#autism coding

[lovepersevering13]

Now could you elaborate on Michael's autism

Alright it’s Michael’s turn!

I want to preface this part the same as before: I’m not a psychiatrist, this isn’t how autism is experienced by everyone and let me know if anything is incorrect :) oh also I’m a little bit more educated on how Autism is shown in girls so this one is a bit of a mess.

Ok so for Michael I kinda had to think for a bit about some like concrete evidence because I didn’t have anything annotated for him like Tori but I think I’ve come up with a pretty compelling argument (also I thought I’d let you know that as I was doing this I started to realise Michael may have ADHD but I don’t really go into that too much).

Firstly:

Alice Oseman herself supports this headcanon so…. Anhahahahajaja omg I can’t explain how happy this makes me! Anyway, let’s get into what I found in Solitaire!

1. Masking

- “Do you get angry a lot?” I say.

“I’m always angry,” he says.” Solitaire, Page 213

Ok we know Michael generally is a very upbeat, positive person on the outside but as we get to know him we learn he’s only barely happier than Tori. When I think about this covering up of his anger with overly positive emotions it is clear to that he is masking (Suppressing Autistic traits). Pessimism is a common m trait of Autism and the way I see it, Michael is overcompensating for this by acting super happy all the time to cover it up.

2. Deficit in social understanding

- “Do you remember when he tried to get everyone to do a flash mob for the Year 11 prank?” says Nick. “And in the end he just did it by himself on the lunch tables?” Nick Nelson, Solitaire, Page 39.

This quote when Nick and Charlie are talking about Michael shows and extreme lack of care about social consequences.

- “Michael Holden has swooped into the restaurant.” Solitaire, page 46

Ok so this quote and the entire scene on pages 46/47 where Michael shows up unannounced because he wants to ask Tori something displays extreme impulsivity and impulsivity is a common Autistic trait. He also didn’t care about the lack of social etiquette displayed by crashing a hangout he wasn’t invited to.

- “Michael is helping himself to our leftover starters” Solitaire, Page 48

Again, lack of social awareness because you aren’t really supposed to crash someone else’s dinner and just start eating their food.

- “He races inside and, without bothering to let me leave or shut the door, he lifts the toilet seat and starts to pee.” Solitaire, (I forgot the page)

LACK OF SOCIAL ETTIQUITE. DUDE.

- “He’s the strangest person I’ve ever met.” Solitaire, Page 62

- “I know Nick and I said he’s weird - and he is weird -“ Charlie Spring, Solitaire, Page 177

- “He looks sort of out of place everywhere.” Solitaire, (I lost the page)

People with Autism are often described as being “strange,” “weird,” or “peculiar,” because they are different from their peers which can make them stand out and struggle to fit in.

- “I, er, didn’t get on too well with the people there. Not the teachers, not the students…” Michael Holden, Solitaire, Page 148

Because of the fact that people with Autism struggle with social understanding it can be very difficult to make friends and get along with other people.

- “I’ve never been good enough,” he says. “I get so stressed out, I don’t make friends - God, I can’t make friends.” His eyes glaze over. “Sometimes I just wish I were a normal human being. But I can’t. I’m not. No matter how hard I try.” Michael Holden, Solitiare, Page 376

Yeah, this quote hurts my heart. So many people with Autism feel as though they don’t fit in and that they aren’t normal. When you don’t have a diagnosis it can be especially difficult because you don’t know why. You know there’s something different about you, you know other people are doing and feeling things you aren’t and you know you’re doing and feeling things other people aren’t, but you don’t know why. It can be super isolating.

3. Challenging Authority Figures

- “…having that argument with Mr Yates during his mock exams!” Either Nick or Charlie, Solitaire, Page 40

- “I swore at Kent.” Michael Holden, Solitaire, Page 269

It’s very common for people with Autism to challenge authority figures. Generally this is because they often naturally assume equanimity and don’t understand why some people should get more respect then others if they aren’t seemingly deserving of it. This stems from having a heightened sense of justice and empathy.

