Fashion Upgrade
is a Miraculous Ladybug fanfic written by Soap Lady.
Following the events of "Ladybug", Lila goes to Bustier and Damocles with a sob story about how she's afraid that Marinette will retaliate against her for the events that happened. They decide to move the school's "Everyday Ladybug" to a new class where she won't be a discipline issue any longer.
The lucky teacher winds up being Mendeleiev, whose class winds up being a breath of fresh air for the harried Marinette. A new class and new friends help Marinette to a better way in her life but old schemes arise when a group project worth twenty percent of the yearly grade is announced. Marinette just wishes to go on with her life but Lila refuses to allow her any happiness and conspires to ruin her still. Who will triumph in this clash of spirits?
Fashion Upgrade contains examples of:
- Actually Pretty Funny: Though Nathalie doesn't dare show any amusement while watching the livestream of the play with Gabriel in the room, the narration notes that once she's in the privacy of her own home, she enjoys a good, hard laugh at her employer's expense.
- All Take and No Give: Tikki identifies the inverse of this as a flaw of Marinette's. She gives so much of herself and never receives anything in return or even asks for such a return to start with.
- Attention Whore: Downplayed. At several points, Lila grouses about the fact that everyone is talking about Marinette instead of paying attention to her. Marinette's new classmates weaponize this against her after she tries to sabotage their fashion show. Rather than try to retaliate directly, they ignore her entirely and instead give Marinette's former classmates a helping hand in their well-deserved rise to fame while Lila is left in obscurity.
- Because You Can Cope: Buster attempts to convince Marinette that this is why she constantly saddled her with responsibilities and expected her to be "the bigger person" and serve as a good example to everyone else. Marinette doesn't buy it, calling her out on exploiting her generosity and treating her like an Extreme Doormat.
- Betrayal Fic: Lightly; Mlle. Bustier and Principal Damocles betray Marinette by declaring her to be the problem and booting her out of Bustier's class, and she eventually gets to call her former homeroom teacher out.
- Beware the Nice Ones: Damocles realizes this is true of Tom. The principal believes the man is like a Great Dane, large and fearsome looking but ultimately harmless. He nervously realizes that the man is actually more like a Pitbull, gentle and loyal to those he loves but very vicious towards anyone that threatens them.
- Big Damn Heroes:
- Chloé pulls this off when Lila manages to force Mylène out of the lead role. Because the costumes have already been made, the class now faces the unexpected expense of ordering a new one to fit Lila, which will put them over budget. Chloé figures out how to make it work, though she has to cancel the catering service the class was enjoying during rehearsals to free up the funds they need.
- Chloé does it again when Lila "comes down with a rash" less than an hour before the play is supposed to premiere. Not only does she have Mylène's costume on hand and ready for her to change into, she spares a rare compliment for Mylène's acting ability before sending her off to Juleka, who is already on standby to do Mylène's makeup. Thanks to her preparation and foresight, the play goes off without a hitch.
- Book Ends: The story opens with Lila spinning her sob story, and Principal Damocles reassuring Bustier that she hadn't done anything wrong. It ends with Bustier trying — and failing — to convince Marinette to transfer back, with Marinette letting her know that yes, she did in fact make some critical mistakes.
- Cheer Them Up with Laughter: The class play lampooning Hawk Moth has this effect for all of Paris. The narration even specifically mentions that being made into a laughing stock prevents Hawk Moth from successfully akumatizing anyone again for months afterward.
- Comically Small Bribe: Lila tries to get Alicia to look the other way from her planned sabotage by offering her all the money she's got on hand: twenty euros. Alicia just laughs at her.
- Commonality Connection: Nino and Chloé develop an Odd Friendship over their mutual protectiveness of Adrien, leading to an in-joke about them 'adopting' him and play-fighting over custody.
- Disproportionate Retribution:
- When the kids in Mendeleiev's class get to choose what project Bustier's class will work on, some of them want to make them do a difficult project to avenge Marinette for being forced to transfer out. Subverted when Marinette presents a more fair idea that will give everyone in Bustier's class a chance to participate and everyone agrees. Mendeleiev quietly notes that this works in their favor, since if Bustier's class gives them a difficult project, they'll look more gracious by comparison.
