Ive Said This Before, But I Hate The Adrien Is A Sentimonster Theory. I Absolutely Hate It. It Doesnt

I’ve said this before, but I hate the “Adrien is a Sentimonster” theory. I absolutely hate it. It doesn’t do anything except make the story worse and send a really fucked up message about Adrien’s character actually.

On the surface, I get the shock factor behind the show revealing him to be a secret sentimonster, but that’s where all the appeal of that idea ends and then immediately burns into a dumpster fire.

Adrien’s whole story is centered around his autonomy and how it’s something he isn’t ever allowed to have unless he goes against the wishes of everyone around him.

Making him a sentimonster is revealing that “no, he actually never had it to begin with, and the idea that autonomy is something he could ever really have is flawed because anyone with the peacock miraculous regardless of who has it could potentially very easily just take it all away from him in an instant, and there’s not a damn thing he can do about it.”

I think that’s kinda fucked up actually, why would someone want that?

Our system is broken.  It is cruel.  It is dehumanizing, degrading, and it’s vile nature is so, so unnecessary.

We need universal healthcare today in America.  We needed it 40 years ago.  It’s cheaper, it’s simpler, it’s more efficient, it’s more effective and it is so, so, so much less cruel than what we have.

Additional sources/references:

Universal Healthcare Cost in America would be cheaper by trillions of dollars

The US has worse life expectancies than socialized healthcare countries

We have worse generalized healthcare results

We have the most expensive care

Our system is so cruel and unique that doctors from other countries literally can’t believe what happens here

I can’t tell you where or how to activate to help solve this.  There are politicians, groups, and activists pushing for this in so many ways.  I can tell you when, though.

Now.

Ending Umbrella Scene Analysis (Mr. Pigeon 72)

I loved this scene so, so much from the new episode, I'm going to be rewatching it on repeat for 5 years 😍

So anyways, I noticed some interesting things about the parallels of the umbrella scenes...thought I'd share...

Marinette got trapped under the umbrella when she was standing alone under it in Stoneheart.

In Mr. Pigeon 72, they are both trapped under the umbrella together and are standing next to each other.

It symbolizes the fact that now both of them hold the umbrella, showing their mutual love for each other, Marinette not being alone in her feelings for Adrien anymore.

“Wow, have you kept it all this time?”

Immediately after, the scene shows us rain and lighting, the same situation in Origins when Marinette first fell in love with Adrien. It’s indicating that she’s fallen in love with him again.

Marinette's love for Adrien was originally depicted in the umbrella scene. He gave her the umbrella. It’s the moment that sparked her love. But it doesn’t end there. He's also given her something else, which she's kept for a long time. It's not just an umbrella. The umbrella is supposed to symbolize love between them. More than a reverse in the love square, it’s a reset.

Adrien's question about keeping the umbrella doesn't just refer to the umbrella. It refers to her feelings.

Marinette has kept the umbrella concealed, the same way she’s kept her feelings concealed. What’s special about this scene? The fact that she didn’t conceal her feelings. She’s been trapped, like an umbrella, but she’s finally opening it up in this scene.

The symbol here is that she’s had the umbrella the entire time.

She’s kept her feelings for Adrien buried inside the entire time, finally taking them out during this scene and falling in love again.

The umbrella served as a symbol of her love for him, and by showing that she kept it, it suggests she never lost it.

Yes, Marinette spent so much time in denial of her feelings. She even tried dating Luka. She tried to forget about Adrien. But she never did let go of Adrien. Marinette still has the umbrella, but she's using it for the first time after falling in love during this scene.

I can't go to describe how well the dialogues are written in this scene.

Although Marinette wanted to return the umbrella, Adrien told her she would need it to get back home.

They're literally speaking through the umbrella's terms here-

Their love is symbolized by the reoccuring situation. Adrien is telling her that it’s too early for him to accept the umbrella. He tells her she needs it to go home. Before he can accept it, Marientte needs to accept her feelings for him and become comfortable with herself. She needs to feel comfortable around Adrien before he can accept his love for her. That’s why they’re both standing under the umbrella this time. Not just Marinette.

When they were both holding the umbrella, Marinette asked him to walk home with her. The way she asks for love is indirect. He was happy that Marinette wanted him to walk alongside her, but looked back and realized there were still too many responsibilities for him too. That it wasn’t time yet.

