#just because i have low empathy

[rory-moment]

i am not a monster for my low-empathy. i am not lesser than you. i am not sub-human. i am not a bad person. i am not evil. i am not a serial killer. i am not a freak.

I AM NOT A MONSTER.

[cringefailvox]

charlie's low empathy/high sympathy desperation to help people without ever really understanding WHY they feel the way they do + vaggie's complex about needing to be useful to the people she loves or else she's worthless = charlie completely mistaking vaggie's self-sacrifical behavior for an expression of love and not the trauma response that it is, because all she's grasping are the literal words out of vaggie's mouth and not the alarming nuances of terrified self-hatred lurking underneath

[ivibells]

maybe i'm swinging a bat at a hornet's nest here but as an aroace person, i think it's kind of messed up to say that levi is canonically aroace now

yes, he said that he doesn't care about people and that concepts like empathy, compassion, and love are unfamiliar to him. but attraction is not the same as any of those words. i get that people may want to headcanon him as aroace (especially since we don't get a whole lot of representation in the first place), but to insist that it's canon feeds into stereotypes about people with low empathy and aroace people alike

[creekfiend]

it's always a bad time to have hyperempathy but it's especially not fun today

[gerrydelano]

it's been like 10 hours and i am still thinking about gerry child experimentation canon. fuck my entire life

[eclaire-went-bam]

something really funny to me about my mom really thinking i wanted to become a therapist because i'm taking psychology & have like 2-3 psych books

i would genuinely be The Worst therapist i simply wouldn't be able to care about any of my patients . i would believe i am better than my patients . it would be a circus .

[theokusgallery]

I hate that I have reoccurring themes in everything I make. YES this guy has a complex over the fact that everyone prefers his sibling AGAIN. YES he was ostracized by his peers since he was in primary school and never knew why until years later. URGH

[crimeronan]

*THIS IS NOT A SCALE WITH STRICT DEFINITIONS. empathy is socially constructed and circumstantial and can be used to mean about a million different things. so this is like. as overly-simplified a question as possible.

the context is i'd consider myself low/no empathy and i'm curious about the range of experience of people here.

[purrfectdollie]

Idc if I seem like a dick for saying this but:

NOT EVERY IMAGE NEEDS AN IMAGE IDENTIFICATION. NOT EVERYONE NEED TO CATER TO YOUR NEEDS. 

[20001541]

I'm interested to know your opinion about this https://www.tumblr.com/sad-outsider/745487303531692032/while-everyone-is-wondering-how-two-babies-could?source=share

it is an interesting question, how did AFO become such a skilled manipulator if he grew up feral on the streets? here's my thoughts:

so I don't think from the beginning AFO was all that interested in other humans. we're told that those who didn't give him anything he viewed with distrust and disdain, and the two times we see him coming across some people as a child it's just him killing them. maybe he watched them warily when they passed by, but ultimately he didn't engage with any of them to talk directly (as far as we know). BUT it's been pointed out by others that they had a radio with them as is shown with the circle below

well it does looks like a radio to me and it would make sense that was one of their connections to the outside world (though they wouldn't understand a lot of what was being talked about) and to me it makes sense if a radio was later how afo found out about what the glowing baby was up to. so he was at the very least a little interested in hearing what the others were doing, perhaps to analyze any potential threats and maybe he was a tiny bit curious deep down about the society that rejects them, but evidently AFO wasn't interested in trying to make direct contact with them or try to involve himself in their society and none of them bothered with him either.

that is until he read that one comic book. see the thing afo admired about the villain was how people feared and revered him and so he decided he wanted that for himself. after a lifetime of being ignored by people who passed by him on the street he wanted to become something they feared so they'll follow him and never have their eyes off him. and in order to become that he needed power. he already has an extremely powerful quirk, but he needs to obtain loyal followers to help him enact his will of becoming the ultimate evil who rules over everything. I'm sure AFO realized that in order to make his dream become a reality he was going to need to use other people and I think that's when he decided to begin studying the way other humans act to get a better sense in how to get them to do what he wants.

and I would say he did this by studying various media he came across at first. whether it's looking through books or magazines (remember twins were barely learning how to read when they were small and by the time afo declares his dream they look more like teenagers so I think afo was able to read better by this time), and later maybe he found tvs where he can watch shows that were airing and see the news. so through that he studied the culture, what is deemed acceptable and unacceptable, how to present himself in a way to get others to respect him. overall he would be far more interested in the world that he had no interest in before as he sees there are things he could take for himself there and get people to give him things. I also think after he's done going through media he would've stalked some people to see how they live and act, there are some things you can't learn through media so afo would want to learn more through observing those he comes across.

