Thoughts On Dr. Bortel

Some additional thoughts:

I wish we were able to get tender moments between Kim and Ron in S4

In fact we already have a few of them, only for them to get cut short usually in comedic effect by another character or the show tries to undermine the moment by making a quick jab usually at the expense of Ron’s character.

I feel that paradoxically in S4 Ron had the most amount of character development and plenty of heartwarming moments, but the show still makes him the butt of the joke on those scenes, so despite having the most development his character is portrayed very dumb during some scenes.

Like in the scene in the episode Clothed minded where Ron tells Kim that her clothes is not what makes her Kim possible, she is the one who is amazing, Kim looking so happy and reassured about what he said and then the scene tries to make it “funny” by having Ron panic and go back on what he said, completely ruining and undermining the scene.

I’m not saying Ron isn’t allowed to be silly, is just that Ron being the comic relief and the butt of the joke no longer seems fitting for his character at that point, because he has developed well beyond that character archetype.

That doesn’t happen when Ron tells Kim “she is beautiful” and this is one of the most memorable KimRon scenes in the series.

I understand why this was done, they were afraid of putting too much romance, they didn’t want to scare the kids away, they had to make it funny and appealing to the little Kids somehow.

But I wish the show allowed for more personal, emotional and tender moments between the two. Sometimes I feel like S3 handled this aspect better than S4.

I’m sorry about all of the ask, I know you are not even a KimRon shipper, but you are one of the few people who has openly talked about the flaws of the show and about the way Kim was handled and this is one of the only ways I think I can safely address all of this issues and feeling I’ve had about the show for a long time.

Hope I didn’t overwhelmed you with all of the sudden influx of asks. Thanks for listening.

What do you think? Do you agree or disagree with any of my points?

Yeah, Ron outgrew the "goofy sidekick" archetype way before season 4. Maybe partway through season 2.

I have a post on how Ron deserved to be treated better by the narrative where I list the times Ron's done something truly amazing and it actually begins pretty early in the series. It's just so rarely acknowledged.

But, despite showing pretty early on what he's capable of, he was still the butt of many jokes, and the narrative never acknowledged that he grew out of that. It never really allowed him to grow out of it.

Simultaneously, the narrative never acknowledged that Kim might be flawed so she was never allowed to grow.

I understand how you feel; there are certain places on the internet where, if you try to criticize Kim Possible - the show or the character - you get a bunch of hate.

I don't know if it's because the nostalgia is too strong or what, but it can make someone afraid to criticize the show. But trust me, we're not the only ones who have issues with it.

I still have people disagreeing with me here, but at least I'm not getting hated on. People here are much more open to discussion about the flaws of the show.

(Or maybe I just got lucky this time. Who knows?)

I agree with all of your points, actually. I may not ship KimRon, but that's because their relationship was handled poorly, even before they started dating.

After they started dating, there should've been more tender and emotional moments between them. It sucks that we didn't see that very often. Or that, when it did happen, it was interrupted by something "funny" happening, usually at Ron's expense.

It felt like they weren't in a serious relationship because the relationship wasn't allowed to be serious.

I don't mind all the asks. I actually appreciate them. You're totally allowed to send me your thoughts about Kim Possible. I like having discussions with people about it. And I will do my best to reply to all of them.

Thoughts on Bonnie?

I have been waiting for this ask.

I'm probably going to get hated for it...

I don't think Bonnie's as bad as we're supposed to believe she is.

Sure, Bonnie's catty, mean, rude, petty, shallow, selfish, and more.

But that seems to be targeted 90% to Kim, 5% to Ron, and 5% to everyone else.

In other words, Bonnie doesn't seem overly mean to anyone but Kim.

Her fellow cheerleaders are seen hanging out with her instead of Kim quite often. And if someone as nice as Tara or pragmatic as Crystal prefers hanging out with Bonnie over Kim, there's probably a good reason for it.

