#and well. when you're already there in the eye of the zeitgeist. You Can Do What You Want Forever

[bacchuschucklefuck]

Can you expand on what you mean by Baron being "too cool" to really fit a horror monster? It's a very interesting concept and I'd love to hear your thoughts. Is it that they're too active/involved/tangible and it detracts from their scariness?

I feel like I should preface this with a wall of disclaimers lmao 1/I am a hardcore, down-to-the-marrow, avid, deeply sincere horror enthusiast, esp. horror creatures. this usually means my mileage is vastly different from the average populace's, and my scaredy bone has been disintegrated by longterm exposure. most things in a piece of horror media won't scare me! so I practically never use that on its own as the scale to talk abt horror experiences, but when something does scare me it's always a special occasion to be treasured. 2/canon d20 is never really meant to be horror horror, and for good reasons: it doesn't fit the company's output, it takes a kind of carelessness in production estimation that is always a huge risk, it's often vulnerable in a way that kinda goes against how TTRPGs usually facilitates vulnerability, and for most people it's just! stressful! d20, even with the "horror-themed" seasons, generally just plays with horror tropes and stays focused in its goal of being a comedy improv tabletop theater show. 3/fantasy high's chosen system is DnD, which as I've mentioned before is before all a combat-based game system, which means the magic circle of play is drawn based on stats that facilitate and prioritize combat. want or not this affects every interaction you have in the game, and given fantasy high's concept from the ground up (everyone's going to school of DnD stuff to get better at DnD) it's doubly relevant. 4/This Is Fine I have no quarrel with this. my meters are internal, I do not ask this show to be anything it doesn't advertise itself to be, and what it is is fucking great! I like it! when I expand on this ask's question it will be like a physicist going insane in a lab. that's the mindset we're going in with.

disclaimers done. my stance on horror as a genre is that it's a utility genre rather than a content genre or a demographic genre; it is the discard of narratives. it's the trash pile. horror, above being scary, is about being ugly and messy, it's the cracks on the ground any story inevitably steps over to stay a genre that isn't horror. the genre's been around long enough to develop a codex and a general language that medias and makers and enthusiasts of the genre can use to talk about and build onto, but if you go into individual pieces there's really no unifying Horror Story. one person's beautiful life can be another's horror story, it's just how it is.

this makes The Monster a deeply intriguing piece of the genre. thing is a monster is in a decent percentage of any story - it's just when the antagonist force steps into something past a certain line traced out in the story's world. monstrousness is in pretty much every western fantasy story, it's in any story with a hero and something to vanquish or win; more than anything it's a proxy of that thing up there. the line in a narrative's world. the monster is the guard of the unknown lands, where heroic, civilized people don't tread.

what does this mean in the context of horror? the genre is about that perceived lawlessness, that "unknown land" so to say. we're in the monster's home. that's the literary context that we often walk into a horror piece with; the monster knows more than you about where you are. it may not understand you, but it holds more information than you, and with that it moves swifter than you, has more covered than you, and is more assured in its existence in this context than you. it's a struggle to catch up to it, it's nigh impossible to get one over it, and you're never sure it'll 100% work, because you just don't have the information necessary to.

with that framing you can kinda see where I'm coming from here: horror's often about the breaking of rules. I always think a monster's most effective when it breaks well-established rules of both existence and visual storytelling. think Possum (2018) or Undertale's Omega Flowey or the Xenomorph Queen - unique change in medium, unique change in graphic, unique change in design language, etc. in that sense I actually really like how canon baron plays out: they don't really function like anything else in the fantasy high universe, the bad kids have not managed to kill them when they've felled literal gods, their domain in fhjy literally introduces new mechanics to encompass their existence! from an experience design standpoint they slap mad shit. BUT! I can't help finding their character, like as a character riz (and the other bad kids, eventually) interact with, to be very... coherent? in design. this is kinda hard for me to articulate in words, it's more often a sense you get once you've looked at enough of these scrumptious fuckers, their general design and the way they show up is just kinda too clean, so to say. always kinda newly made? fresh unboxed. it, once again, makes sense for their lore - they are looking for more about themself from riz - and their function - they're an antagonist in a game experience, they're meant to be interacted with in a way that produces results and meshes with the existing magic circle - but that shininess takes away from the implied history they should have dominion over and the person they're haunting doesn't.

