The Truth is Out There

Exposing fanfiction plagiarism https://thetruthisoutthereandbeyond.thesimple.ink/ Backup Site: https://accessible-teller-76f.notion.site/85e0b543f2884e25bd36fb362e4268df?v=7f8f710c69754afc8c346273aec96e47&pvs=74

[thetruthisoutthereandbeyond]

The Curious Case of MrsFizzle

Plagiarized Boy Meets World fanfiction leads to full deletion of BMW, Smallville stories on all accounts.

This is the compilation of all the posts regarding this case for quick reference since it appears Kaylie Night aka MrsFizzle occasionally resurfaces presumably to see if she can make a return to the fandom.

Why did I investigate MrsFizzle?

Plagiarism Timeline

About Jon's Wife

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6

The Comments

More Comments

From Mercedes Aria, the plagiarized author

MrsFizzle's artist friend confronts anti-plagiarism blog leading to MrsFizzle mass deleting accounts.

Confrontation follow-up

Another follow-up

From Anti-plagiarism Tumblr

r/deletedfanfiction attempt to put Reunification back in the spotlight is shut down.

Not once, but twice

All future exposures of proven plagiarists will have a compilation like this. More coming soon.

[oceangirl24]

MrsFizzle and her readers are still going. 🙄

This exchange happened last month. I'm putting it out there because I refuse to allow Kaylie Night/MrsFizzle to continue her harassment behind the scenes.

Everything will be made public from now on.

What happened?

When I recognized a name connected to two major fandom dramas show up in the BMW server I reached out. Not only for myself but because there are other people in my server affected by the first issue mentioned. I extended the benefit of the doubt to them but immediately got hit with lies in the same way I did with the other readers who camped out in the server and relayed information to Kaylie Night/MrsFizzle.

Innocence. Confusion. Denial. Anger. And an unwillingness to really talk to me or even try to understand my position.

I covered up the name because they aren't important and I've dealt with them by blocking them everywhere and banning them from the server. But I do want my followers to understand what I've been dealing with and am still dealing with.

As you can see, this escalated quickly into name calling which is pretty much Kaylie's hallmark. She has always tried to get me to flip out and be nasty, but I won't do it. Was I short with this person? Oh yeah, once they doubled down on the lies, I stopped being sweet.

And guess what? I was wrong about one thing- this reader did not comment on AiP nor did they leave kudos. Not once. The reason I thought they commented on the main AiP story was because of this response to me on reddit: (see blackedout name)

I don't delete comments unless they're spam and I keep every comment email including the ones for the comments left by Kaylie/MrsFizzle so I can prove which deleted comments are hers should the need arise. There were never any comments from this person on the AiP main story, but rather on some of the short stories including the Darkest Night. And while both commentor and author can delete comments, no one can delete kudos.

I did not save any comments from Kaylie's readers that were not pertinent to the report. The comments that were included in the report were ones she specifically set up to counter any potential plagiarism claims (she knew in November 2023 that she was being reported and was using info from the server to do this) or just out right lied about (like Ashley being a canon character in BMW). So why this person assumed I had every comment ever made on Reunification, I have no idea. Unless, of course, that's what Kaylie thinks I have.

Kaylie really has no clue what is in the report and I'm sure that's why these dms often get wild. She's throwing at a target in dark with a blindfold on hoping to hit something.

Honestly, at this point, releasing the report to everyone won't do anything but give context to the exposé (search Tumblr for mrsfizzle) and how bad it really was since she deleted everything already. However, it clearly eats at her and because she's continued this crap, I am not inclined to ever let her see it.

Kaylie,

You started this. You lied, you stole, you harassed, and your arrogance got you exposed. No one was mean to you like you are to fictional characters. Yeah, even your changed discord name is just pouting because you got caught.

But keep it up and I'll keep posting your nonsense. You've already got the plagiarism tag following you on Reddit. Doing this crap only keeps it going.

You could end this.

But you do you.

-Aria

[thetruthisoutthereandbeyond]

I've been doing some plagriarism investigations that require careful review- it tooks months to put together the case mentioned in OP's post- so I totally missed this.

This is awful. Since it was posted three months ago I really hope nothing more has happened.

