#us autistic girls have it easy because people think us liking cartoons for kids is cute

[katyspersonal]

Hello, I just want to say that your art is amazing and not to worry because fandoms are made more fun and tolerable by people like you who really care about the source material and not using it to spread hate. I hope you keep making art.

Heeeeeey! Don't do me so dirty - I DO spread hate..... towards people that don't care for the source material and just want to hate. XD Aren't we all just hunters vs beasts loop, not realizing we are ALL beasts with the only difference in time passage?...

Ffgfuhhjv okay but seriously, thank you very much for the nice words, anon. It just sometimes feel like there is little to no point because not many other people are deep dive fans learning every single detail. Randos that do not even like the source material all that much come in a fandom to use the stories and characters that we hold dear to sell their products and their ideas.

And don't get me wrong - we love products! Keychains with Henryk and Gascoigne? Hell yes I'll take both! Doll plushie? I'm buying the entire stock! Like, good, THANK YOU for the products! Official merch is so often underperforming in quality or missing characters we really want to hold. But like... won't it be nicer coming from someone who loves the source material for what it is and is willing to listen to the actual fans when they correct them about wrong take or design error? I remember there was a newbie that started doing STONKS very soon thanks to their skill but I could tell they were dramatically lacking source material knowledge and just checked what takes were popular in the fandom to deliver them (leading to missing important characters, doing wrong lore assumptions and even drawing strongly wrong colors of characters). But they proven that they respect the hardcore fans and listened on being corrected, and it was so refreshing!

That's why no gatekeeping should be absolute, because any other person that is not well-versed might be willing to learn more and gives us credit. But reverse happens too - us 99 lvl autism fans get mocked for "having no life" or "being obssessive" or "having no girlfriend", and this is just... bad. Fandoms should be safe space for loosers, geeks, autists and alike first. The normies got the whole world yet they choose to come to one place where we can obssess over a thing and bully us FOR obsessing because... why? Right, because this is a good grinding ground for audience. Endless loop of 'but no one cares about original universes!' vs 'but we want people who care about the source!' that I don't know how to break either. Right, nobody should feel obligated to dive into [insert a fictional univerce] just to get enough people to hear out what they ACTUALLY wanted to say, but also there is a good reason WHY this or that fandom is so popular - because source material spoke with people's very hearts!

In grand scheme of things, of course, the true problem is that nowadays EVERY single person is looking for their purpose in creative field specifically, because alternative jobs are just so terrible and soul-crashing for the same low income. So as far as it goes on, fandoms ARE threated as grinding area for "platform" for those creative jobs to go swell. The big problem is that not everyone's very ESSENCE is to create, yet everyone has the potential and skill (if they study enough). And creative work is the last resort where peoples souls do not get destroyed. That's why I hate AI "art" so much - it is destroying the last place where a SOUL can exist and grow and heal. But really, the true issue is that alternative jobs should be less soul-crashing - so people who are not built to be creators can work at factories, in offices, malls, stores, transport, etc without feeling like such pitiful existance is not even worthy of this low ass paycheck. And that... well, not getting fixed anytime soon, if at all. I am speaking as someone who used to work a normal job but capitalism disease rotted it TOO, and now it is not about being useful but about doing the sales plans and too many jobs for one person, and it IS soul-crashing. -_-

Alright, sorry for the rant, I just have a lot to say on the matters of fandoms! I think the most ironic thing is how fandoms also often attract the opposite; so very dark, fucked up fictional universes that teach you how to just give up and die tend to attract nice and level-headed individuals, but wholesome, bright and lovely ones that teach kindness attract the most toxic people ever, but I don't have theory on why is that. I just know one thing - whatever will be my new fictional special interest, I am not touching any E or PG-13 rated universe with a ten yards stick. Only 16+ and darker, babyyyy!

[davekat-sucks]

i hate how there are so many youtubers (mostly ugly white men who never touched a woman in their live) are against disability month, like they should just shut the fuck up lmao, not only that they say the r slur knowing damn well they can’t, why doesn’t youtube do shit about anti-disability assholes?

Part of it I can understand. We got out of Pride Month, why have another month to celebrate for another group? I would also think people that claim to have disabilities, mostly mental, are not diagnosed by an actual doctor. It's often by the person themselves wanting attention or just being a lazy fucktard. Just look at Tumblr and Twitter where people are putting their disabilities out in the open. Isn't that stuff suppose to be personal and shit? I think those disabled don't mind others saying retard or other insults like autistic. It's just another way to express anger. There's a chance we used it too, jokingly or with fury. Why not also question why does it prioritize the LGBT first before the physical and mentally disabled? Many states and cities are doing more for LGBT. More rainbow colored roads and less ramps for buildings and subways to be accessible for wheelchair users. Do you bitch at able bodied people who use the large, disabled toilet stall when there is none left? Are you guilty of using it one time because you had a bad piss and shit? Why isn't there more vehicles that can help with wheelchairs in stuff like Ubers, Lyfts, and the like? What if the person wants to use that service instead of the bus? There are not many that can cater to this. Not by the people and certainly not by the company themselves. Disabled people are not waving some random color pastel flag for attention. They aren't asking for more books about disabled people or rep for media like anime, video games, cartoons, etc. They just want to live their damn life. But LGBT get rewarded for screaming and wearing bondage gear in front of children during parades. Why can't there be more people like Jimmy in South Park? Doesn't mind if others say retard, he uses retard as well, trying to live his life as a kid, works to become a standup comedian that can say jokes that are mature, so why the fuck should people be hyper sensitive about it? Also, it's YouTube. You can blame Google to some extent as well. It always has faults. From e-girls showing off their boobs and copyrighting an original song because it coincidentally sounds like another one. They celebrate Pride Month and people still loved them for it. You don't hear them going on about disabled YTers or the company giving money to places to help them. Also, it's more easy to spot a LGBT-phobic person than someone insulting someone who can't walk or mentally not able to process certain things.

