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🧅 (Grendiaper thoughts)

Zoé's family is obviously not the best, and getting worse by the minute. Most interestingly, we know from past episodes that she's not afraid to adopt some of their behaviours to ensure her own safety and comfort in an otherwise toxic environment (Sole Crusher), or be of assistance to her friends (Gabriel Agreste).

We also know that she was bullied back in NYC (possibly over being queer?), but that it's likely not the full story! Her reaction to Ray's threats is that of someone who feels truly guilty over something...

It's therefore not a stretch to deduce that Zoé likely engaged in bullying herself back in her old school. She's since renounced her old ways, but is very well-placed (from her interactions with Sabrina in Daddycop) to know that people don't forgive past faults easily, and therefore does not want her friends finding out. Paris is meant to be a brand new start after all, for her and for the rest of the world!

Exceeept things aren't going as planned: even in this utopian city, horrible jerks are still running rampant. People like Ray and co, who've been harassing her friends. People like the cinema thugs, hurting the closest thing she's ever had to a decent parent. People who exhibit, or turn a blind eye to, ableist behaviour. RUDE ASS TEENAGERS PLAYING TIKTOKS AT FULL VOLUME ON PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION.

But what can she do? As a civilian, Zoé has very little power — especially at school, where her past might get exposed in retaliation. As a superheroine, she's bound by ✨ morals ✨ and ✨ her loyalty to Ladybug ✨. This must have been eating her alive for a long long looong time for her to finally turn into an Argos lookalike...

But that's good, right? She gets to make a difference preemptively, by scaring the shit out of those bullies before they can hurt anyone else — the way she wishes someone had stopped her, no doubt. Not only is “Fury” atoning for what she did back in NYC, she is symbolically also punishing herself! Hurray for vigilante justice!!!

Except not hurray. Because her actions end up being humiliating:

Or frightening:

Or even straight-up dangerous:

Zoé was the exception in her family because she tried so hard; but now she is trying too hard, to the point she is turning (back) into the very thing she swore to destroy. She chose violence and negative character development and you know what? IT MAKES SO MUCH SENSE. I LOVE THIS FOR HER. I hope she gets to have a cathartic little fight against/come-to-Gimmi talk with Argos, but I am SO excited to see where this arc is taking us either way. CALL HER AN ONION THE WAY SHE'S GOT LAYERS AND MAKES ME CRY.