#ik a lot of people headcanon her as ftm so i don't really mind which you use

[aloeverified]

death note — neurodivergent headcanons:

lawliet: autism (asd)

when he was little, he refused to wear socks because he hated the way they seams felt on his feet. eventually watari gave up on trying to make him wear them and just had him wear shoes that didn't require them — that was until lawliet realized the benefit to not wearing shoes and just started going barefoot.

along with that, he used to never wear jeans as a child because they were too tight and uncomfortable. the same thing goes for long sleeves. this meant he typically wore sweatpants and loose tanktops until he realized he can simply start wearing oversized clothing.

sweets are his safe foods. he typically goes for small candies like m&ms when he's feeling more picky, but he generally enjoys anything ranging from cake to pastries. he also really likes milkshakes and the occasional smoothie.

since he can't read tones, he doesn't always take people's sarcasm as a joke if he's unfamiliar with them. however, that doesn't stop him from having a very sarcastic and dry sense of humor himself. unfortunately, most people don't realize he's also joking due to his monotone voice and lack of facial expressions.

lawliet struggles with empathy. he often finds it hard to sympathize with people who he feels are making a bad decisions. he values logic over emotional reasoning and gets annoyed when people don't see things the same way as him. he’s willing to make extreme decisions and take an ends-justify-the-means approach. he also doesn't see the appeal in formalities and views them as a waste of time. this can lead to him being very brunt and straight to the point, not bothering to mince his words. it often comes across as rude, especially if it's to someone he sees as being less than him.

light: obsessive compulsive disorder (ocd)

he always has to have things a very specific way. not exactly tidy — although he hates messes and being unorganized — but simply "his way." otherwise, he constantly feels off and uncomfortable.

he prefers to work alone because of this. group projects were always a nightmare for him. not only did he want his work area to be organized a specific way, but any essay or project he worked on also had to follow a specific order. along with that, he has to began his work in calculated steps or he'd grow too irritated and frustrated.

his mother quickly learned when he was younger that none of his food could touch or he wouldn't eat dinner. that, and he had to eat each section in order or he didn't feel full.

he'd end up conveniencing himself that if he didn't fill out all the questions on a test in the correct order then he'd end up failing, as well as other thing such as, "if i don't turn off the stove in this specific way, the house is gonna burn down." these thoughts never came across or irrational to him. even when he didn't always fully believe them, he still had a voice in the back of his head telling him he was wrong. therefore, he always went along with his specific order.

he'd spiral with his thoughts a lot. if he shook someone's hand after meeting them, he'd tune out their introduction and think about what their hand has touched, when the last time they washed their hand was, when he'd be able to wash his hand. it go to the point where he'd eventually just stop touching people in general, and grew annoyed when they touched him.

matt: attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (adhd)

despite ranking at number three at the orphanage, there's actually a very big gap between near and mello's intelligence compared to matt's. he's smart, definitely, but he's not actually a genius like the other two. this caused matt to feel a great divide between himself and the other two, and he tried his best to hole up in his room and study to become like them, but it ultimately left him burnt out.

after that, matt stopped applying himself and his grades began tanking. watari realized this was a result of his unmotivation and not actual stupidity, though, so he allowed matt to keep his place as third.

matt began suffering from the pressure and anxiety he felt in trying to become one of L's successors, and during one of his walks outside the orphanage, he came across a group of people offering him a cigarette to help him chill out. matt was smart enough to know it was a bad decision, but he was also depressed and decided to take it up to help calm his nerves.

matt's hyperfixations revolve around technology. after becoming obsessed with video games, he eventually decided to learn about how people code them which lead him into being interested in coding and hacking.

he's mostly unmedicated for his adhd, though he does find a way to get adderall when he feels like it. because of his, he's extremely prone to boredom and is more than likely to give up on a specific tasks to play games instead.

he's overall very aimless due to his boredom and burnt out feelings towards bettering himself. he fills his time with exciting things like drag races and drugs, but other than that he's very shut and reclusive and unlikely to let someone pull him away from his games unless they're offering something more fun to do.

he constantly is seeking out stimulation. there's always music blasting from his headphones while he games or a radio playing while he drives.

mello: autism (asd)

his tone is typically very flat, which causes confusion when people are trying to tell his emotions. along with that, he's not very expressive physically unless mad or manic.

