On Punks and Idea-Snatchers.

The title says it all. This post regards "idea snatchers" and those irritating little punks around the web who think it is ever-so-clever to steal the ideas, hard work, and words of another person and post it under their own name. What's even worse is that many of these people are demanding money for work they never did!

Now, let me say this first: so far as I know, no one has stolen my stories. Part of me is thankful for that, but trust me I also feel like 'what the F is my work not good enough?' It's a conundrum, I swear it. But back to what I was saying -- no one has stolen my stories, published them under an alias, and received any funds. BUT, I DO see stories on Literotica and other publishing sites around the web where various writers have taken my ideas and have used them to come up with their own twist.

So secondly, I'm not at all trying to say that I'm the only person in the world who was written a story about gargoyles, species warfare, or girls falling in love with "monsters". I'm also not the only person to write about people who've met in a coffee shop, fell in love, but realized they had some issues to work out. Please, I'm not *that* vain as to believe crap like that. But that's not to say that I haven't noticed a number of nonhuman stories where it walks like my gargoyle, it looks like my gargoyle, but is called a vampire/incubus/whatever; or that my idea of separating a name with a ' to divide given name and clan name is being slapped around like a loveless child (click link, go to "On Names" if you're curious as to what I mean). Also, so many people are getting banged in a coffee shop now and suddenly finding themselves with a long-haired, green-eyed, bad boy with redeeming qualities but gosh so many issues trying to claim the beautiful ice queen protagonist as his own.

Come on people. Get your own ideas and BACK THE FUCK OFF MINE.

That is all.
-L.A.

(P.S.: You heifers KNOW who you are. And I'll be watching. VERY, VERY CLOSELY.)

It's Always Raining In My Head

Okay, so this is a post I've been sitting on for awhile now, and I finally feel comfortable enough to talk about. It's kind of a touchy subject to get into, and particularly gloomy, and I don't really expect comments or anything on the post. It's just me kind of getting stuff off my chest. To some of you it might kinda seem the typical "get better" crap that everyone spouts. But taking it from someone who has "been there", maybe you won't be so quick to judge. So anyway, here goes.

The Insults Keep Coming...

Normally I don't get riled up enough to write rants on Blogger, but for once, I'm going to forgo my usual "don't say anything because people are crazy nowadays and might kill you for having an opinion" way of doing things to speak out about something I feel that needs to catch people's attention.


You readers know that "The Coffee Shop" is written on experiences from those who had come from abusive homes, schools, and who have inflicted abuse upon themselves and others due to their upbringing. Their stories mean everything to me. These KIDS mean everything to me, for a few of them are my really good friends. That makes it hard for me to read headlines like this: SUIT FILED AGAINST REPUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT, DISTRICT DIDN'T PROTECT GIRL FROM SEXUAL ASSAULT

I'm a huge fan of Laurie Halse Anderson, and SPEAK still is one of my favorite novels of all time because it affected me like few other books have. I speak of Laurie because it was her blogpost that got my attention of the filed suit in the first place.


For those of you who may or may not read the article/blog post that I linked to, it's basically summarized this way:


-Girl is harassed, assaulted, and raped by a boy in the 7th grade.
-Girl complains to school officials, who don't find her story credible. They make her WRITE AN APOLOGY LETTER to the boy who committed the rape and GIVE IT TO HIM PERSONALLY.
-School officials then SUSPEND the girl, after going through her claims multiple times WITHOUT HER MOTHER PRESENT and the biggest kicker is...
-NO ONE CALLED THE POLICE.
-Girl begins school next year, the same process repeats itself. The girl, knowing that her story wouldn't be believed by the school officials, told her mother. This time, to gain proof, mother and daughter go to a child advocacy center, where semen from the boy was found to back up the girl's allegations.
-A year later, a suit is filed, the boy is arrested, but the girl IS SUSPENDED FOR DISRESPECTFUL CONDUCT AND PUBLIC DISPLAY OF AFFECTION.


Does any of this sound remotely familiar?


One of my "Caleb" muses suffered from an event JUST LIKE THIS ONE. I was pissed off enough at the time to write a letter to the middle school, and used the experience for Caleb in "The Coffee Shop" not to invoke pity to his plight or something like that, but because crap like this happens every day - even in the United States. It's disgusting, it's heartbreaking, and I while I wish I could say "I can't believe it, say it ain't so!", but I know I can. My mother teaches an entire generation of students who in 5th grade are thinking of babies, sex, and use violence to get results.


So what's the point of my post? Simple: BE AWARE of what's going on in your community. LISTEN to your children when they come home from school and talk about their day. LOOK around the school yard when you pick them up from school. PAY ATTENTION. Don't let those who are silent fall through the cracks - those are usually the ones who need your help the most. And finally, SPEAK UP. If you don't, that's the greatest atrocity of all.


That's my rant for the day,
-Lily

Now, we must all fear evil men. But there is another kind of evil which we must fear most, and that is the indifference of good men. -- "The Boondock Saints"