#unfortunately they happened to arrive in new york at the work possible time bc the sick was spreading like wildfire

[transiconwilfred]

im having more thoughts about that tmnt sweet toot au. i think Splinter (still Hamato Yoshi) and his wife were on an ill-timed trip to New York when the sick broke out, and they ended up sort of stranded because in an effort to contain the sick, no one was allowed in or out of the country. Tang Shen unfortunately caught it, and after her death, Splinter kinda just gave up on life and went to live in a cabin in the woods while quietly hoping the sick would claim him too. hes been out there alone for a while when he finds the turtles and they restore his will to live :)

[gcldveins]

OK HERE IS .. headass number two, francine howards !! i rlly do love her doe <3 definitely above sully but maybe that’s partially because it’s crystal reed.. ALSO disclaimer before we get started .. these next two intros will not be as neat and extensive as sully’s because 1) they’re newer muses and also 2) i had sully’s bio ready from a roleplay a looong time ago so just a warning !! anyways, let’s get crackin’ !!!

overview

✎⌠crystal reed. cisfemale. she/her⌡❝ — well, look who’s just arrived ! if it isn’t the one and only francine howards. though, around here they’re known as the spitfire. don’t tell ‘em i said this but the thirty-five year old medical examiner kinda has a reputation of being critical and domineering. but y’know, they can be loyal and passionate too. typical leo. anyways, welcome home and stay safe frankie ! ❞ 

statistics

full name: francine marie howards

nickname(s): frankie, if you call her anything else prepare to get merked

date of birth: august 15th, 1985

hometown: mystic hollow, connecticut.

gender identity: cis gender

preferred pronouns: she/her

sexual orientation: pansexual

hogwarts house: slytherin

aesthetic: label makers, button-up shirts, the smell of freshly printed paper, blazers worn with jeans, fine jewellery, three cups of coffee before noon, colour-coded files, messy hair, black loafers, worn out books

distinguishable characteristics: almost always looks pissed dfnijsn

pinterest board: here

their song from the sigh no more album bc i love this album and it makes me Sad™: thistle and weeds

background: cancer tw

— born and raised in misty hollow, frankie grew up helping raise her two younger brothers while their mom worked long hours as a nurse at the local hospital. their dad had left them a few months after the birth of their youngest child, frankie was only seven years old but she remembers the day clearly.

— so because of this, frankie had to grow up a lot faster than she needed to, taking on household and familial responsibilities that most children shouldn’t need to. which is why she became known as a sort of stickler throughout her childhood.

— she became your typical over-achiever in high school, always wanting to make her mother proud as well as, deep down, wanting to make her dad regret ever leaving them — even though he was no longer in their lives. as a kid frankie would dream about the day he came back, begging for them to take him back. kinda .. fucked up, i know.

— anyways, frankie never took her eye off the prize. competitive and conscientious, she graduated high school as the class president, valedictorian, as well as the captain of their rugby team. she had left zero time for friends, whatever free time she had left was put towards volunteering at the hospital where her mom worked at.

— she got accepted into harvard for a bachelor’s in honours biology, she went into this program thinking she wanted to become a surgeon but changed her mind half-way through. frankie just didn’t enjoy the idea of working with .. live people all day. but she still really enjoyed the subject of biology and so she decided that becoming a medical examiner might be a better fit.

— so after her bachelor’s degree she went the whole nine yards, she stayed at harvard for their medical school and then went to john hopkins for he residency. after she earned her fellowship, she moved to new york for a job opening and has stayed there up until recently ( maybe a few months to a year ago )

— frankie’s mom was diagnosed with stage three breast cancer so she came back to take care of her. while frankie’s not ecstatic about it — she was the type in high school to have that mindset of “ i’m gonna get the hell out of here and never come back ” — she would do anything for her family. 

— on the bright side ! misty hollow’s own medical examiner just retired, so she’s still able to do what she loves, kind of. not as exciting as the stuff she sees in new york, but it’s better than nothing.

personality

— she is... a little bit on the freaky side, not gonna lie. she’s really passionate about her job and loves her work, a total workaholic, but seeing as her work involves hanging around dead bodies all day, that can come across a bit weird to some people.

— it doesn’t help that she’s also really into gory, horror films and sits there at the worst parts with a fascinated grin. and if you try to open up to her she’ll probably hit you with a Fun Science Fact.

— has a zero tolerance for bullshit, very frank ( ha.. h a... ) and tells things how it is. if you need an honest opinion, frankie’s definitely got your back. maybe a little too well.