[monstrousaffections1]

It’s Alright It’s Ok

I jump out of my bones as my father's angry yell erupts from the house like a slamming door. Instantly my heart feels the frost of fear glaze over the surface of my beating organ. Swallowing thickly I get off my bed and hide my computer under my bedsheets, closing it's lid to hide it's light. Silently slipping out of my bedroom I move into the hallway and walk past the laundry basket, heading into the kitchen where my parents argue, the tension that has been building for two weeks finally bursting open like a damn. I would give it a day, maybe two, before their bedroom door be locked while my father hurt my mother. Then it would take either myself or my sister bursting into tears to get them to stop fighting for another few months. Swallowing thickly, I kept my eyes down as I moved into the battle zone, Shadow, my cat, rubbed around my legs, demanding biscuits. He didn't care about the chaos, he was probably use to it by now. Opening the cabinet under the sink I got his food out as my father and mother screamed at each other.

"Shut up Carol!" The man yelled, his eyes bulging and veins pulsing in his neck. He was in my mother's face, screaming at her. The woman who had for ages from my childhood had mostly cried and screamed at this man to get off her, had began to fight back. She did that often. It only increased the fighting.

"You Shut Up!" She screamed back. I patted Shadow's back as he ate. He was a big black cat. Strong and in his youth. Going to the fridge I took a certain of milk and poured myself a glass, downing it quickly. The sound of the tv came from the lounge room. Going into the room I looked at my little sister who was watching one of my favorite cartoons. Kid vs Kat. Managing a smile, I took my place beside her. I always rooted for the cat. I don't know why, perhaps I just loved cats. Plus I could relate the mischievous chaoticness of the character. Or at least that's how I wanted to be. My mother's form entered the room just as the boy and the alien cat jumped into a cloud of dust meant to depict fighting.

"Ingrid, have you done your homework?" I sighed; couldn't she see I was trying to watch something?

"Yeah." I lied. I should have said I didn't have homework.

"Ok, well, let me have a look?" Although I appreciated my mother's involvement in school, as anyone who was anyone knew that my autistic brain couldn't understand anything the teachers gave me on paper. I also wished she wasn't as involved. I just wanted some space. I was sick of homework.

Begrudgingly I got up and went to my room, dragging my books out of my school bag and dumping them on the desk. I went and got a slice of left over pizza from the fridge and poured myself a cup of coke to try and calm my racing heart.

"Ingrid you have homework. Why did you lie?" I rolled my eyes, why did she think? I wished I had headphones like all the other kids at school. I just wanted to shut her out as she started to lecture me. Casting a blank wall around my brain I sat down at the table and started on the maths homework. My worst subject. Contrary to popular belief depicted in movies, not all autistic people are good at maths. I myself am a better at English than this. I had finished a six inch novel in a week. And I was the best story writer in class. But this doesn't matter much to the adults.

After being left alone to my own devices, I sat and stared at the first math question for about ten minutes before attempting to answer it. I know I am highly likely getting the answer wrong, but I just want to finish this and escape to my room. I wanna do this without my parents coming to help. Before I know it, it's seven in the evening. I've by now attracted the attention of my father who started by trying to help, has now ended up yelling after I have proved once again useless at math.

"Are you stupid!" he screamed at me as I sat with unwavering tenseness, staring at the page and refusing to move my gaze from the sheet. My chest was shaking. There was no other way to describe it. Outwards, I was calm. But inside my chest shook like a autumn leaf. I could feel everything building up inside me. I tried to level myself. Don't cry. Don't cry. Don't start crying. I repeated in my head.

"For God's Sake Ingrid! This is easy stuff! A Year 1 could do this!" He hollered and slapped my arm with a ruler. I didn't so much as flinch. I didn't want to give him that satisfaction.

"Do you even go to school!!??" I felt the first hiccup as I clenched my eyes shut and my sobs burst from my chest.

"Oh, great. Now your gonna cry." He muttered seethingly as though my melt down was a inconvenience. Mother was already serving out dinner wordlessly. This was a regular occurrence in our house. Homework that should only take five minutes, took three hours. Trying desperately to numb myself I packed up my homework to continue with tomorrow and wiped my eyes on my sleeve, trying to stop crying so I could eat dinner.

It's four in the morning when I sneak out of the house, dressed in my black hoody and trousers and my school bag on my shoulders as I lock the door behind me, take a breath, and take off running down the street. My runners pound on the side walk as I breath in the cold air of the early spring chill. I need this. Cold air, freshness, darkness just before the sun rises. Cars that pass through the street don't bother with the site of a teen girl running through the streetlights as though she were being chased. Even when my legs ache and I feel like my lungs are about to burst I don't stop. The sun's rays are barely kissing the trees by the time I reach the cultural center of my town. My throat crack a bit as a I swallow, having been dried out from my panting breaths. Rubbing sweat off my forehead I straighten up and stare at the sky. For a moment I want to disappear into the purple abyss above me. That'd be nice. Perhaps it'd be like in my stories. Just.... A life worth living perhaps. That'd be nice.

"Language!!" comes a shrieking yell from across the street. Snapping back to reality I look over to the collection of shops opening for the morning. I smile, feeling a familiar sense of warmness fill my numbed core as Bad is laughed at by his best friend, Skeppy, as the demon boy opens the shop door, peering at me with friendly white eyes. "Marr?" he calls. My smile softens as he uses my preferred name. I approach, shoving my hands into my pockets as a show of nonchalance. "Hey Bad." I raise a brow with amusement. Though he isn't fooled. He never is. I find myself pulled into a hug before I can even protest. Closing my eyes I hug him back, savoring the physical contact. That is until there is a photo snap and the blue haired boy snaps a picture. I frown and pull away.

"Skeppy! Delete that right now." I grumble, folding my arms with a frown.

