#thank you for the ask! i love him and I have so many autism-specific hcs for him I could talk about for ages

[a-wins-a-win]

👀 your headcanon Jason McConnell's top 5 favorite foodstuffs to samefood with? i must know!

hi! thank you for the ask! autistic Jason is very special to me and I love talking about him ;

Jason McConnell’s 5 Best SameFoods (in no particular order) :

1) Animal Crackers, specifically the frosted kind

2) Garlic bread, but only the flaky crispy kind, not the soft loaf ones you can get

3) shortbread cookies ! Jason may not love Christmas as a whole event, but he can’t fault it for the inordinate amount of shortbread he gets to eat

4) cheerios - he never really outgrew occupying himself with handfuls of dry cheerios, I think

5) tinned spaghetti, but he’ll only eat two brands in particular (idk what they are tho bc I’m pretty unfamiliar with the intricacies of American grocery brands)

honestly I don’t even know if they make sense but they’re very much the vibe for the way Jason exists to me — again, thank you sm for the ask, and I hope the world’s treating you well

[sighs-deeply-and-dreadfully]

Hey! Your hcs are so amazing💕 I was wondering if you could write a Wally Darling x autistic reader… I’m autistic and this would be very meaningful to me

Btw sorry for the english, I am brazillian and not used to write in any language that isn’t portuguese lol

That’s perfectly okay, friend!! I think you did just fine (with the wording of your message, I mean) !! :] /g and thank you!!

And sure thing!! I’m autistic, too :D so I’m happy to write for this!! Haha!!

Pluffy Fluffy

Wally Darling x GN!Autistic!Reader

Headcanons Format, Relation can be interpreted by the Reader!

Please note, everyone is different on the Autism Spectrum! I loosely based this off of my own experience, but you are free to request again and specify where you lie, or how yours represents itself!! I would be happy to personalize it, more :]

Wally Darling is a lovely companion to have when you’re on the autism spectrum! He has it, himself. :]

Though his manifests in its own way, with its own mannerisms, he still can very easily understand your own standpoint— whether it’s akin to his or not!

Specifically, he’s quite good when it comes to overstimulation.

Wally’s an observant one— for everyone in his life. He knows the indicators that something is getting “too much” for just about anyone, and that very much includes you.

Whether your start getting jittery, angry, spacey, or however it is you begin to behave when undergoing too much, he learns the signs of it.

If you’re one to devolve into mumbling, or go nonverbal, he’s perfectly okay to sit with you until you get your words together. If there are tools that help you communicate, he is sure to remind you of them so you can use them— if you’d like to. If you don’t want to? He’ll just stay by you, if you’d like to have company.

He takes great care in asking and finding out what helps you during overstimulation, as well.

If you’re one to need a complete environment change, he is expertly skilled in peacefully intervening whatever interaction and getting you out of it stress-free!

And if being placed into a quiet environment helps; he’s got many quiet, serene spots he’d be happy to share!

If going to your home would help most, though, he’ll gladly walk you— and if you’d like company, he’d stay with you.

Really, anywhere you’d like to go, he’d be happy to be by your side!

If you need someone to squeeze, or just let it out to, he’s also happy to help with that! Although he may not embrace you back (not because he doesn’t want to!.. He just doesn’t know that he should), he is happy to oblige!

If touching people isn’t your thing, though, he’s also got a stress ball somewhere around here..

Or, if you’re maybe just someone that needs to be entirely alone to calm down? That’s okay, too, he entirely understands— for he’s the same, that way.

Regardless of what you need, he will try to help in any way he can!

Which very much includes guiding you through grounding methods, too, if need be.. He likes to think his voice can be soothing!

Now, on the contrary, when it comes to under-stimulation? He’s quite the helper there, too!

He tries to get you to do something, really— which has included offers of painting (which also includes finger painting), letting you ramble to him (or having him ramble to you, if you’d want!.. He’s just a bit hard to get going.. but he’s willing to try, at the very least), or maybe just going on a walk. If company helps you in any way, shape, or form; he’s there.

Whatever it is that helps you, he is there to provide if it calls for him to!

When it comes to textures, Wally is a very texture-orientated person. He’s perpetually in a state of being somewhat under-stimulated, but textures help him with that!

With that in mind, if you’re similar? He will gladly show you what he finds textures on! It isn’t uncommon to find him running his hands along something, extremely content.

He especially notes which textures give you euphoria, or that you just like, and will try to show you them!

With textures that make you uncomfortable, though? He’ll keep it in mind! And, to be frank, he doesn’t mind being a sort of “texture tester”.

“Ah.. this shirt wouldn’t feel good, to you.. it’s scratchy.”

Speaking of shirts, he’d be delighted to help you find texture-safe clothing, if it’s something you’d need or want help with!

Along with tags. He’s got a seam cutter just for tags, and he’d be happy to help you remove your own without damaging the clothing, if you’d like!

If you two are physically close (he can perfectly understand not being someone who likes physical contact, so no worries!), he takes great care to make sure any of the clothing he wears around you isn’t a “bad texture”.

Speaking of physical touch; he’s perfectly fine if you’re one to not like it. He’s got his own ways of showing affection beyond it! Affection, in his eyes, is so much more than just physical intimacy.

Ah, and noises.. Wally, himself, has a bit of noise sensitivity. Specifically, clearing of throats can get a bit.. much for him, if done too much too fast.

If you’re similar? He understands entirely— and he has many, many quiet spots he’d love to share (as was mentioned earlier)!

If you’re one to get overstimulated by sounds quite quickly, he will try— when he can— to give you a heads up if anything might have noises that might cause you to fall into a state like that.

