#learn from autistics

[red-garden]

Tbh the only thing preventing canon Liushen is that LQG never went ape shit and started biting people. SY would have gone into heat right there

[bennetsbonnet]

Much has been made of Mr Darcy's "confession" to Elizabeth that he does not converse easily with strangers. It is repeatedly used to support neurodivergent interpretations of his character. And I suppose that when taken at face value, a character confessing that they do not easily converse with strangers and struggle to catch their tone or appear interested in conversation can absolutely scream AUTISM! (I say as an autistic person myself)

But this line is often taken in isolation. When considered in terms of the passage in which it appears in Chapter 31, it appears far less of a smoking gun than may initially be suspected. After some discussion about Elizabeth and Darcy's prior acquaintance in Hertfordshire, Colonel Fitzwilliam asks Elizabeth for information about Darcy's behaviour there. She readily supplies it:

'Pray let me hear what you have to accuse him of,' cried Colonel Fitzwilliam. 'I should like to know how he behaves among strangers.' 'You shall hear then—but prepare yourself for something very dreadful. The first time of my ever seeing him in Hertfordshire, you must know, was at a ball—and at this ball, what do you think he did? He danced only four dances, though gentlemen were scarce; and, to my certain knowledge, more than one young lady was sitting down in want of a partner. Mr Darcy, you cannot deny the fact.' 'I had not at that time the honour of knowing any lady in the assembly beyond my own party.'

What Darcy leaves out here is that it was he himself who chose not to be introduced to anybody. As we learn from the description of his behaviour at the Meryton assembly in Chapter 3:

Mr Darcy danced only once with Mrs Hurst and once with Miss Bingley, declined being introduced to any other lady, and spent the rest of the evening in walking about the room, speaking occasionally to one of his own party.

Anyway, Elizabeth correctly does not buy his excuses. Not only does she respond with a cutting sarcastic remark, but she tries to bring the discussion with an end by speaking to Colonel Fitzwilliam:

'True; and nobody can ever be introduced in a ball-room. Well, Colonel Fitzwilliam, what do I play next? My fingers wait your orders.'

But Darcy does not get the hint and continues conversing with Elizabeth rather than quitting while he's ahead. However, I don't believe him to be missing a social cue here. Rather, this is an exceedingly conceited man who cannot conceive that anyone would not want to speak to such a Superior Being as he and more-so, is determined to defend himself from a perceived slight against his impeccable character.

Then we come to the passage containing the oft-cited line which allegedly contains proof of his neurodivergency:

'Perhaps,' said Darcy, 'I should have judged better, had I sought an introduction; but I am ill-qualified to recommend myself to strangers.' 'Shall we ask your cousin the reason of this?' said Elizabeth, still addressing Colonel Fitzwilliam. 'Shall we ask him why a man of sense and education, and who has lived in the world, is ill-qualified to recommend himself to strangers?' 'I can answer your question,' said Fitzwilliam, 'without applying to him. It is because he will not give himself the trouble.'

Once again, Elizabeth does not buy his excuse for even a single second. She's fully aware of all the advantages a man such as he will have received in society (opportunities not open to women, might I add!) and draws attention to that fact. It's a brilliant, cutting line from her and she really set that one up for Colonel Fitzwilliam to deliver the knockout blow.

Not only do we have the testimony of Mr Darcy's cousin, that 'he will not give himself the trouble,' to appear cordial to strangers, but we have evidence from Wickham too. Although after this statement, Wickham quickly goes onto misrepresent Darcy's kindness to the poor, which contradicts Mrs Reynold's later testimony, I do believe Wickham to be telling the truth (for once!) here, when he tells Elizabeth in Chapter 16:

'Mr Darcy can please where he chooses. He does not want abilities. He can be a conversible companion if he thinks it worth his while.'

Which, again, demonstrates that Darcy is capable when he wants to be. That is the crucial point. Autistic people fundamentally lack the ability to understand social cues, they cannot turn it on and off as they please because they are snobs.

