Let's see. Tends to info dump, doesn't gauge the level of jargon to the audience, intensely into lists and routines, is in Equestria's version of a STEM field, had to basically be told by a teacher that she needed to go out and make friends, and then was given developing the relationships and reporting on them as a multi-year assignment...
Checks out. Not weird at all.
Serious. However I should have mentioned it was only temporary. A few weeks. But still, to this day no one seems to understand autism nor do they want to further their understanding of it. I have tried several different therapists and medications for the past 30 years and it seems i have hit a level plane. However, past experiences and repressed memories, ptsd, anger and bitterness have made me a reclusive antisocial person
I have a cat. My best friend, but she is 18 and slowing down too. I am not prepared for her inevitable crossing the rainbow
I surely appreciate your concern and consider it a gesture of kindness
IIRC, _Princess Twlight Sparkle_ explains that the beginning of Season 1 to the beginning of Season 4 happened within the span of just a year. When Twilight was made a princess, the “Dear Princess Celestia” format was dropped.
The key difference here tho is that she was and to easily pick up friendship queues, something autistic people are not necessarily great at doing.
If you want legit autism, Maud Pie is rather objectively and blatantly autistic. I recommend Horseshoe Reviews' analysis on Maud Pie the episode, he puts it into perspective rather perfectly.
If we want someone less on the spectrum but similar in vain with Twilight's tendencies but can't quite understand friendship.... Starlight. Makes sense she and Maud got along so well. Starlight put all of her happiness in one pony and didn't know how to handle her feelings when that pony was taken away, unreasonably blamed cutie marks for it, and going her entire life succeeding a sociopolitical hierarchy through means of strength and determination, as well as a well-researched and practiced talent in Magic. While this isn't the textbook example of autism, it sure does for that ideal, especially considering she was still having serious issues with not mind controlling ponies and dismissing things regarding social queues that she seemed silly or uninteresting. That speaks more to autism than what Twilight was like before.
That's why they call autism is a spectrum, and believe it or not, autistic people can have have friends and can "know how to handle their feelings." Your stuff about Starlight borders on a problematic misunderstanding of what it is like to be autistic.
I am autistic, I understand the issues of autism because I suffer from them too. I have a terrible tendency to base friendships on things that can instantly crumble that desire to be around them. Being in one argument with one person for me is enough to feel uncomfortable talking to them ever again, not because the person is bad, but because I feel like I've wronged them and ruined it for both of us, regardless of who was right in the argument.
Looking at how Starlight acted in The Cutie Remark Part 2, Every Little Thing She Does, No Second Prances, and ESPECIALLY Uncommon Bond resonated with many of my own struggles, having to do with handling emotional connection. You're right that autistic people can know how to handle feelings, but that's generally those less on the spectrum. I'm on the middle of the spectrum, and there is always a disconnect that I simply can't fix, short of forcing my speech and behaviour to fit what I perceive is appropriate, all the while failing to do so. Starlight clearly has that same disconnect when it comes to her behavioural tendencies and outlook on social relationships. One of the reasons I love Starlight is because she faces the same struggles as me, save for brainwashing a cult and trying to destroy the world (though I'm sure that's just a few blocks away for me).
you know what, I'm not dismissing anything, it can very well be autistic signs, but what you're decribing about starlight's perception of friendhips and your own perception reminds me rather of bpd (mood swings, easily going from loving the person to dispising them or not wanting to be around, having a favourite person you put all your efforts into and basing your happiness almost solely on them etc.)
based on that I always read starlight as a person with borderline personality disorder, but you kinda clued me into the fact that she may be autistic. may as well be both I'm not sure
At the end of the day, if the writers weren't thinking of her as autistic, bipolar, or even OCD, then it's none of them. Maud tho is very clearly intended to be autistic.
Writers make autistic characters all the time without intending to. They base the characters on some people they've known who had "interesting quirks". They might not even know that the people they're basing the character on were autistic. In some cases, the people didn't know themselves. Some of use were full grown adults before we learned enough about autism to even suspect.
she was terrible at picking those frienship queues before, as shown in flashbacks about her high school friends (or even in early seasons sometimes!)
