#Tactile Sensory Tools

[stimboardboy]

paw print worry stones

[pamperbutch]

gonna make a sensory bag for self regulation on the go !!! v excited

[neurodiverse-adulthood]

Nourishing with a Low Appetite: Secondary Edition

Inspired by low appetite & a lifelong complicated relationship with nourishment.

Sufficiently nourishing is critical to wellness and functioning. It can be hindered by disordered thoughts & habits, brain-body disconnect, and low appetite. This list is meant to help with nourishment and weight care!

~Most~ of these ideas are subtle cues coaxing you to eat more, cited with empirical backing. [ Warning: studies approach subjects with weight loss, restrictive eating, diet culture, & anti-fat perspectives. ] > I am not a professional-- just a struggling ND adult trying to put their Bachelor degree in psychology to good use!

x x x x x x x x x

♠ ♠ ♠

↖️ Top left: Food-scented lip balm

What-- Use lip balm with a tasty scent Why-- Olfactory food cues -> eating more Bonus-- Hydrate lips, prevent skin-picking

⬆️ Top middle: Noise-cancelling headphones

What-- Play music through headphones while eating Why-- Music -> eating more Bonus-- Eliminates auditory sensitivities

↗️ Top right: Social eating

What-- Eat with a party of trusted people Why-- Eating with a group -> eating more

⬅️ Middle left: Chewelry

What-- Chew a piece of chewelry Why-- Orosensory stimulation -> eating more Bonus if food-shaped-- Food imagery -> eating more

🫵 Middle middle: Honey sticks

What-- Flavored honey in a thin, plastic tube Why-- Easy, portable shot of sustenance

➡️ Middle right: Fun utensils

What-- Eat with cute, decorated utensils of your liking Why-- Eating enjoyment -> eating more

↙️ Bottom left: Cooking shows

What-- Watch cooking and food shows Why-- Watching TV -> eating more + food imagery -> eating more Bonus-- Learn culinary skills

⬇️ Bottom middle: Larger plate

What-- Eat from larger plates Why-- Using larger kitchenware -> eating more

↘️ Bottom right: Food stickers

What-- Surround yourself with food imagery Why-- Food imagery -> eating more

See also-- upcoming tummy and digestive care posts, low appetite primary edition

[cutrateconjuration]

Oh damn I used to have one of these but I didn't know what it was called! Earmarked!

(Also so funny I was diagnosed as autistic as an adult. Me unwittingly buying figit toys as a teen haha)

Alright, I’m gonna keep blazin’ 🔥 these videos as long as you all continue to enjoy them! 😊 In this one, I make a really unique custom customer request!

Winner of last weekends giveaway by random pick is….*drumroll*…. @adrawrable !!! Please dm me for a special code to claim your FREE Meraki Sphere! :)

👇🏼👇🏼👇🏼👇🏼👇🏼

Shop Etsy: www.merakisphere.store // www.etsy.com/listing/876245515 (Everything restocked!)

My Website: www.merakisphere.com

Wire Fidget Meraki Sphere Specifications

Wire Type: Tarnish Resistant Brass // Arch wire length: 9cm // Circle wire length: 25cm // Bead size: 8-10mm // Time: 45min // Skill Level: 3.8/5

Once again! Giving this + a new sticker away to One 1 ☝🏼 random commenter! Let me know what you think, and tell me your favourite colour/style of beads! 😊

Thank you for supporting my small gig, and for taking the time to browse my work. ❤️

[decoartspacefinds]

Excited to share the latest addition to my #etsy shop: Busy cube for Toddlers: Keep Little Hands Busy and Happy, Fine Motor Skills Cube Engaging Play for Growing Toddlers, Discovery Cube https://etsy.me/43uRn4Y

[flappyhappystim]

Our Ice Pack Chewth Picks have re-stocked!

This is a great pack if you aren't sure what strength of the other chewthpicks to order since it contains one of each!

Ark's Chewth Pick® is a charming chewable "toothpick" tool designed specifically for teenagers and adults as a discreet way to chew.  These toothpicks for chewing are slim and slender, with bumps on one side and ribs on the other side for lots of tactile sensory input. 

FlappyHappy is run by autistics. We are a small Canadian business. Please consider boosting this post for us or telling your friends about us!

[jasmi-n]

Neuroscience in Manifestation: Creating Reality

The human brain is a complex machine that interprets electrical and chemical signals to create our perception of the world. All stimuli we receive—visual, auditory, tactile—are processed by the brain, which converts them into a coherent experience. This process is so sophisticated that we often forget that we are not experiencing the world directly but rather an interpretation created by our brain.

