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Fanfic / LadyBugOut

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During the events of "Oblivio," an Akuma wipes Marinette and Adrien's memories, leading to Ladybug and Chat Noir sharing a kiss that neither of them remembers... though that doesn't stop Alya from taking a picture of said kiss and posting it to the Ladyblog. The next day, Miss Bustier's class is divided over the picture and how the kiss happened, leading to some calling out Alya as a journalist.

Feeling her privacy was violated, Marinette storms out of the class and calls Master Fu, asking him: "What would you think of Ladybug having her own blog?"

LadyBugOut is a Miraculous Ladybug AU created by Miraculous Content on Tumblr. The AU currently makes its home here. First part can be read here. Here is a masterpost for all the writings as well as answered questions and miscellaneous content related to the AU. The collection can also be found on AO3 starting here.

Tropes featured in LadyBugOut include:

    open/close all folders 
    Core Canon 
  • Accidental Public Confession: Occurs when Chat Noir confronts Ladybug and goes on a blistering rant, unaware that their conversation is being recorded and broadcast live on her blog.
  • Accusation Fic: Starts as one for Oblivio but moves onto other aspects of the show.
  • Adaptational Jerkass: Alya and Adrien's flaws are intentionally taken up to eleven as their Protagonist-Centered Morality Protection is stripped away and they continue to double down on their negative behavior when called out on it.
  • Adults Are Useless: Ms. Bustier allows bullies like Chloé and Lila to run roughshod all over her students, dumps the responsibility of maintaining order on good students like Marinette, and actually goes as far as to demand she take down a blog geared towards hindering Hawk Moth's operations just because it's disrupting the thin veneer of peace in her classroom. Worse, according to a side note, after Alya abandons her duties as Class Deputy, Ms. Bustier deliberately leaves the role unfilled in hopes that Marinette will struggle to fulfill her role as Class Rep alone and have to apologize to Alya without Bustier having to get further involved. This fails due to others helping Marinette out, leading to her subsequent attempt to shut the blog down.
  • Armor-Piercing Question:
    • The conflict really gets kicked off in Class-y Opinions by Markov realizing that because Alya and Nino were both akumatized into Oblivio, they should be able to answer a simple question — one Alya attempts to dodge around with a Non-Answer.
      Markov: Oh! Actually, the two of you would be able to confirm when this happened. Did they have their memories at the time or not?
    • This is followed by Marinette interrupting one of Nino's attempts at rationalization in a way that gives everyone pause:
      Nino: Look, it — it's no big deal! Chat loved it, so—
      Marinette: What about Ladybug? [looking straight at Alya] How did Ladybug feel about it? You keep talking about Chat and how he liked it, but what about her?
    • In Retired and Replaced, Ladybug asks Alya whether she would trust Chloé with the Bee again. Alya balks, recognizing the potential trap, but the point remains: if she judges her as unworthy due to how she behaves in her civilian identity, then Alya doesn't get a free pass for misbehaving in hers.
  • Armor-Piercing Response:
    • In Bee in Her Bonnet, Chloé attempts to dismiss Ladybug's gentle chastisement with a haughty "What do you know?" Ladybug responds "Everything," causing the blonde to gape at her, horrified, as she proceeds to list out how poorly she's been behaving.
    • This exchange in The Interview Ruse:
      Alya: Why'd you help Ladybug out with her blog?
      Marinette: Ladybug needed help. How could I say no to that?
      Alya: Lila did.
      Marinette: I'm not Lila.
    • Later attempted by Alya, but Marinette gets one again:
      Marinette: What do you mean?
      Alya: I can't be friends with someone who won't apologize and can't even see what she did.
      Marinette: I can't be friends with someone like that either. So I guess we're not friends anymore.
  • Ascended Extra: Master Fu recruits several new permanent heroes to help Ladybug out.
    • Luka gets the Fox Miraculous, and becomes Cadmeancio. Later on, he gets the Cat Miraculous and becomes Hecattack.
    • After Luka gets the Cat, Juleka gets the Fox Miraculous and becomes Neurofoxin.
    • Kagami gets the Bee Miraculous and becomes Fukiya.
    • Ivan gets the Turtle Miraculous and becomes Heavy Matal.
  • Batman Gambit:
    • Part of the reason Fu chose Luka as the Fox Bearer was so Juleka would become his Secret-Keeper and have time to get used to Trixx. Fu suspected that Chat Noir might need to be replaced, and thus set things up so that Juleka could become accustomed to Trixx's presence and develop a desire to get more involved herself so that she'd eventually accept the call.
    • Ms. Bustier attempts this when Alya abandons her post as class deputy. Rather than selecting somebody else for the role, she deliberately leaves it vacant, banking on Marinette's own sense of personal responsibility driving her to apologize and mend fences with Alya so they can work together again. Happily, it fails because she underestimates how willing most of her other students are to help Marinette out.
