Fanfic / Karmic Epilogue

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Karmic Epilogue is a Miraculous Ladybug fanfic by cornholio4. It is Recursive Fanfiction to The Karma of Lies.

Karmic Epilogue follows up on a couple of comments left by the author of The Karma of Lies detailing what would have happened ten years after the story's conclusion. Some of the characters would have become great heroes, others fell deeper into evil, and a few just sank into a life of average mediocrity. Regardless, a few of those characters will now get one last moment in the spotlight.

Note: As a sequel, this naturally contains Late-Arrival Spoilers for The Karma of Lies. Be aware of this going in.

Karmic Epilogue contain examples of:

• Abandonment-Induced Animosity:
  • Kim, Miss Bustier, and Alix all blame Marinette for how she failed to save them from the consequences of their own choices. Alya stewed in this for a time as well, but eventually realized Marinette had ample reason to feel this way towards her and the rest of her Fair-Weather Friends.
  • Kim accuses Alya of ditching him in his time of need after she tries explaining to him that there's not much of anything she can do about the predatory contracts he signed.
  • "End of a Friendship" delves further into how Kim believes he's been abandoned by everyone who questions the wisdom and validity of his plans to become a stunt streamer. The idea that they don't want him to kill himself is completely lost upon him.
• Acquired Situational Narcissism: Chapter 6 shows how Jean got a bad case of this after being chosen to replace Kim as the Monkey Hero, growing increasingly egotistical and prioritizing partying and speaking to the press over actually doing his job. He gets a reality check after hitting Marinette's Berserk Button by nearly skipping out on a major fight, just like Adrien did before him.
• Adaptational Villainy: Damocles goes from the bumbling principal he was in canon and the useless authority figure he was in The Karma of Lies to an outright murderer here, killing Emilie Agreste in a deranged attempt to be a hero.
• Adaptational Wimp: The Kingdom here was stated to be so ineffective and overestimated their reach and resources that the Miraculous heroes didn’t even consider them part of their rogues gallery.
• Adults Are Useless:
  • During "Busted Bustier", Caline reveals she was fully aware that Kim was struggling academically and was in danger of having to repeat a grade. Rather than doing anything as his teacher to help him out, however, she had just been allowing him to pass the previous years, thinking it would be "cruel" to hold him back. Naturally, she's the only one who buys into him presenting himself as a Tragic Dropout, blaming his friends and the school system for failing him while ignoring the part her Betrayal by Inaction played in his downfall.
  • One of the more controversial lessons in Miraculous Adventures is that children can't always rely upon adults or authority figures to know what’s best.
• Alas, Poor Villain: Downplayed, but when Lila meets with her terrible fate, Marinette doesn't show any vindication or glee in the situation; she can only sigh sadly and muse that I Warned You.
• All for Nothing: Gabriel justified everything he did, including bending to Audrey's demands and letting her take over his company, with the notion that it was all for Emilie's sake. Then Emilie is murdered by Damocles, leaving Gabriel bereft and painfully aware that all he accomplished with his reign of terror was destroying his own life and legacy.
• Ambitious, but Lazy:
  • Between meeting Bunnyx and Lila's claimed connection, Alix thought her future was guaranteed to be bright. After learning she'd been conned, she makes no effort to make anything more out of her life; she could've continued pursuing an athletic career, but didn't see the point, preferring to lament her losses and wallow in her own misery.
  • This is also Discussed regarding Caline Bustier. Part of her mayoral platform includes a proposal to completely revamp the Parisian school system to blend all the grades together, putting the onus on students to "support each other" rather than having the teachers teach. Chloé observes that this is just like how Bustier expected her students to 'lead by example' while she neglected her responsibilities.
• And There Was Much Rejoicing: When Bustier and Gabriel learn of Lila's murder, they are both happy that the woman they blame for many of their problems is dead.
• Armor-Piercing Question:
  • Clara asks several of these her interview with Kim, but the one that clearly gets under his skin the most comes near the end:
    Kim: I didn't agree to this!
    Clara: Yes you did. [as Kim stares at her] It was stated in the offer and contract about the type of topics we wanted to discuss with you. Didn't you read it before you signed it or discuss it with a lawyer? Did you even show it to one?
  • While insisting that they were both robbed of their dreams, Alix asks Alya "Wouldn't you take it if you had another chance to be a reporter?" This spurs Alya revealing that she actually did have a chance to become a Paparazzi and turned it down.
  • In Chapter 14, Kagami bluntly asks Marinette "What happens if a bad guy wins or innocent people get hurt because you insisted on making someone unqualified a field hero?", breaking through her denial and causing her to question if she's a bad heroine.
• Armor-Piercing Response:
  • Alya attempts this when she meets up with Alix during "No Justice". Sadly, it doesn't have the intended impact on the embittered Kubdel.
    Alix: Ladybug... Marinette... Was supposed to be our friend and a superhero... our everyday Ladybug... Where was she when we needed her the most?
    Alya: Well... Where were we when she needed us the most?
  • Caline clearly believes she's got her opponent on the ropes when she asks if he's ever worked in the school system, but is taken aback when he brings up why she lost her job:
    Mr. Goscinny: Do you not see these problems in your proposal?
    Ms. Bustier: Mr. Goscinny... With all due respect... I have worked in the school system as a teacher, and have you?
    Mr. Goscinny: No, I have not. Neither have I embezzled money meant for disabled children before.
  • Gisele attempts this on her ex-girlfriend when they run into each other. Caline tries Playing the Victim Card, accusing her of implying she's no different from Damocles and approves of the awful things he's done; Gisele fires back that "You are far from the only one at fault but things would be better for you if you just admit that you made mistakes and try to move forward and make up for them!"
  • When Marinette's reluctant to admit that Socqueline's hero training hasn't been working out, Luka breaks through to her with "You know firsthand what it's like when a friend isn't listening”, leaving her in open-mouthed shock.
• Attention Whore: "Monkey King Kim", full stop. He absolutely thrives on attention, trying to milk his brief stint as a temporary hero and association with Marinette for all that it's worth... and while he's discovered the hard way that there is such a thing as invoked bad publicity, he blames that on people "overreacting" and "blowing things out of proportion".
• Bad Influencer: As a streamer, Kim actively encourages his followers to attempt the same kind of cruel pranks and dangerous stunts he does, caring more about the 'free press' and 'clout' he gets from their mimicry than the injuries (and worse) this results in. He also peddles dangerous products, including an energy drink that was ruled unfit for consumption.
• Be Careful What You Wish For: Michael Orgueil takes offense at the notion of having to actually audition for roles, so he tries spreading Malicious Slander... and winds up completely blacklisted, meaning he'll never have to worry about auditioning again.
• Became Their Own Antithesis: Alix went from being a Spirited Competitor to a Jaded Washout who blames the way her prospects flamed out on everyone else.
• Belated Happy Ending: Most of Marinette's former associates have recovered personally and professionally from the disastrous events of The Karma of Lies. For example, Adrien has recovered his reputation by donating his modeling money to charity and has a stable job as a waiter, while Max has gotten a job with a tech-based superhero team and revenged himself upon the Canadians who bought Markov's stolen code.
• Berserk Button: Jean manages to hit a nerve when he nearly skips out on an important battle despite having ample warning that they were going after a major supervillain, all because he decided to sneak in some party time first. This unintentionally reminded Marinette of how Adrien/Chat Noir skipped the Final Battle with Hawkmoth, and she makes clear to Jean that she will NOT tolerate such Skewed Priorities.
• Betrayal by Inaction:
  • As far as Caline Bustier's concerned, Marinette betrayed all of her former friends and classmates by "turning her back" after being exposed as Ladybug. She's convinced that it was entirely Marinette's responsibility to bail them out, despite how they'd ignored all her warnings and constantly exploited her while offering nothing in return.
  • Caline also blames the rest of Kim's friends for not providing him with the support he needed when he was having serious trouble keeping up academically, to the point where he was going to be held back a year. To her mind, it fell entirely upon THEM to help him keep up, not her as his teacher.
  • Moral Myopia aside, this trope applies much more cleanly to Caline herself. She repeatedly ignored all the problems in her classroom; the closest she ever came to addressing any issues was Blaming the Victims and Guilt-Tripping them into forgiving their bullies and abusers, who went completely unpunished on her watch. Despite knowing Kim was struggling, she never did anything to help or support him herself, intending to give him a free pass to the next grade despite how that was just passing the buck and setting him up for future failures.
