Drarry: Draco Getting Slapped By An Ex Death Eater. So Hard It Leaves A Red Mark On His Face And Tears

We've reached it! The taking of the Hawthorne wand. One of the best moments in the book. And also one of the darryest.

Harry doesn't disarm Draco with magic. He physically takes the wands from him. But Draco never even tries to shoot a spell at Harry which he could easily have done since he's literally holding the wands while Harry is trying to pull them out of his grip. I think in that moment Draco doesn't lose; he surrenders.

At first he puts up a fight because it's his instinct and he because he knows that it's what he's supposed to do and because Voldemort's punishment for letting Harry escape will be so awful and Draco's so, so scared of what will happen to him and to his family. So he tries to fight back but he just can't. He can't hurt Harry. He can't be the one to stop him from escaping.

Because he loves him. Yes Draco wants Voldemort to fail. But I think that alone isn't enough to motivate him to risk so much and to offer so completely his loyalty and his power. It's love that makes him do it.

And so he gives in. He lets Harry take everything - lets him go, lets him escape, lets him take Draco's own wand. And that's why the wand feels so friendly. Not just because Harry won it. Not just because since Draco and Harry are so compatible, Draco's wand is compatible with Harry. (Though there's some hella drarry implications there already). But ALSO because Draco WANTED Harry to have the wand and felt loyalty for him and cared for him. And so the wand reflected that.

Also I'd like to note that at no point does Draco try to grab the wands back while Harry is distracted attacking Greyback. And in turn Harry never attacks Draco once he's got the wand.

And maybe Draco regrets what he did as he suffers Voldemort's wrath and thinks he and his whole family are going to die in agony and curses his own weakness. But it's done. And somewhere inside he's probably glad of that - glad that he can't go back on his decision now.

charming, but unsure

So today I’m going to tackle this commonly held notion that Chat Noir is somehow Adrien’s true self, as well as the fandom binary that likes to treat them as separate characters, when they’re the same person. Adrien is not separate from Chat; Chat is not separate from Adrien.

I feel like a huge part of the confusion has to do with the fact that Chat Noir presents himself as confident and sure-footed while Adrien is polite and understated, and a lot of folks have trouble reconciling the two.

This is because in the current media environment, nuanced characters who show any sort of duality in their personalities are rare (especially in children’s shows). But there’s also something else going on here. One of the reasons that people have such a tough time accepting that Adrien and Chat are the same person is because Adrien Agreste is a trope breaker. 

How? Well, there is the fact that other people have already mentioned; how he’s the Yin to Marinette’s Yang, the dark, reserved, and passive energy to her outgoing positive energy. But that’s not the only trope convention that he breaks.

Adrien is the actual embodiment of all the YA/shoujo stereotypes that people like to project onto Marinette.  Actually, together, the two of them subvert and reverse the typical male/female dynamic in this genre, and that’s what makes them such compelling characters. 

Of course, he doesn’t fit the mold entirely—and neither does Marinette—but it’s true! Adrien is both utterly charming and utterly unsure about himself.

I think on some level, most people recognize this. In fact, I’m almost positive that it’s one of the reasons that Ladrien is less popular than the other sides of the love square dynamics.

Because people aren’t used to having the boy be the one who’s the daydreaming shy one, and with no actual canon interaction to work from to see how interesting it can be, people are filling in the blanks with their own interpretations, and some people love it, and some people hate it.

It also explains why he seems to be so different when he’s Chat Noir. Let me deconstruct how this works.

Adrien Agreste is sweet, charming, encouraging and friendly.

And he’s also shy as hell. 

The way it manifests in his behavior could easily be mistaken for politeness if you don’t look closely, but it’s everywhere if you’re searching for it.

We can clearly see it in the littlest things. Like when Adrien comes over to Marinette’s house to practice for the video game tournament and her father comes up multiple times with offers of food, Adrien looks very pleased and eager, but Marinette, focused only on being alone with Adrien, immediately shuts her father down and sends him back downstairs.

She’s not looking at Adrien’s face, and so our shy kitten, who definitely wants the cookies but isn’t used to speaking up for himself, doesn’t get his food. This happens twice before Adrien finally feels confident and comfortable enough to speak up for himself and say that he’d like to take a break and try Madame Cheng’s quiche. 

You can see it in the way he deals with Chloe too. Note the difference between Adrien and Mari’s respective reactions to Chloe trying to barge into Juleka’s space to stand beside him for the school picture: while Marinette basically tells her to fuck off, Adrien makes a comment about how it’s not gym class, but that’s about it. Once she’s there, he sighs and suffers in silence. Because that’s how he always deals with Chloe, as she walks all over him, invading his personal space and getting in his face.

