#( unless he did while experiencing extreme emotion like rage which happens rarely )

[endexe]

Okay, so this is an important, messy note to keep in mind when it comes to interacting with Zero is regardless of how close your muse are with Zero, there is still a high chance that he will end up hurting them one way or another.

Not only Zero have difficulty understanding how his actions and words may impact others exactly because he IS an eldritch monster designed to create chaos and pain to “ help “ others see the warning signs in what appears friendly, one of the things he represent is how being innocent and unaware will usually bring dangerous situations that could’ve been easily avoided if it weren’t for the lack of experiences and knowledge, but also, he is TOO curious to the point he will do harmful things to fulfil his curiosity, wanting to know what hurts them and how much they are provoked by it.

It can be something small like stomping on your muse’s feet out of no where, to stealing and keeping their most valuable item, to even worst such as betraying them. Also, having to be ordered by the World to these things with threats given can also be a reason why he commits them, but he doesn’t understand why would his actions / words hurt someone and how they do because no matter how much he interacts with humanity, more than any other Arcanists, he is still not a human being.

He will still even consider your muse his friend despite what he had done to them and he’d be genuinely confused and hurt if they react to his presence negatively and / or choose to harm him in return, not connecting your muse’s intentions / reactions with what he had done that would prompt them to have them. It’s something Zero needs A LOT of time and space to fully grasp the concept of sympathy and whatnot.

#( oh God do I really need to go over with the subject of murders with Zero???....... ) #( I just??? I think. Zero doesn't usually kill unlike most other Arcanists ) #( on purpose when he have only really killed people by ACCIDENT ) #( unless he did while experiencing extreme emotion like rage which happens rarely ) #( he DOES kill out of self defence or to defend those who are close to him ) #( BUT it's not exactly because he likes them but mostly because he's just??? so curious and fascinated ) #( with how they live change adapt etcetera ) #( and he have this mindset that having to continue living is worst than being dead so ) #( he's just curious to see how long can they live before life fully breaks them apart ) #( but relating to that entire post itself ) #( yeah like???? Zero sometimes hurt Noble and Grim in the end and Grim's extremely spiteful and bitter over that ) #( but Noble's really trying to be patient with him as she can see how Zero is from a group that never grasps the concept of ) #( kindness and sympathy exactly like Grim ) #( I just??? I don't know what I'm saying anymore lmfao but just something to keep in mind ) #( no matter how much I make him so... uwuwuwuwu he's still an extremely dangerous and unpredictable individual ) #tbt #( Zero is still a very new character so I'm not one hundred percent certain with everything that I had thought of him so far ) #( but yeah! hopefully I can try to reword this whole thing better ) #( once I write with him and think about him more ) #( ugh the way Zero gives me a big headache I'm so dsgsdgds... )

[onetoomanysteps]

TWST Boys and MBTI HCs Part 1: Heartslabyul

Hey there! First time trying writing this headcanon stuff series. Differing opinions and discussions are welcome since this is only a HC (nice words though, I don’t condone senseless bashing here), and if there is someone already posted MBTI, just think of this as my hot take on the stuff.

While MBTI’s reliability is debatable when used in real world context, I find it a really interesting and neat way to navigate character traits and personalities in fiction. Thus, while I procrastinate on WIP fics and undergrad thesis try to flex my writing muscles, this immediately came to my mind. And here we are.

No need for permission and disclaimer to use this HC in your fan works whatsoever. However, if you happened to enjoy this do consider to leave a trace behind :3

In this HC series, I’m going to use the Introduction, Strength, And Weakness section of the personality overview for the sake of brevity and not use a few points that I deemed inapplicable (and even then I think it’s already quite long).

Mostly canon-compliant, aside from some of my personal interpretations here and there (expect personal story and main story references up to chapter 3).

For those interested in an overview of MBTI, check this link: https://www.16personalities.com/articles/our-theory. You can also check each personality type overview on the same website if you’re curious.

Since this is going to be quite long, if you’re interested, click below:

Riddle Rosehearts-ENTJ (Commander)

Out of all Heartslabyul boys, this one gave me quite some difficulty hence the long introductory part . First, regarding the Extrovert vs. Introvert debate, while on the surface Riddle is not as flashy or outgoing as the traditional portrayal of Extrovert, I think that his goal to direct Heartslabyul and all of its residents to achieve his ideal level of excellence shows enough of his outward-focused thinking.

