Important Context

Queercoding

Queercoding isn’t a particularly new concept. The Hays code, passed in the 1930s, deemed “perverse” subjects and topics to be banned from the silver screen. Obviously, among those topics included Homosexuality and by an extent, explicit Queer themes. Characters that weren’t explicitly gay had to become the norm, as anything overt would not be allowed. This trend continued for decades, but queer characters technically never went anywhere. For example, characters like Bugs Bunny frequently dress in drag, kiss the same sex, and display effeminate traits. However, more heavily coded characters started appearing after the 70s, with some notable examples. Frank-N-Furter, played by Tim Curry, is a self-described “Transvestite” hailing from Transsexual in Transylvania. This is considered coding because Frank is considered an alien within the context of the musical.

For decades this stigma reigned supreme, and the effects can even be felt today. Internalized Homophobia, rising tensions pushing back on LGBTQ rights. It’s all so tiresome. In other ways, this gave writers a tool. A way to sneakily make a character gay, without outright stating it. It’s hard for them to be removed if they never actually confirm that they don’t conform to those standards, no?

Autism

ASD is a complicated beast to tackle. It is never quite the same between person to person. Sometimes it can be severe, sometimes subtle. For the purposes of my narrative, I will be referring to what was once called Asperger's syndrome, or as it is now more commonly known, High Functioning Autism. The main sources I read on the topic were insightful into my own condition. ASAN, or the Autism Self Advocacy Network has many many sources on the topic, but I’ll quickly summarize here. The main terms you’ll need to know further on are Masking, Neurotypical, and Neurodivergent. Masking is a common side-effect of sorts for those with autism, which is effectively how we try to fit into society as a whole. This has many ways it is done, but it all is simply to hide normal autistic tendencies in order to conform with a Neurotypical world. Speaking of, Neurodivergence simply refers to those who have “different brains”, usually because of developmental disorders like ADHD and Autism. Neurotypical refers to people without these differences, who make up the majority.