#Zinnia's autism

[zinniajones]

Lithuanian pre-Christian mythology and snake worship (part 2)

(copied from Twitter)

There were plenty of Lithuanian religious practices before Christianity and they sound amazing, the snake worship, the eternal fire, the oak groves, the "sun-hammer cult" ("the sun was liberated by a hammer"), a whole 1200s pantheon (etalpykla.lituanistikadb.lt/fedora/objects…)

A Baltic folk song about snakes as protectors of the home and its stove and fire, hanging out in the house, Lithuanians keeping the snakes warm by their stoves; also, snakes appeared as "protectors of the cows" and "the mother of bees" (degruyter.com/document/doi/1…)

"Where are you creeping, black adder, In the darkness in the evening? - I bring a message to the mother of the son, The son is on the bottom of the sea."

So that's pretty chilling

"O you grass snake, dear snake, Bearer of gods, Lead me to the hill, To dear God." (The grave is on the hill) "In the open field by the blue sea stands an oak-tree with broad leaves, under this oak are old sheep, no lambs, (with) black wool. On this wool lies the snake."

So there was a popular 1500s Lithuanian snake cult version of Running Up That Hill

Big ups to pre-Christian medieval Lithuanians, absolutely understood the assignment

When Christianity showed up, the snakes were replaced by witches lol typical

Just immediately turns into something fucked up about blaming women

"Euphemism for the snake constitute the largest group of animal euphemisms in Lithuanian .... The ancient cult of the snake in Lithuania was abolished with the advent of Christianity and then a negative attitude to snakes was imposed." (epublications.vu.lt/object/elaba:2…)

A large Lithuanian vocabulary for talking about snakes:

(to be continued!!)

#judgment snake #Lithuanian folk religion #tw snakes #cw snakes #snakes #snake tw #Lithuania #Zinnia's snake cult #Zinnia's autism #snake cult #Baltic serpents thread #snakies #Lithuanian mythology #Baltic mythology #Lithuanian pantheon #Lithuanian folklore #Lithuanian folk music

[mamasplat]

new blog name thanks to:

i have a mental timeline of the entire existence for unworldlyshipping. i know the first and pretty much only unworldlyshipping artist by style alone. i could tell you the questionable history of its links to expansiveidealsshipping. and i watched them get there first few fics on ao3 while still not having a common tag. this pair is so rare i am a scholar of unworldly. i’ve seen it all, i’ve studied it from a formal view, and i’ve memorized it.

#autism be damned #unworldlyshipping #lorekeeper zinnia #magma admin courtney

[selkiebinch]

hey I made an alignment chart for pokemon characters I hc as having autism because I'm Insane enjoy I guess (idt Maxie is Evil-evil but. the spot had to be filled)

#pokemon #steven stone #ingo pokemon #ingo and emmet #emmet pokemon #iris pokemon #maxie pokemon #cyrus pokemon #n pokemon #colress pokemon #red pokemon #zinnia pokemon #autism positivity #autism posting #pokemon villains #team magma #team galactic #team plasma #pokemon dppt #pokemon bw2 #pokemon rse #pokemon bw #pokemon frlg #pokemon oras #pokemon masters #that's enough probably

[lorekeeper-backset]

I was stuck on what to do for a late Zinnia Thursday so I’ll just send this:

How would she interact with Volo? It’s something I’ve thought of a few times (despite not playing PLA lol) since I saw an artwork of the two in a conversation.

I think at first they'd get along really well. They're both kinda mischievous and have history and mythology autism. They probably ramble at eachother for hours.

But when Volo does his heel-turn she starts clowning on him so hard.

#backset blabbers #pokemon #pokemon oras #ask backset??? #lorekeeper zinnia #zinnia pokemon #pokemon legends arceus #volo pokemon #pokemon wielder volo

[trivial-writing]

So, I want to talk mote about my pokemon fantasy au. I talked about it on @cheemken’s blog. I don’t actually know if I repeated some ideas, so there may be some repetition. I also rewrote some stuff as well!

So, the second biggest change I’ve made for this au is all about Wallace. At first, he was a poet or some shit. I changed him into one of Steven’s concubines. I’m slowly starting to ship Orginshipping, so this is my start point. I’ve always liked the idea of Wallace kind of being Steven’s sense of reason when it comes to social situations because no one can’t tell me Steven has autism and/or ad(h)d.