— a little aggressive and rough around the edges. she grew up around brothers so she always had to fight for her spot at the dinner table. but frankie is also used to bossing them around too so .. that side of her shows up pretty often.

— kind of a control freak, always thinks she’s right.. and unfortunately she usually is so that just kind of reinforces that behaviour.. but yeah, she’s very opinionated and isn’t afraid to speak up for what she believes in

— anddd frankie’s still kind of a new muse, so this is all i really have so far rip

wanted connections

someday.. i will submit this to the main but ! atm, if anyone’s interested, frankie does have two younger brothers !!

enemies pls .. just someone she totally clashes with and whenever these two are in a room together, it’s like cats and dogs. 

people that she works with possibly ? either in the medical or law enforcement field !

close friends ! once you’ve wiggled your way past frankie’s walls, she’s a very loyal and protective friend. will definitely mother you — asking you if you’ve eaten yet, drank water, etc. 

messy exes !! like a high school sweetheart or whatever else. frankie’s not good with this sort of stuff so she could’ve been the one at fault.

a close friend that’s the complete opposite of her ! someone that’s just a lot softer and friendlier and overall nicer gknskdn and these two just click somehow. honestly like grace and frankie but in this scenario she’s grace ksdfsk

drinking buddies ! this could even be the type of friend that tries to get frankie out of her comfort zone to do more fun things, since she’s really more of a homebody.

casual relationships ! hateships ! these are always so fun as well. frankie is the type of woman that knows what she wants and goes after it. she knows she doesn’t do well in relationships so she would probably .. have a few of these

people from her past that are also from misty hollow ! we can discuss the details of this thru plotting <3

i’m honestly down for anything, so if you have any ideas feel free to send them my way. but again, if we can’t figure out a plot between the two of them, we can just do throw them at each other in a random thread and see what happens !!

[gloryblooded]

with a gif of achilles/austin being a major mood ( i mean, who doesn’t want to nap all the time ? ), i hope to catch your attention & say HELLO !   i’m hanna, i’m 22, and i use she/her pronouns! i’m a hufflepuff, a libra, and ISFJ ( what a shocking combo, i know ). anyway, over here i’ll be playing everyone’s favorite disaster hero, achilles, and his new mortal self, austin pelham. i’m so excited for this group and getting to write & plot with all of you. 

anyway, below the cut you’ll find some info about both achilles and austin ! it got kinda lengthy ( especially achilles’ part ) + it’s messily written. sdfsfdsdhsfbh im truly sry about that & pls still love us.

ACHILLES.

disclaimer: i’ve utilized several sources to form my portrayal of achilles, namely the iliad and the song of achilles. i have not read the pjo books, but i googled achilles’ role in it & i’ll incorporate that to my characterization to the best of my abilities.

so, achilles. a son of peleus, a king, and thetis, a nereid. boy was destined for greatness long before he was even conceived; great enough that the gods chose to dilute it by giving thetis to a mortal man. despite this, his destiny was to still become the greatest warrior of his generation. thetis, wanting to further protect him, dipped him in the river styx and boom, the powers of almost complete invulnerability ( except that one heel ) were achilles’. 

his childhood was actually quite lonely? sure, he had peleus’ orphan boys to keep him company & plenty of admirers, but there was always a certain distance between them, especially he had separate, private lessons. that is until a certain awkward young prince arrived in peleus’ court. achilles was instantly smitten ( a shoutout to that time when he became that ‘g2g chicken’ meme after their first kiss ) and this feeling just became stronger through the years as they studied under chiron’s tutelage at mount pelion. 

AND THAT’S IT. NOTHING HAPPENED AFTER THAT. ACHILLES GOT HIS HAPPY ENDING.

just kidding. unfortunately :sob emoji:

tHEN PARIS HAD TO DO HIS THING AND RUIN ACHILLES’ HAPPINESS ( thanks a lot dude ). the war started and, despite the ordeal with thetis where achilles was yeeted to lycodemes’ court & ended up knocking up deidamia, he was off to fight in the trojan war ( with his emotional support philtatos right by his side ).

during his years there, he does his thing. he fights, kills more trojans and their allies than anyone else, is a great leader to his men, and spends his free time with his boyfriend. also i wanted to add that he was not as hostile toward briseis as he was in tsoa. like, ofc they weren’t as close as patrochilles or pat and bri, but he wasn’t as jealous as implied in tsoa. 

