This Is Probably Small In The Grand Scheme Of Things, But How Did Emilie Being Noble Play Any Impact

In a series of completely unrelated coincidences, the same family moves into a haunted house, attracts the attention of a local poltergeist, purchases an evil ventriloquist dummy, activates a witch’s curse, and adopts the newborn antichrist, all in the same week.

I found the episode "Showdown at the Crooked D" kinda insulting towards Ron(excluding the final scene) it literally would be impossible for Kims cousin to know every detail about Kims missions, including the times Rufus was vital, but know nothing about Ron. I know it's supposed to be for "comedic purposes" but that gag was so overdone by then(late s3) as you said in some of your posts, Ron has stepped up so much since the first episode, she should've been treated with more respect. It also kinda made Kim look bad, not defending him or recounting atleast one of the missions where he came through.

First, "Showdown at The Crooked D" was late season 2, not late season 3.

Second, I agree with all of it.

There's no reason for Joss to know all about Kim, Rufus, and Wade, but know nothing about Ron.

(She even knows about the Centurion Project, which was a top-secret project she reasonably shouldn't have known about.)

Except, of course, that the narrative likes to make jokes at Ron's expense.

And when I say Kim doesn't appreciate or respect Ron on the team, it's not just because of how she treats him in their everyday life, it's also because of situations like this.

Kim won't acknowledge Ron's contributions to the team.

When someone praises Kim as a hero, she never even tries to give Ron credit for his part in their success.

(And when Joss praised Ron as a hero, it was because he faces his fears to be there for Kim, not because she recognized his skills. Not a bad reason to admire someone, but still...)

Kim acknowledged his importance once in "Sink or Swim", which Officer Hobble didn't believe at first. She never does it again.

(Also, she follows this up by telling Ron he's not going to be allowed to lead a mission anyways.)

Kim's the one getting praise, getting people to owe her favors, getting recognition, and Ron's not.

And, though Kim will probably say she's not doing it for the fame and recognition, it hardly seems fair to not allow Ron to have any.

(Also, it's easy to say you're not doing it for fame and recognition when you're the one getting it.)

The point is, even ignoring her mistreatment of him as a best friend, she fails to acknowledge or recognize his contributions to the team as a hero, and he deserves better.

Wow, thanks! I genuinely appreciate the reply.

As for Kim's flaws being potential, I actually do agree with you. Those flaws could have led to interesting character development. The problem is that they didn't.

Kim never really stops being controlling. She never stops being jealous. And she only really starts treating Ron as a partner better after they start dating.

I would have loved it if those flaws had led to Kim growing and developing as a character, but they didn't. From the beginning, Kim was supposed to be perfect, so they rarely acknowledged her flaws, and didn't have her grow and learn from them.

This was, in part, caused by the show having an episodic nature; each episode stood alone and you didn't need to watch previous ones to understand the plot. It was detrimental to character development.

And, while I doubt the creators were misogynists, I'm not surprised that two grown men had trouble writing teenaged girls, as that problem still persists to this day.

I agree, Kim's flaws were potential. Unfortunately, they didn't actually lead to anything, and I feel like it's perfectly valid to complain about that.

But you managed to articulate my main point about Ron better than I could have, and I do enjoy you taking the time to interact with my posts! It means a lot to me, even if we don't agree.

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

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

What are your thoughts regarding the fact that Brick dated Bonnie even though it’s been canonically stated that he was in high school for 7 years thus making him a legal adult? I mean he didn’t break up with Bonnie until he graduated. Did he not consider himself an adult dating a teenager since he was still in high school? Was it the main reason he dumped her since he realized it wasn’t okay to date her anymore?

My first thought: Disney should've thought about that a little better. It's a bit creepy in hindsight.

My second thought: if Middleton High needed seven years to teach Brick what they should've taught him in four, someone wasn't doing their job. My guess, Middleton High could not accommodate someone with a learning disability, and that Brick has one.

Final thoughts: Normally I'd call that creepy, but Bonnie was definitely the one in charge in that relationship, so I'm not actually worried about a power imbalance.

I also don't think Brick was doing anything inappropriate with Bonnie. The one date we see them on, he kisses Bonnie on the cheek.