I think this scene was trying to tell us that it’s too early. It’s not time yet to hold the umbrella together, before walking beside each other, before accepting those feelings. He first needs to get control over his life. They must be prepared to hold the umbrella together, not just as Marinette and Adrien. As a team.

But he can’t accept the umbrella just yet.

Life is not waiting for the storm to pass, but learning to dance in the rain.

I love what Alya said here. The quote essentially suggests that you should enjoy the present moment for what it is, rather than wasting time watching it pass.

Adrien and Marinette falling in love under the umbrella happened all over again, and it’s really not a coincidence. Alya said that she wanted Marinette to understand that she needs to live for the present rather than constantly worrying about being a guardian night and day. No matter how bad the circumstances are, she's still got to take breaks. Marinette found out immediately after that Adrigami had split up. But instead of going to console Adrien, she went to console Kagami because she knew Kagami’s only friend was her. She learned to accept circumstances as they are and immediately decided to go to Kagami. Because that’s what (girl)friends do.

When the storm passes, you can dance in the rain. When you wait for a storm to pass, you will freeze. Life is a struggle, and you will have to deal with daily struggles that are outside of your control. Depending on how you handle your struggles in life, you’ll either build yourself up or break yourself down. In the midst of the storm, you can find peace if you take the right steps.

‘Learning to dance in the rain' refers to the need to prepare for difficult times rather than merely wait for them to pass. This means that, despite all the challenges in life, it is still possible to find happiness. Despite being stuck in the middle of a bad storm, it’s important that Marinette learns to dance in the rain. It’s about how to view things, and how we keep optimism about our future, and recognize that we're heading in the right direction. You won't put your life on hold if you make it a point to enjoy life, even if it means you might have to sacrifice something to let loose once in a while. When the storm passes, you shouldn’t sit down to wait for it to pass since you may forget to get back up and continue your life. That’s what Alya is trying to tell Marinette. You’re going to get tired, and you can pause for a break in the weather, but dancing in the rain helps you get back up and finish what needs to be done.

Whenever there is a storm, Marinette isolates herself from love. Not just Adrien. Any type of affection. Her friends, her family, Luka...That’s what happened in Gang of Secrets. Marinette wants to keep her friendships but she doesn’t want to reveal her secret. It's important to her not to involve her friends in this. They shouldn't be burdened by her. It’s safer if no one finds out. Having a secret, and a struggle to prioritize, and maintaining her relationships causes her to do that to herself and people around her. In spite of the fact that it hurts, she's avoiding relationships entirely because she hopes it will protect those around her. Her time and energy is limited because relationships take a lot of effort and time. As a result, she avoided any type of romance. To the point where she was in clear denial of her feelings.

Now that she has Alya, she can help her. Of course, Alya's support for Marinette cannot be underestimated, but the episode is also a reminder that things aren't close to being ideal. As strong as Alya is, she isn't so strong that she can completely reverse Marinette's fall and reset everything back to normal.

Marinette’s definitely recovering. Nevertheless, the show is doing a lot to demonstrate that it is still a process. She’s still spending lots of time battling Shadowmoth. She has been making all kinds of crazy contraptions to hide the miracle box and kwamis in her room, and it’s driving her a little insane. She’s spending most of her time working on translating the grimoire while maintaining her double life and duties as a civilian. The storm is waning- but it isn’t over yet.

Why is that line from Alya so important? Because Marinette does need to let loose. Take a break from all the plans and simplify her life sometimes. Her approach is to take charge of situations, make plans, and set up things to make them happen. When she’s Ladybug, her assertive behavior means she is automatically paid attention to, and her clever plans save the day. Sometimes her anxiety is spiking and it goes a little too far. A flaw shown throughout the show: She goes from trying to lead a situation to trying to control it, steamrolling the other people involved. Complicating things often stresses her more.

Gamer 2.0 is a perfect example of this. This episode shows how she goes to great lengths to make people happy and even overworks herself in order to do so. She attempted the same approach over and over again out of stress and confusion in response to the situation. The concept of “dancing in the rain” is actually what Chat Noir did and was trying to tell Ladybug in the episode. Yes, there was indeed a storm. Yet, it was the enjoyment he found in the midst of it that helped them in the end, wasn't it?

