Lil Sis Cupcake Fell Asleep During Her Gaming Session With Big Sis Crumpet

Lil sis Cupcake fell asleep during her gaming session with big sis Crumpet

Write Your Story

I just showed my 11-year-old son how many coffee shop AUs there are on AO3.

Why?

He sat down the other day to write a Minecraft story about three kids who go through a portal in their back yard and end up in the world of Minecraft where they have to battle all the big bosses (I didn’t even realize there WERE big bosses in Minecraft but that’s beside the point). He wrote three chapters with a little input from me – his first beta – and y'all?

He was fucking excited. To be writing a story.

Today he came home from school and seemed a little down, so I asked him about it only to find out that some little asshole at his school told him, “There is already a Minecraft story.”

Me: Okay? So what?

Lucifer: If there’s already a story, no one will read mine.

Immediately, I dragged him in and pulled up my AO3 account. My boys know I write fanfiction, so I showed him my account and how many subscribers I have. Then I showed him how many Teen Wolf stories there are. And then, because it seemed like the perfect analogy, I said, “What if I wrote a story where two characters meet in a coffee shop and fall in love? No werewolves, nothing at all to do with the actual Teen Wolf universe. Just Stiles and Derek meet in a coffeeshop and fall in love.”

He laughed.

I showed him Mornings Aren’t For Everyone. Showed him how many hits it had, how many kudos, how many lovely comments.

Then I said, “So do you think, if anyone else wrote a story about those exact same characters meeting in a coffee shop and falling in love… would anyone read it?”

He laughed and said, “No because you already did.”

So I clicked on the Sterek tag and refined to coffee shop AU. His mind was blown to see that they ALL had thousands of hits and kudos and comments. Then I clicked on JUST the coffee shop AU tag and showed him all the fics across all the fandoms written by countless different people.

I’m going to tell you all now what I told him because it applies to everyone.

Write your story. It doesn’t matter that someone else has written a story about that subject. They didn’t write YOUR story. Only you can do that.

And I want to read your story.

A girl has not felt loved in years. She never gets told that she's a pretty girl. She doesn't get called a girl. Her parents don't call her daughter. She never smiles and doesn't take care of her hair anymore. She stopped taking showers every day. She has acne and stubble. She doesn't shave, she can't stand looking at herself in the mirror. She was told that "fat is hot" until she gained more weight. People look at her weird. She feels like nobody wants her. She doesn't want anyone to look at her. She feels alone. People avoid her. She feels like she can't vent to others anymore because it's all she can think about. She wants to be loved

A girl doesn't talk anymore. She's distant and insecure. She bottles up her feelings. People reach out to her to try and help, but don't know how to help. She isolates herself, she's scared. She knows that nobody will put in the time and effort to be there for her. Nobody says good morning to her. She stopped asking for help. She doesn't laugh anymore. She feels like she's worthless. She's told that this isn't true, but notices that people only care about her when she's feeling suicidal. She feels like a burden. She can't think a week ahead because she is terrified of the future. She doesn't know if she'll make it to the end of the year. She wants to be loved

A girl doesn't express her opinions anymore. People think she's a dangerous freak, that she is disgusting, gross and filthy. She feels that weight. She cries most of the day, most days. She stopped brushing her teeth. She feels disposable. She only feels useful when she's validated. People will toss her aside as soon as they get a good excuse to do it. She feels like a sacrificial lamb. They keep her at arm's length. She knows that she's judged silently. She feels like people would feel more comfortable if she wasn't there. She's trying to keep going. Her eyes hurt. She's loud. People think she is annoying. She's tired. She wants to be loved

I see u. I love u

You're a pretty girl. What you say matters. How you feel matters. It's ok to be angry and afraid. It's unfair that others don't notice and don't care. Keep being loud, keep being yourself. It's not too late. You matter

The BBC is releasing over 16,000 sound effects for free download

Happy Mag

The BBC is releasing over 16,000 sound effects for free download

The BBC have released their incredible, expansive library of bizarre and obscure sound effects, all available for free download.

— Fiona Apple