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#adhd shark post
pdxbeerandmystery · 7 months
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A 15 year old, two 13 year olds, and an 11 year old have a mini party to help put up Halloween decorations. Including Big Ike here. Is it the beginning line of a joke? Are they siblings? Nope and nope. This is actually a plug for blended age schools. Many times, you find small schools like this in rural areas. Small populations and limited staff call for creative solutions. In some cases, like my youngest child's school, the grades are kept separate in most classes, but share recess and lunches as well as some blended electives. This is a fairly recent occurance. When our beleaguered county realized they didn't have the funds to repair our 3 elementaries, 2 middle schools and one high school, they came up with a crazy plan to combine their budgets and build one brand new school. In middle and high school grades, a specialized teacher -like science -might teach their subject to all the grades but in separate periods. In some schools -like the one I grew up in -the classes might truly be blended. In my school, kids were grouped across ages that might be three different grades in other schools by ability. This might be implemented due to small class sizes and limited staff (another school in our region does this: last year their "5th grade" has 6 students so they combined with "6th grade"). It also has some other advantages. My friends in school who might be a little behind in some subjects would still be in the same class with friends who advanced a grade on paper. Not only did they not feel as shamed for being "held back," but I think being side by side with their friends made it easier to catch up. I remember times when the math a friend was doing caught my interst and they showed me how to do it (proving in my head, and maybe to my teachers that I wasn't "bad" at math), then helped me figure out how to do whatever math process I was stuck on. Academically there's a lot of advantages to blended age schooling.
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Oh but let's talk about socialization. I'm not sure why opponents glom onto this, because its actually an advantage of blended age schools. For starters, it more accurately reflects on, well, reality. Is your workplace rigidly seperated by age? Of course not. When you go out into the world, do you only interact with people your own age? Of course not. Imagine asking a grocery clerk, a new neighbor, a potential new friend their age first before you decide if you can interact with them. That's ridiculous.
Additionally, though, blended age schools help us connect with supportive people that we have common interest or needs with. What does that mean?
My school was on land that belonged to a tribe that the U.S. government had dissolved (they've since regained their tribal sovereignty. Yay!). Immediately afterwards, the school had been absorbed into the the local district and students were determined geographically. Although, I was from a different tribe, I got to attend a school that broke the usual demographics, with a population that was about 30% native. I grew up with my race supported and celebrated (with a few staff exceptions that the parents rallied around and got kicked out). Im still friends with some of my gradeschool compatriots, and shock and awe: some of them are white. These guys would be your stereotypical MAGA rednecks, I think, except they grew up in the same environment. Not only do they have racial sensitivity and respect, but when that subculture started to sweep the United States, and a few of them started to get swept up with it, they were able to have an intelligent conversation about it with myself and other more liberal friends, absorb information with a discerning eye, and make an informed decision to get the hell off that psychotic bandwagon. Why is a blended age school important here? Because even though 30% is a huge chunk, its not the majority, and if you cut it up into lesser chunks by grade, it loses power. Additionally, the younger kids grew up seeing first hand the older grade lead by example in regards to cultural respect and practice.
Those kids I mentioned above? They jokingly refer to themselves as "the baby gays," and have pledged to make us "the gayest county in the state." Imagine how they would have fared if they were isolated from the others, with no other queer kids in their age restricted "grade." Before they found each other, they'd been bullied, one had gone through a criminal court proceeding as the victim of a hate crime, and some had suffered anxiety and depression. Its still not all sunshine and roses but they found each other in blended electives and lunch periods. They're demanding a GSA now. I think they'll get it.
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Gratuitous doggie pic.
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Hey sharky friends! 😊🦈
I bought this for myself recently, to keep my hands busy at work so I'll leave my nails alone, and I absolutely love it!! 💙🩶
It's technically supposed to be a decompression toy for those who have ADHD or Autism. I've got a friend who is ADHD and has a slug version and it really helps them. I've linked it below for anyone who may be interested in it!! 😊💙
Stay sharky!!🦈🩶
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sharkdays · 1 month
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been meaning to mention this but i kept forgetting: i think it's interesting how most of the characters have some signature catchphrase when they tera
for friede and lizardon it's "surpass your potential"
for amethio and ceruledge it's "follow your own path"
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fragileizywriting · 1 year
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okay i tried to put my ideas on paper on the train and let me tell you it was hard, this train shakes so much. thank god this writing app makes straight lines if you hold your pencil down.
how about in order to nerf the rabbit a bit (and actually make the snake useful) the two of them work with “time” differently. as in, the rabbit doesn’t work with time at all. it can’t go back, can’t go forward; whoever is in the burrow can only watch as if there are a billion TV channels and there’s no way to record any of it. you flip through the universes and just watch in the present.
the snake can go back and forth within a timeline/universe, but can't traverse universes. they can traverse back and forth indefinitely, but forget everything they've seen about the future (and the plot-important things) from the past, too, from whatever they've seen while in the suit.
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You ever have a day where you go god I need a drink and then after a beat you realise you don't drink so you sit down with a dairy milk and iced water and think life would be much more bearable if I let myself drink alcohol but maybe the decision I made at 16 not to drink alcohol ever is not so bad coz based on the way I chugged a half litre non alcoholic blue lagoon in a minute if I would consume alcohol it would be extremely harmful to me physically and mentally and not to touch alcohol ever but you still wanna complain about life being easier with alcohol but then your friends say oh but you don't drink out of principle you don't get to complain like bitch I don't also do high fashion doesn't mean I don't have OpinionsTM at every red carpet party
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sylveonyie · 9 months
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I'm am actually reverting back to my 7 year old self I'm Hyperfixating on dinosaurs and biology and animals help.
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sharkgirldick · 2 years
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I'm pretty sure I have ADHD to some degree but for various reasons I've developed coping mechanisms that work enough for me.
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godblooded · 2 years
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🦈
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thebibliosphere · 1 year
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Thank you for the very kind comments and messages in response to yesterdays post. There's too many for me to reply to, but please know reading them has helped to combat the "oh god I should be doing more" gremlin part of my brain.
