autistic weirdo with a side of fries

This is gonna be a long one and I'm linking sources about ADHD to prove my point and provide more information, because one thought about this a lot.

(Also this probably gonna be disorganized and all over the place because of my ADHD, so I apologise for that)

Anyway, according to the DSM5 their are 3 types of ADHD, hyperactive, inattentive, and combined type, which is a combination of the first two. Inattentive used to ADD but now they all go by the same name.

Reading diagnosis criteria straight from the DSM can be tricky because of its the medical language and terms and also because it's overly formal, so I'm gonna use this checklist to make my points easier to understand

(also if you want information about ADHD ADDitude is a great place to get it. It has information about ADHD for people of all ages, and if you've looked into ADHD you know that looking for information about adults can be a chore. It's a good resource.)

Back on topic, the article linked above talks about common ADHD traits before going now in depth about the differences between the first two types. I'm going to pick out the ones that Sora displays in game or that are mentioned by him or his friends. This does not mean that Sora doesn't have the other traits, just that either it's hard to deduce whether or not he does by the information given in canon. I'll also cut out ones that where the points and explanations I'm making feel repetitive. These examples aren't usually the only examples of that trait Sora shows, I'm just listing one of two things so you can get an idea about what I'm saying.

Common traits:

Short attention span, especially for non-preferred tasks. people often note that Sora gets off task easily, in universe or otherwise. Sora will take detours to help people, hang out with Winnie the Pooh, assist in underwater musicals, and teach Rapunzel about life outside get tower and dancing with her, among other things. Such tasks often have a narrative purpose or end up helping him progress in some ways, but I don't think that's why he does them, and I feel like he would do this even if it didn't.

Impulsivity, which may manifest as recklessness. Sora is described as reckless by his friends, and makes many spur of the moment decisions (especially ones involving self sacrifice, but that's a discussion for a different time.)

Fidgeting or restlessness. Sora has some movements that lookb like fidgets and has difficultly staying put when asked. When Jack tells him to stay and guard the ship in together KH 2 pirates world he suggests running off (which Donald and Goofy agree to for some reason) and wants to go to the realm of darkness after being told Riku and Mickey are having terrible getting her back (which admittedly is partially Ven's influence, but I have a feeling he would have asked anyway.)

Disorganization and difficulty prioritizing tasks. I personally feel like Sora wouldn't be the most organized person in the world, but I can't think of any evidence to back this up. I can think of at least one instance that shows he might have difficultly prioritizing tasks. The moment that comes to mind for me is in the KH 2 nightmares before Christmas world where he is excited about Santa Claus that he has difficultly focusing on taking care of the heartless until Donald and Goofy remind him of what they should be focusing on. There may be others but that's the one I find most noticable.

Frequent mood swings and emotional dysregulation. Sora is the kind of person who wears his heart on his sleeve. This is often protrayed as a good thing (following your heart is a common theme in this game) but it can also be a bad thing. His emotions cause him to make impulsive decisions like mentioned above and is sometimes used by villians to get him to do things that might help them get closer to their goal.

Forgetfulness and poor working memory. In the kh3 Hercules world Goofy mentions that he forgot the reason they originally came there and Sora responds "I just took my time remembering." This is far from the only example, but I'm mentioning it because I found this line to be both funny and relatable. I have used it a couple of times in real life. Anyway, it's obvious Sora has some issues with memory, and not just because of Naminé.

Trouble multitasking and executive dysfunction. I'm gonna go into this in greater detail later because this is a bit of a multifaceted one, but keep it in mind because it's a big one.

Inability to control anger or frustration. I don't think Sora was necessarily always a very angry person, but I think it's worth mentioning that Sora literally has a form called rage form in kh3.

Trouble completing tasks and frequent procrastination. Many of the gummi ship scenes in kh3 involve Donald and Goofy trying to keep him on task and keeping him motivated. Riku mentions Sora "slacking off", which left the work for him to do. I'll talk more about this later, because it ties into the executive dysfunction thing mentioned above.

More specific inattentive traits:

Please remember I'm only listing the ones that I have canon evidence for and aren't covered by explanations given above

Does not seem to listen when spoken to directly. At one point in the pirates world in kh3 Goofy mentions that talking to Sora can feel like it's going in one ear and out the other. Difficultly listening when people are speaking is a common in ADHD people.

