writer-brittany

writer + author | #bookdragon | actually autistic | 🇨🇦 🇬🇾 |

[writer-brittany]

Writer-Brittany | Introduction

About Me

I'm a 20-something writer, author, and avid reader. I post about my WIP: Unnatural Secrets, share my newsletter issues, the books I'm reading, and (try) to promote my poetry collection, Tomorrows, published in February 2025.

Follow/Friend me on The StoryGraph.

The Tomorrow Archives | Newsletter

A bi-monthly newsletter of thoughtful essays and monthly reflections about the books I've read, the words I've written, the tiny joys of life, and more.

Tomorrows | Poetry Collection

Tomorrows is a collection of poetry written between 2017 and 2018 while I struggled with mental health issues such as depression and anxiety, as well as being undiagnosed as autistic. Inspired by contemporary and classical poetry, I offer rich visualizations and explore my endless curiosity and creative imagination through poetry and prose.

Shop on Amazon: Paperback, eBook

Shop on Kobo: eBook

Unnatural Secrets | Novel WIP

Fantasy, Murder Mystery

New Adult (NA)

Includes: LGBTQIA+ characters, neurodiversity (through metaphor), magic (sorta), witches (sorta), thievery (definitely).

Autism

The Bullet Journal Method For Autistics

Hacking The Bujo Method For Autistics

The Autism Books by Autistic Authors Project

Extras

The Pitt Season 2 Thoughts

Plot Twist Shout-Out Book List

[somanyjacks]

I don't know who needs to hear this, but if the phrase "self care" doesn't resonate with you, try calling it "system maintenance" and see if that clicks.

[wormsslime]

[somanyjacks]

Reblogging to add amazing tags from @meta-theory

#this both makes things more fun and also is a really good analogy#because there are four types of system maintenance and that makes the term much more exact than the nebulous ''self-care''#and therefore much more helpful to those of us who uhhh struggle with nebulosity#for anyone curious the four types are:#1. corrective (to fix current problems)#2. preventative (to avoid future problems)#3. adaptative (to re-adjust to any changes)#4. perfective (to work towards a better system)#I really like this idea I'm gonna make a checklist

[brosser-les-dents]

System maintenance time: REMEMBER TO BRUSH AND FLOSS.

[auroraboringaliceinwonderland]

ID: a warning sign in all-caps that reads, “Warning: if you don’t schedule time for maintenance, your equipment will schedule it for you.” End ID.

[gogtopia]

seeing a black cat is actually good luck because then you get to see a cat

[whollyunnecessary]

[im-not-batman]

[writer-brittany]

[beaft]

i am not a psychiatrist but i do find it really weird how autism checklists are so often focused on "outward" signs of autism rather than what is going on internally. i don't know how to explain it but "do you make eye contact with other people" feels like a much less relevant question than "how does it feel when you have to make eye contact with other people?"

[beaft]

while i'm here, the other one that always pisses me off is "do you interpret idioms literally, for example 'bull in a china shop'?"

well, no, obviously. i know what "bull in a china shop" means because that is a popular phrase with a clearly defined meaning. and if i hadn't heard it before, then i would still not interpret it literally, because it has the cadence of an idiom and i would probably be able to work out from context what it meant. what is the point of this question

[beaft]

third and final complaint: "are you good at noticing subtext?"

i feel like the problem with this question is best illustrated by a conversation i had with a friend a while back, where i said something like, "i feel very safe with you because you don't do subtle hints and you are always very straight-up with me about what you are thinking and feeling."

and he laid a hand on my shoulder and was like, look dude i'm gonna be straight up here. i am subtle with you constantly and you simply do not notice <3

[beaft]

@luckyybones hope you don't mind me screenshotting but you are actually so correct

[froegis]

this is just the same thing i rediscover every few months, but i have just been reminded of how when i enter an environment i am not used to or comfortable in, i feel so incredibly autistic again.