- Lila is furious that Marinette not only didn't stay expelled, but that transferring classes only gave her even more positive attention from the student body thanks to being Loved by All. She talks Bustier's class into having Mendeleiev's class put on a fashion show specifically in the hope that Marinette will crash and burn under the stress.
- The Dog Bites Back: The Akuma Class, comprised of Hawk Moth's favorite victims, indirectly get their revenge by writing a play portraying him as an incompetent, bumbling manchild. Not only is openly mocking Hawk Moth a cathartic experience for them, it encourages the rest of Paris to follow suit, which makes it very difficult for Hawk Moth to akumatize people because they're too busy laughing at him.
- Dramatically Missing the Point: When Bustier's class tells Mendeleiv's class that they'll be doing a fashion show, Marinette is stunned speechless. Among the members of Bustier's class, only Adrien and Lila pick up on the fact that Marinette isn't speechless from excitement, but because she's having a panic attack. Luckily, Mendeleiev's class is more perceptive. They quickly hustle Marinette back to their classroom and work together to calm her down with hugs and blankets.
- Empty Chair Memorial: The day after the class learns about Marinette's transfer, Adrien brings in a few fake candles and places them at Marinette's desk, along with a handmade sign declaring the seat reserved for Marinette. Several members of the class post pictures online as a way of showing Marinette how much they miss her and that they hope she'll be able to transfer back. Lila is infuriated by this, partly because it puts the class's focus on Marinette instead of her and partly because she intended to claim Marinette's former seat for herself.
- "Eureka!" Moment: Discussed. When asked how she came up with the idea of making Mayura the main character in the class play, which allows it to fit the chosen theme without hitting Paris’s Hawk Moth-shaped Trauma Button, Rose credits “a visit from inspiration.” “Inspiration” more frequently goes by the name Marinette Dupain-Cheng, but Rose can’t admit this because the class isn’t supposed to have outside help or discuss the details of their project with others.
- Everyone Has Standards: Even though Lila nearly ruined the class play by vanishing at the last minute with a “rash” (actually anti-shopifter ink that squirted on her when she tried to tamper with the costumes for Mendeleiev’s class’s fashion show), her classmates refrain from calling her out on live television, tastefully leaving out any mention of the near-catastrophe on the big day. In addition, Kim claims they had to cancel their catering service to stay on budget because Adrien’s busy schedule forced him to back out as the male lead, not because of Lila convincing Miss Bustier to switch her into the lead role simply because she wanted to hog the spotlight.
- Evil Is Petty: Lila decides to get Marinette removed from the class because she hates that she couldn't keep her expelled.
- Fashion Show: The project for Marinette's new class was to have one. This was set up by Lila taking advantage of her old class's desire to give Marinette a project that would appeal to her passion. They (except Lila and Adrien) are ignorant of how much work it takes for one while also oblivious to how this stresses Marinette out due her belief that she will do all the work like her old class. Fortunately for her, this is not the case as they all contribute in their own way. The theme of the the fashion is based on Paris Heroes and while also up-cycling old clothes. It was very successful despite Lila's effort.
- Fatal Flaw: Lila has two. The first is her refusal to be satisfied with getting Marinette transferred to another class and separating her from her friends. All of her subsequent attempts to sabotage Marinette backfire on her, when she could have had the last laugh and her classmates' undivided attention if she simply left Marinette alone. Her second fatal flaw is her desire to constantly be the center of attention. Her constant scheming to hog the spotlight begins to erode her reputation even before she puts the final nail in her coffin by harassing Mylène because she can't stand watching all her classmates skyrocket to well-deserved fame and leave her in equally well-deserved obscurity.
- Flanderization: In-Universe, Kim bases his portrayal of Hawkmoth on footage of his brief outing during Heroes' Day, amping his Large Ham villainous posturing up to eleven.
- Foil:
- Marinette's new classmates to her old ones. While Marinette's former classmates have no ill intentions and are still friendly with her after she moves out, they don't pay close enough attention to realize when Marinette is overwhelmed or stressed out, instead blindly assuming that she'll be able to handle anything thrown at her. By contrast, Marinette's new classmates pay attention to when she's stressed and work to support her, taking the initiative to help out instead of waiting to be asked or leaving Marinette to do everything herself.