“Howdy’s shop.. has an old bell, on the door.. so.. try to open it carefully.. it’s a bit screechy.. and there’s an A.C in.. his store— so there’s.. a constant kind of.. ‘whrrr’..”

And.. ah, his.. very intense eye contact. He fully understands if if makes someone else uncomfortable, and he would make it clear you don’t have to return it if it discomforts you.

If just having him stare so intensely is a discomfort in general, he’d try to tone it down.. though it’s a bit difficult. He wouldn’t mind reminders, though.

Wooh boy! Whether or not you’re similar, he in particular struggles on social cues and tones. For that, his own voice tends to be rather flat— but he’d never mind clarifying how he meant something he said, if asked!

But with the social cues? Oh boy.

You have to communicate directly with him— or else he just.. Won’t Get It. Not for a lack of trying, but it either just flies over his head, or he doesn’t understand.

So he appreciates direct-ness, and honesty. He doesn’t take either as offending, whatsoever!

For this, though, he’s very blunt and honest in return. He means absolutely no harm! But he isn’t the best at softening his words. To be fair, though, it’s not like he’d have to very often— even for someone quite sensitive. He seems to, almost naturally, structure his sentences softer— he just can’t seem to do it on command.

Ahh, special interest and fixations!

He loves to listen to people talk, to see them happy and ramble.

With that, he is always open to you talking to him about your interests as a whole, or whatever you’ve got on your mind!

He isn’t one to engage very much beyond nodding and smiling, but do not be mistaken— he is listening to every word.

Specifically, he tries to get you things that relate to your interest.

If you like stars? He might paint you a painting of them! If you like bugs, he’ll certainly try to borrow a few books from Frank to read them over so he can hopefully understand what you’re talking about more..

Whatever it is, he tries to understand and learn— he wants you to feel heard, and that is how he tries to express that you are!

When it comes to stimming, he actually quite enjoys sort of mirroring however it is you stim!

He tends to stim himself by humming, or wiggling his head side to side.

But when it comes to you, or his friends, doing as such? He tends to join! He isn’t really sure why he does this, but he enjoys it— and means it well!

If you rock, he’ll rock with you. If you flap your hands, he’ll do the same!!

If you don’t like this, though, he won’t do it to you! But he’s delighted to see you stim— when it’s positive, of course.

In the case you’re stimming due to negative feelings? He’ll just try to help you in whatever way helps you best!!

Overall, he just cares a whole awful lot— and understands where you come from, entirely. No matter where you land, or what helps you, he will be there to understand. He’s there for you! Forever and always

Ahh!! I hope this was enjoyable!! I tried very hard to make it apply to a majority HAHA I’m hoping my own experiences didn’t influence too much!!

Also please ignore the double yellow bars down here <:] I literally cannot get rid of them on mobile— so I have to wait until I’m on laptop to do as such!- (EDIT : Fixed it! BWAHA)

Edit : I FORGOT TO COVER STIMMING, AH.. I AM SILLY… I have added it near the bottom! :]

Have a lovely day!!!

[jojotichakorn]

any hcs for khabkluen that u would like to share/haven’t before?? :o

oh, you certainly know what to ask me 😌 thank you so so much for sending him in!

choose a character and ask about my headcanons here, if you like

🏳️‍🌈 a sexuality headcanon

bi.

🏳️‍⚧️ a gender headcanon

as a good chunk of autistics, i feel like he is a bit lax with gender. i don't know if he specifically identifies with anything other than being a guy, but if you ask him, he'd probably shrug and say "i'm just me" or something gjkdfgjkfdljgl

🧸 a headcanon about their childhood

i think he was diagnosed as autistic pretty early on, but - although his mom tried her best to support him and let him be himself - he ended up learning how to mask when he was quite young as well. so i think a lot of his childhood was spent as this supposedly picture-perfect, "pleasure to have in class" kid, who everyone talked to, but no one was really friends with necessarily. he knew how to "behave", but not necessarily how to talk to people, a lot of his masking was focused on not stimming, sitting "properly", and other more physical, instantly noticeable things. and that did, of course, turn into meltdowns and shutdowns that were particularly bad.

👻 a headcanon about what scares them

psychologically, overstepping boundaries. he is absolutely terrified of misinterpreting a situation and saying or doing something wrong.

👽 a headcanon about a weird quirk of theirs

he is definitely very particular about things. everything in his apartment has a specific place for it and should not be moved. truly, if you put bowls on the left and plates on the right of the shelf, when he's always had bowls on the right and plates on the left, he will switch them back and probably glare at you.

🦾 a disability headcanon

autism, obviously.

💝 a headcanon about their love language

acts of service, often silent ones, which benefit the person but sometimes aren't even immediately apparent. and physical touch, all the cuddles and kisses and casual affection for him, please!

🫂 a friendship headcanon

noel and he are very close and will be best friends for the rest of their lives. generally, khluen doesn't have the easiest time making friends, so this friendship in particular, with someone who truly understands and loves and respects him, is very special.

💔 an angsty headcanon

it takes many years for him to break up with daoneua, generally rethink his social circle, and start going to therapy, so he really only finds his self-worth and starts loving himself probably like a decade after the os2 simm episodes.

🪢 a headcanon about their family

he really is very close to his mom and, apart from noel, she is the first person he goes to, when it feels like the entire world is against him.

📓 a headcanon about their hobbies

he really loves reading. especially romance and fantasy.

👗 a headcanon about their clothes

fashion is really not his thing. he could not care less what he's wearing, as long as it looks presentable.

