#chloe's second chance au

[luluy33art]

Cooking a new AU rn

[tumblingxelian]

Tiger!Chloe (Thematic & Visual Language)

I finally figured out why I like Chloe with the Tiger Miraculous so much as a concept, beyond the rule of cool angle.

See, there were some design elements in making Chloe Queen Bee that mattered in serving to set her up as a distaff counterpart to Marinette. One who could be her rival, her ally, her opposite and equal.

The main one being that she shared a tool type with Ladybug. Both had a toy that could be used as a whip, bind and means of travel. The Tigers Bola has the same visual benefit, while adding a sub textual layer that Chloe is more offence oriented.

The other is more blunt but still very present, namely there's the classic stripes contrasting spots angle, which also came with the Bee & is present with the tiger.

But, there's an added boon to the tiger too!

Namely, it gives Chloe similar coding to Adrien! After all, Tiger & Cat are both felines, both their powers are primarily released via hand strikes. Both are violent and destructive powers. It shows how the both in many ways come from a similar place, are made of similar stuff but are at the same time, very different.

Basically, it doubles the visual themes and story telling one can do.

I dunno, I just think that its neat.

[shakytailstudios]

The Dueling Fates of the Guardian Neos & Lady Glasswing

In a world familiar yet strange, tragedy and a gifted Butterly pendant sends a child on a dangerous and destructive path in a bid to undo what was wrought.

While circumstances and the will of the Kami see a very different child granted an opportunity to be something she never truly thought possible, a hero.

These designs are for an AU, I have outlined but only written a fraction of, where in Marinette and Chloe oppose one another as the mysterious Lady Glasswing and the fiery Neo Guardian of the Kwami.

Thematically, its centered-on idea relating to "good victims" and "Bad victims" and how that status impacts victims. How systemic and social failures can lead to destructive and harmful behaviors while support and guidance can serve to correct and heal.

Both would serve as sort of mirrors to one another, spoilers below:

Chloe was a "bad victim" in response to emotional and psychological neglect and abuse. Which largely caused her to act out in harmful ways and be rejected, only reinforcing her behavior.

Marinette was a "Good Victim" after a tragedy. She didn't make waves or lash out, didn't try to cause trouble & so didn't get the support she needed & began spiraling as a result.

Thanks to the support of the Kwami and a growing team of people who refuse to be chased away by her temper as well as an outlet that sees her getting positive feedback, Chloe begins to heal and improve.

Meanwhile Marinette's increasing alienation from people born of systemic and social failures, exaggerated by the Butterfly's use see her becoming more destructive and callous in her isolation.

Thematically and narratively, the idea would also be for Chloe's attitude to steadily shift from "Spite/defeat Lady Glasswing no matter what" to "Save Marinette from herself the way others saved me."

Notes:

Glasswing is also a type of Butterfly and rather fitting as Marinette comes to believe her Akuma are forcing people to show their true selves. She also has to Akumify Caterpillars into cocoons to get butterfly's.

Chloe starts out constantly swapping between Kwami and so doesn't have a "Designated" Kwami, but she trends towards Sass for the Second Chance theming and Roaar for the combative outlet, her suit adapts its colors to her Kwami.

The team is loosely made up of:

Adrien - Horse & Ladybug

Sabrina - Fox & Turtle

Zoe - Black Cat & Dog

Kagami - Dragon & Peacock

Fei Wu - Mei-Shi & Mouse

Lamb & Rooster are indetermined, & I'd be using my 12/15 Kwami Lore, seen over on my main blog.

Lila would have Trixx at the start but lose him due to irresponsibility in the field due to fame-seeking. She ends up wielding the stolen Prodigious on Marinette's side while beginning to realize she is in over her head.

Ironically, with no Gabriel to ruin her life, Fei's much more well off but wants the Prodigious back.

[maspers]

Ranking the Miracucast by how good of a Doctor Who Companion they'd be.

Marinette: She'd be great at it, but she would also hate it and just want it to be over. She's tired and has no time for this shenaniganry. Please give her this chance to not be involved. 5/10

Alya: Would have SO MANY QUESTIONS. Could do very well, but I can see her veering dangerously close to Adam Mitchell territory. Careful there, Alya. 7/10

Adrien: Yes. 10/10

Nino: I think he'd be a decent TARDIS passenger, but he's the type that'd be part of an ensemble. Wouldn't work as well as a solo companion. 4/10

Chloe: Sorry Chloe fans, but no. The Doctor can pull a redemption arc out of anyone, but they also have no patience for bullcrap. It's just not happening no matter how much I want it to. 1/10

Sabrina: I think she would be great, but the fandom would not like her as a companion. 6/10

Mylene: Yeah, she would not like it. 0/10

Ivan: If Mylene isn't going, then neither is he. 0/10

Rose: Would be absolutely hilarious due to her name alone. Accompanying a Classic Doctor might be better for her. 7/10

Juleka: I don't care what you say she would be excellent and the fandom would love her. Ironically would probably fit better with a NuWho Doctor. 10/10

Kim: The Doctor does not want Kim in the TARDIS. Kim has been in the TARDIS at least once, and the Doctor has vowed that it will be the last time. They're wrong. 4/10

Max: The Doctor would ADORE Markov. Max would be Markov's plus one. 7/10 by proxy

Alix: Pretty sure she already is a companion. Like. In canon. We haven't seen it but it's definitely happened, fight me. Alix/10

Nathaniel: I want to say he'd be great but in my heart I know he would be Very Stressed. Definitely would not want to travel with the Doctor, but would keep getting dragged along by his friends. The fandom would love him though. 5/10

Lila: As she is now? Absolutely not. The Doctor would despise her. -10/10, BUUUUUUT if she was picked up before Volpina (or pre-Chameleon at the latest) I think she could be redeemed like in the Scarlet Lady AU. She would be hilarious. She gives me Turlough vibes. If the Doctor can deal with Turlough and Missy then he can deal with Lila. She has the potential to be unique and have an interesting character arc compared to other companions, and let's be honest NuWho needs something unique and interesting. 8/10

Luka: Like Nino, he works better as part of ensemble. Would be an excellent supporting character for Marinette or Juleka if they were companions, or maybe be a very cool Oneshot Companion like Wilf. 3/10

Kagami: The Doctor would have their work cut out for them, because Kagami is a "stab first ask questions later" person and the Doctor doesn't vibe with that normally. Neither The Doctor nor Kagami would be happy with this arrangement. So naturally Kagami's sole season would be one of the best in the entire show. 9/10

Marc: He would travel with either the Second or Thirteenth Doctors. He would do wonderfully, but his seasons would definitely be more focused on the Doctor than Marc himself. Sorry Marc. 7/10

Ondine: Is too busy keeping Kim out of trouble. And as stated previously, the Doctor does not want Kim in the TARDIS. 2/10

Felix: I just don't think it would work. Felix could definitely be a major recurring character, but somehow I can't really see him actually being a companion proper. He does get bonus points for being British. Perhaps instead of being a companion he spends his free time annoying Torchwood. 3/10

Zoe: She'd be great. But the universe would be Very Cruel to her. People will die, and she will not be happy about it. 8/10

[natedogx15]

A Problematic Queen's Guard

Here's another Miraculous Ladybug au. This one could be considered a Scarlet Lady version of my Accidental Guardian Marinette prompt.

