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Megamind 2 Concept

So, it's a few years after the end of the first movie. Megamind is starting to feel the same burnout Metroman felt.

Roxanne and Minion are trying to be supportive, but they don't really know how to help.

He's also moving into a more "heroic" lair, and is trying out more heroic suits. (White and blue instead of black and blue.)

Anyways, the container that held the powers given to Titan is being transported, admittedly not very carefully, when it breaks, releasing the powers into the city and granting other people powers.

Now, the powers had been harvested from Metroman's DNA. The thing about DNA is that it degrades over time. So, a few years prior it would have given people exact copies of Metroman's powers, it doesn't do that this time.

There are gaps in the DNA that's granting powers, and the recipient's DNA fills in the gaps, altering the powers they're granted.

This also means it'll be harder to remove them.

There will be a scene where Megamind and Minion need help, and Metroman shows up to save them.

Obviously, people are at first elated that Metroman is alive, but then react angrily at realizing he just left them.

Roxanne will give a great speech about how the public never cared about Megamind or Metroman, and they should be ashamed of themselves for it.

There will also be a few characters who want to be heroes, but are granted powers that are seemingly useless. Eventually, they realize their powers are more than that, they are more than that, and figure out all that their powers are capable of.

Metroman tells Megamind that he doesn't need a "heroic" lair or costume, that he's a better hero as himself than when he's trying to be like Metroman.

They defeat a big bad who'd been rallying up superpowered criminals for a big fight.

The final scene shows that the new lair has design elements from Megamind and Metroman. It would also show that they have more people with powers to track down and potentially fight.

The new team is called Megamind and the Metro Men.

And it could lead into a TV series if necessary.

Would a sequel series that acknowledges Kim’s flaws and works to fix them help you see her in a better light?

Ideally? Yes.

Honestly? I'm not 100% sure, but it would be appreciated.

The most important thing is that it's handled without people acting too out of character.

For example, if Ron tells Kim how much something hurts him and she immediately apologizes and corrects it, though it'd be nice, it's not very in-character.

They'd need to have more back and forth before Kim acknowledges that she's hurting him/that it's bad.

Not saying they have to break up, but it wouldn't be very in-character for Kim to immediately recognize her faults.

Kim's very stubborn. Not being mean, she just is.

It's a requirement for saving the world, but when it negatively impacts her personal life, it's a problem.

I’m always wondering if it was better or worse for BBT and Young Sheldon creators to say that Sheldon is NOT on the spectrum. But then I see how they treat neurodivergence on shows like Miraculous, and go probably better they keep away from stuff they don’t understand.

I suspect what happened with Sheldon’s character is that they probably modeled him after people they either didn’t know or didn’t care were on the spectrum and by the time everyone was like “hey this guy is obviously autistic” they’d made fun of him too many times to suddenly claim being pioneers of sitcom neurodivergent representation without also having to accept responsibility for their past attitudes towards him

I do, however, think the red itchy sweater episode was fantastic in delivering a message regarding some forms of neurosis

As for ML, it is, at its core, a tell don’t show series. These characters are in love, are close friends, are good at X and Y, are passionate about this and that, hate Z, so on and so forth. We rarely learn about characters and happenstances through actions, to the point where very clear irrefutable events are verbally retconned by random characters and we’re supposed to accept what they say as canon over what we saw. It doesn’t matter if characters are noticeably queer, neurodivergent, good/bad at something, biased about certain people/subjects, struggling with XYZ, etc. If someone doesn’t outright state it, it isn’t canon. This is where the crew loves to claim brownie points for representation but doesn’t actually do anything that might upset the Suits and their bigotry. They have an ethnically diverse character lineup but they’re all perfectly assimilated to white french culture and rarely acknowledge their own supposed heritage. They criticize police abuse but have the victims apologize to their assailants. They have queer characters but their relationships are mostly implied off-screen so they have plausible deniability. They have kids whose parents are clearly mistreating them to the point of leaving lifelong scars and affecting their ability to become functional members of society but it’s obviously not abuse.

I swear there’s some kind of disconnect between the dialogue and the action lines on the script, like no one member of the crew knows what the other is doing and everything is just taped together at the end with no revisions

First thought:

This one of the hardest parts of writing an AU.