from another angle there is kinda something there about how put-together canon baron is as a concept; the domain they call home is riz's deep-seeded fears, extremely vulnerable things he's drawn borders around to quarantine and refused to walk into. things that from his perspective would irreversibly shatter certain pleasant fictions his world is built on top of. canon baron, While Extremely Cool, I feel is kinda too neat to connect with and signify the apocalyticized mess that'd result from this paradigm shift. the part where they're in riz's briefcase and looking through every mirror is Very Cool And Fucked Up! but ultimately the show draws a line around them as well, by making game-physical, tangible spaces they're in (the mirrors and the haunted mordred manor) and put riz and the bad kids there only when they need to confront stuff. riz is meaningfully narratively away from baron's unknown land for most of fantasy high.

with that and all of my disclaimers in mind my conclusion here is if canon baron wants to be a Horror Monster they'd have to cross way more lines. be a Lot more invasive. hence (holds up my class swap baron like a long cat)

[pfffsfic]

Post-Fall Falls False Starts- Chapter 8: [SHORT] The Ring

Previous Chapter | Next Chapter

She gleefully brought the chair down on the back of the bear boy's neck with a sickening crack. His knees buckled and he collapsed onto the ground in a heap.

"It's looking like he's down for the count," called the announcer, drowning out the voice of newly-christened referee Mike, who was slamming his hand into his palm and calling out each number from one to ten in a cadence more befitting of a news report. "That's victory, folks! Yet another victory for- ahem- Sarah "The Incinerator" G. Lato! As stipulated, she will receive twenty dollars in the currency of the Before-Times! Thank you for watching Mall Brawl. The bloodbath will return after a word from our sponsors."

Sarah dropped her chair and left the stage to make way for the 'sponsors'- a revolutionary group that, despite being formed only the previous day, already had plans to dominate Elmore- and was greeted warmly by the waiting throng that surrounded the ring, a veritable sea of punk headgear and alternative fashion. The cultural zeitgeist had changed so quickly! Sarah had taken to wearing an eye patch for the grittiness factor, along with one of those bracelets with the spikes and a flame-patterned leather jacket. That was where the inspiration for he nickname had come from. Maybe she would have to actually incinerate somebody one of these days to really seal the deal. Now, though, she left the mall and claimed her prize from one of the burly guards near the commentators' nest.

Why, even with the new anything-goes currency system, had Sarah not changed her preferred prize to something cooler? That was simple: one of the only businesses in town that accepted paper money at reasonable rates (provided she haggled) was also her new one-stop shop for food, entertainment, and amenities. It was very apocalypse-esque to do your shopping out of the back of a van! The sketchier, the better! She had been taking on tougher opponents over the past few days and had discovered the untold moneymaking potential of her internal rage. Stress relief, catharsis, and income, all in one easy pastime. The only problem was that fighting made her hungry, and now she planned to put the earnings from the fight into a vault at home and use the previous day's earnings to go all-out on something to eat.

Ten minutes later, she approached the window of the van in question.

"Goood morning! Or afternoon! Or night. Time's messed up now, am I right?" she chortled and the shopkeeper let out a tiny sigh.

"What may my mystical shop of wonders sell you today?"

"You have any new food in stock?"

"As a matter of fact, we do. We restocked only two days ago... no, three. No- I'm not entirely sure. Either way, we have a good amount of food left."

"Can I get, uh... a burger, some fries, and a drink?"

"How specific. You're in luck, however, we actually do have all of those in stock."

"Cool! How much?"

"85 bucks."

"85 bucks?" She raised an eyebrow. "Okay, okay. What do you say I give you 25 bucks and this infinite-dollar bill I handcrafted?"

The bill in question looked surprisingly authentic, except that the president on it had anime eyes.

