Another note on the whole sentiAdrien thing: I see people speculate about / express worry that Adrien being a sentimonster is the reason Gabriel is abusive. Like, that he doesn’t see Adrien as truly his son, or even truly a person, and that that’s why Gabriel is abusive. But I don’t think that’s the case at all. Adrien’s sentihood isn’t the reason he’s abused, it’s just the vehicle through which Gabriel enforces the abuse.
In fact, I’d argue that Adrien’s sentihood is Gabriel’s favorite thing about Adrien. Gabriel wouldn’t love Adrien more if he was a “real boy”. If anything, he’d maybe “love” him less.
The closest we’ve ever gotten to Gabriel openly discussing an opinion on Adrien being a sentimonster would be this scene:
These aren’t the words of a man who sees his son as merely some worthless husk that his wife created. Gabriel seems legitimately proud here, and he’s proud because Adrien is “flawless, the image of perfection”. Adrien is everything Gabriel has ever wanted in a son. Literally.
(We also know that Gabriel is under no misconception that Adrien’s sentihood makes him emotionless. Gabriel has recognized Adrien’s emotions multiple times (e.g. telling Adrien “you’ve had enough excitement for one day” and remarking that Adrien “is just like his mother… overly dramatic” in simon says, Gabriel sensing Adrien’s disappointment in Stormy Weather 2, Gabriel sensing Adrien’s anguish and getting worried for him in Glaciator 2, etc. In Kuro Neko, he remarks that “Adrien will get over his depression, because he’s an Agreste”). There is no evidence that Gabriel sees Adrien as inhuman, or that he doesn’t see Adrien as his son. )
Let’s not forget, Gabriel is a designer. And though Emilie may have been the one to use the peacock miraculous, I’m sure Gabriel had some input into his creation (personally, I think Gabriel was the emotional vessel that Emilie used to create him. Remember, it can take up to two people to create a sentimonster. This is also why I don’t think it’s entirely accurate to say that Gabriel is irrelevant to Adrien’s creation or not “really” his father, though the memes can be funny). Adrien is, quite literally, his and Emilie’s perfect creation. He’s Gabriel’s son, but he’s also Gabriel’s finest work, the design he is most proud of.
Gabriel is also an incredibly manipulative person, and you know what’s great about having a sentimonster for a son? You get to control them. What more could a man like Gabriel want in a son?
That’s what Adrien’s sentihood represents. This isn’t a story of “Gabriel abusing some Thing because ‘hey, that’s not actually my son’”, this is a story of “A man so twisted that he sees fatherhood as yet another design venture. A man who would rather craft and control a son than raise one. A man who wants his son to be what he wants him to be, and nothing more.” Adrien being a sentimonster is just a literal representation of that type of parenting. It doesn’t excuse it, it’s not the reason for it, it represents it.
This is a story of how expecting your child to be everything you want them to be isn’t a way to raise a child. This is a story about how no matter what you do, no matter how you raise (or create) your child, you cannot escape the inevitable truth that your child will become their own person. This is a story of Gabriel’s folly, because despite literally creating a son from magic, literally crafting him to look how he wants, literally enforcing his will upon him at every chance…….. Adrien still finds ways to be himself. He still cannot be fully controlled.
That’s what sentiAdrien theory is. It’s not about Adrien’s humanity— there’s no question about that. It’s about Gabriel’s humanity, and his refusal to understand what being a father means.
And you can argue about whether or not the show “needed” to use a metaphor for something like this, but let’s face it— Miraculous has always been a show that uses magic as a metaphor for its issues. Coming of age, identity crises, emotional manipulation, grief, learning to control your emotions, the weight of responsibilities, etc— it’s just what the show is and always has been, and personally I think the sentiAdrien plotline fits right in with all the others.
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