It's not easy when you have my type of ADHD where inactivity feels like death (I'm like one of those sharks that dies if it stops swimming) so having inactivity forced on me by my body and mental health issues has been, uh, difficult to come to terms with.
Logically, I knew the majority of my readers would much prefer I take the time to take care of myself and work at a rate which is healthy for me. But sometimes the depression gremlins are louder than logic, and I was getting enough of those messages I felt like it needed to be brought up publicly to hopefully nip that kind of thing in the bud.
Not least of all to point out the problematic use of the word "fixed," which honestly bugged me so much more than anything else. I don't expect everyone to be aware or even understand what I deal with, but that's just really not a nice thing to say to anyone.
Anyway. Thank you again. You're all wonderful.
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Studying with ADHD
Dear God. My activity on here is sporadic, as is fitting with my diagnosis, but I thought maybe this post could help anyone that's been struggling alongside me.
Warning: Long Post
Feel Free to browse the bullet points and stop if something catches your eye!
If you don't like any of these, don't use them! They're based solely off my experience, and everyone experiences ADHD differently <3
Content:
Setting up The Space
Study Snacks!! - No hunger in The Space
Compete with yourself
Ignore Pomodoro
Reverse the feeling of 'not being smart enough'
Active Recall
Unriddle.ai (not sponsored,,,)
Final Tip
Final Note
Here ya go:
1. Setting up The Space
Some sites say to create a 'distraction free zone' to study in. Screw that, it never worked for me.
My brain is the distraction. I'll stare off into space if there's no other option.
INSTEAD:
We set up a study space that both fulfils random urges mid-work session, and limits distractions away from the desk.
I.e. we don't get up until we need the bathroom.
You limit the amount you get up from The Space, you limit the number of things your attention span will switch to.
Snacks, fidgets, drawing, separate screen for watching stuff? Whatever works, stick it on the desk.
Food wise, I try to make a healthy lunch and then eat it at my desk while reviewing stuff, but sometimes I need a longer break.
If I am taking a break, I do it away from The Space. The Space is dead to me now.
Try to compartmentalise your area, work only in these spots, relax only in these, sleep only there.
We're trying to train our brains here, people, simple and clear relations of space to activity typically get embedded easier.
Also: work whenever.
Burst of energy at 9pm? Go for it, we sleep badly anyways.
Middle of lunch? Have a flashcard/ notes app on your phone, do it while you eat.
With friends? See method 5 <3
I'll link a separate post I'll be making on exactly how my space is set up, though most of the key points are in this one :)
2. Study Snacks!! - No hunger in The Space
One. Handed. Food. Only.
Also, food that doesn't get stuff on your fingers.
You can't work if you're constantly wiping your hands to keep going, and you need something you can absentmindedly grab while you keep your eyes trained on the work.
I recommend getting artificial sugar in your system, sweets, chocolate, give yourself a mild sugar rush to keep a bit of a buzz going while you work.
(try to be healthy about it, this won't be sustainable long-term, but I find a shot of sugar to the system can help prevent burnout)
Also caffeine! Please be aware of how much caffeine you're having for health reasons - I need to watch how much I have, since my medication is already bad for my heart, but even just having a coffee and some sugar at the start of the session, I get enough energy to start working
As long as I don't stop until I'm Done, I will be good.
3. Compete with yourself
I don't recommend competing with others, it toes the line of 'feeling like a failure' too much for my liking, but if it works for you, go for it.
Instead, I compete with myself. Mostly quizlet flashcards, but also 'how much of this have I remembered from yesterday?', and 'How much more can I remember today?'
Whether it's personality or hyperactivity, this gives a dopamine hit. Finding ways to make studying something you can score against is one of my favourite methods.
Video games are an ADHD staple for a reason, easily trackable progress and dopamine from rewards/hyperfixations/etc. make them addictive.
Turn the work into a video game (I think at this point I may sound insane to you guys but please trust me)
4. Ignore Pomodoro
ADHD students, we have to think like sharks: we stop, we die.
Once you have found yourself studying with (relative) ease, Do. Not. Stop. You keep that going as long as possible.
ADHD doesn't mean you can't focus, you can, you just have no choice in where that attention gets allocated. So, when a tomato-based timer tell you to turn off your focus and relax, after it took you half the damn time to start the stupid work, it can be a little counter-productive
(I may have some repressed rage for pomodoro, try to forgive me)
Please, ignore the pomodoro stuff. I know it's healthy to regulate the volume of work you do, but I find that once I start working, I can't stop until I run out of energy.
I time or video myself instead, I can track how long I've been working, feel proud of it, and I also can't use my phone during that session.
When my brain stops taking stuff in, I have an hour to 2 hour break, relax (away from The Space) try to reset my brain so it's back to baseline. Then I start again.
5. Reverse the feeling of 'not being smart enough'
I know I am smart, and it's on others if they don't see that, but having undiagnosed ADHD for 17 years did a number on my self image and confidence.
If you struggle with this, it's so, so helpful to try this method, and can start to reverse the negative internal image we've managed to cultivate <3
So, after you've covered a topic: tell someone about it (please make sure they're ready to listen to you rant for half an hour).
Not only are you reinforcing what you've just learnt, but you also get to feel competent, and teaching someone else about your topic helps to raise perceptions (internal or from others) of what you know/what you're capable of.
6. Active Recall
This one goes great with the whole, 'competing with yourself' method (no. 4);
Active Recall is just making sure you're going over old information and recalling correctly, once it's past short term memory. Trying to remember information without it present forces your brain to pull it from Long-term memory and reinforces the information in your brain.
I know it's been said a million times, but this + competing with yourself does wonders for me.
My favourite method is blurting ( read/write notes of one topic, wait ten minutes, do something else productive, and then try to copy that topic from memory. repeat until all key info is correctly recalled)
7. Unriddle.ai (not sponsored,,,)
Okay, this site changed it for me. 5 free uploads, 15 free inputs per month.
