#well.. are you autistic? If you’re not of course it’s not going to offend you!

[lunathewafflelord]

I’ve noticed a lot of people outside of a minority group are insisting that content that’s harmful to certain minority groups isn’t harmful, so here’s a post about it

if someone from a certain minority group tells you that something you did or said is harmful or offensive to people from that group and you’re not part of that group, maybe take a moment to consider WHY it might be offensive or harmful before getting defensive and making rude remarks

People make mistakes, and it’s inevitable for people to accidentally do or say something offensive to a certain group. It’s important to listen to people from that group when they point out how something harms them.

Ask why it’s offensive and try to learn more about that person’s perspective rather than immediately assume they’re wrong. Chances are that person knows more about what’s harmful to their group than someone who isn’t part of it.

If someone points out that a post you made is, let’s say, ableist for some reason, don’t immediately say they’re speaking nonsense. Take a moment to consider why, perhaps ask them why it is so you can avoid it in the future. Mistakes happen, and it’s important to learn from them and help things not be as toxic for people in that group. It’s a great way to learn more about that group by asking how something harms them.

Just because something doesn’t seem offensive or harmful or problematic for whatever reason to you doesn’t mean it isn’t harmful towards a group you’re not in. It’s important to listen to people from that group when they point out issues with things people do or say!

Please, listen to people from minority groups before claiming that something isn’t harmful towards them. Chances are they know more about it than you!

Please don’t see this post as being rude or anything like that! I just want to inform people about how important it is to listen to people, just because something isn’t offensive to you doesn’t mean it isn’t offensive to others - especially if you’re not part of the group that person is in! I want the world to be a better place for people in minority groups, and I think this is something very important for people to know which I don’t see mentioned a lot :)

[alyakthedorklord]

Batman the Playboy

Justice League, not quite early days but before proper identity reveals, though everyone knows Batman knows theirs, bc he has Opinions™ and Constructive Criticisms™ on their secret-keeping.

The issue is brought up on random occasions. The most notable incident- the Justice League, including Batman, being Drunk for Bonding, (or hit with some kind of drug while out saving the world) and Batman, in a fit of paranoid good intentions because he CARES about these idiots, damnit, why must they be so careless, starts insulting them.

Batman, leaning heavily on the table: “GL, you’re a mess, I don’t even know where to start with you. And Arrow! Your goatee is so distinctive, it’s a wonder no one has called you out on it-“

Green Arrow, also drunk: “Alright, there’s no need to insult my awesome facial hair-”

Batman, in despair: “It’s so ugly.”

Green Arrow: (offended noises)

Green Lantern: “Okay, the only reason you know our secret identities is because you’re a rude nosy bastard who needs to know everything about us like a creepy stalker who needs an ego boost! We’re not stupid, Spooky, we’re just polite. We could figure you out easily if we wanted to. Superman can see right through your mask!”

Usually, Batman would have a good response to that. Something smart and reasonable like “villains won’t care for your privacy, I’m testing you,” or something cutting like “I don’t care enough about you to go digging, I set your secret identity as a training exercise for Robin.”

However, Batman is Drunk, because for some reason imbibing drugs that dampen higher brain function is socially acceptable and often, for some reason, expected, because it’s “team bonding” and “come on just loosen up a bit.” (Also for him, drunk=Brucie)

So what Batman ends up saying is: “I could kiss you full on the lips in my secret identity and you wouldn’t know a thing.”

Superman, plucking the glass from Batman’s hand: “Aaaand that is enough alcohol for you!”

Batman nods. Thank God. He wants to go home and sleep. But first: “Superman, yours is so stupid it’s almost impressive-”

———

Of course, Green Lantern has smelled a challenge. And Green Lantern must annoy Batman. It’s his true superpower. So, the next time they meet (sober) he brings up the issue again.

GL: “So about what you said at the party… the part where you could kiss us full on the lips without us knowing. You still confident in that without liquid courage, Spooky? Bet you your real name you can’t do it.”

Batman, regretting the fact that alcohol has ever passed his lips: “I could do it, but I will not.”

Flash, curious: “Why’s that?”

Batman: “Informed Consent. I will not risk making any of you feel violated, or manipulated, for the sake of a stupid bet and my ego.”

GA, still offended by the goatee comment, trying to back Batman into a corner: “So if we give consent, we’re fair game? Try me, Batman. Even you can’t pull this off. Anyone else game?”

Some of the Justice League laughs, raising their hands.

Flash: “Come get me, hot stuff! I’ll call you out!”

Wonder Woman: “It could be amusing.”

Martian Manhunter: “I would be far too difficult a target.”

Green Arrow: “Not just you. C’mon, Spooky, flirting well enough to get a kiss from me? I’m a classy lady.”

Black Canary: “D-class, maybe.”

Superman, wants a kiss in on the fun: 🙋🏻‍♂️

“So that’s it then!” Green Lantern says smugly. “Batman, if you can kiss… how many people raised their hands? Ah yes- HALF THE JUSTICE LEAGUE, without anyone realizing it’s you, then you win.”

Batman scoffs and walks out, leaving the Justice League in stitches at their joke. Because- Batman? Being good enough at flirting to land a kiss on half the league, without it being forced or awkward, without them recognizing his body language, his voice, his build? How ridiculous!

The Batman is Autistic. The Batman does not understand jokes, especially not ones that are half truths. The Batman has consent, and something to prove.

And Bruce Wayne, billionaire, playboy, and sexy DILF, has targets.

(Please tell me how you think he gets each League member.)

Edit: there have been a bunch of awesome additions in the notes! My own take here.

[bullywugprincess]

As an autistic person, I think some autistic people (and neurotypicals attempting to be good allies) are sometimes doing more harm than good with how insistent we are that autistic people are as capable of achievements as anyone else.

I’m feeling quite tired right now and writing this first go without thinking too much about how I’m wording it, so please bear with me while I explain how I mean that. Basically I just saw a post of a father saying his son is autistic and has struggled to get a job because of it, but he was a really polite, sweet young man, and because of his personality one employer overlooked his struggles and gave him his first job. The post was him showing pride in his sons hood personality and spirit, and half the comments were autistic people saying it was patronising and “of course he can get a job, autistic people can do normal things and achieve things like everyone else.”

And look. I get it. We’re tired of being treated like children. We’re tired of being the subject of “inspo porn”. We’re tired of people acting like we can’t do things just because we’re autistic. But I think a lot of autistic people who are more well adapted and low-needs (again please excuse my terming, I know we don’t use low functioning/high functioning labels anymore but I don’t know what the alternative is) get offended by people acknowledging that some autistic people DO struggle, whether it’s with making friends or academically or with getting and keeping a job. Statistically speaking 3 in 10 autistic adults are in full time employment, compared to 8 in 10 non-disabled adults. And yeah that statistics probably off because of how many people go through life undiagnosed, but the point still stands. Because of learning difficulties, problems with socialisation or being unable to cope in a work environment due to sensory and other issues, many autistic people are unable to work. I don’t know the situation of the son from the post, but it is clearly something he’s struggled with, and the dad is not being patronising by acknowledging that struggle and praising him for overcoming it. By responding to a post like that by saying “of course autistic people can get jobs”, you are doing what ableists do. You are implying that people who can’t work because of their autism are actually just not trying. You are making autistic people who feel really proud of themselves for getting a job despite the difficulties they face seem stupid for it. And, if you’re not careful, you become someone’s excuse to claim autistic people don’t deserve accommodation or disability allowance/benefits because “they don’t need it, autistic people are perfectly capable of getting jobs.”

Another thing to consider: think about that person who said “you’re autistic? But you don’t behave like my 7 year old nephew? That’s not what autism is.” By saying autistic people can do something because YOU can do it is setting a rigid view of What Autism Is. Which like. We’ve all established is bad.

