Adrien much prefers living his life as Chat Noir. Chat Noir has no restraints and exists free of the hurt his civilian side has endured all this time.
Marinette loves her life through the responsibility of being both Ladybug and Guardian of the Miraculous is a heavy one. Although she wishes she was as confident in her love life as she is facing akuma.
When Marinette finds herself getting closer to Chat while also trying to improve her friendship with Adrien, she starts to suspect that not all is well behind Chat or Adrien's sunny smiles.
Penumbra
is a Miraculous Ladybug Fan Fic by Selkie077 and is completed.
Penumbra contains examples of:
- Abusive Parents: Gabriel lands squarely in this even before the start of the story when he covers up Adrien being sexually assaulted and doesn't let him attend therapy to preserve his brand. Later Gabriel strikes Adrien for talking back to him, bruising his face. It's revealed that he knew what Lila was like and what she was doing but did nothing to stop it. Even when her behavior escalated. And when he realizes that Adrien is Chat Noir, he attempts to take advantage of it to create a powerful akuma, regardless of all the pain and anguish Adrien is suffering.
- Adults Are Useless:
- Played Straight with Gabriel, who actively makes things worse for Adrien.
- Same with Nathalie, who tries to convince Adrien to return home even though she knows Gabriel is abusing him.
- Subverted with Sabine and Tom Dupain-Cheng. Who offer their home and advice on relationships to Adrien after he runs away.
- Attempted Rape: Lila hits Adrien and pins him to the ground while removing part of his clothes. Thankfully, Marinette physically pulls her off him.
- Believing Their Own Lies: Lila, Gabriel and even Nathalie all believe they are in the right, despite all evidence to the contrary.
- Butterfly of Doom: Apart from the obvious pun about Hawk Moth, Ladybug attempts to ask Bunnyx to prevent Adrien from being raped, but Bunnyx tells her that doing that could end with Adrien not only not becoming Chat Noir but perhaps not even meeting Marinette. Then she asks about stopping Lila's attack, but Bunnyx reveals that a past Ladybug tried that - and, since Chloe could not intervene to get Adrien out of Gabriel's hands, it ended with Adrien being Driven to Suicide.
- Calling the Old Man Out: Adrien finally snaps at Gabriel that Emilie was the one who raised him and that Gabriel has never acted like a father, even wondering out loud if Emilie left because of his jerkassness. Predictably, Gabriel reacts by striking Adrien to the floor and grounding him.
- He does it again later after Gabriel forces him to face the woman that raped him five years before and forgive her in an attempt to reassert his control over him. This time, though, when Gabriel tries to hit him Adrien catches the punch and leaves the room on his own while telling him to "make a fucking appointment when he feels up to having an actual conversation".
- Double Standard Rape: Female on Male: The story makes it clear that this is NOT acceptable, but several characters show shades of this.
- Gabriel views someone "allowing" this to happen as weakness. Even denying Adrien his right to therapy because he should "get over it". The first time this happened was bad enough, but when Lila assaults Adrien Gabriel blames him for "causing a scandal".
- Lila herself abuses this mentality to take advantage of her victim. Even thinking Marinette would be okay with it because they're both attracted to the same boy.
- Some of the general public (including police officers and paparazzi) don't believe Adrien was assaulted, even going so far as to say that a woman can't assault a man.
- Downfall by Sex: Lila's assault on Adrien directly leads to the exposure of her harassment and lies.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: It takes a lot of effort to get through all the pain and anguish he suffered, but in the end Adrien manages to slowly recover and have a chance for a normal life along with Marinette.
- Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: Lila is fully under the belief that Marinette won't care that she sexually assaulted Adrien because they both have crushes on him.
- False Rape Accusation: Lila threatens Adrien with this.
- Forceful Kiss: Lila roughly grabs Adrien's face while he has a panic attack, leaving a bruise and a split lip.
- From Bad to Worse: The ending arc. First Gabriel forces Adrien to return to the mansion by threatening Marinette's future as a designer. Then he sends Volpina to cause Adrien even more mental anguish so he can be akumatized. And then Adrien triggers so hard that he lets the amok in him turn him into Chat Blanc.
- Good Parents: Sabine and Tom in direct contrast to Gabriel.
- Guilt Complex: Stemming from unresolved trauma. Adrien often apologizes for things that aren't his fault, such as having panic attacks.
- Hates Being Touched: Downplayed. Adrien is very sensitive to physical contact, especially on his neck and wrists because the woman who raped him when he was twelve grabbed him by the wrists and then throttled him.
- Having a Blast: Chérie Bomb can make small orbs of red light that explode on contact.
- Heroic Self-Deprecation: Trauma is not something you get over in one day. Adrien has to put one foot in front of the other, slowly, painfully, in a continuous struggle to break free of this mindset.
- Hurt/Comfort Fic: Adrien goes through several traumatic experiences that Marinette does her best to help him through.
- I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: A platonic version from Chloe, as she now considers Adrien her brother. Chloe does not like Marinette, but is willing to get her together with Adrien because she knows Marinette will make him happy.
