just realized that i've never posted anything about my danger force x miraculous ladybug AU. and it's a very fun AU, so i immediately started collecting all my notes about it to post here. <3
basic concept:
df kids in the mlb plot + worldbuilding.
one of my only two AUs with romantic dynamics. (the other one being the can you save me now series.) there's slowburn secret identity shenanigans with mika/chapa for the first half of the AU, eventual endgame of a mika/chapa & mika/bose polycule.
(but also important to note that all four of them are so inextricably entangled in each other's lives by this point that you Cannot separate any of them Ever. important to me. <3)
full AU concepts & lots of rambling under the cut:
hero identities:
mika - Elytra. ladybug holder. (named after the scientific term for a ladybug's outer pair of wings.)
chapa - Feraline. black cat holder. (name combines the words "feral" and "feline".)
miles - Chronobyte. snake holder. (name taken from "chrono", the greek root for time. the "byte" part of the name isn't actually inspired from the digital unit; miles just liked the spelling better than "chronobite".)
bose - Melopex. fox holder. (name inspired by: "alopex" = a greek word for fox. "mel" = a latin word meaning honey and sweetness. additionally, "meli/melos" are latin words that refer to a song, tune, or melody.)
initial AU dynamics:
so. opening the AU with swellview's newest hero duo, elytra and feraline. <3
mika initially thinks feraline is too reckless with her powers; she's an obnoxious show-off who doesn't take this seriously enough, only in this for the thrill and the chance to fight.
chapa, meanwhile - she's falling so quickly for elytra, this pretty hero who's clever and confident and cares so much-
chapa, who can't seem to stop using the hero identity as an outlet for all the pent up frustration and hurt from dealing with her family life. chapa, who's taking the chance to be something larger than life, someone whose problems are all tangible and can be destroyed if she just fights hard enough- chapa, who knows that she's showing elytra all the most unlikable parts of her - and she's not expecting anything other than begrudging tolerance in response. (that's the best she can usually hope for.)
but. maybe elytra doesn't exactly like her at first, not exactly, but- she cares. she cares so much, more than anyone chapa's ever met. swooping in to catch her when she's falling, pulling her out of situations that she jumped into without thinking. beaming at her when they manage to pull off a successful move. consistently annoyed with her biting comments, shooting her a glare in response - but still always smiling at her before leaving to detransform. always checking to make sure she's okay before wishing her goodnight and rushing off.
and meanwhile. mika macklin, hopelessly pining after chapa de silva. the girl in her class with the brash confidence and toothy grin, fiercely protective of her friends and with an undeniable edge to her- but mika can see the hints of softness shining through the closer she watches. and every genuine compliment chapa gives her makes her melt, all flustered and giddy.
and she's never really had friends other than her brother; she knows she's always been a bit intense, a bit too much, always feeling just on the outside of all the unspoken rules that seem to come easily to everyone else-
but. she snickers at one of chapa's jokes, and chapa grins back at her- and mika feels like she's flying, the weightless soaring that she usually only gets to feel when she's leaping across rooftops as a hero.
and as the hero duo gets closer-
feraline throwing herself into fights alongside elytra with a grin, full confidence in her partner.
sharp edges starting to soften the more they get to know each other.
feraline taking a hit for elytra without hesitation. elytra catching her as she crumples from it, slightly terrified, because- that looked bad- why would you- and feraline just grins up at her, some flirty teasing line slipping out with the usual dramatics- but then a quieter, disarmingly genuine "i told you: i've got your back."
mika gradually realizing how willing feraline is to follow her anywhere. realizing how much loyalty and protectiveness is burning underneath the careless and cocky exterior.
miles & bose both get their miraculous slightly later on; more on that later. <3
the villain situation
vice mayor willard is the AU's hawkmoth stand-in. butterfly holder. goes by Viceroy. (named after the viceroy butterfly + sounds similar to "vice".)
celia o'brien died prior to the start of the AU plot, so he's now the sole guardian of both bose and poopsie. he is doing a Terrible Job at this, and both kids have Many Issues as a result; more on that later. <3
mika macklin | elytra
1) mika's canon resourcefulness and skill at forming clever plans works very well with the lucky charm powers. <3
2) mika starts having exceptionally good luck as a side effect of the ladybug miraculous. <3 this mostly shows up in the form of her going on nice little walks to clear her head, and coming back Every Single Time with a free snack coupon that she found stuck to her shoe. <3
miles is initially fully convinced that his sister is stealing those, because- Every Single Time?? mika. mika where are you actually getting those coupons- so then he tags along one day, and. no, yeah, she's just. actually finding coupons. stuck to her shoe. Every Single Day.
