In this AU, Marinette had been going to a different school all her life, with her own friend group, before having to transfer to Collège Françoise Dupont due to Ladybug duties making her chronic tardiness a problem, and her parents deciding that moving her to a school closer to home would help.
So she transfers to her new school during the events of Chameleon.
And is immediately acquainted with a class full of akuma victims (and one random blonde dude who she doesn't recognize), many of them gathered around this one girl that Marinette knows as Volpina and also the girl who lied about being her friend to the Ladyblog.
And that begins the chaotic mess that is her school life.
This is a reversal of the after-Chameleon AUs where Marinette transfers out of this school, mostly because I thought it'd be interesting.
Both she and Adrien are still Ladybug and Chat Noir respectively.
Anyway, I'd need to dedicate multiple posts just to describe the differences in classroom dynamics due to Marinette not being there, especially since this AU, while having a lot of background, begins at the beginning of Season 3.
Marinette also has her own friend group from her old school that are still incredibly relevant because not only are they still a major part of her life (remember, she only transferred, she didn't move away), but they also are the people she made temporary heroes in the previous season.
...yeah, they're the Quantic Kids. Sue me.
And he is Adrien's cousin in this AU too.
Basically there's a lot going on in this AU that I can't fit into one post.
But basically the gist is that Lila never left the school after the Volpina incident, and by the time Marinette arrives at school, she has most of the class under her spell.
Her lies are also even more ridiculous, because she's gotten to the point where she can pretty much claim anything and her people will believe her.
(There is a portion of the class that is skeptical at best and outright hates her at worse, the scale essentially being Nathaniel on the skeptical end and Sabrina on the hatred end for reasons I'll get to in another post later on)
On Marinette's end, she still does commissions for Jagged Stone (meeting him under different circumstances) and through him has met and done work for Clara Nightingale, but she never participated in the derby hat contest due to being at different school.
Marinette quickly figures out Lila is lying, but as she has no commitment to anyone at this school, she has a harder time deciding whether she should get involved. She probably should, but it's pretty clear at a certain point that Lila has all her followers wrapped around her finger, and any attempt to call her out won't go well for the person trying.
Then she learns Lila claimed to be the fox hero.
Because she knows who the fox hero is, and the real fox hero (Allegra if you must know) would never use her identity to do the kinds of awful things Lila does.
Lila attempts to befriend Marinette at first, to get her on her side, but when Marinette makes her disdain clear, Lila gets vicious, threatening her to get her to keep quiet.
But the threats don't bother Marinette, because Lila's power is focused on this school, and all the people whose opinions Marinette actually cares about are far away from Lila's influence. Marinette doesn't care if Lila tries to destroy her reputation at this school, because the people here don't know her and she doesn't know them. She'd like to make friends, but if Lila ruins that then Marinette won't be too bothered.
This definitely unnerves Lila, to have someone who she can't break easily.
The next blow Marinette deals to Lila is calling her out on her treatment of Adrien, who she encourages to stand up for himself and to tell people when he is uncomfortable.
Which surprises Adrien, but also makes him happy that he really is allowed to say no to people touching him.
(He starts crushing on Marinette soon after that)
And Lila realizes Marinette is a bigger threat than she thought.
Ultimately, Lila and Marinette essentially switch roles for Season 3, except Marinette wins people over from Lila's side unintentionally by being genuinely kind and helpful instead of the class being purposefully drawn in by Lila's lies.
While in canon, the class is drawn in by Lila's fame and her false promises, in this AU, it's all gotten a little stale. Even the people who seem firmly on her side are a little tired of her self-centered behavior, her inability to let other people celebrate their victories without immediately taking the spotlight with an extravagent story, the fact that they have yet to see her make good on her promises, and the inconsistencies that are getting hard to ignore.
Meanwhile, the canon class has come to expect Marinette's kindness and selfless acts to the point of taking her for granted at times, while in this AU they aren't nearly as used to it. Marinette is a good listener where Lila is not, making her someone they can go to when they are struggling, and she keeps her promises and doesn't brag about her accomplishments. When it eventually comes out that she has worked with Jagged Stone and Clara Nightingale, she downplays the whole thing and doesn't make a big deal of it, something Lila would never do. She also doesn't hesitate to stand up for others, and that makes her someone people want to be friends with.
Canon Lila is a fire that you never notice is growing out of control until the forest you were used to always being there has burnt to the ground. New Girl Marinette is a breath of fresh air after being stuck inside a burning house for so long, where the warmth and smoke has become suffocating.
Some episodes change significantly due to Marinette's new girl status (in Silencer, Luka and Marinette don't know each other that well, so while they bond due to her helping Kitty Section with their music video and costumes, he doesn't confess to her because he's not in love with her, at least not yet), some change only minorly (in Weredad, Chat Noir actually does like Marinette at this point and is a blushy, embarrassed mess after Marinette "confesses" to him, especially when her parents get involved, but he ultimately chooses to reject her for her safety due to Hawk Moth, which makes the story go pretty much the same after that except for Sabine comforting him instead of her own daughter), and some don't change except for in tiny ways (in Startrain, Marinette is still given the horse miraculous and still ends up cuddling with Adrien on the train, though this time by accident)
All in all, I'm the weirdo who took a salt AU and decided to reverse it for the hell of it, and this is the result.
TL;DR: A flip of a traditional ML Salt AU, the one where Marinette transfers to adifferent school. Instead, Marinette transfers to Collège Françoise Dupont in Chameleon, having gone to another school previously, and ends up causing problems for Lila, who didn't leave after Volpina and has a lot of power. Also, the Quantic Kids and Felix are in this too.
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