#another thing: Adrien's fawning trauma mode isn't actually like... Marinette's fault.

[fernsnouveau]

It's really, really worth noting that Marinette thought she was alone, talking to an inanimate object, specifically because Adrien had decided to deliberately pretend to be an inanimate object. Acting cringe at inanimate objects (which Marinette sincerely thought she was doing) isn't a crime. And, like, yeah, she shouldn't be touching and potentially damaging the wax statues, but that'd be like... mild vandalism, not an inappropriate interpersonal interaction. (Also, apparently Adrien's statue has repeatedly gotten actual pieces cut from it by over-invested fans. Which is, of course, also unadvisable, but. Yeah.)

It is also really worth noting that people routinely objectify Adrien much like this when he's just existing in public and not willingly pretending to be an inanimate object. Marinette at least stopped doing it and was mortified as soon as it became clear that it was the real Adrien, not a statue.

It's cringe comedy, which is definitely not everyone's cup of tea, but they both had fairly innocent intentions, their cringe ideas just just combined in a... memorable way. They apologised not because they were actually trying to do anything horrible to each other, but because the situation just kinda turned out deeply embarassing, for reasons neither of them foresaw.

I need to talk about the statue scene in Puppeteer 2. It reeks of rated-G SA and Adrien went into fawning trauma mode when Marinette got upset. Like bro, she felt you up, pulled your hair, and kissed you without your consent. And Adrien is the one who apologizes for it. And that’s when Astruc decided Adrien should fall in love with Marinette. Unbelievable.

Hi!

To be fair, that's typical for the humor of this show. It's not supposed to be taken seriously. That's why I don't really consider Marinette being a stalker or anything like that an actual criticism of her character. It's just part of the exaggerated humor of the show and it's not supposed to be literal. That scene really isn't meant to be serious. Marinette really thought he was a statue, and Adrien realized the joke backfired and apologized because the situation was awkward. It wasn't really a big deal. It was played for laughs more than anything. It's completely understandable to find it distasteful, but it's not meant to be serious and doesn't really reflect on the characters imho.

That being said, your point does work when we talk about the episode overall. The episode started with Adrien calling his friends over because he was lonely, but it ended up focusing on Marinette anyway. I didn't really like that, because it's just another instance of the narrative not being able to not make it about Marinette again. And yeah, it's so strange how they made that the scene where Adrien fell in love with Marinette, and not, I don't know, the umbrella scene 2.0. It's one of the retcons that is clearly made to justify all the criticisms fans have of the show. Marinette is a stalker? It's because of trauma! The statue scene was weird? Sike, that's when Adrien actually fell in love with Marinette! Even though the episode where it happened showed them both being super weirded out and ended with Adrien talking about his love for another girl with no hint whatsoever that he began to view Marinette in a different light since then. But yeah, that's when he started to like her. Suuuuure.

Thank you for your ask!