#my weird weird little autism about voice actors

[lumimis]

#i'm #i think my #my weird weird little autism about voice actors #is growing stronger #and i don't like it #at all #<- watching a persona video

[autisticgirliesbracket]

What makes Futaba Sakura from Persona 5 the autistic girlie ever of all time? Here's what the people have to say:

Futaba-related asks/reblogs: x This post will be updated after each round!

Image ID in alt text and under the readmore.

[Image ID. White slide with a screenshot of Futaba in the bottom left corner. She is surrounded by text boxes which read,

"She’s a hikkikomori and a hacker genius. She initially has bad social anxiety due to trauma and does not leave her room."

"She's just like me fr fr (im autistic girlie)"

"Generally described as being incredibly introverted and socially anxious, however having no problem opening up if the conversation is about something that interests her. She also has a deep interest in hacking and computers (if the protagonist claims to have built his own PC, she asks for the specific details on it, such as GPU, CPU, RAM, ect.) There are more details I feel are autistic but I'm not sure how to word them !!"

"Talks in Video Game references and wired expressions. At one point she leaves a conversation because an Anime she wanted to watch was on. Helped me come to terms with my own Autism. Covered her face with a weird mask and a towel (separate events) because she didn't want to show her face in Public. Gets pissed off that someone messes with the her Neo Featherman Figure (basically the Persona equivalent of Power Rangers or Super Sentai). Overall just a massive nerd."

"First of all: The way she sits . little gremlin girl. Second of all. Social awkwardness (she has SO MUCH). Third. She's 15 years old and an international hacker, i mean come on, you cant DO THAt unless youre at least a little autistic. 4. Constantly tries to wear things over her head to avoid being looked at. Five. Her room is the dirtiest place on the planet, filled with snacks and figurines etc. Sixth. Look come on please shes autistic"

"She has social anxiety, doesn't really understand social norms and relates a lot of her real life experiences to video games. She also hyperfixates on the things she's working on and says a lot of strange things without thinking about it."

"Futaba is intensely afraid of social interaction (living in her room for years, unable to exit the house without a meltdown), including her almost constantly wearing headphones (which, to be, read as sensory comfort items). She's only really comfortable around her close friends and family, around who she becomes a lot more excitable and energetic. She has deep and passionate interests in the things she loves, and tends to become hyper focused on whatever shes tasked herself with, even neglecting her own health during which. It's very easy to equate her love of video games to a special interest, as it influences the way she sees the world, to the point where she calls the main character her "key item", since he helps her agoraphobia, saying she needs to "level up" to improve her social skills. To top it all off, her voice actress, Erica Lindbeck, has stated that she played Futaba as if she was autistic."

"Girl had so much autism stored in her body."

"It is very obvious in nearly everything she does that they intended for her to be autistic. Literally just watch almost any cutscene with her and you'll see it (well. Ideally after her palace is taken care of since she's going through stuff and the 'tism is less obvious as a result)"

"she is soooo autism girlswag coded. When you first befriend her and hang out, the characters all have trouble sort of connecting with her, but once they realize they are being way too obnoxiously formal/normal they start asking her about stuff she is interested in, which then she talks very excitedly about. Im sort of passively watching someone play persona 5 so i might have gotten something wrong but eee she is so coded to me <3 and not in a bad way imo ik sometimes things can be TOO stereotypical but yknow yknow"

"Struggles with social interactions, special interest in computers and video games, her English voice actor intentionally played her with the idea that she's autistic."

"She's obsessed with and so good with computers she was a world reknowned hacker before the story even began, she struggles with interacting with people and was bullied through out her entire childhood for being "weird" and being able to memorize books and other things. Her outfits almost always include her wearing headphones (which i personally hc to be to reduce sounds) and there are scenes where she experiences sensory overload that turns into panic attacks. A lot of her character arc is about how after a personal tragedy she completely isolated herself from the outside world and now shes trying to ease back into interacting with people with the support of her family and new friends. When trying to connect with her, the quickest way they got her to relax and open up was when one character got her talking about an in universe sentai show she loves. Also her English voice actor said in interviews that she performed Futaba with her being autistic in mind because everything abt her character just reads as autistic and seeing someone struggle w the same issues I did was super important to me when i got into p5."

"Futaba is incredibly autistic-coded. She couldn’t leave her room or speak to strangers due to trauma, but she also was “quirky” before the trauma. She’s a computer genius and can get so obsessed with her work that she doesn’t hear or acknowledge other people. She wears headphones almost all the time and sits with her knees up (odd posture). Lastly, her mother was known to also be “odd” and was also very absorbed in her work. Autism is often inherited, so my personal read is that both of them are autistic. I’m missing lots of things I’m sure but she’s the best."

"All of her interests are special <3, major social anxiety, partially nonverbal (just like me fr), one of the only people she's constantly jokingly mean to is also very autistic coded which idk if that's a me experience but i can only be joke mean to other autistic people. allistics wouldn't understand. She cannot sit properly!!! Very important she has that autistic ball sitting position"

"She’s a genius hacker nerd who up until certain events in the game never left her room or her house due to trauma. She’s gets nervous and overwhelmed very easily once she starts expanding her comfort zone, but she doesn’t let that stop her. At certain points when she has to interact with people she isn’t comfortable with she puts on a disturbing doll head mask. At one point she has a miniature meltdown in the middle of a crowded store, because she tried pushing her boundaries a little too fast and got overwhelmed until the protagonist was able to find her. She loves anime and collects figurines and gets annoyed when her display of them is messed with. Her personality is socially awkward and kind of bratty when she’s comfortable and I don’t mean that in a negative way at all, she’s great!"

"very bad with people, obsessed with programing and Nerd Shit, i love her and she is very cool"

"she has a massive special interest in technology, her entire character arc is helping her learn to socialize, she sits like a GREMLIN"

"she is a epic hacker gamer girl so we are within the margins for trans and autism, she has a hard time with eye contact, she has intense social anxiety and wahooooooo she has the special interests !! on a side note she has chronic fatigue so damn just like me fr!! and shes so fun!! ack!!!" End ID.]

#autistic girlies bracket #autistic girlie masterpost #persona 5 #futaba sakura

[ganondoodle]

I'm interested in your thoughts on the new trailer!

And that voice actors was... not my first pick, personally 😅 there were so many others they could've chosen! 🥲 cuz while it's not confirmed who's speaking I can't think of anyone else it could be--

alright, so just a heads up, im not trying ruin anyones fun and i hope you can ignore my very weird opinion without hating me bc theres never been a new zelda game while i was this deep into the fandom and cared so much and when i care about something alot i have very strong feelings about everything ... so here are my honest thoughts after seeing the trailer twice (it might differ with time but this is how i feel now)

the gan voice sucks ( english is unbearable to me but so is all the english VA unfortunately, german is .. fine but sounds like discount daruk?? but at least its fits more to a mummy, japanese is the best one but also a bit generic) its way too light, expected much deeper, and also way too clear, you cant tell me a 10.000 year old mummy can talk like that

typical villain "uhohohoho im so eeeviiiil"speech, i expect as much of the plot now

that very light skinned in white dress person is either hylia or "ascended" zelda or some shit and i hate it (yes partly bc i have been trying to write my comics plot around the lore in a way so it rarely if ever contradicts canon and my fear or totk throwing all that work out the window is now greater than ever, yes yes i can just ignore and move one but i cant .. i guess thats my autism brain or soemthing else thats wrong in my meat orb but i just care too much, i just spent so much time working on this plot and it might all be for nothign now bc i specifically wanted it to fit neatly into the empty spaces the canon left .. and i KNOW im being an ass, this is just how i feel, unfiltered ..) but not JUST bc of my stupid little story i made up about a franchise i dont own but just generally hoped she wouldnt play role and stay in those damn statues and mangas or whatever

lastly the buidling ..... wh ... i do not like .. fortnitetification of botw..... no ...... i guess it could be fun to fiddle with but if its the focus ... no thanks ..

i hate to be so negative, i hate to hate, i hate that i care so much i hate that i feel like this

but i feel like this, right now :(

#ganondoodles answers #of course im hoping for the best #but i am very scared and disappointed right now #i need to sleep and think more about it #and please #im not trying to be a hater or annoying #im sorry im like this #i wish i didnt care #...

[cowboycannibalism]

i watched When Evil Lurks (2023) yesterday and I have thoughts! also this is literally just my letterboxd review copy and pasted with a bit more detail lol

spoilers!! ⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️

first of all, I am not the biggest possession horror fan. It's not my thing. But wow I was actually so into this movie I completely forgot about it being a possession movie! It was sort of a mix between zombie/disease and possession which was interesting. The very first Rotten we see is hard to look at, not normally a sight you think of when someone is possessed. Usually these movies tend to be more bone-cracking, spine breaking, unnatural bending and scary voices. Seeing the "demon"/evil manifest physically with bodily fluids and boils and rotting flesh made my stomach turn a bit which was awesome!

Secondly, I admit I'm very partial to sibling dynamics in movies, I love my siblings and I would die for them. The only people I would want to be in this apocalyptic-end-of-days situation with would be my siblings and my mom. I think the film did a great job bringing to life that tie between family, that you would do anything to protect them even if it means leaving your entire life behind including people who may be close but not willing to believe you (the ex wife and new husband). Also I couldn't help but compare them a bit to mario and luigi in my head but I blame that on me watching the Mario movie right before this 😅.

Jaime (Jimi) and Pedro are fun contrasting personalities in the scenario they get put into. Their priorities are different and even the belief they have is split, while pedro is more sure about the Rotten, Jaime is so doubtful he can't even admit if what they saw was real and that leads to problems with everyone else believing them. He's seen as the "good" brother so of course if he's saying he isn't sure of what they see, then all the other characters would believe him over Pedro, the "bad" brother with a troubled past. One of the things I loved about it was that Jaime never waivers in his faith in Pedro, he may not be sure of the Rotten/evil but he always trusts fully in his brother.

Pedro does get on my nerves with some of his choices but cmon would it be a horror movie if you weren't mad at some character for making stupid decisions? The desperation that seeps from the actor (Ezequiel Rodriguez) is so palpable that it brings out sympathy for him, he may be dumb but he's trying his best okay?

The whole story with the autistic son was a little weird and I know everyone's reviews of this say it's ableist but I saw it in a different light. The Cleaner says the demon can't figure out the minds of autistic people, get stuck in their bodies and that helps them from fully becoming possessed. To Me it feels like the opposite of what movies would usually do in where the son would be autistic BECAUSE of the demon, whereas in this movie he is "normal" when the demon takes over. It isn't a cure, it isn't saying autistic people have evil in them that needs to be fixed, but that is something that people have said for a long time and tbh its probably still a thing idiots believe in. it's interesting to see that his autism actually kept him safe for as long as it did.

Let's talk about the kills! When the wife of the landowner whacks into him with the axe, I was caught so off guard, same with the dog attack on the little girl. oh god, the throwing up of the hair and necklace by the son got to me, I probably shouldn't have been eating while watching this. This may sound weird but I LOVED the scene of the mom eating her son's brains as she's walking alongside the car Jimi is in.

The movie was so bleak and nihilistic that I felt the need to repent so this doesn't happen in real life. I wish it could have expanded a bit more on the universe, some of the characters and the disease/possession but for pacing reasons I think they did a solid job of dropping enough hints to fill in information. I love foreign horror movies and Argentina you are on my watchlist now, i enjoyed this and I think its definitely worth a watch!

Be warned there are animal and child deaths in this movie so know your triggers. It has English subtitles that aren't 100% accurate so it can get a little confusing sometimes, just pay close attention and if you want more insight the reddit threads on this movie are so great.

#sorry for this long ass post #i just really enjoyed this movie!! #when evil lurks #horror #yami's movie thoughts

[obsidiancreates]

Meet Mondo Gecko Liveblog

Oh no, Mikey's experiencing ADHD understimulation! This is a dire emergency, it's the worst feeling ever.

Raph. You're embarrassed for Mikey to catch you playing with action figures? That. Wh-why?

Oh Donnie don't condescend- he's condescending. Wait, no, he was in hyperfixation mode and started happily infodumping. That was just Autism meets ADHD.

CASEYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY HE'S BORED TOO YESSS MIKEY AND CASEY HANGOUTTTTTTTTTTT THEY'RE SKATING ON ROOFTOPS TOGETHER YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

Who the fuck?

Casey how often do you say "Another mutant?" in that exact tone of voice?

No no Skatermander was good. Way better than Mondo Gecko.

Yeah I'd attack them too if they picked "Mondo Gecko" over "Skatermander". That's just disrespectful. That's cruel.

SERIOUSLY WHY WASN'T THIS THE THEME ANIMATIONS WHEN THEY WERE ACTUALLY IN THE FUCKING FARMHOUSE?!?!?!

Oh I hate Mondo, actually.

Casey, you don't know what a Gecko is? How?

Awwww, this is nice! Mondo likes being a mutant! That's fun!

Wait but what happened to Lars? Is Lars okay? HIS PARENTS KICKED HIM OUT?!?!?!?!?!? I HAVE TO KILL THEM I NO LONGER HATE MONDO

Listen to Casey, maybe? Maybe Casey has good intuition?

WHY DID YOU GUYS KNOCK OVER THE HOMELESS MAN'S CART?!?!?!?!

MIKEY NO I ALSO PREFER BOOYAKASHA BUT DON'T FUCKING DISS THE COWABUNGA

Yes Goongala is also good, Casey.

Old scho- I see you writers and I detest you

Oh Caseyyyyyyyy! My boyyyy!

Oh Mikey, I try so hard to defend your intelligence...

Oh good... Hun is back... KICK HIS ASS CASEY- PFFFFF CASEY LITERALLY SAID "EUGH" I LOVE HIM

CASEYYYYYYYYYYYYYY SWEETIEEEEE

Oh Mondo. Please stop being annoying so I can sympathize with you.