Again I’d like to apologise for how badly worded and ramble-y this is but autism is a disability, and it effects everyone with it differently. Let’s not diminish other people’s struggles

[mythosandthemorbid]

Vex Rambles - 1

I think there should be stress toys of your favorite characters. So you can just sorta squeeze the life out the them. Like how you’d do with plushies.

On a similar note: bringing plushies places shouldn’t be frowned upon?? Like?? Dude if you’re offended that I have my stuffed dinosaur with me in the McDonald’s line that’s on you. I personally refuse to give up my emotional support plushies simply bc yall are a bunch of haters.

Anyway, back on track here: well made (yes they need to be well made, if they’re not well made they’re not durable and there’s no point) plushies or stress toys of your favorite characters would be really cool. Even cooler if you can have them as a little keychain. I have a mini keychain version of my Dino plush that I keep on my backpack in the event I can’t or don’t want to bring the plush itself. I have the keychain, and it’s not the same, but I can still squeeze it and stuff.

Of course I understand these things are still seen as ‘childish’ by a lot of people. I’m autistic, though, and I’m pretty sure I’d be infantilized or made fun of for being childish either way. At the end of the day, I’ll be doing what makes me happy. I stim in public because I’m happy, and I don’t care if the fact I’m flapping my hands excitedly annoys you, I’m going to do what I want. You can’t micromanage people and I can’t try to please everyone. There’s always going to be someone with a problem, so there’s no point. I’d rather focus on making sure I’m happy and enjoying myself.

And having a stress toy of Rire or Ren or Strade would make me so fucking happy you have no idea. I NEED TO SQUEEZE THE LIFE OUT OF THEM N O W THEYRE TOO CUTE LET ME AT THEM.

[ganseysglasses]

Whenever I see of reviews of people not liking the raven cycle I go through the same thought process. At first i’m so shocked, absurdly angry, and overall confused. How could someone not adore this series?

Once the shock wears off I really take a second to analyze who left the review, and often times, it’s someone who’s just too normal to get these books. These books aren’t for people who have a healthy relationship with sleep, prioritize their mental health, or function well in social situations.

Of course you’re not gonna get it! These are books for people that can’t like things normally, are probably somewhat autistic and undiagnosed. The raven cycle is for the people who latch on to characters really easily and carry them around in their pocket. keep those guys in the mind-crowave.

I know there’s a lot of reasons to not like the books practically speaking, like the iffy writing and questionable plot lines, but you have to look past that. TRC fans are like kids playing with those little gold digging kits from Walmart. You go in thinking “Yeah, I’m absolutely going to get a beautiful, shining, piece of gold!” then you get a small shard of quartz or obsidian and you’re a little bit surprised. Like it’s not the gold you were expecting, but you still got a shiny rock! Cool! And then you just proceed to carry that rock in your pocket everyday and show it to everyone unprompted. That’s exactly how I feel about the Raven Cycle.

After a while I was so attached to these books that I was ignorant to any flaws, much akin to everyone going noseblind in those ferbreeze commercials.

The one star reviews don’t actually offend me, they just make me upset that not everyone can experience these books the way I do.

[thecharmingchimaera]

Ugh, I’ve just woken up and I’m already annoyed.

Why am I annoyed you ask? Because I came across a video where a someone is excitedly telling someone in-depth information about a topic, and made a joke about having ADHD (strike one, I’ll explain why later), which the subtitles corrected to autism (good, correct, as it should be). The comments were RIFE with idiots shrieking their heads off about how you can’t diagnose someone with that, if they have ADHD they have ADHD (strike goddamn fucking two), but the guy was just making a joke and I just. Argh.

There was just as much evidence of him having ADHD as autism (i.e. absolutely fucking none). But everybody was vastly more comfortable with chatting about him having ADHD. Autism is absolutely fucking taboo, apparently. For some reason ADHD is more palatable for the masses (who am I kidding, we all know why).

I know the word ableism exists, but there needs to be a term specifically for anti-autism, because lately with everybody and their mother diagnosing themselves with ADHD, there are so so so many horrific attitudes towards autism going around. And like, I get it, I was one of those people too - when I was diagnosed, my first thought was “oh jeez, don’t tell me I’m lumped in with these awkward socially inept retards” (yeah, I know, it’s an awful thing to think, but that’s the depth of internalised ableism I was feeling).

It’s especially frustrating, because you know the real irony? The research me and a couple of dozen other autistic autism researchers have been working on lately?

ADHD and autism is more than likely to be the same fucking thing! Just different ends of the same fucking spectrum! Just different presentations of the same fucking brain configuration!

But of course that terrifies the ADHDers, because autism is so socially stigmatised. When people hear “autism” in relation to anything about themselves, they think “I don’t want to be seen as socially inept or off-putting”, because that’s how the condition has been misrepresented in science AND pop culture (perhaps even more so in science!!) since the 1930s, and it pisses me off.

Nobody wants to be seen as related to “those people”, and it frustrates me so much. Especially the number of people my age who delightedly crow about having ADHD, but the minute I say something like “hey, well, you have sensory sensitivities, infodump about focused topics, and are socially anxious, here’s all the research saying they’re the same thing, you’re autistic too”, they are absolutely horrified/offended/in denial.

Especially when I point out that the stereotypical image of so-called “low functioning” autistic people is more than likely to be traumatised children with co-occurring intellectual disabilities, and not representative or accurate to the average autistic experience, but that’s just too much of a radical reframing for people to comprehend, apparently.

Fucking hell. Don’t let your friends send you reels, kids, otherwise you’ll end up hopping mad like me.

[gyaruogutz]

👀 i'd be curious... (about your last post)

You’re in luck , I love talking about myself when asked ~

Information is under the cut , mostly for my personal preference ! CW for , well , transharmful things !! I don’t really go into detail until the very end , but still . I’m trigger-tagging this as a vent just in case.

It will probably be a lot lmao !! Be careful what you wish for Anon !!

A lot of my harmful thoughts come from rage . And that sounds very stereotypical , right ? Like “ oh, of course the transharmful person has homocidal thoughts , that’s a given . “ You’re right of course ! But it’s not just homocidal thoughts I get .

I get paraphiliac thoughts and urges as well when I’m in a heightened state of emotion , whether it be a positive OR negative feeling that I’m experiencing . & I’ve gotten homocidal thoughts from excitement or joy before . With heightened emotions these days comes heightened impulse .

I’m very good in retrospect with controlling these impulses , for the saftey of me and those around me . I’ve done nothing that warrants suspicion from those who trust me IRL , and nothing to tip off any mental health professionals , much less anything authorities would be concerned about.

I experience these thoughts near-constantly . I’m either wishing to be violent , aggressive & homocidal , or I’m fantasizing , usually sexually , ( but not always , to be fair ) about one of my paraphilias . When I’m not in these states of mind I’m almost purposefully distracting myself with special interests or hyperfixations . And mind you this is while I’m ON my medications , haha !! Though I doubt I’d be at risk of offending for either side when I’m not , my medication moreso keeps anxious paranoia and depression away .

These thoughts at this consistently don’t just come out of nowhere . To start off with , I’m also cis-traumatized , and had a C-PTSD diagnosis at the chrono age of 14 ( though apparently it’s not a diagnosis anymore ? correct me if I’m wrong ). My specialized therapist and I have determined I have genuine plurality that is either mostly or completely traumagenic , most likely P-DID or DID . I also have reason to be weary of having suffered R4MC04 ( censoring in case of antis jumping my post ) abuse as a child , due to knowledge of some of my alters I have experience with , and how I react subconsciously to certain things .

However , I have also most likely gained these thoughts from doing harmful things in my adolescence , usually impulsively and on purpose.

Disclaimer , chrono-minors ; I cannot and will not recommend you do ANY of these things listed . I’m not your parent and I can’t stop you , I understand that , but I feel obligated to put this warning here . Additionally I’m not providing details on how I did these things myself , and I will not do so if asked .

