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Post by cloudmonet on Sept 12, 2005 19:04:49 GMT -5
I'm not sure Kim was that good at kissing at the time of "Blush." Maybe if she'd already had the experiences and disappointments which followed this, and had a moodulator tuned to love stuck on her neck, she would have given Josh a better kiss.
Maybe if Josh had been Ron... who may have been overwhelmed by the kiss but was clearly actively contributing to it. Takes two to kiss, you know.
*Snicker!* It was Penny! She taught Ron how to kiss like that...
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Post by JuPMod on Sept 12, 2005 20:31:26 GMT -5
Wow. We're already on "Emotion Sickness"? Yeah! ;D "ES" is one of my top fav KP episodes. For K/R shippyness, this episode is just full of it! Well, it's not really hard to tell that Ron was just freak out of Kim crushing over him like that. He could tell that Kim was not acting normal, so it was no wonder he wanted to break-up with her. She was acting out of character for the KP he knew, and he just can't go through dating her like this. Another reason I see Ron want to break-up is simply put that he just wasn't ready to take that 'next step' in their relationship. He was having doubts, and if he has them, he shouldn't be in a BF/GF relationship with Kim. Somehow, along the way to "STD", his doubts would be erase, especially in "STD" when he gave that self-pep talk in his bedroom when he realized his feelings for Kim. Did the "ES" break-up caused Kim to backtrack on her feelings for Ron? I don't think so, if "Gorilla Fist" is any indication of how close she is with Ron. We know Bonnie brain washed Kim in "STD" to seek a BF in the 'food chain', so she went with Eric. Only after she was betrayed did she saw Ron again, especially after his confession in the warehouse. The way I see it, the "ES" 'break-up' wasn't really a break-up at all. Both understood the moodulator was the cause of Kim acting the way she did, so both felt comfortable in getting back to their 'best friend' level without any guilt (maybe a bit on Ron's side though). The moodulator, the way I see it, just enhances emotions the person already is feeling. Given Kim didn't have a BF and Ron was the closest she had to a BF, it was natural that the moodulator would have enhanced her 'best friends' feelings for Ron into something more. I will not even rule out that she might just started to feel something more for Ron in "ES". Shego is the same for Drakken. Shego doesn't have a BF, and the closest she has to a relationship with a man is with Drakken. So I'm not surprise Shego chosen Drakken when the moodulator was turned to 'love'. Does she really do have deep feelings for Drakken? Maybe or maybe not. Remember that in "Mother's Day," she gagged when Mrs. Lipsky suggested the notion of she and Drakken as a couple. However, one might never know whether her feelings might have changed since "Mother's Day". So that's the way I see it. "ES" didn't really changed much in the 'best friends' relationship between Kim and Ron. Oh, I have no doubt that Kim and Ron talked it over to clear the murky waters between them, but they still remained 'best friends' afterward. "ES" however is the starting point to both starting to feel their relationship is heading toward the BF/GF level. Kim would have unknowingly reached the next level first given her actions in "Gorilla Fist". Ron just had taken until "STD" for him to realized his feelings *knowingly*. Kim knowingly realized her feelings would not come until the end of "STD".
