This Gaga

when you have big professional companies like bon appetit, or geek & sundry, or microjig, or americas test kitchen, and theyre producing content to put on youtube and other sites, they shouldnt be allowed to rely on auto captioning, or fans captioning it for them

closed captioning regulations had to be implemented for tv and film because otherwise, we just…. didnt get any

and now that they can get away with not doing it on the internet, theyve gone right back to not captioning anything because nobody is making them

those regulations really need to catch up

Since I made a post a while ago claiming that Zuko was autistic, some people have been asking for the “proof.” It seems fitting for me to provide said proof now, since it’s autism acceptance month. I’m going to try to be as comprehensive as I can, but if anyone has anything to add, feel free to do so! That said, please do not come on here to tell me that Zuko is not autistic. This is my headcanon, and these are all the things about Zuko that I relate to as an autistic person. 

Alright, buckle up, kids, because Zuko is autistic af and I’m coming with all the receipts - and there are a lot of them.

Let’s start from the beginning. A lot of austistic people develop tactics early on that help us to ‘pass’ as allistic. When unsure of how to act in certain social situations, Zuko tends to mirror Azula. When he was younger, he was shown copying her sense of humor. 

He threw a rock at a baby turtle duck and laughed, saying that this is how Azula feeds turtle ducks. Because Azula thought it was funny, he assumed his mom would think it was funny, too. It wasn’t until Ursa asked, “Why would you do that?” that Zuko even considered it might not be universally funny. 

Zuko is shown laughing at things Azula thinks are funny more than once as a child. If Azula is not laughing directly at Zuko, he usually joins in on the laughter, even if he doesn’t understand the joke. 

Another time Zuko tried to copy Azula was after she demonstrated her skills to their grandfather, Fire Lord Azulon. Zuko immediately attempted to demonstrate his own skills, even though he was not prepared. 

Another thing that some autistic people struggle with is fine motor skills. When Zuko tried to prove to his grandfather that he was as skilled as Azula, he tripped both times he attempted to fire bend. He has obviously improved since that moment, but it took him a long time to do that. 

“You have yet to master your basics. Drill it again.”

Zuko was at sea for three years with Iroh, seemingly doing nothing but training to get strong enough to capture the avatar. After three years, he was still working on his basics, as Iroh points out. Other benders have been shown to become masters much quicker than Zuko. Katara became a waterbending master after one episode. Aang mastered all four elements in the span of about a year. By the age of 12, Toph was already an earthbending master, and she taught herself. Zuko has had to work a lot harder than them to properly control his fine motor skills. It isn’t until he’s mastered his basics that he is able to progress as a bender. 

Since Ozai was obviously not the most supportive parent, Zuko may have had to figure out other ways to hide his autism. 

Another tactic he used was to practice social interactions before they happened. In this scene, he is shown giving a practice performance to a frog:

“The thing is, I have a lot of fire bending experience, and I’m considered to be pretty good at it. Well, you’ve seen me. You know, when I was attacking you?” 

Obviously, this practice session was necessary, because Zuko said plenty of things here that could have easily further escalated the situation. 

Even while using tools like mirroring or practicing social interaction, we all have moments where things might just feel a little off to allistic people. 

Empathy

A lot of autistic people feel empathy differently than allistic people. Some of us might not feel empathy, some might experience hyper empathy, and some might just have a hard time expressing empathy. I suspect Zuko is leaning towards low empathy, or has trouble expressing empathy. 

Exhibit A: 

“My first girlfriend turned into the moon.”

“That’s rough, buddy.” 

Notice how Zuko found it easier to talk about himself. He answered Sokka’s questions about Mai, and the conversation was moving along smoothly. It wasn’t until Sokka shared personal information about himself that Zuko seemed to be out of words. 

Exhibit B:

Toph just told Zuko that her parents gave her everything she ever asked for, but not the one thing she really wanted: their love. 

