Nancy's desperate impersonation of a Normal Person vs Robin's instinctual reaction to it

just 2 bro pals sitting 3 miles apart bc theyre totally completely platonic bffs 4 lyfe

I Look in People's Windows - Taylor Swift

some notes on the „no more masking“ arc quinni goes through in s2 of hbh because i imagine a lot of allistic viewers might not have really gotten the point of that storyline:

first of all i think it‘s important to mention that everyone experiences masking in different ways and these are just my thoughts on the matter as an autistic person myself, if you don‘t agree or this doesn‘t apply to you i‘m of course not saying otherwise!

i don‘t believe what quinni was doing was her genuinely unmasking. unmasking is a thing that is really hard to do on command, because it takes a lot of getting to know your own brain and mask, it’s most often a long process.

quinni states in the last episode that she „doesn‘t really know who she is“ and that really struck a nerve with me - a lot of autistic people spend their whole lives stuck in their mask, often without even realizing that‘s what‘s going on. i would argue this especially applies to late diagnosed autistics.

what quinni was actually doing was attempting to unmask, in the way she thought made the most sense. in this case, it‘s making a complete 180, pretending to not care at all about others anymore. which is basically just a very intense form of stopping her people pleasing. but she went a bit too far into the other direction - her statement in the last episode makes it clear that she didn‘t necessarily identify with who she was presenting as while „unmasked“ (and while masked).

i believe quinni does genuinely care about her friends, but there‘s a very thin line between caring about others and giving too much of yourself. this is a thing i also struggle with a lot myself, and as i‘ve mentioned before, it‘s a long journey to finding that line.

i also want to mention that the whole people pleasing aspect is only one aspect of masking, masking affects so many more areas than that, without going into too much detail because like i’ve mentioned, it can be different for everyone.

Actually, the most realistic part of Quinni’s experience as an autistic person in s2 of Heartbreak High (for me at least) is how quick everyone is to switch up on her.

The fact that she goes from ohhhhh Quinni’s so sweet and she just wants to make everyone happy and sure she’s “a bit weird” but she makes people feel better when they’re around her to her asserting her feelings literally ONE TIME and suddenly she’s too dramatic and the world can’t play by her rules.

The bit where everyone takes Quinni to the zoo is so well done. Right from the start of that but we see how uncomfortable Quinni is, and see why she’s hurting before she says anything. Ca$h notices when her best friend doesn’t seem to.

But yeah, when they invite her to the zoo, she doesn’t seem to want to be there, at no point do they ask what she wants, they just assume she’ll appreciate it even though we know she hates plan changes. As an autistic person, I imagine she’s similar to me with things being sprung on her, so it would make sense that she’s already stressed out. Having someone else make plans for me and then do a surprise thing for my birthday would honestly freak me out no matter how well intentioned.

The whole way around it becomes obvious that they’re doing this to try and make themselves feel better, not Quinni. They say they’re going for her, but they immediately leave her behind at the entrance, running off and chatting. With every exhibit they visit, she’s always the last one to leave which represents very concisely her fear of being left behind.

She even asks at one point what she’s missed and she’s brushed off by Darren, the one person who has always been understanding. It’s not done maliciously but it’s dismissive at best.

She then later expresses her fear of being left, explaining that she hates change and feels that no one is giving her a chance to keep up, and the whole zoo trip represents that so well. It makes sense that no one sees how stressed she is because they’re all so excited about the next thing they just don’t see her.

I don't know if I'm explaining this well enough but one reason I think representation is so important is because it helps people explain what they're going through. Like for example being autistic sometimes it's really hard to put in words what's bothering me and sometimes my issues feel too small or I just can't explain and I know there are loved ones who genuinely are trying to understand me. Like now when I need to explain things I can just idk show them an ep of heartbreak high, show they quinni saying that she plays by everyone's rules 24/7 all the time and why it's so hard. It becomes so much easier to explain now. And I am so so grateful for it and I can't wait for more

Quinni with the frog headband Icons for all my fellow autistic lesbians ❤️ couldn't find any so I made my own lol

Quinni Gallagher-Jones

Heartbreak High 2024

can i just say i miss the way 9-1-1 used to feel? there‘s so little focus on the actual emergencies now, it all feels very different

tumblr is great because no matter how many followers i get it doesn't stop me from being really fucking annoying. other places i will perhaps think before i post. Not here. not here

would you put a discarded fruit sticker on my forehead in whimsical jest yes or no

No no you don't understand! I want to watch this show/movie, read this book, listen to this podcast, etc.! But I must be in the right mindset and the exact head space to begin, or I just can't!

kidnapper: i have your child

hotch: which one i have five

kidnapper: the annoying one who won't shut the fuck up

hotch:

hotch: which one i have five