later on, the kids are all hanging out together- chapa or bose mentions being hungry, and miles just goes: i have an idea. watch this. he gets mika's attention, then mentions loudly that they are So Hungry, and coincidentally, chapa Really Likes those pretzels they're selling at that stand over there, and bose Really Likes the lemonade, and it sure would be great if they had some way of getting pretzels and lemonade-
mika gives him a weird look. "miles. do you want me to buy you guys pretzels and lemonade. you can just ask-" and miles quickly interrupts with, "no, no- don't buy us anything. i just need you to…." he glances around. "can you walk over to the park and back?" "why." "uh. bose walked over there in exactly 3 and a half minutes earlier. he wants someone to beat his record." mika is already speed-walking towards the park without question.
(2.5 minutes later)
"guys!!! look what i found!!! :D" (coupon for a free combo meal of pretzel bites and lemonade from the pretzel stand <3) chapa slowly turns to stare at miles in impressed confusion. miles just grins. "works every time." and bose is already halfway to the pretzel stand to buy them pretzels and lemonade without questioning it any further, because- why question free pretzels and lemonade? <3
3) some species of ladybugs hibernate in piles together during the winter :) after getting her miraculous, mika gets much sleepier in the winter and stays way closer to her friends than usual, instinctively wanting them all close during the cold. <3
4) after getting the ladybug miraculous, mika suddenly has a deep, instinctive grudge against any species of spider that eats ladybugs. she is Fully Glaring at them every time she sees them without even realizing. <3
5) recurring bit of both chapa and bose mistakenly assuming that mika has a crush on elytra.
mika then has to desperately convince them that she absolutely does Not have a crush on Herself- without putting her secret identity at risk- and this almost always results in chapa (who does have a crush on elytra) being somewhat offended on elytra's behalf.
mika is So Tired. <3
chapa de silva | feraline
1) side effect of the cat miraculous: she develops the cat instinct of affectionately bonking her head against her friends' shoulders or heads. the other three have no idea why she started doing this, but they are Not complaining about getting Bonus Affection. <3
2) another side effect: she frequently has to stop herself from literally hissing at bose's stepdad every time he sees him <3 protective kitty cat kid who is Not Happy about this man once again failing to show up to an event bose asked him to come to. this will lead to chapa muttering under her breath to plagg about how she is so very good at restraining herself from violence, actually- plagg, see how good she is at Not Killing This Man, she should be Congratulated- (plagg agrees. it is very impressive and she should be congratulated. plagg & chapa destruction duo. <3 he loves that kid. <3) she can also purr. more on that later. <3
3) yet another side effect: the pupils of her eyes dilate when she's getting ready to attack someone. :)
4) key timeline alteration for the mlb AU: celia o'brien went on her first date with the vice mayor One Day Later than she did in canon.
which has a very fun butterfly effect on the AU, because- when 7 year old bose asked to borrow chapa's phone, he wasn't interrupted by his mom pulling him away for her date with the vice mayor. which means he was able to give her back the phone once he was done using it. which means mlb AU bose never stole chapa's phone.
which means! two key things:
one, the event that was the catalyst for chapa running away from home Did Not Happen. she didn't run away. she kept living at home, and the tension kept increasing with her parents- it's definitely not a great situation at all, but- she did have her phone. so she wasn't completely isolated. and two, mlb AU chapa & bose befriended each other that day in the arcade. <3 and stayed friends up until present day. <3 tiny little kid chapa & bose best friends. <3
so, key takeaways: we get to have pre-canon chapa & bose friendship in the mlb AU + mlb AU chapa never ran away from home.
5) you may remember me mentioning one time that four corners AU chapa gets to have a little menace of a stray cat named riot. this is also true for mlb AU chapa. :) riot the beloved kitty cat also exists in mlb AU for chapa to befriend. <3
miles macklin | chronobyte
1) recurring bit of miles, prior to getting his miraculous, having to cover for mika's constant disappearances with zero explanation.
he has no context for where she is right now, no idea what she could possibly be doing- but he is Committed to selling these excuses as to why his sister is late.
he is so pleased with himself, he is Succeeding at this, he is the Best Ever at making up cover stories. <3 (but also mika definitely owes him one later, this is getting exhausting-)
2) miles technically gets the snake miraculous by accident. due to a series of several rapid-fire mistakes on mika's part, the snake miraculous gets lost. and miles finds it. <3
mika quickly realizes that her brother has the missing snake miraculous- and also that she is So Dead if anyone finds out she lost it.
