swallow the lie

Some people might wonder "how did it take you so long to get diagnosed with autism?"

Well children, when I was tiny, it was a common belief that girls couldn't have autism

But even more damning (and funny) is the fact that my brother had a special interest as soon as he became aware of his surroundings. His first special interest? The yellow lines on the highway. He would open car doors /While On The Highway/ so he could look at them better. He'd scream if he could see them out the window but couldn't open the door for a closer look. My whole family had to buy mini vans so that they could put him in the middle of the back seat so he couldn't look at the damn yellow lines on the highway

So that's what I was competing with

rotp-on-ao3-goofing-blog

The signs were there, it's just that the other guy had air horns on his.

My autism was a standard traffic sign

His was a neon flashing advertisement of the DSM

barely-an-artist

I'm so sorry you lost at autism, bat

He stopped crying and making noises at night ridiculously early on because he didn't want mom to pick him up! I never stood a chance! 😭

jennybystudiokillers-remade-dea

Just want to say that I think about these tags at least once a week. I should change his ringtone to boss music

dmbakura

trish, cavaliere angelo edition

inkskinned

Every day I handle more money than I will ever make. Every day.

At the start of my employment, my boss showed me videos of people stealing, and we both had a chuckle about it. How silly they were! There was a camera overhead, and it’s not to watch the shoppers. See, we can’t actually stop shoplifters. They get away with it maybe nine out of ten times. But we, who are watched and tallied and witnessed? We are always caught.

At first it was hard to hold one hundred dollars bills. An amount I had never seen before. An amount that didn’t exist in my household. It’s normal now. Here is something that is not for me.

“What the hell, I’ll take another,” says the man, pondering our 200 dollar watches. What the hell. Total comes to 580 and not even a flinch in his face. I have been working for 11 hours today and made only 110 dollars. It will go to my rent. Today I work for free, it feels. When I get my check, I will have 35 dollars left for food and saving.

The six hundreds he hands me go into the cash register. For a moment, I imagine having money. Then I put it away, counting out his change.

I know for a fact we sell our products for double what they are worth. That I could be making commission. That they could hand me those 580 dollars and change my life and not even mark the difference in their checkbooks. He’s not the only sale they make today, but I am the reason they made it. He’s not the only one spending 600 dollars, but if I hadn’t spent two hours with him telling me about his life, he wouldn’t have spent any. I go home. I don’t own a watch.

I have watched and rewatched a video on how to make salmon four ways. My shopping list is always the same. Pasta. Rice. Tuna. If I can afford butter it was a good week. I dream of the world I will never walk in, where I can throw the best fish fillet in the cart with a shrug. I hold hundreds in my hand and look up at the camera. I put them under the cash drawer.

I go to work. I scrap together my savings. I eat my bowl of rice slowly. My manager takes a paid week off from work just for his birthday. He owns a yacht.

I’m not worth the cost of a watch.

inkskinned

i wrote this while i was working at orlando’s walt disney world parks.

i was part of their college program. i moved to the state for it. they legally owned the building i was living in and still charged me rent. i ostensibly was being charged to work for them. it was a 2 bedroom apartment and they placed 6 adult women in it in forced triples.

as many as one in ten disney employees have experienced homelessness while working for the company. despite huge efforts to unionize, strike, or otherwise demand fair treatment; disney has refused to increase employee quality of life.

disney admits publicly that a good portion of their success is because the employees (“cast members”) are dedicated, passionate, and selfless. this is never reflected in pay. even “face” characters (ie those that are princesses etc) make barely above a minimum wage.

at the time that i worked there, i made $8.50 an hour. at one point i was asked to create a human shield around a bag because a bomb dog had alerted to it. for eight fucking dollars an hour.

i now work a very cushy office job. i have bought the salmon and cooked it all four ways.

i go to the store. i am nice to the person behind the counter. she looks up at the camera while she counts out my change. there is nothing fundamentally different about her and i.

we are both worth more than the watch, anyway.

myheartflutters

The perfect mug doesn’t exi-...(I FOUND IT HERE)

thepunkysofthepunks

GIMMIE THAT MUG-

aflo

I'm imagining a world where RPGMaker somehow made it as the de facto codebase for software and you have to navigate your banking app by walking around in a huge room full of NPCs named "make deposit" and "make withdrawal" etc and there's loud as fuck stock music playing

aflo

im a guy, i have a mullet, im not butch, its just hair. i fully support everyone in the lgbt community

thank you for sharing your story.

blackpyrefly

thank you solid snake

bunniope

thank you solid snake

thirstythighs

thank you solid snake

m-v-d

thank you solid snake

damazcuz

(Smugly after failing at a task) and they said it could be done.

deramin2

I hope Rian Johnson gets to make as many Benoit Blanc movies as there are Agatha Christie adaptations and more. I hope Daniel Craig gets to play the dapper, enigmatic, theater gay detective Benoit Blanc until he physically can't act anymore. And I hope that role far overshadows playing James Bond for years as his artistic legacy.

Johnson is the first writer in a long time to understand that the the serial detective archetype is a trickster spirit who takes power from the violently corrupt, and gives it to a common person who has passed his tests to prove they're good of heart and would use those resources to improve the world.

Which path should he choose?

The path of the warrior, the path of the scholar, or the path of the artist?

moonimbued

he should wander away and have a picnic while he thinks about what path to choose

Great idea! But where should he have the picnic?

Under the tree, or under the old fort?

acatdisguisedasahuman

By the sea, so he can enjoy the sound of the waves

A lovely choice!

Should he build a sandcastle to pass the time? Or perhaps go fishing?

cynicallyaestetic

Perhaps he could collect shells he finds interesting

Sounds fun!

Which shell should he pick up?

anjing-jam

This one

That's not a shell, it's a tiny earpiece.

Should he listen to music? Or to the mysterious pre-recorded message?

sar-kalu

He should give it back to the crab in the largest shell, they thought they had lost their wave-pod and are grateful he found it!

The crab wants to give a gift in return.

Should he accept the gift of power, or the gift of knowledge?

sunw00d

the gift of friendship :)

Friendship acquired!

Should they celebrate with pizza or ice cream?

valentineish

The crab friend cannot eat either of those! Let's split a nice seaweed salad instead. :)

So many options!

Should they get tossed salad, wiggly salad, or spiky salad?

frescopino

Seasar salad

somethingmissingthiswaycomes

Nothing beats getting it straight from the source

Should they use scissors or claws to cut the seaweed?

What about that sword in the first panel?

The circle is complete.

Through choices, friendship, and salad, he found his way to the path of the warrior. But he won't walk it alone.

Their path is just beginning, but this story is over.

Thank you to everyone who participated!

haltraveler

This is somehow both the epitome and antithesis of "yes, and" and it FASCINATES me

worldheritagepostorganization

"No, and"

World Heritage Post

Finally, the appreciation I deserve.

happy pride

Where is the post for this? I can't seem to find it..

His Path