What if Master Fu lost the Miracle Box and most of the Miraculous while trying to escape the temple? What if Andre ends up buying it as one of his many gifts to Chloe while thinking it is a rare jewelry box? What if Chloe realizes what the Miracle Box is and decides to use it to become exceptional?

In this prompt, Chloe has the Miracle Box and uses the different Miraculous inside to try to become exceptional by making and leading a superhero team. She finds out from the Kwami that the Ladybug Miraculous is considered one of the two strongest and decides she wants that to be hers while letting Sabrina pick another Miraculous.

Chloe can start her campaign before Hawkmoth's campaign to claim the Miraculous and it's her actions that cause him to realize the Miraculous are in Paris. You could have Chloe be willing to keep her identity a secret by Sabrina suggesting she hold off on the reveal so her mother is the first to know. So, he doesn't have an easy way to get to them.

As Scarlet Lady, Chloe is about the same as in the comic. The main difference here is that Chloe has access to all the Miraculous and can grant them to people who she can use to fight Akumas for her while she enjoys the limelight, arguing that she should be kept safe since she's the only one who can fix any damage done by Hawkmoth.

The people she chooses are those she knows she can manipulate or bully into listening to her, for example, Kim or Mylene. You could possibly make it where this causes them to be more incompetent than in canon.

As for Master Fu and our main characters. You could have Master Fu manage to save a couple of Miraculous. He would then give them out after realizing the Miracle Box and Butterfly Miraculous. He might give one to Adrien and Adrien can get a second one from Chloe later.

Or you could give Marinette the Black Cat Miraculous and make her the one to pick up the slack from the other wielders while Adrien gets a Miraculous from Chloe. As time goes by, she might be able to talk the members into following her instead of Scarlet Lady.

That's if you don't want to make this a Chloe redemption story. I think there's a good chance for it to be an interesting one.

[generalluxun]

Chloe goes back in time AU in terms of enemies, who does chloe see as her worst enemies an people she despises the most, I go in the order of her parents, ladybug, hawkmoth, later adrien and Sabrina and then rest.

For why her parents first, well she built herself after them in terms of looks, mannerism and personality all her life out of the believe they genuinely love her and treasure her, only to realize that they despise her and believe her a waste of time only useful for an ego boost.

Ladybug and hawkmoth for different reasons, the first one who I can guarantee chloe truly admired in her life outside her parents and who broke her heart and made her feel used, the second one who well just use as his personal attack dog all time wether she want it or not.

Adrien and Sabrina, I get she would think of them as false friends who stuck with her for lack of options and always despise her, but never actually voiced.

The rest of the people in are more in her mind back room noise at best ignored.

Special mention goes to Zoe who just like her parents convinced for a while that they were family and like adrien and Sabrina only stood by her side out of lack of options.

Different people have different reactions. Ranking isn't quite easy though some more intense than others. (These are all Chloe's opinions, not objective truths)

Her Father- The ultimate betrayal. He was her parent for most of her life. most of what she knows, she learned from him. He abused his power, so she abused his power. She did everything 'right' and it failed her. As soon as Zoe showed up he replaced her, up to and including banishing her. Her contempt for him was mimickry of her mother before, now it is genuine.

Her Mother- Her mother doesn't love her and is cruel to her. Chloe tried to be everything her mother wanted and it wasn't enough. Chloe is more sad than angry at her mother, but since sadness turns to anger with her often, it's angry too.

Zoe- Zoe cheated and betrayed her. Chloe took Zoe in and tried to teach her all the rule that Chloe had lived by. She 'caimed' Zoe when a lot of kids wouldn't touch some rando from overseas with a 10 foot pole at age 14. Zoe's betrayal works in two ways. One is that Zoe obviously picked the others over Chloe, the second is that Zoe didn't follow any of the rules and she still 'won'. That's not how it works. That being nice could work runs counter to everything Chloe knows and has experienced herself, so it causes her pain to think about it.

Ladybug- Chloe idolized her, and Ladybug abandoned her. Chloe made genuine efforts to be a good hero, she fought to protect others. She backed up her comrades when they were in danger. She rejected Hawkmoth! And... she was abandoned for it. Chloe sees Ladybug as 'fake' and two faced(which you now ties into everyone else too) She wants LAdybug to acknowledge her screw up more than anything else. She wants to show she's a better hero than Ladybug.

Marinette- They've been rivals (Derision isn't canon) forever, and Marinette won. Marinette 'stole' Adrien. Marinette went from being picked on, to picking on Chloe. Losing hurts. This isn't an extremely deep cut though honestly.

Adrien- False friend, someone who went right for others the moment he got a chance. How many times did they hang out in canon? Zero? One? Maybe? Both Zoe and Adrien basically did the same thing on different time scales. She doesn't hate him, she's hurt and angry.

Sabrina-Sabrina's backstab hurts. Chloe *does* know deep down that she was pushing Sabrina too hard. She had developed a deeper set of insecurities after Miracle Queen and so leaned even harder into emulating her mother. She doesn't know what else she could have done though, so she blames Sabrina some for leaving. She thinks the underhanded sneaky betrayal was terrible too. How can she trust Sabrina, knowing betrayal lurks in her heart? This breaking-off hurts the most out of everything though. She misses Sabrina.

Hawkmoth- He's a jerk. She would punch him in the face if she could. Same with Mayura. There's not much deep here. It's just contempt for a couple of losers.

Lila- Chloe knows in a nebulous way that Lila tricked her... somehow. She isn't smart enough to sift through it all, so it's a vague sense. She was wary of Lila before she hit her low point in S5, she's back on being wary. She doesn't think Lila has anything to offer her. All she did was lose things once she got involved with Lila.

Others-Vague sense of 'you are lame and always hated me' all her other anger/emotions are clouding up the fact they MAY have had reasons for it. None of them come up to direct ire though it's just 'Keep away from me, you suck.'

Did I miss anyone?

Felix-Oh, F that guy. She hates him. He always tricked her.

[princess-of-the-corner]

Had a realization regarding the Aware AU. The question of if Sabrina & Adrien are friends was asked and I think the answer is an emphatic yes.

Cos timeline wise, Emilie disappeared when the previous school year was still on. This was followed by the grief and then the revelation "Our parents don't care about us" crisis's, leading out the school year & a two month break.

Sabrina may not have met Adrien during the school period, but during the break. When Adrien's actively agitating to get out, when Chloe is aggressively trying to both reinvent herself and generally distance herself from her parents. That's when she'd meet him and given how easily Adrien makes friends its easy on his end.

For Sabrina it'd also be a neat experience cos if we go by season 1 she was both very game for anything and also really liked the idea of her & Chloe being thick as thieves. Chloe tended to stamp the breaks on that and remind her who was leading, IE the "We're awesome- sorry you're awesome" thing.

Here though?

That's less of a thing.

Not to say its not present, if anything overcoming her dynamic with Sabrina would likely be one of the hardest things to do. But she also pointedly cares about their relationship and Sabrina idolizes her so there's no shortage of second chances.

