History Fanfic / BurnTheWitchMiraculousLadybug

** Also downplayed by Principal Damocles, who takes immediate action once he realizes just how much Lila has gotten away with right under his nose. He shows no hesitation in ensuring Lila will face appropriate punishments for all of her various school-related misdeeds (her FakeCharity is fraud and will go though the legal system). The narration notes that while he does tend to fold under pressure, he's a perfectly competent and effective principal when dealing with parents who are actually willing to work with him rather than abuse authority to get their way.

* LivingLieDetector: Witch Hunter, though only for Lila. Her scroll contains a list of Lila's crimes and is updated in real time, meaning that whenever Lila tells a lie, Witch Hunter gets an update saying 'Lila lied to X about Y', which she usually then announces to everyone around her. This causes the additional problem of alerting the mob to where she is or who she’s with, letting them either hunt her down themselves or make contact with whomever is around her to bring ''them'' into the mob.

** When Marinette confronts Lila in Chapter 6, she finds out that Lila was in her house, and is wearing her clothes. She muses to herself that while she loves her parents, they have not always been the most reliable (citing her wrongful expulsion as an example), and she's somewhat annoyed at the idea that they would let Lila into her room and go through her stuff. [[spoiler:They ''didn't''. They allowed Lila to rest at the bakery after Lila dove into the Seine to escape Luka's family, and Lila snuck in to find blackmail material. They were quite upset when they found her in there, but Marinette doesn't find out about that until Chapter 8.]]

** When Rose tries to mollify the frustrated prince by insisting that his '[[CelebrityLie good friend]]' Lila Rossi is in charge of the charity:

** Played With when Lila tries to take credit for Rose gaining so much power as Witch Hunter, only for the akumatized girl to respond "I DIDN'T WANT POWER! I WANTED A FRIEND!" Her words are completely lost upon Lila, but cause everyone else present to regard Lila's lack of reaction with disgust. However, this ''does'' finally have an impact when [[spoiler:Hawk Moth proceeds to use her own definition of the word 'friend' against her, giving her a taste of what all of her 'friends' felt like after she'd wrung all the use out of them]].

** [[spoiler: After her lies to the adults unravel, Lila assumes that she's going to be expelled, only for Mr. Damocles to declare that they don't expel students for truancy, even pointing out that "less school" is hardly the appropriate punishment for a student whose crime was skipping school. Given that Lila was counting on [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere leaving Paris and Dupont behind]], she's hardly thrilled by the idea, or any of the other plans he has to accommodate for her ''unique'' circumstances]].

* AboveTheInfluence: Marinette is probably the one person in the entire city of Paris who hasn't fallen to Witch Hunter. Not even ''Tikki'' wants to save Lila. [[spoiler: Plagg keeps his head, probably because he's more jaded than Tikki, but Adrien eventually snaps and gives in to Witch Hunter.]]

* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: {{Downplayed|Trope}}. When Marinette confronts Adrien on his defense of people like Chloé and Lila over herself and others they are causing harm to, she expresses wishing that he would stand up for her the way he does for them. One scene later...

* BewareTheNiceOnes: Rose is a sweet girl who only wanted to donate to charity through Lila. When she realizes how Lila swindled her, she akumatizes into Witch Hunter, whose goal is to kill Lila. No NeverSayDie workarounds like transforming her into something or trapping her somewhere, just plain ol' [[BurnTheWitch burning her alive]]. [[spoiler:Adrien becomes part of Witch Hunter's mob when Witch Hunter reveals exactly how much Lila has hurt both his classmates and himself.]]

** Rose and the rest of Mme. Bustier's class learn that Lila is a ManipulativeBitch [[BitchInSheepsClothing in Sheep's Clothing]], and that she never met Prince Ali or did any charity work.

* NoNonsenseNemesis: Downplayed. Witch Hunter is out to get revenge on Lila for the evil deeds she did, and is out to do so by ''lynching'' Lila, none of those fancy magical methods other Akumatized villains have used like sending her to another dimension or turning her into a statue or making her RetGone.

** [[spoiler:Adrien]] manages to hold it together when Witch Hunter reveals how Lila tricked everyone about Marinette, allied with Hawk Moth, stole his book, and akumatized herself to ruin Adrien's reputation, but finally loses it when she announces that Lila had been [[spoiler:serving as Gabriel's spy in school]]. [[spoiler:He actually becomes conflicted about this later, since to him it means he only really cared about Lila's lies when they affected him ''personally'']].

