#adrien never went to school

[justhereforkeefe]

Still working through the Big Bang story’s…

For @chocoluckchipz's wonderful Perfectly Human ch.6 ♥️ I love,,, them and this chapter why are they ;_; <3

[mysticraven20]

The Situationship

The Situationship - Masterpost

What if ‘the one’ split into two…? Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Lady Luck herself, has finally fallen on her feet after years of playing catch-up. Her boss, Mary Humphries of The House of Humphries, has invited her to be first assistant at an important meeting in London with none other than Gabriel Agreste. But with bad luck seemingly always knocking on her door, she needs to make sure she doesn’t ruin this opportunity — which is easier said than done. When she mistakes handsome, geeky looking Adrien Agreste as Gabriel’s personal assistant, suddenly she seems to have magicked up some luck. They could not be more different in personality, yet after surviving a rather interesting Akuma together, a strange and exciting friendship forms… It’s just a shame one person doesn’t agree. Someone who happens to be his ‘other half’.

Read on AO3 Here

Illustrated by @peonyfanart

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36

[nixthelapin]

What if Adrien never went to school?

I love those “what if” fics where Adrien never went to public school (then LB and CN become a couple bc Marinette doesn’t have Adrien to crush on). I like seeing a slightly different dynamic to the show’s main couple (plus seeing how no love square changes things). There are a lot of variations I could obsess over, but I’ll spare the text space.

Because one thing that doesn’t usually get discussed (not saying never, I haven’t read every single fic in this category), at least in depth, is how much Adrien going to public school in Origins actually affects the plot. Not just the love square, but the actual plot of the show.

There are, of course, single episode stories that wouldn’t happen- The Bubbler, possibly Timetagger, Rogercop, and Gamer, just to name a few that he was directly involved in from season 1 (not even including ones he indirectly influenced because of Marinette or some other classmate).

But then we get to the end of s1: Volpina. Adrien finds the Guardian book at home while getting ready for school, then brings it with him, where Lila and Marinette both see it. Lila uses that as inspiration to pretend to be a superhero’s descendant (*more on her later). Then Tikki has Marinette take the book, causing her to officially meet Master Fu! Without Adrien going to public school, she would only have met Fu as some mystery healer when Tikki got sick in Princess Fragrance. That’s major! (And I wonder if Adrien would’ve even found the book in the first place since he wouldn’t have had school to get ready for- he’d just be home). That’s the start of the whole Guardian Marinette plot line right there! And the catalyst for a lot of events in future seasons: the power ups, the other heroes, Natalie getting desperate and using the peacock miraculous, which would then remove Félix’s part in the plot (beyond wanting a family heirloom for his mom). And probably so much more!!

There could be some reason down the line for Marinette (or both her and Adrien) to meet Fu, but Tikki has only done it when the situation is serious (sickness and a lead on Hawkmoth’s identity), so there would have to be something else to be serious enough to actually go to him.

[*And a small aside about Lila: her crush on Adrien (or on his fame) is a major part of Marinette’s hatred for Lila. Yeah, she’d still hate her lies, like being friends with LB, but it wouldn’t be all mixed up in her feelings for Adrien, nothing for her friends to brush her frustrations on as an excuse- “you’re just saying that because of your feelings for Adrien.” So Lila would still be a self absorbed liar, but wouldn’t have any avenue to Adrien, and therefore no connection to Gabriel, and not a major player with Hawkmoth. So many layers!]

There are just so many things I could go off on about (I’ve barely touched on how his absence would affect other relationships in the class, like Alya and Nino dating), but thinking out these implications really makes you realize just how much Adrien’s position are school affects how the story goes.

If you guys can think of other major things, or want to expand on anything I’ve said in this quick post (or even if you disagree with anything), I’d love to hear it! It’s a fascinating concept to play with, so I’m all ears!

[sunfoxfic]

Obsessed with the idea of Jagged Stone being in the rich adults club in Paris and as soon as he and Luka start to grow closer as father and son, Luka starts getting invited to the rich kid club in Paris. I think it would be very funny.

[justhereforkeefe]

Another Big Bang story I caught up on and am excited for the next chapter- Mariette is being hunted by Chat Blanc and so is keeping Emma as much a secret as possible, while Adrien dreams of being able to be a cohesive family with ladybug and Emma. Suddenly Shadowmoth returns and seemingly has powered up- I’m so excited to see this story unfold…

A secret I keep tucked inside my chest

Here is chapter 6 of my @mlbigbang story!

In the sun-drenched lounge, adorned with plush sofas and vibrant potted plants, Marinette found a quiet corner to wait. The buzz of post-class conversations filled the air as students lounged around, their laughter echoing off the high ceilings. Her face was buried into her phone as Chat and her sent memes and messages about Emma back and forth to each other. She didn't even care if she had a giddy smile plastered on her face. These were the moments that made all the struggle of the past year worth it. To know that even after it all they still were friends. Not just people who claimed to be in love. Marinette tried to suppress another giggle as she received a text from Chat with a picture of a scrawny cat that had a caption under it that read: This is me withering away without seeing m’lady. You looked so beautiful the last time I saw you, that I forgot my pickup line. She rolled her eyes.