"Nah. I think I'll add a few heart emojis." He teases as I fluster and puff up my cheeks. The demon beside me frowns, though his smile shows, he can never be mad at his friend. Rolling his white orbs he looks down at me gently.

"Breakfast. On the house." Bad and Skeppy were the only people I trusted. They didn't ask questions. Or offer to call anyone. They just let me hang out with them before work hours if I didn't want to be at home.

Nodding my head, I entered the café and sat down in a booth. Bad squeezed my shoulder and started the coffee brewer as Skeppy set up the tables and chairs for the day. Folding my arms to keep my fingers warm after I had pulled some of my hair out of my hood, I looked up slightly. Trying to think of a good way to start conversation.

"Did you guys sleep ok?" is it alright to ask that to people you don't live with?

Our words went back and forth in friendly small talk. Occasionally Skeppy would swear and get playfully told off by his friend. I would just laugh. Everyone in life is super serious. So it feels nice sometimes to just be around two goofs. I was given an expresso and hot pie. I savored the warm gravy taste, I wasn't even stressed but it was hard to not scoff it. A few people were starting to come in now. People on their way to work, stopping for a coffee and picking up take away. I wondered if it was nice. Living in a steady sense of movement. Where everything was the same and you knew what to do. Instead of struggling to hold together a toothpick structure simply cause nothing makes sense. I've missed opportunities for jobs simply because they've been offered while I was in the middle of a shut down. Same goes for friendships, or dates with boys, because I will just stare at them with a dumb panicked expression for a good five minutes while I try and figure out how to respond. In the end I am mistook for either rude or stupid. I am neither—Well ok I can be rude sometimes. But I'm definitely not stupid.

Feeling my anxiety levels raise I scull the rest of my coffee. Bad's tail stands on end in alarm as steam comes out of my mouth. "Careful you Muffinhead! You'll burn your tongue!" I shrugged with a smirking grin. "Hey look. I'm a dragon." I blow more steam out of my mouth. Skeppy busts up laughing from the kitchen as the demon sighs, rolling his eyes he ruffles my head. "Muffinhead." He mutters with a smirk. I hold up the cup. "Re-fill?" my hoody sleeve falls down slightly and the movement. Bad's smile slips and his eyes widen. "Holy shit what happened to your arm?" Skeppy chokes on a cackle. "Bad!?" finding it hysterical that the normally passive demon actually swore. I blinked and checked over my arm briefly, ah. Right. Pulling my sleeve down to cover the red marks from the ruler I shrugged. "Nothing. I'm fine." The demon stares for a moment before sighing in defeat. "At least let me get you some ice." Seeing the opportunity, I snicker, "But it's freezing!" Bad rolls his eyes, "For your arm, you Muffinhead." I poked out my tongue playfully.

With a cloth full of ice resting on my arm and a fresh cup of steaming coffee in front of me, I watch the pair work. Skeppy's diamonds are starting to sprout out of his arm. I do wonder how that doesn't hurt. But I'm just glad I'm not that kind of hybrid. Not that I'm any kind of hybrid. Considering how much the world changed after the Rifting, it's surprising that I'm not physically different as I am mentally. Even my sister is a Hybrid, despite my parents being human. She's a dog, by the fur coloring I'd say she's a kelpie. A car pulls up in the parking lot. It looks old, but the good kind of old. Kind of vintage, but not fancy. Just old. Through the windscreen three boys fight and seem to be bickering amongst each other. A tired looking man gets out. I recognize him. That's Philza, he shows up at school every now and then whenever Techno gets into a fight, or Tommy's pranks go horribly wrong, or Wilbur sasses out the teacher one to many times. He's a hybrid, either that or an angel. It's hard to tell. But he enters the coffee shop and walks to the counter. Huge black wings folded against his back.

"Bad, morning." He greet cheerfully and tips his weird stripped hat he always wears. I never liked that hat. It made me dizzy. He reads out a bunch of orders from a piece of paper, something about one flat-white, a mocha, a caramel latte, and a decaf frappe for Tommy. Bad nods his head and asks Skeppy to handle the order. I frown and tilt my head a bit. The strangely serious demon comes out from behind the counter and takes Philza by the arm, talking softly with him. I blink in surprise when they both look subtly towards me. I look down at the welt on my arm, pulling down the sleeve I bring my hand to my mouth and start to chew on my thumb knuckle. It seems I have over estimated the level of trust I should have given Bad. Rocking back and forth a bit I pick up my coffee cup to down it in one go. Don't trust grown ups. I'm about to pull my hood up when Philza comes over to my table, smiling down at me softly. I stare up at him with confusion. Fiddling with my fingers nervously.

"Hello, your Marr, right?" He raises a brow, his green eyes glinting with humor. My face heats up, and I avoid his eyes. "Uh.. yeah.. I think so..." he chuckles at this and puts his hand on the chair on the other side of the table. "Can I sit hear?" I blink in surprise, teachers and my parents never asked permission before they did things. Atleast my mum never did when she went through my school bag. Nor my did my dad when he turned down the music on my computer. I nod my head, continuing to rock back and forth. Sitting down he took off his hat, putting it in his lap. I stared at his blond hair that hung down to his shoulders. A crooked smile came upon his face, before it faded slowly. "Are you ok?" I started to scratch my arm. "I'm fine." This was my default response to most questions. He nodded his head as if this was a appropriate answer, he didn't pry. "How do you plan on getting to school, do you take a bus?" I shake my head, shrugging. I normally walk. Which is why I'm always late. He chuckles and takes his hat, putting it back on. "Well mate, if you'd like I can give you a ride, no strings." He winks good-naturedly. I look down, thinking for a bit. I don't trust strangers, even people with kids my age are dangerous. I look at Bad, chewing my lip. The demon smiles warmly and nods. Ok, I guess I'll give it a shot. I nod, "Yeah.. ok."