  • Be Careful What You Say: When Lila claims in Emptied Threats that she wants Marinette to 'be nicer', Marinette responds by revealing how she threatened her in the bathroom back during "Chameleon", as "Being nice doesn't mean letting bullies walk all over you."
  • Beware the Nice Ones: Juleka is NOT happy when Lila tries to drag Luka into one of her lying attempts in The Interview Ruse.
    Lila: Luka! Juleka must've told Luka, who told Marine–-
    Juleka: Are you saying that my brother would do something like that?!
    Lila: N-no, I just... thought–-
    Juleka: Leave Luka out of this! I don't even talk to him about you!
  • Blaming the Victim:
    • Alya's last-ditch attempt to defend her behavior in Class-y Actions: waving her cell in Marinette's face and hissing that "Maybe she shouldn't be kissing somebody in front of her favorite blogger's phone." Implying that she shouldn't be held responsible for taking that photo or proceeding to post it over Ladybug's protests.
    • When faced with the prospect of losing the Ring, Adrien attempts to get Ladybug in trouble as well, trying to convince Master Fu that she's the real cause of all the recent problems.
  • Broken Pedestal: Several.
    • Marinette's crush on Adrien quickly disappears when Adrien says he feels Chat deserved the kiss from Ladybug. It gets worse when she finds out he's Chat Noir.
    • The reputation of the Ladyblog is severely damaged when Ladybug starts her own and reveals the truth behind the Oblivio-induced kiss, leading to backlash as Alya's audience realize that she intentionally misled them. Alya, in turn, sees Ladybug starting her own blog and posting that video as a massive betrayal.
    • Most of the class turns on Lila after she gets snared in her own web and finds herself unable to talk her way out of trouble.
    • Ms. Bustier's reputation as a Cool Teacher takes a nosedive when she tries to convince Marinette to delete Ladybug's blog behind her back, then scolds Marinette for refusing to do so.
    • Chat Noir's public reputation takes a nosedive when the true extent of his entitlement issues regarding Ladybug come to light.
  • The Chosen One: Adrien's belief that he and Ladybug are destined partners due to being chosen to bear the Black Cat and Ladybug causes major issues. With time, this leads to Chat Noir being seen as The Poorly Chosen One.
  • Cool Big Bro: Luka. When he receives the Cat Miraculous, he hands the Fox Miraculous down to Juleka, knowing that she fantasized about being a hero and giving her a chance to officially become one.
  • Deconstruction Fic: The basic premise of the fic is to deconstruct several characters' less than savory behavior in the show.
    • Alya's total disregard for Ladybug's feelings about the kiss at the end of Oblivio leads to her burning bridges with Ladybug.
    • Chat Noir's entitled behavior towards Ladybug is portrayed as creepy and disturbing, not to mention he completely and consistently disregards her feelings on the matter. This eventually leads to Master Fu saying enough is enough and taking the Cat Miraculous from him.
    • One episode savages Ms. Bustier and points out her actions in the show make her nothing more than a doormat who fosters an extremely fertile breeding ground for akuma and caters to the troublemaking students in her class.
  • Digging Yourself Deeper: Adrien, Alya and Lila all prove themselves to be unintentional masters of this by doubling down on their bad behavior when called out on it.
    • In Class-y Opinions, Nathaniel even sketches a spiraling pit which Alix shows to the others, calling it the hole Alya has been digging herself into.
    • The morning after The Interview Ruse is posted, Lila paints herself into a corner and tries to bluff her way out of it, without success. Lila's yarns unravel once Ivan spots an inconsistency and she attempts to throw others under the bus to cover her own backside. This demolishes her former reputation, with most of her classmates refusing to give 'Liar Rossi' any more attention and mocking her whenever she tries to spin more webs.
    • Lie Gone Wrong features Lila attempting to convince everyone that she was Rena Rouge. Not only do her classmates reject the claim entirely, this unintentionally confirms to Alya and Nino that she's absolutely lying.
  • Disappointed in You: Ms. Bustier tells Marinette as much when she stands up to her. It immediately gets turned around on her by most of her righteously pissed-off class.
  • Disc-One Final Boss: For all the trouble she caused, after her classmates realize that she's been deceiving them the whole time, Lila loses practically all of her influence and power. She's still lying, but the only one willing to give her any benefit of the doubt is Alya — mostly because Lila claimed to have chosen her and the Ladyblog over Ladybug.
  • The Dog Bites Back: After finally recognizing just how toxic and manipulative Lila is, and that they were never actually friends, Alya lashes back out at her by compiling a list of all her lies, debunking them, and sending them to everyone at Dupont at once.
  • Dogged Nice Guy: What Chat Noir views himself as. It's made obvious that Marinette doesn't thinks so.
  • Don't You Dare Pity Me!: Lila's utterly furious when Marinette expresses sympathy for her situation even while reminding her that her own deception got her into this in the first place.