Second, it also took me a while since his rule-abiding trait is also prevalent in a number of Sentinels personality type group. However, he also shows a lot of curiosity and very eager to learn new things just for the sake of understanding how the world works, a trait especially prevalent in Analyst personality type group in which ENTJ is a part of.

Strengths

Efficient – Unless explicitly demanded by the rules, his first concern is how to make things work, with little to no care about any kind of flairs that have no correlation on efficiency.

Energetic – Always puts 100% energy into his works, be it individual or group activities. Cue the other more relaxed people struggling to follow...

Self-Confident – Deliberately not checking on his test results because he already knew that it would be perfect score? That’s some level of confidence he has over there. Also, consider his SR Robe story where his confidence in his own skills immediately convinced Sebek to register into horse riding club despite his initial dismay because of Silver’s presence in the club.

Strong-Willed – Disagreed with how the previous dorm head managed the dorm? Duel him and take charge of the dorm just after your first week in school, of course. Really, the iron will this boy has is no joke...

Strategic Thinker – Less apparent than say, Azul, but I do believe he does have this trait. One of the most apparent example of this trait is the way he tackles his studies. Not only he makes notes from class lecture, he also thinks ahead and prepare material from outside sources that no one else bothered to look up for such as the latest scientific journal articles (Riddle school uniform R).

Charismatic and Inspiring –  When he let himself forget about those pesky rules, he actually has this... thing that kinda spurs people to become the best version of themselves; an inspiration, I daresay. This is especially apparent in his interactions with individual members of Dumbass Squad so far, that either portrayed him as an overall competent and admirable senpai that you can look up to (Jack robe SR, Deuce dorm SSR).

Weaknesses

Stubborn and Dominant – Goes hand-in-hand with his general strongheaded character. One interesting example of this trait is his conversation with Azul in prologue’s first rythmic game, in which he outright demanded Azul to follow his lead and adjust to his pace in capturing Grim. Very telling since technically Azul is supposedly someone with the same standing as a fellow dorm head that you can’t just order around...

Intolerant – Has an extremely poor tolerance for error in other people. Self-explanatory, really, goes hand-in-hand with rule-abiding tendencies.

Impatient – When the underclassmen didn’t bring the tarts for Unbirthday Party fast enough, he was already so close to exploding, only managed to narrowly avoiding it thanks to Trey’s intervention (Trey dorm SSR).

Arrogant – Nurtured to the extreme by his own mother to believe in the innate superiority of people with high magical power. He ended up adopting the ‘might equals right’ mindset to the extreme, believing that he had proven himself as the most competent person in Heartslabyul on the basis of his. Remember that time in chapter 1 when took a jab at Ace and Deuce’s presumed less-than-ideal parentage and basically went ‘lower magical power = no rights for you’...

Poor Handling of Emotions – Guy overblotted because he couldn’t identify his neglected emotional need of companionship, and subconsciously tried to cope by enforcing his ideals towards others...

Cold and Ruthless –  The number of people he had ‘beheaded’ for the slightest rule violations speaks for themselves for this behavior, honestly...

Trey Clover-ESFJ (Consul)

An expected result for Heartslabyul’s resident Team Mom. An S-ranking team player that everyone relies on, I think that it’s kind of no-brainer to put him in this category. While the prevalence of his people skill is usually a specialty of Diplomat personality type group, his inclination to value stability above all else puts him firmly in this Sentinel personality type.

Strengths

Strong Practical Skills – Day-to-day dorm management, cooking, dealing with students’ concerns and worries, just all around being a dependable senpai... this guy’s got you covered. We can certainly thank Riddle’s demon temper and borderline impossible standard leadership and his kouhai’s stupidity cluelessness for letting us see this trait appear from time to time...

Strong Sense of Duty – “Knight of the Rose” is no joke indeed: in spite of all the sh*t he has to deal with on daily basis, we seldom hear him to voice even a word of complaint , be it in serious or joking context (for good comparison check on how Cater handles it). A true ‘grit your teeth and bear with it’ guy.

Very Loyal – While this is self-explanatory when it comes to Cater as his fellow long-time suffering underling, he arguably also shows this to Riddle (or maybe more accurate to say, to the ‘Riddle’ of his past memories)... while he low key took a jab at Riddle’s temper in his lab coat SR story, he never really plots something against him, for better or worse unlike that certain snake vice dorm head.  