[buggachat]

adrien never went to public school / adrienette have never met AU where Ladynoir are dating but Marinette has beef with Adrien Agreste™ on twitter, spurred by her interest in the fashion industry and her friendship with Mylene. ads are all over the place of Adrien promoting products like air in a bottle and NFTs and just generally so many products that are extremely poor taste/bad for the environment. Marinette tweets about beauty standards in the industry and all the shit Gabriel brand does to the environment and how Adrien Agreste perfectly encapsulates it all.

Adrien, of course, never responds to any of her tweets. her tweets are just white noise in the background. she is nowhere near on his level. one day Marinette tweets out something akin to "if I saw Adrien Agreste irl i'd punch him in the face" and her twitter gets banned for Threats of Violence, Alya draws attention to the injustice of it via the Ladyblog and suddenly "I want to punch Adrien Agreste in the face [gets banned]" becomes a bit of a meme. NOW people know who Marinette is and are listening to what she's saying (on her new account or whatever). Chat Noir also tweets that he wants to punch Adrien in the face

A hashtag trends. Marinette caves and starts tweeting about the scandals of the industry on her Ladybug twitter too. Adrien's twitter and instagram comments are flooded with both threats to punch him but also just generally critical comments like "nice pic and all but are you not going to address the sweatshop allegations?". Adrien still does not address it. At most he turns comments off. Marinette is gnawing at the wood of her desk.

Then a Ladybug and Chat Noir identity reveal happens.

Marinette is stunned. Absolutely mouth agape. Cannot form words. Chat Noi— NO, ADRIEN— ADRIEN FUCKING AGRESTE looks at her and is like "oh ha :) .... Marinette Dupain-Cheng, right? You're the girl who wanted to punch me hahaha"

after recovering from her world being shattered, she's like...... "hahaha...... um............... yeah...... uh..... so you... DO know who i am. and you're just. ignoring it then. hahaha... ok... thats....... fine..... anyway..... u-uh...... im not... gonna actually punch you. but. um. k-kitty do you um. maybe want to stop promoting deforestation and all that"

he's like "I don't"

she's like. "yes you do. literally in your newest ad you said to the camera 'who needs trees when bottled air is the way of the future'. like did you really read that line out loud and not see a problem with it"

"yeah, that wasn't me"

"what are you talking abou—"

"it's deepfaked"

"..... what"

"all of my ads in the past few years are deepfakes. I complained too much so my father fired me. turns out that i signed away all rights to my face and voice to him when I was 13 or something. he can just use my face and voice and name however he wants. he generates ads. i dont even have access to the 'Adrien Agreste' twitter or insta accounts. sometimes he makes me do runways but beyond that I'm not involved in all."

"... ... ... ... ... what"

"yeah haha... :") im sorry. i wish i could help you more. but he never listens to me. i don't like it either, i.... i've asked him to stop sooo many times. but he never listens to me. i hate seeing my face used without my consent but haha.... i don't... have any rights here so. sorry. i really wish i could help more"

and now marinette hates "Adrien Agreste"™ ads/posts EVEN MORE and is threatening to kill Gabriel Agreste himself. all while kissing the real adrien agreste silly

[zodoods]

hi everyone nic mostmagical has the biggest brain I’ve ever seen and she came up with this Adrien never went to public school au and so marinette has no idea who he is au and it’s so good I had to draw it

she’s so distracted by adrien she doesn’t realize everyone is watching them pt 1

marinette is kind of oblivious pt 2

[zoe-oneesama]

Is Emilie's character just a joke to you, or do you just dislike kind/gentle/loving/motherly characters (like the rest of the internet)? I mean, you purposely went out of your way to portray Bustier as a terrible person and didn't even try to give her character growth. You know, actually have her BECOME a good teacher. This just makes all the Miraculous conflict over Emilie's fate (and Adrien's sadness) feel bitterly ironic, like "what was it all for" or "all of this madness, for THIS woman"?

As a matter of fact, Emilie IS a joke to me! (Literally, I'm taking shots at a character I made up and who does not exist in canon so I don't know what's got your panties in a twist) And so is Bustier! They are total jokes because it is a total farce that the show tried to portray either of these women as infallible beacons of good, motherly, perfection.

Yeah, Bustier is gentle and kind and condescending and plays favorites and ignores conflict until she literally can't. Emilie...I mean, we don't know Emilie. YOU don't know Emilie. The show does not show us Emilie. According to biased sources she was "kind/gentle/loving/motherly", but that's not supported by her actions.

How can Emilie be "motherly" AND Adrien's never had a real birthday gift? How can she be "kind" AND Adrien's only been allowed to be friend's with Chloe? How can she be "loving" AND Adrien's been trapped inside his house when he WANTS to go to school with everyone else?

As for why Bustier didn't get character growth in Scarlet Lady, it's because I didn't want to? You know, some of us HAD the "nice" teacher who actually wasn't all that great, and we just had to kinda live with it until we graduated and moved on. I'm not making time for them in my spite fic about fictional characters.