So, now we come to the infamous line about Darcy's supposed social struggles, and I hope that I've provided enough context to the line to make you see that it should not be taken at face value:

'I certainly have not the talent which some people possess,' said Darcy, 'of conversing easily with those I have never seen before. I cannot catch their tone of conversation, or appear interested in their concerns, as I often see done.' 'My fingers,' said Elizabeth, 'do not move over this instrument in the masterly manner which I see so many women’s do. They have not the same force or rapidity, and do not produce the same expression. But then I have always supposed it to be my own fault—because I will not take the trouble of practising. It is not that I do not believe my fingers as capable as any other woman’s of superior execution.'

Again, Elizabeth is not buying his excuses for even a single second and tells him if he feels like that, maybe he should put the effort in. She has seen him in numerous social settings and been thoroughly unimpressed with his behaviour which, when you consider his rudeness to her at the Meryton assembly, she has every right to be.

So, what do I make of the line?

Well, I think it's abundantly clear that Darcy absolutely can speak to people when he wants to. Perhaps, in his mind, he struggles to make that deeper connection and make friends easily. But making friends is not always easy, it's a process you must invest time and effort into. If you do not do that, it stands to reason that you will struggle. Plus, if you hold others to ridiculous standards (as Darcy does) without recognising and fixing the flaws within yourself, you're not going to have deep, lasting friendships.

While this quote may appear to be a moment of vulnerability where he does confess a fault of his, which is astounding given his pride, personally I do not think it was not a soul-searching exercise. It was to make Elizabeth stop grilling him. It was self-serving. Although, I don't think he's entirely lying. Darcy is veeeery careful with his words and though this statement is not considered and perhaps comes out rather abruptly, it doesn't necessarily follow that it isn't true. I can imagine that it is probably something he's felt for a while, yet it is a rather desperate attempt to defend himself from a woman who sees right through him.

I think perhaps Darcy does realise that he isn't as naturally gifted as other men he knows (such as Wickham, Colonel Fitzwilliam and Mr Bingley) when it comes to forming acquaintances. However, he looks outwards and turns that bitterness against the world rather than looking inwards, reflecting upon himself and improving his manners which would be the correct thing to do. Thankfully, he later does this, but it took him twenty eight years...

In addition, Darcy appeared to have been under the illusion that he could coast by on Pemberley's reputation... which has always worked... until he met Elizabeth. For perhaps the first time, he encounters a woman who is not awestruck by him and his reputation and delivers the rebuke that he always needed.

So, while personally I'm inclined to believe there is some truth to his statement, as Mr Darcy is many things but he isn't a liar, I think it is said in desperation. His feeling stems from him knowing what he should do, but he can't be bothered to enact it... rather than any inherent social deficiency stemming from being neurodivergent.

Although, even if he does struggle socially, it's still no excuse for the rudeness he displayed to Elizabeth! My main issue with neurodivergent readings of Darcy is when they are deployed to defend his behaviour, when they attribute his rudeness to any potential neurodivergency and when they excuse his laziness. That is an awful message! Autistic people who struggle with social cues often do not, nor should they, go around insulting others. They should and often do put plenty of effort into being considerate and polite. In fact, I think, if anything, a love of rules makes us more likely to have good manners, rather than the reverse.

Ultimately, I'm not sure this line makes Mr Darcy the sympathetic-poor-sweet-innocent-shy-boy-autistic-representation that people want him to be. In fact it makes him look even worse, if anything. On matters such as these, he is every inch the conceited proud man he was widely believed to be at the Meryton assembly. Luckily, Elizabeth is an incredibly smart woman, who doesn't fall for it and immediately calls him out on his behaviour in a way that he has never experienced before. As she should!

[detentiontrack]

A lot of people think my autism is “getting better” but I think a lot of it has to do with being an adult and being able to make my own decisions. I used to have frequent meltdowns and shutdowns and on the outside seemed more “obviously” autistic. But I’m 19 now, so I have a lot more say in my life. I only buy one brand of socks. I only own 2 types of shoes. All of my clothes are the exact same. I only eat what *I* want to eat and think feels safe. I can drive and can choose when to leave for appointments and obligations. If I were still a child and forced to wear socks with seams in the toes or clothes that fit me wrong or foods that trigger my sensory issues or have my routine thrown off by other people, I would have A LOT more issues. But since I’m an adult, I have control over most aspects of my life. I’m not “less autistic” now, I just have more free will and know myself well enough to avoid triggers.

