ZOOTOPIA 2016 | Byron Howard, Rich Moore

Chat Noir: ( ♥ ͜ʖ ♥)

Ladybug: (ง'̀-‘́)ง

#HE DIDN’T LET HER SLIP THROUGH HIS FINGERS THIS TIME

1.26 vs 4.26

Pedantic nitpickery of the day: “death of the author” and “fuck canon I do what I want” are not the same thing.

Which is not a critique of the “fuck canon” approach to fandom, that’s just not what Death of the Author means.

After watching Glaciator 2.0, we ought to revisit Hack-San, Rocketear, and Wishmaker after getting more context from this episode, because I really wanna talk about Adrien and Chat Noir's characterizations as of late. Take a look at the scene from Hack-San as an example:

While there have been instances, such as in Oblivio and Troublemaker, where Adrien occasionally displays Chat Noir's mischief and playfulness, you don't usually see Adrien act out or be petty about anything. I don't know about anyone else, but I don't recall Adrien ever "acting out" like this in his civilian form in previous episodes. For the most part, this is the first time Adrien has shown any kind of emotional outburst (or immaturity, I guess?) in his civilian form. Adrien is usually portrayed as being"perfect" because he has to uphold his father's brand. Most of Adrien's emotional range is expressed through Chat Noir because Chat Noir is Adrien's emotional outlet.

We don't typically see Adrien act like this unless he's Chat Noir. Because of this, I have always found it a bit challenging to see Adrien and Chat Noir as the same person. At first, I thought that the writers couldn't make up their minds with his characterization, but now, especially after seeing Wishmaker, I think this disconnect between Adrien and Chat Noir was an intentional writing choice.

It's so easy for the audience to see Adrien and Chat Noir as two separate characters because, in a way, they are. That's certainly how Adrien views himself; he's either this teenage heartthrob who's constantly on his best behaviour, or he's the goofy and mischievous Chat Noir. These two personality traits are seemingly at odds with each other, and yet Adrien somehow embodies them both. This contrast was made especially clear in the art room scene in Lies:

"There. This is really you."

"Do you really think?"

"Yes. You're... perfect."

This scene honestly told us so much more about Adrien than I think most of us realize. A lot of people have analyzed this scene and said that Kagami is able to see Adrien for who he really is, but I don't think that's the case at all. Look at his reaction. If Adrien had a strong sense of self in the first place, then this interaction between him and Kagami wouldn't be like this at all. Adrien would be happy, or at the very least flattered, that someone actually understood him and wanted to get to know the real him. Yet, look at Adrien's face; he's not scared or put off, but he's definitely not happy nor relieved. He's unsure. He's confused. He doesn't connect with Kagami because he doesn't understand what Kagami means. Kagami only sees what she thinks is Adrien's true self, but even Adrien has no clue what that even is.

This season, Adrien is starting to push back against his father, as we saw in Mega Leech, and that line between Adrien and Chat Noir is slowly starting to blur. This "perfect" facade that Adrien has to perform all the time is starting to dissipate. His flaws are starting to show as he's being put in situations where he has to assert himself.

Now, before he can do all of that, Adrien is going to have to come to terms with that the fact that Ladybug isn't interested in Chat Noir, and that the idea of them being together is completely off the table.

Some people might look at this and say "well, yeah, it's about time. Adrien needs to learn about boundaries and stop projecting this fantasy onto Ladybug." That's true, yes, but a lot of people forget just how isolated Adrien is and just how desperate he is for some kind of deep emotional connection. Remember this scene in Glaciator?

"Perhaps Ladybug will love me someday. I mean, like I love her. I have to believe. In the meantime, her friendship is the best gift of all."

Most of us overlooked this scene, but this was a crucial piece of characterization for Adrien, not to mention foreshadowing for Glaciator 2.0.

Of course, Adrien values Ladybug's friendship, but he always had this hope that she was going to fall for him eventually. Whenever horrible things went on in his life, he always turned to Laybug to make him feel better. Even after defeating the akuma in Lies, despite being on rocky terms with Kagami, he doesn't seem as bothered by it because Ladybug was still practically living in his head rent-free.

This is a heavy contrast to the way Marinette felt about her breakup with Luka, which left her devasted.

In Adrien's case, he's not just clinging onto this romantic fantasy, he's become dependent on it for his emotional well-being, so much to the point where it clouds his better judgement. Now he's experiencing emotional whiplash after being faced with the fact that his fantasy won't ever become a reality. He can't depend on this fantasy anymore, because now he has to face all of the loneliness and lack of control he has in his life and realize that he's the only one that can change it.

This is the catalyst for Adrien's character development, and it's going to be intense.

Things that I care about

Savannah Lee May's little giggle in All Eyes on Me

,

I’m so furious, I need to make memes to calm down

love is blind (and other things)

like this fic? buy me a ko-fi!

Mornings were always tough. Forced to adhere to a schedule, being read off plans for the day, and the ever-present fact that his father would rather reside to the confines of his study rather than entertain the idea of breakfast with his son wasn’t exactly up Adrien’s alley. And, he now realized, the seeping feel of anxiety coursing through his veins wasn’t welcomed either. It had been his third time combing through his backpack, and the only item of importance was yet to be found, hands coming up empty every time.

Checking the rearview mirror to notice Gorilla had his eyes still trained on the road, Adrien leaned his head down, close to his backpack and staring down his kwami, who was nestled in a small pile of scattered sticky notes.

“Where are my glasses?” he whispers, hoping not to draw attention.

“No room for cheese,” Plagg responds, shifting in the pile and bringing a small paw to rub at his eye. “Sacrifices had to be made.”

Hand coming up to his face, Adrien bit back a groan. He had decided to skip out on the contacts today, far too annoyed with the dry, burning sensation that resulted when he didn’t apply enough eye drops, and had thought being spotted out with glasses wouldn’t be the end of his career. He had modeled for glasses before – although he would admit that the shoot did not do any favors his way – and had been photographed a few times headed to shows with his frames on. No, certainly there would be little problems resulting if he headed to class in his glasses and saved himself the trouble.

Although, it seemed his troubles were just beginning.

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