#social misfit

[fumifooms]

Laios Touden and autism; admiring the non-human

Do you think people exaggerate when they scream about Laios being autistic? Do you feel like it’s weird that so many people including autistics are so set on Laios, the problematic (but incredible and kind) king TM, being the most autistic that has ever autisticed? Why do we cheer on autistic people wanting to be monsters?? Isn’t that weird?

Well, of course it depends on the way it’s done, it can be done quite offensively, but long story short Kui blew it out of the park. The thing is, autistic people really do like monsters and animals and robots. Nonhuman does not mean subhuman, it just means Other. Feeling a connection with them has been shown to be an extremely common autistic experience for that very reason.

Because some people don’t understand why we autistic Tumblr Laios stans cheer “autism! Autism!” whenever he talks about monsters and feeling alienated to humans so! Here’s a post about how yes even research papers are analyzing the special connection we form with animals. I’m not even joking but Laios Touden & the mass cries of relatability with autistic people he gets and all the love for him could be used as study material and evidence for future papers because the link is that strong. Oh also I think it’s notable that being autistic and undiagnosed vs diagnosed makes a huge difference. In my experience as someone who was undiagnosed up until 18, it’s even more alienating to not know that there’s a reason why you’re different, being gaslit that you’re ‘normal’ and you just need to try harder and get with the program, etc. Personally when getting diagnosed I went through the 5 stages of grief because the thought of having been fundamentally different all your life (a difference which you will never be able to change) and mistreated for it when you weren’t “wrong” all along makes you unload all the anger and sadness and loneliness and sheer trauma you’ve built up over time. Like it’s world shattering.

So! Back to seeing dogs as family. Also I implore you to value experiential evidence when it comes to autism and other neurodivergences because brains are complicated and neurotypicals not being able to understand us well even with scientific research is like, a whole thing even though we’re right there speaking about how we feel and being right every time because the topic is literally us and how we experience the world. 

Disclaimer for this whole post that, of course, no group is a monolith and everyone has different experiences or can diverge from the norm of the group, and that doesn’t diminish the validity of either side! Like, I know autistic people who have trauma with dogs and hate them. But, trends do happen, and in this case... Autism is very “My experiences with humans make me feel dehumanized in a bad and lonely way so instead I’ll dehumanize myself in a good and inspiring way”.

“I was treated like a failed human my entire life and you’re surprised that my response was to become a dog.” -Patricia Taxxon

It’s literally well recorded that autistic people relate to animals more than humans globally. With this post, besides spreading autistic Laios truthism and explaining why the portrayal hits so deep for so many,  I want to show in what way this is a very specific experience and not looking at his character through an autistic lense really misses a lot of why he’s everything that he is. (Tacking allegedly onto here for legal reasons, different interpretations are valid etc etc /gen). This honestly isn’t super long though.

To define an important term, anthropomorphism in the studies and in this post means to attribute human traits to the nonhuman, which not only includes anthro furry designs but also animals irl, inanimate objects, and animated media as opposed to live action, to humanize them and empathize with them.

Paper: https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/10.1089/aut.2019.0027 

“Dogs taught me how to hunt and socialize and work in groups”, Laios having internalized body language... So real so real. I, too, make a great dog impression. And I want to emphase the part that it helps greatly develop a sense of emotions and relationships! For Laios, he didn’t get along with kids his age, it was him, Falin and the dogs against the world. Since it’s a group of dogs too, it taught him group dynamics and social hierarchies (like with Falin being considered as being below the dogs in authority according to the dogs rip), and the importance of group coordination when hunting.

For me, I cannot like, concisely explain just how much animals were important to me developmentally. I also grew up with dogs, but like I vividly remember encounters with like hamsters as well just radically shaping my understanding of boundaries, the importance of giving something space and the way you interact with them and respect their side of it. Unlike humans they don’t really mask how they feel, it’s direct cause-effect reaction and data gathering. There are no words involved, so the focus on having a perfect phrasing and tone is gone, leaving just pure interactions. 