It’s clear to anyone paying attention to Adrien’s expression that he isn’t happy about any of it, but again, that’s the key: you have to be paying attention. Because Adrien rarely actually verbalizes his displeasure, and even if he does, he does so in a very subtle manner compared to how Marinette expresses anger.

Like when he does confront Chloe, in Kung Food—he backs up Marinette and then again, makes a snide comment at the end when Chloe tries to assert herself. But he’s never openly confrontational, and he’s rarely the aggressor.

Compare this to Marinette, who often rushes in and says things without thinking, and you can see the difference. 

Once again, to accurately read Adrien, you have to be paying attention to him. And if you pay attention to him, you can see that he is often replete with uncertainty, and he’s constantly seeking some sort of validation. Because the thing is, for most of his life, Adrien has been a sheltered homeschooled boy with essentially no interaction with peers of his own age, let alone girls.

Unlike Marinette, who has spent her life surrounded by people who care about her and encourage her bold personality, Adrien has had to repress and present the perfect facade. He’s still figuring out how to interact with regular people, and he takes his cues from the way people react to him. Which is why Marinette’s awkwardness confuses him—it’s not quite friendly and yet it’s not quite unfriendly, but in this strange middle space, and he’s clueless as to how to deal with it.

So what does this have to do with how Adrien matches up with typical shoujo tropes?

Well, it’s because of this: if anyone needs a boost of confidence from a magical suit, it’s Adrien. If Ladybug is the sun, Adrien is the sunflower, looking up at her to catch a ray of light. He’s dazzled by her, and he wants desperately to be worthy of her love.

The thing is, as Chat Noir, Adrien finally gets a chance to explore saying whatever he wants to say and being whoever he wants to be, without being repressed by his family or Nathalie or the Gorilla. Finally, he has freedom- and powers- and he gets to save the world with a really amazing partner who he’s in love with! That’s great, right?

Well, sort of. Thing is, Adrien still needs validation from someone, to check if this new style he’s trying on, this new personality as Chat Noir, actually works. And who gives him that feedback? Ladybug. And he craves it endlessly.

Chat’s over the top personality is an overcompensation designed to get a reaction from Ladybug. The puns, the jokes, the flirting, it’s all for her. No matter what he does, she’s going to respond in some way, and Chat Noir is addicted to it, and he’s fallen for her in the process.

So if you’re still with me, that’s the point, you guys. Even though he’s sweet and charming and can hold his own, at his core, Adrien is still very unsure about a lot of things. Including where he stands with Ladybug.

And the way he acts as Chat Noir is a way to build a sense of self-worth, through positive feedback from Ladybug and by being a hero for the city of Paris. The reason he’s so over the top- and why he’s so head over heels for Ladybug, is because she justifies the choices he makes when he’s with her, and responds positively to the way he acts! Again, it all comes down to the way she reacts to him.

I guarantee you that if Ladybug stopped responding and flirting back, he would stop immediately, and shift course. He’d still be her partner and a good friend, but I have no doubt that if she truly responded negatively to his flirtatious overtures or puns, he’d be a lot more serious with her.

So don’t be fooled by Chat’s bravado; the extremes of his behavior stem directly from Adrien’s craving for validation; therefore, the two are inextricably intertwined. They’re the same person, driven by the same internal desire.

Anyways, that’s my piece on my little kitten son. I don’t know if I actually articulated anything useful to anyone, but I tried, haha- Adrien’s a complex character! Thanks for reading :)

OH MY GOSH! Season 6 is here! And Cerise/Lila whoever was super creepy and amazing!

„Nothing. Hah. Nothing. You know nothing about me, about us, about them. I‘m everywhere. I‘m nowhere. I‘m a chameleon. Nowhere. You won‘t get anywhere.“

——~~~——

Not gonna lie, I really don‘t like what they did to Marinette. The girl is struggling…. We get that…. But did they really have to make her act like this? She can‘t even really keep it together als Ladybug anymore. She can be lucky that the miraculous prevents people from noticing the obvious similarities.

But back to Cerise! We don‘t see her face in the entire episode. We only have her voice but that’s enough already. After all, sound is almost more important than visuals. What would Micheal Myers be without the iconic sound. Try it. Mute the movies. It won‘t work.