not in a derogatory way obviously, i am just reminded of my autistic traits and that they did not go away—i have merely learned how to be comfortable in my own skin so that when i am in the company of those who know me, in an environment i am used to, these traits dont cause problems or discomfort for me or others. and then i enter a new situation and it feels like whiplash, because all of a sudden i am having to think about making eye contact again and monitoring my expressions and trying to put on a little show, and i fail so so bad and then i get upset about it and all i can think about is how they can see me trying and failing and how odd they probably think i am, because thats how i know people talk about people like me. because when people dont know i am autistic, they talk to me about people they think are autistic—about how they are just odd and strange, how they are not normal people because of x and y mannerisms. and i can always picture it being me they talk about that way to someone else, because i do those things too, it’s just that sometimes i can hide them.

then being reminded of that in real time as i actively fail masking skill checks, wondering if they will go home and talk to someone about an odd girl who does this odd thing and cant look you in the face.

its not that i mind being odd and strange in the end, i dont know why this is so upsetting. i think in professional and academic settings being able to mask is truly a privilege and it probably just feels really exposing to not be able to do it like i think i should be.

it’s like i lived my life for a few months thinking i somehow became a normal person only to be reminded of that strange feeling of alienation all over again, and it just hurts. and it feels almost humiliating in a way.

[beaft]

common advice for social anxiety is to tell yourself "people aren't going to think less of you just because you said something a bit daft" but the thing is. sometimes they will. and you just have to learn to be cool with that and to treat it as a dnd random encounter rather than letting it ruin your whole day

[beaft]

recent example. lady at my careers appointment had a post-it with her name on it stuck to the monitor, so i introduced myself by saying "hello, i'm eliot! you must be [name], it's nice to meet you!" and she stared at me as if i was the stupidest person alive and said icily, "yeah, i'm [name]. congratulations, you can read."

in bygone times this would have reduced me to a sort of quivering blancmange. thankfully i am now in a place where i was able to pull back, calmly evaluate this interaction, and say to myself "this woman should probably not be working in a customer-facing job"

[beaft]

important additions!!!!

[iwait4youalexg]

Oh!

[doh007]

Thank you all, i needed further explanation - And i do find it might help me!

[salty-inc]

Just something I really want to share on here because it’s important.

[salty-inc]

[adhdandcomics]

this is really important to remember, even if you said something stupid and don’t feel like repeating it- it can still feel isolating to folks with hearing and auditory processing problems!

[therainbowgorilla]

I’ve got APD and this is the absolute worst thing! I promise I’m trying to hear you, my brain just isn’t working with me! Just try rewording it, say it but in different words and my brain might get it then!

[mawofthemagnetar]

The problem with being low support needs is that people mentally autocorrect that to “no support needs” and then proceed to give you absolutely nothing and then get surprised when you implode after six months.

[schmergo]

Whenever I tell people that I dream of playing as many versions of Cinderella’s stepsisters as possible, I have to mention the mildly deranged illegal production of Cinderella I was in when I was 12.

I used to go to this small drama camp as a kid that was entirely run by one nice lady, I believe named Carol. We would put on abridged minimalist versions of popular musicals at a local church with only one week of rehearsal. These weren’t licensable junior versions. Carol created them herself.

She wrote the scripts to include the major plot highlights and famous lines from the various musicals and she arranged and accompanied all of the songs on the piano herself. We did Annie, Mary Poppins, the Wizard of Oz, and, the year before I came, Peter Pan. These shows were definitely illegal, but they were so small that nobody really noticed, and they were a ton of fun. The camp was also extremely affordable, so nobody was getting rich off of it.

But Cinderella, my final production with them, was next-level. When I arrived for the first day of camp, I was curious to see if it would be the Disney version or the Rodgers and Hammerstein version.

It was both. And neither.

Carol somehow wrote an almost entirely original book for Cinderella that used the best songs from both the Disney and R&H versions. That meant that I, as a stepsister, got to sing the “Stepsisters’ Lament,” a peak song if you ask me, but adorable little kids playing mice also got to sing “Cinderelly, Cinderelly.”

The one thing about combining both versions is perhaps an overemphasis on the Fairy Godmother, because the songs “Bibbidy Bobbity Boo” and “Impossible” are both no-brainers to include. But somehow, things worked out perfectly there, too, by splitting the role.

See, we didn’t just have a Fairy Godmother.

