Elerious

ALT A comic with several panels about ADHD and shame. First panel, Kiki struggles holding a ton of items, while her peers only hold single sheets of papers. “I Spend so much time trying to fit in, hiding how forgetful and chaotic I am, but also pretending my struggles are like everyone else's." Second panel, Kiki’s mother is pointing at her. “I’ve faced so much rejection and trouble for thing I didn’t even know were wrong, just for being myself, that it feels like I have to hide who I am.” Third panel, Kiki is taking off a wig, revealing she is an alien “but what I’m hiding isn’t that I’m an alien, what I’m hiding is all the shame I carry.” Kiki is holding her stomach in pain.

ALT A series of Kikis with text. “Shame that I couldn’t fit a shower into my daily tasks. Shame when I can’t let people inside because it’s never clean. Shame when I cry being overwhelmed by paperwork again. Shame when I’m the only one late again. Shame for every white lie I tell because I can’t take one more rejection despite being so burnt out.” Kiki’s face is hidden in shadow as she says “of course I change my bedsheets once a week.”

ALT “I’ve used shame as a weapon against myself as a punishment to force myself to learn.” Kiki scolds herself in the mirror. “How well has that been working for you? Are you on time now? More organized?” The Kiki in the mirror is revealed to be a child version of herself. “Why am I never good enough? If I just stopped being like this, people would like me.” Kiki hugs the child version of herself. “You have been brave long enough. You’ve been scolded enough, what you - I would have needed was to be seen. You’re not alone anymore, we will find a way. Together.”

ALT Small kiki is pulling the adult Kiki by the hand through their apartment. “Don’t punish emotions,pay attention to them. Missing a shower isn’t failure, it’s a sign, a clue. Ask what’s missing, not what’s wrong with you.” Kiki is standing behind her child self, holding her shoulders in support. “It’s not fair that I never got to feel like I am okay the way I am, that no one say how much I struggled and took all the pain away. Look at everything you’ve been through. It makes sense that you’re the way you are. Let’s try our best. Not to get it right for others, but to finally get to know how WE do things.” “At the very least, I can have my own back.”