anyway, now we’re getting closer to that period of time. stuff goes fairly normally, but then aging meninist ( idk how to spell his name & im too lazy to look it up, but u know who i mean ) decides to dishonor him by unlawfully taking briseis from him. and oh boy, do we get to see achilles’ non-chill side. victim-playing & stubborn spite game is strong af. someone tries to reason with him? he becomes that ‘i suddenly can’t read i don’t know’ gif. 

anyway, shit turns bad enough that he eventually, although reluctantly, consents to patroclus donning his armor and leading the myrmidons out there. that obvs ends super badly and achilles, true to himself, reacts even worse. he goes ballistic and even fights a river before he finally gets what he wants --- hector dead. after that, he stops caring. he fights, sure, but every single time he wishes his death would come. death eludes him for a while after that, and when it finally arrives & that arrow lodges itself in his heel, achilles vc: finally some good fucking food.

except sike, not ! his bitchass of a son delays the reunion he’s been yearning for. achilles curses him & 100% disowns him because he dared to disrespect his final wish. bUT EVENTUALLY HIS PERSON ARRIVED AND ACHILLES WAS SO !!!!!!!!!!!! BECAUSE ALL WAS FINALLY GOOD. achilles got a good dose of positive character development bc he realizes the error of his ways when he was alive, but most importantly, he never had to part with his one true love.

until the gods got themselves into another mess & dragged other, innocent people with them. smh ( uncle sam and/or the gods better square up when achilles regains his memories bc how dare they interrupt his lovely afterlife with pat!!!! )

AUSTIN.

so, enter the man achilles thinks he now is: austin pelham. his full name is austin alexander pelham-niarchos, but for the sake of simplicity, he goes by austin pelham most days. he is the only child of us army general & greek heiress to a shipping empire. not really a happy marriage, but they wouldn’t divorce either. both adored austin, though, so the boy didn’t pay too much attention to his parents’ marital struggles.

austin’s future was laid out from a young age too. he was to follow in his father’s footsteps and become an army official as well, possibly one of the greatest this nation had ever seen. considering his natural athleticism and gift for commanding crowds, it seemed a feasible future path & austin himself accepted it without complaining.

however, he was a mere kid when all this was told to him, so he couldn’t be too bothered. sure, he excelled in school ( his mother insisted he should only attend the best institutions ), but mostly he enjoyed the perks that came with having been born to a lap of such luxury. 

contrary to popular belief, austin had basically no true friends; sycophants and other admirers, yes, but no one he truly bonded with. he wouldn’t have minded finding such person, but they never came along & that was fine with austin. he was independent enough to “survive alone.”

so years have gone by, manhattan’s boy king has graduated from harvard with a degree in history, and it’s time for him to join the army, right? sike, no ! austin’s mother had never been particularly enthusiastic about the idea of her son joining the army & possibly getting killed in action, but this is the first time she has a major argument with her husband about it. 

before he could do anything about it, she made her move. she used her connections to get him his movie role and manipulated austin by telling him that if he were to abandon his military plans & pursue a career as an actor, he could achieve more fame than he had ever dreamed of. austin, being a trusting person, had no reason to believe otherwise, so he accepted his mother’s offer and began working as an actor.

and what a rise to stardom it was. after his role, he got more and more offers, most of which were action / war films. austin did not mind being known as an action star; those were his favorite type of movies to film anyway. recently he finished filming what is supposed to be next spring’s ( & year’s ) biggest blockbuster and now relocated back to new york city where he plans to stay for a few months at least.

personality wise, i’d say he is most similar to pre-trojan war achilles ( when he’s at mt. pelion & lycodemes’ court ). he still has that certain brand of innocence to him and fairly easy to manipulate if you know where to strike. however, he has earned a reputation of being somewhat challenging to work with ( he knows what he wants / how he wants something done & isn’t afraid to demand this respect ). this hasn’t tamed the constant flow of work offers, though, because a) he has a way with the crowd, so fans love him, b) money is guaranteed due to his large crowd of followers, and c) he always gets the job done when he sets his mind to it. slightly more prone to making bad decisions, since he doesn’t have his impulse control person. austin is often up for a good time, though, and an evening with him won’t be a boring one.

AND THAT’S ABOUT IT, I THINK ! I DON’T YET HAVE A CONNECTIONS PAGE UP, BUT I’LL START WORKING ON IT ASAP. IF YOU HAVE ANY IDEAS, FEEL FREE TO MSG ME BECAUSE I’M UP FOR P MUCH WHATEVER. I’LL DO MY BEST TO COME UP WITH IDEAS MYSELF & MSG YOU LOVELY PEOPLE! ugh im so excited for this group!!