The hybrid gets to his feet quickly, "Great!" just in time for his order to be declared ready. With crow like laugh he takes the tray. "Welp, come on! The boys'll kill each other otherwise." he chuckles and heads out the door. After a moment of hesitation I follow him. The boys seem surprised when they spot me. Through a open window Philza hands the tray to Techno, a piglin hyrbid. I try not to stare at his tusks, it's rude. "Wilbur scoot over." Philza instructs his eldest son, opening the door for me. Tommy and his brother exchange a look before Wilbur undoes his seatbelt of shuffle over. I feel awkward as I get in, doing up my seatbelt and doing my best to avoid looking at the boys. As Philza turns on the engine there is a awkward, surprised silence. Until there isn't. "Who's the woman!?" Tommy inquires loudly. I wince.

[mikiruma]

🏳‍🌈📌💎🎥💕 for homestar runner!!!

🏳‍🌈 do you have any headcanons (lgbt, race, neuro, etc) that are important to you?

GAY STRONG BAD... and while a lot of it is projection & kinny its not just that... i think it's hilarious how in an effort to make strong bad into this. whatever he is. bragging about how many ladies are on their knees just to date him? he always has these ridiculously beautiful girlfriends who love him so much, but you'll never meet them because they live in far off lands? or on the moon? (sbemail #67: autobiography) the though of trying to hit on the ONE girl to further his "womanizer" image disgusts him??? imagining a male character to be female so it would be "acceptable" to date him?? (sbemail #99: different town) imagining a male character falling in love with him but only expressing distaste outside the imagination sequence? (sbemail #130: do over) receiving a love letter in an email from a dude but only saying so much as "it just wouldnt work out" when he remembered people are watching him??? (sbemail #8: brianrietta) TEXTBOOK!!!! hes gay man!!!! yeah theres internalized stuff which is. kinda what im hinging on but like. he's gotten better over the years w his general personality shift. im just disappointed that this probably wasnt how he was meant to be written at ALL but like. if i had free reigns over the show i'd want him to find acceptance and realize yeah, you can be gay and still commit arson.

(other than that homestar/homeschool/champeen/strong mad are autistic. also coach z is trans & him and bubs are married. i also rly like trans strong bad)

📌 how did you find your hyperfixation?

my uncle actually introduced it to my sibling & i way back when!! and we hadnt actually talked about it SINCE he told us abt it... until last time he was in town!! and i didnt even know he remembered it until he saw the trogdor board game which came in the mail the day before & we got to go crazy go nuts over that again!!! (i dont rly remember much of the introduction other than. we were at my grandparents house for christmas or something & i had to go home to visit the site... and i was like 9 or 10) anyway cool uncle rights

💎 are there any fun facts or trivia that you would like to share?

the brothers chaps have regularly used the fan-owned homestar runner wiki as a resource... useful when u put out as much content as they do! the wiki is credited in all five episodes of strong bad's cool game for attractive people in the "special thanks" section, the brothers have mentioned the wiki itself by name in interviews & at least one toon (that i've seen), just over the past few days on strong bad's twitter page they linked to one of the pages! it is an incredible resource if you wanna know everything about everything in the series, but i think it's really something knowing the creators use it as well. oh yeah and they donate when they can to help keep the servers afloat when the site runs donation drives so. that's pretty cool.

🎥 do you have any favorite scenes from your hyperfixation?

"favorite scene" or "favorite toon".... im gonna drop some of my favorite toons (or the ones i quote the most) bc most are 3-5 minutes long

fall float parade

sbemail #129: garage sale

pumpkin carve-nival

doomy tales of the macabre (cw: body horror)

halloween potion-ma-jig

i killed pom pom! (cw: alcohol)

sbemail #206: videography

sbemail #110: for kids

play date

donut unto others

where my hat is at? (cw: alcohol)

the homestar runner goes for the gold

the homestar runner enters the spooky woods (cw: emetophobia, (one) dead animal is part of homestar's final fear)

sbemail #207: too cool

a decemberween mackerel (cw: unsanitary in an easter egg)

added some content warnings just in case, also the links in red go to the official site while the black links go to youtube!

💕 tell us about one of your favorite characters and why you like them!

i will lay down my life for strong sad no questions asked. he deserves several hugs. i would like to be his friend. i like to think if everyones aware theyre in a cartoon and does their own thing outside what we see on the site, then like... hopefully theyre nicer to him.... i know its fun to rag on him bc he is kind of an easy target but listen. goth king. similar music taste. we totally would have hung out in middle school. also thinkin abt how him and strong bad used to get along.... bro.... i would like to see more of that....

[briangroth27]

Power Rangers (2017): Go, Go See This!

This is my 100th original blog post! Fitting that it’s about the modernization of one of my favorite things from childhood!

I was seven when Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers premiered on FOX Kids in 1993 and I still vividly recall watching the pilot in my parents’ living room. As soon as that Saturday’s morning cartoons ended, I immediately watched my newly-recorded VHS copy of “Day of the Dumpster” again: the adventures of five “teenagers with attitude” had hooked me instantly! Along with Superman, Batman, the Flash, and TMNT, the Power Rangers were some of the first live-action superheroes I ever saw, and they definitely left an impression. The giant robots (based on dinosaurs, another childhood obsession thanks to the recent release of my still-favorite movie, Jurassic Park) and monsters blew my mind. Amy Jo Johnson was my first celebrity crush. I took Tae Kwan Do for a few years solely because of Power Rangers. I still have all the original action figures, the Morpher & Power Coins, the Blade Blaster, the Megazord, and the Sega Genesis video game. I fell out of the Ranger fandom after Zeo ended, but I’ve always fondly remembered the originals. I went into the new movie just hoping it would be fun and proud of its roots; things like the R-rated Power/Rangers by Adi Shankar are cool and all, but the real Power Rangers don’t need to be grim and gritty. I left the theater humming the theme song with a huge smile; this movie is great!