Avoids, dislikes, or is reluctant to engage in tasks that require sustained mental effort (such as schoolwork or homework). I can't be sure, but I think this is part of the reason he "can't computer" and why Donald jokes he can't count. I don't think destiny islands had many computers and I think learning how to use them just seems to complicated for Sora to pick up on right away. Math can take up a lot of mental energy for some people, and so they prefer not to deal with it. This doesn't mean that they're bad at it necessarily, just that the energy it takes to do it makes them want to avoid it in most situations. I don't think Sora is a many genius by any means (especially since he was saving the worlds instead of being in highschool), but he knows enough to get by and he can definitely count. Donald is just a jerk.

Hyperactive and impulsive traits:

A lot of these are covered in the above examples or there isn't enough evidence in canon to decide if he exhibits them or not, but there is one I still want to go over.

Talks excessively. Sora is a very talkative and social person. It's necessarily too bad in his case. He doesn't interrupt people and is a good listener, but I think that he's a big enough of a talker that it's work pointing out.

I think Sora has a enough traits that it's plausible that he could have ADHD. A psychologist diagnosing a real person would probably be now information, but for a headcanon about a fictional character this is pretty solid. Now I want to talk more in detail about executive dysfunction, as well as something that wasn't mentioned above that is common in ADHD people, which is rejection sensitive dysphoria (RSD). That said, I'm tired and my motivation is running out. I might do a part two later, which is probably a good idea anyway, because this is already kind of long.

Continuing where we left off last time with executive dysfunction. Executive functioning is involved in a lot of behaviors, which makes it kind of hard to describe easily, but I'm gonna put another link so you can learn more about it

Basically, it involves things like emotional and self management, working memory, and starting a task and seeing it through to completion. A lot of these things align with things we already talked about above, but there is one I'd like to talk about and that is initiating tasks. This one I struggle with a lot, and it's something I can see Sora struggling with. Sometimes it's just like there's a brick wall between me and the task I need or want to do. This is especially with tasks that are difficult or boring, but it can also be true with tasks that are easy or that I find enjoyable. Executive functioning issues are not exclusive to ADHD, but they are very common in ADHD people. I got lower grades than I could have in K-12 because I had problems starting and completing assignments on time due to this issues. This and a lack of motivation due to depression were the main reasons I didn't pass enough of my classes to keep my scholarship and keep going to the university I was attending. People get mad at me for not completing chores on time because I can't seem to get started without someone bothering me and keeping me on task like a child. It even affects my ability to do the things I need to do to take care of myself, like making food, bathing, and brushing my teeth. (I know it seems like I'm talking a lot about myself here, but there is a point and I'm getting to it.) A lot of ADHD traits can be confused for laziness, but in my experience this trait is especially seen as lazy. Heck, I even call myself lazy for doing this stuff.

Many people, especially Riku and Kairi, calm Sora lazy. Heck, one of the first voice lines in the series is Kairi calling Sora a lazy bum as he wakes up on the beach after having that strange dream that serves as the game's tutorial. It's lighthearted teasing, but it's still there. Not many of the actions we see from Sora in game really meet this description in my opinion. Sora groans and complains sometimes, but he usually follows through on tasks. He works hard to complete goals and welcomes new challenges, so why would the people who have grown up with him and therefore should know him best call him lazy? I think it comes down executive functioning and the way the ADHD brain works. When a tasks is interesting or engaging it's easier to focus, when a task is boring or uninteresting focusing takes a lot more effort. A lot of the things Sora would have to take care of on the island would be boring. Chores and homework don't really have the same excitement as exploring new worlds, flying in neverland, or becoming a pirate do, so it would be a lot harder for him to get started and stay focus on those tasks. I forgot where I was going with this and I'm having trouble wording, but basically The things he has to do once he started being a keyblade wielder are much more interesting. Plus ADHD people are said to work well under pressure. Gets the dopamine I'm or brain going which helps fights the brick wall that prevents is from doing tasks in our brain. Not the most scientific explanation of this I've ever made, but it gets the point across. Plus I've always seen Sora as the kind of person who learns best by going in and doing it, and because of the circumstances of how he got is keyblade that's exactly what he has to do in order to save the world in his first adventure, and that format just seems to keep happening after that. As much as it kind of sucks that Sora didn't get formal training like some of the other keyblade wielders I think it worked out well for him because I can't see him doing well in a learn environment that's closer to normal, but IDK.