- Bustier to Mendeleiev. Both teachers are shown to genuinely care about their students, and their students like and respect them as teachers. However, while Bustier is kind and well-liked, she has no idea how to handle conflict, pushing that burden onto Marinette rather than deal with it herself. Mendeleiev, while much stricter and less outwardly likeable, is shown to be the more effective and competent teacher; she has established strategies for helping calm down upset students to prevent akumatizations, and her firm discipline helps put a stop to conflicts between her students before they can escalate like Lila's lies did in Bustier's class.
- Marinette herself to her classmates; Marinette was Bustier's Hypercompetent Sidekick and her class's main organizer and planner before moving out. It's her influence that helps tailor the project assignment to her former classmates' skills and interests, much to their gratitude since it makes their work easier. Marinette's classmates attempt to repay the favor by assigning a project tailored to her interests. However, they fail to take into account how much work goes into a fashion show or the fact that Marinette's new classmates might not be able to participate. They instead blindly assume that Marinette will be able to get it done, which creates a great deal of stress for her and gets them called out on their lack of organization.
- Good Parents: Tom and Sabine are loving and protective to their daughter, giving her a say in her life instead of making choices for her and supporting whatever she decides. They also apologize for even slightly believing Lila's lies about her.
- Grew a Spine:
- Adrien quickly picks up on the fact that Lila was somehow behind Marinette being moved to Mendeleiev's class. He responds by questioning Lila's ideas more openly and defending Marinette when Lila tries to plant doubts about her. Lila even privately laments that Adrien's tactics are threatening her grip on the class and wonders why he couldn't just keep being a pushover.
- By the climax, Marinette has learned her own worth and is more confident asserting herself, as shown in her final conversations with Principal Damocles and Bustier. Damocles in particular realizes that she isn't asking for permission to use the spare fabric from the fashion show to make quilted bedrolls for the homeless, but that she's simply telling him what she and her classmates intend to do.
- Hoist by Her Own Petard:
- Lila suggested the idea of Marinette's new class holding a fashion show specifically because she was hoping to see the anxiety-prone designer crash and burn. But the plan completely backfires thanks to Mme. Mendeleiev's class rallying together and treating the project as a true group project rather than dumping all the responsibility onto her shoulders.
- Lila's attempt to sabotage the fashion show blows up in her face, as she gets Caught on Tape getting doused by an ink trap, and ends up sacrificing her spot as the lead actress since she can't get cleaned up in time.
- She also runs into this when she tells Gabriel about her plan, claiming that she intended to expose Marinette as a fraud/accuse her of stealing his designs. He calls her out on the lie and berates her for plotting to sabotage a fellow designer.
- As if all of that wasn't enough, her downfall is ensured by her harassing Mylène: she gets Caught on Tape again, and unlike Alicia, Ivan has no qualms about releasing the video so that the whole school sees how she was treating his girlfriend.
- Mlle. Bustier also gets hit by this: since she relied so heavily upon Marinette to 'be the bigger person' and help settle disputes, she finds herself increasingly at a loss once she's transferred out and isn't around for her to lean upon anymore.
- Hypercompetent Sidekick:
- The play put on by Bustier's class depicts Mayura as the long-suffering underling of Clueless Boss Hawkmoth.
- Marinette unintentionally played this role for Bustier; ironically, she was far more capable of resolving conflicts peacefully than Bustier herself is, making it harder for her to manage her class without her once she transfers out.
- I Have This Friend: Adrien explains the Lila situation to Chloé and Nino this way, telling them that a fellow model he works with advised their friend to "take the high road" in dealing with a liar. He's quite shocked by their amused reactions.
- I Resemble That Remark!: Kim's version of Hawkmoth is a Large Ham Psychopathic Manchild Mood-Swinger prone to tears at the slightest insult. Gabriel's outrage over this brings him to the verge of a Villainous Breakdown, and he rejects Nooroo's concern over catching him crying.
