#how to write aspd

[enlightenedfeline]

Differences in writing a psychopath vs sociopath:

I'll start this post off by saying that I am in no way an expert on ASPD, I'm just a girl who has written psychopath and sociopath characters and done some research, so take what I say with a grain of salt, and I recommend doing your own research before writing a character!

If you wanna skip the parapraphs, there's bulletpoints of the differences at the end of this post.

First off, what is ASPD? Anti-Social Personality Disorder is described as a personality disorder where the person exhibits a chronic pattern of behaviors that disregard the rights and well-being of others, their behavior conflicts with social norms, and affects their interpersonal relationships.

Something I've seen written into many iconic psychopathic characters is sadism, which is when someone feels pleasure when they humiliate and hurt others. And while yes, based off of these descriptions ASPD and sadism seem to go hand in hand, this isn't the case. Not every psychopath/sociopath is a sadist, and this is important to keep in mind when writing ASPD characters.

Another important thing is that ASPD characters, psychopaths in particular, are not smarter than your average person, as in - someone isn't smart because they're a psychopath.

ASPD characters, as you could've guess, generally have low emotional intelligence, meaning that it's very likely that an ASPD character would struggle with hypothetical scenarios, or putting themselves in others shoes, because the ability to comprehend a hypothetical scenario is associated with empathy, which is associated with general intelligence.

Now for more specific differences.

A distinction that I like to personally keep between my characters is that they can be born psychopaths, but a sociopath is created by ceratin enviroments.

This means that a psychopath can be rehabilitated and taught to follow certain social norms, the same does not apply to a sociopath. Going off of this fact we can also say that a psychopath can be aware of the fact that they are a psychopath, a sociopath cannot.

Now let's take a step back, just because they can be aware of their personality disorder doesn't mean they will suddenly be able to experience empathy or feel love, it just means that they can follow the necessary steps to be able to live and function normally.

Both psychopaths and sociopaths are impulsive, but I've noticed that sociopaths tend to be a lot more egotistical, they generally care more about what people around them think, psychopaths do not. Which furthers my belief that sociopaths are created and not born.

Both psychopaths and sociopaths are able to understand the feelings of others, but in a much more scietntific way. For example, if someone is to get hurt, they would not be able to empathize, but they would be able to understand that right now this person is hurt because they stubbed their toe, and toe-stubbing is generally described to hurt.

This may seem like a normal thought process, but it's not, to understand this let's quickly dive into mirror neurons.

Mirror neurons, from what I've read, are described to be in charge of making us feel emapthy. You, as someone who can feel empathy, will not go through your logical understanding of why toe-stubbing hurts, but instead you would feel - mirror - what the toe-stubbing victim feels, maybe you wince in pain even though you haven't felt it, maybe you say ow then ask if they're alright.

Psychopaths and sociopaths are unable to experience this instant understanding of someone being hurt, and that is one of the most important details to keep in mind when writing one.

Now that I've yapped, let me add some bulletpoints before I conclude this post: - Sociopaths are prone to emotional outbursts, psychopaths are not. - Sociopaths have the (small) capacity to feel empathy and guilt, psychopaths do not. - Psychopaths can be made aware of their disorder, sociopaths can not. - Sociopaths are generally more impulsive. - Sociopaths tend to display more criminal behavior than psychopaths. - Psychopaths have more manipulative tendecies, but both can be manipulative. - Psychopaths can generally control their behavior better than sociopaths. - Violence is always high in sociopaths, but varies with psychopaths. - Sociopaths try to rationalize their wrong actions, psychopaths do not. - Sociopaths are generally a product of their enviroment, psychopaths are born with the disorder. - Psychopaths feel no remorse, sociopaths are capable of feeling little remorse. - Psychopaths are able to remain calm under pressure, sociopaths are not.

While writing characters with ASPD always keep in mind that they are not monsters, they can be horrible people or the best friend of your protagonist, characters with ASPD can be very fun to write and read if done well. Do not make them monsters, do not make them one-sided, they are human beings, write them as such. Be creative, give them motivations, give them quirks and personality traits unrelated to their disorder.

Maybe some of this advice will help, maybe it won't, either way, I hope this feline has enlightened you!

[antisocialsharky]

Hello! I just wanted to say that I've been using some of your posts talking about ASPD to help me better understand it to write an OC I'm writing. I have a question though, do you mind talking about more symptoms of ASPD that I should keep in mind when writing her?

