LadyBugOut AU

[Salt-Heavy AU] [Kwami Swaps] Immediately after the events of "Oblivio," discussion is brewing over the photo of Ladybug and Chat Noir kissing, with Alya excitedly soaking it all in. However, not all opinions are positive, and once Marinette takes Ladybug's side in the debate, the class ends up dividing itself on the matter completely. Questions are asked, seats are changed, and Marinette gets an idea of her own: if no one else will step up for Ladybug, she will, and she'll make a blog herself in order to do so. As friends come and go, a crush is crushed, new heroes are considered, and Marinette is able to clear her mind to focus on the more important things in her life. Her happiness, her new blog, and finding Hawk Moth. ————— ————— (for those who can't see the buttons:) [Ask] [Submit] [Tag List] [Canon] [Writing] [AO3] [Fancontent] ————— Salt Warning for this AU: [Adrien Agreste salt] [Alya Cesaire salt] [Lila Rossi salt] [Caline Bustier salt] [Chloe Bourgeois salt, I guess] [a bit of Nino Lahiffe salt]

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Does Hecattack have a canon design ?

No one has a "canon" design, nor a canon "name," really. I just have to use names in written snippets for obvious reasons.

Anyone who makes fanon works of my AU are free to change names/designs. The AU snippets are more like a rough outline (Lukanette endgame, the specific kwami swaps that happen, who gets salted on etc.).

Even my own designs aren't "canon." It's just my own personal take.

[ladybugout-au]

Out of the new heroes introduced in this AU, which ones would you say are your favorite to write?

Awww, I like ‘em all! </3 Don’t make me choose!

I know that “Luka” would be the answer everyone would probably guess, but I mean it when I say that I like all of them. They all have different appeal for me so I can’t pick!!

[ladybugout-au]

I saw the mention of Ladybug X Marinette fics and I thought "Wait, what about Ladynette fics written in an AU where Fem!Luka is Ladybug?" There could even still be a LadyBugOut, where Fem!Luka asks Mari to help her with her blog.

Oh my gosh, fem!Luka and Marinette would just be absolute messes.

They might’ve read a few themselves but then were immediately like, “NO THIS IS WRONG, WE’VE NEVER EVEN SAID IF WE LIKED EACH OTHER!”

Meanwhile, them unconsciously flirting and complimenting each other on camera, with every shipper vibrating excitedly in the background.

[ladybugout-au]

“Looks like even Chat Noir’s fans don’t understand rejetion.”

Pft my brain immediately added "either" at the end of this sentence. Makes so much sense given who they decided to support despite having the blog livestream completely outing his behavior.

Ahaha, yeah, that was my intent.

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Would really messed up Chat Noir fans and/or LadyNoir shippers go after Heccattack or even Marinette?

Oh God...

I mean, I wouldn’t put it past them. There would inevitably be some crazy fans, and Marinette would probably be blamed a lot since it’s her name on the blog and it’s easier to blame someone who can be gone after easier than a hero. Sort of an, “everything was fine with Chat until you showed up!” (Marinette wants to say that everything was definitely not fine but--identity shenanigans and all) thing.

There was probably at least one unpleasant incident, leading to one of the heroes swooping in to save her, showing their fearsome side and warning that Marinette is one of them, and messing with her is like messing with all of them.

On Hecattack’s side if he got bad people coming after him, he’s aware that he can’t please everyone, so he doesn’t try to and remains untouchable due to being a superhero. A reporter probably caught the incident on camera once and there may or may not have been a few admittedly-mean memes floating around about “Looks like even Chat Noir’s fans don’t understand rejetion.”

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So... does the team have their own secret base?

The Liberty is the unofficial “secret base” of the team. Large, big couch, no one can come in if they put the gangplank up, and the empty space on the opposite side of Juleka and Luka’s rooms can act as the “time-out” spot for whenever one of the couples is being that couple.

[ladybugout-au]

How would LBO!Adrien react to the 'potential' romance between Cat!Luka and Marinette?

Okay, this probably isn’t the answer you wanted, but I just had the hilarious mental image of Adrien rolling his eyes and thinking about how unprofessional it would be of Cat!Luka.

Like wow, you’re supposed to be heroing and here you are chasing romance? How awful.

(Generally speaking though, his reaction would be more confusion than anything because that rumor is mixed with the other rumors of Marinette having a romance with the other heroes too.)

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What is Adrien's reaction to the rumour that Ladybug and Marinette are dating?

They’re just rumors so he probably doesn’t put much stock into them so he can continue living in his delusion.

Though, hypothetically, tere’s probably one dumb part of him that would be like, “Oh, I didn’t do anything wrong to become unattractive to her, she’s just a lesbian.”

Conveniently forgetting about “Glaciator” where she said that she was in love with another boy.