Plus she'd be actively trying to cut out some of her more overtly unfair behaviors by virtue of them being mimicry as opposed to her trauma bleeding through. So while she might need practice, some things do get intentionally ignored or rejected to make a point. "No Sabrina's not my assistant she's my friend and probably way smarter than you, Felix."

Adrien's presence would also help in this regard. He'd not see the dynamic itself as inherently terrible. Its Andrey & Audrey, Emilie & Gabriel, even himself & Chloe to an extent. A more gentle accommodating (Weaker) personality being led by a more aggressive, bold (Strong) personality.

His main contributions would be just highlighting when she's acting too much like her parents, especially Audrey & otherwise serving as a buffer for when she's too prickly to be anything but hostile. With the former call out leading Chloe to usually reverse course change thrusters and circle back and the latter giving plenty of bonding time.

Plus, Sabrina's respect for authority is pretty much only respect for Chloe's authority. So she'd be very happy to help in any scheming and generally be down for whatever they are up to in easy defiance of Gabriel or Andre.

So yeah I think they'd definitely be friends by the time school rolls around.

How cognizant she'd be to their situation or what brought the changes on... I think she'd have picked up enough clues that she knows their parents suck & they realized their parents suck & are now essentially in a constant state of low grade rebellion.

The specifics, extent or ways this manifest in issues would be harder to parse given her general reverence/dedication to people she likes/admires. But I imagine she'd have a pretty decent grasp of Adrien's situation mechanically, and knows/deduces far more of Chloe's than she realizes.

Honestly I love Adrien and Sabrina friendships and I really need to write more of that.

Also while Sabrina isn't in the 'rich' club she can be put in the 'oh I realized my dad sucks' club.

[duckapus]

So in the Self-Help Hotline AU I'm starting with just seven Ashes, eight when you include the central Ash who's just starting out. I'll probably add a few at certain milestones (definitely when he goes to a new region (including the Orange Islands that totally counts) possibly after movies and similar Big Legendary-Related Disasters but I'm undecided there). Arceus gave them all nicknames because otherwise it'd start with the chat filled with nothing but "Ash Ketchum" and it'd be impossible to tell who's talking.

Mini-Me: The central Ash who just got a Pikachu who hates him but is technically giving him a chance (you really think he couldn't have just ran away whenever, even during the fishing line bit?) and left Palette Town on the Pokemon Journey of a lifetime. An arrogant, overconfident little dumbass elementary-schooler with a heart of gold who constantly switches between having an ego nearly as big as Gary's and having no self-esteem whatsoever with no in-between.

O.G.A. / TheLlamasErrandBoy: The Ash from the end of the main timeline (or at least a timeline so extremely close to it that it's functionally the main timeline), with all the character development and Trauma that entails. Arceus gave him Admin Privileges and Dipped after explaining what the chat was made for so he's allowed to change nicknames and immediately abuses that power to roast The Original One Itself.

QueenOfTheWorld: Ashley Ketchum. She had a few Realizations during the stuff in Celadon so she's transfem. Her Journey had the fewest differences from the Main Timeline of the six AU Ashes since being a girl didn't change that much about her life.

L.G.M.: The version from my Invader Ash AU. By now he's aware that his mission wasn't what he thought it was and is fine with being Earth's hero instead of its ruler. He's still morally a very dark grey and kind of crazy though. He is still an Irken and still loyal to the Empire (particularly Tallest Delia) after all.

Aaron Jr: an Ash from a world where the Aura Guardians never faded into obscurity and he received formal training from a young age. Insists that he doesn't count as a child soldier since he stumbled across disasters on his journey for Chosen One Reasons just like the other Ashes did rather than the Order deliberately sending him to solve those problems. Actually the fact that this literal child keeps ending up in so much danger despite their best efforts is one of the Order's biggest headaches. The fact that he's so good at dealing with it (and is one of the most powerful Guardians in decades) only eases their worries a little.

Spooky: A version of Ash who succumbed to the injuries and exhaustion he sustained during the Spearow chase and became a Misdreavus due to a hasty halfway-too-late resurrection attempt from Ho-Oh. He's currently a Mismagius, a master illusionist, the World Monarch just like most of the other Ashes, and has long since come to terms with his death and species change. He does still have a vengeful hatred (and slight fear) of the Spearow line, but can you really blame him?

MyJobIsBeach: An Ash who stayed in Alola to help fully establish the League after becoming the Champion. He did technically go through the plot of Journeys but instead of being a research assistant he just kept running into Goh and Chloe while working his way through the World Coronation Series. He is still friends with them but not quite as close as in most timelines.

DoTheMario!: An Ash who's somewhat more familiar with the Multiverse than the others because his world is permanently linked with a version of the Mushroom Kingdom following a recent adventure. As in, he just finished dealing with the related Big Disaster and stabilizing the connection (since for Complicated Space-Time-Continuum-Could-Get-Torn-Apart reasons they couldn't sever the connection) a couple weeks before the chat got made. Since the point of divergence was so recent (and post-series) he's the second closest to the Main Timeline out of the starting lineup after Ashley.

[coralpaperthoughts]

I am drawn between two options !!

So Adrien and Marinette Do Not get along as superheroes, due to the rivalry over their love interest, but is it the same as civilians?? Coz there's two options:

1) Adrien and Marinette have a rivalry over something in civilian form, maybe Marinette caught Adrien with the gum on her seat and the umbrella scene didn't happen, maybe it just never rained that day so there was no chance for Adrien to redeem himself

So now Marinette lumps Adrien together with Chloe, coz no friend of her could possibly be nice, and Adrien just doesn't have the energy to correct her so he just rolls his eyes and gets on with his day (coz please let me boy have at least a bit of back bone and let him stick up for himself for once) and they sorta just send daggers through their eyes to each other coz they're melodramatic

They also have an academic rivalry coz they're battling for second best of the class (obviously Max is first) and also they battle for Class President too, dragging Nino and Alya into their rivalry too (but they love each other too much to let it get to them, they just play along)

OR !!!

2) Adrien and Marinette are like this 🤞 out of the masks, they are the bestest bestest friends coz, although they love Nino and Alya very much, they always end up getting stuck together for outings and hangouts, Nino and Alya will constantly ditch them to go on dates

This time the umbrella scene does happen, but instead of Marinette falling in love (because by this point she's already falling in love with Scarletbug) she just realises that Adrien isn't actually an asshole like Chloe, so she decides she'll accept his advances at becoming friends

And they just get along so well !! they have so much in common, so many similar hobbies and interests and just a lot to talk abt and they pretty much hit off immediately

These four become inseparable,

and obviously there's the ppl who start shipping Adrien and Marinette but they either ignore them or are oblivious to the talk - they're just really good friends coz they're superhero counterparts have a rivalry and the irony of the situation is just hilarious and also they just haven't fallen in love with each other yet,, yet

And I mean ig I could make it that Marinette does fall for Adrien during the famous umbrella scene, but I don't think that's fair coz Adrien thinks he's gay, in this AU, and he doesn't realise until later on that he's actually bi

and also he's very open about his gayness, it's one of the first things he casually mentions after he gets to know a person and can trust them (didn't take him that long to trust Nino or Marinette) so Marinette would know that she doesn't stand a chance (yet) and I just dont think that's fair on her and I wouldn't wanna write that either

edit: i wanted to clarify that Adrien isn’t out yet to the public, he isn’t a public gay figure (yet) because he hasn’t really told his dad yet and he doesnt even feel like telling his dad coz his dad is a POS that probably wouldn’t even remember his name if it wasn’t plastered all over the city so Adrien just doesn’t waste his breath (eventually though, Adrien comes out to his dad in a heated argument and idk what the outcome that discussion will be just yet)

masterpost

[cloudlessly-light]

hiiii bestie, I have a smut prompt for you

An AU where Aaron is Emily’s best friends ex. There’s always been tension between them but they obviously don’t do anything about it…and then he breaks up with her bestie...and they finally give in to their *feelings* 👀👀

A/N: Bestieeeeeee, I hope you like this one, you deserve all the good things!

