what would you have me do?

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i have a huge amount of chlodrien brain rot!!! i'm genuinely surprised that this dynamic isn't more popular in the fandom, probably because pre-s2 chlodrien is an entirely different story, but it's a platonic relationship that i find fascinating and see as mutually beneficial to both characters!

they're both two blonde rich kids with awful parents, but while adrien's trauma made him shrink himself and left him trying to appear as polite and non-demanding as possible, chloe instead acts out and actively harms people both through words and actions, which i find very neat because i do see it as a gender-flipped dynamic! people wonder how are they friends, when adrien is so sweet and chloe is so misbehaved, but the truth is that they aren't that different! both of them hide their vulnerability and insecurities from the world, it's just that she has a superiority complex and he has an inferiority one! both of them have parents that made them feel insignificant and unimporant, so adrien tries to fade into the background even when gabriel isn't around, while chloe is always screaming on the inside, trying to get noticed.

chloe struggles with putting herself in other people's shoes, but adrien is empathetic and believes that she has inherent goodness inside of her, so he ends up being like the parent she doesn't have, gently scolding her and trying to push her in the right direction, showing her that it's okay to care for other people and that she doesn't have to imitate her mother.

but sometimes the situation gets flipped when chloe goes too far and it turns into 'in front of the baby???':

one of my favorite chlodrien (chatloe???) moments occurs in 'queen wasp' after an entire episode of chloe's mother saying that her daughter isn't exceptional (essentially worthless in her eyes) and hawk moth using the very same word to manipulate chloe:

the trauma bonding! at their core they're just two broken kids, yearning to be unconditionally loved. but i also love how he gives her a new definition for the word 'exceptional', so that she has something positive to associate it with when her mother inevitably uses it against her again. because adrien doesn't need her to be a hero, or to be admired by others, he needs her to be herself, not a sad version of her mother. and i love how in 'malediktator' he refused to celebrate chloe leaving, because he knew how much she was hurting and he was upset at how everybody dismissed her. these two genuinely care for each other! she was so upset when he told her that they can't be friends if she doesn't try to change:

screw everybody else in the show, he's the one person in the world she'd listen to! chloe doesn't care about authorities, she doesn't get along with her parents, she hates her classmates, but one adrien agreste's opinion is worth everything to her.

and chloe doesn't get enough love for being the only person with a good message for adrien in 'felix':

she's being vulnerable, empathetic, sweet, but also mature because she also recognizes how their situation is different. still, i like to imagine that adrien was there for chloe when audrey left, trying to support her as much as possible, given how small they were, and then when emilie died, chloe was able to offer him some comfort.

and i do think that adrien can benefit from chloe's bluntness and fierceness! you can't tell me that chloe will care an iota who gabriel agreste is, she would tell him off if he treats adrien badly in front of her. they just have this incredibly nice dynamic where he can 'soften' her up, and she can 'toughen' him in return; she can learn to be more open and emphathetic, and he can learn how to speak his mind and to stand up for himself. plus, i feel like their miraculous are matched really neatly, because the bee can freeze a sentimonster in place, and then the black cat can destroy the connection the sentimonster has with the peacock holder!

oh, and isn't the chloe and chat dynamic the most fun thing? they're just two siblings that get on each other's nerves.

i do feel like she began appreciating chat and stopped viewing him as just ladybug's 'sidekick'. i especially love how chat noir always tries to make ladybug see chloe in a different light, and that he tries to be as fair to chloe as possible. even now (as of 'queen banana'), he still hasn't given up on her, he still expects her to do better becaue he knows that she can do better, it's chloe that decided to end their friendship. who else in her life has so much faith and belief in her?

besides, we all know that chloe is a lesbian and her 'crush' on him is because he's conventionally attractive and not gross, so it seems like a good idea to her. like, if canon refuses to give me my chlodrien crumbs, i'll just use the gift of imagination to make up my headcanons for two french pixels, thanks.