Steven was and still is a high noble. He was the heir of Hoenn, but I think it’ll be another character. Steven kinda wants to be a rebel, but he’s just too much of a good boy that he just makes himself look like an edgy teenager when he’s 25.

Zinnia is a part of a rebellion that shows Steven how to be a true rebel. Steven has no idea what’s happening, so it’s up to Wallace to become a bamf warrior to keep Steven away from doing war crimes.

I’m a Winona x Wallace shipper (wtf is the ship name). I made Winona a cool female warrior. I remember I saw Sango from Inuyasha from one of my childhood friend’s tv, so I made Winona have a big boomerang that was like that one boomerang in Legend of Zelda Wind Waker. She would use her altaria, I think I named it Hinoka, as a camouflage in the sky. She would dive from the sky and kill her targets.

The Elite Four were kinda like the Three Musketeers mixed with One Piece. Drake was the captain, Phoebe would make distractions, Glacia would fix the ship, and Sydney would steal whatever he could. They robbed a plot device that made Steven have to be saved by Winona. I’m changing this to be Wallace.

Norman and his family are traveling merchants. They were kicked out by the Indigo Elite Four because plot. I’ll explain it in the Kanto/Johto portion at some point.

Roxanne was just a teacher…just like how she is in the games. Brawly is just a crew member in the Elite Four pirates. Tate and Liza are like gods(?) that people pray to. There was a scene about them. The scene can be summarized to Steven asking, “what are these sassy creepy lost children in the middle of nowhere?”

Archie and Maxie are just two warring clans. It was lovers to enemies to rivals to friends to lovers. The admins were in the background yelling “just fuck already!” And when they did, they were screaming.

A plot line connects all the first four regions into a totally coherent story. Trust me.

#pokemon #writing #fanfiction #pokemon fantasy au #i need more gay in my writing #little thing i made #the last part is sarcasm for those who doesn’t get it

[lizzybeth1986]

Coffee-Brown Eyes

Book: Perfect Match

Pairing: Sloane Washington x Hawthorne Park (black m!MC), Sloane Washington x Alana Kusuma (briefly).

Rating: PG

Summary: A small drabble about Sloane's struggle to look people in the eye.

Word Count: 886 words

Note: My HC for Sloane has always been that she is autistic, and one of the things some autistic people struggle a lot with is eye contact. So this is an exploration of Sloane in that context. The quote in my moodboard for this comes from writer and artist Judy Endow (Here's an article she wrote on Autism and Eye contact, along with her artwork on the same! I highly recommend reading it!)

Tagging @choicesficwriterscreations for Fics of the Week

(Faceclaims:

Hawthorne Park - Daniel Kaluuya

Sloane Washington - Nelly Muse)

"Coffee?"

Their fingers brush as the cup passes from his hands to hers; Sloane allows her touch to linger a second longer on Hawthorne's knuckles. From underneath her lashes, she steals a moment's glance into the laughing warmth of his eyes.

She doesn't notice how fleeting that one look is - she never will - but he does. They've been together long enough for her to feel as comfortable with his touch as she would her own, yet the one thing that remains a constant is the persistent wandering of her eyes.

Sloane sips the brew in front of her with her eyes closed. Black, no sugar. Nothing to mask its sharp, invigorating bitterness. Sloane likes her coffee the way she likes her chocolate, the way she likes Hawthorne's eyes. Dark, sharp, shining. Deeply overwhelming.

She peers in Hawthorne's direction again. He isn't looking, thank God, but she can still see his face from this vantage point. She can still see his eyes. A tiny thrill shimmies its way through her spine.

It's so much easier like this. Eyes are fascinating things to look at, really. All those colours, all the myriad changes in hue when the lighting or mood was slightly different. When she was a child she would stare, enthralled, at pools of limpid blue and sea green, searching for shades she knows she would never find in a mirror. But now she's older, now it's darker colours that hold her attention.

She loves looking into people's eyes.

But only when they aren't looking back.

Not that Sloane had been aware of this trait of hers, not until the last few years. She'd spent almost all her teen years and half her adult life not even thinking about whether she looked at people differently from everyone else.

It's one of the first things I noticed about you, Damien would tell her one night in Indonesia, staring listlessly at a campfire. And it made me wary. Most of the time you'd never look anyone in the eye. Made me wonder what you were hiding.