EEGs: Mapping Brain Activity - Electroencephalography (EEG) is a tool that measures the brain's electrical activity through electrodes placed on the scalp. EEG reveals different brain wave patterns associated with various mental states. When we are focused, relaxed, or stressed, the patterns of brain waves change. These patterns can indicate how our thoughts and intentions are influencing our experience.

Alpha Waves: Associated with relaxation and creativity. When we are immersed in positive thoughts and visualizing our intentions, alpha waves may predominate, suggesting a productive mental state for manifestation.

Beta Waves: Linked to concentration and active thinking. When we are focused on our goals, increased beta waves can reflect a mental state geared toward achievement.

Associative Networks (ANs) - the brain are complex systems of neurons that work together to process and integrate sensory, cognitive, and emotional information. They are crucial for forming associations between different stimuli and experiences, allowing us to create memories, learn, and adapt our behavior. A critical aspect of ANs is the Reticular Activating System (RAS), which plays a central role in modulating our attention and perception of reality.

Reticular Activating System (RAS) - The RAS is a network of neurons located in the brainstem, responsible for filtering the sensory information we receive at every moment and determining which of it is relevant for our conscious attention. It acts as a "filter" that decides which stimuli we should focus on and which we can ignore, based on our expectations, interests, and past experiences.

How the RAS Influences Perception of Reality? When we focus our attention on a particular subject or goal, the RAS adjusts our perception to highlight information and stimuli related to that focus. This mechanism explains why, when we are interested in something specific, we start to notice more frequently related things in our environment. This phenomenon is known as "confirmation bias" and is a direct manifestation of how ANs function.

For example, if you are thinking about buying a new car and have a specific model in mind, you are likely to start noticing that car model everywhere. Your RAS is actively filtering sensory information to prioritize stimuli that match your current interest.

Neuroplasticity - One of the most fascinating aspects of the brain is its plasticity—the ability to reorganize and form new neural connections throughout life. Studies show that our thoughts and experiences can literally reshape the brain's structure. For example, regularly practicing meditation can increase the gray matter density in areas associated with self-awareness and emotional regulation.

This plasticity suggests that by changing our thought patterns, we can alter how our brain perceives and interacts with the world, thus influencing our subjective reality. When we intentionally focus on something, we are strengthening the neural connections associated with that focus, which in turn increases the likelihood of perceiving and remembering relevant information.

Effect of Attention on Manifesting Reality - Focused attention can, therefore, shape our experience of reality in several ways:

Information Filtering: The RAS filters sensory information to highlight relevant stimuli, making us more aware of opportunities and resources that support our goals.

Strengthening Neural Connections: Repetition of focused thoughts and visualizations strengthens neural connections, increasing the likelihood of perceiving and acting in alignment with our interests.

Confirmation Bias: Our brain seeks to confirm our expectations and beliefs, making it more likely that we notice and remember events that align with them.

Associative Networks (ANs), especially through the Reticular Activating System (RAS), play a fundamental role in how we perceive and interact with the world. By focusing our attention on specific goals and interests, we can train our brain to highlight relevant information and shape our reality according to our desires and intentions. By understanding and applying these neuroscientific principles, we can enhance our ability to manifest the reality we desire.

References:

Moruzzi, G., & Magoun, H. W. (1949). Brain stem reticular formation and activation of the EEG. Electroencephalography and Clinical Neurophysiology.

Fredrickson, B. L. (2001). The role of positive emotions in positive psychology: The broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions. American Psychologist.

Lazar, S. W., et al. (2005). Meditation experience is associated with increased cortical thickness. NeuroReport.

[reality-detective]

To the Cabal & Those Of Baal Worship

Do you want to know a secret?

- Remember the good ole days when someone had to be wired to gather information for a sting operation?

- Remember how someone would be searched before they entered a high security area for secret meetings you didn't want recorded on record?

- Remember when you could ensure that if someone would speak of what went on you had a way to get rid of them?

I want you to think of a hypothetical technology for second. Let's call it "Bio-Sensory Neural Interface" or "Energetic Biofield Interface" (EBI)

What can this technology achieve?

• The Bio-Sensory Neural Interface (BSNI) technology represents intelligence-gathering methodologies. It leverages the interaction between advanced computational systems and the human energetic biofield to facilitate seamless, real-time communication and data acquisition from human sensory experiences.

• Utilizes sophisticated sensors to interact with the human biofield, capturing and interpreting electromagnetic signals naturally emitted by the body.

• Enables non-invasive interfacing, ensuring the integrity and operational security of the actor.

Real-Time Sensory Data Transmission:

• Converts sensory input (visual, auditory, olfactory, and tactile) into digital data streams, allowing remote operators to experience the actor's environment firsthand.