Moving on to Rejection sensitive dysphoria (RSD). It is an extreme reaction to rejection, whether it's actually there or just perceived to be rejection by the person. That last part is especially fun to deal with because the person might not even have been intending to reject you but it'll still happen because your brain thought that's what they were doing. Misinterpreting social cues has never hurt more... Anyway, here's another link in case you wanted to know more. This post is a character analysis and a way to inform people about ADHD all in one! Nice work me

I'm bringing this up because Sora was criticized often and harshly in kh3 and I think that definitely impacted his mood throughout and especially his breakdown in the keyblade graveyard (looking at you Donald and Yen Sid, which my phone tried to autocorrect to did). It really starts for me with 0.2 ending, where Yen Sid talking about all the power he lost because of what happened at the end of DDD, and it kind of feels like he's blaming ahead even though it wasn't really his fault because Xehanort manipulated the exam, but I'm not sure that was intentional on his part. Anyway, Sora seems upset about this for a bit at first, but then he puts up a front and acts happier, no frowning, no sad faces. He pretends like it's no big deal "it happens all the time" (which is just more upsetting because it really does happen to him a lot, which really isn't fair because he works so hard to get power and then something happens and he just loses it.)

And pretty much every time he comes to the mysterious tower after that he gets berated for not having the power of waking yet. He doesn't get any tips from Yen Sid on how to gain the power, he doesn't get praised for the strength he got back or the things he did do in the worlds he was in. He just gets scolded for not making enough progress, even though he's doing the best he can to get the power with the information he has about it. Yen Sid probably didn't mean for it to come off like that, but as already stated that doesn't matter when it comes to RSD. What matters is how it's perceived be the person experiencing it. And although Sora does his best to make it seems like he's as happy as always I really do think it's hurting him.

We see this again when Sora asks to save Aqua for a second time (which the game implies to be due to Ven's influence) and Riku says that Yen Sid had guessed right when he said that Sora would have tried a half baked rescue attempt if he had been told about Aqua before, and then everyone in the room laughs at him. They're laughing at him for wanting to help even though it wasn't something that was 100% in his control, although he's probably want to do it anyway. That hurts. Later in the same scene Donald, Goofy, and Jiminy are whispering to each other and how Sora is reckless and talking about how he should listen to Yen Sid the way he listens to Riku. When he gets mad at them for talking about him like that when he's right there they all start laughing again and you can see how angry and upset he looks crossing how arms and pouting, but they just keep going. All this because he wanted to help them save Aqua, which he does later. No apologizes to him for making fun of him like that though.

Sora is increasingly emotionally unstable in this game, which is probably what caused his rage form, and ultimately results in his breakdown in the keyblade graveyard and probably factored in his decision to save Kairi even though he knew he would mostly likely never come back from that. Like, he tries his best to pretend like the things that people are saying to him aren't getting to him, but they really do and I think what he said in the keyblade graveyard speaks for itself. Because of the things they keep on saying to him over the course of the have he thinks he's worthless without his friends. Riku said he doesn't believe that, but I think deep down here really does. None of Sora's friends actually think that, think of all the nice things they say about him when he's not around. Riku saying he pulls of miracles like it's nothing in days. Kairi saying there's no heart that his smile can't reach when writing a letter she never actually intended to send to him. Heck, even Ansem TW has some good things to say about him in BBS and DDD. But when it comes to what they actually say to him he mostly gets insults, teasing, and critism. Every once in a while he gets praise, like Yen Sid saying that there greatest hope for success lies in him (which does put a lot of pressure on him, which is also not great, but we're not talking about that right this minute), but not nearly as often. RSD or not that kind of talk really does take a toll on you. Like can we be nicer to Sora please? He's done so much for the worlds and he gets no respect!

It's interesting because I feel like a lot of people in the fandom treat him similarly to this too. A lot of people act like he's stupid for being optimistic or Goofy or because he can be impulsive. They see him as childish because he tries to stay happy, or that he "never has negative emotions" and that makes him unrelatable it annoying. These people usually like Roxas better because of this. While I respect that people are allowed to like or dislike whatever character they want and recognize that Roxas is also a great character (although Sora is my fave character sea salt trio is the best trio) I don't really like this reasoning for not liking Sora. I feel like there downplaying the impact of the moments he does show his actual feelings. Sora is good at pretending to be happy. I think about the scene in kh2 that happens in the second visit to the pirates world a lot. The one where he talks about how the gold's curse doesn't affect them because they're not from this world and how the three of them are just passing through and he wonders when they'll be home again, and he looks sad before perking up and saying just kidding, lucky we're not cursed. He doesn't allow himself to feel sad because he doesn't want to worry his friends, but the truth is he does feel those feelings. He misses home. He misses Riku and Kairi. He gets scared that he might not see them again. He gets insecure and his own abilities and his place in the group. He just tries to hide it. He doesn't want to worry or bother people. This boat runs on happy faces after all, so he smiles. I don't think his smile is fake 100% of the time. I would say mostly he's really happy, just not as often as he would have you believe, especially considering how much Sora has been through since the beginning of the series. I mean, the first game starts with his world getting destroyed by the heartless and the games don't get nicer to him from there. Think about how many times he's been close to death, how many times he's actually died and then been brought back. He was only 14 when all this started. He's probably traumatized. They all are.