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Post by GnuHopper on Sept 12, 2005 20:43:34 GMT -5
Emotion Sickness -- Kim Possible's answer to A Midsummer Night's Dream. Only substitute Mad Scientists and moodulator chips for Faeries and love potions. The more things change... I think the main thing we have to remember about this episode is it's a comedy. A screwball romantic comedy, to be precise. Which is not to say we're not supposed to accept K/R as true love (moodulators aside)...only that the approach used here is to play Kim and Ron's relationship for zany fun. Screwball comedies hinge on the relationship between two people meant to be, only they remain blind to the fact until some offbeat plot device sends them down the road to romance. There are funny reversals, offbeat family members, wild chases and a happy ending (at least for the main couple -- usually there's also a secondary couple who play against type -- the Titania and Bottom -- who are less likely to live happily ever after). So Emotion Sickness is a comedy. What does that tell us? Simply put, everything is played broadly. Kim's usually-suppressed feelings for Ron are exaggerated to a bizarre extreme for comic effect. The Kim who will usually go no further than a sloe-eyed glance and shoulder touch is now chasing Ron all over school, grabbing him and laying a big wet one on him. Ron is more frantic than ever, running in terror from his amorous friend and hiding in a giant pickle suit. Mr. and Mrs. Possible come off sillier than usual (watch how they GRAB Ron when he shows up at their door). And Drakken and Shego...whoa. Nutball City. Can we take ANY of this seriously? Does Emotion Sickness have anything at all serious to say about K/R? I think it does, although you may need to dig a little to find it. First, this episode is really the first to acknowledge *explicitly* that more-than-friendly feelings exist between these two. Prior to this TPTB did their best to act sly about the issue. Up to now any evidence we had of K/R could, conceivably, be interpreted more than one way: is the mistletoe kiss in AVPC romantic or friendly? Is the Exchange hug a sign of love or just close friendship? Is Kim jealous of Felix in Steal Wheels as a friend or *girlfriend*? Anti-Shippers could argue against the romance in these moments as much as we shippers could argue for it. But with Emotion Sickness the cat's out of the bag. Ron admits to having thought about taking his relationship with Kim to the next level (dating), while Kim admits her "crush" was something more than a moodulator at work. And if you doubt Kim's real feelings -- well, what else would've allowed her to overcome the moodulator's thrall to save Ron from Shego? As with any "magic curse" only true love can break the spell. From now on there can be no more doubt. Kim and Ron might back off at the end, but we've seen everyone else's reactions -- they KNOW what's going on with these two. Monique may express some skepticism at first (probably because she would expect Kim to talk to her first about Ron, like she did in Steal Wheels), but when she sees Kim actually pursuing Ron she hardly seems surprised. Bonnie is grossed, but not disbeliving. Mr. and Mrs. Possible are "tickled pink" (Mrs. Possible especially, but despite his "black hole" threat Mr. Possible seems pleased at this turn of events too, and even amused at Ron's jaw-dropping reaction to Kim's dress). Only Wade is shocked to catch them "smacking lips", but it's probably worth remembering that Wade, for all his genius, is still a pre-teen who never leaves his room, thus lacking the experience to understand what's happening here. (And even he'll be hip to K/R by Gorilla Fist). Now...as to Ron's reactions. Yes, he makes some boneheaded decisions here. Even though Kim's kiss literally floors the poor boy and it's clear as he stands outside the Possible's door that he's got to psyche himself up for this, Ron still decides he and Kim should "just be friends". Why? To be fair to Ron, he believes Kim just got dumped by Josh Mankey and is upset more than she lets on (she isn't) and is probably just rebounding (nope). But if that WERE true, then Ron's fears that once Kim healed emotionally their "fling" could permanently harm their friendship has some validity. And Ron can tell *something* is wrong with Kim -- this, after all, is a girl who in the past got all tongue-tied and clumsy when crushing on Josh. But now she's chasing him around like Ethel after Jughead? Even for Ron Stoppable, something here does not compute! Finally, the ending: Ron loses his pants and puts on a pickle costume (nope, no symbolism there), true love conquers the moodulator, and Kim and Ron stand under the fireworks as Shego and Drakken reenact the end of The Twin Factor. It's hard to imagine what happened over the next five minutes, or the next day, that by Bonding everything seemed back to normal. But let us recall the words of the immortal Philip J. Frye who once said "the secret to TV is that by the end of the episode everything is back to normal". Or...is it? Some brief points: * I never ceased to be amazed by just how much TPTB got away with in this episode. From Shego growling and crawling off the table after Drakken, to Kim's little black dress, to what I believe is Kim Possible's first gay joke (Kim throws a mash note at Ron and her looks up confused at a short boy with glasses sitting next to him) -- this is definitely the most risque episode of the whole series. (I still wonder what happened with Shego and Drakken between the photo booth and the ice cream floats...) * On a related note, how kind of the creators to provide our screen capture gurus with a wealth of cheesecake shots of Kim. Kim in that black dress...poor Ron must have the nobility of Galahad to resist! * This episode was rated #1 in the "Click it to Pick it" countdown prior to the debut of So the Drama. I'm not sure if I agree it's the best episode, but it's definitely the funniest. Indeed, the second act may be the funniest thing I've seen on the Disney Channel EVER. That's about it for me (for now). Fireworks or no, Kim and Ron still have a few more issues to work through before that big smooch at the Prom. And the next time the series deals so explicitly with their relationship the comedy dial will be turned way down so the drama can take center stage. GH
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Post by kpmuppets on Sept 12, 2005 22:46:56 GMT -5
Latest tentative hypothesis. Kim wants Ron, thinks she can make him make a move, he consistently doesn't, or too little too late, she gets tired of waiting (and of some of Ron's other behaviors) and goes for Erik, only to be torn by seeing Ron's jealousy and suffering, evidence of what she wanted since "Steal Wheels" at least, only she does really like Erik, so she's in an emotional mess that she tries to choke down or deny till Erik betrays her and Ron finally says what she's always wanted to hear. For me, that hypothesis makes the whole season easier to understand. Everyone suggests that Kim has more-than-friendly feelings for Ron, with some interesting points (and even more interesting screencaps) to back it up. But with the way she treats and talks about Ron in STD (lockers scene, talk with Mrs. P, ERIC), it would make me wonder if she had any real romantic feeling for Ron at all, until the kiss at the end. But of course as I read these threads, I know better. Perspective rules!