  • Dramatic Irony:
    • At one point, Kagami compares Adrien's clueless expression to one she saw on Chat Noir, noting how both of them fail to understand that she's upset about far more than a simple 'difference of opinion' and that their actions have hurt those around them. Naturally, she's completely unaware that the two are one and the same.
    • Lila, someone who thrives on being a Bitch in Sheep's Clothing and presenting herself as a complete non-threat, is completely unable to comprehend the idea that Marinette or Alya could actually cause her any serious problems. Especially the latter, writing her off completely, to the point that she can't conceive of her being a threat even after she bites back.
  • Entitled to Have You: Chat Noir towards Ladybug Because Destiny Says So — or rather, because their Miraculous are a matched set. It takes losing the ring and Marinette asking him whether that means Ladybug is now required to hook up with the new bearer to start getting through to him.
  • Et Tu, Brute?:
    • Alya sees Marinette opting to help her 'rival blog' this way, treating it as a personal betrayal.
    • Nino is left feeling this way after learning that Adrien knew all along that Lila was a liar and let her keep stringing everyone along... and left Marinette to deal with it by herself. He's so devastated by this revelation that Ladybug actually has to ambush an akuma butterfly before it can drive him berserk.
    • Though Chat has been helping with the Ladyblog to try and boost/repair its popularity, after his Is This Thing On? moment, Alya immediately cuts ties with him so that the backlash won't drag her down even further.
  • Even Evil Has Standards: Downplayed to the territory of "even jerkasses have standards". Alya may be willing to do some scummy things for views on her blog, but once Chat is livestreamed turning physically abrasive and possessive of Ladybug, she cuts ties with him.
  • Exact Words:
    • Once it becomes clear that she's not involved with LadyBugOut, Lila attempts to claim that she never said that she was helping with the blog; only that Ladybug asked her to help. The only one who buys this is Alya, mainly because Lila adds that she refused out of loyalty to the Ladyblog.
    • During The Balcony Scene, Marinette stresses to Adrien that "I, Marinette, didn't tell anyone that you're Chat Noir." She specifically does so because Ladybug did have to share that information.
  • Explain, Explain... Oh, Crap!: Nino, when eviscerating Adrien for saying nothing about Lila being a liar, realizes he threw Marinette under the bus so he wouldn't have to face Lila.
    Nino: You were afraid no one would believe you? Afraid to ruin the image you’d set up for yourself? You’d rather just leave Marinette to– [pauses, realization dawning on him] ...You let Marinette handle it all on her own.
  • Extreme Doormat: Both Adrien and Ms. Bustier passively let problematic people like Chloé and Lila run all over everyone just to avoid the conflict that would come from calling them out.
  • Fatal Flaw:
    • For Alya: Pride, stubbornness, and putting 'juicy stories' over honesty and fact-checking. She's firmly bought into her own hype, convinced that she's an Intrepid Reporter, and any suggestion otherwise is a major Berserk Button.
    • For Adrien: Entitlement, self-centeredness and Skewed Priorities. Thinks that being Chat Noir makes him The Chosen One and that he and Ladybug are destined to be together, with him rejecting any and all evidence to the contrary and putting the state of his love life — or lack thereof — over more pressing concerns like protecting Paris.
    • For Lila: Overconfidence and spite. Having gotten away with constantly lying for so long, she pushes her luck ever further, specifically aiming to ruin Marinette and Ladybug's reputations purely because they stood up to her.
  • Flanderization: Used deliberately with Alya and Adrien, taking their worst traits from Canon and having them double down on that behavior when suddenly faced with consequences — because they're used to getting away with it without any issues. This effectively shows just how far they could fall if left unchecked.
  • Foil: Nino and Alya's reactions to the current heroes using their former Miraculous directly parallel each other. Alya reacts to the loss of hers as if it were a personal attack against her, while Nino is disappointed, but ultimately is just happy that his replacement is a good hero.
  • Forceful Kiss:
    • Chat Noir attempts to force one upon Ladybug as a 'test', claiming that her refusal to kiss him is proof that she's 'in denial' about her feelings for him. According to him, the only possible reason why she wouldn't want to be kissed against her will is because she's afraid that will make her feelings for him impossible to hide.
    • During The Balcony Scene, Marinette turns that same 'logic' back around on Adrien by acting just as bratty and demanding as he normally did as Chat Noir, culminating in her pushing into his space claiming that they have to kiss. She drops the act without following through.
  • Foreshadowing:
    • Chloé notes that Alya is currently the only blog dedicated to the heroes' activities, and Alya declares that she can't criticize her methods without a blog of her own. This encourages Marinette to take up her challenge as Ladybug.
    • In Don't Kiss But Tell, Ladybug's yoyo pops open at some point after her meeting with Chat turns ugly. This happens again in Been There, Done Chat, only there, it also records and broadcasts their confrontation live on her blog, including his Entitled to Have You rant.
