Unhatched Observations: Ms. Marvel

It’s that time again—looking over some of my old posts about a story with Big Neurodivergent Energy and realizing how it resonated with me as an “unhatched” autistic ADHDer. Today, we’re looking at Ms. Marvel. I’ve got a mix of comics and TV show posts here, and it delights me that I picked up on Kamala Khan’s similarities to Peter Parker, another ADHD-coded teenage superhero.

 

Ms. Marvel, Vol. 1: No Normal

I like that [Kamala’s] a bit of a nerd and a total Avengers fangirl (she writes Avengers fanfic—love it.)  She’s smart and funny, with a bravery-loyalty combination that tends to outweigh her sense of self-preservation, but she can also to impulsive, insecure, and reactive.  It takes her a while to get a handle on her powers, which feels realistic, especially considering how closely powers can be tied to emotions.  I love the scene of Kamala hiding in the girls’ locker room with one hand enlarged so big her wrist can hardly hold it up, desperately trying to will it back to normal size before anyone sees her.

 

Ms. Marvel, Vol 4: Last Days

And then, just for fun… Spider-Man!  Just an amusing romp with Kamala and Peter chasing after some baddies who’ve stolen a Terrigenesis cocoon for nefarious purposes.  Kamala is awesome pestering Peter with annoying fangirl questions and geeking out over helping him execute some of his “classic moves.”

 

Ms. Marvel, Vol. 5: Super Famous

She’s beyond thrilled to get her shot in the major leagues, but it takes a toll.  Kamala is shocked by all that’s been happening in her life that she straight-up hasn’t noticed because she’s so busy, both personal (her close friend Bruno getting a girlfriend who isn’t her) and professional (a definitely-shady real-estate outfit using her likeness to promote their gentrification agenda.)  Frantically playing catchup, Kamala tries to do it all on her own, wanting to prove she can handle herself, but with less-than-stellar results.

***

I really enjoy the theme of Kamala having too many balls in the air but stubbornly trying to do it all—both because she genuinely loves everything she’s involved in and because she doesn’t want the Avengers (read:  her heroes/new colleagues) to think she’s just some kid who’s out of her league.  The mistakes she makes here feel real and well-earned thematically, and even though some of them are definite doozies, they’re drawn so organically from who she is as a character that I can totally buy Kamala getting herself into this situation.

 

Favorite Characters: Kamala Khan

Despite her love for all things superheroics, especially Captain Marvel, Kamala Khan never dreamed that that could be her, not really. Sure, she throws her entire soul into her cosplay for AvengerCon, but in her experience, “It’s not really the brown girls from Jersey City who save the world.” She instead injects drama and stakes into her ordinary life, planning her clandestine excursion to AvengerCon like an intricate heist.

***

Ms. Marvel has always been a spiritual successor to Spider-Man, and in Kamala’s live-action debut, the show really leans into the parallels with the MCU’s version of the webcrawler. Kamala brings so much Peter-Parker-in-Homecoming energy to the proceedings. She’s super excitable and inclined to run before she can walk, she’s incredibly well-meaning but very capable of causing accidental trouble, and she struggles to balance ordinary life and superheroing. In short, she’s a good kid who’s dealing with a lot, and she doesn’t always handle it in the most responsible way.

***

Also? She’s just a ton of fun. I love her wild imagination, fangirl attention to detail, and penchant for doodling.

 

Relationship Spotlight: Kamala & Muneeba Khan

Muneeba doesn’t get Kamala’s intense fandom over the Avengers, she worries over her daydreamy daughter’s flightiness, and she frets over Kamala’s well-being. This leaves Kamala feeling misunderstood, judged, and distrusted, which isn’t exactly a recipe for a healthy mother/daughter relationship.

Unhatched Observations: Our Flag Means Death

It’s that time again—looking over some of my old posts about a story with Big Neurodivergent Energy and realizing how it resonated with me as an “unhatched” autistic ADHDer. Today, we’re looking at Our Flag Means Death! So. Much. Found. Family! I like that I draw comparisons with Ted Lasso and Parks and Rec, two other supremely neurodivergent shows. (Note: in my early posts about the show, I tended to refer to Ed mainly as “Blackbeard.”)

 

Our Flag Means Death

Early on, there’s a heavy emphasis on Stede’s embarrassing attempts at real piracy. In some ways, it feels a bit like a quirkier, swashbuckling version of The Office’s brand of cringe humor: buffoon boss doesn’t know what he’s doing, hijinks ensue. Funny and entertaining, but not necessarily special. But as the show goes on, it actually reveals itself to be more a quirkier, swashbuckling version of Ted Lasso’s brand of uplifting humor: inexperienced boss fumbles his way through his chosen field, focusing on emotional health and vulnerability in what’s traditionally thought of as a toxically masculine environment.

***

I’m so happy that this show exists, and I’m thrilled we’re going to get a chance to see more of these characters and their stories.

 

Relationship Spotlight: Edward Teach a.k.a. Blackbeard & Stede Bonnet

While most of the crew thinks Stede’s foppish ways are silly and kind of embarrassing, Blackbeard is fascinated by all of Stede’s aristocratic affectations. The imposing, unspeakably cool pirate is beside himself when he realizes Stede owns a tiny replica of his own ship, and he relishes the secret door concealing Stede’s extensive wardrobe. 

