Because I saw a lot of confused posts by people who seem to think that the Trans Lars headcanon has sprung out of nowhere after “The New Lars”, when in fact this episode only further completed a picture that has been in the making for a long time. Don’t believe me? Here’s everything I could find to indicate that Lars is a trans boy, from the very beginning.
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First of all: From his looks to his mannerisms, Lars is someone who adheres to a quite strict code of hypermasculinity that is, apparently, self-imposed. If you look at his environment and at the people he associates with, it does not seem likely that he picked up that kind of behavior from direct outside influences. Sadie is totally chill and also doesn’t give much of a hoot about stereotypical gendered presentation. The cool kids are also chill, and actually surprisingly in touch with their not so stereotypically male sides. Ronaldo? – Nope. Now we met his parents, and they also don’t seem the type for toxic masculinity. But Lars draws the need to be perceived like that from somewhere, and if it’s not from the pressure and the standards of masculinity coming from the people around him, then where?
I mean, this is almost a caricature of “manspreading”.
Sometimes – ok, pretty often – he takes it too far and comes off as simply a jerk (though I feel like I need to mention that Lars has some very real emotional issues and this is by no means all related to him being trans!), but as it always is with over-the-top behavior in a certain direction: it’s mostly just there to distance yourself from something else that you really don’t want to be associated with. In Lars’ case, the way I see it, the most distance from being seen as a girl is achieved by playing up his masculinity, and as he’s still young and insecure about himself, he tends to overdo it.
In Lars and the Cool Kids, Lars takes center stage for the first time – and takes off his shirt. Some people have used this to discredit the trans theory, because his chest is flat and he doesn’t have any surgery scars that we can see, but actually, I beg to differ. It is unlikely that Lars at his age would have had top surgery done anyway, but surgery is not the only possibility here. He could be on puberty blockers. He could be on T. Additionally, he could just have naturally small breasts – you know, those exist. And if you look at Lars’ build (barely discernible upper chest fat, no hip fat, skinny as a stick), it seems that he has just always had a very boyish figure anyway, no matter what gender he was assigned at birth. (EDIT: For those who don’t want to discount surgery completely: there is such a things as Keyhole or Periareolar Surgery, which is perfectly suited for naturally small-breasted people and leaves little to no noticeable scarring. Thank you @papercrane for pointing that out!)
And looking at him in this episode, he is definitely not completely flat-chested.
A boy that skinny has no business having that much muscle/fat in his upper chest area, and yet he is consistently drawn with that slight outward curve of his chest and the line in the middle of it. You can often even see it while he has his shirt on. This is not character design happening on accident; this is very much intendend.
And I believe Lars is aware that he passes very well, but maybe not entirely upon close inspection. It doesn’t seem like going around shirtless is something he is accustomed to, and his reaction when he sees the Cool Kids all undress for going swimming is the opposite of enthusiasm: shock, maybe a little bit of fear.
He then turns away to take his shirt off and visibly steels himself, taking a deep breath and a sort of “I can do this”-moment before turning around again, ready to face them.
EDIT: Thanks to @missthornbirds who let me put in her tags about this part:
#regarding the taking off his shirt scene LOOK AT HIS STANCE! #before he turns around to face the cool kids he makes sure to puff out his chest and get rid of the obvious curves there #to smooth them out by stretching them
which I thought was a very neat additional observation!
Then, of course, they almost get eaten alive by Rose’s moss and Lars saves the day with Steven, all the while shirtless, and by the end his initial anxiety about it seems to have all but dissipated. He even initiates Steven’s “chest-high-five” that he had been fending off before; showing, I believe, both that he has bonded with Steven and that he has become a little more confident about casual touches in that area being okay.
Mohamad has lost so much and now he’s drowning in debt trying to keep his sister and her five kids safe. He needs our help to bring them to safety and start anew.
We’re 14% of the way there (€2,864/€20,000). Every euro counts. Every share matters. Regardless of his name, skin color, or religion—this is about humanity.
