autistic jonathan and will byers masterpost:
both jonathan and will are always referred to as being “strange” and “sensitive” and are seen to be shy, except for when will is around his friends
both jonathan and will are bullied for being strange
the mouthbreathers who always pick on will’s friend group
steve and his gang saying things like “i didn’t know he could talk” and “i bet he killed (will)”
they both have an audio stim of ‘should i stay or should i go’, will sings it in the upside down over and over to keep himself calm, jonathan listens to it in the car on the way to lonnie’s house, there’s a scene of them literally swaying/rocking together while listening to it
jonathan also makes mixtapes of songs he finds stimmy and gives them to his brother in the hopes that he’ll like them too
jonathan is always hung up on making breakfast A) because his mom needs to eat and he does to and B) because it’s part of his routine and he feels lost without it, his mother works nights and he’s always had to make breakfast for himself and will
will has a special interest in the x men and all of his friends are totally cool with it and just listen to him infodump all the time
jonathan has a special interest in photography and his camera is a comfort item, he loves the weight of it hanging around his neck
after his camera is broken, he goes nonverbal, you can see nancy try to talk to him and he just opens and shuts his mouth like he’s trying to form words but he can’t
he also didn’t realize that his pictures would come off as stalker-y, i’ve seen some posts that are like ‘he did this because he’s a bad abusive stalker and we shouldn’t trust him’ but i believe that he legitimately didn’t know he was overstepping social bounds, but after it was pointed out he felt bad
jonathan also immediately interprets a couple of people screaming/laughing playfully as someone screaming in pain, there is literally an auditory shift between what he hears and what’s “really” happening
will hides a lot because of his autism, he hides in the little cupboard-y thing and castle byers when he gets overloaded or overwhelmed or goes nonverbal, his fort is filled with blankets and drawings and pillows and his mom and his brother both respect his boundaries regarding it because they know how important it is to him
jonathan’s ‘i don’t like most people’ line hit home for me because its an excuse i use, just because it’s easier to say that than to explain that i always feel distant and like an outsider because i am autistic and i’m not wired the same
jonathan also totally has a meltdown when he beats up steve, he acts only through instinct and he can’t calm down until someone stops him, he’s semi verbal afterwards, his voice is so quiet and it’s like he’s struggling to speak and it only happens after someone touches him
he also is touch averse in other situations, like when hopper playfully grabs him and punches his arm, he looks so jarred. he also does anything he can to get away from lonnie when he hugs him
jonathan has a shutdown after they find “will’s” body,
he listens to the music that calms him down, and cries, and hugs himself, which is a good pressure stim
legit i do that all the time when i get overwhelmed, i just squeeze myself and listen to music and cry until it’s passed
jonathan can read people, but it just takes time to process what he’s seen
he talks about how he can see how people feel in his pictures, but not when he sees them out in the world
but he’s not perfect at it: he makes a huge mistake in his read on nancy and she corrects him for it
also, just how jonathan holds himself, he never makes eye contact, he’s sort of hunched forward and speaks quietly, he keeps his hair in his eyes and he has a naturally blank expression that people sometimes find creepy
that’s really it, sorry this post is so long i’m just !! very excited about these headcanons/analyses of these characters!! feel free to add on if you want to!
jacobvanloon
tangentwithtanner
amandla
titsay
prguitarman
vaporwave
romaincrisis
