Edit:
From now on, I'll be moving forward and putting this 'copying incident' behind me. A big thank you to everyone for your support and encouraging words. I'll be taking a short break to recover from this incident entirely. It was a huge relief to get this off my chest finally, and I said what I needed to say. I have decided that I wouldn't let this issue stop me from writing what I love. I want to continue writing for those people who enjoyed my book, and I'm glad that my book made an impact on your lives. I don't want to take that JOY away from you or myself. I'll be back again whenever I'm ready to do so. Take care, and I'll see you soon!

Edit 2:

I edited my Author's Note, removing names as well. When I first wrote this note, I admit that I was all fired up. But after giving it some thought, I realized that there could be a better way to put across my point without making it sound like a personal attack. I won't be removing this A/N but I made adjustments to it although I still stand firm that copying is not tolerated in any form.

I can't take back what I said and done, but I'll be reflecting on myself to prevent such situations in the future. 

Moving on from here, I hope that this would create awareness among the community and we can all learn from it. So, I would encourage readers not to harass those writers regarding this issue anymore. Let's all just move on from this matter. This is a friendly community and we are here to share our love for ELOD. From this incident, I also learned that I should mind my words since words can hurt as well. 

Also, I would strongly encourage readers to continue supporting those writers IF their work is original, and do give credit where it's due.

This may sound contradictory since I once talked shit about those copycat writers but I do hope that someday we could all come together as writers and support each other genuinely. Votes, views, and even rankings shouldn't even matter since it's a free platform and we don't get paid for writing. 

As for the readers, you guys have been so amazing and one of the most supportive people I have encountered. I truly appreciate every single one of you. 

Thank you, and take care!

----------------------------------------

Hi everyone,

I have been thinking about this for the past few weeks if I should post this note. But I think it's finally time for me to speak up against some people on here publicly. After Small_T_Rex  wrote an author's note, it finally gave me the courage to speak up against those online trolls.

It has come to my attention that there is someone on here who is ripping ideas/writing style off other writers. They are mainly taking bits and pieces from different writers. Yes, we are all writing fanfics, and common/similar ideas are expected. But some words/ideas are unique to the writers; it's like our unique writing "voice."

Also, the writing style is unique to each of their own. So, it's pretty obvious if someone copied it off another writer. As a writer, it's easy for us to spot things like that. Especially when people are using our "unique words." Just because they didn't copy word-for-word or the same exact plots, it doesn't mean that they are not infringing on other's work.

Our stories are like our 'children', and I'm sure everyone would be able to recognize your 'child' among the 'crowd'. One time, you may call it a coincidence. Two times, it may still be a coincidence. But if it's happening more than five times, would it be considered as too much of a coincidence?

Everything is time-stamped on Wattpad, so we don't have to argue about who wrote what first. Readers have been informing me about someone ripping off ideas from my past chapters, and I have kept silent all along.

This is also mainly the reason why I decided to take a break, and I lost motivation to write new chapters daily. I'm genuinely bothered by it. I didn't want to speak up publicly at first because I wanted to give them a chance. But it seems like the person has no remorse or guilt, and she is now copying off other writers.

Wattpad is a free platform for writers to express their thoughts freely. There are people spending hours on here, and it's their hard work. If you're inspired to write because of another writer, that's totally fine. But ripping ideas off and shamelessly denied it after people calling them out, that's a huge no-no.

This is not a competition. We writers are on Wattpad so that we could share our thoughts and love for the ELOD community. It saddened me to know that some people treat this as a competition.

The reason why I'm finally posting this is that I felt like enough is enough. I felt exactly like Feng Jiu, with Ji Heng stealing my credit and denying it. What's more, the person doing it is currently playing the victim game. Also, she removed the "evidence."

To be honest, I used to love writing, but I'm quickly losing my love for it due to this incident.

It's my first time writing, and I absolutely loved my work, Against Fate. I'm glad that it brings a smile to my readers, and I'm also glad that it made an impact on some of my readers' lives.

I'm drained from all these dramas, and I'm sick of it. If this goes on, I reckon I would stop writing altogether. I know that some people would think I'm petty or a snob after I posted this note. But what's done is done.

Unfortunately, the writers' community on here is absolute zero. It seems like everyone is competing against each other, on who has the most likes/views and that stupid ranking that doesn't even make sense.

But of course, there are a few lovely writers here who stayed true to their passion for writing. I salute you guys! I feel like I'm losing myself and the reason why I started writing. I do not like feeling this way, and I'm surprised how writing fanfics could stir up such negative emotions in me.

I have to give a big thank you to my loyal readers, and I'm glad that you guys stuck with me till now. Even if I lose followers after this, I still stand firm, and I have no regrets writing this.

As I said, this is just a free platform, and it's not my job. I don't have to please or impress anyone. If you like what I wrote, thank you. And if you don't, that's fine, and I wish you all the best too!

Thank you to everyone for your love and support. I just think that it's time to finally stand up and speak up for those who suffered through having their work copied.

人在做，天在看 rén zài zuò, tiān zài kàn
- God see everything that you're doing.

What goes around, comes around.