Autism Awareness Month!
May. 5th, 2025 07:31 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
incompleterulerI didn't want April to end without me making a post about this, but I ended up forgetting about it... Either way, April's Autism Awareness Month, and one thing about me is I am very much autistic, and not ashamed of it. I've known for a few years now, and even if it took me a bit to accept it, projecting onto my favourite characters was something that helped me a lot with coming to terms with it. Being autistic is just part of who I am, and even if it brings me some real headaches sometimes, I wouldn't want to be any other way.
Surprisingly, I haven't seen anything about the month at all. I'm not the most active person in social media, I mostly use it to keep up with friends and whatever franchises I like as well as look at fanart, but it was still shocking. Thus, in (late) celebration of this month, I wanted to highlight a few characters out of the many that I personally view as autistic!
Hina is a character I met a long time ago. I started playing Bandori when I was really young, and I think knowing Hina genuinely helped me understand a part of myself very closely related to my autism, and she was also the first character I remember seeing someone HC as autistic. I remember Hina was one of the characters I immediately liked - I was just naturally drawn to her personality and views on the world! She resonated with me heavily from day one. It was my first time seeing a ''genius'' type character with her personality.
For those unfamiliar with Bandori, Hina is a carefree girl with a natural talent for almost everything, as well as an impeccable memory. There's one thing she's not talented at, though; and that's understanding others' emotions. This combined with her cheerful personality causes her to be unintentionally rude to others sometimes, even though she's just being honest. This kind of honesty and natural genius really spoke to me. It's not something I like to think about too much, but much like Hina, I am also considered a ''genius'' and I'm not great at understanding people's emotions, either (though I like to think I've been learning lately). Hina's story arc is also very much about being yourself, even if that means no one else gets you. Because, well, what does it matter if not everyone understands you, as long as you're happy?
I know that sounds like a joke, but bear with me! MahoYaku is set in a world where humans and wizards are fundamentally different, and wizards are hated for simply being wizards. This can be interpreted as a metaphor for many different things. Some of my friends have compared it to being in the LGBT+ community, and as someone who's part of it, I agree - but to me, it's always been more of an autistic metaphor.
Obviously, as the cast is made up of 21 characters, there are some I relate to more than others. For example, the Central Wizards' stubborn nature; Shino's blunt to a fault behaviour; Chloe's love for his favourite activity... And I could go on. I could even make one post just about them! But at the end of the day, one thing is clear: every wizard is different from each other, but they still have something in common. To me, this is comparable to the Autism Spectrum. Every autistic person is different, but that doesn't make any of us less autistic. I think MahoYaku always does a great job at showing what a group of seemingly unrelated people can have in common no matter how you read it, though.
MahoYaku also played a crucial part in my autism acceptance journey. I don't think I would be where I am now in regards to accepting that side of me if I hadn't known them.
I think, by now, one can easily notice a pattern here. Rui is another character who's deemed a genius, much like Hina - but there's something in which he deviates from her, and it's his attitude towards the world seeing him as weird. Most of his conflict comes from not being sure if his friends will accept him, as he's been left behind before in the past just for being himself. He's been very misunderstood, and even though he embraces his oddball personality because it's simply who he is, the way he was treated before still comes back to haunt him at times. I believe that's a realistic part of being autistic, too. I am someone who doesn't really care what others think, but even then it doesn't mean it doesn't suck when I remember that some people have rejected me just because I like things very strongly or talk a certain way.
But at the end of the day it's their loss and not mine. This is something Rui's story helps me remember, and to quote his own mother (who I'm sure is also autistic, as well as his dad, but that's a conversation for another day LOL): ''People are people, and you are you''. This quote means a lot to me even now.
I could choose many more characters, but I decided to include up to 4 characters, since I didn't want to say the same thing for everyone, LOL. Unlike Hina or Rui, Tamaki is generally seen more as an ''idiot'', but he's actually really emotionally intelligent. The one thing he struggles with the most is understanding others, too, but he has more of a temper than the other characters I mentioned before. Tamaki is shown to get frustrated when people don't mean what they say, and oh man, do I understand that.
This is the main source of conflict with his teammate Sougo, who honestly I think is autistic too, but very different from Tamaki. Sougo tends to hide what he really feels and avoids doing what he likes, as he's been looked down on for that before, but he also thinks things through a lot more than Tamaki does. Their development is very dear to me and I love seeing how much they've grown thanks to the other.
Also, Tamaki definitely has a special interest: King Pudding, the mascot for his favourite pudding, which is also definitely his comfort food. He is one of those characters I just can't see as anything but definitely on the spectrum!
There are so many more characters I could talk about, from many Genshin characters (Alhaitham, Cyno, Tighnari, and more come to mind, but I'd have to sit down and make a complete list because the cast is so big!) to characters from books I used to read as a kid. These are just a few of the many that have helped me further understand myself and those around me. Being autistic really impacts how I see the world and myself, but that's fine! I really wouldn't have it any other way. I hope every autistic person can truly love themselves as they are, no matter what those around them might say.
