#i dont think its even just the adhd theres one other thing I could ascribe it to

[dragonjesterwrites]

sorry if this seems like a rude question but are you gonna finish the epilogue in sywsar?

Nah, not rude at all! I've been pretty quiet lately so it's absolutely a fair question sgshsjsks

To make a very long story short, it is getting worked on now! I recently got diagnosed with ADHD and started meds for it, and they seem to be working pretty decent so far, so I've been able to focus a little better and not, y'know, work on 20 projects at once lmfao

However- when I release the epilogue, I'll also be releasing two other short "bonus stories" along with it. I'd say between the three of them, I'm probably like... 75% done. I know a time estimate would probably be more satisfying, but my sense of time is atrocious lol. Before the end of the year for sure, though.

[n7punk]

i think adora being ahdh is semi-canon (since nd got tested and diagnosed for it after he was told that "the traits you say you share with adora sound like adhd"), but do you have any neurodivergent hcs for her, catra and any others?

yeah, ive said this before, i think there were neurodivergent people on crew and a number of the characters come across as nd-coded because the characters ended up displaying those traits from who wrote them since thats just the way they Know Existing To Be. i've talked about how i generally headcannon the cast before, but heres some deep-dive stuff with adora and catra (under a cut because its fucking LONG):

adora i could see adhd, ocd, and/or autism (its worth noting they have a lot of overlap and are often comorbid. for instance, i probably have all three lol). theres also the addition of things like her suicidal idealation and anxiety. most AUs i write with the intention of her being ADHD and maybe OCD (this is also how i generally write her in canon, and with the developmental damage of growing up in the fright zone), but some AUs i focus on autism instead (most notably OTOS where its a plot point and ASGNE where she and light hope are both autistic in a way that clashes and made their relationship difficult at first because Communication).

regardless of what she has, that girl stims. she doesn't do it a ton in the show (although animating someone fidgeting takes longer, and auditory stimming messes with the clarity of dialogue in a show), but all you need to do is look at the mystacor ep to see she's barely able to stand existing without stimulation. when laying on the beach she immediately starts fidgeting and vocal stimming because she is without stimulation and thus Dying. i've been there.

i often have her hum, fidget, bounce on her heels, etc. shes also "secretly" jealous of catra's purrs/growls/etc because they offer her stimulation just to hear and seem like they would feel nice to do (not that she's totally aware of all that). idk if there's a separate word for this or really how to explain it, but certain sounds are good to hear and can help with anxiety and the like. just hearing them is a form of stim. i heavily headcannon adora as getting instant satisfaction hearing catra purr, or even growl.

Adora also has some obsessive stuff going on. look at the princess prom planning episode for that. she needs to deconstruct everything, but at the same time, it looks like fucking chaos. i think she has a Clear System in her head, even if that system is piles. shes also probably obsessive about "weird things" that "dont matter" because, either by being told so in the fright zone or by internal logical leap trying to satisfy her superiors, she thinks it's really important that like, her bed is perfectly made or she always brushes her teeth at 6:15 or something and she gets distressed if she doesn't manage those things.

oh yeah her hyperfocus is something so obvious i feel like i dont even have to say it, but the way she gets obsessive tunnel vision, decides one thing is a solution and then keeps trying to work her way back to somewhere where that can still be the solution instead of, you know, coming up with a new solution that works with her current circumstance... yeah, she's got that single-minded focus you can see with adhd or autism. its not really a headcannon its just a factor when writing her.

this is already super long so im going to breeze through catra and stop, though i have less to say about her in general here. i dont consider her depression to be a headcannon, thats documented, but for catra, it does feel weird to kind of ascribe "disorders" or whatever to her because shes a Cat. like i know, technically, adora is an alien too, but catra is the one where you actually see behavioral results from it (Being A Cat) and biological differences, so i tend to think of a lot of things being different for her that aren't necessarily unusual for magicats, but might end up that way in general society.

in a way, all that is in-and-of-itself a metaphor for neurodivergency though, which leads me into my next thing, because catra's different experience operating in a society dominated by other races who are Physically Different, and likely mentally too, from her is a big reason i relate to her from a disability and neurodivergency standpoint.

i dont Technically headcannon her as autistic, but... i do relate to her from that perspective, with her unusual behaviors and senses. i've talked about that before and i dont have the energy to go into it again so go hunting if you want it XD ive seen a post about how "cats should be the poster child animal for autism" going into all the behaviors they have that are similar, and catra embodies an intersection of that for me.

anyway i drafted this a week ago thinking id "finish" it but. this is what i've got ive talked about this all before anyway and its too tiring