Firstly, your username. L is not autistic, in any way. He's a brilliant criminal profiler with a keen understanding of people, and is able to get into his suspects' heads and understand where they're coming from in a way that would be very difficult for anyone with autism to accomplish. Such behaviors and thought processes can be learned, but L's greatest strength is his intuition. He doesn't think through what he's learned about the way people work and consciously come to conclusions. He just knows. Even if his social ineptitude is unfeigned, and a strong argument can be made that it's partially or entirely a front, that doesn't automatically indicate autism, any more than a sweet tooth or a tendency to touch his lips does.
Secondly, if you're familiar enough with How to Read and you trust it enough that you can cite L's supposed mastery of capoeira (which I'm not convinced of, despite what HtR says, but that's more a matter of how much stock you're willing to put in HtR when the rest of canon suggests contradictory circumstances, and this is personal preference), you should know that in it, Ohba says that when L claims friendship with Light, he's lying.
My username came from when I was unseriously playing against someone with the Light account name killswithapenis. I really don't think L is autistic. I guess I don't 100% discount the theory that he could be. I posted to one of the public HMDs a few months after I started playing him in DV and someone brought up a similar complaint (much less politely worded than yours, so thank you for that). When I asked for thoughts on plurk, a person or two said that there were theories that he showed signs of Asperger's. However, I'm not playing him with autism in mind at all. I tend to think his social ineptitude is from not really caring what people will think of him or sometimes a front like you say because it will give him an advantage of some sort.
If you come back to respond to this, do you find it offensive as a username? That is one of the points that was brought up in that long-ago HMD meme and a concern that I come back to every once in a while.
I don't claim great knowledge of How to Read. I know that I am not as immersed in the fandom as some DN rpers. I looked at scanned pages that seemed relevant when I was writing my app, and I latched on to the copoeira claim as a tidbit that explained his ability to suddenly start kickboxing Light. I wrote my app two years ago now, but I believe my main reason for mentioning it was to say that L can protect himself.
Is your point in bringing this up that you disagree with the way he interacts with Light in DV? I always thought that L was truthful in saying that Light was his first friend - to a point. I don't think their relationship is so simple as to be able to use terms like friendship without lots of caveats. There is also some complacency in my L after being in DV for so long, which you or others might take issue with, but just a playing choice I made. I'm sure you could also find moments when I've fudged something for the sake of allowing sex to happen in a sex game.
I'll stop babbling now, but I'm happy to talk about anything you still have questions or concerns about, whether you want to stay anon or, if you're someone I know, discuss it in some open venue.
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2012-07-27 02:17 pm (UTC)Secondly, if you're familiar enough with How to Read and you trust it enough that you can cite L's supposed mastery of capoeira (which I'm not convinced of, despite what HtR says, but that's more a matter of how much stock you're willing to put in HtR when the rest of canon suggests contradictory circumstances, and this is personal preference), you should know that in it, Ohba says that when L claims friendship with Light, he's lying.
no subject
Date: 2012-07-27 06:57 pm (UTC)If you come back to respond to this, do you find it offensive as a username? That is one of the points that was brought up in that long-ago HMD meme and a concern that I come back to every once in a while.
I don't claim great knowledge of How to Read. I know that I am not as immersed in the fandom as some DN rpers. I looked at scanned pages that seemed relevant when I was writing my app, and I latched on to the copoeira claim as a tidbit that explained his ability to suddenly start kickboxing Light. I wrote my app two years ago now, but I believe my main reason for mentioning it was to say that L can protect himself.
Is your point in bringing this up that you disagree with the way he interacts with Light in DV? I always thought that L was truthful in saying that Light was his first friend - to a point. I don't think their relationship is so simple as to be able to use terms like friendship without lots of caveats. There is also some complacency in my L after being in DV for so long, which you or others might take issue with, but just a playing choice I made. I'm sure you could also find moments when I've fudged something for the sake of allowing sex to happen in a sex game.
I'll stop babbling now, but I'm happy to talk about anything you still have questions or concerns about, whether you want to stay anon or, if you're someone I know, discuss it in some open venue.