MORIOR INVICTUS

Two little girls playing gently with a daddy long legs.

Girl 1: can it die?

I LOVE YOU AS A FIST LOVES THE BROKEN RIB AS THE LUNGS LOVE THE CHASE AS THE FINGER AND NAIL LOVES THE GOUGE AND TEAR

i love you as the palm loves the soft body as the muscle loves the stretch as the tongue and the lips love the kiss and the laugh and the i’ll-have-more-of-this

i love you as the eyes love the sleep and the sleep loves the bed i love you as the echo loves the shout 

 - Marilyn Monroe, last taped interview, days before her death

Also:

As one of the biggest Ella Fitzgerald fans, she literally helped desegregate her performances. Ella was not allowed to play at Mocambo because of her race.

Ella Fitzgerald: “I owe Marilyn Monroe a real debt… she personally called the owner of the Mocambo, and told him she wanted me booked immediately, and if he would do it, she would take a front table every night. She told him – and it was true, due to Marilyn’s superstar status – that the press would go wild. The owner said yes, and Marilyn was there, front table, every night. The press went overboard. After that, I never had to play a small jazz club again. She was an unusual woman – a little ahead of her times. And she didn’t know it.” thisisnotmyfairytaleendingg (Source: dmvnessa)

ALSO:

In August 1956, Monroe began filming The Prince and the Showgirl, with Laurence Olivier staring and directing. The production was complicated by conflicts between him and Monroe. He angered her with the patronizing statement “All you have to do is be sexy” and his attempts to get her to replicate Vivien Leigh’s interpretation. She became pregnant and miscarried during the production, which heavily worsened her depression and increased her drug abuse.

She was on courses of strong medication, had invasive surgery to try and limit the damage caused, and despite trying for a baby numerous times, suffered many miscarriages because of her condition. The miscarriages especially sent her into deep depression, since she desperately wanted to be a mother.

There is speculation that the condition may have been one of the triggers in her drug dependency as well, because when you have endo, you will take whatever you can to stop. it. hurting.

1) Make it weird.

10 Ways to Break Writer's Block

Writer's block isn't usually about not having ideas. It's about the ideas feeling wrong the second they hit the page. Here's what actually gets me unstuck, in no particular order because none of these work every time.

1. Skip the Scene You're Stuck On: You don't have to write in order. Jump to the scene you're actually excited about and come back to the hard part later, once you know where you're headed.

2. Set a Stupidly Small Goal: Not "write a chapter." Write 100 words. It sounds too easy to matter, and that's exactly why it works, there's no pressure left to freeze up over.

3. Write It Badly On Purpose: Give yourself permission to write the worst possible version of the scene. Once it exists, even badly, you have something to fix instead of a blank page.

4. Change Your Environment: Different room, different chair, coffee shop, whatever. Sometimes the block isn't in your head, it's in the fact that you've been staring at the same four walls for six hours.

5. Talk to Your Character Off the Page: Write a scrap of pure dialogue, no description, no formatting, just your character talking about anything. It gets you back into their voice without the pressure of it needing to go in the book.

6. Read Something in a Completely Different Genre: If you write fantasy, read a thriller. If you write romance, read horror. It resets your brain instead of feeding it more of the same thing it's already stuck on.

7. Take a Walk Without Your Phone: Genuinely, some of my best plot fixes have shown up on a walk with absolutely nothing to distract me from the problem.

8. Switch Formats: If you always type, try writing longhand for a scene, or the other way around. The physical act of writing differently can shake something loose.

9. Free Write for Ten Minutes, No Editing Allowed: Set a timer and just write, anything, even if it's not related to your book. The goal isn't quality, it's just getting your hands moving again without the inner editor showing up.

10. Walk Away Without Guilt: Sometimes the actual fix is stepping back for a day. Writer's block fed by exhaustion doesn't get fixed by forcing more words out of an empty tank.

None of these are magic. Some days you'll try five of these and still be stuck, and that's normal, not a sign you're doing something wrong!

Looking For More Writing Tips And Tricks?

Check out the rest of Quillology with Haya; a blog dedicated to writing and publishing tips for authors!

Namaygoosisagagun First Nation/Collins has burned to the ground. The entire community is nothing but ashes after being quickly consumed by wildfires. They did not have any support from emergency services, and no one offered aid. The community saved themselves by escaping into boats because no one came.

Mishkeegogamang and Cat Lake have lost power. Families are ending up in shelters with nothing. Armstrong, Lac La Croix, Whitesand, Gull Bay, Lac des Mille Lacs are currently in the fires path and all members are being evacuated.

All this loss, all this devastation, and it was entirely preventable.

After steadily underfunding wildland firefighting and purposefully excluding Indigenous wildland firefighters and Indigenous wildfire organizations from wildfire operations, firefighter training, decisionmaking, and resource exchanges, in 2025, Doug Ford slashed the forest firefighting budget.

It's hard to ignore his decision to cut funding and leave us out of adequate fire training (even though we've lived with forest fires for thousands of years—far longer than settlers have been in Canada—and made sure fires like the ones we're all seeing today were prevented through kinisitotēn) when, despite making up less than 5% of the population, we account for 42% percent of all wildfire evacuations in Canada.

And when we are successfully evacuated, we face discrimination and racism—like Kashechewan—because it's always been easier to blame us than it is to blame the true culprit: denialism, corportate greed, and colonization.

The people of Collins and every other impacted community deserve better.

Right now, the AFN is currently accepting donations to help Collins First Nation. If you're able to, please consider donating.

ONWA (Ontario Native Women's Association) is another great place to donate to. They have outreach vans going to motels and inns and offering food, water, resources, and cultural support to those impacted by the wildfires.

Other places to consider donating to are Mikinakoos Emergency Fund, Red Cross, True North Aid, Indigenous Climate Action. You can also send donations directly to Whitesand First Nation via e-transfer ([email protected]) and they request that you add your full name in the e-transfer comment section to receive a tax receipt.

*Before sending money, verify that the appeal appears on an official First Nation, Tribal Council or registered charity channel.

If you can't offer financial support, please consider donating items of need. Moontime Connections is currently accepting drop-off donations. If you live in the Thunder Bay area, Namaygoosisagagun Health Office is also taking in donations! They can also bemailed to Superior Inn Hotel & Conference Centre at 555 West Arthur Street, Thunder Bay, ON, P7E 5P8.

items needed are: food, diapers, medical masks, men’s and women’s joggers (all sizes), children’s clothing (newborn to size 14), children’s shoes, summer clothing, men’s clothing, toiletries (lotion, Vaseline, toothpaste, toothbrushes, shampoo, conditioner, soap, deodorant, etc.), strollers, adult depends-all sizes, dog & cat food