For one , as a young teen I would purposefully seek out sexual contact with much older men for my own sexual and emotional amusement . This is where I developed a lot of my sexual tastes from , honestly . I never felt bad for doing these things , only shame for getting caught by then-friends who were appalled.

I would also frequently ( with their consent ) use friends in my group for that same gratification . I lost my virginity to a friend I met in my first year of public middle school , years later in our friendship , for example .

I was also ( and still am , honestly ), a stalker of those who gave me enough attention to be interested , whether online or in person . I was also obsessive , checking messages and getting intense emotions when I saw my various objects of affection over the years do something I didn’t approve of .

There were also some things in younger childhood ,

— I ( unintentionally ) scared the absolute shit out of most boys in the two grades below be because I was notorious for harassing them for my amusement as a kid . ( my autistic ass simply thought that’s how people played at the time , but I thought it was also REALLY funny )

— for some odd reason , in my small impoverished Catholic elementary school , my year consistently had the most traumatized kids out of all of them . I was faced with sexual assault stories , parental death stories , physical abuse stories and more by my close friends all before I was ten, and besides the parental death ( which was a singular case ), all of that was normalized and unfortunately almost romanticized by the girls in my grade .

I specifically remember a friend of mine getting assaulted by a college boy when we were in third grade , and recall three girls asking her excitedly about the experience . ( STATING THIS IS NOT TO ROMANTICIZE IT, this is a genuine example of how serious violence was romanticized in my childhood. )

— I can name at least one teacher I know in middle school that clearly had eyes for me sexually . Nothing ever happened with him in my active memory , but I knew , and I think he knew I knew , and I definitely used it to my advantage . There was also one in high school , who , again nothing in my active memory happened with him , but I definitely knew and again used it to play him like a fiddle .

Until I was TOLD that these things were wrong , I wasn’t aware . I saw it as normal , fun , and exciting .

So those are most of my thoughts on the subject . Not sure if I’m cis-harmful or trans-harmful really .

[mockerycrow]

Hi there, can I request a "who do you ship me with" for the COD boys.

Personality-wise, I consider myself abit of a loner. Not really interested in making friends but is willing to work with people if necessary. I do not really go out that much unless I have family or friends invite me to something. That mainly comes from my not so trusting nature and tendency to keep people at a distance. Though, when I am close with someone, I will be their ride-or-die. Need a ride home? Get in my car. Need moral support? I'll be the best hype man ever seen.

I've never been the most empathetic person, but I do genuinely care for those I hold dear though I have a hard time showing it. I operate mostly on logic but will always consider emotions as a factor. That might be mainly because I'm autistic.

I have some special interests. (biology, history, literature, etc...) I also like listening to music (i adore rock music but i like all genres), drawing, painting my nails, playing video games, and buying new piercings.

I'm more of a follower than a leader but I'm willing to step up when necessary. That's because I tend to be quite spontaneous and not plan things through. (Basically I fuck around and find out).

My temper greatly depends on how I'm feeling. But at most days I'm as cool as a cucumber. Like people however, I have my off days. In these kinds of days, I get irritated easily but try to push it down which just makes me hella passive-aggressive and cold. I am self-aware enough to sense this and I'll apologize to whoever got offended when I calm down.

I'm 4'11, semi-tan skin (I'm from the Philippines where that's considered to be hella pale) and have some muscle in my body even though I rarely work out. I have pitch black hair in an undercut and dark brown eyes. I have alot of piercings and a few tattoos. My wardrobe is a hot pot of different things but it can be summarized to "gay vampire that's a biker gang leader"

Sorry if it's too long, I ramble alot. Have a nice day!

I ship you with…

Captain John Price!

These are temporarily closed. I am answering the ones I had in my inbox from when I opened them last time. Please do not request one right now. Thank you.

I think you two would get along pretty well. Price values your logic over emotion very much, it’s useful if one of you two begin to have an issue in the relationship.

Price would constantly invite you where ever he goes, although he makes it clear you have a choice to stay home.

He’s very aware that you’re not much a people person.

Price, in my mind, due to his military service, is also a ride-or-die type of person.

The military tears you away from your individuality and makes you think in a team sense instead of a individual sense, so of course he would.

In turn, you would do anything for each other.

Price would love to hear you talk about your special interests!

He appreciates that you can see when you were in the wrong with your tone, and he does the same. He has a bit of a temper too!

[amarantine-amirite]

Victimhood

"Hey," I heard my dad say as he answered the phone.

"Why didn't you pick up the phone?" his boss responds, "I've been calling for hours!"

"I know," I said, "I watched it ring."

You have no idea how hard it is for autistic people to stomach phone calls. We can't take being put on the spot and we don't process speech well. After Dad wrapped up what sounded like his boss drunk-dialling him, he said, "Rebecca, you need to get better at answering the phone. Just because you don't pick up doesn't mean whoever called us will leave a message. Sometimes they'll get offended and hang up."

"How am I supposed to know when they get offended?"

"You don't know, and you can't know, so you just need to pay attention to who is calling"

Recently, it has been harder and harder to tolerate phone calls. Close to Halloween, the recently deceased will call their close family or friends from the afterlife. You don't know when dead people call you because it doesn't show up on your caller ID. Nothing weird happens when they call you. There's no special ringtone. You don't hear your death on the other end. You don't die seven days after they call. They just call you and talk to you. It's the same as a normal phone conversation, except the person on the other end of the phone is dead. That doesn't stop it from being spooky.

My phone rang about two days later. The caller ID showed the name "afterlife" and the number "000-000-0000". I thought about letting it go to voicemail, but then I remembered the discussion Dad had with me about answering the phone.

I picked up the phone. Before I could greet them, they said, "You don't know me, but the last thing I read before I died was your notebook. Do you have any idea how much that hurt my feelings?"

What they said triggered a faint memory. So that's where I left that notebook.

There's a long and annoying backstory here. October and November are known for orange leaves, a generally gray drowsy atmosphere, and cool, crisp temperatures. They also have a reputation for being the most ungodly mental breakdown psychosis-inducing months imaginable due to the change in the number of hours of daylight. Everyone I knew used to go totally bonkers in October and November.

Of course, there were outside circumstances that made it worse for some people. Many kids had parents whose busiest time of year was the beginning of November, so they were desperate for their peers to pay attention to them in place of their parents. A handful of kids were scared of Halloween decorations and didn't bounce back until a while after the spooky season was over. Anyone in 12th grade probably felt stressed out because of college applications. Now, none of those things are solely to blame, but they didn't make it easier.

And as for me? During this time, the changing hours of daylight give me trouble getting to sleep, so I'm tired. This means I get cranky and snap at people. I laugh at things that aren't funny, and in the same vein, I would put my foot in my mouth a lot. I get overwhelmed easily and have trouble solving problems. I get paranoid and believe that people are out to get me. I have trouble remembering things.

And that's how stuff like this happens.

I overheard someone complaining about something that they could have prevented with a little planning. I wrote down something about how I lacked sympathy for them because they didn't do their due diligence. That wouldn't be a problem in and of itself, but I left the notebook behind somewhere.

Someone found it, and they read it at some point before they died. They used up their one phone call from the afterlife to demand I explain myself. "Do you have anything to say for yourself? You have no idea how serious this is, do you?"

I had no idea what I did wrong. "I don't know what you're talking about," I said.

They texted me pictures of the notebook pages in question. I looked at the images and asked, "Is this my handwriting?" I legitimately didn't recognize my handwriting, nor did I remember what I said.

"Yes, it is. I think you need to work on your penmanship," the snarked, "This looks like a poodle on acid tried to design the logo for a black metal band."

"I have no memory of saying whatever you said I did," I said, completely ignoring the disrespectful remark.

"Well, you did, and now it's time to face the consequences."