Online bullies are a scary breed and there is something about bullies like MrsFizzle/Kaylie Night that are far more frightening because they hide behind a sweet fascade of innocence while manipulating others into doing the public nastiness for them.

And bizarrely enough I know who the redacted person is as I've encountered them several times in the Superman and Lois and Gilmore Girls fandoms as well as S&L fanfiction. I am greatly disappointed that they would be involved in something like this. This is really discouraging to see. I'm kind of heartbroken actually.

[antiplagiarism]

Plagiarist Update

Remember this?

I am delighted to inform everyone that Mrsfizzle/ Kaylie Night deleted everything. Her plagiarized story and everything else is gone. Based on the date she deleted her FFN profile and stories (Feb 12) her artist bestie must have told her about our exchange and that she'd been exposed.

Not only that, her artist bestie deleted all trace of her from their Tumblr- @ky-landfill including a non Boy Meets World art/rec. They also locked down their "Shaun" pic so you can't see reblogs. Me thinks they were definitely in cahoots in this nasty little game Kaylie Night was playing.

lmao

[thetruthisoutthereandbeyond]

[elligatorrex]

Theelderhazelnut and Plagiarism

I was hesitant at first to post this because I hate conflict, but someone let me know that she is trying to dispute the fact that she plagiarized by incidentally admitting to academic plagiarism. After having so many people come to me to admit that they have been victims of plagiarism too, I feel as though it is my obligation to share what not only I, but others have been going through.

@theelderhazelnut has been taking ideas, characterizations, and writing from both myself and others to incorporate into her own writing/headcanons. Sometimes, she changes her posts slightly to hide the fact that she is clearly plagiarizing. Other times, she doesn't. But that hasn't stopped others from coming to me to let me know that they noticed something that looked a bit too similar to my characters. I was content to just block her and move on, but after realizing that she can still see my posts (if one of my mutuals reblogs it, but I suspect she also has an alt), copy it, and that I can't see what she is doing because we both have each other blocked, there's really no point in staying silent anymore.

If I post a worldbuilding piece, she'll post something paraphrasing what I wrote, again, changing it slightly so that it is not a direct rip-off. If I post a character's bio, suddenly, she'll remember that her character also has that trait or completely backtrack Ombra/Falkus' entire personality to mimic what I've posted. I created Neon City (Midway City/Shinkirou/Sitama Island) to be a cyberpunk dystopia, and then Metalrealm, despite not being that way before, became a cyberpunk dystopia. This has been going on for years. She even has some of the templates that I created for myself and close friends linked in her masterpost that she did not have permission to use. The plagiarism got so bad that I actually deleted my old tumblr (neonneurons) because I mentally couldn't deal with it anymore, and now I'm redoing Kate's story for the fifth time because Ombra's story was a rip-off of Kate's previous iteration. I won't speak on the other awful ways that she has treated others since that isn't my place, but from what I've been told, plagiarism is only the tip of the iceberg.

I understand the pressure and the desire to create something good, but that desire should come intrinsically, not from a place where the goal is to stack up however many reblogs/likes/whatever someone gets from posting to social media. I have so many stories/headcanons/world-building ideas that haven't been posted to Tumblr because my satisfaction derives from having created something that I'm proud of - something just for me. What I choose to share is out of a desire to share it with people that I already have a connection with, not random people from a fandom I don't participate in. If I cared about the notes, I would be stalking every mutual/mutual-in-law/mutual-twice-removed's tag list and pounce on whatever new person was added the last time they posted something.

Do what you will with this information. I hold no ill will toward anyone. I only want it to stop because I put my heart and soul and intimate life experiences into my characters and world, so seeing them xeroxed into some grammatically-error ridden, chewed-up reproduction claiming that I have no right to them, to my life, is a bit of an insult. Below, you'll find some examples. Unfortunately, I can't fit more than 10 images in a post, so this isn't all encompassing of what has been plagiarized.

Templates

She did not have permission to copy my posts regarding Kate's flaws or her game mechanics.

Characterization

There are numerous examples of these. Shortly after posting Danny's traits, she posted Ombra mimicking it. The "pulsar state" of Metalrealmers is clearly an attempt at mimicking Kate's "Celestial body" while trying to seem as though it isn't a copycat.

