Marry me, chaton

I got hit by the most intense mental image upon seeing this post

And Marinette is?

Marinette is not responsible. Marinette is not proactive. Marinette is not a good judge of character. I'm not trying to insult her, those are all objective facts of her character. Just like with the secrets, there's not a single excuse that you can give about why Adrien doesn't deserve to hand out miraculous that doesn't also apply to Marinette.

Like, I can't overstate enough how much Marinette did NOT earn any of the power or authority she was given.

In fact, how about we go over it?

Marinette learned about Fu's existence as a guardian in the episode Volpina. She earned the right to that knowledge by bringing him a valuable book with the secrets of the miraculous that had been lost by Fu for a long time.

Except no she didn't, because she stumbled on the book by pure chance and simply followed Tikki's instructions about what to do with no obstacles in her path, risks or even independent decisions.

Pictured above: Tikki doing all the literal heavy lifting while Marinette was malding over Lila talking to Adrien.

Calling her responsible in this episode is a joke. In fact, this is one of her least responsible episodes by far.

In Volpina she 1) stalks Adrien just because a girl is talking to him (this is before she learned Lila is a liar) 2) abused her power as a superhero to publicly humiliate a girl she was jealous of in front of the girl's crash 3) engaged in petty controlling behavior because she was jealous of the new superhero (she didn't know Volpina was an akuma yet) 4) almost surrendered her earrings because the known illusionist akuma threatened to throw Adrien off a tower in a way that would be really easy for a superhero to catch, and the only reason why she didn't do so is because Chat stopped her. If we're also counting the Collector as the continuation then 5) she lied about the prime suspect for who Hawkmoth might be because she has a crush on him.

Meanwhile in the same episode, Adrien sees his father hid things behind the picture of his mom and goes to investigate on his own initiative. He sees a book with pictures of miraculous holders and specifically Hawkmoth and, without any input from Plagg and despite knowing the risks of stealing from his father, he decides to take the book and investigate. As soon as he gets a free minute he tries to read the book (and then it gets stolen from him).

Marinette first got to pick a temporary miraculous holder in Sapotis. She earned the right to do so by following the lucky charm to Fu and Fu is the one who offered her to pick a miraculous she could give to an ally. No effort or independent thought was required on her part.

Marinette got to learn the secret of how to make the potions in Syren. She earns the right to do so by going to visit Fu and letting him infodump on her after she asks what he's doing.

Wait, no. I'm being uncharitable. She's actually the one who helped him solve the puzzle of the ingredients, so if not for her help one might argue they wouldn't have any potions at all.

Marinette: No way! We are gonna find that last ingredient! Master Fu: The Tear of Joy? I've tried everything: water from the Laughing Fountain, melted snow from the Mountain of Jubilation, drops of pure chocolate extract! Marinette: But have you tried a real tear of joy?

Well, one would be wrong. I daresay that Adrien would be just as capable of this stunning feat of insight. Hell, even Kim might. Anyone who hadn't been stuck in the same research swamp as Fu would have such an obvious thought crossing their head.

Meanwhile, in this episode Chat Noir outright tells Ladybug he doesn't like being kept in the dark and points out the unfairness of it. When she doesn't answer or give him a reason other than "when the time is right", he starts questioning Plagg by bribing him with various types of cheese.

And then there's the infamous scene where he threatens to take the ring off if he doesn't get answers. There's a lot of misinformation in the fandom about what happens there so allow me to describe what happened (or if you'd like, you could just read the transcript):

After Ondine got akumatized, Ladybug tries to fight her. She fails because the fight is underwater and she isn't suited to it.

Hawk Moth: With every new environment comes a new set of rules, Ladybug, you won't be able to win this time. Ladybugs can't breathe underwater.

Chat Noir shows up and catches Ladybug after she got flung out of the water. They both discuss and agree that they're not suited for fighting underwater. Chat Noir raises the idea of using lucky charm, which gets them a clue that points to Fu.