For Chloe to face consequences, Andre would have to be less willing to break rules and laws for her.

But that leads to the problem of how did her reign of terror even last so long in the first place?

If the teachers don't need to worry about losing their jobs for disciplining Chloe, then how could she have gotten away with so much?

I have ideas, but putting it all together in a way that works is difficult.

Second thought:

This is a super annoying thing about canon: Andre and Gabriel are redeemable, but Chloe and Lila aren't.

Two grown adults are redeemable, but teenage girls aren't.

Neither Andre or Gabriel is shown doing anything worthy of redemption, but, sure, they get a pass.

Chloe is a literal child who is shown, on occasion, to feel bad for hurting others, but she's somehow irredeemable.

Lila's debut episode just had her lying about knowing celebrities which, though bad, doesn't make her the villain they turned her into.

(I have changes for her in my AU too.)

The men writing this show think grown adult men who hurt children are redeemable, but not literal children.

Gee, I wonder why that is? /s

What are your thoughts on what happened to Chloe at the end of Season 5? Do you plan on watching Season 6?

Like as IF that's the last we'll see of her.

I was gonna wait to give my review of Season 5 - I wanted a release date for Season 6 and then drop them like a count down leading up to the new season - which is why I haven't delved in much and talked about my opinions.

But Chloe's ending was bullshit, and we all know it. Not because she leaves Paris, not because she loses the few friends and connections she has, and not even because she's a massive brat who finally gets some form of comeuppance.

But because of the form that comeuppance comes in.

Why on God's Green Earth is ANDRE the one? ANDRE is the one to drag her ass out of Paris and condemn her publicly and gets to act like the big hero, doing the right thing and putting Chloe in her place? ANDRE. The one who GAVE her her place and covered it in gold leaf and never once until this whack-job of a season considered that a bad thing?!

Appropriate, appropriate face Caline.

The absolute absurdity of them to write THIS MAN in any sort of correct light, the one who from Day 1, Season 1 has been a solid and complete background for why Chloe is...Chloe. Who spoiled and abused his power to make sure she never felt an ounce of consequences or remorse or backlash. How dare they try and pull this move on us when they could remove Audrey from the story entirely and no one would second guess Chloe's entire personality or upbringing?

These writers have somehow convinced themselves that Andre is not only without any guilt in the outcome of this situation, but that he's redeemable! Redeemable through the act of shipping off his daughter, whom he's been nothing but devoted to, and sending her off to a boarding school with her (AS HE ADMITS) just as awful mother as her chaperone, while he abducts casually replaces her with his new better daughter, Zoé.

I'm sure that won't have an adverse effect on your child who is used to absolute and unconditional love for her whole life, you are definitely a good person who's finally figured out how to do the right thing.

/s

These writers have somehow convinced themselves that Chloe is absolutely hopeless and evil and has reached the point of no return, but ANDRE. Andre's fine.

And Gabriel too, apparently. Hm, seems to be a theme with these worthless male parents and getting off scott free....

Thoughts on "Emotion Sickness"

This is one of the most frequently-cited episodes for evidence that Kim's always been in love with Ron, even if she just didn't realize it. And, honestly, if that's how you choose to interpret it, fine.

But looking at it through adult eyes, and comparing it to the rest of the series, it doesn't quite fit.

But, before we begin, a thought:

It would have been better if they gave the little black dress scene to the fully grown woman instead of the teenage girl.

(Or not include it at all.)

Seriously. Gross.

Now, on to my analysis.

First, the outfit:

This is not the style of outfit Kim picks for dates. The dress is too short and too tight and there are too many accessories.

This is Kim's style for date outfits. Knee-length dress that doesn't hug her curves and minimal accessories.

Even her Junior Prom dress isn't quite like the one from "Emotion Sickness".

The dress Kim wore in "Emotion Sickness" isn't like one Kim would wear on a date.

At all.

Secondly, Kim's behavior:

Now, we've seen Kim on a few dates. She's usually nervous and afraid of messing up.

I'm not saying these are good traits to have, but they do coincide with another thing:

She's not usually the one initiating physical affection.

But under the effects of the Moodulator, she kisses Ron without even making sure it's something he'd want.