    • Master Fu notes while reviewing Marinette's Wish List that Adrien Agreste was not included on the extensive document as a potential hero.
    • In Self-Destruction, Gabriel is on the computer when Adrien enters his office. Context clues hint that he was watching the announcement of Chat's retirement, helping him put two-and-two together about his son's former secret identity.
  • Gone Horribly Right: Played for Laughs in Wish List. Master Fu requested that Marinette put together a list of potential candidates for new, permanent heroes. When they receive the list in question, Wayzz observes its length and that it might have been a mistake not to give her any limitations.
  • Good Is Not Soft: As Marinette spells when she reveals how Lila threatened her to the rest of the class:
    Marinette: Unlike what some people believe, being nice doesn't mean doing nothing and letting bullies walk all over you. People deserve to be warned and told about the bad actions of others, so I'm just telling everyone else what you did to me.
  • Green-Eyed Monster:
    • Alya isn't too thrilled about the new blog's popularity.
    • Marinette's parents show some jealousy towards Jagged Stone and Penny when they find the pair comforting and supporting their daughter, triggering their realization that Marinette has found some Parental Substitutes in the pair.
  • Head Desk: Alix gives this reaction twice in the first part when she agrees with Chloé's opinion of Chat Noir.
  • Heel Realization:
    • After a tense conversation with Chat Noir, Marinette realizes she and Chat aren't so different when it comes to how they treat their romantic interests. This immediately leads to her tearing down everything related to her crush.
    • Tom and Sabine have one after Marinette calls them out on their tendency to not actually help whenever she tells them anything, always treating her like she's the problem. Sabrine cements it by inadvertently proving her point:
      Sabine: Oh... Marinette, that's not how it's supposed to be. You're supposed to rely on us. You—
      [Marinette jerks away from her hand; Sabine realizes she just implicitly blamed her for not trusting them]
      Sabine: ...We're supposed to be reliable.
    • Nino has one after Lila accidentally outs herself as a liar by claiming that she's Rena Rouge, followed shortly by Alya making excuses and rejecting the idea of apologizing to Marinette.
    • Tikki has a Downplayed one after The Balcony Scene, as she quietly acknowledges that she wasn't always the most supportive and didn't necessarily help Marinette take care of herself.
  • His Own Worst Enemy: Alya, Adrien and Lila effectively seal their own fates by doubling and tripling down whenever they're challenged on their bad behavior.
  • Hoist by Her Own Petard:
    • Alya asserts that as the 'best source for Ladybug news', she has the right to deliberately misrepresent situations in order to garner interest. Ladybug responds by making her own, more accurate blog, exposing Alya's deception and causing the Ladyblog's reputation to take a huge hit.
    • Lila naturally pretends to be involved in maintaining LadyBugOut. When Marinette sets up The Interview Ruse, Lila accuses Marinette of trying to make her look bad. Unfortunately for her, Ivan spots the thread in her claim, and everything promptly unravels around her.
    • Later on, Lila seals her fate by bargaining with Hawk Moth again, only to be caught on camera in the process.
  • Hypocrite:
    • Alya claims that the public has a right to know things... but not the full truth behind the photo she took. When the truth comes out anyway, she blames Ladybug for clearing the air since it got her in trouble... something she clearly knew would happen on some level, given how she didn't want to share the truth in the first place.
    • Alya unintentionally describes herself when telling Marinette that she "can't be friends with someone who won't apologize and doesn't see what she did." Marinette agrees and breaks off their friendship in response.
    • As Chloé points out in a fan writing, Adrien is a celebrity himself, and naturally hates having his privacy disregarded and invaded. Yet he defends Alya disregarding Ladybug's privacy because he happens to like this particular photo.
  • I Kiss Your Hand: Chat greets Fukiya this way, much to her displeasure. Heavy Matal wonders whether he intends to do the same to him.
  • I Reject Your Reality: Chat Noir refuses to believe that Ladybug doesn't have any feelings for him. As far as he's concerned, she's just 'in denial', if not outright lying about her 'secret attraction' to him.
  • Ignored Epiphany:
    • In Retired and Replaced, Alya starts to call out Ladybug for 'betraying her trust', only to cut herself off when she recognizes the parallel between their actions. However, she immediately shrugs it off and insists that the situations are totally different.
    • After she and Nino learn the extent to which Lila is willing to lie, Alya still loudly rejects any suggestion that they should apologize to Marinette, insisting that she's still the injured party in all of this.
  • Insane Troll Logic:
    • According to Alya, Ladybug being a public figure due to her superheroing makes her a celebrity, which apparently means she has no right to privacy whatsoever. And Alya, as a 'great reporter', should be free to blatantly misrepresent situations for the sake of stirring up traffic on her blog.
