#most of my reading habits are actually very autistic but these books speak to old special interests so they feel different

[starry-eyedmoony]

Leveling up in autism by checking out all the available dinosaur encyclopedias from the library

[alwaysahiccupandastrid]

“autistic luna” this, “autistic luna” that, can we talk about how hermione was autistic coded pls?

I mean... yes? It's definitely something I've thought about but I haven't really talked about it because I'm aware of my habit of making headcanons that all of my favourite characters are autistic (Dano!Riddler, Robin from ST etc), but yes, I've definitely considered that Hermione is autistic-coded.

Let me just be clear from the beginning: Do I think that R*wling intentionally wrote Hermione as autistic or autistic-coded? Absolutely fucking not. That woman can't write autism for shit, as she's proven with her Strike books; she didn't write Newt as autistic intentionally, nor did she write Luna as autistic intentionally, and I'm not giving that nightmare the credit for any autistic-coded characters in her works because she doesn't deserve it.

With that out of the way, let me discuss autistic!hermione.

One of most obvious things we all know about Hermione is her love of studying; it very much seems that upon finding out she was a witch, she threw herself into that world and learned all that she could about it. By the time she was on the train to Hogwarts for her first year, she had literally read all of the assigned text books and even knew a few basic spells. This is in part due to the fact she wanted to fit in with the Wizarding World - it's implied that she didn't really have any muggle friends pre-Hogwarts, she was probably ostracised for being such a "know-it-all", and it's clear that she wanted to fit in at Hogwarts, to find a place where she belonged, hence why she threw herself into it (and also because of her love of learning of course). You can see that she was desperate not only to learn as much as possible but also to make friends; if she didn't care about being accepted and making friends, Ron's comment about "no wonder she hasn't got any friends" wouldn't have hurt her nearly as much.

While a love of studying certain topics and a desire to fit in aren't solely autistic traits, they are ones that autistic people do seem to experience, myself included. Speaking from experience, I want to fit in and make friends because I feel lonely, and I see that everyone else around me seems comfortable/to have found people they can be around and trust, and I wish I had that. I find friendships very difficult to build and maintain, because I don't know how to talk to people or how to get them to like me, and I feel deficient in that area. Again, that's probably an experience non-autistic people can relate to as well, but from what I can tell it seems to be very common among us.

Another reason I think Hermione could be autistic-coded is that she seems to display a lack of empathy for others at times; a prime example of this is when Lavender's rabbit, Binky, died. Lavender was - quite understandably - sobbing about it, especially given that Binky was only a baby and that he was killed by a fox. Instead of offering any kind of sympathy or empathy, Hermione instead lectured her (and everyone else) about how Trelawney wasn't actually a seer, analysing how Trelawney didn't predict the bunny's death - she was more interested in proving that Divination sucked because it was her worst subject, like she had to have some kind of win over Trelawney/Divination. And while I understand her logic, she was sort of right, choosing that very moment - when one of her dorm-mates was sobbing over her dead pet - was not the best time to voice it. There's also her utter disregard for Ron's feelings over "Scabbers"; she had this "he's never really cared that much about Scabbers anyway" "he's an old rat anyway" kind of mentality that just displayed no kind of attempt to understand his feelings. The fact that Hermione became a pet owner herself just a few months before all of this also goes to show her lack of empathy/sympathy, the fact that despite owning an animal now she still was unable to do the socially acceptable thing and show empathy/sympathy instead of logic. Hermione is certainly not emotionless by any means, but there are definitely times where she seems so absorbed by her own ideas and thoughts/feelings that she's oblivious to other people's.

Not all autistic people are like this, of course, and not all people who display a lack of empathy or sympathy are necessarily autistic, but it's another thing to consider. While I like to think of myself as being a bit too empathetic, there are many times where I've appeared selfish and too caught up in my own head/feelings to regard other people's feelings or how best to approach being there for them. It's not because I don't care for them, it's just that I'm so caught up in my own thoughts and how I'm feeling that I often don't think twice about how someone else must be doing - and I'd say it's the same for Hermione, because while she doesn't seem to feel particularly strongly either way about Lavender in PoA, we know she definitely cares for Ron because he's one of her best friends (and love interest but if anything it was probably more a crush than anything else in third year)

Some more things that I'm too exhausted to discuss properly because I'm suffering severe burnout right now:

Hermione is very blunt and to the point, she doesn't sugarcoat things or mince words at all

It's mentioned that she talks very fast, to the point where during their first interaction Harry's like "did she even breathe during that speech?!?!", which is usually what I do when I infodump on people because I want to get all of my words out before I'm interrupted or forget them

An extremely good memory, she remembers so much of what she reads in books; the only reason I don't think it's photographic is because she read about Flamel and then later didn't remember it immediately when the trio were searching for information on him until Harry found him mentioned on the back of Dumbledore's Chocolate Frog card.

It's worth mentioning that she panics in dangerous situations and seems to forget things; "oh we don't have any wood to build a fire", for example, and then Ron had to remind her that she's a witch and can literally just use magic - something you'd think she'd remember given that she not only set Snape on fire that year but also created flames to put in jars during the winter

Hermione seems to be brilliant at spells and magic that require precision, but then she struggles with spells/magic that require some creativity and imagination like the Patronus charm - she's a logical thinker and so struggles with emotional charms

This links to what I said above about a lack of sympathy/empathy and her struggle making friends, but she definitely lacks social awareness; she constantly butts into other people's conversations and business, speaks her mind abrasively, and critically

Hermione taking on way too many classes in PoA, struggling to keep on top of it all, and snapping at anyone who came near her; struggling to manage things is is commonly found among many of us with autism since we can often only handle a certain amount of sensory input before we get overwhelmed.

Her reluctance to even consider other people's views/beliefs, eg. Luna's belief in strange or bizarre sounding creatures. She may have technically been right, but she was rude to Luna about it and didn't even want to consider why someone may have an opposing view. Hermione is so set in what she believes in, and what she believes in is logic and hard evidence.

I also recently found out that Emma Watson was apparently diagnosed with combined/hyperactive type ADHD as a child; while autism and ADHD are two different things, sometimes there's an overlap and sometimes people have both, so it's not outside the realm of possibility that any autistic/neurodivergent traits in movie!Hermione are partly down to this.

I'd be interested to hear other people's thoughts and if people want to add onto this post because it's been a long time since I read the books properly, and its also 1:30am here so I'm going to bed to try and get a few hours sleep!

[nichknack]

My own vague and disjointed Black Phone headcanons

Finney

Autistic with a special interest in rockets and NASA

When he grows up he’d end up working in a science museum and sticking to the space section. He realised pretty early on that he doesn’t want to go to space, he just wants to learn as much about it as humanly possible

Cat person

Braids Gwen’s hair most mornings

Doesn’t like reading fiction books, but loves non-fiction.

Bisexual

Becomes an insomniac after escaping from The Grabber

Makes a point of eating three square meals a day after escaping since nothing makes you appreciate food more than going hungry for god-knows-how-long. This ends up with him getting really into cooking. Nothing extravagant, but the few dishes he can cook he cooks really well.

Believes in God, but in a passive way.