Zuko spends half of this conversation looking the other way. When he does look at her, notice his expression. He probably has no idea why she is telling him this, so he doesn’t know how to respond. And on top of that, he was under the impression that they were supposed to be looking for Aang. 

A lot of autistic people have what you might call a one track mind (which I’ll get more into later). It’s hard for us to switch focus from one thing to another. 

Toph wanted to partner with Zuko because she wanted a life changing field trip, but Zuko just wanted to find Aang. He was able to have ‘life changing field trips’ with Aang, Katara, and Sokka because he was actively focused on helping them with their specific problems. He had time to mentally prepare to help them. There was careful planning involved in each of those missions. He can’t help Toph in this moment, because her problem is conflicting with the problem they already have: finding Aang.

In both of the examples above, Zuko acknowledges the hardships that Sokka and Toph went through. “That’s rough buddy” and “I know you had a rough childhood.” This may be his way of trying to show compassion, even though it might come across as cold. 

Zuko takes things at face value

Catching things like sarcasm, body language, metaphors, and ‘reading between the lines’ can be difficult for autistic people. This also gives us a reputation for being gullible, because it can be difficult to tell when someone is lying without being able to read the cues. 

The first and most obvious example of this is what Zuko’s entire arc revolves around: 

Capturing the Avatar

Ozai had just fought his own son, a 13 year old, in an Agni Kai. He burned Zuko’s face, intentionally causing permanent damage, and then banished him. All of this because Zuko spoke out of turn. At the time that Zuko was banished, the Avatar hadn’t been spotted for over 100 years. 

Knowing all of that, it seems likely to me that Ozai was being cruel and sarcastic when he said that Zuko could come back after capturing the Avatar. It would be like saying “when pigs fly,” since at that point the Avatar was thought to have been gone forever. 

Iroh, of course, knows this. That’s why in the beginning of the series, he kept reminding Zuko that the Avatar had not been seen in 100 years. He didn’t want Zuko to get his hopes up. Zuko, however, spends every minute for three years training to fight the avatar, and the second he sees something out of the ordinary, he automatically assumes that it is the the avatar’s doing. It’s kind of a miracle that he was right.

Capturing the Avatar = restoring honor. This is an example of both taking what his father told him as fact, and seeing things as black and white, which is also commonly associated with autism. Ozai told Zuko that capturing the avatar would restore his honor, so Zuko became obsessed with finding and capturing Aang. He truly believed that doing so was the only way to restore his honor and return home. It took Zuko years to realize that he could restore his honor in a different way than what his father told him. 

He automatically believes Azula when she says he can come home

“Father regrets?”

It had been three years since he’d seen Azula, and he immediately took what she said at face value. He is excited to be going home, and he is frustrated with Iroh for being skeptical. When Iroh points out that he has never known Ozai to regret anything, Zuko says “did you even listen to Azula?” 

Zuko takes what Azula says as fact, just like he has always done. This is why, as a child, he had to constantly tell himself, “Azula always lies,” because she probably had a habit of fooling Zuko. But now that it has been so long, without the constant reminder that Azula always lies, she takes advantage of the fact that Zuko trusts her so easily, and he falls for her lies once again.

He doesn’t catch on to Jin’s body language

In the episode ‘The Tales of Ba Sing Se,’ Zuko meets a girl named Jin. He immediately is threatened by her, because she keeps looking at him (eye contact is another thing that can be a challenge for autistic people). He assumes she knows they are fire nation. Despite the fact that he has seen her constantly smiling at him, he is completely surprised when he finds out she has a crush on him.

When Jin asks Zuko on a date, he shows up looking like this:

I think most people would catch on that this is Not A Good Look. But when Jin messes up his hair, Zuko gets frustrated. He says, “It took my uncle ten minutes to do my hair!” 

So, Iroh told him this was a good hairstyle, and Zuko trusts Iroh, so he took his word as truth, and went along with it. 

Later on in the date, Jin tries to kiss Zuko. Just before their lips touch, he holds a coupon in front of her face, exclaiming that he brought her a gift.