[bananagreste]

I wish the show’s main plot is about the kids, their friendships and shenanigans, instead of the supposedly deep, supposedly mysterious and supposedly angsty plot that leaves people feeling disconnected because there’s no build up.

The show’s main plot has the potential to be great if done properly, but there’s a lot of vagueness and assumptions that I feel instead of the writers trying to keep it a surprise, it’s more like they don’t know what their plot is about.

What else could explain the inconsistencies?

However, that’s discussion for another day.

The reason I wish the show’s main plot to about the kids is because I want to see their interactions with each other on screen, instead of assume they may have interactions but off screen.

‘But, they do have interactions!‘

Really?

Marinette is the protagonist of the show, thus the episodes are normally presented through her perspective. However, this is restrictive because Marinette can’t possibly be present in every situation imaginable.

Unfortunately, the narrative forces Marinette to be present in every single thing, even though the plot is not necessarily about her. It would have been better if the episodes feature the perspective of the character being focused on, but the narrative does not do that.

For example, in Queen Wasp, impressed with Marinette’s hat, Audrey offers to take her to New York for a chance to become a fashion designer. The episode could have focused on Marinette’s dilemma choosing between her dreams or her duties as superhero. However, the episode is about Chloe, who gets upset with her mother’s treatment of her.

Another example is Frozer, Chat Noir is rejected by Ladybug who reminds him again that she likes someone else. Dejected, Adrien wants to seek love advice. This episode could have been a nod to Animan, where Adrien asks Nino, the one with a girlfriend. However, he asks Marinette for advice instead, unaware that he traps her into an awkward situation.

Last example is Catalyst, where Marinette makes an impossible promise after Chloe provokes her because she always does the same thing for Heroes Day. However, at the end of Mayura, the subplot is magically resolved with the classmates deciding to appreciate Marinette for her efforts to help them.

There are other examples, however, I choose the latest episodes to illustrate how Marinette often ends up in situations she never ask to be in but has no choice because she is the protagonist.

Queen Wasp

Marinette aspires to be a fashion designer so an offer to go to New York? It’s an amazing opportunity. Unfortunately, this subplot only exists to provide Chloe a reason to be upset at her mother for choosing the girl she dislikes over her. Audrey chooses Marinette for her talents and it’s unfair to her if she’s discredited simply because Chloe says so.

However, Marinette never asks to be offered to go to New York. It’s a fashion show, not a fashion design competition. If it is the latter and the winner gets an offer to go to New York, it’s an entirely different case. Marinette also has no idea that Chloe wants to go to New York with her mother. In a situation where saying ‘no’ means forfeiting her chance at fulfilling her dreams, but saying ‘yes’ means Chloe holding a grudge towards her, she’s stuck.

Chloe’s issues should have been handled better, especially the epilogue. Why have Marinette sarcastically insult Chloe and Audrey when it is more powerful if she tell them how Chloe’s stunt to impress Audrey can result in serious injuries, potentially death? Marinette’s parents are inside the train and if Ladybug and Chat Noir didn’t arrive in time to stop the train from crashing, would the Bourgeois family take responsibility?

“I can’t change the way you and your daughter behave, but please think about how your behaviour have consequences towards other people. I almost lost my parents today. Can you imagine losing yours?“

Frozer

It’s nice that Adrien trusts Marinette as his friend but she’s not the right person to talk about his crush. If he doesn’t want to disturb Nino because he’s with Alya, who cares? Nino is his best friend and he has a girlfriend. It won’t kill him to drag Nino away from Alya and asks for his advice. Nino will probably roast Adrien, ‘Adrien Agreste, popular model, with love troubles? Wow, and I thought you can do anything!‘, but will help him to return the favor (Animan).

When Adrien tells Marinette he’s too shy to go the ice rink alone, I’m like, “Boy, if you are not brave enough to be alone with someone, why even bother going on a date?” He might as well bring Gorilla as chaperone.

Adrien’s motives are also confusing. He refuses to move on from Ladybug, but tells Marinette that he has a crush on Kagami, but Kagami thinks Adrien has a crush on Marinette because he can’t stop looking at her and nobody is aware that the girl he likes is actually Ladybug.

Adrien should have been honest to Kagami on why Marinette’s there at the rink, but he lies. Instead of roasting him for the truth, the narrative shifts to Marinette's indecisiveness and Kagami is praised for telling Marinette that she should move her ass instead of hesitating, or she’ll take Adrien away from her.

Hold on for a minute.

When did it become about Marinette when it should have been about Adrien?