They told me that they could not have prevented their travel horror story. They couldn't take more than a week's worth of vacation. They could only take their vacation days within a week of a federal statutory holiday, such as at Christmas. Even still, they could still be pulled from their day off. It forced them to take their holidays at Christmas when nobody else was around. If, by some miracle, they did manage to get vacation time, they could only pack what they could fit into a backpack and a purse, and somebody stole the purse right under their nose.

I didn't believe a word they said. It seemed like they were exaggerating, but they weren't. If the rest of their rant was anything to go by, they were playing it down.

"I grew up in an environment where healthy people got a gastric bypass to save money on food, took injections meant to curtail excessive sweating because the antiperspirants that were on the market make the problem worse, and had hysterectomies because period products would cost over $100 a pop and only last for 20 to 30 minutes on a good day. We even knew some people got gender reassignment surgery because it cost too much to adhere to female social standards in the long run."

As they spoke, it slowly occurred to me that if my handwriting genuinely was that messy, then you couldn't confirm or deny what I said. Any accusation they made would be bogus!

"Wait..." I said.

"Yes?" they responded slickly.

"If my handwriting was as messy as you said, how did you know what I said?"

I could feel a chill come through the phone. "Come again?"

"How do I know that you're not making this up?" I asked.

I have never seen someone hang up on me so quickly before.

@writey-unicorn

[thescarletwitchsapprentice]

Yandere!Natasha with an ADD!Autistic!S/O.

*Not my GIF.

(I don’t know Nat as well as I know Wanda, but I was recently paired up with her for a Yandere matchup thing, so I figured why not?)

Note: Reader is 18+. I do not condone real-life Yandere behavior.

Warnings: Harassment mention, catcalling mention, murder, torture mention.

Nat has her eyes on you from the very beginning.

Tony introduces you as a new member of the Avengers, one of the youngest, and BOOM! Nat’s completely smitten.

You’re just so shy and sweet; it’s clear to Nat that she needs to protect you AT ALL COSTS.

She’s not the very first to introduce herself; she wants to observe how you react to various ways of people talking to you, so she can get the best idea on how to approach you.

Nat intensely, and I mean intensely, researches you. Your Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, tumblr, fanfiction.net, ao3, search history, bookmarks, phone, literally everything. Her spy training pays off here; you don’t suspect a thing.

She finds out about your autism and ADD through it all as well.

She doesn’t dare to bring it up to you, though. Not yet.

After some time, she finally introduces herself.

You’re pretty taken aback.

“I was so convinced that you hated me.”

“Of course not. I just wanted to make sure of the best way to introduce myself.”

Nat asks you about your likes and dislikes, but taking it a bit at a time, knowing that too many questions at a time can be overwhelming for you.

You’re touched and shocked by this. Most people overwhelm you with so many questions at once, but not Nat.

You try to ask her questions, but she doesn’t seem interested in letting you know about herself.

Little sketch, but you’re so smitten that someone wants to listen you talk about things you like.

She leaves you little gifts, generic ones, but cute nonetheless.

She’ll also do nice things; how did your room get so clean and in exactly the way you wanted it? That’s Nat’s surveillance and attention to detail at work. 

She’ll likely have the room secretly bugged, cameras and microphones everywhere. But as soon as you undress, they turn off and don’t come back on until you’re dressed again. She may be a spy, but there are some boundaries she will not cross.

But that’s not to say she won’t cross some.

Like others trying to get with you.

It’ll depend on how severe it is.

The guy who winked at you at the coffee shop? Expect him to go missing in the next 24 hours or less. 

If he’s compliant, he’ll be set free, but completely traumatized. 

If he steps out of line? He might as well have had his will written out.

Depending on how severe the crime was, Nat may give him a quick death or a slow and painful one.

But then there are the worst of the offenders.

You get catcalled and harassed by this one guy. 

And that doesn’t slide with Nat.

Doesn’t matter if he’s compliant or not. He’s a goner.

Usually in less than 1 hour. At most he’s got 6 hours left of life.

She’s obviously gonna make sure he dies slowly and painfully, but not without a little torture first.

Depending on if you knew the person or not, and if you had a good relationship with them, she may have some guilt, but will absolutely comfort you when you return to the compound in tears. 

She’ll whisper sweet nothings in your ear, some of them in Russian, and even sing some Russian lullabies.

Now the Avengers are a different story.

These people are practically family to her; she can’t murder them. 

Plus it certainly would not go unnoticed if she did murder them.

Steve and Bucky may playfully flirt with you, but they know you’re Nat’s, so she lets it slide. 

Wanda absolutely adores you, more in a platonic and familial sense, and has basically adopted you as her little sibling. 

Nat understands the pain Wanda’s gone through in terms of family, so this is one she lets slide as well. Plus it makes you so happy to have a big sister like Wanda, and Nat loves seeing you happy.

Peter’s psyched to have someone as sweet and playful as you on the team, so he likes to be around you when he can. Nat lets this slide, provided that he gives you space.

Even if he spends too much time around you, Nat wouldn’t have the heart to glare him down; he’s too sweet for that. She’d just have a small talk with him. Yes, an actual talk.

Tony may flirt with you, but Nat’s able to glare him down into getting right back to work. 

One night you’re talking about something you’re passionate about, and after you’re done, Nat tells you about how much she admires your passion and asks what your secret is.

You’ve known Nat for a while now, and you trust her a lot, so you tell her that you’re autistic and have ADD.

Nat’s very understanding and asks about what she can do to make things more sensory-friendly and such. 

And you can bet she implements those. 

The other Avengers become in the know and also help out.

Nat’s ready for whenever you have a meltdown or shutdown, even during battle. 

She always makes sure that the kitchen has sensory-friendly foods in stock. 

She finds it so freaking adorable when you go on tangents and talk about what you’re passionate about.

She respects when you like being touched and when you don’t. She cherishes the moments when you feel comfortable enough to be cuddled. Nat is a big ole teddy bear when cuddling with you and she just thinks you’re so freaking adorable whether you have your head on her shoulder or just nestling up against her.

Finally comes the day where Nat confesses that she’s in love with you and asks you to be hers. 

If you say yes, you will basically be the happiest person ever. Nat will give you so much love and affection, and anything that you want is yours. All you have to do is ask. 

If you say no.....that’s basically asking for your freedom to be murdered. Nat will sound disappointed, but say that she understands. 

Be prepared to wake up the next day and find yourself tied down in a soundproof bedroom. The only door in there leads into Nat’s bedroom. 

Nat will wait as long as it takes for you to love her. 

But you will.

You most definitely will.

She’ll make certain of it.

[iteratedextras]

Gonna ramble a bit.

I don’t like policies where the predictable consequences are going to cause people to run in and scream at me, in the abstract.

People point at me, in the abstract, and shout, in the abstract, “You’re supposed to be in charge around here - fix this!”

Gay marriage is not a policy that causes people to run in and scream at me because, even though it offends religious people, you’re pretty much either attracted to the same sex or you’re not, and if gay people pair off in marital bliss well they have someone to support them better in the event of health problems or old age, so it actually reduces the amount of people running in and screaming at me.

People doing gender transition as adults largely does not cause people to run in and scream at me.  (There are a few edge cases.)

People going “the NBA is heightist” cannot be satisfied - if I decree that the NBA needs to have the same average height as the general population, they’ll move on to showing that short players, I dunno, make fewer free throws on average or something, then start right the fuck back up again.  There is no way for me to placate them.

As for polygamy, it’s pretty much infeasible to reverse without a right-wing coup d’etat to reinstall the old norms, which happen to belong to some of the most successful civilizations historically. 

The argument that it will have an equal sex distribution is, “Me and the other 10 people in my social circle, who all have IQs of 120-150 and are neurodivergent, are doing this, and it’s worked out for us!”  Most people are not autistic folks with an IQ of 130.  Most people are not gay or bisexual or transgender.  That is not a real sample of what will happen when a bunch of 100 IQ cis heterosexual neurotypicals get their hands on it, and half the reports I receive on it are cases of it not working out to begin with.