- I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Not being in class with Adrien all day and having friends who don’t frequently push her to confess to him, as well as building her acquaintance with Kagami into a genuine friendship, helps Marinette gain some much-needed perspective regarding her crush. When Adrien eventually starts dating Kagami, Marinette is able to be genuinely happy for them rather than lashing out in jealousy. Kagami even admits that she wouldn’t have handled it nearly as well if Adrien had chosen Marinette.
- I Warned You: After Lila gets squirted by the ink trap, Alicia notes that she warned her against trying to enter the costume room.
- Insistent Terminology: Marinette makes certain to remind anyone who brings up 'her' fashion show that the show belongs to her class, not her and her alone.
- Jerkass Realization:
- Chloé comes to recognize just how selfish and entitled she's been and starts working on adjusting her attitude for real.
- Bustier has one after cracking under the stress of the play and abandoning her students, forcing them to work things out without her aid, as she realizes that she constantly put that same pressure onto Marinette, making her repeatedly step up and compensate for her failings as a teacher.
- Lack of Empathy: Lila, Lila, Lila. She quietly revels in Marinette's suffering and happily anticipates watching her crash and burn under the stress of preparing an entire fashion show in just two months. And once her classmates skyrocket to fame after the success of their play (which Lila was unable to participate in thanks to her efforts to sabotage Marinette), she couldn't care less about their success beyond trying to leverage the opportunity to ride their coattails to fame herself. She even goes so far as to mentally insult and belittle them while putting on a sweet act to try and stay in their good graces, culminating in trying to outright bully Mylène into taking her along to a private audition.
- Laser-Guided Karma: After Marinette's transfer, Adrien steps up to keep Lila from targeting her further behind her back. Unfortunately, his efforts to speak up against Lila land him on the receiving end of her signature victim blaming act, putting him in much the same position Marinette was in (thanks to his own "high road" advice, which Adrien lampshades) prior to the transfer.
- Let's Get Dangerous!: Once Alicia reveals Lila's attempted sabotage to her classmates, Jean, Curtis and Maison jump into action to calm everyone down so that they won't attract any akumas, then rechannel and refocus their anger towards arranging Lila's downfall the right way.Marc: When those three idiots take over class and become the voices of reason, you know the situation has gotten out of control.
- Loved by All: Marinette for the entire school. The teachers know how well behaved she is and all want her in their class to the point they argue over it. The other students are intrigued and besotted with the idea of getting to know her. Her own class are rather disheartened to find out she's been moved out.
- Love Epiphany:
- Downplayed; when Adrien sees Marinette modeling the Multimouse-inspired cocktail dress, his first thought is Now I know why so many guys have had crushes on her.
- Later played straight when Chat Noir pays her a visit and realizes that aside from the lack of fencing and martial arts, she's got everything he likes in girls.
- Mama Bear: Sabine for Marinette. She's the more obviously protective one of the parents and Damocles internally compares her to a tiger.
- My God, What Have I Done?: After realizing that Lila has manipulated the situation so that Adrien's attempts to talk the class out of the fashion show idea will only make him look like a bad friend, he realizes that this must be how Marinette felt every time Lila opened her mouth. This dovetails directly into the realization that his "high road" advice, while well-intentioned, only made things worse for her.
- Nice Job Fixing It, Villain:
- Bustier making Marinette transfer to another class turns out to be the best thing she ever did for her, as she winds up in a much healthier environment and is surrounded by people who actually appreciate her, along with a teacher who actually does her own job.
- Lila's scheming led to the above, as well as creates the competition in which Marinette comes to realize just how much better off she is in her new classroom.
- No Sympathy: Marinette's classmates are a downplayed example. While they don't deliberately neglect Marinette's feelings, they're so used to Marinette doing amazing things that they blindly assume she can pull off a nigh-impossible task with ease. Lila's manipulations and Bustier's failings as a teacher only encourage this mindset.
- Not Afraid of You Anymore: Being lampooned in the class play makes Hawk Moth a laughing stock to all of Paris and successfully prevents him from akumatizing anyone for months after the fact. Kim lampshades the effect of laughing at Hawk Moth rather than fearing him, noting that it takes away some of his power.
- Oblivious Guilt Slinging:
- Upon finding Bustier stumbling out of the closet she hid away from all the drama in, Adrien swallows down his frustration and comforts her, reminding her that "Aren't you the one who's always telling us it's okay to ask for help when we're stressed out?" This causes her to dissolve into tears, having realized just how much pressure she put upon Marinette to handle things all by herself.