• Acts as a live sensory transceiver, making the human body a dynamic tool for intelligence collection.

Cognitive Communication:

• Facilitates direct, silent communication between the operator and the actor through thought transmission, eliminating the need for spoken words or physical devices.

• Supports bidirectional communication, enabling strategic planning and real-time adjustments through inner dialogue.

What does this basically mean in more mundane terms?

This basically eliminates the need for physical implants or external devices, reducing the risk of detection and enhancing the safety of the operative in sensitive environments. Which means you could never detect any infiltration apparatus. You could never know who is working for the good guys.

This is one reason why your plans never pan out. This is why you can never quite nail down why something didn't go as planned. This is why you can never trace or track how certain info was shared to those who were never invited to your secret clandestine meetings.

You think because you hold them while a major celebrity is performing in town that the powerful political figures attending would fly under the radar because everyone is distracted with Taylor Swift? You are some funny guys.

BSNI technology is ideally suited for intelligence operations requiring high levels of discretion and security. Its applications extend to military intelligence, covert operations, and high-stakes negotiations where traditional intelligence methods may be impractical or too intrusive. And please avoid trying to look up this technology. This is not what it is called.

This is Mind-to-Mind technology. You all have been caught with your pants down. And now you are way too far behind to catch up to how this could have possibly been used against you. Now you are scrambling. Trying to wonder how you have had to resort to outright assassination attempts. Something that wasn't on the cards before you 1st tried years ago.

Oh' well. You lose. Off to G¡tmo you go. Pain-(☠️) is in your future.

- Julian Assange

[gallifreyinstituteforlearning]

Anatomy of a Dalek

A Dalek is primarily made from Dalekanium and polycarbide and is technically a cyborg. To understand how a Dalek is created, see How Do Daleks Become Daleks?

Some Daleks will have variations on the below, but these aspects of a Dalek's anatomy are broadly applicable to most.

The Dome (aka dome section, head section, head dome) is attached to the neck via a docking clamp.

Eyestalk (aka eyepiece, eye antenna, tele-eye, eye-stick, optical stalk, sensory antenna, eyeball unit). The eyestalk is attached to the dome via a lens attachment, sitting on a pivot in a cowl. The eye itself is known as an eyelens. The eyestalk is covered in multiple insulator discs to protect it from radiation.

Luminosity dischargers (aka headlamp, radiation valve, dome light, vocaliser light, sound disc). It's not quite known how or why the luminosity dischargers sync up with Dalek speech, but they could be energy compensators, translation units, safety valves to release excess energy, or just lights to indicate when a Dalek's speaking.

Neck (aka grating section, upper grating section). Attached to the weapons platform via another docking clamp, or 'catch'.

Neck rings support the neck grille.

Neck grille (aka audio receptor grill, sensor grille, sensor mesh, sensor grid louvres) cover the mutant Dalek within.

Weapons Platform (aka shoulder platform, shoulder section).

Slats (aka solar power collection slats, solar slats, solar cells, shoulder slats, armour slats, sensor plates) are effectively solar panels that absorb energy to power the Dalek.

Gunstick (aka radiation gun, gun-rod, ray-gun, exterminator, blast-gun, energy gun, Dalek neutraliser, neutraliser, beam distributor, Dalek beam gun, Dalek gun, ruby ray blaster). Sits on a balljoint, controlled by armament circuits. Can be set to non-lethal, causing temporary paralysis, but maximum settings can split atoms apart. Some Daleks deliberately reduce the power of their gunstick so that the beam burns away the central nervous system outside inwards, so victims die within 2-3 seconds in complete agony.

Manipulator arm (aka tactile arm, arm-stick). Usually sits on a balljoint. Attachments can be swapped out for various tools depending on the needs of the Dalek. Some attachments include the plunger, flamethrower, seismic detector, electrode unit, sieve, syringe, blow torch, cutting tool, another gunstick, or a claw, or basically anything they need.

Base Unit (aka travel unit). Contains the motive unit, the elevation unit, and thrusters.

Sense spheres (aka sensor globes, sensor arrays, bumps) can do pretty much whatever you want them to, including detecting emissions, monitoring the surrounding environment, and acting as self-destruct mechanisms. They can also function as sockets for cables and wires, and some say the sensor globes are capable of free flight, allowing them to provide remote battlefield intelligence.

Bumper (aka fender). Possibly containing proximal alert systems to detect other Daleks, but more likely just softening collisions.