Worldbuilding

Her Cult of the Elder Gods post is essentially my Mythology & Timeline of Mortal Kombat regurgitated. (I couldn't include a screenshot of mine due to the limit on pictures on tumblr, so please review the link for confirmation.)

Art

After being blocked, she somehow acquired a picture of Kate to have another artist mimic, and after being confronted about it, kindly offered to apologize for stealing from me. Clearly she knows that what she is doing is wrong and that these aren't coincidental.

Thank you to everyone for taking the time to read this and for your support. It means so much to me 💕

[dramioneasks]

Hello! I hope you can cater to this PSA.

A Dramione writer, DarkMarkDiva (https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarkMarkDiva/pseuds/DarkMarkDiva) has plagiarized from the Sparrowkeet series of audreyii_fic, a Zutara writer from the ATLA fandom. DarkMarkDiva changed the tenses, tweaked a few words but the story beats and dialogue remain wholly the same.

I can't attach screenshots since this is anon but the side by side comparison is in audreyii_fic's post.

https://www.tumblr.com/audreyii-fic/776837257848111104/i-dont-know-if-theres-many-crossover-dramione

DarkMarkDiva deleted the story but another of her three remaining stories was later discovered to be plagiarized too, this time from thisisnotadance. She orphaned the fic “Desk-Side Manners” (https://archiveofourown.org/works/56741002) but yeah, the fic is still there as well as thisisnotadance's comment showing how it was plagiarized.

Just letting you know.

Thanks for letting us know, I have never heard of this author before and thankfully we don't have any of their works on our blog!

I read the original call out post, and yikes, yes blatant plagiarism.

Did this person really think they will get away with it? I mean there is a significant overlap between the Zutara and Dramione fandom!!!

Anyway people spread the word!

-Lisa

[thetruthisoutthereandbeyond]

Exposing Plagiarists

If you've been plagiarized and have a story you'd like told, please reblog this post with any links and information you'd like us to look at.

Currently, I am looking into a few other cases so it may take awhile to get to yours. Please understand that I investigate claims as thoroughly as I can and will only add to the website/Tumblr if I feel there is solid evidence to support plagiarism claims.

Thank you.

[fanfic-plagiarism-watchdog]

BLOCK THIS USER. FAFO, teddygrahamsam. This response sounds like you must be a minor. We can't imagine anyone over the age of 14 saying this seriously.

Plagiarism is serious and hurts the fandom community. All the plagiarized posts have since been deleted (if anyone familiar with this situation has screenshots PLEASE send them to us via a dm) but they are admitting it in the above screenshot so we feel totally fine about sharing this. Your excuse is bullshit and pretty much one of the dumbest things we've ever heard. Special shout out to ALL the OGs replying in the notes to call out this bad behavior and scold this pathetic attempt at an excuse. We really don't need to do much work on this one. You guys all did it yourselves and protected your fandom community. <3 We are proud.

(Screenshotted post here.)

[fanfic-plagiarism-watchdog]

BLOCK THIS USER. FAFO, teddygrahamsam. This response sounds like you must be a minor. We can't imagine anyone over the age of 14 saying this seriously.

Plagiarism is serious and hurts the fandom community. All the plagiarized posts have since been deleted (if anyone familiar with this situation has screenshots PLEASE send them to us via a dm) but they are admitting it in the above screenshot so we feel totally fine about sharing this. Your excuse is bullshit and pretty much one of the dumbest things we've ever heard. Special shout out to ALL the OGs replying in the notes to call out this bad behavior and scold this pathetic attempt at an excuse. We really don't need to do much work on this one. You guys all did it yourselves and protected your fandom community. <3 We are proud.

(Screenshotted post here.)

[fanfic-plagiarism-watchdog]

Updating to add some additional After the Fact context here:

They also posted these:

This is why we suspect this person is a minor, because these are extremely immature reactions to this situation... If you are starting a blog with a simple goal of "recognition" or getting followers, you're probably gonna have a bad time. If you're starting a writing blog to write the kind of fics you want to read and practice your craft because it's enjoyable, that is what attracts people. Learn a lesson and do better, teddygrahamsam.

[fanfic-plagiarism-watchdog]

As an 18+ blog who's story got stolen by a literal minor a few days ago and thus ruining my whole experience here on Tumblr, finding your blog now has somehow managed to calm me down 🙏🏼

Thank you for your service 🫡

Yooooo wtf send us screenshots and/or links if you have them!! So sorry that happened to you and even worse that it was a minor, but not surprising honestly...