The other argument is “human rights!”  ...which of course prohibits any sort of hedging against potential downsides that may or may not materialize.  Auction off the secondary marriage licenses issued to keep the gender balance?  “That’s a violation of my human rights!”

Of course as I mentioned, polygamy as it exists in the world today is correlated with civil disorder, and civil disorder sucks balls in terms of respecting human rights.

Alright?  They gave me a command to build a human rights machine when they pointed at me and demanded “human rights.”  That has to be implemented somehow, and it’s in a society so it has to be built out of humans.  I don’t have robots that can implement “human rights.”  “Human rights” do not fall from the sky.  I need guns and cops and courts and taxes and armies and half the guys I’ll have available to recruit from are going to be below the median level of talent.

Polygamy is just going to result in an endless string of complaints. 

“These women are being abused!  Why did sexual equality norms deteriorate?” “Where did all these incels come from?  I demand you do something about these incels!” (After ten years:) “Why do I have to be the second wife for a guy, I wanted to be the first wife! Society pressured me into this!  White cis heteropatriarchy invented polygamy to oppress us!  I can’t believe they’ve been doing this to us for 500 years!”

It’s going to be the same thing, over and over again, and they’ll try to legislate the complaints, and all of this will be made into my problem.

The dialogue on this goes like,

Guy: “But dude, it won’t happen.” Me: Why? Guy: “It just won’t.” Me: There’s no reason for me to believe that. Guy: “Dude, me and my queer anarchist collective of garbage collectors are all in one polycule and it works fine!”

And you know what?  It probably does work fine for you! 

But letting all of society do this means all of society.

[moonlight-breeze-44]

Leverage Finale.

Thanks to my friend @echo-bleu, I just finished watching all five seasons of Leverage. The finale was exceptional, and the entire show is so extremely important to me. I’m going to do my best to articulate what I want to say, but it may come out jumbled. I apologise if it does - but this is too important and too meaningful for me not to comment on. 

I started watching Leverage because Echo told me that it was the “original found family” and featured a borderline canon autistic character who was both badass and scripted extremely well. When I first started watching the show, I thought to myself: “What’s another favour for a friend? Maybe I’ll end up liking it, anyway.”

This may have been the biggest understatement of my life. 

Leverage is so important to me. It’s genuinely one of the most meaningful, impactful shows that I have ever watched, and its message(s) shine clear as day. 

Message #1: Family

The Leverage team is made up of Alec Hardison, an expert hacker with a huge heart and a desire to be surrounded by people he loves; Sophie Deveraux, an accomplished grifter with multiple identities who wants someone (or a group of someones) that takes the time to get to know the real her underneath all of the masks; Parker, an esteemed thief who wishes for a family that teaches her & helps her grow while loving her for who she is and respecting what she can do; Eliot Spencer, a badass hitter who craves to be recognised beyond the violence of his past and loved for who he really is and the heart he carries with him; and Nate Ford, an ex-upstanding citizen turned criminal mastermind who wants to see corporations like the one that let his son die be brought to justice, but knows he needs help to do it. 

Together, they make up a ragtag team of criminals that love each other and have each other’s backs in every situation. Together, they form the Leverage team. They form a family. 

Family is about love, about trust, about caring for each other and staying together even when things get rough. Family is Nate Ford, Sophie Deveraux, Parker, Alec Hardison, and Eliot Spencer from Leverage. 

Leverage teaches its viewers that not all family has to be blood. Some families can be found. This show, these characters, this family? It’s exactly what family should be.

Message #2: Hope

Leverage doesn’t just appeal to every person’s desire to stick it to the high and mighty. While that’s a big part of it, Leverage is also about so much more than that. Leverage is about finding a home in the most unlikely of places, among the most unlikely of people. It’s downright inspiring.

Leverage is about hope. 

Hope that it’s not too late. Hope that you aren’t too broken to be loved. Hope that you can have a home, a real home, the kind of home that you always dreamed of having. Hope that you can make a difference. Hope that you can achieve your dreams. Hope that you can love and be loved in return. 

Everything about Leverage is executed perfectly, and the hope shines clear through it all. In the midst of nothing, a gang of criminals found their something. They found each other. 

Nate tells Eliot in the season finale, “You know, I’d say to call if you need anything, but you - you never need anything.”

Eliot smiles at Nate and says, “Yeah, I did.” He looks back at Parker and Hardison, and the message is clear enough. “Thanks to you, I don’t have to search anymore.”

Sophie asks Eliot to promise her that he’ll protect them; keep them safe. 

Eliot says, “Until my dying day.”

That kind of devotion, that kind of love, is something that everyone dreams of. Some of us have it. Some of us don’t. But regardless, it is everyone’s dream to belong. Everyone wants to belong in a different way, and everyone sees belonging differently, but everyone wants people who understand them and cherish them like the characters of Leverage understand and cherish each other.

With this finale, Leverage is telling everyone who has ever wished on a star or prayed to an angel that their hearts aren’t foolish or naive for daring to hope. Leverage is telling everyone who has ever wished to be loved and understood that they can be. They will be. 

Leverage tells us that we’ll find our people, even if it takes us a long time, and when we do, it’ll all be worth it. 

Message #3: The OT3

Over the course of the show, Parker, Hardison, and Eliot’s relationship continued to be something that spoke to me and made me feel more seen and validated than I had felt in years. 

Going into this show, I heard from Echo and a few of my other friends that Leverage had an OT3 that was “as close to canon as possible”, but I’ll be honest with you - I didn’t believe them. 

All my life, I’ve been queerbaited and kept on the edge of my seat by TV show after TV show, waiting for some big reveal that never happened because the show producers didn’t care as much about my views as they did about the views of their audience that might be offended by it. It’s not something that I’m even bothered by, anymore, aside from the principle of it; this is just the way the world works, and I’ve learned how to enjoy TV shows despite it. 

Still, with that knowledge and experiences in mind, I didn’t go into Leverage believing that the OT3 would be this. 

The Leverage OT3 is so much more than I could have hoped for; all three of them “died” holding hands, and they said words to and about each other that are the equivalent of marriage vows in the real world. The OT3 is, genuinely, as close to canon as possible for a USA 2012 television series, and that is beautiful. 

I know I’m not the only person that has watched Leverage and felt this deep, emotional connection to the OT3. I know I’m not the only person that has watched Leverage and felt so validated, so represented, and to me, that’s worth everything. The OT3 was given time to develop, and the characters align perfectly with each other in ways that most of us never would have dreamed of a TV show doing. The Leverage OT3 consistently tells me and people like me that we’re loved, we’re valid, and they understand. We’re not alone. 

The fact of that matter is, regardless of how much evidence there may be of that on the Internet these days, it can be easy to feel like you’re the only one in the world that’s like you when it comes to relationships if you never see relationships like yours or the ones that you want to have onscreen at any point. It’s easy to feel like you’re weird or strange or wrong somehow for how you feel without representation, and Leverage, I think, knows that. 

Leverage casts light on and says I love you, it’s okay to anyone and everyone who’s ever experienced attraction to multiple people at the same time, who’s ever been in a poly relationship, who’s ever been in love with multiple people at once, who’s ever considered a relationship with multiple partners, and who’s ever realised that they are polyamorous. And that, my friends, is NOT representation that we get every day. 

This kind of representation is so rare, but Leverage did it. 

Leverage did so many things, and all in all, watching this show was one of the best decisions of my life. I finished watching with love in my heart and validation in my smile and beautiful characters sewn into my soul. I love this show. 

There are so many more things I could say about why I love Leverage and why I think it’s one of the best shows to exist ever, but then this Tumblr post would be as long as a dictionary. For now, I’ll just settle with saying this: 

Leverage is one of the most amazing TV shows I’ve ever had the honour of watching.

