Jellybean Jones

Author's Note: Please Read

October 2, 2018

IMPORTANT: To those of you who skip Author's Note, I just wanted to let you know that this is a follow up about my story being plagiarized. Feel free to skip, but this has taken me a lot of courage to write and I am very hesitant to publish it.

Disclaimer: I am not going to mention the story title or the author. What was done was done and the story is removed. I am unsure if Wattpad did it, as I reported it, or the author them self did it, but it is gone.

Last night, I decided to scroll through #jellybeanjones to maybe find a new story. I've read most of them and continue to look for more. I found one I had never seen and, rather randomly, decided to read it. I read the first sentence and recognized it instantly. That was the same way my story started. I brushed it off, deciding it could just be a fluke. When I read the second sentence, I knew it was not.

My stomach literally dropped. I wasn't too sure what to feel. Rage, disgust, misery. I continued to read. I was in shock. Only a few paragraphs were changed and minor details had been fabricated. I kept checking and double checking that my suspicions were correct. Time and time again, I was assured that they were.

I knew plagiarism on Wattpad exists, but when I started this story nearly a year ago, I never thought it would happen to me. What really fuelled my fury was that the person who copied it had the audacity to put their own Author's Notes. As if my story was really theirs. My fight or flight instinct kicked in. I messaged the author with a strongly worded request to remove it. I then reported the story, giving all of the details they asked for.

I woke up this morning and found the story gone. I didn't receive an e-mail saying my request had been fulfilled, so I do not know how, or who, for that matter, took it down. I do not really care about that, truth be told. As long as it's gone.

That's just the story though. Last night, I was going to publish a chapter like this saying why this upset me so much, much like I am doing right now. I was feeling so many things that if I had done that, I probably would've said something I should not have. I am now more levelheaded and thinking about each word I type into this. So, here goes nothing. Now, this could get emotional. This could get sad. This could be maddening. I will simply tell you to proceed with caution.

This story is truly a part of me. I started writing it because I wanted a Jellybean fanfiction, I wanted Jellybean to be a character. That didn't happen, so I decided to do it for myself. It started out as a lighthearted, family centred story. My writing ability has changed, and improved, so much in the last year that it is now much different.

Now, everything in the story is something from my life. The bad things that happen to Jellybean Jones are, in fact, based off my own personal experiences. The anxiety, the breakdowns, the loss of friends, the confusion about who to love, the music taste, the Marvel obsession.

I've always imagined myself as Jellybean, that's why she's so much like me. This story is also based off a couple things that I want. The good things she has, well, they're not my reality. They're what I imagine. I imagine a relationship that pure. #jadelaideforever #otp. I imagine being that close to my brother. Those are things that aren't going to happen for me, but writing them just make me feel good. I'm jealous of her at times, truth be told.

But let's clear some things up. My family is not like hers. We are fully functional and have never had any problems as big as the Jones'. I add things like that to make my writing more interesting.

This story is so, so incredibly personal and I'm sure that's something most of you wouldn't even begin to guess. It's just another story, right? Maybe to you, but definitely not to me. Because this isn't only my story, it's my story. It's not just made up. There are so many finicky aspects that are a part of me. So many details that hit close to home.

So for somebody to plagiarize it and pretend that it's their own, pretend that they spent hours staying up late just to finish that one chapter, pretend they put real pieces of themselves into the story, pretend they wanted a Jellybean fanfiction so they took it upon themselves to make, pretend that it's just a story, really, really upsets me.

I could use so many other words then simply, upset, but being explicit is not going to change how much this hurts me. I could go on for much longer, believe me, but I don't think anybody would truly care to read this. I never even thought about how it would feel for somebody to plagiarize my work until it happened to me. You cannot imagine what it is like to open a story and realize that it is your own, when the author is not you.

So if you ever feel like it's a good idea to plagiarize, please remember that somebody will end up getting hurt.

If you have read this, I truly appreciate that. I know it was nearly half a normal chapter and most people don't take the time to read a girl ranting about her feelings, but I am almost positive that if somebody had copied your original work, you might feel some things too.

Thank you. -Bria