Ladybug: (gasps as she realizes the significance of the bowl) I'll be right back!

She goes to leave but Chat stops her, asking where she's going. She reiterates that she can't tell him. He in turn reiterates that he's tired of the secrets and questions whether they're a team or not. Ladybug's response is that "it's not exactly easy for [her] either". Then she leaves.

Then we have the scene of Marinette with Fu. Most of it is about solving the potions but at the end they talk about letting Chat Noir in the loop.

Aquabug: Master Fu, I think it's time you put those noodles into the boiling water. Master Fu: You're right, Ladybug. I'll take care of it.

That's the entire discussion, I haven't omitted anything. You'll notice that nothing has changed since the last time Chat asked and Fu denied he should know. Marinette doesn't provide any arguments for why he should know or why it's the right time. In fact, it's never discussed whatsoever why information is kept from Chat other than the "it's not the right time" excuse. Neither is it discussed what the right time is, what makes it right or why was it wrong before.

The decision, simply put, is completely and utterly arbitrary. The only thing that made it the "right time" is that Maribug said so. That's all.

Their decision to finally clue Chat in to what's going on is based on just as much as their decision to exclude him. That is to say, based on absolutely nothing.

The next scene shows Chat Noir sitting on a rooftop, waiting for Ladybug, until he gets frustrated.

Cat Noir: This is so dumb! (stands up) Claws in. (detransforms) Plagg: (groans) What's taking her so long? (Adrien holds up his hands to Plagg, and starts to pull off his ring a little bit) Whoa, easy! W-What are you doing?!

Contrary to some popular takes on the scene, this is not Adrien taking the city hostage. He's not withholding his help until his demands are met. The opposite, in fact. Adrien is doing his damnedest to try and get the tools to be allowed to actually help.

Ladybug has left him on the rooftop with no idea where she's going, what help she's bringing or even when she'll be back. It had already been established there's nothing he can do against the akuma. From Plagg's dialogue, we can tell it had been a while.

So it had been who-knows-how-long where Chat Noir sat helpless and useless, not by choice, while an akuma was roaming free and his so-called partner was doing who-knows-what and for some some obscure and unknowable reason refusing to tell him about it. There's nothing he can do here.

So Adrien does the only thing he can.

Adrien: If you don't tell me what Ladybug is hiding from me, I'm done!

When his options were between doing nothing or using the only piece of leverage he had to get something, Adrien chose to be an active agent in his life rather than a passive victim. When his so-called allies kept needless secrets from him for arbitrary reasons even during emergency situations, he persisted in using whatever means he had. First he tried asking, then he tried bribing before eventually resorting to extortion.

He did all that, and was rewarded with some half baked explanations that didn't even include what all the powers of the miraculous are. Something that Marinette was gifted on a silver platter for literally no effort on her part.

The real cherry on top of all of this is that Marinette becoming the guardian in Miracle Queen is somehow even worse. Here it's not that she put zero effort to earn the position, it's that she's the one at fault for Fu being caught in the first place!

Ladybug: (gasps) I forgot to transform back. (Looks arounds enters the center of the merry-go-round trying to remain unseen) I haven't been followed Master, I'm sure of it.

She had, in fact, been followed.

If you think I'm being too harsh on her, I'm not. This is simply what the episode says. Three separate times in fact.

Tikki: Don't worry, Marinette. Master Fu is very wise. If anything's happened he'd know what to do. Marinette: But Tikki, if anything's happened to him it's because of me.

Aquabug: It's... It's my fault. I didn't transform back before I went to find him. Aqua Noir: What? Aquabug: I was... confused. I'm sorry. I'm such a failure.

(Marinette being confused was her swinging past Adrien and Kagami, losing focus because of that, and crashing into a tree on her way to Fu.)

Ladybug: I'm sorry! I'm so useless! If I hadn't forgotten to de-transform myself to go see Master Fu, Hawk Moth wouldn't have taken him hostage. He wouldn't have taken the Miracle Box.