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Post by cloudmonet on Sept 12, 2005 22:48:12 GMT -5
An important and obvious point I missed.
I love your Shakespearean parallels, GnuHopper. That is so excellent. I almost feel like we've collectively cracked most of the mysteries of this one-- but watch-- the next major post (whoever does it) will probably come up with even more shining light.
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Post by MtnRon on Sept 12, 2005 23:17:28 GMT -5
There is the argument that the moodulators artifically create emotions that normally aren't there. This would coincede with Ron's question to Dr. Bortel "You mean this device had complete control of Kim" to which Dr. Bortel answered, "precisely". However, I think Ron himself proved the moodulator was NOT in complete control of Kim. When the moodulator was locked into rage mode, Ron was able to get to the "real Kim" at which point Kim successfully fought it and burned out the moodulator. So Kim had to at some level be aware of what is going on to be able to respond to what Ron was saying.
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Post by cloudmonet on Sept 13, 2005 0:33:35 GMT -5
It seems as though the moodulator, unlike the neural compliance chip, doesn't change who Kim is, just changes what she's feeling, which she tries to rationalise with what's happening.
If we look at the first time Kim and Shego are switched to crying, Kim cries because the Kimmunicator is lost. Shego, who had a more successful day than Kim up to this point, cries because she chipped a fingernail.
As a kind of naturally moody person myself, I will try to rationalise what I'm feeling as caused by something I'm experiencing, even when often there's no real external cause at all.
Then they're switched to anger, and Kim's angry at Ron about the kimmunicator being lost. Shego just gets angry at Drakken.
Then after a couple of quick switches, they're switched to love, and what's Kim going to feel love about? The guy she's already all but dating is standing right there. And Shego? When she's switched to love she applies it to Drakken, whatever this may mean.
I agree that the moodulator creates strong emotions which aren't necessarily otherwise there, but the person feeling these emotions is still there, and finds something to feel them about.
The last major changes actually happen in a sequence that might not be too different from what Kim would really be feeling under the circumstances, though hopefully not so intensely-- saddened, then angry, about Ron breaking up with her. So just looking at this sequence, it's hard to judge if emotions are being created or just intensified.
Shego has no particularly good reason to be sad at the same time, and Drakken reasonably doesn't understand her weepiness and wants to follow the plan, and when she's switched to anger, she's angry about this.
Total control of Kim's emotions isn't exactly total control of Kim, but for an older man like Bortle looking at a teenaged girl, he may think that it is. (I'm an older man who knows better.)
The intensifying thing fried the circuits of the remote control, making the anger murderously intense, but also straining the circuits of the moodulators themselves, and possibly making it easier for Kim's natural emotions, if strong enough, to override the moodulator.
------
Analysing what amounts to mad science is a little risky, and can only be done in the context of what's presented and how it seems to work, but I think this makes a picture that's at least internally consistent and explains what we see. Going into the actual neurology of spinal cords, hormones, or whatever, is probably unnecessary.