Download a copy of the fancy scientific paper/article/book you need to read through. Upload.
Ask unriddle to summarise key points, to re-write it as if you were 7, etc.
This genuinely saved my essays. Suddenly the procrastination of reading my source material was gone. It makes it so much easier to get through dense/boring text and then I wrote everything myself.
Please do not plagiarise, I am only recommending this site to make things easier to read, copying down what it produces is considered plagiarism by my uni, and likely most others.
8. Final Tip
Be kind to yourself.
When I got medicated, my friends were genuinely stressed by how much work I was suddenly doing.
One of them asked me about it, and I realised it didn't feel like I was doing any more than normal. I had always been working this hard, it was just that half the energy going in wasn't being wasted on trying to get myself to focus.
What you put in may not receive the same results as for others, but the reality is that you're likely working harder than they are. The irritating truth is simply that we have to compensate for the different cognitive functioning that neurotypicals get to take for granted
(no hate to the NTs, I'm glad ya'll don't have to think about it, but for someone with ADHD, it can be really tough to realise)
A Final Note:
You are smart. You can do this. We just need to modify the system a little to make it work for us. There is no shame in that, anyone telling you otherwise needs a reality check.
Genuinely though, I've noticed that people telling me I use my ADHD accommodations (required by law) as a 'crutch'.
1. If the world were set up by me, that same person would struggle just as much, if not more.
2. If Rishi Sunak's government is willing to GIVE ME FREE MONEY to access these accommodations, that implies that this genuinely is needed. Not because I think Sunak is intelligent or kind (my own political opinions, please just hear me out), but because there is no way, with the underfunding of the NHS, Public services, etc. that they'd be willing to give me money I don't need to repay if it wasn't a scientific fact that I needed it, and it helped.
Use the inadequacies of the government to your advantage in arguments, make the idiots see how integral our accommodations are. I'd have dropped out of uni by now without them.
For anyone in need of help trying to convince family/friends/teachers/etc. of the struggle with ADHD (or anything else, though I won't have as much experience with it), telling them what you need help with, or any other arguments, send me an ask. I do psychology for my degree, I am used to searching for research papers, and I will help you with the necessary scientific backing for your case.
You are not in this alone <3
Lots of Love!
Coffee + Guitar Strings
@chocolatelandgarden @chaoticstudyprincess
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davekatzdefensesquad · 6 months
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So I reblogged a post that showed Frenchie with his guitar and how it looks like it was whittled by Izzy. I can’t stop thinking about it.
He felt so bad about bringing Blackbeard out who probably tossed out Frenchie’s lute that Izzy started whittling Frenchie an instrument, which would have taken a long time.
Plus he had to get the strings on (we know he wouldn’t have presented it undone) which means he must know how to play, too, in some capacity (or Frenchie taught him, which also makes me feral) so there’s this whole other relationship that we didn’t get to see but we know it had to be there, even if it was only just blossoming.
That’s both cute and incredibly sad.
Or he just bought it?
But I really think Izzy was making up for Blackbeard’s behavior with little gifts for the crew (the shark for Lucius) and since he was probably trying to tell Frenchie more, he just whittles him a whole guitar.
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What if he’s just casually whittling a guitar for his crush right here?
(I imagine he works on several projects at a time like a true adhd kid)
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leadendeath · 5 months
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this is getting notes again, soooo slides this towards u ;3
anyway, on to the original post:
cecil, my shark plushie whom i based my shark sona off of, has a reminder for you
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elevator-to-mars · 3 months
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how i view the choir/my rtc headcanons (it's pretty clear who's my favourite tbh)
ocean
I mainly see her as tiffany tatreau's portrayal
she/her, cis, aroace
doesn't really get the concept of being trans, was only introduced to it when ricky joined the choir
ocd, asthma
2nd shortest in choir, 5'4
has never had a haircut
the only time she got into trouble at school was when she and noel were arguing. she cried until she threw up after that. it was the first day of senior year.
says she's a polyglot but she's nowhere near fluent in the languages she claims to speak
hates theatre :(
texts with proper grammer
listens solely to up with people
noel
i mainly see him as james ragen's portrayal (trinity theatre actor)
he/they/she, nonbinary, gay
jean valjean from les mis was his gay awakening
speaks french
autism, bipolar disorder
unironically says slay, pop off, queen, etc.
instead of saying "who in gods name" he says "who in jean genet's name"
can't cook or spell for the life of him
has ocean saved in his phone as "the lion, the witch, the audacity of this bitch"
types only in lowercase with no punctuation
does ricky’s french homework
5'8
listens to french music and mitski (once ocean walked in on him belting a taylor swift song. that was never spoken about again)
has a crush on mischa. cried when mischa and ricky got together.
he has a boyfriend...! he just... goes to a different school... in a different timezone... in a different country...!
permanent teen angst phase
mischa
i see him as a mix of adam stanley and chaz duffy's portrayals
he/him (doesn't mind they though), trans, bi, poly
dating ricky and talia
has invited noel to the polycule before but they prefer to live in tradgedy
adhd, ptsd
once he forgot how to breathe
learnt spanish for ricky and his family
hates duolingo
polyglot
fluent in multiple types of sign too
when ricky came out as trans (while they were in a relationship with eachother) he posted a video to his youtube talking about trans rights and changed every video with ricky's deadname in it <333
once his "friends" (the people that mischa hangs around with to keep his persona strong but in reality despises them) made fun of ricky, safe to say ricky isn't a very safe candidate to mock for them now
usually types all in uppercase but does relax it sometimes
the human embodiment of a golden retriever around people he likes
listens to maklemore and eminem but is willing to listen to music that talia & ricky like
him, talia and ricky all have promise rings
loves sharks
when talia comes to canada, she agreed to go to a planetarium with ricky and teach him some ukrainian
once he forgot a word in ukrainian and look horrified
6'9
ricky
i see him as yannick-robin eike mirko's portrayal... like only their portrayal... godamn you, autism (although i do have multiple versions of him in my mind)
he/they/it/xe/nameself prns, trans, boyflux, pansexual, poly
dating mischa and talia
autism, adhd, degenerative disease, dyslexia, dyspraxia, dyscalculia, asthma, maladaptive daydreaming
always looses his inhaler
speaks spanish, german and korean as well as three types of sign (and english ofc)
puerto rican
moved to canada at 14
he’s 16 (technically canon)
his parents are really religious
when he learnt what sex was, zolar became his horny place as well as his escape
emoticon user
once ate a bauble because xey were bored
does noel’s spanish homework
used to unironically watch the emoji movie and liked it...
