How Heartstopper ripped apart my heart

If you don’t know what Heartstopper is, I have the unfortunate news that this article will not help you figure that out. Except for this one paragraph summary– Heartstopper: the Netflix show based on Alice Oseman’s graphic novels, featuring Nick and Charlie’s budding romance in a British boys school, and an ensemble cast of theirContinue reading “How Heartstopper ripped apart my heart”

When the company’s like family

Company Incorporated, Co. treats its employees just like family! Your sweet sister is everyone’s favorite receptionist; she smiles at the people when they come in, then loses herself in her phone for the workday. “Never a complaint out of her,” the boss praises, “I don’t know what she does, but she sure does it well!”Continue reading “When the company’s like family”

Some random Autism Spectrum stuff

Autism Spectrum Disorder–or, when you experience challenges in multiple (or all) of these areas, and a whole bunch of others that aren’t included here. Autism Spectrum Circle/Wheel/Chart thing–a great graphic for explaining complex neurodiversity Autistic individuals present traits to varying degrees in many categories. For example, if your senses are easily overloaded, you might sayContinue reading “Some random Autism Spectrum stuff”

big bad butterfly effect

Sometimes I fear causing change in the world–because what if me randomly commenting on, say, someone’s shoes has a lot of negative, unintended consequences? See: the butterfly effect. A butterfly flapping wings in Peru might cause a tornado in Texas. A tiny change now might cause massive impacts in the future. Unintended consequences stress meContinue reading “big bad butterfly effect”

Literally, directions don’t do diddly

Ways autistic traits impact my daily life #6 A pretty common trait among autistic people is understanding phrases at literal, face value. For example: “laughing my head off” or “stick in the mud.” Autistic people also tend to follow directions super literally, so “could you put the clean towels away in the bathroom?” results inContinue reading “Literally, directions don’t do diddly”

When you look at this picture, what do you see?

Let’s have fun thinking about our own thoughts, shall we? When you see this image, what pops out to you first? I’ll explain my thought process when I first saw this image: the first thing I picked up on was a letter H. Then lots of letter H’s in rows, and a column. Then IContinue reading “When you look at this picture, what do you see?”

don’t you know, we can’t handle this?

Timestamp 4:45 is when this song gets real. Not that it wasn’t real before, that’s not what I mean. This whole song is real. But when it really gets real, it…you know what, wow, look at that super fancy lighting in the thumbnail, let’s just listen to the song, shall we? We’re in SPOILER territoryContinue reading “don’t you know, we can’t handle this?”

Mirror, mirror, rippling water/a majorly revised opening scene

This is from my story Graveyard of Lullabies. I’m comparing Recent revisions vs. the original chapter 1 posted to my blog a year ago. *** Today is the day I bleed aquamarine. The blue-green liquid soaks into my fuzzy pillow, spreading like melted ice. I blink at it. It is a nice pillow. But first:Continue reading “Mirror, mirror, rippling water/a majorly revised opening scene”

follow me to the ends of paradise

Drink until you are full, until you are glutted. Eat all the fruits from the trees, beside the pools so deep. Welcome to my paradise, strangers, take all the water you need; in the orchards and shade you may feed. Are you happy now? Will you follow me to the ends of the earth, sinceContinue reading “follow me to the ends of paradise”

What I count on

Ways autistic traits impact my daily life #3 Sometimes I excessively count things. We’ll get to that in a moment. but first, some background Usually, excessive counting is associated with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). For example, obsessing over making pictures on the fridge perfectly symmetrical, or feeling compelled to count candies. But it also fallsContinue reading “What I count on”