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Confessions of an American Lolita began life as a a collection of short, anecdotal stories that followed Emily, an American Lolita. Some of them were funny, some were filled with heartache. But most of them were silly things I shared with my lolita friends and we giggled over them. It could be called a true story- since almost everything in Confessions is based on a parallel in the real world! PGL's equivalent is The EGL Community- a huge LiveJournal community with literally thousands of watchers and participants. Miss Rose and Miss Loren are based on two of my dearest, closest friends that I just happened to meet online, Kimber and Annie (Rose and Loren are their middle names, respectively.) And every brand that the girls mention inside the comic is connected to a real brand name in Lolita Fashion. "Sweetheart, the Moon Glitters" is a play on "Baby, the Stars Shine Bright," a huge Lolita Brand. "Seraphim Lovely" toys with "Angelic Pretty," "Edwardian Lady," with "Victorian Maiden", and more. 
After watching EGL long enough, I found that sometimes the sweetest, prettiest looking girls could be the most biting, sarcastic, and defensive girls online. Clad in bows and lace, these girls would happily pluck apart other girls who did not dress correctly- interesting, since Lolita is such a fringe fashion. For the first arc, I chose one that hits me personally close to home, as Emily discovers the faceless anonymous posters who seem to like her so much actually tease and ridicule her behind closed doors(and links.) I was presented with the challenge of portraying an online conversation, without just having a bunch of girls in frilly clothes sitting at computer screens. I decided to take a sci-fi approach and have an empty void, where pop-up windows and IM messages appeared as glass panes, or in the case of a conversation, as your friend, standing across from you. Internet relationships are complex- they can be so honest and compassionate, like Emily's relationships with Rose and Loren, or they can be biting and cruel by anonymity, like Emily with the PGL members. 
It's an issue that has come to many teens and young adults through pages like MySpace, LiveJournal, and FaceBook, that people will say things online that they'd never say in person, both good and bad. It's something that really should be addressed as the years continue and more kids get involved with online communities like this. Hiding behind the cloak of anonymity, people will bark insults and say, "it's just people on the internet. How bad can it be?" But the faces on the other side of the computer screen are people, too, and it's important to remember that they can be just as affected by our words, even if they're typed and not spoken. I hope that Confessions presents this situation in a pretty, frilly package that readers will enjoy, and feel pretty(or handsome) after reading it! (C)2007-2008 Lilly Higgs |