One Of The Reasons I Refuse To Watch Rainbow World Is Because Its Introduction Completely Derailed A

Sometimes it doesn't feel like Kim Possible is an actual character in her own show. And, on the surface, that makes no sense.

She has multiple personality traits, both good and bad; confidence, a desire to help others, concern over what others think of her, gets frustrated when she doesn't instantly excel at something, competitive, judgmental, kind of controlling, etc.

These are traits that should lead to well-developed character who people can relate to.

But she feels more like an icon than a character, and I think I know why.

Ron also has multiple traits, but he feels more real, and that's because they spend more time exploring Ron's thoughts and feelings. They don't just give Ron character traits, they explain them.

That doesn't happen for Kim.

A lot of Kim's traits exist in a vacuum; there's no reasoning for them. It's never explored why Kim is, say, competitive or controlling, just that she is.

Kim is confident in her abilities. This might have come from her parents constantly believing in her, but it's not really explored.

Kim gets easily frustrated if she doesn't instantly excel at something. Though it's relatable, it'd be better if the reason for this was explored more.

Kim is competitive. To the point of sabotage. To the point of considering sneaking into a game for a team she was coaching because she couldn't stand the thought of losing. There's no explanation for this, as her parents would definitely encourage sportsmanship and fun over winning.

Kim is judgmental of interests she doesn't share. But "Monkey Fist Strikes" shows that she definitely didn't pick this up from her family. And it's definitely not one they'd have encouraged.

Kim is controlling to the point that she expects Ron to always be willing to drop whatever he's doing to join her on a mission. To the point that she doesn't let other people handle tasks for her, even when she clearly can't do them on her own. Again, there doesn't seem to be a reason for this trait. It's never explored why Kim is like this.

Kim refuses to acknowledge that Ron is important to her success. Again, it's never explored why Kim refuses to recognize Ron's contributions to her success.

These are traits that could lead to an interesting character who grows and develops as a person.

But, because the show never wants to explore Kim's reasons for being this way, she doesn't get to really grow as a person.

And that's why she doesn't feel like a character in the series. She doesn't grow or change, and her underlying thoughts and feelings and reasons for being the way she is aren't explored.

And it's kind of detrimental to character development.

If part of your house randomly burst into flames at times, solving the problem wouldn't just involve acknowledging the flames and putting them out. You'd also have to figure out why it bursts into flames, even if it's uncomfortable.

In order for Kim to truly grow and develop as a character, it's not enough to just acknowledge that Kim has flaws, it's also important to explore why she's like that.

But, since that doesn't happen, Kim doesn't feel as relatable as Ron.

And this leads to Kim seeming like less of a character in her own show.

Reblogging from myself to add an update: Upon recent rewatch, Kim offers to help Bonnie, Bonnie doesn't even ask, certainly doesn't force her to.

Then Kim leaves on a mission with Wade, forcing Ron to set up the Meet the Queen event to find Bonnie a new boyfriend, a job he didn't want at all, which leaves me with all kinds of conflicted feelings.

When the team decides to head to Italy, Bonnie is upset at feeling abandoned, so Ron offers to have her come to Venice with them.

So, Kim offers to help, and then immediately abandons the job, forcing Ron to pick up the slack. Not happy about that.

Also, I don't blame her for harshly rejecting Larry since he was picking his ear when he approached her.

Nor do I blame her for being so upset that Brick dumped her, since he had apparently promised that he'd be back for homecoming.

I do blame her for moving in on someone else's boyfriend. Regardless of my feelings on Ron/Bonnie as a pairing, moving in on Ron when he was already dating Kim was uncool.

What are your thoughts on Bonnie cheating to become the homecoming queen and the fact that she tried to steal Ron from Kim, going so far as to kissing him. Not to mention the audacity of her asking Kim to find her a new boyfriend not caring if she’s bothering her or not.

That was definitely a horrible thing to do. I don't justify that, nor do I condone it. This is one thing I do not excuse. I'm not overly fond of Kim, and I clearly prefer Bonnie, but I do agree that I'm on Kim's side on this one.

That being said, I don't actually recall Bonnie asking Kim to help her find a new boyfriend, I think Kim just did that on her own.

Actually, Ron was the one to set up the "Meet the Queen" event to find Bonnie a new boyfriend.

But, it has been a while since I saw that episode in full, so I could be misremembering things.

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.

Yeah, Kim feels unrelatable. Her life is too perfect, she's too naturally talented at everything, her parents are too permissive, etc. Kim's life is not relatable. At all. Sure, she's a great fantasy, but when you're older, you want relatability more than fantastically perfect.

At some point, it just stops being fun to watch someone who's life is unattainably perfect.