If you were a fan of the show, you’ll love the new movie for taking the characters deeper than the original series did and for the clear love it has for its source material. If you thought the show was too cheesy, you’ll probably appreciate the modernized themes and issues the teens face here. The movie makes you wait for most of the action, but the characters were fun and compelling enough (and the actors strong enough) that it never felt slow. When the action does arrive, it’s earned and very well-tied to the characters’ arcs! That connection, striking at the core of the Rangers mythos, also makes for an important message about teamwork and understanding.

I didn’t think the Rangers needed to have powers when not morphed, but it didn’t hurt the story to introduce that aspect either (though it does remove an easy path to drama if they’re attacked and can’t morph). The Putties were formidable even with super-strength, so not having powers would’ve led to the unmorphed Rangers’ immediate deaths in this film (a rare case of the movies scaling the villains up to meet the standards of the heroes, something I wish Superman films would do with everyone not named Zod). I thought the suits were a little over-designed and bulky, preferring the ones from 1995’s film, but I didn’t hate them. Similarly, I prefer the simplicity of the original zord and Megazord designs, but these are good too. Jason gets his Power Sword during the fight with the Putty Patrol, but I wish everyone else had gotten their Ranger-specific weapons too (Zack’s ax, Billy’s lance, Kim’s bow, and Trini’s daggers). The final showdown didn’t feel rushed; I totally felt that it was worth the wait. That the team visibly showed fear during the final battle also humanized them and helped sell the idea that they were still teens and not at all polished superheroes, despite their mighty powers. 

Though the film looks a little washed out in terms of its color palette, there’s a great energy running through it. The effects were solid and felt realistic. I loved all the nods to the original series, such as the movie’s MacGuffin (the Zeo Crystal), what seemed like a shout-out to one of Rita’s best henchman (Scorpina), and an outstanding, iconic scene during the final battle. While there is a definite sequel teased in the mid-credits scene, this is a complete movie and I loved that it didn’t just feel like a stepping stone to bigger things.  

Absolutely see this!

Full Spoilers… 

My absolute favorite aspect of the movie was its focus on friendship and the need for the Rangers to harmonize in order for their powers to fully work. Like their Megazord, the Power Rangers are a team that’s stronger together than they are individually, and their literal inability to morph until after they’ve opened up and bonded with each other was portrayed perfectly. This was an excellent bridge between their character arcs (which felt like real things modern teens go through) and the superhero side of the story. There’s an important metaphor in your friends giving you the power to become a supercharged version of yourself capable of fighting your demons, and to paraphrase Zordon’s catchphrase from the series, that power protects these kids (and hopefully, the kids in the audience who see the value of connection and teamwork). Given the realistic diversity of this cast, it’s also easy to see this as a broader metaphor that the only way to survive and harness our true potential is to understand each other and work together.

Always believing the teens’ “attitude” meant good attitudes, I was initially skeptical when the trailer cast the Rangers-to-be as juvenile delinquents rather than the show’s socially conscious do-gooders, but the trailer was misleading. Jason (Dacre Montgomery), Kimberly (Naomi Scott), and Billy (RJ Cyler) meet in detention and Zack (Ludi Lin) skips school a lot, but none of them are terrible people needing epic redemption arcs. Instead, they’ve made mistakes (Jason’s in trouble for a prank gone very awry and Billy for an innocent experiment with explosives), but are still generally good kids. 

Kimberly did the worst thing—forwarding a scandalous picture of one of her ex-friends—but it didn’t mar her character as much as I feared it would (I was spoiled on that plot point). She and the movie acknowledge this as the awful thing it is and I was impressed that she immediately shot down Jason’s well-intended suggestion that she forgive herself because there are “lots of pictures out there.” Instead, she correctly points out that it changes nothing about the picture she sent or the effect it had on her former friend. “Everyone else does it” doesn’t comfort her or excuse her actions and the fact that she knows how bad it was and has clearly grown softened this change from the show’s Kimberly for me. Scott’s Kim isn’t the valley girl Johnson was, but you can definitely see hints that she used to be a similar popular girl. Despite the darker backstory, Scott channels the corresponding original actor more than anyone else in the film, crafting a performance that’s her own but includes strong shades of Amy Jo Johnson (as well as a dash of Buffy season 1-Sarah Michelle Gellar). She probably has the most personal growth in the film and, along with Billy, was my favorite character.

Billy’s still the brains of the team and sets their ascent to Rangerhood into motion. Though Cyler brought a different energy to Billy than David Yost did, he was still most definitely “Billy.” While Scott channeled her predecessor most, Cyler channels the essence of the original character most. Everyone deserves to see themselves as heroes, so I loved that the film delivered an autistic hero in Billy, something I don’t think any other superhero movie or TV show has done yet. To the film’s credit, his being on the Spectrum is never portrayed as something to overcome or a handicap he’s “so brave” to live with; it’s merely a fact of his life and doesn’t hamper his superheroics in any way. Cyler brought an instant likability to Billy that pulled me into the Rangers’ circle and played perfectly against his hidden pain over to the loss of his father. Because he’s so personable, Billy’s death hit me hard (even though I didn’t think it’d be permanent) and the other Rangers’ reactions felt realistic and believable—though they’re only together a week, the team’s bonding feels real.

Jason’s prank causes property damage so he isn’t initially the Boy Scout from the show (though he is a jock), but I really liked that his movie arc takes that idea and shows us how he might’ve gotten there, molding him into the upstanding (and understanding) father figure he craves as he takes on leadership of the Power Rangers. While he does have a father (David Denman) in the movie, there’s clearly a distance between them. What exactly caused it isn’t revealed beyond his dad not understanding him and perhaps having goals and expectations Jason doesn’t want for himself, so Jason’s issues felt the most routine and well-trodden in terms of movies and TV. However, his relationship with the Rangers is more important than with his parents, so I was satisfied that Jason’s parental issues were resolved by Zordon standing in for his dad, particularly when Jason found out why the Rangers morphing was so important to Zordon's plans. I liked that even though he was chosen to be the leader by virtue of being the Red Ranger, he wasn’t a natural and it felt like he had to earn that position, both in Zordon’s eyes and in terms of motivating the team. As familiar as Jason’s issues were (perhaps they were delivered in shorthand precisely because they're so universal), Montgomery never came off as boring or bland and he was a good lead.