Yeah this part of the season is. I'm feeling bored. Everyone is irritating. Except Casey. I am happy that Donnie hasn't been Weird about April in a while, though.

CASEY LEARNED SELF-RESTRAINT YAY

Pfffft 4 Cops from Casey.

MONDO SHEESH

OUT LIKE YOUR MOM IN A BEAUTY PAGENT?!?!?!?!? CASEY THAT WAS A DEATHBLOW AND ALSO SEXIST WTF

Mikey, uh. Maybe don't choose Mondo over Casey

CASEY NOOO HE GOT GOT

Awww Raph and Donnie gaming against each other! Raph wanting to hang with Casey! Good stuff! I'm savoring breadcrumbs here people, the water is getting thin.

... Mr... X? I... worry. ... Is it Rat King?

MIKEY IN A CAGE NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

OH OF COURSE IT'S XEVER OF COURSE IT'S XEVER HIS NAME LITERALLY HAS AN X

Does Xever run an underground death skateboarding competition? Holy shit, he does. What?

HE GOT CASEY TOO NO

I wish I felt bad that Mondo got caught but. i feel very little for him. I'm sad he got kicked out but that's the exte- is that the We Will Rock You beat in the backgroun?

HOW MANY FUCKING MUTANTS ARE OUT THERE WHAT

IT'S TRUE HE IS SMART JUST A PARTY DUDE

OBLIGATORY HUMAN ALLY OH GOD WAIT HE IS OH NO XEVER KNOWS HIS TV TROPE CHARACTER TYPE oh Casey sweetie you're really not paying attention in English are you?

Love that none of the voice actors for the other mutants are here so they're just making grunting noises.

XEVER IS A SKATER?!?!?!?!?!?!?!? I guess it adds up but I-I'm still surprised. Oh okay they got Baxter's VA.

CASEY FOR THE WIN CASEY FOR THE WI- Spiderbytes is in the audience?

HEY XEVER HAS ROCKET BOOSTERS WHAT A FUCING CHEATER

Oh there we go we got Clancy and Eric to say one line each

XEVER YOU BITCH

GOOD JOB MIKEY GOOD JOB CASEY I'M SO PROUD OF YOU BOTH

His fish... respond... to shouts? Above water?

Pffff good reaction shot

I'm getting bored with this one, not gonna lie. A fish was implied to bite Mikey's nuts and like I'm just kinda tired of this stuff.How'd we go from the Golden Standard of Dream Beavers to many episodes in a row that are so... not... great?

I did like that Casey's solution was "Whack Mondo as hard as possible to win by any means necessary".

Yaah I'm with April instant "Eugh" after Mondo did a Sexist.

Oh Mikey broke the fourth wall again. Okay.

I'm tired. These episodes have like... like they're full of energy... but not the right energy.

#tmnt 2k12 #tmnt 2012 #sid blogs live

[clockwork-reads]

Brief Book Reviews #6

Starting off the year strong. Let’s get down to business.

#1 Tabitha Carvan, This Is Not a Book About Benedict Cumberbatch

The TL;DR version of this review is read this book I beg of you. The long version is as such: Carvan touches on a lot of very good points during her journey to accepting that she, a middle aged mother of two, is allowed to like things, while combating the shame she felt growing up in the eighties when being shamed out of male-dominated fan spaces because of the disgust around girls liking anything (insert rolling eyes emoji), and unlearning the “not like other girls” mindset when in fan spaces, all while coming to accept that her fangirling over a British actor with a weird name is a normal thing. I read out parts of it to my mother, and she and I ended up having very interesting discussions over those parts. She’s in her sixties and has been teaching for some thirty odd years, and she feels a lot of what the author has felt in her lifetime. I’m (about) half of Carvan’s age, and I can relate: I pointed to paragraphs frantically while saying “THIS. 100% THIS.” because I had lived these experiences in my own way, seen them happen to friends and loved ones. Yes, even the part about falling in love with Britishguy Strangename. To get personal, I too, was caught up in the Cumbermania of 2012-14, during a time where things were kinda rough for seventeen year old me. I needed a Prince Charming, and Mr Tall And Cheekboned was right there. He was my Prince Charming, even if I knew we’d never meet face-to-face or take me as his secret teenage lover. And sometimes, that’s what you need. 

The message I took away was one I’ve been telling myself for years, but was nice to hear from some total stranger who wrote a book: You’re allowed to like things. 100% read this book, and if it’s on your TBR, bump it up a few spots. 

#2 Chloe Hayden, Different Not Less

I’m so happy I picked this up. If you’re not living under a rock and you’ve watched Heartbreak High on Netflix (awesome Aussie drama, 100% worth it), then you’ll recognise Chloe Hayden as the actress who plays Quinni, who is the best autistic representation I’ve ever seen in recent history. Hayden herself is an AuDHD woman, and Different Not Less goes into her experiences growing up. And, oof. I’ve been there. I won’t go into it, but if you’re autistic/have adhd, you’ll be able to relate, too. 

On top of being a bit of a memoir, the book also goes into how to help neurodivergent kids and adults when they’re having meltdowns/shutdowns, how to identify when you’re going into one, ways of stimming that are helpful, how to handle life as an autistic adult (it sucks, I speak from experience), and how it’s important to use your voice to demand accessibility and inclusion. Also I like how Hayden mentions that she is legally allowed to hunt down “autism moms” for sport, because she’s right. People like that are utter scum. Seriously, if you’re ND, or a parent/guardian/carer of an ND person/child, please pick up this book. And fuck anyone who says that you can’t be proud of being neurodivergent. Especially the neurotypical losers who call themselves experts and talk over us. Sorry we don’t fit into your perfect little boxes, ya squares. Me and my favourite tangle will take our business elsewhere.

We need more books like this by neurodivergent people instead of normies acting like they speak for us making up bullshit. If by chance Chloe Hayden sees this: Hi, I love you, thank you for existing you magnificent bean. <3

#3 Ruby Dixon, Ice Planet Barbarians (Book 1 of the Ice Planet Barbarians series)

LISTEN. I DIDN'T THINK I'D EVER READ A SPICY BOOK. BUT THIS ONE'S GOOD I PROMISE.

Tbh I was nervous about picking up this one. It was the only book for teratophiles I could find at the shop and I'd been debating as to whether or not it was worth the read. Sure there's lots of alien nookie in it, but the romance between Georgie, one of the humans who was abducted as part of an alien slave trade, and Vektal, the chieftain of the paleolithic Sa'khui who inhabit the ice planet, is believable and adorable. I want a man like that. I remember watching a review of it a while back on YouTube that made it out to be silly, but I think it was worth revisiting. The sex is well written, too, it’s all consensual and sweet, though I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want a better visualisation of Sa’khui...anatomy. Don’t look at me like that, you’d want one of them as a lover too if you read the book. I think I like Liz the most, she’s the kind of girl I’d get along with very well- I haven’t read the book where she’s off on her own with her mate, but I’m sure she keeps him on a short leash. 

My one complaint is that it was so short, so the plot kind of feels rushed, but it’s a romance novel, and I’ve learned that romance novels like these will sometimes have rushed plots. Other than that, I think I’ll be indulging in more blue alien goodness in future. Some warnings for rape that happens off screen, and some minor character death, so if you’re not okay with that, then you’re welcome to give it a miss. 

seriously tho why can't I have a hot alien husband who only wants to love and protect me. >T

#bookblr #brief book reviews #tbrbusterchallenge2023 #bookbanditchallenge

[belphegorbillickin]

Autistic MC with (Autistic)Leviathan & Satan!

I wanted to wait until I was done with all the other brothers, but both my physical and mental health have been getting a lot worse so I'll just post what I have for now.

Disclaimer!: Autism is a huge, variable spectrum, but I tried to keep it as neutral as possible even though I'm mostly basing it off of myself and a few people I know.

I've already written why I believe Levi is autistic here.

Leviathan:

The best choice for pressure stims hands down. He'll wrap you up in a blanket (if it's not too hot), wrap his tail around you at a comfortable pressure, and potentially even hold you in his arms after with no unnecessary talking at all.

It's actually mutual stimming too! Levi has an instinctive urge wrap his tail around and squeeze like a python.

He does it when he's stressed, overwhelmed by Ruri-chan's (or later MC's) cuteness, when he's lonely, when he wants to feel grounded, or just because he likes the feel of it.

He'll definitely call you his "cute little stress toy" if you don't take too much offense to it.

He also stims vocally and by moving his hands, but that's a bit more difficult to do together.

His hand movements are more wild than subtle, but if you're really anxious and need to stim he'll let you play with his hands long before he's confident enough to hold hands. He feels honored (and very smug) that you chose the "gross otaku" to do this with of all people.

He always has his headphones on him and he doesn't hesitate to plop them on your head if he sees you getting overwhelmed. They've even got some high-quality noise cancelling.

He used to have a lot more trouble with noise too, but centuries of commanding the royal navy (and listening to his very loud --brothers) have numbed him quite a bit.

Levi infodumps a lot, like almost every conversation, but he's pretty excited to hear you infodumping back at him.

Especially if it's about something he personally enjoys, which doesn't have to be anime/video game related. Infodumping about the ocean and it's inhabitants are very welcome as well so long as you don't mind him jumping in.

It takes a little bit of time to get it more equal at first, but he's not purposefully talking over you. He's just not used to anyone actually listening to him or talking back to him in a similar way so he gets super excited.

Especially if you're introverted or shy it emboldens him knowing there's someone like him on his side. He doesn't feel so lonely and out of place.

Because of that, and because both of y'all are friends at bare minimum, he feels determined to help and protect you as a former angel and centuries old demon with tons of experience with this.

You're going non-verbal? Don't worry, he's already installed a text-to-speech app with thirty different voice actors to choose from. He'll proudly speak for you or act as an interpreter if need be too.

He's not perfect and has some difficulty with social cues, but he's pretty good at knowing what you need so long as you've told him beforehand or it's happened at least once before.

He defaults to what he would want if you don't give him specifics, but if you need a more vocal and hands on approach he'll adapt to that as best as he can.

All of the brothers are going to prioritize your well-being over their "reputation," but Levi almost gets a sick sense of satisfaction from shutting down people giving you weird looks for autistic behaviors. Stim all you want, wear your most obvious chew necklaces and etc.

He's by far the most vocal about not caring about what normies think. (imo the way he uses it in game sounds like a stand-in for neurotypical.)

Levi also takes an aggressive stance out of built-up resentment, he even gets bullied by his brothers for some of his traits. As sweet as he is at times he's also just as spiteful at others.

He's more than happy to lead you out of an overwhelming situation as he probably wants to leave anyway. Since, as said before, he'd want to leave anyway he has no issues taking the blame for pulling you away.

Besides, since it's ultimately for your benefit, and you'll hopefully admit to it, he doesn't get punished as harshly as he normally would for leaving a mandatory event.

Satan:

Levi might be the most knowledgeable and sympathetic due to actually living it himself, but Satan is by far the most educated once you make him aware.

He fully recognizes the amount of trust that's typically needed to tell someone like him something he could potentially use against you. It's practically one of the most intimate things two demons can do together.

However, now that he's reading about it he finds some of it surprisingly relatable and familiar.

Give it a day or two and he'll be just as angry about Autism Speaks as you are. You may or may not overhear Satan demanding access to the human world soon after.

Satan is usually not the most patient person, but his soft spot for you deepens even more and he's especially careful not to make any comments that might come off the wrong way.

He's actually very happy to carefully explain any phrases. Their meanings, origins, and most common times of use are all explained to you before you can even question it.

He's also the world's best Asmo interpreter, who often forgets to explain things when he's talking a million miles a minute.

Satan will do it for literally anyone who is speaking in fact.

Even if it annoys them, although if he thinks that annoyance is directed towards you and not them they'll be having some very different reactions soon enough.

If it's Lucifer he'll just cut him off to explain, and takes quite a bit of joy in doing so. Although Lucifer is usually very good about keeping that in mind so he rarely gets the chance.

He reads every word of your ten-page essay text you sent him about the book you read or some random philosophical theory and responds to every point of your own whether he agrees or disagrees.

Generally two people sending essays at each other, especially when disagreeing, can get really bad really quick, but Satan lives for it and is surprisingly patient.

If you're close enough to do this in the first place he understands you're not doing it to be condescending and just trying to make sure there are no misunderstandings (because somehow no matter how hard you try allistics always seem to misinterpret it in the worst way.)

I'm not going to lie and say he never gets heated, but all in all he's leagues better than the average NT or even ND person about not taking it personally.

He enjoys this kind of thing in general, but it's especially interesting hearing a fresh perspective and especially sweet being able to understand your thought process better as well.

Satan also enjoys rubbing it in Lucifer's face, claiming he knows far more about you and your motivations than he ever will.

He's not averse to having Levi join in when y'all are discussing a mystery manga of his however. Not even when he's got two different people infodumping at once.

#leviathan x reader #obey me leviathan #satan x reader #obey me satan #autistic leviathan #autistic reader #obey me headcanons #obey me imagines #x reader

[queen-of-my-goofball-army]

Favorite Voice Actors

For those of you that know me, you know that my number one special interest is cartoons and the people that voice my favorite characters. Studying my heroes and watching them in interviews became a favorite pass time of mine. A lot of my friends thought that it was really weird and they stopped talking to me because of it. For a long time before I got diagnosed as having aspergers I talked forever about it. I think that both bored and confused people. For me, I love voice acting because anybody can be anything. You can watch a show and years later be like I know that voice it’s insert name here if you’re like me. True, certain actors have something that is brought to every character (I can think of one prime example later on down the list) but it is always about the heart that they put into their characters. 

10. Charlie Adler: I’ll admit that I am mostly a fan of him due to the amount of work that he has done and the quantity. This man was the voice of Cow, Chicken and Big Red guy in Cow and Chicken. True, this show was past my time (and if it wasn’t I feel like it would get the Fairly OddParents treatment where my parents would forbid me to watch it.) When I listened to his episode of Talkin’ Toons I found his story’s really interesting and compelling. I can only imagine how much work and effort went into all of his characters in that show. To develop one character is one thing but to be able to switch between them like a deck of cards is a completely different thing. I did however watch a lot of Brandy and Mr. Whiskers when I was younger!! Growing up with that show and hearing him play Mr. Whiskers brought me a lot of joy when I was sick at home and for that I will always be a huge fan of his voice and his work. 

