Fanfic / The Wolves in the Woods (Miraculous Ladybug)

Lila won. Thanks to her tall tales, Alya and most of Marinette's former friends turned upon her, convinced that she was the Bitch in Sheep's Clothing. All she wanted was to get away from that harassment... but Ms. Bustier refused to let her slip away quietly, and alerted the class to her impending transfer, allowing Lila to bask in the sight of them snapping at her heels like a pack of rabid wolves. Which was exactly what she wanted...

...Wasn't it?

A collaboration between FoxWitchWrites and Rafe_Minsi, The Wolves in the Woods puts a distinctive spin on the post-"Chameleon" Salt Fic by having its Original Characters arrive in Paris after Marinette has been forced out of her old school, entering Francoise Dupont to survey the aftermath.

The story notably also casts Lila in a significantly more sympathetic light than typically seen in Salt Fics, depicting her as somebody who has standards of her own and didn't intend for things to go so far... especially when she realizes that with Marinette gone, everyone expects her to become their new 'Everyday Ladybug'.

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This fanfic contains examples of:

• Accomplice by Inaction: Adrien saw how the rest of the class was turning against Marinette, but did nothing to help out, insisting that Marinette had brought all those problems onto herself by trying to expose Lila's deception. Even after witnessing Kim and Alix pinning her to the ground, he simply got up and walked away.
• Accusation Fic: Aimed towards Ms. Bustier, Principal Damocles and the majority of Marinette's former friends and classmates, including Adrien and Alya.
• Adaptational Heroism: While she still sought attention by lying about knowing various celebrities, Lila did not intend for things to go so nightmarishly far, and steps up to try and make amends after Marinette is driven away.
• Adaptational Villainy: As typical of these stories, any of Marinette's classmates' positive qualities are all stripped away to make the story work, to almost comical levels:
  • Alya goes from being Marinette's best friend to one of the main forces that drove her out of Francoise Dupont, taking pride in how she and her friends 'banished the bullies' and threatening to do the same to anyone else. And then there was The Reveal that Alya knew all along that Lila lied and even teamed up with her for selfish reasons.
  • Adrien blames Marinette, saying that it's her own fault that she got into trouble for trying to warn others about Lila and that she should have just kept her mouth shut.
• Adults Are Useless:
  • Bustier proves worse than useless, choosing not to do anything as the bullying towards Marinette escalates, then blaming her for not rolling over and 'making amends' with her tormentors.
  • Averted by Ms. Mendeleiev, who calls out Alya when she assaults a student right in front of her, then calls her mother when it becomes clear that Alya won't listen.
  • Also Averted by Ms. Diamandis, who immediately intervenes upon seeing Bustier leading most of her students towards the Dupain-Cheng bakery in order to harass Marinette.
• All for Nothing:
  • The main reason Kim and Alix escalated into physically tormenting Marinette was because they hoped to impress Lila by taking down her bully, so that she'd reward them by helping secure some sports scholarships. Not only did her supposed celebrity connections never exist, Ben ultimately snaps Kim's wrist when Kim refuses to let him go after several warnings, and both lose out on prospects they already had due to their bad behavior getting publicly exposed.
  • All of the students who harassed Marinette at the bakery get themselves banned from the premises, and their parents are alerted, leading to them being banned from their favorite activities.
  • Adrien ignored Marinette's suffering out of the belief that things would eventually return to normal. After the trial, he's forced to face the notion that Nothing Is the Same Anymore — Marinette won't be returning to Francoise Dupont, and neither will Ms. Bustier... or himself, as his father yanks him out of the school. And to add further insult to injury, all his wrongdoings were exposed by the one person he did everything to cover up for, Lila.
  • It turns out that Alya had known all about Lila lying and not only had knowingly posted the lies on her blog to gather more viewers but had jumped at the chance to get everyone to bully and slander Marinette out of envy towards her success as a fashion designer and out of fear that she will leave them behind. While Marlena and Otis are the only ones who knows that Alya knew about the lies, she still has to delete her blog due to her slandering others, Marinette cuts all ties to her former friends and transfers to another school and the others cut ties as well shortly after.
• All Take and No Give: Ms. Bustier and the majority of Marinette's classmates expected her to bend over backwards for them without doing a single thing in return.
• Apologises a Lot: Morrighan warns Ladybug against this, saying that apologizing when you don't need to gives others power over you.
• Arbitrary Skepticism:
  • Gabriel immediately dismisses Nooroo's warning that he nearly akumatized a werewolf, insisting that there’s no such thing. To his kwami, a magical talking butterfly fairy connected to a magical butterfly brooch that allows him to give people superpowers.
  • Along the same lines, he refuses to believe in the existence of fairies, even while attempting to target and akumatize them.
• Armor-Piercing Question:
  • Following the trial, Gabriel asks Adrien what he would have done had Lila lied to him, Nathalie, or The Gorilla. He then questions what he actually learned while attending public school:
    Adrien: I made new friends and I defended myself!
    Gabriel: You also lied under oath. How do I know you haven't been lying to me about anything else?
  • When Alya tries to rope him and the rest of their class into spreading slander about Marinette's new classmates, Nino asks her why she stood up to Chloé on her first day:
    Nino: Did you stand up to her because it was the right thing to do? Or were you more interested in playing 'hero'?
  • When the two of them unexpectedly meet up in the park, after some initial awkwardness, Lila finally asks Nino outright:
    Lila: Why did you turn on Marinette? Alya, I can understand. She was always selfish. But you knew Marinette since you were kids. And friends don't turn on each other over some pretty stories. What I'm trying to understand is why.
• At Least I Admit It: Invoked by Marinette when she tells Alya off, pointing out that Lila and most of the others involved in the bullying have admitted the roles they played in the whole sorry affair and are making an effort to change, while Alya continues to blame everyone but herself.
• Audience Surrogate: The original characters serve as this initially; it's through their viewpoint that the reader gradually learns how things got bad enough at Francoise Dupont for Marinette to change schools.
• Badass Normal: Salomon is the Token Human among the new neighbors. He's also a talented lawyer, private investigator, and willing and able to stand his ground against an akuma and punch them out.
• Because You Can Cope: Adrien blithely dismisses the impact being socially isolated and bullied has had on Marinette because she hasn't been akumatized yet.
• Betrayal by Inaction: While Adrien doesn't directly participate in any of the Barbaric Bullying Alya, Kim, Alix and the like subject Marinette to, he also never does anything to stop it, turning his back upon the sight of the latter two beating the crap out of her in the park. No matter how often he gets called out on this once his Karma Houdini Warranty expires, he refuses to acknowledge that he did anything wrong.
• Blaming the Victim:
  • According to Ms. Bustier, bullies should not be held responsible for their actions since "they're only children". Instead, their victims should forgive them immediately.
  • Bustier also turns a blind eye towards Marinette's former friends turning on her, convincing herself that Marinette is the one who has changed for the worse. She refuses to intervene even when Marinette is brazenly tripped right in front of her, and the mistreatment only escalates further from there.
  • Adrien also holds Marinette responsible for 'making herself a target' and getting driven away, believing that she should have just kept her mouth shut and let Lila continue to lie unchallenged. He even testifies as much in court, and is sincerely surprised at the reaction this garners.
  • Chat Noir blames Ladybug for the akumatization of Rena Rage, and also advocates for letting them rampage and hurt the Rossis, claiming that "it's only fair."