"Deal," said the shopkeeper, accepting both the real money and the fake money. He fumbled around in the back of the van for a short moment and produced a burger, fries, and a can of Pitt Cola. Sarah dug into the food almost immediately, but opened her mouth mid-bite and stared with an odd near-reverence at the beverage can.

"Where'd you get this?" she asked.

"Erm, I stole it from a restaurant."

"A restaurant here?"

"Well, I-" the shopkeeper's eyes darted nervously from side to side. Suddenly, Sarah reached up and seized him by his shadowy collar.

"C'mon," she said in a sharp whisper, "How much would I have to pay you to take me to the place where you got this cola?"

"T-twenty dollars," he said. When his behind met the seat again, he sighed in relief.

Sarah only smiled disarmingly and reached for the money she had just won.

[acantha-j-roberts]

Welcome to the House of Bill

Part 1- A Manic Monday

Chapter One

You wake up at dawn, leave your room and begin to prepare breakfast for all the teens. You leave a lot for the teens to do, so they learn to be independent. You then walk upstairs, preparing to wake the teens. Once up the stairs, you're standing in a hallway, lined with doors.

You pass by the doors, knocking loudly on each one.

"Wake up, boys!" You yell, "Time for school!"

You stop your knocking at the last door, number 8, which is Henry Pearl's room. You let him sleep, since at night, you home school him. You rush down the hallway and back downstairs. Tapping for foot impatiently, waiting for the teens to come down the stairs.

Simon is first, as expected, dressed in his red jumper and impeccable hairstyle. You greet Simon with a polite smile, he responds with a nod.

Next, Gordon and Henry Deaver, neither of them making eye contact with you. You see that Deaver is being shy again, which is a sign he's had another nightmare.

"Deaver!" You call, getting his attention.

The kid looks at you, you gesture him to come to you and he obeys. You make sure he's close enough to hear you whisper, before you start talking.

"Have you had another nightmare?" You ask.

Deaver nods, "Yes, ma'am."

"Do you want to talk about it?" You ask.

The kid looks up at you, his eyes filled with tears. You see his is upset and embarrassed about having these nightmares. You gently run your hand down his face, letting your motherly love show.

"They're just dreams, sweetheart." You say, "They can't hurt you."

Deaver wipes his tears away with the back of his hand, he smiles at you, loving when you use your motherly love.

"Thank you, ma'am." He says.

You smile and watch as Deaver joins the other teens in the kitchen.

"F**k off!" A voice calls from behind you.

"Roman." You mutter.

You turn around, to see Roman and Mickey walking down the stairs. They were talking to each other, Roman not looking impressed.

"F**k off!" Roman repeated, turning away from Mickey.

"Godfrey!" You yell, "Watch your language!"

"Sorry, ma'am." Roman says, rolling his eyes.

You don't react to Roman's attitude, knowing he's just being a moody teenager.

"Ma'am!" Another voice calls, from upstairs.

You look up to see Henry Pearl looking down at you.

He has a worried expression on his face.

"What's wrong?" You ask, walking towards him.

"I think somethings wrong with Axel." Henry says, "I heard him swearing from inside his room."

You cuss under your breath, you rush up the stairs and hurry to Axel's (Zeitgeist) room.

You bang on the door, "Zeitgeist! Is everything alright in there?"

The door opens, "Sort off." Axel answers.

Axel covers his mouth with his acid-proof mask and walks past you. You look inside the room, to see a patch of acid in the floor.

"Oh good lord." You sigh.

"Should I get to cleaning gear, ma'am?" Henry asks.

"Oh, yes please," You answer.

You stand in Axel's room, staring at the acid patch. Luckily, Zeitgeist's room is coated with a special acid-proof chemical, so the floor isn't disintegrating. Henry returns with a the cleaning gear, (specially altered by you to be acid-proof). You step over the acid and walk back to the doorway.

"Thank you, sweetheart." You say, taking the gear from Henry.

He smiles, "Do you need anymore help?"

"No, thank you, sweetheart." You say, "Go back to sleep, you have a busy night tonight."