[fanfic-plagiarism-watchdog]

hi! i just want to say, faiths recent logan howlett fic (cage fight) is something i’m 98% sure i’ve seen and read before, it’s also written differently to how she normally writes — just something yous might want to look into

Hi anon! Thanks for the tip! We did some searching around with keywords across the main fanfiction platforms (AO3, Wattpad, Quotev, fanfiction.net, Tumblr) and we weren't able to find anything that proves the Logan fic is (or isn't) plagiarism. We found some that were similar, but mainly just because they were all related to that specific scene as it is in the movie. We looked at probably 50 fics... (not kidding) and we weren't able to identify any specific plagiarism. But we have noticed that she has been writing A LOT more lately which has us suspicious. We've already been checking some of her more recently posted items and promise we will continue to do so! A few more deep dives are definitely needed on some of her recent "writings". We really appreciate your diligence and if you DO find that fic somewhere again, please let us know and send a link and/or screenshots!

[shayera-the-magpie]

What is it with people and reposting works without the authors' permission?

No surprise that they turned comments off.

[antiplagiarism]

Don't support plagiarists

Why? Because I call out plagiarists and your bestie got caught out?

So be it.

Stealing someone's hard work and harassing them isn't pleasant and is pretty terrifying.

It's very telling that this person claims not to know anything about the situation then calls me names and blocks me when they contacted me because I reblogged a post of theirs. I was not rude in the reblog, I merely linked info that I think others who support this writer should know about.

I think this reaction is a little sus, ya know?

I did not write the articles, but I did read them and checked out the info. The purpose of this blog is to reblog posts to support OG creators who have been victims of plagiarism. That is what I did.

[thetruthisoutthereandbeyond]

Well this is interesting and unexpected.

If this is the entirety of the conversation then it does seem very odd that the interaction ended in name calling and a block by the user who contacted this blog. Especially when they claim no knowledge of situation. This seems personal. Between these two users? Or because of MrsFizzle?

I really don't know and I'm not sure how I feel about it. I don't think this helps MrsFizzle at all.

At the end of the day, the evidence in this case is out there. Readers can chose to ignore it and support one over the other or support both. Readers can chose to not to support either one.

FWIW I had not seen the fanart that was reblogged, mostly likely due to misspelling of names.

[thetruthisoutthereandbeyond]

More Comments

I knew I had more comments but there was so much information to wade through that I lost track of a few.

Here is the ever-changing foster care situation in MrsFizzle's own words.

What she told MA:

Shawn going back to his father was realistic, painfully so, and I know that far too well. 

This very much seems to imply she has experienced this herself. In her Autumn in Philadelphia comments below she tells MA she is licensed to adopt through foster care, so it's not much of a skip to make.

What she told Reddit you can read for yourself here, here, and here.

And what she tells a reader:

How could you not remember?

Canon inaccuracies aside (the Matthews did help Shawn a lot and offered to adopt him even. Alan did become his father figure at Shawn's request. In the season 5 episode "Graduation" Minkus lets us know that Jon is still teaching on the "other side" of the building where Shawn and Cory don't go with his infamous "Hey, Mr. Turner, wait up!"), look what she says here: Admittedly, I started writing this without any real experience of my own to work from, just stories from foster parent friends.

That is most certainly not the impression she gave everyone else. I can't say I'm surprised she was "borrowing" other people's stories without crediting them. And that isn't the issue. MA herself says that a lot of the situations in her stories come from her students' lives, many of whom she says are very much like Shawn.

The difference here is the willingness to be open about where the stories come from. I see Shawn story after Shawn story in the fandom where the authors share where their stories come from with many if not all being from personal experience.

There is no shame in this either. Authors everywhere throughout time have taken stories from real life and written about them. It's what authors do, you know?

So why isn't MrsFizzle willing to do the same? Why does she tell one reader this and another that?

Under normal circumstances, no one would likely make any of these connections because most authors don't link their socials like she does. However, when you use the same couple of names and have those names linked across all of your social media mixing fandom and personal, things like this may very well come to light. And when you appear to be deceitful with those linked socials, this is the risk you take: exposing yourself.