But anyway. I wonder, when she akumatized that girl, this is how she handles things. She just talks and offers a solution like a good friend. Siding with her victim. She doesn’t even demand anything. No „I’ll give you that power. In return I want Ladybugs and Chat Noirs miraculous!“ No. None of that!

Also, the camera zoomed in, almost like we were going into the victims head. Is this what actually happens to you, when you get akumatized? Bah! Imagine having Gabriel in your head like that! No sir. Thank you!

Could it be, that up until now, we saw the whole process from the outside? That would be so cool. It would also mean that Cerise clearly….. goes deeper that Gabriel could.

Also, we learned something very important. Apparently, they don‘t know better yet, Cerise akumatizes people randomly without the goal to attack. She just lets them cause chaos and the heroes come out. At first.

We also learn that Cerise writes EVERYTHING down!! Like girl, be careful with your hand! That must hurt! Also she technically creates tons of evidence. If she looses ONE of those notebooks, it’s game over. Unless she writes in code….. would not be surprised.

Also the end of the episode, where she is in the café „Nothing. Hah. Nothing. You know nothing about me, about us, about them. I‘m everywhere. I‘m nowhere. I‘m a chameleon. Nowhere. You won‘t get anywhere.“

I am not sure if she completely lost it NOW, if she ALWAYS was crazy like this, or, with her disguises and all, she is completely stating the truth.

But I know one thing.

I LOVE HER FOR IT!! I can‘t wait to actually see her! Also it seems like she upgraded her miraculous, just like Marinette did with all the others. At least that’s what I heard, could be a leak. She got the guardians book too after all from Nathalie in that one episode, together with all of Gabriel’s secrets.

So yeah… the new season started…. A bit meh. I really wish they could have given us the REAL first episode. But it seems like there is something wrong with the continuity anyway. Alya and Nino interviewed Sublime‘s mom, but she didn’t appear yet…. Strange….

But anyway, we might be missing some lore here.

I am still excited for more.

Ouch, my heart: an analysis of the Sectumsempra

Well, well well…. look who’s back from the dead (me, if you couldn’t guess).

First of all, I want to apologise for not doing these for so long. Things got a little insane in my life. I haven’t had time to blink these days, but here I am, because I love you all.

First of all: thank you and sorry it took me over a year to do this. And second of all: of course I can! 

I think this is the post everyone was waiting for and I have no idea if I’m ready for it. Wait. I know I’m not.

But since I’m either a masochist or already too numb from all the pain this ship causes me, I’ll try anyway. Fuck the police.

I’ll open this discussion with Harry’s last thought about Draco before the horrible tragedy that we call Sectumsempra:

Was it his imagination, or did Malfoy, like Tonks, look thinner? Certainly he looked paler; his skin still had that greyish tinge, probably because he so rarely saw daylight these days. But there was no air of smugness, or excitement, or superiority; none of the swagger that he had had on the Hogwarts Express, when he had boasted openly of the mission he had been given by Voldemort … there could be only one conclusion, in Harry’s opinion: the mission, whatever it was, was going badly.

Ok, let’s start by the fact Harry says Draco has a “swagger”. Not my words!

And also: Yer a stupid wizard, Harry.

The boy is falling behind in classes, he’s sad and lonely, he looks sick, you know he’s terrified he’s not pleasing Voldemort. So instead of trying to help him, you go and use a spell for enemies on him. A boy genius.

I don’t even know why I’ll point this out again, but it’s not normal to keep noticing those things about people you don’t care about, ok? It’s just not done. You’re fooling yourself!

Meanwhile, Harry is getting desperate here. If it’s because Draco looks sick or because he couldn’t find out what his mission was, we’ll never know. But he knows he’s running out of time, and he has other personal problems to deal with, like the horcruxes and his huge crush *sarcasm* on Ginny.

And coincidentally his crush on her seems to grow, suddenly. Almost like it’s a distraction… hm. She’s exactly like the opposite of his true crush, I mean, obsession, I mean… Malfoy. She makes him forget, instead of making him feel like everything is falling apart; she doesn’t have any problems besides boys and Quidditch, while Draco’s buried in shit.

But still, he thinks about her far less than he thinks about *someone else*. Because a constant in this book is that nothing is more pressing than Draco Malfoy. Not the Prince himself, not the horcruxes, not girls or Quidditch. Nothing.

In the midst of all his preoccupations Harry had not forgotten his other ambition: finding out what Malfoy was up to in the Room of Requirement. He was still checking the Marauder’s Map and, as he was often unable to locate Malfoy on it, deduced that Malfoy was still spending plenty of time within the Room.