9. Jim Cummings. If I were to say that one voice actor had a ton of versatility it would probably be him. I was a major Tigger fan when I was growing up. Not just that but I loved Raymond when Princess and The Frog came out. He is actually my mom’s favorite voice actor. But I also loved CatDog when I would see that on reruns, I grew to love Darkwing Duck and countless other shows that he leant his voice to. Studying voice acting and the people that do it has led to me finding some things out that I would rather not. Especially when I found that he wasn’t actually the nicest person in real life. But, to me that doesn’t matter when it comes to this list. He is here because so many of his characters made my childhood just a little bit happier. When I was thinking about favorite voice actors I considered two things, personality and character content. This one is here just for character content. 

8. Bob Bergen: I reblogged a post a long time ago with this man at the helm. What he can do every time I see him do it blows my mind. Bob has been the voice of Porky Pig since pretty much Tiny Toons back in the early 90′s. He has stated that there have been some others but when I think Porky this is the name that comes along with it. Watching him do his thing is something that continually blows my mind. Listening to his life story on Rob Paulsen’s podcast Talkin’ Toons is something that inspired me more than anything. It’s this story of persistence and resilience from a young age. He is one of the few voice actors that actually got to talk with Mel Blanc when he was fourteen. I love his genuine heart and the ability that he has to jump into his character full force. Porky was a big portion of my childhood and I grew up laughing at his “silly” stutter. It wasn’t until I got older and learned that the stutter is an actual art form that I learned something entirely different. 

7. Richard Horvitz: Most of you that know me might be surprised at this rather seemingly low placement for somebody that I greatly admire. I mean he was Invader Zim and Billy from Billy and Mandy for crying out loud!! I just bought a print for the man but really when I thought about it, he hasn’t really inspired me as much as my top six have. I love his sense of humor and his love of musical theater but he hasn’t taught me anything life altering. I think that he is hands down the funniest voice actor in Hollywood. I could listen to him make jokes forever and just talk in his voice but at the same time he is so other worldly and knows so much about the craft that it inspired me that way. He is as most of his fans joke “the dad voice actor” complete with dad jokes. I love Invader Zim so much, the show has helped me through a lot of loneliness and emotional moments in my life reminding me to keep laughing at life’s craziness. I also love Moxxie from Helluva Boss. All in all Richard is a fabulous man and actor. He has helped me figure out the kind of person that I wanted to be and I owe him a lot of laughter hours. 

6. Greg Cipes: Can I talk about probably my OG hero for voice acting? When I was six I spent a lot of time in front of the television watching the original Teen Titans. My favorite character was Beast Boy his character that he played. When I say that BB changed the way that I think about my life that is not an exaggeration. He was one of the first characters that made me laugh so hard my stomach hurt. Growing up I had to fight people for his validation. It seemed like nobody loved him as much as I did. Cut to me in middle school I’m a bit more grownup and I start channel flipping. I wind up on Nickelodeon and see the reboot of Ninja Turtles. I figure I’ll watch it and see what all the hype is about. I hear Mikey open his mouth and instantly I get this rush of my childhood coming back. It was one of the first times that I made the connection between voice actor and character. Greg taught me so much vicariously through his character. He taught me about fun and laughter, about the importance of feeling lonely doesn’t mean that you’re alone in the world and even if you’re the goofball that doesn’t mean that’s all you have to be. The fact that he is such a relaxed and genuine person only adds to the admiration of this vegan beach bum. 

5. Corey Burton: This is a very personal hero of mine. It’s one that I hold very close to me because of one thing. As far as I know, there have been very few voice actors on the autism spectrum. Corey is the only one that I have ever found. He’s the man that actually surpassed every expectation and said screw live performing it makes me anxious I’m going to get my experience through something that I know I’m good at radio. So he does radio and becomes really good at that. Then he goes to cartoons. He does Dale in Chip And Dale Rescue Rangers with a certain feminine icon of mine. He gets Ludwig Von Drake and has been that voice actor since the original DuckTales. Then he hits the peak, he was Mole in Atlantis Lost Empire a big budget Disney movie. I am so often inspired by my top six favorite voice actors. They are the ones that took me by the figurative hand and told me hey you can do get through whatever it is that you are struggling with. It just takes a little bit of laughter through the bad times, and an optimistic attitude that things will slowly but surely get better. Corey was the one that actually got himself to the top of the mountain and got to say that he did it. I admire that about him so much because for a while I thought to myself “Hey, he did it so can I”. 

4. J Michael Tatum: In terms of anime voice actors, even though I love a great many, only one has ever remained of legend status. It comes yet again with a rather personal story. I was 17, lost and a little bit confused. I knew that I was ace but I had no idea how to tell my parents. It was around this time when I was getting back into anime due to Yuri On Ice, Space Dandy and Princess Jellyfish. I decide what the hell I’m going to watch some panels of my favorite voice actors for anime haven’t done that since I was thirteen. I had always loved Tatum as Kyoya Ootori in Ouran High School Host Club and France in Hetalia but other than that I didn’t know very much about him. I looked up panels for him and came across one for Florida Anime Con filmed that year. In it, he talked about being gay a lot. It implanted a seed that would inspire me. If he could be out and proud then why was I stoping myself? It might sound silly or stupid to some but to me it changed everything. From that moment on I loved everything Tatum. It led me to discover my love for Rei in Free, Okabe in Stein’s Gate and many other countless roles of his. 

3. Tom Kenny: This man right here, he is the OG voice actor special interest of mine. He is the first name that I remember hearing because he did so much for Nickelodeon showing children how he did his most iconic voice. Who is that iconic voice you may ask yourself? Well it’s Spongebob flipping patties Squarepants. If that alone doesn’t put him at this spot then I don’t know what does. Like so many children in the early 200s I spent a good chunk of my childhood with me and my parents on the couch and this show on the television screen. You want to talk about legacy? This man voiced his way into the hearts of millions of children across the united states. I remember the first time I saw his actual face. I was flipping through channels and I saw this man on Nickelodeon. He had a goofy smile on his face and I figured what the hell I’ll give this a watch even though it’s not a cartoon. Then he started talking he introduced himself as Tom Kenny. Then he starts doing Spongebob. My five year old mind was blown. I never forgot his name ever since. Every time I would watch Teen Titans and Mambo would be on that episode I would be like “Oh that’s Spongebob’s voice actor”. It was that moment that changed everything for me. I have never looked back from my main special interest ever since. He has helped me through so much. Whether he be my favorite exorbitant yellow sponge, or Dog on CatDog, or Lazlo on Camp Lazlo part of me will always be with Tom Kenny. Keep making children happy Tom you’ve been doing a great job so far. 

2. Tress MacNeille: Hoo boy this is a big one for me. For those of you that haven’t ever been around here before and don’t know the name of my character on my icon her name is Dot Warner (the Warner sister) and this is her voice actress. I hope that she changes your life and inspires you as much as she has mine. When I was nine I had an incredible fourth grade teacher. She showed us Yakko’s Nations Of The World for geography class. She also encouraged us to watch the rest of the show because it was full of educational songs and humor. I went home that day with on thought in mind. I wanted to watch the rest of that series. I go home and I make one distinction, hey that Warner sister I can kind of talk like her a little bit if I try hard enough. It was a little bit harder back in those days and I talk a lot more like her now with the reboot out in the world. This is the first and only impression I can do. I can do Dot and that’s it. And to me that was what mattered I didn’t need to be able to do anybody else. There aren’t a whole lot of woman voice actress’s that can keep working. All we have is Tara Strong, Cree Summer and the one and only goddess Tress MacNeille. Tress has helped me out so much in my life. I have never been the most confident person alive but from a young age hearing her absolutely smack down the actors of her brother’s in the show (Rob Paulsen and Jess Harnell) something about that inspired me. It was around this point in my life that I learned I can speak my mind and just not give a hoot if anybody feels the same way that I do. I can make my opinions known to other people. I was sixteen when I made that discovery and Tress was there for me all the way cheering me on in her Dot voice.  I owe a lot to her and I wish that she was more active on social media so that I could have the opportunity to thank her for everything that she has done vicariously for me. 

1. Rob Paulsen: If you were surprised by this, we probably haven’t talked before. At least not extensively because my dog do I love this man!! He has inspired me more than any other and he is not just my favorite voice actor but I consider him my ultimate hero in life. Where do I even start with him? There have been so many moments where I’ve fallen in love with one of his characters. I suppose one should start at the beginning. As I mentioned with Tress, my introduction through Animaniacs was Yakko’s Nations Of The World. This moment it changed everything for me because this was the first time that I could actually remember seeing Rob do a role. Yakko was the first cartoon character to actually make an impact on me. It was the first time that I ever loved a character that deeply. It was also the first time I ever made my own character to pair up with a canon character not even knowing that I was doing it. Ever since then a part of me has known okay that’s what Rob talks like. Now thanks to Tom Kenny I can recognize him in other places. And recognize him I did. From there I found that he was Carl on Jimmy Neutron, Mark Chang my favorite character on Fairly OddParents and countless other roles that we could be here all day for. As I mentioned, I was in middle school when the 2012 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were originally airing. When I watched that first episode, Donatello sounded really familiar to me. So I waited to the end credits only to find out that holy hell that was Rob!! The same person that played my favorite fast talking older brother. I found out about his fight with cancer a few years after it happened. This is when he went from favorite voice actor to hero legend status. He fought his way out of hell so that he could continue to sing “United States, Canada, Mexico, Panama, Heidi, Jamaica, Peru” until the end of his days. Reading his book changed my life forever as it gave me insight to not just the man who made me laugh, cry and cry laughing listening to his podcast but that same man had a whole ass heart and soul that he put into every character that he did. I find it really hard to explain what he means to me. He’s my hero, the one that made me laugh when I was a sad and lonely elementary schooler and the one that continues to bring me back to my childhood every time I see him in a show. I don’t feel the compulsion to give strangers hugs very often but if I ever met Rob I don’t think that I would be able to stop myself from giving a hug and just telling him thank you. Thank you for making my childhood and the childhoods of countless others much better than they would have been without you. 

And that’s it folks!! Whew that’s a lot of me rambling but I feel a bit better now. Finals preparation week has officially started for me and I just wanted to give myself this big ol’ boost of serotonin before I went into it.     

#Voice acting #Charlie Adler #Jim Cumings #Bob Bergen #Richard Horvitz #Greg Cipes #Corey Burton #Michael Tatum #Tom Kenny #tress macneille #Rob Paulsen

[sparkles-and-trash]

stuff about Bob’s Burgers that makes me soft af

idk this is my fav show and I’m re-watching and I wanna praise it okay here wo gooo

- first of all, this show has really evolved from the first episode, from the pilot using the autism joke that made some people uncomfortable, they took that to heart, and never touched that subject again 

- this show has so much good lgbtq+ rep? 

- in one of the earliest episodes, Bob’s starts diving a cab at night to get extra money for his oldest daughter, Tina’s, 13 birthday party (how fucking sweet aaah), and he meets a group of trans hookers, and nobody, except them, made a comment or deal about it, Bob just thinks they’re cool and end up as their friend

- they also introduce Marshmallow, who’s a black trans woman, and everyone loves her and treats her wonderfully 

- at one point someone calls her “tall, dark and handsome” and Bob goes “Marshmallow isn’t handsome, she’s beautiful!” and it’s so soft and good 

- there’s also a gay raccoon in their ally, his name is Little King Trashmouth and he just got married! 

- the way they portray family is wonderful, truly wonderful 

- like they actually like each other, want to be around each other and love each other so much 

- Bob and Linda aren’t just husband and wife, they’re best friends who respect each other and have a lot of fun 

- when Linda gets a job at a supermarket to make some extra money and have “her own thing” Bob isn’t upset about her independence, he’s upset because he misses his wife and recognizes how valuable she is to both him and their business, but he still doesn’t ask her to come back because he sees how happy she is 

- and the kids, aah the kids! 

- first of all, Bob and Linda aren’t all “ugh these little shit why did we have them ugh”, no, they love these kids, they hang out all the time, they’re interested in their lives, and both the parents have special relationships with each and every one of the kids 

- and the kids love each other a lot, they enjoy each others company and supports each other in school and with other problems 

- they have their fights and shit ofc, they’re not perfect, but it’s very realistic and good 

- the voice actors records together at the same time, to get realistic conversations an reactions, and then they animate around that, and it works wonderfully 

- Gene, the middle child, is very gender non-conforming and it’s never ever made into a joke, or a big deal 

- Tina, the oldest, has a very sexual fantasy and loves boys, but it isn’t made into something gross or weird because she’s a girl, which is GOOD because girls should have their sexual awakening in peace 

- Louise, the youngest, is very interested in Japanese toys and culture, like her fav toy, Kuchi Kopi, and her family tries to follow and understand it  

- and she is perceived as tough and a little crazy, but she also shows weakness and her softer side, and it makes her feel nuanced and idk I just love her a lot 

- the small details and continuation is what I life for 

- like the background characters, or the ones of smaller roles, they keep showing up at the same jobs, with the same personality, outfits and memory of the things they have done with the main characters before 

- in one of the episodes that parodies the MLP fandom, Bob goes undercover as one of them to get back a toy one of the men tricked from Tina (adorbs), and gets a tiny tattoo on his back, but the family stops him 

- but every time you see him without a shirt after that, the little tattoo is there 

- SO MANY GOOD SONGS and most of them are on Spotify!!! 

idk guys I just love this show so much and I might keep adding to this list because aaaah

#this is my fav show ever okay leave me alone #bob's burgers #Lousie belcher #bob belcher #linda belcher #gene belcher #tina belcher #zeke #jimmy jr #Andy and ollie #regular sized rudy #darryl #teddy #lgbtq+ #lgbtq

[rogueofsoup]

Why is it that whenever there's a strong female character and a male lead or even a strong female lead and an important male character (I'm looking at you Wonder Woman) the woman always has to fall in love with the man?