***

Though he obviously admires him and is eager to learn the tricks of the trade from him, Stede doesn’t place expectations on who Blackbeard is or isn’t “supposed” to be. The two see each other in ways that their respective crews just don’t.

***

In an odd way, they remind me a little of my beloved Leslie & Ben from Parks and Recreation. The two pairings are completely different, but in both, we’re shown how and why they like each other beyond just “chemistry.” When Blackbeard and Stede’s relationship progresses to physical affection, I don’t really have to wonder what they’d do together as a couple, because we’ve already been watching the many ways they make each other happy.

 

Favorite Characters: Edward Teach a.k.a. Blackbeard

He has a genius for piracy, but his very notoriety is beginning to weigh on him. He’s bored, sick of doing the same old thing and sick of his scary reputation meaning that no one even puts up a fight against him and gives him a challenge.

***

That’s part of what draws him to Stede Bonnet, the self-styled Gentleman Pirate. When they board the Revenge, Blackbeard is charmed by the evidence of Stede’s aristocratic idiosyncrasies on display everywhere: his miniature model of the very ship they’re on, the finery of his wardrobe, the fact that he brought a complete library onto a ship. Other pirates look at these things and see weakness, but Blackbeard is fascinated.

 

Favorite Characters: Stede Bonnet

Stede doesn’t know what he’s doing, and it shows. And somehow, as much as he’s flailing at sea, the flashbacks of his staid, stifled home life back in Barbados are even more awkward. We see how ill-suited he and Mary are to each other in their arranged marriage, how much Stede feels like Just Some Guy in his own house. He doesn’t have a meaningful relationship with his wife and his children, and every time he tries to break through to something real, he missteps or his ideas are shot down.

***

Obviously, it’s not cool to abandon your wife and kids without warning and run off to be a pirate. But I understand why Stede felt that something had to give, and when Mary wouldn’t agree to a seafaring life, he decided to press forward on his own. Aboard the Revenge, he has no better idea of what he’s doing, but he immediately feels freer and more invigorated.

***

That’s reflective of the way Stede runs his ship. He knows very little about piracy, but in a way, that just frees him up to decide for himself what he wants it to look like.

***

For this reason, the crew stops viewing Stede as an aristocratic doofus to be got rid of and more like a bumbling family member to protect from himself. As he plows naively forward, they gently suggest emendations when he’s making himself look foolish to outsiders and generally try to keep him from getting himself killed. They’re hardly the terror of the seas, but they’re in this together, and that includes Stede.

Unhatched Observations: Shadow and Bone

It’s that time again—looking over some of my old posts about a story with Big Neurodivergent Energy and realizing how it resonated with me as an “unhatched” autistic ADHDer. We’re looking at Shadow and Bone today. This is an interesting case, because I wrote quite a bit about Shadow and Bone/the Grishaverse, but only my Favorite Characters post on Jesper really vibes on a neurodivergent level. It’s not that he’s the only ND character in the books or the series. Far from it! But until more recently, I wasn’t writing about characters like David or Wylan.

So I’m just looking at my unhatched observations about Jesper as an ADHD character. But even though I’m only revisiting one post today, I’m really struck by how much I write about my love for what are specifically ADHD traits. Even more interestingly, while I hit on the more “obvious” things like his energy and distractibility, I also talk in detail about his hyperfocus when he’s shooting, an ADHD trait that I’d never even heard of back when this post was written. Without knowing what any of this was, it still struck a deep chord with me.

Anyway, enough talk from Present-Day Me. Let’s roll the tape!

 

Favorite Characters: Jesper Fahey

The immediate air Jesper gives off is that of the charismatic troublemaker. He’s funny and personable, he enjoys provoking people, and he has enough of a gambling problem that he allows it to get in the way of the Crows’ illegitimate business dealings. […] Kaz and Inej are both more serious than he is and, at first blush, better at what they do. They’re the ones with their head in the game, while Jesper is the one Kaz admonishes to pay attention and not screw it up.

Which would be a perfectly entertaining character type all on its own. Every ragtag band of outsiders needs some good comic relief, and story-wise, it never hurts to have a wildcard who keeps things from going too smoothly. On both counts, Jesper fits the bill nicely. And if he was just those things, he’d probably still be my favorite character, because he’s just so much fun. But what I really appreciate about Jesper is that, in a particular respect, he’s also devastatingly hyper-competent. As he points out to Kaz, the chief “Jesper talent” is to “shoot things with style” (and to look good while doing it—oh, Jesper.) He has an ever-present pair of revolvers at his side, and when he lets loose with them, his precision and focus are just stunning. When Jesper’s sharpshooting skills are called upon, he transforms. Not that he loses his humor or panache, but this ability comes from somewhere deep within him, and whether he’s saving himself and his friends from literal death or simply causing an expertly timed distraction, he’s unmatched.

I love that. I love when largely comedic characters show a different side to themselves. […] It’s an important way to show why they shouldn’t be underestimated. There are a few displays of Jesper’s unparalleled marksmanship in the first two episodes of the season, but he gets a showcase scene in episode 3—one, by the way, that comes pretty quickly on the heels of a major “lovable screw-up” moment—that instantly shows just how much he’s capable of. It’s the scene in which my opinion of Jesper went from “okay, this guy is delightful” to “I just met my new platonic crush.”