Zack was fun and I liked that his up-for-anything bravado (an update of show Zack’s charisma, party-guy attitude, and jokester persona) was a cover for the knowledge that he’d probably very soon lose his mom (Fiona Fu) to her illness. While he and Trini (Becky G) could’ve definitely used more screentime to match the arcs Jason, Kimberly, and Billy had, I think Zack gets enough for Lin to display the fears just under the surface of his cool guy façade. He also gets to have some serious fun joyriding in his zord and physicalizes the tension and pressure the team’s under to become perfect superheroes in a week when he comes to blows with Jason. So, even though he wasn’t as big a focus as he should’ve been, he contributed to the personality mix in unique ways. Trini absolutely needed more material—her and Zack’s reduced screentime compared to everyone else is my one big negative note about the film—but what she got worked well. MMPR’s Trini was soft-spoken and polite, which here translated into a disaffected loner persona, owing to being moved around a lot and her parents’ (Erica Cerra, Patrick Sabongui) inability to accept her as anything other than the normal daughter they wanted. I liked that they made her the first LGBTQ movie superhero (Mystique and Harley Quinn are bi in the comics, but the X-films and Suicide Squad haven’t had that onscreen yet) and didn’t mind that this amounted to one conversation: none of the other Rangers have love lives explored here either. While Trini is guarded for a good portion of the film and her limited screentime gives her the hardest time when it comes to connecting with the others, I thought Becky G pulled the arc off. I bought her reasons for not talking sooner and her growing friendship with/trust in the others, particularly Kimberly, felt genuine. Not giving Trini more to do was a missed opportunity for what could’ve been a fun sequence of her using her superpowers to evade her helicopter parents to go train. Speaking of her parents, it’s odd they didn’t hear her room being trashed by Rita. She could’ve written the damage off as (extremely localized) effects of Goldar’s attack later on, but someone should’ve heard walls being dented. That could’ve been an opportunity to employ a classic “superhero has to explain extraordinary problems to keep their identity secret” moment. Given Becky G’s sardonic delivery when questioned about where she’d been spending her nights, she could’ve told her parents exactly what happened, comically upending those superhero tropes.

One of the film’s biggest surprises was that Zordon (Bryan Cranston) has an actual arc, making him far more interesting than the show’s version. I’d heard there was a prologue focusing on his history with Rita Repulsa (Elizabeth Banks), but feared a focus on Zordon and Rita might overshadow the Rangers themselves. That prologue is only a couple of minutes long, but Zordon’s desire to have a physical body again was still unexpectedly touching. His tension with the Rangers over this point provided some good conflict I didn’t see coming. Alpha 5 (Bill Hader) was another big improvement over the original version, who I always found annoying. Banks was entirely over the top as Rita, but that’s exactly who Rita is supposed to be! Like the Joker, I really don’t have an interest in an entirely serious version of Rita Repulsa. In fact, Banks’ casting—along with the tag line “Go Go”—was the first thing that convinced me this wasn’t going to be the super-serious mess it could’ve been in our current “gritty is automatically superior” pop culture mindset. Rita’s full-on insane and she fit in without breaking the tone of the movie, even against the grounded Rangers. I never felt she wasn’t a deadly serious threat (she kills several Rangers in this movie alone!).

It was cool that Amy Jo Johnson and Jason David Frank (my favorite original Rangers) got cameos here! I wish David Yost, Austin St. John, and Walter Jones also appeared; maybe next time. Jason Narvy and Paul Schrier really should get cameos too; as the original series’ Bulk and Skull, they were the longest-running characters in the show’s history. With that in mind, I was surprised a new Bulk and Skull didn’t make an appearance here…Jason’s prank buddy Damo (Matt Shively), possibly feeling rejected after Jason finds new friends, and the “Bully of Detention” (Wesley MacInnes) could’ve easily been them.

The post-credit scene lays out the arrival of Tommy Oliver, the Green Ranger, though I wouldn’t have minded one more film with just the original five Rangers. With five more films planned, there’s more than enough time to explore the dynamic between these kids before throwing Tommy into the mix. Still, I’m definitely excited for the prospect of a traitor Ranger, especially with this film’s emphasis on the team’s need for unity and trust to morph. Someone who can get past their defenses, earn their trust, and then stab them in the back will be a perfect, devastating adversary!

I love that we’re getting something of a Ranger renaissance now (to say nothing of the fact that 24 years and several iterations later, the show is still going). Not only did this movie come out (along with a tie-in sequel comic), but there’s an excellent ongoing Boom! Studios comic book featuring the original team! It’s set right after MMPR’s “Green With Evil” saga and deals with the Rangers learning to trust Tommy, and whether or not he can trust himself to be free of Rita’s influence. There’s also a fun Kimberly-focused 6-issue miniseries (“Pink”), set after she left the team, a crossover with the Justice League, and a brand new ongoing series set right after “Day of the Dumpster,” Saban’s Go Go Power Rangers, coming soon! While it’s at the other end of the tonal spectrum, Adi Shankar is trying to put together a gritty, adult-focused animated series about Power Rangers too. And of course, Saban & Lionsgate are planning at least five more films in the rebooted series, one of which may be a prequel focusing on Zordon and Rita’s team. With the film taking a series of hits at the box office after a strong opening, I think these plans might be pared down, but I really hope we get to see these Rangers’ adventures continue. Rather than rushing to create an entire universe at once, focus on making an excellent sequel to this one’s already superb foundation and then build from there!

