Post-Support Regret in Fan Works.
Crossovers
- Infinity Train: Blossoming Trail:
- Sara Diktaylis manipulated most of her classmates into joining her in bullying Chloe, convincing them that she "deserved it" for being the local Pokémon Professor's daughter and a Creepy Loner Girl. When she's magically compelled by the Unown to make an Engineered Public Confession under More than Mind Control, she brags about how easily she got them to do what she wanted, making the rest of Class 5-E realize that she was a False Friend whose toxic influence has gotten them all into serious trouble.
- Played With through the Red Lotus Quarto. After boarding the Train, Chloe makes several True Companions who provide her with the support she'd largely lacked back home, offering her sympathetic ears and advice. However, they don't realize that they're only getting One Side of the Story, or that Chloe's account is heavily biased, reframing a complicated situation rife with Poor Communication Kills as one where practically everyone in Vermillion City aside from Chloe herself contributed to making her life utterly miserable. Her friends on the Train then unintentionally make matters worse by reassuring her that she was right to run away from home, encouraging her to seriously consider permanently severing her relationships with her friends and family unless they "prove" the sincerity of their remorse to her. After they finally learn more about what the circumstances really were back in Vermillion, they're horrified to realize that they were accidentally enabling Chloe's worst habits and inhibiting her Character Development, making it significantly harder for her to leave the Train.
- Luz Clawthorne: While Glinda helped Emily gain power, she's since come to regret the part she played, something both Luz and Amity are able to see. When she subsequently stands up to Emily while helping them out, both congratulate her for it.
- With Pearl and Ruby Glowing: Hitch didn't agree with a lot of the things that Sprout did, but still gave his friend the benefit of the doubt — after all, both Sprout and his mom were horrified by the GWF, so Hitch took that as a sign that they weren't that bad. After Sprout tricks him into strip-searching Izzy with racist accusations, Hitch realizes what a Toxic Friend Influence he was and feels guilty about not confronting or telling him off sooner.
- A Moth to a Flame: Anne feels this way about trusting Marcy after her betrayal. Particularly as Marcy is not an Unwitting Pawn here, but willingly pulled a Face–Heel Turn, even dropping Sprig out the window due to being jealous of the Planters' bond with Anne.
- Danny Phantom: Stranded:
- In Visited, Stella Bevier comes to regret supporting her mother, Beatrice Traville, by the end of the story.
- To be clear, Beatrice is a Rich Bitch and a major Control Freak who looks down on the non-upper class people and mistreats anyone she deems "beneath" her. Stella acts like an Extreme Doormat around her, to the point where it's revealed that during her marriage to Johnathan, Stella always tried to excuse and defend her mother's behavior. Leaving Johnathan (who, despite being a successful and wealthy lawyer, was born middle class) to be looked down on by Beatrice and leaving him to deal with the brunt of her insults and abuse since she considered him a "peasant" due to not being from an old money family.
- Jonathan was understandably unhappy when Beatrice and her husband came to visit his daughter Star, despite Stella insisting that she just wants to see her granddaughter and that Jonathan will never see her again. Unfortunately for Jonathan, Beatrice DOES decide to "visit" his home and wastes no time insulting him and making ludicrous demands.
- It gets worse when it's revealed that the only reason she came to visit was that she wanted to pair Star up with someone she hates because he's in high society and cares very little about her grandchild's opinion on the matter. When Stella tries to talk her mother out of this idea, she learns that Beatrice plans to take her and Star back to New York in order to train Star to become a "proper lady." Stella, not wanting to risk her relationship with her daughter and unable to stand up to her mother, tries to get her mother to cancel that plan by showing her that Danny is worthy of Star by making him into a perfect gentleman. The plan did not work since it was clear that Beatrice didn't care if Danny had perfect manners since he was not a blue-blood. And Beatrice wastes no time passive-aggressively insulting him and looking down on him and his family, much to Star's fury and Stella's exasperation.
- The breaking point was when Donovan Loadman, the boy Beatrice set up for Star, tried to kiss her and hit her when she refused him. When Danny defended Star and called the guy out, she took Donovan's side, much to the outrage of everyone. Everyone was furious at Beatrice's behavior, and even Stella, who spent most of the story being a "Well Done, Son" Guy to her mother, finds this unacceptable and even thinks her mother has gone insane, and it was implied she was going to confront her before a ghost attack.
- After the ghost attack ended and Danny protected Star from getting hurt, Beatrice STILL insulted Danny and took Donovan's side over his, even trying to BLAME everything on Danny and his family and verbally attacking them. This was the last straw for Stella, who FINALLY calls out her mother and even SLAPS her. Before calling Beatrice out on everything she has done and promising to cut her out of their lives for her actions and lack of concern for her family members, admitting that the others were right and that she would never change.
