I've thought about this a bit but after writing this out it turned into a goddamn mini-essay so sorry in advance (also sorry if my language sounds too "academic" at times, i just be like that sometimes). I think there are a combination of things that make this show appealing for autistic people (as well as pretty much everyone else):
1. Character Design. The drones were primarily designed to be quick and easy to animate for the Glitch team. As a result the designs are quite simple and appealing. On the creation side it's similar to the My Little Pony fandom back in the day, and still somewhat today. The simple design mean it's easy for anyone to draw their own characters and fan content, create AUs, etc. The simple designs also mean there's a lot of room for stylisation, meaning it's hard to find any two artists that draw these characters in the exact same way. Essentially, these designs have created an oil well of creativity that'll keep running for potentially years on end.
2. Escapism. Since all the characters are either fun, insane, or some combination of the two, we don't really see any judgement or expectations from drones towards one another (especially N and Uzi). It's easy to imagine that none of the drones judge each other in the same way we see neurotypical people judge others. They also seem to have a high level of freedom in regards to self-expression that we all, on some level, wish we could have. I mean, one guy's head was literally on fire for a while and no one cared. They probably thought it was a fashion statement or something.
3. The Story. It's very much centered around Uzi, the awkward social outcast of her community, and N, the unwaveringly optimistic body-horror-abomination and ex-murderer. Both of them are unabashedly sincere and there's this feeling that they could say anything to each other without fear of judgement. It's also a story about self-discovery and the anxiety that often comes with that which, along with other unmentioned themes, are often very relatable to autistic people.
4. The Community. Pretty much since the first episode there's been ongoing discussions involving plot analysis, theories, character analysis, exploration of themes and background details, etc. The conversations around the show are neverending, fuelled even further by the time gap between episode releases, and its always fun to engage with those discussions. When you break it down, it's mostly just a lot of Info-Dumping and people talking about their interests in hyper-specific detail (Funnily enough, exactly what I'm doing here).
5. The Pacing. For each individual episode the pacing is blindingly fast. I mean, you could watch the same episode 4 times in a row and still somehow find new things hidden in the background. This means you're rewarded for being attentive. There's also something to be said about the natural desire to uncover mysteries that drives us to hyper-analyse each frame of every episode, but that's too philosophical even for me.
In summary, or tl;dr, idk: I should make a second blog for textposts so this one is just for art. Or, uhh, I guess the show and surrounding community kinda tickle the brain in just the right way. Like 'The Brown Note', but instead of making you poop your pants it makes you want more murderous robots.
Damn, this conclusion got away from me. Anyway, here's a doodle of Cyn as a treat for reaching the bottom of this weird rant:
blakekathryn
romaincrisis
janainaart
origamiaround
germansingergirl
2087
