#and one of my autistic traits is

[syaraan]

Lessons it took a lot to learn (or sometimes a lot to acknowledge)

• You can like someone and not agree with a word they say.

• If you don’t respect your enemy as much as - (and in some cases) if not more than - your friend, then something's going, is going to, or has gone wrong.

• Respect is NOT honour, nor is it love in any kind

• Friendly does not mean Kind. Good, does not mean friendly.

• It is a lot harder to lose your trust in something/someone than to build it back.

• (related to the last one) (in metaphor form) one bad book in the series doesn't mean the rest are also rubbish. But no matter how many good points the others are supposed to have, no matter how many people tell you your opinions are wrong, no matter that you've seen for yourself that at least one book in the series is good... When the worst one is the first one you read, its hard to pick up the second.

• you never know how small an action it takes to change the course of a person's life … until it's you that is changed.

• It often feels better, to hold onto the hope of lies. But truth is far better than hopeless hope in the end.

Two of these, I was taught. One, I figured out by observation. Some, I learned by experience. Some, I wish I never had to learn at all.

Clue for the one of the taught ones:

"Now I absolutely love this guy. ' Don't agree with anything he says, but I love him." - a teacher who was great at teaching, but not so great at being a teacher.

[diogenesprintco]

Print of Sherlock 'Podcast' Holmes on A5 lokta paper. As usual, I am deeply inspired by Richard Gutschmidt's Holmes illustrations and still occasionally able to trick myself into believing that I can emulate his linework in lino form.

[aroaceleovaldez]

in your most recent tyson post, you said something about leo being distinctly autistic-coded and I was wondering if you could elaborate on that? it sounds really interesting (sorry if you've already posted something on this, I couldn't find anything though)

Of course! I do have a specific tag for talking about Leo's autistic-coding/traits - [here], and [one for Nico as well].

The main aspects with Leo being autistic-coded actually have a lot to do with Nico being autistic-coded, because it's the comparisons between the two that most clearly indicate Leo is autistic-coded rather than it just being his ADHD or etc.

So with Nico being autistic-coded, it's very clear in the Titan's Curse that he's intended to be autistic. First, the first series has a repeating pattern of secondary characters being very distinctly neurodivergent-coded in different ways (Annabeth's adhd/dyslexia, Tyson's down syndrome-coding, Nico's autism-coding). With Nico's introduction, he's pretty stereotypically autistic and we're given a lot of descriptors about him that are notably not attributed to him being ADHD, like it would be for other demigod characters. He doesn't register social cues such as people getting annoyed at him, he's asking/making inappropriate or impolite questions/comments, he gets particularly upset about change (such as Bianca joining the Hunt) and generally gets emotional, and one of his most notable traits he's introduced with is the fact that he has a special interest (MythoMagic) - and we're shown that this special interest particularly colors how Nico navigates the world. While ADHD has hyperfixations, we don't really get much acknowledgement of hyperfixations with demigods usually - Annabeth gets a little, but most others don't and it's not nearly as focused-in on as Nico's is.

Then as the series continues we see these traits stick with him and him start to show or voice more traits that similarly indicate he's autistic: He regularly mentions how he doesn't understand living people and prefers the company of the dead (social issues). He has more notable stims than other demigods (twisting his ring, fiddling with bones, etc). He's indicated to have strong sensory preferences (usually wearing mostly black/aversion to bright colors, usually wearing layers/his coat, multiple times he's described as wearing loose/baggy clothing or clothes too big for him). He has specific comfort items (his ring, likely his jacket(s) as well). We later get even more information about his special interests (Mythomagic/mythology/history and an older interest in pirates - the latter he specifically notes likely heavily influenced his feelings towards Percy). He struggles with emotions and facial expressions and tone. He struggles particularly with ostracism and feeling like he doesn't fit in and has something distinctly different about him from the people around him (who notably, all have ADHD, which indicates it isn't the ADHD that's making him feel that way), and other characters regularly describe him as being off-putting because of his strange behaviors - again, different from specific ADHD traits they recognize. And that last point is kind of notable because we have Hazel and Bianca for comparison - we know people are off-put by both Nico and Hazel because of being children of Hades/Pluto and their powers/aura, but other characters get past that general feeling of discomfort way faster with Hazel. And even after characters get past the death stuff with Nico, there's a second thing that they aren't moving past that isn't a factor with Hazel (Nico's autism).

