Fanfiction, obsessions = autism?

[NeonSpider]

So I'm seeing a lot of threads lately that go into great depth about shit no one cares about. Not just a thread. Not just a post. Huge, huge paragraphs about trivial stuff that couldn't be less important if it tried. Is that autism? I think I'm beginning to understand autism when I see it now.

Examples:
Thread about unremarkable minor background character who may have appeared at some point in some cartoon.
Thread about short-lived Japanese-only weirdness that no one outside of Japan should have even cared or known about.
Most fanfictions, but particularly Sonic and Pokemon for some reason. Especially if there's romantic/sexual pairings.

[Gagsy]

Nope.

[NekoMika]

At 5/28/14 05:31 PM, NeonSpider wrote: So I'm seeing a lot of threads lately that go into great depth about shit no one cares about. Not just a thread. Not just a post. Huge, huge paragraphs about trivial stuff that couldn't be less important if it tried. Is that autism?

No, those are just people who don't know how to make threads.

[ManDeep]

NoBOdy Cares you fuckinG auTisT lol.

[Voltage]

Funny you say that (FBI agent), I am actually watching a video of a bunch of pre-pubescent teens giving these drawn-out incoherent questions to the makers of such-and-such.

I don't think I could facepalm much harder.

Fanfiction and overly obsessed; maybe.

Asking questions? Definite sign of autism.

[NeonSpider]

At 5/28/14 05:37 PM, Spooky wrote: Somehow I think this may have be inspired by that Xenomit thread.

Sort of. That whole arguing about Pokemon types was pretty cringeworthy.

But mostly inspired by these two masterpieces
http://www.newgrounds.com/bbs/topic/1366755
http://www.newgrounds.com/bbs/topic/1367254

[Clamstuffer]

At 5/28/14 06:03 PM, NeonSpider wrote:

At 5/28/14 05:37 PM, Spooky wrote: Somehow I think this may have be inspired by that Xenomit thread.

Sort of. That whole arguing about Pokemon types was pretty cringeworthy.

But mostly inspired by these two masterpieces
http://www.newgrounds.com/bbs/topic/1366755
http://www.newgrounds.com/bbs/topic/1367254

I knew exactly what threads you were talking about. I thought the exact same thing when I read the first one. The second one I kind of just looked at for a few seconds, got confused, and chalked it up to weird Japanese shit—but I can see your point.

I have seen it in other threads and have almost pointed it out once or twice, (like people who post in a "what's on your desktop" thread just to provide long factual lists of every item) but I kind of felt like there really wasn't any point to it other than being a dick.

[Sonic]

there's nothing autistic about this

[SithCorduroy]

I'm sorry, but I cant' fathom in my simple brain why anybody, from any walk of life, would want to write or read fanfiction.

[MrPercie]

Im autistic and I have NEVER saw the appeal in fanfiction.

Although, I just don't read books or literature for enjoyment in general, not my thing.

[beheadedbymuslims]

At 5/28/14 05:31 PM, NeonSpider wrote: Most fanfictions, but particularly Sonic and Pokemon for some reason. Especially if there's romantic/sexual pairings.

take that the fuck back eslanna otp you bitch

[fieldertiger]

I don't think that's autism if there is ever lots of fanfictions just because the fans there have some mental disorder or something. In fact, some autistic people aren't nerds. So why is it suspicious that autistic people are obvious stereotypes of people who love fanfictions?

[Avery]

They're just being assholes.

[NekoMika]

At 5/28/14 06:36 PM, Vnzi wrote:

At 5/28/14 06:34 PM, SithCorduroy wrote: I'm sorry, but I cant' fathom in my simple brain why anybody, from any walk of life, would want to write or read fanfiction.

Different strokes from different folks, really.

I remember when I started an MLP fan-fiction on deviantart, never got farther than chapter 2, then again, looking at it, I only got far in one or two non fan-fiction pieces. Oh well.