Hi! Very glad to hear that my posts have been helpful and its cool that you are aiming for good representation!

When it comes to how ASPD symptoms should be written and which ones should make it into literature, theres different opinions, so this is gonna go a bit beyond your question I guess? Just to get a roundabout view.

1. Recovery Position

• First thing to rly keep in mind is that the intensity of the symptoms, the way they present and the way the character would deal with them, absolutely depends on where they are in recovery.

• It also depends on what you understand as recovery, be that the reducing of overall symptoms so they are less often present, the act of reducing the harm that is done by your symptoms (ex: trough redirection, or actively learning prosocial behavior) or just learning to find a way to live in society the way you are. No ones view on recovery or the way they go about it (or if they decide not to) is in any way better or superior, but it is an aspect that does change how many symptoms you show in which way, so its important to think about when writing a character.

2. Covert/Overt Symptom Presentation

• Another thing to think about, depending on what fits into your story, is the question as to whether your character is very obviously antisocial, or whether they go about it in a more covert secret way. Can they control which symptoms they show when? Or are they lost to their impulses and emotions? Do they come from a background where hiding their symptoms was essential, or were they able/forced to present obviously?

• Theres also a more mixed presentation where some symptoms are more obvious and others are not, depending on stuff like what meets your needs best, how much control you have and whether or not you've done any active work on the symptoms yet, etc.

• Then you can also think about the personal opinion of your character on symptom presentation. Do they believe that they should get to just be themselves? Are they of the opinion that people just have to deal with their symptoms and accept them that way? Or do they think that they have to hide some symptoms in order to fit into society better? Have they potentially adopted some prosocial ways of thinking and model their presentation after that? Depending on what it is, it will obviously look different.

3. The Causes of their ASPD

• Depending on the type of trauma they went trough that made them develop ASPD, presentation will differ. Its highly individual of course, but theres some themes, like people who come from violent households often being violent themselves, people who were neglected struggling with the social aspects like empathy & remorse, people who were lied to/manipulated/berated all the time adopting similar manners, people who had to commit crimes and/or witnessed those often continuing to do so because its normal to them, etc.

• The other aspect is genetics, where certain tendencies can be given from parent to child or grandparent to grandchild, such as impulsive tendencies, the type of temper someone has, access (or denied access) to certain parts of the brain that are responsible for prosocial emotions, etc. Those genetics mix with the trauma and sometimes push the presentation in certain directions, so its a thing to keep in mind.

• Some CD/ASPD symptoms can also develop/be made worse trough bullying, intense experiences in childhood/teens, hanging around with people who engage in/normalize certain behaviors, etc. (ex: kids with delinquient tendencies who hang around other kids with those, may be more likely to develop that as a continous behavior). So its also worth thinking about who your character was around while they grew up, who influenced them how and what was normalized to them.

4. The Current DSM-V ASPD Criteria

• When it comes to the core symptoms of ASPD, theres 3 out of 7 DSM criteria points your character should meet. It doesn't matter which ones, but it has to be at least three! Your character should also be older than 18, have shown conduct disorder symptoms before they turned 15 and have their ASPD symptoms even in absence of other comorbidities, substances and/or episodes (Criterion B-D which I am not quoting, but thats it summed up)

• The 7 criteria points recognized in the DSM-V are (and I quote):

A. A pervasive pattern of disregard for and violation of rights of others, occuring since age 15 years, as indicated by three (or more) of the following:

1. Failure to conform to social norms with respect to lawful behaviors, as indicated by repeatedly performing acts that are ground for arrest.

2. Deceitfulness, as indicated by repeated lying, use of aliases or conning others for personal profit or pleasure.

3. Impulsivity or failure to plan ahead.

4. Irritability or aggressiveness, as indicated by repeated physical fights or assaults.

5. Reckless disregard for safety of self or others.

6. Consistent irresponsibility, as indicated by repeated failure to sustain consistent work behavior or honor financial obligations.

7. Lack of remorse, as indicated by being indifferent to or rationalizing having hurt, mistreated or stolen from another.

• Everything after "as indicated by" is an example of a possible presentation. The DSM-V acknowledges that there are other possible ways in which symptoms can show up.