And it might be the fact that, had it not been for Kim, Bonnie would've never stooped to sabotage in the first place. ("Return to Wannaweep")

Or it could be the fact that Bonnie can actually keep her commitment to the squad, and was willing to put in a lot more work to help the squad. ("Number One")

(I still don't think she willingly gave up the Captain position, especially not to Kim.)

Or that she would've been better able to be Chair of the Dance Committee, since she could fulfill her obligations and get Smash Mouth to perform, but Kim didn't care if Bonnie was better, Kim's own pride and ego, and rivalry with Bonnie, were more important than actually getting the job done. ("Queen Bebe")

Even Ron couldn't see a problem with Bonnie being the Chair of the committee.

(And I still have no idea what "throne" Kim was referring to.)

I wouldn't blame other people for deciding Kim is too competitive to hang out with regularly. She doesn't seem to put a lot of value in enjoying things, just doing them, and doing them the right way (her way).

And from what we've seen of Bonnie's romantic relationships, she dates guys who are genuinely nice and doesn't seem to be very mean to them either. She says Brick is "cute" when he can't think, instead of just calling him stupid or dumb. And the date we've seen her on was to a horror movie, so either Bonnie likes horror movies, she let Brick pick the movie, or some combination of both.

(I don't blame her for dumping soda in Kim's lap, Kim was talking throughout the movie, and being rude and condescending about it to boot.)

And from what I remember of high school, no one who's as mean as Bonnie supposedly is would actually have that many friends. They wouldn't even really have a lot of followers.

And Bonnie didn't just win the vote for Captain unanimously, she won it with everyone other than Kim being enthusiastic about her being Captain.

I think Bonnie's biggest issue with Kim is that Kim quite literally has things handed to her, doesn't have to work for much, and people are too enamored by the hero to notice the person. And Kim treats her best friend horribly which, shockingly, is not something we actually see Bonnie doing.

I think Bonnie's biggest issue with Ron is that Ron is so slavish towards Kim, and Bonnie sees it as pathetic and loser behavior. When Ron distances himself from Kim, she not only has no problems hanging out with him, but dates him, or tries to, and is unequivocally supportive of him. Which is...interesting, as it implies her issue isn't with Ron himself, but with how Ron acts around Kim.

But more to the point: the "mean girl" of the show treats people better than our hero does, and that says a lot about both of them.

Ngl, I kind of love this idea.

Back before the Zodiac Kwamis were introduced, I had loved imagining other ways for the classmates to get powers to help.

And Max as an Iron Man-like character because he accidentally made a Kwami is perfect.

The Science Hero

So, I've talked about this and suggested it a couple of times on Tumblr. But I don't think I ever actually made an official prompt about this.

What if Max secretly researched the Miraculous and even managed to collect some of the magic of the Miraculous? What if he used that to build Markov?

This is basically an expansion on Max's character where we can see him use his genius to study the Miraculous and help the heroes by making devices related to his research on the Miraculous.

He might even use his research to make Markov based on the magic and accidentally create an artificial Kwami. Maybe letting him turn into an Iron Man-like superhero.

Reblogging to add an idea for season 4.

In "Homecoming Upset" Ron, after being stuck with the job of finding Bonnie a boyfriend, a job he did not want, realizes his relationship with Kim is still very unequal. When he attempts to talk to Kim about it, it results in an argument and them breaking up.

Whether Ron dates Bonnie or not after this is up to interpretation.

Possible AUs

While I love the idea of Ron deciding to end things with Kim after "Crush", there are definitely other times when Ron could've ended his friendship with Kim, and if you're interested in that trope in fanfiction, I think you might find this list helpful.

After being forced into a haircut in "The New Ron", Ron decides Kim's controlling behavior is too much for him. He ends his friendship with Kim and calls her out for her behavior.

After using mind control on her brothers at the end of "The Twin Factor", Kim is grounded for a long time, leaving Ron to handle missions alone. This would cause Ron to realize his own skills, and put a strain on his relationship with Kim as she can't stand to watch him succeed on missions without her. Kim also finds herself with fewer babysitting jobs once word of her using mind control on her brothers gets around.