[mammoneymelon]

How the brothers would react to finding out that MC is autistic

before anyone says anything, i’m autistic and just really want some representation

TW for ableism! the boys are doing their best but no NT immediately knows everything about autism

it’s a bit random, but i headcanon that lucifer has misophonia, so it’s only a matter of time before a noisy/verbal stim starts to drive him up a wall

“what in the devildom are you doing?” he’d ask, eyebrows scrunched in frustration

you have no idea what he’s talking about; after all, you’ve just been sitting on your DDD playing some rhythm game

“what do you mean?”

“you’ve been making that noise for hours; cut it out before i have to go find the packing tape.”

you know him well enough to know he isn’t joking, so you nod and do your best to stop, ignoring the feeling of dread beginning to well up in your chest

you go back to your game, and soon enough, you’re back to ‘making that noise’

you see lucifer stand up, bringing your action to your attention.

“oh, sorry! i didn’t realize i was doing it again, sorry!”

“oh?” he asked, looking down at you. 

“it’s stimming. autistic people do it a lot more than others, and sometimes we don’t even notice it.” there’s a moment of silence but you realize you just told him something you hadn’t even told your human friends

“ah, yes, i do remember reading about that in your file. i didn’t want to say anything so as not to offend you.”

you shake your head. “dude! that’s personal business! i don’t like telling people.”

lucifer’s gaze seems to soften. “don’t fret, MC. i won’t tell a soul.”

and he doesn’t.

he also totally buys you quiet stim toys

it’s not long before mammon realizes you are terrible at reading the room

you have a terrible habit of cracking a joke at the worst time or saying the first thing that comes to your mind, even if it was at the expense of others

at first, mammon, mammon thought you were really brave. now, however, he sees that you just have no idea what you’re doing

currently, your knack for trouble had landed you in detention, something you’d gotten fairly used to in the human world. mammon was sitting next to you - he was paying for trying to defend you

“lucifer’s going to kill us. again.”

“and whose fault is that?”

“sorry,” you mumble. “it’s not like i was trying to get us here.”

“really? because it’s startin’ to seem like you are. not that i blame ya, if i were you i’d do anything to spend more time with the great mammon.” he gives you a smile, and you really hope that means he isn’t mad

“i really don’t like upsetting people, i just don’t really get tone? i didn’t even realize the teacher was mad until you stepped in. “

“dude, she was on the verge of killing ya! what do ya mean you “didn’t even realize”?

you pinch the bridge of your nose in frustration. “it’s part of a disorder i have. autism. i just don’t get some stuff that comes naturally to other people.”

“ohhh.” mammon slaps his head, feeling like an idiot. “sorry,” he murmurs, and you barely hear it

mammon, being, well, mammon, will probably forget.

it’s not that he doesn’t care! it’s just not something that comes up in conversation.

of course, when the two of you do talk about it, he picks up on the symptoms pretty quickly. he’s a pretty smart guy, and he’ll do anything and everything for his human

the two of you are working on a co-op dungeon while you talk about your current special interest

“wow, MC, you know a lot about this!”

“thanks,” you respond, and it hits you - you’ve been infodumping almost this whole time

“haha, yeah, blame it on the autism brain,” you joke absentmindedly, not really caring if he knew. you two were good friends, why would being neurodivergent make a difference?

levi, on the other hand, does a double take. being the gamer he is, he’d definitely heard the word used as an insult, but he’d never thought about anyone actually having autism - much less his best friend

“MC, you have autism?” he turns to you looking genuinely confused, his controller sitting, forgotten, in his lap

“um, yeah? it’s not really a big deal,” you say, shrugging

“yeah it is! i mean i knew you were pretty weird, since you hang out with me-” he stops mid-sentence, realizing his mistake. “NOT IN A BAD WAY, OF COURSE! ah sorry, i said something stupid, like always.”

you shake your head with a small smile. you can tell he’s trying. “trust me, i’ve heard much worse. you’re fine, levi.”

he glances up at you, face red from embarrassment, and your smile widens. “i mean, i don’t think like ‘normal’ people anyway, so yeah, i kinda am weird.”

once you leave his room, he’s at his pc, researching more vigorously that he’s ever done for a class

the more he learns, the more annoyed he gets at the complete misunderstanding of the disorder

ultimately, he just wants to make sure you feel supported and understood

you’re sitting in the library, doing your homework while satan looks over your essay, checking for errors

“oi, MC”

“what’s up?” you respond, still focused on your work

“are you scared of me?”

this prompts you to look up, focusing your eyes on his hands

“i was when i first came here, and i definitely would be scared if i really pissed you off, but no, i’m not scared of you. why do you ask?”

“you never look me in the eyes. or my brothers, actually.”

oh. you’d been hoping no one had noticed. “oh, i just don’t like eye contact. it makes me uncomfortable.” you return your eyes to your paper, hoping that was enough.

“how so?” 

so it wasn’t enough.

“i’m autistic, genius. i figured it was obvious by now.”

“oh. that makes sense.” that’s all he says, so you try to return your focus to your homework.

satan is probably the most comfortable talking to you about it. he’ll ask you questions about your personal experiences and make an effort to understand you better

one day you look over his shoulder to find him reading an article on masking on his DDD

he cares deeply for you, even if it’s hard for him to say so

asmo has wrangled you into yet another shopping trip

“MC, look at this!! you have to try it on!”

one look at the article of clothing and your face is already scrunching up

“absolutely not.”

“awe, why not?” he gives you the biggest puppy eyes and you sigh. he knows your weaknesses.

“the material. i hate it.”

“but it would look so good on you~”

clearly, he’s not going to give up unless you explain yourself to him

“sure, for a couple seconds, until i have a complete meltdown,” you remark. “i’m autistic, so some textures just make me feel really bad.”

his mouth makes an ‘o’ shape, and then he goes back to looking confused. “i hadn’t even thought about that as a possibility! you should’ve said something earlier!”

he feels really bad about all the times he’s touched you without warning. he thought your shock was cute (and he still does), but he knows that autistic people sometimes dislike touch - he’s definitely had at least a couple autistic ‘partners’ in the past

he’s quite the observant demon, quickly picking up on sensations you d and don’t like. if you’re bothered by smells, he does his best to lay off on the perfume - granted, it’s a necessary part of his routine that he absolutely cannot give up completely. he lets you play with the dimmer in his room so you can find the amount of light that works best.

occasionally, he’ll have to tell you that he’s trying his absolute best to flirt and you are giving him nothing. you’re just like “oh shit i didn’t realize”

asmo’s just a sweetheart who wants you to be comfortable

beel unfortunately has to learn about your autism because of a situation out of your control

you’re in the gym, keeping him company while he works out

you’re searching his bag and you realize you don’t have your headphones

oh fuck.

you always bring your headphones to the gym; the sounds of televisions, music, people talking, weights clinking, treadmills rumbling... it’s too much

not to mention the stench of sweat and the florescent lights - truly an autistic person’s nightmare

you squeeze you eyes shut, but that only makes the noise worse. you’re surrounded by noise and you can’t stop it. it occurs to you that you’re no longer breathing properly but it’s just too loud and you’re so small

“MC?” beel’s voice is soft and filled with obvious concern. you open your eyes, seeing him kneeling in front of you. your eyes sting, and you realize you’re tearing up. “MC, are you alright?” 

all you can do is shake your head

“do you want to go home?” you nod, biting your lip as he stands up, making you feel even smaller.

he quickly packs his things into his bag and offers you a hand, helping you get up

he quickly escorts you outside, where you practically gulp for air. 

he waits patiently with you while you slowly ground yourself. 