"Yes, thank you, ma'am." Henry says, walking back to his own room.

Chapter Two

After cleaning the disaster in Zeitgeist's room, you head back downstairs and towards the kitchen. Once you near it, you hear commotion. You rush in, dreading what carriage has take place while you've been gone.

You run in, just in time to see Axel and Mickey restraining Roman, while Simon sits in the floor, hands over his face.

"What's going on?" You ask, both concerned and frustrated.

"That bastard hit me!" Roman growls.

"He touched me first." Simon muttered looking up at you.

You jump when you see Simon's face, a bruise is beginning to appear on his right cheek.

"Roman punched him." Axel explains.

Roman elbowed Axel in the shoulder, "F**k you, acid face!" He scowled.

"Godfrey!" You yell, "Watch your language!"

A loud banging suddenly came from under the floor and all the teens froze. They all looked at each other, fearful expressions on their faces.

"Look what you've done!" You yell, "You’ve woken Pennywise!"

You look down at your watch then back at the teens, "Right, be ready to go in 10 minutes. I'll go and sort the clown out."

You turn away, but before you go, you quickly turn back.

"Behave yourselves." You said, "Or you'll be grounded for the rest of the month."

You walk away, storming towards the basement door. You pull it opened and step inside the small area. You press a tiny button and a large trapdoor opens. You descend the winding stairs, into the dingy basement. You finally arrive at a huge iron cage. You peer through the bars and see two yellow eyes staring back at you.

"Hello, Penn." You say, kindly.

The clown stands on the other side of the bars, clenching the iron poles with its gloved hands.

"Lots of noise up there." It says, smiling it's eerie grin.

"The teens were having a fight." You say, "Nothing out of the ordinary."

The clown turns away and walks into the darkness of the cage. You can faintly see the silhouette of the clown, as it slumps over and falls back into its deep slumber.

"Thank god." You mutter, walking back up the stairs.

You shut the trapdoor and exit through the basement door. You head back towards the kitchen.

"Ow, f**k." One of the teens calls from the kitchen.

You step into the kitchen and see Mickey and Simon standing by the sink. Simon was holding an ice pack on his face and Mickey was running his fingers in water.

"Everything alright, boys?" You ask.

"Yeah, I just burnt myself on the coffee machine." Mickey answers.

You turn to look at Simon, "How's your face, sweetheart?"

"It hurts." Simon answers.

You look down at your watch and begin to panic.

"Good lord!" You gasp, "We need to hurry!"

You rush towards the front door, most of the teens are already there.

"Right, Zeitgeist, you're coming with me." You say, "And the rest of you, the bus should arrive in 10 minutes."

You open the front door and walk down the path, towards the garage. You turn around, just before the teens left the premises.

"Behave yourselves!" You yell, turning back towards the garage.

Zeitgeist is already sat in the passenger seat of your car. You have to drive Zeitgeist to a special school in the next town over (He needs to go their, because he spits acid.)

You turn on the engine and drive down the driveway. While you're driving, you decide to ask Axel about the fight this morning.

"So, what happened between Simon and Roman?"  You ask.

"Well, Roman accidentally bumped into Simon." Axel explains, "Obviously, Simon slapped him. Roman just lost it and punched him."

You sigh, "And they woke Pennywise with all the noise. Luckily it went back to sleep."

Chapter three

(Hours pass, school is finished and the teens are in their way home)

You sit in your office, paying your bills and doing the banking. The front door suddenly swings open, and the teens come in. Hearing the loud chatter of the teens, reminds you of the time, you stand up and walk into the living room. All the teens are sat on the huge couches, staring at the television.

"Right, listen up!" You say, "I've got to go out for a while, I'll be back at 4. Behave yourselves, please."

"Yes, ma'am." The teens say, in unison.

You grab your purse from the kitchen counter and head out the door. You needed to go grocery shopping, since your were running low on food. You waited until the teens were home, just so you wouldn't be worried. You also wanted to get some more paints for Henry Pearl, thanking him for being helpful this morning.