** Not "reason you suck" so much as "reason you were wrong", but Marinette doesn't mince words when calling out Adrien for prioritizing the feelings of [[TheBully Chloé]] and [[ManipulativeBitch Lila]] over hers, even if that wasn't his intention. Furthermore, while Marinette is grateful to Adrien for having her expulsion revoked by making a deal with Lila, she also points out that she never ''asked'' Adrien to play the martyr for her sake, especially when he did it instead of the much less harmful thing she ''did'' ask of him (i.e. to admit that Lila was a liar and show Marinette that he was in her corner).

* UngratefulBitch: Marinette's efforts to protect Lila are rewarded with complaints, sniping, and attempting to [[TheFarmerAndTheViper sacrifice her as a distraction]].

** Not "reason you suck" so much as "reason you were wrong", but Marinette doesn't mince words when calling out Adrien for prioritizing the feelings of [[TheBully Chloé]] and [[ManipulativeBitch Lila]] over hers, even if that wasn't his intention. Furthermore, while she is grateful to Adrien for having Marinette's expulsion revoked by making a deal with Lila, she also points out that she never ''asked'' Adrien to play the martyr for her sake, especially when he did it instead of the much less harmful thing she ''did'' ask of him (i.e. to admit that Lila was a liar and show Marinette that he was in her corner).

** Not "reason you suck" so much as "reason you were wrong", but Marinette doesn't mince words when calling out Adrien for prioritizing the feelings of [[TheBully Chloé]] and [[ManipulativeBitch Lila]] over hers, even if that wasn't his intention. She also points out that she never asked Adrien to play the martyr for her sake, especially when he did instead of the much less harmful thing she ''did'' ask of him (i.e. to admit that Lila was a liar and show her he was in her corner).

* HeelRealization: Adrien has one when he realizes that [[spoiler:he only fell under Witch Hunter's spell after hearing how Lila's actions had affected him ''personally'', and that he was more offended by the fact Marinette hadn't confided in him about her threats than the fact that Lila threatened her in the first place]].

* ItsAllMyFault: This is Marinette's main problem throughout the story. Even though Lila was the instigator of it all, Marinette nevertheless believes the whole thing is her fault for not doing anything about her sooner. At one point, she even says that blaming Lila for being Lila would be about as productive as blaming a snake for being a snake, apparently not getting that there's a big difference between an animal acting on pure instinct and a human acting on malicious intent. Tikki realises that this is partially her fault, due to her holding Marinette to a sky-high standard and getting on her case for every little mistake she makes, up to and including things that aren't her fault or aren't worth apologising for. Only at the end of chapter 7 does Marinette get over this, after Tikki assures her that while she's not blameless for her actions, she's not responsible for anyone else's either.

** PlayedWith when Lila tries to take credit for Rose gaining so much power as Witch Hunter, only for the akumatized girl to respond "I DIDN'T WANT POWER! I WANTED A FRIEND!" Her words are completely lost upon Lila, but cause everyone else present to regard Lila's lack of reaction with disgust. However, this ''does'' finally have an impact when [[spoiler:Hawk Moth proceeds to use her own definition of the word 'friend' against her, giving her a taste of what all of her 'friends' felt like after she'd wrung all the use out of them]].
* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: Rose's list of conditions for Adrien to earn her forgiveness on the rest of the class' behalf for not warning them about Lila's true nature is for him to endorse a charity, get the class a cake as an apology, and take Marinette on a date to a fancy restaurant.

* TheLastOfTheseIsNotLikeTheOthers: Rose's list of conditions for Adrien to earn her forgiveness on the rest of the class' behalf for not warning them about Lila's true nature:
-->'''Rose''': I want your endorsement on the charity.\\
'''Adrien''': Done.\\
'''Rose''': And a cake for the class as an apology.\\
'''Adrien''': Just tell me what flavor.\\
'''Rose''': And for you to [[ShipperOnDeck take Marinette on a date to a fancy restaurant]].\\
'''Adrien''': I’ll check my sched—wait, what?\\
'''Marinette''': ''(while clamping Rose's mouth with her hand)'' Just the first two will be fine.

* ChronicBackstabbingDisorder: Lila's backstabbing is so excessive, you'd think she actually had the disorder. She never misses a chance to throw Marinette under the bus to save her own skin, even after the nth time it's backfired horribly and left her running alone from the mob ''again''.