Robin

Has dyscalculia

Gay/mlm

Loves reading pulpy horror novels. Opposite to Finn in that he loves fiction, but can’t stand books that don’t have some kind of fantastical element to them.

Rents Bruce Lee Movies for the soul purpose of rewinding and copying the martial arts moves.

If he’d grown up (🥲) he would have become a nurse and worked in Urgent Care.

That doctor friend who always has a full first-aid kit in his bag.

Lives with his mom and uncle (dad’s brother).

Said mom and uncle get along really well and are basically platonic soul mates.

Shows he cares for people by just, existing in the same place. Like, reading while his Uncle works on his car, or just sitting watching TV with his mom.

Has a deal with the people who work at the video rental store in town so he gets their old movie posters instead of them being thrown away. His bedroom is basically covered in niche horror and action movie posters.

Can sew.

Gwen

Became a Christian after being given a copy of the New Testament by a door-to-door preacher.

She read the whole thing, multiple times.

Despite this, she never attends church until she’s in her late teens. She goes to one service, vows to never go back and spends the next month ranting to Finney about how shit it was. She’s effectively a Christian witch.

She’s really interested in other religion and ends up researching them a lot.

Continued to work with Detective Wight and Miller after the incident with The Grabber.

Wight and Miller end up becoming something of a second/third dad to her.

She ends up becoming a Private Investigator as an adult and becomes somewhat well known for taking supernatural cases.

Keeps a dream journal.

Men-leaning bisexual.

Went vegetarian as an adult.

Bruce

He and Amy are actually twins. He’s two minutes older than her and has fully commits to the ‘protective older brother’ role. (I’m aware that home rooms don’t have mixed ages in America but fuck it. My headcanon my rules)

Has ADHD.

Solid C-B student in most classes.

Usually pretty calm and chill, but has a bad habit of bottling up his feelings to keep up appearances. Him snapping is a rare occurrence, but a memorable one.

Biromantic demisexual

Would have tried to go pro with baseball(if he’d survived 😭), but quickly discovered that doing so kind of ruined the fun of it. Would have ended up as a sports teacher and little league coach.

Always snacking. Carries around a packet of cashews in his backpack.

The diplomatic friend who helps his friends out of trouble.

Because he and Amy hung out so much as kids, he’s very good at doing nail polish. Though he never wears any (mostly because he doesn’t like the feeling of it on his nails) he always does Amy’s.

His bedroom is organised chaos.

LOVES dogs, but can’t get one because their fur makes his mom sneeze.

Vance

Lives with his father. They do not get along.

Autistic (low empathy) with a special interest in pin ball.

Gay but hasn’t figured that out yet.

Has a massive crush on Robert Plant. Thinks he just respects him a lot.

If he’d grown up, he would have ended up working as a mechanic.

Speaking of. He’s one of those people who looks after their cars really well.

Bites his nails and hangnails, his hands are always covered in bandaids.

Thinks knives are for pussies and will bring his fists to a knife fight. The only time he will use a knife is if someone tries to use one on him to give them a taste of their own medicine.

In the real life Grab n’ Go incident he carved his high score into the boy’s arm, not the house numbers.

The Grabber didn’t use the ‘magic trick’ thing to get him because obviously that wouldn’t work. He was also the one who gave The Grabber the most trouble before Finney came along.

Knows how to make cherry bombs. Had blown up many a mailbox.

Has done community service multiple times.

Pierced his own ears with a safety pin and has done a stick n poke tattoo.

Loves reading, though because his dad gives him shit for it he hides most of his books out of the house.

Has read Rage by Richard Bachman (AKA, Stephen King)

Claims to like black coffee and mercilessly shits on anyone who puts so much as a drop of milk in theirs.

Weirdly enough, he never actually finished he own cup.

Billy/Paperboy

The most well-off of the boys.

His full name is William Showalter. Only his grandparents actually call him William.

Naturally a morning person, even before he started doing the paper round.

Struggles to stay up past 9.

Hates tomatoes.

Aroace.

Gets along really well with his folks. They’re the kind of family who unironically has family game nights and movie nights every week. He genuinely looks forward to these.

His dog is called Ladybird and she sleeps in his room each night. Has done since she was a puppy.

His room is immaculate.

He and his dad watch M*A*S*H together.

Has a weird collection of things in his pockets: pens, rubber bands, gum, bits of trash, etc.

I have more with him, but saying them would spoil my fic soooo. Sorry.

Griffin

Is allergic to absolutely fucking everything.

When his hayfever isn’t acting up, he’s got a cold. That kid that’s always coughing and snotty.

Autistic and ADHD. Has a lot of verbal stims that are him quoting lines he thinks are funny from cartoons and comics. He usually masks this while he’s at school, but it’s not uncommon to hear him mumbling to himself when he thinks no one’s around.

His mom had him when she was 17. Dad was never in the picture but his mom wanted to raise him by herself. She gets along really well with her parents and they all help to co-parent him.

They’re not well-off by any means, but they manage and they’re happy.

He gets Mad Magazine whenever he can and thinks it’s hilarious. He’s also got a collection of joke books.

Griffin is quietly feral. He doesn’t talk much and keeps to himself most of the time but once he gets talking and out of his shell he’s a nutcase.

Plays pranks in class and no one is the wiser because he’s just the quiet kid in the back.

Scraped knees are a common occurrence.

Bullies tend to pick up on him being a bit weird. Though they don’t really know him by name, he did get picked on a lot with older students tricking him into doing silly things because he didn’t realise they were fucking with him. He ended up eating alone most of the time.

Falls asleep on the rug in his living room a lot. Honestly sleeps better there than his own bed.

Chews the hell out of the straws whenever he has a juice box. If he lived in modern day he’d wear chewlry.

Extremely susceptible to jump scares.

[haveumetbi]

Hello!

I've been using tumblr for a long time, but only recently I've felt confident enough in my english to actually try to join communities and make friends. 

A little introduction... That is actually kinda really long and I’m not gonna subject y’all to it unless you want to, so here’s the tldr:

I’m an acearo, bi, cis girl (🇺🇸 she/her — 🇧🇷 ela/a).

White latina from Brazil.

I’m disabled and neurodivergent

I love sitcoms, comedy is my fav genre of fiction

and cats

and The Sims

and Turma da Mônica

and hairstyling, braids, make up

and Jane Austen

and Taylor Swift

If you like any of it, follow me!! I’ll definetely follow back. If your curious, read bellow.

I’m a 23 year old college student who is majoring in History. I’m kind of a huge nerd, I love subjects like History (duh), Literature, Politics, Philosophy, Psychology, Religion, but also Comedy (i find fascinating to analyze it, even if that kinda defeats the purpose, sue me). I kinda only watch sitcoms, actually, maybe because of how obsessed I am with the genre (more on that later). 

Being Brazilian I may reblog/talk about Brazillian issues/stuff and most definetely will reblog things about Turma da Mônica (brazil’s most beloved comic book series that shaped the childhood’s of at least 3 generations now since the 60s/70s), my longest autistic special interest. Oh, yeah, I’m also neurodivergent, AuDHD and also have persistent depressive disorder (dysthymia gang rise up! or dont, ik its hard and tiresome) and fibromyalgia.