- Even though Beatrice tried to berate her and call her a disappointment, Stella didn't care as she was more concerned about being a good mother to Star than trying to gain her mother's approval. When Stella and Johnathan decided to place a restraining order on Beatrice, the old woman tries to demand that Stella lifts it under the threat of cutting her out of her will, but Stella refuses, stating that she will not change her mind on the matter and saying that Beatrice doesn't even deserve to be a grandmother because of her actions.
- In the end, it is clear that Stella's relationship with her mother is destroyed at this point, and Stella herself has no regrets, as any real love and respect she had for her mother is gone at this point, and the only thing she cares about is Star's happiness and well-being.
- Staged, meanwhile, has Star deeply regretting her past as one of the A-Listers, as she went along with their bullying even when they targeted her cousin Christopher. While she's become The Atoner since then, her relationship with Christopher remains in shambles, and she wishes that she'd never joined the group of False Friends in the first place.
- Played for Laughs with Mr. Lancer; After being forced to endure Dash and Paulina's terrible auditions, he privately suspects that this is his karmic punishment for never doing anything about their bullying.
- In Visited, Stella Bevier comes to regret supporting her mother, Beatrice Traville, by the end of the story.
- For His Own Sake:
- Shinobu always had trouble standing up for herself; thankfully, the rest of the Hinata Girls were more than happy to defend her... even against threats that only existed in their own head, like Keitaro's supposed perversion. Despite knowing that he wasn't the creepy monster they constantly accused him of being, Shinobu was too timid to protest... something she deeply regrets after Keitaro grows a spine and leaves the Hinata Inn, forcing her to realize how much her inaction hurt him. Her regrets only increase after Naru and Motoko immediately turn upon her the instant she stands up for herself; turns out they only liked Shinobu so long as she remained an Extreme Doormat and didn't challenge them.
- Mutsumi plays with this: having secretly ceded her claim to being Keitaro's "Promise Girl" to Naru out of the belief that they'd be happier together, she falls deeply into denial after they break up, unable to accept that her sacrifice might have been All for Nothing. In her desperation to "help" them get back together, she teams up with Kagura and Chisato, completely missing all the signs that they have their own agenda. It takes not only being betrayed by both of her newfound False Friends, but Naru spelling out for her that she only went along with her efforts to hook her back up with Keitaro in hopes that she'd be able to beat the shit out of him again and Chisato calling her out on being so willfully oblivious for Mutsumi to finally realize she backed the wrong horses on all fronts.
- Granny Hina also gets hit by this. For all of her manipulativeness, she truly believed that she was helping her troubled tenants deal with their issues. But Naru ultimately repays all of her kindness by participating in a scheme to murder her grandson, and proves completely unapologetic when Granny Hina arrives to bail her out of jail, making clear that she intends to continue leeching off her. The instant Hina puts her foot down and cuts her off, Naru rages at her, forcing Hina to realize that all she accomplished with her was enabling an Ungrateful Bitch who was All Take and No Give, destroying her relationships with Keitaro and the rest of her family in the process.
- Chloé's Lament: For years, Chloé was Adrien's Only Friend; thus, when he arrived at Francoise Dupont, he took it upon himself to stand up for and defend her, trying to convince his new classmates that she was more than a Spoiled Brat. It takes Chloé betraying Ladybug and all of the other heroes, willingly working with Hawkmoth and winning, turning Marinette and all of Paris into her brainwashed minions in order for Adrien to realize just what kind of person he was defending all along. Especially when Chloé offers him the chance to rule Paris alongside her, and doesn't understand why he refuses, blithely declaring that there's nothing wrong with turning everyone else into their mindless slaves — so far as she's concerned, that's the only thing they're even good for. Adrien is left deeply regretting how much he supported her, repeatedly saying as much to Chloé while calling her out.Adrien: I had already enabled you enough, Chloe. And I encouraged others to do the same, thinking it would help you. That if they got to know you — if you had enough support, eventually you would open up and finally be the great person you always seemed to think you were. That they just needed to give you a chance and you would be satisfied and everyone would finally get along. But I was wrong. You're the sort of person who is never satisfied with anything.
