BenJepheneT
Light Up Gold - Parquet Courts
- Joined
- Jul 14, 2019
- Messages
- 5,344
- Points
- 233
Yeah bet you didn't expect this guy to make this kind of a thread
So I've decided to start planning for a new story, and the main character's gonna have- you know what, if the title didn't clue you in the first place, you're probably not gonna bother reading the rest.
The theme of the story is gonna be heavy with alienation and detachment from reality. The idea is that I want to present a blank slate of a character to an alien world. The character does not know of the culture nor the social norms of the place, and tries his absolute best to fit into it.
The problem, however, is that the principles don't always fit. Somehow the bad guys always get away, or the hero never seems to be cheered on for. You always feel like you're a step closer to understanding something when it completely gets swept from under your feet and now you're the villain, all of the sudden. You're either seen as a lunatic or a psycho who's best form of relationship with anyone is long distance and nothing else. Everything that makes sense doesn't and everything that doesn't does to others.
Above is what I want to depict, and not just on a regular basis. I want to display that struggle through, for the lack of a better phrase, a mental handicap. There's no better way to display the detachment and separation from the world you share the same reality with than through the eyes of someone unable to catch nuance and subtlety.
Of course, it doesn't just serve one direction. Most of the time, subtleties hide dark underbellies whereas a simple, unfiltered gaze would see the truth for what it's worth beyond the proverbial shrubbery.
Look, it's sounding more abstract by the moment so let me wrap this up: the ultimate goal for having an autistic main character is so that I could depict hypocrisy and socially-approved deceit of the world through open condemnation and confusion from the main character's part.
So why did I tell you all this? Well, so I could give you a reasoning behind all this, because touching on any topics regarding mental handicaps is a god damn taboo and a social landmine UNLESS you do it well and perfect, and this is why I made this thread in the first place. I need to know how to correctly depict it without falling over the obvious TV drama troupes (cutesy quirks, ULTRA FUCKEN SMART HOLY SHIT HE'S A GENIUS, awkward convos uwu) because I know they don't work like that. I want to depict legitimate issues with social cues and situations, not just "normal lad with autism symptoms".
And I'm not just talking about simple Asperger's. The autistic disorder kind, where it sits on the more extreme side, just to push that isolation further into the theme of the story. How do I avoid setting off landmines, and where do I even begin? My understanding comes from WebMD and a literal dead end. Is there a list of things I should avoid writing, or a PSA out there that could clear things up a little bit. Maybe a website or a community? I don't know. Either I accidentally pegged Google's husband or I'm doing something wrong because my searches either yield bare surface level information or contradictions from Quora.
It'll be great if I can approach those who knows somebody who has a first-hand experience with autism or, even better, have a conversation with someone who actually has it and is willing to give an insight to their lives. Anything will help a ton, because I absolutely cannot risk fucking up this aspect of the story.
So I've decided to start planning for a new story, and the main character's gonna have- you know what, if the title didn't clue you in the first place, you're probably not gonna bother reading the rest.
The theme of the story is gonna be heavy with alienation and detachment from reality. The idea is that I want to present a blank slate of a character to an alien world. The character does not know of the culture nor the social norms of the place, and tries his absolute best to fit into it.
The problem, however, is that the principles don't always fit. Somehow the bad guys always get away, or the hero never seems to be cheered on for. You always feel like you're a step closer to understanding something when it completely gets swept from under your feet and now you're the villain, all of the sudden. You're either seen as a lunatic or a psycho who's best form of relationship with anyone is long distance and nothing else. Everything that makes sense doesn't and everything that doesn't does to others.
Above is what I want to depict, and not just on a regular basis. I want to display that struggle through, for the lack of a better phrase, a mental handicap. There's no better way to display the detachment and separation from the world you share the same reality with than through the eyes of someone unable to catch nuance and subtlety.
Of course, it doesn't just serve one direction. Most of the time, subtleties hide dark underbellies whereas a simple, unfiltered gaze would see the truth for what it's worth beyond the proverbial shrubbery.
Look, it's sounding more abstract by the moment so let me wrap this up: the ultimate goal for having an autistic main character is so that I could depict hypocrisy and socially-approved deceit of the world through open condemnation and confusion from the main character's part.
So why did I tell you all this? Well, so I could give you a reasoning behind all this, because touching on any topics regarding mental handicaps is a god damn taboo and a social landmine UNLESS you do it well and perfect, and this is why I made this thread in the first place. I need to know how to correctly depict it without falling over the obvious TV drama troupes (cutesy quirks, ULTRA FUCKEN SMART HOLY SHIT HE'S A GENIUS, awkward convos uwu) because I know they don't work like that. I want to depict legitimate issues with social cues and situations, not just "normal lad with autism symptoms".
And I'm not just talking about simple Asperger's. The autistic disorder kind, where it sits on the more extreme side, just to push that isolation further into the theme of the story. How do I avoid setting off landmines, and where do I even begin? My understanding comes from WebMD and a literal dead end. Is there a list of things I should avoid writing, or a PSA out there that could clear things up a little bit. Maybe a website or a community? I don't know. Either I accidentally pegged Google's husband or I'm doing something wrong because my searches either yield bare surface level information or contradictions from Quora.
It'll be great if I can approach those who knows somebody who has a first-hand experience with autism or, even better, have a conversation with someone who actually has it and is willing to give an insight to their lives. Anything will help a ton, because I absolutely cannot risk fucking up this aspect of the story.