How do you cope with the fact that theres so many films to see books to read music to listen people to befriend and things to see and do and only so much time man I need time to go on pause for a bit
I don't.
No seriously, this has previously been a huge ongoing issue for me.
My advice?
Give up.
I don't mean this in a harsh way, I just mean that its literally impossible in the current attention economy. The broadening of mainstream Media beyond the limitations of 20th Century forms (novels, newspapers, cinemas, Broadcast TV etc.) means there is too much for you to meaningfully consume, especially when you are being manipulated into believing every new release is "must watch" and the internet means you are hugely overexposed to people, places, things and activities that demand your attention.
Try flipping the script. Instead of saying "I'll read 20 books this year" or "I'll paint 50 mini figs this month" or whatever, aim to give up on as many things as possible.
Ignore what you "should" be doing with your free time (excluding important stuff like work, paying bills, exercising, looking after family etc.) and instead try each thing for 20 minutes and it hasn't actively hooked you then just ditch it and move on and if you can't do the thing without spending more money, bounce it to the bottom of the list.
Pretty soon you'll have a roster of things that interest you without costing you and the rate you quit stuff will slow. Sustain this for a year or so and you will have culled your "should" list massively, spent less money, accrued less crappy possessions and re-trained yourself to treat all this stuff as needing to earn your attention rather than an obligation to be met.
Don't get me wrong, there are many things that we should try that are not pleasant but if something you skipped really is a "must do" that is going to improve your life, it will still be around at the end of this period for you to return to. There's nothing wrong with prioritising your own enjoyment now and then if you are on top of the essential stuff.
TLDR: Cut yourself some slack, stop trying to "keep up" and instead make your attention something to be earned.
(Disclaimer: I AM NOT A QUALIFIED THERAPIST, PROFFESIONAL LIFE COACH OR FUNCTIONAL HUMAN BEING. I am a slightly odd stranger on the internet so make sure you treat this advice as accordingly disposable. Or don't. You decide, that's the point!)
Now playing: Overheated (Billie Eilish) Masterlist
Synopsis: Sevika knows you feel every touch like fire scorching across your skin, every emotion like submersion holding your head beneath the waves, and every breath like a heavyweight that refused to quit. It’s safe to say you’re her sensitive little thing, something she treasures deeply within her and hasn’t once thrown away as if you were disposable no matter how your brain was wired. But after a particularly exhausting day where your brain was adamant in not functioning, Sevika’s helps you confide in her to help ease the days exhaustion off of you.
Cw: afab!autistic!reader x Sevika, meltdowns, subtle fluff, angst.
A/N: Happy autism awareness month my loves
Wc: 1.1k
The day had caught up to you like an accident waiting to happen. Every sound, every scrape, every touch only strung your teeth closer together to grind your jaw into an aching pit of pain.
It always started little. Where the rubbing of the tags itched like a sweater dense against your skin, and the harsh glare of fluorescent lights strained your eyes as if dumbbells were attached to the fleshy pouches around them that by the time you got home, your body was jagged into a slow, rhythmic pace where you felt like a whole entire ocean had built itself up inside of you.
You had already hung your coat up by the clawing hooks of the door when footsteps approached your dispirited figure, and your heart softened just a little bit as you recognised it to be Sevika’s.
She was tight. Clean. Controlled. Structure in a day that didn’t go as planned is what you needed right now, which was undeniably her.
“Hey, sweetheart.” Her hair was splayed over the hills of her shoulders, grey eyes swelling like pools of affection reserved only for you. The world always slowed down whenever you met her gaze that was gilded in love, albeit unfortunately for you, your body still couldn’t recognise when it was safe to drop the act you wore like a second skin for the confinements of society.
She knew something was wrong the second you didn’t respond, she always did; like a chorus that just wasn’t hummed right, she caught the unease like a breeze in morning air.
The signs were written all over you; the un-coordinated jerk of your fists clenching where the only sound emitting from you was your fingers scratching red-lines against the loose skin on your thumb, the twitching of your face muscles spasming as you tried to suppress it all, and the luminescent pearls of tears forming at the crevice of your eye.
An impending meltdown was coming, and with the way your body was fighting itself not to show it, you were also trying to mask it which would only add to the foreboding explosion.
Suddenly Sevika’s gaze was like a turret landing on its target, unwavering and pursuing as her feet snapped against the ground
“Hey, speak to me.” Her touch was a grounding force in the bite of venom you felt, the cologne she wore—sharp, musky, all the things that were just Sevika, oozed your mind to calm down even if it was just for a moment.
“‘Ts just too much-” Your voice came out rattled, trembling as you tried to brush her aside to rush to the bathroom where you always seemed to go when your body shook like this.
You found it humiliating, being such a sensitive thing in a world that wasn’t made for a brain like yours. Others thought you were weird—your brain provoking them into nasty-jabs that shed the layers of what they really thought of people like you. Even if you knew Sevika wasn’t like that, it hurt that you were two different people with two different brains that chimed differently and that sometimes, that’s all people ever saw.
You were timorous that she wouldn’t understand, because your neurology decided those who weren’t like you deep down would never understand, no matter how hard they tried.
The bridge was always there, and you couldn’t help but extend it as you tried to push Sevika away during moments like these.
But Sevika didn’t have to understand you fully to love you—she had adjusted everything in her life to make sure your needs were met, and shutting her out wasn’t going to work on her.
Not anymore.