4. Autism and Sexualtiy

- “I guess you could say I’m not too fussy about gender.” Michael Holden, Solitaire, (I forgot the page)

We know Michael’s canonically Pan and as we’ve previously discussed (read Tori’s part for more info) Autism and the LGBTQ+ community are heavily intertwined. I tried to look into Autism’s correlation to Pansexuality but couldn’t find anything specific.

I also wanted to add in a little fact about how Neurodivergent people tend to gravitate towards eachother and queer people tend to do the same so Michael and Tori makes a lot of sense.

5. Special Interests/HyperFixations

Ok so, Michael gets pretty into Solitiare. Right from the start he’s obsessed. Taking photos of the posts, insisting they go to the meet up. I’d probably say it’s a hyperfixation.

And DISNEY. Holy heck Michael loves Disney… and if you haven’t caught on already, yeah imma say it’s a special interest.

- “He gasps and grabs a third DVD, leaps across the room to the flat-screen and switches it on. “We’re watching beauty and the beast,” he says.” Michael Holden, Solitaire, Page 115

I mean look at how excited he gets over ‘Beauty and the Beast’.

6. School

- “Seriously. I haven’t gotten above a C grade in any subject since Year 8.”

“It seems almost impossible for someone like Michael to be unintelligent. People like Michael - people who get stuff done - they’re always smart. Always.” Solitaire, Page 188

- “When it comes to exams… I generally don’t write what they want me to write. I’m not very good at, well, sorting out all the stuff in my head.“

“I just don’t know what the examiners want to hear. I don’t know whether I just forget things, or maybe I don’t know how I’m supposed to explain it. I just don’t know.” Michael Holden, Solitaire, Page 118

- “Because I hate school!” This is quite loud. He starts to shake his head.” Michael Holden, Solitaire, (I forgot the page)

A lot of people with Autism struggle with school and like Tori points out, it’s not because they’re not smart, Michael is smart. It’s just that the education system isn’t fitted to benefit Neurodivergent children. So many things affect Autism in schools. The dreadful sensory environment, lack of control over what they can and can’t do and the difficult social pressures.

7. Emotional dysregulation

- “He clenches his fist and he snarls. He actually snarls at me.

“Maybe you are a manically depressed psychopath.” Michael Holden, Solitaire, Page 163

Emotional Dysregulation is the inability to control the intensity and expression of emotions. This is common in people with Autism and can result in overly intense emotions and lashing out. I think this is something that heavily impacts both Tori and Michael and results in a lot of their arguments. The aforementioned quote is just one example of how quickly and dramatically their arguments blow up due to this.

- “His face contorts into a kind of scrunched-up snarl, his fists curl, his skin drains of colour, and he storms past the man and tramps over to the benches. He reaches a row of lockers and looks into them, blankly, chest visibly expanding and contracting. With an almost terrifying malice, he throws a crazed punch at the lockers, wailing a subdued howl of rage. Turning, he hurls a kick at a pile of racing helmets, scattering them about the floor. He clutches his hair, as if trying to pull it out.” Solitaire, Page 211

Oh there is just so much to cover here. So this is a prime example of an Autistic meltdown. Autistic meltdowns can be caused by overwhelming emotions (In this situation that is Michael loosing his race) and result in an outburst which can include crying, screaming (“howl of rage”), aggression (punching the lockers and kicking the helmets) and self injurious behaviours (Pulling his hair). It’s probably worth mentioning that a few of the outbursts he has towards teachers that I mentioned earlier are probably also meltdowns.

8. Stimming

- “Michael starts whistling.” Solitaire, page 198

Whistling is a form of stimming, this particular quote is from when they are in Truham looking for Charlie, considering Michael’s disdain for Truham I can imagine it was a slightly stressful environment to be back in which would validly result in a need for stimming. I actually couldn’t find any other examples of stimming except possibly the hair pulling that was mentioned in the last quote.

9. Pattern Recognition

So pattern recognition is the autistic brains increased ability to recognise patterns and in Solitaire Michael is the first person to put together the fact that all of Solitaire’s pranks were related to Tori. I really can’t be bothered to find the quote where they talk about those

10. Safe foods

I think that Tea is probably a safe food for Michael because he is often mentioned to have a mug of Tea in his hands. (But I’m not British so maybe this is like normal? How much tea do British people actually drink?)