- Insane Troll Logic: Gabriel blames Adrien for going public with the assault he suffered, despite it being the work of Chloe. Because it damages his brand.
- Internal Reveal: Marinette discovers Adrien is Chat Noir when she finds the music box she gifted the latter in the former's bedroom. Adrien finds she is Ladybug a few days later when she accidentally calls him by his name.
- Irony: After Adrien finds out about his mother's true situation, he tells Gabriel he'd rather see her dead and gone than anywhere close to Gabriel. After the battle, the Miraculous Cure ends up reviving Emilie.
- It's All About Me: Gabriel Agreste. When it comes to Adrien, the only thing he cares about is how he impacts him and his brand image. And all his attempts to bring Emilie back are less about bringing back the woman he loves and more about getting something that is "his" where he wants it.
- Cassandra, the woman that raped Adrien when he was twelve, makes it obvious that the only thing she's sorry about is that she had trouble keeping a job following that.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Chloe still acts very much like... Chloe but she also protects Adrien, even tolerating Marinette because she makes him happy. Chloe's disregard for what anyone else thinks allows her to help Adrien when no one else could. She also joins in the Final Battle as Queen Bee when she learns Adrien needs her help.
- Karma Houdini: Both Lila and Nathalie manage to avoid the consequences of their actions, staying free even though they were willingly helping Hawkmoth and complicit in Adrien's suffering.
- Never My Fault: Gabriel is unwilling to admit that most of the problems Adrien and Emilie suffered were caused by him.
- No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: Marinette beats the crap out of Lila after finding her trying to rape Adrien so hard that she needs to get a brace.
- "Not If They Enjoyed It" Rationalization: Discussed by Adrien when he alludes to his body reacting even when he doesn't want it to.
- Not What It Looks Like: When Sabine walks in on Adrien and Marinette in the kitchen late at night.
- Poor Communication Kills: A recurring theme of this fic.
- The conditioning Gabriel inflicted on Adrien combined with his previous trauma prevented Adrien from telling anyone about Lila's abuse.
- Psychological Projection: Lila projects all her worst qualities onto Marinette, even believing that their attraction to Adrien is the same.
- Rape as Backstory: Adrien suffered this when he was twelve, resulting in deep-seated and unresolved psychological issues.
- Rape as Drama: Averted as the act itself is never shown and the story focuses on the psychological trauma the victim goes through.
- Relationship Upgrade: Chat Noir and Marinette slowly start falling for their crushes' alter egos. Notably, they don't learn about each other's secret identities until after they start dating.
- The Runaway: After Gabriel strikes Adrien hard enough to bruise his face, Marinette convinces him to leave.
- Screw the Rules, I Have Money!: A rare heroic example. Chloe uses her status and influence to get Adrien the help he needs.
- Sick and Wrong: Marinette's reaction to Lila when she discovers the full extent of her disgusting actions.
- Talking the Monster to Death: After a long, grueling battle, Ladybug manages to convince Chat Blanc to give her the chance to talk to Adrien, allowing her to finally pull out the remnants of akuma and amok in him and putting an end to Chat Blanc.
- That Came Out Wrong: When Adrien and Marinette go out for gelato and Marinette asks him What? Don’t want to see what you taste like? in reference to the "Chat Noir" special.
- Their First Time: Adrien and Marinette have theirs shortly after he starts to live with the Dupain-Chengs.
- There Are No Therapists: Averted. Adrien finally gets the help he needs to deal with his trauma. The therapist even helps him realize that Gabriel's actions are neglectful at best.
- Unsexy Sadist: Lila tries to arouse Adrien despite the fact that her very touch makes him choke back bile.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Emilie used the Peacock Miraculous to put an amok feather on Adrien so the feather would mute all his extreme feelings after he was raped. In the end, it causes more problems in the long run, as it makes his trauma feel less important, and when Hawk Moth tries to akumatize him the amok and akuma clash with each other, leaving remnants behind when Ladybug purifies Adrien - which prevent him from transforming into Chat Noir.
- Victim-Blaming: A common theme the antagonists share is the belief that their victims "wronged" them by exposing their abuse.
- Gabriel blames Adrien for being raped when he was twelve, even going so far as to cover up the whole thing so it wouldn't "damage the brand". Particularly horrendous since he's the one who knowingly placed Adrien in that position!
- Lila blames Adrien for her sexual harassment and later blames Marinette as she physically attacks her for getting in her way.
- Nathalie tries to guilt trip Adrien for running away and "throwing away" his modeling despite knowing exactly what Gabriel's done to him.
- Woman Scorned: Chérie Bomb's heartbreak is what allowed Hawkmoth to akumatize her.
- You Are Better Than You Think You Are: Chloe, Plagg and Marinette all remind Adrien that he's worthy of being cared for.
- You Are Not Alone: It's debatable which one of Adrien's emotional breakdowns count as his darkest hour, but Marinette was there for him regardless. Even saying it verbatim once. More importantly, she continued being there for him even after the worst moments passed.