  • Even after being repeatedly called out on social media for his Betrayal by Inaction, Adrien continues to blame Marinette, to the point of getting pissed off when Luka points out his failure to apologize to her and declaring that "Well, if she hadn't tried to expose Lila like that, then this wouldn't have happened!"
  • invoked A Deleted Scene included in a side collection, "Bustier Faces a Real Teacher", revolves around Salomon learning just how severe her issues with this are when she calls him in for a parent-teacher conference over Amaia and Andres' "misbehavior". Said misbehavior includes things like Amaia refusing to apologize when Alya falsely accused her of theft, or Andres defending himself whenever other students like Kim or Alix attack him.
• Big "WHAT?!": Alya reacts this way to being informed that her Ladyblog is now seen as nothing more than a tabloid.
• Borrowed Catchphrase: Mireya echoes Ladybug's usual "Bye-bye, little butterfly" as she destroys one of Hawk Moth's akumatizing butterflies outright.
• Bully Hunter: Alya, Alix, Kim and most of the class believe themselves to be this, refusing to see how they've become bullies themselves. Then it’s revealed Alya knew what she was doing all along.
• Call-Back: While breaking a story about Chat Noir threatening the life of a civilian, Nadja calls in Théo Barbot to recount how Chat Noir lied to him on the day of the statue unveiling. Adrien throws a snit fit over having an incident from "so long ago" come back to haunt him, and this turns out to be only the first of many.
• Catapult Nightmare: Lila suffers one in Chapter 18, "An Unfinished Fairytale", illustrating her horror at the prospect of being forced to replace Marinette.
• Caught on Tape:
  • Ben, Amaia, and Andres record their time at Francoise Dupont, creating records of how Bustier conducts her classes and how her students behave.
  • Similarly, Alya's attempt to convince her classmates to spread slander about Marinette's new classmates is recorded by the same three, along with Lila and Nora.
• Commonality Connection: Averted in "Bustier Faces a Real Teacher". When Bustier calls in Salomon for a parent-teacher conference, she's privately relieved by the fact they share the same profession, believing this ensures that he'll see things her way and work with her to address her concerns with Amaia and Andres. To her dismay, this doesn't work out the way she hoped, as he's unimpressed by her insistence on blaming the victims for not bowing to her will.
• Condescending Compassion: Adrien takes a Holier Than Thou attitude towards Lila, dismissing her anger at his inaction as nothing more than a 'temper tantrum' and talking down to her as though dealing with a toddler.
• Control Freak:
  • Alya loves to be in charge of things, including others. A key aspect of her entitlement towards Marinette is her desire to turn her into an Extreme Doormat.
  • Adrien shows a similar attitude, which is directly compared and paralleled to his father's overbearing and controlling nature.
• Convicted by Public Opinion: Adrien faces this following the trial; the public isn't impressed by how he conducted himself, particularly his defamation of Marinette's character.
• "Could Have Avoided This!" Plot: After the trial, Adrien complains that he could have gotten Marinette to stop trying to expose Lila if he'd only known about her crush on him. He makes this complaint to his girlfriend, Kagami.
• Crazy Jealous Guy: Chat Noir extends this attitude towards other heroes; he hates the idea of Ladybug having others she can rely upon rather than being completely dependent upon him as her sole 'partner'.
• Crossing the Burnt Bridge: Alya becomes hellbent upon doing this after the trial. Sadly, she refuses to admit how she torched it in the first place — or rather, insists that doesn't matter because she's entitled to Marinette's friendship.
• Cynicism Catalyst: When Lila was younger, her father stole an award she'd won and sold it off for quick cash. While her mother divorced himself afterwards, he nearly charmed the judge into awarding him custody of their daughter, and successfully poisoned her family and friends' minds against his ex-wife. This taught Lila that people preferred pretty lies and exciting, interesting stories to the truth.
• Dark and Troubled Past: Lila. In addition to her Cynicism Catalyst it's also implied that she has a history of running into vicious classmates at the schools she's gone to, one of whom tried to actually kill Lila.
• Deconstruction Fic:
  • The story takes the common plotline of Marinette's classmates being exaggerated into viciously Entitled Bastards and highlights how Lila would not actually gain anything by earning their 'friendship'. Instead, she's horrified by the prospect of being forced to replace Marinette, catering to their whims because they're used to getting everything they want for nothing in return.
  • Their awful behavior is explained by deconstructing Caline Bustier's teaching style. Bustier refuses to intervene against bullies, dismissing their misbehavior as 'youthful indiscretions' and expecting her better-behaved students to 'lead by example'. What's more, she encourages her students to take the generosity of others for granted. As a result, the majority of her class turns out just as spoiled as Chloé, internalizing the idea that it's okay to act like her since nobody's going to stop them.
  • The idea that Adrien is too sheltered to know any better is torn apart; his experience at Francoise Dupont and as Chat Noir should have led to him naturally growing and changing over time, yet he remains stubbornly mired in his ways, refusing to see how life doesn't work the same way it does in fiction.
• Didn't Think This Through:
  • Lila discovers the downside of her Celebrity Lies when she realizes that her new 'friends' expect her to use her supposed connections to help them out, much like how they expected their former 'everyday Ladybug' to cater to their every whim.
  • Bustier fails to consider how it looks when she marches her class to the Dupain-Cheng bakery, a place the majority have already been banned from, in order to confront Marinette en masse. Ms. Diamandis points out how she's courting a lawsuit, along with the obvious flaw in her 'Turn the Other Cheek' philosophy: how are bullies meant to learn any better when she never teaches them that their actions have consequences?
  • Adrien lies under oath in order to avoid outing Lila, only for her to be revealed as a liar anyway... along with how he knew all along. This gets him into serious trouble for perjury. He also fails to consider how his father is likely to learn everything that is said and revealed during the trial...
  • It turns out that Alya actually knew that Lila was lying the whole time, but still posted them on her Ladyblog to get attention. After learning this, their parents have to spell out that if the court learned that they had been spreading lies, that could earn them a perjury charge of their own.
    • They also helped spread Lila's Malicious Slander out of envy, aiming to 'knock Marinette down a few pegs' and ensure she wouldn't be going anywhere. This costs them everything: not only did Marinette end up transferring away, but Alya faces several charges for bullying and slander, is forced to shut down her blog, and loses all her friends when they realize her toxicity and break ties with her.
• Digging Yourself Deeper:
  • Alya keeps doing this since the trial, trying to force herself back into Marinette's life, to "get back" at Lila for Lying, to the point she commits several crimes to get what she wants on both cases, as well as not taking responsibility for her actions, and she even managed to piss off a Fey with her antics.
  • Adrien does much the same. When he gets to see Marinette for the first time in months thanks to his father attempting to bully her new school's theater club out of the park, he attempts to "fix" things between them... but gets offended by Luka suggesting that he needs to apologize, declaring that the whole mess is entirely her fault for standing up to Lila in the first place.
• Disappointed by the Motive: Marlena and Otis react this way when Alya finally confesses that the real reason she turned into such a vicious bully towards her former friend was out of envy over Marinette's successes, wanting to ensure she wouldn't leave her behind by ruining her self-esteem.
• Disappointed in You:
  • Ms. Bustier expresses heavy disappointment in Marinette's decision to transfer to St. Catherine's instead of sticking around and continuing to cater to everyone's whims.