Look, it's nice you want to buy what that show is trying to sell you. If you want to believe that Bustier and Emilie are nice and wonderful and nurturing just because the characters all say that they are, be my guest. No one is stopping you. Canon is here for you.

But I'm not buying.

And in case you forgot, kind/gentle/loving/motherly people are allowed to be more than just that. They're allowed to be multi-faceted and have goals and interests outside of Being a Mom. Because moms are people to.

[justhereforkeefe]

Catching up on some Big Bang stories after reading a few longer ones I was working through. Mystic Raven’s The Situationship is low angst, high hilarity- I’m enjoying it very much. The art work is gorgeous.

Joined At The Hip, Yeah, Your Sidekick Needs You🐾🌹

New Chapter of "The Situationship" with the unexpected plot twist written by amazing @mysticraven20 is now on Ao3 and Wattpad😻

For @mlbigbang event❤

[justhereforkeefe]

I go back and forth on posting stories that are not finished here. This tumblr is mostly for my benefit- to easily find a story I read and want to check out again- but also because I appreciate recommendations.

And I highly recommend this story, finished or not. I don’t know how I missed it! I’m only in chapter 6, but it’s a Mystic story, so it can only go amazing places. I mean, check out those tropes in the tags! :)

Prologue’s a tear jerker, then we escape the pain- though I literally woke up thinking about Alumatized Marinette and her universe.

[servicpop]

CAN SOMEONE BE MY ADRIEN RN 😭 !! Anyways, what if Adrien asked Y/N to their prom?! isn't that the cutest thing?! is up to you if you gonna make it nsfw! I REALLY NEED HIM !! 🥲 AHHHH (love your page! so glad I found it 🫶🏻)

had so little time cus of work so let me write up something quick !

NSFW ; fingering & overstim

"Who are you taking out to prom, Adrien?" It was a question Adrien never really thought about. The obvious answer was... you, so he had completely forgotten the fact that you two weren't exclusive, or public yet. "Dunno, might just skip it," Adrien shrugged, pushing himself off the cobble pavement and brushed off the dirt from his clothes. The guys just laughed, nudging him with their elbows and patting him on the back, typical Adrien, they all remarked. Now came the complicated part, actually asking you out and playing it off so you won't get found out.

He decided a few weeks before prom day to ask you out. It was a Saturday evening, you were in your room filling out some paperwork for the school. It was crazy how much of a burden the school dumped onto you just because you were the student president. Your phone buzzed on your table, causing you to flinch from the unexpected notification from Adrien.

Look outside ur window I got a surprise for u

It has become normal for Adrien to sneak in through your window. You didn't know how your parents would react to seeing someone like Adrien, and you sure didn't want to risk it so you never actually asked them if Adrien could come in. The chair creaked as it rolled, allowing you to get up and walk to your window. You peered through the glass to look down at your yard, seeing Adrien standing on the grass with flowers in his hand and a large cardboard cut out with poorly drawn glittery words that were practically ineligible from his handwriting. You could tell he used glue and threw glitter on it from the way the letters drooped and melted.

You turned away from the window and went back to work.

You had barely gotten back on your chair until you heard your window slam open and Adrien jump in. How did he get into your room on the 2nd floor? Who knows. A few petals scattered onto your floor and Adrien dropped the cardboard cutout onto the floor, striding to where you were standing. "I'm not leaving until I hear a yes," Adrien grinned, placing the bruised flowers onto your desk and wrapping his arms around your waist, hoisting you up into the air and placing you back down onto your bed.

You don't know how long he's been at it. He has you laying ontop of him, back to his chest and three fingers slowly pumping in and out of you. There was already white all over your abdomen from your previous orgasms. His left hand is working on your spent cock, rubbing the tip over and over again. His fingers are sodden with your pre-cum that continued to leak out your slit despite how many times you've cum. "Adrien�� please I can't take anymore," Your whole body screams with pleasure but your mind is so blank you can't even think a full sentence.

"Not stopping till you say yes," Adrien cooed, rubbing circles along your cockhead that sent shivers down your spine. He knew exactly all the spots you're weak in and all the spots that would drive you insane. Your pride wouldn't let you say yes, how could he even attend prom with you without it being a huge give away to their relationship? But now, all you could think of was his calloused hands rubbing so sweetly at all your spots. His fingers squelched as they pushed deeper, pressing against your prostate once more.

"C'mon just tell me you'll go to prom will me, I'll work double shift to buy you a suit if you want—" "I'll go to prom with you." "I'll even rent a car— huh?" Adrien paused, instantly sitting up to look at your face. It took a moment of pause before a toothy smile spread across Adrien's face, "Really?" You barely nod, your body as so spent from Adrien's torture. Adrien slides his fingers out of you, and wraps his arms around your shoulders in a bear hug. He basically tackles you on your own bed, rolling you around with a hearty laugh, "Fuck I really thought you'd reject me," he smiled against your shoulder, pulling you to lay ontop of him again but now both your chests were brushing against eachother.