The show has a habit of making Marinette take responsibility over things that weren't her fault, but this is not one of those times. She did in fact lead Hawkmoth to Fu because she forgot to detransform. She is actually at fault here.

Now, is this some horrible mistake that makes her the worst ever? No, obviously not. The results are only so catastrophic because of the high stakes of the superheroing situation and Gabriel and Nathalie being allowed to use the braincell in this episode. Frankly, she made far more egregious tactical mistakes that should've had way more severe consequences than something that's a bit worse than human error level forgetfulness.

But do not try to sell me that Marinette has earned that guardianship in any way whatsoever. Or any of the knowledge and authority she was gifted, for that matter. I do not appreciate the gaslighting.

I've seen takes in fandom that claim Adrien is not responsible enough to be trusted with the miraculous, not active enough to have earned the right to them, too bad of a judge of character, not serious enough, too inconsiderate, too entitled and so on and so forth.

The excuses the change, but the argument stays the same. "Adrien isn't deserving of the same power as Marinette."

There are valid reasons to say Adrien shouldn't be handing out miraculous. Far be it from me to litigate the various nuances of teen superheroes being entrusted with powerful magical artifacts even in a situation with no trusted adult to serve as an authority figure. But all of those reasons apply equally to Marinette as they do to Adrien. If you can't even be self-consistent with your logic and your arguments are all based on double standards, I'm not going to entertain your position.

Marinette is the one running the show when Max is visiting. Her parents go along with her every whim without pushback. "Are you sure we're not overdoing it, Marinette?" Sabine asks her daughter about creating a replica of a classmate's bedroom, as if she isn't the adult the room and fully capable of recognizing that this is going very far for a guest that's only going to stay for one night.

But that's whatever, I can see it as Tom and Sabine wanting to be accommodating and trusting Marinette knows the kind of accommodation Max needs (although why they would when she's obviously making it up she goes along is another question).

Yet some of Marinette's requests are truly thoughtless and inconsiderate and things they absolutely should've pushed back on.

Tom had already finished cooking dinner when Marinette decided on a whim to change what they'll be eating. They were already setting the table. That's about as last minute as it can be.

It's not like there was a real issue here like Max not liking that dish, either. Marinette just got it into her head that they should change what they're eating, lied to Max that they were always going to eat pastries for dinner and her parents went along with that without so much as asking for a reason or pointing out that this is not something to lie about.

I could see this being a case of trying to save face where they don't call her out in front of a guest, but if that was it the they should've talked to her privately how she was being thoughtless and rude. It didn't even need to be a scolding, just telling her it was inconsiderate to the person doing the cooking and dishonest towards Max.

I do wonder though if that, too, got worse over the course of the show like pretty much every other dynamic Marinette has. That Marinette's parents, sure, didn't push back as much as they should have back in s1-s3, but by now it has gotten so much worse because of Marinette being Ladybug.

In US units its a little over 2400 square feet split over 4 floors. So about 600 per floor. Something like 15x40 as a very rough layout. Looking at that building its a pretty reasonable fit if not on the small side. This is ballpark.

So 10kx227.

2,270,000€ in property there.

It's also a generational bakery so baring some very bad business decisions it should be fully paid off.

The reasoning usually goes that Adrichat is less intelligent than Maribug because his plans have far less steps since he's simple and straightforward, unlike Maribug's plans which have more steps and are complex and convoluted. 

This is, simply told, a hollywood understanding of how intellegence works.

Anyone with experience in engineering could tell you that coming up with a complex solution is pretty easy. It's coming up with a simple solution that's the hard part.

Having more steps, being convoluted and harder to understand, and generally requiring more resources may be good for making a plan look more impressive, but say fuck all about the actual quality of the planning. In fact, all those things are indicators of worse plans, not better ones.

In the real world, 90% of the time you would want to have an Adrien on your team rather than a Marinette. (And the 10% for Marinette is mostly for her impressive divergent thinking rather than for her complexity addiction.)