Her metallic arm never hesitated in grasping your wrist, frigid against your skin but she held you so feebly it was almost like she was afraid of adding fire to the fuel that had burnt itself inside your mind.
“Stop.” Her grip was vice-like despite the tenderness, leaving your skin tingling underneath her broad fingers that made your entire being halt.
“Sev-”
“No. Stop shutting me out.” She turned to face you fully, seeing your lips quivering and your blood-shot eyes, wide and vulnerable, peering up at her.
“I can’t…” you whispered, letting out a shaky exhale, your head lolling forward with ignominy creasing your eyebrows together, your eyes shedding tears.
“You can trust me.” Fingers tilting under your jaw, she lifted your head to meet the light fractioned by her body blocking the source of the lamp snug in the corner.
You chewed on your bottom lip, the weight of opening up and showing her a side of you that was unmasked loomed over you like a noose.
It really was that hard, troublesome, even, to overcome societal expectations that had been drilled into you ever since you were young.
Your head shook, and what felt like relief knuckling down onto your body, you crashed against Sevika’s body, tears staining her T-shirt that rose over the curve of her chest.
“Shh, I'm here now. You’re home. It’s okay doll.” Her muscular arms were a home in itself—protectiveness that provided you safety nothing else could give.
Your tears dampened her chest, distant echoes of muffled sobs reverberating back off the walls. You stayed clad in her arms for what felt like a pregnant pause. You tried to quieten the thoughts—but when the thoughts were a rise of nasty spews and aggravating bashes about your brain, suddenly the maelstrom was happening all over again.
“I just-I wish I wasn’t different, you know?” You pulled yourself away from her clasp, glowering down at the floor with your teeth clenched as if fearful of what you might next say.
“Everyone’s different.”
That same excuse. That same tone. That same reasoning. It grew tiring, even if you knew Sevika didn’t know what to say—words that hit right in the chest that never dulled no matter how many times it was said.
“You don’t get it.” You hissed, meeting her grey eyes with a bite of agitation swelling in your tone, accompanying the crack of your earlier-tears clawing at your throat. “Your difference isn’t an issue. Mine is.”
Sevika sighed. A prolonged sound that felt wrapped up in subtle guilt tracing the edges.
“I understand-”
“You don’t understand. You’re…you’re normal. I will never have a brain like yours.” You choked out, words clashing against the strings of Sevika’s heart as she felt her shoulders stiffen like cardboard left frozen over in the streets, abandoned and neglected.
You turned around, fingers wrapping around your hair as you pushed past her barrier of a body, unravelling from her gaze that felt like it could look through concrete if she tried hard enough.
But at the end of the day she knew you were right. Your difference was a scathe in society’s supposed perfection, a wound that never healed no matter how hard anyone pressed to fixed it.
Fellow neurodivergent ppl, does anyone else take like… forever to do one task
I started homework at ONE PM. It is EIGHT PM and I am just now finishing. I have only taken minimal breaks how the fuck did I make a 39 question worksheet take SEVEN HOURS.
I made a video compilation of the Bros being neurodivergent, just for funsies. If I missed any scenes that you think I should include, let me know and maybe I’ll make a part 2 (if I can put together enough clips, so that’s a big maybe).
I myself have ADHD, and I believe Martin is ADHD too, but Chris I’m not so sure about. He still gives neurodivergent vibes but I just can’t pin down exactly what kind of neurodivergent. I could see autistic or OCD or maybe ADHD, or a mix of multiple, but I don’t know. I’d like to hear you guys’ headcanons about that.
(EDIT: I did make a part 2! It’s linked at the bottom!)
💬 0 🔁 0 ❤️ 1 · I made a PART 2 to my video of the Bros being neurodivergent! · It took so long because I kept forgetting about it but I fi
Ok but I HATE when people use overstimulation as a substitute for the word overwhelmed. THEY'RE NOT THE SAME OML.
Overstimulation - your senses overwhelmed or having excessive sensory input. This can be to much noise, smell, touch, taste and sight. This is NOT you having a task that annoys you. This is NOT you having yo get up from your bed and this is NOT somone talking to you while annoyed.
That is overwhelmed. Overwhelmed is mental and physical. Excessive amount of tasks, thoughts or feelings can maks you feel overwhelmed. Overwhelmed often has much less of a reaction that overstimulation.
Overstimulation often has a bigger reaction because it can and most likely will be painful. It is also more likely to be neurodivergent people who experience this more.
This is not to say neurotypcial can't be overstimulated, but they are much less likely to experience this.
Neurodivergent people with sensory issues such as autistic/people with autism or in general sensory issue will be overstimulated much faster and much easier.
STOP USING THE WRONG WORDS FOR THESE THINGS.
The reason it annoys me is because if an autistic person says "I'm getting overstimulated" guess what people are now gonna think??? They're gonna assume its them being overwhelmed, and it will be treated in a way you'd treat someone whos overwhelmed not someone whos overstimulated.
Look words changing meaning can be good, and it happens often, but these words are important for those who actually experienced overstimulation, they won't be taken seriously. This also means there are less words to describe what overstimulation is. Sensory overload is one but I can't think of any others.
But if overstimulated = overwhelmed to people its describing something we have many words for already such as:
Stressy, overstrung, stressed, wired, nervy, emotional, desperate, heated, worked up, wound up, beside themself, on edge.
All these words can easily describe the feeling this is overwhelmed.
Though they can *help* describe overstimulation but don't actually get close enough to accurately do so.
In case you're wondering, it is that deep, it will always be that deep.