• Big Bad Wannabe: In this continuity, "The Kingdom" are a bunch of Upper-Class Twits led by Noe Luxus who decided it'd be a great idea to try and leech off Gabriel Agreste's newfound infamy after he was exposed as Hawk Moth. All of their effort to discredit and defame Ladybug and the other Miraculous Heroes fail, culminating in them all getting arrested.
• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: While she doesn't recognize this herself, Caline Bustier has this in common with her former students Lila and Adrien, given how she neglected her responsibilities as a teacher, blaming victims and Guilt-Tripping others into doing whatever she wanted.
• Brutal Honesty: After Marinette reads Jean the riot act for nearly skipping the confrontation with Maverick in favor of attending a party, his girlfriend Kagami tells him "Sorry if you expected me to just assure you that it wasn't your fault. You did screw up and your ego was getting annoying."
• Call-Forward: "End of a Friendship" is primarily a Flashback, ands opens with Max planning to rework Markov's code to publish in case whomever bought the rights to his original code decides to sue him and claim HE was the thief. This was exactly what happened in "Techonaut Max", where his forward thinking paid off.
• Cassandra Truth:
  • Lila banked on this; though she suspected Gabriel/Hawk Moth would try to expose her as a willing accomplice, she knew it would be his word against her’s, and made sure to paint herself as an Unwitting Pawn to both him and his son.
  • Along similar lines, she set Adrien up as The Scapegoat so that the police would be disinclined to believe him once he reported how she'd wiped out the Agrestes' secret bank account. Her failed Batman Gambit also hinged on Marinette attempting to defend her former crush only to destroy her own credibility, but it didn't work out.
  • Fittingly, Lila ultimately falls victim to this herself by dismissing Ladybug's warning, convincing herself that she probably hadn't popped into the future to see what it held for her.
• Comically Missing the Point: When Max tells Kim "You could win a Darwin Award" with his dangerous stunts, Kim blinks before declaring "You really believe in me..."
• Conspiracy Theorist: Headline News Central caters to these, providing a platform for all manner of wild theorizing... including plenty that contradict themselves.
• Control Freak: Along with lamenting how she's no longer able to force her former 'star student' to do whatever she demands, Caline wants to be able to dictate how her ex-girlfriend Gisele is raising their daughter, right down to trying to forbid Harmonie from watching Miraculous Adventures because it teaches children to question authority (ignoring the context of the lessons that she brings up).
• Corrupt Corporate Executive: The founder of the Canadian tech group that bought Max's stolen research is a Smug Snake accustomed to getting his way by throwing his money around. He throws a fit when his attempt to bring the Techonauts under his thumb blows up in his face.
• Corrupt Politician: Implied; when thinking about how she tried to run for mayor, Bustier notes that she would have made Ladybug adhere to her ideas on how to be a hero or be banned from operating entirely. Thankfully, she failed to get elected.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: Caline's debate with another mayoral candidate in Shape Up or Get Out turns out to be one that's very much not in her favor, despite her assuming she has the advantage since he didn't work as a teacher.
• Deal with the Devil: The highly sexist and sensationalist channel Headline News Central offered Alya the chance to become one of their writers. All they asked in return was that she share Marinette's dirty secrets with them; anything they could use to tear down and tarnish her former bestie. Though tempted, Alya ultimately decided she couldn't go through with it.
• Death in Custody: Both Lila and the unnamed subordinate who also stole from Felice are killed while in police custody.
• Detrimental Determination:
  • Lila is so determined to amass as much money as possible that she keeps scheming despite already being a multimillionaire. This blows up in her face when the crime boss she's been robbing is arrested; the police comb through his finances thoroughly enough to find that money is flowing from his account to her’s, and when they confront him about this (thinking he's hiding his assets with her), he realizes she's robbing him.
  • Kim also qualifies; his obsessive pursuit of the fame and fortune he believes he rightly deserves has left him embroiled in all manner of legal troubles, as his efforts to boost his profile and become a world-famous streamer have repeatedly backfired. His willingness to sign his likeness away to any potential sponsors has left his name branded on an energy drink that turned out to be "unfit for consumption", he's harassed various networks to the point where they've stopped returning any of his calls, and his attempts to piggyback off Marinette's popularity blow up in his face and contribute to him walking out of an interview. Later, he gets extremely upset when Alya advises him to find someone who can get the best settlement they can, declaring that "Monkey King Kim never backs down!"
  • Caline wasn't about to let a little thing like not being Marinette's teacher (or a teacher at all) stop her from trying to strongarm the superheroine into doing whatever she demanded. So she tried going into politics in hopes of gaining power over all of Paris... which led to the scandal that destroyed her teaching career getting dragged out into the public eye, ruining her reputation.
  • When the Techonauts tell the Smug Snake founder of the Canadian tech team that stole the credit for Markov's original code that they won't bow to his threats, he drags them into court, forcing his lawyers to pursue a case they clearly recognize is hopeless. His determination to blackmail or tarnish the heroic team instead winds up destroying his own company's reputation instead.
  • After losing his job, Damocles is so dead-set on continuing his 'superhero career' as The Owl that he gets his hands on an EMP device and sets it off inside a hospital, murdering Emilie Agreste and nearly claiming many other lives. All because he believes it's "heroic".
  • Jalil is among Damocles' vocal supporters who believe he was justified in murdering Emilie. While watching footage of police dealing with the protestors, Alix sees her brother getting arrested and idly notes their father warned him about this, meaning he'll likely lose his job as a result.
  • Michael's determination to advance his acting career at any cost ultimately gets him blacklisted.
• Didn't Think This Through:
  • Lila never considered that she might not be the only one interested in stealing from Felice, despite him running a criminal organization.
  • Kim signs up to be interviewed by Clara in hopes of Playing the Victim Card, turning public opinion against his critics, and spreading his claim that he and Marinette used to date. Not only is he blindsided by Clara actually doing her research, asking pointed questions and dismantling his Blatant Lies, he didn't bother reading the contract, which would have warned him what to expect.
  • After losing her teaching job after being accused of embezzlement, Caline decided to go into politics with the intent of using whatever power she gained to be a Control Freak. Somehow, it never occurred to her that the embezzlement charges would promptly be dug up by her opponents and used against her.
  • The founder of the Canadian tech group that bought Markov's data from Lila figures he can force the Techonauts into his back pocket by accusing Max of stealing the code from them. He's caught flat-footed when he can't just abuse his wealth to get the results he wants, dragging his team into a legal nightmare that trashes their standing.
  • A Flashback during Chapter 6 reveals that one of Caline's proposals during her mayoral campaign was to completely do away with the divisions between school years, pooling everyone into communal classes to 'help each other out'. Her opponent is in complete disbelief, laying out all the obvious issues with her "plan".
  • Jean decides that he could attend a celebrity-studded party on the same day he is to join the rest of the team in dealing with Martin Maverick, an Arch-Enemy of Majestia's who set up shop in Paris for one of his evil schemes. He nearly misses the fight completely, and Marinette (who had to deal with Adrien/Chat Noir having similarly Skewed Priorities) gives him a heavy reality check the following day.
  • In a Flashback, one of Gabriel's lawyers berates Gabriel for allowing Princess Fragrance to target Prince Ali, pointing out that the prince didn't hold it against Rose, but his family still holds Hawk Moth accountable for the incident. As well as all of the ambassadors and representatives from other countries that got caught in the crossfire during various akuma attacks, ensuring Hawk Moth was hated worldwide and accountable for war crime charges.
  • As soon as he came of age and could access the account holding all the money he'd earned working for his father, Adrien decided to donate it all to charity. Only afterwards did he realize that he probably should've kept at least a little of that money and used it for his fresh start.
• Disappointed in You: Lila's mother is deeply disappointed after Lila's arrested for her boyfriend's criminal connections. Lila blows this off, thinking that her mother has no right to moralize given how much she suffered for taking principaled stands.
• Don't Try This at Home: It's noted that Kim doesn't discourage his viewers from not attempting the same stunts as him; in fact, he outright encourages it... which is one of the reasons why he's had to deal with so many lawsuits.
• Doppelgänger Replacement Love Interest: Chapter 7 reveals that Felice bears a strong physical resemblance to Adrien, implying that was one of the reasons why Lila targeted him.
• Dramatic Irony:
  • Max reflects that after everything, Marinette likely wants nothing more to do with him or any of her former classmates. Both he and Marinette are completely unaware that they've become friendly rivals online, competing against each other in various games.