Kim finds herself getting fewer missions after word of her negligence and reckless endangerment in "October 31st" gets out. She also finds herself banned from Monique's house since she destroyed the garage door.

Upset over GJ thinking Ron is the secret to her success in "The Ron Factor", Kim tries the solo hero thing, and fails. Unfortunately, her parting had left Ron hurt and upset, and he's not interested in coming back to Kim.

After "Adventures in Rufus-Sitting", Rufus manages to communicate to Ron what happened while he was away, and Ron gets angry that Kim not only neglected and endangered Rufus, but lied to him about it. Ron ends things with Kim as he doesn't know how he can keep being friends with someone who cares so little about Rufus.

Ron comes back from his trip in "Exchange" with new skills, new confidence, and an unwillingness to put up with Kim's controlling behavior. So he takes a break from Kim when she gets to be too much for him.

After constantly being ignored about Gil in "Return to Wannaweep", Ron decides to end things with Kim and look for someone more supportive. Kim finds herself booted from the squad after they learn about how she intentionally sabotaged her own teammate to succeed.

Team Impossible from "Team Impossible" uses legal actions to keep Kim out of the save the world business, at least until she's 18, due to the reasons mentioned in my post about them. They offer to train Kim and Ron in how to be better heroes, but Ron is the only one who accepts.

Feeling abandoned in "So The Drama", Ron decides to confront Drakken alone. He succeeds, and it starts a new chain of events where Ron realizes how little Kim cares for him and decides he deserves better.

There might be episodes in Season 4 that could have Ron end things with Kim, but I feel like at that point it would take a lot, and Kim didn't do anything truly heinous to Ron so he wouldn't.

If anyone can think of any other episode where they think it would make sense for Ron to end things with Kim, please feel free to comment!

Is surprising how much of the humor was based at Ron’s expense, specially when some of his behaviors like having hyperfixation over things he liked (Bueno nacho, wrestling) or scenes where he had to deals with issues such as dealing with fear, phobias and/or anxiety were oftentimes downplayed of painted in a way to make him look “funny”, “silly” or “dumb”.

Ron more often than not read as being neurodivergent and gender non conforming.

Why make fun of him using the things that could potentially make him relatable towards the audience?

I also agree with you about Kim feeling too perfect at times.

An argument I’ve heard people make was that Ron stole Kim’s spotlight at the end of the show. In that it was supposed to be “The Kim possible show, not Ron stoppable” Do you think this argument has any merit?

Sometimes I wish Ron as a character was convinced as a girl instead of a boy, to show girls could be silly, weird and awkward and still manage be useful in their own ways. (Similar to Luz from the owl house or Lilo from Lilo and Stitch).

This is part of the reason why despite being a girl, I always liked him and related to him more than with Kim. You feel the same way, don’t you?

Yeah, a lot of the things that Ron was made fun of for are things that made him relatable to the audience, so it seems like a terrible idea to make fun of those traits.

And making fun of him for things like being gender nonconforming, being neurodivergent, or having PTSD-induced phobias, is not something that seems funny 20 years later.

(Whether or not Ron was intended to be any of those things, he was coded that way, so it's hurtful to people who relate to him to see him being made fun of for that.)

And Ron was a main character, but he was mostly there to be made fun of.

What's the point of a main character who's sole purpose is to be made fun of?

Kim did feel overly perfect; her parents are too permissive with non-menial jobs, she's relatively popular, and she's rarely shown to not be instantly good at things.

She's known to practice cheerleading, but "A Sitch in Time" shows her doing an impossible routine on her first tryout.

She's never shown receiving any kind of Kung Fu training, but is apparently very skilled anyways.

All in all, Kim's life is perfect, and it makes it hard for people to relate to her.

I do think the focus shifted away from Kim a bit in season 4, especially once Hana was introduced. It definitely felt like there were more Ron-centric episodes in that season than in any of the previous three.

(They hadn't actually planned on continuing the show after "So The Drama", so I guess they didn't have as many plots for Kim as they did for Ron.)