“okay, let’s go home.” you explain sensory overload as you walk, then tell him about your autism

beel, like asmo, is very observant and he learns surprisingly fast. 

he’s also very protective of you. if someone triggers you, he won’t hesitate to tell them off before doing a grounding exercise with you

he’s basically you’re giant therapy demon and you love him for it

it’s becoming way too much. you’ve been masking heavily for months, monitoring your every move while doing your absolute best to thrive in a (literally) completely different universe than what you’re used to

you’re laying facedown on the couch, practically unable to move. you want to go to your room, but your body won’t let you

“mc?” you hear belphegor’s voice. “are you trying to imitate me?” he teases

you simply groan in response, not wanting to bother

for a moment he goes silent. then, you feel a hand on your shoulder

you jolt up, swiping his hand away as you let out a small shout. belphie’s eyes are widened in surprise

“don’t touch me! ...please,” you add as an afterthought, feeling bad for scaring him

he sits with you on the couch, taking care to leave space between the two of you. “what’s wrong?” you don’t respond. “mc?”

“burnout. too much. feel bad.”

belphie has absolutely no clue what that means, but he figures he knows something that might help.

“want to take a nap with me?”

you have to think about it before responding with a “sure” and slowly crawling into his arms (if that’s something you’re okay with)

it’s night when the two of you wake up. you still feel awful, but you can at least cope better.

once belphie’s more awake, he asks you what the hell happened

“two words: autistic shutdown”

“that doesn’t explain anything” - belphie really doesn’t know anything about humans

you do your best to explain - you were born with a brain that works a bit differently than most humans. some of the symptoms are an aversion to change and ‘odd’ behavior that’s difficult to hide. when you get too stressed, you just kinda ‘shut down’

he takes a bit to really understand, but once he does, he does his best to support you.

he falls asleep to your infodumping and you find it endearing

he gets good at recognizing when you’re starting to shut down and he always convinces you to take a break via a cuddly nap

[my-autistic-things]

Hello! Hope I'm not bothering you but I was just wondering if you can drive? I'm autistic and have anxiety problems. I want to learn how to drive so I can drive to my church without my parents help, but driving seems so complicated and confusing, plus very nerve wracking with the way other people be driving on the road. If you can drive, can you tell me how your first time driving experience has been? Are you good at driving? Hope I didn't offend you in anyway.

Ok long answer oops -- also sorry I don't check my ask box very often so this has been sitting there for a while.

I don't find this offensive at all! I can and do drive, and I enjoy driving very much despite also being extremely stressed out by it. I am a good driver, and a safe driver, and multiple people have told me that including my mom who judges everyone's driving ability lol.

I completely understand you reasoning. Driving is a freeing experience. It gives you SO much freedom and it is also the key to being more independent (esp. if taking the bus isn't a reliable option). Even if you're reliant on your parents/other adults for a lot of other things, having this one piece of independence can tremendously help your mental health.

I somehow didn't have driving anxiety before learning how to drive, but its a totally valid fear/worry. I have driving anxiety now, particularly on the freeway/highway, because other people don't drive safely. Driving is dangerous, it is confusing, and you constantly need to be aware of what is happening and make quick decisions. That being said, once you learn how to drive and build up your confidence, the operating a vehicle part is quite easy. That becomes almost automatic, and the continuously difficult part is monitoring your surroundings (other cars, speed limits, pedestrians, etc.). That cannot become automatic, though your responses can become reflexive.

I learned how to drive in a parking lot (as many others do). My mom had me first practice braking super fast on command (she would yell stop and I had to slam on the brake lol). Then we ventured out, at night, on some back roads where there wasn't many cars. Then I drove the 5 min drive home from the parking lot, then to the grocery store nearby, then to the pet store a bit further away, then on the highway to Costco, then the freeway to doctors appointments. My point is that we slowly built up the distance and speed I drove. I only went places I knew too, until I was confident enough to drive and also Think how to figure out where I was located and find new places (half of driving really is knowing where you are currently and knowing where you're going). I'm not sure how far away driving to church is for you, or what that involves (only streets, or a freeway/highway), but you could learn how to drive, hate it and be a bad driver, but manage to know that one route and drive only to church!

For everyone: I highly reccomend learning how to drive! Even if you can't safely drive on the roads, I highly reccomend learning how to drive in a safe environment (parking lots, non busy back roads) in case of an emergency. Even going so far as to obtain a driver's license, if you're able to pass the road test. You don't have to actively use your driver's license, but it gives you the freedom to legally drive away from bad situations (emergencies or just unhealthy environments, also renting a car). Driver's tests don't make you go on the freeways (typically), and you can study the route as much as you want before the test. Of course that being said, operating a vehicle is very serious and it actively endangers your life as well as everyone else around you. If you are prone to meltdowns, shutdowns, panic attacks, or literally anything that takes your attention from the road, it is 100% okay to never get behind a wheel and it's nothing to be ashamed of. Yours and others' lives are more important than the ability to drive.

[puzzlebug]

 ranking of love live (only µ’s and aqours bc i dont know enough about nijigasaki or liella to really make any judgements) relationships based on my opinions alone. i should be studying for my finals. nobody needs to read this i just need to make my stances clear

the best:

yohamaru. other people had their gay awakenings to nozoeli but nooo i was an aqours fan i had to latch onto these weirdos when i was in 8th grade. anyway they have it ALL and it astonishes me that they’re not more popular. the childhood friends reunited. the jokey banter. the fact that hanamaru is DEFINITELY also a little weird but people don’t notice. the fact that their voices sound so good together and we deserve a duo song...is it really possible for a choir girl and a twitch streamer to be in a relationship... i truly believe that even if hanamaru teases yoshiko sometimes she truly believes that she’s the coolest person EVER. hanamaru sees that her old best friend is going through a warriors phase and demanding to be called ‘ravenstar’ and just goes god she’s still so awesome. they watch horror movies together and yoshiko cowers behind hanamaru the whole time while hanamaru considers the artistic merit of the plot. i think they are nonbinary lesbianisms together.

nozoeli. they’re so married. garasu no hanazono has been my top song on spotify wrapped for two years in a row. despite arguably being the most canon relationship they can fit so much yearning in there. i don’t even know what to say about them they’re so good. they really do have gay aunts energy.

rinpana. they’re t4t and the most autistic girls around and they’ve been in love with each other for so long they feel like it’s sort of an unspoken thing. like of course we love each other silly. everyone else tells rin ‘CUT YOUR MULLET NOW’ but hanayo just goes ..’wow... a mane. you’re like a cute little lion’ and rin keeps the mullet forever. who can say if this is good or bad.

chikayouriko. people always fight over these guys because they don’t realize none of them should be left out. you can’t have chikariko without you you can’t have chikayou without riko and you can’t even have youriko without chika. they’re sillay. we’re getting into the trios category now btw

kanamaridia. similar to chikayouriko in that people constantly leave dia out even though she’s so important to the dynamic.. i think they all got ‘married’ as kids and none of them have really let it go and they really can’t imagine the real deal happening in any other way. it’s always been the three of them.

honokotoumi. very similar in backstory to kanamaridia but they’re a lot stupider about it. i think kotoumi are a lot more obvious but honoka is the glue that holds them together. they all complement each other very well.

the ‘okay i can see it’:

youruby: i think this could be cute. they have personalities that mesh well together and i think they’d have a lot of fun just hanging out.

rubyleah. it’s fun! i feel like they have a lot of parallels and differences that work out in a nice way, but also i feel like leah didn’t have enough screen time to get me invested in this. i also hc ruby as arospec so i think it’d take more time than they got for her to develop feelings for anyone.

rikomaki. red hair pianists. it’s cute. this is the only cross-group relationship i’ll even consider just because it’s fun.

the ‘only platonically. sorry’:

yohariko. i actually really dislike this romantically for some reason, but by GOD their friendship is SO fucking fun. the two people you wouldn’t ever really think could be besties just end up clicking. i mean EVERYONE in aqours is friends but they usually stay within their ‘years’ yknow? it’s nice to see. i think they’re supportive forces in each other’s lives and help each other stay grounded and live a little respectively. people probably assume they’re dating bc of how close they become, but they aren’t. if anyone asks riko probably just starts laughing, which yoshiko acts very offended about.

rubymaru. this is?? kind of pushed as much as yohamaru is but i just don’t see it as anything but platonic. i think it’s also kinda boring and does a disservice to both of their characters. i like them as friends a lot but i feel like they’re more interesting when there’s other characters to interact with. i like maru being the kind of friend that encourages ruby to be more confident. emotional support hanamaru that helps her just. order a drink. ruby calls hanamaru at like 12 at night to ask for ideas for costumes and hanamaru always picks up.

nicomaki. I KNOWWWW they push it so hard in everything they put them in but the age gap bothers me. i think a lot of people look past it because maki is very mature and collected and nico is. nico. and the dynamic could be cute. but. idk  a lot of people gloss over the fact that maki is 15 and nico is 17. they’re still really good as friends.

every other relationship i haven’t mentioned. they’re all best friends to me.

very funny one sided:

ruby having a one-sided crush on kanan would be SO funny. the ‘older sister’s cool boyfriend’ effect. ruby admires her strength and carefree attitude a lot, but i think she gets over it pretty quickly and comes to see her as a friend that she just looks up to.

