we need to headcanon more characters with synesthesia. it's such an underrepresented neurodivergency, and as someone with it, it is so fun to write characters who have synesthesia or synesthesia-coded traits. like seriously, writing about sounds, speech, textures and feelings and literally EVERYTHING is so cool when i use descriptors inspired by my own synesthesia-influenced perception. and it's fun to read about characters with it and it's a cool way of making your story- NO WAIT DON'T GO I WAS TRYING TO CONVINCE YOU TO WRITE SYNESTHETES SO I WOULDN'T HAVE TO COME BACKKK
One day I’ll sit down and give an extensive talk on my experience with synesthesia, but for now I’ll just say that for me, music has always been tied to my art. Inextricably. When I put on music as I paint it’s not just background noise, it’s actively informing the piece. This is an example of me taking that to the logical extreme, this entire piece was made and crafted by the music I heard as I painted it. Using Beatles (and solo career) songs from across their lifespan, the finished piece becomes a visual symphony of shared history between Paul McCartney and John Lennon. Everything shared, and everything left unsaid.
do you trust this guy's face? yessss do you enjoy making art, for the simple joy of it because it feels good? do you have synethesia? do you have a complex dissociative disorder? would YOU find learning about synaesthesia in a neuroscience lens helpful for your art creation too? 👀📊 🎨
I have synesthesia, and I drew Teenagers by my chemical romance.
All the orange is Gerard Way's voice. The red, yellow, and pink lines with glow on the sides are the guitars. The red in the bottom middle, is the drums. No idea what the blue is or why it's there, but it's definitely important. And the two green circles are for Frank Iero don't also me why I don't know, he just gets green circles for some reason. And the yellow circles with lines at the top, is the part that sounds like those noise makers you'd find at party city or wherever.
Teenagers was the first MCR song I ever listened to, and it was also (and still is) the most intense synesthesia experience I've ever had, like could not think over top of the way the song looked, at the time I also noticed the orange and blue, which is kinda normal, a lot of time I don't see specific parts of the song unless I'm actively paying attention to the way the song looks.
I also can't believe it took me this long to draw it, like I mentioned my first time listening to it was the most intense and colourful experience I'd ever had, and yet it took me over a year to finally draw it.
For me, it usually means perceiving or associating letters and numbers and musical notes with colors and patterns. It's a sort of sensory crossover. Others might be able to taste words, for example. Usually just a neat little neurological quirk.
But when AI images came out, something new developed! Another sense started crossing over.
So now, when I see an AI image or video and my brain, thin-slicing and clocking the AI before I notice,
(I hope this is right terms) solidarity is me and my partner realising we both have weird synesthesia with colours (not the classic ones but with colours themselves) and comparing our 'associations' i wanted to share it because it was cool and i hope it is okay.
This is solidarity!
I honestly think more people are synesthetic than people realize! Mainly because people don't know what synesthesia actually *is.*
This gives me the opportunity to share not only the synesthesia tree [link], which is a very cool website, but also my rundown of the main types of synesthesia!
I'll put it below the cut, if anyone wants to read it!
Synaesthesia is when a person has a brain that triggers an atypical secondary response to sensory input. This secondary response could be the activation of another sense, or it could be the activation of a specific thought process.
A person who has synesthesia is called a Synesthete.
Stimulus-Dichotomy Synesthesia/Duality Synesthesia: When a person’s mind automatically separates sensory input into two distinct categorizations (ie; odd-even, lightweight-heavy, dark-light, hot-cold, positive-negative, round-sharp, thin-thick, etc.) For example, a person might categorize high-pitched sounds as “sharp” and deeper-pitched sounds as “round” in their mind.
This type of synesthesia might apply to specific senses (ie; categorizing only what they see, but not what they hear, smell, taste, etc) or it could apply to multiple senses (ie; categorizing what they feel, see, and hear.)
People with duality synesthesia don’t have any control over how their brain categorizes things, and often their categorization doesn’t make logical sense, and can even contradict reality (for example, a person whose brain categorizes young-old might automatically categorize noses as “old”, even though noses could be present on a person of any age.)
Synesthetic Personification: When a person automatically personifies sensory input in their mind. This means that their brain creates characters based on the input it receives. For example, a person who personifies different smells might automatically imagine the smell of lavender to be an elderly woman.
The personifications could be simple - such as having just a physical design, or just personality traits - or they could be complex, with full-blown backstories and imagined intricate lives.
This type of synesthesia might apply to specific senses or it could apply to multiple senses. It may also apply to concepts (ie; the concept of time, such as the past, the future, today, tomorrow, etc.)