I like to headcanon that he would see one person passing him by on the street then stalk them for the whole day until they fell asleep. then the next day he would choose a different person who passes by him and stalks them for the rest of the day and does that until he feels like he's learned enough. then later on he would engage in small talk with people he sees to get a better feel of interacting with others and see what they respond well to and what they don't. the more he learns about the nature of people the more he learns how to use their emotions against them and predict their reactions to certain actions.

side note I would also like to point out that afo presents himself more masculine and wears business professional attire all the time. this is important to note because afo grew up without gender socialization, which tells me he saw how business men are typically seen by society as people to be respected and hardworking. so he chooses presents himself as someone who gives off the vibe that he's someone powerful and should be taken seriously by wearing the suit and tie. trying to manipulate people isn't just something you do with words, but also with the way you present yourself to others. you want to carefully craft an image of yourself that makes others view you as what you want them to view you as so you can gain their trust easier which is what I think afo did there.

I think once he feels confident enough though he would begin practicing his manipulation skills on others.

now look here:

afo intervenes with these group of people fighting in the streets and brings peace. I feel like he would do this often, bring order among the chaos he comes across and presents a choice. "if you feel powerless and scared then join me and I'll give you everything you want and more, or don't and remain as you are. all I really want to do is help you out :)"and many did choose to join! look at all those people around afo, those are probably all the people who chose to follow him.

I think afo would've seen how badly metas were treated by society and saw how desperate people were for order and someone to turn to. people can be manipulated more easily if they're scared and looking for anyone to help them, and afo would've seen this as a great way to begin building his empire by preying on the desperate. he crafted this image of himself that not only embodies power but also generosity. he took quirks away from the unworthy and gave them to those who wanted power. makes people think things like look how good he is to those who please him! he presented himself as a savior to the people, and manipulated them by taking advantage of their own vulnerability.

all he really had to do was lend a sympathetic ear and show them hey I was an outcast like you to appear relatable and demonstrate the power he had to those are were scared and felt like they couldn't protect themselves. they saw him as a personal savior who seemed to genuinely care about their plights. of course afo doesn't care about the plights of his fellow meta humans, he just wants to use them for his own purposes then tosses them out once he's done (as yoichi points out). but he seemed so genuine in his words that many fell for it which allowed him to manipulate them further. and so many became so entranced by him that they began to attack his enemies in his name without him ordering them to do so.

of course I don't think afo was always a successful manipulator in the beginning, maybe there was a social custom he overlooked and it made him look bad in someones eyes. maybe he said the wrong thing and it made someone distrust him more. there would be a lot of trial and error on his part when trying to learn to manipulate, but as he interacts with people more and learns from his past mistakes he would get much better until he becomes the excellent manipulator he is today.

and to me afo would have multiple personas he puts on when interacting with different people. two people could meet him but comes out with very different impressions about who he is as a person. he hides his true nature (which is said to feel unsettling to be around) so they would trust him more. I think he would enjoy this game really, stringing people along and making them feel he cares so they can give him what he wants. as I said before no one gave him anything as a child so he feels he has to take it for himself, and manipulation would be one of those tools he uses to get what he wants so he would take time to develop that skill through the things I've said before.

[director-yomi-hellsmile]

Not sure where exactly this counts on the empathy/sympathy/compassion categorizations but my experience with seeing others be visibly feeling bad and in distress is that like, I do notice what they're feeling and understand it but I don't care and it's just. Awkward to me. Like, I don't want them to be sad but I don't want to anything about it either, it's just so annoying to me, I want them to get over it as fast as possible and stop acting Like That because it stresses me out too.