We also had a Fairy Godfather.

I was 12, so I didn’t quite get the joke, but as an adult, I’m obsessed with the implication that Cinderella got her dress, slippers, and carriage through some kind of vague affiliation with the mafia.

[firthbetterorfirthworse]

"Alright, I've... acquired a carriage, but only until 1am or we're gonna have a situation on our hands. So I absolutely need it back in my hands by midnight so the feds don't get involved."

"Honey I can't tell Cinderella that!"

"Tell her it'll turn into a pumpkin or something, not my problem. That's your part of the job. I get the things, you make them work. Just get it back to me by midnight, capisce?"

[fictionalauthorityii]

Finding out AI companies are chewing through - literally, they’re pulping and burning them as they go - millions of books often including 1/1s and old texts that cannot be reprinted

Meanwhile there’s always some dipshit telling me AI is the future and we’ve got to just let companies erase human history and literature so they can train their abomination machines to pretend to think like people because a judge said it’s fine

[wageronancap]

[odessa-edmundson]

'Modern Poisoning Tools': AI Firms Buying and Destroying Thousands of Books To Feed AI Models

AI companies are buying and scanning printed books for training data, raising copyright and cultural preservation concerns as rare volumes a

[sophiemars]

TLDR: company is bulk buying millions of books - including really old/rare/unique ones - to train AI. But in order to scan them quickly, they cut the spine out and trim the pages, effectively destroying these books, and then "recycle" the remains. A judge says it's legal. The company knows it's unethical and actively tried to hide the practice. None of the scanned copies are available to the public.

[catchingflieswithhoney]

The highly alarming thing to me is not the rarity of some books being gone forever, but the fact that they are taking millions of books off the shelves and away from public consumption. We are not allowed to buy books or seek knowledge. This is a digital age book burning.

[greater-than-the-sword]

It's because you're always on that cursed tome

[greater-than-the-sword]

The doom scroll, if you will

[sailforvalinor]

[glorioustragedykid]

There's a weird 3 star movie out there ready to change your life forever

[bethanyactually]

I don't wanna @ anyone because I understand how fast things seem to move in today's landscape of streaming shows dropping entire seasons in one day, and networks pumping out new series constantly to try to attract more subscribers with no intent to actually maintain those shows over time but I just saw someone self-deprecatingly lament that they are still thinking about a show that ended almost a year ago, making fan art and playlists for it, and I want to be very clear:

you can still create fanworks when it comes to old media!! PLEASE do!! there are always going to be new fans who will appreciate it, and veteran fans who are dying for new content and new perspectives. also, less than a year is NOTHING. the original Star Trek series was on TV six decades ago and there are still people losing their minds over it, writing stories and reblogging gifsets daily, and that's only one example.

a fandom lasts as long as there are people who love a thing, even if it's only a handful of people. love what you love and write and draw and make gifs and playlists about it!

[racethewind10]

raise your hand if you still have brainrot about a show that isn't airing

[fangirlagainstmywill]

I will never forgive them for taking out the “people aren’t cargo, mate” scene. What, were they afraid of giving Jack the BASEST of moral codes??????

[a-thousand-pots]

I made something 🥰🎉🎉

Wayword — a daily word-ladder puzzle

Get from one word to another by adding, removing, or changing one letter at a time.

It has a daily mode that resets at local midnight. I’ve had fun with it with some friends - hopefully other people find it fun too :)

Lmk if you have any feedback

[daisywords]

[afeelgoodblog]

Why hasn’t this been done before?

[autisticexpression]

You know why.

[petrosapian]

Mind the Gap: a handbook of clinical signs on black and brown skin

Second year medic, Malone Mukwende, has been working with staff members as part of a student-staff partnership project looking at clinical t

[missmixx-a-lot]

Cause racial health disparities…

[xmagnet-o]

I hope this gets published

[algorizmi]

It is available for download as a pdf from their website. www.blackandbrownskin.co.uk/mindthegap

[imperatorsapphiosa]

Hey, if anyone’s curious, this IS making a serious impact — this handbook was taught as standard practice for my EMT license course, as well as several other programs. A lot of new providers are being taught this as a matter of course.