There’s also no reason to mask how you feel either, and you don’t have to feel silly over wanting to form a connection and it showing, what, is the dog gonna laugh at you because you obviously want to make friends with it? Toshiro or Kabru might, but dogs and cats will just tell you to fuck off and leave it there worst case scenario. I often say that I think one reason Marcille is special to Laios and he feels comfortable around her is because she emotes INTENSELY, she gestures, she puts her whole body into it, her facial expressions are pretty exaggerated and her ears even emote too- like with a dog’s ears!

I think there’s def also things to be said about how he gravitated towards Izutsumi at first, all excited, was eager to sleep in the same bed as her, but in the Izutsumi sleep rating chart we see they really just casual and chill so it’s not a Laios talking to Shuro deep into the night situation just a “I like sleeping besides animals” situation and that is enough to hype him up. I love how he pet her in the extra about why Chil let her sleep with him too. He’s just so transparently eager to befriend her, even if in the end they weren’t all that compatible and he accepted that.

There are honestly so many examples I could give for this. Like Grandin the famous cow lady.

More about autism & empathy:

https://www.spectrumnews.org/news/double-empathy-explained/ (Also mentions a study in which groups of autistic, allistic then a mixed group played a game of telephone and both singular groups had similar levels of information retention, but the mixed group was significantly worse. As an autistic person yeah duh, obviously autistic people are different from one another and can have plenty of interpersonal issues, but communicating with other neurodivergent people feels pretty intuitive and straightforward and comfortable. One of the reasons why neurodivergent people tend to naturally gravitate towards each other I suppose.) 

^ Paper: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5932358/  For good, extensive summary of why we relate to animals so much you can go to the “anthromorphizing and asd” section of the paper. This paper extends to our widespread liking of cartoons and robots as well. Ok so this is a whole thing I won’t get into here but this is a big reason why a lot of autistic people are agender leaning as well. Genders and queerness in general is a lot about social constructs, and being queer is being marginal to these, not fitting into boxes or challenging those social norms and conventions. Queerplatonic relationships are a great example of this, where the framework of the relationship is platonic but the intangible nature of what it is exactly is the point, not familial not anything but everything at once too, just adoration, I like to say having pets is a bit like it as well, bc obvi it’s not romantic and often not fully familial, very platonic but also sooo much cuddling and adoration and kissing and whatnot that you wouldn’t typically do with a friend or family member. I’ll talk about qpr and labels another day though.

I got carried away but queerness in Dunmeshi is something I 100% want to make a big post on one day. Experiencing the world with different guidelines and not registering things to have the same boxes, sigh. Personally I also relate to Laios on a gender level, “cis by default because I don’t care all that much but if I were to dig deeper I’m probably otherkin and I want to be socially associated with traits of monsters and animalistic rather than man/woman” sighh hard to be a cryptid in this day and age. I wish we had a term like furry but for monsters, I want to be in the fantasy or folk tale genre ty, like changelings. Goshh changelings... You know, the irl myth where people said their neurodivergent kids were fairies’ children instead of human. Diminished physical sense of self means I see myself as some unknowable black  void aesthetic wise, but like in a way that simultaneously makes me feel seen. Like becoming a monster, losing your sense of self but also somehow just being simplified and seen for what you are, it’s weird to try and explain. This post is more about relating to the nonhuman than about seeing yourself as such, but like connect the dots right, that IS an important point of Laios’ character. It’s because our brains literally work different than allistics which makes us feel as other, but also because of social ostracization and functioning in a different way than society at large, living in the margin of society, being weird and non-conforming.

Meanwhile, animals and social norms... Like ok, showing your neck and rolling on the ground to show that you’re friendly and harmless and play biting might not be proper. But have you considered that it’s also fun and feels very intuitive. Play with a dog in the dog’s way I promise it is so nice and freeing. Play tug of war and growl back when they growl. Hiss at your cat to tell them they do something wrong, engage with them on their level.

Autism made social life hard, but it made animals easy. Do you have anyyy idea how good it feels to mask all day every day and feel constantly misunderstood or like you’re doing a performance but then you can just, drop all of that in the company of animals and they understand you. They understand you. You form an understanding and rapport so easily.