Oh yeah, in the midst of his problems, one being he didn’t know if Ginny was worth upsetting Ron (and if that’s not an indicative that she’s not your one true love, Harry, I don’t know what is), he still has plenty of time to obsess over Draco Malfoy.

Just healthy, really.

And now, because I didn’t forget the real issue here, let’s read what brilliant thoughts Harry Potter has about the Sectumsempra:

…he saw the Sectumsempra spell, captioned ‘For Enemies’, that he had marked a few weeks previously. He had still not found out what it did, mainly because he did not want to test it around Hermione, but he was considering trying it out on McLaggen next time he came up behind him unawares.

Oh yeah! He was considering trying the Sectumsempra on Cormac! That’s how much of a genius he is. Harry, go study some latin before you use a fucking spell, will ya?

I mean, you would think that a boy who lost both parents to a curse and studied Charms for 6 years would think to at least check the etymology of a spell before using it on another human being. Or not, if you’re stupid as fuck!

Ok, so are you ready for the heartbreak? *takes deep breath*

Harry made his usual detour along the seventh-floor corridor, checking the Marauder’s Map as he went. For a moment he could not find Malfoy anywhere, and assumed he must indeed be inside the Room of Requirement again, but then he saw Malfoy’s tiny, labelled dot standing in a boys’ bathroom on the floor below, accompanied, not by Crabbe or Goyle, but by Moaning Myrtle.

First of all, Harry, why??? What kind of dodgy business could he be planning with the ghost of a muggleborn girl murdered by Voldemort? If anything, that shows he’s really not who you think he is.

It took me years after reading this book to realise Draco was confessing to a mudblood, and a victim of Voldemort. To me, that’s a symbol of how his views were changing and how, in the end, he was a victim, not a villain. He was like her in a way. 

Also, how fucking lonely he was. *sobbing*

God, that makes me so mad! This is the only time Harry really disappointed me and I think he fucking knows it. He disappointed himself too.

Draco Malfoy was standing with his back to the door, his hands clutching either side of the sink, his white-blond head bowed.

‘Don’t,’ crooned Moaning Myrtle’s voice from one of the cubicles. ‘Don’t … tell me what’s wrong… I can help you …’

‘No one can help me,’ said Malfoy. His whole body was shaking. ‘I can’t do it … I can’t … it won’t work … and unless I do it soon … he says he’ll kill me …’

And Harry realised, with a shock so huge it seemed to root him to the spot, that Malfoy was crying – actually crying – tears streaming down his pale face into the grimy basin.

To be honest, I can’t choose what’s worse about this whole thing. Draco confessing to a ghost, because he has no one (and not just any ghost, but the one everyone can’t stand)? The fact he is crying because he’s so scared?

Or maybe the fact that Harry is just so stupid he can’t use simple logic and understand that, whatever this is, Draco doesn’t have a choice???

Ouch, my heart just broke real quick.

Malfoy gasped and gulped and then, with a great shudder, looked up into the cracked mirror and saw Harry staring at him over his shoulder.

Malfoy wheeled round, drawing his wand. Instinctively, Harry pulled out his own. Malfoy’s hex missed Harry by inches, shattering the lamp on the wall beside him; Harry threw himself sideways, thought Levicorpus! and flicked his wand, but Malfoy blocked the jinx and raised his wand for another –

(…)

There was a loud bang and the bin behind Harry exploded; Harry attempted a Leg-Locker Curse that backfired off the wall behind Malfoy’s ear and smashed the cistern beneath Moaning Myrtle, who screamed loudly; water poured everywhere and Harry slipped over as Malfoy, his face contorted, cried, ‘Cruci—’

I can’t imagine how humiliated he feels, and how terrified he is, because not only was he crying because of Voldemort, but now Harry Potter knows too much. And Harry won’t help him, he’s sure of that.

You know what breaks me? They start do duel with childish hexes and curses, and it escalates so quickly, before any of them can take a moment to realise the seriousness of it.

And I wish Draco was going to say “Crucifix nail nipples!”, but we know he was not. But do you wanna know what I believe? If he had time to finish saying the word, nothing would happen, and Harry would be able to see he’s not evil. He obviously didn’t mean the Crucio. 

But before he has that chance, Harry goes and fucks up royally:

‘SECTUMSEMPRA!’ bellowed Harry from the floor, waving his wand wildly.

Blood spurted from Malfoy’s face and chest as though he had been slashed with an invisible sword. He staggered backwards and collapsed on to the waterlogged floor with a great splash, his wand falling from his limp right hand.