Gallifreyan Dalek Biology for Tuesday by GIL

More content ... →📫Got a question? | 📚Complete list of Q+A and factoids →😆Jokes |🩻Biology |🗨️Language |🕰️Throwbacks |🤓Facts →🫀Gallifreyan Anatomy and Physiology Guide (pending) →⚕️Gallifreyan Emergency Medicine Guides →📝Source list (WIP) →📜Masterpost If you're finding your happy place in this part of the internet, feel free to buy a coffee to help keep our exhausted human conscious. She works full-time in medicine and is so very tired 😴

[beautifulterriblequeen]

TDP autistic-coded characters: Runaan

Inspired by this post, which gave me the kick I needed to create my own for Runaan. I’ve always kinda pictured Runaan as “Zuko but instead of befriending Aang he grew up and married Ethari.” 

I’m not going to go into how precious this headcanon is to me. You have headcanons that are near and dear to your heart. This one is near and dear to mine. Let’s go:

Physical traits

Sensory dampening

Autistic people often have sensory issues that result in them feeling overwhelmed, overloaded, or hypersensitive. It can result from a combination of mental and physical input, and autistic people develop a variety of coping mechanisms to deal with it.

One way to dampen an overload of physical sensation is with clothing. Loose and baggy works for some, tight and gently constricting works for others. It can turn overwhelming nerve input into a kind of white noise background so it’s easier to focus on other information.

Runaan wears a lot of clothes on missions, leaving only his face and upper arms exposed. I’m not talking about layers so much as skin coverage. While there’s a variety of coverage among the assassins, Runaan is the only one with long hair covering his neck, long pants, high boots, and gloves.

Though Rayla’s dressed very similarly to him, her hands are bare, giving her a more approachable and vulnerable look, as befitting a character trying to find out who she is. 

With all his layers of insulation, Runaan appears as if he’s trying to separate himself from, or protect himself from, the world around him.

About those gloves and leather gauntlets. It seemed a little odd (read: foreshadowingly important) that those gauntlets would get a mention in Callum’s Spellbook as part of Runaan’s look, but they’re in there. Runaan’s gloves are black, a nice dark undistracting color. When he moves his hands around in front of him, he won’t be visually distracted by the light hue of his own gloves. And he does use his hands a lot, as a major form of his communication with others, so keeping that contact to a comfortable level, both visually and tactilely, lets him touch and move as much as he needs to without overwhelming himself in the process.

Meditation

Meditation is another way to calm an overload of input, or to psych oneself up for something that will require a lot of focus.The first time we meet Runaan, he’s meditating while the others set up camp. 

Rayla’s been gone a while and he’s probably worried. It’s her first mission, and he vouched for her skills, so he can’t just go traipsing off to find her. He has to wait and trust her, so he spends his time calming and focusing. 

We also see him meditating in the dungeon, several times.

Even though the room was dark and quiet, all that sensory input from his injuries must’ve been intensely stressful. Falling back on his meditative coping mechanism was the only tool he had to handle the stress and pain of his environment and situation. But all his years of using this technique means that he’s pretty good at it. Every time Viren came in to pester him, Runaan was always able to keep his wits about him.

Stimming

Autistic people stim as a self-soothing technique when they’re hit with intense emotions--good and bad alike. They’re basically a way to anchor during a storm of feels until it passes, by doing something familiar and repetitive.

Runaan’s stim is clenching his hands. His hands are very clenchy when he’s stressed. With those dark gloves on, it’s not terribly noticeable, but they’re opening and shutting constantly when he’s worried over Rayla and how she’s endangering herself/messing up his mission.

Runaan is an elf of action. His skill set is entirely physical. When Rayla acts insubordinate on the mission, he knows he should punish her--a harsh physical tactic--but he quietly refuses to do so. Instead, he talks to her. And though he keeps his voice calm for the most part, he’s upset, nervous, off book. It takes him a while to be able to make eye contact with her (more on that later). And his hands start twitching, possibly because he’d be far more comfortable with a  physical fix to the situation, a tactic he’s far more familiar with but in this case he’s deliberately choosing not to employ.

Long hair

Devon Giehl confirmed way back when that Ethari braids Runaan’s hair for him (awww), and he’s really good at it. It’s possible that Runaan had a very different hairstyle, or not much of a style at all, before he fell for Ethari. Autistic people sometimes struggle with haircuts or complicated personal hygiene routines. Some very much enjoy the asmr of having their hair brushed, or the comforting weight of long hair. A warrior needs to see what he’s doing in battle. A Moonshadow needs to look stylish. Enter Ethari, who probably still cannot believe he gets to play with all this long glorious braidable hair every day. 