5. The Alternative ASPD Model in the DSM-V

• This is not used to officially diagnose people with ASPD, but is one idea, as to how personality disorder classification could work in the future. It looks at the symptoms as dimensions, under which possible experiences could fall and mentions quite a few things the current criteria doesn't, so I'll quote it below as well:

A. Moderate or greater impairment in personality functioning, manifested by characteristic difficulties in two or more of the following areas:

1. Identity: Egocentrism, self esteem derived from personal gain, power or pleasure.

2. Self direction: Goal setting based on personal gratification, absence of prosocial internal standards, associated with failure to conform to lawful or culturally normative ethical behavior.

3. Empathy: Lack of concern for feelings, needs or suffering of others, lack of remorse after hurting or mistreating another.

4. Intimacy: Incapacity for mutually intimate relationships, as exploitation is primary means of relating to others, including by deceit and coercion, use of dominance or intimidation to control others.

B. Six or more of the following seven pathological personality traits:

1. Manipulativeness (an aspect of antagonism): Frequent use of subterfuge to influence or control others, use of seduction, charm, glibness, or ingratiation to achieve ones ends.

2. Callousness (an aspect of antagonism): Lack of concern for feelings or problems of others, lack of guilt or remorse about negative or harmful effects of ones actions on others, aggression, sadism.

3. Deceitfulness (an aspect of antagonism): Dishonesty and fraudulence, misrepresentation of self, embellishment or fabrication when relating events.

4. Hostility (an aspect of antagonism): Persistent or frequent angry feelings, anger or irritability in response to minor slights and insults, mean, nasty or vengeful behavior.

5. Risk taking (an aspect of disinhibition): Engagement in dangerous, risky and potentially self damaging activities, unnecessarily and without regard for consequences, boredom proneness and thoughtless initiation of activities to counter boredom, lack of concern for ones limitations and denial of the reality of personal danger.

6. Impulsivity (an aspect of disinhibition): Acting on the spur of the moment in response to immediate stimuli, acting on a momentary basis without a plan or consideration of outcomes, difficulty establishing and following plans.

7. Irresponsibility (an aspect of disinhibition): Disregard for - and failure to honor - financial and other obligations or commitments, lack of respect for - and lack of follow trough on - agreements and promises.

Note: The individual is at least 18 years of age.

6. Other Common Experiences

• Theres a few experiences that quite a few people with ASPD report, that have not explicitly made it into the criteria. Sometimes these are examples for certain symptoms and/or are implied, sometimes these have been studied but haven't been written as a requirement for diagnosis and sometimes these are not supported by science/still debated by science.

• Apathy, a total lack of emotion, overall muted emotions or having trouble to access certain emotions, is something some people with ASPD talk about a lot. There is no scientific consensus yet, as to whether this is an ASPD symptom. Some theories suggest it falls under PTSD (absence of positive emotions & tendency to experience negative ones and/or having dissociated away from the emotions and/or having put up a sort of non permanent barrier as a form of protection), depression (common comorbidity, anhedonia & apathy can both be part of it), other PDs (schizoid, borderline episodes, etc.) or something else entirely. While its not sure whether its caused by ASPD, or not, a lot of people with it seem to report differences in their capability to feel a full range of intense emotions.

• The criteria talks about aggressiveness and physical fights, which is not the only way in which this symptom seems to commonly present. Harming animals, homicidal ideation, dealing with aggressive thoughts & urges without actually acting on them, verbal aggression, taking out aggression on self or property, etc. are also often reported.

• The current criteria doesn't mention it at all and the alternative talks about a complete inability to form bonds, but community consensus seems to be, that while forming emotional bonds is harder & happens more rarely, it is still possible. The intensity differs (some describe the bond as a logical construct, some only do platonic bonds, some only do romantic bonds, some describe deep obsessiveness, etc.) as does the number of people they find themselves bonded with. Theres also a significant amount of people in the community that describe a phenamenon similar to BPDs FP (aka a bond to a person that is defined by the symptoms of the personality disorder).

• There is some debate on whether or not an absence of prosocial inner standards makes it impossible or more difficult to define personal morals and understand how morality works. Some people with ASPD say they have no difficulties, some report that they struggle with the understanding part, some say they struggle with upholding those norms and others struggle with both. It seems like ASPD could make it more difficult to understand and/or respect the way societies morals work for some, which makes room for conflict.

• Personality Disorders are what we call egosyntonic, which usually means that they are in alignment with what we as people think is the correct way to feel, think and act. This doesn't mean that its inherently impossible to change the way you think/feel/act and that recovery is impossible, but it may make it more difficult to break out of the patterns (if that is what one wants). Some people show little problems in this area, some need a lot of outer assistance and others either can't or don't want to change.