Why is it that when there's a society of women the only time romance is even MENTIONED it's when a man suddenly shows up?

Why is it in some movies where the leading female character says she's a lesbian and hangs out with the leading male character, by the end of the movie she tells the main male lead that she was just lying about being gay so that he wouldn't flirt with her and now she's in love with him?

Where's my strong lesbian lead who will not give two shits (romantically speaking) about a handsome guy suddenly appearing in her life? WHERE'S MY STRONG LESBIAN LEAD AND HER ADORABLE LESBIAN GIRLFRIEND?

Also, where's my bi character who's not portrayed as "they'll fuck anything that moves"?

Where's my gay male character who's not "very obviously gay" (flamboyant, kinda girly, "less manly" than the other male characters, dresses scantily, swings hips while walking, literally anything people see as "stereotypically gay")?

Where's my straight male character who likes to feel fabulous and extra™ at times and isn't a bad guy? (like Megamind, but labeled as good from the start)

Where's my neurodivergent (has Asperger's or autism or something like that) character that isn't played for laughs?

Where's my disabled character that isn't seen as or even acts like they're weaker than the other characters?

Where's my female character with ADHD that isn't played up as basically constantly vibrating?

Where's my character AT ALL with ADHD that doesn't "act active enough" but still has actually diagnosed ADHD?

Where's my PoC character that's not just inserted for diversity, and is actually really important?

WHERE'S MY GODDAMN CHARACTER WITH VITILIGO?!!

Where's my character with malformed body parts that makes due enough to not be treated as anything less than the other characters?

Where's my Jewish character that isn't depicted as being a bad person?

Where's my "the weird kid" character who actually has features and actions that kids in school would actually find weird (such as neurodivergent characters), but they're not played entirely for laughs and they actually have """normal""" (neurotypical) friends that are actually super supportive of them and know how to help them in the specific ways that help them when they need it and don't get annoyed by their coping mechanisms? (As someone with ADHD, this one especially is very important to me)

Where's my great big intimidating character (male, female, neither, both, or whatever) who has a smol S.O. who calls them cute nicknames that just make them melt?

Where's my nonbinary character that definitely looks masculine or feminine because they actually really like how they look in that way (nb character with facial hair and a very masculine build, nb character with a fairly curvy feminine figure and wears makeup)?

Where's my nonbinary character that isn't skinny?

Where's my ENTIRELY HUMAN nonbinary character?

Where's my genderfluid character? Where's my OVERWEIGHT genderfluid character?

Where's my overweight female character that doesn't even ONCE have anything said to her about her weight?

Where's my strong female character that you never see putting on makeup that doesn't automatically have clear skin and perfect eyeliner and sleek eyebrows (seriously what the hell is up with that it's just freaky)?

Where's my female lead that isn't what Hollywood describes as "beautiful"?

Where's my male lead that isn't what Hollywood describes as "beautiful"?

Where's more Jack Black just having fun with his character? Hell- where's ANY MORE ACTORS just having fun with their characters?

Where's my PoC characters voiced by actual people of color?

Where the FUCK did all of my fun Pure Evil Villains go?

Where's my female villain who isn't a seductress?

Where's my character with schizophrenia who isn't treated like a monster just waiting to strike?

Where's my character with multiple personality disorder that isn't several completely different people all squeezed into one person? (From the little research I've done, I'm pretty sure that's not what it's actually like being someone with that disorder)

Where's my character with a mental disorder PERIOD that doesn't end up being a bad guy? Like, ever?

Where are my characters who don't constantly have clear skin and clean hair, and don't wake up looking amazing?

Where's my antisocial character who isn't dark and brooding and just tries their best to look like they're having fun at social events despite being in a near constant state of "I wanna cry"?

Where's my antisocial character who does on occasion feel the need for socialization (in moderation, of course), even though it drains them?

Where are my characters who ugly cry?

Where are my shorter-than-average characters (adults around 3-4 feet) who are just normal HUMAN people just living their daily lives?

Where are my trans characters who pass as their desired gender (or lack thereof)? Where are my trans characters who don't pass as their desired gender (or lack thereof)? Where are my trans characters that aren't misgendered (or if they are at least someone other than the character (like their friend) actually corrects the person who misgendered them)? Where's my trans character that may on occasion get misgendered (like by a waitress or something), but doesn't correct them every single time it happens? Where's my trans couple?

Where's my multilingual character who forgets words in the language they're speaking so they switch to another language that they DO remember the word in? Where's my characters that only speak ONE language that forget words in their own goddamn language for a bit?

Where the absolute fuck is my (non-background) character who is 1 Jewish, 2 a PoC, 3 gay, 4 on the chubbier side, 5 not overly sexualized, 6 neurodivergent, 7 has chronic pain (completely unrelated to weight), 8 has adopted kids with their spouse, 9 unnecessary attention is NOT drawn to them being gay, 10 very much loves their spouse, 11 doesn't wear makeup and doesn't look like they wear makeup and they just let their real face and real skin (no matter how blemished it may be) be what they present, and 12 IS NOT PLAYED FOR LAUGHS OR SEEN AS ANY DIFFERENT FROM THE REST OF THE CHARACTERS ?

Step up your fucking game, Hollywood.

[rosemallowss]

Im so sad too with all that´s happening around TBWDOA, it was magical the first time that I listened it: so much life, love and humanity even in the darkest places of the world... I felt that the hope around it was more strong that any problematic subject... I know that maybe im being naive and self-blinded by my own privileges, but im so angry that the controversy destroyed what for my was so beautiful. I dont know if this is weird, but I wanted to talk with someone that maybe feels the same :(

Hey dude, I thought exactly the same thing. I actually still think it, but every time I see any trace of the show in my camera roll or the copy of the album, it’s so hard not to think about all the angry people. I think now that it’s been a few weeks however, I can fully hold a discussion about this musical without feeling guilty or sad. Despite what other people think, I really don’t believe that the writers has hostile intents at all. If you look at old posts like this:

You can tell just how passionate they were about this show. & plus, I realized recently that these guys tend to write shows about topics that are not normally talked about as well. Example: this show and ‘Talk To Me’– a show about a child who is on the Autism spectrum. I suppose you could kind of count their other show “With The Right Music” as kind of that? However I’m actually not totally clear on what that show is about since it wasn’t actually written to the end– though I think it is about a closeted teenager in high school. I suppose this counts because there aren’t that many musicals written about closeted teenagers. I truly don’t believe that they were trying to offend anyone– simply were just so so invested in trying to get a story out there, maybe one that was unfamiliar to them, and perhaps it was also bad timing that the full show was released? Or maybe they were just as naïve too when they wrote the show probably around 2015 (earlier?) I used to always get their attention (unintentionally I swear) on Twitter when I’d talk about the show. Those dudes were really kind. And they follow back a lot of their fans. So, perhaps it was just naïvety? I’m aware that they’re attempting to make it right, and they are probably at the moment in conversation with Afghan Americans. That’s important, and speaks more than words I think. I know Troy, Nikhil, Sittichai, and Jonathan have been under fire. Troy has gone silent and if I’m not mistaken I think Sittichai and Jonathan as well? Other actors in the show such as Osh (Zemar) and though a small appearance– Shiv Pai (future Paiman’s son) have gotten no such comments I realize. Maybe the show was bad timing. Perhaps it would’ve had a more positive outcome in terms of rising popularity had it been talked about in a past tense; in a sense that “this practice doesn’t happen anymore” so that the setting is not modern day, but instead sometime in the late 1900s?Would that have made the show less controversial? Maybe? But we can never be sure. Would it have been less controversial if they minimized the extend of the abuse? Or removed that altogether and made it that it was simply two boys falling in love in rural Afghanistan who were coming terms with the fact that they were feeling this feeling with each other? well, yeah, because it would just be a love story in a different setting, and we’d probably see Feda and Paiman exploring the marketplace as well. If this was the case, I’d assume the conflict of the story would be homophobia from parents/internalized homophobia itself, or struggling to understand themselves. Another conflict could be something that many teenagers experience as well, such as fear of the future. Maybe arranged marriage could still be a conflict, and since Feda’s name literally means “sacrifice” he’d probably still have to die in the end. Perhaps they could have rewritten the show like that and the show would have little to no controversy? The music is incredible, and it could even portray the beauty of Afghanistan through their amazing way of writing music. I’m just brainstorming and rambling here, sorry! when it comes to this show it seems as though that I always just vomit out more words than anyone cares to hear. Let’s address why it was controversial as well though... Many were repulsed by the idea of s-x trafficking as a musical, and even more outraged with the musical being about Afghanistan. It showed negative parts of the country, and that would add on to people’s perception and dislike toward Afghans, which if you live in America you are aware of the racists’ stereotypes and disdain toward Afghans. (If you are naïve like me, you probably did not catch that as well. I truly forgot that there were people who perceived Afghans in a negative light. I was awed by the diversity in the show and so focused on that) I believe that they also have said how gay men are usually perceived as pedophiles as well and this show did not help to minimize that harmful stereotypes. I’m obviously kind of dumb because I didn’t realize that stereotype.

However it is true, because realized I often see this trope in fiction books about “creepy uncles preying on their nephews”. Though people don’t agree with the fact that it is a musical, I always saw it as a different way of storytelling. There’s a book called The Kite Runner that talks about the same topic in this musical by the way. I didn’t know this but my friends have had to read that book as an assignment in their English class. I thought, well, TBWDOA, it just tells the story through songs. So all in all, these were many of the points people made, and you cannot be upset with them for being angry. When I first listened to the show, I was aware it was controversial, but I thought the controversy would be something that can be discussed and debated while being enjoyed. Similar to how Hamilton is often debated for glorifying the founding fathers while still being a good show. However, when I replied to one comment because I thought that this was how it was going to go, I was bombarded with several other comments, I was called pedophilic and was told that because I was not Afghan that I should not speak and when someone said that, I realized “okay, I was wrong to think that this was an issue that could be debated!” I did not realize how much deeper it would be. As a result, I was flooded with comments from instagram and twitter and it was STRESSFUL and overwhelming that I just couldn’t sleep and had to take a break! However someone told me that even the most controversial, flawed works of art should be appreciated or discussed. It’s up for debate if that’s true. The show is incredible in portraying the strength of the human spirit— “find your voice, even if it’s weak, using it can make a difference that will lead to a greater change.” It showed a boy who used something that was SUPPOSED to degrade and silence him as a tool to lift him up and strengthen him– that was an incredible theme. He found power in the resources he could. Dancing was supposed to be something he could not decide, but he made it his own, would not let it weaken him, and used it as a tool to push him toward more positive hopes. There’s something so powerful about people taking back the thing that was supposed to weaken them, and twisting in into something that gives them strength. Though just because the music embodies the main characters incredibly and the message is empowering, we cannot ignore that perhaps, yes the show was quite insensitive to many Afghan Americans. It might take me several months before I can listen to any song from this show again though. But the show has such a special place in my heart, for making me fall in love with music theory and musical instruments all over again, for pulling my heart strings with incredible themes/life lessons, and the show embodying that theme in a heartbreaking final song, and then lastly providing a beautiful love story. Am I insensitive for saying that? I really don’t want to be, but a story like this has never made me feel like that before. I was intrigued by Islamic wedding customs and researched into that. I fell in love with the purpose of whirling dervishes, and fascinated by how beautiful that was. I watched videos about them, i read about them. Feda talked about an old Afghan poet in the show and god, for hours I looked up that poet and read the translated English phrases (didn’t finish however). I was taken by the beautiful geography of Afghanistan. I researched beyond the show to look at Afghan culture and I appreciated that. I understood that, of course this wasn’t a common practice that is active in Afghanistan. But I’m aware now that so many people will not see it that way at all. They saw the show as indulging the idea that this practice is apart of their culture which is not true, and the original theater did not market that well at all.. I want to hope that this was just really bad timing, that this show was misinterpreted, and in the future will be enjoyed and discussed rather than torn apart. I never like being on the controversial side of things, but, gosh, I don’t know.

But, I know exactly how you feel. And I welcome any asks/my messages are open for discussion about this show now.

#the boy who danced on air #feda #paiman #tbwdoa #city boys

[krisroley]

February 9th, 2021

One Small Moment

Today I want to talk to some specific friends who I won't name, but I'm fairly sure that this will apply to way more of just them.

First things first, I'm not going to insult your intelligence by giving you a bunch of platitudes. In my experience, they're nothing but empty calories. Filler and no substance, they're designed to make the person giving them feel better, not the person who needs help. In some cases, people who need help end up feeling worse. I'm one of those people, so I absolutely understand the feeling. So, no bullshit from me. Cool? Moving on.

Let me describe my lack of bona fides right upfront. I'm a guy with a high school education and one year of college because I let my dick do the thinking up to the point that I ended up homeless and friendless. I tried to follow in my Dad's footsteps and join the military and washed right out after six months because I have a mouth bigger than my brain. I come from a family that describing as dysfunctional is exceedingly generous. My dad had anger issues, my mother was a narcissist manipulator, as is my brother. He's got a criminal record and is probably on his way back to prison for at least 12 years as I write this. I'm the voice of reason in my family, and as I have said repeatedly, this should scare the fuck out of you. I got married at 24, and I had three kids by the age of 30. I've been dirt poor most of that time. At this stage of my life, I believe that I am an undiagnosed case of autism from the 1970s because my kids--all of them--are on the spectrum. I didn't have a bad childhood if you looked at it from one angle, but I had a horrible one if you looked at it from the inside out. I inherited my Dad's anger issues and my mother's narcissism. I was a horrible husband for years until my wife walked out on me in 2005. It made me face myself in a way I had not seen before, and I couldn't take it. I had a nervous breakdown. My wife thought I was worth saving, and I am forever grateful for it. I promised I would work on my issues, and I have. Three times in my life, I thought I was at the end of my rope. Not from a thought of suicide ideation, just that there was nowhere else to turn. No one else to ask for help. No one else I could lean on. Just Roley.

