The Old King ~OUAT Panfiction (Book 3)

COPYING vs DRAWING INSPIRATION

Hey, guys! Unfortunately, this is not an update. I just really needed to get something off my chest that has been bugging me for the longest time ever. I understand that this is a fanfiction, therefore it is not completely original. The plot, however, is. And it is simply that Felix had a sister who originally sought to take her brother home. Then, she fell in love. Now, I'm not saying that someone can't draw inspiration from me, because as a writer, I want to inspire people. But there's a difference between drawing inspiration from a piece and flat out copying it.

When I started this series, I had done it in the beginning of when season 3 aired. I had recognized that no one (yet) had done the idea of Felix -- Pan's second-in-command and most loyal recruit -- having a long lost sister that goes to Neverland in spite of Pan to take him back home. I had been the first OUAT Panfic writer that came up with this idea, therefore, I am very protective of it. I will always be. I have ran into at least three stories that were published - long after mine - using this same idea. The first one had flat out taken every chapter of mine and rewrote it, another had taken my plot but I never looked into it because I was too upset. And then, another person takes my plot, as well as some of my ideas. And I am getting so sick of people thinking they can just take someone else's idea and recreate it.

The backstory of Felix and Anne was especially original, they had grown up alone in a cabin in the woods, that burned up in flames. The point is, I just came across this story where they had taken this idea from me and not only did they take the backstory from me, but they also took other ideas from my chapters, specifically when as soon as Felix was reunited with Anne, he became immensely protective of her - despite his loyalty to Pan. Not only this, but I had wrote a chapter called "Rebellious" where Pan had recognized this rebellious nature within Felix's sister, and this idea was also stolen. Now, I didn't read the rest because I didn't want to get even more upset than I already was.

But the point of this whole rant is, that inspiration is simply generating your OWN ideas off of someone else's. Copying is when you TAKE that person's ideas. I have written this series for a good four years now, therefore, I am very passionate about it. I believe that the plot was solely mine to begin with, then people started taking it and it has made me not only enraged, but doubtful. I used to read fanfiction, but that was before I started this series, and I have not continued reading fanfiction since because I think that when there is a large quantity of something, such as OUAT Panfics, people will read a lot of it, to the point they don't use their own ideas anymore. Then, an idea becomes overused and worn out, and it just takes away from the original story that had those ideas first.

I will not list these panfictions or any information of their authors, so please don't ask me to. I just really needed to get this off my chest because I am slowly doubting this series and that's not a good thing. I also wanted to make sure to tell you that if you are writing a fanfiction, and you are currently reading fanfictions, please be careful. If you plan to write a fanfiction, DARE to come up with something no one has ever heard of before because that's what I had done and in return, a lot of readers appreciated my stories and they have stuck with me for a long time. Those kinds of readers are what make this whole experience worthwhile, because not only can I do what I love and share that with so many people, but I also have a lot of support in an extensive time period in my life where things have just felt so hopeless for too long. Writing is a form of therapy for me and it has slowly - but surely -- been working.

I apologize for this long rant, but I felt like it was necessary, so please consider what I said, because when you copy somebody, you are being disrespectful and you're not doing anything for yourself, you're not proving that you can be a strong enough writer to come up with your own ideas. You're taking something genuine and you're wearing it out, and it not only hurts your writing skills, but it hurts the original authors. So please have respect, leave my idea alone, no you cannot write an OUAT Panfic about Felix's sister, because it's my idea, it has already been taken (sorry). Not trying to sound rude, but please, PLEASE be considerate. If you happened to read this whole note, thank you SO much, I swear I feel like you guys are the only ones I can talk to. And more updates will be posted soon (like tomorrow)!