🔪 A headcanon relating to fighting/violence

he has this very strong sense of justice and does embrace violence as a way of fighting for it, so he will throw a punch, if he finds it necessary, for sure.

🌟 a headcanon about their desires/wishes

he just really wants to be loved, even more than to be understood, which is why he often ends up surrounded by people, who say that they love him, but do not understand him and are not willing to understand him at all.

🍫 a headcanon about food

he has three breakfast options, three lunch options, and three dinner options on rotation. they are the same ones he's had for years. the only two things he can drink are cold water and guava juice. if he does not have any guava juice during the day, it is game over for absolutely everyone.

💄 an appearance headcanon

he stops dyeing his hair brown after breaking up with daoneua.

🖕 a headcanon relating to anger

i'd say he's quite friendly with anger. it is a feeling he doesn't feel often, but when it's appropriate, it's appropriate, ykwim. much like sadness is seen as a negative but not "bad" feeling - the same way khluen does not see anger as a "bad" feeling, like many people do.

😺 an animal related headcanon

he really loves cats. he eventually gets two.

😭 a headcanon about the worst thing that happened to them

i don't know if i would necessarily pinpoint one specific moment, but just generally the people he ended up surrounded by, his social circle. most of it, anyway.

😶 a random headcanon!

after finishing uni, he works remotely from home and has a flexible work-schedule.

[daveyfvckingjacobs]

Prev anon here PLEASE say more, I love modern aus sm

*dramatic sigh*

*checks watch* I have hw to do but if you insist

au is honestly the vaguest way to phrase it but I love it nonetheless. I think that the main reason yous all like the tweets so much is they’re 100% my mind without incorrect quotes or anything involved so thank @finchfvkingcortez and the hour long convos we have for that because that shit is BIZARRE

so yeah. sorta modern/social media where the main shenanigans we talk about are race and albert dealing with god damn tiktok comments (cause we all know they can be WILD). the most fleshed out bits are specific character hcs so yous get that first

as per usual with modern aus, the manhattan newsies collectively live in a group home (and milk tf out of it just because it gets funny reactions online). they’re pretty chill with it, and do weekend/morning newspaper rounds for what’s basically pocket money let’s be honest

anyway

character hcs

race - he/him, trans and ‘aggressively bi’. he went through the whole she/her > she/they > they/them > he/they > he/him pipeline and will murder you if you bring it up. he’s dating albert and spot, spot basically on accident after albert dared him to flirt with her and they flirted back and massively just Vibes™️. I feel like I overuse him in tweets but he’s so dumb that he just works here. autism/adhd king, with a sprinkling of ptsd, and he does NOT take his meds ever, driving everyone insane but they love him anyways. italian and very passionate about it. has way too much clout on tiktok and farms his friends for it

albert - he/him, gay, dating finch, spot and race “somehow”. I pretty much combine sky and jacob with him, where he has two older and one younger brother. benji is with a foster family albert didn’t want to stay with and their older brothers are in an endless battle to get custody of them both (he jokes about it sm and they both hate him for it, like “you got custody yet???” “fuck you”). he has too many piercings to count because he does them himself whenever he gets bored and Does Not Learn that it’s a bad idea. dealt with cd when he was younger but it didn’t develop further. he knows like three phrases in portuguese and got into an argument with finch about him being wrong without realising he was speaking spanish once

jack - he/him and bi, dating katherine and davey (after kath put a gun to his head and made him ask davey out). he’s the identified Big Brother of the others and takes it comically seriously while also being exhausted of them all. by all technicalities he’s flagged on every train line that leave the city because he definitely has not made it halfway to new mexico once at 11, but that’s irrelevant he’d never do that again nope. adhd and some mild abandonment issues, hands are always covered in doodles and he also draws on everyone else too whether they want him to or not

davey - he/they, demiboy and gay, dating Jack and has absolutely zero idea how it happened (“I’m going out with jack…” “your sisters ex?” “…yeah?” “ok then🧍”). he’s much more of a weirdo than people give them credit for and comes out with thee most concerning statements completely unprompted like it’s nothing. jewish, autistic with a side of anxiety that the newsies are helping a lot with and be spend 99% of their time with them between school to the point he’s almost dead on his feet. he’s this close to changing race’s twitter password, and is besties with elmer who loves the opportunity to speak polish with someone

crutchie - any pronouns, just chills with identifying as queer and milks ‘had polio in the 21st century’ like their life depends on it because how else are you gonna cope with severe neglect. most people call him charlie in public because they’re all terrified of getting chewed out by well meaning members of the public (crutchie won’t correct anyone). an absolute menace with nerf guns and usually sticks to jack like glue, because they spent time in and out of foster homes when they were much younger together

katherine - she/her, bi, dating jack. she’s practically an inch away from losing her job with how much time she spends not working to hang around with the newsies, is captain of the javey fan club and just all around a legend. constantly gets rich jokes and accepts it as necessary for their friendship. most of what I have for her aligns with canon already ngl

spot - she/he/they, genderfluid and bi, agab is the worlds biggest unsolved mystery that will remain unsolved. always refers to race and albert as her weird looking dogs. lives in a home in brooklyn after spending a few years completely on the streets. ptsd and absolutely no ability to acknowledge it (race and al help), and he’s absolutely covered in both stick and poked and legit but illegal tattoos

finch - he/him, gay, dating albert. he ran away a total of six times and lived in several parks for weeks before someone decided ‘hey maybe we should take him away lol’ and so deals with chronic hypothermia and trust issues. raised a baby sparrow that won’t leave now that it’s an adult, but he didn’t name it so the others just call it “finch’s baby boy”. irish/spanish decent but no real connection to either because it’s a link to his family, which he’d rather not have