Honestly, Kim having a female friend who's silly, weird, and awkward would have been awesome. Not every female character needs to be serious and focused all the time.

I'm not sure if I'd want it to be a female version of Ron, but I would think it'd be great to introduce a character like that.

Especially if it causes Kim to reflect on her relationship with Ron and how she's treated him at times.

Yes, I do relate to Ron more than I relate to Kim. I am female, but I am also neurodivergent and gender nonconforming, and Ron is a character I relate a lot to.

And I'm not the only one.

So a show indirectly making fun of me isn't something I'm okay with.

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.

Thoughts on the Ron/Monkey Fist rivalry?

They were great foils to each other; Monkey Fist craves power and is obsessed with monkeys, while Ron doesn't desire power and is afraid of monkeys.

But Ron is the one meant to become the Mystical Monkey Master.

Honestly, it was probably Ron's humbleness and the fact that he doesn't want power that made him worthy of it in the first place.

You know, only pure of heart can become the Monkey Master, or something like that.

One thing that irks me though is, even though Monkey Fist knows Ron is meant to be the Monkey Master, and thus usurp the power from him, he still refers to Kim as his arch-foe.

Which makes no sense.

He should be declaring Ron as his sworn enemy because Ron is the one meant to take the Monkey Power from him and Kim is just a teenage girl who saves the world.

But, then again, the show is all about Kim.

Kim's the one who saves the world and Ron is her bumbling sidekick, so of course Kim is his arch-foe, even though Ron is the established, pre-destined threat to his plans.

It's probably his ego that keeps him from acknowledging Ron as his arch foe, but I'd still think it'd be cool if one of the villains, other than Gil, actually viewed Ron as a serious threat.

And Monkey Fist is the perfect mandrill for the job.

Not the same anon but Kim has the right to get annoyed at the coupon thing, that scene gave me second hand embarrassment and i think is incredible ooc when Ron in previous seasons had already done things like get a job and being good at it and done things like buy Kim jackets plus there were the Naco royalties.

I feel like at that point, money shouldn’t be an issue specially for Ron, this is a case where the narrative ignored previous episodes to make a situation feasible. i didn’t like it either because Ron was made to look pretty bad as well.

His comedic relief status allows this scene to happen and is juts harmless comedy at the end of the day , but I wasn’t fan of how his character was portrayed in season 4 Ron usually got flanderized just for some cheap humor.

So, honestly, I'd be embarrassed, too.

Though, I can't remember the last time a high schooler, even a senior one, put so much stock into going to nice restaurants and not having to use the coupon and/or kid's menu to pay for it.

A real high schooler probably wouldn't care too much about how much the dates cost, but they would be embarrassed by the "doofy" and "stupido" thing, so I'll give you that.

Let me try making my complaint clear; Kim could fix the problems with their dating sitch herself, she just won't.

If Kim is embarrassed, she could offer to pay. She got a job way easier than Ron did.

Not to mention that, according to the narrative, Ron lost all his Naco money, and isn't shown ever getting more, so it's not like she thought he was rich again.

But Kim doesn't offer to pay, and also complains about how their date nights have gotten stale.

Again, I can't remember real high schoolers putting so much stock into doing something new and exciting for dates.

When Ron takes her to a nice dinner at the Actuary of Year Awards, where Ron's dad is receiving an award, she mopes the whole time.

She doesn't even pretend to be happy for Mr. Stoppable, she just mopes.

Can you imagine being happy if your significant other, one you've known most of your life, moped and pouted at a ceremony where your dad was receiving an award?

I don't think either of them is too OOC in "The Big Job" - Ron doesn't really like doing a lot of work for things he's not interested in, and Kim has a bad habit of caring too much about the price tag.

And that's honestly the worst part; they are acting in character.

But that doesn't make it right. Or fair.

Why does Ron get criticized for a having to use coupons to fund their dates to places most high schoolers couldn't afford to go to anyways?

Why is it bad that Ron doesn't pay for their dates without coupons, but not bad that Kim doesn't pay for their dates at all?