And there's actually an episode that demonstrate everything I just said.

In Kwamibuster, Marinette and Adrien are both faced with the same problem. Their kwamis showed up together at their school, which gives their superhero partner a clue about their identity. Both of them have to figure out a way to protect their identity from the other.

(Fun fact, while Marinette realizes this must mean Chat goes to her school, Adrien almost immediately goes to thinking Marinette must be Ladybug. That boy has a consistent pattern of figuring out who Ladybug is from even small clues.)

Since they're both faced with the same issue, we can compare the way each of them approaches problem solving pretty easily.

Marinette cooks up a scheme that includes three miraculous, a grand illusion and running a con on Chat Noir. She ends up giving herself a strong alibi that Marinette can't be Ladybug, as they were seen together.

Meanwhile, Adrien merely says:

Cat Noir: Ladybug, wait! I wanted to apologize for my Kwami. I don't know what he was doing in that elementary school. Ladybug Illusion: It was a high school. Cat Noir: High school, right! I'll promise it'll never happen again.

And instantly debunks the idea that he learns in that school or even anywhere near it.

So what we have is a complex plan that took a lot of resources and only managed to clear Marinette (since she did nothing to debunk the idea she's studying in that school) vs a simple plan that only required saying a single line to debunk the idea he knows that school at all. The difference between the effort-to-reward ratio is insane.

Adrien's plan here is clearly the better one here. It's both more effective and doesn't require three powerful magical artifacts in order to work.

The simplicity of it isn't a sign of stupidity, it's a sign of cleverness. If you don't believe me, I challange to think up a different scheme that the heroes could have used to cover their tracks, only one time you're allowed to use three of the miraculous Marinette had access to, and the other time you're only allowed a single line as an excuse. The first is far easier to do than the second.

And Kwamibuster isn't the only time we see Adrien being clever in that simple-but-effective manner. In Zombizou he hides in his locker and pretends to be a zombie so he could get away and transform without anyone asking questions. In Antibug he easily traps the akuma by making only the ground under her feet collapse. In Volpina he prevents Ladybug from surrendering the earrings without exposing himself by dispersing the illusion. In Truth he outmeanuvers the truth spell by realizing he could ask questions of his own rather than letting the akuma ask.

Some of those are things may seem obvious or unimpressive, but that's the nature of those kinds of solutions. As soon as you see the answer, it seems obvious. However, actually thinking up that simple but elegant solution is the hard part.

Even Shadybug gave Claw Noir shit for not being "subtle" or "clever" enough with his powers when the situation at hand was that Claw Noir doesn't need a complex plan to threaten people because he has the power of Destruction and can nuke a city in 5 seconds. What the hell does HE need to be SUBTLE for??

SHE is the one who needed to overcompensate for her powers not always manifesting threateningly or as an harmful object by coming up with clever and complex plans to use it. But that doesn't mean Claw Noir used his powers stupidly or lazily just because he didn't do it like Shadybug.

By all means, in the Paris special it actually felt like Emonette was being insecure about being the lesser threat power-wise so she tried keeping Claw Noir small. But the Paris' characters are parallels to our main ones, so what does that tell you about our Maribug's constant ridicule of Chat Noir's way of thinking? Literally both kwami swap episodes have her pout and be upset at Chat's "simple and direct" plan as if that's an insult to her genius and job.

The second episode in s5 just had her hold her tongue about it for once (and only because she was horny for him in those couple of episodes lol this wasn't a matter of new respect, she initially clearly didn't react well to his explanation, so she only held her tongue because she wanted HIS down her throat lol I wouldn't even say that her being supportive after he stood up for himself suddenly means she understands his way of thinking and his type of intelligence. By all means, it just means that she wanted to act supportive for once after Chat Noir vented his frustration over her convoluted plans she never fucking communicates with him. That doesn't mean she suddenly thinks he's intelligent (to this day she does not treat him as if his intelligence is in any way as valid or legit as hers or her most trusted team members'), it just means she learned to stop being a bitch about his "simple-minded ways".

