#just so i'd be allowed to wear earbuds or headphones or something

[lee-blogs]

Feeling very overstimulated today-

everything's way too loud and i have to work laterrrrr, i wish i was allowed to wear earbuds or something :[

[cptsdstudyblr]

How to Accommodate Yourself in an Office Environment

If you have mental or physical health issues and work in an office like me, you may not want to disclose your health issues for personal reasons. That doesn't mean there are no accommodations you can use - just that you aren't formally requesting them. Below are some examples:

(1) Take your lunch break. I mean it.

If you work in an office, you almost certainly get a lunch break and you are entitled to take it. If you're not sure, it doesn't hurt to confirm with your manager before you start taking your lunch break.

First of all, taking care of yourself is important and is essentially the point of a lunch break. You should always be eating a real lunch and staying hydrated, and taking an actual lunch break helps immensely with this.

It's also a chance to step away from work, people, etc. It gives you and your brain a break and you can add your choice of (reasonable) activity to help with this. I like to watch TikToks during my lunch break because they're quite brainless, but I know some people prefer to stimulate their brain with something non-work related like reading a book. If you don't want to talk to people, make sure you have headphones on even if you aren't listening to anything.

In most offices, you are allowed to leave for lunch. A lot of people go somewhere to buy lunch and eat there, but you can also pack a lunch and eat it elsewhere. I work a couple of blocks from my city's main park, so I often walk down there and eat outside. This is a wonderful reset for me at lunch.

I find that eating lunch doesn't usually take me my whole hour-long break, so I often will get up and do something else after I eat. I love to take a short walk or run a small errand like going to the post office. My building also has a gym, and I know that some of my coworkers opt to go their at lunchtime.

If your office is like me and a lot of people choose not to take their lunch break, it's still okay to take it. I've had great success telling people something like "I find that around lunchtime my brain gets a little fuzzy, and I really need the break to replenish so I can be at my most productive all afternoon" or even just "I find eating lunch a bit distracting and I'd rather be fully focused while I'm working."

(2) Use headphones as a tool.

At nearly every office, earbud-style headphones are allowed and are widely used. Again, if you're not sure, ask your manager.

You don't have to listen to music. You could listen to anything - white noise, podcasts, audiobooks, meditations, etc. You could even listen to nothing if you just want to dull the sound and keep people from talking to you.

If you struggle with the office noise, invest in good-quality, comfortable, noise-cancelling earbuds. If you use them every day, it's worth the cost.

If you want to wear over-ear headphones, I would recommend asking your manager first. Let them know that you find them more conducive to your working environment and wanted to see if they were okay with you using them. These aren't standardly used in office environments, but you may be able to use them if your manager allows you to.

Good quality over-ear headphones can work a lot like ear defenders, but without looking like ear defenders. But again, ask your manager first!

Note: You don't have to tell your manager details when you ask them stuff - you can be vague and just let them know it would make it easier for you to get your work done. For example, if you want to wear over-ear headphones, you could let them know that you like working in silence and haven't found any earbuds that block enough noise for you. Reasonable managers should not take issue with reasonable requests, even if they ultimately deny them.

(3) Your systems are for you. They are meant to accommodate you.

You do not have to use the same systems as your coworkers. You can set up your organisational systems and processes to work for and accommodate you and how you work.

Don't feel pressured to use a system that other people use if it doesn't work for you. You can always say "I've actually tried that and it just didn't work for me. I'm glad it works for you, though!"

A few notes here: (1) Anything you use should be understandable by someone else if necessary, even if they find it a bit odd. (2) Anything you share with other people should be set up as a team or in a standard way. (3) Don't break procedures to do this - work within the bounds of your company's existing setup.

(4) Bathroom breaks are your friend.

In an office setting, people are unlikely to be paying attention to your bathroom breaks. If you feel overwhelmed or ill or just need a minute, go to the bathroom. It's a place to be alone and take a moment to gather yourself.

Try not to be overly excessive with bathroom breaks (so you don't get in trouble), but you can always use an upset stomach as an excuse once in a while if needed.

(5) Minor headaches can be an excuse.

Most people get minor headaches every now and then for simple reasons such as dehydration or a too-tight hairstyle. As long as you don't have a "headache" so often that you will get yourself in trouble, they're a reasonable excuse for when you're really struggling and can't hide it. For example:

Brain fog or dissociating - sorry, my head hurts and it's making it really hard to focus.

Some other pain - it's still pain, just elsewhere.

And other similar excuses.

Depending on your office environment, you may also be able to use a headache as an excuse to go get some fresh air if you're desperate.

(6) If you get sick days, you are allowed to use them.

(7) Most people have some sort of quirks or issues - and so do you.