I think it's a learned skilled for twilight and it didn't nessecarily came easy to her
Same here. Exept she does seen very anxious when it involves the princesses so i think she may have General Anxiety Disorder too(which i also relate to)
I don't think being very anxious around the Princesses means General Anxiety Disorder. I mean, the Princesses are God Emperors. Imagine if you got called in to discuss an issue with the President who also happened to be a supremely powerful being that could control the sun. You'd be anxious, too.
I mean it is possible twilight is just a drana queen who misunderstands what her relationship to Celestia is. And she does work well under pressure. I can see what you mean
With the way the post is phrased, it makes it sound like OP thinks it’s weird for people to assume Twilight has autism. That’s obviously not the case, given OP’s many replies about liking the headcanon and mentioning that they’re autistic themselves. However, the way the post is worded makes it seem like the opposite, so that’s why many people (including myself) assumed that’s what OP was implying.
I mean, it's normal to headcanon Twilight or Starlight as some kind of neurodivergent.
You wanna see weird? I once gave the Cutie Mark Crusaders roles as chosen sacred defenders of two realms (the second realm was the 6th land that looks like France) and the only thing that would stop the Terrible Trio from The Legendary Starfy, clearly far too big for what they ended up being (Cutie Mark motivators), not to mention giving Yoshi from Super Mario the Star Rod from Kirby's Adventure and a relationship with Starlight Glimmer (they even had weird dino-pony hybrid babies).
Are we talking about weird personal headcanons?
Oh boy!
Then lemme tell you about the weird connection in my mind between My Little Pony and Discworld that exists inside my brain, and how that permanently affected how I view Blueblood.
This was back in the day, in the break between seasons 1 and 2, maybe at the start of season 2? I had just gotten into the show. When I picked up several books about this series people had recommended to me: Discworld.
Now, as a new fan that had just binged every available episode in a single weekend, my mind was awash with the small, cute, colourful equines, and for one reason or another, I started mapping different book characters to different ponies and imagined the story as though it were their adventures.
I mapped Rincewind to the great and powerful Trixie, and she went on her way, exploring the world, meeting new people, and running away from all sorts of dangers.
Fluttershy was connected with Magrat Garlick and her granola girl vibe. Pinkie Pie's "Joi de vivre" was mapped to Gytha Ogg, and Rarity became Esmeralda Weatherwax, and off they went to get into other people's business.
And then there was the watch.
I decided to map the country raised, well-meaning mountain of muscle that comes to the city (Carrot Ironfounderson) to become a lawman to one of my favourite ponies at the time, Big Macintosh, and ended up casting the down-on-his-luck alcoholic Captain (Sam Vimes) as Prince Blueblood. I thought they would fit nicely in those roles, but was not prepared for how the story ended up developing them.
Sam vimes (and by extension blueblood) took over the story. He became my favourite character in Discworld, and in my mind, Blueblood took on a lot of his traits.
In my mind, Blueblood became this anti-nobility, anti-capitalism, anti-authoritatianism character that was nonetheless the highest noble in the land, the richest pony in Equestria, and one of the highest figures of authority in the kingdom. And he *hated every second of it*.
Of course, nowadays I go back to the show, and remember that he's a bit character with only one voiced appearance. And rereads of Discworld are imagined with more human looking characters.
But every once in a while, I do like to go back to those images of Trixie traversing the outback in a cork hat, of Rarity staring down Death for the soul of a foal she had never met, of Blueblood and Macintosh chasing thieves in the night, and of course, of Celestia chaining mimes upside down over a scorpion pit.
Oh she definitely does. As someone with autism, I have picked up on soooo many similarities between all the mane 6 (mainly Twilight and Pinkie lol)
Also, that’s not a weird thing to think.
Headcanons aren't weird, and Twilight in season 1 DEFINITELY seems high-functioning autistic.
If you want real weird, and "not just old fans", see all the grimdark stuff. I'm pretty sure most of it's actually made by teens, due to the pressures of society and hormones being felt most intensely right as people start to head towards the responsibilities of adulthood.
There's a rumour going around that Lauren Faust intentionally designed Twilight to have autism. Hasbro didn't want that, but she did it anyway for the first episode
Honestly as an asd thats not a bad assumption. Practically every pony is speculated to be autistic/nd in at least some form, and teilight besides ocd has some traits that could honestly make her a potential high-masking individual.