- Feralnette AU: During "Enough Rope", Alya attempts to defend Lila from Ladybug and Chat Noir's Tranquil Fury when she maliciously slanders Marinette right after she got hurt while resisting akumatization. In the process, Alya unintentionally admits that she's fully aware of Lila's supposed "lying disease", spurring Ladybug to rake her over the coals for treating Lila as a "trusted source" for her Ladyblog despite being fully aware of her compulsive lying. However, Lila convinces her that Ladybug is being ableist, and Alya subsequently becomes intent onto forcing Ladybug to hear out her side of the story. The remorse only really kicks in after Lila crosses a line that Alya can't ignore, leaving her lamenting how she'd done her best to ignore all of the warning signs.
- In Jerk in Sheep's Clothing, Adrien realizes that Marinette didn't trust him to actually support her against Lila because he was Childhood Friends with her long-time bully and kept making excuses for Chloé. As this comes coupled with his Love Epiphany, he's left deeply regretting how much he defended Chloé's actions, especially when he sees how completely unrepentant Chloé is.
- The Karma of Lies:
- Despite knowing that Lila is a Con Artist who keeps convincing their classmates to do her favors and donate to Fake Charities, along with socially isolating Marinette, Adrien refuses to do anything about her, convinced that everything will work out fine because HE knows she's a liar and thusly can't fall prey to her tricks. He starts regretting this after she does manage to screw him over, mainly because his previous support means that he has trouble convincing others that she's a Manipulative Bitch. After all, if he knew her true nature the whole time, why didn't he say anything? Or, failing that, take better precautions to protect himself...?
- After Gabriel Agreste is publicly revealed as Hawkmoth, public opinion shifts against his family, with Adrien facing heat for being the son of a supervillain. Most of his classmates stick by his side, even as he goes through a Financial Test of Friendship... until they learn that he'd known what Lila was doing and never bothered warning them. Upon being confronted, Adrien asks to be Easily Forgiven and insists that they should all stay focused on how he needs their support right now, making them realize just how lopsided their "friendship" with him was all along.
- LadyBugOut:
- Though Nino didn't agree with Alya's decision to post the picture of Ladybug and Chat Noir Kissing Under the Influence of Oblivio erasing their memories, or how she tried to hide what happened, he still supported his girlfriend even as the truth came out and most of the class turned against her. This included supporting Lila even after their classmates started unraveling her lies, as she was one of the few who sided with Alya. Then Lie Gone Wrong happens, with Lila falsely claiming SHE was Rena Rouge. When Nino suggests mending fences with Marinette, Alya angrily insists that she's the one who should apologize to HER for helping Ladybug start her own blog to share her persepective, as that ruined the Ladyblog's reputation. Nino's thusly hit by a one-two punch: not only does he realize Lila was a False Friend who'd been stringing them along with her lies, but that Alya feels no remorse for spreading slander about Ladybug, leaving him regretting how he stood by both girls for so long.
- And then, just to twist the knife further, Adrien accidentally reveals that he'd already known about Lila's true nature, but hadn't bothered warning anyone, making Nino realize that their friendship was All Take and No Give. As readily as he'd fight to help his best friend, Adrien saw no reason to return the favor, letting Nino and the rest of the class get strung along by Lila for months.
- Alya also gets a taste of this. As the rest of the class turns against them for their respective attempts at deceit, and she's confronted with undeniable evidence that Lila really is a Consummate Liar, she sticks by her side... until she overhears Lila casually insulting her in Losing Favor, telling Adrien that "You don't just associate with people who won't help you get up in the ranks," making clear that she doesn't consider the disgraced blogger to be worth her time anymore. Alya is left with the cold realization that Lila was always a False Friend, and is happily dumping her now that she's no longer useful.
- Miraculous Ladybug Salt-Shots: In A Price to Pay
, Adrien learns that his father is Hawkmoth and decides to betray Ladybug and help him make his Wish, convinced that things will be better afterwards. But while Emilie is brought back, she absolutely despises Gabriel and Adrien... and so does Marinette, who retained her memories of the original world and their betrayal. Adrien ultimately realizes that his actions were All for Nothing; instead of being reunited with his loving mother and forcing Marinette to love him, Emilie disowned him for supporting his father, Marinette wants nothing more to do with him, and Gabriel is likely to ramp up his harsh treatment of his son as a way of venting his frustrations. - Rate This (Trust is Hard to Come By): Marinette was Easily Condemned by Alya and the rest of her Fair-Weather Friends, who turned on her thanks to Lila Playing the Victim Card and convincing them all that their "everyday Ladybug" was actually a Bitch in Sheep's Clothing. When Gardener's magic reveals just how little Ladybug trusts any of them, and that the superhero trusts both Marinette and Chloé, the latter reminds Alya that Marinette helped her land her first interview with Ladybug, meaning she was secretly "friends" with the heroine all along. The remorse really kicks in once Lila arrives and everyone sees the dark red -51 over her head, exposing her as a liar and causing Alya and the others to realize they'd thrown away their friendship for nothing.
