Long Con
is a Miraculous Ladybug fanfic by hattafan2593, inspired by the high road. It chronicles Marinette's efforts to expose Lila and ensure that no one can recreate her actions.
For another of the author's fanfics, see Couturiere.
Long Con contains the following tropes...
- Adaptational Relationship Overhaul: By the fanfic's end, Marinette no longer has a crush on Adrien, having genuinely lost her attraction to him. This stands in contrast to the original fic, which ends with the implication that they're dating.
- Adults Are Useless: Zig-Zagged. Ms. Bustier and Principal Damocles are noted to both be worse than useless; Ms. Bustier actively pampers "problem students" like Chloé while passive-aggressively pressuring their victims to forgive all their transgressions, and Principal Damocles crumples faster than a damp paper towel. On the other hand, getting Gabriel, the Dupain-Chengs and the rest of the parents involved works like a charm.
- Became Their Own Antithesis: Invoked but averted. Marinette goes from publicly against Lila to her most steadfast supporter. It's all an act that everyone in the class falls for. Though, she really does lose her crush on Adrien.
- Broken Pedestal:
- Lila, quite naturally, loses her classmates' respect after they collectively realize how much she lied to and deceived them.
- By the end of the story, Marinette loses her crush on Adrien, realizing she had idolized him. Unlike most similar fanfics, she doesn't hate or even dislike him; she just loses her crush.
- Bystander Syndrome: Marinette realizes that Adrien has never had to deal with bullying before, which is why he doesn't understand why the "high road" approach of simply ignoring Lila won't work.
- Cannot Keep a Secret: One of Alya's biggest issues is her inability to keep any of Marinette's secrets, such as her casually spreading around her crush on Adrien.
- Character Development:
- Adrien started out by telling Marinette that she should "take the high road" and not reveal Lila's lies. A few months of having to cater to Lila's whims later, he realizes just how bad that advice was and wishes he had the Rabbit Miraculous so he could go back and smack some sense into his past self.
- Tikki explicitly notes that even though it will hurt in the short term, Marinette's classmates will likely learn some valuable lessons from being forced to cater to a liar's whims. Indeed, by the end they're deeply apologetic for not trusting Marinette when she tried to warn them initially and acknowledge that they were taking her for granted.
- Clingy Jealous Girl: Marinette admits to herself this is a large part of why she was disbelieved, recounting her actions toward Kagami as a reason. She also notes, however, that the others seem to define her too much as the girl with a crush on Adrien.
- Cruel to Be Kind: Tikki justifies Marinette's plan as this, stating that while it will inevitably hurt as they all come to recognize how Lila deceived them, they will learn from the harsh experience and be better prepared in the future.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: At the climax, Lila, gets akumatized after she realizes her lies have been found out and her mom has been told. Since she willingly grabbed the akuma in front of her entire class, including Marinette and Adrien, Ladybug and Chat Noir don't feel too bad about beating her down extra-hard when they show up, and defeat her in just a few minutes between chapters.
- Deconstruction Fic:
- Like the original work, Long Con deconstructs how ineffective the "high road" approach is... but also picks at the toll Marinette's solution takes upon both her and her classmates. While the high road has Marinette take cathartic pleasure in how much Adrien and the rest of the class is suffering, here, any amusement she draws from her plan's success is tempered by her growing exhaustion over having to deal with Lila's nonsense and cater to her every whim. Since the plan revolves around tricking Lila into believing she's fallen for her lies herself, Marinette is essentially stuck kissing her backside and doing favors for her. She also dislikes having to watch her classmates suffer, and repeatedly contemplates whether or not to cancel the plan outright, and steps up to defend Alya once Lila briefly turns on her.
- The story also deconstructs Marinette's attraction to Adrien. Early on, she realizes that her friends dismissed her warnings because, thanks to Alya, everyone aside from Adrien knew about her crush and assumed she was acting out of envy. She gradually realizes that she'd unintentionally given them good reason to suspect as much, as she was so focused on gaining his attention that they came to see it as her sole defining characteristic. Ultimately, she decides to stop pursuing Adrien entirely, both because she recognizes how much she'd obsessed over him and that she was Loving a Shadow.
- In the original work, it's noted that Marinette is turning Ms. Bustier's overly permissive teaching style to her advantage by adding to the pressure for her class to act like "good role models". Here, Bustier's methods are deconstructed further, highlighting how she refuses to address her actual problem students. Rather than doing anything about bad behavior like Chloé's bullying, she passive-aggressively pressures her "good" students to keep "forgiving" them. As a result, Lila isn't concerned about her eventual exposure, presuming that she'll just get coddled like Chloé.
- Didn't See That Coming: Lila is completely caught off guard when Adrien reveals that he told his father about what she'd done. She then gets hit with this again upon learning that the rest of the class informed their parents as well, and said parents got her mother involved.
- Disappointed in You:
- One of Ms. Bustier's favorite tactics is passive-aggressively pressuring her students by heavily implying that she'll be disappointed if they don't do what she wants, such as when she asks Lila if she'll accept Marinette's apology using a tone Marinette recognizes as a warning.