Title: Pull me tight and close your eyes (Part 1/2) Summary: College AU. Emily’s best friend and roommate starts to date Aaron and it’s the first time Emily feels like she can’t trust herself around another person. She shouldn’t be envious of her best friend, but she is.   Word Count: 3,2k Rating: Explicit (this chapter is not filthy part 2 will be) Overall Warnings: Smut, dirty talk, might add more For this chapter: alcohol consumption

“Hey Em!” Chloe says as she walks through the door to their shared dorm room. She throws her bag on her bed before immediately jumping to join Emily on hers. “Whatcha doing?”

“Studying for my psychology final.” She barely looks up from the book she’s reading even as Chloe presses her side against hers.

They had met last year in class, had quickly hit it off and become close friends fast. Chloe was everything Emily wasn’t. She was blonde and bubbly, green eyes that always held a hint of kindness in them. She was also a lot shorter than Emily was, but an energetic energy that seemed to vibrate onto others always made her stand out in a crowd.

They couldn’t be more different, but they fit together and for their second year of college they decided to room together. It was working out great, except for instances like these, when Chloe clearly wanted to hang out and Emily was set on studying.

She smiled into the book, already knowing what was going to come out of her best friend’s mouth before she said it.

“It’s Friday night.” She gently pushed her shoulder with her own. “There’s a party tonight, we have to go.”

“Oh we do huh?” The teasing tone combined with the fact that Emily still didn’t look up from the book in her hands made Chloe huff and roll her eyes.

“Yes, cause Aaron is coming.”

Now that got Emily’s attention. Aaron was a boy that her best friend had recently started dating. She had been unusually secretive about it, all Emily really knew was that he was a law student, a few years older and apparently incredible in bed.

“What are we wearing?” She grinned as she let Chloe drag her towards her dresser, the blonde already throwing different dresses in her direction.

*

Emily laughed at JJ and Derek on the opposite side of the beer pong table as she got the ball into their sixth cup.

“I told you not to challenge me!” She grinned when the couple on the other side drank the beer while she bumped her hip with Spencer who was standing beside her.

“Do I even want to know how you’re so good at this?” He asked but Emily didn’t get the chance to answer, her name being called through the crowd.

“Em!” Chloe was pushing her way through the house, a tall guy following her close behind. “Fuck I leave you alone for two minutes and you disappear.” She joked and Emily gestured to the table.

“When a man tells me he’s going to beat me in anything, I have to take him up on the challenge.” Her eyes drift from her best friend to the man beside her and then back to Chloe who seems amused by her words.

“Oh! Emily, this is Aaron, Aaron this is Emily, my best friend and roommate.”

Emily swallows hard, her mouth suddenly dry as she locks eyes with Aaron. His hand is warm and dry as he shakes hers, a subtle arrogance about him that she shouldn’t find attractive but does makes her stutter slightly.

“Hi Emily, it’s nice to meet you.” He smiles, a cheek dimple popping out and she finds it cute.

“Likewise.” She’s surprised her voice doesn’t crack, her hand tingling when she pulls it back.

“I’m going to get us drinks. Please don’t move.” Chloe bounces off before either of them can object and Aaron chuckles and scratches the back of his head.

“So.” He says, dark eyes zeroing in on hers.

“So.” She ignores that Spencer has continued the game behind her and is probably losing but she can’t seem to tear her focus from him. “Chloe told me you’re in law school, I bet you thought you were done with college parties.”

“Yeah it never really was my thing even when I was in college.” Aaron shrugs and then pushes some dark hair out of his forehead. “But Chloe wanted to come.”

“Right, she does enjoy a good party.” Emily immediately felt guilt, this was her best friend’s date, she should not be thinking about how the angle of his jaw looks sharp even in the dark lighting, she should not want to feel his hand back on her and she should most definitely not look at his mouth when his tongue peeks out to wet his bottom lip.

“She does.” He agrees easily, something calm about him that makes him even more alluring. “She said you met in class, are you studying psychology as well?”  

“I’m majoring in criminology, but minoring in psychology and linguistics.” She sees one of his eyebrows rise in surprise. “I like to keep busy.” She adds and he laughs, a short, deep chuckle that makes the fine hairs at the back of her neck rise. She had never felt this kind of blatant attraction to another person and it made the guilt burn like hot iron in the pit of her stomach.

“Clearly.” He’s still smiling at her and then Chloe shows up out of nowhere, two cups in her hands.

“Has she threatened you yet?” She asks and Emily rolls her eyes while he looks between them with a look of confusion. “She always threatens anyone new.”

It was true and Emily realizes that she had been too distracted by him to even think the thought.

“No, we didn’t get to that.” She says just as they hear cheers behind them followed by a groan.

“Em, I need help over here!” Spencer calls and she turns to see only two cups standing on their side of the table, while the remaining four was still on the other side.

“Duty calls I guess, but after I’m done kicking their asses I’ll come find you?” She smiles at Chloe who only laughs, the sound loud and infectious even through the loud volume around them.

“Sounds good.”

It’s not long until the game ends, JJ and Derek winning and Emily blames Spencer even though after meeting Aaron she had missed ever single shot she had taken, her focus clearly not there. She finds Chloe and Aaron in a corner, seemingly lost in conversation and she decides not to interrupt them.

If Chloe noticed that Emily left the party early, she didn’t comment.

*

A few weeks go by and Emily couldn’t be happier that it was Friday as she headed out of her last class of the week. She and JJ had decided to go out for a coffee to trade notes for their shared sociology class. The coffee easily turned into dinner, as it so often did and by the time Emily was walking down the corridor towards her room it was late.

She’s exhausted, maybe that’s why she doesn’t hear the don’t come in through the door as she unlocks it and then comes face to face with Aaron, laying in only boxers on Chloe’s bed. He freezes as she looks at him with wide eyes, clearly in the midst of reaching for his clothes that are piled on the floor.

They’re stuck in an eye-lock for what felt like an eternity, then her eyes moves over his body, strong and tall and it takes her another second to realize that she’s still in the doorway and she shakes her head in a vain attempt to get a hold of herself.

