#ND representation

[midnottart]

I adore this awkward big boy ;-; #Ragnarok #MagneSeier

[kinsey3furry300]

The Stomlight archives, badly summarised. Book one, The Way of Kings.

In a world where no one is white other than some weird weebs in Shinovar, a twenty something Emo drops out of med school to experiment with war and slavery, and wins PTSD to go with his existing Seasonal Adjustment Disorder and Depression, decides that a wise man builds a longer murder-bridge and not a higher murder-fence, and mentally breaks so badly that the universe sends him the mathematical average of superman and spiderman’s powers and an emotional support goddess. Due to the paperwork of this particular universe being irreversibly fucked by squabbling super-powered Mormons, the goddess in question is a 5,000 year old teenage girl with ADHD.

Meanwhile, an actual teenage girl with ADHD and trauma related D.I.D tries and fails to steal magic jewellery from the human embodiment of a ND dark academia moodbord, and breaks so badly that the universe takes pity on her and grants her an emotional support god who is the embodiment of math and also has Aspergers.  The human moodbord then adopts her because they can both nerd so hard they enter an alternate dimension made of abstract ideas and fucking glass ball bearings of all things. They then go of on a quest to tell the world that slavery is wrong, but only because the slaves might get their minds back and also get superpowers soon (due to one the aforementioned super-Mormons being a prick), and that could cause them personaly trouble.

Also meanwhile, the moodbords cousins are a man so autistic he somehow invented the fidget-box while living in a world that’s every Warhammer faction at once, and a dyslexic himbo who talks to his sword. The father of these two is this universe’s only neurotypical person, who happens to be an angry boomer who’s so metal as fuck his heartbeat is the Doom 2016 soundtrack, but everyone thinks he’s going senile because the ghost of a god keeps prank calling him each time the weather gets bad. He’s fighting a war against crab people, but mostly against the rest of his faction who are at best his useless nephew (whose mom he wants to bone) and at worst the human embodiment of that sneer Joffrey makes in game of thrones.

Also the coolest fantasy swords of any work of fiction exist, and one of them belongs to a bald weeb who has to murder every world leader because someone stole his pet rock.

[elysiarte]

something, something, something, we win!🤘🏻

[tangents-within-tangents]

As much as I love sweet headcanons and found family fics about the Batch accepting Echo and supporting him through his adjustment and PTSD/trauma, gotta remember that what we were actually given in canon is this:

Hunter: Me and the boys will tag along anyway, if only to say I told you so. Crosshair: I would have left him for dead too. Besides, he's just another reg. (his rescue was just a mission for them, wouldn't have done it otherwise)

Tech: To be blunt his mind belonged to the Separatists until we unplugged him. We don't really know where his loyalties lie. Rex: Yeah? Well I know. Hunter: Alright Echo what are you trying to pull? Tech: How do we know that's what you're really going to do? Hunter: Well I guess you actually are on our side. (They openly doubt his loyalty even though they saw what he went through, and he already fought alongside them on Skako. Feels kinda victim-blamey to me, and it's odd that it goes straight from this to him joining them, like he had to prove himself worthy first? It's just the opposite of fanon which usually has the Batch be immediately sympathetic/protective and assume the regs would distrust him)

Tech: You are more machine than man, percentage wise at least. Echo, a triple amputee: *sigh* lucky me...

Palpatine: ...the attempt on my life has left me scarred and deformed Wrecker: You can say that again! Echo, a physically disabled person:

Echo, who was medically experimented on: *injured and having a panic attack in the medbay* The Batch: *off somewhere joking/betting about if he’s dead*

Tech: -from the Citadel rescue when you... how shall I put this? Wrecker: Blew up!! :D Crosshair: And turned into that Echo: *sigh* yes

Random stranger: *mistakes Echofor a droid* Hunter: *smiles and goes along with it for the credits* Echo, who was SOLD and dehumanized as a pow: *visibly uncomfortable* Hunter: Echo, go to your new owner.

Echo, who was treated like property by the Techno Union: *explains why slavery is wrong* And we are gonna stop it from happening to that kid. Tech: As well as earn a decent amount of credits once the job is complete. Echo: (bitterly) yeah, that too *leaves the room*

Tech: The client being a Separatist is not relevant. Echo, who was imprisoned and tortured by Separatists for over a year: It is to me! Hunter: Forget politics! We're here to do a job.

Tech: This squad existed before Echo was a part of it, and it will exist after.

For the record, yes people can and do joke about their trauma and disabilities

But look at Echo’s reactions/tone/body language in these scenes. It’s downcast sighs and discomfort, while the others are smiling, sneering, or dismissive. And because it's animated that means that every facial expression was intentionally designed.