(Granted, he could have been avoiding PDA because Kim was there, but Brick didn't seem overly concerned about that.)

I do think Brick knows he's older than his classmates, but I also think his relationship with Bonnie was more "she said we're dating so we're dating". I don't think he was actually that into Bonnie.

(His jealousy over Hirotaka was weird and out-of-character, not the norm for Brick or his relationship with Bonnie.)

As for why Brick dumped her, I imagine that was one reason. Another reason could have been their schedules no longer being compatible.

Their relationship could be creepy, but Bonnie was clearly in charge, and their relationship didn't actually have a lot of physical aspects.

Even though no one's asking, in a reboot, I'd get rid of it taking Brick seven years to finish high school. He'd be roughly the same age as the rest of the main cast, maybe a year or two older.

Okay, it's not that I hate Rainbow High. It's just that...who thought "future influencer" was a good career goal to give a teenage girl?!

Especially in a franchise geared towards children?

There are so many stories about what's wrong with influencers that I wouldn't make that a goal at all.

There are so many other things you can do with a Digital Media focus than influencer.

Or, if they didn't want to keep that, Violet has won at least one award for her photography.

Or, as we learn later, she used to paint.

Either of those would be acceptable.

Far better than influencer, the most unhealthy and toxic lifestyle you could pick for a Digital Media focus.

And they think one of their main characters should have that as a career goal.

Good grief.

In The Interest of Fairness...

I am making this post to mention times Kim has done something good, and Ron has done something bad.

First, times Kim's done something nice:

"Mind Games" - It was nice of Kim to beat up Ron's bullies for him while still in his body.

"Pain King vs Cleopatra" - It was nice of Kim to give the tickets to Ron.

"Go Team Go" - Even though she clearly hated it, it was still nice of Kim to cash in a favor so Ron could see the world's first Mucho Grande Bueno Nacho.

And lastly, times Ron's done something bad:

"Naked Genius" - While he hadn't asked Rufus to do his homework for him, he did take it too far by turning in homework he didn't do and letting Rufus keep cheating for him.

"Hidden Talent" - It was definitely not cool of Ron to sign Kim up for the talent show without her permission.

"Larry's Birthday" - Ron apparently blabs Kim's secrets to Larry's friends when they meet up for RPGs, namely how to access her battle suit, and that is definitely something he needs to work on.

So, there we have it; times Kim's been nice and Ron's been mean.

This is so people know that I realize that Ron's not a saint and Kim's not evil incarnate.

I mean, for all I criticize Kim, I can acknowledge when she does something good.

And for all I love Ron, I can acknowledge when he does something bad.

I'm not blind or clueless, and that is why I criticize the show.

I'm not the first to mention this, but one bit that I thought was really clever in Steven Universe is the ways in which the show subtly justifies the cartoonism of the principle cast always wearing the same outfit for ease-of-animation purposes. The gems are a gimme in that they're all hardlight-projections, and even before that's solidified as a plot point they're otherworldly and superheroic enough that you don't really think to question it. But Steven canonically just owns hundreds and hundreds of those star shirts, which are leftover merchandise from his father's fizzled-out career as a rock star. Into which you can read a whole bunch of other stuff if you really want to, right? And I do want to. It's reflective of Greg's misplaced optimism that he got hundreds of those made in the first place, and it's a benign but visible example of how Steven's life is shaped by the knock-on effects of decisions his parents made before he was even alive. He's got his mother's superpowers and he's wearing his father's shirts.

Thoughts on Dr. Bortel

People need to be watching this guy very closely. Because someone who builds mind-control devices in his free time isn't too far away from deciding to use them.

I mean, most scientists wouldn't even consider building something like that, not even once.

This guy did it twice.

(That we know of.)

And he's not even being paid to do it, or being forced to by a supervillain.

This guy chose to build those devices, for himself.

But I guess we're supposed to believe that he had no intention of using them.

I mean, surely someone would build such dangerous devices purely out of curiosity, right? /s

Honestly, while the guy may not be doing anything technically illegal, he is certainly doing stuff that's highly unethical.

And I don't believe there isn't any ulterior motive for making them.

I mean, would you?

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.

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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.

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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.