morris - he/him, gay and steadily getting over a lot of internalised homophobia. spent way too much time with oscar in and out of crappy homes or their father/uncles ‘care’ so is very dependent on his brother. autism, ocd and cptsd, all of which he gets very little actual support for. he spends way too much money endlessly looping on the subway cause the movement is relaxing. he’s on friendlier terms with the newsies than oscar

oscar - he/it, aroace, probably aligns with agender but doesn’t think about it, autism/adhd (where adhd is significantly more apparent), bpd, aspd, cptsd and mild dyscalculia because he’s my current fav so I have to fuck it over the most. very protective over morris and has zero tolerance for the newsies unlike his brother. it’s camera roll consists entirely of bad candids of morris. taught himself to play a guitar he found in a skip, cannot read sheet music and primarily uses it as stim. I could do an entire thing just about modern delancey’s honestly

I said more x

feel free to ask stuff about this cause I love developing the nonsense the way I don’t get to just in the tweets

[graphitesatellite]

hi! if you're comfortable with it, could i request some hcs for the m6 supporting an autistic mc?

hell yeah love this ask, thanks for this opportunity to project, anon

in my mind all the LIs are neurodivergent so they all Get It to a certain degree, and of course they love mc unconditionally so they want to be as supportive as they can

here’s some hcs of specific things i think they do

Asra

even tho he enjoys funky flavors and smells and textures, if he brings something home with a sensory quality you can’t deal with, he gets rid of it without hesitation because your comfort matters more to him than anything

brings home little toys and trinkets that are good for stimming because he sees them and thinks of you

teaches you lots of little spells that make your life so much easier, spells that make noises softer and neutralize Bad Smells and such

sets aside time every day to ask what’s on your mind and listen with rapt attention as you infodump upon him, probably over a nice cup of tea

Nadia

sits down with you and composes a list of Safe Meals so the chefs can ensure there’s always something you like at the table when you sit down to eat (and if something doesn’t taste or feel right, all you have to do is say so, she doesn’t need a reason, and she will not allow anyone to judge you or make you feel bad for it)

prioritizes comfort when ordering clothes for you, making sure the fit is exactly to your liking and that the fabrics soothe your skin instead of irritate it

supplies you with everything you need to engage in your special interest(s) – she’ll happily give you jurisdiction over entire rooms, even an entire wing if that’s what you need

speaks fluent Neurotypical and will translate for you if you’re having trouble, but at the same time she never ever expects you to act a certain way for the sake of other people

Julian

does a lot of research on the subject to learn as much about autism as he can, thinking he can better support you if he better understands how your brain works (in theory)

happily handles all of the talking whenever the two of you go out, and if the Raven ends up getting Too Rowdy, just tug on his hand and he’ll stop whatever he’s doing to escort you somewhere quiet for a break

never pushes you to go places with him, encourages you to stay home if you don’t have the capacity for going out and promises he’ll bring something back for you

works on saying what he means in a straightforward way so he can communicate with you better

Muriel

asks before moving any of your things and puts them back in the exact same spot when he’s done with whatever he’s doing

offers to try new food and drinks first so he can tell you if he thinks you’ll be able to tolerate the flavor/texture

whittles little wooden shapes for you to fidget with, working and treating the wood so it’s soft on your skin and safe to chew on

unknowingly validates so many of your behaviors by either displaying them himself or quietly accepting them without making a big fuss

Portia

often checks on you while you’re in the middle of doing something and reminds you to stretch, will go through a whole little routine with you to help you loosen up before you get back to it

also brings you snacks and drinks in case you got too caught up and forgot you need to eat food to survive

speaking of which, she loves cooking for you and making you meals you can tuck into without having to pick around anything, a comfort most other people take for granted

Absolutely WILL throw hands with anyone who wants to talk shit and try to make you feel bad for things you can’t control

Lucio

yknow what, i’ll give him this – he probably tries his best not to say the r slur when he knows you can hear him

[normanblowup]

Would LOVE to hear your Nathan (or any of the bands) stim headcanons. I know a lot of people headcanon Nathan as autistic but I havent seen many headcanons of him stimming </3

AHHHHHHH—THANK U, alright imma do this for just nathan because i have the most thoughts about him when it comes to this but i also hc toki and skwisgaar as ADHD and possibly on the spectrum. (this is based on my experiences mostly and of what i’ve heard from others as well)

Nathan’s stims (+ other info)

i hc nathan as having autism

Stims:

-flapping and rocking are his primary stims, but i think he also bounces his leg when he’s nervous or in distress. those stims are for coping with negative emotions or for expressing happy emotions. some of his destructive stims are: pulling his hair, biting at his hands/fingers, and scratching his arms til they welt up or bleed. these are in response to negative emotions and situations and are not good for coping, you want to help/encourage him to do the less destructive stims.

Specific Sensory Issues:

-nathan generally does not enjoy the feeling of other peoples skin, sometimes he’s comfortable with it but in his day-to-day life it’s not enjoyable.

-he doesn’t like rough textures or things that are jagged or rigid in shape, it’s not enough to make him upset but it makes him slightly uncomfortable.

-he gets overwhelmed with the strand of hair that falls in his face, he tries to blow it away often but he can’t force himself to move it away with his hands.

-he has fairly intense executive dysfunction, not with just tasks or chores he needs to do, but with things like: using the bathroom, getting dressed/changing clothes, brushing his teeth, etc.

