*mulls*

Number one sign one is way too emotional.

Ten lines of nice feedback on a story makes me not only hit the verge of tears but also send back a flailing reply that please God does not sound either insane or overly excited.

...it is that kind of a day.

Computer is shipping. It is in Tennessee. I am staring at the DHL tracker obsessively. I no longer care this is weird; my entire internet life from age twenty-two--nine years people--is in that backup that please God didn't screw up. Not to mention all my fic, all my work stuff, all my webpages, all my homework, all my original fic, all my music, email, and right, weird. Do not care.

...wait. does this mean that if it is lost, I have perfectly legitimate excuse to never finish any of my wips?

*wide eyes*

In closing:

Belated happy birthday to svmadelyn, who is one of the best people ever to trip into my life and stay around even after getting to know me. I do not know what I would do or be without you around.

Megan Meier

Probably most people have already seen this story in the comms, but I read it three days ago and still get violently nauseated every time I remember it, so.

Original Link

A Real Person, a Real Death

From the article:

Megan went to her room and Ron went downstairs to the kitchen, where he and Tina talked about what had happened, the MySpace account, and made dinner.

Twenty minutes later, Tina suddenly froze in mid-sentence.

"I had this God-awful feeling and I ran up into her room and she had hung herself in the closet."

Megan Taylor Meier died the next day, three weeks before her 14th birthday.

Later that day, Ron opened his daughter's MySpace account and viewed what he believes to be the final message Megan saw - one the FBI would be unable to retrieve from the hard drive.

It was from Josh and, according to Ron's best recollection, it said, "Everybody in O'Fallon knows how you are. You are a bad person and everybody hates you. Have a shitty rest of your life. The world would be a better place without you."

Short version: thirteen year old girl and best friend break up. Thirteen year old girl meets boy on myspace. Thirteen year old girl and boy become friends. Thirteen year old girl and boy talk. Boy starts to send unpleasant messages. Boy becomes cruel. Thirteen year old girl with a history of known depression kills herself. Boy turns out to be an imaginary construct of the parents of the broken-up-with best friend.

Parents, adults that knew this girl and how to fuck with her.

Quoting from many someone's--what the hell is wrong with people?

More Links

1. Mom: Web Hoax Led Girl to Kill Herself

2. Net hoax turns deadly, turns town against neighbors

From the article:

Tina and Ron Meier, who have separated since Megan's death, said they hope there will be a prosecution. In the meantime, Tina Meier said, they will push for a new law "to get justice for Megan."

In the absence of legal action, frustration is building online.

"Make them accountable. Anonymity should be awarded to victims, not to people who torment the helpless," wrote one reader in a posting on the Suburban Journals Web site.

"This family that perpetrated this prank is just EVIL ... Please move," read another.

"To the parents who did this to Megan, you're monsters. You are not welcome in our community. Leave now," read another.

3. Story of Girls' Suicide Takes New Life Online

4. Blog Readers Out Anonymous Adults that Newspaper Refused to Identify

From the article:

It turns out that Evans was a pseudonym created by two adults -- one of whom knew the Meier family very well. The St. Charles Journal decided to protect the privacy of the two adults and declined to name them in the story. That didn't sit well with incensed readers, who tracked down what they say is the identity of one of the adults and posted it online. Now the paper is being criticized for giving the adults anonymity.

You know. The oldest way society has to deal with people we can't kill or throw in jail is shunning. Jesus, if there was ever a textbook case for it, this would be it.

( incoherent rage below cut )

ETA: More links to further information on Megan Meier via google news.