That moment right there is the point. The entire lesson. One small moment when your brain says, "Well, you're really fucked now, aren't you?" There is only one answer to that question, and that answer is yes because if you answer no, you ain't there yet. Trust me on this. You have to answer yes. This is the moment where you're accountable to no one but you, and you cannot lie to yourself. You can TRY. It ain't gonna work. Not for long.

Let's not bullshit ourselves. There is a lot of work in repairing a life that you fucked up on your own. You climb up out of a hole for years before you ever see daylight. I was a shut-in for two years because I thought it better that the world forgets about me. I tried to make a living from home in 2006-2007, but this world we live in hadn't come to pass yet, and I was living a fantasy. It made me feel worse that I couldn't provide for my family, but I could barely function as a human at that point. So I decided to do the only work I was capable of: Working on myself. I read every self-help book and mental health book I could lay my hands on. I dug deep into myself to try to figure out why I was the person I was, how I became that way, and the answer was straightforward. First, I thought I was absolutely normal. My behavior, though abhorrent, was how I was raised. My parents treated each other and us kids horribly, but it wasn't physically abusive save for a couple of times I'll keep to myself. I grew up in the same environment I perpetuated. I was continuing a cycle. Secondly, to accept that fact and to change meant work I wasn't ready to take on. But human psychology is a lot like a car in that regard; you can do the work now, or you can do it later, but it's going to cost you a lot more. In my case, it almost cost me everything. It was the third of those three times that I faced myself in the mirror and heard that voice, and this was the time I said yes.

For two-thirds of my life, my story is a story of failure, of self-hatred, of being a bad example. But from the age of 35 to 50, it's a story of repair and redemption. I'll put my humble path to today up against anyone's and dare them to do the work I've done to heal myself and come out who I am today. I'm still married to the same woman for over 25 years now. I've got three amazing kids who I adore. Up until May of this year, I had what I consider to be a dream job until COVID ate it, but I'm still with the same company, and I'm going to bust whatever amount of ass it takes to get my job back or demonstrate the skills I learned there to someone else who's willing to take me. I have a sense of self-worth and purpose that I've never had before, and I'm not taking being a call center tech support agent for the rest of my life. It is a means to an end, and it is not my life's work. I know what that is. It's helping you in the best way I know how: By being not the example of how to fix it, but from showing you by my example, it CAN BE FIXED that you can go from being a person full of anger and self-loathing and cruel behavior to being a person of kindness and compassion and love for people. That you can go from being a person who has no prospects to a person who can go to a job every day that fulfills them personally and professionally. That you can go from being a person who hasn't got their shit together at all to a person that can get morning to night without falling apart at the seams. This is my road, and my lane, but it's big enough for you, and I want you on this road with me. Some of you are gifted and talented beyond description, but the world doesn't know it yet because you have these problems. I know. I get it. I also see who you are, and the world deserves to see you as well. I had no one else to turn to at that last moment, so I did what I had to do. Myself. I'm asking you to take a walk with me because I don't want you to have to do it on your own. I may not know your way home, but I can get you as far as Anchorhead. You can get transport there to Mos Eisley or wherever you're going.

I had to get one joke in there somehow.

Did Joe Know About This?

On the heels of the news of Joe Budden maybe-kinda-sorta-moving his show to Patreon (which is weird since it looks like it’s being hosted on Libsyn now), Spotify has announced plans for multiple business models for podcasts, possibly to include ad-supported subscriptions and a la carte options. These may be discussed at a live stream event later in February.

Asked if Spotify thought customers would be willing to pay for podcasts, Ek on the earnings call responded that he believed there were several new models that could be explored.

“I think we’re in the early days of seeing the long-term evolvement of how we can monetize audio on the internet. I’ve said this before, but I don’t believe that it’s a one-size-fits-all,” he said. “I believe, in fact, that we will have all business models, and that’s the future for all media companies — that you will have ad-supported subscriptions and à la carte sort of in the same space, of all media companies in the future.”

“And you should definitely expect Spotify to follow that strategy and that pattern,” Ek added, more definitively.

The answer seemed to indicate that Spotify is considering some of the ideas in that recent survey — of getting consumers to pay for some podcasts, instead of accessing them all for free or having them bundled into their music subscription.

I wonder if Budden was aware of this and balked. Would there be a revenue split between Spotify and the creators, and what’s the ratio? Now that I think of it, isn’t that what they’ve been crying about re: Apple?

For more than a year, Spotify has been making noise about Apple’s unchecked power over the App Store, and in March 2019, it filed a complaint against Apple with the European Commission. Spotify claims Apple’s practice of taking 30 percent of an app’s revenue is unjustified, and says the company operates as a monopoly on iOS.

Suddenly, I find this Budden/Spotify deal more intriguing.

Wait, You Can Make Money Doing That?

Julie Miller from Vanity Fair writes about Hollywood coming over to the Pod Side for ‘fun and profit’:

…entertainment types began orbiting the audio space about two years ago in earnest, as the number of Americans listening to podcasts every month headed toward the 100 million it is today. It was also around 2018 that agencies like CAA began incorporating audio deals into their development packages. One insider estimates that many celebrities could get a six-figure guarantee per year, with the biggest actors receiving between $1 million and $3 million to launch an unscripted podcast. Scripted projects offer less up-front money but can be adapted into TV shows, films, books, and so on.

For the record, I am Steve Jobs, “Podcasts are Amateur Hour" Years Old. For years, podcasting was seen as less-than, so when I see stories like this, the little imp of the perverse in the back of my head tosses a bone at every true media elitist who, strangely, has a podcast now..

How About Not Doing That?

Chris Curran over at PES has a question about your thin mouth:

When I’m doing my fine-tuned editing on a podcast episode I use TwistedWave or Sound Forge because they allow me to VERY QUICKLY zoom in, highlight very small things like single mouthclicks, and delete them. 

When I try to make the same kind of edit in a DAW (Reaper and others) it takes forever. 

What say you?

For the most part, my workflow tends to remove mouth clicks, or at the very least minimize them. If they still show up through my noise gate, I highlight and remove them. I can’t say this happens often because I like to make sure I keep some water near me while I’m recording. The single biggest thing you can do to prevent mouth clicks is to keep hydrated. Remember, you can’t fix it in Post if it never happens in the first place.

Shot Of The Day

#Joe Budden #Spotify #Monetization #Podcasts #Hollywood #Vanity Fair #Julie Miller #Podcast Engineering School #Mouthclicks #PES

[lliaq]

okay, now that I’ve slept on it I’m actually gonna try to put down my thoughts on the season, so obvious TUA season 2 spoilers below and it’s probably going to get really long

Just to preface this, I haven’t read any of the comics, so I can’t speak to how the show compares to them.

Guess I’m gonna start with the positives, and I think what I enjoyed most about the season where just little moments between the siblings. Obvious standouts being Ben getting to talk to Vanya and Diego. I think those were the only two scenes that acutally made me tear up a bit. It was just really nice seeing him get that opportunity, and something that I’ve wanted to see since S1. It would have been even nicer if he got a moment with all his siblings, but hey, I’ll take what I can get. Another one was at the very end with Vanya and Diego just sitting on the stairs together. Just a nice little moment, even if it was short.

Luther apologizing to Vanya was a pleasant surprise and showed that he actually used his time alone to reflect and have a bit of character growth, so that was another plus.

I overall liked Allison and Ray’s relationship, and I was okay with the way it ended. It was kind of bittersweet, but it made sense and felt in character.

On that note, I also liked that Allison learned to achieve things without her powers, because never having to do that was kind of a big note of her character in S1. Not necessarily sure it had to be done by taking her voice away, I think if anything it would have been even better if she did it by choice, but I’ll get back to that.

I enjoyed the whole old Five vs “young” Five thing. Not much more to add to that, really.

And lastly, I enjoyed Reginal a lot more than I thought I would. It was interesting to see a bit of a different side of him when he was with Grace, felt like it gave his character a bit more depth, and I mean the actor is just fantastic. Like, I fucking despise Reginald, but it’s a joy to watch his performance. The way he went in on Diego at the dinner was fucking brutal, man. That was heartbreaking to watch, and the fact that none of the others stood up for him sucked, but honestly I think it just shows that despite them bonding a little, they still have a ways to go in terms of being a functional family. S1 didn’t span all that much time, and they were separated for most of their time in the 60s, so it makes sense that they’re still learning in that department. Them getting into the car with Vanya showed that they’re getting there though. Also, to get back to Reginald, I think they’ve made it pretty clear now that he’s an alien, so there’s that too. No more confusion about that.

Now on to the so-so stuff. Things that were neither all good nor all bad.

Vanya & Sissy - oh boy man. I mean first of all: give me that lesbian farm life, hell yes. I was rooting for them from the start, and I just really loved all their interactions. Also, idk if that was intentional on Ellen’s part or not, but her chemistry with Sissy was leagues above whatever the fuck was going on with Leonard. That being said- I’m personally not a fan of cheating storylines, just in general. I get why, in this case, but yeah. And unlike with Ray, I really wish they would have taken Sissy and Harlan with them to 2019. Because, for one: can we at least have one happy gay couple on this show? And second: They both deserved to have a life where they’re not constantly judged for who they are. From a character standpoint I get that going to the future would be really scary and shit, but just imagine man. Vanya and Sissy could have been together without having to hide, and Harlan could have vastly benefited from the better understanding of autism we have now. Not that either of those aspects are perfect in 2019, but they’re a long way from the 60s.

Diego and Lila’s relationship I honestly didn’t care much about. It felt like they just completely dismissed Patch and the impact her death had, by not even so much as giving her a mention. And I also just didn’t really feel it man. I mean they spent some time together in the asylum, but it seemed like they weren’t even friends really - and then by the end of the season they love each other, like girl, it’s been less than a week. Relax.

Lila on her own, I did kind of like, but I feel like she could have used a bit more development, and a little less ‘I had sex with this guy once like five days ago and now I love him more than anything’

Ben. Ben Ben Ben. I was kind of up and down on his arc. I actually liked that he was just so done with Klaus’ shit, even if calling Dave a fling might have crossed the line a bit for me. Some of the posession stuff was weird (though I’m glad they at least had the ground rules talk), but at the same time getting to see him experience the most basic sensations like air on his face and dirt under his feet was nice. He did also save the world through the power of communication and love, so you know- good job, Ben. And then they killed him (again). Ngl, I was pissed at that- but I figured they would probably find a way to bring him back somehow, so I held off judgement on that until the end, and I was right. Still not entirely happy, and whether or not that’s going to change will likely depend on what happens with S3.

Klaus’ cult story line was kind of eh. I didn’t hate it, but I didn’t really like it either. His attempts to save Dave were more interesting, even if they ultimately didn’t work. Other than that, he didn’t really go through any growth this season. It did piss me off that Allison enabled his drinking after he relapsed. Fuck that.

I’m glad we got to see a little bit of how Allison losing her voice affected her, but I think they could have done more there. Idk, it just felt a bit lackluster for something so huge. Like I mentioned earlier, her living a life of never actually having to work for anything was something that shaped her character and personality in S1, and I‘m glad she’s had that realization. That being said, I think it would have been even more impactful if she worked for what she wanted w/o using her powers by choice, showing that she was was willing to put in the effort to grow and change, rather than being forced into it by circumstance. But you know, sometimes life works like that, and people don’t change unless they’re forced into a situation where they have no other option.

And, somewhat related, I think the last point for this section is Allison and Vanyas relationship. While I’m glad that they’re closer now, I wish they would have at least adressed Vanya slitting her throat. I understand that Allison doesn’t blame her, we already saw that at the end of S1, but c’mon. At least have a short conversation about it, because that was a big thing. It feels like they just used that to fuel the ‘Allison needs to learn how to do things without her powers’ storyline, and then it just got dropped, never to be mentioned again. The show tends to do that a lot, and it completely diminishes the impact of these big moments.

Okay, now to the purely negatives, here we go.

Luther moping over Allison. For the love of god. Listen, Luther did grow on me this season, compared to S1 - but I was so fed up with his moping around. Can we just not do the incest thing anymore, please. I already went through that shit with Shadowhunters (except there it at least wasn’t actually incest), I don’t wanna do it again.

Harlan. I honestly did not care for him at all. That being said, I usually don’t care about child characters, so that’s not a big surprise and not necessarily the show’s fault. But also, the fuck even was that storyline. I’m sorry, but it just made no sense. Which actually leads me right to the next point

Inconsistently written powers. Diego doing the thingy with the bullets like since when tf can he do that? I understand that the show already changed his powers from the comics, but up until that point it was strictly about knives. We never see him curve or manipulate (or whatever it is he actually does) any other objects, so this just felt so random and out of nowhere, and like they just wanted to give him a ‘badass powers moment’. If they wanted to indicate that his powers were more than what we’ve seen in S1, literally all they had to do was have him use them on something that’s not a knife at any point in the season. A 2 second shot, done. And then you don’t get to the finale and are suddenly like “the fuck”. But, boy, Vanya was even worse. Sounds. That’s what we learn her powers are in S1. Sounds, she manipulates sounds and sound waves. So how in the everliving fuck does she a) bring someone back to life, b) tranfser part of her powers to that person and create a magical connection, and c) take that part of her powers back? None of that makes any sense whatsover. The stuff in S1 where she’s sucking the life out of her siblings was already a stretch, but they’ve just made it worse this season. And this is just a minor gripe with the VFX, but her floating out of the barn looked so bad. I know it’s hard to make floating/flying people look good and natural, but other shows and movies have done it, so it’s not like it’s impossible.

And lastly: The villains. They were terrible, period.