-he freezes up and will not be able to move, he thinks about himself moving and getting up but can’t make his muscles do it. it’s not generally because he is nervous about the task but more so he just can’t do it. encouraging him gently to get up will make him feel less stiff and he will eventually get up.

-if he’s trying to focus on something, repetitive sounds like water from a faucet or tapping on a table will make him incredibly upset but he won’t know how to communicate it and will end up either stimming harder to make up for it or getting angry/frustrated with the task he’s trying to complete.

Episodes/‘tantrums’/meltdowns:

⚠️ -i personally don’t like the word tantrum in reference to an episode, it makes me feel like a child or as if i have control over what’s happening which isn’t true. so if i get anymore asks about this, i won’t be referring to them as tantrums. for myself i refer to them as episodes or fits.

-if he is close to an episode he will curl in on himself and probably flinch/twitch. once in an episode he’ll start hollering or letting out quick shouts and slapping/hitting his head and thighs. to calm him down, start gently guiding his breathing and take him outside or somewhere cold so he can calm down. do not restrict him. it’s also good to give him something like ice to hold in his hands, he likes how smooth and cold it feels and it helps ground him. he also enjoys going swimming which is partially because his connection to the water, it’s also just very relaxing to him.

-to prevent an episode, it’s good to figure out his body language when he gets uncomfortable beforehand.

-he will probably abruptly stop stimming, and will either go completely silent or start rocking intensely to overcompensate for how he feels. he also has verbal and nonverbal cues like: mouth clicking, flailing one or both of his arms in a rigid and quick motion, and the twitching of his head and shoulders. it’s a very sudden flinch/twitch motion and it’s repetitive.

-again, taking him somewhere cold will help calm him down. he also enjoys soft things like furry blankets and cushions, so taking him to lay on the couch with the window open will be a good way to help him come down.

—

thank you so much for this ask, this is something i think about a lot especially cus i feel i can relate to him immensely on it.

[sharkfish]

Ace headcanons for cas are actually. Kind of bad because they’re rooted in ableism, he’s coded as autistic before any headcanons come into play and people just LOVE to make every autistic character asexual.

if you’re not autistic and coming onto an ace persons post about how they don’t like ace headcanons about a queer autistic character you’re not the hero you think you are

Sincerely an autistic ace person who hates the way neurotypical aces write ace cas and wish you’d stop because it’s clear y’all hate us 🫠

i'm a little stoned so bear with me while i try to arrange vaguely coherent sentences to think through this. edit: i'm so fucking sorry for the disaster that follows. my brain is working about as well as my electric fence is rn, whose charger is currently in the red and says "CHECK FENCE" (because i guess the dial in the red doesn't make it clear enough i've got a problem). despite that... i hope someone out there has some idea wtf i'm trying to say and can help me out here.

this is literally the first time i have ever heard anyone express something like this, and i've seen a whole lot of talk from autistic people, ace people, autistic ace people, etc, about how much cas (& their reading or hc of cas as autistic and/or ace) means to them.

—background info: i am neurodivergent, but not autistic. i'm also ace.

—sidenote: thank you for bringing the ace autistic stereotype to my attention. i'm legit not sure how honest this ask is in general, but thinking back on autistic characters i've seen in media, i can see that being a thing. there's a long history of seeing people with a variety of disabilities* (*i know there's some nuance and conversation around whether or not autism can/should be actually considered a disability) as uninterested (even undeserving!!!) in sex or romance, as if PWD aren't fully-fledged humans with rich interior lives just like everyone else. that's not ok!

—sidenote 2: i made a mistake in my OG reblog of that post by even bringing canon into it. it's like pointing out bible contradictions to christians in an attempt to deconvert them--it's irrelevant because the bible isn't a real story. i don't fuck with canon. the author is dead. etc. BUT that doesn't mean the way people interpret a character can't be Problematic (for lack of a better term) when we compare it to canon. i just shouldn't have brought canon into it because i don't actually care about those specifics.

so -- i'm not doubting the validity of a character being "-coded," because that has been the only way for many people to see themselves represented in media (see: hays code, etc). i think there might be a convo to be had here though about how we define "-coded." ugh i'm struggling to articulate what i mean, but i guess... when is it "-coded" and when is it "i see myself in this character, regardless of authorial intent" and when is it "i will make this character x thing because i damn well want to and not even god himself can stop me." smarter people than i have talked about this i'm sure. i'm just not sure the threshhold where a character is "-coded" (or "similar to" or whatever) where it is canon to the point where representing a character otherwise is erasing a marginalized identity.

i'm trying to suss through in my head.... ugh, something about cas being non-human without any understanding of human mannerisms, culture, etc, in-universe. i understand people seeing themselves there. i see myself there — i often feel like an outsider, like someone who can't show my true self to any of the people around me, even the ones i love, i often feel lost in a world with rules i don't understand or agree with (some of which are around sex!). but i guess as an allistic person, i would feel really uncomfortable declaring a character autistic when the mannerisms/etc that tend to lead autistic people to seeing themselves in him are literally caused by him being non-human. to me that feels like some sort of implication that autistic people are not quite human.

if i'm understanding what you're saying, it sounds like it would have to be clear to everyone that he is autistic, and representing him as anything else would be ableist (bc erasure). maybe i'm totally totally off-base here. but i guess i'm asking myself if making him allistic is erasure, or if deciding a not-human character is autistic because of their alienness is a little hinky in itself.