    • Central to Don't Kiss But Tell. Chat challenges Ladybug to kiss him in order to 'prove' that she doesn't care for him... and when she refuses, attempts to force himself upon her. When Ladybug rebuffs that, he then smugly declares that the real reason she doesn't want to kiss him is because she 'knows' that she won't be able to hide her feelings for him then.
    • In The Balcony Scene, Marinette uses this to start breaking through to Adrien, briefly mimicking his behavior towards Ladybug so that he realizes how it feels to be on the receiving end, followed by pointing out that by his own logic, Ladybug's now destined to get together with the new Black Cat.
  • Insult to Rocks: In Emptied Threats, Marinette describes Lila's standard M.O. as "crocodile tears" and then decides that's an insult to Fang.
  • Internal Reveal:
    • In Lie Gone Wrong, Alya and Nino realize that Lila really is a habitual liar when she claims that she was Rena Rouge, unaware that they already know the truth of that matter.
    • Nino then subsequently learns that Adrien was aware of Lila's bad behavior the whole time and didn't see fit to warn anyone about it.
    • In Fu Takes Charge, Marinette discovers that Adrien was Chat Noir when she witnesses him losing custody of the Black Cat Miraculous.
    • Self-Destruction heavily implies that Gabriel realizes that his son was Chat Noir when he notices that his ring is missing.
    • Catastrophe has the whole Miraculous Team learn that Adrien was Chat Noir due to his akuma form making it obvious.
    • Emptied Threats sees Marinette reveal to the whole class how Lila threatened her in the bathroom during "Chameleon".
  • Ironic Echo:
    • When Markov lectures Ms. Bustier about how damaging her teaching methods have been, she orders Max to "Control your robot!" Max responds by throwing her philosophy back in her face:
      Max: Sorry, Miss Bustier. You can't expect me to lecture my robot in front of everyone like this. I need to set a good example.
    • Marinette finally starts to get through to Adrien how toxic his behavior is by using his own Insane Troll Logic against him to prove that logically, the two of them are a couple despite his not consenting to the matter in any way.
  • Is This Thing Still On?: During an ugly argument, Chat Noir fails to notice that Ladybug's yoyo is recording and broadcasting live. Ladybug does notice and attempts to warn him, but he blows her off.
  • It's All About Me: Adrien is so self-absorbed that he simply cannot comprehend how his advances hurt Ladybug. Tellingly, when told outright that he made her uncomfortable, he snipes back that "She made me uncomfortable! I was just telling her how I felt!" It takes being subjected to a taste of his own bad behavior and having it directly compared to how Chloé and Lila treated him for him to finally grasp where he went wrong.
  • Jaw Drop:
    • Miss Bustier's reaction to Markov revealing that he's been researching her teaching methods and proceeding to take her to task over the results.
    • Adrien openly gapes at Marinette when she tells him straight-up that she thinks he was terrible for how he told her off and shamed her for being happy about the possibility of Chloé leaving Paris, meaning she wouldn't have to deal with her bullying anymore.
  • Karma Houdini Warranty:
    • Chloé's expires around the time that she's informed that she won't receive the Bee again, as her father is forced to crack down harder upon his daughter's spoiled behavior due to its negative impact upon his campaigning and career. All those akumatizations she's caused reflect too poorly upon him to be ignored any longer.
    • Lila loses hers when she tells one lie too many, attempting to turn the class further against Marinette and Ladybug only to get caught out and snagged in her own web. It finally expires fully after she gets caught on camera accepting an Akuma, leading to her expulsion from school pending an investigation.
    • Adrien's runs out as the public becomes more aware of Chat Noir's entitled behavior towards Ladybug, leading to him losing the Black Cat ring.
  • Kick the Dog: In Self-Destruction, Gabriel dresses down his already upset son, realizes that he was Chat Noir, and gives him a replacement ring on the pretense of 'maintaining [Adrien's] image' so that he can akumatize him with it as his focus.
  • Kissing Under the Influence: What happened to Ladybug and Chat, courtesy of Oblivio wiping their memories.
  • Laser-Guided Karma:
    • Alya chose to post the photo she took of Ladybug and Chat's kiss over Ladybug's protests, deliberately omitting the context, deciding that the traffic and attention it would draw to the Ladyblog was Worth It. After Ladybug creates her blog and reveals the truth about that incident, her reputation naturally takes a huge hit — turns out people aren't happy about being lied to.
    • Chat constantly ignoring Ladybug's feelings blows up in his face when a video of him manhandling and berating her gets broadcast live on her blog, making the public aware of his entitled attitude towards her and leading to him losing the ring.
  • Last-Name Basis: Used at the end of Retired and Replaced to drive home how Ladybug's relationship with Alya has changed.
    Ladybug: Good-bye, Miss Cesaire.
  • Let's See YOU Do Better!: When Chloé observes that the Ladyblog doesn't have any competition, Alya snaps that she doesn't have a blog of her own and doesn't get to judge. While Chloé doesn't take her up on that challenge, Ladybug does.