7. Other Things To Keep In Mind

• You should probably think about whether your character fits the psychopathy subtype & if yes which definition of it you want to use (theres different theories)

• ASPD can influence every aspect of your life, so it may interfere with things in such a roundabout way that you wouldn't even think about it at first (ex: Disregard for safety of self => Disregard for your own health => You get ill carelessly => You dont take ur meds responsibly, or put off a doctors visit for months/years => You end up with longterm damage => You don't treat it responsibly => You get more ill => Death. Which happens to ppl without ASPD too, but can indeed be a presentation of that symptom.). Additionally comorbdities interact & interfere with ASPD symptoms and may alter/add onto presentation!

• You could also always add the ASPD stigma into the mix and how your character responds to it/how it influences them. Does it make them not wanna recover? Does it make them wanna recover even more to prove everyone wrong? Are they trying to get into therapy but no therapist wants them? Is it on a court record and causing problems that way? Do they lose relationships/friendships? Does it change the way they see themselves or others? etc.

• The key with ASPD characters is not to just make them into good people or portray them as angels and also not to always make them into the cruel villain. The key is to show that they are an individual, a human being, a single example for what this disorder can present as. If you can somehow portray that the presentation of ASPD in your character is just how this specific character is and is not how the disorder inherently presents itself, you nailed it! Cus u'll have ASPDers who want to just stay the way they are and who are exactly what you'd imagine a cruel villain to be like, you have ASPDers who you couldn't ever distinguish from a prosocial person, cus they learned to blend in and you've got ASPDers who decide that they wanna do a 180 and behave in the most prosocial way possible and then you have everything in between and beyond. So as long as your character would meet criteria, as long as you're not spreading misinfo and as long as its clear that its just one example of a possible presentation, you're good in my opinion (but this is indeed just my opinion and others may disagree).

Note: If you need examples for the specific symptoms, you can ofc send another ask, this is more of a general overview of what exists, cus going into detail on each would make this post wayyy too long.

[angelsandarsenic]

quick poll for y’all writers because I’m curious

[nshtn]

how well do you think wesker would get along with a s/o or friend with ASPD?

writing RE5 wesker and making him way more sociopathic than I normally pen him for the bit.

with ASPD? well, he has ASPD. severely. he's a psycho-sociopath - i fear this is one of the more effective passive ways to strip him bare when it comes to existing relationships, but it also makes him almost unrecognizable as the Wesker that is often presented to the audience. i also think he would overly-strip his own persona to chameleon their own until he's acting a degree of detached he doesn't even find himself.

kinda DDDNE below i'm ngl!

i think he would literally just be like "hey, what are positive reinforcements for you?" and then literally reward/punish them like they're an algorithm and not really a person. cut out the middleman of silly things like "overly-abundant lingual placations" and "social engineering in an attempt to garner a one-sided lovebombing relationship relative to interests". he's not fretting about reciprocation or communication too deeply. he'd probably drop a lot of his persona around them because there's no point, depending on the type and severity and the level of friendship that is shared.

probably likes to talk about deeper aspects of humanity he finds confusing with them. (issue: he's a know-it-all hotheaded egomaniac who is snobby & pompous) yes, he knows why people are programmed with disgust, but isn't it annoying? why must he fret in the trenches of 'reciprocal social warmth' so that his plan - benevolent in its' leanings (absolutely not) - may progress? why can his intention, the bigger picture, never serve as enough for most of this useless, ungrateful population?

he has to stem his brutal honesty when others speak. people twine their words around common idioms and metaphors, dancing around truths that mean nothing to him just to spare their own hide. it's difficult for him not to spring into a lecture when his scientists do something wrong that he could never. he has no empathy to spare for failure to incubate limited, unstable samples. must he do everything - must he teach everyone everything every time, or will they find insult in that, too? and doesn't his little friend find it difficult to participate in this annoying "dance"? it's draining.

i think he'd express less of his anger towards them specifically because, if their ASPD is severe, they're likely not even doing things to intentionally seek it (unless they're acting directly, inescapably incompetent - but he won't pull out the big book of ad homs; why do it if it is to no effect? he almost wishes they'd respond to his prodding so he'd have something to use, so used to the mask that going without feels itself a breed of foreign.) he automatically views them without the same level of malice as long as they don't harbor thrill-seeking in destruction or passive, extreme homicidality like Marcus.