Another special interest I’m unhinged about is The Sims, I use Tumblr mostly bc of it, so I’ll definitely reblog stuff about it, maybe if everythings works out I will even create a side simblr, who knows. I love historic/fantasy gameplay, would be cool to share with people.

Idk if its a SI or just regular cat owner thing, but I’m definitely obsessed with these little guys. Speaking of cat lover, I love Taylor Swift. Like, I’m very casual about most music I consume, but she is the exception, I just... feel SO MUCH with her songs. Idk, idk... She also makes me feel things on a sapphic way, though I’m no g*ylor or hetl*r (rlly dont care about who she dates, just here for the art). But not in a wow I wanna bang this celebrity I have a crush on, cuz I dont wanna bang no one, cuz I’m acearo. Just, dont swing that way (or any way, really /hj cuz i'm actually gray-bi-romantic but its very rare, so i'm usually not swinging at all lmao).

I really like to read, but it has been tough to keep the habit with depression and disabled adult life knocking at my door and kicking my ass... currently I’m finishing reading all Jane Austen’s work (i love her sense of humor and analyses of human psychology) in portuguese, but I plan to eventually read the original stuff in english. I just really love stories and storytelling as an art form, maybe that’s why I love to write. I’m obsessed with fanfictions, actually, been writing since I was 11, never anything in english, but who knows, actually creating and participating in tumblr may be the first step. I mostly write about tv shows I’m obsessed about (though I did write some Turma da Mônica Jovem fanfiction...... thank god I deleted, it was terrible, tho in my defense I was still a preteen) and I mostly watch sitcoms so.... About that...

My favorite sitcom ever is probably How I Met Your Mother (it was literally what i needed when i was going through a really rough patch) and BoJack Horseman (yes, cartoon sitcoms totally count, shut up). I’d say my first sitcom love was The Simpsons, my biodad had a lot of dvds and tapes from the golden seasons and the fondest memories of my childhood were us watching together and laughing like two idiots. My first fandom was iCarly (i was a preteen okay), but I wasnt a big fan of the revival/reboot (yes I was team seddie, no it has nothing to do with it, I gave it a shot, but just didnt vibe with it). I also love The Office, That 70′s Show, Never Have I Ever, Community, Our Flag Means Death, The Sex Lifes of College Girls, One Day at a Time and The Good Place.

I’m pretty sure the only other shows that I got obsessed with that weren’t sitcoms were Once Upon a Time and Lucifer, two shows that were quite humorous with its wacky premises (fairytales in real life???? the devil taking a vacation in LA??? i mean, c’mon!!). I’m loving the Percy Jackson disney adaptation, it was my favorite YA book series and it always bummed me that the movie adaptation was so terrible, I'm glad we finally have a great adaptation and can't wait for more seasons to come!!!

I’m very talkative (you dont say?? 😮 /s) and a total extroverted that really loves to make friends, but my communication difficulties really do shine on long distance conversation... be phone calls, video calls, emails, text messages etc... So, although I’d love if you shoot me a message, bc I love to make friends, I also am not the best texter, so dont expect someone who always immediately answers you right back cuz they are online — please dont take it personal, it has nothing to do with who is messaging me and everything to do with my disability mkay? And yes, I am trying to work this shit out in therapy, but you know... growth aint linear. When shit hits the fan, the first thing that I lose is the ability to answer text messages 😭 idk i just stare at them, they stare at me, i combust and die, the end. 

Dont know how to end this text, so, I’ll just show a pic of my cat, cuz shes everything. Bye!! 

[tokowh]

Accepting my own condition

It's time for me to finally talk about this. After finally working up the courage to speak about this to a close friend group thanks to what month this is, I finally feel comfortable enough to announce this publicly.

I am on the Autistic spectrum.

I've been afraid to speak about this because, not going into too gruesome of details, I was often alienated or at worst picked on because of my 'quirks'. Even to this day, I still feel leery about really speaking publicly about this because the internet has a rather... 'Checkered history' when it comes to people on the spectrum.

However, I think it's time I start speaking about this openly. I've been wanting to push myself out of my comfort zone for a while now, and with it being Autism Acceptance month, I figured now was as good a time as any.

As said, I am on the spectrum. In my case, it manifests as extreme anxiety in social situations and has a noticeable effect on how I communicate. I also have difficulties learning things the conventional way, most of the time. I was often held back a few times in school because of this. I'm going to go into this individually:

The social anxiety is the worst. I often find it hard to speak up when being talked to, often not saying more than I have to. It also makes it extremely hard for me to refer to people by their titles or names. If I'm typing I don't really have this problem, but I don't know why it is, but I really have to force myself to actually speak someone's name or title. (I definitely know this for a fact because it annoys my mom to no end that I have a hard time calling her mom. There's no malice behind it, I swear. It just feels like my voice hits a brick wall when I have to say someone's name or title.)

I suppose that's also a part of 'affecting how I communicate'. I am a much, MUCH better typer than I am at speaking. I have a soft and somewhat higher-pitched voice than most guys; I have no idea if that's part of me being on the spectrum or if that's just how my vocal cords unfortunately developed. In either case, it does not help me any. I'm extremely mic shy, having tried to speak in some online pubs before only to be mocked because of how I sound. This, of course, did not help my social anxieties in the slightest.

As a byproduct, I also tend to mumble random things that pop into my head if I start to drift off into my own head or if I'm feeling even slightly drowsy. Thankfully, if I slightly focus enough I can keep myself from doing stuff like that, but it's hard to keep on guard like that 24/7. As you can imagine, this also does not help my mic shyness one bit.

When it comes to learning things, I have rather extreme difficulties learning things by the book. When I was in school I was held back at least two-three times. Ironically, despite the fact that I'm much better at writing now than I am speaking, one of my greatest difficulties growing up was learning to read, write and spell. The internet definitely helped me thanks to it becoming the primary way we communicate these days, but until I first logged onto it, my grasp of the written language was very... 'Loose' to put it one way.

I definitely learn a lot better doing compared to reading or the like. And even then, it takes me several attempts to really get something down pact. Heck, despite apparently getting a 4.0 in my final year of high school, I could not tell you what I learned from it, especially anything relating to advanced math and algebra, to save my life.

Those were the main things I was planning on talking about. Now that those are out there, I suppose there are other things I'd like to address, in no particular order:

My 'special interest': I really do not like this term or the connotations that come with it. It feels like 'oh, so THAT'S why he likes 'x'' instead of it just being a facet of my personality. If I really had to say what it was though, I will say it'd probably be dragons. But again; even if I weren't on the spectrum, I'd like to think that'd I'd still like dragons because let's face it, they're kind of just a really amazing mythological creature with a lot of lore behind them. A close second would probably be the 90s, but that's more likely because I'm a nostalgic old fool who was born then and grew up really liking the aesthetic.

I have a bad habit of not letting things go and stewing on them longer than I should. What should be minor setbacks or failures to me always feel like a massive deal. There are days were something minor I did in the past that had no real repercussions on anyone, in the long run, will pop back into my head and refuse to leave. As you can imagine, it makes it hard to stay motivated on almost anything.