Sensitive and Warm – As everyone’s fave senpai this is a given. This particular trait of his really is a refuge for Heartslabyul students from their demon strict dorm head...

Good at Connecting with Others – Connected to above point. Really good at empathizing with most people’s pain, making him indispensable as buffer to Riddle’s crippling weakness in this aspect.

Weaknesses

Worried about Their Social Status – Arguably, this is one of the main reasons why he never bothered to do anything in regards to mama Rosehearts’ helicopter parenting that caused Riddle so much suffering. Like it or not, she is an influential citizen in his homeland, and maybe after witnessing her unleashed rage at his family, he was not very keen on trying anything risky...

Inflexible – Very, very reluctant to oppose Riddle in chapter 1, despite the clear evidence that his non-action did more harm than good. he tried to convince himself and others that any kind of resistance would be futile.

Reluctant to Innovate or Improvise – While he’s indispensable for the task of keeping day-to-day operation proceeding smoothly, he also has the tendency to keep doing things the same way, for a very long time. This is apparent in his dorm SSR story, where he was not really welcoming to the underclassmen’s suggestion to change their Unbirthday Party’s cake type.

Vulnerable to Criticism – A bit of a hot take, I HC that after mama Rosehearts chewed him and his family out for feeding poor Riddle strawberry tart, he developed a different take from Che’nya on what should he do as Riddle’s friend, and both of them failed to reconcile their views. The prospect of criticism was appalling enough to him that when Dumbass Squad brought up about Che’nya in chapter 1 he got his rare sour face...

Too Selfless – As pictured above in his own robe SR personal story, he tends to take on so many responsibilities from other people and ended up forgetting his own physical and psychological limits. Another prominent example of this trait is his behavior in Riddle’s lab coat SR, in which he was downplaying his light cold and ended up bedridden because he refused to delegate his responsibilities to take more rest.

Cater Diamond-ESFP (Entertainer)

For me, this one needed quite a bit of contemplating, for two reasons: 1) I’m personally not really focused on him; 2) There’s so little info on him (perhaps this is a sign for something big, perhaps not, only time can tell). Like Trey, I initially also wanted to categorize Cater into a personality type in Diplomat group due to his prominent people skill. However, after reading more into the personalities in Explorer group, I found out that he lacks the usual idealism that embodies personality types from that particular group.

Strengths

Bold – Rarely holds back when it comes to experiencing pleasures of life when the opportunity presents itself. Just look at Idia’s uniform R personal story, in which he decided on a whim to whisk off to Kalim’s banquet without so much of a thought, and even forcibly brought a very reluctant Idia along because it would be more fun that way.

Aesthetics and Showmanship – This is very clear from his day-to-day mannerism, that tends to give off the ‘bubbly and trendy’ feel: his default cheerful and open gestures and words, his everyday up-to-date fashion items, you name it. Flat is most probably one of the furthest thing you would associate with this SNS-loving guy.

Practical – So far, he seems like the type of guy that doesn’t really adhere to a big, overarching ideology that underlies his every actions; he is, after all, the best when doing whatever suits his convenience at that exact moment as demonstrated in his own dorm SSR personal story. A good way to understand this trait of his is to compare him to the more idealistic characters like Riddle, that will most certainly hold onto his personal convictions even when it’s not beneficial.

Observant – Really sharp when it comes to identifying what people really want from him and then acts accordingly, as noticed by Trey multiple times (chapter 1, Cater dorm SSR).

Excellent People Skills – Plays the role of resident social butterfly really well... not much to explain here, really...

Weaknesses

Sensitive – Despite his best efforts to gives off the impression that nothing can really hurt his feeling, both his robe and lab coat SR showed us that he does feel things, and they greatly affect his psychological state (sad mandrake, I’m looking at you).

Conflict-Averse – Desperately tried to persuade Dumbass Squad to not butt heads with Riddle in chapter 1. Also has the tendency to bury his negative feelings behind his smiles and cheery attitude.

Easily Bored – Hops in and out of trends constantly, not much to explain here really... he vibes really well with trend-based Magicam for a reason after all...

Poor Long-Term Planners – Admitted to Riddle and Trey that while he is an excellent multi-tasker, he severely lacks the ability to plan and strategize for long-term goal (Riddle dorm SSR).

