nelehjr
I run a group for young adult artists who write, and draw, and sculpt, and anything else you can name. Video edit. It seems a few have been tracing some anime stuff (which is cool and all, whatever) but not saying where they got their "inspiration." How do I talk to them? What are things I need to know about plagiarism? How has it effected you personally?
Please help me. Sometimes I think I'm Hella over my head but I love whatever it is I do.
The Christmas Dragon
"This is not how I wanted to spend my holiday season." Said the oldest man in the group, running his fingers through his almost not brown hair.
"Oh come no, Paul. It's only December 23rd!"
"I know it." Replied the old farmer. "But I've got company over which stresses the wife up, and I like to help her entertain."
"Will you two ladies stop gossiping and help Bret, Brianne, and I load the cart?" William crowed. His fiery red hair glowed in the snowy night like a warning that he was a dragon with skin.
"Show some respect, William!" Richard called back.
The five loaded the cart with weapons and drove it to the dragon's keep. The dragon lived in the ruins of an old castle. He kept his treasure in the dungeon and still felt it necessary to guard the highest room in the tallest tower even though the princess no longer lived there. No one died but lately the dragon had been stealing a lot more cattle. Which really isn't so great during feast season when wealth is thinly spread to be shared. A giant cattle thief was a huge problem for the small community called Winterton. So the village sent its five bravest people; Paul, William, Richard, and the twins Bret and Brianne.
When they reached the dragon's keep the big, green, dragon was laid out like a dog in his house. The dragon had his body in the throne room while his head hung out the door! He snored, contented, great billows of smoke and steam rolled from his nostrils.
In the blink of an eye William snatched up a broad sword, hopped up on the dragon's neck, straddling him. Of course the poor dragon startled and took off into the air! William clung to the dragon with his legs, futilely swinging his broad sword like an axe, the trying to chop off the poor beast's head.
'Flying through the veil
On a dragon's back!
O'er the fields we go,
Hacking all the way!
Spikes on his tail swing,
Making cattle die.
OH WHAT FUN IT IS TO RIDE AND SING A SLAYING SONG TONIGHT! OH!'
The other four heroes kept themselves firmly planted on the ground as they watched their comrade not only single handedly battle a dragon but also immortalize his glorious victory in song! What was there to do but watch William work his mad magic, anyway?
Christmas dragon, Christmas dragon,
I will kill you today!
'Oh what fun it is to ride and slay
A cattle thief today! HEY!'
With that the dragon did a barrel roll successfully ridding himself of William. The big, green, dragon pointed himself upward and flew into the night sky until he was lost in the stars. Paul, Richard, Bret and Brianne all ran to William who coughed once, set up, and gave them all a big grin.
"Looks like your singin' scared 'em off." Richard said, offering the village's completely mad savior a hand up.
The big, green, scary, dragon, was never seen again.
Remember Your Ancestors
Watching America and the direction she’s taking makes me think What would great-great gramma and grampa say? I commend their bravery. Like a lot of people I half jokingly talked a big game about leaving the country should President Trump be elected. Now that it has come to pass I find we need angry, liberal, hippie trash like me to provide some balance to this screwy situation.
I especially want to recognize the bravery of my Uncle Karl. Great Grandma Ruth was 13 when she moved from Germany. In their portrait together I’d place my uncle at about 11. I don’t know, Great Grandma Ruth remembers him pretending empty spools of thread were motorcycles in their apartment both in Germany and New York.
My very brave Uncle Karl became a translator in WWII. I was told he’d never talk about it. Like most little brothers Uncle Karl had a pension for irritating his older sister. So while Great Grandma Ruth was German my Great Uncle Karl was Polish. Because the Jesdinsky family came from the German/Polish border.
I can only imagine these people’s bravery… I only got to meet one of them, and that was Great Grandma Ruth. She was just as American as me! She never taught any of us a word of German, save for my father who was this close to being an exchange student in Germany but at the last second wound up going to the Netherlands. The ones who longed to know German the most were her six children. My grandfather, my uncle, and my aunts.
I cannot imagine… Leaving your country, praying God had something better for you! The day she left my 13 year old great grandmother had her first kiss. Generations later we found out Henrick had a brother named Ferdinand! Ferdinand moved his family to Australia, literally half a world away! I have cousins on the other side of the world who speak with thick German accents and still know the tongue!
Here I sit today. Most of the German I know is expressions of endearment, niceties, and swear-words. I’m about as American white bread as it gets. I’m Wonder bread from Hostess! I also have ancestors that came over on the Mayflower!
My internet friend from India has gotten me pretty worked up lately by offering to help me moved to Kashmir. The mere thought of abandoning the country I’ve been taught to love more than life itself since I could comprehend is outrageous!
But watching a leader of this country try to tear apart freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and make measures to make sure immigrants like my ancestors can’t come in… It sickens me to my core!
I can’t believe the country I’ve been taught to love more than life itself is behaving this way! Religious freedom, free speech, and immigration are what made this country great before Donald Trump ever got a-hold of her! (What I want to know is where are the other two branches of government that are supposed to be keeping him in check?) America! We can’t let this happen! Holocaust Remembrance Day just passed us by! Doesn’t being Muslim today sound an awful lot like being Jewish then? We all said never again! Let’s make sure that it never happens again! Let’s strive to see that no family of four feels the need to hop on a plane with two large pieces of checked luggage.
The Next Book
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Can you see a button? Anyway, I'm back home now. The book tour was a huge success. Thanks everyone!