I’m Always Wondering If It Was Better Or Worse For BBT And Young Sheldon Creators To Say That Sheldon

I actually don't have a lot of complaints about Project: Rainbow, but I dislike how the Rainbow High vs Rainbow High thing was handled.

More specifically, Avery.

After being told that her accessory designs weren't unique enough, she decided the best thing to do, instead of designing new accessories, is to make a dress to go with the accessories.

And she gets praised for ignoring Maria's advice.

Here's the thing: I wear my favorite accessories with a lot of different outfits.

I'm not interested in accessories that only look good with one specific outfit. Most people aren't.

And Avery shouldn't be praised for ignoring Maria's advice. It was an accessory design challenge, not a dress design challenge.

She should have been gently told that, while her dress was amazing, it was an accessory design challenge, and she didn't meet the challenge requirements.

They still could have Aiden volunteering to be the one who goes back to class, because his reason wouldn't have changed, but now we could give Avery a good learning experience.

I don't know how you can say that Ron outgrew his role as the forgettable sidekick while still claiming it's part of his character. Sure, Ron's probably not one to try hard, but acknowledgement of what he does for Kim would be nice.

(He's also been shown to be unhappy with being the forgettable sidekick, so it's not fair to act like he needs to keep being that.)

Do you think Ron outgrew his original role as the forgettable sidekick and comedic relief? If the answer is "Yes", at what point do you think that happened?

His chracter was treated that way mostly because he was the primary source for comedic relief, the show needs humor if Ron outgrew that role and his character was being held back by that, then in order to solve it, they needed to either introduce another character to fullfil that role, change the way the humour operated or find another way like tone down the humor and the gags or at least not make them at expense of the chracter.

How would you solve this?

Was Ron's character really unhappy with being just the sidekick? There were few instances where he sounded proud of having that role, I think it was people overlooking him and outright forgetting him which annoyed him and not that he was known as a sidekick.

I definitely say Ron outgrew his original role. As for when, hmm...

As early back as the first (chronological) episode, Ron was shown to have some skill at this.

I'd have to say by mid-season 2 it's just mean to keep up all the jokes at Ron's expense.

If one character is the primary source of comedy in a show, I do agree that needs to be changed. The change I'd make would be having humor rely on more than one character.

(Of course, I'd make it that way from the beginning.)

Yes, I do think, at times, Ron was unhappy being the sidekick.

There was "Bueno Nacho" where he was upset that Kim only wanted him to join her as a sidekick.

In "Sink or Swim" he asks if he'll be allowed to lead the next mission, which implies an interest.

There was "The Fearless Ferret" where Ron wanted to branch out on his own as a hero.

And at least one occasion where Ron asks Kim why she never has Wade make gadgets for him.

So it certainly seems like there are times where Ron wanted to be treated more like a partner than a sidekick.

And, honestly, I think he deserves it.

Kim Possible: Great Hero, Not So Great Person (Redux)

I've rewatched the show more recently and noticed some new details, so I've decided to redo my first post on this blog.

Kim is known for saving the world and helping people with things like park cleanups and cats stuck in trees.

But she is also known to put her own desires before her friends, even if it causes them harm.

And that is not something a good person does.

These are not "mistakes" because Kim is doing them intentionally.

And it's not a one-time thing:

"Bueno Nacho"

Kim forges an application in Ron’s name before she even brings up the idea of working there to him.

When he's upset with her for doing that, she uses the puppy dog pout, which he explicitly states she knows he can't resist, to get him to take the job.

She refuses to be supportive of him or happy for him when he turns out to be good at it, to the point of refusing to do the job at all.

I will give Kim credit for apologizing for her jealousy, but she never apologizes for manipulating him to take the job in the first place.

"The New Ron"

She forces Ron into a haircut, despite the fact that even her own mother had reservations about it.

When Ron tells her he hates it and why, she feigns sympathy, steals his hat, and runs through the halls yelling that he got a new haircut.

When Ron starts to embrace the new haircut and becomes popular, she hates it. But despite his popularity, he's not a jerk.

He didn't abandon Rufus, Rufus wandered off and Ron gently chastised him for it.