"Does this mean we're dating—" "No."

[chocostrwberry]

A new friend…?

ChocoAU relationship info below!!

This is for @comedic-slut because of your ask and I said I WOULD make a post about it so HERE U GO!! 🥹🫶 THIS ONES FOR YOU BB /p

Adrien as we all know was raised completely isolated. He didn’t know anyone else at school except Chloe, who introduced him to her friends, and one of them wasn’t Nino ahasjhdhd. So he was kind of trapped in this social bubble, despite really wanting to branch out and make more friends, like he had initially hoped. Chloe wouldn’t let him talk to anyone else either (warning him that they were “losers”).

Nino was Alya’s childhood best friend, so they hung out all the time. It was always just, him and Alya and then Marinette. He didn’t want or feel the need to even try to talk to Adrien, since he was cousins with the girl who bullied Marinette and Kim kind of bullied him as well, so The Empire was the group to stay away from. He also was friends with Ivan and Max (they played video games sometimes), so Adrien was just. Never an option for him.

The only reason why he went to even talk to Adrien was because after Chloe and Adrien had a mysterious fight that caused Adrien to be essentially “kicked out” of their friend group, Alya wanted to know why for the drama. The class talked to Kim first, but he said only Sabrina knew, and everyone was aware she would never spill. So, they sent in Nino as the sacrifice to ask Adrien and find out.

Nino invited Adrien out to eat pizza for lunch (since Adrien always went off-campus to eat after the fight), and they got to know each other. Adrien really liked Nino’s bluntness, and he felt like Nino treated him like any other person. But since he had ulterior motives, Nino felt bad for only hanging out with Adrien for information on his personal life. So after the hangout, Nino tells Alya what she wants to know, but still decides to eat out with Adrien, even though Alya points out he can’t afford to do it.

Chloe, still hurt from their fight, finds out about Adrien potentially making a new friend. So, acting in anger and selfishness, she commands her driver to over Nino’s bike. His bike was his only ride to school and to do his job as a delivery boy. (He’s attending the school on a scholarship, so his parents aren’t as wealthy as most of his friends.) Nino immediately stopped talking to Adrien after that, and Adrien got pissed that Chloe would do something like that to scare away his first friend.

Adrien stands up for Nino, he argues/talks with Chloe about her emotions, and she ends up buying him a moped as an apology!

Afterwards, they continue to hang out and develop their friendship!! :D

[tumble-witch]

Bread Girl AU

Adrien Agreste is tasked with finding Chloé Bourgeois somewhere in the protest. Gosh, with so much people that will be hard!

Lore and other stuff under the cut!

Chloé Bourgeois is a regular at political meetings and protests. At some point most teenagers will try to oppose their parents. Well, when your dad is the Mayor of Paris you might never grow out of that phase. Chloe went to public school and looking at her peers realised just how cruel and unjust some policies are on them and their parents. Daddy wanted his daughter to try out politics? She'll show them politics.

Aaand that's the swap I've decided to go with. Oh, I wonder how Luka can possibly initiate the gum incident! Guess we'll find out soon

[mysticraven20]

I’m excited to announce that this year I have once again taken part in the @mlbigbang

‘The Situationship’ will begin releasing on Friday 5th January (my birthday 🥳) as a special celebration. Then chapters will follow on a Sunday.

This year I have been paired up with the incredibly talented @peonyfanart and Miraculouslyshellie and I cannot wait to share the artwork for the fic! I am completely overwhelmed by what I’ve seen so far and I cannot thank you both enough for choosing this fic to work on 💗

Also, a huge thank you to my beta @uptoolateart for being magnificent and such a wonderful support, and also Lorena for reading through for inconsistencies in the story line.

Be prepared for 32 chapters of shenanigans, chaos and fun — with a twist

The Situationship

Synopsis: What if ‘the one’ split into two…?

Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Lady Luck herself, has finally fallen on her feet after years of playing catch-up. Her boss, Mary Humphries of The House of Humphries, has invited her to be first assistant at an important meeting in London with none other than Gabriel.

But with bad luck seemingly always knocking on her door, she needs to make sure she doesn’t ruin this opportunity — which is easier said than done.

When she mistakes handsome, geeky looking Adrien Agreste as Gabriel’s personal assistant, suddenly she seems to have magicked up some luck.

They could not be more different in personality, yet after surviving a rather interesting Akuma together, a strange and exciting friendship begins… It’s just a shame one person doesn’t agree.

Someone who happens to be his ‘other half’.

Except:

Absent-mindedly, she reached out and grabbed her Chat Noir plushy, holding it tightly against her chest and feeling the bubbling emotion edge to break free. She didn’t want to leave him, not when she’d just figured it all out, when she’d figured out what she wanted them to be. It wasn’t just Paris she was unwilling to let go of — it was her partner too.