—it is worth nothing that the OG post that led to this ask did not say anything about cas being autistic. maybe you're OP and you just forgot to include the most important part of your "cas can't be ace" argument (i would tend to think "it's ableist" is a better argument than "he's horny"), or maybe we're just moving off on a tangent, or whatever.

as an autistic ace person, i imagine you know how little (respectful) rep there is out there for autistic people and ace people, much less autistic ace people. do you legitimately not want to see someone like you in stories? do you legitimately want to put a ban on ace autistic characters?

because you're certainly not alone as an ace autistic person, and other autistic ace people deserve to see themselves. art exists so we can see and be seen. (art is also discovery, which is another reason representation is so important!) and i have cried, actual wet tears on my face, from seeing characters who look like me. i cried the first time i heard a character identify themselves as ace in popular media. shit, i'm old enough that i still get emotional seeing queer couples in media and just existing out loud. that shit really, really matters, not just to reduce stigma but to tell people they aren't alone. (i also cry when someone leaves a comment on one of my ace stories or trans stories or stories with mentally ill characters saying it made them feel less alone.)

i have bipolar. the optics on bipolar are not good and there are a lot of fucked up representations of people with it. people fuck it up more often than not. but banning people from writing bipolar characters is moving in the wrong direction. we have to be thoughtful, and we have to examine ourselves and others, and we have to do it right. there's just no way to do it right if you can't do it at all.

ultimately i'm just not sure how it's fair to say a character can't be ace if they are also autistic(/adjacent). hell, you're going to have a hard time convincing me it's fair to say a character can't be ace for any reason.

—sidenote: is this like the anti thing where you have to declare your traumas and diagnonsensicals so everyone knows it's Acceptable for you to write a certain topic? like, if it turned out i was autistic, would it then be ok for me to write ace autistic characters? as mentioned before, the OG post didn't say anything about autism and neither did i. or did you 100% know i don't have autism because i think it's ok to hc cas as ace? anon, are you allowed to hc a character as ace and autistic?

honestly this came so out of left field. the idea of "i am both x and y, but it is Wrong for a character to be both x and y" is so strange. it brings to mind people who are like "GOD you WOKE IDIOT SNOWFLAKES, i'm so TIRED of you forcing diversity in my face, WHY is this character black AND a wheelchair user?!" and of course the answer is... because some people are black and use wheelchairs? i think this is one of those situations where we go so overboard trying to do the right thing (e.g., not create disrespectful representations of autistic people) that we end up with the same result as the people who want to do the wrong thing (e.g., no one is allowed to write characters with multiple marginalized identities).

sincerely, a person who is sincerely confused by an autistic ace person saying characters are not allowed to be both autistic and ace

ps: just for funsies i was looking to see if there was an autistic ace mash-up pride flag (saw one someone suggested on reddit but there doesn't appear to be one widely used) and learned a fun fact! a survey of 2400 autistic adults found they were 3-9x more likely to identify themselves as asexual, homosexual, or bisexual than the general population. the article mentions that folks who answered the survey were specifically 8x more likely to describe themselves as asexual than the general pop. this is completely irrelevant to the actual discussion in this post, just something to say when mom asks if you learned anything on tumblr dot com today.

[froggierboy]

love love LOVE hearing your headcanons. honestly if you wrote an 100 page paper on autistic david rose, i would happily read it. do you have any specific headcanons for him running rose apothecary w/patrick? like if there are particularly busy days, does he get overwhelmed or overstimulated and have to head to the back?

i could have sworn i answered this ask but apparently i just thought a lot abt it because here it is in my inbox still. sorry, nonnie, i'm a mess!!! anyway:

as someone who works service i actually had to think hard about this question. as the owner and operator of the Apothecary, david has the power to do away with a lot of the overstimulating trappings of a corporate service job, like loud music, uncomfortable uniforms, blinding-bright fluorescent lights, breaktime out of his own control, cluttered decor, an obligation to defer to customers even when they're disruptive, etc etc. and it's canon that he doesn't have many of these things in RA! he has a soft color scheme going on in the store, soft, soothing music, warm light, he wears his own clothes, he chooses his own break times, we've seen him set boundaries with disruptive customers since day one (when darlene's cousin yelled at him), etc. so i think david has structurally just refused to include things that would overwhelm him and cause overstimulation or meltdowns. he also really trusts his only coworker (obviously!) and probably wouldn't feel the need to mask around him much if at all.

and that's a great example actually of a lot of the less pleasant side of autism being atmospheric; that is to say, when we as autistic people have autonomy, control of our surroundings to a certain degree, control of what we are and aren't able to do, we're better able to relax and avoid meltdowns, anxiety, overstimulation, and The Brain Itchies altogether. on a structural level david was able to simply exclude things that would cause a problem for him. if we could all be so lucky...

so i think being really in his element in a sensory-friendly environment he created for himself means that it takes a lot for david to get overwhelmed or overstimulated at work. that said, on those occassions when he does, which i think are more likely to happen if he's stressed by a specific thing like a rude customer than just general business, i think he probably just takes a few minutes with his headphones in on the Universal Headcanon Back Room Couch. am i saying that because i have a specific playlist that i listen to on breaks when i'm anxious or overstimulated, and i project onto david? yes, yes i am. but that's my hc and i'm sticking to it.

thank you so much for the ask love!!

[slimeboyass]

Hi! Since you are in the tf2 fandom,I've been meaning to ask,what are your tf2 headcanons about the mercs? Love ya!

Thank you sweet anon for this ask! I've been waiting for a reason to talk about my hcs. Love ya too!!

Scout

Bisexual as fuck, female leaning. If i had to divide his attraction by the sexes it'd be 60% female, 40% men.

Has autism, dyscalculia, and dyslexia.