  • Liar Revealed: Lila finds herself faced with this in The Interview Ruse when her attempt to play the victim backfires and leads to her classmates unraveling her deceptions.
  • Meaningful Echo: When confronting Lila, Alya repeats her Toxic Friend Influence's declaration that she doesn't "associate with people who won't help you get up in the ranks."
  • Misplaced Kindergarten Teacher: Miss Bustier has allowed Chloé to get away with her bullying for years, expecting her better behaved students to 'set a good example' by turning the other cheek. She would rather maintain 'harmony' than confront any complex situations — and when she's finally driven to act, tries to address the issue by going after Marinette and expecting HER to fix things for her, at her own expense.
  • My God, What Have I Done?: Nino has this reaction after it becomes undeniable that Lila's been lying the whole time — and that her lies led to him hurting Marinette. Alya angrily rejecting any such realization herself doesn't help, and leads to them breaking up.
  • Mythology Gag: In Wish List, Master Fu notes that if he were forced to engage Hawk Moth in direct combat, he would almost certainly be forced to barricade himself behind a Shellter and render himself trapped. This is exactly what happens to him in the canonical "Battle of the Miraculous" two-parter.
  • Never My Fault:
    • Alya is highly resistant to any indication that she did anything wrong with posting that picture or anything else she did with the Ladyblog. She's so convinced of her inherent rightness that she honestly believes that Marinette should apologize to her and Lila — even after learning beyond any shadow of a doubt that Lila is, in fact, just as bad a liar as Marinette had been insisting all along.
    • Adrien's inability to see anything wrong about the way he'd been treating Ladybug is precisely why he ends up losing the ring. Not only is his ill-considered and volatile attempt to confront and try to pin all the responsibility for things not going his way on Ladybug what leads Master Fu to confront him in the first place, after his initial shock, he attempts to blame her again. Even afterwards, he still cannot fathom where he went wrong, and it takes one more "The Reason You Suck" Speech from Marinette to finally get it through his thick skull how badly he screwed up.
    • When Marinette admits that she's learned not to tell her parents anything because they tend to make her feel like she's the problem, Sabine promptly proves her right before realizing what she's doing and correcting herself.
  • Non-Answer: Alya attempts to give one in Class-y Opinions rather than admit that Ladybug and Chat Noir didn't have their memories when they kissed. This doesn't work.
  • "Not So Different" Remark:
    • When Alya starts making personal attacks on her critics in Class-y Opinions, Chloé chuckles that it "looks like I might have competition," implying that Alya's capable of being just as big an Alpha Bitch as she can be.
    • After learning just how obsessed Chat is with Ladybug, Marinette is horrified to realize that her own pursuit of Adrien was potentially reaching that level. Unlike Chat, she immediately starts correcting her behavior.
  • Oblivious Guilt Slinging: In Shackles of Consequence, Marinette's classmates rant and rave about how awesome the new cat hero is right in front of Adrien, unaware that he was the old cat hero and their words are rubbing salt in his wounds.
  • Oblivious to Their Own Description: Alya unintentionally sums up her own issues in a nutshell while lecturing Marinette on how she needs to apologize to Lila:
    Alya: I can't be friends with somebody who won't apologize and can't even see what she did.
  • Oh, Crap!: Chat Noir's struck silent, his anger shifting immediately to dread, when Ladybug informs him that his entitled rant was just caught on camera and broadcast on her blog.
  • Paparazzi: Alya degenerates from the Intrepid Reporter she started as into one of these, being perfectly willing to disregard Ladybug's feelings and outright lie about a relationship between her and Chat Noir just for views on her blog.
  • "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Several.
    • Marinette unknowingly gives Adrien one after he claims that Chat deserved that kiss, regardless of the questionable circumstances:
      Marinette: If Chat respects Ladybug so much, maybe he should've respected that she wouldn't want that picture getting out. Maybe he should've understood how bad that could've looked for her. Maybe he should've seen her as a person that he can't possibly know inside and out, instead of some bride-to-be who never agreed to be.
    • Don't Kiss But Tell features Ladybug raking Chat over the coals for trying to force her to kiss him.
      Ladybug: I don't owe you love, Chat. We're a team and we're doing a job for the sake of Paris. Maybe you deserve someone who loves you, but no one deserves anyone's love if they’re not offered it first.
    • In Bee in Her Bonnet, Ladybug calls Chloé out on her continuing to be an Alpha Bitch after being given a chance to prove herself worthy of being Queen Bee:
      Ladybug: The first thing you did with this miraculous was reveal yourself and almost get people killed. You knew it wasn't yours and you didn't return it to me until after you'd already fought to keep it.