They’d been dating for just over three months, and what a blissful three months they’d had! But now it was all prematurely ending. They’d known this would happen. They’d known when they decided to give it a try that there was an expiration date looming over them. Both understood that their lives were about to take drastic changes in direction – but they’d decided to do it anyway, to finally give in to their overwhelming feelings — even if it had a short shelf life.

And now, the inevitable was happening and she hated it. More than anyone could ever imagine.

Alya stood from her position, making her way around the back of Marinette and wrapping her arms around her neck, her chin perched protectively on her shoulder. “I’m sorry,” she whispered.

Marinette nodded in response, aware the bubbling had finally broken free, spilling over and making a great escape down her cheeks. Alya knew the heartbreak she experienced every time she thought of leaving her partner. It felt like a divorce. Like a bereavement.

Every time Marinette thought of saying goodbye to her partner it was as though her heart had been ripped out. Nothing more than a confetti of complicated and complex emotions.

“I just… I…” She broke down, tears falling as she buried her face in her hands and grieved the loss of the most important thing in her life.

The sobs continued late into the darkness of night, as she and Chat Noir said their final goodbyes. Their hands were joined tightly together as they sat under the moonlight.

They were spending their last remaining hours together on their rooftop — exactly where they should be, spending hours talking into the darkness of night, reminiscing and conversing about nothing and everything – Chat Noir being his usual fun self even through the heartache he easily displayed on his sleeve. He was an open book to her, an encyclopaedia of all that was good and sweet in this world. No one would ever come close to him, and she understood that. No one was Chat Noir.

“You’re my true love,” he said. “And, as in the fairytales, true love will always prevail — because it's strong, and we’re strong. Stronger together.”

Marinette didn’t know where he was going, or what he was doing, but the pain of having to say a final farewell hurt more than anything she had done before, both giving in to one more night of passion before reluctantly leaving in the early hours of the morning.

Later that day, he left Paris.

Three weeks later, she did too.

[binniesunderworld]

How Gabriel Agreste Destroyed Adrien's Life: A 3 a.m. Analysis

From: ‘I enrolled in a school without my father's permission, I ran away from home to attend the first day of school and although I don't want my father to be angry with me, I'm not afraid of a punishment either because I KNOW there won't be one’.

To: ‘My girlfriend is alone with my father, with no one to protect her, completely defenceless. I NEED TO SAVE HER’.

One knows that his father is a good person who, no matter how angry he is, would never hurt him. The other doesn't, it's the opposite, he is no longer sure of anything, he fears for the safety of those he loves and is so terrified that he is about to have a panic attack.

But how did we get from the first to the second?

How Gabriel Agreste's abuse managed to completely change his son in a matter of days

People don't remember this because it happened a long time ago and has not been repeated, but Adrien used to be a NORMAL person, not as perfect as he is now. While he has always been kind and polite, there were also times when he allowed himself to be a bit hostile and not as perfect as we are used to seeing him (as Adrien, not as Chat Noir). Usually that ‘good boy’ facade was only used in front of his father and Nathalie, but in front of his friends he behaved like a normal teenager, even becoming a bit teasing, self-centred and rebellious. "The Bubbler", "Animan", "Kung Food" and "Evillustrator" being the clearest examples of these behaviours, in particular towards Nino, Chloé and Marinette.

In S1 it becomes clear that the only conflict Adrien has with his father is the fact that he does not give him as much freedom as Adrien would like. Apart from this, Adrien has no other problems with him and considers him to be a good father. There are several of Adrien's behaviours that suggest that Gabriel's overprotectiveness towards him was the only thing wrong with him, but that otherwise Gabriel was excellent. It is time for us to look at that.

1. Origins

Adrien literally enrolled in a school without his father's permission and when his father refused to approve Adrien's attendance, he ran away from home and went running to school. When Nathalie tries to convince him to come back Adrien simply says ‘this is what I want’ and turns around to continue up the stairs, not caring if she has anything else to say. He hears that someone needs help and immediately goes to their aid, and as soon as he finishes doing that he turns to Nathalie and the bodyguard with a charming smile expecting to see their proud faces, and when instead he sees that they are still angry he is immediately horrified and gives up.

This tells us a lot about Adrien: he is a spoilt child who has never been punished in his life, and when things get difficult his first reaction is to be adorable or do a good deed to be forgiven. Adrien intended to leave Nathalie talking to herself, and he wasn't worried about the idea of being punished when he got home from school because he knew it wasn't likely to happen. He then helps someone to ingratiate himself with Nathalie and the bodyguard so that they will stop being angry, and when he realises that it didn't work he is surprised. He is used to people forgiving his disobedience just because he is cute. He immediately gives up and asks Nathalie not to tell Gabriel. While he didn't want his father to be angry with him, he also didn't fear punishment because he knew he wouldn't get it.