[kyouka-supremacy]

Idk how to say this but Akutagawa is kinda giving autism. At least thats what I felt like when I was reading Beast.

I also kinda got the similar vibes from Oda too.

KINDA giving autism??????????????? KINDA???????????????????????????????????????????????

[crow-caller]

I know it's a pointless thing to express but it really does kill me how many parents who fear and hate and want to cure autism in their kids will blame it on everything.... but genetics. It being genetics wouldn’t help this kind of person either, it just kills me because the autism is probably coming from inside the house!!

No we don't know everything about autism and where it comes from but it is very clearly genetically linked— like my entire family is autistic. it's just our understanding of autism is still pretty modern so it's hard for older generations to see and accept it. Some of those anti autism parents might be autistic themselves, just unable to conceive of what autism is versus what they've been told it is, because of a general lack of education (and a lot of misinformation)

[eddiezpaghetti]

Okay, so my experience with Stranger Things is a weird one.

I didn't care when it first came out, started to watch it out of "might as well" in 2020, wasn't interested in it enough to make it past S2, forgot about it outside of going "oh, hey, cool, there's a lesbian in it now, I guess," in S3, got really annoyed when "Running Up That Hill" got popular from it because it was a song I listened to on fucking loop after one of my best friends died in high school and I fully expected its appearance in the show to ignore the whole survivor's guilt theme of the song (and was very happy to learn later that it did the exact opposite of ignoring the lyrics), saw people drawing Eddie, suddenly got a lot more interested, watched just the fourth season like a fucking psychopath because I was seriously only there for Eddie, then got interested enough to start the show over properly, having mostly forgotten what I did watch of the show before.

And let me tell you something from the perspective of someone who started with the complete fourth season, who wasn't there from the start, who wasn't tainted by ship goggles or this internal battle of hope and despair, who wasn't theorizing about what the painting could be or expecting Mike and Will to kiss when Volume 2 happened or rooting for Mike and Eleven's relationship to go down in flames or whatever the fuck. Just someone who went blind into Season 4.

It's really fucking obvious that Will and Mike are gonna be endgame.

Like holy fuck. It's so fucking blatant I don't even know why people are nervous.

No sane fucking person would shoot this scene this way if they wanted the audience to care about El and Mike as a couple. Despite being all blurry in the background, Will's reaction to what's happening here is smackdab in the fucking middle, clearly showing that the important part is what's going through his head here. What he's feeling. It's like the opposite of that scene from Kingdom Hearts II where Sora and Riku reunite and Kairi just fucking vanishes into the aether while it's happening because, despite the fact that she was standing between them when the scene began, she doesn't matter to the scene, so she's just kind of gone when the camera angle changes. Will could have been behind one of their heads, or so far in the distance he blends in with the background, but he's not. He's so obvious that despite being massively blurred out, he's still the first goddamn thing you look at. What, you think that's an accident? You think he's in the middle of this dramatic fucking scene because of a mistake? He basically has a big flashing neon arrow pointing at him with "THIS IS THE POINT" being screamed through a megaphone.

And then this?

They're paired up like they're taking fucking prom pictures. Each one of these pairs is so fucking close to one another and so fucking far from everyone else. It's not, "Oh, they're standing vaguely near each other in a group shot," it's fucking Noah's Ark out here. Again, there's no way to take this as an accident. It's not just a framing issue. If they wanted to make the shot look balanced while still not hiding anyone else behind El, they would have scattered people around much more naturally. Even if they wanted to keep Nancy with Jonathan and Hopper with Joyce, there's so much room on that hill for three people to stand on El's left and three on her right. But they didn't do that. They put Mike and Will together on purpose in the most obvious way possible.

Like I get that coming up with crackpot theories is fun in and of itself and I'm not blaming anyone for having fun. I totally get the appeal of arguing a point and reaching for every stupid little thing to pull into it because it's like a game, okay? I've done that. But if you're trying to actually convince someone (whether it's someone who wants to believe or someone who's pissed at the very idea that Mike and Will could be in love), stay away from blue and yellow lights, stay away from costume design, stay away from the existence of closets in backgrounds. And don't worry about whether Mike's gay or bi when he's in love with Will either way. I'll give you a little tip about persuasion: You're only as strong as your weakest argument. Even if you've got strong stuff in there, too, the person you're trying to convince is going to dismiss anything you say as complete insanity the second you start going on an entire tangent about the shape of a character's fucking pocket.