A corner of Sloane's mouth quirks up a little. She did have plenty to hide when she first met them all, that was true. As for the rest...clearly Damien knows by now that she could be spitting truths while having the same restless, roaming gaze.

Of late she's begun to notice the same restlessness in Zinnia's too. Limpid and sky-blue, they widen and constantly seem in search of something. Sloane has often wondered if, subconsciously, she'd had something to do with that. Could she have passed on a trait she hadn't even noticed in herself, to the Match she helped create?

"Probably," Alana whispered against her curls last night, her curves moulded against Sloane's own, her fingers tracing lazy patterns of fire across her stomach. "When you do try to look someone in the eye, you're painfully obvious about it. And I do mean painful, beb. Because you look like you're in literal pain when you have to do it for that long. Zinnia has that look too."

Sloane was surprised enough to stare at her girlfriend, long enough that she could feel the aching strain at the corners of her eyes, images like whitened nerve-endings dancing around her field of vision.

Alana smiled, her deep brown eyes glistening. In this light, they seemed to possess the texture of velvet. "Twenty seconds."

"What?" The tip of Sloane's tongue nervously touched her bottom lip, forcing Alana's gaze from her eyes to her mouth.

"The longest you've looked into my eyes," she let out a throaty laugh, covering Sloane's lips with her own....

"Earth to Sloane," Hawthorne's deep, rumbling voice takes her out of her reverie. "Drink up, honey, or your coffee will go cold."

Sloane's smile is heart-stoppingly sweet, Hawthorne thinks - especially with how she holds the mug so close to her and casually shrugs her shoulders. "Imagine that, our very own homemade cold brew."

Hawthorne silently raises his own mug, his hand gripping the windowsill. The sunlight streams in from the window, bathing his face - his eyes! - in light.

In the shadows, his eyes are dark, almost black. They're already the colour of the deepest, sharpest coffee. You could almost fool yourself into believing such eyes were incapable of changing colour, of possessing an entire bouquet of hues and shades. Lord knows she'd believed that enough in front of the mirror as a child.

In sunlight they're twin pools of honey, she can almost imagine that colour flowing in thick, cascading waves. In sunlight they're the colour of tiger eye gems - glowing golden. Under her eyelashes, Sloane stares shamelessly, breathlessly, hoping against hope Hawthorne will take at least a little longer to look back. This sight is too beautiful for her to turn her eyes away from now.

Unbeknownst to her, Hawthorne stifles a smile. He has long since trained his eyes to shift their gaze away a little longer. Long since learned to resist the temptation of letting her know he's watching her watching him. Long since allowed his eyes to be the ecstatic twin objects of her admiring gaze, rather than enthusiastic participant.

It's a tiny, worthy sacrifice, for that look of pure pleasure it brings in her own eyes.

Sloane grins as she looks away. Hawthorne's own coffee must be cold now but she suspects he won't care.

Hawthorne grins as he turns towards her. One minute twenty seven seconds.

--

* Beb - Indonesian for "babe".

#sloane washington #perfect match #sloane x mc #sloane x alana #alana kusuma #sloanewashingtonappreciationweek #SWAW #SWAW Day 3 #SWAW Day 3: Romance #lizzybeth1986 #content: fanfic

[autisticgirliesbracket]

SLARPERS TO ME!!!!! Advocating for submissions for zinnia super lesbian animal rpg, a lesbian written as neurotypical, and also a cool dragon (beloved by autism havers everywhere)

this ^!!

#autistic girlies bracket #ask #sugarsprinkles

[80stacos]

2nd Gen Gang — The Outsiders OCs

RUBY MAY CURTIS

Daughter of Ponyboy Curtis; mother unknown

Was named after Pony’s mom’s birthstone

Likes to read just like her dad

Also into nature

Asexual; biromantic

She’s sort of the “runt” amongst the rest of the gang’s kids, kind of like her dad was

She’s pretty quiet but also a sweetheart, and sometimes sassy

The only makeup she will wear is lipgloss

BRUNO MARTÍN RANDLE

The oldest child of Steve and Evie Randle’s kids

Studying data science at NYU

Loves yoga and meditation; he’s really into self-care

He is also super interested in Indian history and culture, and even took some Hindi classes