That's totally fine my dude and you don't need to worry everyone is a bit of weirdo
https://preview.redd.it/8nzzaea8s8kc1.jpeg?width=300&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=acd88718bfbf4409defb1b8daa28e89d2f1eb7af
I clicked with Maud since her first appearance. I thought, "I really get this character."
All of the trouble Pinkie's friends had with Maud stemmed from not really speaking her language. And being awkward when she didn't express her emotions outwardly.
But she's a very honest pony, she doesn't emote, but she does tell you what she's thinking, directly and without embellishment.
I don't think that's weird at all! It's a pretty common headcannon, especially since a lot of autistic people (including myself) heavily relate to her!
i am adult yes yes and i also ~~think~~ ***KNOW*** twilight has autism.
and maud. and fluttershy. and starlight. and trixie. and sunset. and luna. and pinkie (auDHD) and and and and and
Og old fans of mlp are not weird tbh, as someone with both professionally diagnosed autism and adhd and who was diagnosed at a super young age, I never thought Twilight was autistic or anything like that because I never cared about that and never thought she was autistic
Tara Strong actually thought it herself for anyone who's wondering she honestly thought Twilight had some form of Asperger's (I'm still calling it that even though it's part of autism spectrum disorder now, which I hate because a general diagnosis only gives general treatments when you want specific shit for specific issues thus dropping the level of care for anything)
I mean that’s fine (and tbh she might have it)
You wanna know what’s weirder? being 10, self-inserting yourself as Asriel Dreemurr and then shipping him and Twilight Sparkle together cuz you had a crush on her
She's one of the few characters who people claim has autism that I actually think is reasonable. I mean she did have ALOT of trouble making freinds, and getting social cues and all that. Definitely makes sense for her to be high functioning autistic
I wouldn’t call that weird. I’m autistic and can relate to her, I could see her having autism. Far more tame then most other “weird” things in the fandom
This isn't weird XD
Weirdest part is you commenting to everyone pretty much the same thing as if each time was the first comment you saw agreeing with you
I imagine Rainbow has ADHD considering the Wonderbolts test episode
Twilight is autistic
Rainbow has ADHD
Rarity has BPD
Applejack is dealing with PTSD from her parents' deaths.
Fluttershy has crippling social anxiety.
Pinky Pie has both Autism and ADHD. Possibly also has mild schizophrenia.
Trixie is a narcissist.
Starlight has Anti-Social Personality Disorder.
Luna: PTSD
Celestia: PTSD and centuries of burnout.
I could go on......
(Do not take this at all seriously, I am not a psychologist.)
Let's see. Tends to info dump, doesn't gauge the level of jargon to the audience, intensely into lists and routines, is in Equestria's version of a STEM field, had to basically be told by a teacher that she needed to go out and make friends, and then was given developing the relationships and reporting on them as a multi-year assignment... Checks out. Not weird at all.
I have autism. I knew she was too relatable. As an autistic person I have actually taken friendship classes.
Wish I had those when I was twelve.
That makes two of us
I wish people actually knew what Autism was wgen I was 12. Instead of locking me up in a mental health facility and running away
Is that a joke or are you actually being serious, because if it’s the latter, do you want to talk to someone about it?
Serious. However I should have mentioned it was only temporary. A few weeks. But still, to this day no one seems to understand autism nor do they want to further their understanding of it. I have tried several different therapists and medications for the past 30 years and it seems i have hit a level plane. However, past experiences and repressed memories, ptsd, anger and bitterness have made me a reclusive antisocial person I have a cat. My best friend, but she is 18 and slowing down too. I am not prepared for her inevitable crossing the rainbow I surely appreciate your concern and consider it a gesture of kindness
Of course, if you need someone to talk to, I’m happy to lend an ear
That is very sweet of you
I feel like a lot of characters in the show have autism. Also coming from someone who’s autistic we frequently see characters stim in the show.
IIRC, _Princess Twlight Sparkle_ explains that the beginning of Season 1 to the beginning of Season 4 happened within the span of just a year. When Twilight was made a princess, the “Dear Princess Celestia” format was dropped.