Lastly, as always, fuck Autism Speaks. Their scare tactics and spreading misinformation about what I have to line their own pockets is a major reason I've been so afraid to ever publicly announce this. Well over half the negative or harmful stereotypes people have with the spectrum originated from there.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I'd like to thank a few people for finally helping me work up the courage to publicly admit this. Suede, whose own announcement on publicly admitting to being on the spectrum helped push me to think about this, the people on Kind Words, for taking their time out to help encourage a stranger not to be afraid, and the people on GoldenGriffiness' Discord server, who's acceptance of me finally announcing this finally gave me the confidence to speak publicly about this.

[ganymedesclock]

What academic subjects could you see the paladins being individually good at I wonder?

Paladins in school! Let’s do this.

It’s worth noting from the get-go that you’re grabbing a pretty educated sample size here. The paladins didn’t go to normal high school, they went to astronaut school. So the ‘average’ here is pretty high.

Pidge

I’d put Pidge down as the most ‘conventionally’ book smart of the paladins. Her memory, intelligence, creativity, and most importantly curiosity have built her a vast knowledge base. At the same time, I don’t think that Pidge necessarily had the best grades of the paladins. Almost every time we see her dealing with school, she has other things going on- either bullying and isolation before the Garrison (s4e2) or her infiltration and hunt for answers (s1e1).

Pidge reads both ADHD and autistic to me- I see her as someone who’s very invested in her personal projects, or once she can connect to a subject- but if she can’t care about it? She gets distracted. In s4e2 she directly interrupts the teacher and the lesson to talk about something she probably knows about because of her father- something she cares about a lot more emotionally that’s unrelated to the lesson.

So in that sense, I think Pidge would test very well- playing to her strengths of memory and cognition- but probably have a very hit or miss record with homework, especially in subjects she doesn’t really like. S4e2 also suggests that Pidge gives up on studying really easily when she’s upset.

Rather than gravitating towards specific classes, which would seldom go in directions that she prefers, it’s more likely that Pidge would prefer personal research about anything that seizes her interest and use classes as a jumping-point for her own personal studies. Just from her interests in old-school video games and her mentions of Tesla and Turing, I’d guess that Pidge’s favorite subject would probably be the specific intersection of technology and history.

Her grades, I think, would be very across the board- even when she has a need to succeed at a given subject for practicality’s sake (wanting to get into the Garrison to be with her family, or needing to stay in the Garrison to find her family) it’s hard to keep up, especially because it’s very hard for Pidge to derail at all from a project she cares about more.

No, I think our straight-A Dean’s List student would be:

Shiro

Here’s the thing about Shiro. He has the charisma, reputation, and self-consciousness of a chronic overachiever. I’ve said before I would be very surprised if Shiro in his teens was not a deeply unhappy stressed person because he had those perfect grades, but he did that because he buckled down and got all of his work done at any cost. He studied, he did his assignments, he took advanced courses, he probably got some concerned talks about stress levels and biting off more than he could chew and sort of nodded politely and said he would take that into account but it took him actually getting out the other side to legitimately chill.

That’s not to say Shiro persevered by diligence alone- I think Shiro’s plenty educated and able to have a good command of that. But I think Shiro had a very troubled relationship with academia in the later grades because he felt- and still, to a degree, feels- this need to live up to a larger than life reputation.

I think the subjects that would speak to Shiro would be ones that could let him get out of the muddle of just grades, grades, grades, and tap into his sense of higher calling, that there’s something worthwhile in what he’s doing. He says in s1e1 that he’s not so interested in the scientific ramifications of what they’re doing, which I’ve always taken as an admission that what drew Shiro to the Garrison was the allure and appeal of open space. The idea of flying, moving free at the final frontier of mankind and the solar wind figuratively in his hair was what called to him.

Hunk

Hunk, I think, would fall into some of the same, but not all of the problems Pidge is. He’s a little more concerned by the implication of the teachers being mad/disappointed in him, at least in s1e1, but he’s seemingly less concerned breaking the rules as much as he’s concerned getting caught, which is an important decision.

I think what he’d have in common with Pidge is not being too attached to subject material- he does the assignments/gets pretty good grades because again, he doesn’t wanna get in trouble, but, his real passion is environments like, if there’s a shop class/practical exams or extracurriculars because Hunk’s a lot less enamored with knowing and studying as he is with doing and making things.

Even then I feel like he’d sulk just a little from time to time because, yes, he knows there’s a rule you can’t use rocket fuel for that, he’s just saying, it’s a stupid rule.

Lance

So Lance... canonically is not beloved of school. I think out of everybody he’d probably have the worst grades, and my personal suspicion is it’s a combination of English not being his first language- his fluency is really good, but he can be observed to switch/mess up words on rare occasions- and ADHD that means even if the errors he does make are super innocuous ones he doesn’t always double check and catch them. And lecture-based anything is kinda hell. I imagine him doing pretty well with the Garrison mostly because Hunk is able to help him with notes and explanations- Hunk is good at putting things into pretty simple terms and has more of an ability to focus.

I don’t think Lance would really have a favorite subject. Gym, probably? He was probably one of those kids who was eternally good at gym class because he has good hand-eye coordination and a lot of energy.

Keith

Okay so for Keith I have a real answer: Probably geography! His interest in the outdoors, maps, environments and their composition would seem to point in that direction.

I think in general Keith probably didn’t get along with school any more than Pidge did, more of a problem with the social environment than the education. I also have to wonder if he was one of those “smart kids” who was able to coast for a long time on good testing skills and then hit a wall where he started struggling and didn’t know how to study, and Shiro stepped in to teach him study habits and how to make that work. (better study habits. not the one that he used in high school.)

Keith’s grades were probably pretty good until Shiro went missing and took a nosedive shortly before dropping out.

Allura

Given Alfor’s level of education and also his level of closeness to his daughter, I wouldn’t be surprised if Alfor actually taught Allura a lot personally. She implies that it was expected of her to be trained in combat since a young age (s1e2) and in s3e3 mentions that she’s been flying the castle for “over half my life” implying she’s had pretty extensive pilot training as well, which would also suggest highly educated, but, probably in a much more personalized one-on-one setting. Her ability to understand pretty rapidly what was going wrong with the castle’s barrier in s1e1 would also suggest engineering knowledge.

I have to wonder if Allura would favor cultural/social studies over STEM, mostly since she does seem to really enjoy talking to people and value diplomacy highly, even if in her vlog she confesses it’s not necessarily always her strong point (“I had to learn to be a diplomat”)

[sparklyjojos]

hey i sent you an ask but internet problematic here so i dunno if it was sent? As someone with no experience with neurodivergent people i was hoping you could elaborate what you have previously said about Kars in JORGE JOESTAR (and other characters maybe) seeming neurodivergent. Like, i'd love to know your headcanons about jojo characters regarding this, as well as reasoning for the headcanon's (optional, but i'd love it)

(wow this one sure took me a long time to answer, sorry!)

oh boy, this would be an extremely long post if I included all other jojo characters I headcanon as nd so I’m just going to focus on Jorge (the Japanese one) and novel Kars for now

this won’t be a “this character definitely has x thing”, but just pointing out traits and dialogue that may interest someone who wants to headcanon/write these characters as nd

am I going to be reaching with some of those? yep! but if the Jorge Joestar novel itself taught me anything, it’s that:

so, you know. I see what I wanna see.