  • Adrien similarly tries to guilt-trip Marinette for trying to escape the abuse, insisting that she should have taken his advice and kept quiet about Lila.
  • Marlene tells Alya that she's ashamed of her after hearing her threatening Ben.
  • Alix's father tells his daughter as much. Mireya notes that she's used the exact same tactic with Amaia, and that it's never failed her.
• Dramatic Irony:
  • Gabriel considers hiring Idon and his group to determine just who has been intercepting his akumas. The reader knows that said group is likely responsible.
  • In a Flashback, Adrien justifies his decision to walk away from Kim and Alix as they're beating up Marinette by telling himself this is protecting his secret identity as Chat Noir, and that Ladybug would be proud of him.
• Dramatically Missing the Point:
  • Adrien claims that the fact Marinette hasn't been akumatized yet is proof that she's strong enough to deal with everything her former friends have thrown at her... while simultaneously expressing disappointment at her decision to leave Francoise Dupont, ignoring how that signals she couldn't handle the abuse.
  • When defending his behavior to Kagami, Adrien continues to insist that Marinette was at the root of all the problems, not Lila, brushing off how close he came to committing full-on perjury by insisting that the charge was corrected to 'mere' criminal defamation.
  • No matter how many times Alya is punished, called out, or informed that Marinette wants nothing to do with her after her betrayal, she continues to try forcing her way back into her former friend's life.
  • When Marinette asks Alya if she's learned nothing from her experiences, Alya huffs that she learned how cowardly the others were. This proves to be Marinette's Rage Breaking Point.
  • How does Alya react to learning that thanks to her actions, her family will be moving away from Paris? Simple. She escalates her behavior, determined to 'set things right' before her new deadline.
• Engineered Public Confession: When Alya confronts Ben inside Ms. Mendeleiev's classroom, the teacher quietly calls her mother, enabling her to hear her daughter threatening him.
• Entitled Bastard:
  • The majority of Marinette's classmates are depicted this way, expecting both her and Lila to accommodate their every demand.
  • Ms. Bustier also displays this when she continues to call Marinette 'her' student even after she transfers to St. Catherine's, and leads another mob to march on the bakery with the intention of guilt-tripping her into doing what she wants.
  • After the verdict is handed down, many of Marinette's former classmates scream at her to 'save them' from the consequences of their actions.
  • Chat Noir feels entitled to Ladybug, brushing off her constant rejections as her not yet recognizing that they're 'destined to be together'.
    • In chapter 30 after his secret identity is exposed, he smirks, assuming Ladybug will help him. When she breaks down crying instead, he thinks that she's being 'dramatic', and continues expecting her to declare her "love" for him.
  • Despite completely turning against her, Alya's completely convinced that she's entitled to keep Marinette as her 'bestie'. In fact, she deliberately used Lila's lies to turn the whole class against her, trying to break her spirit in order to ensure she stayed an Extreme Doormat. No amount of punishment and legal trouble seems to be enough to convince her to stop, either, as she continues trying to force her way back into Marinette's life.
• Establishing Character Moment:
  • The Original Characters meet their new classmates when they investigate the ruckus rising outside their home and find Alya spearheading an angry mob, demanding access to Marinette. The only students present who show any discomfort with what's happening are Juleka and Nathaniel.
  • Adrien is also present, standing apart from the mob and looking on disapprovingly... towards Marinette, as he defends his friends' behavior to Luka and insists that she needs to capitulate and apologize.
• Everyone Has Standards:
  • Seen primarily with Lila, who desperately tries to mitigate the damage done by her lies and buy Marinette time to escape.
  • Downplayed with Gabriel; much of his frustration stems from how Adrien's involvement and poor judgment forces him to help clean up his son's mess and legal entanglements. Highlighted by his reaction to Adrien blurting out that he only dated Kagami for looking like Ladybug; while sincerely shocked and appalled, when he apologizes to Tomoe, he's more concerned about whether this damages their business relationship, and he's downright eager to exploit Kagami's heartbreak.
    • Later on, Gabriel agrees with many of his son's critics on social media, particularly those who call out his Betrayal by Inaction and state that he should have told somebody about the bullying rather than standing by. Once again, however, he's more concerned about how Adrien's star fading impacts his company.
  • Chloé continues to scornfully insist that Dupain-Cheng never should have 'challenged' her. Yet even she finds the way that the rest of the class turned upon her to be utterly disgusting. And as much as she dislikes her new tutor Salomon, she's horrified when she witnesses him busting his hand open by punching out an armored akuma. Later she also warns Marinette that Alya has found out about her family's impending move, as Alya would more than likely get truly desperate and try something.
  • As much as Marinette's old class hates Lila, all of them sans Alya are horrified at the thought of killing Lila and were disturbed by Alya calling it "justice".
• Exact Words: While the judge initially declares that Adrien is being charged with perjury, his actual crime was 'criminal defamation' of Marinette's character by perpetuating claims he knew were outright lies. When Kagami asks about what she overheard, Adrien corrects her while trying to downplay the severity of the charge.
• Failed a Spot Check:
  • Ladybug’s in such shock after how Strikeback is dealt with that she fails to notice that her room isn't unoccupied when she returns home, resulting in Ms. Diamandis learning her secret identity.
  • Alya forgot to remove Lila from the class group chat, allowing her, Nora, Amaia, Andres and Ben to find out about her plan to slander St. Catherine, Marinette's new school, in order to "get her back".
  • When she learns that some of Lila's former classmates was arrested, she takes that as evidence of Lila's innate evilness while failing to catch that said classmates were assaulting her due to their own behavior issues.
• Fair-Weather Friend:
  • Lila realizes too late that Alya and the majority of her new classmates are nothing more than this, abandoning and turning on their 'everyday Ladybug' without a second thought.
  • Adrien pays lip service to the idea of everyone getting along, but won't lift a finger to help Marinette or anyone else, only caring about others when he's personally inconvenienced by the unfolding drama.
• Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse:
  • Played With via Alya Cesaire, who claims that they were scared that Marinette was going to leave them behind due to her growing success and only went along with the lies to 'knock her down a few pegs'. Not only does this not excuse all the bullying and malicious slander, it's heavily implied that they were secretly taking advantage of their 'friendship' and wanted to ensure Marinette stayed an Extreme Doormat.
  • Idon notes that Adrien's sheltered upbringing made it harder for him to notice how other people were feeling. However, he also makes clear that this doesn't excuse his abhorrent, self-centered behavior or Skewed Priorities.
• From Nobody to Nightmare: Thanks to Ms. Bustier letting bullies go unchallenged and unpunished while scolding anyone who doesn't Turn the Other Cheek, paired with Lila painting Marinette as a Bitch in Sheep's Clothing, Alya, Kim, Alix and most of their classmates go from ordinary students to unholy terrors who freely threaten to hurt anyone they deem to be getting in their way.
• Fuzz Therapy: Rose tells Prince Ali, once they manage to mend their friendship, she’s going to try and get a therapy pet to see if one can help with her issues, as just the normal therapy isn't helping, Amaia points her to an animal shelter that trains them for Rose to try out. Ali supports the choice, pointing out how some children in the hospitals he visits also have them, and how the pets help them. As of the interlude of chapter 50 she is about to adopt an orphan kitten who took a liking to her.