Later, at the mansion, Adrien realises that Nathalie did tell Gabriel and he feels betrayed, as if he didn't expect her to do that. Basically, he is not used to people disobeying him. Gabriel again forbids Adrien from going to school but it's nothing he hasn't said before: Gabriel reprimands Adrien's behaviour with words, never with punishment, and there comes a point when words are no longer enough and Adrien is no longer afraid of them, hence he becomes ‘rebellious’. The next day Adrien runs away again and, surprise surprise, he is not punished, in fact he is rewarded. Despite having disobeyed his father again, he is rewarded and allowed to go to school, even Nathalie (whom he treated very badly) offers to help him. This reward is without explanation, just because. I'm not saying Adrien deserved to be locked up for life at home, at the end of the day he's just a teenager who wants to socialise with more people, but it's clear he was a spoilt child whose behaviours both good and bad were praised, just like Chloé and Felix, so if you ever wondered why he was such good friends with them, here's your answer.

2. The Bubbler

Here we get confirmation of how Adrien is a good boy only in front of his father and Nathalie, and how he is himself in front of his friends. At the beginning of the episode he together with Nino makes fun of his father because he does not agree to throw him a birthday party. Then, when Nino is akumatized, he at first refuses to be part of the party because he cares about Nino and wants to save him. Even when he realises that all the adults are trapped in bubbles, he never cares about his father, Nathalie or his bodyguard, only about saving Nino. And then he also gives up on this idea after a little chat with Plagg and says: "Okay, you're right. This might be the first day in my life that I actually get to do what I want for once", and Adrien joins the party without any show of consideration for the adults he knows.

Although all these behaviours were forgotten by the fandom, they are important to understand Adrien's character and how he changed due to his father's abuse. This is the normal behaviour of a teenager with a bit of a grudge: he's not a psychopath who wants something bad to happen to his father, he's a kid who knows that in the end he and his superhero partner will fix everything and he allows himself to have fun in the meantime. But it's something the current Adrien would never do, and there's where the difference lies.

3. Volpina & The Collector

This is the last episode in which we see Adrien acting like a normal teenager. He overhears Gabriel talking on the phone and decides to spy on him, then discovers that he has a safe behind his mother's portrait and out of curiosity goes to investigate. Adrien discovers the book and takes it with him, when he is discovered he quickly makes up a lie. RIP pre-lobotomised Adrien, you will always be missed.

This is the key point in the change of behaviour of both Adrien and Gabriel.

Gabriel confronts Adrien and he immediately gives an explanation in a tone of voice intended to generate sympathy:

—I just wanted to know what you were hiding behind that portrait that was so important.

This doesn't work so he resorts to blaming Gabriel himself:

—You.. you never told me about those things.

And this doesn't work either, so he decides to admit what he did but also looks for a way to justify himself:

—I was intending to give it back to you, I swear. But then I lost it.

Gabriel tells Adrien that he no longer trusts him, and what is Adrien's reaction? He just looks jaded and apologises to Gabriel, in an attitude that makes it clear that he is used to apologising to make things right, that he is not genuinely sorry, and also offers to buy him a new copy, confident that this will be enough for Gabriel to forgive him. This confirms the previous point: Adrien is used to getting out of his punishments just because he looks cute or does a good deed, and this became so repetitive that Adrien already knew how to get out of a punishment, and was not afraid of his father but simply tired of scolding that went nowhere. Again, there is no fear of consequences.

Everything changes completely when Gabriel tells him that this book is unique in the world, that there is no other copy. Apologies didn't work and the other form of redemption, buying him a copy, wasn't possible. Then is when Adrien's face changes completely to horror: he has just understood the magnitude of his mistake. His father punishes him by forbidding him to go back to school and Adrien is heartbroken, but does not try to reason with his father (as he had done, and many times, in past episodes). This is the birth of the Adrien we know now: from a normal boy to a submissive puppet. He knows that there is no way to redeem himself and that is why he decides not to fight, he finally realises that his actions have consequences, serious ones, taking away what is most precious to him: his freedom.

From here on we see a completely changed Adrien, from a rebellious teenager to a perfect doll with no thoughts of his own. Before, he pretended to be perfect only in front of his father, Nathalie and his bodyguard. Now he pretends to be perfect in front of everyone, regardless of whether he knows them or not. The trauma can be clearly seen: Adrien adopts this neat behaviour because he is afraid that his freedom will be taken away if his father finds out that he made another mistake. Now Adrien knows that he CAN be punished. He doesn't even allow himself to breathe in peace because of all the stress and fear he carries. And so it is that Adrien becomes a puppet unable to stop pretending even in front of his own friends: we go from an Adrien who was not afraid to react strangely to Marinette's odd behaviour, who was not afraid to tease Nino about his crush and who was not afraid to put Chloé in her place when the situation warranted it, to an Adrien who could not even keep his back bent for fear that his father would consider it inappropriate.

Gabriel Agreste being a shitty father and exploiting his son's weaknesses to profit from them

Despite being strict with Adrien, there were times when Gabriel let him spend time with his friends and have fun with them. In fact, in S1 there are several of these, most of them to be found there (before all the drama).

In ‘Animan’ he is in the zoo helping Nino with his date with Marinette.

In ‘Gamer’ he is playing video games for the school championship at Marinette's house.

In ‘Kung Food’ he comes to Marinette's house to help her with her uncle and even takes them to the hotel and stays for dinner with them, he spends practically the whole day away from home.