- While offering Adrien advice for his 'friend', Nino notes that staying silent about the lying would be the worst thing they could do, since their friends will end up wondering why they weren't warned. Adrien can't help squirming a little after hearing that.
- Papa Wolf: Tom for Marinette. He's a very big man that people naturally conclude is a Gentle Giant given his pleasant nature, which he is. But he's also all too willing to switch off the "gentle" part when his daughter is threatened. Damocles notes that Tom is likened to a Great Dane when it's more accurate to say he's a Pitbull.
- Performance Anxiety: Vivienne is struck by this on the big day; as a result, Marinette models the Multimouse-inspired outfit instead.
- Pet the Dog: Bustier's whole class (sans Lila) is shocked when Chloé steps up and saves the show by having prepared for Mylène to take over in case Lila had a 'diva moment'.
- Precision F-Strike: Caline Bustier gets one when Hawkmoth attempts to akumatize them: "Out of my head, butterfly f*cker."
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Marinette calls out Mlle. Bustier for wanting her to transfer back after the fashion show turns out to be a success.Marinette: I was in your class for two years before Lila Rossi ever set foot inside Francois Dupont. I didn't expect you to blindly believe me when I said I didn't cheat... even though that's what you did for her... but you could have at least heard me out. But you didn't. You threw me away as soon as I became the slightest bit inconvenient for you. And now you're upset because you now have to do something. Teaching and maintaining order instead of sitting back and having me take care of everyone else's emotional well-being. Everyone important, that is. Not Marinette, she can just drown, right?
- Removing the Crucial Teammate: Caline Bustier kicks Marinette out of her class, only to realize too late just how heavily she relied upon her to keep order in her classroom.
- The Scapegoat: Marinette is unfairly blamed for the drama Lila caused and transferred out of Bustier's class.
- Secret-Keeper: Mendeleiev has been one for Marinette since her de-akumatization. Far from her obsession with scientific respect that got her turned into Kwami-buster, she understands the risk of Hawk Moth discovering the secret and becomes a pillar to lean on about her heroics... though, of course, she only knows Marinette is Multimouse.
- Silent Treatment: Adrien goes back on his deal to be Lila's friend in exchange for getting Marinette un-expelled after Lila gets her transferred out and takes her seat. Instead, he refuses to acknowledge Lila's existence unless he absolutely has to, denying her some of the attention she enjoys so much.
- Sore Loser: Lila gets Marinette moved out of class entirely because she hates being thwarted and not getting her way. Adrien internally notes that Lila just hates losing.
- Team Mom: Bellamy is a rare male example who makes shock blankets for his "kids". They help prevent akumatization.
- Tranquil Fury: Downplayed; Marinette's calm, collected and quietly confident demeanor during their final conversation reminds Principal Damocles of her parents' rage when they confronted him, realizing that she shares the same potential for righteous fury, but is channeling it better, as though she doesn't consider him to be worth the full force of her Death Glare. As a result, he finds her smile more terrifying than a glower.
- Wrong Genre Savvy:
- Lila weaponizes this against Marinette when she suggests the fashion show project. She deliberately downplays the amount of work involved, counting on her classmates' desire to let Marinette show off her passion, their established habit of pushing work onto Marinette and seeing it get done regardless, and lack of knowledge about how fashion shows really work to set Marinette up for failure. Adrien recognizes this as an Impossible Task thanks to his own modeling experience and tries to protest, but is quickly outvoted.
- After the fashion show is assigned, Lila, Adrien, and Marinette herself all assume that Mendeleiev's class follows the same Conservation of Competence as Bustier's class and Marinette will be The Only One doing most of the work. Instead, Team Spirit prevails, and thanks to everyone's contributions, the fashion show is a massive success.
- You Are Better Than You Think You Are: When Mylène starts to get nervous about being reinstated as the lead actress just minutes before the play goes on stage, Ivan takes a moment to reassure her that she knows the play by heart and can handle herself in front of an audience.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Gabriel starts seriously questioning Lila's value as an ally to him and his supervillain alter ego after the play and fashion show.