• Gone Horribly Right: Lila got what she thought she wanted, ruining Marinette's social standing to the point she was forced to transfer out... only to realize that this left her surrounded by monsters she'd helped shape.
• Green-Eyed Monster:
  • Chat Noir gets incredibly jealous whenever Ladybug turns to anyone else for heroic support. This bites him in the butt when he responds to new allies revealing themselves by grabbing her arm and screaming at her, earning himself a punch to the face by one of the newcomers.
  • This turns out to be why Alya went along with Lila's claims, despite knowing she was lying the whole time: she was envious of Marinette's success.
• Guilt-Induced Nightmare: Lila has one about seeing Marinette as a porcelain doll that gets shattered by Kim and Alix, followed by her finding, much to her horror, that she's transformed into a doll as well as Ms. Bustier and her classmates pressure her to cater to their every whim.
• Heel Realization:
  • Lila's sets in slowly; while she's startled at just how readily the rest of the class turns on Marinette, she ignores her nagging conscience at first. Then Ms. Bustier reveals that Marinette is leaving, and Lila tries to distract everyone so Marinette can escape, only to later learn they mobbed the bakery. Lila subsequently struggles with her guilt and horror over the part she played in the whole debacle, having never meant for things to go that far.
  • Implied with Alya in "Once is Enough"; while she spends most of their confrontation continuing to insist that she didn't do anything wrong, she eventually pleads with them to "Tell me I'm not a villain..." Ultimately Subverted, as a few chapters later, she tries to again force Marinette to forgive her and assault Lila, resulting in Marinette telling her flat out she will never be her friend again and to stay away from her.
  • The rest of the class (sans Juleka and Nathaniel, who had theirs earlier) undergoes this after the trial as the weight of exactly how much they screwed up comes crashing down. Later chapters show them striving to become better people, making it clear that the community service and court-mandated therapy they were sentenced to is paying off, and they ultimately cut ties with Alya once they realize how much she enabled their worst qualities.
• His Story Repeats Itself: Alya sees nothing wrong with threatening Ben in front of a bevy of witnesses, only caring about the consequences when she realizes that her mother has found out. A remarkably similar scene plays out when she confronts Lila — once again, she threatens her victim heedless of those around her, and her sister Nora intervenes.
• Hoist by His Own Petard:
  • Alya's insistence on confronting and threatening Ben in front of Ms. Mendeleiev and several other witnesses gets her into serious trouble with her mother, thanks to Mendeleiev calling Marlene and letting her hear exactly what her daughter is saying.
    • Later, when she sets out to slander Lila and the kids at Marinette's new school, her efforts end up making her classmates uncomfortable. Both because she's conducting her research through questionable means and doesn't pay attention to what the evidence is showing.
  • Adrien's covering up of Lila ends up getting exposed by Lila herself during the trial, resulting in his being charged with perjury. Nathalie also ensures that his father hears every word he speaks on the stand.
  • Chat Noir's decision to throw a temper tantrum over new allies showing up blows up in his face when he fights the Wolf Hero, resulting in a Curb-Stomp Battle. Attempting to turn the battles via Cataclysm also works against Chat Noir; they redirect the attack, and pin him down until he detransforms, revealing his secret identity to a horrified Ladybug... as well as the fact that he was willing to kill for petty reasons.
  • All of Adrien's selfish actions as Chat Noir ultimately destroy his reputation when Nadja runs an expose revealing and recounting all of these incidents for the public. Much the same thing happens to his reputation as Adrien due to his conduct at the trial.
  • Alya repeatedly breaking laws in order to gather private information gets her into trouble several times, culiminating in her being blacklisted from the news industry. Upon learning this, she promptly blames Ben for it.
• Hope Spot: Reflecting back upon her experiences in Ms. Bustier's class, Marinette classifies Alya's arrival as this. Prior to her transferring in, nobody ever stood up to Chloé, much less on her behalf, so Marinette had thought things were finally improving... before Lila arrived.
• Hourglass Plot: Lila realizes, much to her horror, that Marinette leaving makes her the new 'everyday Ladybug' in her classmates' eyes, and they expect her to step up and replace their former friend by catering to their every whim.
• Hypocrite:
  • Once Lila is revealed to have deceived everybody, Alya condemns her as a Manipulative Bitch, ranting about how she deserves to be beaten senseless for her crimes — even wishing that she'd died at the hands of one of her past bullies. The hypocrisy of this stance comes into even sharper focus when it's revealed that Alya knew she was lying the whole time, but took advantage of the situation to turn the whole class against Marinette for her own selfish reasons.
  • During one of her confrontations with Lila, Alya yells at her for 'showing her face where [she's] not wanted' when it's been made clear that she's not welcome. Said confrontation occurs because she happens to spot her while she was busily harassing Marinette, despite having been repeatedly warned to leave her former friend alone and that she isn't wanted anywhere near her.
• I Never Said It Was Poison: During a conversation about recent events, a woman Adrien doesn't know remarks that "I hope Ladybug receives better help someday..." Adrien immediately leaps to defend Chat Noir, with the woman commenting that she never said anything about him.
• I Reject Your Reality: Alya outright refuses to accept that she's no longer friends with Marinette and has completely burned that bridge beyond any hopes of repair.
• Ignored Epiphany:
  • While she noticed right away that the class was turning against Marinette more than she'd anticipated, Lila initially ignored her nagging conscience. It takes several incidents for her to start paying more attention to her bad feelings.
  • Despite Marlene spelling out for her how she completely destroyed her friendship, triggering a Villainous Breakdown where Alya pleads with her parents to reassure her that she's not an awful person, Alya continues harassing and stalking Marinette, insisting that her former bestie has to take her back and give her another chance.
• Internal Reveal:
  • In Chapter 10, Amaia and Andres figure out that Adrien is Chat Noir and immediately reveal this to him.
  • During the trial, Alya outs Marinette's 'secret crush' on Adrien, unaware that it's long since faded, and Lila admits her past deceptions and the role she played in driving Marinette away.
  • Chapter 20 has Ms. Diamandis witness Marinette detransforming, followed by Marinette learning that there are multiple Orders of the Miraculous, and that Tikki knew all along.
  • Chapter 30 has Marinete finding out Adrien is Chat Noir. She doesn't take it well.
    • At the same time, Adrien realizes that Amaia is Morrighan.
  • "Safe and Comfortable" has Luka being brought in on the loop regarding Marinette's Secret Identity and all the Fae business.
  • In Chapter 60, "The Ones Worth Suffering For", Marinette and Luka learn that Alya posted information about the class' private trial on her Ladyblog.
  • "Whoever Fights Monsters" has Nino learn that Alya knew Lila was lying all along and had deliberately gone along with it to "get Marinette off her high horse". He doesn't take it well.
• Ironic Echo:
  • Lila's testimony ends with her echoing Adrien's advice to Marinette with a slight twist:
    Lila: As long as nobody knew I was lying, it didn't matter. Right, Adrien?
  • Adrien himself repeats the same sentiment to Kagami, ranting about how "so long as we both knew she was lying," it didn't matter what he did or didn't do. This illustrates how he learned nothing from his legal troubles and continues to blame Marinette.
• It's All About Me:
  • Ultimately, Adrien's main self-justification for not doing anything about Lila is that he doesn't want to deal with her as Adrien or as Chat Noir.
  • Tellingly, when Amaia and Andres confront Adrien about his failures as a friend and superhero, the only part he really reacts to is being told that he's not actually entitled to Ladybug's love.