Unfocused – Strongly related to above point, he also has a considerable difficulty to tackle subjects that need long-term, regimented effort to master such as Practical Magic (Riddle dorm SSR).

Ace Trappola-ENTP (Debater)

Arguably the first non-Ramshackle member of Dumbass Squad, this boy, indeed, lives and breathes the phrase “Bold and Brash” in his every single endeavors in life. Unlike the other boys in this post, deciding on which personality type most suited for him was so damn easy that I felt a bit insulted (heck, even easier than Trey): his cheekiness and motor mouth were quite were like highlights that pointed out to this personality type’s direction. And, ho boy, the second I read ENTP’s overview, I instantly knew that I already hit the mark this time...

Strengths

Knowledgeable – Not of the useful, practical kind of knowledge, but he does have a fondness to learn various amusing little tricks for the fun of it and for bragging material.

Quick Thinker – This boy seriously has a talent to bullshit his way out of trouble in the last second... This trait is basically the entire plot of his SSR dorm story, in which he showcased his ability to use half-lies and misdirection to avoid disadvantaging himself in unforeseeable situations...

Original – This trait is basically his whole stand off with Riddle in chapter 1. Not only using his own very personal opinion, he also linked it to other Heartslabyul students’ various expressions of discontent and made the initially generic and powerless words into a very distinct, powerful argument that basically screamed ‘you and your rules suck’ to Riddle. Add in a very ingenious touch of physical punch to the face that nobody else dared to try, which made the message even more powerful.

Excellent Brainstormer – Considering his extraordinary bullshitting skill, he must be quite sharp in this department... Also, there’s also the fact that the subject that he performs best at is Magic Analysis...

Charismatic – Only shown subtly so far, but combined with his bullshitting skill he does show a knack to influence people’s opinion from time to time. One example is shown when he influenced Heartslabyul students to demand Trey to make different cakes for their Unbirthday Party (Trey dorm SSR).

Energetic – A given trait when you’re a member of the Dumbass Squad, with how much shenanigans that you’re going to face...

Weaknesses

Very Argumentative – Has the tendency to pick a fight with people, arguably just for kicks. One of the example of this trait is his admission of having the thrill out of the possibility getting your neck ‘cut’ constantly as one of the reason that he finds the thought of changing dorm is unthinkable (Ace dorm SSR voice line).

Insensitive – Lacks the ability to read the atmosphere, or possibly just straight out ignoring it. Cue frequent troubles with Deuce and Riddle...

Intolerant – Has shown quite a bit of pre-concieved prejudices to something he’s not familiar with. Combined with his lack of delicacy, this could turn nasty very fast, just look back at his first meeting with magicless MC and monster Grim...

Can Find It Difficult to Focus – This trait is the main culprit for his bad affinity with traditional text-based learning methods and subjects that make use of said methods, such as Magic History.

Dislike Practical Matters – His general dismay to even try memorizing and implementing written, word-by-word rules that Riddle force feeds to Heartslabyul people everyday is rooted on how boring they are. He fully understands why rules are important, but chooses not to obey it because the prospect of just obeying is not very thrilling to him...

Deuce Spade-ISFJ (Defender)

And, last but not least, here comes our egg boy! This Dumbass #2 of Heartslabyul is one of the more difficult one to assign, and my decision to put him in this personality type didn’t really come that easy. While reading through Defender’s personality overview, at first I thought that “Whoa, maybe this one is too soft for this ex-yankee...” and I had intended to put him into something from the Explorer group due to his dumbass shenanigans general spontaneity, but hey, actually, this boy is soft.

When I factor in the fact that NRC is basically a school that consists of talented but egoistical problem kids, this boy quite distinguishes himself with his fierce loyalty to his loved ones and the general earnest vibe that he exudes, that really vibe with this personality type. Also, something about Introvert vs. Extrovert debate, I HC Deuce as more of an introvert because, while outwardly he is no less rowdy than Ace being a pair of dumbasses that they are, he is way more inward-focused in his way of thinking, focusing on his few beloved ones instead of the larger populace.  

Strengths

Supportive – A great deal more honest and sincere than Ace in his approach of friendship, think of him as that openly supportive friend that doesn’t hide how he values his friends and always tries his best to support them in any way he can.

Reliable and Patient – In line with point above, he’s that type of friend that you can safely depend on, the type that would always be there when you need him.

