My mind is blank. After working all day, all I want is to scroll through my YouTube Shorts. But then a video crosses my feed,
and all I can hear is the audio. It plays over and over in my tired brain. A small smile spreads grows on my face.
“Get me a pizza with nothin’! Nothin’?” As time goes on, my roommate blocks her ears to stop hearing that vocal stim of mine.
Anytime I need a smile on my face, I think back to the audio that I can still hear in my brain.
How would I remix this audio if I had the chance? I think to myself one day. I can see stars crossing my closed eyelids as my brain searches for connection.
Like a bolt of lightning, an idea flashes through my mind.
As a writer, I have many characters. Dozens upon dozens of figures live in my head. However, I think back to when I read part of one of my short stories aloud. A character I hadn’t intended to be disabled was read as autistic. My thoughts spin as I think more about the communities my characters belong to. Most of them are queer. Almost all of them are disabled or neurodivergent, whether I intended them to be or not.
I grab my pencil and begin scribbling down sketches. The images are easy to create, but the timing is harder. After hours, I smile at the computer, satisfied. It may not be perfect, but it is mine.
This story is based on Animatic joy.
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