he'd likely spring into deeply philosophical or scientific topics with them with very little to buffer between it, nixing the small talk that people are used to because it isn't optimal - ever the optimizer, to the point of mania - the kind of man who rounds a corner, spots them, and immediately breaks out into whatever problem he's run into with his own research with no buffer. hello, rubber ducky! of course, he expects the same from them, but he'll mind a lot less if they drudge through small talk, safety in the knowledge they find it as useless as he does when they're both public-facing. (the truth is that wesker does not mind the small talk when it's all about him, but...)

do they not feel an irk when they must relax their tension manually? do they find it difficult to pull the proper degree of smile that a situation demands - never too much, never too little? he will flat-out ask if he can imitate if they're really that good or find it easy - while he can certainly do it, he doesn't invest as much of himself as he reasonably should as a bioweapons manufacturer and continually sits on the splitting, guillotine's edge of the necessary imitation. he'll also learn the tics that represent the sign that their irritation is peeking through when they're with others and act as their wingman, swooping in to pull them away with the expectation they'd do the same for him.

probably keeps them around for Excella's invasions of personal space like they're a beacon of safety.

they talk about how natural he was afterwards - where he can improve, what was perfect, where irritation bubbled into the periphery. they will likely have picked up on the fact that he bathes in positive reinforcement and preens to it. honestly, they could probably defang him and have him under them if they play their cards right.

he'd definitely probe on how deeply it effects them - neurology intrigues him and is a cog in the grand machine of his research, and to learn about the finer parts is useful, especially if he might want to induce it in people who carry uroboros (what grand, irredeemably unreachable goals - to invade the brain will only result in severe irreversible cannibal disease). he would definitely seek the physical representations that underpin it, and would feel great interest in the difference between someone who was born with ASPD vs someone who developed it.

blue umbrella already knew how to make weapons out of the thick dough of the humanity they're initially presented with. he needs to know how to do it at the genetic level.

willing to experiment with eachothers lack of:

"did you hear about [x]? do you want to see the raw footage?"

"at what age did you realize you felt a separation?"

"have you had an f-MRI before?" ... "what about an EEG?"

definitely puts his hands on their shoulders, waist, or grabs their wrist occasionally in interactions, examining their face for the telltale signs of flush. display it, do it. give him something to work with, please.

treats them clinically, in an almost insulting way, simply the way he treats others stripped bare. over time, as the fascination pours and froths over, it becomes playful and natural.

as he gets to befriend them more closely he'd be willing to be indebted to them to provide them with what pushes their own personal goals forward. unfortunately, i think he'd always have a degree of his own personal separation because they're an uncontrollable variable who knows enough of his depth that they could fuck him over. he will always strive to put out the ward that that goes against their finer sensibilities.

i think he'd fear that being too truthful with them, especially about his own goals, would make for another birkin. at the same time, there's a draw to someone so similar or even worse than he is, especially if he can use them as a nearly-consensual canvas without much prodding.

if he can talk with them about topics that usually evoke disgust in others, this will be the ultimate springboard into the breaking dam of friendship into a warped intimacy.

kinda nsfw:

he'd definitely enjoy getting reactions out of them to an unhealthy level that becomes near-exponential as his interest breaks the dam - if they're a sadomasochist, they're in for a fucking ride.

what closeness and ultimate equality in standings would look like to him would be different than it would be for someone who lacks ASPD - would they like to test uroboros? he could do some gene edits to produce an artificial compatibility... this is, to him, one of the most intimate questions he could ask someone in this unique setting; it is like marriage, flipped on its' head from something done without a second thought to a ritualistic, hierophiliac art form. would you join him on his pedestal and ascend? do you want to become true equals?

[ametistapp]

Want to be part of a group blog on how to write neurodivergent characters?

[Large text: "Want to be part of a group blog on how to write neurodivergent characters?"]

I've found Tumblr blogs on writing physically disabled and POC characters, but nothing specifically for neurodivergence.

Maybe there is something I just haven't found yet, but even if so, I think the most resources the better.

So, hi! I'm Amethyst — amateur writer and neurodivergent, and now looking for people to help me out with this project.

I could try this on my own, but I would rather have other neurodivergents with me (especially with different conditions from mine)

Does anyone want to help me make a change?

[happyk44]

Waving Koneko off, Renzou plunged his hands into the warm inside of his pockets and sat down. He gave it a breath or two before tilting his head back and laughing. “You don’t gotta spy on me, you know.” He turned to face Light as he perched on the arm rest of the bench like an overgrown imp. “That’s kinda my job.”

