#and an understanding that if their character can so easily ''unintentionally come off as autistic''

[headfullofdolls]

Friendly reminder (or intro explainer) that show bibles are reference documents that evolve with a series and get updated as the writers make changes. Despite what the name might make it sound like, nothing in them is set in stone. They're guidelines for focus and consistency, and getting writers on the same page.

Actually writing the script leads to an evolving understanding of the story, plot, characters, etc., often in unexpected directions. So the writers update the show bible to compile new insights and account for changes, again to keep everyone on the same page.

Nothing is confirmed until the finalized show.

[januarymoreau]

Neurodivergency Coding in Disney and Nick Shows

Okay this was requested by @gstone97. I'd like to talk about neurodivergency coding in Disney Channel and Nickelodeon shows. Disney and Nick shows have A LOT of neurodivergent coding, and whether they give neurodivergent traits to characters unintentionally or intentionally to mock neurodivergency is something I've considered but have not come to an answer on. Personally, I believe the neurodivergency coding is unintentional, but I'd have to research it more. Seeing as I'm autistic and have ADHD, most of these characters will be characters I believe to have Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) or ADHD, but if you'd like to add any characters that have any other neurodivergency I'd love that.

Let's start this post off by talking about Cat Valentine from Victorious.

Although many have said that Cat may just have trauma (and I'm not arguing with that, she definitely has trauma), I'd like to argue that Cat also has Autism Spectrum Disorder. She says inappropriate things during inappropriate times. https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=246172576497297 If you watch this video you can see multiple times where she says inappropriate things. This could lend to my next point which is that Cat doesn't understand social cues. I can't find the exact example, but I believe there's a scene where Cat doesn't understand an expression. Cat also frequently uses self stimulatory behavior, also known as stimming. Additionally, Cat collects stuffed animals, which could be considered a hyperfixation.

The next character I want to talk about is Max Russo from Wizards of Waverly Place.

I'd argue that Max has ADHD. He struggles with his grades, as we see through most of the show. However, he is smart, he just needs a different learning style. One of my favorite episodes with Max in the show is the episode where the school gets a new principal and he starts doing really well in school. Despite common beliefs, Max is NOT stupid. Additionally, Max has a hard time picking up sarcasm. There are a lot of episodes where he takes things literally, which could be a symptom of autism but can also be a symptom of ADHD. He seems to go through brief phases where he's obsessed with things, such as when he gets obsessed with the idea of being Family Wizard.

Another character I believe to be autistic coded is Spencer Shay from iCarly.

Spencer's Wiki page even refers to him as "weird, eccentric." A lot of autistic people can come across as weird. Plus, Spencer's interest in art could easily be considered a hyperfixation or special interest. Plus, Spencer doesn't understand social cues. He brings home an ostrich and doesn't seem to understand why it's a problem. I definitely view him as autistic.

Another character I headcanon as autistic is Skylar Storm from "Mighty Med."

Although I could write a whole other post about the autistic coding of alien or other-worldly characters, this isn't that post. Skylar shows a lack of understanding of social cues, likely because she's from another planet, but even as time goes on Earth she fails to grasp them. She frequently says inappropriate things. She often fails to understand that Oliver is flirting with her. I would definitely argue that many of these could be due to not being from Earth, but I would definitely say she's autistic-coded regardless. Many alien characters that find their way to Earth are autistic-coded, and she definitely fits in there.

Finally, I'll talk about what to me is the most obvious autistic-coding of a character on Disney Channel: Dez Wade from Austin & Ally.

Dez fails to understand common phrases, a reoccurring joke in the show. He also fails to understand tone and doesn't seem to comprehend when people are mad at him. He seems to have a special interest in film and has a very almost obsessive relationship with Austin. He struggles socially and has difficulty making friends. I could go on and on about why he's autistic, but I won't.

