side notes before i begin:
some of these traits could also be explained by cluster b disorders, as she’s heavily bpd coded and canonically aspd, but i see her as both cluster b AND autistic.
also, please don’t say things like “YES she’s not a psychopath, she’s autistic instead” because she’s still very much aspd and i don’t want to take that away. i’ve seen a lot of people with aspd really identify with villanelle and say she portrays it well.
just scroll if you don’t agree, this is a harmless headcanon and i’m simply explaining why i have this headcanon, as well as why a lot of autistic people seem to relate to her (people get SO mad if you even insinuate a popular character might be autistic lol)
masking is a strategy used to hide neurodivergent traits in order to blend in with neurotypicals. this can include mirroring (mimicking others expressions/behaviors), or even entire persona changes.
in the very first scene villanelle carefully observes a man smiling then mimics his smile (1x01)
villanelle hears a woman laugh on the radio then mimics her laugh, later she reuses that same laugh with sebastian (1x02)
liked copying the statue people in the street (2x05)
often mimics konstantin and predicts what he’s going to say
can quickly switch personas, adopts different accents and dialects quickly, and reuses phrases that are said to her
when talking about villanelle anna says “she was quite literal” and goes on to describe how villanelle misinterpreted a joke so confidently that she killed someone because of it (1x07)
interprets the bible extremely literally in season 4
“i have children” “i don’t want your children” (1x05)
“sheep are happier than wolves” “you spend your time off surveying sheep?” (3x08)
took konstantin saying “do something normal” literally (1x02)
“you are not a pumpkin, you a beautiful” (1x04)
kills gabriel because she thought he was genuinely asking to die when he was expressing how sad he was about his situation (2x01)
sensory seeking (& sensitivities)
touches and focuses on the texture of the liliana rizzari duvet, goes out of her way to ask the man she’s killing for the name of the duvet, later purchases it for herself and carefully feels the texture of it again (1x01)
generally touches and smells everything
“i want to smell her skin” (4x03) as well as her describing her ideal perfume in detail then asking eve and konstantin to smell her (3x03)
hates wearing crocs and other “non-nice” things, is very fixated on “nice” things like high quality clothes and food
makes people stroke her hair when she’s feeling upset (2x05 and 4x01)
bold fashion with a lot of colors/patterns/textures
seems to dislike most people hugging her
more up to interpretation, but she wore headphones in 3x04 and 3x05, once while she was having a meltdown on a train
struggles with social cues
includes coming off as blunt/rude, trouble navigating groups, and not interpreting situations correctly
how awkward and blunt she was at her wedding (3x01)
interacting with the church, especially in 4x02
doesn’t know how to react to displays of emotion (gabriel crying, benita crying, was confused and froze when her brother was being affectionate)
doesn’t understand why some people are upset with her (konstantin in s2, may in s4, eve at multiple points)
doesn’t understand that certain things will make people upset (being very blunt with gabriel then being put off when he starts crying)
struggles with understanding boundaries
doesn’t see authority figures as an authority (teasing and flirting with the prison guards, threatening konstantin, casually killing anton, doesn’t seem to understand consequences)
does not follow rules that don’t make sense to her
breaks into eve’s house expecting a normal dinner, doesn’t know how to calm eve down and ends up making her panic more (1x05)
didn’t understand why eve’s coworkers were acting scared of her (3x08)
is confused as to why sebastian laughs when she says she likes national anthems (1x02)
not understanding why her mom was laughing at her and that it was mocking “you always laugh at things that aren’t funny” “like you?” “yes” (3x05)
the repetitive performance of certain physical movements or vocalizations in order to self soothe or express emotion
big jumpy happy dance (3x04)
jumping and spinning on the heels of her boots by the train with rhian (3x08)
her copying noises she hears could be a type of vocal stim, echolalia
on the train ride at the end of 3x05
there are more examples but i can’t list them all since she generally bounces around a lot and has a lot of big movements
inappropriate/bizarre responses
yelling “this is so BORINGGG” while in an art museum (2x04)
“i mean i masturbate about you a lot” (1x08)
yelling “JUST DUNK ME” while getting baptized (4x01)
soooo many instances that again i can’t list them all…
alexithymia is the difficulty feeling or identifying emotions (or physical stressors like pain)
her whole aa meeting speech in 2x06 about how she feels nothing and the distress it causes (is extremely bored, hurts herself and it doesn’t hurt, just wants to feel something)
doesn’t know if she’s telling the truth or not (2x07), this could also be because of masking as too much masking can cause identity confusion, not knowing what you’re faking and what’s authentic
weakened sense of danger, even says “i don’t get scared” (2x08)
says she’s fine then immediately collapses (2x01)
meltdowns, especially at the end of 3x05 where she was wearing headphones and had increased stimming while crying
attaches to and fixates on a specific person, obsession prone
REJECTION SENSITIVE DYSPHORIA
has always felt estranged and inherently different from others, “i’m not normal you know” (2x01)
detail oriented, notices things others don’t
exaggerated facial expressions
differences in expressing emotions and communication
only comfortable with select people
perfectionism, hates working with a team and wants to do jobs alone (1x04, 3x02)
feels threatened when irina knows more languages than her, as languages are something villanelle is very interested in (1x08)
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