Sometimes, clothes are just clothes. Sometimes, there's a closet in the background because it helps establish that a character is in a bedroom. Sometimes, blue and yellow are just a couple of colors that look nice together. And sure, it might be set designers and costume designers and cinematographers smirking and winking at the audience from behind the camera. But if the show was just those things, instead of those things in the context of everything else, they wouldn't be saying anything of note.

But this?

This tells a story all on its own. Someone with no context can look at this and automatically assume that each paired person is standing with someone they care about deeply, seeking comfort as they watch some sort of disaster unfold. And yeah, romantic couples usually come in twos, and we live in an amatonormative society, so that's going to be the first association anyone makes seeing a bunch of people paired off.

It's the same reason you look at this

And go, "Oh..."

"Those two are probably a couple."

And I genuinely don't understand how people could have watched S4 Vol. 2 and gotten scared. Because as someone who went in with no investment whatsoever, I just looked at these two--

--and went, "Oh, those two are a couple. Good for them." And I moved on. Shut up about the trees for five seconds and just see the forest for what it is.

Oh, and if you're still nervous? Little thing from a storyteller here: You don't leave a hanging thread like "Will confessed his romantic feelings for Mike by projecting them onto El, but Mike either didn't understand or at least didn't say he understood," without coming back to that later. That's Chekov's gun hanging on the wall, babes. It's gonna fire at some point. If Mike was going to reject Will's feelings, if they weren't relevant, they would have had that discussion in Argyle's van. There'd be no reason to leave you in suspense.

[princeofcyberpunk]

hi motorcity fandom is this anything

i was not expecting the cartoon about teens with cars to genuinely change how i view the world

[10yearsofdnp]

July 10, 2015: And this is why Dan needs Phil with him at all times! I know he says he's kind of a mess socially but I didn't realize he was this much of a mess omg 😭🇩🇪🤦

[uzi-x33]

happy birthday ranpo, have some angst!!:3 and ranpoe😸

[faggotisaacfloofs]

hello everyone be so fucking proud of me!!!

I had two infuriating AAC glitches in a row while trying to convey a stressful thing to my caregiver today

After the first one, I stopped, closed my eyes, and took 5 deep breaths, relaxed my muscles, and then started typing again, ver, very intentionally and slowly.

And then the second glitch happened.

and i managed to freeze instead of hitting my ipad. And took a few breaths totally frozen with hands up. then made the sign to caregiver to move the ipad away from me so I wouldn't break it

And then i took more deep breaths, and flapped my arms as hard as my joints can stand, and took more deep breaths. And got out my phone instead to text my caregiver because my phone doesn't glitch like that, and told them what happened and finished making the plan for next week.

And then i remembered that if i stop using the touch screen and type with my Bluetooth keyboard, my ipad doesn't glitch. So I grabbed that and then could type into my ipad while not being close enough to smash the ipad if something went wrong. And it worked.

I had TWO ipad glitches deleting what I was trying to say less than 30 seconds apart. But I didn't break or throw or hit my ipad!!!! I didn't smash my keyboard or hit my head or anything. I breathed and I tried my strategies of time, waiting for the wave to pass, and that let me remember other options for communication exist.

I still feel like I'm on the verge of a meltdown, but the point is that i did not immediately have a meltdown from this or break anything, and that is very hard skill i have been working so much on for a very long time.

please clap!!!

[danishphoner]

recalling that one time when i got obsessed with tlsp interviews and might have gathered (almost) all of them for further cataloguing on tumblr but wasn't quite sure if they'd still be somewhat relevant in the present day lmao:

[gbirrd]

timbart shenanigans once more because I have. SO many ideas for them

[mostie01]

Smacks season 2 ending of Ninjago with a whumping stick

Unironically Ninjago having a No One Mourns The Wicked moment after the Final Battle specifically about Garmadon.

(I mean obviously Garmadon survived still but the vast majority of Ninjago doesn’t know that. Plus since he’s been purified of the venom he actually looks normal again and not the menacing Oni who looks like a sentient Shadow.)

“Lady Irondragon exactly how dead is he?”