And this whole thing with Laios is so explicit too, with the Winged Lion saying “You’re sick and tired of the human world”. Notice the choice of words. Sick and tired of the human world. Exhausted from the constraints, sick of the mind games. It really isn’t as much about loving monsters as it is about loving the nonhuman. Relating to them because you feel that you can actually understand how they work and think, and feeling like they could understand you back as well. Animals are safe.

Like I could go on about how Laios admiring even just demi-humans like orcs is because they’re socially seen as non-humans more than any true physical thing, that they’re not bound by human society and its rules and live with their own lifestyle. But it would deal myself 1000 points of psychic damage and I am not ready to cry today. It’s idealization 100%, and like, Laios DOES want to be treated as human, to be valued, but it feels like an unreachable thing meanwhile becoming a monster is instant gratification and freedom and a sense that now no one will be able to hurt you in a way that reaches you, never again shall you be defenseless, and then if people dehumanize you then that only strengthens your sense of identity as a monster and UGHH ugh ugh.

And like. This post is a mess at this point but if you want to kinda delve into the more “why” then I recommend this Patricia Taxxon video essay. It starts out on a very different topic, but it’s all about autism and finding comfort in the inhuman. Long story short is othering made us like this also animals are just simpler to intuitively get along with.

So when I post this

I mean it. I really mean it when I say he’s me. I have never felt so seen. So many conflicting emotions all wrapped so concisely yet so intangibly woven into the whole storyline so subtly. 

Not being depicted as a monster of an human being for feeling/having felt that way?? The manga understands you. The world can understand you. Other humans can understand you. You can bond with them. You can. And I think that’s a big part of Dungeon Meshi too- Laios opening up to others about how he really is and his interests, and all the bumps on the way but how it was the only way to truly get to know each other and bond. With the climax being Laios confronting head on his complex with monsters and humans, and his monster-loving side and animalistic side being exactly what saves the whole world, what saves humanity. Because Laios does value his friends, does think humanity has beautiful sides to it, he wants to help it thrive and eat and become more accepting, carving out a kingdom for misfits and demi-humans. At the end of it, transforming into a monster and being free is a daydream fantasy, and the reality of it is that Laios does belong in the world as he is, and does receive and give out love.

If you enjoyed this you’ll probably like some of my other Laios analysis!  Here’s an analysis of his succubus and what it says about his relationships with other humans. And here’s an analysis about his relationship with Shuro from his perspective.

[socially-anxious-wizard]

Au where they are all misfits with bad reputations.

[thirstyvampyr]

[pokege-ne-project]

❥

WEE so. After thoughts. Surprise attack @phantomguild!

With everything, I'm glad for all the time we've shared as pals Day. I love seeing ya post and the blog story-- And just from our years, you've improved so much?? Its awesome and I'm glad we're friends.

Also gonna use this as an excuse to also send some thoughts toward the ask sender so HI

Love how your writing is!! I love how you write your ragtag bunch, and I hope you're having fun here in the community!! Can't wait to see where your story goes next and I appreciate ya here!!!

[sleepynegress]

On GEN V...

First, I have to say that though I watch The Boys, for me the skewering of power, and it being always corrupt/corruptable, especially when corporate was smudged a bit by all the white dudes being centered by the narrative and fandom, and certain expected patterns in that.

...i.e. Butcher and Soldier Boy and Homelander...ALL being stanned while all being terrible people. -Mother's Milk and Frenchie being side kicks (the Black man and the "foreigner") and the silent but deadly Asian girl... You get it. I hate that this is the case, but even when meant to subvert, this tends to happen.

So, it's interesting that they leaned in harder and made it MORE obvious this time, by literally blowing up the Golden White Guy (played by Swartzanegger's son, no less) at the end of the pilot episode and playing a Black woman's gaze as the entry point into this angle on the world. ...We saw how that went with Star Trek: Discovery. Those used to the Dursley 37 birthday presents treatment were and still are REAL mad. I hate to say it, especially given how unusually well this show is rendering the insecurities and challenges of this time for young adults, but some people we like are not gonna make it through this season... And it won't be pretty when they go (holds a halo of protection over Emma & Jordan).