This episode exists because a boy can’t accept a girl’s rejection despite having a valid reason. He decides to go on a date but drags his female friend to tag along with him but lies to his date about why the friend’s there because he can’t admit he’s scared of his date. The girls don’t communicate except for exactly 8 seconds. The boy then ditch his date to check on the friend.

In the end, it doesn’t even matter because Adrien decides to maintain the same target, even if he keeps failing. It’s basically the same conclusion as Glaciator, but now Kagami sees Marinette as a love rival.

When Kagami is said to be Adrien’s rival, I thought she would challenge him but understands the pressure of fulfilling family’s expectations. Never did I expect her to be Marinette’s rival in their conquest for Adrien’s love. I thought Lila is enough but I guess not.

People claim that Kagami doesn’t see Adrien romantically, that Kagami wants to help Adrien and Marinette get together, but I’ll reserve the judgement until S3.

It would have been interesting if Adrien asks Nino for advice, Nino spills the beans to Alya, Alya tells Marinette in panic and Marinette starts to despair. However, Alya refuses to let Marinette lose hope so she concocts a plan to sabotage the date. Is it a good idea? No. Is it fair to Adrien? No. But is it worth the risk for her best friend’s love life? Yes.

Besides, from the girls who execute Operation: Secret Garden, what do they have to lose? Heck, get the boys in their class to join in as well. Adrien goes on a date with Kagami and everyone is there to his confusion. If anyone asks? They want to go ice skating with everyone.

Catalyst + Mayura (Heroes Day)

The season finale is... eh.

Marinette’s subplot is unnecessary as it has no bearing on Mothygreste’s plans to attack Paris on Heroes Day. Marinette can plan 100 good deeds 100 days in advance and she will still be interrupted bc a jerk decide to ruin everyone’s day.

Also, does it not bother anyone when Ladybug says they are unprepared to face Mothy? I understand if this is Origins where they have no idea what they are doing bc they are new at being superheroes, but it’s been 48 episodes.

I guess it’s a good thing the akumatized villains are mostly into brawls, because they would have been tough to beat if they actually use their powers. With this in mind, The Puppeteer does a better job despite being a child. (Take that, Mothy!)

It’s nice that Ladybug asks Mothy to surrender in peace but really, because Lucky Charm says so? “Here’s an empty box, Mothy. You know what that means!“ “Who says it’s not your earrings that should be inside that box?!“

(╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻ 

Speaking of Marinette’s subplot, can her parents be more supportive when she needs them the most? Yes, her promise is definitely outrageous and they are on time crunch with prior commitment but can’t they work on a compromise? If they can’t do a big feast, they can still do a small feast. They are not feeding the school, just the class. Besides, Tom destroyed Marinette’s birthday cake three times in Befana but he managed to deliver in the end.

Sabine gives good advice - being truthful *is* a heroic act, but peer pressure is a thing and Marinette doesn’t like to disappoint people. Also, she has anxiety and tends to overthink. You know what people with anxiety and overthinking end up doing when people reassure them everything will be fine? They don’t believe you because they already thought of the worst possible situation.

Marinette is not acting stubborn when she insists she can do the baking all by herself. Her stubbornness masks her panic. She can bake but she fails bc her mind is all over the place. If you can’t focus, nothing comes out right.

Anyway, let’s not solve the subplot and skip ahead to the picnic scene!

Let’s have Adrien, the one with the moral compass despite not deserving of it, tell Marinette how she’s been helpful to everyone so we can get the Adrinette cheek kiss scene which makes everyone happy and forget the disaster even happened. Honestly, it’s more significant if everyone individually tell Marinette about her good deeds but that requires time and we have none.

Really, how do you look at the season finale and think it’s great when the pacing is terrible? Mothygreste’s plans are basically a giant publicity stunt.

You think I’m done with this?

When I wish for interactions between the kids, I wish for interactions between kids who are not Marinette with kids who are not Marinette, specifically Adrien interacting with other characters.

We see Marinette interact with almost everyone in the show, from the children, to the friends, and to the adults, but we don’t see others interacting unless Marinette happens to be there.

Adrien has two goals in Origins. He want to attend school like everyone else and he want to make friends like everyone else. Despite fulfilling his goals, I feel something is missing about his friendships.

That’s right, we don’t see Adrien’s interactions with his friends.

ADRIEN + NINO

Nino is Adrien’s best friend but how many times have they interacted with each other on screen? Nowadays, when we see Nino, he’s usually with Alya. We still see Alya hang out with Marinette so it’s not like she’s attached to Nino’s hip. (In light of S3, maybe Alya does want to attach herself to Nino’s hip.)