You arrive back home at exactly 4pm. The teens are still in the living room, some watching TV and others doing their homework. You head into the kitchen and place the shopping bags down on the counter, when you suddenly hear a loud growling sound. You now notice the fridge door is open and that their is blood pooling on the floor. You step closer to the fridge and see it. Sitting in a pool of blood, crunching through a raw chicken, is Pennywise.

You scowl, then storm into the living room. You snatch the remote from the arm of the couch and switch of the television.

"Which one of you let Pennywise out!" You yell, angrily.

All the teens turn to look at Roman, how is looking sly and mischievous.

"Roman Godfrey, you should know better then to let that clown out!" You scold.

Roman looks up at you and smiles mischievously, You sigh, "Well, you know the house rules, Godfrey. Whoever let's it out, puts it back in."

The smile disappears from Roman's face, to be replaced with worry. You know that the teens fear Pennywise, but it is the house rules.

"Ok, everyone up." You say, "In your rooms, Action Stations! Let's go!"

The teens just up and rush up the stairs, leaving Roman behind. You suddenly remember that Henry Pearl is still asleep in his room, you don't want to frighten him with the sudden alarms. You grab the bag of paints and rush up the stairs. The teens are already in their rooms, preparing for the lockdown.

You bang on Henry's door, "Wake up, Sweetheart." You call.

You open the door, after hearing Henry gasp. Once inside, you shut and re-lock the door.

"Ma'am, what's going on?" Henry asks, worried.

Before you can answer, you hear Roman's voice yell "Action Stations!" and an alarm sounds. Bars fall from the doorframe and automatically lock.

"Had Pennywise escaped?" Henry questions, panicked.

You shake your head, "Roman let him out, he thought it was funny and well, you know the house rules."

"Whoever lets it out, puts it back in." Henry states, looking up at you.

Henry Pearl has memorised all the house rules and obeys each one, being one of the best behaving teens. You suddenly remember what you have in your hand. You walk to Henry's side and hand him the bag. He opens the bag and looks inside, his eye suddenly lighting up with excitement.

"New paints!" Henry cheers, "Oh, thank you, ma'am."

Henry hugs you, now beaming with excitement. With all the chaos that's happened today, it was nice to have something good happen.

Chapter Four

You and the teens were locked in their rooms for 20 minutes. You were starting to become a little worried, when finally the alarm sounded again. The bars unlocked and reascended back into the doorframe. You open the door and rush back downstairs. Roman was standing by the switch (What sets of the alarms and locks the house down), his hair all messed up and his face covered in grazes.

"He's back in the cage." Roman panted, out of breath.

"Good." You say, feeling relieved.

"I guess I'm grounded." Roman sighs.

You shake your head, "You've served your penalty, Roman. No more punishment is needed, as long as you've learned your lesson."

Roman nods, looking very guilty. You look at your watch and realise it is getting late.

"Hey, Godfrey, grab me my phone please." You ask, "I'm ordering pizza for tonight."

Roman smiles and walks off, he returns a few seconds later with your phone. You dial the number of the local pizza place. You order an array of pizza flavours, all the teens liking different flavours. After 10 minutes, a knock came from the front door. You open it, to see the young pizza delivery man, carry a stack of pizzas.

“Thank you, darling.” You say, paying the man and taking the pizzas.

You shut the door with your foot and walk into the dining room. You gently place the pizzas down on the table, you take your favourite flavour and take it into the kitchen. You hide it in the fridge, just to be sure you get something to eat. You ordered two of your favourite flavour, so the teens would have some too. You rush back to the dining room. open the pizzas and arrange them on the table, along with plates, napkins and drinks.

“Boys!” You call, “Pizza’s here!”

The teens jump up from the couch and walk into the dining room. Since it was nighttime now, Pearl has joined the teens. They all came parading into the dining room, their eyes lighting up at the sight of the pizzas.

“Now, no fighting for the pizzas, boys.” You say, “Enjoy.”

You stand in the kitchen, watching over the teens. It was nice to see all the teens getting along, after such a day of chaos.