"Sorry, I'm a little weird about [thing]. Do you mind if [other thing]?" goes a long way towards getting what you need. An easy example is "Sorry, I'm a little weird with hugs. Do you mind if we shake hands instead? Thanks!"

Also, even people without illnesses experience things sometimes. For example, if something makes you anxious, just let people know you're nervous in the situation. "Sorry, I'm just a little nervous right now." or "Sorry, I'm not a good public speaker." goes a long way. Or if you have a GI condition, it's okay to let people know you have "a sensitive stomach" - some of them will probably understand and it's a normal enough thing to not come off strange. One of my favourites is "Apologies, I'm a bit overwhelmed at the moment. Give me a few seconds to collect my thoughts, and I'll get right back to you."

(8) If you have a trusted friend/coworker, confide in them.

You don't have to tell them everything, but it's good to have someone on your side and who will check in with you if needed. My best work friend will also back me up on requests like over-ear headphones by pointing out that she would love the option as well, even if she doesn't actually care.

(9) Take note of what days/times are worse for you and schedule easier tasks during those times if possible.

(10) Learn to politely ask for clarification.

This is a fine line - a lot of people really don't like being asked for clarification. A best practice to avoid pissing people off is to put the blame for needing clarification on you.

For example:

"Apologies, let me make sure I heard you correctly. [Repeat back what you think they said]."

"Sorry, my brain's not working well today! Do you mind repeating that so I can make sure I got it?"

"Sorry, I didn't quite catch that. What was that last part?"

All in all, many accommodations are things you can do for yourself or without disclosing a diagnosis, especially if you have a good manager. Please also take care not to misrepresent yourself as having a disability you don't have. Take care of yourself and set yourself up for success! 🖤

[madmaryholiday]

Uh-oh girlies (gender neutral), this might be one of those "don't leave me alone with my thoughts" kind of nights.

I can't quite pin down the source of the feeling, but I just feel gross and sad.

I'm hydrated, I ate a protein-packed dinner, I showered, I've brushed my teeth, and I'm not in noticeably more pain than usual. I think I have most of the physiological side of things covered.

Maybe it's work stress? A supervisor who theoretically will be out of a job soon thanks to management's "restructuring" admonished me for talking to a coworker for too long right after I started my shift today. "You can't be doing that" and "when you clock in you should be ready to work" and the enigmatic "that's why these changes are happening."

I was extremely offended by what I read as the implication that I was slacking off, because I am a goddamn professional, but I was also just bewildered by the sudden comments.

I asked the coworker I'd been talking to if the supervisor had talked to her, too, and she said he hadn't, which just made me MORE confused. You'd think he would want to follow up with the other half of the too-long conversation, right?

But later, I remembered that when the supervisor came up to me, he opened with a comment about my "earbuds."

For reference, we're not allowed to wear headphones on the warehouse floor for safety reasons. People still do sometimes, and it's something I do actually want management to crack down on because, well, safety.

But I was wearing reusable ear plugs, NOT earbuds, and I popped one out to show him.

And THAT was when he said I'd been talking to my coworker for too long.

Which leads me to believe that, upon realizing he couldn't bust me for a significant infraction, he decided to redirect his desire to reprimand me to something harder to defend against.

Which is gross, and not something I had previously expected him to do, but the whole vibe of the interaction was so fucking weird that i don't know how else to explain it.

It also threw me off for the rest of the day, so....

Yeah, I think I figured out why I feel so off tonight. I know I need to get better at not taking shit personally, but that specific "you are not working hard enough" implication really fucks me up. I do my goddamn best every goddamn day, and I pride myself on the quality of my work. (Tbh I work way harder than management deserves, but I honestly just can't turn off my inner quality control.)

Idk, man. Work is still a shitshow, though I do finally know who I'm supposed to report to now. And like Everything Else, it's making it harder to deal with any given thing.

At least I have therapy tomorrow, I guess.

[overgrownbat]

Thank you for the tag @sneepseverus!

~ 💖 ASK GAME 💖 ~

What’s set as your phone’s lockscreen?

An astrology wheel with lunar phases. It spins and is very pretty to look at.

Cheese or chocolate?

Chocolate.

Do you have any nicknames?

Just a shortening of my name: Brit.

Last song you listened to?

I'm almost never not listening to music, I'm currently listening to "All We Ever Wanted" by Bauhaus.

Have you ever written fanfiction?

Nah, I think I made an attempt in high school but I scrapped it pretty quickly. Creative writing isn't a strength of mine. I admire it in others.

Are you on Discord?

Yup.

Do you have any piercings?

Two on each ear. I'll get more at some point.

What do you think says the most about a person?

How they speak about another person when they're not in the room.

If you were a cookie, what kind would you be?

Wow this question made my brain shutdown. Cookies as in biscuits or specifically the round ones? I'm going to assume all biscuits.