  • Alix complains that 'justice' is just a myth; otherwise, Lila would spend the rest of her life rotting away in a jail cell rather than lounging around some resort with all the money she'd stolen. By this point, Lila's fate is already public knowledge, but Alix refuses to do any research or look up her former classmate, not wanting confirmation of how she assumes she's living it up.
  • As part of their ongoing campaign against superheroines like Majestia and Ladybug, Headline News Central upholds Knightowl as their ideal of what a 'strong superhero' should be... unaware that Knightowl is a Legacy Character and that the current Knightowl is a woman.
  • Adrien repeatedly compares Michael to what Chloé might have become if she'd never gone through any Character Development and her father fell from grace, completely missing how Michael's situation more closely parallels his own. Even after Michael unknowingly throws Adrien's own "Lies never hurt anybody" back in his face (although Word of God in the comments indicates that Adrien does realise it in that moment).
  • Barbara Keynes testifies at Damocles’s trial; calling him a monster who insults real heroes by claiming to be one. Damocles mentally thinks that she doesn’t know anything about heroes; unaware that she is the real identity of his idol Knightowl.
• Dramatically Missing the Point:
  • While reflecting on Kim's plight, Caline admits that yes, his grades were bad enough that he should have been held back a year... but she'd had every intention of letting him move to the next level (as she had been doing before), feeling it wasn't fair to make him repeat a grade. She completely fails to grasp what kind of disservice this would have been doing Kim, or that the whole point of holding him back would've been to ensure he didn't fall even further behind as he struggled in a class that expected him to have a better understanding of the basics.
  • After Alya reveals how she rejected Headline News Central’s offer to betray Marinette because she realized she'd be becoming the 'worst version' of herself, Alix sneers "Cool story," complaining that it doesn't really tell her how to fix HER life. The fact that Alya turned down an opportunity to have what she wanted 'handed' to her at a high cost in favor of working hard and earning her accomplishments is completely lost upon Alix.
  • When her opponent spells out all the issues with her plans to "revamp" the educational system, such as how she's expecting younger students to aid the older ones with subjects they haven't learned anything about yet, Caline condescendingly implies that she's more qualified to make such judgments because she's worked as a teacher.
  • After discovering that Kim has never had any of his contracts reviewed by professionals before signing them, Alya tells him that he should seek legal assistance from somebody who can get him the best settlement they can. Unfortunately, all Kim hears is the word "settle", with her point flying clear over his head as he starts ranting about how he "never backs down".
  • According to Kim, everyone who questions the viability and survivability of his plans to become a famous streamer is unsupportive and cruel.
• Earn Your Happy Ending:
  • After Lila stole Markov's code and sold it off to the highest bidder, Max was forced to cut his losses... but he refused to give up his best friend, completely revamping his AI and design. He became an intern for the technology-based Techonauts, a superhero team in the Atlantic, eventually becoming a full-fledged member. And when the group who bought Markov's code tried using that to gain control of the team, they stand their ground, with the resulting court case trashing the group's reputation.
  • Alya decided that working hard to achieve a life she could be proud of was preferable to taking a Deal with the Devil, and has been trying to convince Alix that it's not too late to do something more with her life than sitting around feeling sorry for herself. Sadly, Alix remains unmotivated.
  • Adrien donated all of the money he'd earned from his years modeling and acting for Gabriel, moved out of Paris and started a new life. He's found contentment as a waiter who occasionally takes bit parts.
• Enraged by Idiocy: Turns out, Kim's antics as a streamer wound up annoying a lot of people.
• Even the Loving Hero Has Hated Ones: Caline Bustier believes herself to be an incredibly forgiving and compassionate person who always saw the best in everyone, yet she's come to despise Lila so much that when she learns of her untimely demise, she simply and bitterly mutters "good" to herself. Played With in that Bustier is not nearly The Paragon she believes herself to be, and also hates Marinette for growing a spine and escaping her toxic grasp.
• Everyone Has Standards:
  • Alya recognized Headline News Central as being a bunch of Paparazzi clamoring for attention by any means necessary. While she was tempted by their offer to help her achieve her dreams of becoming an Intrepid Reporter, she ultimately realized the price they demanded was one she wasn't willing to pay.
  • Alya notes that, while the class has pretty much burned bridges with Adrien due to his behavior, none of them actively wish him ill.
  • Amelie allows Adrien to attend Emelie's funeral and Felix is on his best behavior for the duration of the event.
  • Amelie agrees to give Adrien enough money to let him leave Paris and restart his life somewhere else after he forgets to save up some money from his own accounts, having donated everything to charity the instant he got access.
  • Kim's video dares are so crazy that Johnny Knoxville decries them as too dangerous and stupid.
  • During "Exes Meeting", Caline accuses Gisele of planning to accuse her of being no different from Damocles, with her rant implying she was sincerely disgusted by his actions:
    Caline: I hope that you are not going to imply that I am like him? That I approve of what he did? That I think he doesn't deserve to rot in prison for the rest of his life?
• Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: Lila can't fathom why Marinette insists that most of the profits from officially licensed merch of her and her fellow superheroes go towards charity, rather than being a Corporate-Sponsored Superhero and plastering her image on anything that folks are willing to shell out the cash for.
• Facepalm:
  • Alya does this when Alix blames Lila for supposedly turning the whole school against them and ensuring their lives were completely ruined.
  • Gisele reacts this way after running into her ex-girlfriend Caline and hears her start waxing on about how much better things would have been if she'd just been elected as Mayor and been able to force Marinette back into their old toxic dynamic.
• Fatal Flaw: Pride, Greed, arrogance, self-centeredness and entitlement are all Running Themes that prove to be the downfall of many characters.
  • Lila had more than enough money to spend the rest of her life living comfortably, even luxuriously. Yet she still wants more — and letting her crime boss boyfriend pamper her isn't good enough. She just has to steal from him as well, convinced she's too clever and careful for him to ever catch on. Thanks to somebody else getting the same "bright idea", he finds out and has her silenced.
  • Kim was so used to Bustier giving him a free pass to each new grade that he dropped out of school entirely after his new teacher told him he couldn't take enough "extra credit" to pass that year and would have to repeat a grade. He then becomes a nuisance streamer whose entire brand is built on being an obnoxious Attention Whore, and his refusal to consider the potential consequences of anything he does repeatedly bites him on the backside. By the time he appears on Clara's show in his chapter, his star's fading due to all the legal controversies he's been bogged down by, with his braggatory posturing and Lack of Empathy doing him no favors.
  • Caline is so convinced that she was the best teacher that's ever worked at Françoise Dupont and feels so entitled to forcing Marinette to solve all her problems for her that she decided to go into politics despite how her teaching career was scuttled by scandal. Unsurprisngly, that same scandal put an end to her political ambitions as well, leaving her a bitter woman blaming everyone else for her misery.
  • The founder of the Canadian tech group that bought and passed off Markov's code as their own work smugly believed he could sue Max into submission for supposedly stealing from them. The gambit blows up in his face as he gets berated for wasting the court's time with such spurious and obviously false claims, while the group's reputation nosedives along with their stock values.
  • In a change of pace, Alix's fatal flaw is Sloth: the once incredibly driven athlete completely gave up on the concept of making anything out of herself, Playing the Victim Card and lamenting how she was robbed of the chance to do anything meaningful with her life.
  • Michael illustrates the flaw that brought Adrien's old life crashing down around his head: his sense of entitlement to everything he desired. Throughout The Karma of Lies, Adrien insisted that he was guaranteed to get everything he wanted just because of who he was, including Ladybug/Marinette, and rejected the notion of having to earn anything by working hard or doing the right thing. Similarly, Michael got used to his father using his connections to bolster his acting career; when his father couldn't afford to do that anymore, Michael chafes at the notion of having to audition for roles.
• Fleeting Passionate Hobbies: Marinette admits that she'd initially assumed Kim's stunt videos would turn out to be this, and that he'd drop the hobby after learning how much trouble he was courting. Unfortunately, he stuck with it.
• Foil:
  • Alix and Alya serve as foils to each other, highlighting how much each girl has changed over the years.
    • Back during The Karma of Lies, Alya was one of Marinette's most ridiculously entitled Fair-Weather Friends, spearheading the efforts to force her former bestie to let them continue exploiting her after learning she was Ladybug. However, she had a Jerkass Realization while considering an offer to help trash Marinette's reputation, and has built a happy marriage with Nino. Alix, by constrast, has never been able to move on or accept what she lost, bitterly blaming her misery on Lila and Marinette.