[tenthgrove]

hi! could i request some platonic la squadra with a team member who's autistic and mainly stims by repeating short phrases (echolalia but idk how to phrase it) and has/had a hard time unmasking around them? feel free to take as many liberties as you need to, your writing is so fun to read! <33

La Squadra Says Autism Rights

La Squadra x Reader (GN), Platonic, SFW

(A/N: I just wanted to say a particular thank you to this requester because I've been itching to write autistic reader headcanons for months and this finally gave me the right prompt to do it. I definitely want to write more in the future.)

Formaggio- He might be neurotypical, but autism runs in his family (and his social circle as an adult) so he's learned a fair bit how best to interact with you people. He knows his loudness and teasing can be an issue for autistic people with sensory issues or trouble with sarcasm, so he'll drop it around you if that's the case. As far as he's concerned your vocal stim is a non-issue because 'some people just do that, it doesn't hurt anyone' and he doesn't comment on it unless you're using it to show happiness, in which case he always acts chuffed. He behaves sympathetically to your troubles with masking, and makes a point of acting laid-back so it's easy for you to turn down the pressure on yourself. To Formaggio, not being able to be yourself would be one of the worst fates imaginable, so he wants to do what he can to make it easier for you to let loose.

Illuso- You might expect Illuso's understanding to be low, but at this point with so much of the team being neurodivergent themselves Illuso doesn't bat an eyelid. Repeating short phrases is certainly a new one, but nothing he can't put up with. Sometimes, he might ask you what your murmurings mean, but he doesn't mean it in a judgy way. Now, as for your masking, you would be surprised how much he can relate. Illuso's self esteem is secretly down the gutter, and he often feels like the confident persona he puts on is secretly an act. When you tell him you feel like you're putting a show every day of your life, he feels you. The two of you have a lot of heartfelt conversations when you're alone, confessing how you really feel about yourselves away from the act you're performing. It's not something Illuso does often, be this honest even with a friend. But he can't help but find that it's... therapeutic.

Prosciutto- Like with anything a friend of his may be insecure about, Prosciutto very much looks at autism through the lens of identifying positives. This by no means says that he ignores your difficulties or tries to creative positives that aren't there, only that he takes note of your strengths no matter how much you try to deny them and makes sure you remember you have them. He doesn't try to 'fix' your echolalia because he knows it's better to work with an autistic person's traits than erase them, but he does teach you mental diversion techniques to help you tone the stim down when you need to (e.g. when you're trying to be stealthy). Regarding your masking, he can somewhat admire it as a useful skill to have- it's possible you could turn it into the skills of an excellent actor while under cover, but he also appreciates the impact this must be having on your self-esteem to have to hide yourself 24/7, so he wants to help you learn to cut it down. This, of course, is done through plenty of praise and reminding of your strengths. You are a wonderful addition to the team, even without your mask, and he won't let you think any less.

Pesci- When Pesci gets stressed it affects him a lot too. Sometimes he does things like fiddle with random items in his hands until they break or bounce his leg so hard the table shakes, which always get him strange looks. He appreciates the rationale of your stimming and would never judge you for it. If you're in a situation where you absolutely need to stop stimming, for instance if a team is visiting who isn't on good terms with La Squadra, he is a good bet for subtly and respectfully helping you be aware of when you're starting to do it so you can quickly stop. Just a gentle nudge to your arm when you start to whisper is all it takes. He also has a lot of empathy for the fact you has to mask, since he imagines it to be like a more extreme version of how he had to invent this whole 'tough guy' personality after he got involved in the gang. He found that really hard too, so he can imagine what it must be life to do that sort of thing your whole life. At least with him, you feel less of a pressure to put on an act.

Melone- There's a certain intellectual curiosity in Melone towards the various neurodivergent conditions, compounded by a strong personal empathy now he has so many friends who have them. He is saddened by the failure of the common consensus to understand such individuals, and wants to do what he can to help them appreciate their full, unique potentials. Melone is quick to recognise your behaviour as stimming, and hence understands that the stress of being called out on it would only make it worse. He is sympathetic to your plight with masking, and has a few ideas you could try if you want to start reducing it in safe circumstances. He has heard that one barrier to unmasking can be trouble identifying the 'true self' you have to go back to, so to remedy this he asks non-critical questions that help you explore your real, unmasked personality and be comfortable in it. Whenever you go off-script and talk to him as your true-self, he praises you for it and assures you that you are just as wonderful a person to him like this.

Ghiaccio- We arrive at the first member on the list who (in my headcanon) is autistic himself. Although the mangling of verbal speech is typically annoying to him, Ghiaccio would never become angry at someone who did it because of their neurodivergence. After all, if he didn't respect the effects of your autism, what reason do you have to return the favour? Ghiaccio makes a point of not hurrying you along when you start to repeat yourself as a stimming technique, and it goes a long way with helping you be calm around him. The masking however, is a different matter. He's not going to be angry at you per say, since he knows from experience the pressure you must be facing to put on an act this way, but he very much prefers it when people are their authentic selves around him. After all, he has enough issues knowing their true intentions as it is. He won't get angry, but he will gently encourage you to open up about him, even if it's something as little as stating what you really want point-blank when you're nervous too. He is very understanding about how hard this is, however.

Risotto- Another autistic individual himself, Risotto is also perfectly empathetic to your behaviour. As an adult, he doesn't really stim, rather just faze out entirely, but at the end of the day that still gets him a lot of strange looks so he can appreciate the range of feelings you may have about your own stim. What's really great about Risotto is that he learns pretty quickly how to differentiate between your happy-stims and your stress-stims, to an extent nobody else on the team is able to. He always seems very content to see you happy-stim, warmed by the knowledge that you are feeling good right now. As for your stress-stims, he is quick to help you escape from the situation if at all possible, and hold your hand comfortingly if not. And the whole masking thing? He understands painfully well. Risotto's masking game on-point, but it irks him greatly to keep it up, not to mention that he hates the paralysing anxiety that hits him whenever he tries to unmask. Even when he wants to, he can't always be himself in front of the team. He may not have a solution for you, but he at least has his full empathy.

Sorbet and Gelato- While Sorbet is, as far as he's aware, neurotypical, Gelato is very much autistic as well. He's also got ADHD to boot, so he's well versed in the neurodivergent experience. His stim is quite similar to yours, in that he makes quiet, high-pitched, almost chirp-like noises, so he sees your echolalia as something he has in common with you. Gelato doesn't really bother with masking any more, the only exception being people who could quite literally kill him if he offended them. Though he encourages you to let go and be yourself, consequences be damned, he of course completely understands the pressure to keep masking. Sorbet, despite being neurotypical, is at this point more surrounded by autistics than not. He's been married to Gelato for the best part of the decade, his closest friend is Risotto, and he's practically Ghiaccio's dad at this point. Adding one more neurodivergent to the mix is hardly a big step, and he is very well-versed in your behaviours and how to interact with them.