“Because there has been so much rumor and speculation. Let me tell you the whole story. According to the Celestial Clock the disintegration occurred at the thirteenth hour. The direct result of a blast of pure elemental energy aimed by a male child. Yes the Dark Lord Garmadon is Dead!”

Misako just has to go around announcing her husband’s supposed death while he’s off recovering secretly as the gang forges his new fake identity. So it’s just Misako visiting Ignacia and every other village being praised when she really doesn’t deserve it.

A veritable bouquet of Flowers pinned and woven through her hair because this is a time of peace and celebration now. Which many Fashion and Political columns will debate what she means by them? (It's the Kadōka of Ninjago who figure it out rather early on and those who knew Garmadon and Misako personally can be comfortable in their knowledge of such matters.)

Irises to symbolize Good News, Glad Tidings, and Loyalty (That Loyalty being to her Family not Ninjago itself as so many news publications and fashion magazines will argue)

Red Camellia to symbolize Perishing with Grace as a Warrior of such strength deserves and Being in Love (He didn't perish with Grace though did he? And no one knows how in love they were? Except a scant long lost few.)

White Poppy to Rejoice for the Dark Lord is dead and gone ( Rejoice for the Prophecy is finally over and no one died except for Him and what a fortunate event after all)

Gardenia to represent a Secret Love that she'll carry to the grave (No one can know of such matters now and who's to say the secret love is romantic? But one of Familial love.)

She has to bear the news and she will because Lloyd is too busy recovering himself while at the same time refusing to leave his father's bedside.

It’s also when she finally gets to hear the full hatred and dislike of her husband as the villagers of Ignacia cheer that the menace who kidnapped their favored daughter Nya is dead and caused such grief to their beloved blacksmith Kai.

The citizens of Ignacia are just a parallel to Munchkin Land just flat out belting their shared hatred and grief about this man and what he did to their village and them. The Skulkin raids as well and those Gods Awful Serpentine.

Orange Lilies are being shaken and thrown at the announcement of his death by seemingly the entirety of Ignacia. (They symbolize their hatred for what he did to Kai and Nya alongside their revenge finally being fulfilled.)

Of course there are some Red Spider Lilies in those shaking hands Veterans of the serpentine war long lost their prime mourning an old friend and ally long turned monstrous. (Never to meet again amidst their lost memories.)

That's not getting into those Black Rice Lilies or Fritillaria camschatcensis being tended to by the Skulkin and the other villainous factions (With a certain Banished Dark Sorcerer Cursing the loss of his ex. He was Clouse's first Love.)

Their Giant Garmadon effigy is very scarily detailed and even accounted for his newly gained pair of arms. No doubt a result of one of Kai’s furious letters at the time about his sister’s abductions and his angered sketches.

I like to imagine Ninjago City's reaction is more on par with this animatic

Some Character reactions that could be their own one shots

Chen doesn't lose much sleep once his former student's death has been confirmed. It just means the tournament can proceed even earlier.

Krux or rather Dr.Sanders-Saunders feels some amount of pity it didn't take him long to figure out the Youth or rather the Male Child was Garmadon's own flesh and blood.

Maya and Ray even bound to that hidden workshop listening to the radio and TV that serves as their one link to the outside world. Can only hold each other in comfort for the passing of one of their beloved friend's passing and can only imagine Misako's anguish.

The live broadcast of Ignacia's celebration and singing of his passing is even more painful for Ray because that was his best friend.

Harumi is fuming internally despite her outward Cheerfulness because HOW DARE THEY CELEBRATE HER SAVIOR'S PASSING?!?!!?!? IT'S NOT FAIR AT ALL! (She had to be dragged away from the Emperor and Empress's side during the televised speech of celebration.)

[soullessjack]

caffeine brain posting but my spn rewatch has reminded me of just how incorrect the fanon version of jack is and once again i gotta ask how did y’all get “literal toddler who’s scared of horror movies” and strawberry cow white boy from a guy who’s obsessed with zombies and hunting and kills people as a gesture of love. Where did we go wrong as a species

[xylophone888]

A Conversation About Consent (not the carnal kind, but Actually that too)

...Twoflower gently put his palms on the sides of Rincewind's face as if picking up a wheel of cheese. His freckled nose was almost alarmingly near, but for whatever reason the wizard couldn't bring himself to back up even a bit. If anything, a tiny part of his brain that was not occupied with how close Twoflowers lips were could instead feel the muscles on his back pushing him forward slightly, slowly leaning into the man that was currently holding his face...