Cause that's literally why Mister Bug scolded Lady Noire at one point after Marinette was confused about his lucky charm plan and he explained it. You can clearly she in Marinette's face that she did NOT like that Mister Bug interpreted his lucky charm in such a direct way because that's "simple-minded" and an insult to her brilliance and job as Ladybug. Same as back in Reflektdoll. So he had to shut her ass up because he could see the attitude and disrespect on her face. Like, Adrien got heated there for a moment.

(For clarification since I don't think I ever explained that on my blog. I'm 99% sure that Adrien's problem in Reflektdoll was that he summoned the Lucky Charm in LADYBUG'S way, meaning he summoned the charm object before figuring out the WHOLE solution to the case at hand because that's how he always saw Ladybug doing it. She figures the case out THROUGH the charm, hence why she then had to do it in Reflektdoll too

And in Passion we see how Mister Bug's charms actually work. He needs to find out who the victim is and what their problems was in the first place that caused the akumatization (which includes finding the akuma object) and only THEN he can summon the charm because said charm's purpose genuinely simply is to help Mister Bug to wrap up the case. Get him from location A to B, as in Passion his charm was the parfum bottle which he merely used as an EXCUSE towards Ladybug for why he - Chat Noir- figured out that the "unknown" victim (for whom he already figured out the akuma object and its emotional value while Lady Noire yelled "We dont even know who she is!", implying that she doesn't believe that one can find out the victim's issue before knowing WHO they are [which explains A LOT about her side of Ladynoir] or at the very least, she thinks HE couldn't possibly be figuring that out without knowing the person which would also explain alot about her side of Ladynoir) is Nathalie from the Agreste household when it was him being Adrien Agreste specifically that made it possible for him to solve the case right away as perfectly and in detail as he did, due to his bond with Nathalie.

(Meaning, no, the Passion akuma itself doesn't directly have Adriem fully act on how his Mister Bug lucky charms are supposed to work. But the episode establishes everything about their mechanics in detail)

Indeed, the charm adapts to the holder and Adrichat's emotional intelligence changes the lucky charm usage into only being needed AFTER he already figured everything out. It's probably also why Marinette's summoning way doesn't do anything for Adrien and therefore Chat Noir can't solve the cases. For him, she summons it too early and her charms are tailored to HER life experiences and knowledge.

How unfortunate that the show has 0 interest in highlighting any of that because we can only highlight things that make Maribug look like the greatest goddess that ever walked the earth 😒

But back on track. So Mister Bug's charm in Passion was literally just there to have an excuse towards LADYBUG because he knew he had to justify himself to her (because that's what she always demands while she can do whatever she wants) and then he shut her ass down when he saw that Ladybug doesn't like the "simple and direct plan" through the attitude on her face.

And yet even with my explanation, OP's point still stands that the show taught the fandom to view Maribug as the brilliant strategist and Adrichat as stupid himbo despite Maribug being honestly quite ineffective and Adrichat being VERY smart when he's allowed to be and alot more efficient than Ladybug. Dude doesn't need a magical hint to figure out the complicated case, the show declares his emotional intelligence as ENOUGH.

So no shit the show does everything in its power to sweep that under the rug as much as possible because where would be Maribug's non-stop validation, glorification, and praise in that? lol

Ladybug don't treat him well? She doesn't trust a vigilante.

Fu kept him out of information? He doesn't know who he is, so contact is near impossible.

Public loves LB more than him? She's a hero, he's basically a glorified rascal that makes the police concerned over him making people doing vigilante stuff as well.

LB reveals her identity to Alya? Again, she doesn't trust a vigilante.

I can go on and on about it, but bottom line is that Chat Noir's treatment makes more sense if he was never a legitimate hero.

I'd say we don't even have to go 'vigilante' we could settle for 'Plagg escaped and picked his own holder without Fu's input'.