I don’t like the Handler that much, she’s just so...plain and boring and really the only thing she has going for her are the outfits. Nice outfits don’t make a good story though. But the Swedes were even worse. Just every scene they were in felt like it dragged and I just wanted to skip past it. And then they have the fucking funeral scene with swedish Adele like are you kidding me? Am I supposed to feel bad for these pieces of white toast with zero personality or development? ??? Honestly, they could have cut them out completely and replaced them with more development for Lila and I would have been perfectly happy with that. Or replaced them with literally anything else. I don’t think I would have felt like I was missing anything important. Also, AJ? What was up with that? Again, haven’t read the comics so idk if he’s a big deal or not in them, but I really thought he would play a bigger role. That felt like such a waste of a character and like what even was the point?

I really feel like AoS (esp. S1-4) raised my bar for well written and developed villains. Admittedly, a 22 episode season allows for a lot more time to actually do that than a 10 episode season, but still. If you have less time to develop characters, then you need tighter writing and TUA completely dropped the ball on that one.

Okay. I think that’s it. I mean, I probably forgot a bunch of stuff, but these were the things most prominently on my mind after letting everything sink in for a bit. Overall I’m pretty meh about the season as a whole. I’ll probably watch S3 (if they renew it, that is), but I’m not super hyped about it or anything. The only thing keeping me interested are sibling interactions and the Ben reveal (even though his emo hair is an atrocity. I’m sorry Ben, I love you, but no.)

#tua #tua spoilers #boy this got longer than I thought it would

[rainonglass]

𝑪𝑯𝑨𝑹𝑨𝑪𝑻𝑬𝑹 𝑺𝑯𝑬𝑬𝑻.

Repost, don’t reblog.

BASICS.

full name.  quirrel...... of hallownest?? hallownest doesnt really do surnames

nickname.  nin canon, he’s been called “mask”. i hc he probably got called “monomon’s assistant” and “that bug following monomon” a lot, even though. both of those are longer than his actual name

gender.  male, he/him

height.  tentatively 3′9″-ish. canonicaly he’s taller than hornet without her horns and shorter than hornet with horns so take that as you will

age. for sure older than 50, probably around 65-70

zodiac. doesn’t remember his birthday, but i hc he’s an aquarius. fun fact Bring Your Child To The Library day is the first saturday of february

spoken languages.  whatever language was most common in and around hallownest, plus bits and pieces of many languages from the world beyond

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS.

hair color.  does not have hair follicles but his antennae are black

eye color. beady and black, if you google pillbug face you will see his eyes

skin tone.  whatever skin isn’t covered by carapace is a desaturated dark blue

accent.  uhh his voice actor is a guy from chicago if that gives you anything. ok for real though i think he has kind of a muddled accent, like the way he says “cat” doesn’t quite rhyme with “bat”. stuff that kinda clues you into his background in the wilds, where his speech patterns were shaped by the different places he went. despite that, he’s pretty easy to understand when he talks. something something being monomon’s assistant included teaching classes something something he retained that enunciation. fun fact one of my friends cobbled together his voice clips to make him say Words and the resulting accent sounded.... french? do with that what you will

voice.  i have it right here! specifically, near the end of the video but before his Fightin Words. he sounds his age, he’s pretty tired. still, there’s something very friendly about the way he talks

dominant hand.  ok so in game they just flip his sprite so you can’t definitively say what hand he holds his nail with, but in the prequel comic it looks like he favors his right both for combat and for general stuff (ie, he waves with his right hand)

posture.  i genuinely cannot tell if he’s slouching in-game or if his body’s just shaped like that, but i’m gonna go ahead and say he slouches a lot nowadays just because he’s old and his center of gravity is lower

tattoos. his position in hallownest wouldn’t have allowed it pre-amnesia, post-amnesia he wouldn’t have been keen on the recovery time given he was fighting to survive in the wilds

birthmarks. nope

noticeable feature(s). well, he’s obviously wearing a mask on his face, and he wears a kerchief over his antennae. if you got both of those off him you’d literally just be looking at a normal roly poly but i thought i’d mention them. uhhh he’s kinda leggy and he’s shaped like a kidney bean

CHILDHOOD.

place of birth. god i dont know. i hc quirrel was prrrrobably around middle-class? he doesn’t look like the aristocratic bugs in the city of tears and we know hallownest had a pretty strict caste system, so it was. probably kind of weird when monomon made him her assistant, but not inconcievable (for comparison, lurien’s butler/assistant was a member of hallownest’s high society). anyway that’s all to say i think he was uhhhhh probably hatched at home, in a city near but not part of the city of tears?

birth weight.  im sorry i cannot find the average birth weight of a pillbug but they look like this as mancas/babies

birth height.  like a milimeter or less

manner of birth. hatched from an egg!

first words. “outside”

siblings. so, so many (most didnt survive infancy though it’s tough for a pillbug)

parents.  two moms (it is MY headcanon and i give quirrel the two moms!!!)

parental involvement.  his parents tried their best but it’s tough when you have a bunch of pillbug babies running around. once he got a little older and survived molting though, they took more direct care of him. they made sure he got a very good education and worked hard to make him Refined in hopes he’d get a good job in the capital. he got in trouble pretty often even though he was a really sweet kid, he’d just forget the rules and run off to play outside. once he got his position with monomon, his moms talked about him a lot at like. the quilting circle.

(sidenote: quirrel remembers literally none of this, if you asked him any of these questions he’d have no idea except stuff that could logically be deduced from his species. he doesn’t remember his family at all)

SEX & ROMANCE.

sexual orientation. bisexual

romantic orientation. he’s bi all the way down baby

love language. playful debates, small touches, traveling together, saying exactly what he thinks about something, letting them see him sleep

relationship tendencies. asking a lot of questions, tends to hold his partner to a higher esteem than himself early on, learns a lot from his partner. not great at living with a partner because he’s so used to living outside

MISCELLANEOUS.

character’s theme song. doesn’t have one in-game, unless you count the archives theme (literally just ambient bubbling and spooky noises) or uumuu’s boss theme aka decisive battle (which is a general boss theme and isn’t unique to uumuu). i think uhhhh wait fuck i lied. closest thing we have is this, which is the city of tears indoors theme but is best known for playing in the scene where you sit on a bench with quirrel

mental illnesses. depression, some degree of anxiety, general dissociative problems, you know the deal. autism isn’t a mental illness but uuuuuh i’m gonna mention it anyway, i’m autistic so no matter what if i’m roleplaying a character they’re gonna end up with some autism in them. he’s got some issues with grief but like he doesn’t have a diagnosis and i don’t know what that would be anyway

self-confidence level. low! very low! he knows he’s old and he can’t remember much about being monomon’s assistant so he doesn’t have much going for him, in his eyes. his (implied) death at blue lake kinda gives you a look into that

vulnerabilities. grief. showing physical weakness. being shown pity. being trapped.

#meme friday

[cllynchauthor]

That post you made was a mess, just fyi. 1) I went through the thread you linked, and I found the authors reasonable and respectable. The playwriter's worked with people with disabilities for 10 years, and it's clear he cares about the issue. 2) The fact Lawrence is a puppy isn't automatically pejorative. That's how art works. I haven't seen the play, but it's probably a metaphor for the teen's lack of agency or something like that. Also writing something a certain way doesn't mean you -

“- approve of it. Have you even seen the play? 3) Please stop pretending anyone represents the autistic community and that you guys speak with one voice. It’s seriously dehumanizing to think a large and diverse group of people shares the same views. In that view there is an autistic man who loved the play - I guess his voice doesn’t count because he disagrees with you?”

--

I love this anon message because it contains pretty much every argument that people are using against the autistic folk protesting this play. 

Like, I’ve been watching #puppetgate unfold since day one, read the reviews, read the responses from @allinarowplay. You think I haven’t heard these points before?

I’ve read them so many times now in tweets and reviews that your message just looks like one of those ransom notes that are made from cut and pasted words out of the newspaper.

But since Tumblr is new to #puppetgate, SURE, let’s address them! 

First of all, my #puppetgate summary was a truthful, if flippant, tl;dr of the past two weeks’ worth of Twitter drama. 

I apologize if my brief humorous take on a complex and nuanced debate didn’t meet the standards of a random stranger on the internet. 

Let’s discuss it in more serious detail.

1) You can care about an issue and still handle it really poorly. No one doubts this playwright’s intentions. But, as you say, he was a CARER for 10 years. That doesn’t mean he understands how it feels to be autistic and in fact, ableism is built right into ABA and other therapies used by carers. 

So yeah, he cares. And he still made an ableist play.

Also, the thread you mention was BELOW the video I linked to wherein the puppet designer says, and I quote:

“Laurence is non-verbal, and the power that puppets have is that they explore movement and with a turn of their head or a small movement they give life and character that you wouldn’t achieve with a human actor.”

Which is why I snidely summarized their position as 

“ This puppet is going to be SO MUCH more like an autistic child than a human could ever be!”

https://twitter.com/allinarowplay/status/1092410318960148481

Also, there is a brief shot of their script in that video at 2:19 and if you pause it and look at it you can see that the parents are joking about how their kid is like a puppy.

“Shits wherever he wants” is clearly visible.

This is the stuff the positive reviews consider funny, honest, and brave.

According to reviews, the child is present in the background throughout most of the play. Which means they talk like this IN FRONT OF HIM and this is never brought up as an issue/problem. 

In fact, non-autistic reviewers don’t even seem bothered by it, probably because they share the common misperception that non-verbal high needs autistic people don’t understand what is going on around them. So…. yeah. I don’t care how well meaning the playwright was. 

The playwright consulted the National Autistic Society and they told him they couldn’t support the play “due to its portrayal of autism, particularly the use of a puppet to depict the autistic character alone.”

But he didn’t change his mind about the puppet.

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/critics-say-new-play-that-uses-a-puppet-to-portray-an-autistic-boy-dehumanises-those-with-the-condition/ar-BBTk5kC

So again - sure, maybe he cares. But he also wasn’t willing to change his vision despite the warnings of the Autism organization that he was hoping would endorse his play. 

2) Of course a puppet isn’t inherently pejorative. For one thing, the autistic community is very positive about Julia, the autistic muppet on Sesame Street.

The outrage involves a lot more nuance than that. First of all, it’s the choice to make the puppet grey and ugly. This was obviously an artistic decision. The first version of the puppet has black hair too and no eyes, just dark sockets like a skull. 

Not exactly Julia.  

And even with that, I was on the fence and willing to wait for the reviews to come out before I made a judgement. 

Like you, I thought perhaps it would be made clear in the play that his puppet-ness and greyness represented lack of agency. And maybe the designer was thinking that way. 

But if that is the case, it does not come across. 

In fact, the reviewers who enjoyed the play repeatedly dismiss the controversy by saying that the play “isn’t really about Laurence.” 

https://www.timeout.com/london/theatre/all-in-a-row-review

“The production is also about the situation, rather than about Laurence himself.“

https://www.thereviewshub.com/all-in-a-row-southwark-playhouse-london/

“sadly the grey-faced puppet adds nothing to the production that a living actor – adult or child – could not have provided.”

I’ve read a LOT of reviews of this play by now. 

Reviews from mothers of autistic children who feel a kinship with the stressed, unhappy, dysfunctional parents. 

Reviews from people without a connection to autism who feel like they learned something. 

Reviews from autistic people and disabled allies who cringe at the ableism. 

None of them - NONE of them - allude to any kind of symbolism or thematic point running through the play which justifies or explains the puppet or its weird appearance.

And the reasons for the puppet given by the playwright, director, and playhouse make very little sense. 

In that promotional video I linked to they say that the puppet can communicate better than an actor could. I disagree. So does a non-verbal autistic mime who commented in the thread below. 

They also say that it allows them to avoid being offensive or stereotypical, which makes little sense because they still had a grown man grunting and flapping on stage, just with a puppet sprouting from his waist. 

They repeatedly argued that they couldn’t use an autistic child, as if acting wasn’t even a thing. They repeatedly argued that a human actor couldn’t do the sounds and movements, even though a human puppeteer was doing just that.

My favourite one was the review (linked above) that argued that “Laurence isn’t a character a person could play (neurotypical or not) as his autism is so particular and at times violent.”

...Has this guy never seen Titus Andronicus? 

A person can play ANYTHING.

On Broadway I have seen human actors play cats, lions, baboons, and witches. 

On multiple occasions a fine-boned actress has been used to play Peter Pan. I’m pretty sure you could cast a small actor to play a pre-teen boy. Then the play wouldn’t have attracted so much negative attention.

As for “writing something a certain way doesn’t mean you approve of it.”

True. 

My fans can tell you that my main character spouts a fair amount of ableism. They’ll also tell you that this flaw is addressed openly and resolved as part of her character arc. 

They’ll ALSO also tell you that the “villains” of my story embrace ableist ideals. So yes, I wrote ableist stuff. But you can tell by the waythese things are framed how the writer wants you to feel about them.

No, I haven’t seen the play because I don’t live in the same country as it and it would take 12 hours to fly there. But I read what people write about it and I draw my own conclusions.

And the fact that ableist jokes are punchlines does not endear me to the playwright or the puppet. 

You say you haven’t read the play, and from the sounds of it you haven’t read many reviews either. 

If you think it’s wrong for me to criticize it after watching all of this unfold over days and days, and reading a dozen reviews by people who loved it and people who hated it, then how is it right for you to defend it?

3) Aw, look at that straw man lying on its side! You did a good job there.

Nowhere in my puppetgate summary do I claim that 100% of autistic people feel the same way.

I was summarizing what has been going down on Twitter over the past two weeks. I know because I was there. Don’t believe me? Actually spendsome time on the puppetgate hashtag and the actuallyautistic hashtag and see what people are saying.

And of course less than 100% of #actuallyautistic people feel the same, but I want to point out that at the time of this writing, my #puppetgate summary post has nearly 11K notes, all of them expressing disgust at the idea of this play.

Autistic people are disgusted. Autism allies are disgusted. Even people with no connection to autism can often see why this is effed up.