She was only upset because Ron was starting to change into someone who cared about hair care and appearances.

(Which, if that wasn't her goal with the new haircut, then what was her goal?)

She apologizes for saying Ron needed a new haircut, but not for the lengths she went to to force him into one, nor for her contempt for him after he started to embrace the haircut.

At the end, she tries to tell him that it's what's on the inside that counts, but it's very hypocritical since she was the one who wanted him to change in the first place.

"Crush"

Kim locks Ron in the janitor closet, though semi-unintentionally; she wasn't intending to lock him in there, but she did shove him back in when he was trying to leave.

She ignores Wade’s attempts at reaching her, even though Wade never contacts her unless it’s important.

(I will give Kim some leeway here, as a teenage girl deserves one night to herself.)

She also expressed no concern at Ron being missing, nor does she seem to even notice he's missing.

We also have no idea how long Ron spent in that closet, but even just an hour is too long.

(Also, that is a really big janitor's closet. The ones at my high school were closet sized, not room sized.)

"October 31st"

When Kim's told the bracelet is armor that grows when she lies, she keeps lying, even though it was probably unnecessary. Her parents and Ron would have been understanding about her wanting to go to a party with her crush.

Her actions led to her destroying Monique's garage door, which probably landed Monique in trouble.

And though Kim does get grounded for lying, she doesn't get in trouble for putting others in danger.

(Probably because Wade's the only one who could confirm that she knew she was putting others in danger.)

"The Twin Factor"

She uses the Neural-Compliance Chips on her brothers, after saying that just making them would be unethical.

After an entire episode about how bad they are.

After being a victim of them herself.

It’s meant to be a joke.

This is not the kind of thing anyone should joke about.

"Grudge Match"

Kim thinks telling Ron that he might stand a chance with a girl is "fudging".

At this point, they know so little about Zita that they think her name is Annie.

There's no reason to believe Ron wouldn't stand a chance except for having a low opinion of Ron in general.

They also had their conversation about it while sitting across the table from Ron at Bueno Nacho, so there's a good chance he heard them.

And despite this belief that he doesn't stand a chance, she spends the rest of the episode angrily telling him that there are no rules to try to encourage him to ask her out.

"Adventures in Rufus-Sitting"

Ron's steps of taking care of Rufus aren't just long because he's an exotic animal, those are also things Ron learned about taking care of Rufus from experience.

He also refers to Rufus as his son in "Mind Games", so Kim's disregard for how to take care of Rufus is extra mean given that Rufus clearly means a lot to Ron.

Not only does Rufus accidentally eat the chip due to Kim's negligence, she doesn't even notice it's missing until Wade tells her it's broadcasting a signal from inside Rufus.

And she lies to Ron about all of it on multiple occasions. I can understand some of them, since she was dealing with an emergency, but this is the kind of thing pet owners like to know about.

"Exchange"

Kim and Monique were both arranging “accidental” run-ins with Hirotaka to ask him out, but Kim’s the only one who had Wade track Hirotaka’s movements to do it.

I know Monique couldn’t do that, but the point is, Kim took it to creepy stalker levels for a guy she’s known for less than a week.

(I'm also interested in the fact that Monique was confident she could take Kim in a fight.)

"Return to Wannaweep"

Though Kim and Bonnie both sabotage each other, Kim started it.

She unplugged Bonnie’s alarm clock, supposedly to charge the Kimmunicator, but there was another available outlet that she could’ve used.

She also uses all the hot water in the showers so Bonnie can’t have any, which wouldn’t harm just Bonnie but anyone else who may need to use the showers after Bonnie.

And she refuses to take any of Ron's feelings seriously.

Even if Gil hadn't actually been up to something, Ron was still stuck sharing a cabin with a guy who used to bully him and had attacked him and the squad at some point. He has every right to be uncomfortable with it, but Kim keeps dismissing his feelings because she's too focused on sabotaging Bonnie so she could win a plastic stick that's been painted gold.

Dr. Lurkin apologizes to Ron for not taking him seriously, but Kim doesn't.