Zuko likes Jin. He risked a lot to light up the fountain for her. We know he wanted to kiss her, because when she kissed him later, he let her, and he even kissed her back for a moment before he bolted. But in this moment here, he missed the signs that said she was about to kiss him (the hand holding, Jin closing her eyes, leaning forward, etc), so he moved the conversation along in a way that he felt was natural, by giving her a gift. 

He doesn’t realize that Sokka and Suki want time alone

Zuko runs into Suki when he’s about to go into Sokka’s tent. She’s clearly embarrassed, but Zuko doesn’t catch on.

“Sorry, do you need to talk to Sokka, too?”

Suki says no, so Zuko enters Sokka’s tent, to find Sokka like this:

There are roses everywhere, candles are lit, Sokka’s hair is down, he’s posing. Sokka was waiting for Suki to arrive, not Zuko. 

But Zuko doesn’t catch on to that, either, so he sits right down and asks Sokka for advice, totally oblivious to what was supposed to be going down. 

He can’t explain what is ‘off’ about Azula

A lot of autistic people have trouble recognizing patterns. Zuko has known Azula his whole life. He knows what her hair usually looks like. He knows what her makeup usually looks like. She doesn’t usually have dark circles under her eyes. She usually has better posture. I could go on. 

Azula challenged Zuko to an Agni Kai looking like this:

“I can’t explain it, but there’s something off about her.”

This is something I struggle with, too. If my mom dyes her hair, I can tell something is different, but it may take me a few days to figure out exactly what has changed. I think this is what was going on with Zuko here. He knows something is up, but he can’t immediately recognize that Azula has cut her own hair poorly, or that her makeup is different because she did it herself, or that she has dark circles under her eyes, or weird posture, etc. 

Sensory issues 

Sensory issues are also associated with autism. This can manifest in sensory overload and strong reactions to physical contact, among other things.

One way I’ve learned to avoid or come down from sensory overload is to self-isolate and meditate, which is something Zuko does very often. This can also be a way to recharge spoons or mentally prepare for something that might be exhausting.  

This explains why Zuko would react so strongly when someone interrupts his alone time. He needs that time to prepare for every other moment in the day. When this time is interrupted, he lashes out, and has trouble containing his emotions.

Physical contact

Zuko doesn’t always seem to know how to react to physical contact and affection. He reacts negatively if he isn’t prepared, or if he isn’t comfortable with the person. Even if he genuinely likes the person who is touching him (Jin, Iroh, Toph, Katara, etc), he still doesn’t seem to know what to do. 

If Zuko is comfortable with the person who hugs him, he allows them to do so, but he still almost always looks flustered. He doesn’t always hug back, and when he does, it sometimes takes him a moment to process that he’s being hugged before he is able to return the gesture.

Difficulty Changing Plans

As I mentioned before, autistic people sometimes have a one-track mind. We may have difficulty changing plans, and may tend to see things as black and white, with no gray areas. All of these things describe Zuko to a T. 

Zuko tends to get frustrated over any change of plans, but there’s one example I’d like to focus on.

Let’s talk about that angst coma. You know, that time Zuko got physically ill after he did something that completely altered the course of his life? 

That’s the one. The thing is, change is hard. And it can be especially hard for autistic people. Zuko spent the last few years working towards one thing, and one thing only: capturing the avatar. Then, in one day, everything changed. He made a decision to free Appa, which was completely counter to what he has been working towards this entire time. 

I’ve had “angst comas” before, and I know other autistic people who have had similar experiences. Sometimes you really do just need a few days in bed to recuperate and adjust to big changes. 

some side notes that are worth mentioning:

Zuko takes Iroh’s metaphors literally

He repeats Iroh’s metaphors without understanding them, and they come across differently

It took him a minute to realize when Aang insulted him, because the insult was dressed up like a complement. “Hey, that was actually pretty smart of you.” Zuko’s first reaction is to smile proudly at the praise. 