I'm a Salted Caramel Tim Tam because you are what you eat and I devour those.

Are you more of a dog person or a cat person?

Dog — I warmed up to cats due to my friends all owning them and then I became allergic. 💀

Headphones or earbuds?

Earbuds but I've recently obtained a pair of headphones to wear at work so people don't think I'm ignoring them when they walk up to me and I'm listening to music.

I've discovered that people are oblivious and will continue trying to talk to you anyway — headphones be damned.

What’s the last thing you said out loud?

I can't remember the exact words but I'm pretty sure I swore at some point this morning as I slept in and needed to get to work.

What’s a weird fact that you know?

Not weird, but the fact that Autistic people are easily overwhelmed when presented with too many choices comes to mind when I see questions like this.

It's me. I'm the overwhelmed Austistic person.

Are you a morning person or a night owl?

Night owl but my 9-5 job doesn't allow for me to reach my full potential and I spend most of my days exhausted.

Favorite place to nap?

I don't nap. I can't wake up from one without feeling horribly disoriented and nauseated. I also make a point of only sleeping in my bed. My sleep hygiene is poor, I work on it where I can.

Are you a member of the LGBTQIA+ community?

As an ally. I suppose I'm Demisexual but my sexuality as a whole isn't something I think about too often.

Describe yourself in three words.

Independent, honest, intelligent.

Sarcastic.

Jeans or sweatpants?

Jeans.

What’s your go-to drink order?

My order varies depending on the location. I'll just give my top three most frequent orders:

Creme brulee chiller from Gloria Jean's.

Caramel latte from any other cafe.

Strawberry black tea with lychee jelly or popping pearls from Chatime.

A color you can’t stand?

Orange and anything fluroescent. Essentially, if you look like a set of highlighters it's a no from me. 😂

What’s your most prized possession?

Oh goodness me. I'd not be happy to lose most of my possessions but I suppose my car. It's my first big ticket item and I'm proud and grateful to have been able to afford it.

Coffee or tea?

An ungodly amount of tea that I fear is slowly changing my DNA.

Favorite extinct animal?

I've never thought about it. My favourite dinosaur as a child was a triceratops, so let's go with that.

How long have you been on Tumblr?

Um, at least a decade. This blog is young though, think I made it in December last year or maybe January this year?

Desert island item?

Anything that causes immediate death. I'm a buzzkill for these scenarios. My desire to survive in a world deprived of my comfort items is not that strong.

Describe your aesthetic.

Whatever aesthetic fits in Doc Martens, black jeans and band shirts. Leather jackets preferred but not required.

I don't follow fashion trends or aesthetics, I like what I like.

What’s your dream job?

I don't have one. My dream is not have a job and somehow have the resources to travel and accomplish other goals.

Relationship status?

Single — and will be like that for a very long time. I love my peace too much and hate sharing my space.

Describe your favorite outfit.

Ummm. For what occasion? The clothes I'm normally in is a loose t-shirt with either a pair of leggings or shorts depending on the temperature. Essentially, clothes that I don't feel. I wouldn't wear that outside to most places though.

Is there a song you know all the lyrics to?

Too many to list.

What color is your hair?

Brown.

Do you talk to yourself?

Sometimes it's the only way to maintain intelligent conversation.

Do you wear makeup?

Just BB cream.

Best compliment you ever received?

This is just recency bias but as I can't think of any right now.... One of my senior leaders complimented my assessment writing about three times in succession just over a week ago. I felt a bit chuffed.

Open tags for anyone who wants to do this. 😊

[the-invisible-queer]

36-40 for the obscure ask meme?

36. Do you have any impulsive movements? (Ticks, twitches, flapping, etc)

I had an eye twitch that I picked from my college roommate that only happens now when I'm really stressed out

It's not a movement but when I feel a surge of energy I make sounds as a way to release it. And I will do it in public if I need to because it especially helps when I'm anxious.

37. What do you listen to music on?

Currently Spotify on my phone for convenience. My parents have the family premium plan and allow me on it. I do have some songs saved as MP3s on my phone that aren't on Spotify.

I have a record/CD player and tons of vinyls and CDs but I allowed a bitch to borrow it and she lost the fucking remote and it won't fucking turn on without the remote so I can't use it.

Somewhere I have a portable CD player that I used in middle school. Had an iPad shuffle ages ago and used my dad's iPod classic for a minute

Also had an mp3 player in 2006

38. Are you left-brained or right-brained?

According to a test I just took because I had no idea, I have a near harmony of both sides of my brain I guess - might take a different one later

0 is left, 100 is right according to their results explanation

I scored a 46

39. Earbuds or headphones?

OKAY! So I have an ear deformity on my right ear that I THOUGHT was to blame for me never being unable to wear earbuds comfortably. They'd never stay in my ears so I'd have to wrap the wire around my ear and have them dangle or hold them in my ear.