    • Throughout Alix's chapter, Alya tries encouraging her to take action, but can't break through to her, even after stressing how she relates to her frustration. This also underscores how much Alix has changed from the spirited girl she used to be.
  • Michael Orgueil acts as one to Adrien, though Adrien mentally compares him to Chloé. Michael was spoiled rotten growing up, until his father lost his fortune upon having several crimes he'd committed exposed (including tax fraud following Gabriel's example). Adrien's biggest Fatal Flaw in The Karma of Lies was how he believed he shouldn't have to earn anything he wanted, insisting the world owed him everything just for being Chat Noir. Both Chloé and Adrien grew out of this mentality; Michael didn't, and tries dragging Adrien into a plan to spread Malicious Slander in hopes of making it big. He also echoes Adrien's assertion that "Lies never hurt anyone".
• Foreshadowing:
  • In Lila's chapter, she briefly muses about all the ways she would exploit her status as a superheroine if she were in Marinette's shoes. The next chapter focuses on Kim, who's revealed to have been trying to exploit having been a former hero in many of the same ways Lila fantasized about, including plastering his image on anything so long as folks are willing to shell out for the privilege, not caring about the quality of the products involved.
  • Kim mentions during his interview with Clara that he dropped out of school to avoid being held back a year, complaining how his new teacher wouldn't let him make up the difference with "extra credit". It's subsequently revealed during Bustier's chapter that he'd been struggling to keep up his grades for years, and that she'd used "extra credit" as an excuse to let him pass despite falling further and further behind.
  • During Kim's chapter, Clara asks him point-blank if he bothered reading the contract he signed to appear on her show. Later, when he contacts Alya hoping for legal aid, she discovers that he's never bothered having anyone qualified review his contracts before signing them.
  • It's brought up that Rose/Pigella was pulling her punches when fighting the Majestia clones that Maverick created. The comments that the story was adapted from revealed that this would end up being a problem for Rose that gets her suspended.
• Freudian Excuse: Martin Maverick's hatred of Majestia and superheroes in general began when he lost both his parents during Majestia's first fight with Mike Rochip; his mother was crushed by debris and Rochip's powers fried his father's pacemaker. In the aftermath, Majestia was hailed as a hero by the papers while his loss was barely reported on by the obituaries.
• A Friend in Need:
  • Caline Bustier has a rather twisted take upon this, believing her students should bend over backwards to support each other... so that SHE doesn't need to do any work as their teacher. Especially Marinette, whom she resents for not intervening and saving anyone from the consequences of Lila's con artistry or their own poor choices.
  • Alix also Invokes this while complaining about how Marinette didn't bail her and the others out after they were finally forced to face that Lila was Too Good to Be True. Alya points out how they didn't really stand by Marinette, though her words fall on uncaring ears.
• Friendly Rival: Max and Marinette have unintentionally become these without realizing it. Both have been playing the same online games, and recognize each others' usernames, but don't realize just who's on the other side.
• The Friends Who Never Hang: While meeting with Kim at her office, Alya privately notes that she doesn't recall whether any member of Bustier's class outside of Max hung out with him outside of group gatherings.
• Frivolous Lawsuit: The head of the Canadian tech group that bought and published the AI research Lila stole from Max sues him and the Techonauts for infringing on their patent and copyright. The demands of the case alone are so ludicrous that the judge and court staff visibly react with puzzlement on the first day of proceedings. Even the group's legal team knew that the case was flimsy.
• Future Loser:
  • Kim has effectively become one. While he wasn't the worst bully Marinette knew growing up, he definitely wasn't good at taking others' feelings into consideration, and has only become worse about that with age... and his streaming career has left him facing scandals and lawsuits, reputation in tatters.
  • Alix wound up working at the Louvre, a job she complains bitterly about as it's not remotely what she wanted to do with her life. No, she's convinced she was meant to be so much more... and that she was robbed of that future, leaving her lamenting what should have been while refusing to even try improving anything.
• The Gadfly: Kim has taken his love of pranks viral as a "nuisance streamer", specializing in harassing innocent victims with his cruel, thoughtless and often dangerous stunts and encouraging others to follow his example, heedless of the potential consequences for anyone involved.
• Guilt-Tripping: Kim lays this on THICK during "End of a Friendship", trying to convince Max that he needs to help his streaming career take off by adding rockets to his bike. When Max tries to explain that he could kill himself, Kim goes on and on about how nobody's supporting him, not even Ondine or his parents, and he doesn't have "super brains" like his only friend...
• Hard Truth Aesop: Miraculous Adventures includes quite a few of these among the morals it teaches. Such as recognizing that you can't always count on authority figures to "know what’s best", the importance of setting personal boundaries, and how to break off toxic friendships.
• Hated by All: Alix Invokes this by claiming everyone at Françoise Dupont despised them after Marinette left their class. Alya, however, insists Alix is exaggerating as part of her victim complex.
• Heel Realization: Alya had a multi-faceted one after being approached by an agent of Headline News Central and offered the chance to work for their channel if she sold Marinette out. First, she realized that she was a Toxic Friend Influence who'd encouraged Marinette's more stalkerish behavior towards Adrien... and when she considers ignoring this epiphany and painting her as an obsessive Stalker with a Crush anyway, wonders just how much she's willing to compromise her own morals just to get whatever she wants.
• Held Back in School: Kim quit school entirely in order to avoid this fate. It's later revealed that he should have been held back much sooner, but Bustier had been giving him a free pass year after year, heedless of how this caused him to fall further and further behind.
• His Own Worst Enemy: It's repeatedly noted that Alix could have still pursued an athletics career or otherwise done more with her life if she wasn't so focused on complaining about the handful of opportunities that got "stolen" from her. In other words, she's robbed herself of far more than Lila did.
• His Story Repeats Itself: Once again, Adrien ends up in a position where someone is lying to advance themself and cause harm to innocents and only he is in a position to stop them. Fortunately, he's learned from his mistakes and exposes the liar this time around.
• History with Celebrity: Kim legitimately did know Marinette before she became famous; they used to be friends, after all. And it's technically true that she had a crush on him... briefly. However, Kim lies about the strength and importance of their connection, including implying that Chloé somehow sabotaged their relationship.
• Hoist by His Own Petard:
  • Not only did Lila manipulate her crime boss boyfriend into spending plenty of cash on her, she was secretly siphoning money away from him. Once the authorities found out, she paints herself as an Unwitting Pawn who was given all that cash as "gifts"; when the police confront Felice with these claims, he has no idea what they're talking about... then realizes she must have been stealing from him the whole time and arranges for her to be silenced.
  • Downplayed during Kim's interview. He brings up Marinette's fleeting crush on him in an effort to leech off her fame, only for Clara to bring up how Marinette's responded to rumors once the information came to light. Kim then goes on a rant about how she "ditched" him and the rest of her Fair-Weather Friends that only serves to expose his entitled, self-centered attitude and how he really isn't affliated with her anymore.
  • The founder of the tech team that bought and stole Markov's code arrogantly believes he can use that as leverage to force Max and the Techonauts under his heel. Instead, the legal battle enables Max to prove that he didn't steal Markov's AI, threatening to expose the secrets behind their success instead, building up bad press that causes the group's stock to start crashing.
• How the Mighty Have Fallen: Gabriel wound up in solitary confinement at a special prison for terrorists and war criminals, described as being virtually unrecognizable with an unkempt appearance.
• I Coulda Been a Contender!: Alix laments that she could have been a contender to join the Youth Olympics Games, blaming Marinette and Lila for how she wasn't able to achieve any of her dreams. She also complains that she never got the chance to become Bunnyx.
• Ignored Epiphany: Alya narrowly avoided this. When offered a chance to work for Headline News Central if she sold Marinette out, she considered telling them that her former friend was obsessed with Adrien. She then realized she was the one who'd come up with the bulk of their Zany Schemes and egged Marinette towards many of her most questionable moments... but was tempted to gloss over all that and take the deal anyway. Ultimately, however, she couldn't bring herself to go through with it.
• Insult to Rocks: While apologizing to Marinette for bumping into her, Alya calls Kim a clown, then notes that actual clowns could sue her for slander and defamation for comparing them to him.
• I Reject Your Reality:
  • According to Kim, he's the victim of several Miscarriages of Justice — the only reason so many lawsuits have succeeded is because his lawyers suck at their jobs. To hear him tell it, he's a Tragic Dropout who's succeeded despite all the odds stacked against him and repeatedly having everything he deserved stripped away.