  • When their new allies first reveal themselves to Ladybug and Chat Noir, Chat immediately launches into a massive hissy fit because he can't stand the thought of 'his Lady' having other heroes to turn to for support.
  • Alya's ultimate motive for turning everyone against Marinette was that she hated the fact Marinette was becoming more successful and independent and wanted to keep her an Extreme Doormat just so she would stay with her.
• Jaw Drop: Marinette's jaw unhinges when she hears that Lila repeatedly reported her concerns about the bullying to Ms. Bustier. It falls further when she repeats the 'advice' Adrien gave to Marinette.
• Karma Houdini Warranty: Over the course of the story, this runs out for Ms. Bustier, Principal Damocles, Adrien, Alya, and most of the class.
• Laser-Guided Karma:
  • Ms. Bustier's teaching methods are dragged out into the public eye after Ms. Mendeleiev alerts the school board to the situation at Francoise Dupont, leading to a trial that results in her losing her teaching license and being blacklisted, along with going to prison.
  • Principal Damocles is busted not just for turning a blind eye towards what was happening in Bustier's classroom, but for spending school funds on superhero merchandise and gambling.
  • Adrien unthinkingly commits perjury, leading to his father's intervention and yanking him out of Francoise Dupont, forcing him back into homeschooling.
  • All of the classmates who turned on Marinette have their parents learn about their actions and get punished accordingly. They also face a private trial that leads to further punishment, along with everyone being assigned mandatory therapy.
  • In a Downplayed example, Chloé left Francoise Dupont after Marinette's transfer, and finds herself with a Stern Teacher for a tutor who refuses to entertain any of her complaining or bat a lash at her threats.
  • Kim and Alix, the two who got the most physical in abusing Marinette — even pinning her down for a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown at the park — wind up being shipped off to Military School after the winter break.
  • A Flashback highlights how Adrien witnessed Marinette getting beaten by Kim and Alix and opted to walk away. This is paralleled with him getting the shit kicked out of him as Chat Noir for aggressively turning on Ladybug in front of the Iberian Heroes.
  • Adrien's laundry list of selfish deeds and actions he took as Chat Noir are exposed to Paris, ruining the Nominal Hero's reputation. Around the same time, Adrien's own reputation nosedives due to his victim blaming at the trial.
• Let Me Get This Straight...: Ms. Diamandis says this shortly before summarizing how Marinette was made Ladybug at the age of thirteen and has been fighting for two years.
• Literally Shattered Lives: Lila dreams about Marinette suffering this fate, with her following in her footsteps via having her head break apart.
• Locked Out of the Loop:
  • It turns out that Tikki intentionally left Marinette in the dark about there being other Orders out there.
  • Chat Noir mistakenly assumes that Ladybug intentionally kept him in the dark about bringing the Iberian Heroes into Paris, unaware that she had nothing to do with it.
  • Due to Alya's acting out, Marlene and Otis decide to do this in regards to their upcoming move away from Paris.
• Loophole Abuse: Due to their treaties, the Fae can’t directly inform Ladybug and her allies of Hawk Moth's identity. They can, however, point them in the right direction.
• Loving a Shadow:
  • Lampshaded by Lila, as she states that she and Marinette fell for Adrien without even knowing who he really was.
  • Played for Drama when Adrien accidentally reveals that he only dated Kagami due to her superficial resemblance to Ladybug.
• Mama Bear: Mireya proves herself to be one when she overhears Gabriel's plans to akumatize Amaia by making all the water on the floor he was standing on pour down on him, including the coffee in the mug he was holding.
• Manipulative Bitch: Alya proves herself to be one, as she knew Lila was lying, yet went along and goaded her classmates to do the same, so she could destroy Marinette's confidence and career in hopes of making her dependent on Alya again because she felt envious of her 'bestie's' success.
• Meaningful Echo:
  • Lila repeats most of what she says during her Villainous Breakdown on the stand, explaining more calmly to the judge and jury how she lied and asking how those lies translated into 'I will do you these favors for free'.
  • After witnessing Alya screaming at Lila for 'showing her face where she's not wanted', Marinette tells her former friend that she's really sick of her showing up where she's not wanted.
• Misplaced Kindergarten Teacher: Bustier excuses bullying by claiming her students are simply too young to know any better, even while expecting Marinette and others to display maturity and grace by forgiving every slight and doing favors while asking nothing in return.
• Misplaced Retribution: When the Iberian Heroes reveal themselves, Chat Noir wrongly assumes that Ladybug was responsible for their arrival and angrily turns on her, gripping her arm while demanding to know what she was thinking.
• Missing Steps Plan: Alya is prone to concocting these:
  • Somehow, she expected to maintain her friendship with Marinette after stomping her into the ground for supposedly 'bullying Lila'. She also seems convinced that leading an angry mob on the bakery and accusing her of being a Dirty Coward would get her to change her mind about changing schools. How she intended to get from 'Point A: Go on the full offensive against Marinette' to 'Point B: Be besties with her forever' is anyone's guess.
  • Alya also plots to maliciously slander all of Marinette's new friends and classmates, which will apparently lead to Marinette deciding to transfer back to their school and forgiving everyone... somehow. Nino openly questions just how she expects this to work.
• Moral Myopia:
  • Alya's issues with this are perfectly illustrated when her parents confront her with a recording of her trying to convince the rest of her class to help her slander Marinette's new friends.
    Alya: How did you get that...
    Marlena: Does it matter? I'm quite certain this would be how those students would feel knowing how you got their information.
  • While calling Ms. Bustier out on her failings as a teacher, Ms. Mendeleiev notes that Caline refuses to forgive Marinette or any of her other students who 'betrayed' her by exposing her terrible tactics to public scrutiny. She then asks her why she believes Marinette should forgive those who betrayed her when Caline herself still holds a grudge.
• My God, What Have I Done?: Lila has several such moments, starting with her horror when Bustier announces Marinette's impending transfer and witnessing how the class immediately turns upon the other girl.
• Never My Fault:
  • Even after Lila exposes his compliance in court, resulting in his arrest and being bailed out by his father, Adrien continues to skirt around acknowledging his mistakes. Notably, when Kagami asks what happened, he declares that Marinette was responsible for taking them to trial.
    • Adrien also refuses to acknowledge how his temper tantrum over the new heroes showing up cost him his secret identity.
  • Alya makes a desperate emotional appeal to Marinette to bail her and the others out, saying they shouldn't be blamed for how Lila misled and tricked them. When Marinette doesn't immediately capitulate, she then lunges at her in front of the courthouse.
  • Played With with Nino: While he wants to blame Lila for lying and is angry at Adrien for not telling the truth and allowing the class to hurt Marinette, he acknowledges that they were ultimately the ones who chose to do so, and Lila had nothing to do with what they did.
• New Transfer Student: Ben, Amila and Andres start the story by transferring into Marinette's old school.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Chat Noir holds Ladybug responsible for Rena Rage being akumatized, finding it more important to chastise his 'partner' for refusing to bend in the face of their demands and 'admit' her nonexistent love for him.
• Nice Job Fixing It, Villain:
  • Ms. Bustier's decision to spitefully reveal Marinette's impending transfer spurs Lila to take her first step towards atonement by trying to buy her time to escape by distracting the horde, followed by her new neighbors intervening against the angry mob when they gather outside the bakery.