NINA MARIA RANDLE

The 2nd oldest child of Steve and Evie Randle

Athletic; played soccer all throughout middle and high school

Bisexual with a preference towards women

Loves hamsters; she has one named Latte

Best friends with Ruby; they are sassy twins

SIERRA JOSEFINA RANDLE

The youngest child of Steve and Evie Randle

Very introverted except around Zoe; they are besties

Bisexual

She’s really interested in her Hispanic heritage and knows more Spanish than anyone in her family (besides her mom)

She’s really artistic and loves to paint

ZOE CASSANDRA MATTHEWS

Daughter of Keith (Two-Bit) and Alyssa (1st ex-wife of Two-Bit)

Soon-to-be step-mother is Marcia Wagner

Half sisters with Kristi Matthews

Spanish and Greek on her mother's side

Has a good relationship with both her parents

Has clinical depression

Introverted

Pansexual

Best friends with Sierra

Wants to be a model

KRISTINA “KRISTI” MATTHEWS

Daughter of Keith (Two-Bit) and Katie (2nd ex-wife of Two-Bit)

Soon-to-be step-mother is Marcia Wagner

Half sisters with Zoe Matthews

Russian on her mom's side

Mostly stays with her dad

Heterosexual

Does makeup tutorials on YouTube

Obsessed with Bath and Body Works

WADE BENJAMIN CURTIS

Son of Darry and Melissa Curtis

Gay; closeted

The oldest of the gang

Getting his degree in Creative Media Production at the University of Oklahoma

Has autism spectrum disorder

EUGENE DARREL CURTIS

The oldest child of Sodapop and Abby Curtis

Bisexual with a preference towards men

Is really into beauty and self-care

Loves to dance

ZINNIA DOROTHY CURTIS

The youngest child of Sodapop and Abby Curtis

Lesbian

Does gaming and beauty tutorials on YouTube

Loves to swim and surf; she goes to California every summer with her friends

#the outsiders #charms ocs

[humongousautismblast69]

┈┈┈┈․° ☣ °․┈┈┈┈

This place is not a place of honor... no highly esteemed deed is commemorated here... nothing valued is here.

🦈My name: Ezekial, Zeke

🦈 My pronouns: Any pronouns

🦈 My identities: Agender, bisexual

🦈 I have: ADHD & Autism

🪼 ~ Fandoms I’m in: Newsies, Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared, The Greatest Mafia Movie Ever Made, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Over the Garden Wall, Stranger Things, How To Train Your Dragon, Wings of Fire, Hunger Games, Welcome Home, (and others)

🪼 ~ Special Interests: Bees, different cultures & languages, mental illnesses and disabilities, leftism and American politics, marine life

🪼 ~ Thing I like: Drawing, singing, having deep conversations with friends, inside jokes, zinnias, beaded bracelets, sewing, woodworking, exploring woods, picking flowers, dandelions, dragons, dinosaurs

═════════•°• ⚠️•°•═════════

🦈Do Not Interact if you’re: homophobic, transphobic, racist, sexist, a fascist, against neo-pronouns, ableist, support hate speech/symbols, or are planning on harassing anyone 🦈

═════════•°• ⚠️•°•═════════

Please don’t message me with:

~🐋NSFW things

~🐋Vents

~🐋Any hate speech or symbols

┈┈┈┈․° ☣ °․┈┈┈┈

#intro post #pinned post

[zinniajones]

These are all over central Florida now and they are loathsome, they are not at all cool or neon retrowave they just look like shit

#did you see those lights #purple but bad purple #Zinnia's autism

[mamasplat]

let it be known when anyone posts about zinnia and courtney in shared context i’m out there.

i’m out there and i’m kicking my feet, i’m giggling, i’m hiding my face in my hands, i’m a bomb about to explode like a firework in the night sky-

[fine print:]

[this is based on my own unhinged opinion and day dreaming activities, i have color coded specific words to assist in visualization. zinnia is red, courtney is purple. these are of course open to interpretation and i am of course open to further discussion.]

therefore, brainrot playlist below ↓↓↓

———•———

•What Is This Feeling?:

seems self explanatory for the grunt zinnia era, but can also work in pasio forced proximity.

“What is this feeling, So sudden and new?. I felt the moment, I laid eyes on you. My pulse is rushing. My head is reeling. My face is flushing. What is this feeling? Fervid as a flame, Does it have a name? Yes! Loathing, Unadulterated loathing”

• Mary:

frankly not my usual taste, but the potential in the lyrics is ripe. specifically the amount of ways you can utilize it, you could make it fit most plots if you try hard enough and i throughly enjoy tragic lesbians.