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soyokaze14
Pink Sloth
Time to step-up...
Posts: 17
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Post by soyokaze14 on Sept 13, 2005 1:35:58 GMT -5
Emotion Sickness continues the trend evident in the third season of giving us insight into the characters by the way they react to changes in their natural counterparts (i.e.: something happens to Ron, who then alters his usual behavior, and then we learn something about Kim by seeing how she reacts) I think it would be easier to start from the top and simply work my way down. So on to the beginning….. The school is getting ready for the Middleton Days Festival and we are treated to a view of 4 floats that highlight the history of the town. While it’s not really relevant to the current discussion the four floats showcase: the pickle works, the space center, someone that looks like Jon Stoppable (but we don’t really know it’s him, we don’t know how many ancestors Ron has), and a TACO??? (well we do know that the Bueno Nacho HQ is reasonably close to Middleton, but still…). Next we see Josh Mankey walk by arm in arm with Tara. I guess the creators of the show wanted to drive in the fact that those two are definitely out of Kim and Ron’s lives, but that’s not the interesting part. What really caught my attention was that Ron still thought Kim was into Josh, and Kim thought Ron knew about Tara. How can this be? They spend all their time together, yet somehow assume that the other has time to spare to worry about either Josh or Tara (in Steal Wheels we see what happens to Kim when she goes Ronless for just a little while, making me think that they pretty much spend every moment they can together). Ok, let’s assume for a moment they don’t spend all their time together and do in fact have time for other people. From Blush and Vir-tu-Ron we know Kim and Ron talk to each other about their crushes at least once in a while; so Ron never mentioning that Tara liked him (how could he? he didn’t even know) must have struck Kim as odd, especially given how much time and effort he devotes to getting girls to like him. Now, if she did notice it was odd that Ron never talked about Tara (she’s pretty smart, she must have noticed) why didn’t she say something? I think she wants to keep any girls that show a genuine interest in Ron away so that she can keep him to herself without having to actually date him. Notice she does talk to him about Tara when she’s already with someone else, a little too late for Ron to make a move. That’s all well and good, but it doesn’t explain why she puts on this face when it becomes obvious he never found out Tara liked him (to me it seems like a combination surprise/scowl) This is going to be harder than I thoughtOne would imagine she’d be happy Ron never even found out about Tara, so why the unhappy face? I have two theories for this, but first a little explanation. I’m sure most of us have at some point tried to tell someone we “like them like them” so we all know how hard this is. A common tactic is to drop a ton of hints, but never come right out and say it. The hope being that the person will think you like them and will then tell you how s/he feels about you (in other words: get them to make the first move). This way if the person you like doesn’t return your feelings you can always claim the hints were merely misinterpreted, and therefore avoid feeling any shame or embarrassment. My first theory is that Kim’s real emotions tend to surface though her facial expressions, and here she’s subconsciously thinking "If he didn’t notice Tara liked him, I’m going to have to work really hard to make him know I like him, without telling him I like him” ….a difficult task indeed. My second theory is far more mundane, she’s scowling because she feels cheated. She may have been under the impression that Ron in fact did know about Tara (she does sound surprised he didn’t ), but that he decided to spend his time with her anyway; thus putting her company above that of a girl that actually “liked him liked him”, which would make Kim very happy and secure. Now that she knows Ron really didn’t know she feels like all the happiness and security she felt was taken away. To make matters worse Ron seems upset (but not for very long) that he never found out about Tara; thus making Kim think that he definitely would not have spent so much time with her, which naturally makes Kim sad (just look at Kim`s face when Ron asks her why she didn`t say anything). But...if I had told you about Tara then you wouldn’t have spent all your time with meI guess Kim pretty much expects Ron to always prefer her company above anyone else`s (again, see Steal Wheels). On the flip side how could Ron not know Kim was no longer interested in Josh? It’s a possibility Kim talked about Josh once in a while to keep up appearances to Ron; but to do so seems too out of character for her, I don’t think she would have kept the lie going for too long. Then how did he not know? If Ron is like a lot of us, maybe he simply didn’t ask about Josh and considered himself lucky "monkey" never came up again. Come to think of it he also probably started spending more time with Kim in the hopes that she would have too little time to devote to Josh, it could even be how the whole Ron Night got started! So Ron just assumed she was still interested in Josh, but did his best to keep her too distracted to see “monkey boy”. This takes us as far as the intro credits so I’ll stop for now and continue tomorrow (it’s an ungodly hour where I am). Man, I ramble waaaay too much. Edited for typos, incorrect verb tenses, and missing words. Ahhh, the dangers of typing late at night.