...But Marie, a.k.a. the audience's gaze? is safe. That said, Marie is *also* written like the usually centered white dude, just like Micheal Burnham before her. Her arc is "the hero's journey." She stumbles, but ultimately she will measure up to the highest potential (one of, if not the most powerful hero) even she can't see yet... TW for this section... for self-harm/eating disorders etc... The powers being spot-on metaphors for the struggles and insecurities of young people is a nice writing choice. Marie's puberty/power advent literally killed her parents and alienated her sister. So, of course, she can't truly see the potential. There's ritualistic self-loathing in both her cutting and Emma's vomiting to use their powers and that is mostly imposter syndrome for both....Both of them are SO MUCH more powerful than they think, but are held back by parental baggage.

...Andre too, though instead of self-harm it's being lazy about his power development, to subconsciously detach his own personhood from his father trying to live through him.

Jordan Li is bigender but is most comfortable presenting "femme", which may also have to do with detaching from their parents' preferences in gender presentation for them. They want a super-powered son. But the only times Li presents that way is when they feel they absolutely *have to* or actively need to do something and only can, in that form. "Relaxed" or default Jordan is femme.

So, while I see people wishing Li would have been femme Li in that first kiss, it makes sense that they would shift, given the baggage and male presentation preference pressure they grew up with. They shifted back to "default" Li once they were relaxed...i.e. afterglow slumber... An interesting inferred detail is that Li was born presenting male. That is likely a big reason why their parents are that attached to a masc gender presentation.

Now Cate's arc, just like the Golden Boy Luke is actively subverting an element of expected whiteness. Her power is to compel people with touch. It's white women's tears as a superpower, which is IMO, the most clever power social metaphor in this franchise. Cate's moral compass is the strongest of the superheroes we've seen in the entire Boys universe so far. She's got those actual Karen powers, but she's the anti-Karen.

She avoids using her power non-consensually in ways that cause permanent harm and even consensually in ways that may help, and given her entry point (similar to Marie, but w/o closure), it makes sense. --This is all the more tragic if she's being used in the way I suspect...given her nightmare/flashback in those opening eps. to having been in "The Woods" (I think it's either she or whoever the puppet show person is in Sam's episodes, that is the reason for the blackouts). She's a Pusher, and much like Andy in Stephen King's Firestarter it takes a heavy toll on the brain...

She's probably not gonna make it through this season, yall. Anyway, all this to say... I am intrigued by this show. And fully invested in these characters. And I like it better than The Boys because it's leaning harder into alienating the elements it's satirizing... The Boys fans are still into the aspects of the show The Boys' narrative is skewering, but Gen V is saying much louder, this is not about you.

[derekklenadaily]

derek klena + emojis - (PART II) (PART I)

[INSP.]

[shinobicyrus]

Tag yourself if you’re a Misfit, Mutant, Marxist, or Communist.

[whothefuckiskatlyn]

for when you’re making out covered in blood or whatever

[avictimofthejazz]

Hannibal: Time for plan G.

BA: Don’t you mean plan B?

Hannibal: No, we tried plan B a long time ago. I had to skip over plan C due to technical difficulties.

Murdock: What about plan D?

Hannibal: Plan D was that desperate disguise attempt half an hour ago.

Amy: What about plan E?

Hannibal: I’m hoping not to use it. Face dies in plan E.

Face: I don't like plan E.

[estetambleresmaloperoesmio]

Playlist de punkrock

[hellpuppetswithfleshymembers]

[marriedtobrittaperry]

you see someone in the library with this computer. what slur r u throwing first

[neverendingford]

.

[girl-bateman]

Found out someone in a random tiktok comment section was a fan of my misfits fanfiction and now I feel like I need to get back on my fanfic grind 💪💪💪 who said tiktok is a pestilence? Not me

[blackpillsilverlining]

The Blackpill Flag

represents the transition from blue pill, through red pill, to black pill. 

You can only deal with the world when you face its harsh realities.

You must face the truth. 

Only then does the struggle really begin.