does write music, prefers to keep it a secret because ocean WILL use his music for choir songs
listens to glam rock in general with a few musicals mixed in there
randomly has allergic reactions
paints his nails
knows everyones secrets :)
writes fanfiction
HATES THE TAMBOURINE.
tries to hum along to the music at rehersal
has his text size at the biggest possible one
has glasses, whenever he adjusts them ocean thinks he's trying to correct her
won't eat the school lunches
constantly sleep deprived
does not know how to kiss
5’1
okay i don't want this to entirely be ricky... so lets move on
jane | penny
i see her mainly as em flosi's portrayal
they/it/she, agender, aroace
autism, drdp
carried her doll everywhere
speaks latin
joined choir because her social worker made it
doesn’t really listen to music, but when she does they listens to old music
has their parents old jewlery
spends most of their time in the library
6’2
constance
i mainly see her as princess victomé and tiffany polite's portrayal
she/they, demigirl, pansexual, asexual
depression, social anxiety
had a crush on ricky for a while
haitian
loves to bake
brings brownies, cookies, cakes etc to choir rehersals
brings extra food for kids that don’t have any
usually runs the café on weekends
her brother is called xavier
okay that’s it. this took me >2 hours to write so erm…
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foressfaction · 30 days
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Welcome to my silly blog
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Heya. I’m Toby/Tobias some people can call me Twat I guess. I am fond of the nickname TobyTot too it’s cute. I am an adult and make content here for fandoms. At the moment it’s Creepypasta. I am an artist, writer and cosplayer.
You’ll probably see me post my art, writing and cosplays here. I have other socials too I can list below.
- Tiktok: Foressfaction
- Instagram: foressfactionn/hxtchetsout/t0byb0y
I mainly draw and cosplay mainly from the Slenderverse/Creepypasta universe
I post things like my Toby rewrite, silly little one shot stories of ships or scenarios I am fond of.
I am working on a comic called Dystopia. It’s based on mostly slenderverse
I have an Oc I post here often. Here’s some more on him —> Cross-X info sheet
I am THE Toby enthusiast so expect lots of rambles and art of him. He’s the guy ever.
I’m open for dms and asks if you feel welcome to!
I enjoy the grunge aesthetic and plants, I love many genres of music and art. I do digital art and traditional along with some painting though what I post here will be more digital. I write passionately about my interests and characters. Cats, raccoons and foxes are my current favorite animals. I enjoy orange and green toned things. I like forests and going out into nature when ever I can (and my body let me.) I take photography photos of said forests and trips I take. I enjoy piercings and have a few myself, along with sour flavored things. I absolutely love the smell of lavender and won’t leave the house unless I reak of it (real) I am protective of my friends and partner and will give the world for them. I am a taken lil guy and I love my boyfriend dearly even if we can’t talk much.
I love horror movies, Scream being my favorite franchise, followed closely by Jaws and many many shark films and documentaries. I am a film fanatic and will talk during movie theatres…. I aspire to become a film director and make my own stories and bring them to life via film. I love the ocean and sea creatures. SHARKS. I will ramble about sharks and other interests. I tend to speak a lot on certain topics easily even if it was started over something completely different. I can probably talk for hours on voice calls. I play Genshin sometimes and Roblox mainly at the moment. I own a cat and his name is Mr fuggles and another whose name is Nim Nims. I named them both hop off.
I am neurodivergent and need tone tags, I am diagnosed ADHD and Anxiety disorders so be weary of those things. I am not easily offended or set off unless my friends are hurt. I have (at the moment) undiagnosed Autism. I take that very lightly as again I am not medically recognized due to financial problems but I will state it anyways to let people know it’s a possibility.
My favorite current ships at the moment are (they are links)
-Tack/Ticcijack
- Ticciwork
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Table of contents for my writing and rants (they are links)
Toby Headcanons
Toby Family Headcanons
Friends one shot
Rewrite link on wattpad
Origin of Cross-x on Quotev
Fatal instinct mini fic
Nails mini fic
Unposted headcanons
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marlynnofmany · 1 year
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A Completely Problem-Free Delivery
The city-ship was right where they’d said it would be, all swoopy lines and strange architecture that told me it certainly hadn’t been designed on my home planet. But more concerning were the blast marks and the floating space junk.
“Hang back while we do a couple more scans,” said Captain Sunlight with a stern look on her lizardy face. Since she was in the copilot’s seat today, she hit the buttons and levers and whatever for those scans herself while Wio the pilot dutifully brought us to a stop. The cockpit lights made the blue stripes on Wio’s tentacles shine extra bright, which always reminded me of a blue-ringed octopus.
Wio probably wasn’t venomous. Probably. Someone would have told me if she was, right? At any rate, it wasn’t polite to ask.
I was still pretty new on this courier ship, though finding my feet with respectable speed. And I’d felt confident enough to ask if I could watch our approach from the cockpit. Captain Sunlight had even said yes.
“I count over two dozen military ships,” she told Wio. “They look to be allied with the city, in guard formation.”
“No active kerfuffle, then?” Wio asked, tapping the console idly with one tentacle while wrapping and unwrapping several others around the chair’s central post. She was never still. I wondered if aliens ever had ADHD. Again, not going to ask.