Sure, the whole "you're twelve" thing was embarrassing, but Kim's complaint wasn't about that one incident, it's about him using coupons at all.

If Kim thinks their date nights have hit a rut, she should probably offer ideas for dates, instead of just complaining about it and moping when Ron actually does take her to a new, fancy event for a date.

Okay, I get that the Actuary of the Year Awards probably wasn't very exciting, but it was Ron's dad receiving an award, she could have at least been happy for him.

But she pouts instead.

Basically, it feels like Ron is putting all the effort into pleasing Kim, and Kim keeps complaining about it. She offers no actual solutions, or gratitude for how hard Ron's trying, but complains about it all the same.

And she's not putting in that same amount of effort to please Ron.

Why don't they ever do something Ron would like for a date? Like go see "The Finger Guy" or a wrestling event?

I mean, they probably go to Bueno Nacho all the time, but it's not as though Kim doesn't like the place - she's willingly gone there without Ron before.

So, why is Kim the only one who gets special dates?

They're supposed to be partners, but their dates only reflect Kim's desires and interests; none of Ron's desires or interests are shown for their dates.

Ron seems to be the only one putting in effort to please their partner.

And that's not how healthy relationships work.

Possible AUs

While I love the idea of Ron deciding to end things with Kim after "Crush", there are definitely other times when Ron could've ended his friendship with Kim, and if you're interested in that trope in fanfiction, I think you might find this list helpful.

After being forced into a haircut in "The New Ron", Ron decides Kim's controlling behavior is too much for him. He ends his friendship with Kim and calls her out for her behavior.

After using mind control on her brothers at the end of "The Twin Factor", Kim is grounded for a long time, leaving Ron to handle missions alone. This would cause Ron to realize his own skills, and put a strain on his relationship with Kim as she can't stand to watch him succeed on missions without her. Kim also finds herself with fewer babysitting jobs once word of her using mind control on her brothers gets around.

Kim finds herself getting fewer missions after word of her negligence and reckless endangerment in "October 31st" gets out. She also finds herself banned from Monique's house since she destroyed the garage door.

Upset over GJ thinking Ron is the secret to her success in "The Ron Factor", Kim tries the solo hero thing, and fails. Unfortunately, her parting had left Ron hurt and upset, and he's not interested in coming back to Kim.

After "Adventures in Rufus-Sitting", Rufus manages to communicate to Ron what happened while he was away, and Ron gets angry that Kim not only neglected and endangered Rufus, but lied to him about it. Ron ends things with Kim as he doesn't know how he can keep being friends with someone who cares so little about Rufus.

Ron comes back from his trip in "Exchange" with new skills, new confidence, and an unwillingness to put up with Kim's controlling behavior. So he takes a break from Kim when she gets to be too much for him.

After constantly being ignored about Gil in "Return to Wannaweep", Ron decides to end things with Kim and look for someone more supportive. Kim finds herself booted from the squad after they learn about how she intentionally sabotaged her own teammate to succeed.

Team Impossible from "Team Impossible" uses legal actions to keep Kim out of the save the world business, at least until she's 18, due to the reasons mentioned in my post about them. They offer to train Kim and Ron in how to be better heroes, but Ron is the only one who accepts.

Feeling abandoned in "So The Drama", Ron decides to confront Drakken alone. He succeeds, and it starts a new chain of events where Ron realizes how little Kim cares for him and decides he deserves better.

There might be episodes in Season 4 that could have Ron end things with Kim, but I feel like at that point it would take a lot, and Kim didn't do anything truly heinous to Ron so he wouldn't.

If anyone can think of any other episode where they think it would make sense for Ron to end things with Kim, please feel free to comment!

Constantly Torn Between...

Not wanting to reveal spoilers for my AU series and wanting people to ask about it so I can answer questions.

Wanting to make my AU a comic and knowing I don't have the time, skill, or energy to make it look like I want.

Wanting to read fanfiction for inspiration and feeling bad for not coming up with completely original ideas.

Wanting people to enjoy my content and not wanting to care about the approval of others.