[killerjeff]

Depends on the subject matter, if its anything that attracts a severely autistic person, then yeah most likely a strong indicator of autism.

For example if you have strong obsessions over sports cars or a fucking football team, then you're pretty normal.
However be it some shit like MLP or specific characters like, I'll draw straws and day Kiba from Naruto then you really do have some major social and possible mental problems, anyone who goes by the title The Hedgehog has a major fucking malfunction.

That's my take.

[HollowedPumkinz]

Your lack of understanding about Autism is extremely saddening. Please just search the term if you want to learn about it. Just because people enjoy a certain thing you don't, it doesn't mean they're obsessive, it just interests them. You wanna know about true autistic fixation? I knew a guy that had/has Asperger's, a mild form of autism. Fixation is a trait of such a disorder and the thing he'd always talk about non-stop was anthropomorphic animals (i.e. Animals w/ Human characteristics or vise versa), like he'd be dead serious about it and liked to entertain the idea very thoroughly. Mild autistic people like him aren't the kind you take pity on because he can fully function and think on his own, he just does it differently, in fact his disorder allows him to think in different ways normal people never would and in that sense, has a slight advantage in the field of literature and art in general.

But anyways, no, what you're talking about isn't even remotely close to autism. Fixation is indeed a trait but having an interest doesn't equal a mental disorder. If anything I think you're just being a dick about things other people like that you don't get, so therefore those who do like it must be autistic. Right?

I can't take this thread seriously because you would have to be mentally challenged yourself to believe that somebody who thinks deeply on "trivial" matters is autistic. Trivial is entirely subjective. So you don't give a shit about the thing they like? That's nice, they probably don't give a shit about what you like either. Does that make you autistic?

[HollowedPumkinz]

At 5/28/14 06:47 PM, Spooky wrote:

At 5/28/14 06:34 PM, SithCorduroy wrote: I'm sorry, but I cant' fathom in my simple brain why anybody, from any walk of life, would want to write or read fanfiction.

It isn't something I either read or write, but I understand why people do. Oh, and also to masturbate to.

Fanfiction is largely for writers, especially those who love fiction (no shit right?). Writing a fanfic is just a fun exercise fiction writers do when they particularly enjoy a certain fictional universe and want to expand it or pay tribute. It's absolutely no different than any fan art. Just like fan art, it can be a really cool tribute, or just a shitty wash, depending on how much love is put in. I don't like reading Fan-fiction myself, a lot of it is just cringe worthy "shipping" short stories and other times they just don't seem to nail the characters (kinda like hearing someone dub over a famous VA's work), but there are a few gems in there that do a good job expanding on the universe or demonstrate a great understanding of characters or settings.

Some of the best fan fic to be written, IMO, have come from Star Wars fan fictions, actually. So much so that there are published books on some of them, these books are called the "Expanded Universe", non-canon material that fits into the pre-established universe even if it isn't from the original creator.

Some people bash fanfic writers as simply not good enough or original enough to make their own story. But that's not it at all, its just a fun exercise/tribute that helps sharpen writing skills, its great when a really talented author creates a universe so accessible and fun that people can take it and write their own story using their world and ideas.

[NeonSpider]

At 5/28/14 08:57 PM, HollowedPumkinz wrote: But anyways, no, what you're talking about isn't even remotely close to autism. Fixation is indeed a trait but having an interest doesn't equal a mental disorder. If anything I think you're just being a dick about things other people like that you don't get, so therefore those who do like it must be autistic. Right?

I can't take this thread seriously because you would have to be mentally challenged yourself to believe that somebody who thinks deeply on "trivial" matters is autistic. Trivial is entirely subjective. So you don't give a shit about the thing they like? That's nice, they probably don't give a shit about what you like either. Does that make you autistic?

So you're saying something like this http://www.newgrounds.com/bbs/topic/1367254 isn't trivial and is in fact both riveting and engaging?