“I think not, but there was clearly recent trouble, and they’re braced for more.” Captain Sunlight looked at the clock. Probably thinking about the shipment we were due to deliver, and whether any delays would mean trouble for us. “Well, we’re hardly any safer out here,” she decided. “Plenty of asteroids in quickflight distance; who knows what raiders could be hiding with scanblockers? Let’s do business quickly, then be gone.”
“In we go,” Wio said with a tentacle flip in place of a nod. She angled the solar sails and manipulated a bunch of other controls I didn’t recognize, and in moments we were zipping toward the city-ship. Specifically toward one outstretched curve shaped like a shark fin. A docking bay opened as we approached. Right next to a blast mark that was worryingly deep.
I spoke up. “Should we wear exo suits during the unloading? Just in case?” I grasped the edge of the barstool-sized passenger seat, feeling like a kid on a car trip with opinions about which detour to take.
But Captain Sunlight was nodding. “Couldn’t hurt,” she said, pressing another button with a yellow-scaled hand. “I’m sure no one will blame us for not trusting the life support systems of this wing right now.”
“Speaking of which,” Wio said as we approached the door, “Looks awfully dark in there.”
“It does.” Captain Sunlight flicked on the high-beams. “Let’s help them out with that.”
The lights showed us a wide enough empty space to land in, among other ships and various storage crates in what looked to me like suspicious disarray. Wio folded the sails early to get them out of the way, and set us down by the door, which closed behind us.
A pair of Waterwills approached calmly enough, with no weapons to be seen anywhere about their gooey bodies. If you picture a circular fridge made of jello, which has been stirred with musty pond water and half a fridge’s worth of solid objects, then you’ve got a Waterwill. I’ve rarely seen more than a couple of them in one place, and I had no idea how they worked. But they were generally polite in my experience. I had one question about this pair.
“Can all Waterwills jump like that?” I asked. The Waterwills bounded across the dock like the goofiest of slow-motion cartoons. Then their speed registered. “Ohh, the gravity here is low, isn’t it?”
“Yes, and it’s not supposed to be,” Sunlight said with a frown. “I hope it’s just this wing. That could cripple a city.” She hit the in-ship intercom. “Exo suits for everybody, and be prepared for low gravity. This is a whole-crew job, as quickly and safely as possible. Go.” With that, she unbuckled and hopped down from the chair, pointing at Wio. “You stay and monitor everything we’ve got sensors for. You go get dressed,” she said to me.
“On it,” I said, standing up from my own chair and hurrying for the door. I was much taller than she was, and it wouldn’t do to loom over the captain. Plus we had urgent work to do.
The rest of the crew were either already at the cargo bay, or on the way there. I stepped over and around the various tails, tentacles, and bug legs of my crewmates to grab the only human-sized exo suit and put it on in the hallway. Not so crowded there.
I could hear the faint sound of Wio’s voice over the external speakers telling the Waterwills that we would open the door in just a moment; patience please. It really was just a moment. This crew had gotten fast at putting their suits on. I should probably practice. I’d just gotten it zipped and sealed when Captain Sunlight did the airlock check.
“Ready!” I called, adding my voice to the rest. It was over-preparedness, since nobody was in the airlock yet, and I was back in the hall anyway, but being over-prepared sounded like a great idea today.
The airlock worked fine. The loading dock had air anyway. The local gravity was low, but usable. Everything was okay. I told myself that as I joined the rest of the delivery crew in wrangling boxes through two different levels of gravity.
“Whoop, that’s awkward,” I muttered at my first step off the ship. Good thing I’d picked a small box to carry, since the step that carried me over the threshold drifted much farther than I’d expected, and I almost tripped. Got it under control, though.
A Waterwill pointed with what passed for an arm, and I did my hop-skipping best to follow the directions for where to put the box. We were making a stack against a wall. Quickly, efficiently, hoppingly, and with the crates all lined up with tidy lines. Good for us.
“Your ship lights are helpful,” said the nearest Waterwill in a bubbly voice. “Our backup lights only show you how much you can’t see, and the main ones have been out dead since the impact. Not like the gravity. That’s been—”
I found for myself how that had been when the gravity suddenly doubled. Good thing I’d already set down my box. I collapsed to my knees, caught off guard, gasping for breath in the exo suit. Thuds and exclamations of pain filled the dock. I stayed on all fours, taking deep breaths and staring at the condensed blob of goo that was an irritated-sounding Waterwill.
Then the gravity released, and everything drifted gently upward. The Waterwill stretched out to normal height like one of those toys with a spring inside. Somebody was swearing loudly. Sounded like Zhee’s glorious exoskeleton didn’t do much for his joints in extreme gravity. Poor guy.
I drifted to the floor again, and realized that the gravity was back on a low setting. We could still upload without swimming through the air. I didn’t relish the idea of trying to wrangle this many boxes in zero G.
But we might have to, I reminded myself as I straightened out sore knees and bounded toward the ship. Here’s hoping the gravity holds steady.
It mostly did. There was a brief stint of normal Earth levels, which was enough to make the Frillian twins stumble where they were team-carrying a heavy crate. I was close by and jumped forward to lend a hand. Together we set it in place, and they both thanked me for the help. I didn’t admit that it was more of an instinct to avoid being crushed. I was totally a helpful mini-hero; yay for me.
But then we were actually done unloading, and Captain Sunlight had signed everything over to the Waterwills, and next came the hard part.
Picking up our next delivery.
It was three large crates, made of purple wood, and each one taller than I was.
“Mur, how many hoversleds do we have right now?” Captain Sunlight asked.
“Only one big enough for those,” Mur said. He draped a blue-black tentacle over his pointy squid head, making his clear exo suit squeak. “A couple of the small ones will probably work in pairs, though.”
Captain Sunlight grimaced inside her helmet: many displeased sharp teeth. “Let’s do it. Everyone be very careful.”