- Later on, Max faces this from his mother after he reveals what's been happening at school.
- "Eureka!" Moment: Reflecting upon Adrien's 'advice', Marinette bitterly notes that it's easy for him to dismiss the impact of Lila's deceit since he's never had to deal with bullies like her before. She then realizes just how true that is... and wonders what he would do if that changed, inspiring her plan.
- Flat Character: Internally discussed by Marinette. She feels that she was disbelieved in large part due to everyone thinking she was just jealous of a girl getting close to Adrien (again) and that people define her too much by it.
- Foil: Unlike the original work, Marinette doesn't particularly enjoy running her scheme, as the stress of constantly lying to her friends and kissing Lila's keister wears her down. She also decides that she can't condemn them for being Secretly Selfish, since she's had her own ulterior motives as well. This provides a strong contrast to Lila; not only does Lila not have any issues whatsoever with lying to everyone, she also cheerfully calls them out on their self-serving behavior when she's finally confronted.
- Foreshadowing:
- Marinette notes that Lila is an expert at both Playing the Victim Card and Wounded Gazelle Gambits, which is why her attempts to confront her haven't been working properly. Lila successfully employs such tactics against Alya when she confronts her.
- When thinking about how fickle her classmates are, and how easily they turned on her in hopes of earning Lila's favor and getting to meet all the celebrities she supposedly knows, Marinette notes that she often has some ulterior motives as well. Mostly hoping that helping them out will help her get closer to Adrien. Over the course of the story, she takes an increasingly critical look at how her crush has negatively influenced her.
- Marinette notes that one of the key differences between Lila and Chloé is that Lila is skilled at Playing the Victim Card while Chloé is just a Spoiled Brat who gets her way purely because people give in to her demands in order to stop her temper tantrums. While putting her plan into action, Marinette makes a point of not inconveniencing Chloé like she does the rest of the class, specifically because she doesn't want Chloé derailing things by throwing fits.
- Godzilla Threshold: In order to deal with Lila once and for all, Alya, Adrien, and the rest of the class decide to do something the majority really didn't want to do: inform their parents of the whole situation.
- Gone Horribly Right: Downplayed: Marinette's scheme gets the result she wants; the scheme being "pretend to be Lila Rossi's Professional Butt-Kisser" and having it drag out for months is showcased to most definitely be a drag.
- Hypocrite: Lila in spades, unsurprisingly:
- In order to turn the class against Alya, Lila brings up the Oblivio incident as an example of Alya playing fast and loose with the truth. Marinette mentally notes that Lila had a vastly different opinion of Alya's post at the time, loudly voicing her approval.
- Near the end of the fic, Lila takes the class to task for not being brave enough to confront her, instead trying to get Marinette to clean up their mess for them. She conveniently forgets that whenever someone does confront her directly, she cries wolf and turns everyone against that person.
- I Hate Past Me: Discussed. Far enough into Marinette's plan and Adrien hates his earlier advice to take the high road so much he wishes he had the Rabbit Miraculous so he could slap his past self.
- I'm Standing Right Here: When the dam breaks, somebody angrily declares that Lila is worse than Chloé... while Chloé is right next to them. She deems it to be a compliment.
- Ironic Echo: While enacting her plan, Marinette thanks Adrien at one point, claiming that she would have missed out on "a good friend" if he hadn't set her on the high road. Lila later reveals that Marinette said something similar to her, mockingly repeating her claim that she was lucky to have listened to him so that she didn't miss out on "such a good friend".
- Laser-Guided Karma: By the end, Lila is deep in this. Not only has everyone turned against her, she has a criminal record because she grabbed an akuma in front of dozens of witnesses, and will be going straight to prison if she steps out of line again. At school, she's moved to a separate classroom where she can be constantly monitored and warned that she'll be expelled for any further misbehavior. And finally, she's grounded indefinitely, and her mother takes all the nice things her classmates gave her or that she bought with their money and either returns them or donates them to charity, then makes Lila get a job to repay her former classmates with interest. Even Hawk Moth has decided that You Have Outlived Your Usefulness and doesn't bother trying to akumatize her again.
- Lighter and Softer: Compared to the author's previous work, Couturiere. Couturiere featured Marinette being transformed into Couturiere, an akuma bubbling with Sugary Malice who extensively calls out Adrien and the rest of her class while exposing Lila's true nature... and taking a violent revenge upon her. In Long Con, meanwhile, Marinette enacts a long-term plan that involves forcing Adrien and the rest of the class to deal with the consequences of letting Lila's deception go unchallenged. Marinette takes no joy in such measures, and doesn't completely blame her classmates for being fooled, while her akumatized counterpart was quite gleeful about venting her frustrations.
- Locked Out of the Loop: The story ends with Marinette having told no one she was faking being Lila's supporter.
- Malicious Slander: After Alya tries confronting Lila, Lila turns around and tries to drive a wedge between Alya and Marinette by telling the latter that Alya has been painting her as a crazy Stalker with a Crush. Marinette recognizes what she's up to, but still struggles to control her reaction, especially after she realizes it wouldn't exactly be out of character for Alya to spill her secrets so carelessly.