(tw: mental illness, trauma, ptsd, suicide - all in the Kars segment)

Jorge:

 – the sheer difference in introductions is telling: English Jorge talks at length about his family, his classmates, his gay puppy crush, and anything else you’d expect to be major concerns for a kid. Japanese Jorge? social life haha what social life, HOPE YOU’RE READY FOR 10 PAGES OF PUZZLE SOLVING

 – no really if the very first thing someone says after seeing all your memories is that you sure spend a lot of time on puzzles then that’s some deep interest you have, a bit of a stereotypical hobby there but whatevs

 – hyperfocuses a lot??

 – (exasperated Kars who’s been trying to get his attention for a good minute:) “You have a bad habit of not hearing when people speak to you.” (Jorge:) “Yeah, if I’m focused on something else. Sorry. What?”

 – tunes out of one phone conversation with Bruno like 3 times

 – figures out how time-based Stands work specifically because he has experience with his internal sense of time getting royally fucked up whenever he’s deeply focused

 – was inattentive (and hyperactive?) as a young kid to the point it affects how the memories on his disc look like: “I was a fidgety child, and the image rarely focused on [Joseph] for long. I wasn’t interested in his story.”

 – visual thinker, good with patterns, can make complicated mental maps and solve slide puzzles in his mind

 – his memory is really good until it isn’t (as far as he’s concerned Funny Valentine’s Stand is called Dirty Whatever)

 – very particular about meanings of words and names, etymology (his arc starts and ends with him pondering over the kanji of his own name, knows latin names of various species like Hydrangea or Ursus maritimus and what they mean literally, that “sorry that name’s taken” line when Rohan calls something a Beyond, etc)

 – doesn’t like (is distressed by?) clutter and things/details being WRONG. (“If details don’t add up right I get agitated, and start searching for a better way. This trait has lead to my room being very clean, and made me a great detective.”)

 – infodumps to Rohan about polar bears of all things, and there’s a moment when he stops talking almost mid-sentence after mentioning they’re called Ursus maritinus and instead of speaking out loud he just thinks to himself that “The scientific name was given by John Phipps in 1774” as if he just realized that’d be Too Much detail to share, I feel you Jorge

 – (after Erina says he has a characteristic soft smile) “I do? I mean, I guess people do say I look like an idiot.”  

 – gets urges to laugh at very bad times (”Cars’ whispered response had an air of such grim realism that I almost started laughing, but he was watching me suspiciously. Whoops.”)

 – sometimes blurts out things, often fails one-liners, even when he pre-plans what he’s going to say something else may come out (“I’d thought of all kinds of things to say, but what actually popped out in that moment? (…) I have no idea what I meant by that last bit but I said what I said and had to live with it.”)

 – sometimes impulsive, like yeah let’s just get up in the middle of the night and search through a 10 km^2 area on a bike for something unprecised while you have several death threats to your name, this can’t possibly backfire

 – (after Jorge quite literally blows himself up by impulsive carelessness) “Cars was still laughing. “You really don’t think things through.“”

 – small point that’s made moot by paranormal things like that being real in the jojoverse, but his tendency to see signs and messages meant for him everywhere and in every event, and insisting on coincidences not being mere synchronicity gives off a different vibe than intended (at least at the beginning before he knows Stands and Beyonds are a thing)

Kars:

 – honestly I could just slap the definition of “neurodivergent = with their brain functioning differently from what’s seen as ‘normal’ in the population” here and point at his backstory in this book and be done with it

 – remember everything I’m writing is on top of his canon image of an asocial genius scientist with poor affect (or, in the anime, varying between stone face and painfully exaggerated expressions) who has a connection with nature and animals, which I guess can? be seen as some type of autistic coding (unfortunately in this case it dovetails into “a loner with autistic traits = snaps and kills everyone” type of coding sooo maybe let’s not go there)

 – novel Kars talks about how when he was younger he didn’t even know that feeling sympathy and wanting to have emotional attachments with others –was a thing– (apparently his race wasn’t capable of it??), and he had to sorta consciously try to understand and learn it through reading human fiction. It came off to me like he relates better to fictional characters (and maybe animals?) than to his race or humans, too

 - ^^(that backstory’s a bit unclear with how it’s told; either just like his race he doesn’t have the drive for social bonding, empathy etc. and his understanding of others is made purely on the intellectual level - that’s relatable for some nd people - or he DOES have those things in a drastic difference from everyone else of his race, which I guess makes him nd by definition. It’s… complicated.)

– on the topic of “consciously learning how to sympathy” - there’s a few times in the novel when he’s a prick not because he wants to be but because he genuinely doesn’t understand why the other person would be upset (”Cars, sorry, but can you put me back at my old height?” “?…isn’t the view better?”), but if that person explains how the thing is upsetting he then backs off like “oh okay” (when Jorge is disturbed about the women’s heads thing - “Yeah. But I just feel sorry for them. I can’t watch this.” - Kars just goes “I see.” and makes them disappear). He still has to work on the “taking your private memories without asking” issue tho

 – that moment in the backstory where Kars became deeply aware of just how flawed and “not up to own potential” he was which launched him straight into unhealthy perfectionism and desire for control and power as a way of dealing with it? relatable

 – and that thing where him becoming much more chill is preceeded by the realization that he can’t ever - and that he doesn’t have to - become an infinitely perfect being without weaknesses, and that he’d still have worth and meaning even when he’s not performing to some ridiculous self-imposed standards?? GREAT, and I love to see lines like this one coming from him: “Cars smiled. “I have no desire to be the leadingman.””

 – he talks about how traumatic events and your emotional reactions to them (“feeling like you’re dying”) can damage your soul. Since he claims to have experience determining soul damage, and the only souls he worked with before belonged to 36 other Karses, we can assume he’s talking about himself as well. (and it’s kinda obvious that having everyone you love die in

 – ^^^also worth noting that even if Kars knew a lot about brains biology-wise, he missed out on practically all of modern psychology after 1939, so of course the way he relates to trauma and mental illness would be different, and more informed by what he learned having spent most of his life around ancient civilizations in the Americas - the concept of soul loss. And it’s not like the book doesn’t wink towards it in other places (English Jorge dissociating during torture is described as him having learned how to remove his soul from his body)

 – Light Dancer Kars speaks about how he wanted to commit suicide, then in the same paragraph says that he and our Kars feel “the same sadness”, which, wow. Earlier there are scenes where you can interpret Kars’s behaviour as passively suicidal; he doesn’t seek death, but if something (burning upon reentry while saving the humans, fighting Dio) did kill him, he wouldn’t mind that much

 – this one is very subjective because you can interpret these moments as just him being very lost in thought / focusing on healing (Jorge sure does), but: when faced with intense emotional stress - like hearing Light Dancer Kars’s existential speech, or almost getting killed because he chose to shield the humans from harm - Kars has a tendency to go non- or barely verbal, motionless, unresponsive to outside stimuli (including people trying to get his attention by calling his name) and staring at one thing / into space, ignoring even a zombie attack or that they’re pressed on time in alternate!Morioh. When I first read it I assumed he just dissociated really hard (ptsd-related?), or was in a shutdown

