#//take this with a grain of salt - i've never hyperfixated on her characterization

[adflictus]

🖊 + Niffty

Writing Meme (icon credit)

【🔪】 — Rapid steps echoed throughout the halls followed by the sounds of maniacal laughter. "Come out, come out where ever you are~! I promise I won't bite!!" The grin on her lips was feral. "I'll just rip you into tinier shreds~." The petite demon cackled again, knife in hand as she searched for her slippery quarry that managed to evade her clutches once again. These roaches were becoming wiser it seemed, though she was soon distracted by a familiar red.

"Oh!! Sir!!!" Niffty immediately darted towards him, the unhinged expression from before replaced with one of a more innocent nature. "I made you another crown!! Would you like to see it?"

[majka626]

A few people asked me to explain my standing on the theory "Homura being autistic" so I will try to bring up some significant points.

Of course given the lack of background for Homura's personal life and behavior (esp prior becoming a MG), you can take this with grain of salt, based primarily on my own autistic traits I can relate to hers, but also everything I've studied about autism from other autistic people themselves.

For the start, even the main reason Homura is my favorite character of all media is that for the first time, I found a character who resembles my autistic traits, personality and struggles (social, emotional, health). She made me feel understood even though she's fictional.

Now to the point;

-I'd start with a question I ask myself: What exactly is 'neurotypical' about her?

The girl is clearly dissociated with reality and lives in a completely different world with different rules than other people or girls her age. She's basically a "black sheep" and an outcast who doesn’t fit in. She also isn’t dwelling on the laws and rules (which I also found out to be common among autistic people who live by their own rules and have lack of understanding for social norms).

Here I talk about her social standing. It's usual for autistic people (including myself) to struggle socially, be shy, socially awkward and anxious, avoid socialization, bad at communication, etc. From what we could see about Homura from the start and given the brief informations on the drama CD or games) that I've heard, she has never socialized - even though the main reason was her health condition she's been born with, due to which she spent a lot of time and childhood in a hospital and isolated from other kids (if I remember right, some of the official material has extended her heart issues and hospital stay). It's true we could easily characterize this as an experiences that led to trauma alone than as something to do with autism, if we'd end it just there.

However, that doesn’t change the fact she lacks social skills, even if trauma partially played a part on it. Plus, autistic people are just generaly more prone to develop a trauma and mental issues in situations they weren't emotionally prepared for.

It's easy to see she was/ is completely terrified or discouraged of the idea of socializing and she's really.. not the best at communicating neither. Then there are the particular details in her communication, like being too blunt, in ways that are interpreted as rude.

Not to mention, she tried so many times and ways, yet she never really found the right way to communicate with others about the issues. Until she felt like giving up.

In summary, her social situation is unquestionably heavily "autism coded".

Next point, her famous love for Madoka. While her love is genuine and real, everyone is well aware it's "obsessive". And you know what else it reminds me of? A hyperfixation. Yes, autistic people can hyperfixate on another person too. Loving someone so much that everything else has little to no meaning in life, not being able to separate that person (or thing) from own mind or struggle to stay separated, the lengths she's able to go for her love, when one based their entire existence and purpose around that person because life without them just "isn’t possible", that's a clear symptom of a severe co-dependence and hyperfixation (the main thing I relate with as a traumatized autistic person myself, who simply can not live without a hyperfixation or a person who lawfully takes care of me and nothing else in life can make me happy and content). Then again, I feel like people ignore why has Homura fall in love with Madoka in the first place and narrow it down to just being gay, even though it wasn’t related with a sexual/ romantic attraction from the start. Homura (just like Madoka) is someone with a lot of self-esteem issues and a good deal of trauma before she even became MG. She felt trapped even by her physical condition (afterall, she didn’t know what it's like to live in a healthy body, therefore felt worthless). She didn’t really *feel* understood and respected by others. Until she met Madoka. Feeling Madoka's sincere kindness and consideration to her feelings, then seeing her in a heroic action to save her life, the first feelings she developed towards her were gratitude and admiration. Madoka has became her idol than anything at first. But with given experiences, the admiration has soon evolved into an obsession, eventually a love at the same time.

In my book at least it's a clear hyperfixation, which is another trait common for autism.

I can eventually add every new details each time they come to mind, or if anyone reading this has something to add as an autism trait I forgot, feel free, I'm interested!

For now these are the most explaining examples I could think of off the top of my mind, and of course it's ok to disagree, especially with given context of her immense trauma that can extremely remind of autism because we didn’t know her prior her trauma (I personally think she's always been going through trauma due to her health issues & isolation and never had a happy life, but that's rather subjective and based on the little I've heard and her behavior).