So as soon as I could choose my own I stick to headphones - plus the sounds is louder

TURNS OUT my ears are too fucking small for normal earbuds. My family never believed me about why I hated earbuds until New Year's my brother had me try our his new Raycons and they didn't fucking fit

But I also have issues with my ears - hearing loss, numerous ear infections, etc - so it's better not to put things in my ears

So headphones are my go to plus my current pair of headphones is like my security blanket. I never leave home without them

40. Do you like light blankets or heavy blankets?

Heavy! I can't sleep without the feeling if something covering me

For the past 3 years I've been sleeping with a weighted blanket my parents git me fir my anxiety and to sleep better and then 2 years ago they got me a heating blanket and I mostly sleep with those throughout the year

UNLESS it's too hot then I just sleep with the weighted blanket even if I'm dying in heat

[bloodypinata]

Headphones vs earbuds? Or both? Visual aids requested if I’m allowed ❤️

Ok this is really hard. I love both and it depends on the situation. I've used so many different pairs of each. I've had lots of Sennheiser earbuds and headphones, Skullcandy ones, Monster cable headphones, the original Beats by Dre, Sony, Philips, Panasonic, Logitech. I would often go from earbuds to headphones when buying new because the other had something I wanted. So now I use both!

My current headphones are the Sony 1000XM3.

I bought them because I was getting really overstimulated at work. There were people in my office that would be very loud on calls at their desk and I found it unbearable. I think the sound quality is good and they feel nice on my head. Not very squeezing or heavy. Nowadays I used them wired and without the power (noise cancelling and amplification) on since I work from home in my quiet room. I take these on airplanes and public transport and they're great for blocking out the world. I used to wear these when I'd go shopping and walking but I started feeling really self conscious about them, since they're visible. I don't wear them when I'm cooking or things that require me to lean forward too much because they have a tenancy to tip forward and feel like they would fall off.

For earbuds, I've a pretty inexpensive pair of wireless earbuds from a pretty no name brand called TOZO. They're the TOZO G1 Gaming earpuds. They don't make them anymore.

I take these if I'm going out anywhere by myself so I can block out the world. They're light weight and comfortable (once I realised I had to twist/angle them when I insert them). They sounds pretty good for how cheap they are. They have a low latency mode that uses more battery, and it actually sounds better than the "just on" mode, BUT the little green bars pulse the whole time and it's obnoxious and attention grabbing so I NEVER use it when I'm out. I used these when I'm cooking or cleaning and they're great.

[nerdfighterwhatevernumbers]

i’m glad the last couple days work has been letting me focus on cleaning just one aisle- I still sweep through every aisle and pick up stuff that doesn’t belong there, but for a long time they’d have like 4 aisles listed for me to focus on in one shift and i can’t get nearly as much done with that

[stickswrites]

Keiko Aizawa: Origin “Her Shadows” (Chapter One)

It was the first day of classes at UA and I was less nervous than I probably should have been. I hadn't met anyone new from my class yet and I wasn't sure how well we would get along, not that I cared too much about making friends, but it's nice to get along with heroes you could work with in the future. You see, I got into the prestigious UA High School on recommendation from a few different pro heroes.

Allow me to back up for you. My name is Keiko Aizawa and I am a part of the 80% of the population that has a unique ability called a quirk. Mine is known as shadow manipulation and it does exactly as the name suggests, plus a few other things. I've been using it for years, training and pushing my limits so that I could be like my dad, the pro hero Eraserhead. He's not my biological dad, but he's more of a father than my real one. My biological parents are a story for another time.

Like I said, it was my first day of classes and the first day I would meet the rest of my classmates. I had to drag my ass out of bed at the crack of dawn in order to get to school on time and do my morning routine of going for a run and working out. I'm not exactly a gym rat because my social anxiety would actually manifest and kick my ass for making me go out in public to train, so Dad and I made a small at-home gym and training room so that we could both train, occasionally inviting my best friend over. I guess you could say my personality fits my quirk. I'm like a shadow in a room and lots of people don't notice me, which is fine by me. I don't want to be a pro hero like All Might, although I do respect him (who doesn't). I'd much rather be a hero like Dad, who stays out of the public eye as much as possible.

After I got out of bed, I walked sluggishly out of my room, petting my cat, Yuzuki, who was laying at the foot of my bed. I opened the door to the hallway and walked to the kitchen, where I figured Dad would already be waiting. Sure enough, there he was, sitting at the table and looking like he was half asleep, which he probably was. If you didn't know any better, you'd think that Dad and I were related by more than a name. We acted extremely similar and I even looked kind of like him after spending 8 years with him.

"Good morning," he said lazily, bringing his coffee to his mouth and taking a sip.