  • Similarly, when Bustier leads her students to march on the bakery in an attempted ambush, she only succeeds in providing ample evidence of how many lines she's crossed as a teacher.
• Not Helping Your Case:
  • Chat Noir dislikes having other allies around, as he prefers the idea of being Ladybug's only and most important partner. His tendency to not take battles or his partner seriously, being more concerned with harassing her and throwing temper tantrums over her not being his girlfriend do little to prove his value as an ally.
  • Alya tries to recruit the rest of the class into her Malicious Slander efforts by revealing information she's gathered about Marinette's new classmates at St. Catherine's. Some of the information was private, including details about medical conditions, making the rest of the class uncomfortable.
    • She also shows them information about other students that Lila previously got expelled; however, said information actually reveals that they already had behavioral problems before she arrived, and were caught ASSAULTING Lila.
• "Not So Different" Remark: Lila compares Marinette's former infatuation with Adrien with her own, noting how Marinette was Loving a Shadow while she was focused entirely on his good looks and connections.
• Off to Boarding School: Kim's and Alix's parents negotiate this with the court: instead of sending them to Juvie, they would be sent to a Military School once the winter break is over.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business:
  • The normally calm and collected Luka ends up snapping at Adrien when the latter insists that Marinette needs to apologize, demanding to know if he supports the class continuing to isolate her until she breaks. Adrien simply insists that she's capable of handling it.
  • Lila stuns Marinette this way several times, the first being when she intervenes to buy time for her to escape Bustier's class on her last day there.
  • Nooroo gives Gabriel and Nathalie an unsettlingly serious look while contemplating whether or not to warn them about just what they're dealing with.
• Only Sane Man: Juleka and Nathaniel are the only classmates who don't completely turn against Marinette, though they're reluctant to speak up after seeing the stark With Us or Against Us attitude their peers have adopted.
• Pain to the Ass: Salomon, annoyed by his yowling keeping his family up, shoots Chat Noir in the ass. Amaia, Andres, and Ben indavertently learn his secret identity when Adrien shows up to school the next morning with a similar injury.
• Plot Parallel: Adrien's efforts to repeatedly approach Marinette in the park coincide with his father's efforts to create enough conflict to spark an akuma there. While their respective goals are polar opposites of each other, both are motivated by their desire to control others and make them act in accordance to their personal, selfish desires, underscoring how similar they are.
• Poor Communication Kills: Juleka breaks down crying while telling Amaia just how bad things have gotten. Others witness her in tears and immediately assume Amaia was responsible for them, spurring them to start targeting and threatening the new kids.
• Rage Breaking Point:
  • Lila hits hers when Adrien brushes off the extent of the bullying by claiming that it's more important that they 'avoid akumas', completely ignoring how all the tension and suffering in Ms. Bustier's class is making it a perfect breeding ground for akumas.
  • Nino hits this in Chapter 33 when Adrien keeps Playing the Victim Card and blaming Marinette, tearing him apart for letting them all get strung along for so long before cutting off their friendship. Thankfully, the incoming Akuma was caught before it could reach him.
  • Marinette hits hers in Chapter 40 when Alya makes clear that she's learned absolutely nothing from the whole sorry affair, calling the others cowards for not going along with her plot to ruin the reputations of all of Marinette's new friends at St. Catherine's.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech:
  • In a Flashback, Adrien reveals his reasoning to Lila, and she's thoroughly unimpressed, calling him out on his naivete:
    Lila: That's... what you think. You think that if I, someone you know is a liar, would willingly stop lying... That if I stop lying, things will magically go back to how they were. That if I stop lying, Chloé will go back to being the brat she is. That if I stop lying, Marinette will forgive everyone and it will all go back to normal like an overly cheery children's tale with no villains and no bad endings. That's what you think.
    Adrien: Well, uh, it's a start, isn't it? It's less work for Ladybug and Chat Noir. What's more, you don't get akumatized! I'd say that's a pretty good deal.
    Lila: (eye twitches) That's... what you've been focusing on... All this time... Hah! Less work. For superheroes. That can take care of an akuma in at least an hour. Are you out of your mind?! No akuma?! No akuma?! What about all the classmates Chloé hurt?! What about all the times she got away with something because no one did anything?! What about everyone else, huh?! What about them? Do they mean so little to you?!
  • Amaia calls out Adrien with a series of pointed questions, though the only one that really pierces through is the insult towards his desired relationship with Ladybug:
    Amaia: I wonder. Does it feel nice knowing you let down Marinette? Does it feel nice knowing you left her to deal with everything on her own? Does it feel nice knowing you don't actually deserve Ladybug's love the way you think you do?
    (Adrien's fearful expression switches to anger at that)
    Amaia: Does it feel nice knowing you betrayed everyone to maintain your own selfish vision of what peace and friendship look like? You've had plenty of chances to break out of your father's grip. In and out of the costume. So what are you doing pretending to be a hero? Unless... You don't care about anyone but yourself. And playing superhero is just a way to act out your spoiled fantasies instead of facing reality and taking charge. Is that it?
  • Lila delivers one while testifying, explaining how she overestimated how much the class valued their friendships:
    Lila: I lied because I was looking for attention and adoration. I admit it. What I was not looking for was a class full of barbaric and gullible bullies who can't even use their own heads or hands. I thought your bond was stronger than that. I thought your bond was strong enough that a few pretty stories and tears wouldn't be enough to sway your opinion of someone you had literally known for years. I thought you all were close enough that you'd give your 'everyday Ladybug' the benefit of the doubt over some new girl. But I was wrong.
  • Gabriel lectures Adrien with one following the trial, spelling out just how dangerous it was for him to keep his silence regarding Lila's behavior.
  • Nino absolutely tears Adrien a new one for allowing them all to degenerate into bullies when Adrien again tries to blame Marinette for the current events going on and continue playing the victim.
    Adrien: Treating someone badly like that won't make them change. Seriously, I thought you knew better.
    Nino: And I thought you knew better than to let everyone turn on the sweetest classmate over a few pretty stories. You say you're our friend, yet you never bothered to tell us it might have been a bit fishy. You say you're our friend, yet you never defended us against Chloé. You always made excuses for her. You say you're our friend, but I never once heard you say anything in Marinette's defense when Kim and Alix were beating the shit out of her. You, my good 'friend', didn't even say anything when they were tossing her sketchbook around like it was a piece of crap. Do you know who ended up making it stop?
    Adrien: Uh, no?
    Nino: Well, guess what? It was Lila who made that one stop. Not you! Not Alya! Lila! You know, the very one you defended in court against all of us!
    Adrien: L-look, it was just—
    Nino: Just what?! A misunderstanding?! I'm sick of this! I'm sick of this crap! You know why?! You're so damned sheltered about everything it makes me sick! And it shouldn't even make me sick! You had so many chances to unlearn all of that, but you didn't! You let all of us turn into a pack of wild beasts who turned on the kindest person there ever was!
    Adrien: Nino, please...
    Nino: Grow up a little before you come crawling back. Maybe I'll see if I can be your friend again.
  • Chapter 40 has Marinette rip Alya a new one, calling her out for stubbornly refusing to even try and change her ways, continuing to blame everybody but herself for the horrific things she did and trying to force her way back into her life. She makes clear that she never wants to see her former 'bestie' again, and will file a restraining order if she keeps harassing her.