Conclusion:

Kim might have had some underlying feeling enhanced, but it doesn't appear to be romantic attraction, just physical attraction.

(Which, again, gross.)

Kim was attracted to Ron, but not in love with him.

Alright, addressing several points:

First, the examples @kim-and-ron gave of Ron keeping things to himself are all things that happened after the first episode. They're fairly recent problems, so I don't blame Ron for trying to solve those by himself.

And he didn't keep his self image issues a secret in "Ron the Man", nor did he keep his fears about their future a secret either in "Graduation". So those don't count as examples to your point.

Now, to my point: those were recent problems, but in the past Ron has told Kim about every other problem he's had; Wannaweep, gnomes, robotic horses, etc. Before the first episode, he had never kept his issues a secret from Kim.

@gothicthundra I do agree that it's totally reasonable to still be learning things about each other, and I will concede my point about Shaun as his reign of terror probably began fairly recently.

But if you can agree that the frequency of game nights meant Ron should have known about them, then surely you can agree that the bullying, which was more frequent, is something Kim should have known about?

And, these aren't just people who are mean to Ron, these are people who were attacking him, threatening him, and stealing his money. Since kindergarten.

Are we supposed to believe that at five years old, Ron decided to handle people beating him up and stealing his money on his own?

Are we really going to believe that, in the entire time it's going on, he never had an injury from them, or Kim never wondered were Ron's money has gone?

Or are we supposed to believe that Ron lied about those things, when he's canonically a terrible liar and had no reason to lie in the first place?

He's been getting robbed and attacked since kindergarten, and we're really supposed to believe it never came up before?

As for how I'd fix that scene in "Monkey Fist Strikes", here:

Ron: "I know you and Larry don't have a lot in common, but is game night with him and your Aunt June really so bad?"

Kim: "It's not the game, it's that I'm forced to listen to him talk about his conventions or his "LARPs", and that I've been forced once a month since I was three years old. Last month I learned more than I ever wanted to about that Fortress game."

And there, we have an exposition that explains things to the audience without Ron being ignorant of something that should've come up by now.

And, even though no one's asking, I have a proposal for fixing the issue of Kim not knowing Ron was getting bullied in "Mind Games".

Firstly, we'd have to have the bullying start recently, like Middle School.

Secondly:

Kim: "When you told me you were getting bullied, I thought you were just getting made fun of. I didn't realize it was this bad, and my advice definitely wouldn't have helped. I'm sorry I didn't help earlier."

Ron: "Yeah, I didn't know how to say it, and I figured just avoiding them would work fine. But, thanks."

Kim: "That's what friends are for. You can always come to me if you need help. And I'll try to listen better in the future."

Ron: "Thanks, KP. And hey, it's the same for me, you know?"

Kim: "I know, you'll always be there for me."

Rufus: *chirps*

Ron: "And Rufus!"

Kim: "And Rufus."

And, one final point:

I can kind of see the point about Ron keeping some of his problems to himself, but it seems strange that he never told Kim about his interest in baking. That's not a problem that needs solving, it's a new interest that he was eager to try and share, so why wouldn't he share it with Kim?

Honestly, I am grateful to everyone who's commented on this. I do enjoy hearing everyone's points, even if I don't agree with them.

Kim and Ron's dynamic seems...off. They don't seem like they've been best friends for ten years, it'd make more sense if they had only recently become friends, like in middle school.

And I'm not just saying that because Kim can be mean and judgmental at times, especially towards Ron. I'm saying that because, despite being best friends for 10+ years and living next door to each other, they don't seem to know things about each other that actual long-term best friends would.

"Monkey Fist Strikes" - Ron is aware that Kim dislikes her cousin Larry, but never knew about the monthly family game nights that have been going on since she was three.

"Mind Games" - Kim had no idea that Ron's been getting bullied since kindergarten. This especially makes no sense as this is something Ron would've asked Kim for help with. It definitely should have come up at some point.

"Two to Tutor" - Kim is genuinely surprised that Ron is good at baking, even though he's been doing it since he was eight.

"Hidden Talent" - Ron is unaware that Kim can sing, or that she has trouble hitting the high notes. Bonnie was able to obtain a video of this event, but somehow Ron was still unaware of it before now.