"Go Team Go"

Despite getting on Ron's case for cheating in "Naked Genius", which is completely fair, Kim had no problems using her newfound super strength for gym class or cheerleading, which is unfair and hypocritical of her.

"The Big Job"

Though I agree the "doofy" and "stupido" thing was embarrassing, coupons shouldn't be embarrassing, especially since Kim isn't offering to pay for it herself.

I can understand how the kids' menu thing was embarrassing, especially since Kim wouldn't want to order a kids' meal. However, she should just let Ron order of the kids' menu if he wants to.

The whole plot around getting jobs would have been better if Kim was getting one to pay for dates herself, not to "encourage" Ron to get one to pay for dates.

And then Ron decides Kim deserves better and starts looking for a job himself anyways.

"Fashion Victim"

I could understand being upset about not getting to see the designs, but Monique signed an NDA and would be risking not just her job but her future career in the fashion industry if she told Kim. And having Wade check the contract for loopholes is obsessive and could’ve landed them all in legal trouble.

Hassling Monique to break an NDA and trying to get Wade to find a loophole so Monique can tell her is the kind of thing Kim would've gotten fired for.

(Also, there is no way Wade was just given a copy of that NDA, so he's definitely in trouble if Monique ever decides to snitch on him.)

"Big Bother"

We learn in "A Sitch in Time" that Kim always wanted a little sister, so it's no surprise that she took to Hana immediately.

But Ron's life was changed against his will without warning while he was at school, so a little sympathy would be expected from his girlfriend. Especially since the attic isn't as nice or comfortable as his old bedroom.

When Yori needs Ron's help on a mission, Kim refuses to let him go because she doesn't trust Ron alone with Yori, even though he's never given her any reason to think he'd be disloyal and Yori had requested help from him specifically.

"Clothes Minded"

I know they’re criminals who are behind bars, but that doesn’t make it right for Kim to use The Fashionistas’ design without their permission.

Monique didn't know it was The Fashionistas' design, and Rufus is a six-year-old rodent, so he wouldn't know any better.

But Kim did know it was their design.

I know they wanted her to bust them out, and I'm not saying she should, but it doesn't seem right for her to use their design without their permission.

(It's also kind of a disappointment that Kim is wearing a design made by The Fashionistas instead of Monique, her fashionable best friend who helped her put them behind bars in the first place. That would've been so much cooler.)

"The Cupid Effect"

At no point should Kim and Ron have been trying to get Monique to date Wade.

(A more realistic way of handling that would be to have them tease her about it for a bit, not seriously asking her to consider it.)

Also, Kim didn't actually need to hit Monique with the Cupid Ray just because she "didn't have time" to deal with Monique being upset. She was in a car, she could've driven away.

Because she did, Monique refused to leave Wade's side and ended up on a mission that she would have never gone on if she had been herself at the time.

Conclusion:

If this show handled relationships a bit more realistically, people would at least be mad at Kim for her actions, and stay mad. Kim being a hero doesn’t excuse such behavior, nor does her being a teenager.

As an action hero, Kim is great; cool, calm, collected, and always victorious.

But as a person, Kim is controlling, competitive, manipulative, insensitive, and more focused on her own wants than others around her.

And those aren't qualities someone who's meant to be a role model should have.

About the "kwamis as mentors" angle: Interesting to read and analyse, yet I can't help but feel they were not necessarily meant to be seen as mentors. At least to me, they seemed to be kind of whacky mascot characters who are tied to the lore, who have a personality to crack a joke or point something out or cause a little situation or be cute, but nothing more.

They are rather naive magical entities chained to jewelry (a fact they don't seem to mind that much or think about at all except for Plagg) and all that talk about "being around for 5000 years" and having seen many holders before is just there to make them seem more wise than they actually act like. From what I've seen on the show I would even assume there's a threshold to how much they can even mature emotionally and understand humans. Sometimes Tikki and Plagg even come off as indifferent and egoistical towards their holders (like an example you gave with Tikki, or Plagg's fixation on cheese over Adrien at times).