- Oblivious Guilt Slinging: Like the original work, this is Played With; Marinette pretends that she's blissfully unaware of Lila's true nature while thanking Adrien for setting her straight.
- Once Done, Never Forgotten:
- Marinette feels that her classmates have boiled down her entire character as "the girl with a crush on Adrien", despite all her other accomplishments and ambitions. Marinette privately admits that this hurts even more than her classmates not believing her about Lila, despite acknowledging that she had (unintentionally) attributed to this mindset with her past behavior.
- In order to erode everyone's trust in Alya after she publicly accuses her of lying, Lila reminds everyone of the Oblivio incident, where she deliberately misrepresented how Ladybug and Chat Noir were Kissing Under the Influence of their missing memories. Chloé also brings up how she broke into her locker.
- Plea Bargain: Implied after Lila is arrested for willingly grabbing an akuma. While the trial isn't shown, there are dozens of eyewitnesses against her and it's noted that her lawyers focused on pleading for leniency due to her age rather than trying to get her acquitted.
- Point of Divergence:
- Unlike the high road, when Alya figures out that Lila has been deceiving them all, the hot-headed Intrepid Reporter immediately confronts Lila and calls her out in front of the whole class. This makes matters more difficult for everyone aside from Lila, who twists the confrontation around to her advantage and leaves Marinette even unhappier with her plan.
- Another major divergent point is how the class ultimately decides to deal with Lila: by telling their parents about everything that's been happening.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: When the jig's finally up, Lila gives one to the whole class, calling them out for being Fair-Weather Friends who ignored all of Marinette's attempts to warn them:Lila: My point is, I told you all what you wanted to hear. You thought I was your ticket to stardom, and you thought Marinette would get in the way of that. So you pushed her away. The minute she became an inconvenience to you, you tossed her out like yesterday's garbage.
Alya: That's not true!
Lila: Isn't it? Tell me, why are you all just now confronting me? I saw how frustrated you all were, carrying my things and doing favors for me. But none of you said anything. Adrien, you knew for months that I was a fake, and you didn't say anything. So, again I ask, why now? I'll tell you why. Because all that time you were waiting for Marinette, your 'everyday Ladybug', to fix your mess for you. Just like you expected her to bring you pastries, or make clothes for you, or babysit, or host some stupid sports festival, or take the high road.
(Adrien pales; she chuckles at his expression.)
Lila: Oh yes, I know all about that. Marinette told me how lucky she was that she listened to you, that she would have missed out on such a good friend otherwise. Admit it, Adrien. You didn't care about being 'the bigger person', or whatever bull you told her. You just didn't want to deal with the drama. You didn't say anything because you were afraid you would get caught in the crossfire. When Alya confronted me that day in class, she was only concerned about how she was affected, about her blog's reputation. I mean honestly, it's not my fault you guys are too stupid to look things up. But then you realized that Marinette couldn't help you this time, so you finally got off your butts and decided to deal with the problem. Not that it matters. That bleeding heart Bustier won't do anything, everyone knows she plays favorites and doesn't punish her 'problem students'. And the principal is even more incompetent. I just have to mention my Ambassador mother and he'll roll over like the dog he is. And anyone else you tell, I'll just pull out the crocodile tears and say you're trying to slander me. You can't touch me. So yeah. I lied. I used you. And you know what? I'm not sorry at all. I'd do it all again in a heartbeat. And you can drop the righteous act, you hypocrites, cuz you aren't any better. - Recursive Fanfiction: Serves as one for the high road, with Marinette employing the same tactics, but not enjoying them as much as the original.
- Screw the Rules, I Have Money!: Downplayed. When Lila is put on trial for grabbing an akuma in front of dozens of witnesses, her mother gets her the best lawyers she can afford. Said lawyers aren't able to get Lila acquitted, but do manage to bargain for a lighter sentence on account of her age.
- Secretly Selfish: Marinette firmly believes her classmates to be this. Downplayed however, in that Marinette doesn't believe they're bad people because of it, and that she herself has been guilty of acting the same in the past when it comes to Adrien.
- Sheltered Aristocrat: Marinette realizes that Adrien, as a sheltered boy who has only recently started attending a public school and is friends with the school bully, has never dealt with being the victim of bullying.
- Too Clever by Half: Downplayed example. Marinette's con is performed exactly as in the high road (Miraculous Ladybug) and gets results, but unlike the original story Marinette feels skittish about how much of a waste of money, time, and patience it is to fulfill Lila's every whim.
- Troll: Marinette never tells anyone her plan even after the fact, implicitly because she finds it amusing.
- The Unapologetic: Lila makes very clear that she doesn't regret a single thing she did, or even especially worried about her classmates catching on to her true nature.
- Wounded Gazelle Gambit: Name-dropped by Marinette, who recalls "an old anime she saw years ago" where the characters discussed it.
- You Are Grounded!: One part of Lila's Laser-Guided Karma is that her mother confiscates all her electronics and the gifts she's convinced her classmates to give her over the last few months or bought with money she got from them. The gifts are either returned or donated to charity and the money from this used to repay Lila's classmates, with Lila being forced to get a job to make up the difference.