What really clinches it for me is this moment:

Omega, a child who he just met, comforts him and helps him through his panic attack. But when the Batch, his squad who he's been living with for at least ~6 months, comes into the room he visibly closes himself off and hides his vulnerability :(

There are good moments too (though tbh i can't think of many)

I don't wanna discount that, but that doesn't discount this either. And it's just really weird when you think about it. Like half of these were in the first episode, which is the first time we are actually seeing how these characters interact together as a squad. And this is coming from the "defective" clones who supposedly know what it's like to not fit in? Who offered Echo a place with them specifically because they thought he wouldn't be accepted by others?

As with anything, there are ways we can read into or explain these moments (like honestly 'selling' your brother or betting that your brother died by lunch tray is very accurate sibling energy (And my personal headcanon (to reconcile it for myself bc the show didn't) is that Wrecker was worried about Echo so Crosshair jokingly exaggerated that he was dead and turned it into an argument/bet to distract him (which is also why I think he turns battles into a game/competition with Wrecker)) but Echo is very traumatized and there's a complete lack of consideration there). But that doesn't excuse it nor does it change the fact that this is what was presented to us in the writing. Characters aren't actually people (shocking I know lol), so any of their 'choices' are actually made by a real-life writer. And whether the implications of these moments were fully considered/intended or not, it still portrays the characters and their attitudes/relationships in a certain way.

[with-love-from-the-universe]

perfect, that’s all i need to know

[elrondsscribe]

Autistic Lan Wangji x ADHD Wei Wuxian

that’s it, that’s the post

[zarasaurus-studios]

the oscars have started up my Nimona hyperfixation again and I couldn’t be happier about it :,)

[soullessjack]

idk i just think it’s a little weird that almost every character who gets the “innocent baby” / “little ray of sunshine” treatment usually ends up just having neurodivergent traits and actual negative traits in the show that nobody pays attention to. like idk man it just feels like diet infantilization to me and it’s a teeny weeny bit uncomfortable to see all the time

[five-thousand-loaves-of-bread]

if i see another level 1 autistic call

another level 1 autistic character in TV show who speaks who is mostly independent who stims cutely who is just “weird” who misunderstands social situations but never violent and never get put into dangerous situations like have police called restrained etc

“finally a correct autistic representation!”

i’m going to do unspeakable things to them

needed representation? yes. correct representation? lmao no stop pushing the rest of us out of autism conversations

[hattr]

TRANS FLAG IN NIMONA!! Also can we talk abt how breathtaking the ending was?!?!

[fudan-no-nijiiro]

UtaPri and Neurodivergent Headcanons: Yamato Hyuga

This might become a series at some point, because I think it's really interesting.

That said, I want to start out with a few disclaimers:

I am not an expert in psychology.

No identity category is a monolith. That holds especially true for neurodiverse folks; it is a huge and incredibly varied umbrella.

No UtaPri characters, to my knowledge, have a canonical formal medical diagnosis.

UtaPri is a Japanese franchise, and I am not Japanese. All sorts of intercultural misunderstandings may come into play, here.

It is entirely possible that others will find some or all of UtaPri's representations of neurodivergence and/or mental illness unimpressive, inaccurate, and/or upsetting; these are just my opinions as one fan. I'm truly just here to have a good time, and I'm also fully open to disagreements with my perspective or analysis.

That said, let's move on to Yamato!

Yamato Hyuuga and ADHD (+ possible dyslexia/other learning disabilities)

Yamato shows an impressively wide range of traits common among people with ADHD. In no particular order, there's:

Physical movement as self-regulation: Yamato regularly walks around on his hands, goes out running, and generally finds ways to move his body when given half a chance. He often flips onto his hands in the anime, and mentions fitting in runs whenever he can in Live Emotion.

Special interest in exercise: Yamato regularly tries to share what he knows with his peers, both as a way to bond with them and to help improve their fitness. According to the audio dramas, he goes training with Eiji to help him build his confidence; according to Live Emotion, he keeps up on different brands of protein powder. The first chapters of the "private stories" in Live Emotion involve instructing The Player/Haruka in the finer points of sportsware. In fairness, UtaPri tends to define its boys by their hobbies, but even given that, Yamato jumps more directly into a "teaching" mode than most of the other characters.

Struggles with sudden, intense emotions: Yamato's mood changes rapidly in a way he struggles to control, but he also returns to baseline more quickly than most people would. Anyone who's seen his episodes in the anime will have an idea of what I'm talking about here—his explosions towards Syo, which (deservedly) did little to endear him to the fandom, are the main thing I'm thinking of here. There's already been a reference to this in the early chapters in the main story: Yamato's mood is ruined in a split second by Cecil bringing up his brother, though he manages to hide the depth of the problem and not explode this time. There are a lot of possible alternative explanations for this too, in fairness, such as PTSD; more information about what happened with his brother would help to make things clearer. But emotional volatility is also a trait associated with ADHD in some cases.