Another example from this episode. Marinette did that with Kagami. Marinette was determined to reconcile Kagami and Adrien since she thought that would be the best outcome for their relationship, regardless of Kagami’s multiple attempts to tell her she didn’t want to make up with Adrien.

She, however, reevaluates the situation and reconsiders her approach when she's calmed down.

It took Marinette a while to allow herself to be happy again because she was waiting for the storm to pass. Alya advised Marinette to take a break and get her mind off of those things, but Marinette kept insisting that she couldn’t until she had everything figured out. While Alya tried to make Marinette forget about her stress by telling her about Adrien's commercial and the breakup, Marinette denied any sort of feelings she had for him, because if she tried to pursue Adrien while Shadowmoth was still active, it would end in the same way as Luka. And she doesn’t want a repeat of that. That’s why she seems to be avoiding romance.

Her avoidance doesn't just stop there- she fights as hard as she can to keep Kagami and Adrien together. Why? Because she can’t get distracted. Because she’s put a barrier on herself. Marinette is evidently not allowing herself to be happy until Shadowmoth has been defeated and her life calms down.

Marinette unknowingly recreated the moment where she first fell in love with Adrien, except this time they were holding the umbrella together. It's a symbol of reciprocation.

Kagami: The beating heart, the tingling..I felt all this. At your place. You’re the one that blushes and stutters when you’re around Adrien. You know his schedule over three years. You’re right, Adrien is perfect. He’s perfect for you.

The whole point; Marinette had a very specific goal in mind: scheming to make Kagami realize that Adrien loved her. Yet it clearly did not work that way. Mariette managed to avoid all that pressure once Adrien found interest in someone else and for once, she didn't have to worry about it. Because she didn't aim to be the one with Adrien, she didn't obsess over how every move she made could lead to him disliking her. Her downfall in past episodes was that she anticipated Adrien's reaction and panic over how it would ruin her life.

In much the same way as the first umbrella scene, Marinette didn't focus on her feelings for Adrien due to the fact that she didn't develop them until after the moment. As a result, her romantic feelings were able to blossom without thought or hesitation. In this interaction with Adrien, Marinette conveyed exactly what she wanted. She barely even stuttered or stumbled over her words when asking him to walk home with her.

Since Marinette was still convinced Kagami had a chance with Adrien, when Kagami told her that she’s the one who should be with Adrien and then walked away, she had little time to reflect, since Adrien immediately approached her.

Marinette and Adrien allowed themselves to be themselves and let the unfolding of events be an unplanned event.

Adrien still has a special place in her heart, despite it taking her longer to recreate a moment with him. The parallels show that this is the moment they fell in love all over again.

Marinette took advantage of being alone with Adrien in the rain to ask him to walk her home with her, spending more time with her. His father wouldn't approve of him skipping Chinese lessons if he turned her down despite the fact that he wants to.

In that moment of walking home, she was not only smiling, but also enjoying "dancing in the rain." Both literally and figuratively.

And I really, really want to talk about the end card. After three episodes of Marinette being curled up alone, crying, depressed and helpless, look at her now- She’s happy, she’s dancing, laughing and so in love!!

Marinette dances in the rain, as Alya suggested, indicating that we can still let loose even in tough times.

Not everything is fixed; it's clear that there’s still lots of duties for her. But even though she has a storm coming, she's in one at present in the midst of it all, but despite these responsibilities, it's fine to enjoy herself in the moment!

Another very important thing to note from the scene…

When Marinette takes out the umbrella….

She didn’t give it back to him. But he didn’t take it back.

She isn’t losing hope or giving up on her feelings for him, she’s content to keep and enjoy the feelings and accept wherever that leads her.

Despite still having much to think and reflect about, she now acknowledges her feelings, something we’ve seen her struggle with since the end of S3.