Imaginative and Observant – Despite appearances, Deuce is actually quite adept at empathy (especially when compared to his fellow Heartslabyul dumbass Ace), being able to sympathize with people’s feeling. One of the best example of this is Deuce’s response to Azul’s insecurity in chapter 3, in which Deuce pretended that he never saw the childhood photo that Azul was so adamant on hiding because of his inferiority issues.

Enthusiastic – He’s really passionate about the things that he has set on to do; you can practically feel it in most of his dialogue lines...

Loyal and Hard-Working – He’s willing to bend back-and-forth for the sake of his loved ones. Hell, the main reason that he tries his hardest to become a great magician in the future is so that he can make his mother happy...

Good Practical Skills – This is moving more to the headcanon side, but I think as an only child that lives only with his mother he ended up developing this trait, whether he likes it or not...

Weaknesses

Humble and Shy – Might be the influence of his yankee past, he’s rather low key when it comes to his personal achievements. Compare that to Ace’s constant bragging...

Take Things Too Personally – Self-explanatory, when you look at his hands-on approach on things... one of the example of this trait is his robe SR story (pictured above), in which he was about to physically fight a student that underplayed his achievement as a first year.

Overload Themselves – ‘Chill’ is not really the word that could be attributed to this boy, he takes everything he does too seriously. Although right now the effects are not really apparent, but it does make me wonder whether this will pose a problem later on...

Reluctant to Change – Very visible when compared side-by-side to the more mercurial fellow dumbass Ace, overall Deuce has more respect to the existing order in his environment, and he also shows more respect towards authority figures. I HC that this trait is what makes him tried to restrain Ace from punching Riddle in their chapter 1 showdown.

#twisted wonderland #heartslabyul #riddle rosehearts #trey clover #cater diamond #ace trappola #deuce spade

[strangerthanjonathan]

Okay so now I have only seen a few people talk about this. I’ve seen these sort of headcanons taken as controversial, some people hate them, others are indifferent, and some support them. But I myself, support these headcanons because seeing yourself in characters is important and representation of things like this is scarce. I just don’t understand the hatred towards it when there’s nothing wrong with it. Today I am going to talk about Jonathan Byers and the possibility of him having a form of Autism.  Now if you don’t want to see this and you want to yell at me then just scroll away. This is just my opinion, I’m not trying to start a fight, so just chill. For the rest of you that want to hear, let’s get started!