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Post by campy on Sept 13, 2005 9:12:12 GMT -5
Lots of great points from everybody. Does anyone else wonder what would have happened if Ron hadn't been right next to Kim when the moodulator was set to 'love'? Would she have started crushing on a nearby guy, or would it still have been Ron?
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Post by Forlong on Sept 13, 2005 10:00:39 GMT -5
I'm not sure Kim was that good at kissing at the time of "Blush." Maybe if she'd already had the experiences and disappointments which followed this, and had a moodulator tuned to love stuck on her neck, she would have given Josh a better kiss. Maybe if Josh had been Ron... who may have been overwhelmed by the kiss but was clearly actively contributing to it. Takes two to kiss, you know. *Snicker!* It was Penny! She taught Ron how to kiss like that... We don't know how good of kisser Ron is. Another thing that has come up is the need for me to explain this again: Kim did not crush on Ron because she didn't have a BF. I'd say I love my childhood best friend (who is a lady), but as a sister. So the question isn't if Kim loves Ron, but which way she loves him. This episode proves that it's a romantic love. Also DYN?: Kim and Ron gave each other loving looks in the teaser. Ron when Kim said that she was moving on (but to what exactly?...), and Kim when Wade mocked Ron's pickle suit.
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Post by JuPMod on Sept 13, 2005 10:53:20 GMT -5
Would she have started crushing on a nearby guy, or would it still have been Ron? IMO, she would still go for Ron. The moodulator doesn't create emotions. It somehow enhances the one the wearer already have (Everyone's opinion varies. . So if she already have feelings for Ron, she would have gone after him. If Kim didn't have a BF, her emotions would have been focus on Ron. If she did have one, she would have focus on her current beau, not Ron. Her feelings for Ron is a factor, but not the only factor. I always believe that Kim does have feelings for Ron in "ES" but not romantic. More like a Friendship Love (not Sister/Brother love. There's a difference). It only evolved into romantic when she realized later it has evolved into more. This is another reason why I see these two back down from any romantic evolvment after "ES". They simply don't want to ruin their friendship, but I think they do acknowledge their friendship has risen a notch more.
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Post by cloudmonet on Sept 13, 2005 11:40:18 GMT -5
That's it! Seems to me like all of this is true. Good catch, soyokaze!
I must beg to disagree. Ron clearly doesn't show romantic feelings for Kim at the moment, though despite his resolve, the potential is still there. Kim on the other hand has seemed the more interested party ever since her disappointment with Hirotaka in "Exchange."
But she's being cautious, and the more so after Ron breaks up with her here, and wants to make certain she has Ron's full attention and desire before opening up to him. He keeps letting her down until she gives up on him. Only seeing her with Erik forces his feelings into the open. Unfortunately for Ron, by then Kim really likes Erik.
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eowyn
Green Badger
Posts: 156
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Post by eowyn on Sept 13, 2005 12:12:15 GMT -5
Finally! Somebody agrees with me! Face it, if she'd wanted him to be with another girl, she could have been a lot more helpful... either by mentioning it to Ron or telling Tara that she wasn't getting through. Evidence has to suggest that she knows Ron isn't hip to Tara's feelings.
It's a running theme thoughout the series... and while it doesn't quite amount to sabotage, it's close.
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Post by campy on Sept 13, 2005 13:55:16 GMT -5
Finally! Somebody agrees with me! Face it, if she'd wanted him to be with another girl, she could have been a lot more helpful... either by mentioning it to Ron or telling Tara that she wasn't getting through. Evidence has to suggest that she knows Ron isn't hip to Tara's feelings. I absolutely agree. The idea that Kim 'thought [Ron] knew' about Tara is absurd to me. She knows what's going on in his head better than he does. And I wouldn't be a bit surprised if Tara approached Kim and was told something like 'he knows, getting more obvious won't help.'
