History Fanfic / SpotsOff

* EndangeringNewsBroadcast: Once Marinette's identity makes it to the mainstream media, the bakery is soon surrounded by news reporters who have no apparent concern about making her or her family a target for Hawk Moth.

* FromBadToWorse: What starts as a mundane (for the setting) bad day - waking up late, hairdryer breaking after a shower, missing breakfast after burning her toast, being antagonised by the class AlphaBitch upon arrival at school with none of her friends available to talk to and then having to skip lunch due to an Akuma attack - turns into an absolute ''nightmare'' when Marinette is publicly unmasked. It's bad enough when she has to spend the rest of the day not sure whether anyone who saw the livestream at the crucial moment will be able to identify her, but then she finds out the video was saved and reuploaded to Youtube. By the following morning, her name is on the news and the bakery is surrounded by reporters. [[spoiler:And right when she feels like she may be able to get through this with the support of Adrien, Alya, Nino and her parents, she learns that she may be facing prosecution for vigilantism. And just as soon as ''that'' crisis is resolved, Adrien gets taken hostage by Hawk Moth.]]

* IHaveYourWife: [[spoiler:Chapter 8 ends with Hawk Moth contacting Marinette after taking Adrien hostage, [[HostageForMcGuffin to get her to hand over the Ladybug Miraculous]]. Backfires at the last minute when Ladybug yells to Adrien and throws her yoyo at Hawk Moth, right when he thinks she's about to take the earrings off, causing him to loosen his grip on Adrien and give him the chance to transform.]]

* LukeIAmYourFather: [[spoiler:After Adrien transforms in front of Hawk Moth, he's shocked enough to basically admit to being Gabriel. "[[LittleNo No]]. No, [[ThisCannotBe it can't be]]. Not my son. Not my ''son''."]]

** [[spoiler:By the epilogue, Adrien's identity is public as well, thanks to the coverage of the showdown with Hawk Moth.]]

* PublicSecretMessage: [[spoiler:When Hawkmoth forces Adrian to speak up for his ransom video, Adrian mentions being captured while wearing his jeans. It seems innocuous, but Marinette (who knows Adrien is Chat Noir) realizes what he's telling her: that Hawkmoth doesn't know he's Chat Noir.]]

* TheRevealPromptsRomance: After Ladybug is revealed to be Marinette, Adrien is pushed to finally tell her his feelings. [[spoiler: After Chat Noir unmasks himself as Adrien and tells her he loves her, the two share their first kiss (or second, counting "Dark Cupid")]].

* LovesMyAlterEgo: Defied by Adrien when he finds out the truth (immediately following the above exchange with Plagg):
-->But Adrien was already lost in thought, running through every memory he had of his kind, cheerful classmate. He saw every time she smiled, every time she laughed, every time she stuttered shyly when he tried to speak with her. He saw her talking with Alya, her face vibrant. He saw her comforting classmates, standing up to Chloe, helping to keep the class calm and safe every time an akuma attacked. He saw her peeking out from under the umbrella he had just given her and giggling in that adorable way of hers, that way that made him feel so welcome and so relieved and so...\\

* ScrewTheMoneyIHaveRules: [[spoiler: Nadja tells Marinette that she and her fellow reporters were told about the viral video and were offered a raise to whoever identified Ladybug first. She refused to have anything to do with it and told them that if they had any decency at all, they would respect what privacy she had left and leave her alone. They did not.]]

* SkewedPriorities: After Adrien finds out what's happened from Nino, he realises that he may actually have a chance with Ladybug/Marinette now. He then catches himself and realises this isn't the time for such thoughts: "Marinette was panicking. Her world was falling apart. He couldn't swoop in and make everything better with a reveal and a confession - actually, that would probably make things even worse. What she really needed right now was support and understanding." [[spoiler:He later confesses anyway after she's managed to calm down and react well to his identity, and he admits that this may be a terrible time to bring it up. Of course, it was exactly what she wanted to hear.]]

* TheUnmasking: Marinette is caught de-transforming on Alya's livestream, and while Alya deletes the video as soon as possible and tries to contain the damage, it ends up on Youtube a few hours later. By the following morning, her identity has been exposed by the mainstream media. In addition, [[spoiler: Chapter 3 ends with Chat convincing Marinette to let him unmask for her.]]