Yours was the only message I have received trying to defend the idea of a play featuring a messed up family arguing, discussing bukkake, calling their child a “puppy” using language which results in the play being rated as 16 plus... all in front of their eleven year old…

But what really bothers me is that somehow people come out of there identifying with the parents and thinking that it is “brave” and “honest.” 

They blame autism for what it has done to this family.

THE DAD SHAT ON HIS WIFE’S PILLOW AND BLAMED IT ON HIS OWN SON.

And the really sad thing is that your lonely messages in my inbox didn’t contain a single unique thought. I’ve been seeing those tired excuses and straw man arguments all over twitter for weeks.

They don’t stand up.

I’ve performed in theatre. I was willing to withhold judgement until more details about the play emerged. 

I was hoping they would say something brilliant and profound about what life is like for an eleven year old child with autism who is being sent away because his messed up family can’t stand it any more.

But facts are facts… they didn’t.

All they are doing is telling audience after audience that it is funny to insult your autistic child in his very presence and that autism wrecks marriages.

You can understand why a LOT of autistic people would be a bit sensitive about that kind of message.

It doesn’t have to be everyone. 

#puppetgate #actuallyautistic

[yesvac]

hi heres an essay i wrote on why amy santiago and tina belcher are autistic peace out

“Look at her. She’s so... awkward” (“Sheesh!”): An Analysis of Autistic-Coded Characters in Modern Television

Increasingly through the past few years, there has been a rise in quirky, knowledgeable, awkward and lovable characters in modern television. Sheldon Cooper of The Big Bang Theory fails to recognize social contracts, which consistently earns a laugh from the laugh reel from the studio audience. House of House MD is known as one of the most brilliant physicians in his cinematic universe, while also being one of the least empathetic. Sam of Atypical, one of the only explicitly autistic main characters of any show, is kind and loving, but social cues do not come naturally to him, and he finds penguins easier to read than humans. All of these characters share a common coding as characters in television who fit under the autism spectrum (Bethune).

Very rarely do television shows explicitly state that their characters are autistic, which is a problem in and of itself. However, we may analyze the behaviors, speech patterns, repetitions and actions of characters to read their behavior as neurodiverse. Additionally, the fact that there are very little expressly stated autistic characters in mainstream television makes the analysis all the more needed because autistic people deserve to be represented, and characters that display autistic traits should be confirmed as autistic by the programs that they appear on.

Some have initiated analysis of autistic characters in media and have come to the conclusion that the current representation is not sufficient. Brian Bethune believes that the current representation of autistic characters is too often the “autistic savant”, characterized by having intense knowledge about one subject, relating to the concept of autistic special interests (Bethune). Bethune argues that not all autistic people are savants, and that this trend of savant-autistic characters such as House from House MD and Sheldon Cooper of The Big Bang Theory create unrealistic representations of autism that most autistic people do not fit. Because I wish to understand whether or not the representations of autism in television are accurate, in my analysis, I will read what scholars have observed about traits of autistic people, and compare it to the behaviors of the autistic-coded characters I am analyzing.

Additionally, in 2009, Douwe Draaisma wrote on a similar topic, attempting to gather information on representations of autism in media, including tv shows, newspapers, movies, and otherwise (Draaisma). Her study analyzes many famous portrayals of autism, and agrees with Bethune that the savant portrayal of autism is not effectively in that not all autistic people are savants. Draaisma criticizes that “there are two options for an autistic person: either he is mentally handicapped, an egghead reading geek magazines, or he is a savant with mental powers exceeding those of two Cray supercomputers spinning numbers 24 hours a day.” She feels, however, that since the mid-1900s when representations of autism first began in big media, that the representations have been more accurate and happen more often as time goes on.

Scholars seem to agree that the current representation of autism in media is not sufficient and often problematic, but autistic people deserve to have positive representations of themselves in characters. In order to facilitate a greater understanding of how autistic characters can appear in media, I analyzed two shows that I believe possess autistic-coded characters: Brooklyn Nine-Nine and Bob’s Burgers. The characters I will analyze are Tina Belcher, the pre-teen eldest daughter of the Belcher family, and Amy Santiago, an awkward but brilliant young woman with a passion for detective work in the 99th precinct of Brooklyn’s police force. By analyzing these characters, we can decide the best way to represent autistic traits through popular culture. Preliminary analysis suggests that programs portray autistic-coded characters to be awkward, lacking social skills, possessing special interests, and having unique physical repetitions.

Analyzing Content

The foundation for analyzing Amy Santiago from Brooklyn Nine-Nine and Tina Belcher from Bob’s Burgers is because each show portrays these characters with qualities, mannerisms and quirks that allude to neurodiversity. Because there is a lack of direct representation of characters on the autism spectrum, it is important to analyze codification of characters who display autistic qualities and explore the benefits and disadvantages of these characters as contributing to the overall view of autism in media.

These programs were selected mostly because of their similarity in genre (comedy) and audience size and makeup. Both programs are directed towards roughly the same audience of young adults. Both Bob’s Burgers and Brooklyn Nine-Nine ride the line between television for children and television for adults, as Bob’s Burgers often touches on morbid issues and Brooklyn Nine-Nine jokes about serious crime, but both avoid becoming vulgar nighttime Adult Swim television (like Family Guy, Archer, or Big Mouth). Both programs got their start on Fox television, and Brooklyn Nine-Nine is now on NBC.

Bob’s Burgers has been running since 2011 and is now airing its eighth season on Fox. It has been nominated for the Emmy for Best Animated Series seven times consecutively, and has won twice. TV Guide placed it in the top 60 animated shows of all time (Sands). Brooklyn Nine-Nine also has received commendation, racking up several Emmy nominations and winning several Golden Globes for best comedy television series and best actor in a comedy television series (“Golden”). Both shoes are recognized as masterful pieces of comedic media.

I analyzed “Sheesh! Cab, Bob?”, which is episode 6 of season 1 of Bob’s Burgers, as well as “Tina-Rannosaurus Wrecks,” which is episode 7 of season 3 of Bob’s Burgers. I also analyzed “Thanksgiving”, which is episode 13 of season 1 of Brooklyn Nine-Nine, and “Chasing Amy,” which is the episode 18 of season 4 of Brooklyn Nine-Nine. I choose these episodes because they each display important parts of the character’s personalities, and the plot of each episode revolves around Tina or Amy respectively.

Awkward Behavior/Lack of Social Skills

Scholars who study autistic individuals have found that autistic people often struggle with social cues. Additionally, it has been proven that those with autism may find it harder to make friends, and when they do, it is often based off a shared similar interest. For example, “friendships of.. higher functioning children and adolescents with autism... often focused on common and circumscribed interests with little social interaction involved” (Orsmond). Therefore, those on the spectrum often come off as awkward and lacking in terms of social situations, because the focus is more on special interests than regard for social interaction.

Throughout each show, both Tina and Amy display a clear lack of understanding on how to function well in social situations. Both characters stand out in their programs as the most ‘awkward’ character. Additionally, both characters often avoid eye contact with peers whilst speaking with them, and often make conversation that most would find not socially acceptable.

TINA

Tina stands out as the character in Bob’s Burgers that has the least social skills, as she often appears awkward and unsure of herself. She says odd things to her friends and family and is known to be “weird” by her peers in school. However, she does not feel self-conscious about her weirdness.

In “Sheesh! Cab, Bob?”, Linda wants Tina to know that the family is allowing her to have an “extra-special” birthday party this year, and that Tina can take some time to think about what she wants. Seemingly already prepared, Tina begins to list off what she wants in a rapid, monotone speaking voice:

I’d like it to be a boy-girl party. With mingling. I want to close the restaurant and invite my whole class over. And I want there to be a DJ and dancing and a smoke machine. And about two hours into the party, I want there to be a moment where I see Jimmy Junior across the room. And we’re pulled towards each other. We meet under the disco ball. And we kiss, until our bodies and souls become one. And it’s my first kiss. And it’s perfect, and I remember it forever.

At the conclusion of her monologue, Gene says “scary,” Louise says “freak!” and Linda says “wow! You really put some thought into it!” Bob’s Burgers ensures that the audience understands Tina’s awkwardness in proximity to the rest of her family. If the show displayed just Tina’s monologue without her family’s reactions, then it could be written off as a behavior the writers intended to be comedic. However, inserting the fact that Tina’s little siblings are comfortable calling her both “scary” and a “freak” lets the audience know that Tina’s behavior and speech patterns are perceived within the Bob’s Burgers universe as slightly absurd. While most characters in Bob’s Burgers are unique, Tina’s sometimes overwhelming passioning personality is seen as freakish and scary by her siblings and those around her. Additionally, even without familial context, the audience can understand that Tina’s form of speaking is not exactly normal; her list of birthday party demands is long and sudden, as if Tina is unleashing a wave upon her family. She has clearly thought about it extensively, and it is not what the audience expects.

Additionally, Tina has trouble with some social aspects that seem normal for other characters and people in general. She seems to harbor a lot of anxiety about lying to others.  In the episode “Tina-Rannosaurus Wrecks,” Bob lets Tina drive around a nearly-empty parking lot for the first time, despite being 13 years old. Tina is obviously nervous, and panics behind the wheel. She turns the wheel slightly back and forth, groaning out loud as Bob yells and panics, and she hits the only other parked car in the parking lot.

In this instance, Tina has to lie, according to Bob. But this is no easy feat for her, and it changes her demeanor to one that is awkward and painful both for her and for the others around her. Bob tells her, “so we just have to say I was driving, okay?” Tina, a odd, pained look on her face, replies quickly: “but that’s lying! That’s not right!” Bob replies, “that’s true, Tina. Lying is wrong and you should never do it. Unless [the person you hit] makes you go through insurance, which he is. So we have to lie this one time.” Tina is not having it. She is extremely averse to lying. She compares lying with several other crimes: “What’s next? Perjury? Human trafficking?”

Several studies have been done by scholars on the cognitive abilities of developing autistic young adults and children. The findings often cite the fact that autistic individuals have difficulty perceiving what is a lie and what is not, and also have more trouble telling lies (Li). Tina’s ability to lie is extremely limited, and she has trouble throughout the episode when asked to lie by her father. She groans, blurts out obvious fibs, and makes strained faces.

Figure 1. “Tina-Rannosaurus Rex,” Bob’s Burgers. Bob says to Tina, “Let’s see your ‘everything is okay’ face,” but her aversion to lying makes it extremely difficult for her.

AMY

Amy is also a standout character in Brooklyn Nine-Nine for her awkwardness and lack of understanding of social cues. Gina, another character who works in the building with Amy, often comments on Amy’s similarity to a grandma or a toddler in her interests and social abilities.

There are countless episodes in which Amy is shown to have lacking conversational skills. For example, in “Thanksgiving,” the police squad is sitting in Amy’s apartment before Thanksgiving dinner starts, making fun of Amy’s grandmother-esque decorations and waiting for Captain Holt to arrive. The doorbell rings, and Amy answers it with a smile. Captain Holt greets her with his usual work-friendly attitude, saying, “Happy Thanksgiving. Your apartment was very easy to locate.” Amy, physically showing her happiness with a wide smile and open body language, thanks him, saying, “thank you so much. You look beautiful.” Her eyes dart down and to the side, indicating that she recognized that telling Holt he looked beautiful was not an appropriate comment for Holt’s gender or his position of power in their employment.

To ensure that the audience understands the weirdness of Amy’s speech, Jake Peralta, the main protagonist of Brooklyn Nine-Nine and Amy’s love interest, then butts into the conversation: “weirdest conversation ever! Nice work, you two.” Brooklyn Nine-Nine adds in Jake’s perception of Amy’s personality and words to contextualize her conversational skills in proximity to her peers. Both Bob’s Burgers and Brooklyn Nine-Nine include the reaction of other main characters to Tina and Amy’s lacking social skills in order to put the dialogue in perspective.

Obsessions and Special Interests

Scholars studying autistic individuals have established that it is common for those on the spectrum to have a special interest. These special interests are often regarded as “obsessions” from neurotypicals who may not know better. Autism allows those on the spectrum to hyperfocus on a topic or thing, and often, this means that the autistic individual can learn extensively about this topic or thing and become knowledgeable and passionate about it. For example, Rachel Grove studied a group of over 600 autistic adults in the Netherlands, noted whether they had a special interest, and also noted what their special interest was. Sixty-three percent of the sampled autistic adults reported at least one special interest (Grove). Below is a bar graph showing the distribution of the most common special interests by sex.

Figure 2. Special interest topics by sex, observed by Rachel Grove.

By analyzing whether or not Amy Santiago and Tina Belcher display an affinity for special interests, we can decide whether their representation in television as autistic-coded characters is a positive or negative one.

TINA

While Tina is most unique for her awkward personality, she is also recognized for her “obsession” with boys and writing. She writes in her journal extensively, and also writes what she calls “Friend-Fiction” -- a play on “fanfiction” -- stories about her friends, often starring zombies and emphasizes romance.

In “Sheesh!”, Tina sits alone at a table at the back of the restaurant, furiously writing in her diary. Linda engages Bob in conversation about their eldest daughter.

Linda: Tina’s birthday is coming up, and I think we should do something special, since she’s turning 13. This is the year she becomes a woman… Bob, she deserves a special party this year.

Louise: If what it says in her diary is true, then I’d say she needs it. A lot.

Bob: Wait, you read her diary?

Linda: Yeah.

Louise: What I can stomach.

Bob: Why is everyone reading Tina’s diary?

Gene: It’s well written!

Louise: Yeah! She’s better on the page than in person.

There is a lot to unpack from this singular conversation, mostly involving the speech of Tina’s family. For context, both Gene and Louise are younger than Tina. Tina is turning 13, Gene is 11, and Louise is 9 years old. Her siblings are younger than her, yet they feel extremely comfortable invading Tina’s personal spaces and reading her diary. This little detail shows that Tina’s behavior is different than most teenage or pre-teen girls, as she is more open and unashamed of her obsessions. Additionally, Louise’s final line, jabbing at Tina’s social skills establishes her as an awkward person to talk to, which is demonstrated many times throughout the series.