We were. Nobody got any toes or other body parts anywhere near crushing range, and Mur steered the sled into our ship during another patch of standard gravity. That crate was fine. The next one was a disaster and a half.
It was damaged, to start with: a smashed corner that had happened before we arrived. Captain Sunlight made sure to note in the documentation that it hadn’t been our fault, and she got the Waterwills to confirm it. They were reasonably sure that the stuff inside wasn’t damaged, and that the actual owners wouldn’t be upset. These folks were just dock-working intermediaries, not the owners themselves.
With that vote of confidence, we got the movement underway, only to be slammed with enough gravity to completely lose the crate off the sleds. It hit the floor with a boom; the sleds shot off in opposite directions; everyone fell down. Something smashed against the far wall.
“Just a trash can,” said a Waterwill, puddled on the floor. The other one burbled in frustration.
The gravity went light again after that, which was the perfect chance for trash to float through the room, along with a variety of things from the broken corner of the crate.
It was such a mess. The trash was mostly dry, thankfully, though something had spilled inside the crate to make most of what was drifting out damp and green. One of the Waterwills muttered something about it smelling like kombucha. So now we had a bunch of kombucha-scented … cloth? Silks?
Aw man, I thought. That looks expensive. And there were other things too, which could have been paperweights or precious gems or who knew what else. I sure didn’t.
“Blip, Blop, you two shove the broken crate to the side,” Captain Sunlight directed the Frillians. “Let’s get this other one loaded, then assess. Everyone stay close to the floor.”
That seemed like good advice. I grabbed some of the wet silks floating past, and made my way over to stuff them back into their crate, hopping with both feet together and my knees bent, as ready as I could be for the malfunctioning gravity to jerk us around again.
It stayed light for a longer span than I expected, but no one was complaining. Well, not about that, anyway. The silks got stuck on every sharp corner in the room, of which there were many. One clump even lodged above an emergency light. No one was eager to go up that high and grab it.
I looked at Zhee, who was limping past with a pile of mossy-looking cloth that he was trying to keep from snagging on his praying-mantis pincher arms. “Think we should leave that one for somebody to get later? When the gravity works and they have a ladder?”
“Yes,” he said before I’d finished talking. “Not worth the risk.”
An urgent beep nearby turned out to be a communicator that had been hidden somewhere among a Waterwill’s floating bits — gross and not worth thinking about too long — and which proved to be a phone call from the owners of the crates. They were returning to their wing of the city-ship now that the danger was over, and they wanted to check on their belongings.
“Uh yes, see you soon!” the Waterwill said, looking at the phone in a way that said the call had already been ended. “Aw, plasma. Hey, all folks! The ambassadors are on the way! Be on your best behavior, because they are cranky and important. But you didn’t hear that from me.”
“Duty noted,” Captain Sunlight called back. She urged the crew to finish getting the unbroken crate onboard. Gravity was still light, but it could change at any time.
The Waterwill with the phone spun in place, a worried pirouette. One little arm extension pointed at the silk caught on the light. “Do you have any long-reach grabbing tools?” the Waterwill asked Zhee.
“Don’t think so,” Zhee said, “That bit might have to wait.”
But the Waterwill was rapidly becoming an anxious mess, concerned that the ambassadors would pitch a fit about their belongings strewn about the loading dock. It sounded like these were people who could cause trouble for lowly workers who displeased them.
What kind of ambassador acts like that? I wondered. Aren’t they supposed to be tactful all the time? Maybe they’re just rude to The Help. I’ve certainly met that sort of people before.
My thoughts about entitled jerks from home were interrupted by the Waterwill actively trying to recruit someone to climb up the wall and grab the cloth. Zhee refused, Paint said her arms were too short anyway, and everybody else was busy.
I sighed deeply and took stock of the small handholds in the architecture. “I’ll do it,” I said.
Zhee called out, “Try not to break yourself on the job,” but was otherwise no help.
Paint was worried. “The gravity could change again,” she objected, rubbing the fingers of her suit together in a way that normally made her orange scales click. Stress gesture.
“I’ll be fast,” I said. “Can you move one of the spare hoversleds under me, just in case?”
She did, rushing off to grab one while I bounced over carefully and started testing handholds. If the gravity increased to normal while I was climbing, I should be okay, but extreme crush might be a problem. I didn’t want to get my fingers stuck. That was a quick route to a potential amputation, even with the exo suit.
“I’m just going to jump up there,” I announced when Paint brought the sled over. She looked even more worried, but the Waterwill urged me on. The ambassadors would be here soon.
Deep breath time. The cloth was stuck at about twice my height, a green-and-gold filmy bundle drifting lazily on the air currents. Pipes and seams and suchlike made a path below it. I could have moved boxes over here to build a staircase with, but high gravity might put my foot right through one, and anyway there wasn’t time.
I got a running start and tried to sprint toward the wall, though the best I could do was a series of hops with increasing speed. I jumped off the hoversled in a way that was probably against several rules, got a toehold that was just barely big enough, and leapt upward.
I almost missed and drifted back out into open air — my heart rate did not like that — but I managed to grab the silk. Yanked it free, clutched the light with my free hand to pull myself closer to the wall, then rebounded off a pipe on my way floorward.
I touched down on the hoversled just as the gravity increased again. At least the sled bounced a bit when I collapsed onto it, spinning away from where Paint and the Waterwill were laid out on the floor, their hoorays turned into ouches.
This stint of heavy gravity was brief. I rode the sliding hoversled over to the broken crate, waving the silk like a banner. My suit was probably going to stink of kombucha, but that was a small price to pay for victory. “Got it!” I declared.
“Nice,” Mur said, grabbing the silk and hurrying to stuff it back into the hole while everyone else was getting to their feet, or the equivalent. Like the Waterwills, Mur didn’t fall down so much as squish. “That’s the last of — Waugh!” He jumped back as something small and gray scrambled out of the hole and made a mad dash for the boxes.
“That’s a rat!” I said, somewhat stupidly, but maybe it wasn’t as much of a Captain Obvious moment as I’d thought. No one else recognized the animal.
