FROM SCRIPT TO SCREEN ↳ RICKY & GINA In High School Musical: The Musical: The Series — 3x08: Let

One of the things I love most about Lockwood is that he is the textbook example of the "one who is scared to love" but instead of being extremely cold and callous all the time like your normal tragic backstory male mc, he can't stop himself from loving.

The thing is, we know he tries. (See THB). He tries to keep everyone at a distance, tries to be cold and calculating, but he can't do it. He wants to be Sherlock Holmes, highly functioning sociopath, but he can't do it.

And it shows up in the smallest ways: how immediately understanding he is of Lucy when she doesn't want to explain what happened at Jacobs' even though he is interviewing her for a job. How he stood up for the bratty nightwatch kid when Ned was bullying him, simply because he didn't like watching someone smaller get picked on. Or when he mercifully changed the bet with Kipps, because at the end of the day it was a petty bet to begin with, and they had just been through so much together, and honestly it didn't matter anymore. There was no reason to humilate anyone. How he will always protect another agent, even if they are Fittes. Heck, he even stands up for the Fittes' agents, saying "they're just kids like us." It's the adults he has beef with.

Lucy mentions that any news of a death by ghost-touch weighs on Lockwood. He is incredibly patient with Danny Skinner and perturbed that a kid this young is in his living room alone.

All three of them think of Lucy as the one with the bleeding heart. She's a Listener, a feeler, the one who is most affected by the past suffering of the ghosts. But that's for the dead.

Lockwood is a bleeding heart for the living. He tries not to be. He hates it. Because caring means risking hurt. Caring means you can lose what you care about. But for as hard as he tries to pretend he doesn't, for as good as he is at acting like nothing can phase him, it does.

Lockwood is scared of loving. But he can't stop.

Ladybug + transformations in S2

Peyton Meyer confirming in 2022 that they filmed a lucaya kiss in gm Texas but Disney cut it I AM NOT FUCKING WELL DISNEY RUINED MY LIFE !

you know sometimes I listen to the jatp soundtrack and I'm okay. like yeah I will forever be bitter but at least I can rewatch s1 and listen to the soundtrack whenever I want and I still love to jam out to it

BUT THEN

the grief and anger crawl back up with a vengeance and I get PISSED that we didn't get more seasons which meant also no more music and I get filled with a fiery rage at Netflix all over again

reggie’s “stand taALLLLLLLL” followed by julie’s “stand talllll” and then luke and alex’s “stand tall” rb if you agree

i just adore the concept of a romance with a ghost. falling in love with a person who’s barely a person at all. the inherent tragedy of it. something both impermanent and immortal. u know it’s sure to be a doomed dalliance, but you love this dead thing anyway

Been burnt too many times (has their favorite shows cancelled by netflix)

tom after chat turns marinette down

After watching Glaciator 2.0, we ought to revisit Hack-San, Rocketear, and Wishmaker after getting more context from this episode, because I really wanna talk about Adrien and Chat Noir's characterizations as of late. Take a look at the scene from Hack-San as an example:

While there have been instances, such as in Oblivio and Troublemaker, where Adrien occasionally displays Chat Noir's mischief and playfulness, you don't usually see Adrien act out or be petty about anything. I don't know about anyone else, but I don't recall Adrien ever "acting out" like this in his civilian form in previous episodes. For the most part, this is the first time Adrien has shown any kind of emotional outburst (or immaturity, I guess?) in his civilian form. Adrien is usually portrayed as being"perfect" because he has to uphold his father's brand. Most of Adrien's emotional range is expressed through Chat Noir because Chat Noir is Adrien's emotional outlet.

We don't typically see Adrien act like this unless he's Chat Noir. Because of this, I have always found it a bit challenging to see Adrien and Chat Noir as the same person. At first, I thought that the writers couldn't make up their minds with his characterization, but now, especially after seeing Wishmaker, I think this disconnect between Adrien and Chat Noir was an intentional writing choice.

It's so easy for the audience to see Adrien and Chat Noir as two separate characters because, in a way, they are. That's certainly how Adrien views himself; he's either this teenage heartthrob who's constantly on his best behaviour, or he's the goofy and mischievous Chat Noir. These two personality traits are seemingly at odds with each other, and yet Adrien somehow embodies them both. This contrast was made especially clear in the art room scene in Lies:

"There. This is really you."

"Do you really think?"

"Yes. You're... perfect."

This scene honestly told us so much more about Adrien than I think most of us realize. A lot of people have analyzed this scene and said that Kagami is able to see Adrien for who he really is, but I don't think that's the case at all. Look at his reaction. If Adrien had a strong sense of self in the first place, then this interaction between him and Kagami wouldn't be like this at all. Adrien would be happy, or at the very least flattered, that someone actually understood him and wanted to get to know the real him. Yet, look at Adrien's face; he's not scared or put off, but he's definitely not happy nor relieved. He's unsure. He's confused. He doesn't connect with Kagami because he doesn't understand what Kagami means. Kagami only sees what she thinks is Adrien's true self, but even Adrien has no clue what that even is.

This season, Adrien is starting to push back against his father, as we saw in Mega Leech, and that line between Adrien and Chat Noir is slowly starting to blur. This "perfect" facade that Adrien has to perform all the time is starting to dissipate. His flaws are starting to show as he's being put in situations where he has to assert himself.

Now, before he can do all of that, Adrien is going to have to come to terms with that the fact that Ladybug isn't interested in Chat Noir, and that the idea of them being together is completely off the table.

Some people might look at this and say "well, yeah, it's about time. Adrien needs to learn about boundaries and stop projecting this fantasy onto Ladybug." That's true, yes, but a lot of people forget just how isolated Adrien is and just how desperate he is for some kind of deep emotional connection. Remember this scene in Glaciator?

"Perhaps Ladybug will love me someday. I mean, like I love her. I have to believe. In the meantime, her friendship is the best gift of all."

Most of us overlooked this scene, but this was a crucial piece of characterization for Adrien, not to mention foreshadowing for Glaciator 2.0.

Of course, Adrien values Ladybug's friendship, but he always had this hope that she was going to fall for him eventually. Whenever horrible things went on in his life, he always turned to Laybug to make him feel better. Even after defeating the akuma in Lies, despite being on rocky terms with Kagami, he doesn't seem as bothered by it because Ladybug was still practically living in his head rent-free.

This is a heavy contrast to the way Marinette felt about her breakup with Luka, which left her devasted.

In Adrien's case, he's not just clinging onto this romantic fantasy, he's become dependent on it for his emotional well-being, so much to the point where it clouds his better judgement. Now he's experiencing emotional whiplash after being faced with the fact that his fantasy won't ever become a reality. He can't depend on this fantasy anymore, because now he has to face all of the loneliness and lack of control he has in his life and realize that he's the only one that can change it.

This is the catalyst for Adrien's character development, and it's going to be intense.

I just don't think I can handle seeing Anne and Gilbert interact. I will literally die but like ok I guess