** Marinette/Ladybug saves Lila from being burned at the stake and frees Rose from the Witch Hunter Akuma. She then explains to Lila in explicit detail how she's going to ensure that she won't be causing much trouble anymore: [[spoiler:by treating her as her very special friend and ensuring her safety by delivering her to all number of unpleasant hiding spots during future Akuma attacks]]. When Lila attempts to get out of it by saying she can tell people that Ladybug is stalking her, Ladybug points out that [[CelebrityLie Lila claimed to be Ladybug's best friend]], so people would see that Ladybug is just attempting to protect her "best friend". [[MortonsFork This means that Lila is either forced to admit that she lied about that, too, or deal with what Ladybug is planning to do]].
** After her lies to the adults unravel, Lila assumes that she's going to be expelled, only for Mr. Damocles to declare that they don't expel students for truancy. Given that Lila was counting on [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere leaving Paris and Dupont behind]], she's hardly thrilled by the idea, or any of the other plans he has to accommodate for her ''unique'' circumstances.

* ItsAllMyFault: Rose after her akuma is defeated and Marinette throughout the story.

** [[spoiler:Adrien]] manages to hold it together when Witch Hunter reveals how Lila tricked everyone about Marinette, allied with Hawk Moth, stole his book, and akumatized herself to ruin Adrien's reputation, but finally loses it when she announces that Lila had been [[spoiler:serving as Gabriel's spy in school]].

* TheSociopath: Lila is a very realistic portrayal of a sociopath -- [[DeconstructedCharacterArchetype including the short-sightedness and inability to learn from mistakes that are a sociopath's]] FatalFlaw. She genuinely believes that everyone is as SecretlySelfish and manipulative as she is, [[LackOfEmpathy takes complete advantage of others without any guilt or remorse]], and doesn't care about potential consequences as long as she gets what she wants ''now''. She also has a massive ego, constantly overestimating her own competence and importance while [[IRejectYourReality ignoring all evidence to the contrary.]] Even when her unrepentant selfishness comes back to bite her over and over, she remains convinced that [[NeverMyFault she hasn't done anything to deserve it]] and just keeps on making impulsive decisions that have small immediate benefits but screw her over in the long run.

* CondescendingCompassion: Hunter!Alya cheerfully reassures Marinette that she can't be blamed for falling under Lila's sway, as she couldn't have known any better. Mari doesn't care for the {{Irony}} ''or'' the blatant patronizing.

* OhCrap: Lila has several throughout the course of the day, but her biggest one comes when [[spoiler:it finally sinks in for her that Hawk Moth has been using her the same way she's used all of her own 'friends'... and is more than willing to let her die]].

* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: Inverted for DramaticIrony: Tikki (who has been nothing but ThePerfectionist and badgering (not in a mean fashion, but done all the same) Marinette to be an IdealHero) tries to comfort Mari about how it's not her fault that Lila has done as much damage as she did. Mari takes this one moment of Tikki not being all "you need to be better" as absolute proof that she has been brainwashed by Witch Hunter.

* CasualDangerDialog: Deconstructed and played for drama. Lila remains calm and generally untroubled by the amount of danger she's in, having a casual conversation and acting like nothing is different than usual even as [[spoiler:she's tied to the stake and Witch Hunter prepares to light her pyre.]] However, this is because she legitimately thinks Hawk Moth will bail her out; when [[spoiler:he spells out for her that he's perfectly willing to let her burn, Lila loses her composure and has a massive, screaming breakdown]]. When Mrs. Rossi is later shown video of this, she's more horrified by Lila treating the whole thing like a game and not seeming to ''care'' that her life is in imminent danger than by the serious situation Lila is in.

--> “If you take advantage of our kindness to harm my daughter, you’re going to burn in a very special level of hell. A level they reserve for politicians and people who talk at the theater.”

* ShoutOut: Twice to ''{{Series/Firefly}}''. First when Lila betrays Marinette by trying to sacrifice her to the mob. Then again later when she's given a threatening speech by Sabine after she's discovered in Marinette's room.

* TheSociopath: Lila is a very realistic portrayal of a sociopath -- [[DeconstructedTrope including the short-sightedness and inability to learn from mistakes that are a sociopath's]] FatalFlaw. She genuinely believes that everyone is as SecretlySelfish and manipulative as she is, [[LackOfEmpathy takes complete advantage of others without any guilt or remorse]], and doesn't care about potential consequences as long as she gets what she wants ''now''. She also has a massive ego, constantly overestimating her own competence and importance while [[IRejectYourReality ignoring all evidence to the contrary.]] Even when her unrepentant selfishness comes back to bite her over and over, she remains convinced that [[NeverMyFault she hasn't done anything to deserve it]] and just keeps on making impulsive decisions that have small immediate benefits but screw her over in the long run.