I actually left out the pre-school Halloween costume because, due to his age at the time, I wasn't sure if that would count as a disregard for gender norms.

Also, in the episode "Grudge Match" his rules were that Zita was out of his league and he shouldn't even try asking her out because of it. Less to do with gender norms and stereotypes, and more to do with his perception of himself.

(He's also more surprised that Vivian's boyfriend isn't as good looking as her and that he's a robot than he is that she's a scientist.)

Kim did call his rules ridiculous, but the early part of the episode makes it clear that, despite this, Kim actually does believe Ron doesn't stand a chance with Zita.

Ron: What kind of chance do I have a girl like that anyway? Kim: Honest opinion or best-friend fudge? Monique: Fudge it, girl! Kim: It doesn't hurt to ask.

And it's a bit offensive, because they knew nothing about Zita at the time, so the only reason to think Ron doesn't stand a chance is because she just has a low opinion of Ron in general.

(I'm not going to get into it here, I have several other posts about it.)

But thanks for your commentary, because I really do appreciate it.

I believe that Ron Stoppable is neurodivergent. Many of his traits line up with being neurodivergent.

Disregard for Gender Norms

In "Mind Games" Ron mentions liking the skirt on Kim's cheer uniform.

In "Attack of the Killer Bebes" he got a movie makeup kit as a birthday present.

In "Two to Tutor" he is revealed to love baking and is mentioned as being interested in interpretive dance.

He becomes a fan of the Oh Boyz in "Oh Boyz".

He becomes a fan of "Kim Style" in "Kimitation Nation".

He is implied to be interested in Britina dolls in "Queen Bebe".

These are all things typically regarded as feminine interests, but when Ron has his crisis about being a man in "Ron the Man", none of that stuff is what he's concerned about. He's not afraid any of that stuff makes him less of a man, and he feels no shame about them (most of the time).

Lack of Concern for Popularity

There are several times where Ron is shown to not care about popularity, though there are also several times where Ron is shown to care a great deal about how others perceive him.

Obsessive Tendencies

In "October 31st" Ron is shown to still be interested in going trick-or-treating, despite the fact that most people would have outgrown this hobby by this point.

In "Grande Size Me" Ron becomes obsessed with proving Barkin wrong about the food pyramid, and begins behaving in a defensive manner over it.

(Of course, Ron invented the Naco, which was the specific item Barkin was criticizing, so it's a bit understandable.)

In "Dimension Twist" Ron spends three days straight watching cable television.

Ron has a tendency to become obsessed with his interests, and defensive if someone doesn't like them.

Hobbies and Interests

In "Monkey Fist Strikes" Ron is revealed to be interested in video games, and this is mentioned again in "Steal Wheels".

In "Larry's Birthday" it's revealed that Ron has regular meetups with Larry and Larry's friends.

In "Queen Bebe" Ron is implied to have an interest in Britina dolls.

Ron is a fan of the Oh Boyz in "Oh Boyz", even when they're so unpopular no one goes to their concerts. In addition to this, he doesn't even realize they're no longer popular.

Ron may not having been looking for a naked mole rat specifically, but he does consider them to be cool pets.

In "Two to Tutor" there is a brief mention of Ron having an interest in interpretive dancing.

He's still interested in trick-or-treating in "October 31st".

Many of Ron's interests are things typically regarded as "uncool" or "childish", things his peers are usually not interested in.

Social Life and Anxiety

Ron is frequently shown to lack social skills - bad at picking up intonation, doesn't have many friends, has a hard time dating, and is generally believed to be unpopular.

There's also Ron's tendency to panic, and his occasional bouts of paranoia.

(Though his belief that Barkin is targeting him specifically was apparently correct.)

In fact, Ron's anxiety reached a breaking point when, in "Odds Man In", he experienced such bad anxiety, he locked himself in some kind of panic room.

(Also, where was this? When did he have it built?)

Ron is also concerned about being replaced as Kim's best friend or sidekick, as shown in "Pain King vs Cleopatra", or boyfriend, as shown in "Ill-Suited".

So Ron displays many traits associated with neurodivergent teenagers.

And these also happen to be the traits that the show used to write him as a "loser".

And that's one of the reasons I dislike so much of the show's humor being at Ron's expense - because it often relies on poking fun at Ron not behaving in a neurotypical way.

And as someone who is not neurotypical, seeing the character that's the most like me being the "buffoon" character, the "inept sidekick" character, the one who is incompetent and incapable, well...it kind of hurts.

Because it kind of feels like they're saying what I and many other neurodivergent people have heard our whole lives - that you can't do anything, and you look foolish for trying.