Nino is unfortunately a character that can’t exist on his own. In S1, he exists if Adrien exists. In S2, he exists if Alya exists. The Carapace episode? It’s not even about him. He has to prove himself to Alya’s older sister, Nora, who is not convinced he can protect Alya. In Alya’s episode, we see how Alya interacts with her younger twin sisters, Ella and Etta. In Chloe’s episodes, we see how she interact with her parents.

In Nino’s episode, we don’t learn anything about him, his family or his backstory. If we are exploring the themes of protection, why not focus on Nino protecting his family or forced to fight them in order to protect them? Alya has to fight her sisters, Chloe has to fight her parents, Adrien has to fight his father, Marinette has to fight her grandmother, so why is Nino not fighting anyone close to him?

I love the episode Anansi. I love that Nino loves Alya that he’s willing to risk his safety in order to save her, despite being tossed around and having a one-on-one fight with Anansi. Even when Ladybug tells him to stay out of danger, he still runs after Alya.

However, we have a pattern that episodes focusing on the new holders involves their family so if this is the one chance for us to be introduced to Nino’s family, grab the chance! It’s always possible to see Nino’s parents without focusing on Nino, similar to how we are introduced to Alya’s parents without her as the focus, but do I dare hope when the writers don’t seem to care about Nino?

///

Anyway, let’s talk about Adrien and Nino’s friendship.

Remember the scene in Malediktator where the school celebrates Chloe leaving Paris? Who leads the party because he’s the DJ? Nino Lahiffe.

When Adrien comes in and sees the school celebrating, the only person he calls out is Marinette since she happens to be nearby. He should have seen Nino up there on the stage and call him out as well. How dare his best friend celebrates his childhood best friend leaving Paris? That’s wrong!

In Nino’s defense if he’s actually confronted by Adrien, Chloe may be Adrien’s friend but she is nobody’s friend at school. Not because she’s not capable of making friends, but because she considers everyone to be beneath her since she’s the Mayor’s daughter.

Also, she calls them losers when she stops by at the school. I thought Adrien should know that before he goes around telling people what’s right or wrong.

This is an excellent opportunity for conflict to happen because Adrien has to consider if risking his friendship with Nino is worth it if he remains on Chloe’s side. He admits that her behaviour isn’t positive and she’s likely won’t change for the better, but him being okay with it doesn’t mean everyone’s okay with it.

Adrien doesn’t get threatened by Chloe, but everyone else does.

There’s a scene in Origins where Adrien asks, ‘Why does everyone keep telling me this?‘, after Marinette asks if he’s friends with Chloe. Previously, Nino also asks if he’s one of Chloe’s friends.

I wish the show has a scene where Adrien asks Nino why people are cautious of him just because Chloe is his friend. The latter can explain that Chloe has been misusing her father’s influence to get what she wants throughout collège, so if one of her rich and influential friends attending the same school as her, won’t the likelihood of this friend behaving exactly like her is high?

Adrien can dispute these claims by explaining to Nino about his struggles. “My father says I can ask him for anything, but when I ask to go to school and make new friends, he says no. I have to sneak out of the house twice just to get here. I don’t blame you for thinking I behave like Chloe since Chloe is... like that, but some of us still have to struggle for what we want. Father always decide what’s best for me but for the first time in my life, I want to make my own decisions.”

I don’t expect Adrien to go into the deep aspects of his life (his mother going missing, his father’s behaviour changing, etc), but I wish he’s honest with his thoughts instead of think everything is a-okay. It can be tough to share one’s thoughts when one’s been raised to suppress one’s feelings because Gabriel has no qualms saying his son is oversensitive, but we all start somewhere.

///

One of the things that bothers me about Adrien is his lack of struggles when making friends. One can argue, ‘Well, he’s a popular model and everyone knows him since his face is plastered all over Paris, from newspapers, to billboards to a freaking blimp!‘ but is that the friendship he wants?

If Adrien isn’t rich, isn’t influential, isn’t popular, isn’t a model, isn’t skillful -- do people still want to be friends with him? Chloe’s interested in him because he’s rich and popular, Lila’s interested in him because he’s handsome and popular, Kagami won’t even know him if he’s not the best fencer of the school, and Wayhem? He’s a fanboy who goes all out, even with matching clothes.

Adrien doesn’t have a story to call his own. Everyone sees him as Adrien the son of Gabriel Agreste, the famous fashion designer, or Adrien the popular model slash teenage heartthrob. When does he get to be just Adrien?