“A what?” Mur demanded.
“Is it dangerous?” Captain Sunlight asked quickly while the rest of the crew shouted about it.
“Not really,” I said, watching in surprise as the furry little beastie found a hiding spot between boxes. “I mean, some do carry diseases. But their teeth are small. Well, not sharp, anyway.”
Nobody liked that answer. Not the captain, worried about danger to the crew; not the Waterwills, worried about what the ambassadors would say; not Paint, hyperventilating in a corner. Blip patted her on the shoulder.
“It’s not that big of a deal,” I insisted. “We’re in exo suits. Let me see if I can catch it before the ambassadors get here. Where’s that trash can?”
Way over by the far wall. I pushed the hoversled like a surfboard for more speed, and zoomed over to grab it in a way that wouldn’t put me in danger of a high-grav faceplant. Wish I’d thought of this sooner. I dumped out the last of the soda cans and whatever, grabbed the lid off the floor, then zipped back the way I had come with the dented trash can in tow.
Now, catching a rat is normally a time-intensive process that involves traps, patience, and bait. We had none of that. But we did have excellent luck, and a patch of normal gravity.
The trash can was squareish, which meant no open spots when laid on the ground with some hastily-retrieved silks crumpled inside to hide among. At my directions, everyone shoved boxes into rows, making a corridor that led to the trash can. Then I flushed the rat out of hiding.
Ooh, it was a quick one. Scuttled right by me in the wrong direction, only to be menaced by Zhee into changing course for the corridor. The rest of the crew (most of them) were lined up behind the boxes to funnel the rat toward the trash can. (Those with soft exo suits that could be bitten through, like Mur, hung back with the Waterwills. And Paint, because she was apparently afraid of rats for some reason. Not judging.)
The rat dove into the silks, just as I’d hoped, but when Blop moved to slam the lid on, it zipped right back out.
Many hands reached for it, but the rat was wily and panicked; it dodged every one and leapt off the captain’s shoulder.
Then the gravity went gloriously light, and that befuddled rat sailed, squeaking, right into my waiting hands. I got it in a no-bitey grip with my thumb under one foreleg and my finger under its chin, cradled the butt with my other hand, and moved it safely into the trash can before the gravity did anything else stupid. Closed the lid, snapped it into place, then sat on it for good measure.
To wild approval.
It was while everyone was cheering and singing my praises that the ambassadors walked in without exo suits. Hopped, really, looking just as cranky as expected. They were human though, and that was a surprise.
A disappointing one.
“What is happening in here? What kind of professionalism is this?” demanded the gray-haired pale guy.
“Who is in charge?” asked the matching woman in tones of deep disapproval.
The Waterwills greeted them with humble apologies, followed by Captain Sunlight with levelheaded patience. Neither made much of a dent in their attitude.
“It’s damaged? And who do we have to blame for that?”
“Clearly someone wasn’t handling it well. Don’t try to blame this on low gravity; that just sounds like an excuse for incompetence to me.”
Nobody had mentioned the rat yet. I picked up the trash can and strolled over.
“What’s this?” asked the woman.
I set it down. The rat inside scrabbled madly at the sides. “You will be pleased to know,” I announced. “That at great risk to life and limb, we have re-captured your pet.”
“Pet?” the woman asked.
“What pet?” the man said sharply.
“Your rat,” I said with false innocence. “Little gray cutie—” I was cut off by a flood of objections. “If it’s not yours, then why was it in your crate? We all saw it jump out, and assumed you would want it back.”
“No we don’t want it back!” the man yelled, getting a bit red in the face.
“Oh, that’s a pity,” I said.
“You’re telling me a rat got in there too?” the woman asked. “After someone here broke it open?”
“Oh no, not at all,” I said, then I wiped the smile from my face. “I’m telling you that your shipment contained a potentially-deadly animal, and if not for the damage sustained by gravity fluctuations due to the city-ship’s recent impacts, we would have been obliged to bring that risk onboard our own ship. Where we do not wear exo suits in our day-to-day lives.”
They had a lot to say, but I went on.
“I’m sure you are upset about the damage done to your shipment, and I agree; that is unfortunate. The rat has probably made quite a nest inside the box. I recommend a biohazard team handle it from this point forward. But any concern for material losses must come second to the very real risk you have introduced to this loading dock, and possibly the city. Where was the crate packed?”
The woman answered my question with a name I’d never heard of while the man objected. “What are you talking about, ‘deadly risk?’” he sputtered. “It’s a rat!”
I adopted a concerned expression. “You are familiar with hantavirus, are you not? Salmonellosis? Rat-Bite Fever? Rodents carry many diseases, and if this isn’t a pet, then it’s anyone’s guess what contagions its bite contains.”
The ambassadors could have been reasonable people, and owned up to the problem, or at least blamed it on who ever had packed the crate. But no, they were jerks who tried to blame it on us.
They stormed out into the hallway, shouting for some sort of officials who had escorted them there, and immediately began trying to spin the situation.
Luckily for us, the officials (human too!) had already had enough of this pair, and easily believed our account of things. Especially once I fished out a chunk of wood with bite marks from the broken crate. I’d glimpsed it earlier when putting away the silks, but I hadn’t thought about what kind of marks those were until now. Sure looked like the rat had been trying to get out before the crate broke.
“Well, how about you pay these nice people,” the lead official suggested, with the faintest smile on her face. “There’s been no harm done, and they’ll want to be on their way delivering your other two crates. Unless we should check those for pests too?”
The ambassadors said of course the other two crates were fine, and since the cameras in our cargo bay had been repaired, Captain Sunlight was willing to allow them onboard under supervision. Assuming the ambassadors signed for potential further damages, on the off chance that another problem animal did show its head during the short trip.
This was even less pleasant for the ambassadors to swallow, but under the polite insistence of the officials, they finally agreed. Grumpily. Then once the form was signed, they flounced off with as much dignity as the low gravity allowed.