“Fuck, sorry!” Emily quickly closes the door, her cheeks flushed in embarrassment as she waits for him to get dressed. When he opens the door soon after her embarrassment has developed into confusion.

“Chloe went to get us some food.” He explains sheepishly and she passes him and sets her book bag down on the floor beside her bed. “She said you’d be gone all night.”

“She forgot to text me.” Emily shrugs awkwardly. “That’s usually what we do when either of us have… company.”

He smiles, somewhat stiff as he remains standing in the middle of their room while she gets on her bed.

“Well… in any case. I’m sorry for this.”

“Don’t be.” She offers him a smile and she can see the way he relaxes slightly. They hadn’t spent much time together yet, but every time they did Emily found herself slightly envious of her best friend. It wasn’t a feeling she enjoyed.

“Do you want me to go? I can wait somewhere else for her.” He offers and she chuckles dryly.

“Don’t be silly, she’ll be back soon. It’s fine.”

Aaron nods and goes to sit on Chloes bed, sitting across the room from her as she kicks off her shoes, not caring about the mess or the way he seems to watch her intently. There’s a tension in the small room, and for the first time she felt like she didn’t trust herself around another person. She’s sure she can see the same heat in his eyes as he continues to look at her, that she feels in her stomach.

“What?” She finally asks and she sees the corner of his mouth tug into an amused smile.

“Didn’t think out of the two of you that Chloe was the neat one.” The mentioning of her best friend’s name immediately makes her feel unease, and not for the fist time she repeats the blonde’s name over and over in her head.

“Give me a break it’s Friday night.” She rolls her eyes but there’s no malice behind it, her own mouth turning into a smile. “It’s been a long day. And now I’m going to have to find a place to crash for the night.”

“Why?” He asks and the smile on her face turns into a laugh of disbelief.

“Cause I’m not sleeping in here when Chloe has a guy over.” She sees the tint of pink rise on his cheeks and she’s happy that he’s not completely unbothered by her candid attitude.

“I’m driving home after we’ve eaten and-” He starts, but is interrupted by the door opening and Chloe walks in holding a pizza. Her eyes get comically big when she spots Emily and she immediately blushes.

“Fuck Em I didn’t text you, did I?”

“You did not.” She smirked, forcing any feeling of unease aside. “But if there’s a slice in that box for me, you’re forgiven.”

“Of course there is.” Chloe smiled and looked between Emily and Aaron for a second, something close curiosity on her face but it was gone as quickly as it came and she went to sit down next to Aaron on the bed.

If Aaron felt the way her eyes lingered on him through bites of pizza or noticed how her breathing hitches slightly when he hugged her goodbye later that night, he ignored it.

*

“Come on Emily, I don’t want to be there alone!” Chloe begged her for the fifth time in as many minutes. Aaron had invited her to his apartment where his roommate was having a party. “If it sucks I’ll drive us back, I won’t drink I promise.” She pouts and Emily knows that she’ll relent at some point. She had been insistent, even though she had been at Aaron’s apartment alone before and Emily wasn’t sure this time was different. But she didn’t want to disappoint her friend and sadly, she had no better plans on a Saturday night.

“Fine.” She agrees and Chloe hugs her in excitement.

“Yes! Also, Aaron’s roommate is super cute, maybe you hit it off.” She winks at the brunette who only scoffs.

“Let’s just get there and we’ll see about that huh?” She ignores the huge smile Chloe sends her and instead goes to find something to wear.

*

Emily had to admit that Aaron’s roommate Matt was attractive, he was tall and built and charming. But she could feel another set of eyes on her, dark and intense. She looked behind her and Aaron stood there, grabbing a beer from the fridge and she swore his eyes moved up and down her body, that they lingered on her bare thighs and cleavage but then he was walking away and she silently wondered if she had imagined it.

“So, you’re Chloe’s roommate huh?” Matt asks easily as he leans over the counter and she nods around the bottle she’s drinking from.

“Yeah.”

“So your roommate is dating my roommate, how fitting.” He leers and she can’t help but to smile at the way he’s so clearly flirting with her. She’s flirting right back, she might as well because spending the evening lusting after her best friend’s boyfriend was not her idea of a good time.

“It is, and she’s my ride so I’m guessing you’re stuck with me for a while.” She sees the grin he’s trying to keep down.

“I don’t see any problems with that.”

*

It’s a couple of hours later and she’s walking out of the bathroom when she walks straight into Aaron in the narrow hallway.

“Sorry.” She says, not really paying attention to who it is until she feels his warm hands on her waist, steadying her. She looks up at him and she sees that same intense gaze that she had felt earlier.

“It was my fault.” He says as he lets her go and she takes a step back. “Are you having a good time?” Aaron leans back against the wall, putting as much space between them as possible but his eyes doesn’t move off her.

“Yeah. Matt is very nice but Chloe disappeared, but then again she has a tendency to do that.” She feels a fluttering in her stomach at their proximity, tries to keep thinking about her best friend that was somewhere in the apartment.

“Yeah it looked like you two were hitting it off.” His eyebrows narrow just the tiniest bit for her to notice. “I’m happy you’re having a good time.” He pushes off the wall and carefully brushes some hair behind her ear and she feels her heart pound harder in her chest. “You look nice tonight.”

She can’t answer, any thoughts gone as he whispers the words against her ear before moving down the corridor and towards the bathroom. For a few moments she stands there, wondering if she’s imagining everything that just happened, or if Aaron was playing games with her, or if he actually did feel attraction towards her.

It doesn’t matter though, he’s dating Chloe and that makes him off limits.

Later that night she finds herself in Matt’s bed his strong body above hers as he makes her fall apart. She can hear Chloe and Aaron from his bedroom, groans and moans and the headboard banging. It’s like they’re trying to out-fuck each other and somewhere in the back of her mind she realizes how fucked up that is.

*

The following morning she sneaks out to get a bottle of water, only wearing Matt’s shirt. It’s still early, only a few hours had past since the last people had left and they had gone into their respective bedrooms, so she didn’t expect anybody to be up.

But she’s pretty sure that she had done something horrible in her previous life, or that the universe was out to get her, because there Aaron stood, his own bottle of water in hand only wearing black boxers.

“Oh, hey.” He looks at her up and down, from what she’s sure is tousled hair and smudged make up, down to her chest and further down to her naked legs. “What are you doing up?”

“I was thirsty.” She says and he is quick to hand her a bottle from the fridge which she takes. “Thank you.”

“No worries.” He leans back against the kitchen island, eyes drifting towards where his bedroom was and back to Emily. “You’re staring at me.”

“Like you did all night?” She counters and to her surprise he doesn’t deny it.

“I don’t know,” He pushes his dark hair off his forehead and then scratches the back of his neck, seeming flustered “I guess I’m getting some… vibes from you.”

“You’re dating my best friend.” She says, unsure of she’s reminding herself or him. “Whatever vibes you think you’ve felt are wrong.”

He walks closer to her, close enough that she can feel the heat of his body against hers as he looks down at her. The edge of the counter digs into the small of her back but she barely feels it.

“Is that so?” He whispers and she feels her own breathing coming out shallow.

