Can we P L E A S E fucking talk about how "Haru's always smiling on the inside" is a FANTASTIC way to communicate flat affect to neurotypicals???
I made this comment on Twitter but needed more room bc I have so many opinions on this lmao.
One of these days I'll make a long post about why Haruka Nanase is one of the best autistic reps I've seen in anime, but that's another rant. Specifically right now I just have to marvel at how his flat affect is normalized and accepted in full by his peers, and how special it is that none of them insert a narrative onto his flat affect of apathy. It is so easy for neurotypical brains to misinterpret flat affect, because the NT brain is built with body language/facial expression literacy naturally, in a way the ND brain is not. So often NT individuals do not put in the extra time and energy to learn their ND loved ones' signs of happiness or sadness or empathy, even though ND individuals have to do that with NTs and frankly aren't given much choice in the matter (that's a WHOLE can o' worms lmao). The fact that Haru's friends not only understand him and accept him BUT ALSO successfully and succinctly communicate his flat affect with those who don't know him as well is SUCH a breath of fresh air. "Haru's always smiling on the inside" perfectly communicates the type of person Haru is and that it might not always show on his face, but it's there regardless. It seamlessly says so much with so little and without having to have an entire conversation about "why Haru is different from everyone else", which would alienate him rather than normalize a very NORMAL ND trait. It's just. It's so beautiful and makes me endlessly happy.
(As a note, I'm not talking out of my ass on ND v NT matters. I grew up with an autistic sibling who was nonverbal the first 8 years of their life and have worked with autistic youths a lot over the years in various contexts. I have confirmed ADHD myself, though I have not been officially tested for the ASD spectrum. It's a topic I'm passionate about and endeavor to speak about knowledgeably, though if anyone on the ASD spectrum finds anything I say offensive, I'm more than willing to listen.)