So...sorry if I missed it, but why do you view them as mentor characters? You made an interesting post about rom-com vs magical girl and the magical girl part is exactly why I always viewed them just as critters to appeal to kids, but nothing more. I can see that the show's writing is so inconsistent that sometimes they are portrayed as wise but more often then not they are just background noise to get a little interaction on screen so that the characters are not talking to themselves about miraculous stuff or to point something out for the audience.

The show's writing is pretty weird, so there are elements that are hard to get a clear read on. The Kwamis are one such element. When they're one-on-one with their chosen, they often feel like mentors to me. When they're all together, they almost always read like "critters to appeal to kids" (mostly because there are too many of them to let them have individual personalities when they're all together). So while I think that they're supposed to be mentors, it's not like that's the only canon-accurate read.

To dig into what I mean by the one-on-one writing, let's look at this exchange from Feast:

Master Fu: See, Wayzz? If Marinette had kept her Miraculous, the sentimonster would have swallowed her right up. Wayzz: Or she would have transformed into Ladybug and fought it. Master Fu: Sometimes fighting is futile, Wayzz.

And then later on we get this:

Wayzz: Master, look! Ladybug and Cat Noir, despite their ridiculous costumes, they haven't let you down! Wang Fu: That's impossible! They don't have their Miraculous! Wayzz: Master, it's obvious it's them—who else would do something so crazy? Cat Noir (Adrien): Hey, have a taste of this! Some exploding banana split from Bananoir! Ladybug (Marinette): Much tastier than any Miraculous! Wayzz: Look, Master, there's no use in running! Your disciples never give up the fight, no matter what! With or without their Miraculous, they are Ladybug and Cat Noir!

That's some pretty active mentoring right there.

Wayzz is probably the character that feels the most like a mentor to me. When he's with Fu, he feels like Fu's partner or adviser, which is why I think that the Kwami's aren't supposed to just be cute critters. They're regular ol' Jimmy Crickets meant to act as a conscience that the characters can talk to since this is visual media and you want a way for the characters to talk through their thoughts instead of having them do it all internally.

I also present this exchange from Desperada as evidence:

Adrien: Plagg, Ladybug needs me. She needs "Adrien"! Plagg: If you asked me, this whole idea is worse than cheese in a can. Adrien: She thinks I'm the perfect guy for this mission. Plagg: You can't be Cat Noir and another superhero at the same time! Which means that you're not the perfect guy for this mission. Adrien: The Lucky Charm told her I am. Plagg: That's not how it works. Why am I bothering? You're not even listening.

We then get Plagg reiterating that this is a bad idea through multiple loops, ending with this:

Plagg: Ah! At last, you've come to your senses. Adrien: I'm not sure Ladybug will have very fond memories of her experience with "Adrien Agreste". Plagg: Then make up for it as Cat Noir.

See? I told you Plagg can be a good mentor when he wants to! Tikki, take notes!

I'd even call this bit from Sapitos some quality subtle mentoring from Trixx:

Alya: Oh please, Ladybug! We'd make a great team! I could help Cat Noir and you every day! Ladybug:(her earrings ring) I'm about to transform back! Hurry! Alya: Please? Ladybug: I have to go! I'm trusting you! (opens a nearby door and goes inside, so she can detransform) Trixx: You're absolutely right, Alya. I'm sure the three of you would make quite the team! You have all the makings of a true superhero. You're strong, brave; but most of all, you're trustworthy.

Way to both build Alya up and reminder her of her duty, Trixx. Gold star. Quality mentorship!

So are the Kwamis supposed to be mentors? Who knows! I just see them fill the role often enough to feel comfortable judging them through that lens.

Miraculous also isn't the only magical girl team show to make the cute critters into mentors. That's a pretty standard path even though it's also common to see the critters used to sell merch/appeal to kids and nothing more. In terms of classic magical girl team shows, I'd say that the Kwamis are written way more like Luna and Artemis from Sailor Moon than Mini Mew from Tokyo Mew Mew.

You have a lot of gripes about Kim as a character? What about Ron though? Do you think they handled his character better then the rest?

Oh, good question! Yes, and no.

No because Ron is portrayed as a loser and a freak, the butt of many jokes within the series.