Maybe this beautiful hairstyle that we all love and adore and draw over and over in our art is Ethari’s creation, tactically designed to bother Runaan as little as possible. It’s not hanging in his eyes or tickling his neck or bugging his ears. He has a clear line of sight in all directions. No dangling fringe, unlike almost every other Moonshadow we’ve seen.

Those hair cuffs Ethari made keep Runaan’s side tails out of his way when he’s spinning in battle, too. There’s basically nothing that will get Runaan’s hair in his face.

And he hasn’t cut it in a very long time.

Interaction Issues

Processing time

Runaan comes across as a stoic and calculating character. He uses silence and stillness on the regular. These techniques can be used deliberately to give an autistic person time to process new information. Autistic people can have processing issues, hearing issues, and comprehension issues, and our first instinct upon hearing new information can be to blurt, “What?” because we don’t collect all the details on the first pass. Letting the mind continue to process for a few extra seconds can help to fill in the gaps, though. Remember this iconic moment? 

Runaan takes 17 seconds to make his way from “Give me the egg” to “Don’t do this.” He stands dramatically, the clouds part, it’s all very epic. But he could’ve acted the second that Rayla defied him. He didn’t. Looks like he genuinely needs a minute to process what Rayla is doing and how to handle it. It’s very unlike her. He wasn’t expecting it. He has no plan for this. He has to stop everything and think. So he holds still and keeps his reactions under wraps, until he has formulated a plan. Runaan lives by plans and rules. More on that later, too.

The Kiss

 Autistic people can be sensitive to being approached and touched. And martial arts training does wild things to your personal space. You have none and all at the same time. It’s vastly more comfortable to keep everyone at arm’s length because there are so many options to choose from if they get close enough to touch.

An autistic person and their loving spouse can easily create little rituals--social and verbal cues--to be recognizable indicators of desired behavior. Ethari’s line, “My heart goes out with this one,” acts as a code that Runaan has heard over and over. Ethari’s worried, and he’s seeking comfort. So he prompts Runaan and patiently waits for Runaan to respond and initiate the kiss in his own time. And Runaan does so, with the smoothness of long practice. He reaches out, he steps forward, and then he also steps back, breaking the kiss. 

Ethari chases the kiss as long as he can, but he does let it go when it’s clear Runaan is backing up. It’s clear that Ethari is an enthusiastic lover, and Runaan knows it. Though the kiss is complete, Runaan takes time to reassure his husband that he loves and trusts him, and he does that by ensuring a long moment of close eye contact and physical touch--both things that can take extra focus for an autistic person to offer. But for Ethari, it’s definitely worth doing.

Eye contact

Eye contact can be stressful for autistic people, and we often avoid it when we’re already uncomfortable. When Runaan takes Rayla into the woods to tell her she’s off the mission for being too soft, he can’t look her in the eye for the first part of their conversation.

He keeps looking in her general direction from the corner of his eye, but he can’t look her in the eye and tell her she failed him. It’s too uncomfortable for him. He has to work up to it for a couple of minutes. And though he does manage to meet her eyes for a short while, he ends the conversation by walking away while he’s still talking. As far as his plans extend at that moment, he’s never going to see her again. He believes he’s marching off to die, and he can’t look at her then, either. .

This look is Runaan’s emotional lockdown. Everything is tense and no feels are getting in or out. Hands totally fisted up.

Time Out

Autistic people can get so overwhelmed that we lose our temper, go nonverbal, or otherwise shut down, and we need to step away from the environment that’s caused the overload. Runaan lost his cool and yelled at Rayla when he learned that she’d lied to him about Marcos.

Losing his temper wasn’t good because he yelled at his daughter. But it was also bad because he lost his professional cool in front of his team. He had a little domestic right there in front of them. When you’re supposed to be in charge, especially in a culture that prides itself on cooperation and perfection, falling apart in public has got to be humiliating. 

The next time we see Runaan, he’s taking a break in a tree with his second while the other assassins chill, clearly waiting on him. He might have been here five minutes. He might have been here for an hour or more.

My favorite part about this is how Runaan isn’t alone. His friend has come to sit with him, but silently. He doesn’t ask any questions, he doesn’t try to touch Runaan, he just waits. And eventually, Runaan gets his focus back and talks about the mission. 

This moment is also an instance where Runaan needs time to silently calculate until he creates a whole new plan out of nothing. In this case, he’s deciding to set Rayla off the mission for being too childish to complete it properly, rather than executing her or otherwise punishing her as a full-fledged assassin. But first, he needs the time out, because he can’t make that plan until he’s emotionally calm again.

“Enough Brooding, Elf.”