Full disclosure I have less evidence for this one. This one is mostly based on projection and gut feeling. That said let's get into some things I noticed.

Literal thinking is a fairly common autistic trait. One example of this is in his 2nd diary entry where he talks about how he and Axel got sea salt ice cream, and he called it the icing on the cake. But Roxas points out that there was no cake, only ice cream.

The entirety of the day 152 entry is a mood so I'm just gonna but the entire thing. it's titled I don't get it and it reads "I think Xion might be mad at me, but I don't know why. Axel says girls are complicated. You can't press the wrong buttons. Like I'm supposed to know what the right ones are." Like that's just me trying to socialize with anyone. Like, are they mad at me? Is it my fault? What did I say that made them mad? It's a mystery

The fact that he continues to go eat ice cream when Axel and Xion aren't there can be seen as a routine thing. After we finish our mission we go to the clock tower to eat ice cream before we RTC. He even does it on the day they got a vacation. He enjoys doing it because of his friends, so why would he do it if the part that is next important isn't there? Maybe to get the taste of ice cream, but in his diary without Axel and Xion he says all he tastes is salt. But an autistic person needs the routine, so even still he comes to the clock tower to eat ice cream before he RTCs. It's just how it has to happen.

Everything from here on out is just my autistic brain relating to certain things Roxas does that probably have more to do with either the fact that he's a nobody with no memory or his short life span up until now, but what if it's also autism? Wouldn't that be cool? And then my brain wouldn't shut up. So here we go...

Through out the entire game Roxas struggles to understand many things someone his age (or more accurately the age his body looks) should know. Friendship, love, hearts, social cues like in the above diary entry, and lots of other things. The game attributes this to his lack of memories, and I definitely think how short life plays a role in it as well, but I think it could also be read as an autistic thing.

Alexithymia, which is a difficulty understanding, experiencing, or describing emotions. This isn't an autism exclusive thing and it's not technically part of the diagnostic criteria, but it is common in autistic people, so it's worth mentioning. Roxas does not struggle with experiencing emotion after his first few weeks in the organization, but he has troubles with what they are and why they're happening. He often describes the sensations caused by his feelings rather than the actual emotions. He feels choked up when he thinks Axel died with the others at Castle Oblivion and lump in his throat when Axel and Xion aren't there, but he doesn't connect these sensations to the fact that he's feeling and he doesn't name the feelings that's causing them (grief and loneliness respectively). Autistic people often have difficulty with that, and with no one to explain how to him and no memories and experiences to help him figure it out himself he is left confused by the sensations. And he just sits there with that hurt and confusion until they come back... Ouch this game hurts me

was on a big kingdom hearts kick for a second

*nods like a kingdom hearts character*

*flaps jpeg lips like a kingdom hearts character*

*awkwardly turns around like a kingdom hearts character*

*randomly jumps in place like a kingdom hearts character*

*runs like a kingdom hearts character*

*walks around in circles like a kingdom hearts character*

*stands still, staring at nothing like a kingdom hearts character*

The Rodeo Rule: you only have to do it for the first time once.

The Rohan Rule: if you are at a social function full of new people and you want to be liked, find someone doing important work like setup or food prep and offer to help.

The Tutorial Mode Rule: to navigate an unfamiliar situation where you fear you will mess up an interaction, preface the interaction by mentioning that you've never done this before, and let them know if you have a specific concern or question.

The Rocket Science Rule: most new things you want to try seem very complicated but are simple when taken step by step.

The [X] Will Remember That Rule: if you need to make small talk with the same person on a regular basis, try to save one fact or current event in their life from a given conversation and bring it up next time you talk.

this and also the only difference between fanfic writers and writers who sell their own original works as careers is that fanfics aren’t monetized. that’s all.

being a “professional” writer doesn’t mean your works are inherently better than fanfics. I’ve read so many fics that are more professionally written than some published books.

"It takes so much time and effort to create, but only an instant to destroy..." . ݁˖ . ݁