He loves tall people though, specifically women. but if you can stare down at him he will melt into a puddle.

Please inflate his ego oh my god he will love you if you sweeten up his ego he'll lose it. Tell him hes hot/cute/handsome/strong/smart etc. Just smother him in love and you have someone who considers himself your very loyal friend.

Raised Christian, lost his belief in God in his teenage years. Still prays before battles sometimes out of habit.

Medic

Bisexual again, 50/50 true boy.

He can rap. Bro you look at that man and tell me he can't freestyle in German, he absolutely can.

Junji Ito vibes, likes to doodle guro-esque shit on the sides of notes he takes, favorite thing to sketch up is open cavities, body horror, and cuts/slashes.

Be nice to his birds and let him talk about them and he'll love you forever

^ this also applies to his profession. Ask him for a lesson about something, and he'll happily sit you down for a an hour school class about what you asked about. He'll be bouncing off the walls the entire time.

Everyone HCs him as Jewish and that's valid, but I can't see him as religious. I hc he was raised Jewish but as of rn he doesn't subscribe to any religion. It's not that he doesn't believe in any god or anything, he does. In fact he believes in many. But he just doesn't believe in a power higher than himself. His family is still Jewish tho

Pyro

Pyro's a total wildcard for me. I have my own Pyro ocs but my general idea for pyro can be tldr as: AMAB, either cis male or agender (depends how I feel), Sweet tooth, raised muslim, and secretly kinky.

Soldier

Depends tbh. But I see him as bi & trans! Post-op, has bottom & top surgery, but lowkey sexually insecure when he gets down to it because his cock doesn't function like a cis man's cock. Don't worry, just comfort him a little and he'll perk back up!

Autistic, special interest is American history.

Sleeps like a ROCK bro. After all the shit he does inna day? When he gets to his bed he is out.

Raised by bigoted Christians, so he can act a little bigoted, just remind him bigotry ain't very American and he'll stop immediately.

Speaking of religion he's ofc still Christian, but he doesn't rlly see God as god. He sees God as like a homie that's with him 24/7.

Spy

Bi, gn.

He's hard to get close to, but he has a soft spot for sweet women. If you're female, try showing him you care about him and take interest in him and his style, interests, etc. He'll let you in quicker than anyone else.

Calls everyone a nickname in his mind. Some French thing, writes in French about his teammates sometimes and always uses the nicknames as placeholders so if anyone who can read French reads it somehow they don't know who he's speaking about.

Thats all i got rn but ey if i think of smth I'll add it in

[jojosfluffyadventure]

Hello lovely~ are you comfortable with writing for an autistic s/o? If so may I request some semi-fluff hcs for Dio with a fem autistic s/o? (Any incarnation of Dio is fine, I love all Dios equally.) If that's a little too much a shy and quiet s/o will work just as well for me. Thank you, and good luck with your blog~

Of course I’m comfortable with that, dear :)

SDC Dio with a fem autistic s/o:

- Dio, as many will know, is a well educated man. However he’s not read anything about autism, given the time period in which he was raised, and has only recently emerged again with much to catch up on.

- He learned as he went with you, patiently figuring you out, and always catching on with remarkable quickness.

- He finds your differences fascinating, even endearing. And your struggles, he does his very best to ease.

- He doesn’t mind your more quiet nature, or difficulties with people. He’s quite patient with you.

- Dio won’t force you to speak to any of his servants. In fact, he’s specifically instructed them to pay attention to your needs, and toleave you be if you’re uncomfortable at the time.

- His followers know not to even THINK of crowding you or encroaching on your space.

- When you have an interest you’re especially fixated on, he’ll sit back and listen to you talk about it for as long as you want; it makes him smile to see you so engaged and passionate, and he may even learn from you as well.

- Because as much as he enjoys his books, it’s just more.. pleasing to hear things in your voice than it is to see them on a page.

- When he first noticed you stimming, he did wonder to himself why you did these things repeatedly. After a few instances, he asked.

- While it was originally puzzling, he understood after you explained that it’s a comforting action, and no longer questions your stimming. He may even buy(?) you things specially for you to stim with.

- If ever you experience sensory overload in the mansion or in the city at night, Dio will quickly get you away from the source of the overwhelming sounds/number of people, etc., and take you to his private chamber to recover.

- If you ever don’t want to be touched, even by Dio, he won’t force his affections on you and keep a respectful distance until you’re ready.

[qorillas]

even more gorillaz headcanons

they tried to get noodle to eat brussels sprouts when she was little and they went on a health kick. she didn’t understand what they were called and thought they were called russel sprouts. to this day brussels sprouts are referred to as russel sprouts by everyone in the band and this is just an accepted phrase now. whenever they pass the produce aisle someone inevitably yells “hey russel!” and holds up a brussels sprout when he looks over (at least, 2d and noodle do. murdoc tends to just chuck a brussels sprout at russ’s head from all the way across the aisle and then pretend it wasn’t him.) 

they all love the beatles so much. they tend to play beatles songs to warm up before practice; can’t buy me love was a favorite of noodle’s when she was little because 2d would dance with her and swing her around during the instrumental part while they sang. i want to hold your hand is also a popular one because during the bridge — “and when i touch you i feel happy inside” — 2d and noodle go all fake-sentimental and dramatically sigh and swoon all over the room. usually they sing to russ and get him to clasp their hands during this part or stroke murdoc’s face dramatically (he always pushes them away but he’s laughing.) one of the first songs murdoc learned was blackbird and he tends to play it to himself in his room when he’s alone, singing quietly. he taught it to noodle when she was really young and caught him singing it and even now, sometimes they’ll sit in the studio with their guitars singing blackbird together — it’s their thing. 

more under the cut!