So that brings us to Leo - Leo is paralleled to Nico a lot. And there's some very specific traits about him that we know are autistic-coding because of how they're used with Nico: He similarly struggles with social cues/etc, and in a very similar parallel to Nico describes how he prefers the company of machines to people because machines make more sense to him. He has similar types of clothing/sensory preferences (again some stuff with layers but also - pockets! He likes having pockets and things to put stuff in! He's even introduced as having a jacket with lots of pockets), and he has a distinct special interest (machinery) that we specifically know heavily influences how he views and navigates the world (constantly comparing things to machinery, describing things with machinery metaphors/terminology, etc etc). He even describes his entire general worldview to Hazel and it's a machine metaphor. He also similarly struggles with ostracization like Nico does, the only difference being that Leo specifically puts on a persona to compensate for areas he knows he's lacking in and very explicitly describes it as a means to make people like him, because without it he normally struggles to fit in (He's masking!). We also see notes of characters describing that similar discomfort with Leo's behaviors that they do with Nico, except without the aura of death this time. And when we're in Leo's POVs we see a very stark difference between his masking and his actual personality/behaviors such as his internal dialogues or how he behaves when he's alone. Also, like Nico, he stims more than other demigods, though for Leo it's more attributed to his ADHD. Leo also, more often than most, similarly struggles with tone and reading the room, such as making misplaced jokes/comments or etc.

But yeah! It's really interesting. Also it's just a fun thing that ADHD/dyslexia and autism have comorbidity, so it makes sense that we see demigods who are also autistic. It's also really fun to look at how other characters are coded in the series, what coding looks like in the riordanverse specifically (usually it's tied into the mythological stuff - like Chiron being in a wheelchair but he's actually a centaur, Grover being introduced as having a muscular disease but he's actually a satyr, demigods having adhd/dyslexia, Tyson being coded as having down syndrome but he's a cyclops, etc etc - it's a lot of specific metaphor stuff that I've talked about a bit before), and to look at how characters are compared to one another.

[fallowyrm]

"Is this an autism thing or an alterhuman thing!?" it can be both <3

[the-fuzzy-2846]

every time i see some one genuinely get mad at kaboodle for an autistic trait i get one second closer to crashing out

[oceanwithouthermoon]

once again thinking about saiki kusuo kinning twilight sparkle

[sciderman]

I swear I have read your big post regarding Peter Parker's neurodivergence and why it is best to avoid labelling him, but he definitely has a weird brain

Can't find it and feel kinda sad about it cuz I deeply related to it

i know exactly which post you're talking about and i can't find it either! i've raked through my archive, and it's just - nowhere to be seen. i think tumblr eated it (it happens.)

really, tumblr's search functionality is so so useless, i don't know what to tell you. there are plenty of keywords i can search to find it that post, but the search functionality actually just does not work!

undiagnosed audhd-addled peter parker, my darling, my light, my life, my everything.

i think peter parker's such an interesting creature to write, because a lot of people will point to a certain behaviour about him and say "this is an autistic thing, right?" but a lot of those behaviours are actually, in my head, tied to certain traumas in peter's life too.

people say "oh, the food thing, peter's a picky eater because he's autistic" and yes, absolutely. but also it's tied to his trauma with his parents.

peter gets overstimulated, and yes, it's an autism thing, but also he was bitten by a radioactive spider and his senses are dialled to 11.

it's a similar case i've found for myself, too – where a lot of friends i have kind of diagnose me because i have autistic traits, but actually - i'm hesitant to claim the label or pursue diagnosis because, actually, i know where these certain behaviours come from, and they come from certain traumas. there are events i can pinpoint in my life and say "yep. that's where this behaviour comes from."

so - i think there's a lot of overlap between trauma and autistic traits. the brain is very complex! i think the reason for that overlap is maybe as simple as the fact that people with autism and people with trauma are both doing the same thing - developing behaviours to protect themselves or soothe themselves. so - i think it's nice to be able to see a character like peter parker, who may or may not be autistic, but recognise behaviours in him and see yourself in him.

people who go undiagnosed for whatever reason - people who are really good at masking - so good, in fact, that they have no idea they might be on the spectrum - everyone and anyone at all can look at peter parker and recognise themselves. because i think we discredit the thought that every single brain does the same thing! develops certain behaviours in order to survive. every brain has that same software - we've just all been faced with different hardships that we need to overcome, and that's were all the differences come in.

autism is a spectrum, i guess - everyone falls into it to some degree. and i think events in your life probably push you along on it. but i don't know, i didn't study brain science. probably what i'm saying is very stupid and uninformed. of course there's brain chemistry involved. but i know people in my life living with autism and certain events in their life have exacerbated certain behaviours or made coping with it a lot more difficult. so maybe trauma is a catalyst.