"If it was a good morning, I'd still be asleep," I retorted.

Dad snorted into his coffee as soon as I said that, but he composed himself again very quickly. I went about the kitchen looking for something to eat but didn't find anything. Guess we'll have to go grocery shopping sometime soon. I thought to myself. Instead, I poured myself a cup of coffee and grabbed a bag of chips that were definitely not meant to be eaten as breakfast. I was about to sit down across from Dad to eat when our two long-haired cats started circling around me and meowing, signaling that they were ready for their breakfast. Sighing, I set my breakfast down and poured their food into the designated bowls on the ground. I grabbed my breakfast again and sat down across from Dad.

"Are you still not going to tell me who my teacher is?" I asked for the millionth time since I found out I was accepted into UA.

"No," he responded. "You'll figure it out later today. Besides, you already know the majority of the teachers there."

"I know," I pouted while tossing a chip into my mouth. "But still, what's the point of having a dad who is a teacher at the school I'm attending, but not being able to know in advance who my teacher will be?"

"Maybe I should have just kept my job a secret then," he mused with a small smile on his face.

"Maybe you should have," I responded with a smile.

The rest of our breakfast was eaten with very few words exchanged. That's just how Dad and I were though. We didn't use a lot of words, so we showed our love with our actions instead. That's why he got me Yuzuki when I was eight years old. I had been bullied at school for my quirk and my eyes, which were obviously things I could control, and Dad happened to find Yuzuki, who shared a unique eye color with me, at a shelter. After that, I'd been bullied a few more times because of the scars I had on my face. There was an x-shaped one under my left eye and a vertical scar on the right side of my lips. The kids in my classes always found them unnerving. It was after those incidents that he finally pulled me out of public school and homeschooled me instead, which led to me hanging out around UA facilities a lot and meeting almost all of the teachers and faculty there.

"Are you ready for today?" Dad asked, pulling me out of my thoughts.

"I will be after I go for a run," I responded with a smile. "I don't want to get lazy just because I was accepted into the UA Hero Course. Also, Mako is coming over to go on my run with me this morning."

"Good idea," Dad said with a smile.

Mako, or Makoto Saeki, has been my best friend since Dad adopted me. He got accepted into U.A. through recommendations like I did. What he didn't know was that Dad was the one to recommend him. Makoto has an amazing quirk called 'buffer'. It basically allows him to create gravitational plates that he can use to walk on walls, ceilings, air, etc. We've trained with my dad for as long as I can remember and are practically siblings at this point. For the majority of our childhood, we've been over at one of our houses. His parents were both pro heroes, but they'd been killed in action by a pair of villains. So his grandmother, who owns UNERI CO., bought the house that was right next to ours for Makoto and his little sister, Ichika. They had a nanny, Shiore, over at the house, so Makoto was able to come over a lot to hang out with someone his own age. So it was only natural that we became as close as we did and that we began working out together when we decided to apply to U.A. At least three times a week we would go on a morning run together before our days really got started. Today was one of those days. I glanced at the microwave clock to see that I still had half an hour before I was supposed to meet him in front of the tree that stood between our houses.

As soon as I finished my "breakfast", I went to my room to grab my pill bottle and take my medicine, noting that I would have to ask Recovery Girl for a refill in a day or two. Then I changed into some sweats and a muscle tank top before pulling my dark purple hair back into a ponytail and pinning my bangs back so that they were no longer in my face. As I reached down to tie my sneakers' laces, I scratched Yuzuki's chin as he tried to force himself under my hands. Finally being able to tie my shoes with the cat on my feet, I stood up and stretched a bit. I grabbed my phone, earbuds, and the armband I put my phone in when I ran and walked out of my room. I passed by the kitchen as I put my armband on and put my phone in it.

"I'm heading out now, Dad!" I called into the house as I bent down to pet Hana, Dad's cat, one more time before I left.

"Be safe!" he called back. "Tell Makoto I say 'hello'!"

With a promise that I would, I walked out the door and closed it behind me, making sure neither of the cats escaped. I took a deep breath of the crisp morning air before walking to the tree Mako and I always met in front of and saw that he wasn't there. I checked the time just to see if I was early or if he was late, but was disappointed when I saw I was a few minutes early.

"Damn," I said quietly. "Now I don't have anything I can hold over him."

While waiting for Mako, I took the time to plug my headphones into my phone and find a song I wanted to listen to when we would start running. The few minutes passed quickly and Mako was right on time. His messy, deep maroon hair catching the morning light like his eyes. One of the things the two of us had bonded over was our eyes. They didn't look the same, but we'd both been bullied for them in the past. While my eyes had a kaleidoscope of blues and purples, Mako had heterochromia. His right eye was bright orange and his left eye was an equally bright red.