Captain Sunlight put a small hand on my arm. “How much of a biohazard should we clean for?” she asked quietly. “I can have Wio get the sanitizing hose for all the exo suits before we board, though it will be messy.”
“It’s probably not that bad,” I murmured back. “Just tell her to bring the medical scanner to check the rat.”
“Got it.”
Wio was out in a flash, and the gravity behaved while the trash can lid was cracked open for the scan. What do you know, the rat was perfectly healthy. Not even any fleas.
The official woman smiled. “Well that’s good news! I wonder if it’s an escaped pet after all.”
“You’re welcome to adopt it,” I said, pushing the can forward a smidge. “Though I will give you all the warnings about handling it without gloves. You don’t want to get bitten, even by a healthy rat.”
“We’ll see if anyone has reported a lost one,” she said. “Then who knows? I might just have somebody in mind who’s always wanted a pet that’s a challenge.” She exchanged looks with the two quiet officials beside her.
“All yours,” I said with a dramatic wave toward the trash can. I looked at the Waterwills. “Should they bring the can back afterward, or will you be getting a new one that’s not dented?”
“New one,” burbled the closer Waterwill. “You can go ahead and recycle that.”
“Well!” said Captain Sunlight with a clap of her gloved hands. “This has all been exciting, but we do have a schedule to at least attempt to keep.”
“Yes, I’m sure,” said the official. “Thank you for handling this mess and catching the rat.”
“All credit goes to Robin here,” Captain Sunlight said with a gesture toward me. “Our resident animal expert and quick-thinker.”
I tried to compose a proper aw-shucks reply, but the official just shook my hand with more thanks. “Robin, is it? Well, we are grateful. What’s your surname?”
“Bennett,” I told her, and she nodded with the kind of look that said she was committing it to memory. That was more of a compliment than the words, really. It’s a fine thing to have people in authority think well of you.
There was another round of general thank-you-goodbyes, then we all trooped back onboard. The city-ship’s gravity was still light, which made the heaviness inside our ship feel foreign. But by the time I got my exo suit off, it was all just about normal. I gave the gloves a wipe-down with some cleaner while the engines rumbled to life. It really did smell like kombucha.
When I left the cargo bay, I met Wio coming to find me. After a moment of “Who’s flying the ship?” (Kavlae was taking a turn), Wio said she had questions.
“Just how common are those diseases you mentioned?” she asked. “Was it actually a big risk?”
“Well, not with the suits,” I said. “And they’re less common than they used to be, but still something to keep in mind with wild rats.”
“Do the wild ones look the same as the domesticated kind? You really can’t tell at a glance if it was a pet?”
“Tame ones are usually a little more delicate, but they’re the same species,” I told her. “We never really bred rats for anything specific, not like we did with dogs.”
“So you just decided that the disease-ridden, bitey little things chewing on your belongings would make perfect pets as-is.”
“Yup, basically!” I said. “Except for the disease. Most of our pets could be described as bitey little troublemakers, but that’s part of their charm.”
She patted my leg with a blue-striped tentacle that probably wasn’t poisonous. “Likewise, I’m sure.”
“Hey now, I haven’t bitten anyone since I was a kid,” I said.
“Oh asteroids, I was joking!”
“Sure you were.”
~~~
The ongoing backstory adventures of Robin Bennett, the spacefaring veterinarian from A Swift Kick to the Thorax. No idea how many I’ll write, but I’m not done yet!
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my-autism-adhd-blog · 10 months
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i have autism and adhd, and have recently been going through what i assume is burnout. i attribute it to work, i work 9-6 five days a week, and it's honestly become exhausting having to constantly mask and present normal.
i'm mainly worried because i haven't had a new special interest in a while. my old ones, present for years, seem almost muted. i haven't had anything to hyperfixate over in such a long time, and the newest special interest i had (sharks) has felt faint almost the entire time. it's awful because i miss the love i felt for these special interests, they were so integral to me and as a result i feel like my sense of self is weaker.
is this normal? and do you have any tips on recovering from autistic burnout? thank you!!
Hi there,
I’m sorry to hear that you’re going through burnout. There’s a Recovery Plan that one of my favorite websites, Neurodivergent Insights, posted. Here are some Infographs. As well as some templates on how to build a recovery plan:
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
The link to this article will be below. I hope you find it helpful.
There’s also another article from Psych Central that gives some tips on Recovery:
How can you recover from autistic burnout?
Autistic burnout may feel confusing and overwhelming, but recovery is possible.
1. Remove obligations
It’s time to get a little ruthless with your schedule and commitments. If something isn’t 100% necessary, take it off your calendar for the near future.
Your new goal is to try to find as much downtime as you can, with fewer extracurriculars, work projects, and social events.
2. Participate in soothing activities
The idea is to participate in more hobbies that you enjoy, or those that promote a sense of relaxation — the things you might normally brush aside in your busy schedule.
You may find it recharging to:
spend time in nature
practice a calming visualization
exercise
draw
listen to music
journal
stretch
sit in silence with someone you love
Sensory interventions
“These can include compression, sitting in a dark closet specially outfitted for sensory bliss (pillows, quiet, dark), favorite smells, or textures,” Bédard says.
Noise-canceling headphones may also help you feel more grounded.
3. If you can’t sleep, rest
Autism can sometimes make sleep a challenge. Even if you’re not feeling tired, try to spend at least 8 hours a night in bed.
During this time, try to avoid watching the news or scrolling on social media. Instead, curl up with one of your favorite books or movies.
4. Practice self-compassion
“Try to be as gentle with yourself as possible,” O’Conner says. “If there are some things you can’t do, or have to say ‘no’ to right now, that’s OK.”
This article will also be below if you’d like to read through it.
Since you like sharks, I’ll also leave an article talking about ten facts about them. :)
I hope this helps you. I’m unemployed, so I don’t have the experience of working or the workplace in general.
Thank you for the inbox. I hope you have a wonderful day/night. ❤️
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