Okay, I KNOW that I'm not the only one who holds this headcanon...but I wanted to do an analysis on Kieran anyway, especially since my best friend @sinnohanvulpix said she'd love to see me do one. Credit to her for all the screenshots used btw. The GIFs on the other hand were either found on Google Images or created by me using gifrun.com and these YouTube videos:
Talk about longer and all moments as well dialogue thing, first clip is Teal Mask & indigo Disk is second part last at least Epilogue of Moc
I did not use my own footage for this at all...as proof here's what MY character in the game looks like...he has my real name but I tried to make him look like Orange which is why he has the orange eyes 😅
(Sorry for the bad quality btw...taking pictures of my Switch screen is hard 😅)
Okay, now without further ado, let's get started with the analysis!
First, Kieran has a CLEAR special interest in Ogerpon, he admires and looks up to her, he was obsessed with the story of the ogre, he was always trying to go to her den and meet her, he has a meltdown when Ogerpon chooses the player over him, etc. Carmine even says that Kieran "really really REALLY likes the ogre" and that made me think, "Ah! Special interest!"
And then at the end of the Teal Mask he gains a new special interest in getting stronger to beat the player...and he hyperfocuses HARD on that...to the point of it being detrimental to both his physical and mental health, as he was doing nothing but training during that time...he barely ate, barely slept, just trained...and that is not healthy. It's a rare example of media showcasing a special interest being unhealthy and absolutely CONSUMING one's life, and the consequences do actually show for it.
Kieran is very introverted and doesn't know how to make friends very well. I actually think the player is his first friend considering his surprised reaction when the player says they consider him a friend, and following this, he quickly becomes a bit...too attached to the player, as he doesn't quite understand how friendships work.
(This is also such a neurodivergent way to say "I'm so happy I finally have a friend")
He also struggles socially, as is a requirement for autistic people to qualify for a diagnosis. Kieran specifically has a hard time reading social cues, he struggles with making eye contact, he has clear anxiety when talking to people as proven by his little stutter he has at times.
(This is an adorable screenshot 🥺)
He also struggles with social and emotional processing (and might have alexithymia as well due to his sudden huge outbursts of emotion), and he also struggles with initiating conversation as well, as seen when he tries to talk to Penny at the League Club. They both have no idea how to even start a conversation with each other and it's honestly pretty adorable seeing the two quiet adorkable kids trying their best to hold conversation. I get it, you two, initiating conversation is really difficult for me too.
Also the way they try to start the conversation by talking about the weather...that's really funny and ironic to me because that's what NTs do all the time. NTs always use the weather as a small-talk conversation starter but NDs like me (and Kieran and Penny too apparently) just don't get that stuff.
(These two are so neurodivergent it's great and I love them both 🥺)
Kieran also has four in-game animations that I personally see as stimming. The first one is him tapping his fist against his hip when he's thinking or nervous.
(Focus your attention to his hand here and you'll see it.)
The second one is him playing with a strand of loose hair, usually when he's nervous.
(The little nervous side glance at the player is relatable and adorable 🥺)
The third one is a more agitated stim that he only does ONCE in the entire game...and that is tapping the front of his foot on the ground. I do that myself when I'm agitated or impatient, somehow it's comforting, especially since for some reason I really like the way my shoes sound when I tap them on the ground... especially since I got my brand new Infernape-themed shoes, they sound extra satisfying because they're brand new.
(This is not the way most people tap their foot...I've never seen an NT do it like this...only other NDs such as myself and one of my brothers)
The fourth and final one is, unfortunately, a stress stim...Kieran runs his hands very fast through his hair and it also looks like, to me anyway as someone who has self-injurious stims myself, that he is digging his nails into his scalp as well while doing that. I do something similar myself, though on top of running my hands through my hair and digging my nails into my scalp, I also pull at my hair...yeah... self-injurious stims are no joke...and I'm kinda glad Kieran's autism coding brings attention to that aspect of autism...at least in my eyes as someone who does those things myself.
(He's in so much stress here, poor kid 😔)
Another aspect of autism that I'm surprised and kinda glad that Kieran exhibits as an autistic-coded character is meltdowns and shutdowns. Kieran has actual meltdowns in the game! This is something we have never seen in such an in-your-face way in any Pokémon game, and as someone who regularly has meltdowns myself, it hit me in the feels whenever I saw him having them. His first meltdown is in the Teal Mask when he steals the Teal Mask and runs off to Loyalty Plaza where he battles the player. He yells at Carmine and the player for treating him like an outcast...which is unfortunately something that happens to a lot of autistic people, myself included. Kieran screams at the player and Carmine for for lying to him while doing his stress stim, before running up to the Lousy Three's shrine and punching it, without any regard for his safety, which is also something autistic people may do during meltdowns...I know I have no regard for my safety during mine. After that's all over he gives the mask back to the player and goes home, leaving the player to talk to Carmine alone, who says that she's worried and thinks it's just "teen angst". When I saw that I was like, "...Uh, Carmine...I don't think it's just that, I think your brother is neurodivergent and really needs a lot of help and support because he's struggling a lot right now..."