That scene when Aang wants to sit by Katara (bc he likes her) and Zuko is all, “I don’t get it, what’s the big deal? Just sit next to me.”

He saved Iroh’s smelly sandal when he was separated from him

He has a special interest in dao swords

Inaccurate self image (in his imagination he pictured himself without his scar)

He replays memories in his head of times when he thinks he may have said the wrong thing

He has meltdowns when things don’t go as he plans. 

He sometimes messes up jokes when he’s trying to be funny

He paces back and forth a lot, perhaps as a way to stim

Thranduil is really into fried chicken, y'all. 

A/N: This is legit my favorite story I have ever written, so happy to be reposting it, ENJOY! 

Spencer paced back and forth in his small living room, continuously flipping through the pages of the manuscript. “You wrote a book about us?” he said as soon as he head the call connects. “Hi, how are? I’m doing okay, thank you for asking Spencer how about your self?” you said in a sarcastic tone of voice.  “Y/N, hello, how are you, I’m doing well. Did you write a book about us?”

“I wrote a book, in regards of certain events that unfolded in my life, you we’re involved in them. Therefor you are in the book, but there is no us so I did not write it about us, Spencer” you said calmly.

“Right” he wasn’t satisfied with that answer. “Look it doesn’t have your name specifically, it’s a young adult fiction book, no one you know is going to read it. I sent it to you only because I wanted you to know, but that’s all.” 

“Right, of course, no one is going to read it. Also I don’t think I look like a Matthew why did you name me Matthew?”

“Spencer if that is the only comment you have about that book, go read it again,” you said hanging up the phone. 

Spencer walked into Garcia’s office reading over the case file he was finishing, “Hey Garcia, can you verify this location for me.”

When she hadn’t responded he looked up to see her, and JJ’s face completely hidden behind a book, the book. “What are you guys doing?” Spencer said terrified. “Oh my god, this is so sad.” Penelope said still unable to put down the book. “I didn’t think it’d be so sad” JJ commented.

“What are you guys doing” Spencer asked again. “Reading, genius what does it look like” Penelope said flipping to the next page. “It looks like you’re not working” 

“How can we work? I need to know what Matthew does next, does he really marry Sara? Does Mila ever move on?” Penelope said dramatically.

“You’re reading a young adult book, on some teenagers relationship?” Spencer said trying to keep it casual. “This isn’t even real” he said trying to laughing it off.

“Well I hope it isn’t because if I we’re to ever meet this Matthew I would give him a piece of my very uncensored mind, I can’t believe he wouldn’t pick Mila, she was clearly the right choice” Penelope said.

“Seriously for being as smart as they make him sound he sure made a stupid move” JJ added.

Spencer was shocked to hear what his friends had to say. He knew he had made the right choice, he was certain he had. So certain, he’d never told anyone the whole story about you, because he didn’t need anyone’s opinions. But here they we’re reading it, and giving him all the unfiltered opinions he never thought he’d get to hear.

“Well let me know when you finally get back to work” he said as he headed for the door. “It’s gonna be a while Penelopes Magical Workshop of Knowledge is currently heart broken”

The book began to haunt Spencer is ways he never thought it would. There we’re poster advertisements everywhere he went. Every coffee shop was selling a copy, every book store was displaying it, every library was announcing when they’d have it available.

There was no escaping it, there was no escaping the thought that maybe he hadn’t made the right choice. Spencer sat at the table nervously awaiting your arrival. “I’m sorry I’m late, traffic was awful” you said catching Spencer by surprise when you sat next to him.

You grabbed the glass of water that was placed in the seat he was expecting you to take across from him. You didn’t see each other much, for many reasons, the primary excuse we’re your jobs, and crazy schedules. The other reasons we’re only spoken of once you had consumed enough alcohol.

You started off by catching up with any new work news or crazy cases he had, next the small talk of family. Followed by any news, weather, or books you had recently read. You both knew the small talk was coming to an end when you began to talk about the food. 