"Hey, Koko!" he said cheerfully, a bright smile on his face as he pulled an earbud out of his ear.

"Hey, Mako," I responded with a smile. "How are you doing this morning?"

"I'm doing alright," he said with a small pout appearing on his face. "Although, my orange shirt was still wet from the wash, so I had to wear my yellow one."

"Oh don't pout," I said with a small laugh. "Yellow suits you just fine."

"You're just poking fun at me because you were able to find your purple tank top today," he retorted.

"Whatever," I said while putting an earbud in, knowing it was true. "Are you ready to head out?"

"You bet," he responded, clicking shuffle on his music."Normal route?"

"You know it," I said with a large smile as I clicked play on my music and put the other earbud in.

The two of us made our way on our usual jogging route. As usual, we didn't talk about anything while running, but that may have also been because we were both anxious about what U.A. could bring for us. Within a half-hour, we got back to our houses and said our goodbyes so that we could do our separate morning routines. I walked back into my house, not breathing super heavily because I was used to the run, but my face was still somewhat flushed with exertion.

"You back already?" Dad asked from the kitchen sink, washing his coffee mug. "That was pretty quick."

"Guess Mako and I both have some nerves then," I responded, pulling my earbuds out of my ears and wrapping the cord for storage. "After all, we are starting the Hero Course today."

Dad hummed in agreement as I went back to my room to do some stretching before showering. As soon as I walked in, Yuzuki greeted me from my bed with a meow.

"Good to see you too," I mumbled while scratching under his chin, causing a purr to come from his throat.

Glancing at my alarm clock, I realized that I only had another half an hour before I had to leave with Dad to get to the school. Sighing, I stopped petting Yuzuki and began stretching. Afterward, I quickly showered and got changed into my school uniform. Pulling my mostly dry hair back into a half-up ponytail, I looked at myself in the mirror and gave myself a silent pep talk. I wrapped the hair tie around one last time before letting my hands fall back to my sides. I nodded at myself as I fixed my bangs a little bit, satisfied with my appearance, and walked back into my room from the adjoined bathroom. I walked over to my bed and grabbed my backpack and made sure it had all of the school materials I would need. After seeing I had all of my stuff, I slung my bag onto my back and gripped the strap.

"Kiki, you ready?" I heard Dad call from the front door.

"Yeah!" I responded. "I'm coming!" I turned back to my bed and bent down to give Yuzuki, who was still laying on my bed in "loaf mode", a kiss on the head, which he shoved into my face as an attempt to get attention faster. "Goodness, you're so needy," I mumbled, standing back up straight.

I pet his head one more time before walking out of my room and to the front of the house, where Dad was waiting with his hero gear on. When I got over to him, he didn't open the front door right away, but instead straightened my tie, which I had spent 10 minutes on to try to make it look presentable but apparently failed to do so. After he fixed it, I gave him a grin that he responded to with a wide smile of his own.

"Let's go," he said, pulling the front door open.

We both walked out of the house and to the car in the driveway. Makoto, with his hair styled this time and his school uniform on, walked out of his house at the same time and came over to the car.

"Hey, Mr. Aizawa!" He greeted cheerfully. "Thanks for agreeing to take me to school! Shiore wasn't sure what she was gonna do with Ichika if she drove me. She gets carsick, you know."

"It's no problem at all, Makoto," Dad responded. "I'm happy to help out. And please, as long as we're not at school, just call me Shota."

Makoto and I were two of the only people Dad ever let his strict and uncaring facade down around. With me, he never even bothered to try to keep his facade up but he tried to keep it up with Makoto around. He gave up on that too though after we'd seen him cry while watching the Lion King with us when we were kids.

"Alright," Dad started. "Hop in the car and let's get going, you two."

Mako and I nodded and both got in the backseat of the car. The car ride was pretty quiet, but that was also normal for us. It wasn't an uncomfortable silence like one might expect, but to someone outside of us three, it might appear to be so.

The car ride wasn't very long, maybe a half-hour or so, but it felt longer as I thought of all the possibilities of today. Soon enough, Dad pulled into the staff parking lot of the school, by the back of the building, and parked. As he turned the car off, Mako and I grabbed our bags and stepped out of the car, taking the time to stretch our legs before stepping toward the building. Right before we walked into UA High School, Dad stopped us.

"I'm proud of you," he said. "Both of you. You're exceptional young people and I'm sure you'll be some of the best students this school has ever seen."

I swear both Mako and I started tearing up as we practically threw ourselves into Dad's arms, hugging him tightly. I squeezed his waist tightly as I felt the tears start to overflow. Dad wrapped his arms around the two of us and we stayed like that for a few more seconds before Mako and I released him.

"We'll make you proud, Dad," I responded, wiping the tears from my eyes.