Going back over this reminded me of the extraordinary amount of guest comments MrsFizzle got that I could not see any other Jon and Shawn authors getting at the time and the extraordinary amount of empty registered accounts that were all created after MA went public with the plagiarism claims. I had a hard time finding these accounts interacting with other BMW stories at the time. Maybe I missed them but, I use that nifty little find the word feature my browser has and there almost no overlap.

I just wonder where these hordes of fans are coming from when she has almost no public presence outside of Reddit and AO3 and what she has is not in this fandom. From what I see on AO3, these accounts are not flocking to her stories in general, only to Reunification.

Why?

I can't answer that.

But I did do some tests to see if you can manipulate your own stats with a drabble on my own account. And you can.

Log out of your account and you can leave a guest kudo. Use a different device, leave a guest kudo. Use a private browser, leave many over time. Get a few friends and you can rack up a lot in a short amount of time. Same for hits. Same for guest comments. And it doesn't take much to get another AO3 account, you just need an email address and a little patience.

What I'm saying is ultimately stats mean nothing. They can be manipulated. It's something to bear in mind for both reader and writer no matter your fandom. There will always be someone in every fandom that will value stats over everything else and use deception to get them.

It that what happened here?

I don't see evidence of MrsFizzle having a large enough fan base from her most written for fandoms to gain this organically. I think if she did, you'd see it on those stories as well. Superman- various media, Supernatural, Doctor Who, and Harry Potter are huge fandoms while BMW is very small by comparison. I don't see how you would get a bigger following in BMW than one of these others. I just don't see evidence that these fans of hers are following her to BMW or that BMW fans are flocking to her and not other Jon and Shawn writers too.

But I could be wrong. Only she knows the truth.

I believe this all that was left of the comments. I will update this post if I come across anything else.

-DS

[thetruthisoutthereandbeyond]

The Comments

In the event that anything is deleted, here are the comments I refer to in my article.

MrsFizzle's comments:

Flashbacks

This confrontation also showed up in Reunification with a different teacher who uttered almost word for word what Miss Tompkins said to Shawn in this Flashback chapter.

Autumn in Philadelphia

The Darkest Night

A Boy and His (Teacher's Motorcycle)

The sus comments and replies on Reunification:

There are highly sus comments on her other BMW stories as well, but for now, those are irrelevant.

FFN:

I included this one because for some reason an account with the same name and pfp commented on MrsFizzle's BMW stories on AO3 but Reunification on FFN. Curious.

AO3:

She had her entire story outlined? Or the entire story was outlined for her?

So she reuses things from her other fandoms? Curious. That's not very inspired for a published author.

This one is from Reddit.

I'm including it because of the topic. The post was very clear about sharing something that you (as an author) created for your fics, yet MrsFizzle claims an OC dog as hers then backhandedly mentions that a friend actually created it.

Why respond with an OC someone else created when that was not the question asked? Why not talk about Ashley here? Or are we still trying to perpetuate the lie that Ashley is Jon's canon wife?

So very curious.

For the record, I looked up this OC dog and, of course, he is not tagged as an OC. Instead there is a Lieutenant-verse tag. I'm not sure why she has such an aversion to using OC tags when she has no issue using OCs.

What really bothers me is she does not credit the dog's creator. Not once. Instead full credit goes to her for the character. In her final chapter AN on the longest story featuring the dog, she has the audacity to refer people to read a story the friend wrote set in her world, but does not give the friend credit for the dog.

I would think you would credit out of respect for the friendship if nothing else. But no, instead she misleads readers once again. Two stories, no credit.

No wonder MrsFizzle was so comfortable taking what she wanted from someone she saw as a rival without crediting.

Read the above thread. Now read this one again:

Anything sound familiar?

She really is bold, leaving these comments all over. Or shameless. I'm honestly not sure. I find her behavior baffling and inexplicable most of the time.

This was a comment that came out in the post-chapter 70 of Autumn in Philadelphia rush to finish Reunification.

What did chapter 70 include? Jon sitting Shawn down and talking to him about his decision to take him to counseling after a trip he, Shawn, and Audrey were going to take.

It is one hell of a coincidence that MrsFizzle suddenly includes Jon getting Shawn counseling after they and Ashley return from the Europe trip.