The same things we’re always said about the food, because you had been coming here for the last seven years. Gotten the same thing every time for the last seven years. Some might think it was repulsive to be so repetitive but this place held meaning.

It was where you told Spencer you loved him, it was where he told you, “You’re my best friend, I can’t risk losing you” it was where you told him you we’re getting married. That same restaurant was where he took you too eat the day you ran the opposite direction down the isle. 

But still you we’re his best friend, and he couldn’t risk losing you. It was where just a year ago he told you about Sara, and just six months ago he showed you the ring he would propose to her with. That was the last time you told him how you felt, just one last time.

So many memories, just not the ones you wanted. “Your book is every where, even my co workers have read it.” 

“Well so much for FBI agents not reading young adult love stories” you said shocked. “Well I’m sorry, they didn’t say anything did they”

“Yeah they did. They said Matthew was stupid and he made the wrong choice, and that for being so smart he sure was stupid” Spencer said with a fake smile on his face. “So did I make the wrong choice Y/N”

“That’s for you to answer Spencer, I’ve said everything I had to say. I even wrote it down for you so would never forget” 

“I’m sorry, I don’t want to do this again, I don’t want to hurt you, those we’re never my intentions.” Spencer could barely look at you in the eyes.

“It’s in the past, are we ever going to be able to keep any of this in the past”

That was the real question. For years it was a silent agreement, an elephant in the room. You never spoke of your feelings for him, although he knew. There we’re so many times when you swore he felt them too. It was so easy to fall in love with him, but so hard to forget about him. 

“There was one thing I have to say about the book”

You looked at him curiously, “You left out that Matthew loved Mila just as much as much. You made it seem as if I lied and I didn’t, but I didn’t have the courage to risk losing you”

“We lose some people either way”

“You’re right”

As Spencer walked up to his door the package in front of his door caught his attention, quickly he opened the sealed letter tapped to it.

“There are so many things I want to say, first off congratulations. Second of all, I’m afraid I’ll be missing the wedding. Warm weather, and sandy beaches await me. Third of all, I re-wrote the ending to the book. I wanted to give it, us, the happy ending we didn’t have the courage to give our self’s. Maybe in another lifetime, maybe never who knows. I’ll see you soon Spencer Reid.” Spencer traced over the words on the handwritten notes. Reaching inside of the shipping bag, he found the book, immediately flipping opening up.

 “Dedicated to: Boy Wonder, it was an adventure being your friend, what a pleasure having my heart broken by you”

Matthew Gray Gubler The Unauthorized Documentary

The Senses: Touch/ Hearing / Taste

A/N: I didn’t realize I had this saved for so long so I thought I’d go ahead and publish it while I work on other things.

Of all things Spencer had ever seen she was by far his favorite. 

I think I might keep going with this, I’m really enjoying the plot.

~

“Maybe if we try and find some shovels or something? Anything to try and dig ourselves out?”

“Look you know as well as I do there’s nothing here, we’ve both looked twice.”

You doubted that the two of you could dig fast enough so that get out before you were even more snowed in anyway. It seemed to be coming down heavy, you could hear the huge clumps hitting the roof. Now you really regretted not bringing a hat.

The doctor groaned and slammed the door shut again, you were grateful for that, you needed all the heat you could get.

He began to pace.

“I knew this was a bad idea coming out here with-”

He stopped mid sentence, as if his brain finally caught up with his mouth.

You couldn’t lie to yourself and say that didn’t hurt.

But you said nothing and walked over to the musty smelling hay bale in the corner and curled yourself on it, back resting against the flaking wooden wall. You leaned your head back, maybe you’d be able to catch a few winks until it stopped.

“Look I’m sorry, I don’t mean to be rude to you-”

“Then why are you?” You couldn’t help but quip back.

Looking at his face you could see how defeated he looked, frowning, eyebrows knitted together in worry. You just couldn’t work him out.

“I’m sorry okay? I just…I can’t explain it without sounding like a total weirdo.”

You considered pushing him for the answer but decided against it, you were too tired. Plus you weren’t too sure you wanted to hear the answer.

