i don't really like when people say dungeon meshi is accidentally good autistic representation, because while i understand not wanting to make conclusions without explicit confirmation from the author, there's always the weird assumption that non-western authors somehow don't know about things like neurodivergency/queerness/etc. (on top of the assumptions that east asian authors are somehow more naive or oblivious to "western" social issues).
given that dungeon meshi started being published in 2014, it's not really a "work belonging to its times"—it's as contemporary as any other media we discuss on this site, which means it should be fair to assume it engages with contemporary topics (and at the very least, you shouldn't say that the representation is accidental with so much confidence)
but anyways, the chapter "perfect communication" in ryoko kui's "terrarium in a drawer" is some of the most straightforward autistic representation I've seen, and from now on I'm going to assume that laios's character writing is absolutely intentional in that regard:
It was never about hamas. If israel manages somehow to kill every member of hamas, what then? Do you think Palestinians are just going to forgive and forget everything Israel has done?
Babies who are the only surviving members of their families? Fathers carrying the remains of their children in plastic bags? Palestinians who witnessed people blown to bits right in front of them? Had Israeli forces shoot at them as they tried to escape the north? Palestinians in the West Bank who have been captured and tortured on camera? Palestinians in 48 who have been arrested just for sympathizing with their kin in Gaza? Palestinian school girls being assaulted by the IOF? Mothers who only have the blood of their children on their hands as their only remaining piece of them? The constant dehumanization that followed our every move - how while Palestinians suffered, politicians called us “monsters”, “human animals”, “children of darkness”, “savages”, and “cockroaches”?
It’s been 75 years since my family was forced from their villages by Zionist militias, they have never forgotten what they did to their neighbors and how they are still denied their right of return. None of us will.
Now, IOF forces in Gaza raise the Israeli flag over the beaches and take selfies with fleeing Palestinians in the background, cheer and celebrate a “return to their settlements in gaza” and sing about leveling the land and fantasize building shopping malls on Palestinian mass graves - it was never about hamas.
edit: turning off reblogs because
1. i am now very aware this could be an allergy
2. talking down to me, calling me names, and making assumptions about my identity over a stupid pepper poll is irritating