cheers. i'm mari.

flaky writer. awkward mess. infp-t. pisces. favours apocalyptic, sci-fi and fantasy.

[creativepromptsforwriting]

You want to learn to write better dialogue? Become a bitch who has whole conversations and debates in her mind all the time and you'll become a natural.

[frownyalfred]

Tips for writing those gala scenes, from someone who goes to them occasionally:

Generally you unbutton and re-button a suit coat when you sit down and stand up.

You’re supposed to hold wine or champagne glasses by the stem to avoid warming up the liquid inside. A character out of their depth might hold the glass around the sides instead.

When rich/important people forget your name and they’re drunk, they usually just tell you that they don’t remember or completely skip over any opportunity to use your name so they don’t look silly.

A good way to indicate you don’t want to shake someone’s hand at an event is to hold a drink in your right hand (and if you’re a woman, a purse in the other so you definitely can’t shift the glass to another hand and then shake)

Americans who still kiss cheeks as a welcome generally don’t press lips to cheeks, it’s more of a touch of cheek to cheek or even a hover (these days, mostly to avoid smudging a woman’s makeup)

The distinctions between dress codes (black tie, cocktail, etc) are very intricate but obvious to those who know how to look. If you wear a short skirt to a black tie event for example, people would clock that instantly even if the dress itself was very formal. Same thing goes for certain articles of men’s clothing.

Open bars / cash bars at events usually carry limited options. They’re meant to serve lots of people very quickly, so nobody is getting a cosmo or a Manhattan etc.

Members of the press generally aren’t allowed to freely circulate at nicer galas/events without a very good reason. When they do, they need to identify themselves before talking with someone.

[chodzacaparodia]

It's frustrating that you can come up with the plot of an entire fic in just a few seconds, but writing it all down can take anywhere from never to forever.

[tundrakatiebean]

I have come up with a better metaphor than “you can’t pour from an empty cup” for burnout. You can’t boil an empty kettle. Pouring from an empty cup just gets you nowhere. Trying to boil an empty kettle can ruin the kettle, the stove, and burn down your house if you keep trying it.

[anexperimentallife]

[el-lugar-bueno]

Fat people needed to be treated better so much better.

A few doctors explained to me that once I loose weight, my back pain will get better.

Finally found a doctor who listened to me. It took me a few weeks to find a place to have my x-ray done because older machines allegedly won't work for people my size.

X-ray done.

I've been living with a small fracture for months now, and it happened while I was at the gym.

It's not my weight, I'm actually hurt.

I could have suffered some serious damage, all because some doctors refuse to see past people's weight.

Oh, and I'm as healthy as possible. My cardiologist is very proud of me and my stellar blood tests. So here's this.

tl;dr: Please treat fat people better and listen what we have to say. We know our bodies better than you.

[whiskeydickclaws]

Y'know what. I reblogged without commentary, but I'm mad about this. So y'all get to deal with my rant now.

I started dislocating my knees and ankles when I was eight. I was in *six* sports. I was a dancer, I was a figure skater. My mom was advised to pull me out of all sports, and when she did, of course, I started gain weight.

My entire family is full of fat people. Especially fat women, and being afab, I take after my mother's weight patterns.

So what does a sudden change in activity level mean? My genetics caught up to me, and I gained weight. Fast. I got fat in only a couple years. I have now been fat, since I was 12. Fatty fat hips.

Nothing wrong with that, right?

Except, all of a sudden. All those dislocations that happened when I weight 80lbs? Oh those are because I'm fat now. The pain with them? Just lose some weight, Fatty.

I had a doctor tell me, TO MY FACE, when I was fourteen that if I just moved through the pain to exercise, I'd stop being fat, and all my health problems would go away.

Suddenly, because I had gained weight in my stomach, my hips, my thighs, nothing that was hurting me mattered. It was all the fact that I was fat. I needed to get up and exercise, no matter how much it hurt, because the pain was my fault, my punishment for getting fat.

I am now 28.

I was just diagnosed as having Hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome.

I spent more than 22 years, being told every health problem I have was because I was fat. Written off. Prescribed diets and fasting, and giving guides that amount to "Anorexia for Beginners" labelled as Intermittent Fasting.