Lmao, no chance. If anything the dude is over-empathetic.

I honestly have no clue where the idea he's low empathy could come from. Marinette is definitely low empathy, and every time we see both of them trying to reach out to someone the difference is day and night.

Take Guilttrip for example. Juleka was crying in the corner of the boiler room after she run away from the cafeteria for a reason neither Adrien or Marinette knew.

This is Adrien's approach:

Adrien: (to Marinette) Stay back, and not a sound, okay? I'll handle it. (walks towards Juleka and kneels to her) Juleka? Is everything okay? Juleka: (sobs) I just want to be alone. Adrien: You want to be alone, I understand.

He arranges to have a one on one conversation with Juleka, reading the situation enough to realize that she ran to the boiler room because she wanted to be alone. He kneels down to be on her level. He asks her how she's feeling and focuses on her emotions in his response.

Contrast that with Marinette's approach.

(Marinette texts everyone; Adrien notices) Marinette: I'm so sorry. I really am the worst class rep ever. But I don't get it, did I say something that upset you? (Juleka looks up; her face in tears) Juleka: It's not you, it's Rose... (continues sobbing) Marinette: What do you mean Rose? Juleka: (tearfully) I'm worried about her... Marinette: Uh, no. Don't worry, she's fine. She's just resting in the nurse's office. Juleka, you know you can tell us anything. We're your friends, I promise we won't tell anyone else. (Juleka displays her phone. It shows a photo of Rose in a bed at the hospital with cheerful emojis. She continues sobbing.) Marinette: Rose... isn't in the nurse's office..?

Marinette's first response, after Juleka explicitly said she wanted to be left alone, is to text the entire class about the situation. She barges into the conversation (despite Adrien asking her not to) and immediately makes it all about her and her feelings. Her main concern is making sure that she didn't do anything that upset Juleka, rather than Juleka being upset.

She then pressures Juleka to tell her why she's crying, promising not to tell anyone else. Something which is a blatant lie considering she just texted everyone about Juleka and that everyone turns up in the boiler room a few moments later. The conversation continues with everyone interrogating Juleka about Rose's illness while Juleka is still crying.

Nobody gives a damn about Juleka's feeling, they care more about knowing the secret and their own reactions to it (which is a running theme in that episode). The only one who says anything to reassure Juleka and takes her feelings into consideration is Adrien. He's also the only one who continues to treat Rose like normal, the way they all promised to.

After giving Ladybug pep talks and hugs he doesn't ask why or how he could help

He saw the pressure she's under and didn’t feel any need to change himself to help alleviate it

He didn't apologize in Origins about the gum incident and instead explained he'd never been to school or had friends

In Puppeteer 2 after the entire statue incident nearly left Marinette in tears he apologized and said that even after all this time he's still not used to being a good friend, which is somehow him throwing a pity party and making it all about himself

All of which tells me more about the empathy levels of the people who wrote those arguments than anything about Adrien.

Asking that he change himself, that he do more despite already trying to help, that he read Marinette's mind and manage her emoional state for her without her even asking, apologize for something he didn't do because Marinette jumped to conclusions, and when he does apologize he's not allowed to explain or mention himself in any way, those are things that ONLY make sense if you only empathize with Marinette and thinks the world needs to bend over backwards to accommodate her.

(If you're in a relationship and your partner paints you as a bad guy for not doing those things, get out. Those are major red flags.)

Marinette: If you read my diary, then you'd know, it's not all that easy. Everything often hangs by a thread. I too was very angry, I too was hurt. I too was scared. And I still struggle with all of this everyday. You don't need any magic jewel. Powers didn't change my life. I changed the way I saw myself. I decided to love myself. To love the world around me. And I decided that I could fix what was wrong in it. I'm sure that if you changed the way you see yourself and your world, you'll be able to fix what's wrong with it too. Just like I do here, every time. You can fix it all.