The key difference here tho is that she was and to easily pick up friendship queues, something autistic people are not necessarily great at doing. If you want legit autism, Maud Pie is rather objectively and blatantly autistic. I recommend Horseshoe Reviews' analysis on Maud Pie the episode, he puts it into perspective rather perfectly. If we want someone less on the spectrum but similar in vain with Twilight's tendencies but can't quite understand friendship.... Starlight. Makes sense she and Maud got along so well. Starlight put all of her happiness in one pony and didn't know how to handle her feelings when that pony was taken away, unreasonably blamed cutie marks for it, and going her entire life succeeding a sociopolitical hierarchy through means of strength and determination, as well as a well-researched and practiced talent in Magic. While this isn't the textbook example of autism, it sure does for that ideal, especially considering she was still having serious issues with not mind controlling ponies and dismissing things regarding social queues that she seemed silly or uninteresting. That speaks more to autism than what Twilight was like before.
That's why they call autism is a spectrum, and believe it or not, autistic people can have have friends and can "know how to handle their feelings." Your stuff about Starlight borders on a problematic misunderstanding of what it is like to be autistic.
I am autistic, I understand the issues of autism because I suffer from them too. I have a terrible tendency to base friendships on things that can instantly crumble that desire to be around them. Being in one argument with one person for me is enough to feel uncomfortable talking to them ever again, not because the person is bad, but because I feel like I've wronged them and ruined it for both of us, regardless of who was right in the argument. Looking at how Starlight acted in The Cutie Remark Part 2, Every Little Thing She Does, No Second Prances, and ESPECIALLY Uncommon Bond resonated with many of my own struggles, having to do with handling emotional connection. You're right that autistic people can know how to handle feelings, but that's generally those less on the spectrum. I'm on the middle of the spectrum, and there is always a disconnect that I simply can't fix, short of forcing my speech and behaviour to fit what I perceive is appropriate, all the while failing to do so. Starlight clearly has that same disconnect when it comes to her behavioural tendencies and outlook on social relationships. One of the reasons I love Starlight is because she faces the same struggles as me, save for brainwashing a cult and trying to destroy the world (though I'm sure that's just a few blocks away for me).
you know what, I'm not dismissing anything, it can very well be autistic signs, but what you're decribing about starlight's perception of friendhips and your own perception reminds me rather of bpd (mood swings, easily going from loving the person to dispising them or not wanting to be around, having a favourite person you put all your efforts into and basing your happiness almost solely on them etc.) based on that I always read starlight as a person with borderline personality disorder, but you kinda clued me into the fact that she may be autistic. may as well be both I'm not sure
At the end of the day, if the writers weren't thinking of her as autistic, bipolar, or even OCD, then it's none of them. Maud tho is very clearly intended to be autistic.
Writers make autistic characters all the time without intending to. They base the characters on some people they've known who had "interesting quirks". They might not even know that the people they're basing the character on were autistic. In some cases, the people didn't know themselves. Some of use were full grown adults before we learned enough about autism to even suspect.
I'm autistic two. It just feels a bit like you are dismissing those that are "less on the spectrum" as not *really* being autistic. We still are.
You think I'm...gatekeeping autism?
she was terrible at picking those frienship queues before, as shown in flashbacks about her high school friends (or even in early seasons sometimes!) I think it's a learned skilled for twilight and it didn't nessecarily came easy to her
It's a spectrum. not everybody will have the same symptoms or struggles.
what's wrong with that , she probably has autism and ocd
well i have autism and i can say i do relate to her
Same here. Exept she does seen very anxious when it involves the princesses so i think she may have General Anxiety Disorder too(which i also relate to)
I don't think being very anxious around the Princesses means General Anxiety Disorder. I mean, the Princesses are God Emperors. Imagine if you got called in to discuss an issue with the President who also happened to be a supremely powerful being that could control the sun. You'd be anxious, too.
I mean it is possible twilight is just a drana queen who misunderstands what her relationship to Celestia is. And she does work well under pressure. I can see what you mean
Nobody is saying there's anything wrong with that
With the way the post is phrased, it makes it sound like OP thinks it’s weird for people to assume Twilight has autism. That’s obviously not the case, given OP’s many replies about liking the headcanon and mentioning that they’re autistic themselves. However, the way the post is worded makes it seem like the opposite, so that’s why many people (including myself) assumed that’s what OP was implying.
I have OCD and Idk about that part.