Overall, I don't know why so many Disney and Nickelodeon characters are neurodivergent coded. It could be an attempt to mock neurodivergency, or it could be a completely innocent accident. I'd like to believe it's not on purpose or if it is it's not an attempt to mock autism or neurodivergency, but it's definitely possible. Also, if you're a Disney or Nickelodeon fan who's neurodivergent please watch "The Proud Family." They have a character who gets diagnosed with autism.

[asmallnerd]

Autistic Shoto Todoroki

The analysis

First off, I would like to say that this is purely a passion project. I am not a professional, I am an autistic teenager and I’m just very interested in this character because I heavily relate to him. I’ve collected some scenes from the manga and two specific things from the third light novel.

If you could boost this (if you’re interested that’d be great because while I really enjoy doing this it does take a lot of time! With that being said let’s dive into this and I hope you find this interesting!

Could Shoto Todoroki be autistic? Here is why I think he absolutely could.

Emotional perception

Let’s start with one of the most obvious things about his character. The emotional factor.

Shoto doesn’t emote in the way his peers do. Now, of course this also plays into the brooding mysterious guy archetype, but that’s not what we’re talking about.

Shoto’s face is typically relatively neutral, this is apparent from the moment we first meet him and while he does tend to express his emotions more clearly later in the story, it doesn’t ever really change. Something that immediately comes to mind is how in chapter 202 Iida asks if Shoto is alright because Iida noticed his expression change (because he knows him very well by this point). Ojiro points out that he did not notice this, since Shoto’s face barely changes at all.

We see Shoto in a lot of situations where his peers show excitement while his expression remans completely flat. This lack of emoting is something extremely common in people with autism. It’s not that they don’t have emotions or don’t express them at all, they just do it in a way that is hard to understand for people outside the spectrum or those who don’t know the autistic individual very well. They often struggle to understand what emotion they’re feeling in the first place and of course it’s hard to express feelings if you don’t know what you’re feeling.

Shoto doesn’t only show difficulty expressing his emotions but also recognizing those of other people. One of the best examples of this is the final exam arc, where he gets paired up with Yaoyorozu. In chapter 63 specifically, he doesn’t realize that Yaoyorozu is upset about something even though to someone else it’d probably have been obvious. Only when Aizawa points out that he should listen to her does he notice that he’s been doing something wrong. Shoto didn’t notice she was upset, and he didn’t notice he was being rude.

Emotions and emotional responses are continuously shown to be difficult for Shoto to handle. What he has absolutely no issues with, on the other hand, are academics. Of course, we can naturally assume that he’s been drilled to study hard from a very young age, but he is also extremely intelligent outside of the classroom. During the sports festival he is the first person shown to figure out that the obstacle course poses a lot more disadvantages to the people in the lead, during the practical exam, he is able to come up with a solid strategy very quickly.

During the training camp arc, him and Deku are the ones to come up with a strategy to protect Bakugo on the spot. He also doesn’t seem to consider his intelligence anything special. A lot of autistic people tend to assume that other people’s experiences align with their own. This can be seen when he seems surprised about Denki worrying that he’ll fail the written final exam. He asks how he could possibly fail if he’s been attending class, like the concept is entirely foreign to him (also there’s about a 0% chance this was a joke because this is Shoto we’re talking about.) He is very good at logical problem solving but emotional issues seem to stump him.

Literacy and verbal filters

Moving on, another big factor that Shoto seems to struggle with is his tendency to be overly literal and very blunt. There are several instances where he says things that we as readers as well as other characters perceive as insensitive. Once again, his interaction with Denki about the final exams (chapter 60) can be an example. He didn’t seem to think it was inappropriate and because this is Shoto, he didn’t ask to tease him either. Denki even points out that this was insensitive to say. A more subtle example is his conversation with Izuku in chapter 73, when they talk about Kota. His overall phrasing is fine, but he remains very blunt and direct and essentially ends up telling Izuku that his tendency to cut to people’s hearts with his words is annoying.

My personal favorite for an example can be found in chapter 83, in the hospital after the training camp, when the class visits Izuku, Shoto points out that “Of course Bakugo isn’t here.” Needless to say, he couldn’t possibly have timed this statement any worse. It wasn’t necessary in the first place, but he didn’t register it as something inappropriate to say.