(If anyone reply saying ‘This is why Adrien likes to become Chat Noir since he gets to be his true self!’, I’m sorry, but get that argument far away from me.)

ADRIEN + MARINETTE

I am pleasantly surprised in Origins when Marinette has no idea who Adrien is (despite Gabriel being her favourite designer; Adrien is the brand’s face) and calls him out after seeing him do suspicious stuffs. Nino is not interested with Adrien when he sees him with Chloe, but Marinette doesn’t even know he’s friends with Chloe until she mock laughs at her.

If Adrien is a stranger caught in a misunderstanding, he can explain himself and Marinette will understand. However, realizing that Adrien’s friends with Chloe, it makes sense if she assumes the worst of his character.

“But she doesn’t even know him!“

Just like Nino who refuses to shake Adrien’s hand when the latter introduces himself, Marinette also refuses to listen to Adrien’s explanation because their first impression of Adrien is influenced by their thoughts of Chloe.

Adrien is rich, like Chloe. Adrien is the son of someone influential, like Chloe. Adrien is friends with Chloe. If Chloe is like that, Adrien must also be like that.

There’s multiple ways for things to happen in the Umbrella Scene.

1) Adrien goes to Marinette to explain that Chloe is responsible for the gum. He apologizes, but doesn’t explain his circumstances. Marinette still assumes he’s like Chloe but at least has the guts to apologize to her.

2) Adrien goes to Marinette to scold her for accusing him without a proof. He states that it’s Chloe's fault, not his. Then, he nags about how he’s trying to help remove the gum from her seat and this is the thanks that he gets from Marinette? Obviously they never speak anymore after that.

3) Adrien is afraid to approach Marinette so he doesn’t take the chance to clear up the misunderstanding and days passed. Both of them continue to assume the wrong things about each other since they don’t make the effort to talk.

Fortunately, Adrien listens to Nino’s advice and tells Marinette the truth. Adrien explains about the gum incident, shares his feelings on his inexperience since everything is new to him and offers his umbrella so she can get home safe.

///

While I appreciate the symbolic meaning of Origins being the S1 season finale, there are times I wish Origins have been the beginning because I like Marinette and Adrien’s dynamics.

My issue with the current dynamic? The narrative plays a lot into ‘the girl with the intense crush and the guy who is a popular model’ trope. It’s a common trope in romance. However, the narrative portrays Marinette’s crush towards Adrien as a negative thing. I have seen arguments against Marinette saying that she’s obsessive, borderline creepy and places Adrien on a pedestal.

The narrative wants us to believe Marinette falls in love with Adrien for his kindness, but why do we see her portrayed to be more in love with his face?

If Marinette (and everyone else) sees Adrien as perfect, it is because that is what the narrative wants her (and everyone else) to see. The narrative doesn’t give Adrien the chance to screw up (and even if he did, it’s never addressed) so how is it even possible for Marinette to see the imperfect side of Adrien?

So, let’s consider:

Marinette has low self-esteem and low self-confidence, possibly with little to no friends due to years of Chloe’s bullying, until Alya, her new friend, intervenes on her behalf and encourages her to stand up for herself.

Adrien leads a sheltered life; never attending school, no friends to call his own, his life's a schedule. Nino, his new friend, encourages him to talk to Marinette and suggests addressing the gum incident as a conversation starter.

Marinette and Adrien start off as strangers who end up in a misunderstanding, thankfully resolved through honesty and kindness. Despite being each other’s new friend, neither have much experience with close friendships. However, with their friends’ encouragement, they make the effort to interact with each other.

Marinette may feel awkward to interact with Adrien, remembering her reaction with the gum incident. ‘Alya, he apologizes to me, but I didn’t! What will he think of me if I don’t apologize? I’m also at fault.’ Alya, even Nino as well, reassures her that Adrien doesn’t think ill of her and it’s okay if she wants to talk to him.

Adrien also hesitates to talk to Marinette out of fear of offending her just like the gum incident. ‘What if I say something wrong and she snaps at me? I’m not saying she will do that because she’s a nice person, but what if I am extremely bad at talking? It’s not like I talk to people all the time.’ Nino reminds him that if he can talk to Marinette about the gum, he can talk to her about other things.

Alya and Nino forge an alliance after realizing their friends need dire help. As Alya is also a new student to the school, she has a lot of conversation starters. When she talks to Nino, she includes Marinette and Adrien, often asking for their thoughts and help them converse with each other.