At this point, Reunification is one coincidence after another after another.

Since both authors appear to be NCIS fans, I think Gibbs' Rule #39 is applicable: There is no such thing as a coincidence.

It's also interesting that MrsFizzle says she didn't know about this stuff until recently. Both to MA and to Reddit she presents herself as an authority on the foster care system as far back as 2022.

Curiouser and curiouser.

The Ashley comments

This is her friend that helped her hide the plagiarism accusations on FFN again hailing Ashley's greatness post harassment claims by MA.

The truth about Ashley's origins:

I don't have a comment for this one that isn't snark. But this is a reader who admits to knowing nothing about the fandom or characters.

I really did try not to chose a side while I investigated this because I don't have access to what went on behind the scenes. All I see and can judge is what the authors put out there.

What MrsFizzle puts out does not win her any favor. In fact, a lot of what she says strengthens the claims against her. She mentions to readers they should/can contact her privately. Apparently, everything is done privately with her, which is fair, but she really has no public support that I can find. It's hard to tell what people really think of her. This may mean nothing at all, but paired with her very odd behavior in the BMW fandom, it may mean an awful lot, especially since MA says she has evidence that MrsFizzle got readers to help harass her.

With MA, you can see how hurt and stressed she is in her Tumblr posts, AO3 author's notes, and Reddit comments over what MrsFizzle did to her. She never names this person but you can track the rise and fall of her frustration with the situation. And that's really all I can say negatively about her. From Tumblr to Reddit, she appears to be highly regarded, even by those who don't seem to have any fandom overlap with her. She comes off as highly supportive of others in and out the BMW fandom and is much appreciated by those around her.

And this lead into their online personas.

MrsFizzle's persona changes so much that it makes it look like she's trying to hide something (see the main article for her changing Reddit persona). It's a very noticeable shift especially in the lead up to her leaving Reddit altogether or at least no longer posting/commenting.

MA is consistent. She's upset, stressed, and worried at times, but her story doesn't change. She doesn't change how she talks to people or what she tells them although over time she does give more information about the situation. Again, she is highly supportive regardless of what she's dealing with and gives measured advice on dealing with plagiarism.

Going back to the previous comment, MrsFizzle's response to it is barely five months old. She claims Reunification "remains one of my favorites I've that worked on".

Innocuous response on the surface but having spent as much time in these two worlds as I have, I wonder why that is? Does she delight that much in hurting another author?

Then I think back to that Reddit remark about envy and wanting to bring others down and I really do wonder why this story is so special with all that was going on around it?

For MA her story is a 20+ year labor of love. For MrsFizzle her story appears to be a two year jaunt into tormenting another author.

And now we're back to the Ashley lie:

If I was MrsFizzle I would be ashamed and embarrassed that I stooped to this level just to avoid acknowledging where my ideas came from. What could be so horrible about tipping your hat to someone whose story clearly impacted you?

The truth is out there.

Each and everyone one of you can read it for yourself and see it.

-DS

Much as you try to bury it, the truth is out there. Greater than your lies, the truth wants to be known.

-Agent Mulder, X-Files

[thetruthisoutthereandbeyond]

Looking into Plagiarism: Reunification and MrsFizzle-a case of Boy Meets World Plagiarism or not? Part 6

And I wasn’t the only one who noticed the similarities. A reader left a comment just a couple of chapters later on Autumn in Philadelphia. During a discussion with the author, the reader noted that they knew who the plagiarist was and that it was pretty obvious. The reader noted that Autumn in Philadelphia was the inspiration and giving credit where due was a simple, correct solution. MA agreed but then went on to say that MrsFizzle’s befriending her and subsequent harassment was the biggest issue. On chapter 72, MA says this:

They already publicly stated they were not in any way inspired by AiP and that the OCs had to be the same because they are written for the same character. They made it sound as though AiP was not good enough for them to bother with. That comment was deleted by AO3 staff as it was a guest comment where they identified themselves and acknowledged they were blocked. I reported it and a suspension was given for harassment. The screen shot is a part of the report. They've known about the case for a long time. When I posted my no update for the month post, they rushed their ending and immediately started trying to get the link (it was a hell of a couple of months after that post was made). Because of the lengths they went to get that link I'm often tempted to give it to them...and everyone else at the same time. I won't, of course. I won't stoop to that level. All I can do is leave the comments they left on my stories: on this one, Flashbacks, some of the short stories. Leave how they gushed over Audrey and her family with Jon and Shawn, the storyline. I know most readers don't read comments, but for the ones that do, those comments will be there. And maybe they'll remember them if they also read the other story and know where chunks of that story came from.