“Mary is the girl that I wanna kiss. She's got big red eyes and big red lips, She's got big sharp teeth and big fat hips. Mary is the girl that I wanna fuck. She's got leather heart and leather gloves, She's the only girl that I wanna love.”

and it only gets even more angsty if that’s what your wanting, for instance- the delta episode

“Mary is the girl that leaves you to rot. She says, "I am real and you are not" She says, "I am real and you are not"”

• Again:

heavy delta episode break down. and flyleaf in general gives me big courtney vibes (the whole reason they got into my top artists so fast)

“I love the way that your heart breaks, With every injustice and deadly fate.”

“I love that you're never satisfied, With face value wisdom and happy lies.”

“You take what they say and go back and cry. You're so close to me that you nearly died.”

• This Is (Not):

also delta episode. if Again is courtney’s pov, This Is (Not) is zinnia’s.

“We're specks of dust, Hurling nowhere through unending void. We're blinks of time, Clinging haphazardly to life.”

“And we'll do it again 'til it's done. But we know it's never enough. You can only get what you give. As the sky crashes down, Hold me firm 'til it's my turn again.”

• Ecstasy (Apple of My Eye):

with so much inherent angst with unworldlyshipping (not complaining i enjoy sobbing over them.) it’s only fair i switch the pace. we all know courtney can be a bit…intense. some would say obsessive. but i hear ecstasy and my first thought is courtney being all mushy over that wild lorekeeper.

“In my darkest dreams I see, You're much close now to me. I have got you in my hair, I can feel you round me everywhere”

“In a kiss lies so much more than touch. And my life has found a new temptation, And ecstasy has meaning once again. I find suddenly I'm closer to you. And I find all my wildest dreams, Have come true, While I spin round. My heart is beating for two. And I am wishing, It will always be you and I.”

• Set Fire to the Rain:

hear me out when i say 2010s adele fits unworldly shipping- because i’m right. zinnia’s team magma betrayal in a courtney pov.

“I let it fall, my heart. And as it fell, you rose to claim it”

“My hands, they're strong, But my knees were far too weak. To stand in your arms, Without falling to your feet.”

“But there's a side to you, That I never knew, never knew. All the things you'd say, They were never true, never true. And the games you play, You would always win, always win”

———

!honorable mentions!:

———

that’s all i got (for now…) you may now forget this post byeee

———•———

#the autism still going strong #unworldlyshipping #magma admin courtney #lorekeeper zinnia #playlist #i put way too much effort into this #self indulgence at its finest #Spotify

[jasontoddssuper]

Zinnia: Hey, can I get seven large Cokes and a BBQ sauce?

Lex: Is Pepsi okay?

Zinnia: "I guess," I say, sulking, my violet-hued orbs peering down because of gravity.

Lex: Okay. I hand you seven large Cokes and a Pepsi.

JFNFNDBDBSVDBDJDHDHDHDG

#epic autism momence... #birdwhisperertorivega #pjo #zinnia #lex de los santos #drinks #real self shipping hours #hoo #askxaquestion

[lorekeeper-backset]

So far I've given Zinnia:

Autism

ADHD

Kleptomania

Pathological Lying

Guilt Complex

Depression

Admittedly, the Kleptomania and Pathological Lying aren't supported by canon but they just feel right. The rest are at least tangentially supported, though.

#backset blabbers #pokemon #pokemon oras #lorekeeper zinnia #zinnia pokemon

[winterrseason]

happy autism acceptance month, here is Jessamine infodumping her special interest onto Zinnia (dinosaurs >:3)

#unkempt garden #unkempt garden art #jessamine huerta #zinnia eun-hwa #fret draws #lgbtq #lgtbq art #autism acceptance #autistic character

[sapphosvioletts]

Flowers

Natasha x Autistic Teen reader

Summary:

Natasha's daughter has a special interest of flowers and even though others might find special interests weird, Nat absolutely loves hearing about her daughters special interests and indulges in them happily. - Or, three scenarios of Natasha and her daughter indulging in her special interest together.

Word count: 1,301

Note: Not every autistic person experiences autism the same. I'm autistic and I am writing from my perspective of how I personally experience autism, but not everyone feels the same as me or has the same perspective as I do.