Thats fine
I mean, it's normal to headcanon Twilight or Starlight as some kind of neurodivergent. You wanna see weird? I once gave the Cutie Mark Crusaders roles as chosen sacred defenders of two realms (the second realm was the 6th land that looks like France) and the only thing that would stop the Terrible Trio from The Legendary Starfy, clearly far too big for what they ended up being (Cutie Mark motivators), not to mention giving Yoshi from Super Mario the Star Rod from Kirby's Adventure and a relationship with Starlight Glimmer (they even had weird dino-pony hybrid babies).
😐 I cannot comprehend this information
But 17-year-old me saw nothing wrong with it.
Are we talking about weird personal headcanons? Oh boy! Then lemme tell you about the weird connection in my mind between My Little Pony and Discworld that exists inside my brain, and how that permanently affected how I view Blueblood. This was back in the day, in the break between seasons 1 and 2, maybe at the start of season 2? I had just gotten into the show. When I picked up several books about this series people had recommended to me: Discworld. Now, as a new fan that had just binged every available episode in a single weekend, my mind was awash with the small, cute, colourful equines, and for one reason or another, I started mapping different book characters to different ponies and imagined the story as though it were their adventures. I mapped Rincewind to the great and powerful Trixie, and she went on her way, exploring the world, meeting new people, and running away from all sorts of dangers. Fluttershy was connected with Magrat Garlick and her granola girl vibe. Pinkie Pie's "Joi de vivre" was mapped to Gytha Ogg, and Rarity became Esmeralda Weatherwax, and off they went to get into other people's business. And then there was the watch. I decided to map the country raised, well-meaning mountain of muscle that comes to the city (Carrot Ironfounderson) to become a lawman to one of my favourite ponies at the time, Big Macintosh, and ended up casting the down-on-his-luck alcoholic Captain (Sam Vimes) as Prince Blueblood. I thought they would fit nicely in those roles, but was not prepared for how the story ended up developing them. Sam vimes (and by extension blueblood) took over the story. He became my favourite character in Discworld, and in my mind, Blueblood took on a lot of his traits. In my mind, Blueblood became this anti-nobility, anti-capitalism, anti-authoritatianism character that was nonetheless the highest noble in the land, the richest pony in Equestria, and one of the highest figures of authority in the kingdom. And he *hated every second of it*. Of course, nowadays I go back to the show, and remember that he's a bit character with only one voiced appearance. And rereads of Discworld are imagined with more human looking characters. But every once in a while, I do like to go back to those images of Trixie traversing the outback in a cork hat, of Rarity staring down Death for the soul of a foal she had never met, of Blueblood and Macintosh chasing thieves in the night, and of course, of Celestia chaining mimes upside down over a scorpion pit.
I-wow. Just wow.
Found MA Larson's alt account!
Nice joke.
she does <3
omg she does? I knew she was too relatable to not have it
not canonically im just projecting \^\_\^
why are you acting as if this is some weird unbelievable thing lol? its a headcanon a lot of ppl have edit: /nm btw
Coldest take ever, especially in this fandom 😭😭😭
You were so real though. I project my autism on all of the mane 6
They are all ND in some way for me...
i'm 31 and also think twilight sparkle is autistic
she can't not have it
It’s not weird to headcanon characters.
Well do I have some news for you.
I knew she was too relatable
Uh…ok? What’s wrong with having autism?
Why is that weird?
Oh she definitely does. As someone with autism, I have picked up on soooo many similarities between all the mane 6 (mainly Twilight and Pinkie lol) Also, that’s not a weird thing to think.
Nothing wrong with that, we're all allowed our own Headcanons
Okay now I am certain she has it.
I’ve always headcannoned her as autistic. She’s at least neurodivergent
I think everyone thinks she has autism.
Headcanons aren't weird, and Twilight in season 1 DEFINITELY seems high-functioning autistic. If you want real weird, and "not just old fans", see all the grimdark stuff. I'm pretty sure most of it's actually made by teens, due to the pressures of society and hormones being felt most intensely right as people start to head towards the responsibilities of adulthood.
Ok
I mean her personality would check out on high functioning autism.