It’s a slow start, but as it steadily grows, eventually the results make its presence known.

In developing Adrien and Marinette’s relationship, we also see the development of Adrien and Nino’s, as well as Marinette and Alya’s friendships (plus Adrien + Alya and Marinette + Nino, you get the idea).

After all, the four of them are not long time friends. Alya and Adrien are the new kids, Nino and Marinette are the existing kids who may have known of each other but not close.

In other words, it’s not just Adrien and Marinette who have to get to know each other. Nino and Alya also have their work cut out for them.

ADRIEN + CHLOE

In S1, Adrien and Chloe are childhood friends but they are not close. Adrien even show visible discomfort when Chloe invades his personal space. During Origins, Adrien tells Nino that Chloe is his only friend but later tells Marinette that he has no friends.

In S2, Adrien and Chloe’s relationship is retconned into childhood best friends who are close. However, Chloe tells her mother that Sabrina is her only friend, but to Ladybug that nobody is her friend.

The narrative wants us to believe they are friends but makes no effort to show them interacting despite having the chance to do so in the first place.

In Queen Wasp, Chat Noir says he understands the reasons behind Chloe’s actions. He knows it’s difficult to impress one’s parents, since he also has a tough time impressing his father. But, is it worth endangering others’ lives?

He could have said, ‘I understand you did it to impress your mother, but what you did was dangerous. Superheroes are supposed to protect the people of Paris, not create a situation and endanger them in the process.’

‘You are not a bad person, Chloe. You can change for the better. Besides, you did help us fight against the Papillon’s akumas before. It means you have what it takes to become a superhero, but it has to come from a genuine place.‘

Chloe may not know that Chat Noir is Adrien, but the latter knows Chloe. While Chloe tends to listen to Ladybug and dismisses Chat Noir, if the latter says that he believes in her potential, she will feel appreciated since now another person believes in her.

However, change takes time. I don’t expect Chloe to do a 180 ° turn and instantly becomes a better person. Mistakes are still bound to happen.

In Malediktator, why didn’t Chloe personally tell Adrien that she’s leaving? Why did it take Adrien coming back after lunch to discover that she’s gone and the school is celebrating her leaving? While he doesn’t agree with the way they are celebrating, he understands why they are keen to celebrate. However, instead of scolding Marinette, Adrien should have reached out for Chloe.

‘Chloe, you’re leaving for New York and didn’t bother telling me? Do you not consider me as a friend any more? Remember when I was grounded by my father for losing his book? I personally messaged you about that. I could have informed the school and Ms Bustier could have told everyone that I couldn’t go back to school, but I personally told you so you don’t have to worry about my whereabouts. I don’t understand why you didn’t do the same for me.‘

They go back and forth, with Chloe complaining that everyone hates her and she’s better off without them, while Adrien tells her that she still have friends and they don’t want her to leave.

‘I’m your friend! Sabrina is also your friend! We don’t hate you! Are you saying that you are okay leaving your friends behind without telling them? We are not objects that can be discarded as you please.’

While I understand why Ladybug talks to Chloe so she can give her the Bee Miraculous, I feel it’s more significant if Adrien talks to Chloe about what happened with their classmates and the state of their friendship.

Later, Chat Noir can suggest to Ladybug that they need Chloe’s help if they want to defeat akumatized Andre. Chloe doesn’t understand why Chat Noir vouch for her but Ladybug tells her since Andre is akumatized because of Chloe, she can do the right thing by helping them to defeat him.

Thus, when we see Chat Noir give Chloe the Bee Miraculous in Catalyst, it won’t feel odd to see they casually talk to one another. 

In this essay, I only focused on Adrien’s interactions with his friends since his is clearly lacking the most despite being one of the main protagonists. However, there are other interactions the show could have explored.

Reverser is a good example where the plot is focused on Marc and Nathaniel, not Marinette. We still see Marinette play a role in helping Marc, but we also see Alix help Nathaniel by becoming his listening ear. After snapping and ripping off Marc’s book, Nathaniel could have just stormed off, believing his actions were correct. However, he went to Alix for advice. Alix, as his friend, could have blindly agree with Nathaniel, but she offers a different perspective to explain Marc and Marinette’s intentions. Later, they assisted Ladybug and Chat Noir in defeating Reverser. After reconciling with each other, Marc and Nathaniel create a comic book and dedicate the first issue to Marinette.

The show is capable of featuring stories about the kids interacting with other kids so I hope we get to see more of them in the future. Personally, I rather see the kids interact with each other instead of being slapped in the face with angst.