2d is autistic and has adhd. he experiences sensory overload a lot and finds it hard to keep the thread of a conversation; the bright lights and constant barrage of questions during an interview are really overwhelming for him, which is why he so frequently spaces out, trails off or loses track of a topic in the middle of a sentence. this is also part of the reason why he tends to struggle with sarcasm and sayings (half the time he doesn’t get them, the other half of the time he gets them but just wants to mess with the interviewer because he’s a bit of a prankster.) murdoc talks so much in interviews because he knows they’re tough for 2d to sit through and he’s covering for him (and also, of course, because he loves the sound of his own voice.) because of his 8-ball fractures obscuring his irises, 2d doesn’t generally make eye contact with people either; they don’t realize it because they can’t see where his eyes are pointing anyway, which 2d appreciates. 2d also stims a lot! he likes to hum under his breath because it feels nice on his throat and vocal cords. he finds the bloopy noises that keyboards make really comforting, and part of the reason he has so many keyboards is because each keyboard has its own unique sound and he likes to collect the sounds that feel the best to him. he has a whole slew of stim toys in his desk and all over the house; a lot of his flick knives and flickcombs are actually things he uses to stim with because he likes the noises they make. he always forgets to bring them with him when he goes out, though, so he has a habit of rubbing the loose ends of his friendship bracelets between his fingers to stim instead, which is nice because since there’s always one around his wrist, he’s never without something to stim with. he plays with his fingers and winds them around microphone stands during concerts to stim as well. his special interests are zombie movies, machinery and keyboards, and he tends to infodump about the latter during rehearsals. he also has mild dyspraxia because of his autism, which is why he’s a bit clumsy and tends to struggle with balance. he flaps so much, especially when he gets excited! he has the best wiggles. [thanks to @happy2d for looking through this hc and offering some great suggestions!!!] 

the reason noodle has so much traditional japanese paraphernalia decorating her room goes beyond the fact that she’s immensely proud of her cultural background. since she was essentially raised in the uk, and wasn’t able to remember her childhood in japan for a long while, she’s always felt a bit estranged from her japanese identity. even after being able to remember her early life, the fact that she was brought up in an isolated military program, and then raised in the public eye as a british celebrity means that sometimes she feels like she’s not “really” japanese. at times she feels really cut off from her japanese roots, like she doesn’t deserve to claim an identity as a japanese person, or like she doesn’t really belong in england or in japan, or anywhere at all. she surrounds herself with things from japan and decorates her room with them because it helps her compensate for these feelings and reminds her to assert her identity. if it gets really bad, she remembers something murdoc told her once when he caught her crying during an identity crisis she had at 14: “you’re not half-british and half-japanese; you’re british, full stop, and japanese, full stop. the two things don’t cancel each other out. this is coming from a guy who identifies as mexican and whose only real experiences with it are a stint in prison and a long-gone mum. anyway, it doesn’t matter what you are since you’ll always be part of gorillaz, which is more than most people in the world can say. and if they do say anything, tell ‘em to fuck off, and then kick their teeth in.” 

when del was alive, he and russel had plans to get married after college and adopt a baby girl. after del died, russ was absolutely gutted; the constant ache of del’s absence and the survivor’s guilt contributed heavily to his depression and anxiety, and he was in a really low place for a long time. noodle’s arrival probably saved his life. from day one, he and del regarded her as the adoptive daughter they always planned to have, but which just came to them in an really unexpected way. del, of course, was the cool dad and russ was the rule dad, considering that del was pretty much incorporeal and couldn’t actually enforce any rules they set beyond threatening to leave a note for russel detailing exactly how bad noodle had been. noodle loved conveying messages between the two of them, actually, and would force russel to go to bed early so that she could tell del that he said hi, or wake him up from naps to tell him that del said hi back. noodle still goes with russ to visit del’s grave between phases and whenever they’re in the united states. 

murdoc is actually the best at cooking out of all of them. he was left alone so often as a kid, he had to learn how to feed himself somehow. he rarely cooks anything nowadays, though; he’s too lazy to do it when he could easily use an app to deliver something right to him or just order pizza, and he doesn’t care enough about what he’s eating to expend the effort of getting all the ingredients out and cleaning up afterwards for a specific meal. he only cooks at the most random times; for example, they’ll be in the middle of a songwriting session and murdoc will have a flash of inspiration and become manic, scribbling lyrics on the nearest flat surface, grabbing his bass and suddenly dashing off to the kitchen, and return three hours later with five quiches, one of which has a lyric sheet baked into it. “it’s a bit wordy,” 2d says, “but good.” he makes better tamales than your abuelita, but only when he’s worried about someone, and he has a bad habit of passive-aggressively shoving a full plate in front of whoever he’s upset with and watching them eat with a reproving glare until he’s convinced that they’re okay. a birthday means that the special person will find a scone on a plate, sitting in their room with no explanation. 2d’s is always vaguely swan-shaped. murdoc’s laughed at them so many times for asking if it was him. “is that a fucking joke?” he says. “you don’t think i have better things to do? it’s most likely poisoned, and even worse, it was probably sitting stale in a display case all day.” actually, when they woke up, the scone was still warm.

2d’s voice is different this phase because he recently had surgery to remove some vocal nodules. he’s fine and cleared to perform in the band’s upcoming tours, but his voice is still going to be a bit raspy for a while. russel says he sounds kind of like kevin bishop. 2d says he doesn’t know who that is but as long as he doesn’t sound like damon albarn he’s fine with it.