nobodyfamousposts:

No?

You get it anyway!

We’ve cried in defense of Marinette. We’ve blasted Adrien for his “do nothing except lecture the good person and let a bad person keep doing bad things” plan. And we’ve pretty much torn Alya apart over her contradictory “I’m here for you girl except when I’m not” actions. We’ve even vented about the rest of the class, usually as a collective.

But you know who we haven’t really discussed? 

Nino.

Hear me out.

Nino, much like the others, was fed lies by Lila. Her lie to him in particular I believe was regarding a possibility at a future meeting with a Hollywood director. As someone who is into music and filmmaking, this is HUGE to him. This is a teenager who doesn’t know anything about the internal politics of those circles or how networking actually works. He, like many young people, was just told “hey, stick with me and I can give you this opportunity!” And like many young people working towards a dream, he wants to take it.

So he listens to Lila’s stories. Believes her claims of injuries. And ultimately hangs on her every word about her adventures because to someone like him who has pretty much spent all of his life in one city, this does sound amazing. And why wouldn’t they be true? Why would Lila lie? Why would she throw out a possible opportunity to him with no intent to follow through?

That would just be cruel. And it is.

So Nino continues, much like the rest of the class, trailing after Lila’s tall tales and believing her many stories all while being played like a fiddle. And he falls for it all hook, line, and sinker because…well, there’s no gain as far as they can see, so why would she be making it up?

Eventually, Lila’s lies catch up to her and she’s outed for every false claim she’s made up. Marinette had been trying to warn everyone all this time and is now vindicated. All that time he spent listening to Lila and all that faith he had in her is destroyed, and it’s like he lost a friend he’s only now realizing he never really had. It also meant losing what he thought was a real opportunity he had been looking forward to—something that he only now realizes had been a pipe dream. He’s wrestling with the anger and guilt and self blame. He should have known better. He should have been smarter. He was such an idiot. He’s really getting down on himself.

But then something else comes out amidst this entire mess.

Not only that Lila lied about everything.

Not that Marinette was right all along.

No, no, no.

It’s that Adrien knew the whole time.

His best friend and someone he thought he could trust to never steer him wrong KNEW that Lila was lying all along. And he did nothing. Adrien had knowingly and willingly allowed Nino to be played like that. In wanting to “not cause problems”, Adrien had stood by and watched the guy he claimed to be his best friend be led around by a manipulator. And he never said a thing.

Should Nino have trusted Marinette? Yes, he should have. He knew her well enough to know what she was like at the very least and that she wouldn’t just make claims like that without some reason. But he chose not to listen, so that’s on him and he accepts that.

But Adrien was his best bro. If Adrien had said something about what Lila was doing or in any way backed up Marinette’s warnings, you’d better believe Nino would have listened. That’s what bros do. They look out for each other and trust each other.

Maybe Nino didn’t really lose out on anything by following Lila, but she had successfully made a complete fool out of him for kicks. His pride is damaged. His emotions have been hurt. His confidence in himself is pretty much shot. And now he has to deal with the knowledge that Adrien had intentionally allowed Nino to be played and manipulated by someone he damn well knew was untrustworthy.

And this was Nino. The first one to willingly try to befriend him. The one who tried to talk to his dad for him on his behalf. The one who was freaking akumatized just to give him his very first birthday party. And Adrien, rather than in any way return the favor, chose to be passive. Just like he always does for everything. Because it was easier.

Then he finds out Adrien not only knew, but he had also previously told Marinette not to out Lila for the sake of “not making it worse” and concerns about how it wouldn’t “make a bad person be good”. Because clearly making Lila be “good” was the greater concern here.

In multiple ways, and in every possible meaning, Adrien chose to protect, aid, and enable a serial liar over his own best friend.

Have fun with that.