#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.

[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.

[shabbyshoebox]

Why must my brain pull up every instance of me "feeling unheard and wronged" when I am merely cranky and sleepy. Good sir I am trying to nap. We clock in at 6, dear sir. We cannot be doing this.

Legit existence is just:

*Feels mildly bad*

Brain: OH, I know what feeling bad is! Here's some other instances of feeling bad :) I'm doing such a good job I'm the bestest brain ever

[cryptcatz]

so sick and tired of constantly stressing over the thought that the people that love me actually don’t or they will inevitably get sick of me eventually because i am inherently unlovable. why can’t my brain just let me be loved in peace? why must i be scared the whole time, waiting for the moment when they abandon me? why can’t i just bask in it while it lasts?

[lesbiansanemi]

My roommate did, in fact, quit her job

[intrn37]

I was re-watching Venom with my family the other day and I just realised that Venom is literally the epitome of “Me and the bad bitch I pulled by being autistic”

[mxnordberg]

"You're my best friend."

[Image ID: A digital illustration of Ayda Aguefort, wearing a loose cream button up shirt with several of the top buttons undone. Her arms and hands are postured stiffly at her sides; arms held slightly away from her body. Her right hand is up by her chest - fingers clenched and crossed tightly over one another; the other is lower by her hip - fingers held rigidly apart at every joint. Her hair hangs loose around her face in warm gradient two strand twists, and her wings are open behind her shoulders. She wears two books in holsters around her arms, and keeps spell components in a pouch and loops on her belt. Surrounding her is a deep blue decorative frame, oranges in all four corners, a candle and two feathers on either side. Text at the top and bottom of the frame reads, "I love you too, is that normal?". End ID]

[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

[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

[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.

[primordial0riginator]

Me, the only Ares and Nyx shipper on planet earth: 😏

[alhaithamcore]

one of my many favorite things about alhaitham is how he is unintentionally some of the best autistic representation i’ve seen in media the past few years 🫶 he’s literally just like me esp with the auditory sensitivity, his bluntness, and his aversion to socializing/collaborating with others. i relate to him So Much and it comforts me a lot, love him sm <3

live laugh love alhaitham fr