‘No –’ gasped Harry.

Slipping and staggering, Harry got to his feet and plunged towards Malfoy, whose face was now shining scarlet, his white hands scrabbling at his blood-soaked chest.

‘No – I didn’t –’

Harry did not know what he was saying; he fell to his knees beside Malfoy, who was shaking uncontrollably in a pool of his own blood.

To be honest, Harry never in a million years thought that would be a lethal curse. Never. He wanted to test it on McLaggen!

I can’t stand this moment, I can’t. I makes me tear up every time.

Because there is Draco’s physical pain, which was probably horrible, then there’s his emotional pain, because he’s at his most vulnerable moment and it’s such a betrayal! Harry is one of the good guys. He was afraid Voldemort would do something like that to him, not Harry. And that is so so so sad.

And there’s Harry’s pain as well, because he’s fucking terrified. He knows Draco is dying, he knows he did something unthinkable, he knows he fucked up. Sometimes I can’t believe Draco actually saved Harry after that, because this probably haunted him for a long time.

Just imagine seeing someone surrounded by their own blood, with deep cuts and shaking in pain. I don’t think you can forget it that easily. Especially if you were responsible for it.

And you know what makes me angry? That Harry compartmentalises what he’s feeling so well that it’s like two different people: one when he’s alone, looking at what he did, and one once he finds his friends. It’s maddening.

But there’s a reason for that, and we’ll get into it soon.

“Harry was still watching, horrified by what he had done, barely aware that he too was soaked in blood and water. Moaning Myrtle was still sobbing and wailing overhead. When Snape had performed his counter-curse for the third time, he half-lifted Malfoy into a standing position.

‘You need the hospital wing. There may be a certain amount of scarring, but if you take dittany immediately we might avoid even that … come …’

He supported Malfoy across the bathroom, turning at the door to say in a voice of cold fury, ‘And you, Potter … you wait here for me.’

It did not occur to Harry for a second to disobey. He stood up slowly, shaking, and looked down at the wet floor. There were bloodstains floating like crimson flowers across its surface. He could not even find it in himself to tell Moaning Myrtle to be quiet, as she continued to wail and sob with increasingly evident enjoyment.”

I love the way JKR describes how Harry sees it, how vivid are the consequences of what happened. And I obviously love how Snape tells Draco it might scar, possibly more for Harry to hear than for him. Snape knows him well, he knows the guilt trip he could go into and is trying to push him into it. And Harry deserves it.

It doesn’t happen, though, because immediately after, he goes to find his friends (and Ginny), who make him forget about his feelings.

But before we get into that, I’d like to talk about the symbolism of Harry finding the room of hidden things when he’s trying to hide the book. It’s the room he’s been trying to get in all year, and it’s almost like a physical representation of Draco at this point.

It’s very interesting how he can suddenly get in, almost like the barriers are all down, almost like Draco stopped caring about hiding it from him. Almost like he’s so sad and hopeless he stops trying. Thinking about the wave of disappointment he must be feeling, it’s very possible that Draco’s feelings were an influence in the door showing up for Harry.

Anyway, then Harry tells his friends about what just happened and they respond exactly like you would expect them too, almost to a stereotypical extreme.

“I won’t say “I told you so”,’ said Hermione, an hour later in the common room. ‘Leave it, Hermione,’ said Ron angrily.”

Isn’t it interesting how none of them we just horrified by the whole thing? How Hermione just focuses on the book, not on the teenager almost bleeding to death?

“(…) Malfoy had already been visited in the hospital wing by Pansy Parkinson, who had lost no time in vilifying Harry far and wide…”

I just love this sentence. First of all, with all her flaws, I love Pansy. She’s just the best friend Draco could have in that moment, because she takes no bullshit. And to be fair, Harry deserved to be vilified. And you can sense his opinions on what he’s done are changing because his friends just excuse what he did, especially Ginny:

“Give it a rest, Hermione!’ said Ginny, and Harry was so amazed, so grateful, he looked up. ‘By the sound of it Malfoy was trying to use an Unforgivable Curse, you should be glad Harry had something good up his sleeve!”

I hated her so much in that moment. What Harry did it’s inexcusable, and he knows it. So it hurts my eyes to see her say something so dismissive. Draco would not be able to actually Crucio him and, deep down, Harry knows it. He doesn’t even try to convince himself he’s faultless, that it was self-defense.

Ok, so let’s expand on Ginny’s rare presence being right in this chapter.