    Marinette: You... how dare you! You're still saying it's her fault?! What about the time you let Kim and Alix beat me to a pulp in the park?! What about the articles you posted about me calling me a jealous bully?! What about all the times I tried to warn you but you told me not to think about it?! Do you have any idea how many times I was almost akumatized?! No, you don't, because you were too busy making sure I felt like I wasn't wanted! What! Was this all just a game to you?! How 'bout I give it to you straight? I. Don't. Want. To be your friend anymore.
    Alya: Girl... You can't—
    Marinette: Oh, I am. If I ever see you again, I'm filing a restraining order. Goodbye.
  • Ms. Mendeleiev tears into Bustier for her Skewed Priorities and mismanagement of her class after it becomes clear that Caline refuses to see what she did wrong:
    Ms. Bustier: M-Marinette was such a good student. It's just... the turmoil in the class...
    Ms. Mendeleiev: Was your responsibility, not hers. Tell me, Caline. What in the world possessed you to think abandoning Miss Dupain-Cheng was in any shape alright? (Caline looks betrayed) Don't look at me like that. Everyone with two brain cells knows you didn't lift a finger to help her. Against Miss Bourgeious, against Miss Rossi, and especially against Miss Cesaire.
    (a grim silence follows)
    Ms. Mendeleiev: I'm going to say it even thought you don't like it. Miss Dupain-Cheng is not obligated to forgive a betrayal of that magnitude. You didn't like being 'betrayed' by your students. Why in the world would you ask Miss Dupain-Cheng to forgive them?
  • Chloé gets her chance to rip into Adrien when they finally meet up for the first time since the trial, as she takes him to task on his hypocrisy:
    Adrien: So you found out, huh. It was so ridiculous. Marinette didn't even have to go that far. I mean, if only she hadn't tried to expose Lila like that, then none of this would have happened.
    Chloé: Indeed. I certainly would've done it differently. Why, I would've gone to her mother, first of all.
    Adrien: (recoiling in shock) Chloé, how could you say that? You of all people should know—
    Chloé: Yeah, yeah, I know. I know a lot more than you're giving me credit for. (glaring) Trust me, dear Adrikins, I know all about it.
    Adrien: Wh-what exactly do you know?
    Chloé: I know you defended a liar in court and tried to defame a rising star of the fashion world. And because of a certain blabbermouth, you now have a fading reputation as Paris's 'Golden Boy'. (visibly gagging as she spits out the nickname) Honestly, I have no idea what we saw in you.
    Adrien: Wha—?! Chloé, how could you say that?!
    Chloé: Ugh, do you even hear yourself talk?! You're always going on about love and friendship, but you never actually do anything about it. Just like Bustier.
    Adrien: What in the world...? I thought you liked her.
    Chloé: (poking him in the chest) Correction; I liked that she let me get away with whatever I wanted. And where did that get me? Out of the school and hated by virtually everyone there.
    Adrien: Well, it couldn't have been that bad. I mean, considering all the times something happened—
    Chloé: They were targeting me too, you know.
    Adrien: (whispering) What...
    Chloé: Did I stutter? It wasn't enough they were going after Dupain-Cheng. They wanted a piece of me, too. And not once, in all the time this has been going on, did I even hear a word from you about how I was doing.
    Adrien: (quietly) What's gotten into you, Chloé...
    Chloé: (turning her back on him) It's simple, really. I grew up. When will you?
• Saying Too Much:
  • Adrien digs himself into a hole with Kagami this way by declaring that everything could have been avoided if he'd known about Marinette's crush on him, ignoring the fact that he was currently dating Kagami. He also repeats his prior assertation that it didn't matter so long as they both knew she was lying, and when called out on this, reveals that he only dated Kagami due to her resemblance to Ladybug.
  • During her Motive Rant to her parents, Alya declares "I thought teaming up with Lila would have done the trick, but—" Marlena immediately presses her on that, leading to The Reveal that she knew Lila was fibbing the whole time.
• Screw the Rules, I Have Connections!: Alya, Kim, Alix and most of the other classmates fully expect Lila to invoke this on their behalf, calling upon her supposed celebrity connections to help boost their careers.
• Screw the Rules, I Have Money!: After the trial's conclusion, Gabriel walks in and pays Adrien's bail so that he won't have to serve time for perjury.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here:
  • After Marinette transfers to St. Catherine's, Chloé and Sabrina leave Francoise Dupont as well. Alya and the others take this as another 'victory', claiming credit for driving all three away.
  • Nino and the rest of the class turn against Alya when she reveals her plan to slander the students at St. Catherine's, showing them the 'evidence' she'd gathered of how they weren't 'good enough' for Marinette, along with her claiming that Lila should die.
• Secretly Selfish: No matter how much they deny it, everyone in Bustier's class (aside from Juleka and Nathaniel) is guilty of this:
  • Caline Bustier turned a blind eye towards how her students were harassing Marinette, hoping they would break her down so she'd continue being an Extreme Doormat. Even after they start getting into trouble with their parents and other adults, she keeps encouraging their misbehavior.
  • Marinette's classmates took advantage of her kindness. When Lila falsely claimed she was bullying her, they immediately turned on their former friend... yet expected her to continue doing favors and making things for them. They also escalated their behavior in hopes of currying favor with Lila; Alix and Kim, for instance, got increasingly violent towards Marinette, thinking Lila would reward them by helping secure sports sponsorships.
    • Then it's revealed that Alya had actually known all along that Lila wasn't telling the truth - but went along with it for two reasons: to use those false claims to get more views on the Ladyblog, to 'knock Marinette down a few pegs' out of envy over her success and to keep her an Extreme Doormat.
  • Adrien allowed all of his friends to get strung along by Lila and forced Marinette to face all the abuse alone just so he wouldn't have to deal with the unpleasantness of Lila being exposed and potentially akumatized. He also only dated Kagami simply because of her looking like Ladybug, and never had any regard to her feelings.
• Self-Fulfilling Prophecy: Alya secretly feared that Marinette's growing success as a fashion designer would result in her leaving them behind. So they jumped at the chance to bully her, hoping that ruining her self-esteem would ensure that she stayed. Instead, the bullying led to Marinette transferring out and cutting ties with them.
• Ship Sinking:
  • Adrien/Kagami ends up sinking for good when Adrien reveals that the only reason that he dated her was because she looked like Ladybug, leaving Kagami devastated and heartbroken.
  • Nino breaks up with Alya after learning about her intent to slander everyone at St. Catherine's in hopes that would force Marinette to transfer back to their school.
• Skewed Priorities:
  • As Ben points out, after he twists Kim's arm to force him to let go of him, Alya is far more concerned with getting revenge upon him than she is with seeking medical attention for her friend.
  • When Alya outs Marinette's crush, it completely distracts Adrien from the trial.
  • Upon seeing the new heroes for the first time, Chat Noir immediately turns on Ladybug, enraged by the prospect that new allies might take attention away from how 'special' his bond with her is.
• Stunned Silence: Falls over Kagami and Adrien, as well as the nearby Tomoe, Gabriel and Nathalie, when Adrien blurts out the real reason why he dated her.
• Taking the Bullet: Lila's mother tries to protect her in this fashion during Alya's assault; Mr. Oropeza then jumps in and takes a liver shot in her stead.
• Tall Poppy Syndrome: Alya secretly subscribes to this mentality, having aimed to cut Marinette down out of envy over her success.
