, but I have no idea what. I just don't get it.

Comments

[brightbeak.livejournal.com]

i just finished reading "an act of pain" not 1/2 an hour ago, and cna't imagine what would cause someone to defile that w/ an unbeta'd version of shit :(
some people have neither n'etiquette nor manners, and certainly are bereft of both ethics and a sense of right/wrong.
the fact that you are aghast at this act shows that you are in possession of BOTH, and are also quite aware of the wrongness of this act, etc....

maybe just letting pepe know that would be best... i know that i'd be at a profound loss for words in writing to her to express my contempt at the act of someone else, and my sympathy for having had her fine fic butchered like that....

bb

[switch842.livejournal.com]

Actually, I have not read the "sequel." Just reading what Pepe posted about has me all aghast with the wrongness of it. I just can't believe that someone would even have the gall to do something like that. I'm assuming it was someone new to the fandom cos no veteran or not-so-newbie would do something like that....

[brightbeak.livejournal.com]

pretty much!
that's not only intellectual property theft BUT intellectual property butchery... err, evisceration (butchery implies a method, and your description implies NO method)

[switch842.livejournal.com]

I kind of almost want to read it just to see how bad it was. Kind of like a train-wreck or car accident thing. Oh! And another thing, apparently Pepe had a sequel in mind and that's now been blown to shit because of this. Grrrrrrrrrr........ (I really need a "Pissed Off" icon like your or something. I may have to fiddle when I get home...)

[brightbeak.livejournal.com]

is that like almost wanting to read beagle!fic to see how bad it has gotten since the last time you yielded to temptation & then had to use brain!bleach?
and this icon has proven useful, lemme tell ya!

[switch842.livejournal.com]

OMG! Those beagle stories are HYSTERICAL!! It has been months since I last checked in, though...

[trika.livejournal.com]

Noooo!!!! Don't do it. Save yourself. Step away from the badfic!

[aizjanika.livejournal.com]

I'll be honest, I don't see the difference in someone doing this from *anyone* writing fanfiction. Fanfiction is taking someone else's story and characters and then extending the story or the characters in different ways--even if it's total shit. I wonder how any writer feels having unskilled writers who can't even punctuate a sentence write fanfiction with his/her characters and then posting it on the internet for all to see--forever associated with your work, however brilliant?

That's what fanfiction is. Nobody asks permission to write it. Fanfiction based on other fanfiction isn't really any different (to me) than fanfiction based on the Harry Potter books. *g*

Or perhaps I'm just evil. *g* But I can't see the difference. Lots of horrid and crappy writers write fanfic and post it everywhere. *g* Even if the author of this particular piece sucked, it's still flattering as an author to know that your story inspired someone else to make an attempt to write something. Or maybe it's just horrifying. *g* But either way, I'm not sure it's fair to the crappy author of the crappy work to make a protest, since it was work based on fanfiction, which is the exact same thing. *g*