In ‘Horrificator’ he spends many hours filming the movie for the school.

In ‘The puppeteer’ he is going somewhere alone and relaxed.

In ‘Timebreaker’ he is present during the race between Alix and Kim.

As you can see, despite being strict, Gabriel sometimes let his son spend time with his friends. When did this change? After the book incident. After forbidding Adrien to attend school, Gabriel noticed how heartbroken he was and realised that school and his friends were not a whim for Adrien, but something he truly cherished. And Gabriel used these feelings to manipulate Adrien. In S1, before the incident, Adrien is more ‘rebellious’ and still has enough freedom to be with his friends. In S2, after the incident, Adrien behaves much better than in S1 and still doesn't have half as much freedom as before, and when he finally gets his father's permission to be with his friends, something happens at the last minute (Heroes Day Part 2, for example). This is because his father has discovered his Achilles' heel and uses it to benefit himself and manipulate Adrien.

The clearest proof of this is in the difference between ‘Horrificator’, where Gabriel let Adrien spend hours in the school filming the movie, and ‘Queen Banana’, where Gabriel let Adrien go for only a few minutes to the filming and right after he finished his part he literally left in a cage hanging from a helicopter. It is clear the pleasure that man developed in making his son miserable.

And we could talk about ‘Chat Blac’ and ‘Ephemeral’, but I won't touch those topics as they are not part of our timeline. I'll just say that they made it clear how far Gabriel is willing to go (literally traumatise Adrien) in order to get what he wants. What I think, is sick.

Adrien's Stockholm Syndrome: normalisation, justification and romanticisation, and how it makes him vulnerable to unhealthy relationships

1. Gabriel

We have already made it clear that Adrien became an uncritical puppet, and as a result he developed a terrible Stockholm syndrome. Adrien normalised all the manipulation, and by accepting it as something usual this caused him to start justifying it as well. Needless to name the episodes, in many of them there is always someone (usually Nino, Marinette or Plagg) who points out his father's problematic behaviour and Adrien immediately tries to justify it with ‘he does it because he loves me’ or ‘he just wants to protect me’. This shows us a big difference from the Adrien of S1 who was aware of his father's behaviour and even made fun of it, the current Adrien would never do that, on the contrary, he seems to live to justify Gabriel's actions. That's how serious the brainwashing is.

With Gabriel's behaviours now normalised and justified, they in turn begin to be romanticised. Despite being a shitty person, there are moments when Gabriel treats Adrien well: like when he hugs him (something Adrien is not used to), his worried words to Chat Noir about losing Adrien, or when he watches his mother's movie with him. These are all details that if they weren't accompanied by manipulation, anyone could call ‘cute’. And this makes Adrien unaware of the manipulation at first: his own denial and the kind details his father had for him confused his brain. Adrien did not think that his father could be so kind to him if he was a bad person, and that is why Adrien refused to consider him as such. This is a method of self-defence against dangerous situations, the feelings developed by this are not only romantic but any kind of feelings that are enough to make the victim feel safe in dangerous environments.

2. Kagami and Marinette

Let's start with Adrigami. Adrien didn't show a strong interest in Kagami until the chapter ‘Oni-Chan’ where he even rejects Ladybug's fist to make sure Kagami is okay, but what led to this? The romanticisation of obsession and control.

Kagami is simply Adrien's friend, but when she sees a photo of him with another girl, she gets so jealous that she is akumatized and starts chasing this other girl to get her away from Adrien. This is behaviour that is bad as a girlfriend, but even worse as a friend. Adrien doesn't take this seriously and even spends the whole fight making jokes instead of worrying that one of her friends is a jealous girl who is willing to kill for him even if they don't have any kind of commitment. Then, when he sees that Kagami still has the rose he gave her, his behaviour immediately changes and you could say that this is when he starts to feel a real attraction to her, even rejecting Ladybug's fist, whom he had long been in love with.

Here we see how dangerous the romanticisation of problematic behaviour is: Adrien is willing to let go of all the chaos Kagami caused and all her toxic behaviour just because she showed that she really ‘loved him’. And he reciprocates her feelings because he finds it cute that someone is in love with him enough to go crazy. The romanticisation of Gabriel's actions eventually led Adrien to romanticise other people's actions, even going so far as to feel honoured by all the questionable actions these people committed under the justification of loving him.

Something quite similar happens with Adrinette. In S5 Adrien mentions that he started to accept his feelings for Marinette from what happened in ‘The Puppeteer 2’, and there's no way this isn't weird. He had feelings for Marinette long before that, but it was that event that led him to accept them. Marinette literally assaults a ‘statue’ just because it looks like Adrien, starts fantasizing about a life together, steals one of his hair and many other weird things, and what's Adrien's response? To say that he fell in love. He literally saw how far Marinette was capable of going because of her obsession with him, and as much as that behaviour was justified with ‘it was a joke’, instead of caring, what he does is fall in love with her... because of her obsessive and bizarre behaviour towards him.