Surprisingly, I haven't seen anything about the month at all. I'm not the most active person in social media, I mostly use it to keep up with friends and whatever franchises I like as well as look at fanart, but it was still shocking. Thus, in (late) celebration of this month, I wanted to highlight a few characters out of the many that I personally view as autistic!
Hina Hikawa - BanG Dream! Girls Band Party!
Hina is a character I met a long time ago. I started playing Bandori when I was really young, and I think knowing Hina genuinely helped me understand a part of myself very closely related to my autism, and she was also the first character I remember seeing someone HC as autistic. I remember Hina was one of the characters I immediately liked - I was just naturally drawn to her personality and views on the world! She resonated with me heavily from day one. It was my first time seeing a ''genius'' type character with her personality.
For those unfamiliar with Bandori, Hina is a carefree girl with a natural talent for almost everything, as well as an impeccable memory. There's one thing she's not talented at, though; and that's understanding others' emotions. This combined with her cheerful personality causes her to be unintentionally rude to others sometimes, even though she's just being honest. This kind of honesty and natural genius really spoke to me. It's not something I like to think about too much, but much like Hina, I am also considered a ''genius'' and I'm not great at understanding people's emotions, either (though I like to think I've been learning lately). Hina's story arc is also very much about being yourself, even if that means no one else gets you. Because, well, what does it matter if not everyone understands you, as long as you're happy?
The entirety of the Mahoutsukai no Yakusoku cast
I know that sounds like a joke, but bear with me! MahoYaku is set in a world where humans and wizards are fundamentally different, and wizards are hated for simply being wizards. This can be interpreted as a metaphor for many different things. Some of my friends have compared it to being in the LGBT+ community, and as someone who's part of it, I agree - but to me, it's always been more of an autistic metaphor.
Obviously, as the cast is made up of 21 characters, there are some I relate to more than others. For example, the Central Wizards' stubborn nature; Shino's blunt to a fault behaviour; Chloe's love for his favourite activity... And I could go on. I could even make one post just about them! But at the end of the day, one thing is clear: every wizard is different from each other, but they still have something in common. To me, this is comparable to the Autism Spectrum. Every autistic person is different, but that doesn't make any of us less autistic. I think MahoYaku always does a great job at showing what a group of seemingly unrelated people can have in common no matter how you read it, though.
MahoYaku also played a crucial part in my autism acceptance journey. I don't think I would be where I am now in regards to accepting that side of me if I hadn't known them.
Rui Kamishiro - Project Sekai
I think, by now, one can easily notice a pattern here. Rui is another character who's deemed a genius, much like Hina - but there's something in which he deviates from her, and it's his attitude towards the world seeing him as weird. Most of his conflict comes from not being sure if his friends will accept him, as he's been left behind before in the past just for being himself. He's been very misunderstood, and even though he embraces his oddball personality because it's simply who he is, the way he was treated before still comes back to haunt him at times. I believe that's a realistic part of being autistic, too. I am someone who doesn't really care what others think, but even then it doesn't mean it doesn't suck when I remember that some people have rejected me just because I like things very strongly or talk a certain way.
But at the end of the day it's their loss and not mine. This is something Rui's story helps me remember, and to quote his own mother (who I'm sure is also autistic, as well as his dad, but that's a conversation for another day LOL): ''People are people, and you are you''. This quote means a lot to me even now.
Tamaki Yotsuba - IDOLiSH7
I could choose many more characters, but I decided to include up to 4 characters, since I didn't want to say the same thing for everyone, LOL. Unlike Hina or Rui, Tamaki is generally seen more as an ''idiot'', but he's actually really emotionally intelligent. The one thing he struggles with the most is understanding others, too, but he has more of a temper than the other characters I mentioned before. Tamaki is shown to get frustrated when people don't mean what they say, and oh man, do I understand that.
This is the main source of conflict with his teammate Sougo, who honestly I think is autistic too, but very different from Tamaki. Sougo tends to hide what he really feels and avoids doing what he likes, as he's been looked down on for that before, but he also thinks things through a lot more than Tamaki does. Their development is very dear to me and I love seeing how much they've grown thanks to the other.
Also, Tamaki definitely has a special interest: King Pudding, the mascot for his favourite pudding, which is also definitely his comfort food. He is one of those characters I just can't see as anything but definitely on the spectrum!
There are so many more characters I could talk about, from many Genshin characters (Alhaitham, Cyno, Tighnari, and more come to mind, but I'd have to sit down and make a complete list because the cast is so big!) to characters from books I used to read as a kid. These are just a few of the many that have helped me further understand myself and those around me. Being autistic really impacts how I see the world and myself, but that's fine! I really wouldn't have it any other way. I hope every autistic person can truly love themselves as they are, no matter what those around them might say.
