Joyce Byers and Autistic!Daughter Reader Headcanons
Request: Could I please ask for headcanons about Joyce Byers (Stranger Things) comforting/being there for the female reader who is autistic? (The reader is like a daughter to her)
This is so sweet, thank you my dear friend @luna-is-on-mars!! I’m not on the autism spectrum myself, so again I’ve tried to do as much research as I can so I hope this is okay!! <3
- As soon as you and your family moved to Hawkins during the late summer of 1983, you just immediately clicked with the two Byers boys. When Will invited you round after the first day of school to come play Dungeons and Dragons with his friends Will, Lucas and Dustin, you just immediately slipped right in and became an integral part of the family almost immediately.
- Joyce loves you. LOVES you. She became super protective over you almost as soon as you entered the doorway. She loves her sons more than anything else in this entire Universe, and would do anything for them, but deep down she has always wanted a daughter to fawn over. And you, well, she just immediately felt something tug from the hollows of her heart when you came in behind Will and introduced yourself.
- It didn’t matter if it wasn’t biological. You were her daughter, in every sense of the word.
- Sometimes, when Joyce runs into the kitchen desperately trying to find her car keys before her shift, and sees you and Jonathan sitting quietly together and eating pancakes he had cooked up for you, she can barely remember a time when you weren’t there.
- If you have a hyperfixation, she loves to hear all about it!! Seriously, anytime and anyplace, she will give her full attention to you and loves to hear every single little detail you are willing to impart to her! Bonus points if you come in during your lunch break at school to Melvald’s General Store, and come spend some time talking to her about what you love while she’s working the tills! She sometimes gets quite lonely, and a bit antsy and worried about her children (you’re included in this) while she’s working, so it always fills her with relief and joy when you want to come in and spend some time with her!
- If you’re hypersensitive to loud sounds, she always knows the best places to take you to get away from the noise. She usually takes you to the secret, safe spots her and Jim used to sneak off to when they skived off school, but she also has converted a spare room in the Byers’ house into a little safe space for you - having enlisted Jim’s help into soundproofing the walls and adding in some soft pillows and blankets for you to sit on.
- if you don’t have an aversion to touch, she’s always kissing your forehead! She makes damn sure that you know how much you’re appreciated and loved by the Byers, always running over and fondly pecking your cheek or forehead every morning during breakfast, telling you that you’re her favourite daughter.
- She always makes sure to ask you for permission first, though!
- If you do have an aversion to touch, she always makes sure to be conscious that you’re comfortable and happy and feeling safe! Instead, she loves to snuggle down onto the sofa near you, constantly checking if she was giving you enough space and if you were okay. The two of you share a bowl of popcorn, the lights dipped down low to make sure they don’t trigger a sensory overload as the two of you cuddle down and spend the night giggling and laughing, watching some silly comedy movies she had rented from the store.
- If you don’t have an aversion to touch, and fall asleep on the sofa during the night, she’ll come over and stroke the hair away from your face fondly before picking you up and carrying you into the spare room, phoning your parents to let them know that you’ll be catching a lift to school in the morning with them. She’ll make sure to tuck you in snugly if you like the pressure, constantly peeking in to check on you during the evening and make sure you’re safe.
- If deep pressure stimulation helps you, she’ll get a weighted blanket for you for movie nights, and also loves to give you tight, warm hugs when you need them. Or, if you like thicker, softer materials, she tries to knit you a Christmas jumper! It ends up a bit knobbly and a bit frayed, but when you open it under the tree and see the effort and time she put into making something perfect for you, you love it anyway.
- She loves to do things for you to make your life easier and less complicated!! She likes to cook dinner for you after a long day, or when you come over to babysit Will - dancing around the kitchen and singing lightly and bubbly as he cooks you your favourite kinds of food. Or, she lets you borrow her jackets and cardigans if you and the Party go out trick and treating - they’re so warm, and sweet smelling, and just a little piece of Joyce for you to hold on to.
- If you like to give her gifts, she keeps absolutely all of them! Whether its flowers she places around the house to brighten the place up, or pictures and drawings she pops up on the fridge beside Will’s, she loves all of it.
- After all the things that happen with Will and the Upside Down, she becomes very hyperaware of everything - especially if you stim. She knows instinctively if you’re stressed.
- If you need to shutdown, she immediately drops all her work and takes you into the back of the shop so you can have the space and silence to be by yourself. If you’re okay with it, she’ll stop you from injuring yourself with your stims by squatting down by your side and giving you her hands to to touch with instead. If you want her to, she will stay with you the whole time as well, as long as you need her.
- If you don’t have an aversion to touch, she loves to sit you down between her knees and spend a girl’s night just doing your hair up in the latest styles, watching movies and painting each others nails.
- If you’re nonverbal, the Byers are 100% the kind of family who would love to learn sign language!! It made her day to see how happy you were when she came to pick you and Will up after school, and in the rear view mirror she could see Will signing to you about the new arcade game in the Palace.
- She even manages to rope Jim into this, who sometimes pops into school during lunch to sign to you that Joyce had asked him to check up on the three of you from time to time.
- She will also straight up have a go at anyone who doesn’t understand or respect your boundaries!!
- Overall, Joyce is 100% there for you all the time, whatever and whenever you need her!
Ok, first of all, are you aware of how incredible amazing you're? And that you're literally unable to create anything less than perfect? Because, I've NEVER read anything from you that didn't brought me extreme comfort and joy! You're truly talented and you always manage to portray and understand feelings, problems and insecurities in such wonderful ways. It's actually hard to believe that you're not autistic yourself! Just like with the headcanons with Wanda, you've perfectly captured my everyday problems, difficulties, longings and experiences, so much so that almost every point applies to me! And for that I wanted to thank you from the bottom of my heart! I'm very insecure about how I treat my surroundings and fellow human beings because of my autism and I'm sometimes even ashamed of the way I think and act. There are really very few people who deal with this disorder, even less who respect me and all my idiosyncrasies and so incredibly few who still truly appreciate me or even take care of me and take me into consideration. It really means infinitely to me that you take the time and work to deal extensively with such a complex request and to put so much thought into it. These headcanosn and ideas, as well as those with Wanda, show how well you can empathize with and respect others. And for that I want to thank you, for offering me comfort and the feeling of being represented/understood. (more under the cut)