Light cocked his head, shooting Renzou a smarmy grin. “And here I thought I was doing a pretty good job.”

Renzou shrugged and tilted his head back. The clouds were overcast today. The sun drifted low. He closed his eyes. “Shouldn’t you be botherin’ Bon or something?”

“Research requires a clear head.” Light hopped off the arm rest and circled around. His poncho fluttered with the breeze. He didn’t sit. “What better way to clear one’s head than some fresh air?”

“Bon gettin’ some fresh air too then?” Renzou gestured loosely above his head. “Or that only apply to you?”

The barking laugh he gave was nothing but delighted. “And here I thought spies weren’t capable of caring for their marks.”

He’s not my mark, Renzou thought. But Light likely already knew that. He hunched forward. “He’s my friend. Of course I care about him. I’d be a pretty shitty person if I didn’t.”

Light regarded him with a curious gaze. As though Renzou were some kind of creature trapped under a glass and zoomed in on under microscope. Renzou stared back, undaunted.

“I’ve asked around about you, Shima,” Light said, tone nothing but pleasant. “Life you’ve lived so far - this choice seems pretty outta the blue for a guy like you.”

Renzou didn’t answer.

“Ryuuji-“ Light gave an exaggerated sigh, flashing too many teeth for his next words to be any genuine concern. “You really hurt his feelings, kid.”

“I know.” It doesn’t bother me felt as clear as it was unspoken. He stood and shrugged. “His feelings are his feelings. Not much I can do about ‘em, yunno?”

Light took a step back, allowing Renzou to circle around him. “Why’d they really send you back, kid?”

Renzou glanced over his shoulder and grinned, easy as ever. “Just ‘cause we’re similar don’t mean we’re the same, Lightning.”

Another delighted bark of a laugh. Light’s eyes were full of mirth. “And here I was thinkin’ ya had no clue about yourself yet.” He gestured out to Renzou with undisclosed glee. “You keep surprising me!”

“I’m not a complete idiot,” Renzou said. “Figured it out long before I become a spy.” He flashed a wide grin. “Not that hard once you realize everyone else ain’t lying just for fun all the time.” He tips his head towards Light. “Must be nice being your way though.”

“It ain’t bad,” Light agreed. He eyed Renzou carefully. “But I can see why someone would rather go your way.” A brief lull as a bird crowed overhead. Then, “You’re still coping to shit, you know? Just ‘cause you’re being vague don’t mean you’re not admitting to anything.”

Renzou’s grin widened. “I’m a heartless bastard who lies for fun and doesn’t always totally understand why people care about one another.” He laughed. “That make it less vague for you?” He shook his head. “This ain’t a trap, Lightning. You’re not gonna go around telling people I’m broken.”

Light raised a brow. “I’m not?”

“You like experiments,” Renzou said easy. Light’s brow arched higher. “I’m an experiment. Besides. Only people you’ll hurt are the others. I’m fine with it. Don’t know how else to be.” At Light’s lack of response, Renzou snorted. “You think you’re the only who can ask around?”

“Nah.” Light shrugged. “Just surprised.”

“Was more interesting than homework, I’ll tell you that.”

“I bet.” Light’s easygoing face fell. “Who told you you were broken?”

Renzou just raised his hand over his head. “Have a nice one, Lightning.” As he walked backwards, he shot him double fingerguns. “Don’t work Bon too hard now! Otherwise he’ll get even more on my ass about not doing my homework.” He spun around on his heel and headed forward. “See ya!”

[c1trvswurld]

I have to stop illiciting reactions just so i can see them, either negative or positive they are fun to just sit down and watch like a bug

[yeonban]

I was listening to an interview of Gagne's about her sociopathic condition and some of these parts really resonated with Tobias. Like her mentioning she's masking "right now" (during the interview) otherwise she'd be smiling and blinking far less, the story about how as a child she felt a pressure building up in her and when another kid who was sitting next to her annoyed her at the wrong moment she stabbed them and the stabbing made her feel startlingly euphoric, the way she was discussing empathy as something learned from society and intended to gain something from (a dopamine release/good feeling) because she doesn't understand any actions that are done by neurotypicals for no reason, her experience having to mimic her neurotypical sister to fit into society, the relief she felt when she met her husband who didn't shy away from her despite her unburdening herself to him about all of her (the bad, scary & unnerving qualities/actions/etc included)... there are a bunch of differences between her & Tobias' experiences too, obviously, but at least THESE parts were very on the nose. Especially one declaration that stood out to me: "Doing something morally unacceptable was a way to force a pop of color [in my life]" which is exactly why Tobias does anything he does. That pop of color. That derived amusement. The odd joy that follows which is the only thing he can really feel out of the positive cluster of emotions.