"Showdown at The Crooked D" - Ron is unaware that Kim has an uncle and a cousin, even though Kim actually seemed excited to see Joss.

"Bad Boy" - Kim is completely unaware of the existence of Ron's evil cousin Shaun, despite this being another thing that would make sense for Ron to ask Kim's help with.

I understand that they need a way to explain stuff to the audience, but can you imagine being someone's best friend for ten years, living next door to them, and not knowing about their family and interests?

Would they really be your best friend if you two knew so little about each other?

#no but legit allll of this because it makes it really hard to side with Alya in 'Revealator' despite her being in the right#because Alya is the LAST person who has the right to spout off any tirade about The Truth and giving people The Right to Choose#She wants to berate Ladybug for her choice in Season 5 when SHE. WASN'T. THERE.#and she wasn't there because she didn't have the Fox Miraculous#and she didn't have the Fox Miraculous because she gave it up despite having it 'permanently' due because she told Nino who outed her#what it comes down too is that both Nino AND Alya can't really be trusted to keep secrets#not between each other for sure (see Alya telling Nino about MARINETTE'S crush despite being EXPLICTLY told not to)#and NINO can't keep a secret PERIOD#so like Boo hoo Alya doesn't like to lie but she does NOT protect people's autonomy to 'choose' what to do with the truth

Just gotta say, in addition to everything in the post, those tags bring up an excellent point.

Alya thinks Marinette should tell Adrien that his dad was Hawkmoth because he has a right to know.

And, I would agree, to a point.

But, there is still a villain out there with the power to turn people into villains, and Adrien is still in a fragile state after having lost both of his parents. The revelation that Gabriel was Hawkmoth would destroy him.

And, if it got out to anyone else, the media could latch onto that. He's having a hard enough time avoiding the paparazzi, they'd certainly never leave him alone about a story like that.

Marinette wants to tell Adrien at some point. She just wants to make sure it's done in the right way to hurt him less.

I fear that the show is going to frame Marinette as wrong for keeping that secret, but we'll wait and see.

And, yeah, Alya doesn't respect people's privacy. Alya shouldn't be telling Nino about Marinette's crush on Adrien, even if he is her boyfriend.

At least with Nino he seems kinda clueless, like he doesn't actually know what's wrong. Alya is being deliberately told not to tell anyone and doing it anyways.

What are your thoughts on Alyno's relationship, and do you think the good aspects about them outweight the toxic ones? I mean they're definitely at least less toxic than current canon Lovesquare, but that bar is pretty much subterranean. 😬

(Also sorry if you've already been asked this, I found your blog relatively recently and I love reading through your thoughts and critiques! It's always interesting reading through your takes <3)

I'm so glad that you like the blog and, no, I don't think I've been asked this so let's talk about it!

DJWifi or Alyno is a fine couple most of the time. There are really only two major flaws in how they're written and one minor flaw that gets elevated to a major flaw because of the other flaws. I think it's pretty easy to take them and make them into a great couple, but canon has squandered that potential making them into a couple that is just kind of there because everyone needs to be paired off to earn a happy ending, I guess. (This show is incredibly amatonormative.)

Let's go through all of those items one by one.

Flaw One: How They Got Together

Alya and Nino get together in Animan, the episode that starts with Nino having a crush on Marinette. Of course, when Nino is prompted to tell Marinette about this crush, he chokes and says it's on Alya instead:

Marinette: Uhh... Can't wait to hear... about this lucky girl! Nino: Oh, yeah... Adrien:(from the earpiece) Tell her it's you! Nino: It's youuu...uur best friend Alya! Adrien, Alya and Marinette: What?! Marinette: Alya? Awesome! Alya: No! No! It's not awesome! Marinette: I can fix up a date for you guys! Alya: Say what?! Seriously?! (calls Nino from the earpiece) You didn't even ask me first! (calls Marinette back from the earpiece) Uh-uh! Nino's like... a brother to me! Bleugh! No! End of discussion!

This leads Marinette to lock Alya in a cage with Nino in spite of the fact that Alya is clearly not interested in Nino:

Ladybug:(takes Nino and Alya to the empty gorilla habitat and locks the cage) Stay put and you'll be safe. (then leaves) Nino:(he looks at Alya) Uhh... Hey, what's up? (Alya lets out a disgusted groan.)