Struggles with studying/mental labor: One of the main story chapters in Live Emotion involves Yamato struggling with ideas for lyrics, and the way that he tries to apply himself, rapidly gets frustrated, gives up, leaves, and then gets his idea (by engaging in his special interest!) really stood out to me as a relatable ADHD moment. In the Maji Love Kingdom audio drama, he goes out of his way to attempt to hide these difficulties in this area by insisting on working alone, which shows that this is a struggle he's all too aware of.

This struggle hints at possible comorbid learning disabilities—most likely dyslexia, though there are other potential explanations. A few details in support of this:

Trouble with reading: One of the repeated dialogues in Live Emotion, as well as a detail in at least one of the audio dramas, involves that there are a lot of kanji Yamato has trouble reading. (Bonus fun fact: Japanese dyslexia and English dyslexia are at least partially separate conditions! Some folks have one and not the other, independent of their first language. It's wild, but also given how different the writing systems are, it also makes sense. Yamato is shown sounding out words in English in Live Emotion, which I thought was a great moment, but either way it's unclear whether he experiences different levels of difficulty in Japanese and English.)

Trouble with writing: In the Maji Love Kingdom drama, Yamato is shown struggling with composition (coming up with what to write), and vocabulary (he ends up needing a lot of help from a dictionary and his unit partners to come up with his lyrics. Tokiya and Cecil were such a good team to help him with this!! "Kaleidoscope" was awesome for many reasons).

In addition, the franchise's commitment to the bit regarding Yamato's handwriting is impressive as well. Here's one of his birthday messages, for instance:

I thought at first that it was just because my Japanese wasn't great that I was struggling to read his writing, but I've also seen Japanese fans on social media scratching their heads over parts of his writing in the past. Not only that, his handwriting has been mentioned in canon (mainly HEAVENS Radio, if I'm remembering right?), with Nagi in particular complaining that his writing is often indecipherable.

There is no way to be sure, but to me, this combination of traits reads as an intentional depiction of ADHD and/or learning disabilities by at least some of the writers or character designers, even if it has not been named as such explicitly by the franchise (which, to my knowledge, it hasn't).

However, more than any particular character details, the overall arcs Yamato is involved in, and in particular the thoughtful way in which they're structured, that I find most meaningful. Yamato often says things that are openly brash, antagonistic, and/or unintentionally harsh to the people around him. However, the stories he's in follow through on this beyond the initial interaction: we find out afterwards why he's behaving this way (in the sense of his motivations, his struggles that were not visible at first, and so on). Then we get to see him reflect, either by himself or with the help of his teammates, and understand what went wrong. And finally, he often has a chance to revisit the situation with people he's clashed with, and find a more constructive resolution together with them.

I myself have been diagnosed with ADHD, although in my case, it's mostly inattentive type, and I mask it pretty effectively in my daily life. Still, I have a few of these traits: I can instruct others endlessly on my special interests, I get sudden flashes of temper, and I get easily frustrated by "simple" things in a way that can be difficult for others to understand or empathize with. These traits are ones I often feel guilt and shame about.

Yamato's strong personality is often on display for all to see, and it would be easy to turn him into a caricature or even just a villain. But instead, we get insights into his perspective, see him grow and overcome difficulties, and are shown time and again that he cares about the people around him and wants to learn to work with them better. Yamato makes me feel more confident in myself: however different I am from the people around me, and whatever mistakes I make, if I can stay brave and open-hearted, I can keep learning to be better than I was before.

[idon-twannabeperceived]

Btw seeing gringos trying to dance tango or salsa is so 🫥🫥

Like I don't mind at all bro go off but like put some flavor in there I AM BEGGING i swear u won't die WHERE IS YOUR SOUL DO YOU NOT HAVE A HEART

[anglerflsh]

neurodivergency moment on my part

[vanessafangirl13]

I just finished watching Nimona on Netflix and it is amazing, and I love the world building, characters and the metal music in the end credits

But what I love most is LGBT and amputee representation

It felt EXCITING 😃 😄 ❤️

Of course, I did read the book a couple of weeks beforehand and it turned out just as amazing just like the book, amazingly is the prejudice and propaganda that our world still faces today

I give it a 1000/1000 ❤❤❤ for animation fans and fans who want stylized animation, I highly recommend it

[johndorianisbbg]

[crunchycrystals]

rewatching the pjo trailer and "i'm used to the world feeling weird to me like a puzzle with half of the wrong pieces" thats neurodivergent representation right there