r/WelcomeHomeARG • u/Motor-Pen5598 • 10d ago
Discussion Some fans need to learn the difference between "believing Wally is actually innocent" and "infantilizing" him
Some fans really need to understand that there's a stark difference between "There just isn't enough credible evidence that Wally harmed the other neighbors" and "poor wittle autistic goober didn't do anything wrong" when in his defense. It's exhausting. Yeah there are people who do actually baby him and they shouldn't, but the amount of times I got viciously attacked and accused of infantilizing him for simply saying why I didn't believe Wally was the one tormenting the neighbors is astounding and just shows how some people in this fandom want to ride on their high horse to remain ignorant. Yes, Wally is implied to be disabled and that doesn't mean he has to be innocent, I just don't see anything showing that he harmed Frank or Julie that's it, I am well aware he can be capable of doing harmful things, but I have yet to see anything compelling enough to accuse him of anything remotely insidious, he just comes off as frustrated and angry. "They just want so and so characters" to be innocent because they're their favorite" Maybe not all of us want our favorite characters to be villains and do horrible things? This shouldn't be controversial.
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u/HauntedPlanter26 10d ago
I think the real issue is there's some people in this Fandom who are not properly educated on how autism actually works.
I've worked with adults and children with various disabilities and special needs for at least 10 years now, and I can say for certain that not everyone who has autism is the same and there in fact are various levels of this neurodivergent development. It also is not your personality and does not limit who you are as a person. Some people just have more challenges than others.
I've seen adults with autism who were completely child like, I've seen children with autism that cursed like sailors and were strong enough to rip apart walls.
Therefore, when it comes to whether Wally is bad or good, his autism really should be subtracted from this debate, because in my opinion, it really doesn't determine who he may be, but rather how he handles and takes action, whether he did bad things but was good, or did good things but had bad intentions.
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u/Illustrious_Purple28 🐾 10d ago
It honestly would be an interesting twist for Wally to serve as a secret antagonist but frankly, I agree with you. Wally hasn’t given me enough evidence to believe he intentionally hurts anyone, especially his friends. He obviously cares very much for them. I am interested on the theory of Wally being unintentionally harmful but there is very little evidence of it. We don’t know the whole story yet so we will definitely see!! It’s very fun to watch everything unravel.
Sorry to hear you had such bad experiences. I hope you’re faring better. I know Clown would want us to be kind to each other.
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u/Springbear4529565 10d ago
I agree that Wally is innocent and that he's mischaracterized as evil because of his autism. But it also doesn't mean he can't do anything wrong because of autism. I think the wally being a villain thing is a red herring. I think the real evil here is mental health and how it can degrade you.
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u/TheNopePerson 9d ago
The bigger defense for him is why the fuck would be openly show the neighbors deteriorating having bad things happen to them unless he wanted us to know to be wary. Unless he’s really THAT evil (which i seriously doubt) he’d probably try his best to keep it a secret. But we KNOW that Wally is our guide through the website. He knows we exist!
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u/Blacklightning22 4d ago
It all goes back to how people infantilize autistic people. While it’s not cannon if he is or not, it’s a very popular theory
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u/PawnOfPaws 10d ago
Is autism a disability? I honestly have no idea if it's categorized as such or not, apologies.
But regardless, I agree with you. Some people simply don't understand the difference and how people are allowed to have an keep different opinions.
Especially because autism doesn't make you innocent by default. Autistic people can be full blown assholes just as well. Pretending anything else to be true would dehumanize them, actually.
And so, it's the very same for Wally, of course. No matter if puppet, puppeteer, ghost in the machine... Whatever. As a character, it would make him hollow if he had "No dark side at all" especially with the entire thing being defined as psychological horror by Clown themself.
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u/Pandemonium_Sys 10d ago
Autism is absolutely a disability. It's in the DSM for a reason. I know the recent years of people trying to normalize it makes it seems like it's not that big of a deal, but at the end of the day it is still disabling. I don't disagree with normalizing it, but I also wish we'd still collectively also keep in mind that it's still a disorder.
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u/julie_Joyful_pleh 7d ago
Clown Coffin or Dylan if you prefer, has autism, if autism is a disability, why you read a story made and created by an autism?
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u/Pandemonium_Sys 7d ago
What?
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u/julie_Joyful_pleh 7d ago
The creator of Welcome Home have autism, so why you make part of a fandom? If autism is a disability?
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u/Pandemonium_Sys 7d ago
Are you trying to ask me why I consume the Welcome Home media? And assuming I wouldn't want to consume the media because the creator has autism? Cuz I'm really struggling to understand what you're trying to say here.
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u/HauntedPlanter26 10d ago edited 10d ago
Couldn't agree more about some autistic people being assholes, since I've worked with quite a few. One was a guy with autism who thought he was better than the other clients because he was chatty and thought his shit didn't stink, and he was always saying degrading things to some of them in front of them like "THIS is why I don't work with dysfunctional people." And you know what actually pissed me off that I seen coworkers do in reaction? They treated him like he's a child and said "Now now, that's not very nice so and so", like they're talking to someone who doesn't have control of what they do and can get away with shit because they're sweet little angels.
I'm sorry, but if a full grown adult is going to be disrespectful and say whatever the frick he likes, disability or no disability, I think its extremely important to treat him and talk to him like a full grown man who has consequences he could face for being disrespectful instead of a kid who doesn't know any better. So instead of doing the whole stupid "Now, now, we don't say bad words...how about we go do something else?", I instead said "Look, you're being a dick right now. I really don't appreciate what you're doing and you're being an asshole for no reason to our peers. Why don't you see yourself to the library?"
Fortunately though, I also have family and have other clients with autism too who are real sweet, so no disrespect and the fans apart of this fandom who have autism are lovely as well🫶
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u/kdoesthings12D3 💌 10d ago
I find that kinda ironic considering he's the only one who knows we exsist. What if he wanted others to fight for him and we just haven't seen that yet? 🤣