'''Alya''': I don't know Adrien, I just don't know. [[RuleofThree I don't know how to help her anymore...]]

* BigDamnKiss: [[spoiler:In chapter 4: "Marinette wasn’t really thinking very clearly. All she knew was that the boy of her dreams and possibly her best friend had just told her that he loved her, all of her, Ladybug ''and'' Marinette. The one-sided prison she had thought she was trapped in had been an illusion all along. She leaned forward, closed her eyes, and pressed her lips to his. He felt surprised at first, but then he relaxed and leaned forward, wrapping his hand around her neck. It was just like she had always pictured in her dreams, only better because this wasn’t kissing some idolized stranger, this was kissing her partner and her friend. It was perfect."]]

-->'''Adrien''': Alya, I’m gonna go visit her. Do… do you think that would help?\\
'''Alya''': I don’t know Adrien, I just don’t know. [[RuleofThree I don’t know how to help her anymore...]]

* ItsAllMyFault: Both Marinette and Alya insist on blaming themselves for what happened: Marinette for not finding a better hiding place to change back, and Alya for having followed Ladybug into an alley with her camera phone running. Adrien is equally insistent on blaming neither of them, but it's hard to deny that they both made avoidable mistakes. [[spoiler:Marinette eventually suggests the two share the blame with whoever reposted the video and the reporter who chose to out her for a payrise, but Alya still refuses to give her friend even that much of the blame. Nadja later advises them against playing the blame game - "His fault, my fault, your fault… it never ends. Just take the situation you have and work with it as best you can." - which seems to help both of them.]]

-->She hadn’t wanted this. And the more he thought about it, the more he realized that he hadn’t wanted it either. Not like this. He had pictured them revealing their identities to each other a million times over. It would be in a beautiful, romantic setting—maybe the Eifel Tower at midnight. That sounded nice. They would be holding hands. Then they would close their eyes and both release their transformations at the exact same moment, and then he’d see for the first time the eyes of that face under the mask and he would know who she was, though it wouldn’t really matter who it was because he had already decided that he was in love with her no matter who she turned out to be.\\

'''Adrien''': Plagg. Plagg, I’m in love with Marinette.\\

-->But Adrien was already lost in thought, running through every memory he had of his kind, cheerful classmate. He saw every time she smiled, every time she laughed, every time she stuttered shyly when he tried to speak with her. He saw her talking with Alya, her face vibrant. He saw her comforting classmates, standing up to Chloe, helping to keep the class calm and safe every time an akuma attacked. He saw her peeking out from under the umbrella he had just given her and giggling in that adorable way of hers, that way that made him feel so welcome and so relieved and so…\\
Adrien stopped. He had already known that Ladybug was strong and brave and caring and confident and graceful and gorgeous. But now he also knew that she was adorable. And smart and talented and…\\
The longer the list grew in his head, the more he became convinced that he couldn’t put it off any longer — he would have to tell her. He would have to tell Ladybug, tell ''Marinette'', how he felt.\\
And suddenly that wasn’t so scary, because ''he knew her''. He knew both sides of her, loved both sides of her, and… and maybe he actually had a chance.

--->He hadn’t been flirting with ''her''. He had been flirting with Ladybug. She felt her smile falter. Would he still want Marinette?\\
That moment of doubt was silenced with one half-second’s thought about the boy in front of her, the boy who had rushed to her house ready to reveal everything just to make her feel loved, who repeated to her that she wasn’t alone, that it wasn’t her fault, that he would support her whatever the situation. Yes, she thought, he would probably still want Marinette.\\

Her heartrate picked up even at the thought of it. The question burned with possibility. Chat wanted her, she knew. So if she wanted Chat…\\

* LukeIAmYourFather: [[spoiler:After Adrien transforms in front of Hawk Moth, he's shocked enough to basically admit to being Gabriel. "[[LittleNo No]]. No, [[ThisCannotBe it can’t be]]. Not my son. Not my ''son''."]]

