#sentidrien theory alternative

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Clowny McClown face

No, this post isn't about Harry Clown.

It's about me grasping at straws to explain Adrien and the rings in a non Senti light :')

(I promise I'm kind of making peace with it, but I still want to try and find an alternative because at this point it almost seems too easy)

Let's start with the Risk events:

🦋Adrien's first attempt at rebellion in the office: It collapses like a cheese soufflé (thanks Plagg for the brilliant analogy), but Adrien barges in, in his pyjamas, in a room with his father, and other people. I feel like this is important. Adrien wants to confront his father, but if his confrontation with Lila in S3 is any indication, he likes to keep other people out of it. This is a private matter, Bob Roth & co don't need to know about it.

🦋"Has there ever something you wanted to tell someone but you just couldn't do it, as if some kind of invisible force was holding you back?" *inhales* Okay, this one is tricky to explain, but what if this "invisible force" was actually Bunnyx's time shenanigans? Think about it, Marinette confessing her love to Adrien has always been tied with a reveal of some kind (Chat Blanc, Ephemeral, Oblivio). But there is something kind of similar going on with Adrien disobeying his father;

In Chat Blanc, that's how Gabriel learned Chat Noir's identity (when he ran after Marinette), leading to him revealing he's Hawkmoth, leading to Chat Noir getting Akumatised. Cue the end of the world.

In Season 4, Shadowmoth is cornered (and going mad) which is why he's the first to take a risk. He did it in Ephemeral; Adrien didn't completely disobey him, but he wasn't on his side, and he tried to reject his power. But Adrien got Akumatised, and again, cue the end of the world.

And that's just a specifically in-universe interpretation! It could also "just" be the fear of being pulled out of school/scolded/physically abused, which would be very in character for Gabriel given his clear anger management issues.

🦋 "I can't disobey him/You can't, but I can [...] Maybe your fear prevents you from seeing a hidden side of him!" This sounds a lot like abuse, tbh. The abused person cannot or will not stand up to their abuser because of the fear of the consequences. Just picture Adrien's situation: he lives alone with his father (+Nathalie but she's not really on his side). His mother is dead. He used to be kept secluded in a gilded cage. Gabriel in a position of power, Adrien has everything to lose in this situation. And beyond that, it's hard for him to go snooping around trying to find dirt on his father - what will he do with it? His father is an influencial public figure, who would believe him if he found anything? And what fate awaits Adrien if Gabriel does get arrested, even if it isn't because someone found out about him being Shadowmoth? It's really not an easy situation to be in, but there's enough distance between it and Félix for him to do something (not to mention that he wouldn't be the primary one who'd have to deal with the consequences).

🦋"This is our riskiest plan yet, there are so many parameters we have no control over. If anything were to go wrong, I want to leave something of the Agrestes behind. I'm trusting you with my wife's ring. And my son." Yes, this is super sus, but this does have a double meaning - don't forget Nathalie's leaving with Adrien - she'll therefore literally be the one who's watching over him. As for the ring, I don't have time to research it right now, but this could be a way of pretending to be engaged, so Nathalie can stay in the picture even if the plan fails.

🦋When Félix stands up to Gabriel after he discovers Emilie's body: Gabriel starts by being angry, but then he softens. In this instance, I think his problem isn't that "Adrien" isn't obeying when he should be because of Senti business, but that he reminds him of Emilie. And that's when he reaches for Emilie's ring.

THIS ISN'T THE FACE OF A MAN WHO'S LOST CONTROL OVER A BEING HE COULD CONTROL. THIS IS THE FACE OF SOMEONE WHO REALISES HIS SON IS GROWING UP AND LOOKS LIKE HIS MOTHER.

And the show has put a lot of emphasis on the fact that the ring Gabriel has been wearing this whole time is Emilie's, which, again, Senti business, but what about the connection to his wife? That's what the ring twitch could be.

And this isn't the first time Adrien has reminded Gabe of Emilie, when he stood against him, even if Gabriel wasn't aware that it was Adrien speaking in one of the instances. Indeed, in Simon says, Gabriel compares Adrien, and then Chat Noir, to Emilie, because of his sensitivity, and then his temper. But note: it's the sensitivity he associates with Adrien, not the temper. And in this instance, he sees "Adrien"'s temper. Which is also supposedly his mother's.

🦋Then Félix caves when Nathalie says it's time to go and the ring comes into the frame, but honestly that could be him deciding to mime Adrien's behaviour. Félix is very good at sensing a shift in the atmosphere, and there clearly was one there. It's safer to comply, to not get discovered.

🦋Then his whole skit to Ladybug is a bit too defeated, but it's not completely out of character. And what was he supposed to do? Take Ladybug aside and tell her he's got the Miraculous, so it doesn't matter if people are sad? He's taking them far away from Paris (which is useless, since they're not real, but the sentiment is there).

And coming back to previous events:

🦋 In Ephemeral, again, there was a sus ring twist and change in attitude from Adrien. But it could be something to do with Adrien being tired (he just woke up, don't forget, and he stayed up late talkig with Marinette), him having just been bombarded with extremely upsetting pieces of information (my mother is in the basement - Shadowmoth is my father - he's been trying to revive her - he knows I'm Chat Noir), without a good emotional support system.

🦋 In Félix, Amélie says she wanted the rings back because Félix kept nagging her about them. And of course, she must have told him about the rings at some point, or Félix wouldn't know about them, but if you listen to her, she probably wouldn't have tried to get at least one ring back without Félix being obsessed with them. And maybe this is a special connection type of thing, where he sensed the importance of these rings without knowing the whole story, but maybe this is a quid pro quo situation, where Félix genuinely thought they were important to his mother, and Amélie thought they were important to Félix (*cue Spiderman pointing meme*).

🦋Also, and this doesn't mean anything much, but there's no precedent of a sentimonster staying out in the wild after their creator has died. Feast was the oldest Sentimonster we've seen, and it was created by Master Fu. It doesn't mean that a Senti can't outlive a holder, but it doesn't mean that it can either.

🦋And finally, in Kuro Neko, when Nathalie comes to notify him of Adrien being unwell, Gabriel says "He'll [get better soon]. He's an Agreste." And he talks about "his son" Adrien a lot. I could be completely wrong about this, but I somehow doubt that Gabriel would manage to form such a strong paternal bond with a Senti, i.e. a child/being that isn't really his own.

Anyway, until proven otherwise in 18 days at the latest, I'll be on the "Gabriel is an awful father who abuses his human son" hill.