- the reader is adopted, they are not biologically related. I want my writing to be inclusive to everyone, which is why i am specifying this incase it isn't directly said in the fic

.oOo.

An amazing thing about being autistic, is the special interests and hyperfixations. Although some may find it weird or unusual, Nat doesn't. In fact, she loves when I tell her all about my special interests, she lets me ramble on for as long as I want about them, a loving smile on her lips the whole time.

"Are those the trees from the lorax?" Natasha asks from behind me, peaking over my shoulder to find me looking at pictures of Alliums on my phone. I laugh and shake my head at her. "No, they're Alliums. You have a good point though, they do look like them." We both laugh and she plops down on the couch next to me.

Flowers are a special interest of mine, and sometimes I get in little phases where I research everything about them, as there's always more to learn even when you think you know all of it.

"You know, there's a farmers market going on today and I'm sure they'll have flowers there, do you want to go?" I nod excitedly and bounce in my seat with a smile, which makes her smile in return. "Go get dressed then!" She nudges me off the couch jokingly.

I run up to my room and quickly get changed, running back down in record time to meet Natasha by the door. We head to her car with me barely being to contain my excitement. Natasha only looks at me lovingly, absolutely adoring my happy stims.

After a 15 minute drive from the compound, Nat parks on the side of the street. I can see the stands already and I become even more excited than before.

I hold onto Nat's hand, not liking public spaces that much. Being around other people makes me anxious, and under any other circumstances I probably would have been shaking with anxiety, but I think my excitement somehow overpowered my nervousness at the moment.

We walked around for a bit before finally coming upon a flower stand. I bounce on my toes happily and let out a tiny sqeal. Natasha grins and wraps her arms around my shoulder, pulling me into her side. I wrap my arm around her waist and lean into her.

We slowly walk around the stand, both of us staring in amazement at the flowers. After a walk around the full stand, we walk around again, this time actually looking out for some flowers to buy. Natasha grabs a huge sunflower and smacks me with it. I bat it away while both of us are overcome with contagious laughter.

She decides to keep the sunflower for herself, ending up actually wanting it. I find some tulips and pick up a bouquet of those, knowing they probably won't stay alive much longer out of the ground but loving them anyways.

By the time we were done and walking back to the car, I ended up with an armful of all sorts of flowers, Iris's, Snapdragons, Marigolds, Zinnias, and Tulips. I can't help the large grin that comes to my face while I look down at the flowers in my arms as we weave through the people at the farmers market.

Unbeknownst to me, Natasha took a picture of me happily looking down at my armful of flowers. She mentally noted to set it as her home screen on her phone. She followed behind me, with a hand on my back to let me know she was still there. She barely took her eyes off of me, loving to see her daughter so happy and content.

Her eyes almost glazed over with tears when I look up at her with a smile, happily thanking her for the flowers. Her heart was so full of love that she didn't know she could hold for someone.

.oOo. .oOo. .oOo. .oOo.

I look down at the school work on my desk disapprovingly. I hated it, there are so many other things I would rather be doing right now! And I don't even know where to start, it all just seems so overwhelming. When tears come to my eyes, there's a soft knock at my bedroom door.

The door cracks open and Nat pops her head in. "Hey honey, can I come in?" I wipe my tears with my sleeve and nod. When she walks fully in, I notice the pot of flowers that she has in her hand. I smile and get up from my chair to meet her.

I look up at her, thanking her profusely. She hands them to me with a smile. "No need to thank me. I saw you were pretty stressed out, and I thought this might make you feel a little better, if only for a couple minutes." I put the pot of flowers on my desk and turn back around to face Nat.

I wrap my arms around her waist and she immediately hugs me back, holding me tightly. Her kind gesture only made me cry harder, except for a good reason this time. She looks down and wipes my tears with the pad of her thumb, cooing softly at me.

"Oh honey, don't cry." She says in the most gentle voice that is only reserved for me. I practically melt into her arms at her words, never taking advantage of that gentle tone, feeling so loved and appreciated when she talks like that.

"I love you Nat." She smiles as she rocks us side to side. "I love you too, more than you could ever know. You're the best thing that has ever happened to me. I love seeing you happy, and I don't care how many flowers it takes, just as long as I get to see that perfect smile of yours."

.oOo. .oOo. .oOo. .oOo.

"Honey! Come downstairs!" I hear Nat call out for me from the kitchen. I get up out of my bed and walk down the stairs, curious as to why she's calling me.