When they were just an inch or two away from eachother, Twoflower whispered: "Would you mind if we kissed?". Rincewind blinked and stared at him. " Weren't we... about to?," he inquired. "Well, I still have to ask. I wouldn't do anything like that without asking." After a short, quiet moment full of staring Rincewind shuddered and hid his gaze from Twoflower's inspecting, seemingly all-knowing eyes. "You can just tell me if you don't want to, you know," Flower reminded with noticeable alarm in his voice. The wizard sighed and moved away, but didn't rip out of Twoflower's gentle grasp around him. "It's just that...," he shook his head like a wet dog, "it's just that nobody really asked me before. About what I want. I thought things were supposed to just happen? Is that not right?," he questioned woefully. Twoflower's face immediately assumed the expression you usually only see next to a terminally ill patient's bed. "Rincewind, that's awful, who told you that?! Of course that's not right. Don't you know what, err...," he stopped for a second trying to find the right word, "...consent is about?" He grabbed Rincewind by the shoulders in an appalled gesture, but, thankfully, held back from shaking him. The wizard slowly started to turn red and seemingly somehow got smaller despite his height. "Well, I mean... I do, obviously, I do, I just thought that, uh... people in a relationship... are supposed to stop asking after a while? That it's just somehow... clear to them?," he stuttered over his own words, seeing his husband's face grow somehow even more worried; "And, well, I've never been in an, uh... relationship... before for long enough to get to that stage... It was never clear like that to me, I mean. But...," he got even quieter and even redder, "...but in books they always understand eachother? And nobody ever complains, you know? I thought that's how it's supposed to be, no?"

Twoflower blinked a couple times, then sighed and brought Rincewind in a bit closer, which he gladly accepted. The wizard's heartbeat was audible even through his sweater, and the vizier sighed: "Oh, dear. I don't even know where to start... You have to believe me, it's really not like that. I've been married for years, and it was never clear to me either. You wouldn't say me and Juni weren't close enough because I asked whether she wanted a hug or not, would you?" Rincewind glanced over his husband's shoulder at the picture hanging above the bed: Twoflower, much younger than his current form and with a smile so wide it looked like it was about to split his head in half, standing beside a woman tall enough to use him as an armrest. He shook his head decidedly. "See? And, as far as I'm aware, books aren't quite... truthful enough when it comes to this area of," he made a vague gesture of weak memory, "uhh, interpersonal relations. I wouldn't trust them if I were you." Rincewind nodded solemnly, then suddenly in one breath, as if he was gathering the courage to do so the whole time, blurted out: "Is it embarrassing? I mean, the fact I'm this old and don't know this stuff?" Twoflower shook his head with such vigor that the wizard instinctively cowered, expecting his glasses to fly off. "You're not even that old, you're just forty! Wizards live until what, a hundred years old? You told me the archcancellor still calls you a young man." "Actually, it's probably forty one already..." "Oh well, still not old in my eyes, though. You don't even have any gray hairs yet, unless my eyes deceive me." "I bet that happens a lot," Rincewind noted in his usual manner, without a smile or even a grin. "Oh, stop that. You know what I mean."

Twoflower smiled at him, and the wizard finally exhaled after what felt like eternity. His insides started to calm down, and just now he remembered he hasn't had any lunch yet.

[caligvlasaqvarivm]

wanna ask how you feel about the eridan bpd headcanon/theory(?? not sure what to call it!) you're so good at your character analysis and i'd love to see your outlook on it

Since I don't have a degree or any formal training in psychology, I feel deeply uncomfortable diagnosing characters. I've made an autism joke before but only because I'm on the spectrum. He's definitely traumatized and anxious, but I mean those as descriptors of his behavior rather than capital-D Diagnoses. I try to focus on those when I can - the cause and effect of cognition, self-image, and behavior - and those factors may very well match up with DSM criteria, but I try not to touch an actual diagnosis with a ten foot pole unless the author has explicitly stated that X character has Y condition.