Another thing on the end card...the pictures of Adrien. In the pictures, she’s dancing in the rain, so it emphasizes yet again her happiness to enjoy her feelings for Adrien. In one of the pictures, Adrien is wearing the scarf Marinette made for him; I feel that this could be foreshadowing? Because if what was needed was pictures of Adrien, what was the need to include the scarf in two of the pictures? I’m thinking maybe it has something to do with a scarf reveal in the future. (That’s just a theory though)

And the most important thing from this end card was also because of the scarf. Marinette was the one who gave Adrien the scarf, and Gabriel is the one responsible for Adrien not knowing about it. He’s like a barrier between them- both as Gabriel and as Hawkmoth. (@sugarcubetikki Sugar I was talking to you on Discord about that so I thought you might want to be tagged)

Adrien has no idea that it's from Marinette, he thinks it's from his father. The thing standing in their way is his father.

Similarly to this scene- what gets in the way of him walking home with Marinette is his father. He has too many responsibilities. He needs to go home. Same with the scarf. It's his father's actions that limits him and hides the truth, it's the same reason he isn't able to realize Marinette's love for him in both situations. Gabriel’s like a strain putting a restriction on them. It’s the same thing that happened in Chat Blanc. That’s why they couldn’t date.

The next part is probably my favorite :)

It’s so silly and cute. The umbrellas closing in on them.

But even that, note the difference between the two- Marinette was trapped under the umbrella by herself before. Now they’re trapped under it together. They’re both trapped under their own love. That’s why this scene wasn’t necessarily a reverse love square. It’s indicating that the next step is for both of them to carry the umbrella.

In a tender moment with Adrien where they retrace past steps, Marinette falls in love for the second time after getting Kagami's blessing to pursue Adrien. Her umbrella symbolizes the love between them, and thus she offers it to Adrien.

The difference this time is that she is in control of her feelings, rather than allowing it to be given to her.

She willingly offers the umbrella to Adrien. She isn’t trying to make a disinterested Kagami try to date Adrien anymore.

There’s also something so different about his look. When he initially befriends her, he’s careful because he’s never done it before. He’s never had friends, it’s all new to him and doesn’t want to mess up. At this moment, he isn’t really going for friendship or romance or anything specifically, it’s just a relationship he wants to fix. Adrien has made a friend for the first time, and Marinette wouldn't even look at Adrien before that happened. It’s a situation where he’s happy to have befriended her. He is delighted that after several attempts he managed to become her friend. But this scene is so different. It’s almost like a realization. It’s perfectly reflected along with the fact that he isn’t the one lending his umbrella this time.

In the first umbrella scene, Adrien passed the umbrella to Marinette. The love is something he gave to her.

But in this scene? They’re holding it together. This perfectly represents that love is reciprocal and it takes the two of them to hold on to it.

Literally nothing to analyze here, I just love them so much lol-

The parallels here are absolutely adorable, they’re laughing at each other’s clumsiness and being silly. They’re both nervous and making silly mistakes out of love. It’s one of the times we get to see Adrien’s goofy, clumsy side around Marinette and it’s a parallel to the same reason they fell in love in the first place. Their reactions to each other here are so genuine and full of warmth. They’re so in love.

Adrien gave the umbrella to her in the first scene. She accepted that gesture of love and carried it with her, sometimes in denial but ultimately ended up taking it out. When she tries to give it back in this scene, Adrien tells her she still needs it.

She can’t give up just yet. That’s why she’s full of happiness at the end of the episode. Marinette wants to enjoy her feelings for Adrien, she’s overjoyed to be in love again.

Adrien can’t accept the umbrella from her just yet because…

Marinette needs it.

It’s too early for him to.

But it’s such an important moment of growth.

It’s vital that they’re ready to hold the umbrella together, not just as Adrien or Marinette.

Those two are made for each other. Kagami said it. Master Fu said it. There’s no doubt there anymore.

This episode carries a very important theme. The entire show does, actually. While life isn’t all about waiting for the storm to pass, we all have to learn to deal with the thunder and rain through experience and learning. It’s what Marinette and Adrien do every single day. We can allow life-threatening challenges to overwhelm us and leave us in darkness or we can embrace them with well-lit light. What made Marinette grow in this episode was that realization.

It’s about deciding if we want to embrace the rain by learning to dance in it, or if we want to make it even harder by waiting the storm out. Marinette finally danced in the rain. Things are headed in a good direction.

An important symbol I personally found memorable from the episode; Even in the middle of the storm, Adrien and Marinette are still tied together by their umbrella, they’re trapped under it, because they’re trapped under their love for each other.