[adhderall]

and like my parents or etc. are always like "omg why you do/wear X thats for men" why does it matter.... i just want to.

"omg you know its not socially accepted for a woman youll be seen as a freak" YEAH CLEARLY I FUCKING KNOW THIS ALREADY.

they treat me like im a stupid ass kid who is completely socially unaware like i dont understand the implications of my own actions and the way i present myself. i KNOW im a weird freak, man. I am a grown ass adult, i think i can make decisions for myself about how to dress and present myself.

[thekidsarentalright]

rewatching the last jedi rn and i genuinely believe i could write an essay on why rian johnson deserves jail for making it and what he did to star wars

[snobgoblin]

someone smarter than me that also didn't just wake up has probably worded this better than me but I hate the way some people without autism will be like "lack of empathy is only an autistic trait" and then literally not try to empathize with autism at all like ok maybe it's not just us

[undercovermcdfan]

ive been a follower of your blog and your friend sebbie (?) art for some time now, and honestly I think you and them are the reason why i still have small amount of tolerance towards travlyn. For a long time - still feel this way - i never liked travlyn, even felt uncomfortable or had a disdian for it only because how it was portrayed in mystreet since the beginning of the series. It just felt tacky and more platonic than romantic and genuine, and i’ve always felt like i was forced to like it because it’s the apart of the holy trinity of aph ships. I still kinda didn’t see the vibe with them in mcd only because mystreet version of them ruined it for me and i just had a lot of bias at the time (ironic since i started with mcd first, but gravitated towards mystreet more [gotta love urban fantasy])

But every time i read your ramblings about the pairing, i slowly understand the dynamic between these two characters and why their relationship should matter. Like I genuinely forget travlyn was your crackship in early mcd prehistoric fandom phase, and jess loved it and popularized to the point i can’t tell the difference between how you viewed them vs how she viewed them.

Honestly? Based for disliking Travlyn due to Mystreet. Youre valid for that because I hate them too.

If you can see my reaction over them at the time and what they became, you would see my utter outrage!

They had no basis. Zip. Nadal. Legit just a crack ship that me and my buddy Inês lost our minds over. I really think Travis originally was meant to either be another feather in Aph's harem cap (replacing Laurance's flirty boy slot because Laur became Mr. Dark and Twisted) OR Lucinda's love interest because of the witch/wizard dynamic.

What drew me in for Travis and Katelyn was partly because they were two characters I thought would mesh well. I have a soft spot for girls who are rough on the outside to guard a vulnerable inside and guys who perform a clown to protect themselves. I thought they were direct opposites, mirrors, and making them kiss was such a good way to resolve that ☝️😌✨️

Honestly MCD s3 had the dynamic better on display. They are two people who are hurting to be close to another and be themselves. Katelyn being the type to show claws, Travis being the type to show his belly, both afraid of affection yet sooooo deeply want it.

In a fucked up, it's kinda what draws me to Katevy too. I like pairing Katelyn with people who make her confront her nature and disarm.

Genuinely, Mystreet is not canon to me in this mind palace of mines. It NEVER was. When I made the ship, I never expected it to be canon. Same with most ships I liked.

I'm just a literature major who saw two characters who embodied tropes I like and thought it would be interesting taking those tropes, having them interact and make them kiss. It's like literary chemistry.

Travlyn is made by a bisexual and lesbian lolol the version we're fucking with is a wife/husband with Travis assigned malewife.

[rotting-inkblot]

Just saying

I’m correct

[riddlelily]

yeah no i dont know i like girly things and i want to be a girl real bad;;

[ghostscrown]

Okay that is very specific and it may be just me but also, the fact that Ranpo genuinely believed he had a superpower when in fact he was just basically autistic this whole time, is so relatable because me too, I genuinely thought my autistic traits were the sign I had some sort of supernatural abilities, causing me to have a severe chuunibyou phase for most of my teenagehood, before I learned it was just autism

[lovethisfatcryptid]

Dysautonomia to the tune of Baby One More Time

My dizziness is killing me

And I

I must confess I have to pee (have to pee)

When I'm not resting I lose my mind

Give me a sign

Pots has beat me one more time

I'll shut up now I'm sorry lmao

[shybreadgarden]

The problem is I’m an apex predator who acts like a prey animal. Ya get it? I have forward facing eyes and long range stamina and the ability to make tools but I act like everything is going to kill and maim and harm me. I think I should get into knitting.