When Viren dumped the coins out and Runaan saw that they were cursed objects that somehow contained his dearest friends, Lain and Tiadrin, he was so overwhelmed, shocked, and upset that he had his only eyeshake of the whole series, and he ended up going nonverbal. 

Everything that Runaan had done with regard to Rayla over the last several months turned out to be for nothing. She didn’t need to avenge her parents’ honor because they never ran away. Runaan didn’t need to fight with his husband and go into emotional lockdown. And he, his husband, and Rayla never needed to ghost Lain and Tiadrin in the first place. All that stress and emotional suffering was for nothing. And on top of that, the man who’d taken him prisoner had cursed his friends and imprisoned them this whole time. Runaan just can’t catch a single break. His voice drops into a stressed whisper as he says, “You’re a monster.” And then, judging by the next words Viren says a whole scene later, Runaan doesn’t speak again. 

Viren leaves him alone after the coin threat backfires, because he realizes he’s not going to get anything out of Runaan in his condition (and he could recognize this state because Soren is autistic-coded as well!). When Viren returns, he calls what Runaan was doing “brooding.” 

Brooding is generally defined as being two things: quiet, and thoughtful. No one broods out loud. But a nonverbal shutdown while chained to a wall is going to look pretty similar. Runaan can’t do anything to physically escape Viren, so his brain just switches off his mouth for a while. He has a lot of bad things to process and he has no room for responding to Viren in his state of extreme emotional distress.

Courtship Rules and Replies

From interviews with Devon and Iain, we’ve learned that Runaan fell in love first, but that he also needed Lain’s prompting to confess his true feelings to Ethari. One way to describe the difference between autistic and allistic people’s thinking patterns is to call one oft them Microsoft and the other Apple. They can generally do the same things, but the ways they get there are always a little different. Because allistic people outnumber autistic people, they have generally framed the society we live in, and we often feel like we must rote-memorize the rules of the world around us instead of using our own system. This does create a strong reliance on rules, and specifically on knowing the rules before proceeding. 

If Runaan had never courted anyone before--or if he’d tried to and it had gone poorly because Runaan didn’t fully understand the rules--he would be very, very hesitant to make the first move with Ethari. 

Additionally, Runaan was making all his good-faith efforts to show interest in Ethari via the proper channels, but meanwhile, Ethari was skirting the rules. He was interested in Runaan, but he’s a playful elf and was teasing his suitor by pretending not to be interested That Way. This might sound cute, but to an autistic person, such a lack of hoped-for feedback would be intensely exasperating. Runaan was trying to communicate in what possibly felt like a foreign language, and he didn’t feel like he was doing a good job of it. He was probably doubting his metaphorical grammar and accent constantly. Autistic people aren’t always good with reading facial expressions or unfamiliar moods, so he didn’t pick up that Ethari was genuinely interested and just teasing him. He was too uncertain and vulnerable to take the matter to Ethari straight out, but there was an elf he trusted fully: Lain. 

Lain could probably see Ethari’s interest when Runaan couldn’t. (And if I had to guess, I’d say Lain’s clue was Ethari’s intense eye contact, which Runaan wouldn’t notice if he was avoiding eye contact due to anxiety!) If Runaan was really so uptight and protective about his feelings, Lain wouldn’t have encouraged him to share them unless he was confident that Ethari would reciprocate. And because Runaan did trust Lain so much, he took that next step, confessed his feelings, and sure enough, Lain was right! Ethari loved him, too.

Free Time

Runaan’s birthday post for 2020 told us that he would prefer to spend the day reading alone, but he considers Rayla’s wishes and lets her decide otherwise. Runaan is more introverted than most and he’s perfectly fine entertaining himself, but Rayla drags him to the adoraburr meadow to spend time together, and because he loves her, Runaan lets her do it. If he were truly uncomfortable, he could put a stop to the whole thing. But he understands that this is how Rayla shows love, and so he lets her show her love through shared companionship, instead of shutting her out and keeping to himself.

Special Interest Sharing

Runaan tells Rayla that there’s an instinct to being an assassin. He has it, and he’s realizing now--only now--that Rayla doesn’t.

Callum’s Spellbook tells us that he began training Rayla to fight when she was just a toddler.

Autistic people often have special interests that appeal far above everything else, and can last a lifetime. For some it’s coding, photography, marathon running, or collecting something. Could be anything, really. Runaan’s special interest is combat. He’s a deeply physical elf who feels very present in his world, and sometimes too present (hence the gloves and the meditation). It’s only natural that he takes the body he’s got and trains it as hard as he can. Being ready for battle is a form of freedom for him. He can run anywhere and fight anything. His intense dedication to his training contributed to his promotions through whatever ranks assassins have, allowing him to contribute meaningfully to his community and his society through his service. Runaan’s special interest has made him uniquely qualified to lead the assassins.