I just want to start by saying I’m no expert on this subject. I’m not expecting this to be canon or whatever, and none of these are solid proof that Jonathan has autism. Not every autistic person has the same traits, they differ from person to person. It’s just something that’s been in my mind for a while and I figured that maybe some people could see this and be like “Hey I noticed that too!” 1.) Jonathan shows a very huge interest in both music and photography. A lot of teens in the ‘80s liked music, it’s a common thing. But Jonathan carries his camera around quite a lot, he uses it as a coping mechanism, a sort of bridge between himself and the world around him.  It could be surmised that his special interest is photography, it’s something he really likes and if he so pleased he could probably tell you a lot about it. He takes his camera everywhere, even to look for his missing brother. He takes pictures of the ground, as if the results might show him some sort of answer.  2.) The way he talks about people and pictures. Jonathan talks about the world as if he’s on the outside looking in, as if he’s an entirely different entity compared to everyone else. He discusses how he’d rather ‘observe’ people rather than talk to them. He understands this is strange, he’s been made very aware of that because of the way people act around him.  He says that “Sometimes, people don’t say what they’re really thinking.” and according to Jonathan if you ‘capture the right moment’ it will explain a person somehow. This observation in and of itself is interesting, because sometimes autistic people have problems interacting with others because they are very literal and they don’t quite like or understand that the people around them don’t always mean what they say. Of course, Jonathan shows an understanding and he too expresses an affinity for sarcasm... So he does understand some forms of spoken language, but he doesn’t like that people aren’t honest with him. It frustrates him that people don’t speak their minds, which can be especially taxing when you’re someone like Jonathan who seemingly is picked on quite often. He doesn’t trust people to mean what they say because perhaps he’s had experiences in which he thought people were being kind to him when in reality they were making fun of him. (I think we’ve all experienced that at one point or another). 3.) He takes pictures of the teens at Steve’s house, and of course that’s a creepy scene... But did you know that sometimes people with ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) cross over lines and boundaries because they have a hard time comprehending what is ‘socially acceptable’? It doesn’t excuse his actions, he even acknowledges this later and apologizes. He took pictures of a girl getting undressed, let’s be real. But it could show why he did it, instead of just ‘he’s a creepy guy’. When Nicole catches him, he seems embarrassed or startled that she’s seen them. By this point, perhaps he’s had time to examine his actions and realizes that he’s done something wrong. He’s living in a society he doesn’t seem to comprehend, but he has to know some of the rules by now. However, stumbling upon kids partying while taking pictures in the woods isn’t really in the society handbook he’s been handed, in the moment, he just did it. Later on, he probably had time to examine his actions and regretted them. Honestly he was punished for it pretty justly in the end. 4.) When his camera is broken. Steve comments that Jonathan knows he did something wrong but it’s just ‘hardwired’ into him and that they have to take away his ‘toy’. Jonathan immediately goes from passive and quiet to frantic and ready to step in, he pleads with Steve. The camera obviously means a lot to him, whether it was a present or something he worked hard for. But remember, it’s also his connection to the world around him. It helps him interpret the way people work, helps him cope with reality. His bridge is broken, and he’s absolutely devastated. He falls completely silent, and when he spots Nancy still looking at him he opens his mouth, as if to speak but he says nothing. Some might say this looks like an episode in which he’s gone nonverbal due to stress. 5.) This one is a little weak, but I don’t care. Jonathan has a soft voice, he talks quietly and often stammers and stutters as he speaks. He mumbles a lot, and has a flat tone most of the time. This is another trait common with ASD, especially people with Asperger’s and such.  Volume control is difficult sometimes for people with ASD. I myself struggle to maintain appropriate volume levels when speaking, as when I’m excited I tend to grow louder without noticing. Jonathan himself stays very quiet, and probably has to be prompted to speak up very often. His often flat tone conveys not a lack of emotional but a lack of understanding how to do so or comprehending that he’s supposed to convey his emotions through his voice. 6.) People see him as strange and odd, and just the way people depict him in general points out some form of social shortcoming. He tends to make intense eye contact and stare, and when he speaks he has a habit of looking away as he does so. It’s difficult to maintain appropriate eye contact for him, and he’s probably been berated for it at times, so he has a tendency to stare in an attempt to fix this.  7.) Routine, maybe? Jonathan is seen making breakfast for Will and presumably himself in the pilot, that’s most likely his routine. Even after Will’s disappearance, his solution to helping his mother is cooking breakfast. He’s not sure how to deal with everyone’s emotional distress or his own, so he just does what he knows. 8.) The fight with Steve. Jonathan’s rage was justified in this scene, he was just fine walking away until the older boy called out his family. Now think about this, Jonathan has been dealing with so much lately. First his brother goes missing, then his mom starts losing her mind, his camera is broken, his entire life starts to fall apart. His brother is presumed dead, his father threatens to come back into the picture, and then there’s the whole thing with the monster and stuff. He is dealing with so much, and then Steve shoves him over what he can handle. He’s pushed over the edge, into what many would call a meltdown. Of course, autistic people are rarely violent and aggressive towards others in their meltdowns. That is, unless someone is touching them, trying to prevent them from leaving, or adding into the sensory overload in some way. Steve is pushing him, calling out his family, egging him on.  Jonathan snaps and they fight, and once Jonathan is on top of Steve he only sees Steve. His sole focus is beating up Steve, any attempts to get him off are completely ignored. He pushes Tommy away, doesn’t hear the approaching cop car, and then elbows an officer in the face who tries to grab him. He’s not aware of what’s going on, he’s having an emotional outburst of such severity that he’s in a mode where his mind is saying ‘do not touch me’ and nothing else matters to him in that moment. Even after he’s pulled away, he struggles to get back on top of Steve, and he continues to struggle as he’s handcuffed. He screams at a cop to get off of him, as if it is a valid request, he’s freaked out and upset.