And so many people, females included, find themselves relating to Ron more than Kim, so it's a little bit insulting that the character most like them was the "loser" of the show.

And yes, because Ron actually got more character development than Kim.

And, while Ron has been known to be selfish at times, it doesn't usually cause harm to others.

There was "Ill Suited" where he stole Kim's battle suit to join the football team, but he had no way of knowing he could be putting others in danger as he had no idea Dementor was after the suit or had a way to control it.

And Kim called him out for it.

Whenever Ron is behaving badly, neither Kim nor the narrative will hesitate to call him out on it.

Most often, Ron puts Kim's interests before his own. And he certainly treats Kim better than she treats him.

So, Ron is treated as a joke, and often puts Kim's needs ahead of his own. When he behaves badly, he is called out on it. And for this reason, I think he was handled both better and worse than Kim

One of the reasons I refuse to watch Rainbow World is because its introduction completely derailed a plot that could have led to character development.

"The Big Day Off" showed everyone getting a day off of classes and assignments, and showed them dealing with problems during them.

Jade and Skyler want to spend their time relaxing, but both have a hard time doing nothing so they keep finding new tasks to do.

Bella and Ruby are planning to revamp the Rainbow Union, but have gotten artist's block and can't come up with anything.

Poppy's planning to bake and Amaya's freaking out over an online personality test.

Violet and Sunny were planning to have a fun day together.

This where the problem arises.

When we make it to Violet and Sunny's part of the story, Violet realizes she lost her phone and freaks out about it.

Now, we could have had a plot of Violet struggling with her social media addiction while spending time with Sunny, but, instead, Sunny and Violet find a magic egg and spend the day taking care of it so any conflict that they might have had is overshadowed.

I would have liked it better if we had Sunny and Violet doing fun things together, and Violet keeps instinctively reaching for her phone. Sunny notices, and eventually she's just sad.

Violet: "Sunny, what's wrong? Aren't you having fun?"

Sunny: "I am. I just...I miss you."

Violet: "I've been right across the hall for months. I think it's the closest we've ever been. Aside from all those sleepovers."

Sunny: "I don't mean physical distance."

Violet: "What do you mean?"

Sunny: "I mean...I totally support your dream of being an influencer, but I miss being able to do things with you without you trying to get the best shot. I miss just having fun with you, without you worrying about showing the rest of the world. I miss you. I think I've seen your phone's camera more than you, lately."

Violet: "Oh. I didn't know you felt that way."

Sunny: "I'm trying to be supportive. You're my best friend and I want to support you."

Violet: "I don't want you to support me if it upsets you. I guess I do have a problem."

Sunny: "I mean, I wouldn't say it's a problem..."

Violet: "But it is, because it upsets you so much. I don't want to upset my friends, especially you. I'm going to try to do better, Sunny. I promise."

Sunny: "Thanks. And I guess I'll start telling you when you do something that upsets me."

Violet: "I'd like that."

Then, Sunny and Violet would hug and discuss their plans for the rest of the day.

See how interesting this would have been? We could have had acknowledgement of not just Violet's greatest flaw (social media addiction) but also Sunny's (overly forgiving and passive) with them both recognizing their flaws and promising to work on them.

Instead, we have Sunny and Violet taking care of an egg all day.

They deserved better.

Would you be open to a sequel series to Kim Possible?

Kind of? That really depends on what direction the series is going to go in.

Are they going to acknowledge Kim's faults or just remove them and act like they never existed?

Is Ron going to keep being the bumbling sidekick or get better character development?

Those are the biggest questions.

I've written my own sequel series, but I'm open to other series that go in different directions.

I mostly just want Kim's faults acknowledged, especially to a point that Kim herself has to acknowledge them and work on them.

So, yeah, I'm open to it, but I'm not interested in a sequel series that ignores those problems entirely, even if it does also remove them.

Thoughts on Brick Flagg

So, I've seen Brick labelled as a "bully jock" character, usually lumped with characters like Flash Thompson (Spider-Man), Dash Baxter (Danny Phantom), and Brad Morton (American Dragon: Jake Long). However, I don't think Brick deserves to be in that group.