“Yes.” It’s a lie, and they both know it but Aaron backs off just as quickly as he had approached her.

“In that case, see you at breakfast.”

*

Breakfast is mostly quiet, all of them nursing some level of hangover, all of them tired. There’s an awkwardness as they sit at the table sipping coffee and eating the Starbucks that Aaron had ordered for them and when it’s time for them to drive home Emily gives Matt a hug and impatiently waits as Chloe says goodbye to Aaron.

The awkwardness doesn’t disappear even as they’re getting in the car, Chloe clearly picking up on whatever is bothering Emily.

“Do you not like Aaron?” She asks and Emily should have known that Chloe knows her well enough to know that it had to do with him.

“I do. I don’t really know him though.” She avoids her friend’s questioning stare and instead looks out the window.

“You haven’t tried to get to know him.” Chloe points out and she has to admit that her friend is right. “It doesn’t really matter though, I don’t think it’ll last.”

Emily turns her head so fast the bones in her neck crack and Chloe hits the steering wheel with one hand.

“I knew it!” She exclaimed, a winning look on her face.

“What?” Her eyebrows knit together at the sudden outburst.

“You’re into him. I’ve seen the way you look at him.”

Guilt and fear in equal measure fill her but to her disbelief, Chloe doesn’t look upset and it only makes her more confused.

“What are you talking about?” She plays dumb, doesn’t know what she’s expecting, but it’s definitely not the laugh that escapes the blonde, light and loving as always.  

“Relax Em, I’m not mad. In fact, you two would make a lot more sense than we do. And I’m pretty sure he feels the same way, things have been… off.” She takes Emily’s hand in hers while the other remains on the wheel. “Look, I knew before yesterday that something was weird, but I wanted to make sure and now I am, the tension between you two is thick enough to cut with a butterknife.”

“I never meant-”

“I know.” Chloe interrupted her and squeezed her hand. “I know you would never do anything to betray me. But I’m telling you, go for it, if nothing else you need to see if there’s something there. And he’s a great fuck.” She smirked when Emily groaned.

“Chloe!” She laughed too now, all of a sudden it felt like a weight had been lifted.

“Besides, Matt is hot too, maybe I’ll go for him.”

They both continued to laugh, an ease coming over the previous tension that had been in the car. In hindsight, Emily should have known. Chloe wasn’t the type to settle down and she knew Emily better than she knew herself.

Suddenly everything felt like it would be alright.

[luluy33art]

what it in CSC: Lila tell Marinette that she better not be a threat towards her getting Adrien, Marinette doesn't care.

Lila: Adrien is mine, mine.

Marinette: Congratulations.

Lila: He will be my boyfriend.

Marinette: Good for you.

Lila: Adrien is mine, mine.

Marinette: You said that already.

Lila: I won't let you get in my way.

Marinette: I'm in your way because you keep blocking my path. Choose a direction already.

Lila: I will take everything from you if you get in my way.

Marinette: I am just trying to get to the vending machine.

This is gold 😂

More lore and info AUs on Patreon | Kofi! ^^

[tumblingxelian]

I doubt I have the time or focus to write it but legit fascinated of an "Adrien never went to school" AU thanks to re-reading the Enemies to Lovers Bakers AU.

I imagine the sequence of how this happens would be:

The first day happens as canon. But on the second day, Adrien is better contained at home until Stoneheat 2.0 lets him slip away to do hero stuff. Despite this, the fact the mayors daughter was nearly killed is used as Gabriel as a pretext as to why Adrien will be staying home. This nixes any plans, arguments or work arounds he or Chloe could come up with.

So, with Adrien contained to the manor, work & slightly more occasional Chloe hang outs, what becomes of the story overall? Well let's look at the season 1 plot from the main 2's perspective:

Marinette:

Off the cuff her story doesn't change much.

She doesn't befriend or start crushing on Adrien and because Chloe's distracted there's no seat dispute. With no Adrien, she may instead have a crush on Alya & Chat, but is not willing to act on or even necessarily aware of this at first. Though she may end up feeling heartbroken 'for some reason' when or IF, Alya & Nino start dating, but with no Adrien it may not happen, or could happen differently.

On a more long term level, I imagine some of the school Akuma don't come up, like there's no 'reason' for Chloe to try and steal Juleka's spot on photo day. & Chloe in general is probably bit more distracted & the two have slightly less reasons to butt heads, so the stories focusing on that would be stuff like the class election.

Her relationship with Chat would be largely unchanged given little has actually changed on that front. Though he may be a bit clingier and more overtly lonely so they may talk more. Adrien to her is just a pretty face who she sometimes sees hanging around Chloe.

I think the big divergence would really happen because of Lila. Mostly because without the Adrien factor she may handle the lies with a cooler head, this plot could manifest in two ways, but I will handle that lower down.

Adrien:

So, Adrien has been denied the chance to go to school because of the Akuma. He definitely resents his father and Hawk Moth a bit more overtly in this version and is even more inclined to use Chat Noir as an escape. What little freedom he did manage to claw out of the shift is usually spent hanging out with Chloe. This would also be easily used for comedy juxtaposition what she tells him of school with what we see.

As noted he also tries to spend more time around Ladybug and is perhaps a bit more fast and loose with details about his life, for good and ill. This could also lead him to slipping the truth to Chloe on accident or by intent shifting her dynamic with Chat, or there's still the fun contrast in how she treats the two.

Beyond that, and as established he spends a decent chunk of his off time with Chloe. In this context he is likely the one doing cosplay, which could may Lady Wifi notably hilarious if very stressful for him. He may also briefly connect with the class during the student election.

But again, he's otherwise very cut off from other kids. Though through this we do get to see a, if not softer, then "Trying to be a good friend" Chloe which is as awkward and clumsy as one would expect.

The main big divergence comes with his discovery of the book, likely born from a bit of rebellious snooping in his fathers office. As with the Lila piece above, this deserves its own segment.

Season 1 Finale:

The Book & the Story Teller would likely be the name. It'd be a dual story with Adrien uncovering the tome and realizing its importance and Marinette grappling with how to handle Lila's deceptions. I forsee 2 main varients.

1: Closer to canon. Adrien hears about Ladybug's "bff" from the Ladyblog and goes to give her the book to see if she can get it to Ladybug. It ends up with Marinette who suspects Adrien or his dad of being Hawk Moth. When the book is discovered lost, Adrien is barred from any outings or visits.

Chloe goes on a rampage to try and find it & to get Adrien to reveal Lila lied about them dating, causing her to Akumatize. Marinette does return the book at the sight of Chloe hiding somewhere sobbing over not being able to see her friend but not before making a photo copy version.

2: Very non canon. Adrien still discovered the book but is told to sneak off with it to tell Master Fu, and he does so. Gabriel is distracted by word of Ladybug's BFF and sends an Akuma after Lila. Because Marinette was already keeping an eye on her to reveal the truth she appears and quickly saves her, which makes it look like the lies are true, much to her annoyance.

Lila is now aware that this lie being believed is not good at all, she assumed Hawk Moth wouldn't notice or buy it. But she doesn't want to admit she lied either because then everyone would question everything so she's kind of stuck and ends up as the more common damsel essentially usurping Chloe's position as nominal Akuma target.