  • Bustier fully believes that Marinette is slandering her old friends and claiming they deserved to get harassed because she dislikes them, and rejects any evidence that the girl is just leaving them alone and trying to start anew.
• Ironic Echo: When Adrien protests that Michael's Malicious Slander plan wouldn't just hurt the people he's targeting, but make it harder for others who have actually dealt with pressure to sleep their way to the top to be believed, Michael dismissively declares that "Lies never hurt anyone," unwittingly echoing how Adrien justified leaving Lila unchallenged for so long. Adrien blinks before doubling down and refusing to budge (the author stating in the comments that the blink is "when Adrien realizes the shoe is on the other foot").
• Irony: Gabriel notes how the various ways that he set up his company and resources (making his mansion a company asset for tax breaks as well as the exact wordings in the guidelines that he demanded) to make things easier and cheaper for him were used against him to have his company taken away from him.
• It's All About Me:
  • Kim literally says this when Clara doesn't let him control the narrative and brag about Marinette's brief crush on him in school during the interview:
    Kim: Why is she being brought up? This was supposed to be about me...
  • Alix also complains that Alya's story about rejecting the chance to become a Paparazzi doesn't tell her how to turn HER life around.
  • Gabriel has not gotten any better about this after a decade in prison. He still views Adrien as nothing more than a failed vessel of his will, bemoaning how he isn't able to mold him into a 'proper Agreste'... and still holding a grudge over how he unintentionally handed Lila access to their emergency account. Despite how Gabriel was the one who refused to teach his son anything about money management or give him access to anything other than said secret account.
• I Hate Past Me: Adrien's interactions with Micheal are like a mirror to his past behaviour, which he clearly regrets.
• I Warned You: Turns out that Marinette really did use Fluff to travel through time; she even wrote down Lila's potential death date and marked it on her calendar when the year rolled around. Upon checking the news from Switzerland and affirming the future hadn't changed, she shakes her head and murmurs "I warned you Lila..."
• Jaded Washout: Alix has sadly become one. While her father got her a steady job at the Louvre, she's spent years lamenting all of her lost opportunities, ignoring the ones she's let slip through her fingers in favor of Playing the Victim Card.
• Jury and Witness Tampering: Lila ultimately falls victim to this; after learning that she's testifying against him, Felice sends a woman "on the inside" after her.
• Karma Houdini Warranty:
  • While Lila was able to escape The Karma of Lies intact, her failure to heed Ladybug's last warning ensures that her luck runs out here, as detailed in "Liar's End". She gets arrested, then killed while being held in police custody.
  • In the original story, the Canadian team that bought Markov's AI code from Lila and passed it off as their own suffered no consequences whatsoever for their plagiarism; they'd published it before Max, and it was presented as though he had no chance whatsoever of proving the theft. Here, that same team tries to target Max again, suing the Techonauts for supposedly infringing upon their patent... only to be dragged into a legal nightmare and have their case thrown out for wasting the court's time. On top of that, the bad press has caused their stock to start crashing.
• Know When to Fold 'Em:
  • Lila made sure to get out of Paris ASAP after The Unmasking of Ladybug and Hawk Moth, covering her backside on the way out. She also notes that although she tried a few other schemes during the rest of her time in Paris, Ladybug warned her potential marks, forcing her to quit while she was ahead.
  • After Markov's code was stolen and published by another team, Max realized that he didn't have the resources and evidence necessary to prove he was the real designer, even with Ms. Mendeleiev and others who could testify in his favor. So he chose not to challenge the buyers; instead, he completely revamped Markov's design and AI from the ground up. This winds up working in his favor when the thieves attempt to come after him for supposedly stealing from them...
• Laser-Guided Karma:
  • Miss Bustier and Principal Damocles' tendency to ignore the issues at Françoise Dupont caught up to them when the school board suspected they'd been embezzling funds. While technically innocent of that particular crime, the board cited their history of turning a blind eye towards bullying and other abuses, with this latest offense being the final straw.
  • When the founder of the Canadian tech group that falsely claimed they were the ones who created Markov's AI and code tries to target Max ten years later, his company is the one who comes out far worse in the resulting legal Curb-Stomp Battle.
• Life Isn't Fair: Alix bitterly believes that there's no such thing as 'justice' in the world; otherwise, karma would've caught up to Lila long ago.
• Loving a Shadow: Rather than denying that she'd once briefly crushed on Kim (before he killed that crush with an exceptionally cruel prank), Marinette admits that throughout her youth, she "had a habit of foolishly falling for people that had me fooled about who they truly are".
• Malicious Slander:
  • Headline News Central practically runs on trying to ruin the reputation of any heroes that don't fit into their narrow-minded views of who should be empowered.
  • Michael proposes that he and Adrien should spread rumors that the lead actress of a show they had bit parts on has been sleeping with the showrunner, and that the producer tried to get him and Adrien on the Casting Couch and sabotaged their careers when they refused.
  • Noe tries to ruin the heroes' reputation with an anti-Ladybug movie. After that bombs, he and "the Kingdom" start hiring villains with the intent of framing and blaming the heroes, to no avail.
• Manchild: For all intents and purposes, Kim has never grown out of the self-centered attitude Bustier fostered, particularly when it comes to expecting others to bail him out whenever the consequences of his actions catch up with him... and childishly insulting and belittling anyone who doesn't do what he wants.
• Meal Ticket: Lila saw Adrien as perfect Trophy Husband material; when reflecting back upon how that whole situation turned out, she outright calls him a meal ticket. She also thinks of her latest sucker, Felice Nesci, the same way.
• Meaningful Name: Damocles was named after the courtier in the "Sword of Damocles" parable, who couldn't enjoy briefly trading places with his liege after noticing a sword was being constantly suspended over his head, symbolizing the constant threat that hangs over the heads of the powerful. Not only did Damocles himself lose his job as Françoise Dupont's principal, he ultimately brings great misfortunate down upon the head of the Agrestes by murdering Emilie to avenge Hawk Moth's victims.
• Mistaken for Bluff: The last time they spoke, Ladybug implied that she'd used the Rabbit Pocketwatch to peer into the future, warning Lila that if she didn't change her ways, she'd wind up murdered by one of her victims while in police custody. Lila brushed this off as a Paranoia Gambit, but Marinette wrote down the date and keeps an eye on the news. When she sees a headline about her death, Marinette shakes her head and murmurs to herself that "I warned you Lila..."
• Mistakes Are Not the End of the World: Discussed in Chapter 14; after being called out and confronted about her reluctance to admit that Socqueline hasn't been taking well to training, Marinette worries that she's not a good heroine after all. Luka reassures her that everybody makes mistakes, and that the ability to admit when one's wrong and address those issues is incredibly important.
• Moral Myopia:
  • Caline is completely convinced that Marinette was obligated to do everything she possibly could to support everyone around her. Yet Caline herself actively avoided doing anything to address the bullying or other issues in her class, including letting Kim fall further and further behind without attempting to help him catch up with his classmates.
  • While listening to Alix complain about how Marinette didn't come through for her classmates when they needed her support the most, Alya points out that they hadn't exactly done their best to support Marinette. Alix blows her off.
• Nepotism:
  • It's Implied that Alix and Jalil's dad got them both jobs at the Louvre. However, Alix notes that Jalil's unlikely to retain his position after his latest stunt.
  • A close friend of Michael's father ran a theatre, and his dad ensured Michael wound up performing in plenty of plays despite not being an especially good actor. After his father fell from grace, said "family friend" stopped giving him a free pass and forced him to actually audition, which... didn't go well.
  • Comes up in Chapter 14, which is even titled "Superheroes Aren't Immune to Nepotism" and centers around Marinette desperately trying to help Socqueline work as the Dog Heroine.
• Never My Fault:
  • According to Kim, he had to quit school because his supposedly Sadist Teacher wouldn't let him take enough extra credit to avoid having to repeat a grade, his parents were awful for wanting him to find work, and everyone who gets hurt as a result of his prank videos are "butthurt scrubs".
  • When Bustier sees Kim on the news, she blames his friends and the school system for his fall from grace; she also blames Lila entirely for how bad things got between Marinette and the others. Both times, she was the one who enabled their worse behavior. Caline refuses to see how her overly permissive behavior and constantly forcing victims to Turn the Other Cheek and forgive their bullies contributed to her downfall. When she does this in front of Gisele, however, her ex-girlfriend retorts that this is just another facet of how she blames Marinette for daring to defy her control.