And when I say it stresses me out I don't mean it's because I just feel for them that hard, I just want it to be over because I'm scared of what they'll do. Like I don't want to be in the same room as them anymore but I can't leave, because that'd be rude and they will be mad at me. I don't want to comfort them and I don't know how, but they will expect me to, and become angry with me and think I'm a terrible person and who knows how they'll treat me then from that point. And I'm terrified of angry people, usually if my family members are looking angry and screaming I just panic and do anything to not have to speak to them and avoid them until it stops, and that also goes for anyone else. (me still after typing all that out: still no trauma lol must have been the wind that just made me born this weird)

And like. Sometimes I do want to do something about it, because I like the person and I want them to stop feeling bad but I have like. No idea what to even do then partially because one. I don't actually want to but also I want to but also not really. And two. I don't do this because I care about their problems to that degree, I just want them to behave like I'm used to them behaving again and to not be so occupied by what's happening to them so they'll have more time to pay attention to me instead again. All my thoughts just left my head as I was typing everything and now I forgot everything I was about to say. Aw shucks.

Anyway I just. People having negative emotions just either annoy me or set off my fear responses and I don't want to talk to them then until they stop, I also don't want to look like I'm a bad person or make them think that means I don't care about them. I usually just wait it out or awkwardly approach them with some low energy "ummm get well soon irl blorbo". I wanna be nice to people because then they're gonna like me (which will make me care about their feelings somewhat) but oh god the cost. the cost....................

Anyway uhhhhh neurodivergent tumblr. Any tips for feigning concern and comforting other people that sounds authentic and will make them (correctly) think I care about their feelings. That'd be awesome.

[octahyde]

I wanna do an entire post about how much I love low empathy ortho and think it’s cute and sweet… ortho is like a thousand traits that are SO easy to make ableist stereotypes about autism but they handle the traits so delicately and well that instead he becomes a very VERY lovingly made autistic coded character.

What really sets him apart is with a lot of autistic coded robots’ autistic traits are used to dehumanize, but on ortho they’re actually used to HUMANIZE him instead. His curiosity and intense special interests are like an actual autistic little boys and it’s meant to show he really is just a normal boy despite his body. That curiosity is also why I think he’s low empathy but in a positive light, he doesn’t necessarily understand why people feel certain ways but he wants to which is why he asks so much and spends so much time with others

[noodle-shenaniganery]

Sometimes, I think it’s really important to remember/understand that you (general you, not talking to anyone specific) will not be able to connect to everyone’s experiences. And that’s okay.

Specifically in the context of autism, there’s the crucial truth that autism is a broad, chaotic spectrum. People who have low support needs will never be able to fully understand what it’s like to have high support needs, people who can speak will never be able to fully understand what it’s like to be nonspeaking, etc. So please, don’t say that you do because sometimes you have bad days, or because sometimes you lose the capability to speak. Autistic individuals that are more marginalized than others oftentimes face the worst of the violence and discrimination. They deserve to not have their struggles minimized by autistic people who don’t understand what it’s like to be like them.

And this understanding should go both ways, too. Different people will have differing experiences, and so they will need different communities. Autistic people who have high masking capabilities and are experiencing burnout will not be able to relate well to autistic people who can’t mask much/at all and wish they could. Those two groups need different communities. This isn’t to say that those two groups should never interact and ignore each other, as that never ends well, but having different struggles means that you will find comfort in different groups.

:)

Have a nice day, and lets be kind to one another, yeah?

(If I said anything that’s wrong, hard to understand, ignorant, or that you simply disagree with, please let me know! This also goes for anything important that I may have left out. Oh, and any grammar mistakes I may have made.)

[some-teeth-in-a-trench-coat]

Someone please explain empathy to me like you're explaining water to a fish

[no-empathy-culture-is]

No/Low empathy culture is seeing the comment section of short film, 'Horacio' being a whole bunch of anti low empathy/sympathy idiots and being so exhausted. People do not need empathy in order to not kill someone!! We just Choose not to kill others, is that not what everyone is doing??

Like low empathy is not why that guy killed Horacio, he needs work on his impulse control and noise suppression headphones.

no/low empathy culture is

[theokusgallery]

i have bad news for anyone who expects mental illness to be family friendly

^ yeah!