[darkestrellar]

the fine line of svern being a generally terrible person and how his innate traits of Just How He's Built contribute to that but don't Make him that, how being dehumanised for those traits has caused him to become Worse but he has also become worse voluntarily and is unbothered and actively enjoys it in some ways, how he simultaneously humanises and dehumanises himself and how it affects his behaviour and actions and how it all plays together to create his eventual story outcome (bad end) OR how he is still able to grow and get better with intervention but it's an Entire Thing for all the parties involved. there's a lot going on with him and I try hard to keep it balanced

[imgoingtomakeproblemsonpurpose]

So I’ve run into a discussion about what could be counted as neurodivergent and if Cluster Bs (NPD, ASPD, HPD and BPD u know the jizz)

Ofcoures you start this kinda discussions with : “But what is Neurodivergence? (ND)”

Most common answer would be: “Brain build different from ‘’norm’’”.

And with that I would say: “Well then we could count Cluster Bs are ND, cuz there are studies on differences in brain”

(I’m not a brain scientist, I don’t actually know the validity of those studies)

A bunch of others say: “No, cuz the difference is Cluster B (this one was specifically talking about BPD and NPD is emotion-based therefore it don’t count”.

(No sources given, and I couldn’t really find anything substantial myself)

I take the last statement with a grain of salt, but I don’t wanna dismiss it entirely, cuz I simply don’t know it for sure.

Hoping other people have more insight on this.

[antisocialsharky]

what's a respectful way to write a villain or killer that has ASPD without villainizing the discord

Well that depends! Do you want your villain to not be redeemable and still write him as ASPD, thus your story line being one where they really are the bad guy and they don't get a redemption arc that would make them lovable => put a disclaimer at the front of your book, that you do not seek to demonize/villanize the disorder itself and that not everyone with ASPD is a bad person/that having the disorder doesn't make you inherently bad, etc. Sometimes certain disorders and/or symptoms and the way they can be portrayed fit really well for what you have in mind for a character and theres no way to really write them non stigmatizing and thats okay, as long as you still communicate it clearly to your audience, that its not your intent to demonize. Disclaimers really are your friend here!

If you have a villain that can/will be redeemed, putting them in therapy and/or having them proclaim they'll work on themselves in order to not harm people, usually works rather well to show that ASPDers are capable of that and that its not inherently the "bad people monster disorder".

Next to that its sorta important, that villains with ASPD aren't necessarily potrayed as being said villains just because they happen to have the disorder. You need an agenda/a motive/something that pushes them onto the villain path. Something that is maybe sorta relatable to people and possibly makes people like your villain, as this reduces the likelihood of demonization. Since ASPD usually stems from trauma, portraying the character as someone who went trough something so horrible, that they not only developed that PD, but also didnt see any other way than rise to be the villain, makes for a sorta accurate portrayal that highlights the causes of it and the severity with which trauma can impact you. Which is what you kinda maybe want to include, as this will sometimes prevent people from being like "oh they're born sick" or "they're just a bad person". It gives a tangible reason and further makes people sympathize (which is how the best villains are written imo).

You can also write villains that are proud of their ASPD and find comfort in being sick/twisted/bad/etc. but again, you might want to include a disclaimer for this one, so people know what you're doing!

Long story short: If redemption can be written into the story, thats your ticket! If not, just put a disclaimer in front of the book and make sure that you portray ASPD accurately troughout your book (or be clear in the disclaimer about how you're deviating).

[secular-czar]

Give them to your hero, your protagonist, make it a part of their character while keeping them a character that's being written to be loved.

Make them real, give them depth, give them attention and love without judgment, show the struggles and the bad sides real as they can be don't necessarily make them bad just as it doesn't with real people.

Everyone deserves to see themselves represented. If in doubt do more research, its worth it! Its always worth it. Meet people who have the disorders and disabilities, ask questions, see them, they're real too.