  • When the Canadian tech tycoon's attempt to screw over Max even further by falsely accusing him of plagiarizing Markov's original design blows up in his face, he blames his lawyers, despite how they were clearly dreading the legal battle.
  • Alix blames the dissolution of all her dreams upon Lila tricking her and Marinette failing to save her and the rest of the class from having to deal with the fallout of falling for the con artist's lies. Alya tries to convince her that she could have made something out of herself despite the setbacks, but Alix prefers wallowing in self-pity.
  • While Alya used to believe this, she had a Jerkass Realization while pondering the offer she'd gotten from Headline News Central and came to Avert this mentality. Part of this was realizing just how much she'd encouraged Marinette's more stalkerish behavior and how much she pushed her with her Zany Schemes.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero!:
  • Miss Bustier letting Kim advance despite his poor grades wasn't the kindness she thought it was, ensuring he kept falling further and further behind the curve. It's also implied to have contributed to his entitled attitude — his complaining that his new teacher wouldn't let him make things up with "extra credit" hints Bustier might have used that as a way of "justifying" his advancement.
  • More generally speaking, Caline's poor conduct of her classroom fueled many, many issues that culminated in most of her students playing right into Lila's hands. She repeatedly encouraged their overreliance on Marinette and taking their "everyday Ladybug" for granted; after all, Caline did that herself by expecting her to swallow her pain down, forgive every trespass and bend over backwards for her "friends". This lopsided dynamic fueled the majority's belief that Lila would do even more for them, enabling the con artist to exploit their trust and walk away clean.
• Nice Job Fixing It, Villain!:
  • Lila's Con Artistry had the side effect of getting Miss Bustier and Principal Damocles fired. While the two weren't guilty of the embezzlement they got accused of, both had abused and misused their positions, and would have continued to do so had the school board not stepped in.
  • In addition, the embezzlement charges scuttled Bustier's political career before she could get it off the ground. Given how Caline thinks about how she would've used that power to try and force Marinette and everyone else to bend to her will, Paris dodged a bullet there.
  • The Smug Snake founder of the Canadian tech group that used his fortune to buy the hard work of others to pass off as his own 'genius' decides to sue Max, accusing the actual creator of the AI work that he had published of stealing from him. But he's so ill-prepared for an actual court battle that the case ultimately gets thrown out... but not before it's made patently clear that he doesn't have any legal legs to stand on and their group's reputation has been completely dragged through the mud, causing their stock to start crashing.
• No Sympathy:
  • Kim couldn't care less about any members of his fanbase who got hurt — or worse — as a result of attempting to mimicking his behavior (something he actively encourages) or buying faulty products he endorsed.
  • When Caline learns of Lila's fate, she bitterly remarks "good," seeing it as karma finally catching up to the Manipulative Bitch who 'ruined her life'.
  • When she spots Jalil amongst the protestors calling for Damocles to be freed, Alix mutters that her brother's just squandered his last chance to keep his job at the Louvre. She's completely unmoved or unbothered by this, too busy feeling sorry for herself.
  • Gabriel feels great satisfaction over Lila's death, paying no mind when the news report on it shows how distraught her mother and stepfather are over it.
  • Gabriel also shows no sympathy whatsoever for what became of his son, and doesn't spare a single thought to how Adrien must have felt about Damocles murdering his mother. At most, he laments Adrien "accepting a life of mediocrity", irritated about how that reflects upon him.
• Not Helping Your Case: After the embezzlement charges, Damocles' attempts to continue operating as 'The Owl' weren't humored as much as they were before. Then he sets off an EMP device at a hospital, outright murdering Adrien's mom — and nearly killing other patients in the process. Suffice to say, this didn't exactly fix his reputation... though he did gain a few diehard supporters who believed the other potential casualties were 'necessary collateral damage'.
• "Not So Different" Remark: Discussed; after running into her ex-girlfriend, Caline accuses Gisele of attempting to imply she's like her ex-boss Damocles. Gisele dismisses this as more of Caline's Never My Fault attitude, telling her she'd be better off if she just admitted she'd made mistakes and moved on with her life.
• Not So Innocent Whistling: Juleka engages in this when Marinette starts pleading for her to say she didn't actually intend to use the Peacock Pin as part of a Zany Scheme to have a sentimonster of Socqueline on the team instead of the real one.
• Not-So-Well-Intentioned Extremist: Ex-Principal Damocles claims that he was avenging Hawk Moth's victims when he used an EMP in Emilie Agreste's hospital room, killing her and putting numerous other patients in danger. However, it's made clear that he was motivated more by his desperation to be seen as a hero after the scandals surrounding him allegedly embezzling school funds tanked his reputation.
• Oblivious to Their Own Description: Played With in Adrien's chapter. He compares Michael's entitled, self-serving attitude to Chloé, wondering whether his childhood friend would've wound up like Michael if her family had fallen out of fortune and she hadn't grown out of her entitled attitude. The irony is that Michael's story more closely parallels Adrien's own; Adrien just doesn't recognize that (although in the comments, the writer claims he does).
• Offscreen Breakup:
  • It's mentioned that Ondine broke up with Kim before the events of his focus chapter thanks to him taking several levels in jerkass.
  • Similarly, Gisèle broke up with Bustier before the events of the latter's focus chapter, taking custody of their daughter as well.
• Offscreen Karma: Bob Roth went from a powerful TV/music executive to the disgraced subject of a documentary chronicling his downfall that Clara alludes to in passing.
• Oh, Crap!: Lila's naturally horrified when her new cellmate picks her up by her collar and reveals that she's working for Felice.
• Paparazzi: Headline News Central is an infamous network specializing in clickbait, sensational stories and Malicious Slander, as well as attacking superheroines like Majestia and Ladybug. After Marinette was revealed as the latter, they called her 'a little girl playing in a scene that should be for big boys'.
• Playing the Victim Card:
  • Once again, Lila resorts to one of her favorite tactics by claiming to have been blissfully unaware of her boyfriend's criminal dealings, or that the money he was supposedly giving her as part of his lavish "gifts" was actually being laundered. In reality, she was stealing that money out of his account.
  • Kim paints his parents trying to convince him to get a job after he dropped out of school entirely as them "making an already difficult situation harder". He also tries to paint Marinette as a Bitch in Sheep's Clothing who abandoned her classmates in their time of need, and accuses Clara of attacking him by fact-checking his outrageous claims throughout their interview.
  • Caline sees herself as a victim of Marinette's supposed Betrayal by Inaction, believing her former student was obligated to save her and everyone else who'd exploiting her kindness. She also blames Lila for causing her to lose her job, ignoring how she'd never bothered investigating any of her claims and let her manipulate nearly all of her classmates unchallenged.
  • The founder of the tech group that bought Markov's stolen schematics from Lila and passed it off as their own work attempts to convince the world that Max stole from HIM. Doesn't work out the way he planned, though.
  • Alix sees herself as a victim of Lila's lies and Marinette failing to save her, insisting that she and the rest of their class were hated by everyone else at Françoise Dupont. Alya tries to convince her that she's fully capable of turning her life around, to no avail.
• Plea Bargain: After Felice is arrested, Lila bargains with the police, offering to testify against her boyfriend in exchange for not having to serve any jail time herself. However, she's forced to remain in their custody and ultimately gets killed as a "loose end".
• Plot Parallel:
  • In the past, Lila drastically underestimated Marinette/Ladybug, being unaware that they were the same person and failing to predict just how she would react to her plans to get out of Paris clean. She was also taken off guard by Adrien's naïveté and just how easily he played into her hands... reinforcing her subsequent underestimation of her latest victim, Felice. Like Adrien, Felice is handsome, wealthy, and naïve about her intentions... but when she burns him, he's able to burn her back.
  • With both Adrien and Felice, Lila presents herself as an Unwitting Pawn of her criminal boyfriends, and stole significant amounts of cash from them both. While Adrien was ultimately unable to do anything about this, Felice has far more resources at his command, including people who actually work for him.
  • Kim has effectively followed in Lila's footsteps. As a nuisance streamer, he's become a full-fledged Attention Whore who doesn't care one whit about how his antics affect others. All he cares about is trying to become as rich and famous as possible at everyone else's expense. He even lies about his relationship with Marinette in an effort to leech off her fame, and lashes out when Clara doesn't let his Blatant Lies go unchallenged.
