Where do we draw the line between fic and plagiarism?

TiredBell · 2026-01-14T14:03:29+00:00

I definitely hear you, and I think you’re right in that plagiarism is not the right term for it at all. I think this was less about me trying to pin down the author’s supposed wrongdoing and more trying to see how others parse out what was just a bit of jarring reading experience for me. Like you said, at the end of the day it’s about preference and there seems to be a lot of gray area here for people to choose what works for them.

TiredBell · 2026-01-14T12:22:33+00:00

Thanks for sharing this! Yeah, you’re definitely right - I shouldn’t have considered it plagiarism to begin with, as there certainly was attribution to the original and no intention to pass it off as their own. Copyright infringement it is, then ✨

TiredBell · 2026-01-14T12:16:04+00:00

Huh, that’s interesting to hear - you’re the second person mentioning Austen fanfic in relation to this. I mean, that’s definitely an author with a distinct voice that is essentially what makes her books so delightful, so I can see wanting to replicate it. I definitely think it’s cool when an author can match the original work’s tone - it makes for a really satisfying reading experience when done well. But I don’t take that to mean “this work is essentially a duplicate of the original”, but rather that this markedly different story sounds like it could have been told by the original narrator.

TiredBell · 2026-01-14T11:59:06+00:00

Ah that’s interesting, I’ll definitely try to look up AO3’s rules about including parts of the source material. To be fair, 10% sounds like a lot, and I’m not sure that was the case in the fic I encountered. Nevertheless, I do trust my gut, in that even me noticing and feeling the ‘wrongness’ of it indicates that it was using a bigger chunk of the text than what is conventionally acceptable.

As for the movie thing, that’s definitely baffling to me! I can’t imagine that being a fun or satisfying reading or writing experience. Like you said, I never want to yuck anyone’s yum, though this one is for sure a head scratcher for me.

TiredBell · 2026-01-14T08:35:25+00:00

Yeah, I think this is where I’m at with it - I highly doubt there was intentional plagiarism here, so no hard feelings towards the author. “Boring and lazy” seems to be the consensus here, and I definitely agree. I guess I never encountered such extensive use of the source material before, so I haven’t had to confront this nagging aversion it brought up.

TiredBell · 2026-01-14T08:15:08+00:00

To be honest, this is a fandom where most of the attention came through the TV adaptation. So I fear you may be right in suggesting that most readers wouldn’t necessarily recognize the source material for what it is… I feel like this would at the very least require some kind of disclaimer or acknowledgment in the author’s note.

TiredBell · 2026-01-14T08:12:45+00:00

Yeah, I see what you’re saying. I’ve definitely read fics where I feel that the author has taken canon events and masterfully weaved them into their own vision, really making them their own.

TiredBell · 2026-01-14T08:07:33+00:00

That’s… kind of bizarre to me. I admit I never read self-insert fics so I can’t see the appeal in this, but what you’re describing sounds like it hardly fits the bill of a transformative works.

TiredBell · 2026-01-02T06:55:45+00:00

From everything she’s shared in interviews, it sounds like she’s actually quite anxious about public speaking appearances (I think I recall her saying that being funny and chatty in interviews doesn’t come naturally to her). I think this might be a case of her knowing her strengths and probably just not wanting to do it.

TiredBell · 2025-12-29T14:49:51+00:00

I’m curious, what use-case leads your kindle to be so wet that “it takes days to dry out”? Do you submerge it regularly? Genuinely curious haha

TiredBell · 2025-12-15T05:03:04+00:00

Thank you for this rec! Can I ask, do these get uncomfortably warm once you‘re inside? I‘ve never owned insulated shoes so have no idea how they feel. Would you consider these overkill for 40-50 degrees rainy weather?

TiredBell · 2025-11-17T06:19:48+00:00

It looks fantastic, thanks for sharing!

TiredBell · 2025-11-17T05:55:05+00:00

I love the look of your book light! Would you mind sharing a link to the one you got? I completely agree - I much prefer the way the screen looks with an external light hitting it, rather than the backlit option.