It’s no coincidence this is the same chapter where Harry kisses Ginny for the first time. Remember what I mentioned in the beginning of this post? The whole of Half-Blood Prince is built using a parallel between Harry’s relationship with Draco and his relationship with Ginny to move the plot in the right direction.

“Hermione and Ginny, who had always got on together very well, were now sitting with their arms folded, glaring in opposite directions. Ron looked nervously at Harry, then snatched up a book at random and hid behind it. Harry, however, though he knew he little deserved it, felt unbelievably cheerful all of a sudden, even though none of them spoke again for the rest of the evening.”

I mean, come on. He literally buries his guilt in giddiness because Ginny is defending him. Defending him against something he knows is his fault. She’s helping him forget Malfoy. Again.

And this chapter is so cleverly written it splits his feelings with the places and situations he’s in: when he’s with Snape, in the dungeons, he can feel the guilt as a physical presence. Snape makes sure he understands that the detention is about making him feel guilty:

“Mr Filch has been looking for someone to clear out these old files,’ said Snape softly. ‘They are the records of other Hogwarts wrongdoers and their punishments. Where the ink has grown faint, or the cards have suffered damage from mice, we would like you to copy out the crimes and punishments afresh and, making sure that they are in alphabetical order, replace them in the boxes. You will not use magic.”

When he thinks about Gryffindor and Ginny, he forgets about any negative thing happening with him: 

“And while he copied out all their various offences and punishments, he wondered what was going on outside, where the match would have just started … Ginny playing Seeker against Cho …”

To be honest, that is one of the things that always bothered me with this ship being canon. Ginny never sees the Harry we see, she always sees someone who’s always right, someone who’s the hero. And Harry only sees Ginny as a ladder to a life he wants so desperately. A life with no complications, with a family, with giddiness and lightness. He holds onto her because she makes him forget all the horrible things he has gone through, and that’s one reason why he never tells her anything: he wants her in a bell jar, untouched by his traumas.

And we all know that’s not who he really is. The final proof is how this chapter ends:

Harry looked around; there was Ginny running towards him; she had a hard, blazing look in her face as she threw her arms around him. And without thinking, without planning it, without worrying about the fact that fifty people were watching, Harry kissed her.

(…)

The creature in his chest roaring in triumph, Harry grinned down at Ginny and gestured wordlessly out of the portrait hole. A long walk in the grounds seemed indicated, during which – if they had time – they might discuss the match.”

This moment is like a completely different book. It’s a fantasy. Something Harry knew couldn’t last. It was escapism.

This chapter is also the last before Malfoy finally figures out how to fix the cabinet and Harry goes with Dumbledore to retrieve the horcrux. It’s almost like a tragic farewell to the relationship the two of them had prior to thing getting fucking serious. It all changes after that.

The Sectumsempra in itself changes everything. Harry, someone who we know as heroic and honourable, commits an act that shifts what we know about him, and at the same time Draco, who up until then we see as a bidimensional character, comes alive and gets layers on top of layers. It’s the only possible introduction to what happens in Deathly Hallows. Tragic and horrible, but beautiful to watch.

I mean, I could go on and on. If I had the time, I would probably debate every single sentence in this book that, to me, is the most symbolic and crucial of them all.

But I do have a job, so this will do. Hope you guys enjoyed it!

When Harry witnesses Draco being forced to torture Rowle, he is extremely upset. Much more so than he typically is about these visions. There are a lot of very drarry implications. Let's break it down.

"Malfoy’s gaunt, petrified face seemed branded on the inside of his eyes. Harry felt sickened by what he had seen, by the use to which Draco was now being put by Voldemort.”

Notable points from this passage:

1) Harry understands Draco so well that he immediately takes for granted that he doesn't want to be using the Cruciatus curse. It never even crosses his mind to take this as evidence that Draco is now a willing torturer who enjoys cruelty or that he deserves to be in this situation for having chosen the wrong side and for his role in Dumbledore's death.

Nor does Harry think Draco is just scared and upset because he's afraid Voldemort might lash out at him too - which is what Harry would think if he saw any other Death Eater acting afraid around Voldemort. He clearly sees that Draco is horrified by the acts he is being forced to commit. And he also completely accepts that it is Voldemort forcing Draco to commit these acts, thus absolving Draco of responsibility.