  • Kim also mirrors Adrien with his sense of personal entitlement, which is best illustrated in how he misrepresents his "relationship" with Marinette. He talks about her as though she was completely head over heels for him, claiming the only reason they 'aren't together anymore' is because Chloé sabotaged their relationship. In reality, Marinette swiftly realised she was Loving a Shadow after Kim exploited her crush to play a cruel prank — much like how she realized Adrien wasn't who she thought he was when he blew off how much Lila and the others were hurting her. Neither one of them actually cared for Marinette; their interest was rooted entirely in her being Ladybug, with Adrien feeling Entitled to Have Her and Kim wanting to exploit their "connection".
  • Much like Adrien in the original story, Caline Bustier is incredibly entitled and has very naïve, self-centered views about how the world "should" work. Both she and Adrien were terrible influences upon her students/his classmates, encouraging them to take Marinette's generosity for granted... and after Marinette finally put her foot down, blame her for things turning pear-shaped as the consquences of their own actions caught up to them.
  • Both Kim and the tech tycoon blame their respective teams of lawyers for failing to get the results they wanted in court, ignoring how both groups had little to work with.
  • While Kim and Alix both blame Marinette for how their lives were ruined by Lila tricking them, they've handled the aftermath in starkly different fashions. Kim dropped out of school and kept pursuing his passions as a prank-playing streamer; Alix, by contrast, gave up on doing anything with her life, letting other opportunities pass her by while lamenting everything she lost.
  • Alix's mindset mirrors one of Adrien's biggest Fatal Flaws in The Karma of Lies: both of them assumed they were going to have everything they ever wanted handed to them just because of who they were, taking their future for granted. When reality didn't turn out exactly the way they hoped, they couldn't handle it, and Alix has never been able to move on, grousing about everything she lost while refusing to even try achieving anything more.
  • Jean's decision to attend a party rather than assist Team Miraculous in dealing with Maverick hearkens back to Adrien's fateful decision to ignore Ladybug's warning that he'd be called upon and hold a party during The Karma of Lies. Unlike Adrien, he realizes his mistake in time to actually show up to the fight, and has a Jerkass Realization about how he'd let fame get to his head.
  • Michael's backstory mirrors Adrien's: both were Upper Class Twits who assumed the world revolved completely around them and their desires, only to get a severe reality check after their fathers' respective crimes were exposed and they lost their family fortunes. While Adrien's stubborn sense of entitlement hastened his downfall, he's managed to grow out of that attitude over the last ten years and become satisified with the modest life he's built for himself. Michael, meanwhile, still insists that he's much more talented and deserves more than he's currently got, and winds up ruining his life further much like how Adrien kept digging himself deeper throughout The Karma of Lies.
• The Prankster: Kim turned this into his "calling" as a nuisance streamer, targeting random victims for his own amusement and that of his viewers.
• Puppet Shows: Marinette and the other heroes agreed to the creation of Miraculous Adventures, an educational TV series, on the grounds that they'd retain some level of creative control over how they were depicted and what kind of morals the series would present. Said series is incredibly popular, though also controversial for including Hard Truth Aesops, such as how authority figures aren't always reliable or the importance of setting boundaries and being able to break things off with a Toxic Friend Influence.
• Rage Quit: When Clara refuses to let Kim's Blatant Lies go unchallenged, and asks him point-blank if he even read the contract he signed to appear on her show, he throws a fit and declares he's ending the interview right then and there, storming off the stage.
• Recursive Fanfiction: To The Karma of Lies. Specifically, it was inspired by a couple of comments made by the original author about an epilogue they'd considered writing themselves, and was taken up with their permission.
• Reluctant Retiree: After the school board accused them of embezzling money from funding meant to aid disabled children, Bustier was unceremoniously fired while Damocles was forced to retire at the end of that term. Neither wanted to leave their jobs.
• Replacement Flat Character: In "Bit Part in the Story", Michael Orgueil is brought in to reflect how much Adrien has grown during the Time Skip, as he possesses the same sense of personal entitlement that brought Adrien's life crashing down.
• Resigned in Disgrace: Damoclès had to step down as Principal at the end of the year during the original story; his forced 'retirement' being this in all but name.
• Right for the Wrong Reasons:
  • While wrapped in her Moral Myopia, Bustier is right to be completely unsympathetic towards Lila's death. It's just rather than being angry over the numerous crimes she committed, Bustier focuses on how it negatively effected her personally, and by extention the rest of the class.
  • Technically speaking, Bustier isn't wrong that the school system ultimately failed Kim... but it's because SHE, personally failed as his teacher, letting his poor grades go unaddressed for years while giving him a free pass to each successive year, encouraging and engorging his sense of entitlement.
• She Knows Too Much: Lila is ultimately silenced on Felice Nesci's behalf to prevent her from testifying against him and to get revenge on her for stealing from him.
• Shout-Out:
  • Lila's thoughts about how she'd abuse being a superheroine mirror the actions taken by Ladybug's Sketchy Successor in Two Letters. She fantasizes about taking massive payouts from politicians and Blackmailing them by making clear she'll happily support the highest bidder, taking money from anyone who pays for her endorsement, including scams like crypto and NFTs, and agreeing to date any handsome boys from wealthy families willing to shell out for the honor.
  • Kim name-drops Amazon and Netflix, whining that they've stopped returning his calls.
  • It's mentioned in passing that the Canadian tech group has been trying to develop Teleportation software, but their efforts have only resulted in "masses of human blobs that wouldn't look out of place in John Carpenter's The Thing.
  • Alix complains that she could have participated in the Youth Olympic Games if she hadn't been robbed of the chance. She also wishes that she could take her frustration out by shooting Chloé over and over again with a gun.
  • Mr. Goscinny, Bustier's opponent in the mayoral debates, was named after René Goscinny, one of the co-creators of Asterix.
  • Martin Maverick is essentially the Miraculous World's counterpart to Lex Luthor and Billy Butcher, having an Alliterative Name as well as an utter hatred for all superheroes — especially Superman Substitute Majestia, whom he blames for his parents dying in her first fight with Mike Rochip.
  • Max brings up the Darwin Awards while trying to convince Kim that mounting rockets on his bike would be a bad idea.
• Skewed Priorities: After hearing that the Mad Scientist Martin Maverick has been hiding out in Paris and that Team Miraculous is going to raiding the business he's transformed into a front for his latest evil scheme, Jean decides he's still got time to hit up a party before joining his allies. While he does manage to make it before the fight ends, he still gets privately reamed out by Marinette afterwards.
• Small Name, Big Ego:
  • "Monkey King Kim" became a nuisance streamer trying to profit off his brief stint as a superhero, staging and filming thoughtless pranks. He spends much of his interview with Clara griping about all his "haters" and how he hasn't been able to land all the big-name merch deals he feels he deserves, refusing to acknowledge any of the scandals he's been embroiled in as anything other than "losers" trying to drag him down. When meeting him on his issues, Alya openly wonders if Kim has gotten worse over the years or if he was always like this and the class blinded themselves to how bad he was.
  • Michael, who occasionally played bit roles in some of Adrien's shoots, used to be a rich kid convinced he was on the road to stardom (thanks to his wealthy father ensuring he got top billing in theatre roles and good reviews). After the one-two punch of his father losing most of his money to his ex-wife and his company's board selling off the business after a bad investment, Michael's acting opportunities dried up, but he remains convinced that he was meant for greatness and just got robbed.
• So Proud of You: While there's simply too much bad history between Marinette and Adrien for her to rekindle their old friendship, she still expresses pride at how far he's come when he exposes Michael's Malicious Slander scheme.
• Spanner in the Works: Lila's downfall is set in motion by one of Felice's subordinates who was also stealing from his boss, but was sloppy enough to draw the authorities' attention their way. Both he and Lila are ultimately killed off as "loose ends".
• Stern Teacher: While Kim and Bustier both see the latter's replacement as a Sadist Teacher based on their biased perspectives, it's implied that the replacement is simply a normal, if understandably strict, teacher.
• Stolen Credit Backfire: Played With; the Canadian tech group that bought Markov's schematics and passed them off as their own design got away with it for ten years... until their founder thought he could convince the world Max stole Markov's design from them. The resulting legal battle threatens to drag their dark secrets out into the public eye, wrecking their reputation and tanking their stock.
• "Success Through Sex" Accusation: Michael tries to convince Adrien that they should accuse the lead actress of a show they once had bit parts in of sleeping with the showrunner.