1. Miscellaneous Quotes

- Since when did you acquire a body temperature” Solitaire, page 112

I know it’s probably supposed to be related to figure skating but struggling with temperature regulation is very common amongst people with Autism.

- “Most of the time at school I can’t even decide what pen to use.” Michael Holden, Solitaire, page 149

Indecisiveness is very common amoungst people with Autism

Alright that’s a wrap on Michael Holden. I’m thinking of doing a conjoined part for Charlie and Oliver if anyone would be interested in reading that :)

Some of the resources I used:

https://livingautism.com/decision-making-problems-adults-asd/

Thermal Perceptual Thresholds are typical in Autism Spectrum Disorder but ...

https://sparkforautism.org/discover_article/managing-emotions/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7430467/

https://neuroclastic.com/autism-and-responding-to-authority/?amp

[louis-of-the-moon]

also stop hating on skye guys they’re biggest crime is having mildly overfilled eyebrows like chill

[soullessjack]

okay it’s not important at all but i finally verbalized the thoughts I had connecting mob and jack, and I think the biggest one is the whole aspect of having another side to you that you don’t like, that tells you this is the Real You and nobody will accept the Real You so it’s stupid to have to pretend to be someone else or hold yourself back for the sake of people who don’t matter or want you.

in mob’s case that other side was SHIGEO, the personification of his powers and internal will, and in Jack’s case it was Hallucifer, his hallucinatory subconscious self represented by his biological father (the latter of which puts further yet subtle emphasis on the fact that jack views this part of himself as the True Evil he was supposedly always born to be). additionally, the 14x18 script towards the end literally says that Jack is “in thrall to the darkest part of himself.”

obviously mob and jack are drastically different characters from drastically different medias with drastically different themes and morals, but something else they have in common that i find incredibly interesting is that they both have self-centered tendencies and desires which they struggle to accept or compromise with a moral code that demands them to be selfless all of the time; mob spends so much of his life trying to be cautious about the people around him and the consequences his emotions would bring to them that he can barely smile, let alone even laugh in season 1. he refuses any easy pass dimple offers to get the things he wants, and while it is noble in a way to strive to earn the things you want, mob still just shuts off the part of himself that can want anything at all because he adheres so strictly to Reigen’s advice of how to get it.

jack is canonically characterized to always be thinking of other people and never himself (another script mention), and in 14x15 he blatantly tells Cas that it’s selfish of him to choose not to use his powers to help the people he loves, even if that choice is for a good reason, ie self-preservation. despite how adamant jack is for his own autonomy and responsibility, he rarely advocates it for his own sake more so than he does the sake of others. he doesn’t like having to see his family worry about him, he doesn’t like being considered a weak burden on their shoulders, so he just represses himself and shoulders his own burdens and tries not to be too needy with it despite loving the feeling of being needed. but then this guy who blatantly feels like putting himself first is selfish and wrong is revealed to harbor a subconscious that tells him the exact opposite; he can’t worry about anyone else now, he shouldn’t bother trying to make amends or to earn back their love because he’s just trying to “shed his own skin” and be something he knows he isn’t, a self-made pet monster who was never really loved for anything more than what he could do for them, so nothing matters more than staying alive and solely trusting himself.

i’ve talked about Jack’s rejection sensitivity before (and i will talk about it forever believe me) but I think that can also be applied to Mob, too—or at least it can be applied to SHIGEO (also, on another note i absolutely love how the hidden part of him is referred to with his real name, it’s such a good detail that adds so much to him considering himself the Real One). going back to what I said at the top, SHIGEO spends the second half of the Bouquet Arc trying to convince Mob that nobody else really wants him—everyone was either just using him or saw him as a freak because of his psychic powers, and the only person who truly accepted him was Tsubomi. furthermore, SHIGEO presses on that he’s the Real One—similar to how the Mauler Twins from Invincible are constantly arguing over who’s the original and who’s the clone (insane stretch but hear me out)—and since he’s the Real One, he’s the one that nobody will accept. ‘Mob’ is just a mask; ‘Mob’ is just the persona that everyone else wants SHIGEO to be; Mob is what forced SHIGEO to hold back from doing literally everything he wants, from being who he wants and getting what he wants, completely inconsequentially to the effects it would have on others.