[ladybugout-au]

What do you think about idea of Marinette giving Zodiac Miraculous to rest of Miraculous Team, so we can have (for example) DragonBug, Snake/Fox!Juleka, Tiger/Turtle!Ivan, Horse/Bee!Kagami and maybe Monkey/Cat!Luka?

I think I might’ve said this before(?), but if the zodiacs were going to be used, I’d more likely have it to where the entire team can cover each and every zodiac miraculous. They don’t divide evenly into seven but it’s also possible that there’s some overlay/sharing.

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By the time Kagami cuts ties with him + he loses the ring, does Adrien have even an inkling of an idea of the heroes' identities? Or is he too clueless + fixated on Ladybug to hazard a guess?

Absolutely clueless. He never knows/learns anything about the heroes’ identities.

[ladybugout-au]

The recent Power Rangers season had the Rangers actually set up a hotline for civilians to report monster attacks, and I immediately thought of your blog as soon as I saw it. Ironically, the main villain of that season also wants to revive his comatose wife.

omg that sounds great

Now I’m imagining the akuma alerts going off on the team’s phone and there’s the dramatic “*GASP* GOTTA GET TO BATTLE STATIONS”

Cue multi-transformation sequences and treating it as they’re all in some sort of base taking this super seriously.

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Once Nino becomes Fowlshadow, does he prefer to create his Avatars to help in the fights from himself, his teammates, or civilians who want to help? What is his order from most preferred to least preferred and why?

It usually depends on the situation, but his teammates, then himself, then the civilians.

His teammates are his most preferred because he likes seeing what they’ll make and also being able to divide the work. He’s not the most creative between all of them and knows that leading isn’t his specialty (this sounds like me dissing Nino but really, he’s just aware of his weak spots). He’s good at picking who to give his feather too as he understands when his own skills won’t be enough for the sentimonster.

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You’ve talked about Chat teaming up with Alya on her blog, getting suspicious backlash from the public for it, and eventually being cut off by Alya herself, with insistence from Nora, after “Been There, Done Chat”. Are you planning any ficlets of these occurrences?

Not really.

I mean, that would mean writing Chat and Alya like--on their own. I don’t want to suffer like that.

I think I wrote maybe one chapter with Adrien and Alya but it was, mm... more necessary, I guess? Writing them on their own is kinda... not fun, unless it’s for an akumatization (which I’ve written for both already).

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With this newest chapter, you’ve hit 50 chapters total!!! How ya feeling??

Feels good, bud! :D

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After reading that latest fic I'm just imagining Kagami having a "Boi," moment with Pollen. She's realizing just how messed up Pollen seems to be, if she didn't start out like that servant persona, and who hurt this kwami? (Pollen probably has a list and Kagami might try and fight them all.)

Fukiya: Ladybug, is there a miraculous for time travel?

Ladybug: Yes.

Fukiya: I need it.

Ladybug: Why?

Fukiya: I need it.

[ladybugout-au]

AAAYYY FUKIYA AND CHLOE CHAPTER!!! Can’t wait to see your fans freak out on AO3 when you upload there 😁

Ahaha, thank you!

me at my AO3 inbox like: 👀👀👀👀👀👀

[ladybugout-au]

Fukiya has a talk with Chloe:

—————

Kagami hated people like Chloe Bourgeois. Being the daughter of Tomoe Tsurugi, Kagami herself had gone - begrudgingly but quietly - to many social events, and thus was all too familiar with people like Chloe who gave upper class people a bad name. Kagami knew well enough that she had her own issues to work out, but Chloe was on a whole different level. She was spoiled, arrogant, and saw heroism as something to be praised for rather than be taken seriously.

That's what made it all the more aggravating when she, as Fukiya, ended up having to carry Chloe home after an akuma battle. She was not only one of the swiftest out of the group, but Chloe - for whatever reason - had demanded to be taken home by the bee, putting up a fuss when refused. Fukiya tolerated it with a cold stare, trying her best not to show too much irritation in front of her group of—teammates? Friends? She wasn't sure, but she was determined to remain professional and not let her biases influence how she presented herself.

Touching down on top of the Le Grand Paris hotel, Fukiya shifted, forcing herself to set Chloe down as delicately as possible. Chloe's arms were crossed, and she let out a huff as she checked herself over, examining her hair, nails, and finally her clothing.

"Hmph. Just barely good enough, for a newbie," she commented, adjusting her necklace back to its original position.

Fukiya didn't respond, turning to leave and only stopping when she saw movement out of the corner of her eye back where Chloe was. She glanced over her shoulder with a raised brow, noting that Chloe had extended her hand to her.

She paused, staring at it and vaguely wondering if Chloe was about to demand compensation for giving her the honor of carrying her, but was met with silence. She turned back towards her and stared with a questioning gaze, not having the patience for these guessing games.