(Or you know, you can just ship Marigami and move on with your life)

The thing with the upcoming Ladynoir conflict is that it goes far beyond Chat Noir's feelings and place in the team. Likes yes, he's questioning his worth more and more as Chat Noir and if he really is that irreplaceable, that's for sure.

But the biggest problems it's currently creating is how dangerous the secrets between them are getting regarding their fight with Shadowmoth, and how it can be compared to Gabriel and Nathalie's team.

Because yes, it's mainly Gabriel, but he and Nathalie basically have no secrets (that we know of) between each other. They know each identities, Gabriel shares his worries and plans with Nathalie, she gives suggestions too and even come herself with plans that are pretty good (I'm thinking about Optigami and now Hack San). And even if at the end of the day, Gabriel always looses, he only needs one victory to win the war...and he's getting closer and closer to taking advantage of our heroes as time goes on.

Now regarding Ladybug and Chat Noir, it's not much their identities being a secret that is dangerous - while it would give them lots of strength, they're currently not ready and things are delicate that with Hawkmoth being Chat Noir's father. However, all the other secrets between them and their lack of communication... There's no way the Ladynoir conflict won't be noticed by Gabriel and taken advantage of, or risk having repercussions.

Lots of people are complaining about Marinette relying more on Alya than Chat Noir, and yes again it's gonna hurt Chat Noir but it's also not a mistake Marinette is making at all. No, the problem is that Chat Noir, as a permanent hero and bearer of one of the miraculous wanted by the villain, is not aware of major information that can compromise their advantage on Shadowmoth.

Hopefully before leaving to London, Marinette explained to him that she was gonna leave and that she's gonna entrust her miraculous to someone else will she's away. But if she hasn't, the fact that she didn't tell him someone knows her identity can be really dangerous because how can he trusts a new Ladybug coming out of nowhere? This is putting the battle against Hack San at high risks, moreover because this season sentimonsters taking the shape of people they know have been made to trick them. I'm very curious to see how it's gonna happen there. And tbh it was already borderline risky that he didn't know in Sentibubbler.

But more importantly, hiding Rena Furtive from Chat Noir is extremely dangerous. We already saw in Sentibubbler how him not knowing about Rena being a permanent holder could have been dangerous, even though it was avoided successfully, but here? If he doesn't know some illusions are on the field and if he accidentally reveals on battle an illusion, it could blow up the entire Rena Furtive cover to Hawkmoth. And that's super dangerous for the hero team (and for Alya, and for Marinette's identity and so on).

So yeah I'm rambling at this point but I'd be curious and excited if the show addresses it because to me, that's where Marinette's errors are regarding withholding information from Chat Noir 👀 and if this is gonna be acknowledged -or worse, happen- when the inevitable blow up occurs

At this point why do you think bakugou still wants to be number 1? It serves no real purpose and if the series is saying the rankings are bad, then there’s no reason for anyone to take this seriously sense it’ll either not be be a thing or not actually matter anymore. Is it simply something to motivate him to be stronger despite the title meaning nothing? Or is this going to be the final lesson Bakugou is going to have to learn as a character since that desire to be number 1 is the only thing he still has from where he was at the start

I think No 1 does not necessarily mean the hero rankings, but also it’s not a bad thing to strive for in itself. 

The narrative clearly established that one of the worst things of the All Might era was the passivity it perpetuated among the heroes, who felt like they were not competing in the same field so they stopped trying as hard. And even in the case of Endeavor who was the only exception, the problem was never that he wanted to be No. 1. (that was actually a positive thing), but rather that he gave up very fast and tried to achieve his goal in unethical ways and pushing his related psychological issues onto his family.

In Bakugou’s arc, similarly, his ambition is not a bad thing in itself. The question is the “why” and the “how”. As a middle-schooler, he wants to be No. 1 because he feels entitled to it on account of his exceptional quirk. After DvK, it is about his wounded pride, it’s all about seeking external validation. 

Already at the time of the Sport Festival, his public declaration is a way to push himself, a motivator. What is problematic is his attitude towards the others, seeing them as mere stepping stones, people to look down on. 

