literarymadman

[literarymadman]

some discords i made

spectral friends - a discord for horror writers

the campfire - a discord to talk about books.

[literarymadman]

A Guide to Making Up Diseases (as Explained by a Biologist)

So listen up y’all, nothing drives me crazier as both a writer and a scientist than seeing alien diseases that make no fuckin’ sense in a human body. 

If you’re talking about alien diseases in a non-human character, you can ignore all this.

But as far as alien diseases in humans go, please remember:

DISEASE SYMPTOMS ARE AN IMMUNE RESPONSE.

Fever? A response to help your immune cells function faster and more efficiently to destroy invaders.

Sore/scratchy throat? An immune response. Diseases that latch onto the epithelium of the throat (the common cold, the flu) replicate there, and your body is like “uh no fuckin’ thanks” and starts to slough off those cells in order to stop the replication of new virus in its tracks. So when it feels like your throat is dying? guess what it literally is. And the white spots you see with more severe bacterial infections are pus accumulation, which is basically dead white blood cells, and the pus is a nice and disgusting way of getting that shit outta here.

(No one really knows why soreness and malaise happens, but some scientists guess that it’s a byproduct of immune response, and others suspect that it’s your body’s way of telling you to take it easy)

headache? usually sinus pressure (or dehydration, which isn’t an immune response but causes headaches by reducing blood volume and causing a general ruckus in your body, can be an unfortunate side effect of a fever) caused by mucous which is an immune response to flush that nasty viral shit outta your face.

Rashes? an inflammatory response. Your lymphocytes see a thing they don’t like and they’re like “hEY NOW” and release a bunch of chemicals that tell the cells that are supposed to kill it to come do that. Those chemicals cause inflammation, which causes redness, heat, and swelling. They itch because histamine is a bitch.

fatigue? your body is doing a lot–give it a break!

here is a fact:

during the Spanish 1918 Plague, a very strange age group succumbed to the illness. The very young and very old were fine, but people who were seemingly healthy and in the prime of life (young adults) did not survive. This is because that virus triggered an immune response called a cytokine storm, which basically killed everything in sight and caused horrific symptoms like tissue death, vasodilation and bleeding–basically a MASSIVE inflammatory response that lead to organ damage and death. Those with the strongest immune systems took the worst beating by their own immune responses, while those with weaker immune systems were fine.

So when you’re thinking of an alien disease, think through the immune response.

Where does this virus attack? Look up viruses that also attack there and understand what the immune system would do about it. 

Understand symptoms that usually travel together–joint pain and fever, for example.

So please, please: no purple and green spotted diseases. No diseases that cause glamorous fainting spells and nothing else. No mystical eye-color/hair-color changing diseases. If you want these things to happen, use magic or some shit or alien physiology, but when it’s humans, it doesn’t make any fuckin’ sense. 

This has been a rant and I apologize for that. 

[literarymadman]

ATTENTION WRITERS

Google BetaBooks. Do it now. It’s the best damn thing EVER.

You just upload your manuscript, write out some questions for your beta readers to answer in each chapter, and invite readers to check out your book!

It’s SO easy!

You can even track your readers! It tells you when they last read, and what chapter they read!

Your beta readers can even highlight and react to the text!!!

There’s also this thing where you can search the website for available readers best suited for YOUR book!

Seriously guys, BetaBooks is the most useful website in the whole world when it comes to beta reading, and… IT’S FREE.

[literarymadman]

IT’S NOT ‘PEEKED’ MY INTEREST

OR ‘PEAKED’

BUT PIQUED

‘PIQUED MY INTEREST’

THIS HAS BEEN A CAPSLOCK PSA

[literarymadman]

reblog peter getting a job he’s unqualified for, and for the next decade you’ll be offered jobs you’re unqualified for 

[literarymadman]

In the movie The Santa Clause, one becomes Santa by putting on the red coat after the death of the previous Santa. Even ignoring how morbid this premise is on its own, it’s possible that there’s another even darker level to the story. When Scott Calvin shows up at the North Pole as the new Santa, not only do the elves not appear surprised, they seem happy to see him and not at all upset about the Santa he replaced. And furthermore, at the very beginning of the movie, we see an elf standing with a crowd of children outside a toy store near Scott’s house. Why would she already be there if she didn’t have some sort of prior knowledge of what was going to occur? This leaves me no choice but to conclude that the elves not only hated the previous Santa but actually orchestrated his demise.

tl;dr: In The Santa Clause, the elves totally murdered the previous Santa.

[literarymadman]

By the gods, yes! This has always others me. As well as them calling the monster Frankenstein... because Victor was an ass who refused to own up to anything despite the fact that every problem could have been avoided had he made better decisions.

Monster of Frankenstein by Mary Shelley: “Accursed creator! Why did you form a monster so hideous that even you turned from me in disgust? God, in pity, made man beautiful and alluring, after his own image; but my form is a filthy type of yours, more horrid even from the very resemblance. Satan had his companions, fellow-devils, to admire and encourage him; but I am solitary and abhorred.”

Monster of Frankenstein in pop culture: (unintelligible moaning)

[literarymadman]

The Madman Hates 8s

8 is a big number for me

At 8 years old, I was molested by a relative and her friend. I had thought they were goddesses, perfect and amazing. That day, I lost my hero.

At 18, I was ready to kill myself. I had everything but the note. A stranger befriended me a couple days before and pulled me back from oblivion. I had a hero again.

I'm now 28. I can't help but wonder what travesty will occur. What new pan shall be inflicted upon me this time. Disease? Loss perhaps? All I can hope for is survival.