 – if you pay attention to what traits Kars seems to be holding in high regards - either through saying that X is a good thing about humanity, or bemoaning that humanity doesn’t have X (that he ofc does) - they’re stuff like creativity, perseverance, attention to details, pattern-based thinking, the desire to “figure stuff out”, and good memory. AKA traits often (though not always) increased in autistic people

 - at one point he says: ”In the end, you’re just another human. You see a mystery and think, ‘How odd!’ and put in on a shelf somewhere.” I’m sorry but even in context it sounds like “apparently people can see an interesting thing without instantly getting fixated and wanting to know and understand everything about it right there and then, what the fuck”

 – he tends to be either very invested in what’s going on or bored, no inbetween, and avoiding that boredom is a high priority (”And it seems I’ve run out of time to eat you all… But I wasn’t bored.”)

um yeah that’s all I can think of rn

[orange-icebreaker]

Razer Headcanons

We all knew I was going to make A List someday I mean c’mon

Autistic

Trans guy

Parents’ response to coming out as trans was “Alright, how do we help with this ‘dysphoria’ thing?”. Uncle’s response was “Here are some of my old clothes. And knives. Lots of knives.”

Fangs secrete poison. Yes, both rows, on the top and bottom of his mouth

Ears are pointed like a Stereotypical Elf, and move around depending on his mood like a cat’s

Used to fidget A Lot when stressed, but dropped that habit when he joined the Red Lantern Corps

Bipolar, bisexual, will smack you if you make a joke to the effect of “Bi-bi”

Kept all those weapons from Babel in little pockets he sewed onto his shirt and binder 

Did not let Hal and Kilowog know he can sew because he’d rather not be bothered every time they get a rip in their civilian clothes

The list of people who can touch him without asking is essentially just the Interceptor crew and Saint Walker. Everyone else has to ask or he’ll get very angry

The only Red Lanterns he got along with? Bleez and Skallox. Bleez because she’s the same flavor of bitter as him, and Skallox because he’s quiet and doesn’t like Zox

Speaking of Zox, they were cordial until Atrocitus started visibly paying attention to Razer. Zox then started being the antagonistic jerk we see

Fastest way to tell if he’s comfortable around someone is if he’ll do other things while they’re in the room like

Hal/Kilowog/Aya alone with him? He’ll tinker with a robot he’s building, read something, fix something, etc. 

Sinestro is alone with him? He’ll Just Sit Over Here Thank You, No He Is Not Glaring At Sinestro What Are You Talking About That’s Nonsense

Doesn’t swear that often unless startled, at which point he will turn into a bundle of profanity

Likes video games, especially fantasy games. Sci-fi games about saving the universe are a bit too close to his actual life to be enjoyable

Can, has, and will operate on One Hour of Sleep.

Can, has, and will never admit to getting stuck in his binder and needing help

At least he isn’t binding with bandages anymore bc hooo buddy was that a disaster. Constant pain, he needed a Very Tired Bleez to help him into it if he had rib or arm injuries, it was a mess

Super Into Mythology, which is why he knows the legend of the Orange Lantern offhand

Hal: Yeah mythology on my planet is kinda weird? Razer: You have my attention.

He likes them for the same reason he likes video games; they tell the story of worlds full of magic and power, and do not have Universe Endangering Shenanigans

Comes from a carnivorous species. Most plant matter is inedible to him, but anything with citrus is toxic.

If he dislikes someone he is not above doing things he knows will annoy them specifically to be obnoxious.

Source: Directly insulting Kilowog all over “Into the Abyss”

Has eye damage, which is why his pupils are discolored compared to Ilana’s (Alana? Elana? Who Knows We See Her Like Once)

Cannot swim. Does not want to learn from Hal or Kilowog, but Aya can’t swim either.

Trusts Hal up until he hears anything along the lines of “Watch this” because that is usually followed up with things going horribly awry

Trusts Kilowog up until he starts doing the Dad Friend Thing because he. Does not like talking about his emotions

Trusts Aya up until anything like “I can handle this” comes out her mouth because she is overconfident and he is bad with loss

Read the Harry Potter books (digitally) because Aya figures they’re culturally significant to humans. Threw the data pad he was reading on every time a character he likes died.

His favorites are Hagrid, Hermione and Sirius. Certainly Not Because They Remind Him Of The Interceptor Crew What Are You Talking About

Good at calculating things in his head

[smoge15]

BLOG1

(YES IT’S IN CAPITALS - BUT IT DOESN’T MEAN I’M SHOUTING THIS AT YOU - IT JUST LOOKS REGULAR AND COHESIVE IN A MUCH MORE PLEASING WAY THAN THE UP AND DOWN OF A NORMAL PARAGRAPH)

HOW CAN WE RECONNECT WITH PLACE IN 2017? I FEEL THERE ARE THINGS TO BE LEARNT AND FELT THAT CAN ONLY BE DUG UP BY PUTTING DOWN OUR BLUE-GLARING SCREENS AND CONNECTING WITH THE NOISES, THE COLOURS, THE FACES OF THE ENVIRONMENT WE HAVE FORGOTTEN WE ARE SURROUNDED BY.

SIMPLE ACTS THAT WE HAVE LOST IN THE SPEED OF CHANGE AROUND US SUCH AS WALKING, DRAWING, LOOKING, HEARING, BREATHING; ALL THINGS THAT COULD ENHANCE OUR EVERYDAY BUT WE DON’T MAKE TIME FOR ANYMORE, OR AREN’T TOLD TO MAKE TIME FOR, AS THEIR IS GENERALLY NO CAPITAL GAIN FROM WALKING, OR LISTENING, OR BREATHING.

A PLACE LIKE LONDON HAS ITS RHYTHMS AND BEATS, AND TO POTENTIALLY STEP OUTSIDE OF THESE RHYTHMS AND OBSERVE THE SPACES WHEN THEY ARE MOST VULNERABLE SEEMS LIKE AN INTERESTING OPPORTUNITY. WHEN IS LONDON AT ITS’ MOST PEACEFUL/COMPASSIONATE? NOT AT RUSH HOURS OR EVEN THROUGHOUT THE WORKING DAY? AT NIGHT PERHAPS?

AFTER LISTENING TO RUSSELL BRANDS’ LATEST ‘UNDER THE SKIN’ PODCAST, IN WHICH HE SPEAKS WITH BILLY B...

WE’VE BEEN TOLD TO FORMULATE THESE BLOG POSTS IN ORDER TO START CRYSTALISING AND CATALYSING THEMES AND IDEAS THAT COULD POTENTIALLY MORPH INTO A THICKER SOUP OF CONCEPTS AND EXPERIMENTS THAT END IN A DARK SPACE IN SHOREDITCH BEING AUGLED AT BY THOSE WHO AREN’T THE ONES WHO NEED OUR ATTENTION AS MUCH AS A LOT OF PEOPLE.