Chloe rolled her eyes - as if the message had been obvious - then put a hand on her hip and leaned towards Fukiya, her fingers flexing insistently.

"Duh! My miraculous, hand it over."

"...What."

Despite her asking, she didn't get an answer. Fukiya genuinely couldn't believe that this was happening right now; that Chloe would have the gall to demand something like this.

"You expect me to simply give you the bee miraculous?" she asked.

"Well, the right thing to do would be to wash it first, but then you'd just dirty it again before you gave it back to me, so I'll get people to do it for you."

Fukiya blinked, almost too stunned by the sheer arrogance on display to be offended.

Almost.

"...No," she finally answered.

"Excuse me!?" Chloe gaped, aghast at how she was being treated.

"Not only am I not the person who decides who gets them and who doesn't," Fukiya began, "but I was the one entrusted with it. You are not. Not anymore."

Chloe rolled her eyes, waving a hand dismissively. "Ladybug will come around. She's just—"

"Furthermore," Fukiya continued, "this is not your miraculous, and it never belonged to you in the first place. I doubt you could even recall the kwami's name."

"Of course I can!" Chloe boasted haughtily. Turning to the side and flicking her head back, she pointed at where the bee comb would be had she been wearing it. "It's Pollen! If I didn't know, I wouldn't be able to transform!"

Fukiya sucked in a breath, her composure briefly failing her as her hands tightened into fists. In the short amount of time they'd known each other, she'd learned well that Pollen had feelings, both good and bad. Regardless of Kagami's personal feelings on the girl, Pollen just saw Chloe as a "past queen" without thinking too ill of her, as if the metaphorical crown had simply been passed down.

It made her wonder deep down if this was just a "thing" with holders; so long as they did their jobs, it didn't matter what happened to the kwami?

And here was Chloe, treating Pollen as if she were a thing. Fukiya felt certain that, even with Chloe's vast amount of money, Pollen wouldn't have gotten the same treatment that Kagami herself had given her if Chloe had been given the miraculous full-time. She didn't know much, but given Pollen's reaction when they'd first met, she seemed thoroughly drawn into the "servant" role.

Fukiya didn't like it. She'd been under her mother's command for years and thus understood Pollen's position: being trapped in an inescapable position, not having any control, and only able to do what she's told. Even with Fukiya herself, it wasn't as if Pollen had chosen to be given to a new holder, nor did she do anything to warrant it at least to Fukiya's knowledge.

It seemed wrong to ask, but she hoped that Pollen preferred her to Chloe.

"You're being ridiculous!" Chloe claimed, apparently having been prattling on this whole time that Fukiya was lost in her own thoughts. "Do you even know who I am!?"

"Yes."

Chloe gaped at her in offense, probably having planned to give a big speech on her identity.

"You're Chloe Bourgeois, daughter of the mayor Andre Bourgeois and Audrey Bourgeois." Fukiya glared. "And neither of those things earn you a miraculous."

Chloe snorted. "You forgot that I'm also rich."

I'm rich too, Fukiya thought idly, but didn't voice it. Even if she were allowed to voice her identity, her life was none of Chloe's business.

Walking towards her with a diva-esque strut, Chloe added pointedly, "And what do you think that means? It means I'm in control here. My daddy will have every police officer in Paris after my miraculous." Placing the back of her hand to her forehead, she leaned back dramatically and turned her voice to something purposefully exaggerated. "Daddy, that bee has stolen my entire legacy from me! Mommy, she said you didn't matter! She's completely, utterly ridiculous and must be stopped!"

Fukiya clicked her tongue, the mere thought of Chloe next to Pollen making her feel disgusted. "...Turn around."

"You can't order me around!" Chloe burst out.

After a calculated pause, Fukiya squinted and responded, "Don't turn around then."

Chloe huffed, crossing her arms and turning her back to her. "Don't tell me what to do!"

Reaching out, Fukiya snagged the back of Chloe's jacket, specifically near the collar. Earning a yelp from Chloe, Fukiya jumped up onto the railing of the hotel, balancing herself perfectly as to not fall off and keeping Chloe held up at her side.

"Hey, what do you—!?" Chloe squirmed, kicking wildly in an attempt to get down. "Let me go! You're wrinkling my jacket!"

Fukiya glanced down silently at the ground below. There was no one around to see them given the recent akuma, so Chloe's shouting was serving no actual purpose. She seemed to have no sense of self-preservation either, an aspect that Fukiya would consider necessary for a hero.

"If you drop me, my shoes will be ruined and Daddy will never—!"

In a simple motion, Fukiya turned and deposited Chloe gently back onto the rooftop. Chloe looked up at her, baffled and reaching behind her in an attempt to feel and smooth out her jacket.

"Your legs would also be broken," Fukiya pointed out, "but I wouldn't drop you regardless. I would never gamble with someone's life." Sharpening her gaze, she added, "Even for my own self-interest."