Shadybug objectively has a worse life than Marinette. She faces a lot more challenges and doesn't have the same access to resources Marinette has. Marinette never shows she understands that, despite Shadybug explicitly telling her.

Instead Marinette insists that their situations are the same (they're not), that their struggles are the same (they're not) and that the solution is the same (it's not). She talks about how she pulled herself up by the bootstraps (she didn't but that's another topic) and offers no compassion for any challenges Shadybug may face. She shows no regard for Shadybug's feeling and offers no actionable solutions, yet the entire time she's placing the responsibility for improving on Shadybug.

It's the equivalent of telling someone "we're all a little ADHD" and insisting that they just need to exercise more and it'll cure their depression. It worked for them so if it doesn't work for the other person it just means they weren't trying hard enough.

Compare that to Adrien's approach:

Claw Noir: If I make a wish, I'll have the chance to get the only thing I want, I'll bring her back to life. I'll see my mother again. Adrien: I know. (Claw Noir stops) I know you, you know. Claw Noir: No, you don't. Don't pretend to be me or else you wouldn't be friends with The Cockroach. If you were me, your mother would also be- Adrien: She is. Claw Noir: But... If you knew about the wish, why haven't you tried it? Adrien: I won't tell you never thought about it. Of course I thought about it. But... Everything comes at a price. If my mother came back- Claw Noir: Our mother... Adrien: In order to bring our mother back, someone else would have to lose theirs. And that, I can't wish on anyone. Me, I managed to go on living, trying to be happy, as she wanted me to. I have my friends to comfort me. I'm okay now. I'm as well as I can be anyway. It must be painful for someone who doesn't have any close friends. Or anyone to comfort them. Claw Noir: (crying) Someone? Like me? Adrien: Only you can decide not to be alone. I can tell you about my friends from this world. You should meet them in yours. You'd probably get along. Take Nino, for example.

The first and most obvious difference is that this is a dialogue, not a monologue. Adrien is talking with his counterpart. Marinette is lecturing her's.

The first thing Adrien does is establishing that yeah, he knows what Claw Noir had been through. He can relate. He also lost his mother and he also had the same thoughts his counterpart had. Their situation really are the same. Notice how he doesn't shame Claw Noir for having those thoughts or implies that he's somehow evil or weak for having them.

Adrien then tells how he overcame it. He frames it as what worked for him, rather than some universal solution. There's no implication that Claw Noir was lacking for not doing the same. Adrien then acknowledges the challenges that Claw Noir faces that he doesn't, and offers both compassion and validation for them.

"Only you can decide not to be alone" that's where Adrien places the responsibility on Claw Noir for improving, like Marinette did with Shadybug in her entire speech. He immediately follows it up with an offer to help and an actionable solution. "Just apologize and invite him to the movies." (which he says later in the conversation) is something Claw Noir could implement as soon as he get home, rather than fumbling by himself trying to figure out how to improve. Adrien even tells him the specific movie Nino likes. He's removing for Claw Noir as any roadblocks as he can.

Do you guys see how those two interactions are fundamentally different? How Adrien is taking into consideration Claw Noir specifically and taking a lot of care with his emotions while Marinette may as well be lecturing in front of a class since the words are so generic that the recipient could be anyone? How he's reaching out while she's stating the solution?

Also I'm not surprised that you ran into some Adrien basher with absurd justifications for him being low empathy. Some of the stuff that's thrown at him is just ridiculous. I remember arguing with an Adrien basher that no, Plagg hadn't determined that Adrien was just so horrible and immature that he doesn't deserve to know Master Fu exists, while Marinette had been so great that Tikki knew that she deserved to know about him, and that Adrien being kept in the dark and out of the loop about so many things was because he hadn't earned the right to know things, while Marinette had.

Yor & Anya

I think I spent more time than I'd like to admit making Loid's shoes and Sylvia's cigarette.

and I was so young, when I behaved twenty five..

Pt. 42.3

RIP Chat Noir, he had a good run.