However, Tina possesses special skills and interests, such as skills in writing, that are beyond most kids her age. She spends her spare time, in which her siblings use to have humorous conversation with her parents, to write in her journal. Although the show does not tell us if she’s writing friend-fiction or about her own life, it is important that instead of being a part of the conversation, Tina prefers to write. It is one of her special interests that she pursues actively. Additionally, according to Louise’s speech, she is “better on the page than in person,” which is, face-value just an insult to her sister’s social skills, but in context, we can understand that Tina probably likes writing because it gives her a space where she is in control of the environment and dialogue, and she is not perceived as awkward by her peers.

AMY

Amy is skilled in police work and organization. She is well-known throughout Brooklyn Nine-Nine for being the most meticulous person in terms of bureaucracy. Unfortunately, she is not always this skilled in other realms of life, like cooking.

For example, there are times that Brooklyn Nine-Nine demonstrates how Amy’s unbalanced priorities affect her life negatively. Amy is established by Brooklyn Nine-Nine as an extremely thorough, intelligent and prepared individual, but extremely lacking in some skills, such as cooking, social skills, and dancing -- all of which she is oblivious to. In “Thanksgiving,” Amy is attempting to serve a Thanksgiving to her colleagues, and to impress her Captain. To Amy, hosting Thanksgiving dinner has almost nothing to do with the preparation of the food. Amy’s goal in this party is to bond with Captain Holt, and whether the mashed potatoes are edible or not does not seem to affect that in her mind. Sergeant Jeffords bites into the mashed potatoes sitting on Amy’s table from her Thanksgiving spread. He then immediately shows an expression of disgust, exclaiming, “what’s in these?” Amy, seeming indifferent, lists: “potatoes, butter, a little milk. Oh, and I ran out of salt, so I used baking soda.” Terry, angered that the potatoes are inedible, sarcastically yells, “why wouldn’t you? They’re both white powders! Of course they’re interchangeable!” Amy seems oblivious to his sarcasm and his criticism of her cooking skills. She says, “yeah.” This scene is important because it displays Amy’s dynamic with her peers according to her priorities. Throughout the episode, including in this scene, Amy is shown to be absent-minded and lax in things that her peers feel that she should prioritize, such as cooking dinner. However, the show emphasizes that Amy is not just lazy or dumb-- she is putting all of her effort towards one thing: impressing her superior officer.

Sometimes Amy’s affinity for work (and negligence of non-work activities) is highlighted in a negative way, as it is in “Thanksgiving,” but sometimes Brooklyn Nine-Nine displays her meticulous habits and ambition as an overall positive attribute. In “Chasing Amy,” Amy prepares to take the Sergeant’s exam, a test that will decide her qualification to upgrade from being a detective to being a uniformed Sergeant. She is coping with the stress in an extreme way, and Jake, her significant other, explains why: “it’s always been her plan to be the youngest captain in the history of the NYPD, but if she doesn’t pass this exam, she’s gonna have to wait another three years to take it again and that’ll disrupt her entire life calendar. [That’s a real thing.] It hangs over our bed.” Again, the show emphasizes Amy’s extreme affinity for success and ambition. She works harder and obsesses more emphatically than any other character on the show. Her passion for police work and leadership is so intense that it is better explained as a special interest, something she easily hyper-focuses on.

Physical Repetitions/Stimming

Scholars in autistic behavior report that it is common for those with autism to have urges for physical movements that may be different than neurotypical people. This results in the physical phenomenon known as “stimming.” “Stimming” is when a person on the spectrum releases energy through a certain movement, action or noise (Simpson). It is involuntary and a clear indicator of autism. Although some examples of stimming, such as echolalia (repeated speech), vocal stimming through elevated speech, or using physical stim toys, can be percieved as uncomfortable or unnecessary in the viewpoint of non-autistic individuals, stimming is not necessarily negative, and is often enjoyable and necessary for autistic individuals (Simpson).

Additionally, those with autism may also have physical repetitive behavior that seems odd but is for the specific purpose of calming down or feeling comfortable. These would include things like being in a small, comfortable space or laying on the floor.

TINA

Throughout Bob’s Burgers, Tina displays several physical behaviors that may seem odd from an outside point of view, but are indicators of autism when examined clearly.

For example, Tina likes certain sounds or repetitions that are seemingly random and do not affect the people around her. In “Sheesh! Cab, Bob?” Bob is transitioning from his day job working at Bob’s Burgers to his now night job, driving a taxi around the city. Linda and the kids are bidding him goodbye with advice on how to make money. Tina suggests, “stay away from Route One. It’s bumper-to-bumper all the way to the Interstate.” Bob, raising his eyebrows, questions Tina on how she might know that. Tina explains, “I like traffic updates. I like it when they say ‘bumper-to-bumper.’” Bob presses further, asking “‘bumper-to-bumper?’”, to which Tina throws her head back and sighs.

It’s a silly moment that shows Tina’s awkwardness and affinity for vaguely sensual topics, but also shows her visible and tangible reaction to certain words or phrases. Those with autism often enjoy one word or phrase repeated again and again for comfort reasons as a form of stimming. Just by this moment, we could assume that Tina is experiencing a form of echolalia, and enjoying repeating and hearing one phrase consistently.

Additionally and notably, several times during “Sheesh! Cab, Bob?” Tina either lays down on the floor or hides under a table with her knees close to her chest. This behavior, finding a space that is physically small and comforting, is typical in those with autism (“Sensory”).

AMY

While Amy’s physical behaviors do not exactly align with Tina’s, she holds her own version of involuntary physical reactions. Amy often celebrates by stimming with her entire body, jumping up and down and moving unnaturally. She also often dances in a funny way by herself after completing an achievement.

In “Thanksgiving,” Captain Holt seems to be happy as he accepts Amy’s invitation to her dinner party. Because the audience already knows of Amy’s overwhelming respect for Captain Holt, Amy’s immediate excitement at his acceptance of the invitation is obvious. However, she attempts to hide her excitement with a badly acted blase attitude, saying “cool! Whatever. Yeah, don’t worry about it either way. It’s not a big deal.” However, when she walks out of view of the Captain’s office, she celebrates this victory with a full-bodied and physical celebration, waving her arms in the air and quietly shouting: “yes!” Additionally, towards the end of the episode, Amy celebrates that Captain Holt gave her criticism on her Thanksgiving toast. She yells, “he’s mentoring me! Yes!” She then physically celebrates with jumps, arm movements, and full-bodied excitement. Her arms completely extend, her body contorts with pride and involuntary happiness and movement. She is unable or unwilling to celebrate quietly, as she possesses her unique physical way of expressing overwhelming emotions, as is common in those on the spectrum.

Additionally, Brooklyn Nine-Nine shows that Amy stims with physical repetitions, such as braiding her own hair. At the beginning of “Chasing Amy,” Amy stands rigidly with an expression of determination and anger on her face, her hair braided into dozens of tiny braids all over her head in a messy fashion. She holds a stack of notecards she appears to be studying. Charles questions Jake about why Amy’s hair is looking so weird. “Oh, she obsessively braids her hair when she’s nervous. And she’s super nervous ‘cause she’s taking the Sergeant’s exam today,” Jake states simply. As previously stated, stimming is a habitual release of energy through a certain repeated action, noise or movement; Amy’s hair-braiding is a good example of a movement-based stim, most likely used for comforting herself.

To explain Amy’s condition further, Jake explains that “we’ve also jumped up to a two: creepily singing songs from the Great American Songbook,” and the scene cuts to Jake and Amy’s bed, with Amy sitting up with a reading light over a huge textbook. She is softly singing, “you’re a grand old flag, you’re a high-flying flag…” Then, the camera pans to Jake, who pulls a pillow over his head. For people with autism, stimming can often relieve stress or discomfort. Stimming can be different for each person, but stimming can be physical, vocal, tactile, auditory, and more. Amy’s behavior here could easily be categorized as a vocal stimulation to relieve stress. Throughout the series, Amy is shown to have coping mechanisms that are more tactile and outward than most characters, and her calming habits fit neatly into the category of autistic stimming.

The Question of Representation

It is no question that there are barely any blatantly autistic characters represented on daytime television. This can be detrimental to the development of those with autism simply because of the inferiority complex created when a person never sees someone who is similar to them. While Amy from Brooklyn Nine-Nine and Tina from Bob’s Burgers both display mannerisms that align with those on the spectrum and are heavily coded as being autistic individuals, it would be monumental for Fox and NBC to outright establish them as autistic characters. Tina is a strong willed, confident and realistic portrayal of an autistic teenager, and it would help many adolescents on the spectrum to see themselves on screen as a main character beloved by many. Additionally, Amy being established as autistic would be just as incredible, seeing as there is a severe lack of representation for autistic adults (Prochnow). Because there is a prevalent stereotype for autistic people that they are unable to function independently and need guidance, or have a different “mental age” than their true age, there is a common misconception that autistic people can never be successful, independent and live life to its fullest extent. However, if Amy Santiago was established as a blatantly autistic character, it would show any autistic and neurotypical audience member that autistic people can be successful in their careers and respected for their brilliance.

Additionally, there is a disparity of representation of autistic women in media. While men and boys are often represented, there is little discussion of the fact that women and girls are affected by autism as well, and there is no lack of girls on the spectrum. For autistic girls to see an autistic woman like Amy Santiago who is skilled in her career and married would be an incredibly opportunity to inspire those on the spectrum (Kamal). Additionally, Tina’s self-confidence and ambition would be monumental for young autistic girls who lack a character to relate to on-screen.

While the representation of Tina and Amy’s characters are in no way negative as they stand now, there is much to gain going forward. As previously noted, the representation of characters with autism is often two dimensional and flat, and there is a lack of female characters with autism in popular media. If Fox and NBC have the best interest of their audience in mind, it would be beneficial to canonically and explicitly establish the neurodiversity of Tina Belcher and Amy Santiago in Bob’s Burgers and Brooklyn Nine-Nine respectively.

Works Cited

Bethune, Brian. “Autistic Licence.” Macleans.ca, 13 July 2009, www.macleans.ca/culture/autistic-licence/.

"Chasing Amy." Brooklyn Nine-Nine, written by Matt Lawton, directed by Luke Del Tredici, Fox, 2017.

Draaisma, Douwe. “Stereotypes of Autism.” Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 27 May 2009, royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10.1098/rstb.2008.0324.

“Golden Globes 2014: The Winners List.” Cable News Network, 13 Jan. 2014, www.cnn.com/2014/01/12/showbiz/celebrity-news-gossip/2014-golden-globes-winners/index.html.

Grove, Rachel, et al. "Special Interests and Subjective Wellbeing in Autistic Adults." Autism Research, vol. 11, no. 5, 2018, pp. 766-775. ProQuest, http://ezproxy.msu.edu.proxy1.cl.msu.edu/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.proxy1.cl.msu.edu/docview/2047340419?accountid=12598, doi:http://dx.doi.org.proxy1.cl.msu.edu/10.1002/aur.1931.

Kamal, Sauleha. “The Character Who Made Me Love 'Brooklyn Nine-Nine'.” The Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, 12 June 2018, www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2018/06/brooklyn-nine-nine-amy-santiago/562436/.

Li, Annie S et al. “Exploring the ability to deceive in children with autism spectrum disorders” Journal of autism and developmental disorders vol. 41, 2 (2011): 185-95.

Orsmond, Gael I., Marty W. Krauss, and Mailick S. Marsha. "Peer Relationships and Social and Recreational Activities among Adolescents and Adults with Autism." Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, vol. 34, no. 3, 2004, pp. 245-56. ProQuest, http://ezproxy.msu.edu.proxy2.cl.msu.edu/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.proxy2.cl.msu.edu/docview/205303236?accountid=12598, doi:http://dx.doi.org.proxy2.cl.msu.edu/10.1023/B:JADD.0000029547.96610.df.

Prochnow, Alexandria. "AN ANALYSIS OF AUTISM THROUGH MEDIA REPRESENTATION." Et Cetera, vol. 71, no. 2, 2014, pp. 133-149. ProQuest, http://ezproxy.msu.edu.proxy1.cl.msu.edu/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.proxy1.cl.msu.edu/docview/1620847574?accountid=12598.

Sands, Rich. “The Definitive Ranking of The Simpsons, Peanuts, and More Old Cartoons From Your Childhood.” TV Guide, 9 Oct. 2018, www.tvguide.com/news/definitive-ranking-old-cartoons/.

“Sensory Issues: Seeking and Avoiding.” Sensory Issues: Seeking and Avoiding | Interactive Autism Network, 30 Oct. 2008, iancommunity.org/cs/challenging_behavior/sensory_issues.

Simpson, Hannah. "Tics in the Theatre: The Quiet Audience, the Relaxed Performance, and the Neurodivergent Spectator." Theatre Topics, vol. 28, no. 3, 2018, pp. 227-238. ProQuest, http://ezproxy.msu.edu.proxy2.cl.msu.edu/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.proxy2.cl.msu.edu/docview/2162522850?accountid=12598, doi:http://dx.doi.org.proxy2.cl.msu.edu/10.1353/tt.2018.0046.

"Sheesh! Cab, Bob?" Bob’s Burgers, written by Loren Bouchard, directed by Jennifer Coyle, Fox, 2011.

"Tina-Rannosaurus Wrecks." Bob’s Burgers, written by Jon Schroeder, directed by Wesley Archer, Fox, 2012.

"Thanksgiving." Brooklyn Nine-Nine, written by Luke Del Tredici, directed by Jorma Taccone, Fox, 2013.

#i know some people were interested in reading this so here you go #please. Do not criticize me #esp with the citations i know the italics are not in the right place i was too lazy to go back and fix it just for a tumblr post #its correct on the one im turning in dont worry : ) #anyway nobody will probably read thi sbut thats ok!