Only to find out that all of this, is because my GENETICS are bad, and don't know how to build connective tissue.

The first thing my geneticist told me when he gave me the diagnosis, was that I wasn't allowed to weight lift, I'm not allowed to do yoga, and g-d, don't ever get into dancing again. Just a little bit of light cardio, and maybe, if you're lucky, you can use resistance bands every now and then.

And then he followed all of that up with:

I do think if you lost some weight, it would lessen the pain.

The pain of my cells being built *wrong*.

So yeah. Fuck the medical system.

Treat fat people better.

[petrichara]

I don’t know what it is about sentences that begin with ‘and’. I love them. And I thought of you. And it’s been a long day. And I love you. And and and

[unpretty]

will anything ever make me feel as dumb as staring at a toggle that says "on" and trying to figure out if it means that the toggle is currently on or that this is the toggle you hit if you want it to be on

[thoradvice]

25% is better than 0%. trying a little is better than not trying at all. eating a protein bar is better than nothing. using dry shampoo is better than not showering. cleaning one section of your room or house is better than not cleaning any of it. writing a paragraph of your essay is better than not starting it. whatever you can manage today is okay. you can try again tomorrow. little steps are to be proud of.

[killowave]

[kaedeakamatsu]

[etherealthief]

[lysanderish]

[milf-adjacent]

[dingdongyouarewrong]

we can do it it

[pepsimansthickjuicymeatyschlong]

They rarely star wars

[quivering-quill]

she killed herself

[watchthirdlife]

his breasts grow shaky

[anotherdayforchaosfay]

If you're writing a character with a medical condition you're not familiar with, please reach out to people with the condition. We won't get angry, we will be relieved.

I have epilepsy, and if I read one note scene about people shoving things in the mouth of someone having a seizure, I may scream. That's how I broke one of my teeth, someone shoved a wallet in my mouth. Fucked up a molar bad enough it broke into THREE PIECES. Another resulted in the frequent replacing of a filling in my front left tooth.

You cannot choke on your tongue. You can, however, inhale the vomit that the object is preventing from escaping. Yeah, a lot of us vomit while we seize. We also chew tf outta our tongue and bleed and drool, and putting things in our mouth is a very good way to kill us.

Don't hold the seizing person down. That's how I nearly shredded my triceps and pulled several muscles. It's very bad! Roll them on their side, move things out if the way, support their head and put something under it for cushioning. If they're scratching their face up, cover the hands in loose fabric, like a shirt. I claw at my face and all that's needed is a gentle barrier between my face and hands.

Talking to those of us who live with these conditions will provide more insight than any doctor can give you. They have the science, we have the experience. We will not be insulted by you ASKING politely. We will be relieved.

Thanks for coming to my TED talk.

[aplusbabe]

Don’t look at things you know will make you angry. Don’t read the comment sections. Don’t look at the blogs of people who add dumb comments to posts to confirm that they’re dumb all the time. Don’t read old conversations you had with people you don’t talk to anymore. Go look at pictures of kittens or something instead. Protect yourself from negativity in every way you can.

[amargedom]

““If you ever find yourself in the wrong story, leave.””

—

[old-screnwriter-deactivated2022]

reminders for writers.

nobody gives a crap if something is cliché or not. what they care about is the execution.

having a bad day of writing does not make you a bad writer.

writing in your second or third language isn’t always easy. you’re doing great.

writing advice = tools. not rules. you’re not meant to follow every advice you read about on the internet. learn the rules so you know which ones to break.

every writer is capable of writing a captivating story, but your story might not be everyone’s cup of tea, and that’s ok. there will still be people out there who’ll adore it.

it’s ok to not excel at every genre. you can write it because you think it’s fun. it doesn’t always have to be a matter of writing something strictly because you’re good at it. it’s ok to explore.

[creatinghelen]

all I want is to make others feel safe and comfortable, and to be around people who make me feel safe and comfortable.

[desinteresse]

Honestly being overworked makes people unobservant and passive and it literally kills people every day. People don’t seem to realize that an overworked nurse might not notice your sepsis symptoms and a tired truck driver might not notice your car when he’s merging into the lane. Failing to protect worker’s rights impacts nearly everyone