he gets irritated very easily when people fail to understand whether or not he's being serious or not, or if they misinterpret him. he knows deep down that it's not their fault, but he hates being reminded of how he's the problem.

he constantly feels alienated from others. he was never able to make friends in the orphanage. he always started off well, but was never able to maintain connection with others. because of this, he isolates himself from just about everyone — only really keeping in contact with lawliet, near, and matt when he's older.

he's very defensive and possessive of his interests. he doesn't like when other people dislike them, but he hates when they seem to like them a lot. he's like this with friends as well, mostly when he was younger. he also got jealous when matt hung out with other kids instead of him, especially since he already struggled to keep friends so he was worried about ruining their friendship and being abandoned.

he wished he wasn't autistic when he was younger. of course, he was nervous about what other people thought about him, but his issues typically went back to him hating how difficult everything was for him — communicating, making connections, feeling like he belonged. no matter what he did, it always felt like the wrong choice; no matter where he went, he didn't belong.

unlike many other autistic people, he doesn't hate loud noises. in fact, a majority of the music he enjoys revolves around loud sounds. however, he has to be in the right mood to listen to them. he doesn't just put music on whenever, he has to want to actively listen to it in order to stand it. similarly, he can't have anything on in the background if he's trying to get work done. his surroundings are either completely silent or shaking pictures off the wall loud.

misa: (adhd)

throughout school, misa struggled with the material more than others. she had a very short attention span and often got in trouble for daydreaming instead of focusing. this is what caused her to start becoming overly insecure about her smarts and try and make up for it by being pretty and funny.

most her hyperfixations fall into stereotypical feminine traits, such as makeup and fashion.

when her fans found out she had adhd, she played into the stereotypes and just used it to make herself seem overly bubbly and dumb as she knew it would help her as an idol. however, due to this many people started regarding her as a moron with no ideas of substance, which added to her insecurities regarding her intelligence. whenever she did try to showcase herself and her ideas, she was typically laughed at and most people thought she was joking.

since japan has very strict drug laws, she's unmedicated and her symptoms are very severe; specifically her forgetfulness, excitability, fidgeting, hyperactivity, impulsivity, irritability, lack of restraint, and persistent repetition of words or actions. she's also very prone to mood swings when provoked.

near: autism (asd) & dyspraxia

her special interests are toys. she's not very picky and likes things that range from puzzles to toy robots, but she does favor dolls. she especially likes ones that come with television shows such as ever after high, equestria girls, monster high, and my little pony. she's not ashamed of her more childlike interests either, as she grew up around solely autistic people and was never made to feel embarrassed.

near has always preferred to play by herself as a child as she often felt like other people couldn't understand how exactly her little storylines played out in her head and it would be too much work explaining them when she could just play alone. she also just generally prefers not to socialize with others unless it comes down to those she is extremely close with, such as lawliet, matt, and especially mello.

she struggles a lot when it comes to social cues. she doesn't adjust her demeanor accordingly when it comes to certain situations, which makes her come across as uncaring. pair that with her inability to make eyecontact or even bother to face someone when they're talking to her, and she appears to be very uncaring most of the time.

her main stim is twirling her hair.

she has an insistence on sameness, inflexible adherence to routines, and ritualized patterns. she usually only wears all white, and is very highly organized when it comes to her personal space and belongings. all her toys are organized by what type they are and then what color. she also prefers to stick to her comfort zone and doesn't typically leave the orphanage unless it's absolutely necessary.

near is very selective when it comes to which textures she's willing to deal with. she only wears soft clothing like pajamas, and doesn't bother wearing shoes with her socks. she also typically likes warm and soft foods, such as oatmeal or rice.

she needs to feel stimulated at all times, so she typically watches something while she eats and listens to music when she's going to bed. she'll also often have one of her shows on in the background while playing with her toys or will put on fitting music for whatever adventure she's making her toys go on.

she's not very good at taking care of herself on her own, as she'll prioritize her hobbies over things like eating and showing. she's also easily stressed and unmotivated when it comes to things she doesn't like doing, and needs someone else to help her with things such as arranging doctor appointments and flights.

she also prefers to sit on the floor and crawl between spaces rather than walking around due to her dyspraxia. when she's feeling particularly weak, she uses a wheelchair and has either gevanni, lawliet, or mello push her around depending on where she is or who she's with.