2) Harry is DEEPLY upset by seeing Draco in this position. More upset than he ever is about seeing any other Death Eater being terrorized or hurt by Voldemort (Harry doesn't even spare one thought for Rowle for example!) Not only that. He's also more upset than he is about seeing Ollivander tortured. Or about seeing Voldemort murder a woman and her children later on while searching for information about Gregorovitch. He finds those visions alarming but he shakes them off pretty quickly.

The only comparable strong reactions are how he responds to his visions of Arthur Weasley and Sirius in book 5 - i.e. visions of people he knows and cares about in danger and suffering. And it's not even the scene as a whole that upsets him. It's specifically Draco - whose frightened face seems "branded" on the inside of Harry's eyes. Harry can't get the vision out of his head, feels sickened, and fights to keep his voice casual afterward. Even though Draco wasn't even actively being hurt.

So canonically Draco matters to Harry in a way that almost all other people don't. It's not generic nobility that gives Harry sympathy even for an enemy - because he doesn't feel this way about other Death Eaters. And it's not general pity that Harry would feel for any innocent hurt by Voldemort - because he doesn't feel that way about victims like Ollivander or the children Voldemort killed. It's the type of reaction Harry ONLY has to people he deeply cares about suffering or being in danger. Harry may not think of it that way on an intellectual level. But his heart knows it even if his brain doesn't. He cares about Draco Malfoy. A lot. He cares about him more than he cares about almost anyone else.

3) Also notable. Harry starts out referring to him as Malfoy but then switches to thinking of him as Draco as he starts worrying about him. (Yes. The drarry trope of Harry switching from "Malfoy" to "Draco" literally happens. IN CANON.) And he keeps thinking of him as Draco after that point. The next time Draco is referred to is during the whole sequence where the Golden Trio are prisoners at the Manor. Harry refers to Lucius by his full name multiple times, but consistently refers to Draco as "Draco" rather than "Malfoy" in his internal narration.

4) (Also the fact that Draco's face is described as "gaunt" hits me right in the feels. It seems that he's in worse shape even than he was when Harry last saw him at the end of 6th year. Sad but not surprising given the guilt that is probably eating at him over his role in Dumbledore's death, what he is now being forced to do as a Death Eater, and the very tangible dangers and suffering that come with being out of favor with Voldemort while having him in your house.)

Tldr: I don't need my ships to be canon but drarry is. jkr who? ;)

Why Adrien has 2 amoks Theory: He is his own twin sister

Mister Bug: There will be a price to pay! Safari: I have nothing left to lose! Mister Bug: You do! You can lose yourself and the ones you love. You can lose anyone who loves you back. No matter who you are, there is always someone out there who loves you!

This is a theory I’ve mentioned before but it bears repeating now that we’re (hopefully) soon getting season 6.

There’s been some salt regarding the fact that Colt died so much later than Emilie, and it’s not unfounded. We don’t have an explanation for why two “identical” sentikids caused such different outcomes for their creators.

The Peacock Miraculous was broken by mysterious circumstances prior to Adrien’s creation, and I have a separate theory for that, but that’s not the point of this post.

The theory I propose is that Emilie did not create just one, but two sentimonster embryos.

We know there’s a rule that only one sentimonster can be made at a time, and maybe the second embryo created worsened the Peacock’s damage? Still haven’t ironed out the details with that yet.

Either way, Nathalie created many more sentimonsters than Emilie and Colt, she also seemed to succumb much faster after even the first sentimonster she created in Mayura. Emilie and Colt seem to be implied that they only had effects after a period of time.

Back to the theorized Adrien’s twin. What happened to them? Here’s where things get juicy.

There’s a tragic phenomenon that can happen in early multiple births, called Vanishing Twin Syndrome. It’s when an embryo passes away and leaves the second twin alone. The deceased twin is often called a sunset baby, and the surviving twin, a sunrise baby.

Typically the embryo is absorbed by the mother, or is passed, but there’s a second phenomenon called Human Chimerism where the embryo is absorbed by their twin embryo. If the twins are fraternal, that means the surviving twin has two sets of DNA.

Two amoks joined, two rings that can be combined into a single ring, and two embryos that fused together to create one child: Adrien Agreste.

Here’s where my silly theory starts to go off the rails. I think Adrien’s twin was created to be a girl. I have no evidence of any of this other than vibes, the ridiculous amount of twin characters in Miraculous, Ivan’s baggage with his baby sister (Ivan is Comerade Aioli while Adrien is Comerade Mayonnaise), and Argos calling Red Moon “his sister”.

And then there’s the undeniable truth of Adrien’s treatment in the show, due to his inherent femininity.