HOW DO YOU BEGIN TO PREPARE AN OPEN-BRIEFED THIRD YEAR DESIGN PROJECT, WHICH HAS TO PLEASE THOSE ABOVE YOU BY PRETENDING TO CONSIDER THOSE I’M AFRAID WE PERCEIVE AS BELOW US. IT’S A YEAR LONG GAME OF CAT AND MOUSE AND I’M NOT SURE WHO'S CHASING WHO.

I HAVE ONE YEAR AHEAD OF ME IN WHICH I’M EXPECTED TO DEMONSTRATE MY THINKING AS A DESIGNER IN WORDS AND SPACE, YET I STILL CAN’T DESCRIBE TO PEOPLE WHAT ‘DESIGN’ IS OR WHAT I LIKE TO DO AS A SO CALLED ‘DESIGNER’ WHICH LEAVES ME THINKING WHAT THE HELL IS NEXT YEAR GOING TO LOOK LIKE WHEN I’VE NOT EVEN GOT A DEFINITION FOR THE SUBJECT I’VE SPENT TWO YEARS IMMERSED IN? I GUESS THAT’S WHAT I WILL FIND OUT OVER THE YEAR. I KNOW WHAT I LIKE DOING, AND I KNOW WHAT I LIKE THINKING, BUT GETTING THOSE TWO THINGS TO MATE AND POP OUT SOME VERSION OF A BEING THAT CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN THIS WORLD WE HAVE LAID OUT IN FRONT OF US SEEMS ALMOST POINTLESS. HAVING SEEN THE SHOWS OVER THE LAST TWO YEARS, NOT MANY TIMES HAS IT FELT LIKE YOU’RE LOOKING AT A YEARS VOLUME OF WORK. AND ALOT OF THE TIME IT’S FELT A CHALLENGE TO ACTUALLY TAKE AN INTEREST IN THE WORK THAT’S ON OFFER. WHETHER THAT IS THE ENVIRONMENT IT’S BEING OBSERVED IN OR THE PRESENTATION OF THE PIECES THEMSELVES I’M NOT SURE BUT I DON’T WANT MY YEAR TO BE COLD AND CALCULATED AND CLIMAXING IN A DARK 3X2 SPACE IN THE LAND OF SHOREDITCH. THAT’S NOT WHAT I HAVE IN MIND RIGHT NOW. MAYBE THE SHOW ISN’T A GREAT AMBITION TO SET YOURSELF UP FOR. THIS IS JUST ME THINKING OUT LOUD NOW.

ANYWAY, AS DASH HAS ASKED FOR ‘LOOSE THEMES AND TOPICS’, I’M GOING TO BULLET POINT THE ONES I CAME OUT WITH OVER THE LAST DAY OR SO, WHICH HAVE BEEN BUILDING IUP IN MY MIND OVER THE LAST YEAR OR SO BASED ON WHAT I’VE BEEN EXPOSED TO AND MY INNATE NATURE AND CURIOSITY. SO IT COULD HAVE LOOKED MANY WAYS BASED ON THOSE GENETIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS, BUT THIS IS HOW IT LOOKS RIGHT NOW:

- CURIOSITY CABINETS - OBJECTS AND FEELINGS BEYOND MONETARY VALUE

- IMAGINATION - REAWAKEN IT

- JAPAN - EASTERN PHILOSOPHY

- DRAWING - ENVIRONMENTAL ENGAGAMENT AND PUBLIC PARTICIPATION AND COLLABORATION

- VAN - LIVING OFF-GRID AND SELF SUFFICIENCY AS A FORM OF ESCAPE

- PIRATES - WHY CAN’T I BE A PIRATE IN LONDON 2017? BUILD MYSELF A SHIP AND SAIL AWAY FROM ALL STATUTARY EXISTENCE - CAPTAIN HARLOCKS QUOTE: [WHICH I WILL FIND AFTER]

- MEMORY - AS I HAVE A SOMEWHAT BROKEN FORM OF MEMORY, I HAVE GREAT INTEREST IN UNDERSTANDING HOW MEMORY AFFECTS OUR PERCEPTION AND HOW, WITH SMALL ALTERATIONS, MEMORY CAN BECOME A POWERFUL TOOL OF EMANCIPATION -

- ALZHEIMERS/DEMENTIA

- OXFORD DOCTOR - TALK AT THE RCA

- THE AUTISTIC BRAIN

- PERSONAL QUESTIONS

- COLLABORATIVE CARTOONING - FRAME BY FRAME PARTICIPATION

- NOMADIC PRINTING STUDIO - SPACE FOR OPEN AND CRITICAL CREATING - CAN THIS DRIVE POLICY? A VAN THAT DRIVES POLICY?

- ALGORITHMS - HOW CAN WE UNDERSTAND THEM AND BECOME AWARE OF THEM ON A MASS LEVEL

- HUMAN RIGHTS

- CLIMATE CHANGE

- HUMANITARIAN ENGAGEMENT

- HOW DO WE OPEN PEOPLES EYES AND WAKE THEM UP FROM THEIR IPHONE INDUCED SLUMBERS? WHAT IS THEIR INCENTIVE IN TAKING PAR IN A CONVERSATION THAT THEY FEEL THEY DON’T NEED TO BLINK AN EYE AT CURRENTLY? HOW CAN WE GET PEOPLE CARING FOR EACH OTHER IN AN OPEN AND COMPASSIONATE SOCIETY? THAT IS THE CHALLENGE? HOW DO YOU DRIVE INDIVIDUALISM OUT AND REPLACE IT WITH ORGANISED COMAPSSION? WHERE CAN I BEGIN TO FIND ANSWERS TO THESE QUESTIONS? BUDDHISM? PRISON?

- DRAWING FUTURES EVENT AT BARTLETT IN NOVEMBER - NEED TO READ THE BOOK AND DIGEST ANY POSSIBLE INSPIRING THOUGHTS THAT COME OUT OF THAT

- ‘WHATS GOING ON RIGHT NOW?’ AND ‘WHERE AM I AT RIGHT NOW?’

- VOLUNTARY SIMPLICITY - RECENTLY DROPPED IPHONE LIFE FOR NOKIA 3310 LIFE AND THE TRUTH IS IT’S HARD TO REALISE HOW MUCH TIME YOU ARE SAVING AND WHAT EFFECT IT IS HAVING ON ME SUBCONSCIOUSLY WHEN I NOT CONSTANTLY TETHERED TO SOME FORM OF SOCIAL MEDIA OR NOTIFICATION SYSTEM THAT IS CONSTANTLY POKING ME FOR MY ATTENTION ADN WHICH SO MANY ARE SO HAPPY TO BE ADDICTED TO WITHOUT THEIR KNOWLEDGE. I’M GLAD I’VE CASTE MY NET ELSEWHERE EVEN FOR THIS SHORT WHILE BECAUSE THERE IS SO MUCH TO BE LEARNT ABOUT THE WORLD THAT CAN’T BE FOUND ON YOUR FACEBOOK FEED, AND PEOPLE NEED TO REALISE THIS BEFORE WE’RE ALL LAPPING OUT THE HANDS OF THE GROSSLY DATA-OBESE ZUCKERBURGER, WHO OPENLY SPEAKS ABOUT HIS BELIEF THAT PRIVACY IS A THING OF THE PAST, WHILST SPENDING MILLIONS ON HIS FAMILY'S VILLA IN X AND PURCHASING ALL THREE SURROUNDING VILLAS IN ORDER TO LIVE IN THE PRIVATE GROUNDS OF HIS MANIPULATIVE CONTRADICTION.