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Post by cloudmonet on Sept 13, 2005 14:27:16 GMT -5
This theory, while possible, makes Kim's motives and methods resemble Bonnie's much more than any other evidence supports. Kim, overall, just doesn't seem that nasty.
I have an easier time imagining Tara asking if Kim's interested in Ron like that. Kim stammers and goes all embarrassed while trying to deny it, and Tara, nice as she seems to be, assumes this means Kim does in fact like Ron that way, and stays out of the picture.
And Kim doesn't tell Ron because-- that's gonna vary with exactly when we're talking about, because Kim's feelings for Ron do vary. But whether Kim's ready to date Ron herself or not, she jeals whenever anyone else wants to date him, and isn't about to do anything to facilitate this.
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Post by Aers (That Writer Chick) on Sept 13, 2005 16:33:59 GMT -5
but at the same time Ron also sabotages his chances at a relationship outside of Kim... he dashes off at the first opportunity to do a mission, oblivious as to how this may look to his "date"... that is, if he had one.
again, we're dealing with appearances - Tara might have been interested, but after seeing Kim dash off with Ron for the umpteenth time for a mission might have figured that it wasn't worth trying to get inbetween the two of them even for a relationship with Ron.
and Ron, lovable as he is, happens to be darned dense about how this looks to anyone on the outside. Considering he's spending time at Kim's place in his jammies and practically lives there, it'd be rather intimidating for any girl to try and get in his space...
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Post by cloudmonet on Sept 13, 2005 16:52:40 GMT -5
Yeah, no way is Tara aggressive enough to make that happen!
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Post by Artificial Moose on Sept 13, 2005 20:54:04 GMT -5
Ruminations as to why Ron makes the choice he does in ES. I make no promises as to overall coherency. For the moment, let us take Ron's proclaimation in "Ron Millionaire", that Rufus and Kim are the only two real friends he has, at face value. We can then gather that Ron's friendship with Kim is something that he has never been able to replicate with anyone else. In his experience, it is unique. It is precious to him. Here he faces an interesting situation: Kim, his best friend, has apparently moved on from her long time crush (Josh Mankey) to practically throwing herself on top of Ron. He is, quite rightly I would say, rather disturbed by her totally random behavior, and as such, doesn't really know what to do. Until Kim plants that kiss on him, and his hormones take over from his brain. Then his brain recovers, and he grows anxious. Why? Perhaps he fully believes that her behavior is due, mostly or in a significant part, to Josh moving on, and a portion of him will not allow him to take advantage of her in such at state. This is a likely reaction for a man who consistently averts his eyes when the girl disrobes in front of him. Moreso than that, of course, is what Ron actually says in the episode: he fears what could happen to their friendship if the dating thing tanks. So... he decides to break up with her. I make no coment as to the rigor of his logical process, except to say this: an airplane captain, who feels that one of his engines could burst into flame or fall off at any moment, would be criminally remiss if he did not abort the take-off. His friendship with Kim is the thing that he cherishes the most, and whose loss he fears above all else. He is not, at this time, willing to dare love, romantic love, if that means running the risk of loosing what he already has. Why bother changing, or risking, or daring, anything when what you have is already sufficient? He's thought about it, of course, and deep down he knows that he wants it, but he is so comfortable with the relationship that they have that he is unwilling to risk loosing it, to risk loosing her. So he elects to continue as friends, even though he is clearly disappointed that the crush was just (or mostly) the moodulator. This will continue till "So the Drama", when he learns a cold, hard truth: even if he doesn't dare, doesn't take the risk, then he will loose the friendship anyway, or at least the intimacy that he so values. ------------ As to the nature of the crush itself, I was of the opinion, whilst watching the episode, that the moodulator was very good a manufacturing extremely intense emotions out of whole cloth, and letting the mind find objects of and justitifcations for the feelings. Consequentially, to me, most of the shippyness of this episode is highly ambiguous, due to the presence of emotional controls. There is one moment, however. The moodulator, it seems, produces emotions of such power that they can a.) overwhelm whatever the person is feeling naturally, and b.) can overwhelm other emotions generated by the moodulator, and very quickly at that. Yet Ron being in danger from Shego produces enough of an emotional reaction in Kim that she not only breaks free of the moodulator's control, but she completely overloads it. Draw your own conclusions from that. Though I'll say that it proves that Ron's choice is not a paragon of reasoning, though I fully understand why he did what he did. I also very nearly cheered, and did shed a tear or two, when he did finally dare in "So The Drama". And I'm also certain I had a point with the above ramblings, but it is late, and I fear I may have lost it. Alca alca americanus, constructed of reinforced concrete, signing out.