Concept-Shape Synesthesia: When a person’s mind automatically assigns specific shapes to concepts. This could be all concepts, or only specific types. For example, the concept of direction - they may picture “up” to be a circle, “down” to be a triangle, “left” to be a square, and “right” to be a hexagon.
Concept-Auditory Synesthesia/Concept-Sound Synesthesia: When a person’s mind automatically assigns specific sounds to concepts. This could be all concepts, or only specific types. For example, the concept of style - they may hear a low-pitched piano at the thought/sight of a gothic style, the sound of jingling bells at the thought/sight of a cutecore style, etc.
Concept-Olfactory Synesthesia/Concept-Smell Synesthesia: When a person’s mind automatically assigns specific smells to concepts. This could be all concepts, or only specific types. For example, the concept of personalities - they may smell coffee when a person has a withdrawn personality, smell cut-grass when a person has an outgoing personality, etc.
Concept-Gustatory Synesthesia/Concept-Taste Synesthesia: When a person’s mind automatically assigns specific tastes to concepts. For example, the concept of law - they may taste something spicy when thinking of criminal law, taste something sweet & sour when thinking of environmental law, etc.
Emotion-Tactile Synesthesia/Emotion-Touch Synesthesia: When a person’s mind automatically assigns a tactile sensation to specific emotions. For example, a person who feels like they are being splashed with water when they are sad.
This shouldn’t be confused with the tactile sensations that naturally occur in non-synesthetes based on emotion (ie; a racing heart, warmth on their face, goosebumps, etc.)
Perceived Emotion-Tactile Synesthesia is when a person’s mind assigns a tactile sensation to emotions they think a different person/animal is experiencing. For example, a synesthete who feels like a strong breeze is hitting their face when they perceive another person acting/appearing angry (regardless of whether that person is truly angry or not - it is just what the mind perceives.)
Emotion-Color Synesthesia: When a person’s mind automatically assigns a color to specific emotions. For example, a person who sees/thinks of the color blue when they are happy.
Perceived Emotion-Color Synesthesia is when a person’s mind assigns a color to emotions they think a different person/animal is experiencing. For example, a person who sees/thinks of orange when they perceive another person acting/appearing sad.
Emotion-Shape Synesthesia: When a person’s mind automatically assigns a shape to emotions. For example, a person who sees/thinks of a pentagon when they are worried.
Perceived Emotion-Color Synesthesia is when a person’s mind assigns a shape to emotions they think a different person/animal is experiencing. For example, a person who sees/thinks of a triangle when they perceive another person acting/appearing afraid.
Emotion-Sound Synesthesia: When a person’s mind automatically assigns a sound to emotions. For example, a person who hears a humming sound when they are feeling loved.
Perceived Emotion-Sound Synesthesia is when a person’s mind assigns a sound to emotions they think a different person/animal is experiencing. For example, a person who hears the clacking of heels when they perceive another person acting/appearing confident.
Emotion-Smell Synesthesia: When a person’s mind automatically assigns a smell to emotions. For example, a person who smells fried food when they are feeling apathetic.
Perceived Emotion-Smell Synesthesia is when a person’s mind assigns a smell to emotions they think a different person/animal is experiencing. For example, a person who smells mud when they perceive another person acting/appearing disappointed.
Aura Synesthesia: When a person’s mind applies a colorful aura to a person or animal. The aura could be made of a single color or a mix of colors, and may be applied to every person (or animal), or it could be limited to specific people/animals. In some cases, the person sees an aura around themself, too.
This aura could surround part of the body (such as their head) or all of their body. The color(s) of the aura might always be the same for that person/animal, or it might change. If the color(s) of the aura changes, the change could be random, or it could be based on perceived/assumed emotion (ie; becoming purple when they think that person/animal is angry), or other factors (ie; changing based on the time, weather, etc.) In some cases, the aura has shapes or patterns in it as well.
These auras could be associative (seeing it only in their mind’s eye) or projective (seeing it in their visual field as if it is real, like a hallucination.)
Spatial Sequence Synesthesia (SSS)/Visuo-Spatial Synesthesia: When a person’s mind visualizes sequences in visual space (seeing it in their visual field as if it is real.) Examples may include calendars, the alphabet, numbers, ages, book series, etc. For example, a person thinking of a calendar might see calendar pages stretched out in front of them.