- FREEDOM AND LIBERTY IN THE DIGITAL AGE - MY DOTEVERYONE INTERNSHIP AND THE ARTICLES AND BOOKS I WAS EXPOSED TO DURING THAT TIME HAVE DEFINITELY LEFT A SIGNIFICANT STAMP ON MY THINKING, AND THOSE CHANGES YOU CAN’T ERASE ONCE YOU’VE LEARNT ABOUT THE LEVELS OF CORRUPTION AT STATE LEVELS, AND THE PUBLIC MANIPULATION THAT TAKES PLACE WHEN PERSONAL DATA IS EXCLUSIVELY OWNED BY THE PEOPLE WHO WISH TO EXPLOIT US FOR WHAT WE DON’T KNOW.

- PHOTOGRAPHY

- 1,200 PEOPLE DEAD IN MONSOON FLOODING IN INDIA/NEPAL/BANGLADESH - WHY DOES THAT FEEL LIKE IT’S HAPPENING IN AN ALTERNATE REALITY THAT DOESN’T REQUIRE OUR ATTENTION. SUCH LARGE DEVASTATION WARRANTS A GREATER AMOUNT OF ATTENTION, BUT I SUPPOSE WHAT WILL GREATER ATTENTION BRING FROM THIS SIDE OF THE WORLD - THE ONLY THINGS WE CAN CHANGE FROM HERE THAT EFFECT THERE ARE OUR HABITS, THE MONEY IN OUR WALLETS I.E. DONATING, AND I SUPPOSE BY TALKING ABOUT WHAT HAS CAUSED THOSE FLOODS, WHETHER IT BE NATURAL OR A SOMEWHAT MAN-MADE DISASTER IN PART DRIVEN BY ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGES WE HAVE SEWN OURSELVES AND CONTINUE TO DO SO WITH OUR BLINKERS ON, IN OUR OWN ‘SAFE’ BUBBLE.

- ACTOR NETWORK THEORY - BASED ON THE SUCCESS OF OUR LAST PROJECT FROM SECOND YEAR - THE LEVELS OF PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT AND THE REWARD IN GIVING BACK TO THOSE WE WOULD NEVER HAD ORDINARILY KNOWN HOW TO HELP

- RIGHTS AND LIBERTIES - SOCIALISM AS ORGANISED COMPASSION - MARIXIST LANGUAGE AS DEAD AND OLD AND IN NEED OF UPDATING

- ALTRUISM ALTRUISM ALTRUISM ALTRUISM ALTRUISM ALTRUISM ALTRUISM ALTRUISM ALTRUISM ALTRUISM ALTRUISM ALTRUISM ALTRUISM ALTRUISM ALTRUISM ALTRUISM ALTRUISM

- STORYTELLING - ILLUSTRATION/ANIMATION AND LINES THAT ENGAGE WITH PEOPLE BEYOND SURFACE LEVEL - INSPIRE IMAGINATION BEHIND PEOPLE’S EYES

- I COULD KEEP GOING BUT AT THIS POINT I FEEL I’VE GOTTEN ENOUGH OUT ONTO PAPER - THIS IS ALL VERY EARLY ON IN ANY FORMUALTION OF A THEORY OR AN ANGLE ON A PROBLEM, AND THERES LOADS I’VE LEFT OUT, BUT I HOPE TO DIVE FURTHER INTO SOME OF THESE TOPICS OVER THE COURSE OF THE NEXT FEW WEEKS AND FILL SOME OUT AND WRITE UNDER DIFFERENT TITLES/CHARACTERS IN ORDER TO SQUEEZE OUT THE MOST REASONABLE WORDS IN THE MOST REASONABLE ORDER.

- GRENFELL TOWER

THAT’S MY LAST ONE.

I’VE NEVER BEEN ONE TO KEEP A DIARY OR REGULARLY WRITE, I’VE ALWAYS THOUGHT MY BRAIN DOESN’T PARTICULARLY WORK WELL IN LONG STROKES OF WORDS AND LETTERS, IT’S MORE LIKE SHORT SHARP BURSTS OF FEELINGS THAT I STRUGGLE TO TRANSLATE THROUGH TYPING AND EVEN TALKING MOST OF THE TIME. I’M AN INTERNAL TYPER, NOT PARTICULARLY AN EXTERNAL ONE. BUT IT’S PROBABLY A GOOD IDEA TO GET US TO DO THIS AS THINGS CRYSTALISE THAT MAY NOT HAVE EVER BEEN SCRATCHED BEFORE SO THIS IS ME GIVING IT A GO.

MY HOUSEMATE WHO STUDIES ENGLISH HAS BEEN WRITING AN HOUR A DAY AS AN EXPERIMENT AND SO I’M GOING TO TAKE A LEAF OUT OF HER BOOK AND SIT HERE FOR X AMOUNT OF TIME FOR THE NEXT FEW WEEKS LEADING UP TO DAY 1 OF THIRD YEAR, EVEN THOUGH JIMMY SAID ‘HOW DOES THIRD YEAR FEEL’ IN JULY. HOPEFULLY IT SQUEEZES SOME OPINIONS AND IDEAS OUT OF MY GREY MATTER THAT I DIDN’T KNOW I HAD EVEN LOCKED AWAY UP THERE. ALOT OF THE TIME I DON’T KNOW WHAT GAMES IT’S PLAYING BUT HERE I’M REALLY EXPOSING HIM AND ACTUALLY GETTING HIM TO DO A LOT OF THE WORK FOR ME. SO I’LL TAKE A BACKSEAT AND JUST LET HIM GO FOR A BIT. ANYWAY I NEED TO RETURN TO THE BULLET POINTS ABOVE NOW SO BEAR WITH ME…

SO THIS HAS BEEN MY FIRST BLOG POST. IT HAS BEEN A TAD ALL OVER THE PLACE BUT THAT’S WHAT YOU GET FOR ASKING SOMEONE WHO DOESN'T NECESSARILY ENJOY THESE THINGS TO SIT DOWN AND DO SOMETHING HE DOESN’T NECESSARILY ENJOY. MAYBE THEY’LL GET BETTER. MAYBE THEY WON’T. MAYBE I WON’T WRITE ANYMORE. HOPEFULLY NOT BECAUSE I FEEL IT’S BEEN A GOOD EXERCISE FOR THE MIND AFTER A SUMMER OF THINKING AND DOING IN LOOSE PREPARATION FOR THIRD YEARS HEADLONG DIVE INTO CREATING SOMETHING REAL THAT REPRESENTS WHAT I AM ABOUT TO THE WORLD AND AIMS TO HELP THOSE I WANT TO HELP.

I’VE GOT SOME IDEAS FOR THEMED BLOGS SO I’LL DROP SOME OF THOSE IN OVER THE NEXT FEW WEEKS TOO, BUT FOR NOW THIS’LL DO.

OVER AND OUT.

CW