Firstly, we never actually see Brick bully anyone. It's never even implied he does that. Whenever someone's picking on Ron, Brick isn't around. The only time Brick gets aggressive is with Hirotaka, but never anyone else. Truly, that exchange with Hirotaka was out of character for Brick, not the norm.

Secondly, Brick actually seems to like Kim and Ron. He willingly sits with them and talks with them in "Royal Pain" and has had pleasant interactions in other episodes. Brick has never insulted either of them, and doesn't seem interested in doing so. Surely, Brick isn't a mean-spirited guy.

(I also want to mention that when Brick sees bulked-up Ron in "Ron the Man", he seems a little concerned until Ron assures him it's nothing to worry about, at which point he's just supportive.)

Lastly, Brick is actually a sensitive guy. In "All The News" he openly talks about his feelings. He mentions that he was devastated when Amelia dumped him and lost a game because of it. Typical "bully jock" characters don't talk about their feelings, they just beat someone else up to deal with them. But Brick doesn't do that. He opens up to people and talks about his feelings, not beat other people up.

Sure, Brick is definitely lacking in intelligence, as Barkin mentions in "Ill-Suited" that it took him seven years to finish high school, but he's not a bully. He'd be more of the "dumb jock" variety than "bully jock".

He could also fall under the "himbo" category, but I don't think the fandom's ready for that talk yet.

It's so frustrating because we have characters like Marc and Nathaniel and Rose with powers that fit their personalities and interests and they don't get to use them very much.

Instead, we get a season where the villains get to use the powers, and they get to be much more creative with them.

It's frustrating. The villains were using the powers better than their chosen holders.

Nathaniel used Genesis to make a wand, but Nathalie used it to make a box of supplies.

Marc used Sublimation to give himself the power to always score a goal, but Tomoe used it to give herself an enhanced sense of smell, and Gabriel used it to give himself invisibility and flight.

Rose used it to make Juleka and Gigantitan calm down, but Mr. Damocles used it to distract multiple people and Miss Bustier used it to start a revolution.

The villains were using the powers more creatively than the heroes were.

(Note, it's not just a problem with these three, but they were the ones that best explained the problem.)

This makes it seem like the chosen holders aren't cut out to be heroes, despite what Ladybug says.

If Marinette and the villains are using the powers better than them, what's the point of them?

They could have been more, but the creators didn't want to work for that.

They want us to believe that these people are perfect for their Miraculouses because they said so, even when the show itself contradicts it.

And, honestly, that's terrible writing and unfair to the characters.

Ladybug Vs Avatar's use of the supporting cast and the problem thereof.

I'm not sure if this has been covered before, but there's a serious problem with Marinette being the be-all end-all of everything in Miaculous.

And it's not just because "she's stressed" or "it's all on her". Her being the most important, talented and plot-relevant character in every situation is.

Let's make a comparison to the Gold Standard:

In Avatar the Last Airbender, Aang is the axis of the story. He holds incredible powers beyond anyone else, can bend every element and could conceivably end the entire conflict that plagues his world with relative ease- which he eventually does.

However, for 99% of the story he cannot do so. Because Aang is untrained, he cannot access that divine win-button of the Avatar State at will, and using it carried enormous risks to himself and those around him- making it functionally unusable for common conflicts. Furthermore while he does technically have the capacity to use all four elements, he had only mastered one and needed to learn the remaining three.

Indeed, Aang has outright difficulty with learning Earthbending despite his innate talents and while he's a quick study for the other two, he doesn't demonstrate the same effectiveness with water and fire as Katara and Zuko.

This means that Aang cannot do certain things as well as the others in his team. This means that for the majority of the story, even though his first and preferred element provides him with useful abilities" Aang has weaknesses that he needs others to cover and provide for.

Enter Katara, Sokka, Toph and Zuko.

Katara is a waterbender who teaches Aang and later advances her powers to include the all-important power of healing and the disturbingly effective (though situational) Bloodbending.

Toph is an earthbender who is also one of Aang's teachers, and whose tremor sense later allows her to both detect liars and invent Metalbending.