While all this was happening, Adrien was grappling with worries regarding his father and Fu and the Hawk Moth situation. He may also briefly lose the book when helping with Lila and it gets picked up by Ladybug so they both get to meet Fu. This sets up the Collector & also the return of the book via the above method.

I think I rather the latter as it feels more natural.

It also does something different with Lila with her still being a presence in class that irks Marinette and draws Akuma into everyday life.

It also lets her potentially be taken in a different direction with her being the target of attacks meaning she's sure as hell not going to work for Hawk Moth. Plus with no Adrien she likely fixates on different would be famous kids, be they:

Chloe (Hilarious because Chloe is as friendly as a porcupine), Marinette (Self starter designer who has to be polite through gritted teeth) General socializing (The Class) different targets of the week (Such as Luka) or a greater focus on Ladybug and trying to use her for social media fame, while also dealing with the stress of constantly being under attack.

Conclusion

It is harder to say what happens in season 2, but I imagine as changes would begin to pile up more things would diverge.

Kagami might make Adrien & Chloe a trio, or a quartet if Sabrina's been brought in more. She'd also potentially have a friendship episode with Marinette sooner if that was still to be a thing.

Chloe might not reveal herself as Queen Bee, or she might actually get picked by Adrien as a temporary hero, possibly along with Kagami, or Sabrina, so both he and Ladybug have a pair of friends.

It may be Nooroo's birthday that reinvigorates Hawk Moth, or he just can't quit in general. Less focus on school as the story heads into a "school break" period so more room for unexpected encounters & events.

Some version of Heroes Day and the Crimson Army is probably still the season finale. Or that could be the season 3 finale given its scale.

As said, unsure.

[gale-gentlepenguin]

ML AU idea: Lady of Second Chances (Season 1)

-I covered origins, so I figured I might as well cover how the season goes with a basically fully realized Ladybug.

-Ladybug started making charms early on.

-So Marinette is several times more mature and experienced than her previous self.

-It’s mainly just Marinette Preventing akuma when possible

-Stormy weather happens because nothing Marinette could do to stop that. So that episode is basically the same.

-Marinette has to remind herself that chat noir is still new to the hero thing.

-Lady Wifi still happens but Marinette debates telling Alya earlier or not after.

-Evillustrator happens with almost no changes. Except that Marinette’s plan worked with some slight tweaks. And it ended on the boat. Chloe did manage to get Sabrina back on her side though since Marinette was focusing on her plan.

-Chat noir asked for a reward for doing well guarding Marinette. Ladybug humored him with a pat on the head.

-Dark Cupid happens but because Marinette stepped in and stopped Kim from getting embarrassed. She made sure to ask who the girl was. Alya and Marinette managed to talk Kim out of it. He ended up getting sad because of it. Kim does realize Marinette and Alya were right. So that’s a positive. And ladybug wastes no time because she knows she has to kiss chat noir. (She may have been over enthusiastic)

-Copy cat doesn’t happen because Marinette made an effort not to leave a message. Saying she will try again another time. So she showed up at the statue unveiling and Chat noir didn’t get jealous, Theo got his autograph and everything was chill. No jelly kitty and no copy cat.

-Bubbler happens, but Marinette made 2 gifts. Because she remembered that the scarf will be mistaken as a gift from his father. So she made sure to keep that part the same way. But prepared a Different gift, this time with her name signed and stitched in. Marinette also made sure it matched the scarf, but not in an obvious way. Adrien loved the gift, thanking Marinette. Alya asked how she knew Adrien would not realize the scarf gift was from her. “I forgot to sign it” Alya jokes that she’s psychic

-Chronogirl/Timebreaker doesn’t happen because Marinette says She will hold the watch. Knowing how breaking it would be bad. So that’s prevented.

-Rogercop, Mr.Pigeon, The Pharoah, The Mime, pixalator and Guitar villain are all the same. Since Marinette couldn’t prevent them from happening.

-princess fragrance: Marinette had to help Tikki so it happened. Marinette did her best not to just hug Fu after seeing him. She knew it wasn’t the right time. So she kept her mouth shut.

-Reflekta Marinette could have prevented but she knows how the later pictures helped Juleka so she lets it play out the same way.

-the episode Kung food happens but Marinette’s uncle isn’t akumatized. So Marinette knows she’s struggling but she tells Alya she will ask Adrien for help. Alya is proud of her for taking the step. Adrien is more than happy to help and since Marinette isn’t surprised this time, she is better prepared (plus over the previous timeline she had been working more on her mandarin, so that helped) Chloe gets akumatized and become “The Critic” but she gets her butt whooped.

-Darkblade happens but Marinette warns her mom in advance about Sabrina. So Sabrina can’t even get into the house and returns in failure. Also Marinette is more bold in her campaign (Sabrina voted for her in secret)

-Animan happens, Marinette ENSURED everything happened the same way so Alya and Nino ended up together.

-Horrificator happened, but this time Marinette and Adrien did kiss. Since Marinette locked the door so Chloe didn’t ruin the shot. (Marinette forgot that this day resulted in horrificator. As she was distracted.

-So Gamer doesn’t happen, Marinette sees the tournament they were doing and asks if she could play since she liked the game. She smoked Adrien and Max. The class suggests she competes but she declines, but would be happy to give them pointers. Which Max and Adrien agree. (While max is a bit grumpy about losing he is still gonna compete so he’s not akumatizable) and Marinette coaches then both at her place. Max and Adrien both being polite and accepting of the treats. It’s not as romantic as Marinette would have liked but Adrien and her do get a few moments. Max and Adrien win the tournament, and they give the trophy to Marinette who coached them.

-Simon says happens but with 50% more ladrien.

-Antibug doesn’t happen because Marinette remembered not to snap at her. And encouraged her to make amends with Sabrina. Since at this time Chloe looked up to ladybug.

-Volpina. So Marinette remembers what happened when she confronted Lila the first time. But she also needs to make photo copies of the book. So Marinette takes a different approach.

-Marinette runs into them at the library. As the Class rep she has a right to introduce herself to a new student. Lila has to smile and pretend like she isn’t getting C-blocked by Marinette. Adrien talking highly of Marinette also pisses Lila off.

-Tikki snuck the book and Lila ended up without it. Also because of Marinette’s interruption, there was no after school park date. Lila was annoyed.

-Marinette quickly got pictures of everything in the book and before school ended, gave the book back to Adrien. Saying she found it by his chair and was wondering if it was his.

-Relieved, Adrien thanked Marinette for finding the book, he didn’t realize it was missing. He headed back home.

-Marinette now had everything she needed and headed to Fu’s place.

-Lila decides to try again with Adrien later but no akumatization.

-Marinette is excited to meet Fu for real.

-Adrien does find himself thinking about Marinette a LOT more after the movie kiss (which technically was their first kiss now). But ladybug is also more flirty with chat noir (and with Adrien) so Boy may be a bit more conflicted

[whimsicalcotton]

Radio -- before I forget:

Amberfield, 7

7 - to shut them up

this one's just some fun silly nebulous amberfield. everyone's fine AU but everyone is Actually fine this time

Contrary to her usual shy, mumbling nature, Max talks a lot when she's nervous. 