** [[spoiler:After Mayor Bourgeois's campaign backers try to pressure him into withdrawing his support for the heroes, Nadja manages to convince him otherwise with testimonials from dozens of people Ladybug has saved, including some unexpected support from Chloe. "Well, to hell with it. I’m the mayor, I’ll do what I can to protect Paris."]]
* SkewedPriorities: After Adrien finds out what's happened from Nino, he realises that he may actually have a chance with Ladybug/Marinette now. He then catches himself and realises this isn't the time for such thoughts: "Marinette was panicking. Her world was falling apart. He couldn’t swoop in and make everything better with a reveal and a confession — actually, that would probably make things even worse. What she really needed right now was support and understanding." [[spoiler:He later confesses anyway after she's managed to calm down and react well to his identity, and he admits that this may be a terrible time to bring it up. Of course, it was exactly what she wanted to hear.]]

-->'''Marinette''': You can’t reveal your identity just because ''I'' messed up so badly! It’s too important!\\
'''Chat''': But I ''want'' to! You don’t have to do this alone-\\
'''Marinette''': Why aren’t you ''listening'' to me?! It’s my mistake, and I have to face the consequences! You can’t help me, Chat!\\
'''Chat''': Yes, I can! You just aren’t letting me! This isn’t your fault! ''Let people help you'', Marinette!\\
'''Marinette''': No! No, I ''can’t''!\\

'''Marinette''': Because… because… Because it’s my fault! I need to take care of this! I have to be the one to take care of this!\\
'''Chat''': ''No'', you don’t!\\
'''Marinette''': ''Stop telling me that!'' Stop encouraging me! I’m just… I just… I’m ''stupid'' and I’m ''weak'' and I have to learn to accept the consequences when I mess up. So just ''let me deal with this, Chat''!
* ThatCameOutWrong: When Alya returns to the bakery, she talks about dodging the few reporters still outside. "I sort of made a run out of it. Just to keep those reporters off my trail. I swear, they’d annoy the crap out of me if I didn’t want to ''be'' them one day. (''She panics as she realises how that came out.'') Well, not them ''exactly'', but you know. A reporter. A good reporter. [[DiggingYourselfDeeper I-I mean]], not that they aren’t ''good'', like, skill-wise, but like, respect-wise they could use some work, I mean, they should be giving you space…"

-->'''Chat''': (''wrapping her up in a tight hug after she breaks down in tears'') You don’t have to punish yourself for this. Even if it was your fault, which I will personally never believe it was. No one’s asking you to handle it alone. (''Pulls back, presses his forehead to hers and looks her in the eyes'') We all ''want'' to help you. Do you believe me?\\
'''Marinette''': (''meets his gaze and sees the unconditional support and love in his eyes'') I mean… I ''guess''…\\

'''Chat''': (''returns it'') Good. Because you aren’t alone, Marinette. And we can deal with this, together.

-->'''Chat''': (''wrapping her up in a tight hug after she breaks down in tears'') You don’t have to punish yourself for this. Even if it was your fault, which I will personally never believe it was. No one’s asking you to handle it alone. (''Pulls back, presses his forehead to hers and looks her in the eyes'') We all ''want'' to help you. Do you believe me?
-->'''Marinette''': (''meets his gaze and sees the unconditional support and love in his eyes'') I mean… I ''guess''…\\

* EndangeringNewsBroadcast: Once Marinette's identity makes it to the mainstream media, the bakery is soon surrounded by news reporters who have no apparent concern about making her or her family a target for Hawkmoth.

* FromBadToWorse: What starts as a mundane (for the setting) bad day - waking up late, hairdryer breaking after a shower, missing breakfast after burning her toast, being antagonised by the class AlphaBitch upon arrival at school with none of her friends available to talk to and then having to skip lunch due to an Akuma attack - turns into an absolute ''nightmare'' when Marinette is publicly unmasked. It's bad enough when she has to spend the rest of the day not sure whether anyone who saw the livestream at the crucial moment will be able to identify her, but then she finds out the video was saved and reuploaded to Youtube. By the following morning, her name is on the news and the bakery is surrounded by reporters. [[spoiler:And right when she feels like she may be able to get through this with the support of Adrien, Alya, Nino and her parents, she learns that she may be facing prosecution for vigilantism. And just as soon as ''that'' crisis is resolved, Adrien gets taken hostage by Hawkmoth.]]