When we meet someone we like, we tend to use our special interest as a form of communication and bonding with them: “I like you, so I will share this thing I love with you.”

Lain and Tiadrin had a precious baby girl, and Runaan and Ethari helped them raise and care for her. And the moment Rayla could move around, Runaan was right there, showing her all his favorite little tricks and techniques, steadying her, patiently demonstrating and explaining every little thing. Stances, physics, trajectory, angle of attack, center of balance, weak spots. All the physical things he knows and loves, he shared with his tiny new friend.

Having a full-grown adult pay her the respect of assuming she could learn all these things, even as a little child, must’ve been so important to Rayla and her self-image. No wonder they bonded so tightly. He truly believed she could do everything he taught her--and he was right.

Mental Effects

Hyperfocus

Autistic people can experience hyperfocus on a new and interesting person or thing. The more ways a person, like say, Ethari, appeals to someone like Runaan, the stronger his focus will be on them. All free time--and time that isn’t free--will immediately be diverted to thinking about and experiencing this delightful new phenomenon.

Runaan is described as putting his duty first, and he takes his job very seriously. But this is also the elf who deliberately damaged his weapons in order to have an excuse to see Ethari and ask him to fix them. To Runaan, the one thing he and Ethari had in common was weapons, so that’s where he started. Runaan gave himself a crash course in Ethari and his interests and ways of expressing himself, and found a way to speak the same language in order to ensure they’d connect. He literally hampered his own ability to do his job in order to find a way to connect with the craftsman.

Once they were a couple, he threw himself into learning How To Boyfriend so he could continue to communicate his feelings to Ethari in an understandable way. It was of the utmost importance to Runaan that he be able to speak a language Ethari could understand, so that he could tell him how much he loved him, and so that Ethari would believe it and trust it.

Small Talk

Runaan learned Ethari as a language, and he learned Rayla’s language as she learned his. He probably speaks Lain and Tiadrin fluently. But everyone has slightly different tics and cues in their speech, and they can all seem like separate languages sometimes. It takes true effort to connect with someone, to truly get to know them and all their little quirks. Runaan simply doesn’t have time to learn every single elf in the Silvergrove as a separate language. He’s learned how to connect with those he values most, and that’s all he feels he needs. Everything else is just small talk--a jumble of things Runaan doesn’t have room to care about beyond his special interest, his duty, and the few elves he’s taken such pains to learn so well.

[unfinished tdp meta]

[rurustims]

sometimes i want a certain sensory item/aid/tool but i worry i wont be able to enjoy it because of my joints in my fingers (chronic joint pain + hEDs.) like i find this roller into your hand thingy cool and seems like tactile wise it would be nice but what if it wouldn't go well with my joints OnO

[merakisphere]

Orbi Loops has always been a small project of mine tucked away in the corner of my Etsy shop where nobody browses, but lately l've seen reviews come in saying, "This is the best fidget tool I have ever used!", and "Tickles my brain like no other stim has before!"

Got me thinking, hmm maybe people actually do enjoy it...

Long story short, I was trying to find ways to use up the thousands of extra beads I have from my Fidget Bloom fidget bracelets. I reflected deeply on what I love about sensory toys and determined that they are: satisfying audible sound, tactile/haptic, and very importantly, continuous motion.

I developed Orbi-Loops as kind of like a rattle toy for teens and adults. We all played with some form of rattle toys when we were infants, why stop?

If you like fidget toys, or use stim tools in your everyday life, I encourage you to check out my handmade Orbi-Loops and browse the hundreds of reviews I received from people who've shared their experience. If you have any questions, please don't be afraid to ask. :)

[spook-spectre-ghost]

Neurodivergent Egon Things —

His social anxiety is surprisingly severe. It’s imperceptible to others but ends up making him seem grumpy or standoffish.

The way he shows emotion is different from most people. Everyone around the firehouse is able to pick up on the Egon-equivalent of most emotional displays.

On a similar note, Egon stims to express emotion or let off steam a lot, but his stims are very subtle. His common stims include drumming his fingers, humming a series of notes, or rocking back and forth. He also likes to chew things when he’s stressed, but if no chewable object is available, he turns to biting his nails which isn’t ideal.

A lot of his sensory issues are related to tactile things. He cuts the tag out of every piece of clothing he owns because he can’t stand the itchiness. Doing dishes is impossible without rubber gloves because he doesn’t like the slimy sensation of touching bit of wet food in the sink. If he’s sans gloves on a job, he tends to make Venkman or Winston obtain samples of ectoplasm because he can’t stand the feeling of it. Somehow being entirely covered in ectoplasm was easier; the slimy feeling was all over instead of maddeningly isolated to his hands.