Maybe nervous isn't quite the right word. 

Flustered is far more suiting to their current predicament. 

“I– I know you're probably mostly in this for Chloe,” she says, an anxious smile plastered across her freckled face. She's got her sweater sleeves flopped over her hands, but Rachel can still see her fiddling with the seams and toying with her fingers just beneath. “I don't blame you. I'm really not much to look at.”

Rachel frowns at that. “Max, you–” 

“And I'm kind of a huge dork, and you're really cool, and I totally get it if I'm not exactly your type.”

“Max.”

“And you guys have already been together for a bit, so maybe it feels like I'm intruding, and I promise I'm not trying to.”

Rachel takes a step closer. Max hardly notices, too busy staring holes into the floor between them. “Hello? Earth to Max?”

“If I'm ever, like, in your way or anything you can tell me to buzz off. It's totally cool, I won't mind.” 

When she does finally clue in to just how close they’ve gotten, she makes that little rabbit whine she always does when she gets startled, and takes a step back. Rachel gives chase.

“Uh, yeah, I just don't want anyone to feel, uhm, bad or anything,” she rambles on, growing quieter by the second. “Y'know?”

Max has her back to the wall now, shrinking in on herself. She's starting to resemble a cherry with how red her face is getting, but Rachel elects not to bring it up for fear of her trying to hide it. 

“So, n-no hard feelings, right? ‘Cause I really don't wanna, uhm, upset you or anything. You're–” Her voice catches, she gulps. “You're really close,” she finishes in a small, silken whisper. 

Rachel can't help the delighted grin that paints itself across her face. Such sweet, precious prey she's caught in her sights. She can see why Chloe is always tormenting Max, if this is the sort of reaction she gets to see on the regular. 

“N-Not that I don’t like it,” Max continues, in spite of the way she squeaks the sentence out and visibly winces at herself afterwards. “I do– Well, uh, I’m not used to– Sorry, I’m probably talking too much and–”

“Max.”

Rachel lays a hand on Max’s cheek, runs a thumb across her multitude of freckles and watches the way her eyes go wide as saucers. She leans in to place a kiss to the corner of her mouth, smirking to herself as she listens to Max’s breath hitch in surprise.

“I like looking at you,” she says upon pulling away, shamelessly admiring those big blue eyes while she has the chance. Max blinks up at her, face growing somehow redder. “Awh, what’s the matter?” Rachel asks, unable to resist adding the lilt and lull of teasing to her tone. “Lost your voice all of a sudden? Oh, speak again, bright angel.”

Max reaches up to hide her face behind her sleeves, leaving just enough room to meet Rachel’s eyes with one of her own. “I-Is that… Are you..?”

“Quoting Shakespeare to you?” Rachel finishes for her, still wearing her most roguish, wolfy smile. “Yeah. You’re not the only dork around here, Caulfield.”

[butterpony100]

Ok I have just reached the episode “queen banana” and I’m here to rant about the atrocities that are Chloe Bourgeois “character arcs” cause she deserves better, and how my personal take would go (this is just mostly me ranting and rewriting this dumpster fire to sooth my anger at the writers cause chloe deserved better

The first few seasons has many episodes showing that Chloe was a bully, but also someone with layers. Someone who was raised with no expectations about how she needed to act or who she needed to be with others. As the episodes went on, we were showed how she came to realize that not everything could be handed to her, no matter her schemes to get what she wanted. She was learning that sometimes she needed to give in order to get.

And then- she just regressed to who she was before?? No- she was actually made worse than she was previously.

Now I will not be blaming characters like Zoe for this change, despite her rushed introduction, she has no part in this. The only ones we can hold responsible are the writers who, despite months and even years of planning, apparently had this atrocious character assassination planned from even as far back as “queen wasp”.

So instead I’m changing that cause that’s bs

In season three, Chloe is forced to accept that she messed up her chance to be queen bee, but it’s still a hard pill to swallow. Instead of obsessing over getting it back like in the show, she puts in renewed effort to her personality change (with mixed results). We’d have Zoe introduced in the season 3 finale of miracle queen instead. Chloe would see her half sister, effortlessly kind and considerate, and able to make friends with ease, become frustrated. In those around her and herself. The catalyst to her becoming queen bee would be that she wanted to prove she was “worthy”. Worthy of what? Not eve she is really knows. All she knows is that she’s of no use to any one around her. The rest of the finale kinda goes the same but with a different version of Chloe when deakumatized. She would be drained and upset, mostly at herself, and instead choose to silently go home after returning the bee miraculous when the dust settles. When she gets home, she and Zoe talk. About how Chloe isn’t used to meeting expectations and how Zoe herself has always been forced to meet them. Both begin to teach eachother the benefits of both reaching expectations and letting go of others opinions. We cut Sole Crusher from season 4 completely and have a desperate plot of Zoe getting akumatized to be given a charm by lady bug. Banana queen would change that Chloe, rather than wanting to kick Zoe out of the movie, just wants to be in the movie. The movie has been in production by the class for months and Chloe’s initial reaction left most of them iffy about her joining (she said the same thing that they recounted in the episode) and she would say “well yeah I said that but I didn’t mean it.” And the whole class would be like “ehhhh…” Zoe and Adrien would eventually convince the class to give Chloe a chance. Of course, once the production is underway, Chloe’s old personality slowly resurfaced and similar events from the og episode occur. In the end they go through with their original script like in the episode, and Chloe gets pretty mad, mostly hurt and upset. Later, adrien mentions the promise they made and how he wasn’t sure they could be friend anymore. Chloe would be more visibly upset by his words and, while still dismissing him, would be mush more distraught by the time shadow moth contacts her. Zoe still becomes the new holder of the bee miraculous, but I imagine at some point in the future of this au, Chloe will be able to wear a new miraculous and be given a second chance, just as soon as she finishes her own journey of learning who she is.

Im thinking of calling this au “Sour to Sweet”, and basically reworking Chloe from the ground up with the crumbs of character development the show actually gave us. I’ve also fallen in love with Zoe despite only having her for two episodes, so she’ll probably play a big part as well.

If you have any ideas, feel free to share!

[generalluxun]

Separate Chloe Goes Back in Time AU idea but... I am putting my money on Snake!Juleka!

My logic is as follows: You said Adrien would Akumatize at some point, so unless he missus Second Chance and is left super depressed by the results its not liable to happen were he to have hero-ing as an outlet. Plus its unlikely Fu were to give him a second chance & you did insinuate there's at least 'some control.

Hence why I don't think its Chloe, not that its impossible and that would help keep her secret. But she is so far beyond being willing or able to play act nice in the hopes of getting a Miraculous. So unless she is literally the only person around while he's Akumatizing and he lobs it at her, I find it unlikely.

Hence leaving only Juleka, though given you implied it was 'somewhat' controlled, I wouldn't be surprised if he left Sass for Luka but Juleka found him first or something like that. Cue Sass just sort of shrugging and rolling with it cos why not XD

That's just a theory of course.

Theory crafting is good! I shall not reveal the answer though ^^