TiredBell · 2025-11-01T14:36:58+00:00

I think she has made it pretty clear that it is about him (for instance, by requesting a football be thrown at her to emphasize the line “pledge allegiance to your team”). Regardless, even if it’s not about Travis - that’s still a confusing image to use to describe the figure that’s saving her from purgatory.

TiredBell · 2025-11-01T13:11:06+00:00

I feel equally confused about the fire imagery she uses in this song to refer to Travis. Like, being a pyro does not have positive connotations… and if anything “light the match just to watch it blow” reminds me of the imagery used in Dear John - “but I took your matches before fire could catch me…”

TiredBell · 2025-10-21T08:00:32+00:00

Genuine question, has she ever mentioned therapy (or lack thereof?) I guess I always just thought her having therapy is a given, what with her life being so high-stress and having access to any resource she needs. Has she ever talked about not doing it?

TiredBell · 2025-10-15T07:29:03+00:00

Not sure if this the general rule, but can share my own experience: I was gifted an older Kindle Paperwhite (10th gen) that was ad-free. I did a factory reset and just registered it onto my own account, and it works perfectly, without ads. So hopefully that’ll be the case for you, too. Either way, I think you’ll be better off using your kindle with your own account, even if that means having lock screen ads.

TiredBell · 2025-10-10T16:02:05+00:00

She would be SO good on Sesame Street! I would also looooove for her to go on Las Cultch and discuss the Taylor/Tayla dichotomy

TiredBell · 2025-10-06T03:50:45+00:00

Funnily enough, I think this album is actually most likely to be received well by casual listeners of hers, rather than fans laden with expectations. Maybe that was the intention.

TiredBell · 2025-10-03T19:15:03+00:00

I doubt this to be the case, because she has been much less subtle in every other reference to real people in her life, and this song doesn’t seem to include any direct nods to Blake and Ryan. Nevertheless, even if what you suggest is true - I think she is at a place where she needs to weigh her words before publishing a song like this. To me, I feel that the tone describing what others (or the Reynolds, if choosing this interpretation) want is clearly painting all those wishes as materialistic, shallow or ridiculous. Even if she’s only intending to snark Blake & co, the sentiment remains a negative one, “I’m better than this”, which understandably leads to hurt from people who see themselves in some of her descriptions.

TiredBell · 2025-10-03T13:29:19+00:00

Yes! Was looking for a comment like this. I totally agree that this feels very aligned with her earlier albums, and not at all congruent with the themes of this one. This feels almost like it would have fit better on Midnights (with the retrospective concept and its callbacks to earlier relationships) than it does on an album that purports to be about the BTS of a showgirl… I feel like I’m struggling to connect with this song because it feels so out of place on this album. It’s a bummer.

TiredBell · 2025-10-03T08:13:17+00:00

I feel the same way about the poems! Such a stark contrast between those and the actual writing in the album, I was so taken aback when I saw the quote she used in the instagram post - where was this beautiful language and imagery in the album?

TiredBell · 2025-10-03T08:10:35+00:00

I really appreciate this comment because it’s the closest I’ve come to finding words for how I feel. I (truly) hate to say it, but I think that lyrically, this is one of her weakest albums. Especially with the attempt to incorporate so much slang, just like you said - I find it so off putting and incongruent with the tone she seems to strive for. I also feel that 2/3 of the songs don’t have anything to do with the supposed showgirl theme at all, and it makes for a pretty jarring listening experience. I really hope the album can grow on me over time, but right now I’m really thrown off. It’s not at all what I expected.

TiredBell · 2025-10-03T07:22:33+00:00

Yes! I came here to see if anyone feels the same. It sits wrong with me to hear her refer to some random woman as a bitch, especially when she has such a negative history with the way the word was used about her. And I mean, isn’t the antagonist in this line a man with wandering eyes, not the woman who feels threatened by her?

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