- Scarlet Lady: Alya immediately becomes one of Scarlet Lady's biggest fans, creating the Ladyblog as a chronicle of her heroic deeds and defending her from all of her critics, even as the Nominal Heroine engages in all manner of distinctly questionable and unheroic actions. She repeatedly makes excuses and defends her from her more outspoken critics... until she gets an up close and personal look at just how much of The Millstone the self-declared leader of Paris' heroes actually is. With the pedestal she'd placed her upon thoroughly shattered, Alya's self-confidence takes a severe nosedive, as she berates herself for missing or dismissing all the signs that Scarlet Lady was far from what she'd built her up to be.
- Weight Off Your Shoulder:
- Adrien convinced himself that since he was the only one who knew Chloé Used to Be a Sweet Kid, he needed to defend her from all her detractors... especially after her Karma Houdini Warranty expired. After his Jerkass Realization, he admits that the only thing he accomplished by defending her for so long was ruining his own reputation, as Marinette and the rest of the class got sick of his Holier Than Thou attitude and telling them that they shouldn't celebrate their long-time bully finally facing consequences.
- Adrien also feels this way about his father, as he was so convinced Ladybug was wrong about Gabriel that he attacked her as Chat Noir. Learning that she was right all along and that Gabriel really was Hawk/Shadow Moth triggers the aforementioned Jerkass Realization.
- Ms. Bustier spent years as one of Chloé's biggest enablers; convinced that she'd never be able to correct her bad behavior through discipline, she pressured the rest of the class to "lead by example" and Turn the Other Cheek. Chloé repays all her help by calmly informing her that she's no longer useful, though she sincerely thanks her for always punishing her peers whenever they were being "ridiculous" and resisting her will. Ms. Bustier realizes that all her efforts only served to teach Chloé that she could get away with being a spoiled, self-centered brat.
- What Goes Around Comes Around:
- Sabrina stops serving as Chloé's Beta Bitch and becomes one of the few classmates who reaches out to Marinette before The Unmasking reveals her Secret Identity. The revelation makes Sabrina's Heel Realization hit even harder, as she realizes that she was helping her former "friend" bully and harass Ladybug.
- Adrien suffers from Delusions of Parental Love, having convinced himself that his Abusive Parents truly care about him. Emilie exploits this, tricking her son into handing over the Black Cat Ring without a fight, then breaks him down with a "The Reason You Suck" Speech about his naivete and how he expects others to bend over backwards to cater to his whims... just like how they've raised him to do the same for them. Adrien is left utterly devastated as it sinks in that even his own mother sees him as nothing more than a faulty extension of her will. One she intends to "fix" by using the Wish to forcibly merge him with his cousin Felix.
- The Wolves in the Woods:
- The Lila situation is Played With here; as is common in Salt Fics, most of the class turned against Marinette after Lila convinced them that she was bullying her. Alya is particularly insistent on blaming Lila solely and entirely, while refusing to admit SHE did anything wrong. The lengths to which she's willing to go in order to punish Lila and take Marinette back at all costs eventually cause the others to question their friendship with her, realizing she's a Toxic Friend Influence.
- Nino is hit hardest by this after overhearing Alya admitting that she'd known Lila was lying all along, and had played along in hopes of "taking Marinette down a few pegs" and turning her into an Extreme Doormat. He's left furiously questioning whether Alya had ever truly cared about him or anyone else, or if it was all a lie.
- Played With in this what-if scenario: despite knowing that she's a Bitch in Sheep's Clothing, Adrien is perfectly happy to continue supporting Lila and let her keep decieving everyone... right up until Felix asks him point blank to confirm or deny whether she's a liar. Faced with the idea of having to go on the record vouching for her, he attempts to Take a Third Option by declaring he just wanted to protect her from Marinette, without specifying either way. Heartbroken, Marinette repeats his past assurance of how he knew Lila was a liar, which Lila leaps upon and twists the wording to make it seem like Adrien lied in order to manipulate Marinette. His only reward for protecting her for so long is her inevitable betrayal, with Alya and most of the class turning on him in disgust.
- End of the Line: Spinner joined the League of Villains out of the belief that they could change Hero society for the better. Following a devestating loss, he admits that he should have known better: none of them actually shared his goals, as they were too consumed by their own selfish desires for revenge and destruction.
- One for All and Eight for the Ninth: After the Vestiges convince Izuku that his relationship with Bakugo is extremely toxic and to cut all ties with him, Izuku eventually comes to regret all the years he kept praising Bakugo and letting Bakugo abuse him freely in hopes of rekindling their friendship.