both jack and mob are completely horrified by these two sides of themselves; they are literally horrified by their own wants and internal desires and thoughts. mob is even so horrified that he internally tries to tell ritsu and teru that this side of himself isn’t him, and not to accept it—to fight with all they have against it, even—because they’ll just get hurt otherwise. and jack isn’t even just horrified, he’s so angry at himself for even being this way to begin with that he tries to punch his own hallucination because he just can’t accept his own subconscious thoughts. he can’t accept the notion that this is his true nature or that he’s going to lose everything he’s ever had or loved because of it. to pull from my other RSD post, both jack and mob (or, these specific parts of themselves) are reacting to the idea of being rejected rather than the actual action, and projecting their internal self-rejection onto everyone else around them

TLDR autism blast they’re best friends

[parrhesiac]

[Spock from TOS, Data from TNG, and Odo from DS9]

"we are autistic coded star trek characters"

Spock: "I don't understand emotions."

Data: "I have a literal thinking."

Odo: "I become liquid every 16 hours to regenerate."

Spock and Data: ::jealouse::

[teztify]

[kingofpeacows]

"Autism is a spectrum!" yeah and it looks like this

[morkhan]

That hands post going around just made me realize that there's this incredible thing Iñaki does with his hands as Luffy where he is never content to just touch things. He can never just grab something and let go. He strokes things. He gently runs his fingers across them, like he wants to touch as much of them as possible. And nowhere is this more apparent than with Zoro. Like

Iñaki, why. why would Luffy need to run his fingers along the entire length of Zoro's calf.

why is Luffy stroking Zoro's titty in this incredibly emotional moment

Just. The whole thing.

The only thing I can come up with is that touch is just a Luffy Love Language, with the softest, gentlest touches being reserved for those who are truly special to him.

And no one is more special to him than Zoro.

[kandelia-mangrove]

Can we talk about how in the show Lestat and Armand are framed as narrative foils. Armand and Lestat who are both so aggressively theater kids, but Lestat who acts, who draws in the attention and holds it, and Armand who directs, who shapes and manipulates the narrative. Armand and Lestat's obsession with Louis and his love and frustration with his melancholy over Lestat and Claudia respectively. Who both felt second in his heart. Who fear loneliness above all else. Lestat taking what he wants to excess - no impulse control, and Armand letting things happen to him and trying to manipulate situations to get what he wants but never taking it. Armand, who even in the end, so much more powerful, never physically imposes himself on Louis. Armand who seeks complete control in subtle insidious ways. Lestat who seeks control in the physical. Armand and Lestat brought into vampire life in horrifying ways tangled up with SA. Armand who still talks about his maker with reverence, Lestat who hates his maker. Armand who pours all of himself into his partner, willing to shape himself into what they desire but ultimately needing control to feel safe. Lestat who pours all of his love into his partner but unwilling to change himself and ultimately cedes control in moments to maintain the relationship. Armand who clings to his breaking apart relationship for 77 YEARs, Lestat who let Louis go. Lestat and Armand who watch Claudia die, but one as a father and one as a murderer. Lestat and Armand so intense in their love but Lestat so painfully external and Armand so painfully internal as characters. Both constantly acting and putting on a face. Lestat as Mozart and Armand as Salieri (in the flashback scene!). Armand who loves routine and structure and repetion, Lestat who craves change and excitement. The calling cards are echos, who learned from who. Armand teaching Lestat the vampire gifts, Lestat teaching Armand a new way to live. on and on....

[its-placeebo]

I am sorry but he LOVES scanning qr codes to order at a restaurant

[faespacecritter]

The ex god of death tries to be romantic

[clarkgriffon]

BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER 7x05 | “Selfless” 

[corvid-blues]

I think you guys should watch Whitepine because it is good and also because it is good

[kennjorine]

i post from here. if you even care.

[soullessjack]

not only should any autistic character who’s ever been infantilized by their fanbase kill and maim more people, but they should also fuck as nasty as possible too. as a treat

[bitchytwinkcore]

theyre so mecore

[stanfordsenbyhusband]

Fun fact: I have something in common with my favorite Ghostbusters characters

That thing being autism