Sokka is seemingly just the comic relief normie. However his technical mindset allows him to serve as the general of the group, and even plan and lead in that role for entire armies later in the show.

Even Zuko who joins later and becomes less a teacher but a fellow student alongside Aaang in firebending is a skilled infiltrator and melee weapon expert. (This is less of a case than the others since it's not used as much, but it's more of a concrete example than his insights into the fire nation and his potential utility as a replacement Fire Lord).

They each provide far more than those short summaries, but it's important to note that in each case, even when Aang does learn the elements and starts growing into his role as the Avatar: he never gains the full range of abilities that his team offers. He never assumes the fully strategic mindset of Sokka, and even though it's downright implausible that no Avatar before him never learnt healing, he never demonstrates that ability or any Metalbending prowess even in the Avatar state.

There's also the enemy trio of Azula, Ty Lee and Mai. Azula is a powerful firebending genius, but Mai's prowess with her throwing weapons are a close match- and Ty Lee's chi-blocking can outright cripple enemy benders for any given fight when combined with her insane agility: something that not even Azula can do with her firebending. They are an incredibly dangerous combination and when Azula loses them, she becomes far less effective for their absence.

In both teams despite the leader being a powerful, talented bender who is objectively the strongst person on their respective side: there's no doubt about each member of the team contributing something that said leader cannot.

-

Now let's look at Miraculous:

Marinette is the "Greatest Ladybug" of all time despite being fourteen, only having had the earrings for less than a year, and having a list of predecessors that go back literally thousands of years and include Joan of Arc.

She is also the Guardian of the Miracle Box. Specifically she is the Guardian of The Mother Box that is the most important of all the boxes, despite there being at least a full Temple's worth of actually trained candidates somewhere in Tibet who should be far and above more capable than her or her mentor Fu. However, her supposed superior Su-Han seems entirely convinced that she's already surpassed any teachings his order has by how often she breaks said teachings in his face only for him to roll over like a dog. There's not been a single time when Marinette has been confronted by some shortcoming in her responsibilities as a Guardian where she has had to learn anything from the multi-millennia old Order of Gurdians.

Marinette has also worn almost every single Miraculous in her Box at the same time, a feat that supposedly risked serious harm to her but merely made her woozy for an afternoon (if that). As of the season five Finale, she has also unified her earrings with her partner's ring: a scenario that in earlier seasons seemed to imply great risk: yet she was able to use the powers flawlessly.

As Ladybug, she is also the lone hero who has unlocked any new advanced powers with her Miraculous (unless you also include the arbitrary "adulthood" that she and Chat Noir achieved that allows them multiple uses of their Miraculous before detransforming), and on the occasions when she's used anyone else's powers has shown no sign of being any less capable than they are with them.

Ladybug does everything as well if not better than everyone else.

Marinette can not only unify with any Miraculous she needs for a given mission, she can use the powers as effectively as their "dedicated holder" can and without any restrictions. Unlike the majority of the cast who are still under the child-power limit. She can even unify with multiple miraculous at the same time without any drawbacks.

And without those drawbacks, without anyone on the cast being able to use the power of their Miraculous more effectively than Marinette: everyone else on the team is more or less superfluous.

Sure, Marinette has tossed out the Miraculous to her team like candy now. But when you get down to it: the real lesson that she should have learnt from Strikeback to just put some damn security on her Yo-yo/The Box. Because this just means that she has to wait for the hero in question to show up when she could have just pulled off whatever plan she has in mind herself.

And that superfluous label includes Chat Noir.

As frustrating as it is to come to the this conclusion: as of right now, there's no real reason for Adrien Agreste to be anything but a temporary holder. Certainly you can point to his experience with Plagg's power, and a few examples that seem to imply he can do more with it (in his second outing he was able to reconstruct part of the Eiffel Tower into a makeshift extension to catch someone from). Things that imply that if he perhaps received any actual training in the show like Marinette did from Fu, any guidance whatsoever from the Order or their Grimoire he might be able to achieve more.