He has trouble with eye contact and tends to accidentally display too much or too little. Either way, with his height, deep voice, and imposing presence, he ends up coming off as intimidating.

Once someone gets him info dumping, there’s no stopping him. It’s one of the easiest ways for his friends to show him that they care and it’s also an excellent way to get acquainted with his subtle happy stims.

He’s a surprisingly picky eater and can’t stand slimy or grainy textures in food. Much of his diet consists of same foods that he’s deemed safe. He tends to gravitate towards sweets, crackers, and canned foods such as Spaghetti-Os or tuna. Although it’s hard to get him to sit down and eat a meal, Egon will readily eat most snacks that are put in front of him. This leads to the others occasionally preparing easy, healthy-ish snacks for him like apple slices with a bit of peanut butter, hard boiled eggs, cucumber slices, almonds, carrot sticks, granola bars, or tuna and crackers. He also likes to multitask while eating.

Thankfully he doesn’t have meltdowns often, but when he does, the best course of action is to let him be until he calms himself. He’ll stim it out in private, allow himself to breathe through the overwhelm, and use music as a grounding tool.

It distresses him when the others mess with his belongings without his permission and he’s been known to snap at people for doing so.

He’s not a huge fan of touch, but he’s also very touch starved. Luckily, Ray is always happy to help. When he feels especially touch starved or emotionally deprived, he requests, “Raymond. Affection.” This is their accepted way for Egon to request an extra tight hug. When he’s had enough, he taps Ray’s shoulder to politely signal “okay, let go of me”.

[astarions-bride]

I just KNOW that some of these characters are Doms in the bedroom. Which ones do you think?

I can see them all actually as Doms to some degree 🤔 I'm not an expert so I did some research and this is how I, personally, would categorize them.

Nikolai

Total Power Exchange (TPE) Dominant

"TPE Doms are dominant partners with complete control over their submissive. Like with a Master or Mistress, a TPE Dom’s control extends outside of the confines of scene play. Total domination includes control over many aspects of the submissive's life, such as decision making, daily routines, maybe even finances, as well as play and event protocols. Total power exchange dynamics regularly involve contracts, rituals, collaring, the use of honorific titles ("Master" "Mistress"), and rigorous, ongoing negotiation."

Charlie

Master

"Masters and Mistresses take on an assertively dominant role in the relationship and often have long-term, committed relationships with their submissive partners, even if not an exclusive relationship. Masters and Mistresses often require their submissive to wear a collar in honor of their devotion to their Dominant and to use honorific titles when referring to their dominant, such as exclusively calling them "Master" or "Mistress". Masters and Mistresses also can explore Total Power Exchange dynamics with their kinky partner/s."

Anthony Bridge

Sensual Dominant

"Sensual Domination is a dominant style that prioritizes pleasure over pain. While the goal of domination remains asserting control over a submissive partner, the means are sensual and tactile in nature and can involve worship. A sensual dominant focuses on overwhelming their submissive’s senses with pleasure and often provide nurture to their submissive in scene play and beyond."

Rob

Soft Dom

"Soft Doms, like a Caregiver Dominant, focus their efforts on affection, guidance, and encouragement. Soft Doms, rather than punishing, inflicting pain or demanding total submission, focus on creating a supportive environment that prioritizes their submissive’s pleasure with tools like praise, gentle teasing, sensual touch and positive reinforcement."

Captain Hook

Brat Tamer

"Brat Tamers are BDSM dominants who use discipline to dominate and control their disobedient submissive, aka their “brat.” A Brat Tamer must earn their partner’s submission and may use a variety of approaches from punishments, withholding desired experiences, and creative cat-and-mouse games to prove their dominant stance and “win” their Brat’s compliance. This power dynamic is rooted in the consensual struggle between a brat who breaks the rules and the Brat Tamer whose work is to get their submissive in line by a variety of assertive means."

Richard

Service Dominant

"Service Doms are kinky dominants who prioritize their submissive partner's pleasure and satisfaction. Service Dominants may act on their service orientation through sexually pleasing their submissive partner, or providing other acts of service such as running errands, attending to household tasks or repairs, among other services. Service Dominant may also refer to professional Dominants who provide services to clients."

Mark Griffin

Sadist

"Sadists in a kink context derive sexual pleasure from inflicting pain or humiliation on their submissive partner/s, aka “masochists.” A Sadist employs a variety of kinky tools and types of play from impact play, sensory deprivation, consensual humiliation and the like to create heightened sensory experiences for their submissive that involve pain."