When I get downstairs I gasp in surprise, but quickly run over to Nat, who's standing behind the kitchen island. There's an abundance of picked flowers on the counter, still somewhat clumped together as they had most likely just been poured out of a bag or basket.

"I figured I'd bring you some flowers to press while I was out on my run. I may have gotten a bit carried away, but I didn't think you'd mind." She laughed at herself and shook her head. I smiles and bounced on my toes, my eyes squeezing shut tight for a moment, a happy stim of mine. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" I jumped into her arms and she held onto me tightly.

We both brought all of the flowers and some parchment paper up to my room and gathered a couple of heavy books. Natasha sat on my bed and only watched as I put the parchment paper over the book page and carefully arranged flowers on the paper before gently closing the heavy book and putting it aside.

It was like I was in my own little world, where nothing else mattered except for the things in my room. And Natasha couldn't help but be pulled into my calming headspace as well, finding that watching me was therapeutic and relaxing.

She tucked a small, pink flower into my braided hair and smiled. When I noticed what she had done I laughed, but did not remove it. I picked out an orange flower and put it behind Nat's ear, both of us giggling like children. If Natasha had told herself years ago that she would be playing with flowers with a daughter, letting her put them in her hair, she'd thought they were crazy. But here she is, and she wouldn't give it up for the world.

#natasha romanoff x reader #natasha romanoff x teen!reader #autistic!reader #autistic reader #natasha romanoff x daughter!reader #natasha romanoff x daughter #avengers x reader #avengers x teen!reader #natasha romanoff x autistic!reader #avengers x autistic!reader #natasha romanoff imagine #avengers imagine #marvel imagine #teen!reader #daughter!reader #reader insert

[turneverybodyintopuppets]

Hi. The following is my attempt to systematically hash out the “Mr. Infodump” controversy in the TS fandom. It’s primarily for my benefit, but I’m posting it on the off chance it helps someone else who’s just as confused/dismayed as I was. I’m not attempting to argue for blind absolution (”Thomas is an angel who can do no wrong!”) or cancellation (“He’s no better than the likes of J.K. Rowling!”), just to present as intellectually honest an assessment as I can make of what happened and the degree to which the TS team is responsible.

Laconic: Thomas Sanders, a content creator on youtube, posted a skit in which a character calls an aspie-coded character “Mr. Infodump”. Several fans have expressed hurt and anger over the use of a trait associated with neurodivergence as an insult.

My own initial impression: I’m on the autism spectrum myself, and personally, “Mr. Infodump” didn’t register as offensive to me; in fact, as a huge Logan kinnie, I liked that a neurodiverse trait I see in myself was being explicitly linked to my favorite character. That said, there are many in the community who feel deeply hurt and betrayed, and it would be a) irresponsible and b) close-minded to handwave their concerns. Thus:

[Abridged version: Bolded]

Context for use of the word:

Line from Roman: “I was going for regal sophistication [in last commercial pitch], but Mr. Infodump over here [*gestures to Logan*] wasn’t cooperating.” Defensive tone, alluding to the fact that Logan’s commercial pitch included excessive product information that would leave buyers disengaged.

History: Roman regularly invents nicknames for fellow sides and employs them in a manner that can range from fond teasing to a juvenile way of insulting the side he’s presently bickering with.

Names previously directed at Logan include “Calculator watch,” “Egghead,” and “No-Funsen Honeydew… Doo.” They generally play off of Logan’s tendency toward being uptight, stereotypically nerdy, and eager to furnish the group with information in the capacity of a teacher.

In this particular instance, I doubt anyone would say the word’s use was “malicious,” but it wasn’t “affectionate” either. Roman is visibly preoccupied and defensive in the scene, throwing out a nickname offhand.

Power Dynamic: There is no imbalance of power between Logan and Roman that would indicate anything resembling a bully-victim relationship. Logan responds to the word in the same manner he does Roman’s other antics and displays no particularly hurt reaction.

In-Universe Response: No character corrects or condemns Roman’s use of the term. This may, however, be because Logan is the first to respond, armed with his own complaints about the others’ commercials.