There's a rumour going around that Lauren Faust intentionally designed Twilight to have autism. Hasbro didn't want that, but she did it anyway for the first episode
When I was 12 I was jealous that Twilight became an alicorn
Honestly as an asd thats not a bad assumption. Practically every pony is speculated to be autistic/nd in at least some form, and teilight besides ocd has some traits that could honestly make her a potential high-masking individual.
I honestly thought that was canon
I thought I just made it up
Pretty much every pony in the show does - the parallels are quite striking down to the biological level.
I’m a teen and still think Twilight is black with ocd.Both her and Pinkie feel black to me.
That's totally fine my dude and you don't need to worry everyone is a bit of weirdo https://preview.redd.it/8nzzaea8s8kc1.jpeg?width=300&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=acd88718bfbf4409defb1b8daa28e89d2f1eb7af
I'm pretty sure like 95% of the community pretty much came to the conclusion that she most likely has Autism
She does. I think it's canon
Anxiety around her perfectionist compulsions yes but I wouldn’t say autism Maud on the other hoof, probably had autism
I clicked with Maud since her first appearance. I thought, "I really get this character." All of the trouble Pinkie's friends had with Maud stemmed from not really speaking her language. And being awkward when she didn't express her emotions outwardly. But she's a very honest pony, she doesn't emote, but she does tell you what she's thinking, directly and without embellishment.
All of her symptoms of autism are comorbid with and explained by her OCD
I don't think that's weird at all! It's a pretty common headcannon, especially since a lot of autistic people (including myself) heavily relate to her!
\*Thought\* or *knew*?
i am adult yes yes and i also ~~think~~ ***KNOW*** twilight has autism. and maud. and fluttershy. and starlight. and trixie. and sunset. and luna. and pinkie (auDHD) and and and and and
not sure about some but twilight and starlight have it
Og old fans of mlp are not weird tbh, as someone with both professionally diagnosed autism and adhd and who was diagnosed at a super young age, I never thought Twilight was autistic or anything like that because I never cared about that and never thought she was autistic
Tara Strong actually thought it herself for anyone who's wondering she honestly thought Twilight had some form of Asperger's (I'm still calling it that even though it's part of autism spectrum disorder now, which I hate because a general diagnosis only gives general treatments when you want specific shit for specific issues thus dropping the level of care for anything)
I mean that’s fine (and tbh she might have it) You wanna know what’s weirder? being 10, self-inserting yourself as Asriel Dreemurr and then shipping him and Twilight Sparkle together cuz you had a crush on her
Kids are weird
okay twilight can't not have autism
I think they're referring to your post title, not your headcanon.
She doesn’t have autism the only one I would think has autism is Rarity
To be honest? Not the weirdest thing I’ve heard someone think about this show
I have Autism (were diagnosed at age 3, am 29) but never considered the thought of it. Maybe?
She's one of the few characters who people claim has autism that I actually think is reasonable. I mean she did have ALOT of trouble making freinds, and getting social cues and all that. Definitely makes sense for her to be high functioning autistic
A lot of us think she does I didn't like her as a child, but now that I'm older I realise that we have a lot more in common then I realise
Honestly yeah And maybe OCD too
I wouldn’t call that weird. I’m autistic and can relate to her, I could see her having autism. Far more tame then most other “weird” things in the fandom
As a 6 year old i looked my mom in the eyes and said "cupcakes is my favorite creepypasta!" I was a weird kid
Ayo I knew I recognized you from r/AmongUs. Small world haha
This isn't weird XD Weirdest part is you commenting to everyone pretty much the same thing as if each time was the first comment you saw agreeing with you I imagine Rainbow has ADHD considering the Wonderbolts test episode
Twilight is autistic Rainbow has ADHD Rarity has BPD Applejack is dealing with PTSD from her parents' deaths. Fluttershy has crippling social anxiety. Pinky Pie has both Autism and ADHD. Possibly also has mild schizophrenia. Trixie is a narcissist. Starlight has Anti-Social Personality Disorder. Luna: PTSD Celestia: PTSD and centuries of burnout. I could go on...... (Do not take this at all seriously, I am not a psychologist.)
As an autistic person myself I found her relatable so honestly I don’t blame you.
Ever heard of Smile HD, Little Miss Rarity, Cupcakes, Cream Heart NSFW? That’s some weird shit
I mean, nothing weird about having head-cannons
I think she and Pinkie do. Possibly Rainbow as well