* IHaveYourWife: [[spoiler:Chapter 8 ends with Hawkmoth contacting Marinette after taking Adrien hostage, [[HostageForMcGuffin to get her to hand over the Ladybug Miraculous]]. Backfires at the last minute when Ladybug yells to Adrien and throws her yoyo at Hawkmoth, right when he thinks she's about to take the earrings off, causing him to loosen his grip on Adrien and give him the chance to transform.]]

* LukeIAmYourFather: [[spoiler:After Adrien transforms in front of Hawkmoth, he's shocked enough to basically admit to being Gabriel. "[[LittleNo No]]. No, [[ThisCannotBe it can’t be]]. Not my son. Not my ''son''."]]

** [[spoiler:By the epilogue, Adrien's identity is public as well, thanks to the coverage of the showdown with Hawkmoth.]]

* InWhichATropeIsDescribed: Each of the chapter summaries aside from the first one, though the chapters themselves have their own titles.

* HoldingHands[=/=]IntertwinedFingers: Marinette takes Chat's hand in her own like this [[spoiler:right before she takes off his ring. She and Adrien stay like that for most of the following chapter.]]

* InWhichATropeIsDescribed: Each of the chapter summaries aside from the first one, though the chapters themselves have their own titles.

* HeadbuttOfLove: Chat gives one to Marinette during the exchange under You Are Not Alone below.

-->He hadn’t been flirting with ''her''. He had been flirting with Ladybug. She felt her smile falter. Would he still want Marinette?\\

** The unnamed news reporter who decides that getting a raise is worth ruining a young teen's life, privacy, and reputation. He's never seen, or even really mentioned, after Nadja calls Marinette to tell her why he finished outing her identity [[note]]i.e. adding her full name, along with where she lived and went to school to her appearance that was in the original video[[/note] on public television and thus never gets any comeuppance on-screen.

* KarmaHoudini: The unnamed news reporter who decides that getting a promotion is worth ruining a young teen's life, privacy, and reputation. He's never seen, or even really mentioned, after Nadja calls Marinette to tell her why he finished outing her identity [[note]]i.e. adding her full name, along with where she lived and went to school to her appearance that was in the original video[[/note] on public television and thus never gets any comeuppance on-screen.

''[[http://archiveofourown.org/works/7961380/chapters/18208054 Spots Off]]'' by [=CadenzaRose=] is an ongoing ''WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug'' fanfiction published on Website/ArchiveOfOurOwn.

* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Again, both Marinette and Alya.

* IHaveYourWife: [[spoiler:Chapter 8 ends with Hawkmoth contacting Marinette after taking Adrien hostage, [[HostageForMcGuffin no doubt to get her to hand over the Ladybug Miraculous]].]]

* KnightTemplarParent: Downplayed, [[spoiler:but Gabriel threatens to pull Adrien out of school if he doesn't cut off contact with Marinette and stay out of "the line of fire."]]

[[MoodKiller Plagg]]: Great. Good for you. Be sure to invite me to the wedding.

** [[spoiler:Mayor Bourgeois is eventually convinced to do this after his campaign backers try to pressure him into withdrawing his support for the heroes. "Well, to hell with it. I’m the mayor, I’ll do what I can to protect Paris."]]

''[[http://archiveofourown.org/works/7961380/chapters/18208054 Spots Off]]'' by [=CadenzaRose=] is an ongoing ''WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug'' fanfiction published on ArchiveOfOurOwn.

* LateToTheRealization: [[spoiler:Even after Marinette kisses him in response to his confession, it takes Adrien a while to realise just ''how long'' she's liked him back - it's not until after he sees her collage of his modelling photos and brings it up with her that he starts to get it. She privately acknowledges that a kiss isn't quite the same thing as a confession, but it might as well have been. She then clarifies that she's had a crush on him since she stopped hating him for the gum incident, and to his credit he does manage to trace it back to the umbrella.]]

'''Plagg''': Great. Good for you. Be sure to invite me to the wedding.