    • Ladybug calls out Chat when he gets explosive during his confrontation with her in Been There, Done Chat:
      Ladybug: You want to know what you did wrong? Maybe it's because, after all this time, you still can't read me. Not on Face-to-Face, not when my voice was gone, and not when I needed you most. If you could've understood me, you would've seen when I was uncomfortable, known when I needed you to be serious, and — oh, yeah — you would’ve noticed that I was trying to get your attention before because my yoyo has been RECORDING AND STREAMING EVERYTHING.
    • Lila gets one from Marinette in Emptied Threats.
      Marinette: And, as a nice person, let me give you a piece of advice: if you want to be adored and have friends, cut the lies and work on your attitude. You’ve been mad at me and Ladybug for calling you out, but maybe if you had an actual sense of dignity, we wouldn’t have to call you out in the first place.
    • Markov gives one to Bustier in regards to her approach with disciplining students in Miss Busted.
      Markov: I've been researching your methods for a while now, Miss Bustier, and I must say: I believe it is we who are disappointed in you. While your ways may seem beneficial at first, it actually only benefits you and the troublemaking students. Statistically, your class is far more likely to suffer self-esteem and instability issues as the result of your disciplinary tactics. This is supported by the fact that your class has had far more akuma than any other class in this school.
    • Afterwards, Bustier gets another one, this time from Mendeliev in Teacher Talk.
      Mendeliev: Do your job, Caline. It’s not a student’s responsibility to keep the other students in line. I don’t want to hear about how you think you’re doing a great job because your pushover students were on board with your misinformed ideology. In the end, you’re just forcing them to do the work that you’re supposed to be doing. My students don’t cause trouble because they know I won’t tolerate it, and they’re all the better for it.
    • Marinette spends the entirety of The Balcony Scene systematically demolishing Adrien's personality and mistakes up to this point. While it's far too long to be reproduced in its entirety here, this quote neatly summarizes Marinette's opinion of Adrien at the end of it all.
      Marinette: ...I think you have a good heart somewhere, Adrien. I just don't think you know how to use it, and your bad one has a habit of throwing itself out into the spotlight.
  • Rule of Symbolism: During a sparring match, Kagami lambasts Adrien for his refusal to pay attention to the greater consequences of his actions. This is underscored by her maneuvering him throughout the fight until he finds himself trapped against a bookshelf, as she effectively pushed him out of the gym and into the library without him noticing.
  • Screw the Rules, I Have Connections!: After Marinette reveals that she helped create the new blog, she's ambushed outside the school by a Media Scrum. Nadja shoves her way through the crowd insisting that her connections to their family gives her 'dibs', clearly expecting special treatment as a result.
  • Secret Identity: In addition to her own, Marinette/Ladybug made sure that she was Locked Out of the Loop regarding the identities of the new permanent heroes, giving Fu a list of recommendations and having him choose from there. Thus, she doesn't officially know that Ivan is the Turtle, Kagami the Bee, or Luka the Fox. Or that Luka becomes the new Cat and gives Juleka the Fox.
  • Secret-Keeper: Juleka becomes one for her brother when he becomes Cadmeancio, due to the fact that they share their bedroom. This was part of the reason Fu chose him, as he and Trixx were setting her up to inherit the Fox if need be.
  • Secret Test of Character: Ladybug subjects Chloé to one while visiting her in Bee in Her Bonnet. She fails.
  • Skewed Priorities:
    • Alya considering the Ladyblog to be more important than maintaining good relationships with Ladybug, Marinette, and her other friends and classmates is what sparks off the whole conflict in the first place.
    • After learning that Marinette's helping Ladybug with the blog, Adrien invites himself over to the bakery and attempts to gossip with her, wanting to learn whether Ladybug ever talks to her about him or Chat Noir. He also makes clear that he's still against doing anything about Lila and is putting her feelings above the rest of the class.
    • Ms. Bustier attempts to put her idea of 'harmony in the classroom' above the safety of Paris by pressuring Marinette to delete the LadyBugOut blog.
  • Spotting the Thread:
    • Alya's story starts falling apart when Max and Markov point out how strange the kiss is in context of the rest of Ladybug and Chat Noir's behavior, with Markov playing a clip of Ladybug telling Chat to "Stop calling us a couple!" This spurs his classmates into realizing they may not have had their memories at the time they kissed, and Alya's attempts to avoid confirming that only make matters worse.
    • When Lila claims that Marinette posted The Interview Ruse to make her look bad, Ivan realizes that Marinette was never actually around to hear any of the times Lila claimed that she helped Ladybug set up the blog. His pointing this out doesn't end well for Lila.
    • After dressing down his errant son in Self-Destruction, Gabriel notices that his ring is absent, and it's all but outright stated that he puts the pieces together.
  • Standard Female Grab Area:
    • Chat Noir uses this on Ladybug during their confrontation in Been There, Done Chat, first slapping her yo-yo out of her hand, then grabbing her arm when she tries to retrieve it. It's not as effective as he hopes; once she gets over the initial shock, she's quick to free herself and call him out.