[wolverinedoctorwho]

long winded post about all my ocs bc i have nothing better to do and want people to ask me about them

I’m gonna put it under a Read More so if you don’t wanna read about my ocs you don’t have to scroll for a billion years

Published OCs:

Arcanamas (link is to book one, there are 6 books in the series currently)

Joan Arcanama: Southern momma, monster hunter, BAMF. Her parents are dead, her sister is dead, her family is full of monsters now. She’s doing ok with it though because she loves them and if you hurt them she WILL set you on fire. She and her whole “living” family live somewhere in Tennesee. She’s already witnessed the end/retcon of the world. 

Avery: IDK what his last name is bc  I stole him from someone else in an RP who left after like two chapters. He’s a big buff Scottish puff of a werewolf. Like Bigby Wolf in terms of hair and attractiveness, but he’s also kinda like Brian from Dream Daddy in terms of personality? He can fully turn at will, but usually chooses not to unless he has to fight somebody. During full moons he has his own room under their home to make sure he doesn’t hurt/scare the kids. 

Tributa Arcanama: Lil baby vampire girl. She was turned when she was 3, and now she’s 10 but looks around 5 or 7. She looks about half her age because she ages twice as fast because it would be super inconvenient to be a vampire who was stuck at age three their entire life. She’s a fuckin loli but doesn’t even know what the heck a sex is because she’s like 10. She’ll also fuckin murder you if you’re a jerk. Her dream is to invent a new line of blood-flavored candies and drinks (like a sangueccino). Her name means Taxes in Latin.

Mort Arcanama: Tributa’s twin brother. Avery isn’t their father, but I don’t want Joan’s rape to make up too terribly much of her backstory so I don’t/won’t talk about it much. Mort is a necrokinetic, which is different from a necromancer because he doesn’t bring things back from the dead so much as he moves death around like a life force. He’s got a severed hand he treats as a pet and he keeps it alive by moving the “death force” into plants or animals, basically swapping their life force. Also anyone he touches will get hurt/die because he basically has no control over whether or not he takes the life force of things he touches. He’s a non-verbal Autistic, and his special interests include trains and plants. His name means Death in Latin.

Spark Arcanama (nee Ketchum): Originally a Pokemon OC, she was adopted by the Arcanamas fairly recently. She’s kinda like Mort in that she has no control over the fact that she can shoot fire out of her hands. She looks like a normal 12 year old girl but her skin can and will burn you and when her emotions flare up things tend to catch on fire (think Elsa but slightly more dangerous). Gloves don’t work for her because they’ll just catch fire, so she spends a lot of her time trying to keep her powers under wraps and freaking out about small things. She has a similar backstory to Hanako from Katawa Shoujo in that her house burned down, her parents died, and now she’s covered in scars, but she’s completely lost her right eye as a result of the burns and the lack of care she recieved for them. Basically everyone in the town she lived in blamed her for the fire and the death of her parents, and since they were right she allowed them to bully her for most of her life. Now that she’s away from all of that she’s learning how to become her own person without burning everything around her. She’s a cinnamon roll who doesn’t deserve sadness.

Forest Arcanama: Joan’s little sister. She died when she was about 14, and now she’s a ghost forever. She’s physically tied to Mort’s dead hand so she can’t go all crazy and poltergeisty. She’s got the personality of Lapis Lazuli because who cares about anything when you’re dead and stuck in a cabin in the middle of the woods? She died shortly after watching her mother die back before the reset/retcon and got stuck as a ghost. 

Zack Gachano: Spark’s best friend and a total normie. He’s kind of obsessed with Vocaloid, to the point where he’s dyed his long hair purple to look like Gakupo. He has a single mom for reasons I haven’t fully come up with yet. He’s a little bit confused by all the monster stuff, but for some reason it’s not that crazy to him that his best friend shoots fire out of her hands and her siblings kill people. He’s a year older than Spark, and bisexual. 

Louisanne de Malfoy: Originally a Harry Potter OC, she’s now a 307 year old vampire who lives in France and gives no shits about anything. Back in the day she had an apprentice/girlfriend, but that girl is long dead and so are all her past lovers. She’s pansexual but doesn’t use the term because it didn’t exist back in 1709. She studies all the time, IDK what for. She has one of those huge libraries with rolling ladders. She lives in this huge mansion because she’s amassed some sort of wealth during her life (probably from screwing rich people and then blackmailing them). She’s uptight, but has a heart every once in awhile. Tributa’s mentor and godmother to the Arcanama kids.

StarStar (Link is to book one, there are 4 books in the series)

Miranda Picard: Originally a Star Trek OC, she’s almost as uptight as Louisanne if not more. She’s a navy kid with a bright future ahead of her, but she has a horrible temper and is a total fuddy-duddy. She’s really smart though. Her interests include ballet and playing the violin, and she can do both at once. She tends to overwork herself to the point of collapsing without even thinking about it, and always hates on herself for the smallest of mistakes. Under her stuck-up interior is a teen who just wants to enjoy herself and wants people to be proud of her. Her grandfather is a prominent captain, and she refuses to call him anything other than Captain, much to his chagrin.

Dannika Solo: Originally a Star Wars OC, she’s Miranda’s laid-back counterpart with even more emotional scarring. She ran away from her air force parents as a child and was kidnapped pretty quickly. She was hurt in a variety of ways before being turned into a fairy, and it took her a lot of work to learn how to turn back. After she killed her kidnapper but spared his daughter, she went through a variety of bad situations before meeting Miranda. She’s got PTSD from the whole thing and frequently has nightmares and bouts of sleepwalking. She’s kind of a grouch when she’s upset, but she’s just as smart as Miranda. Her parents don’t really approve of her and Miranda’s relationship.

Teendangers (this doesn’t update often)

Wendy: The eldest of the three superpowered sisters. She’s highly suspicious of adults and is the kind of person who refuses help unless she desperately needs it. Protects her younger sisters with an almost antagonistic ferocity. She’s 18. Her full name is Gwendolyn. Her superpower is flight.