Mako nodded vigorously as he wiped his eyes as well. Dad let out a small chuckle and placed a hand on top of my head.

"Both of you already have," he responded with a smile.

Mako and I turned to each other with wide smiles before turning back to Dad, who put his hands in his pockets. Without another word, he gave us another smile and walked in through the door we'd opened, kissing the top of my head as he passed by.

"He's the kind of hero I want to be when I graduate," Makoto said.

"Same here," I replied with a small smile. "He does it for the right reasons and not for the fame."

"It is strange that not many heroes choose to be humble," Makoto told me with a newfound determined glint in his eyes. "I'll be one of them."

I nodded in agreement and we finally walked into the building, looking at the place that would be our path to becoming the heroes we longed to be. We stopped in the middle of the empty hallway.

"Ready or not?" I asked with a small smile, holding my fist out to Makoto.

"Here we come," he responded with a grin, bumping his fist with mine.

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A/N

Hey everyone! This is my first MHA story and I'm super excited to share it with you. A few things, unless it is otherwise specified, all artwork is done by me. I don't claim to own any of the My Hero Academia characters or plotlines. Those all belong to the creators. I do, however, own Keiko Aizawa as well as her parents. My friend owns Makoto and his family, including Shiore and Ichika. He has given me permission to use him in this story. The picture at the top of this chapter is what Keiko looks like! On the left is her everyday clothing and the right is her hero suit. Anyway, I'm super excited for you all to read this story that I've spent so much time on!

-Sticks

Word Count: 3007 words

[firstofficerkim]

ADHDer here as well, basically saying the same thing:

Melatonin: no effect. Also, caffeine doesn't do ANYTHING to me.

Cannabis: it can put me down in high quantity but I don't get anything resembling Good Quality sleep from it.

Digital White Noises: also a no go. If I'm going to sleep, I'd rather have silence.

Eye mask: I'm too aware of the physical sensation on my face.

Earbuds: I can only wear bone-conduction headphones because the physical sensation of earbuds makes me want to die lol

Reading: Yeah, I just stay awake reading.

After 31 years of this BS, here's what I have learned:

My body has a homeostasis it likes to keep. [Nothing allowed to touch face], [Ears are not supposed to be plugged/blocked], [Noise means it's not safe to sleep], [Information must be processed, even if you are exhausted]

The face thing is so bad that just the wind blowing my hair into my face spikes my anxiety/frustration. I have to scrunch up my face and grit my teeth to wash it off in the shower because the sensation of water on my face does the same thing.

The most consistent way I've found to sleep well is to try and hold a super tight sleep schedule so my body acclimates to "ah, this is the time we do this." Even then, I often lie in bed awake for 15-30 minutes. And if anything wakes me up, I can't get back to sleep.

I think it all has to do with the way ADHD affects mental processes. My body learns to automate tasks so well and so quickly that it responds to sensations by activating those processes it automated. "We heard a noise, time to eak out a little awake juice so we can listen and respond." or "There's something touching you, let's activate a scoche of adrenaline so you have the speed to swat it away"

This is all just unprofessional analysis.

Anyone else with ADHD: what if anything helps you sleep? Tips from non ADHD people unfortunately won't help , medications that work on a regular brain typically have no effect on ours or exclusively make us more awake : (

[thinkaboutrunning]

Things I can't run without

I know, running is supposed to be the most basic of all exercises, except maybe walking. We should be able to run without any additional gear, even without special clothing. And if we must do it that way, we certainly can. But, it's so much more fun and so much more pleasant when we arm ourselves with available gadgets and gizmos. I've tried many and kept only a few I can't run without, sort of. From run trackers to podcast players, here's what I use.

I started "au naturel" wearing my ancient sports shorts from high school (I was lucky they made them so stretchy that I could fit in) and sneakers I bought for walking. They were comfortable and felt great. Sneakers were already moulded by my feet. Those were simple, chafing and blister-free runs.

The more serious I became about it, though, the more I started reading online and offline about things advertised as "essential" to improve my running. To tell the truth, I was mostly interested in finding a way to measure the distance I ran. Those were the days just before GPS became omnipresent. Sometimes I drove the route I was going to run to measure the distance on the car's odometer; on one occasion I even talked a friend into following me in a car. He avoids me ever since.

I turned to the internet, bought a Nike+ pedometer, put it on my shoes and paired it with my iPod. It was inaccurate, for sure — for example a marathon I ran with it was measured as a 45 kms run, full 3 kms longer than actual distance — but it was ingenious when it comes to motivation and goal-setting. Now I could set the weekly, monthly and other goals in distance and time. And, it had a feature I miss ever since - a "Power Song". I could pre-program my own pick-me-up tune and then play it whenever I want or need it during the run by pressing and holding iPod's menu button.

