I keep thinking about how Adrien would be different if he were mister bug from the beginning rather than chat noir - here is an attempt to gather my Thoughts
You are Adrien Agreste.
You have never lived a life where you are free; you have never lived, period. People look at you, and they see what they want to see. They see the plastic smile on your face, one you have perfected over the years. They see your perfect hair, your perfect face. The clothes they dress you in have more personality than you do.
And then one day comes a man who sees you.
He hands you a box — earrings inside, but it’s more than that. What he hands you is responsibility. Trust. The ability to actually be someone.
There is a partner with you; a girl you don’t love. You could have, perhaps, if things were different.
(If there weren’t already another in your heart: someone who hates you, yes, but inspires you to be a better person every day. Who inspires you to put on those earrings, take up your yo-yo, and do the right thing)
She is wild, amazing, black cat through and through. But where she is wild, you are restrained. This is the biggest, the only responsibility you have ever been given. The last thing you want to do is give it up.
Your partner, she tells you, is the opposite. Her entire life has been nothing but responsibility. It’s different, she thinks, to let someone else take the lead for once. To listen instead of command.
Different, you repeat. Does that mean bad?
No, she tells you with a smile. Just different.
The akumas you fight are difficult, of course — but in a way, you’re used to it. In a way, your whole life is nothing but a series of akuma battles.
Wait. Listen. Find the simplest way out of things; the way that saves the most people. And now, you have your ladybugs to set things right in a way you have never been able to before.
Duty makes your shoulders heavier, your mouth set. But that’s not a bad thing. Just different.
Maybe this is who you were always meant to be.