In another reply in the same thread, MA says:

What’s more upsetting is this was planned. They befriended me, used me, then used my mental health struggles against me. They were also the one who tried to get me to quit writing by saying the story was too long, it wasn't healing, no one would read it, etc. That was them. So not only can I not read their work because of the content but because of who I know them to be. It just kind of makes me sick.

And another:

I was gone from the fanfic community for a long time, and I'd heard of things like this happening in large fandoms, but I never dreamed it would happen in BMW and that it would be done by someone new to the fandom who is twice teen Shawn's age in AiP. I was dealing with a serious bout of depression and anxiety at the time and was too trusting. They seemed intense but also very sweet, so the issues had to be with me, right? I ignored all the red flags. I didn't know about the plagiarism until November of last year and this began in October of 2022. But thankfully I was also building friendships with writers outside my fandom who are the reason I continued writing. I asked for their help with the report because I knew they'd help me sort through the emotional carnage to get the necessary information. Putting the timeline together was the first time I saw everything done across four platforms. It wasn't as bad as I thought it was, it was so much worse. I hope it is truly over and they find something better to do with their time.

There is so much to unpack here. I plan to look more into this, if for nothing other than my own curiosity. I wish I could talk to the authors. However, I would need to contact both writers and give them an equal chance to share their side. I hesitate because if what MA says is even partially true, I don’t want to get involved with MrsFizzle.

What is available publicly is fascinating enough.

I’ll end this for now by repeating the previously mentioned quote because it fits this situation so aptly. If nothing else both points happened to Mercedes Aria and MrsFizzle is guilty of “*the close imitation of the language and thoughts of another author and the representation of them as her own original work. That is, both imitation and failure to be truthful about that imitation are necessary attributes to call it plagiarism. It is the lie of omission about sourcing that makes it plagiarism.

A simple “inspired by link” could have avoided all of this.

----

The rest of the article is my opinion on what happened between the two authors and why based on their online behavior. You can read the Author's Note on how I reached these conclusions.

My conclusions:

I do believe MA was plagiarized according to the Fanlore definition. I believe there was something unpleasant that went on between her and MrsFizzle privately that hurt her deeply. I believe she has screenshots and documentation that she believes proves this. I do not know if things were as severe as she claims.

At best, this is a personal matter that got out of hand and the harassment isn’t as bad as she perceives it to be. At worst, everything she says is true...

...I think at best MrsFizzle went through a hard time a few years back and was seeking a place to belong and be validated. In doing so, she embellished her personal stories and “borrowed” scenes from a popular story to bolster hers. She crushed the toes of those who should have been her fandom friends and support. She let jealousy get the best of her in this situation. At worst, she tried to present herself as the authority on fandom favorite characters and the most loved/known writer for them by stealing the work of a long-established fandom writer and trying to bully her out of the fandom to reach that status. She panicked and tried to cover her tracks when her target refused to go away. She let jealousy consume her and did things to another author that are unconscionable.

I do very much believe that the battle to make Ashley the iconic fanon Mrs. Turner has to do with a desire to leave an indelible mark on a very small fandom. Why she went about it the way she did will likely never be known.

There’s a lot of this story left, but I’m not sure the full truth will ever be known. Just remember:

The truth is out there, Mulder, but so are lies.

-Agent Scully, X-Files

[imbadatwrighting]

I have no one to vent to about someone stealing my whole fanfic idea. Like tf you mean I privately told you bout it and you don’t even change the face claim? And now you’re acting like it’s your brilliant idea? Tf? I literally have receipts?