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soyokaze14
Pink Sloth
Time to step-up...
Posts: 17
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Post by soyokaze14 on Sept 14, 2005 0:05:59 GMT -5
To pick up where we last left off... After the intro credits we learn that Bortle has just finished building and testing his modulators. What practical use could such an item have I wonder? Perhaps it could be used to break the will of prisoners before their interrogation, but if that were the case why bother with settings such as "perkiness" and "love"? Who knows? It’s not really important because I think the moodulator serves the same function as the "flux capacitor"; it enables changes to occur without any scientific (or even reasonable) justification, so only the specifics of that which is changed are up for debate. In other words, does it implant emotions, or does it merely enhance them? That’s the real question here. Fortunately we do have a base situation that should allow us to answer just that question. The morning after the heist we see Ron show up at the Possible home to pick Kim up before heading out to school. There are two things that I notice immediately (not related to the moodulator but interesting nonetheless). First: the Naco is successful enough to warrant a "breakfast" version (Ron must really be raking it in). Second: Ron must really want to spend every minute he can with Kim. What do I base this on? Consider the following; Ron (who we know is lazy) must get up extra early so he can swing by Kim’s on his way to school. Even earlier if we consider the fact that Ron probably lives really close to the high school (in ASiT Kim and Ron get to his house after only a brief conversation), meaning he may even have to backtrack to swing by Kim’s. As a fellow lazy person, I can testify that getting up earlier than necessary does not happen without very good motivation, draw your own conclusions. Alright back to the moodulator…. The base situation the show provides us is the loss of the Kimmunicator. With the moodulator off Kim is mildly upset at Ron for picking up the wrong thing (being careless). That thing you picked up...so not the KimmunicatorThen Ron begins to play with the moodulator control, making her become really sad and then really angry. KP....you’re scaring me!The sadness was directed at the carelessness that caused the loss of the Kimmunicator, and the anger was directed towards Ron for being careless. In both cases the emotions seemed to stem from her being upset with Ron for being careless. This would imply that the moodulator triggers a boost in an already existing emotion. To see if this is correct let’s look at our other favorite duo: Drakken and Shego. I would imagine that under normal circumstances breaking a nail is not something Shego would really get too upset about, especially considering it happened while successfully accomplishing a mission. Yet under moodulator control she got all weepy. Then, when Drakken suggests she may be overreacting (which would normally make her angry) she gets downright violent. Ok, so it seems the moodulator enhances preexisting emotions, but how do we know Kim’s "crushing on Ron" reaction wasn’t simply friendship boosted to the nth degree? Good question, the best answer I can offer up is the different intensity of the emotions. When Kim got hit with “anger” she went from being a little angry to jacking his shirt. If Kim was “just friends” with Ron she would have probably gone into a schoolgirl crush; but instead goes into “psycho stalker” mode where she chases him, corners him, tricks him into asking her out, holds him tight and kisses him. She doesn’t hesitate at all, she launches herself at him at every turn. She knows what she`s after and will not take no for an answer. I think it’s pretty obvious the level of intensity in her crushing is far, far, far greater than her anger; this leads me to conclude that her level of preexisting affection is also much, much higher than “just friends”. Only when the moodulator gets overcharged does her level of "anger " approach the level of "love" she displays while crushing on Ron. Of course it’s all still speculation since we are trying to interpret the results of "mad science"; which is why I believe this episode is far more useful as a study of Ron. Hopefully tomorrow I’ll be able to put to words some thoughts on our boy, and see what’s been happening from his side of things. I think it’s going to be even more interesting.
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Post by Forlong on Sept 14, 2005 11:05:42 GMT -5
Looks like we'll be discussing this episode for a while.
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