Look, I realize this wasn't intentional. But, even unintentionally, Ron is very heavily neurodivergent-coded, and that happens too often in media - humor that relies on someone having neurodivergent traits and making fun of them for it.

And we've all grown past that.

I don't believe she was a bully, I think she probably was bullied.

And then she found out her bully had a bad home life so she started being nice to her and her bully started being nice because of that.

And Ms. Bustier just hasn't realized that that's not going to work for every scenario.

Being nice to Chloe won't make her nicer because she rarely wants to be nice. She's faced no consequences for being mean so far, so there's no reason for her to want to be nice.

And making Marinette be nice to her only forces Marinette into situations where she's going to suffer.

Obviously, I so wanted Chloe to have a redemption arc, and I certainly give her one in my stories, but it does involve Chloe facing consequences for her actions.

And Ms. Bustier doesn't just not enforce consequences for Chloe, she also tries to make Chloe's victims be nice to her.

And this is stuff that definitely would have needed to change for Chloe to grow as a person.

So, really, Ms. Bustier isn't just failing Chloe's victims, she's failing Chloe as well.

And don't even get me started on Lila.

Continuing onto Bustier having trouble seeing Chloe as a bully, I how kinda headcanon that Bustier was a bully herself when she was Chloe’s age. Often bullies who grow up don’t know/realize they were in fact bullies (until someone points it out/calls them out) so maybe she’s blinded by her own inner guilt from her past? Idk just an idea

I don't think I'd agree with that for canon, but I'd def assign that headcanon to SL Bustier.

The only moment of the whole show where Kim looks distressful (almost about to cry) in the whole show is when she thinks Ron died in the Christmas episode.

when she tells Ron she loves her in Clean state and when she confesses to Ron she is scared too. Those are amazing emotional moments that strength Kim and Ron’s relationship, but again they are so few and far in-between.

Again, all of this was because Kim was never allowed to ponder about her feelings, or have flaws nor be vulnerable

And I think this is part of the reason why some people in the fandom (I’ve seen a few, even though I disagree with them I get where they are coming from) dislike Kim and tend to pair up Ron with almost any other character (Tara, Bonnie, Yori or sometimes even Shego ) instead of Kim.

Kim is almost a non-character in the fandom, even on Kigo stories (Once I tried giving Kigo a chance, but I disliked almost everything about it, finding about the age-gap didn’t help) Kim is a non-character only being there to act as a prop towards Shego.

In the majority of the stories (even in KimRon stories) Kim acts more like a self-insert or as a prop to either Ron or Shego. 4_5

Yeah, Kim actually having realistic, relatable emotions is so rare in the show, it makes it feel like she's not even a character in her own show.

This is probably why she often feels like a non-character in fanfiction - she was never given enough emotional depth in the show to use in fanfiction.

She definitely had flaws, but they were so rarely acknowledged, and even more rarely corrected.

The only person to regularly acknowledge Kim's flaws is Ron, but he's usually not taken seriously. So Kim never feels a need to try and improve herself.

I know I prefer to ship Ron with other people because Tara and Yori were nice to him when Kim wasn't, and Bonnie was unequivocally supportive when they were dating in "Ron Millionaire" and really nice and kind to him in "Homecoming Upset" when she was trying to date him. Tara and Yori treated Ron better than Kim did at times, and Bonnie definitely had the potential for that kind of relationship with Ron.

I don't ship Ron with Shego for the same reason I don't ship Kim with Shego - the age difference makes me uncomfortable. It's pedophilia, even if nothing happens until Ron or Kim is eighteen.

Thoughts on "Grudge Match"

Specifically the plot surrounding Vivian.

While this episode is supposed to be about how girls can be pretty and smart, there was definitely more than Vivian's looks working against Team Possible in regards to Vivian's identity.

First, she was first mentioned as Dr. Fenn's ex-lab partner, presumably pushed into quitting because she couldn't keep up. At this point, they don't have any reason to distrust Dr. Fenn.

Second, when they do run into Vivian, she gets defensive instead of trying to explain things.

Last, Vivian had deliberately published all her research under the name V. F. Porter, a gender-neutral sounding name.

Despite this, Kim still managed to figure it out, with a little help from Wade.

Don't get me wrong, I definitely understand why she didn't think people would believe her.

Kim: She is right here... Dr. Vivian Frances Porter, noted robotics authority. Vivian: How did you know? Kim: A little digging. But why the secrecy? Vivian: My colleagues wouldn't take someone who looks like me seriously.

Especially since she had a respected scientist like Dr. Fenn actively working against her. Still, I feel as though there was a lot more than looks working against Team Possible here.