Back at the police station, he’s irritated and anxious, obviously still coming down off of his fit. His mother asks what happened and all he can say is ‘I’m fine’, he doesn’t even tell her ‘I got in a fight’ or anything of the sort.  In Hopper’s office, he’s got his fingers sort of in his mouth. I suppose it looks like he’s biting his nails but I took it as a stim myself, just a way to calm himself down. He’s nervous, looking between his mom and Hopper. Of course, he thinks they won’t believe him but he’s also extremely fidgety, which isn’t really something Jonathan exhibits very often. He’s geared up, still in fight or flight mode.  9.) His mother’s perspective of him. She doesn’t really talk that much about Jonathan as she does Will, but Joyce says a few choice words that I thought were very strange. Most parents of teenagers would say that their child is too distant, they want to do things themselves and are stubborn and rebellious... Joyce says this “You act like you’re all alone in the world.”  Not in this moment, just in general, he acts as if he’s alone. This excludes not only Joyce, but Will as well. It just proves that Jonathan sees himself as a separate entity compared to everyone else, and even his mother acknowledges it. He isn’t just a loner, he’s cut himself off from everyone else whether it be intentional or not. He’s not just some shy friendless kid, he’s done this to himself, he’s distanced himself from the world because he doesn’t understand it and feels like nobody else understands him. 10.) Jonathan has a good rapport with the boys, but nobody his age.  Even though he doesn’t seem the best of friends with the little group of boys his little brother is part of, he’s quite friendly with them compared to everyone else. This is most likely because Will is friends with them, they’re a little strange like Will, like Jonathan. Will is like a bridge, he’s a connection, nobody is closer to Jonathan than Will. He knows his brother, and his friends by extension know him too. They know he’s strange and odd, in another world, but in a way they are too... This really only points out that Jonathan is socially inept again, but I thought it was important to see how odd he is in the eyes of his classmates. It’s to the point where someone in Tommy and Steve’s group ( I don’t remember who, maybe Carol?) jokes that “I didn’t know he could talk”... He’s so bizarre in society’s standards he doesn’t even speak, that’s not just an outcast by social standards. He isn’t just the poor kid, the queer, the creepy guy. And it’s not just because of being bullied or anything of the sort, he probably just doesn’t talk that much unless prompted. I know a guy with autism that I’ve gone to school with since I was in fourth grade, he rarely spoke and only spoke when prompted. He was quiet, kept to himself, and when he did speak it was rarely audible. It reminds me a lot of Jonathan Byers. 11.) The way Joyce speaks to Will and Jonathan separately.  This is going to sound odd, and maybe reaching... But honestly, it feels like Joyce talks to the boys differently. When talking to Jonathan, Joyce often repeats herself, she speaks clearly and to the point. It’s almost like she’s in a habit of repetition around him, as if she realizes that sometimes he doesn’t understand things. Maybe it’s just because of the situation they’re in, but she repeats herself and makes sure that she gets through to Jonathan when talking to him. When Hopper and Joyce are leaving, she says “I need you to stay here” and when Jonathan protests, she continues over him and explains that he needs to watch the kids. She says please a few times, and when she leans back, she makes very intense eye contact with him and promises multiple times that she’s going to find Will. It’s almost as if she feels like she has to repetitively tell him this or she believes he might follow her despite her instructions (I mean, hell, it doesn’t sound out of the realm of possibility).  Also, in the pilot, when she asks where Will is, Jonathan seems to have forgotten to wake him up. She is irritated and says that she’s told him this a thousand times. However, this could be chalked up to a forgetfulness that seems to run in the family. Joyce is a little forgetful it seems, so it would be understandable that Jonathan has a similar trait. A lot of lines spoken to Jonathan by Joyce are repeated needlessly. Of course it’s understandable if she’s mad, but even when she’s worried she pries at Jonathan. “What is it? What is it? Tell me. Tell me!” This could be a habit she picked up from Jonathan’s childhood in which it took a lot of prompting for him to respond to questions. She also says “Do you hear me” or “Understand” a few times, which isn’t something she says often to anyone except Hopper when he doubts her.  She also makes intense eye contact with him all the time, like she had to struggle for a long time to get him to look at her which might have been the case. She’ll take hold of his shoulders or his arm and duck her head and wait until he looks at her to get his agreement or for him to respond, like a cue they’ve worked on. - - -  There are probably other things I could point out but this is just from memory really. I probably should rewatch the series but I rarely rewatch series unfortunately.  None of this is concrete evidence, some of this could be explained away to be honest as social anxiety or just other simple things. But I dunno, headcanons exist for a reason, eh?

#jonathan byers #stranger things #headcanons #autism