** Chloe gets one during the confrontation in the classroom:
--->'''Chloe:''' Haven't you losers figured it out, yet?\\

'''Chloe:''' Well, Rossi certainly couldn't afford her new designer jacket and shoes ensemble on her own allowance, now could she?

* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: {{Downplayed|Trope}}. When Marinette confronts Adrien on his defense of people like Chloe and Lila over herself and others they are causing harm to, she expresses wishing that he would stand up for her the way he does for them. One scene later...

* BecauseYouCanCope: This is Adrien's reasoning when Marinette points out his tendency to defend Chloe and Lila when they are being hurtful, but not herself when she is being hurt.

** Adrien realizes that nothing Lila did really bothered him until it affected him personally, which wasn't fair to the other people she was taking advantage of. He also recognizes that standing up for bullies like Lila and Chloe while ignoring Marinette's problems BecauseYouCanCope was unfair and hurtful to her and that he needs to work on being a better friend.

** Adrien gets this in the end when he realizes how badly his advice backfired and how his defense of people like [[ManipulativeBastard Lila]] and [[RichBitch Chloe]] has been hurtful.

* {{Reconstruction}}: The last couple chapters reconstruct Adrien's character, whose flaws are often deconstructed in Salt fics. Here, Adrien is depicted as a well-meaning guy that sometimes make mistakes and can be a little thoughtless and insensitive. Marinette calling him out on putting Chloe and Lila's feelings over her well-being, as well as how his "taking the high road" approach caused so much harm is portrayed as the right thing to do. However, while Salt Fics would have Adrien as a {{Jerkass}} doubling down on NeverMyFault and accusing Marinette of being selfish, this Adrien is mortified to learn how much he hurt both Marinette and the rest of his classmates, profusely apologizes, vows to be a better and more supportive friend, and asks what he can do to make up for his mistakes.

* AdultsAreUseless: {{Downplayed|Trope}}. When Marinette confronts Lila in Chapter 6, she finds out that Lila was in her house, and is wearing her clothes. She muses to herself that while she loves her parents, they have not always been the most reliable (citing her wrongful expulsion as an example), and she's somewhat annoyed at the idea that they would let Lila into her room and go through her stuff. [[spoiler:They ''didn't''. They allowed Lila to rest at the bakery after Lila dove into the Seine to escape Luka's family, and Lila snuck in to find blackmail material. They were quite upset when they found her in there, but Marinette doesn't find out about that until Chapter 8.]]

* ExactWords: Nothing that [[spoiler:Chat Noir]] tells Lila is untrue... it's just said in a way that convinces Lila of her own preconceived notions. [[spoiler:Yes, there are civilians getting set up at the Eiffel Tower- they're getting set up to burn Lila at the stake. And yes, he's taking her where he thinks she needs to go- he's part of Witch Hunter's mob, and he means he's delivering Lila right to them.]]

* HorribleJudgeOfCharacter: Lila's character judgement skills are entirely based on if she has successfully lied to them. She thinks that Marinette is trying to turn her into the mob because Marinette called her out, while she trusts Hawk Moth of all people because she "tricked him" into Akumatizing her and helping her plans. [[spoiler:Because Chat Noir believed her about being a superhero before Ladybug revealed the truth, she trusts him to take her to safety... unaware that he was also affected by Witch Hunter.]]

** Even if she manages to escape Witch Hunter, she didn't escape from karma: not only is her true nature as a manipulative liar exposed to her classmates, but just when she was planning to leave Paris forever and move to another school to avoid the fallout, said plan crashes down when both her mother and Mr. Damocles learn about her many lies and deceptions, such as the fake disabilities or the school being closed for entire weeks due Akuma attacks. As a result, Lila now will be under an extremely close watch by her mother and the teachers, she will have to study a lot and take remedial classes to make up for all the missing coursework unless she wants to be held back a year, and will be stuck with the people who know she manipulated them and won’t be inclined to trust her. On top of that, her mother is fully planning to punish her as well, stating her intent to confiscate both her phone and laptop, force her to take a job in order to reimburse all the money she scammed, and that she will ensure Lila accepts the terms of any legal ramifications that may result from this.