He continued pacing, almost as if he were trying to think of something. You were bored now, and you needed something to take your mind of the numbness seeming into your body.

“Soooo…what’s the worst case you’ve ever been on?”

He just looked at you, one eyebrow raised it disdain.

“Oops, sorry bad question, forget I asked.”

He seemed to do just that because he carried on pacing.

God it was so awkward. If you’d been stuck here with anyone else at least the conversation would pass the time, but there was no hope for that here. In the silence you could feel your frustration start to boil just under your skin, all the questions just on the tip of your tongue. His frantic pacing wasn’t helping either, back and forth, back and forth, back and forth, until…

“Will you stop that? You’re going to wear yourself out.”

He stopped mid step and span in his heels to look at you.

“What’s your problem?”

“My problem?!” You scoffed. “What’s your problem? You’ve hated me since the day I joined the BAU!”

“I don’t hate you.” He muttered.

“Well you act like you do, you don’t talk to me, you stay away from me when we’re on a case, why?”

“I told you I can’t explain it without sounding crazy.”

“Try me.”

When he sighed you watched the cloud of cold breath leave his lips and float away. You saw a hint of nervousness and anxiety in his eyes, you guessed he discovered about your past. The only person who was supposed to know was Prentiss as she was the one who offered you the job. Who you were back then was not the person you were now, but it didn’t mean you still didn’t feel guilty about it. You had been stupid to think you could hide it, maybe you might’ve fooled the others but this was Dr Spencer Reid, he was a genius, of course he would work it out.

“It’s just…I feel really…protective over you.” He spluttered.

That wasn’t what you were expecting at all.

“Oh…”

He ran his hands through his perfectly soft curls.

“I’m sorry, I can see I’ve freaked you out, I would totally understand if you wanted to complain about me to Human Resources or Prentiss-”

“No no, I’m not freaked out, a little confused maybe…can I ask why?”

Why on earth would he feel protective over you? You could definitely look after your self, you had been all your life. If it had been anyone else you supposed you would have been a bit offended, but you knew this wasn’t coming from some deep embedded misogyny.

“The thing is, I was also quite young when I joined the team, and I don’t regret it but it does change you. I know it’s none of my business, but I can’t help it, I-I just don’t want you to get hurt.”

You could’ve laughed, it almost was funny, Spencer had no idea. In a way you wished he was right, you wished you were delicate and new to this way of life, but you weren’t.

“Honestly you don’t have to worry about me, I’m a lot tougher than I look-” You started.

“Please don’t feel like you have to act like it doesn’t bother you, the bodies, the crime scenes I know it’s hard-”

“Spencer really now it’s okay I- Look here’s the truth, there’s a reason I’ve been recruited so young. Before I joined the team I was an MI6 undercover operative agent.”

You let that sink in.

He was taking it quite well all things considered. He shook his head a few times, looked at you, blinked, and then seemed to accept it.

“How did I miss that, I’m supposed to be a profiler?” He asked bewildered.

“It’s a long story.”

“Maybe you could tell me one day…”

“One day.” You promised.

“I won’t tell anybody.”

You were thankful for that.

Both of you let the moment pass in silence for a while. You couldn’t believe you actually told him your biggest secret. He made you feel comfortable, you could trust him.

“So you don’t hate me?” You couldn’t help but ask.

“Far from it I promise, and I promise from now on I’ll stop avoiding you.”

The ‘far from it’ comment made your heart flutter. That was the last thing you needed right now. He didn’t mean it romantically so you shouldn’t get to hung up on it.

“That would be nice, you know what else would be nice? If it wasn’t so damn cold.” You complained lightly.

You laughed, his smile felt like it could uplift souls, his perfect pearly whites rendering you speechless.

Shit, you told yourself to get a grip.

“I think it’s stopped snowing.” He said, walking to the door.

It turned out it had, and the existing mountain holding you hostage was already beginning to melt away. Between the two of you it didn’t take long to dig yourselves out.