Tactile-Visual Synesthesia/Touch-Sight Synesthesia: When a person’s mind has a visual response to touch. For example, a cold breeze might make the color blue automatically spring into a person's mind, the touch of a friend might make the shape of a triangle spring into a person's mind, etc, etc. The visuals don't necessarily have to "make sense" - for example, touching a fuzzy blanket might make an image of a rock appear into a person's mind, despite there being no correlation between the two.
Pain-Vision Synesthesia is a subset of this in which a person has specific visuals upon sensations of pain.
Tactile-Auditory Synesthesia/Touch-Sound Synesthesia: When a person's mind has an auditory response to touch. For example, the feeling of wood might make them hear a grunting sound, the feeling of skin might make them hear different musical notes, etc. The sounds don't necessarily have to "make sense."
Pain-Sound Synesthesia is a subset of this in which a person has specific auditory responses upon sensations of pain.
Tactile-Olfactory Synesthesia/Touch-Smell Synesthesia: When a person's mind has an olfactory response to touch. For example, smelling something bitter when touching cold glass. The smells don't necessarily have to "make sense."
Pain-Smell Synesthesia is a subset of this in which a person has specific olfactory responses upon sensations of pain.
Tactile-Gustatory Synesthesia/Touch-Taste Synesthesia: When a person's mind has a gustatory response to touch. For example, tasting something sweet when touching bumpy surfaces. The tastes don't necessarily have to "make sense."
Pain-Taste Synesthesia is a subset of this in which a person has specific gustatory responses upon sensations of pain.
Mirror-Touch Synesthesia: When a person's mind has a tactile sensation in response to observing other things touch. This could be just in response to seeing living beings touch, or it could be in response to seeing objects touch as well. For example, feeling as if oneself is being hugged when seeing a drawing of two people hugging.
Mirror-Pain Synesthesia is a subset of this, in which a person has a painful tactile response to seeing things get injured or damaged. For example, seeing a cup shatter, and feeling sharp sensations in ones chest, as though they too are "shattering."
Mirror-Speech Synesthesia: When a person's mind creates a tactile sensation in the facial and/or throat/chest area upon seeing other people/things make sounds. For example, seeing a person whistling, and feeling as though oneself is whistling too, even though they are not.
Mirror-Kinetic Synesthesia: When a person's mind creates a tactile sensation in response to seeing other people/things move, as if oneself is moving. For example, seeing a cart rolling, and having sensations in ones own feet/legs as though they are also "rolling along", even though they are not.
Auditory-Tactile Synesthesia/Sound-Touch Synesthesia: When a person's mind creates a tactile sensation in response to a specific sound. The sensations don't necessarily have to "make sense."
Auditory-Visual Synesthesia/Chromesthesia/Sound-Sight Synesthesia: When a person's mind creates a visual response to a specific sound. The visuals don't necessarily have to "make sense."
Auditory-Olfactory Synesthesia/Sound-Smell Synesthesia: When a person's mind creates an olfactory response to a specific sound. The smells don't necessarily have to "make sense."
Auditory-Gustatory Synesthesia/Sound-Taste Synesthesia: When a person's mind creates a gustatory response to a specific sound. The tastes don't necessarily have to "make sense."
Auditory-Motor Synesthesia/Sound-Motor Synesthesia: When a person's mind creates a motor response to a specific sound. "Dancing to the beat" or stimming would not count under this category. For example, a person who dances to the beat of music would be considered typical, but a person who feels as though they need to do an opening-door motion with their hand in response to a specific song would be considered synesthetic. This form of synesthesia can also apply to sounds other than music.
Gustatory-Tactile Synesthesia/Taste-Touch Synesthesia: When a person's mind creates a tactile response to a specific taste. The sensations don't necessarily have to "make sense"
Gustatory-Visual Synesthesia/Taste-Sight Synesthesia: When a person's mind creates a visual response to a specific taste. The visuals don't necessarily have to "make sense."
Gustatory-Auditory Synesthesia/Taste-Sound Synesthesia: When a person's mind creates an auditory response to a specific taste. The sounds don't necessarily have to "make sense."
Motion-To-Colour Synesthesia: When a person's mind creates visuals in response to movement. For example, seeing red sparks around someone's feet when they take a step.
Motion-To-Sound Synesthesia: When a person's mind has an auditory response to movement, essentially hearing "sound effects", which may or may not "make sense."
When you have synesthesia and no one believes you and it’s hard to explain to people since the sensory disorder is incredibly unknown and complicated but you get to make cool art of your favorite songs so it’s cool!! 💖💖
Moral of the story: stay positive because.. colors and whatever! :D