One example of not him being unintentionally rude but just showing a different approach to telling the truth is seen in the third light novel. The fifth chapter revolves around the class preparing a birthday party for Iida. At one point, Sato asks if Iida has food allergies out of nowhere. Iida naturally asks why he needs to know this, Shoto is immediately ready to answer the question honestly, which would have spoiled the surprise, had Izuku not stepped in.

Autistic people often have trouble seeing whether something is or isn’t appropriate to say. Neurotypical people’s brains have a filtering process, it helps them be aware of possible responses to a statement. This filtering process is not functional or only limited in autistic people.

Shoto is also overly literal. In chapter 57, he gets upset over his friends continuously getting their hands hurt and refers to himself as “the hand crusher”. He is very serious about this and does not understand how Iida and Izuku could possibly think he was joking.

In chapter 164, he answers Gang Orca’s metaphoric question entirely seriously. During the interview training in chapter 241 he first seems confused by the made-up mission in the first place. He then proceeds to ask Mt Lady if she has a heart condition when she uses the phrase “My heart would burst out of my chest”. Finally, he appears genuinely horrified when she calls him a “lady killer” (“My smile will kill women..?!”)

In chapter 257, when Mineta claims school talk will “ruin the taste of the food”, Shoto simply says it tastes the same to him, to which Mineta proceeds to call him out for being overly literal.

Autistic people typically struggle to understand jokes and sarcasm, in fact, it’s often one of the main characteristics in people with an ASD diagnosis.

Overfamiliarity and Oversharing

Shoto’s tendency to overshare is another thing that is very typical foe ASD.

He doesn’t seem to understand that telling his life story to a classmate he’s barely interacted with prior is not exactly an appropriate thing to do. He repeats this later with All Might and, most notably, in chapter 165, when talking to the preschoolers during his provisional licensing course.

He also seems to have a slightly different perception of what makes someone friends than his classmates. As shown in chapter 241, to him, spending time with Bakugo during the licensing course is enough to deem them friends. Even when Bakugo points out that there is no correlation between the time spent together and friendship, he still doesn’t seem to understand.

Autistic people tend to become overly familiar and are easily attached to people if they perceive just one of their interactions as positive.

Attachment to inanimate things

This is something not really shown in the manga, but noteworthy, nonetheless. We know that Shoto, upon moving into the dorm building, remodeled his entire room from a modern, more western style room, into a traditional Japanese style one. The second chapter of the third novels goes into depth about why he did this. Shoto was entirely dumbstruck and thrown off by how different the room is from what he was used to. He knew the traditional Japanese rooms from home and his brain assumed that the dorms would be the same. He felt like the different style was wrong. He doesn’t like the unfamiliar flooring and even a small thing like the positioning of the light switch bother him.

He’s not comfortable in the unfamiliar environment, so he decides to change it.

Autistic people often struggle to adjust to changes. In environment and routine. They feel most comfortable in a well established and familiar routine, that includes the feel of their living space. A change of environment this drastic would be extremely stressful for someone on the spectrum.

Another thing that isn’t particularly obvious but does make sense when considered is that Shoto seems to have a comfort food (cold soba). While he’s never shown or stated to be a picky eater he does seem to opt for the same food whenever he gets the chance. Autistic people often have a very restricted diet due to sensory processing issues that apply to food textures, smells and taste.

Additional points

Shoto seems to be a little face blind. He doesn’t know who Kota is when Izuku mentions him, which seems to genuinely surprise Izuku. He also didn’t remember Inasa at all despite them having been at the same entrance exam.

In chapter 202 he’s shown completely zoning out. Of course, this can happen to anyone, I just found it interesting because it was shown so clearly, making it obvious that it was something we should pay attention to.

In the novel chapter in which he remodels his room it is also mentioned that the feeling of synthetic floor against his feet upsets him.