• Sweet and Sour Grapes: A very delayed case — after Markov's code was stolen, Max gave up on the notion of proving the tech group that'd stolen the credit were a bunch of thieves, as it would be his word and witnesses at Françoise Dupont against a bunch of liars with lots of money (along with the fact that they didn’t know enough about how Markov worked to prove that his coding was copied). Ten years later, the Jerkass who bought the schematics from Lila has the audacity to accuse Max of stealing Markov's code from them, dragging him into court... and promptly destroying his own company's reputation. Max and the Techonauts come out smelling like roses while the company's stock goes down in flames.
• Take That!:
  • While shilling himself, Kim compares himself to other controversial streaming figures like Mr. Beast, the Pauls and Johnny Somali, declaring that everyone who criticizes them — and him — are just losers trying to drag them down rather than calling out flagrant corruption and callousness. It's also mentioned that Kim at one point tried to shill a brand of dangerous energy drinks, in a direct parallel to Logan Paul's Prime drink brand and the controversy surrounding it.
  • When Alix insists that their whole class was Hated by All with Marinette having ruined their lives, Alya retorts that simply isn't true, digging at the amount of Salt Fics that do have the classmates condemned and despised for being poor friends to Marinette. As well as the claim that most Accusation Fics had this happen to them.
  • When Markov showed Max a drawing he had made; Max states that he doesn’t think that AI should be making art.
  • The concept of the Kingdom gets mocked in chapter 13; rather than a powerful conspiracy, they're portrayed as a bunch of egotistical rich snobs who style themselves as a "wannabe Illuminati" and outright lie about having had Gabriel in their ranks to look more threatening. Additionally, Noe's attempts at dragging Ladybug's name through the mud ultimately amount to nothing but his eventual arrest.
• A Taste of Their Own Medicine: Damocles uses this reasoning to 'justify' his decision to murder Emilie Agreste, claiming he was simply forcing Gabriel to feel the same kind of pain he'd inflicted upon so many others.
• Teleporter Accident: The tech company that bought Markov's specs from Lila has been trying to develop teleportation technology; so far, however, they've only resulted in horrific accidents creating "human blobs". It's implied this is why their founder set their sights upon Max's new team, as the Techonauts have their own teleportation technology he likely wanted to steal and pass off as his own.
• Tempting Fate: When Alya tells him to leave her office, Kim taunts "What are you gonna do if I don't leave?" Cut to him screaming bloody murder as he's escorted out by security.
• They Just Don't Get It:
  • It's made very clear in Kim's spotlight chapter that he has learned absolutely nothing from his experiences; if anything, he's doubled down and become even more of a self-centered Jerkass, blaming everyone else for his problems.
  • Bustier also doesn't seem to grasp how her actions and teaching style hindered her students.
  • Defied by Max. Not only did he take responsibility for his actions involving Marinette and Chloé, he wishes he could apologize for everything but realizes Marinette probably wants nothing to do with him.
  • No matter how many times Alya reaches out to Alix and tries to help her realize she doesn't have to be resigned to a miserable existence, Alix just keeps griping about how incredibly unfair it is to have missed out on becoming Bunnyx.
  • "Caged Owl" highlights how Damocles clings to his delusions of grandeur even after being arrested, convicted and sentenced to prison. The chapter ends with him swearing that "the Owl would fly again!" even after spelling out just how miserably isolated he's become.
• Time Skip: The story is set ten years after The Karma of Lies.
• Title Drop:
  • "No Justice" ends with Alix complaining that there's no such thing as justice in the world, since as far as she knows, Lila has never suffered any punishment for her crimes.
  • "Shape Up or Get Out" has this happen twice. While chatting with Kagami about how much she's changed, Chloé credits Marinette as a Positive Friend Influence who wasn't afraid to tell her to shape up or get out. Kagami later echoes these words after Jean's gotten a reality check.
• Toxic Friend Influence:
  • Played With; Bustier fully believes that Kagami and Luka are this to Marinette (and Chloé to a lesser extent), ignoring all evidence that they're actually better friends to Marinette than her classmates were. Bustier herself was also a toxic influence upon her students, enabling bullies by pressuring their victims to "lead by example" and encouraging Taking Advantage of Generosity.
  • Alya realized that she'd been one herself while contemplating the HNC rep's offer. Namely that she actively encouraged Marinette towards acting like a Stalker with a Crush with all of the crazy ideas they'd come up with to help Marinette pursue Adrien.
  • One of the lessons the Miraculous Adventures edutainment series deals with is how to identify False Friends and break away from bad influences.
• Tragic Dropout:
  • Kim tries painting himself as one, claiming he had no choice but to drop out because the staff wanted to hold him back a year.
  • Michael was forced to drop out of school entirely after his father lost most of his fortune, as none of the kids at his new public school were willing to become his Homework Slaves.
• Trophy Wife: Subverted by Michael's third stepmother; while it's implied his father married her just to serve as 'eye candy', she was actually a talented lawyer who discovered some errors in their prenuptial agreement... and some debts he'd been hiding from her.
• Ungrateful Bastard: Implied with both Alix and Jalil; their father used his influence to ensure both had steady jobs at the Louvre. But Alix is too busy feeling sorry for herself to appreciate this, and Jalil squanders all of their father's good will with his dogged support of Damocles' murder of Emilie.
• Unrelated in the Adaptation: Noe Luxus here isn't portrayed as Audrey Bourgeois' biological son, but rather a student in the field of business who claimed to be "practically her son".
• Villain Has a Point:
  • Maverick sways several supporters to his side by appealing to those who have been hurt by heroes' more thoughtless actions as well as incidents involving powers. This is precisely why he came to Paris in the first place, taking advantage of those that had been affected by Akumas.
  • Maverick also attempts to sway Marinette to his side by pointing out how she was also victimized, recruited as a Child Soldier and forced to sacrifice her normal life in order to take on an adult's responsibilities. Marinette herself admits that he struck a chord with his words, though she holds firm that his crusade isn't as moral as he claims.
• Villain Respect: Gabriel grudgingly acknowledges just how hard Marinette worked to take him down, noting that it was smart for Audrey to snap her up.
• Wardrobe Malfunction: Referenced; when his interview with Clara goes off the rails, Kim remarks that it's like "the wardrobe malfunction in my first suit".
• We Used to Be Friends:
  • In addition to losing his friendship with Marinette, Kim has grown estranged from the rest of his former classmates, due in no small part to his refusal to take any responsibility for his actions. Max has outright stated that he's embarrassed they were ever close.
  • "End of a Friendship" details precisely how Kim and Max's bond fell apart: Kim wanted Max to bolster his career by building rockets to make his stunts even more dangerous and death-defying.
• We Were Your Team: Downplayed with Marinette, whom Alya reflects was the 'glue' that held their class together. While most of the former classmates still get along for the most part, they're all estranged from Adrien and Kim, and their bond with Alix is strained by her bitterness.
• What Does She See in Him?: Discussed with Alya and Marinette when they were talking about Kim. After learing about Kim's insane behaviour, Alya has to ask if she really had a crush on him back in the day. Marinette, while not sad, is clearly wondering why as well.
• What You Are in the Dark: When a representative from Headline News Central offered Alya the opportunity to betray Marinette and help them destroy Ladybug's reputation, they swore that her anonymity was guaranteed: nobody would ever learn she was the one who'd sold her out. Though tempted to stab her former bestie in the back by "outing" her as a Stalker with a Crush on Adrien, she realized she was responsible for the bulk of those Zany Schemes... and that she wouldn't like the kind of person she'd become if she gave into temptation.
• "Where Are They Now?" Epilogue: Each chapter focuses on a different subject, seeing how they're faring ten years after the events of The Karma of Lies.
• With Due Respect: Caline states this before snottily asking her opponent in the mayoral debate if he's worked in the school system like she has.
• You Can't Fight Fate: At the end of the first chapter, it's revealed that Marinette was telling the truth when she warned Lila about her fated demise. Ultimately, Lila was unable and/or unwilling to change for the better and she fulfilled her destiny by stealing from a crime boss and becoming a loose end to be silenced.
• Zany Scheme: After Socqueline gracefully accepts that her training to become a hero hasn't been working out, Juleka remarks that had Marinette kept blinding herself to the problem, she would've used the Peacock Pin to create a sentimonster of Socqueline to trick Marinette into giving her the Dog Miraculous. Marinette initially dismisses this as a joke, then starts desperately asing her to confirm she wasn't actually planning to try that.