#renarin's rep is so fucking good it makes me WEEP TEARS OF JOY

[moiraineswife]

Autistic Jasnah

Okay, but autistic!jasnah is is important to me.

 (apart from being like...super likely. Jasnah has poor social skills, special interests in her research projects, black and white thinking, comes off as emotionless/very withdrawn, very logical patterns of thinking and reasoning, and she’s related to Renarin as well, who is autistic in canon, making it more likely she is as well, since there appears to be some kind of genetic link with autism)   

But it’s also important because: we definitely, definitely need more lady autistics in fiction.  

We definitely need more older/adult autistics represented in fiction. 

We definitely need more nuanced, flawed, complex autistic characters. 

She’s effectively an autistic superhero. Can we take a moment to appreciate how fucking badass that is? Okay. Thanks. 

But her being autistic presents another wonderful opportunity: autistic representation where more than one autistic character is actually presented, and there are two autistic characters who actually, like, interact with one another. What a concept. 

But also, like....the possibilities with Jasnah and young!Renarin. (IF Jasnah is the only other autistic Kholin...and I’d, like, aggressively volunteer Navani as another, but, for the purpose of this hc, I won’t be greedy atm)  

But, okay, Jasnah interacting with little!Renarin and everyone else is...a little bit....unsure of what to do with him, to put it frankly. He’s SO unlike Adolin, boisterous and loud, and constantly giggling at everything, and talking non-stop. Renarin is quiet, and withdrawn, and doesn’t seem particularly interested in playing with, or in the same ways, his brother does. 

Adolin is a good brother, even at that age, and he tries to include Renarin, share his toys with him, let him join in on his games, and introduce him to other kids to play with. But it’s pretty obvious pretty quickly that Renarin is just like nopenopenopenopenope not here for this, and Adolin, who is a considerate soul, even at a young age, lets him sit by himself somewhere quiet, and peaceful, with a few little toys Adolin doesn’t really understand as being fun (little puzzles and cubes and boxes, and stones that are shiny and smooth and feel nice, that can also be Organised) because it seems to make his brother happy. 

He does feel quite bad, though, because even though Renarin is happy, he worries that he’s excluding him. So he has words with Aunt Jasnah because something in his smol, wise brain informs him she’s the one to talk to. She’s like a giant lady version of Renarin, he gets the same Vibes from them. 

Jasnah is a little startled that she’s being sought out to provide this advice. But after about 0.5 seconds of Adolin talking she’s...Pretty sure she understands what’s going on. 

She gets up and goes to Renarin who is, as is his wont, huddled in a little corner somewhere chilling and spends about....a minute with him and then she just...Knows. She knows that this little dude is like her. And she smiles, because she can help him. 

First off, she takes Adolin aside, and she talks to him. He’s pretty young at this point, and she’s not very good at watering things down for kids, but he understands it’s important, and does his best, and understands most things. She explains about autism, what it is, just the basics, really. And then she explains to him that she is autistic, which he knows, in the sense that someone has said the words ‘Jasnah is autistic’ to him before, but he’s never really understood. So she explains. 

Adolin’s eyes widen and before Jasnah has said it, he’s put two and two together and is asking in a soft, hushed voice, if Renarin is autistic took. Jasnah smiles at him. She tells him that yes, she suspects that he is. Adolin asks lots and lots of questions, which Jasnah answers. He wants to know how he can help his brother, and how he can make him happy and safe and comfortable.

 Jasnah explains about not overwhelming him with his friends, even though she knows he wants him to feel included, he has to let him decide for himself if that’s what he wants. Same with playing with his brother vs playing on his own. She explains about meltdowns, and shutdowns, being non, or semi-verbal, and stimming. 

Adolin absorbs it all like a very eager, dutiful little sponge, and she sends him on his way. (He definitely comes home one day with like...a million stim toys he’s gotten for Renarin to try. He definitely gave him the box he has in canon, it’s his favourite and he loves it. Adolin is v proud) 

As Renarin gets older, and becomes more aware of his autism, and his differences, he gravitates naturally towards Jasnah. There’s an understanding between them. Even though they’re obviously different people, they have this one central similarity that builds this little foundation between them, and they get quite close. 

Jasnah is obviously quite a few years older than Renarin is, and has various tried and tested methods of dealing with things, coping mechanisms, and helps him spot sensory issues, as well as providing scripts for dealing with social encounters.

 Oh, and they definitely, definitely talk to each other about their special interests.

 Renarin is someone Jasnah can ALWAYS tell all of the details about her research too (because he understands that all of the details are important to know, and that none can be missed out, in case it was vital, even when everyone else insists that a good 60% of what she’s saying is ‘unnecessary’ Renarin gets it) 

And Renarin does the same thing with her. Seeks her out whenever he’s discovered something new about his current special interest and just Has to tell someone all about it, and of course she patiently listens to him. And definitely gives him the tools to further research it efficiently and accurately. 

Renarin will also seek Jasnah out when he’s non-verbal. Even though Dalinar and Adolin sort of understand, or at least recognise what’s happening, and both refuse to push him into talking...He just feels more comfortable with Jasnah. Because she Understands, in a way that the others just can’t. 

I JUST. 

LET ME HAVE JASNAH AS AN OLDER AUTISTIC TAKING SMOL!AUTISTIC RENARIN UNDER HER WING AND HELPING HIM NAVIGATE AND UNDERSTAND THEIR WORLD IN A POSITIVE, PRODUCTIVE WAY. PLEASE.  I have a lot of feelings abt this.