Shoto also seems relatively indifferent to temperature. Of course, that would correlate to his quirk as well, but it is also common for autistic people to struggle with temperature perception as well as other things that neurotypical people don’t struggle to recognize like hunger or thirst. This specifically applies to situations where you would typically end up in pain like, for example, frostbite. Shoto would obviously be used tot his but him showing no reaction at all to his body halfway freezing over was a little unnerving.

He also is shown to be relatively uninterested in certain social events like for example the room competition after the class moves into the dorms. He doesn’t want to be there; he’d rather go to sleep. In the beginning he also shows clear disinterest in making friends with his classmates. Both very typical things for people on the spectrum.

In chapter 244, Hawks asks Shoto a question in a way that seems to confuse him so much he can’t even form a coherent response. [Hawks: “Seemed like you were in trouble, Endeavor.” Endeavor: “Me? Not a chance.” Hawks: “But it seemed that way, didn’t it, Shoto?” Shoto: “Um..I…uh…”]

He probably didn’t register if Hawks actually wanted him to answer or not.

In chapter 64 he mistakes Yaoyorozu crying for her feeling sick, horribly misreading her expressions.

This last point is more personal than the rest, watching his reactions to Endeavor’s fight with the Nomu in chapter 190 made me think of the stress progression that often causes autistic shutdowns. Shoto was clearly becoming more and more stressed as he was watching and once it was over simply seemed to shut down. That is a very typical response to emotional distress or overstimulation in autistic people.

Final disclaimer

This is purely for my own entertainment; it is not meant to be offensive to anyone and I am not saying that this is absolutely what is going on. I’m simply elaborating on a theory/headcanon that I have. That being said, if you have questions feel free to drop them in the ask box, I’d be thrilled!

[mustloveshera]

this is pretty disorganized and bizarrely phrased cuz i’m in a Mood but hey here are my 4am long-winded thoughts anyway i guess.

recently i watched an animatic that featured an autistic-coded character from another series in which said character expressed concern for another character. one of the comments expressed disbelief because, “omg she doesn’t care about anyone tho!”

i had just watched one of the episodes where she was freaking the fuck out and considering abandoning her plan because her friend was in trouble, and i just... like that’s not even, “i fail to recognize someone else’s way of expressing that they care.” that’s, “i ignore examples of a character expressing that they care in a way that i would otherwise recognize as being such because they act so autistic most of the time.”

recently i also watched a show with my roommate and speculated that an android character (whose type often ends up seeming autistic, even if entirely unintentionally) might be expressing different kinds of emotions that wouldn’t be recognized because they didn’t express other more dramatic reactions...and my roommate said that thinking about that was basically like projecting feelings onto animals. now, in this case, i wasn’t familiar with the Deep Lore, so maybe he was right, i don’t know. regardless, it just reminded me of the previous incident. take into account the pervasive idea that “low-functioning” autistics are basically wild animals, and, well.

i’ve written about how en/trapta shows that she cares, and i don’t need to go into it again. but, frankly, when i reread it, i can’t understand how so many people overlooked all of that and wrote her off as a heartless monster fulfilling the “amoral mad scientist” archetype in the first place. if an allistic character did any of those things, it wouldn’t be so easily dismissed.

unfortunately, for some people in this fandom, the only compassion that they can identify in ent/rapta’s actions is directed at h/ordak. like, he’s the Exception, and she never cared about anyone else before~ y’know, if you only bothered paying any attention to her character once h/ordak started paying attention to her, that is. (if you ship them and you do acknowledge that ent/rapta exists outside of him and cares about people who aren’t him, then i’m not talking about you, obviously.)

all of this led me to a theory of sorts--maybe, as soon as ignorant allistics, subconsciously or not, identify a character as autistic, they ignore/reject any examples that contradict their own view of what autistic people are like...until...romance, i guess?? maybe this extends into real life too.

so like, once they decided, “haha en/trapta is like that guy on BB/T!”, nothing she did would seem like she was a Person with Feelings. it would always be forgotten or written off as something else. like, for fuck’s sake, in season 1, she gets separated from the princesses because she tries to rescue emily, and then she cries when she thinks they abandoned her--but so many people literally argued that she never cared about anyone at this point. like, what??? i just can’t understand how else you could come to that conclusion.