This questionable series of events somehow leads Alya and Nino to get together off screen:

Alya: Ladybug locked us up together in the same cage all afternoon. Nino: It turns out we have tons in common. You know, Marinette, the girl I've got a crush on? Marinette: Oh, yeah! Nino: Actually, it was you. Marinette: Huh? Nino: Or that's what I thought. But after chilling with Alya that whole time... Alya:(interrupts) Yeah, well...we don't have to give her all the deets, do we? Nino: Oh, yeah, my bad.

What an incredibly lackluster romance! Alya and Nino deserve better than this! I actually don't mind Nino having a crush on Marinette, but if you want to go that route, then there needs to be a bigger gap between him crushing on Marinette and Alya. As is, it makes Alya feel like a consolation prize which is not cool.

I'm also not wild about Alya's change of heart. How the heck did she go from "he's like a brother" to "I want to date him" in the course of an hour? If you're going to give us such a dramatic change of heart, then you need to actually show the change happening. At the very least, explain why! They might not need to give Marinette the details, but they do need to give them to the audience!

Alya and Nino generally feel like a fine couple after this episode, so if you missed Animan then you'd have no reason to question their love, but this being the start of their relationship really undermines the romance for me. It's way too lackluster for one of the show's main couples!

Flaw Two: Nino's Blabbermouth

Season five was the season of character assassination and the episode Illusion was dedicated to ruining Nino, giving us many questionable moments including this scene where Nino outs his and Alya's secret identities in a crowded cafeteria:

Nino: What's up is Ladybug and Cat Noir don't have us to help them anymore. Alya: (nervously) Um, um— uh— what do you mean, "us"? Nino: Well, us, you Rena Rouge, me Carapace! (Alya kicks his leg underneath the table) Ouch! What's the big deal? We can tell Marinette and Adrien we used to be superheroes. (The camera pans to a shocked Marinette.) Nino: It's not like we have any Miraculous that Monarch could steal from us. The only ones who need to protect their secret identities are Ladybug and Cat Noir, not us. And anyway, I already told Adrien about Carapace. (Adrien laughs red-handed.) Marinette: Adrien knew? (furiously) Alya, did you know that he knew? Alya: What, no, I swear I didn't know at all! (kicks Nino's leg for the second time) Nino: Ow! Come on! He's my best bud, I can tell him stuff! You and Marinette tell each other stuff, don't you?

Yes, this reveal was only to Marinette and Adrien, but holy shit a crowded cafeteria is not the place to be talking about this kind of thing! Nino, what are you doing? We even see Lila overhear a later part of the conversation, making it clear that wasn't one of those confusing moments where the show used a seemingly public place for a confrontation or reveal, but later context makes it clear that it should be read as a private moment.*

Because the show let there be consequences for Nino using this location AND let the group use the extremely private boiler room later on, Nino comes across terribly! He is so gods damn lucky that Lila only overheard the part about Gabriel (as far as we know.) This scene is a pretty massive betrayal of Alya's trust and Nino never even apologizes for it. It makes him come across as a bad friend, a bad hero, and a bad boyfriend.

I would never include a moment like this unless it was part of a character arc where Nino learned the error of his way or part of a plotline where Alyno breaks up. Because the show never gave this moment proper consequences or payoff, it just makes Nino look like a terrible hero for no good reason and it makes Alya's choice to stay with him pretty questionable. Can she really trust him when he's been shown to treat her most precious secrets with such casual disregard?

*Note: this really only happened in the early seasons when the show didn't have more private locations animated, Volpina and Miracle Queen being prime examples. Both episodes contain a scene that seems extremely public, but later episodes make it clear that the events were only known to the characters who were present in the scene.

Flaw Three: Why Do They Even Like Each Other?

This is the minor issue I mentioned at the start. I don't think side couples need to be deeply developed and sometimes crushes just happen, but when you introduce issues like how the couple got together and Nino being a questionable partner for a superhero, then you do start to wonder why Alya is sticking with this guy? What does she see in him? Why should we want them to stay together outside of amatonormativity?