    • Adrien later uses this on Marinette when he wants to talk to her about how she witnessed him being stripped of his Miraculous. Again, Marinette is less than impressed.
  • Start My Own: How the LadyBugOut blog is born.
  • Tabloid Melodrama: Ladybug fears that Alya posting that photo without context is opening her up to this. Alya defends her actions by claiming this is just the cost of fame, and isn't too thrilled when her blog garners a reputation for this sort of unprofessional reporting as a result; choosing to deliberately deceive her audience causes Alya's reputation to take a massive blow when Ladybug starts her blog and explains the truth, with the Ladyblog becoming regarded as more of a trashy tabloid.
  • A Taste of Their Own Medicine: Marinette uses this on Adrien in The Balcony Scene, driving home how uncomfortable it can be to have somebody trying to force their affections on you when you've already made clear that you're not interested.
  • Team Switzerland: Chloé and Sabrina mostly sit back and watch the carnage over the LadyBugOut blog unfold.
  • Trademark Favorite Food:
    • Ivan goes tea shopping for Wayzz and runs into Master Fu, who gives him his stock of Wayzz's favorite type of tea. Ivan is unaware that Fu is the Guardian, or of his long friendship with Wayzz, so he doesn't quite understand Wayzz's reaction, but opts not to pry.
    • Trixx offers to cheer Plagg up after Luka gets the Black Cat by helping him swipe a bunch of cheese from the Agreste Mansion.
  • Villainous Breakdown:
    • When Lila's attempt to slander Marinette in The Interview Ruse backfires, she frantically attempts to accuse various classmates of being responsible for Marinette finding out about her claims of involvement with the Ladyblog. She then attempts to apply Exact Words, only for the rest of the class to call her out on it.
    • Lila later undergoes an even more severe meltdown in the wake of Alya posting a massive expose debunking all of her lies on the Ladyblog — one compounded by how she's subsequently caught on camera bargaining with Hawkmoth.
  • Walking Wasteland: Catastrophe, the Akuma born from Adrien after losing the ring.
  • We Used to Be Friends:
    • Marinette and Alya, with their relationship officially falling apart in Non-Apology.
    • Adrien and Marinette's friendship falls apart as well; while Marinette is still willing to try and support and help him after learning he was Chat Noir, that revelation also heavily tarnishes their relationship due to putting many of her experiences with him in a harsh new light.
    • Lie Gone Wrong and Two-For-One Deal has Nino break things off with Alya and Adrien after he learns that Lila being a liar isn't enough to get Alya to reconsider, and that Adrien knew about Lila all along and never bothered warning him.
    • Lila attempts to portray her supposed friendship with Ladybug this way, claiming that they had a falling-out over her refusal to 'betray the Ladyblog'.
  • Wham Line: For the rest of Miss Bustier's class, Ivan's Spotting the Thread moment:
    Ivan: Marinette was never around to hear you talk about that! She always left as soon as class was over!
  • What the Hell, Hero?:
    • Most of the class (sans Adrien, Nino, Chloé and Sabrina) rips into Lila and Alya for their deliberate deceptions in The Interview Ruse.
    • Most of Ms. Bustier's class is furious when they overhear her pressuring Marinette to shut down the blog — behind Ladybug's back, no less — calling her out for trying to get rid of something that had done so much good for the community just because it had caused some strain in her classroom.
    • In Been There, Done Chat, Chat confronts Ladybug about the memes Trixx allowed onto the LadyBugOut blog, leading to a nasty argument and her calling him out in turn.
  • When All You Have Is a Hammer…: Lila is so used to playing the victim and lying her way out of everything that when this stops working, she doesn't know how else to proceed and keeps trying out her usual tricks, to no avail.
  • You Can't Fight Fate: Why Chat has this Entitled to Have You mindset towards Ladybug.
    Chat: Why are you trying to ruin what we have together?! We’re meant to be! The ladybug and the cat! Ladybug and Chat Noir! What do you have against destiny?
  • You Didn't Ask:
    • Chat's defense for not helping out with Ladybug's blog — something he attempts to use against her, only for her to turn it back around on him:
      Ladybug: You're always so quick to invite me out to places. I figured you'd insist on helping as soon as I mentioned it, if you'd really wanted to help.
    • This is key to Sabine and Tom's Heel Realization: while initially upset that Marinette didn't confide in them about how she was working with Ladybug, it subsequently hits them that they haven't made much effort to connect with their daughter. Tom explicitly flashes back to when they learned she was missing classes — they never actually tried to find out why that was happening, just grounded her without ever talking to her about it.
  • Your Approval Fills Me with Shame: Chloé compliments Alya for launching a personal attack on Nathaniel when she can't counter his comments otherwise, purring that "It looks like I might have competition."

    Non-Canon Spinoffs and Fan Writings 

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