And then we have ANOTHER phenomenon where Adrien has XX/XY Chimerism.

There are few intersex characters in fiction, and most of them are intersex due to mystical means. XX/XY Chimerism is rare, but it’s a real condition that actual humans in the real world can have. While Adrien was created through magic, he very much would have a real condition that exists in real life.

[Obligatory link for my meta about Sentikids being an allagory for intersex kids]

Now here’s where my crack spaghetti theory turns into speculation and where I’d personally go with the story. Going to warn you now that it gets a bit angsty. Something had to be sacrificed in order for the new Universe to be created afterall.

I’ve mentioned before many times that Gabemoth made the Wish before, if not multiple times, and the entirety of the ML is a 15 year timeloop.

Where I’d personally go with the story is that in Universe Zero, Adrien’s twin sister was born and is alive. And she held the Black Cat Miraculous, while her brother held the Ladybug Miraculous.

I’d personally name them Adrienne and Celeste Agreste. In their Universe, Gabriel also created Alliance rings, but instead they were called True Horizon. A play on the Sea meeting the Sky.

You can’t deny the Cat and the Ladybug BOTH being connected to Gabemoth isn’t something that would have been incredible storytelling.

Anyway, I digress.

In the finale, it isn’t the Ladybug who is alone, but the Black Cat. Gabriel has somehow found out the identities of the two heroes.

 Adrienne, in her righteous fury acts impulsively, but Gabemoth is two steps ahead of her.

Because Felix wasn’t created until a later Universe, Gabemoth is still in possession of the Peacock Miraculous. He snaps Adrienne’s twin brother from existence.

Gabemoth has either an akumatized villain or a sentimonster deliver the Ladybug miraculous to him.

In her shocked grief, Gabemoth takes Adrienne’s Black Cat Ring from her.

He makes his Wish, with Adrienne as a sacrifice… The Universe is Destroyed and Remade, and the next cycle continues.

This would give meta reason that Adrien wasn’t at the final battle: he hasn’t learned about the twin sister, the original Chat Noire that loves him so much, and still exists in his heart and DNA.

It can bring about an arc of Adrien FINALLY learning to love and accept himself, flaws and all, and take off the various masks he wears both in and out of costume.

It would ALSO give a reason for Adrien to wield both the Ladybug and Black Cat Miraculous in a later major finale battle.

Thank you for coming to my TED talk

Draco Malfoy hated Harry Potter so much that he…

Tried to befriend him in Madam Malkin’s even though he didn’t know who he was at the time, and Harry probably looked a bit raggedy

Tried to befriend him again on the train once he realized who he was

Was so upset that Harry didnt take his hand when they were 11 that he spent most of the next 5 years holding a grudge

Constantly talked about Harry to his friends

Even when he didn’t know Harry was listening, so it’s not like he was just doing it to annoy him

Spent the entire summer between first and second year talking about Harry Potter, to the point that his father actually lost his temper with him because he was so sick of hearing about Harry Potter all the time

Knew a startling amount about Harry despite the fact that they are 1) in different Houses and 2) decidedly not friends

Remember when Rita Skeeter recruited him as a source about Harry Potter and he was actually pretty good at it because he knew so much about Harry’s life?

Remember when everyone thought Harry must be the Heir of Slytherin but Draco knew that couldn’t be the truth because he instantly understood Harry wouldn’t do that?

Started avoiding Harry as soon as he (albeit unwillingly) became a Death Eater, even though then he should’ve wanted to go after Harry more than ever

Failed to seriously harm Harry or deliver him to Voldemort when he had him paralyzed, defenseless, and completely at his mercy on the train at the beginning of 6th year, even though killing or capturing Harry Potter would certainly have saved him and his family from Voldemort’s wrath, and probably would have ensured they received a rich reward beside. 

Refused to identify Harry at Malfoy Manor, thus buying him enough time to escape, even though he knew that he was risking certain torture and quite possibly death for both himself and his family

He had Voldemort living in his house. He knew the price he was paying and he knew how valuable delivering Harry Potter could be for him and his family. And his still chose not to.

And he paid the price. Harry could feel Voldemort’s wrath and weeks later at the Battle of Hogwarts Lucius still bore visible marks from what Voldemort did despite the healing powers of magic in that world

Could not harm Harry in the Room of Requirement even though taking him in was probably the last chance he had for salvation for him and his family

Turned his back on the beliefs he had been raised with as soon as he was free to

Yeah. Seems legit. 

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.

My lifetime question has been answered

Thank you Hawkdaddy