Meta-Level Implications: The audience is not encouraged to agree with Roman’s sentiment that infodumping is a negative trait anymore than they are his other commentary on Logan via nicknames like “Egghead,” because Logan’s role in the story consistently proves it wrong; all that infodumping saved an unconscious Roman from his murder-happy brother, for one, and the audience knows it. Given the posturing and defensiveness that accompany Roman’s delivery of the line, it’s clear the creators were communicating that he was in the wrong to say it. That, and Logan will almost certainly reinforce this by verbally decimating someone in the next episode, as per usual.

I think that last point is key. People will accuse others of infodumping in a negative way IRL—I know I’ve been called far worse for failing to mask—and to pretend that such things don’t exist in fiction is misrepresenting reality. Instead, creators can and should include minority characters (race, sexuality, gender, neuroatypicality, etc.) *confronting* discrimination, dealing with it complexly, and showing both the misguided character and the audience how wrong they are. Logan resonates with me—and other aspies, I think—largely because of how he clearly struggles in dealing with the other sides’ occasional criticism of his eccentricities, but he ultimately remains committed to his identity and ideals. If the TS crew continues to write a show that reinforces the fact that his neurodivergent qualities are what make him strong—and god knows there's not much media that does this well—, they’re doing something incredibly important for us.

The issue here, then, wasn’t the show promoting ableism as a message, because its handling of the conversation here doesn’t. Rather, it was the use of a term that many consider inherently ableist as an insult. So:

“Infodump” the word:

I find this fascinating, actually—Science is discovered. Math is discovered**. Language? Language is unequivocally invented. We’ve create these words with combinations of mouth-sounds, and we’ve assigned them meaning.

But the thing is, people have different backgrounds and experiences that define both who they are and the nuances of the meaning they tie to those mouth-sounds

Basic example of varied mental prototypes: I live in the northeast USA, so when I hear the word “bird,” the first thing that pops into my head is a bluejay or robin. If you ask my friend who’s studying in Brazil, though, he’d likely think of a macaw or toucan. 

For me, “spring” = my mom’s pink zinnia garden and “chocolate” = a square of hershey melting against gooey marshmallow. This idea of memories and experience informing word-meaning mapping, of course, extends to a) more nuanced concepts and b) a more subconscious level of understanding. Poetry in particular, I think, tends to play with this to invoke the sensory experiences it does... I could infodump about translated poetry but that’s a whoooollleee other thing and I’m getting off track.

But essentially, an individual’s experience of any given word, to a degree, is subjective. Our dictionary definitions are merely approximations of a collective understanding of that mouthsound-to-meaning mapping, and we have to update those definitions as language evolves (remember when “Google” couldn’t be used as a verb?)

So, what happens if I look up “infodumping”? TVTropes tells me it’s a “type of exposition that’s particularly long and wordy”. UrbanDictionary says its “used to deposit large amounts (usually entire articles) of information in online forums without summarizing or paraphrasing the information.” I reach the resources that explain it in the context of autism and ADHD over halfway down the Google results. The word “infodumping” has quite a few circulating meanings, and the one associated with neurodivergence isn’t as visible as we’d like it to be.

From what I understand, Thomas Sanders and co. merely knew “infodumping” as the practice of talking at length about a subject, like closing a rant with a friendly “aw, sorry for infodumping on ya” and such. This was exactly how Logan opens his commercial, so they stuck it in as a—frankly, kinda feeble—nickname á la the creative genius behind “Mr. Smarty... Pants”. They had no knowledge of the term’s gravity to the autism and ADHD community, because they haven’t been exposed to settings that use that definition.

So, where does that leave us on accountability? If they’re ultimately not producing ableist content, do Thomas Sanders and his team have the responsibility to be aware of how an insult featuring this particular word might be inherently triggering to a community?

Many accounts show that the inclusion of the term caused real emotional harm and as content creators—particularly ones with a relatively young fanbase—the TS team should have taken more precautions. A more diverse staff/writing room may have caught this, given how egregious some fanders found the error. Furthermore, why shouldn’t it fall on neurotypical people in general to “educate themselves” on these issues, as in the cases of other minority groups?

That said, however, can any creative team be reasonably expected to know of any-and-all potentially triggering content? I’ve avoided speaking of Thomas Sanders’ personal character to maintain some impartiality, but a long history of promoting representation and careful content warnings does suggest a genuine commitment to self-correcting. Accepting the well-intentioned criticism of fanders—many of whom are so broken up by this precisely because of the amount of faith they place in the TS team—and taking active steps to change is ultimately the best course of action, and I, for one, will be sticking around to see the results.

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