[headfullofdolls]

I do genuinely think making Frankie intentionally autistic would be a natural evolution in understanding their character. Like a realization that the traits are core to their character beyond just them being new to living, things that would stick around much longer than them just getting used to existence. An understanding from the writers that if their character can so easily "unintentionally come off as autistic," perhaps the core of that character inherently aligns with and strikes a chord with that experience.

Snippets from the leak (and very long analysis) below.

They have the ingredients, if only they take the opportunity to embrace it.

There's potential for a similar evolution with Lagoona.

We've already seen in the show that Lagoona has idealized, fairy tale (scary tale) ideas about love, and specific archetypes in mind. If her arc is about learning real relationships, including romantic ones, aren't like the ones in fairy tales and telenovelas, you could organically take that in the direction of her first major romantic relationship not working out because it was built on these idealized notions. Especially considering our first time seeing Gil in the show is as the dream guy in Lagoona's story, you could create an arc around her idealizing him, falling in love with him, but then realizing the relationship doesn't click as well or easily as she thought it would (not necessarily from anything bad between them). She could start to recognize love in different shapes than she'd expected, in different places than she'd usually look, and surprise herself with what she finds.

There's no reason Lagoona needs to be straight, or otherwise. But within her arc, there's an opportunity to go beyond her learning about real relationships and romance, to explore a character discovering their orientation. It'd also draw a more distinct parallel to her growth from her initial false friendship with Toralei—based on dependency, uneven dynamics, and abstract ideas of what it means to be friends—to finding real friendship with Draculaura and co—based on mutual trust and acceptance.

Again, I don't think they'd need to paint Gil in a bad light for a potential romantic relationship between him and Lagoona to not work. In fact it'd be better and more meaningful if they didn't, both within the context of the arc itself being about Lagoona's self-discovery, and the context of their rocky relationship in g1.

Of note, Gil's only mention in the version of bible that got leaked is in relation to Lagoona.

Given the g3 show's current track record, it's undeniable his character will get expanded on beyond a relationship to Lagoona. And that none of that shows up in the leaked version of the bible is one of the (many!) things that points to it being a document in ongoing development (I could honestly make a whole other post about the characterizations that don't align with the final show).

On that note and as a final point, same as with Gil, Howleen's only mention in the leaked bible is in relation to Clawdeen.

Here, there's an idea of Howleen being a yet-unknown relative to Clawdeen, not very expanded upon. However, Howleen being a yet-unknown younger sister to Clawdeen, in addition to maintaining the relationship they had in g1, also makes a more compelling story than Howleen being a younger cousin of various relation. The main issue is figuring out how that fits with the timeline of their mother getting stuck on Beheme. It's probable making Howleen a younger cousin was an idea considered mainly because it avoids that issue entirely.

That being said, there's enough timeywimey shenanigans surrounding Beheme, and open-endedness around Selena Wolf's disappearance, that they could've still worked something else out.

But there's also potential to explore Howleen being a half-sister, or becoming an adopted sister later on. Both would be interesting dynamics not often too represented or explored in children's media, and could be valuable as relatable or teachable experiences for the show's target audience.

These are just my ideas of how Frankie, Lagoona, and Howleen could be expanded upon from the initial concepts in the leaked version of the bible. What I'm getting at is there are ways to get from this point, the specific version of the bible that was leaked, to a final show where Frankie is autistic (and maybe AuDHD), Lagoona is bi/pan/ace even, and Howleen is in some way Clawdeen's sister. Because, like I said in my last post, show bibles change, develop, and get updated as writers work on the show.

And as I mentioned earlier, there are several characterizations in the leaked version of the show bible that also don't line up with what we've seen in the finalized show, already halfway through the first season.

The leak doesn't provide any canon confirmation or deconfirmation. It just provides insight to how the writers were thinking about certain ideas at the time it was last updated.