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--- Things that freak me out (http://www.gatchamania.net/threadid.php?threadid=4015)
Posted by jublke on 01-05-2012 at 21:22:
Things that freak me out
I just saw this partial description for Pixar's new movie Brave:
http://pixar.wikia.com/Wisps
In it, there are apparently characters called "wisps" that are "spiritual, ethereal beings" who appear as little blue orbs of light and have the ability to change one's fate.
OK, then. I wrote this piece in January 2008 for a BotP fan fiction challenge:
http://gatchfanfic.com/viewstory.php?sid=757
My alien characters were called wisps who appeared as shimmering colored wisps of light (my main characters were green) and lived in the Theta Region, where they harnessed the dream energy of other sleeping beings.
How weird is that? 
I kind of hoped that someday I could go back and use the original part of my story for some original science fiction. Guess I'll have to scrap that idea now.
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"The heart has its reasons, of which reason knows nothing." -- Blaise Pascal
Posted by ChrisW on 01-05-2012 at 22:13:
I know that feeling. However, I wouldn't write it off as a possibility. There's nothing original left under the sun, wisps have been done before, and they'll be done again. Just maybe don't put your story out too close to the movie. 
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Eagle Whisperer
Posted by jublke on 01-05-2012 at 22:23:
Chris - I know you're right about nothing being truly original. In haiku, there's even a commonly used term for two poems that arise independently from different writers but seem the same: deja ku
Still, it feels weird. :/
P.S. Gotta hand it to you, though - Raven is pretty darn original!
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"The heart has its reasons, of which reason knows nothing." -- Blaise Pascal
Posted by ChrisW on 01-05-2012 at 22:28:
Thanks, though in digging around for all the Gatch/BOTP fanfic I could find one day, I found multiple stories where there was a Raven, or Ken became Raven, or both Ken and Joe were Ravens, or ... And in one they were crazy and wearing black. I spent a few days after that going, "Man, I hope no one thinks I read this one before writing mine."
Like I said, I totally get where you're coming from.
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Eagle Whisperer
Posted by jublke on 01-05-2012 at 22:34:
The nice thing about our fandom is that most folks are pretty understanding about that sort of thing. I know that I've borrowed a few quarts of Gatch spackle from my friends when I've been stuck. One of my favorite things about beta-ing for others is when I see an opportunity to throw a plot loop in and the authors take me up on it. In the best of times, it feels like we are weaving a larger universe together.
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"The heart has its reasons, of which reason knows nothing." -- Blaise Pascal
Posted by ChrisW on 01-05-2012 at 22:38:
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Indeed! I remember saying to myself, "Come on, they use bird names, and Raven is a cool bird name. What did you expect? You were so freaking original you'd be the first to realize that?"
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Eagle Whisperer
Posted by jublke on 01-05-2012 at 22:47:
Ha! I felt that way when I named one of my OCs the Falcon. Wait, you mean I wasn't the first to think of this? 
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"The heart has its reasons, of which reason knows nothing." -- Blaise Pascal
Posted by ChrisW on 01-05-2012 at 22:51:
Hehehe ... btw, my little bruised ego answered that question with a tiny, "Yes."
Anyway, keep that wisp idea going. You'll make it work.
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Eagle Whisperer
Posted by ElectricWhite on 01-05-2012 at 23:11:
This sort of thing happens all the time. Do you have any idea how many Gremlins there were before the 1980's movies? (I can think of two -- one from Disney and the other from a Twilight Zone episode!)
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“There are worse crimes than burning books. One of them is not reading them." --Ray Bradbury
Posted by clouddancer on 02-05-2012 at 00:06:
Julie, I understand that feeling as well. In fact I get it a lot when I read other people's stories. I keep finding elements of their stories in mine, or key things in their stories that I also have in mine.
Then I, like you and Chris, have to wonder why I should continue to write/post my stories - after all it has already been written. Not that you two have said you would stop writing, but I have certainly wondered if I should.