[literarymadman]

What really pisses me off about this is that it reenforces what I already know. I was molested as a child by a cousin and her friend but due to the fact that I AM mentally ill (probably thanks to her in some part)...if I was to try to tell anybody in my family what happened, she would be given more credibility than me. I was betrayed by one relative and will never be believed by the rest...just because my brain is fucked

Hearing this happening to Terry fucking Crews of all people makes me hurt and angry all over again

I’m tired..

[literarymadman]

https://archive.is/JMirV

The Entertainment Software Association, which represents the video game industry, said it told the president that “numerous scientific studies” show there is “no connection between video games and violence.”  In fact, Markey said his work shows when a new violent game is released, crime actually drops.

when a new violent game is released, crime actually drops.

CRIME ACTUALLY DROPS.

[literarymadman]

The Madman shares poetry

I wrote this as an attempt to use my writing as a way to heal myself from the recent trauma of remembering how someone i cared for and looked up to molested me. This is the confrontation with her that I know I’ll never get.

Hopes of a Survivor

I hope your crucifix burns

When you grab it in your prayers

May a mark be left seared upon you

A symbol of the unseen scars left in your wake

You wear the symbol of a god but the things you do are unholy

I hope your friendship soured

With the grinning imp at your side

Who spews niceties as sweet as poisoned fruit

The one who made first contact with your adoring follower

Spreading her venom through lips and tongues to corrupt and condemn

I hope you remember

The bitter taste of your sins

The tense embrace as you took your turn

The trust you soiled, the bond you broke, the boy you defiled

The forever felt impact of your soft destruction of your own flesh and blood

I hope your son is safe

I pray he never suffers my fate

May he always just refer to you as Mother

Whereas once that I called you Hero, Goddess, Cousin

Now my mind has opened and I can hardly speak your name, Betrayer

I hope I can hate you

Your cruelty caused compassion

I forgot your deeds but not the after effects

I loved twice as hard for each shred of shame you left

Placed on the brink of darkness, I fought to keep others from falling over

I hope I forget again

Not out of fear or pain but peace

I pray that your touch fades from thought

I wish that your taste washes clean from my mouth

I want to not just forget what you have done but that you exist

[literarymadman]

to remember how many feet there are in a mile, u just gotta use 5 tomatoes

five to-mate-oes sounds like five, two, eight, 0 and there’s 5280 feet in a mile

[literarymadman]

The Madman celebrates a milestone...of sorts

As 2018 arrives, I have to marvel at my continued existence. This marks 10 years since I was certain of my destruction. Near the end of my high school career, I had laid out a plan to kill myself. A friend saved me but, despite still being alive, I had a difficulty viewing the future. It is near impossible for me to envision a future where I die in my bed of old age. 

Either my anxiety will destroy me through my heart...

Or my depression will one day cause me to put that old plan into motion

For now though, I suppose I can just be grateful that I’ve managed to survive a decade and just keep counting the days that I manage to keep fighting my demons

So with this, I guess my New Year’s resolution is to simply make it another year

[literarymadman]

It's the Madman's birthday

Happy birthday to me...

I think I'll substitute the traditional cake for steak and vodka...

Because cake will make me think of things I don't want to. So booze, meat, and horror flicks.

Yay...

[literarymadman]

No limit - ASK AWAY yeah

1.Kissed a girl?

2.Kissed a boy?

3.Had sex in public?

4.What’s your religion?

5.What does your URL mean?

6.Reason you joined tumblr?

7.Do you have any nicknames?

8.Do you like bubble bath?

9.Kissed in the rain?

10.Dyed your hair?

11.Soup or salad?

12.Vegetable or meat?

13.Go out drinking?

14.Smoke cigarettes?

15.Smoke weed?

16.Do any hard drugs?

17.Have you had sex today?

18.Have you ever fallen asleep in someones arms?

19.The relationship between you and the person you last texted?

20.Has anyone ever told you you have pretty eyes?

21.Skipped doing homework to play a video game?

22.Tried to commit suicide?

23.The last time you felt broken?

24.Had to lie to EVERYONE about how you felt?

25.Do you have a Boyfriend/Girlfriend?

26.Do you have Long hair OR short hair?

27.First thing you notice to a guy/girl?

28.Do you sing in the shower?

29.Do you dance in the car?

30.Where were you yesterday?

31.Ever used a bow and arrow?

32.Last time you got a portrait taken by a photographer?

33.Do you think musicals are cheesy?

34.Is Christmas stressful?

35.Favorite type of fruit pie?

36.Occupations you wanted to be when you were a kid?

37.Do you believe in ghosts?

38.Ever have a Deja-vu feeling?

39.Take a vitamin daily?

40.Wear slippers?

41.Wear a bath robe?

42.What do you wear to bed?

43.Do you want to get married?

44.Can you curl your tongue?

Relationship preference:

45.How many relationships have you had?

46.How can I win your heart?

47.what makes a great relationship?

48.Shy OR open?

50.Religious OR non-religious?

51.Caring OR non-restricting of you?

52.Straight edge OR non-straight edge?

53.Piercings OR no piercings?

54.Tattoos OR no tattoos?

55.Quiet stay-at-home type OR party type?

56. **Ask your own**

[literarymadman]

The person i reblogged this from deserves love, happiness and endless cookies and hugs

[literarymadman]

The Madman spreads holiday cheer

Happy (belated) Hanukkah

Merry Christmas

Happy Yule

Happy Kwanzaa

And a Happy New Year

May the gods shine their blessings upon you in the new year

Stay happy, stay healthy, be well