Act 2 | Any Self-Respecting Duponter Could Outsmart a Trickster God (Seconde)

• Volpina (Fox Miraculous Holder Lila Rossi)
  • Name is inspired by her other canon name, Cerise Bianca.
• Rena Rouge (Fox Miraculous Holder Alya Césaire)
• Scout Bee (Bee Miraculous Holder Chloé Bourgeois)
  • Name is meant to reference her character arc in the fic. Instead of her name implying she subjugates others, it instead implies that she actively works to benefit the team overall.
• Hoofsie (Pig Miraculous Holder Zoé Lee)
  • Name is a combination of Hoof and Footsie — placing an emphasis on actions involving the foot alongside relationships. It is meant to reference the idea of “walking in someone else’s shoes” along with ballet.

Synopsis: Lila comes into school and tries to lie her way to the top using her miraculous, but this predictably doesn’t work due to Ladybug poking holes in her story. This leads her to become akumatized into Lady-Bug, and once Marinette saves her she hatches a scheme with Hawkmoth so she can get her all to herself by the Heros’ Gala.

“Get ready for some Mari-Nino & Alya-Adrien conspiracy bonding! Chloé and Emma also have depression during this arc, but Zoé & Sabrina hold their asses together through the thick of it. She and Zoé accept their mom as not being willing to try for them and basically get over her.

Lila overall is less of a mastermind and more of an insecure girl. She views Marinette up on a pedestal of friends, and so she tries to undo those bonds in order to bring her to her level. She hates Ladybug, which is why she’s so willing to lie to her face about liking her, but she loves Marinette, which is why she’s so willing to lie about anyone she converses with. In her eyes, everyone Marinette knows is a threat to their friendship, so she does everything in her power to make everyone look bad.

She makes Adrien uncomfortable in her modeling persona on purpose, isolates Marinette, and actively clashes with Alya. Alya and Adrien hatch a scheme to steal the fox miraculous from her (which DOES work) but Lila is just given the bee miraculous by Hawkmoth instead.”

This season is meant to emphasize the foils between Marinette and Lila as lonely teenage girls who desire friendship. Lila takes the toxic route while Mari, only mildly aware of the danger, takes these efforts in stride. The conspiracies to save Adrien and Marinette from Lila are also meant to parallel each other. The Gala is meant to serve as a grand unveiling of Lila’s schemes against both her prime friend and enemy, as well as Marinette’s lowest point. As Alya exposes Lila for her crimes in front of a crowd, she does not think about how going about it this way will embarrass everyone involved. Should end with Marinette announcing her departure from her Ladybug persona to the team via text message.