Other Thoughts:

Ron: OK. Wait. Time out. Time out. So, you're telling me she looks like that, and is a genius! The rules aren't gonna like this.

This is actually unusual for Ron. Other than this episode, we never see him caring about gender stereotypes this much. (Or at all, really.)

And:

I love Vivian and all, but I really hope she wears something else while working. Labs have dress codes for a reason!

Last:

While I do like the episode, it doesn't really emphasize much that pretty girls (and girls in general) aren't taken seriously as scientists (or other kinds of nerds).

Most of the reason they don't know Vivian's the real scientist is because they were lied to and Vivian never tried to explain things to them.

(And she had published all her research under a gender-neutral version of her name.)

At no point was anyone actually acting like Vivian's looks were the reason she couldn't have been the actual scientist. It's definitely happened to her in the past, but Team Possible wasn't acting like that.

(Even Dr. Fenn wasn't upset that she was pretty, just that she was better than him.)

So, while I do think it's important to tell people that girls can be smart and pretty, this episode kind of missed the mark. But only barely.

A better way of addressing that issue would be to have Vivian try to explain to the scientists at the Space Center that she was the one who built the robot, and have them not believe her.

(Aside from Dr. Wong, who is willing to hear her out.)

Then, Kim could suggest a Robot Rumble to prove who the real robotics expert is. Vivian would win, of course, and the other scientists would be forced to apologize and offer Vivian a job.

(Dr. Wong would explain that she gets it; women are often overlooked and undervalued in STEM fields, especially the pretty ones.)

And we still have it somehow revealed that Oliver's a robot. Maybe he gets hit by a stray EMP coming out of Vivian's (other) robot.

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.

The most unbelievable thing about Disney's Descendants is that the princes and princesses, people who are known for being kind and compassionate, would be okay with literal children living on The Isle, despite knowing what things are like on The Isle, just because their parents are villains.

Like, I'll believe they decided to put their dangerous villains there to protect everyone.

(Not villains like LeFou and Smee though, because they're just not worth the trouble.)

But you expect me to believe that no one thought it wouldn't be fair to punish the kids for their parents' crimes? That people who are known for being kind thought this was fair?

Sorry, not buying it.

And it's not that they didn't know, because everyone knew the villains had kids, so they just, somehow, honestly thought this was a good idea.

But I don't believe it.

I understand that it has to be that way for plot reasons. My proposed change would be a very simple one:

They didn't know there were kids on The Isle.

They only found out shortly before Ben was going to be coronated, because Belle and Adam wanted to check on The Isle one more time before it became Ben's responsibility.

Thus, Ben immediately decides to invite some VKs to Auradon for a better life, but Belle and Adam are concerned that the VKs might be a lot like their parents. He agrees to only invite a few at first, but he's confident that they're not evil, just in terrible conditions.

That is an excellent point that I have a few thoughts about:

Regardless of whether or not they believe the villains love their kids, they certainly believe the villains were raising their kids to be villains, which doesn't sound like a good situation to leave kids in.

Also, there's no reason to think things on The Isle were good.

There's nowhere to grow food or material for clothes. Most of it is shipped in, and in one of the tie-in books, the VKs didn't know what bananas were as they only ever saw the peels.

And that's not even mentioning hygiene, medical needs, and education.

Ultimately, it's not like a reasonable person, especially not a reasonable ruler, would just assume things are good without bothering to check.

I might believe that Ben and the AKs didn't know what things were like on The Isle, but the only reason for the adults to not know is to just not care enough to check.

And since they already knew there were children on The Isle, that seems negligent at best.

The most unbelievable thing about Disney's Descendants is that the princes and princesses, people who are known for being kind and compassionate, would be okay with literal children living on The Isle, despite knowing what things are like on The Isle, just because their parents are villains.

Like, I'll believe they decided to put their dangerous villains there to protect everyone.

(Not villains like LeFou and Smee though, because they're just not worth the trouble.)

But you expect me to believe that no one thought it wouldn't be fair to punish the kids for their parents' crimes? That people who are known for being kind thought this was fair?

Sorry, not buying it.

And it's not that they didn't know, because everyone knew the villains had kids, so they just, somehow, honestly thought this was a good idea.

But I don't believe it.

I understand that it has to be that way for plot reasons. My proposed change would be a very simple one:

They didn't know there were kids on The Isle.

They only found out shortly before Ben was going to be coronated, because Belle and Adam wanted to check on The Isle one more time before it became Ben's responsibility.

Thus, Ben immediately decides to invite some VKs to Auradon for a better life, but Belle and Adam are concerned that the VKs might be a lot like their parents. He agrees to only invite a few at first, but he's confident that they're not evil, just in terrible conditions.