I mean I know different people like different things/etc and that's fine. But there's a big difference between liking something and obsessing over unimportant minutiae related to that thing. There are lots of things I don't care about but I can see how someone might. But you have to admit there is a whole lot of stuff that truly falls under "who could possibly care?" and which appears not to be a joke and completely serious.

Don't get me wrong. I have nothing against autistic people. I'm just wondering if topics like these are symptomatic of autism? And if not, then what would you call it? Serious question because I'm legitimately thinking it might be autism.

Is all fanfiction stuff autistic? No. Certainly not. But I think you'd have a hard time arguing none of it is. Or at least if not autism, what would you call it?

[NeonSpider]

I mean to link this one instead http://www.newgrounds.com/bbs/topic/1366755 which is worse. But still the other one's pretty bad.

[Clamstuffer]

OP is totally right and butthurt aspies need to go crawl back in their hugboxes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vb5rHthCXoA

[GrizzlyOne]

imo, stuff like fanfiction can help somebody who wants to be a writer learn the basics of it.

[Ragnarokia]

At 5/29/14 02:12 AM, GrizzlyOne wrote: imo, stuff like fanfiction can help somebody who wants to be a writer learn the basics of it.

This completely.

I am a fanfiction writer myself, and have been for a few years now. I find it very enjoyable and have so far written a few stories short and long which others have enjoyed in surprisingly high quantities which makes me feel good about it for sure!

I started off making lots of mistakes along the lines of using "to" instead of "too" for example and in time I stopped making such mistakes and generally got more used to writing as a whole.

It is annoying when people group ALL fanfiction together with the stereotypical bad kind that has no grammar or taste and is just a self insert fucking the character thing. As most of it is written by writers who actually like to write decently.

As a final point, yes I focus mostly on romantic stories, OP has a problem with that? Sucks to be him then if he can't enjoy a nice romantic story from time to time.

[Amaranthus]

Looks pretty autistic to me.

[SansNumbers]

At 5/29/14 02:12 AM, GrizzlyOne wrote: imo, stuff like fanfiction can help somebody who wants to be a writer learn the basics of it.

Another good way to learn to write well is by writing things that aren't fanfiction, because building your own worlds and characters is much better than piggybacking off someone else's. Instead of writing fanfiction you can simply read books and analyze how authors use words in their clever authory ways to tell stories and give meaning to things so you can do the same in your own works.

[Phobotech]

At 5/28/14 06:34 PM, SithCorduroy wrote: I'm sorry, but I cant' fathom in my simple brain why anybody, from any walk of life, would want to write or read fanfiction.

I've read some ships before, but out of pure morbid curiosity looking for a laugh.

[AxTekk]

There's a huge difference between being autistic and obsessive. Everyone needs to leave autistics alone.

Autism is incredibly complicated and because it has some negative symptoms that can make social interactions hard autistic people have a rep for being "weird", but not all "weird" people are autistic. The thing that characterises most people you're trying to describe is an obsession with some facet of nerd culture. If, instead, they were obsessed with some aspect of 19th century literature or with music tech and sound design you'd just write them off as what they are - geeky people who don't get out enough and live in their heads.

This whole autist thing was really funny, but it has gone too far now. People's view of autism is genuinely changing, becoming less sympathetic and less understanding.

[GrizzlyOne]

At 5/29/14 10:34 AM, AxTekk wrote:

This whole autist thing was really funny, but it has gone too far now. People's view of autism is genuinely changing, becoming less sympathetic and less understanding.

blame the antisocial queerbait over at places like 4chin

[SithCorduroy]

At 5/28/14 09:21 PM, HollowedPumkinz wrote:

Some of the best fan fic to be written, IMO, have come from Star Wars fan fictions, actually. So much so that there are published books on some of them, these books are called the "Expanded Universe", non-canon material that fits into the pre-established universe even if it isn't from the original creator.

Expanded universes are not quite the same thing.

Unless it's officially licensed expanded universe material, then it just seems pointless to me.