- In the Sleeper Hit AU, Aizawa booted the Quirkless Midoriya out of U.A. on his very first day. As a result, none of Bakugou's classmates are aware that he's a Barbaric Bully, least of all his best friend Kirishima. When Shigaraki accused Bakugou of being more of a villain than a 'hero', Kirishima leapt to his defense... but after Bakugou declares that he wishes Midoriya really had taken him up on his Suicide Dare, he repeats the supervillain's words before adding "He was right all along."
- Unique Perspective: Initially, few people take Katsuki's Barbaric Bullying seriously, attributing it to his "rivalry" with Izuku. Many are convinced that he's going to grow into a world-class hero. As they become more aware of the true nature of their relationship, however, they grow increasingly horrified — and mortified that their misunderstanding enabled the abuse to continue. Ultimately, the teachers apologize to Izuku for not intervening sooner, as Katsuki is booted down to Gen Ed.
- We're Not Friends Kacchan: Kirishima and Aizawa were Bakugou's biggest supporters, assuming he had valid reasons for his volatile behavior. Then the whole class learns about how Bakugou told Midoriya to "take a swan dive off the roof", and Bakugou refuses to show any remorse for his actions, leaving both disgusted and wishing they'd never supported him.
- Whispered Tribulation: Present Mic, Snipe and Vlad King completely believed Aizawa's assumptions about Izuku, with the latter two helping him abduct the boy for interrogation. All three come to regret this once it becomes clear that Aizawa was leading them on a Witch Hunt, completely destroying his career alongside Snipe and Vlad King's.
My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic
- The Negotiations-verse:
- Twilight feels this way after having it pointed out to her that Princess Celestria had left behind all of the other, non-pony races of Equus on a dying planet.
- Fallen features Multiple Endings; in the "Divine Justice" route, the spoiler above is revealed to a massive crowd, alongside the fact that this was All for Nothing: the next generation of Element Bearers would have solved the problem. Cue a collective Heroic BSoD, with Twilight and Pinkie Pie being hit especially hard; the latter completely shuts down.
- The Kakashi Way: Hiruzen was well aware of his old rival Danzo's ambitions, and even knew about his involvement in the Uchiha Massacre. Yet he still clung to the notion that Danzo was a Well-Intentioned Extremist who occasionally went too far in his efforts to protect Konohagakure. Then Danzo is attacked in a way that exposes all the Sharingan eyes he'd stolen, and the subsequent investigation reveals the existence of his personal records, detailing the extent of his scheming... and his willingness to target people's loved ones due to his belief that Virtue Is Weakness. Hiruzen is left painfully aware that he enabled Danzo to put many of these plans into action by turning a blind eye towards the schemes he knew about.
- Space to Breathe: Kakashi ignores all the signs that Sasuke is too arrogant and self-absorbed for anyone's good, refusing to intervene when he disrespects his teammates, as he sees too much of himself in Sasuke and assumes that they're similar in other respects. This inaction leads to Team Seven completely falling apart when Sakura leaves for an apprenticeship. His remorse is only enhanced by how Sasuke misuses the techniques Kakashi taught him — especially the Chidori, as he publicly assaults one of his fellow leaf-nin with it over his bruised ego, and later nearly kills Naruto with it in a dark mirror of how Kakashi killed Rin.
- AAML: Diamond and Pearl Version: Ash initially believes that his rival Paul is a Jerk with a Heart of Gold who is just a little too focused upon winning, sympathizing with how badly Paul took being curb-stomped by Brandon and thinking he just needed a bit of help realizing what was really important about Pokémon battling. Then the two of them have their Full Battle at Lake Acuity, where Paul makes clear that he's nothing more than a Barbaric Bully who takes Unnecessary Roughness to whole new levels, all while telling Ash to shut up and sneering about how he needs to reconsider his training approach if he can't handle such brutality. Afterwards, Ash gives Paul a "The Reason You Suck" Speech driving home how he's sorry that he ever gave him the benefit of the doubt, declaring "I've never met any trainer who was as cruel to Pokémon as you."
She-Ra and the Princesses of Power
- I Thought I Wanted This: After witnessing Mermista angrily confronting Catra over how she destroyed Salineas, Adora realizes just how much she hurt others by constantly defending Catra's actions.
- Tough Love: While calling out his daughter Bella on being a massively Ungrateful Bitch, Charlie expresses his regret that he, her mother, and all of his friends have spent so much time catering to her whims and protecting her from the natural consequences of her actions.