But there's no solid evidence to expect that Marinette wouldn't be as effective, and the narrative precedent does not lend itself to the idea that anyone could overshadow Ladybug as a holder even of their own Miraculous. If anything, the sheer ability Marinette showed as Bug Noire implies that her having a partner instead of just keeping the ring herself is a detriment to any given situation.

If you can justify exposing the ring to potential capture in the first place considering that there seems to be no requirement to do. By all rights the practical thing to do is just keeping Plagg in the box instead of risking reality.

Of course we wanted to be generous, Adrien could still be of some use. He's the resident meatshield and narrative jobber. So long as he has a Miraculous he could continue faithfully serving in those roles, eating up mind-control beams and taking hits for Bug Noire so she can save the day as usual.

But everyone else on the Miraculous team might as well turn in their furry super-suits and go home.

-

You couldn't get a more black white depiction of the value of others outside of the protagonist. in Avatar, Aang is literally a semi-divine being who still needs to be humble and learn while the others around him still have useful special talents and prowess that he can't simply attain at will.

While in Miraculous, there's only one person of actual true competence. From Paris to Shanghai, Marinette alone is the capable one- barring the odd episode in the limelight (Alya and Felix stand up and take a bow. Adrien can stay seated).

There is a word for a character that is impossibly more capable than any other in spite of all reason and logic. And Marinette is increasingly fitting that mold as the show goes on. There's also a term for characters that ultimately contribute nothing good or bad to a story; wasted space. You can't have an entire ensemble of characters as part of the cast and have them provide nothing if they're supposed to have even a smidge of narrative value without making them something the story would be better off without.

Just as you can't just have one person at the centre of everything, make them capable of everything and not eventually have the story they're in turn into (at best) a power fantasy.

And it's a shame. Because Miraculous seemed like it could have been a lot more.

Team Impossible: Wrong, But Also Right (Redux)

"Team Impossible" could have been a great episode to introduce mentor-like characters to Kim and Ron. Instead, Team Impossible is a bunch of jerks who want Kim out of the business for the shallowest reason possible - Kim doing missions for free is cutting into their profits.

There were other reasons they could have given for wanting Kim out of the business. For example:

They won't almost get embarrassed out of existence like Kim in "Blush".

The have plans for if one of them is too sick to go on a mission, unlike Kim in "Sick Day".

They'll actually put stuff they're guarding in safe places, unlike Kim in "October 31st" and "Adventures in Rufus-Sitting".

They won't misuse potentially dangerous gadgets (for personal gain), unlike Kim in "Queen Bebe".

They were able to take down Drakken and Dementor in the time it took Kim to show up. (Granted they were sabotaging Kim's rides, they're still quick and efficient.)

They're full grown adults who are mentally and emotionally developed enough to understand the dangers they're putting themselves in.

They have the experience and training to handle themselves instead of relying on the good will of others.

They don't have to balance saving the world with things like school, clubs, or dates.

Like, there are a lot of good, valid reasons for adults to not want a couple of teenagers to save the world, but instead we get profit.

Also, getting paid for their services isn't so bad. Their resort, training, equipment, and transportation all cost money just to maintain.

Unlike Kim, they don't have people giving them those things for free, so they have to charge somebody.

(And they checked a guy's credit before charging him, probably to make sure he could actually afford it.)

There are a lot of things more important than money, I won't argue with that.

But, since they're footing the bill for all the expenses themselves, it's not wrong to ask for financial compensation for this service. If they didn't, they'd eventually be unable to actually do the job.

(And the guy who charged didn't seem to upset about paying anyways. A little taken aback at first, but not upset. He even gave them a gift basket as well.)

However, I digress.

The point is, there are actual, valid reasons for them to want Kim out of the business, profit didn’t have to be the issue.

Lack of experience, lack of training, and careless mishandling of certain missions would have been enough and would have had the potential for introducing possible mentors.

They could've been people who helped Kim learn from her mistakes and grow from them.

But the creators have a habit of introducing someone to the show who also saves the world and then have Kim be either better, like with Will Du, or more moral, like with Team Impossible, so we never see them again.

Thus, Kim is the lone hero in the world.

And she shouldn't be.