Mags: The middle sister. She’s more reasonable, but is still pretty cautious because she’s seen some shit. The most motherly of the three sisters. She’s very blunt, though rarely out of malice. She’s 15. Her full name is Margarita. Her superpower is invisibility. 

Ren: The youngest sister. She’s a total ditz, and sometimes it��s easy to wonder if she has any thoughts in that head of hers. She’s more susceptible to illness because she was put on the streets when she was a baby. She trusts easily, much to Wendy’s frustration. She’s 7. Her full name is Renee. Her superpower is luminescence. 

Molly: A trans girl with no superpowers other than a positive attitude and a willingness to help people. She likes cartoons, some of which include anime, but she isn’t a total otaku/weeaboo or anything like that. She’s about 15. 

Jemma: Molly’s mom. Her husband works for the agency that contains superpowered children, but she doesn’t approve of his job or the politics behind it. She’s in her mid 30s and is a Cool Mom. 

Unpublished OCs:

Homestuck: (these don’t jive with actual canon facts too well, sorry)

Ocarina Marxochime: A cinnamon roll with lavender blood because I had an ocarina that color when I came up with her. She’s a blind seadweller with asthma, synesthesia, hydrophobia, and haphephobia. She had an abusive lusus who tried to make Ocarina live up to a standard of royalty she could not meet, and through beating her and starving her tried to make her obedient. She ended up an anxious mess, and then she was kidnapped by some other trolls, who raped her, mutilated her fins, sewed her gills shut, and tried to drown her. She met Exdeus in the hospital afterwards, and moved in with Raina after she was released. She’s been trying recently not to be such an anxious mess, but stuff like that takes time. Her symbol is the Anxiety Awareness ribbon and her horns look like (and function as) ocarinas. 

Raina Heist: A black-blood (seriously, I came up with a whole essay on shade-bloods) troll who was kicked off Alternia as a grub and somehow wound up on Earth. She was raised in Texas by a human couple who tried to convince themselves she wasn’t a demon. She spent most of her life covering her unique features with makeup and hats and contacts, but still got bullied for being different. During one fight with a bully, she stabbed him with her horns and then ran away from home, living in a shopping mall for a year before being found and raped (a lot of my OCs backstories include rape for some reason? I’ve recently realized just how much it pops up and would like to change it so they don’t all become the same in terms of backstory) by one of the employees. When she wound up in the hospital afterwards, she told her parents she needed to find out where she belonged, and then somehow got back to Alternia. She’s now Ocarina’s roommate who doesn’t take any shit from anyone. She’s also a great cook. Her symbol is an @ sign.

Exdeus Machina: He’s a human (despite his odd name) who works in the hospital Ocarina went to after her mutilation. Whether through Florence Nightingale syndrome or sheer plot convenience, he fell in love with her and she reciprocated. He’s her anchor, essentially. 

Purr: Ocarina’s pet cat, essentially a therapy animal, given to her by one of my friend’s OCs

Daphne Machna: Exdeus and Ocarina’s adopted daughter. She wants to become a doctor like her father, and has the brains for it, but sometimes she goes too far to prove herself. She has tetrochromia and wears glasses she doesn’t need to to match her parents, who both wear glasses. 

Steven Heist: Goes by Steve. Raina’s son after a one-night-stand with some blue-blood. He has the horns and blood to match. He’s laid back and very musical, and gets along with his mother really well. His symbol is currently a # symbol, though I might change it.

SkyeNet (Name pending)

Skye: A trans boy whose special interest is computers and technology. I’ve described him as hypomental bc there was a cool article on that I read. Net’s twin brother, but he’s the more grounded and responsible of the two. He’s kind of Asbergers? IDK don’t quiz me too hard on it I’m basing his behaviour on my older brother. He has a scar on his right cheek and on his left shoulder from a car accident.

Net: Kinda crazy, not gonna lie. I’ve described her as hypermental to yin-yang with Skye. She’s possessive of him and at first didn’t support his transition because she feared she wouldn’t be as close to her her sister anymore. I’m not sure how to describe her mental state other than saying that after Skye’s car accident she cut her face and shoulder open so she could have scars just like his. 

Honestly their whole story is part of an AU with Ocarina and Exdeus so I couldn’t really publish their story if I wanted to without untangling that whole knot

Dungeons and Dragons

Spah: Literally just Spy from TF2. I didn’t want to come up with a whole character and backstory so I just used Spy. He’s a changeling rogue and a kinky fucker who literally beat Venomfang by fucking him. 

Favric: Stole him from a campaign. He was one of Venomfang’s followers until Spah convinced him that, because he fucked Venomfang, he was his god now. Favric’s essentially his human squire now. 

Vyerith: Stole her from the same campaign Favric came from. Basically there was a doppleganger and Spah went “I’m gonna tap that” and I just kept rolling good saves until the end of the battle and the DM went “well, I guess you can keep her now”. She and Spah have kinky shapeshifter sex. 

Dell: Basically Engineer from TF2 but different. He grew up with Spah and some other friends, and his Pyro-expy-love died in a fire that convinced him to run away from home and live in a cave. He’s a half-orc artificer who’s kind of a grouch but is really a depressed noodle.

Khoren: My favourite right now. She’s a little warforged cinnamon roll. Dell found her while scavenging one day and rebuilt her. She’s essentially got the mind of a child and is 3′6 so it works. She has a Drawer of Holding built into her stomach (a bag of holding installed in a drawer). She’s the one that walks down the hill Dell lives on to get food and supplies from the nearby townspeople. They love her and made her a pink wig. She can’t speak, but has her own language of various whistles that Dell taught her. 

There’s also a whole Mermaid RP that a friend and I did that’s choc-full of OCs but I think I should make a separate post for that because it’s also kind of an AU of the Homestuck characters and isn’t published or done yet and it’s a mess. But if you’ve gotten this far thanks for reading, pls ask me about them and if you want to draw them ask me and i’ll give you referencesnngggg