We also learn during the Sport Festival together with Bakugou that someone giving their best is a sign of respect, and all the external validation in the world doesn’t mean anything if there is no internal validation to match it. The world can’t tell Bakugou that he’s the best, unless he himself FEELS it. So he does know quite early on that an external No. 1. ranking is not the same as truly being the No. 1. 

Post DvK2, the immediate thing Bakugou does (in response to All Might saying again it’s not his fault) is to recognize Deku as a rival. Kacchan’s going to keep pushing himself, because remember, it’s a sign of respect - but what changes is that he doesn’t view Deku as a stepping stone anymore, but someone to “lift” up in the process. He starts to see and use rivalry as a tool for growth for both of them - take the fear of inferiority and turn into a positive motivator. 

So as Bakugou gets himself into his rivalry thing with Deku and tries to figure out his own weaknesses and Deku’s strengths,  it becomes clear to him that what No 1. means is more than just a strong quirk. There are ways the weak can be strong and there are weaknesses even the strongest quirks can’t spare a person from. 

So yes, saying that he wants to be No 1. is in a way the same as his original character motivation, it has a very different meaning, just as Kacchan is a very different person than he was a year ago. 

- I think he views No 1 as something that can’t be just an external trophy, but something he earns for himself by doing his best

- Still aiming for No. 1. is a sign of respect - Deku may be as strong or stronger than All Might eventually, but Bakugou went up against All Might, experienced the power gap and smiled. It did not make him despair, it made him feel fired up. 

- He understood that strongest is much more than just a question of the strongest quirk. There are many ways to be strong, and by recognizing the strength Izuku had back as a quirkless child gave him new understanding and more ways to grow than just making bigger booms. 

- Regardless of strength of quirk, they are all on the same field, because heroism in the end at its core is recognizing what the right thing to do is and acting on it. It’s not a question of power only. So this evolved Bakugou recognizes everyone as his rivals, because where he once saw everyone as stepping stones, now he sees the potential in everyone and wants to motivate and lift them up through the rivalry. 

So I feel like this scene wasn’t meant to show that Bakugou was stuck in the past, but that even if his goal seems to be the same, it has taken on new layers and meaning in light of his growth. Wanting to be No 1 was never a bad thing  - but the way he changed, now Kacchan wants to do it for the right reasons (to save people) and the right way (keep rising and lifting everyone with him)/ 

(The narrative did a similar thing with Todoroki in the same chapter, who was also tied back to his starting point of not wanting to be like Endeavor, but again, doing it the right way, for the right reasons.)

May I Whine for a Minute?

So, Hack-san was a fairly enjoyable episode for the most part.

Two parts in particular that I really liked are this adorable little DJ WiFi smooch and the fact that Marinette specifically told Alya to make sure that she laughs at Chat Noir’s jokes because it makes him happy. ^.^ Look at Marinette worrying about her partner’s happiness.

I feel a little cheated, though. The scene where Ladybug and Chat Noir talked about things was way too short. I feel like they didn’t really talk and that this big, plot-relevant thing was squished into thirty seconds at the end of the episode. ^.^;

I guess this is what fanfiction is for? I’m glad that Marinette did talk to him, though, even if Alya had to prompt her to do it. The look on Marinette’s face tells me that talking to Chat Noir wasn’t even on her radar. It just goes to show how overwhelmed she still is that she doesn’t have the bandwidth to consider how her actions are affecting Chat.

By the way, he’s totally lying when he says that he’s not sad about her revealing her identity to someone. He may not realize it, but he’s definitely sad that it’s not him she’s relying on and trusting. I think he’s just more sad about his realization that he could lose her, so that’s what’s at the forefront of his mind. It’s a lot to unpack, and he’s not nearly done processing.

I would also like to take a minute to hold up this episode as an example for the people who always bug me about my characterization of Adrien as getting sad and turning in on himself instead of getting angry and blowing up at others. I don’t know why people want me to write angry Adrien, but it just doesn’t fit my understanding of his character to write him as getting angry all the time. In canon, we usually see him getting frustrated but then turning that in on himself and wondering what he’s done wrong or why he isn’t good enough. Years of emotional abuse in his home life have taught him not to express anger but to internalize those feelings.

On a lighter note, I love the soft Lady Noir moment here. ^w^

Also, the reflection of her in his eyes is lovely. I really like this shot.