It is honestly quite disappointing to see how Gabriel's manipulation damaged Adrien to the point of leaving him craving only unhealthy relationships because that was his perception of love.

Both victim and perpetrator

Adrien developed a split personality and a taste for taking advantage of people when he is in situations of power. Gabriel turned Adrien into a victim and a perpetrator, the role depending on the situation. When Adrien is the one at a disadvantage, he displays submissive and manageable behaviour. When he has all the power, he has no problem using it selfishly and taking advantage of others. This was taught by Gabriel, from prudence to ruthlessness, are things Adrien learned from him. And in a way that's how Adrien differs from Chat Noir: the power they possess.

Adrien is always at a disadvantage: his life is in the public eye, everything he does is always monitored by his father or his fans, and if he makes a mistake it is very easy for his father to find out and punish him. This is why Adrien, always powerless, forces himself to act submissively. He does not possess the power in such situations, so he can only act as he is expected to act.

As Chat Noir things are quite different, he always has the power. Chat Noir is a superhero, he watches over Paris but no one watches over him, he has freedom, destructive power, a city that depends on him and a partner who needs him to defeat the supervillains. He has the power. And he uses this power to his advantage.

A clear example of this is his tendency to threaten. Adrien has several times been willing to give up his miraculous and even verbally threaten (in a passive-aggressive way) Ladybug just because it bothers him that she has secrets. All of S2 was Adrien threatening to give up his miraculous if Ladybug didn't tell him her secrets, and this behaviour wasn't like ‘we can't keep hiding things from each other anymore, this isn't healthy for me and if we're not going to be honest it's best to just give up’, no, this behaviour was like ‘if you don't tell me what you're hiding, I'll give this up and you see if you can do it all by yourself or if you find me a replacement’. I understand that he was tired of the situation, but manipulation is never justifiable behaviour. Evidence of this is found in episodes such as ‘Syren’, where Adrien even threatens Plagg with give up his Miraculous if he doesn't tell him what Ladybug is hiding.

Another example is ‘Glaciator’, where he invites Ladybug to a dinner and she makes it clear that she already has plans and is unlikely to go. And yet Adrien is self-illusioned, and when his fantasies are shattered by something Ladybug had already warned him would happen, he simply accuses her of mocking him, throws a tantrum, refuses to help with the akuma, and when Ladybug comes up with a good plan to defeat the villain he guilts her by saying: ‘Sorry, Ladybug, it's not cool to play with people's feelings’ when Ladybug never played with his feelings and in fact realised these only minutes ago.

There are many other episodes like these, too many to list. I guess the most notorious ones are ‘NY Special’ (where he has no problem being unfaithful to Kagami) and ‘Lies’ (where he also has no problem being unfaithful, lying to her, trying to provoke akumatizations and so on). His problematic behaviours are not only as Chat Noir, but also as Adrien when he finds himself in relationships where he has the power. In his courtship with Kagami he knows that she is completely in love with him and uses this to his advantage and does truly horrible things like the ones mentioned above without regard for her feelings because he knows or believes that she won't leave him. Something similar happens with his friendship with Chloé, he knows how much Chloé appreciated him and so every time she committed a bad deed he threatened to end their friendship. It's not wrong to want your friend to stop being a shitty person, and it's okay to let him/her know that if he/she continues this stupid behaviour you'll have no choice but to walk away, but the problem with this is that we go from Adrien's genuine concern for Chloé to empty threats just because, in the end, Chloé wouldn't change her behaviour and he wouldn't leave either.

Conclusions

This is not as well written as I would like it to be. I procrastinated for weeks and when I finally decided to write it I no longer had the series so fresh in my memory. I am a teenager with no professional knowledge of psychology who wrote this at 3 a.m. while I was not so sober.

This post is not salt against Adrien/Chat Noir, in all of ‘Miraculous’ there are only two or three characters I hate and none of those are Adrien, so this post is not hate towards him. While I did describe some of his behaviour in a not so nice way, that was not a personal opinion but an analysis. Like when you go to a psychologist and he doesn't give you his personal opinion but a diagnosis, the main difference being that I am not a professional nor do I claim to be one. Anyways, this is a direct attack on Gabriel Agreste for being a shitty person.

As you may have noticed, most of this analysis is based on S1 to S3. While I did mention some episodes from S4 and S5 they were not as relevant, this is because the first 3 seasons are the ones I've seen the most and ergo the ones I remember the most, maybe later (I don't think so) I'll do a part two on S4 and S5.

Finally: my personal opinion on Adrien. He is an amazing character whose development and build goes unnoticed by the fandom, this is probably because it wasn't done on purpose (if this character build was planned it wouldn't be half as good as it is, the writers aren't that talented). Adrien is just a boy, a victim of an abusive home that ingrained several of his father's behaviours within him and he has no ‘true personality’ as this depends on the situation he finds himself in. He acts this way as a method of survival and although it is not right, it is a psychological response and it is not as if he can help it. I'm really happy that the poor boy is free from his abusive father and I hope that in S6 he can be happy and get therapy.