I don't have a good answer for those questions and it really undermines them as couple. If you're going to do things like mutual identity reveals and episodes centered on their relationship, then you do need to give their relationship some substance because you're giving it too much narrative weight for something so underdeveloped. That's extra true when you're denying the lead couple their own identity reveal! Alyno being fully revealed while also full time heroes is a massive insult to the love square from a narrative perspective and just further cheapens the square's eventual identity reveal.

Fixing Alyno

In spite of all these issues, I do actually like Alyno and tend to put them together in my own stuff. They have the potential to be a fantastic couple. I even use their relationship to help guide how I write Nino because he has so little substance in canon!

For those who don't want to read the massive post I just linked, my main inspiration for Alyno is the fact that canon made Nino a film buff. That's a fantastic match for a nascent vlogger! I love to include scenes of him teaching her how to frame certain types of shots or him helping her learn how to edit footage into an engaging story. It's such an obvious way to let them bond and I'm so disappointed that canon never went there. I actually make the Ladyblog the reason they got together by having Nino help with the filming and by having him run along after Alya in the early story because he's trying to keep her safe. Dude needs to earn his miraculous somehow!

Final Thoughts

I'm pretty neutral on canon Alyno because canon has given them so little substance while also introducing some pretty major flaws, but I like their potential and happily ship them in the realms of fanon. One of the many cases where it's less a love of canon and more a love of the potential I see in canon. Much like the love square, I'd be totally fine with canon Alyno breaking up forever, but I like to give them a happily ever after together in my own stuff.

Since I mentioned that there are times when Kim could have gotten character development if the creators had chosen to do it, I thought it'd be fair to give examples.

"The New Ron" - Kim learns she can be pushy and needs to respect her friends' decisions, even if she doesn't agree with them.

Note: I'd like to take out the aspect where Ron embraces the haircut and have him stay miserable instead. The takeaway from this episode, as written, is that you shouldn't force people into things because you might hate it. I want to focus on how miserable it'd make others to be forced into something like that. So, for those purposes, Ron stays miserable with his new haircut, and Kim learns that the reason you don't push people into stuff like that is because they'll be miserable and that's not something you should do to your friends.

"Number One" - If they had chosen to portray Will as competent, this could have been a valuable lesson for Kim about how being good at something doesn't mean no one else is good at it either. And that someone else being good at something doesn't diminish your skills. And that, sometimes, it is better to let someone else take over. The episode could end with Kim having a moment of humility where she has Bonnie takeover the job as Cheer Captain, not because she believes Bonnie will give it up in a few weeks, but because Bonnie is genuinely much better suited for the job.

"Sink or Swim" and "Return to Wannaweep" - These could have been episodes where Kim recognizes that she tends to dismiss Ron's feelings and realizes she needs to work on that.

"Coach Possible" - This would be a great moment for Kim to recognize that her competitive drive can get the best of her. It would be great if, to show that Kim recognized this and is going to work on it, they actually showed Kim apologizing to the team.

"The Ron Factor" - This would have been a great episode about Kim recognizing Ron's contributions and learning to appreciate him more.

"Adventures in Rufus-Sitting" - Kim could learn a lesson about taking her responsibilities seriously, both watching Rufus and guarding the chip.

That is another excellent point, but it's still disturbing.

Even if it was just those three, the fact that they either didn't know what The Isle was like or didn't care is disturbing.

In Beauty and The Beast, Adam was cursed into the form of a beast because he behaved cruelly towards someone who turned out to be an enchantress (or fairy).

Only once Beast starts learning to be a kind person does someone fall in love with him and break the curse.

Cinderella got a movie where Anastasia made amends with Cinderella and found love on her own. Fairy Godmother would know about that.

So, clearly, everyone who was ever a villain or a villain's sidekick, or people who are descended from villains, should be forced to live in squalor. No one can ever grow as a person and do better, and their children are guaranteed to be as bad as them no matter what we do. /s

The whole story was about how anyone can grow past being a monster if they want to and are given the chance. To say that no one else should ever get that opportunity and that the kids of villains are damned just for being their kids is wildly out of character for all of them.

I guess most people assume all the heroes would know because they were sending their own villains there, and it'd seem weird and out of character to not ask questions.

But Beast doing a lot of lying, manipulating, and bribing would make sense.

Unfortunately, it'd mean Beast kind of sucks.

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.

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.