Don't keep neurodivergency to what's palatable and light, and god forbid childish, that dehumanizes us too.

not many know this but you can actually headcanon neurodivergencies other than adhd and autism. yes, even the Big Scary disorders like DID, schizophrenia or narcissism. no, not only for villains. yes, for the main characters, the important characters, the characters that you love. yeah!!!

[thisismajortomtogaycontrol]

Patroclus has Aspd send post

[birdgirl22]

rant

i find people even if they come off as sweet actually likely have the worst morals/ethical standpoints anyone can ever have and only refrain from acting on in it fear of the law / public outroar.

[antisocialsharky]

Hi, I would like some tips on how to write a romantic relationship between two characters with ASPD. They both have problems with controlling their emotions, aggression in particular, and they both can't admit their mistakes. I like this idea and would like to hear your ideas on this topic.

Hi, thanks for asking! ^^

So you'll of course have to adjust this depending on the type of society you're writing and what defines your characters outside of ASPD and all that jazz, but with that dynamic, I'd say you might be doing it well if you:

• write explosive conflicts, since trouble controlling emotions, especially if its on both sides, will absolutely clash and cause emotionally loaded arguments! screaming, getting verbally nasty, getting physically nasty...all works! triggers should be sort of related to trauma/bad experiences or just stuff that overwhelms them in general? vulnerability/intimacy or lack thereof setting off arguments works rather well too actually!

• if they both cant outright admit their mistakes, you could have them show it in others ways, such as bringing the other person something they like, doing something they said they wouldn't do, doing something sorta reckless to make up for it, etc.

• it would potentially also work well if you have them defend each other rather passionately? the typa "having to hold them back by the jacket to keep them from jumping the person who made fun of their partner" vibe? cus rare bonds aka that person means something to you and volatile emotions, will mix into boiling over and wanting to defend what was threatened I guess?

• if they aren't the type to show affection via words or whatever, you can write their love in the sort of way, where they go out of their way to keep certain symptoms at bay for the other person? or where they offer to be the relief for the other persons symptoms...that works too

• I suppose you could probably also write conflicts/problems into this, where the solution is hella easy and it could be solved in seconds, if only they actually talked to each other and were able to be a bit vulnerable!

• Depending on whether or not they're actively engaging in breaking the law, you can have them be the "lets break shit together, we thrive in being freely us" type of couple? Where they kinda fuel each others symptoms, where they are sorta toxic and either push each other over the edge, or save each other from falling down

• I'll be honest, the first thing that actually popped in my head here is: hate sex. lots of hate sex.

Thats just what I can think of right now, it will depend on what other symptoms/characteristics they have, what you aspire for their character development, etc! Have you ever read "Kiss the Villain" by Rina Kent? One character from the main couple has pretty much canon ASPD and the other is sorta ASPD coded (imo) and they both sort of struggle with this stuff? Well or "Sick Bargain" by Nordika Night, which is a toxic love where they find comfort in sickness, if thats the vibe you're going for. I felt those two relationships represent best how I feel about my own ASPD (tho they arent perfect ofc and not free from ableism).

[raileurta]

I know I got like 6+ other writing projects I need to finish but I am curious about what fic ideas I have you guys would be interested in me writing about.

So here's some little ideas I have

Tfp kids turned into bot size.

Miko and Jack have an argument that gives everyone around them psychic damage.

Optimus helps humans so much because he's scared of them.

Miko stuck in Megatron's body pretends to have amnesia. She then becomes friends with starscream.

When Megatron tries to cyber-form the earth Unicron stops him. He has had time to reflect and has decided he likes his parasite children now. He then uses the cyber matter to improve the Earth.

How Miko took down the entire Nemesis with uno.

Batman is the perfect mate for cybertronians. (And any species for that matter)

Platonic soulmates Miko & Megatron.

Arachnid says time to play the most dangerous game and Miko being Miko can't help but reply knife monopoly?! Arachnid not knowing the meme is genuinely curious about what this game is. Miko then has to BS her way through an explanation of the game. (Jack's also there)

Transformers think of the Internet as a hivemind and humans are part of it.

Miko fucking kills Vince and covers up the murder.

Starscream gets kidnapped and babyfied to hell and back.

Megatron after the unicorn stuff is wandering a planet lamenting about the stuff he did. Then out of nowhere Miko comes in and falls on top of him. They then talk about ✨ feelings. ✨ Miko also has aspd.

There's more ideas I have but these are the most interesting ones. Also yes you can steal these for your own fic just let me know so I read it.