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Don't sweat the petty things and don't pet the sweaty things.
Posted by ChrisW on 02-05-2012 at 00:22:
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I've had my moments, but in general, the important thing to remember is that an idea is just an idea. Can't be copyrighted, and it's also typically quite vague. It's the details and implementation that brings that idea to life. That's where we make things uniquely us.
At least, that's what I tell myself.
Don't stop writing, Cloud!
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Eagle Whisperer
Posted by Transmute Jun on 02-05-2012 at 01:13:
Oh, I've definitely written fics that have the same plot/aspects as something else. But the point is, I enjoy writing them, so I'll keep doing it. That's all that matters.
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Posted by jublke on 02-05-2012 at 01:43:
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Aw, Cloud, you've got such a unique take on your AU, how could you even think that your stories aren't original.
I like to think of all of us fanfic writers standing in a circle with the Gatch universe in the center. Everyone has their own unique slice of the pie - we all see things a little differently to contribute to the whole.
And TJ, I know what you mean. I wrote stories in my head for this fandom long before I knew there was a name for what I was doing.
But it's nice to share & have others enjoy what we write.It always is interesting, though, to see which of our stories other people like.
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"The heart has its reasons, of which reason knows nothing." -- Blaise Pascal
Posted by ElectricWhite on 02-05-2012 at 17:20:
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The next time you feel this way, keep this in mind: Isaac Asimov didn't let discovering similar aspects of his story ideas in other places deter him, and he's still the world's most prolific writer, though he died in 1992!
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“There are worse crimes than burning books. One of them is not reading them." --Ray Bradbury
Posted by lborgia88 on 02-05-2012 at 18:27:
At least twice, I've used titles for fics that I only realized later have already been used at the Gatch Archives -though I'm not sure if I felt better or worse when I did searches of them at fanfiction.net and saw they've been used for dozens of fics across a swath of fandoms.
Posted by clouddancer on 02-05-2012 at 21:07:
Thank you for your support Chris, Julie and EW.
As I say, what I worry about is that someone else will see me using their idea and thinking I have copied theirs. What I need to keep reminding myself, as has been pointed out, is that there can only be an certain number of ideas that fit with the BOTP/Gatch universes before people start reusing them.
The other thing I keep having to remind myself is that if I have thought about it (had an idea), then others have certainly considered it as well. I shouldn't expect my ideas to be original. Only how I put them together and use them, if even that.
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Don't sweat the petty things and don't pet the sweaty things.
Posted by Becky Rock on 03-05-2012 at 01:29:
RE: Things that freak me out
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Jul, I'd look into it further. Was anything published about 'wisps' prior to your story, which I remember and loved. When did Pixar start their movie? It could be pure coincidence, but that sounds too similar to me.
Once you post a story on the internet, it becomes your creative property. It just depends on how similar the 2nd story is to the original one.
Our fanfics are okay because we're not trying to make money on them, but a movie is trying to make money.
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I'm writing a book. I've got the page numbers so far...
Posted by jublke on 03-05-2012 at 14:14:
Becky -
Good point, even if for my own peace of mind.
Well, it turns out that Nintendo came out with a whole wisp planet & culture in 2010: http://sonic.wikia.com/wiki/Wisps. This is also after my story.
But good old Wikipedia points out that the term will-o'- the-wisp, an unexplained glowing orb of light, has been described since at least the 19th century.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Will-o%27-the-wisp
Which begs a bigger question: what if alien wisps are real?
__________________
"The heart has its reasons, of which reason knows nothing." -- Blaise Pascal
Posted by ElectricWhite on 03-05-2012 at 17:05:
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I heard of stranger things...
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“There are worse crimes than burning books. One of them is not reading them." --Ray Bradbury
Posted by Daniella T on 03-05-2012 at 19:21:
And, when the chips are down, aren't there only seven plots in story-telling anyway, no matter what kind of fiction you write?
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They were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Naturally, they became heroes -- Princess Leia Organa of Alderaan.
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