[binancebestsupport]

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[quixotin]

I wrote this post back when Guiltrip came out but I'm reblogging again because I feel it's very fitting to the current meta zeitgeist :)

That being said, I have more thoughts under the cut because this post is already long as it is. This time we're talking about Adrien's quest for agency and the fact he's already on the way to achieve it:

'No therapy? Fine. I'll do it myself binch,' Adrien said.

I know this season's apple of our eye when it comes to analysing has been Adrien and what in the heck will happen to him.

Based on the developments of Sole Crusher, Queen Banana, and Optygami, there's a lot more cloth to cut from and I just wanna point out that for as painful as it is to see Adrien feel like he's being left out, like his worst dreams are coming to life, it's very much necessary and in line with the hints we already had throughout earlier episodes.

Particularly, I think that the appearance of Zoé and the (partial?) end of his friendship with Chloé is, to an extent, even more relevant than those 5 seconds of sucker punch angst at the end of Optygami.

Why? Well, because Adrien's greatest fear is to be alone. We've been knew. Nothing surprising about that. Painful af? For sure, but we knew this would happen the second Marinette trusted in Alya. And trust and believe, it's going to get much worse. But as I said in the first part of this meta, it's also going to get better. And we're already getting hints it is.

Bear in mind the fact that the boy who is feeling shoved to the side by his best friend is also the same boy who followed through on his warning to Chloe. I feel like we glossed over this too quickly:

Adrien set a boundary with someone he considered not only a friend, but his OLDEST friend. He has cut off the person he refused to throw under the bus because she was his only friend.

This is HUGE character development, guys. This is the boy that is terrified to the bone of being unnecessary, irrelevant, and alone, denying the affection of someone he considered a friend because he recognizes he cannot be friends with someone like that. Are you kidding me?! Adrien, you're doing not good, not great, YOU'RE DOING SPECTACULAR, SWEETIE.

This is the sort of boundary-setting he needs to exercise not only with Chloe but with his father, and yes, later on, with Ladybug.

Then there's the fact of Zoé, who I wholeheartedly believe is there to set an example not only to Chloé as it was implied by Tikki at the end of Queen Banana, but to Adrien as well.

As I mentioned in this post, the parallels between Zoé and Adrien are almost freaky. Zoé has a lot in common with Adrien. From the family context, to their social status, to the psychological issues they are dealing with. The only difference is that, thanks to Marinette's support, Zoé was able to be vulnerable and share her issues. And what did I say in the last paragraph of the first meta?

I am also completely convinced that once the Jenga tower of angst falls, he will be able to rise above it if he can bring himself to show this vulnerability to his friends. As we saw, the Miracuclass is a band of cuties who really go out of their way to support their friends, with Marinette leading the hoard of positivity, no less.

I mean, call it a coincidence but I'm really quite convinced that Zoé's finding immediate support in Marinette and the Miracuclass being the new kid will reassure Adrien to do the same. Especially if he finds himself in a context where he feels he cannot rely on his only support network (which is really more of a thread when you think about it lol) anymore.

We like to say Adrien's completely alone, but the extent of his loneliness depends on whether he can learn to speak out and make himself vulnerable. After all, none of his sidelining (which, bear in mind has only 'officially' happened in two eps) is intentional, and we know for a fact that Marinette and the class would absolutely jump head first to catch him if they saw how much he's struggling.

In a context like that, I can totally see why Adrien is continuously overlooked in the visual narrative:

Because his self love journey is about learning to make himself be seen. And what better way to emphasize on him learning to do that than by not only telling us, but showing us.

Somebody take this child to therapy challenge :D

Let's discuss Adrien Agreste's character development in S4, shall we?

Yes, it's time for meta. Sad meta (don't worry, I'll try to behave myself). Heads up, this post is a bit of a thicc boi.

So, where to begin. I think it's difficult to really put Adrien and Chat Noir's appearances in Guiltrip in context because it is clear a lot has happened between ep 3 and 11 regarding Adrinette and their individual arcs. The fact that Adrien has appeared literally in only one other episode does not help, but at the risk of being corrected by the episodes to follow: I think this is intentional.