His second meltdown is also in the Teal Mask, when he wants Ogerpon to go with him but Ogerpon wants to go with the player...Kieran can't process that and doesn't understand how to take Ogerpon's feelings into account, instead demanding the player to battle him for the right to be Ogerpon's partner. He collapses on all fours after being defeated again, and it gets worse...he looks like he's crying while the player battles Ogerpon in order to catch her. After the player catches her, Kieran wonders why he can't be like the player, and runs off crying, locking himself in his room for the rest of the story. The end of the Teal Mask has him doing his stress stim while being consumed by a new special interest in a very detrimental way...that interest being becoming so strong that no one can defeat him...including the player.
Kieran's third meltdown is in the Indigo Disk, after the player defeats him in the championship match. That meltdown is a full-on cutscene, where it is CLEAR to see his spiraling mental state through the visuals, and he holds his hands on his head like he has a headache while trying to process the fact that he lost to the player AGAIN (which is also relatable as someone who struggles with processing difficulties myself...it really does give headaches and it is one of the worst feelings when I just can't process what's going on around me or the emotions I feel or anything really)...he collapses to his knees and looks like he's breathing very hard as he is so upset and distressed at this loss. It is definitely one of the most heartbreaking scenes for me because this is a CLEAR CUT MELTDOWN in my eyes and it hits me in the feels like a TRUCK to watch that cutscene.
Also, in the Terapagos fight, Kieran has a bit of a shutdown for a bit, standing there frozen, thinking he's useless and can't do anything right (which is relatable as I have regular shutdowns as well, and I also constantly feel like I'm a failure of a human being who can't do anything right)...but let me tell you, when the player finally gets him to snap out of it and convinces him to help and he opens his eyes revealing that the light is back in his eyes as well as visible tears...I cheered (and teared up myself). My boy was back, and I was so happy.
(When I first saw the tears I was like, "NOOOO don't cry Kieran! 😢)
Also in the Indigo Disk, Kieran seems completely different and "no longer like his usual self". His autistic traits are (mostly) nowhere to be seen as he becomes much more serious, angry, assertive,and aggressive. I personally see this as a persona he puts on by masking, which is common for autistic people to do. I myself can't mask, but Kieran definitely seems to be masking here by putting on this persona in order to get stronger and seem stronger as a person as well. This is NOT his real self, this is a FACADE!
We see him start to drop the mask again in Area Zero when he says it seems like they're in a spy movie or something and how cool that is, but once the crack in his mask is pointed out he immediately puts it back on.
After everything in the under depths ends, and you go back to Blueberry Academy, he drops the mask again completely, and goes back to his real, adorkable, relatable self...and stays that way from then on, which made me so relieved and happy.
(This is my favorite cutscene in the entire DLC because of how adorable it is and also how neurodivergent Kieran is being here while apologizing for all he did 🥺)
In conclusion, I think Kieran is a great example of an autistic-coded character who has many relatable traits, and also does a good job showcasing some of the more "unpleasant and challenging behaviors and traits" (NTs use that terminology a lot, not me... that's how NTs unfortunately view NDs a lot of the time) of autism. I used to be afraid of him during the post-Teal Mask pre-Indigo Disk era but that was my trauma and PTSD talking (I talked about the emotional rollercoaster Kieran's story arc took me on in another post from last year after I finally worked up the courage to play the Indigo Disk...feel free to check that out too if you'd like). Now though I can wholeheartedly say that I love and appreciate Kieran a lot as a character, and his relatability is definitely a big part of why he is a big comfort character for me now (please Pokémon put him in Pokémon Masters EX, PLEASE I will literally cry from joy if he gets added to the game)!
Hope you all enjoyed this autistic person's analysis of yet ANOTHER autistic-coded character in Pokémon! I know I had A LOT to say but that just proves how relatable Kieran is, and I love him for that. Let me know what you think and if I missed anything in the comments below!