If you promise not to laugh at my taste in music, I'll tell you the song that carried me through the heavy-legged final stages of quite a few marathons and half-marathons; it was Christina Aguilera's "Candyman". Other than catchy melody and cheerful vibe, it also had the perfect beat-per-minute rhythm to which I could match my stride and get some badly needed speed. When I evolved to more sophisticated distance trackers, I lost that Power Song feature and miss it ever since!

I already outed myself as the non-purist runner. (The purists being runners who don't listen to anything other than the sounds of their surroundings and their own breathing.) Yes, I run with headphones, and am not apologizing for it. Nowadays, my phone is my tracking device and a few "essential" apps keep track of my runs and make them more enjoyable. Before I bare my running soul and sole in front of you, I want you to know that I'm kind of an old geek. I like to experiment and try new things all the time, sometimes to my own detriment. One can't know if something's really good until he tries it, right? So, here are my running essentials.

A GPS-capable smartphone is a must. I have an old-ish iPhone 8 which still tracks my distance quite well.

Comfortable headphones. My ears are large — I know, I'm not proud of them and didn't ask for them, but there they are. Most of the earbuds and other fancy small earphones won't stay in my ears. They wiggle and slide out after a few running steps. So, I'm looking for headphones that hook in place in some way. Trust me, running with an earbud that needs to be tucked back in every few steps can ruin your mood run! The current ones I have is the simplest of simple sets of Panasonic wired sport headphones with plastic hook over the ear. What I look for in headphones? I want them light, with some sort of hooking solution either over ears or around the head. Waterproof, or at least water-resistant is preferable. Because, no amount of sweat or rain can stop us, right? Bluetooth wireless are great, but tend to be heavier due to the battery they need to function, which makes them fall outta my ears easier. Also, some bluetooth headphones have connection problems, even though my phone is in my waist-belt less than a meter down from my ears. Further, I prefer earphones which sit outside my ear canal, thus allowing me to hear the sound of my surroundings. It's always useful to hear the car approaching. I know it spoils the sound quality, but ask yourself do you really need a studio-quality sound while running on the road?

I've seen people running with fancy over-the-ear noise-cancelling headphones — I'd love me a pair of those for when I'm on an airplane, but there are two problems I have with them in running situation: they tend to be hot and make me sweat even more; they make me unaware of the traffic and things approaching me outside my field of vision.

My favourite run-tracking app is iSmoothrun. It has more data of my run than I really need, but hey — better too much than not enough, right? It tracks the mileage on my shoes, too. It has easily programmable intervals with great audio feedback. And it syncs with many running community and tracking sites, from Strava to RunKeeper and many in between.

Running community site I use is RunKeeper. It's neither better nor worse than the others. I have used it since 2010, all my running data since then is there and even though I tried Strava and many others, I haven't found a compelling reason to switch, yet. RunKeeper is owned by ASICS, which sort of guarantees they'll be around for a while. But really, it's the matter of preference. I can only suggest that, when you find the site that works for you, stick with it and keep all your data in one place.

One more essential app or site is a weather app. I'm currently running in Europe and use two weather mobile websites which, between them, give me the most accurate hourly forecast: Yahoo weather and Norwegian YR. In North America I trusted The Weather Network the most. Whichever app you choose, I suggest check if it offers the wind speed data per hour. Also "feels like" feature for temperature, whether it's the humidex factor (humidity index) or windchill (in the winter) is very helpful when you need to decide what to wear for the run. All the sites I mentioned above have it.

When it comes to on-run entertainment, there is your music app, whether it's the streaming one (Apple Music, Spotify) or just music playing one. I can't help you much with it, as I'm using Apple Music because it's pre-installed and all my music is there.

Then, there's a podcasts app. Podcasts are radio on demand on any topic you can think of and many you never thought of. They are great way to break the monotony of a long run. My "weapon" of choice is Overcast.

Finally, for the book-loving runners among us, there's an audiobooks app of your choice. On Apple's platforms Apple Books app (former iBooks) doubles as an e-book reader and an audiobook player. Personally, I'm a big reader, but find the audiobooks not affordable, especially at my reading pace of 3-5 books a month. I tried Audible too, it gives one book a month within the subscription, the rest costs extra. Too much for my pocket!

Then I found the solution! There's an iOS app (I'm certain there's something similar for Android too) called Epub Reader. It not only lets me read ebooks, but it also reads it to me. There is selections of voices to choose from and some of them sound almost human. When a book is so good I can't put it down for a run, I listen to it in the same app, while running. My version of the app takes only epub formatted ebooks, but there are plenty free online book conversion sites to help if your book is in a different format. You can try ToEpub, or just search for "free epub converter online".

There you go — these are the gizmos that made my runs enjoyable for years. What are yours? Also, if you have any question, just ask!