• Tempting Fate:
  • When Marinette's former classmates are mobbing the Dupain-Cheng bakery, Tom threatens to call their parents unless they immediately leave. One of them scoffs, dismissing the threat. As it turns out, it wasn't idly made at all.
  • Adrien defends his refusal to do anything about the bullying by claiming Marinette's strong enough to handle it, since she hasn't been akumatized yet. Seconds later, a black butterfly appears.
• They Just Dont Get It:
  • Alya proves that she has learned absolutely nothing from her experiences when she attacks and threatens Lila in a way paralleling her previous assault on Ben.
  • Alya keeps doing it, by storming into Marinette's family bakery, despite being banned from it, trying to force Marinette to talk to her, despite all she's done to her, earning another trespassing charge on her record.
  • "Understood Backwards" shows that Ms. Bustier is just as bad as Alya about this, as she reacts to Ms. Mendeleiev updating her about recent events by sulking, pouting, and continuing to try and push her Misplaced Kindergarten Teacher mentality.
  • "He Promised in the Darkness" highlights Adrien's continued inability to read the atmosphere or pick up on the idea that maybe, just maybe, he keeps getting called out on his Betrayal by Inaction for a reason.
• This Is Reality: During their confrontation, Lila mocks Adrien for expecting things to work like they do on children's shows. He dismisses this, resulting in him getting hit HARD when he keeps covering for Lila at the trial, only for her to expose herself and his covering up for her. Since he withheld key information and tried smearing Marinette's good name, he's charged with perjury. His father has to literally bail him out, explaining how he could have gone to jail for ten years due to this.
• To the Pain: When Alya gets a chance to get her hands on Lila post-trial, she wastes no time threatening her and making clear how she intends to beat the ever-loving crap out of her, sneering that "I'll start with your left eye."
• Took a Level in Jerkass: Alya shows No Sympathy towards Marinette's new classmates, mocking how one of them had to stay in the hospital for half a day and calling a homeless kid lame. And that's not even getting into how she bullied Marinette out of envy over her success and much preferred her as an Extreme Doormat.
• Toxic Friend Influence:
  • Ms. Bustier's questionable teaching practices, such as blaming the victims of bullying while refusing to punish the perpetrators, resulted in her students developing some very twisted ideas about morality. Adrien fully subscribes to her methodology, claiming that Marinette shouldn't stand up for herself.
  • Alya serves as this to the whole class; not only did she encourage Marinette to go along with her Zany Schemes to help her hook up with Adrien - and refused to take no for an answer whenever she balked - she also encouraged everyone else to turn on Marinette in hopes of destroying her self-esteem so that she'd stay by her side. Eventually, the class realizes just how toxic she is and cut all ties with her.
• Tranquil Fury:
  • Marlena displays this after hearing Alya viciously threatening Ben.
  • Gabriel shows this when he arrives at the courthouse to pick up Adrien.
• Turn the Other Cheek: Ms. Bustier and Adrien both twist this into victim-blaming, expecting those who have been bullied to 'fix' the situation while letting the aggressors get away scot-free.
• Twitchy Eye:
  • Lila's eye twitches when Adrien reveals his Skewed Priorities in letting her lie freely so that she won't get akumatized and 'make more work for Chat Noir'.
  • Gabriel has one when the Tsurugis bring up the commotion Kagami witnessed outside the courthouse.
  • Nino gets one when he realizes that Adrien is still blaming Marinette for what happened with Lila.
• Villainous Breakdown:
  • Lila has one where she admits to Ms. Mendeleiev and several others how she falsely claimed to know plenty of celebrities, only for her classmates to assume she'd use her connections to their favor:
    Lila: I told them I knew Clara Nightingale. I told them I knew Jagged Stone and Prince Ali. Please tell me what part of that means 'I'll do you these favors for free'?! Are they going to turn on me too?! Just like Marinette?! Am I just their wish-granter? Do they even see anyone as a friend?!
  • Alya has one in Chapter 36 when her parents confront her, forcing her to admit that she knew that Lila was lying the whole time, and tried taking advantage of that to drag Marinette down.
• Villainous Lineage:
  • Lila fears that she might take after her father, Matteo.
  • Mireya observes that Adrien and Gabriel share the same flaws: both are excessively arrogant, believing that the world runs on their rules, as they see fit. This arrogance also makes it difficult for either one to fathom that they might be wrong, or cope with any challenges to their narrow and self-serving points of view.
• Was It All a Lie?: Nino furiously asks Alya this after learning that she'd known Lila was deceiving them the whole time, questioning the validity of their friendships — and their relationship:
  Nino: Was any of it real?! All those dates! All that time! Did any of us matter to you?!
• Where Did We Go Wrong?: Gabriel wonders where he went wrong in explaining to Adrien that he should have at least told someone about Lila's lies.
• With All Due Respect:
  • Nathalie says this after Nooroo is forced to inform her and Gabriel about how the White Wolf Miraculous of Transformation is also required for the Wish, noting just how risky targeting a hero based off an apex predator is.
  • Nooroo leads with the same line when remarking upon how one of Gabriel's plans was derailed because the people involved were willing to work with and compromise with each other.
  • Later, when Adrien has managed to dig himself even deeper, Nooroo remarks to Gabriel that "With all due respect, master, you did raise him." Gabriel is left wondering whether he meant this mockingly or was actually trying to comfort him.
• Wrong Assumption: Chat Noir assumes that Ladybug had something to do with the Iberian Heroes arriving in Paris, and angrily turns on her, accusing her of not treating him like an equal. The violence with which he does so spurs Morrighan to step in and defend Ladybug.
• Wrong Genre Savvy:
  • Lila severely overestimated how close-knit Bustier's class was, believing that her Celebrity Lies would simply help her impress her peers and that their friendships with Marinette would survive the strain.
  • Alya, Kim and Alix fancy themselves to be Bully Hunters rather than bullies themselves.
  • Adrien assumes that Ladybug is meant to be his Love Interest due to them both being chosen as superheroes, and that all her resistance to the idea won't matter in the long run because he's The Chosen One and is going to get exactly what he wants in the end.
• You Are Grounded!: Marlena grounds Alya and forces her to put the Ladyblog on hiatus after hearing how her daughter tries to threaten and intimidate Ben into submission.
• You Are What You Hate:
  • Alya, Kim, Alix and most of Ms. Bustier's students fancy themselves to be Bully Hunters who successfully drove Marinette, Chloé and Sabrina out of their school. In reality, they're nothing more than bullies themselves, who don't hesitate to threaten the new arrivals.
  • After slapping Adrien post Rage Breaking Point, Lila has a breakdown over the notion that she's just like her father.
• You Have GOT to Be Kidding Me!: Juleka reacts this way when she hears about Alya assaulting Lila outside the Dupain-Cheng Bakery, angrily wondering what it will take for her to stop her stubborn crusade.
• Your Head Asplode: Suffered by Lila right before she wakes up from her nightmare.
• You're Just Jealous:
  • Alya insists that this was Marinette's motivation for 'becoming a bully'. In realty, she's the one who's envious of Marinette's growing success.
  • During an argument with Aurore, Alya accuses her of being jealous that Ladybug had chosen her to be a superheroine.
• You Remind Me of X: Played for Drama, as Adrien tells Kagami straight to her face that the only reason he started dating her was because she looks like Ladybug.

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