#Also not that this is the worst sensory wise but special shout out to the people who when you say I can't hear you clearly

[theeverdream]

if you do not have sensory processing issues and you are a person who has made my personal life harder because of my sensory issues (so like not anybody here) I FUCKING HATE YOU SO MUCH

[neurodivergent-loverboy]

A while ago I said "Barry Bluejeans autistic" and then never followed up but I'm going to now!!

- This isn't exclusive to autism but it is a common comorbidity and I think we can all agree that Barry has anxiety right? Like Griffin just straight-up said that he's always nervous (with a small measure of hyperbole, but still)

- Anyway despite having a lot of anxiety and general social awkwardness I think he's definitely an extrovert! It's just that for him being around other people doesn't necessarily mean being the center of attention or the life of the party. I think he's a lot more comfortable with small groups that he knows very well (so basically the Starblaster fam)

- When people first meet Barry they think he's shy because he's quiet bordering on silent, but when he gets to know someone? He's very talkative. Catch him infodumping about magiscience for an hour

- Ooh about talking? His spooky scary lich speeches were definitely pre-scripted, which is why they flow so well. Usually in the moment he's a lot more rambly. I could see him really taking comfort in the idea of putting on a role to deal with the strange, upsetting situation he found himself in

- ALSO about talking (and again, this isn't just an autism thing but it's definitely common) @umbraastaff writes Barry with a stammer and I fell in love with that concept immediately, so. That's part of this headcanon web now too

- I could see him having a hard time verbalizing emotions?? Idk why it just makes sense to me. He tries to talk about how he's feeling and the words won't happen, or they don't make much sense. His family members usually get it though cause they've had lots of practice interpreting his stumbling explanations

- You know what, tbh I think his trouble with identifying emotions is at the point of alexithymia

- His volume control is Shit!! Occasionally he'll get loud without realizing it when he's excited/upset but more often, he's too quiet and has to be reminded to speak up. It's not an expression of sadness, it's just hard for him to intentionally project (it's also partially a sensory thing, he feels like he's shouting when he speaks at a normal volume)

- The exception to the above, of course, is when he's Acting Like A Lich because you always have to project in theatre and you know exactly how loud you need to be, generally speaking

- Oh btw Barry Bluejeans? Hyperlexic. He learned to read when he was like three but no one knew for a while because he wouldn't talk until he was four, at which point he started just speaking in full sentences unprompted

- He also speaks a lot of languages and I think that was one of his earlier special interests, before he got super into magiscience

- Why Does He Wear Bluejeans All the Time? onlookers wonder. I Just Think They're Neat, Barry responds elusively, which really means "tight pants are the worst sensory-wise, so baggy jeans became the default - also wearing the same kind of clothes every day is a very comforting routine"

- He likes swimming in a cold lake on a hot day because the intense temperature change feels good and stimmy!! He also chews ice because nice and cold and crunchy

- When it gets to be fall he stomps on all of the crunchy leaves they sound and feel so nice ! But he hates squishy noises a lot, crunch is where it's at

- He spins/paces in circles and also clicks his tongue a lot when he's thinking (He also does the thinking out loud thing, because what the fuck is a consistent internal monologue? Tbh his voice-recording coin was helpful to Future Barry but also to Present Barry who's trying to process thoughts and tasks and such)

- One of his calm-down stims for things that are mildly upsetting is snapping his fingers next to his ears. When he's very upset by something snapping doesn't quite cut it so he slowly shakes his head/rocks instead

- He likes to be upside down (he probably also likes fantasy roller coasters a lot)! It just feels good! Just the right amount of disorienting!

- While he can get tossed around like a sack of potatoes and not be the slightest bit nauseated, a single bite of food that's the wrong texture has him gagging

- He eats mostly crunchy food because fuck slimy and mushy food, and he also tends to eat very bland food because he's quite sensitive to flavor

- When he's nervous he bites his nails, chews on his fingers, and/or cracks his knuckles a lot

- Shbsjsbjdndjd this is kind of dark but what if... ajabsibsisbdidbdif what if he made the Animus Bell a bell because he has a thing for bells, he likes to collect them and ring them because it's stimmy. Not after Wonderland!! Sorry Bluejeans, ruined that one for you lmao

- Can we get some more happy stims up in here? Yes? Sticking with the vestibular stimming, I think when he's happy or excited he likes to spin fast!! Or he'll shake his head back and forth really fast!

- When he's really comfortable with someone and knows he doesn't have to worry about social expectations around them, he does happy squeaks !!!!

Aaaaaaah this got so long I just love talking about characters being ND skbsksks