[thetruthisoutthereandbeyond]

Looking into Plagiarism: Reunification and MrsFizzle-a case of Boy Meets World Plagiarism or not? Part 5

MrsFizzle never promotes Reunification on Reddit. In fact, she never promotes any of her Boy Meets World stories just ones in other fandoms and is not recced anywhere for Reunification, yet she has an extraordinary amount of kudos (mostly from guests) and comments and bookmarks from people who do not seem to ever venture beyond her one story and out into the rest of her BMW stories or the fandom at large. Not one single story in the entire fandom in the last five-ten years has stats like she does. And actually neither does she. No other story of hers has anywhere close to the stats of this one despite having identical themes just with a younger Shawn and no Ashley. Which is very strange for a fandom that seems to crave Jon and Shawn only stories or only them with other canon characters. OCs are rare and not popular, especially when these stories were being written.

In one Reddit comment MrsFizzle admits to falling in love with an OC and then “following” how that author did their OC when she did hers. I checked her stories in other fandoms. Reunification is the only story where she uses an OC that I can see. However, she doesn’t use an OC tag on Reunification so she may not use it in other fandoms either. This Reddit comment does line up with what she said in her comments on Autumn in Philadelphia regarding Audrey.

In another comment made before she started writing in the Boy Meets World fandom, she admitted this:

Yeahh, I’m pretty sure the person was trying to make you feel bad, even if only subconsciously. And I say this because I am very, very guilty of it: envy is such an ugly human emotion. Like, we can empathize with someone who is suffering, but if someone has something nice, we can’t feel happy for them; we feel the need to tear them down. What’s up with that?

That’s what MA said she tried to do- “bring her down” by getting her to stop writing and leave the fandom. However, I’m not sure of the context since the comment she responded to was deleted, but it doesn’t look good especially when there are harassment claims out there.

Anyway, I also looked at Mercedes Aria’s profile (u/OceanGirl24) and I’m not sure how far I can go back in her history since she has remained active. I searched for her name, her story’s name, and OCs name as well. She did promote her work there extensively and has a lot of supporters, especially for the OC as previously mentioned. Her work was recced several times. I also found another author who wrote for the Boy Meets World fandom and used Audrey. I ended up back on AO3 to look at the gifts MA had from others and Audrey has been used in both stories and fanart, sometimes under the tags “Jonathan Turner/Audrey Andrews (*JTW), Audrey Andrews, or just Audrey Turner. There are quite a few writers with Audrey in their works besides MA, including a reboot series that does not use an inspired by link but does credit her for Audrey’s creation several times over.

*JTW stands for the canonical tag of Jonathan Turner’s Wife.

I also saw her responding to posters’ questions about fandom harassment/plagiarism and she answers much more freely there than on Tumblr or her ANs. While she doesn’t name an author or story, it’s pretty clear she’s talking about this situation. In one response she mentions that this writer took her last chapter and used it to do a rush finish on their story.

Based on what I gathered from the dates there and on Tumblr, I guessed this was in reference to her chapter 70. So, I read it and the last chapters of Reunification that had publishing dates that matched. The last six chapters of MrsFizzle’s story came out after chapter 70 was posted on November 18th in quick succession: November 27th, December 4th, 6th, 8th, 9th, and 11th. The scenes and themes are remarkably similar. And in almost the same order, especially in the final four chapters.

*I also must note that near the end of Reunification there is a “not Christmas” proposal and Jon doesn’t give Ashley an engagement ring like Shawn wants. Instead, he gives her a necklace with a sparkly pendant. This is one deviation from MA’s chapter 70.

However, in earlier chapters of Autumn in Philadelphia there is a Christmas flashback that MA expanded on and made into its own story the year before. In that story, Christmas to Last a Lifetime, there is a “not Christmas” proposal and Jon doesn’t give Audrey an engagement ring like Shawn wants. Instead, he gives her a necklace with a sparkly pendant. The difference is the level of detail included in the original scene and that Jon also gives Audrey earrings. MrsFizzle shifts a few other things around like removing Ashley’s reaction to the gift by only having Jon and Shawn in the scene, whereas Audrey was present the entire time in MA’s story.

Look, I know enough about canon to know no such scene occurred in the show with any characters in any situation, so it can’t be claimed that a canon scene was rewritten and adapted for Jon. While I’m sure such a scene is cliche thanks to Hallmark and its kind, it’s still bizarre that two near identical scenes would appear in competing stories involving the same characters in the same way. I can see it happening for canon pairings especially if a lot of people are writing for them, but in this small fandom with a rare pair, one character of which an OC?

Yeah, I am very skeptical about that being a coincidence.