as a result of this, she ends up being distracted by this Inevitable Impending Doom during the next akuma attack. she gets trapped somehow, and feraline is still dealing with something else.
miles, seeing this on the news, figures that he should probably go help with that. :) now that he has a miraculous. :)
so he shows up to help, and mika is Going To Scream. because now, not only did she lose the miraculous, but this hero who just showed up is Definitely One Hundred Percent her twin brother. and she Cannot let him know she knows that- and also Why Is He Actually Really Good At This- this is the most annoying thing that has ever happened to her-
this ends with the twins' parents asking them how their days went. miles answering with "oh, pretty good. nothing much happened :)" mika proceeds to stab her food with enough force to earn a weird look from everyone present. "....my day was good too :) food's really good, dad, thanks- be right back, though-" and she walks over to her room.
they can all clearly hear her muffled screaming into a pillow from where they're sitting.
their mom glances at miles. miles shrugs. mika returns, now fully calm. :)
and that's how chronobyte joins the team. <3
3) snakes brumate during the cold. <3 and the main difference between hibernating ladybugs and brumating snakes is that hibernating ladybugs are fully asleep, but brumating snakes are awake but drowsy and inactive. so: miraculous side effects leading to the very sleepy macklin twins during the cold <3 mika is barely awake right now and is falling asleep the second she is able to; miles is just really drowsy and processing things much slower than usual. chapa and bose are concerned about both of them- are you guys okay-??
4) another snake miraculous side effect: miles sometimes has to Focus on making sure he doesn't just absentmindedly start trying to eat food without chewing it; it's happened a few times and everyone stared at him in confused horror. <3 oh, and also: his sense of time as a civilian starts getting much worse as a side effect from using the second chance power so often.
5) potential idea of miles getting a pet snake and naming it chronobyte. several fun shenanigans result. <3
bose o'brien | melopex
1) foxes are crepuscular animals - they're most active at dawn and dusk. so, after getting his miraculous- bose will transform into melopex in the early morning, and he'll be so full of energy. racing across the rooftops with a grin. the chill of the wind is biting at him, whipping sharply through his hair, and he feels so free and alive and delighted. the sun is rising over swellview, the sky is warm and golden. he feels amazing.
eventually detransforming and running back around to meet up with chapa on the way to school- almost fully crashing into her as he rounds the corner. she has to brace herself hard to keep the both of them steady, exasperatedly shoving him off her- but bose is laughing, eyes bright and so happy that it's contagious. she rolls her eyes, but they're both grinning now.
and then they're at school and the twins are there waiting for them, and! he's so happy to see them. <3 miles is waving at him, and mika's returning his smile as he and chapa sit down- and he's just. having such a good morning. <3
bose gets a lot of good mornings with the fox miraculous. <3
2) foxes grin when they're afraid. :) after getting the fox miraculous, bose picks up the habit of nervously grinning when he's startled. :) <3
3) haven't decided how bose gets the fox miraculous, but i do know that none of the other three know that it's him; the only one of the four who knows anyone else's identity is mika, who knows from the start that miles is chronobyte.
4) melopex's teammates call him "mel" for short sometimes, and he feels very soft and happy about this. <3
5) bose and mika are both canonically interested in studying languages. so, fun concept of melopex with his greek/latin-based hero name that he definitely spent a while coming up with- and elytra, who immediately knows exactly what he was going for with that, and thinks it's very cool. :) <3 also, fun concept of elytra being the only one who's actually aware that every time one of them shortens melopex's name to "mel", they're technically just calling him "honey/sweetness" in latin. she doesn't point this out, and all three of them keep doing it often, but she does feel very fond about the whole thing. <3
other/former miraculous holders:
very fun part of the AU. <3
1) the former black cat holder was ray, and the former ladybug holder was schwoz; chapa and mika got their miraculous directly from the previous holders (separately).
2) henry is either the former turtle miraculous holder, or he still is the turtle miraculous holder - somewhat undecided. <3
3) drex got ahold of null, the concept kwami of nothingness, during the hd part of the timeline. :) his plan was to erase ray from existence, in the AU's equivalent of the hd finale.
4) buddy fudgers gets the bee miraculous at some point during the df part of the timeline.
5) i think i had jasper and charlotte with the fox and the bee respectively during the hd part of the timeline. <3 piper also got a miraculous at some point, but. i have been typing for hours and my notes are scattered across so many tabs on this laptop. so i will remember the specifics of that Later. <3
and. this post is getting very long, so i'll put the rest of my notes into a part two, explaining all the fun plot concepts and such. <3