See, one of the main takeaways from GoS in the Fandom Consensus was that there is now a ridge between Ladybug and Chat Noir, one that is bound to challenge the blind trust they have in one another. One of my favorite takes is that this will really help Adrien change his perspective on Ladybug, helping him to move on and realize his feelings for Marinette. But as we saw on Guiltrip:

This is already happening. Those are his love bubbles, not Marinette's.

This leads me to believe Adrien will begin to realize his feelings for Marinette in spite of how he finds emotional support in Ladybug.

Which brings me to the second point: The theme of balance and reflection. It has been established that Adrien and Marinette act as balancing opposites to each other. It's in their symbolisms, in their story arcs, in their design. And most recently, as established by Truth and Lies: what happens to one, happens to the other.

This is to say, I am completely convinced we will get a similar situation where Adrien finally caves into his pressures the same way Marinette was doing in GoS, leading him to take radical action to change his situation, just like Marinette did. Now what might trigger the fall of that particularly unstable emotional Jenga tower is still up for debate, but based on the crumbs we've gotten so far, and the fact there is a literal episode called Gabriel Agreste, I have my guesses.

First, as I said, I feel that they're holding out on Adrien's appearances because his arc will be critical in the second part of the season, leading up to the season finale. I personally believe the Ladynoir Conflict TM and the Sadrien Angstreste arc will culminate this season, but don't quote me on that, that is just my opinion.

Second, his appearances have been very deliberate so far. They serve a clear purpose: To communicate that his feelings towards Marinette are changing. To show that he's starting to consider his situation and becoming aware of his inner turmoil (as per Lies).

Third, Chat Noir's dialogues are also very intentional. Our knowledge of his perspective has been nothing but expanding since the season started:

In Truth we learn that he thought Ladybug didn't like his jokes at all and is pleasantly corrected. In Lies he explains why Ladybug and him are able to trust each other (pointedly, we also find out that he's actually lying to LB about not being upset when she misses patrols). In GoS, he acknowledges Ladybug's struggles and tries to tell her he can relate, that she can confide in him because he understands (and is left hanging :'D). In Furious Fu, we learn he won't trust authority just for the sake of it (hinting maybe at the fact that he'll start rebelling against Gabriel soon). And now in Guiltrip:

The thing that made him spiral was the fact Nino is worried that he can't help Adrien defend himself against his father.

This is really important because it has nothing to do with Ladybug. This is him acknowledging his problems with his father and feeling guilty for making others worry about him, which then translates into him voicing his insecurities about being incompetent as Chat Noir.

Little by little, hidden among Mari's own problems, the fluff of the Miracuclass, and the lighthearted tone of the show, they've been leaving hint after hint after hint that Adrien's arc is progressing towards a culmination where this other side of him, this painfully vulnerable side, will not only come to light, but will be put under a test of fire (most likely at the hands of the Ladynoir Conflict).

Is it going to hurt? Oh yeah.

But is there hope? Also, a big yeah.

Adrien is slowly beginning to show his more spontaneous side, his 'clown side', if you will. As we saw in this ep, my boy did not only (finally!) tell Marinette what he thinks of her rambling, but we also got this gem:

See, for someone who loves torturing people with angst, one of my favorite things about Adrien is his ability to be a beacon of resilience in spite of his struggles. To me, his ability to be kind, caring, and optimistic despite his own pain is one of the most beautiful things about this boy. Granted, he's kind and caring to others, but I am also completely convinced that once the Jenga tower of angst falls, he will be able to rise above it if he can bring himself to show this vulnerability to his friends. As we saw, the Miracuclass is a band of cuties who really go out of their way to support their friends, with Marinette leading the hoard of positivity, no less. With how Adrinette is developing, and learning what we learned about the Miracuclass and Nino in Guiltrip, when Adrien inevitably falls it will be but a stumble because Marinette, Nino, et al. will be there to catch him.

The end.

See? I told you I'd keep the angst in check.