Chloe tried to speak up, but was intimidated by Fukiya's looming stance up on the railing, even stepping back as Fukiya dropped down.

Advancing on her, Fukiya raised her voice to exude both power and strictness. With Chloe backing away with every step she took, Fukiya explained, "You can't touch me, nor any of us. That's why it's dangerous to have the miraculous in the hands of someone who doesn't respect it. That's why Hawk Moth is the threat that he is: he's not touchable by the police as long as he has power. That's also why you can no longer be trusted with a miraculous; you have power without magic yourself, and you're using it to threaten the bee miraculous out of me."

"Bu—!" Chloe clammed up as Fukiya pointed at her.

"You will never have Pollen back," she stated, "Not as long as I can help it."

Leaving Chloe there, stunned, Fukiya turned and jumped back onto the railing, then dropped down to the ground below. Taking a breath, she began to walk off to find a place to detransform , only for someone to step out from the alley in front of her. She flinched at first, her emotions having been running high enough to where she'd blocked out the rest of the world.

"Are you okay?" Heavy Matal asked, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. "We were all pretty worried and I didn't use my power earlier, so..."

They were all worried, she thought to herself, then mentally shook off the surprise to respond, "There wasn't any need to worry. She doesn't have any way she can hurt me."

"Yeah, but—" Heavy Matal's face scrunched up in disgust. "—you were taking a while, and it's Chloe. She sucks."

Fukiya's face didn't change, but she snorted at the bluntness of the statement. "I apologize for worrying all of you. She was trying to take the bee miraculous from me and I had to put her in her place."

Heavy Matal tossed her a concerned look as she passed him. "What if Hawk Moth akumatizes her?"

Fukiya glanced over her shoulder at him. "Hawk Moth is an adult, adults have work they have to do, and this is a common work day for most adults. He can't spend all day akumatizing people, and even if he could, that would confirm that he's either homeless - unlikely since he hasn't used his powers to rob a bank yet - or so rich that he can afford to slack off on his work."

Somewhere, Gabriel Agreste sneezed.

"Anyway," Fukiya continued, "I'll have Pollen inform Ladybug over the group chat to keep an eye out for akuma."

"Mm." Heavy Matal nodded, any concerns alleviated. "And you're okay?"

"Yes."

The conversation ended there, and it was once Heavy Matal had left that Fukiya slipped into the alley that he'd been hiding in previously. Closing her eyes and dropping her transformation, Pollen emerged from her hairclip and hovered in front of her, blissfully unaware of everything that had transpired.

"Another victorious battle?" Pollen bowed as a show of respect rather than a show of being her servant, as they're compromised on. "Naturally! Your skills are unparalleled in combat!"

Kagami paused for a long moment, eyeing Pollen up and down while flashing back to the conversation she'd had with Chloe. She wondered what would've happened if things had been different: if LadyBugOut had never happened, the bee was never given to her, and Chloe had gone on feeling entitled to the miraculous.

"Did something happen?" Pollen called suddenly, voice tinted with concern.

Kagami's face had hardened without her realizing it. Returning her expression to something more neutral, her hand then began to raise almost involuntarily. Pollen's eyes followed its path until it fell upon her head in what wasn't exactly petting but wasn't a pat either.

"L-lady Kagami?"

Kagami didn't verbally acknowledge the gesture, but pulled her hand away at Pollen's voice. Turning away, she reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone. "What do you like?"

"Pardon?" Pollen hovered closer, keeping a respectful distance between them.

"You use honey to recharge, but isn't there a particular way you like it?"

She got a blank look in response, as if Pollen couldn't comprehend the question. Giving up on a proper answer, Kagami returned her attention to her phone, sending a polite text to Marinette to ask if she could stop by the bakery for some sweets.

She got a response in under a minute, Marinette lightly teasing her for the formality but otherwise assuring her that it'd be fine. Kagami's lips twitched into a comfortable smile at the playful juxtaposition from both Chloe and the akuma battle, which she welcomed despite Marinette's sometimes-overwhelming energy.

"Let's go," Kagami said as she put her phone away.

"Ah, yes!" Pollen recovered quickly, hiding herself away into her pocket as she usually did.

Kagami turned to head out of the alley, took one step, but stopped in place to consider something. Looking down at the pocket with Pollen in it, she asked, "Do you want to go?"

Pollen poked her head out, still just as puzzled by the line of questioning compared to before. This time though, she waved a paw and responded eagerly, "Yes, Lady Kagami! I'm sure you would only bring me to the most wonderful of establishments! I look forward to it!"

Satisfied with that, Kagami nodded and left to make her way to the bakery, certain that she could get Pollen something delicious that she'd never had before. It didn't completely get rid of the bad feeling in her gut, but it was a start.