#salt on saltinette

[broadwaycutie16]

I guess the reason I’m so overly hostile to Marinette in salt fics is because I see her as a whole separate person from her canon counterpart. To me, the Marinette in the show, and the Marinette in salt fics like Karma of Lies and Two Letters, are two different people. I can’t reconcile the vengeful, self-centered wench SaltFic!Marinette with flawed but ultimately well-intentioned Canon Marinette. The gaping differences in their personalities, and the actions of Saltinette that are so heinous and beyond anything Marinette would even think of doing, have made it so I can’t possibly view them as the same person. I don’t want Canon Marinette to suffer too much, but SaltFic!Marinette, with all the horrible things she does, sometimes eclipsing even Lila or Chloe, is a entirely different story.

[dizzying-faust]

I don't like the idea of "normalizing mischaracterizing your favorite character" because some people go too far to the point that said character barely acts like the source material version.

Especially worse when they treat said characterization as a fact and get uppity when canon contradicts it.

Not to say people have to be 100% accurate with characterization nor can't have fun with headcanons. But there's a fine line between that and warping the character to the point there just, as someone put it best, an OC with a flesh face.

[sweetiebean00]

Hopscotch

There is a severe lack of content for Marikim and I've consumed it in an hour, time to adjust that even if it's just me. Listen, I hate cannon, most of it anyway. I'm not writing with Marc or Luka, only because I don't feel wholey comfy writing them. Didn't get that far in the show😅😅 Didn't finish the Lila shit either, so if it's wrong - sorry? #####

To think, it all started with an akuma. 

No, not a poor person taken advantage of. More like a poor butterfly being used by a madman being taken advantage of. 

Kim was snorting, eyes rolling at Alix and Max as the duo continued to class from lunch. Max was lamenting the idiocy of their peers, of how Lila was obviously new and full of shit. A napkin take out someone's eye? Especially someone with glasses? Kim could hear his grumblings as Alix dragged him along, her snickering about whatever else that happened that Kim didn't care to pay attention to. While the new girl was objectively pretty, she was far too much like Chloe for Kim's taste. And Kim had made it a point to avoid anything resembling the blonde, he hadn't been the greatest when he'd been trying to impress her. Marinette had helped talk to Ivan after the Stoneheart thing, and since then Kim wants to say he's been doing better. No more silly tricks to impress and using actual words opposed to teasing to encourage have been shown to help loads. Max never hesitated to remind him of the odds when his old habits would make an appearance, but that's what happens when you're a teenager in the midst of an emotional, magical terrorist attack. 

He still can't believe he mixed his gym bag for his school bag, eyes rolling at himself as he wondered if Marinette would be willing to take a commission to keep him from mixing them in the future. He didn't even want to think about the number of times he did this a week, let alone a day. It had to-

Kim froze, dread like ice in his veins as he saw the black butterfly floating along. He swallowed, holding as still as he could manage when he heard it. Voices. The following sound of a slam had his brow furrowing and he took a deep breath. Is he witnessing the becoming of an akuma? The memory, the feeling of strings connected to his limbs as the world went dark sent a chill down his spine and before he knew what he was doing. Kim was charging into the room after the akuma, eyes narrowed when he found its target.

Marinette.

The world would burn before someone let her get hurt by a fucking akuma. It was getting closer, heading for an earring as she gripped the sink so tight her knuckles were white. Nope! Not today, Hawkmoth.

"Marinette!"

She jumped, eyes wide with fear and tears falling from her cheeks. A squeak tore from her throat at the sight of the akuma and Kim did the one thing he could think of. He threw his bag. Now what Kim forgot was how he hardly missed a target when he threw something, secondly, was his strength. His muscles weren't for show, if he wasn't working out he was usually doing some sport or another. If not challenging Alix, rollerblades versus his own human body. 

The bag slammed into the purple insect, slamming it into the wall. Marinette thankfully seeing his plan had dropped into a roll, moving from the Akuma and Kim didn't hesitate to snatch her around the waist and throw her over his shoulder before they were running from the locker room. Squished Akuma left behind. 

Kim didn't stop running, his blood roaring in his ears and all he could think was to get her away from the evil little thing.

 Not today, Hawkmoth, not his Cupcake. He didn't even want to think about the slaughter that would take place, because it wouldn't be a fight, a battle. Marinette would take out Hawkmoth and their heroes without fail. She was cunning, he's seen her climb the side of a building and not be late for class every other week. He's seen her when she's pissed, seen her fall and catch herself in a handspring. Seen her make Chloe back down. He wouldn't be surprised if Marinette would make Hawkmoth her little bitch.

"Kim!"

He skid to a halt, lungs burning for air and chest heaving. They were... at the park? Oops. Marinette was poking his back, his sides. Sharp nails digging in for attention, and another one of those squeaks tore from her throat as she clawed at his back on the off chance his rapid stop made her fall. Puh-lease. He played sports, his hands were probably one of the most guaranteed safe zones in the world. Well, maybe. Ladybug or Chat Noir might be safer. 

"Kim, I think you outran the akuma." She said softly, and he chuckled. Heat flaring in the back of his neck as she wiggled to be put down. "Did... did you throw your backpack at an akuma?"

"No..?"

He laughed, rubbing the back of his neck now that she was firmly on her own two feet. Her pigtails were disheveled and Marinette's eyes rolled. Lips pulled into a smile as she tugged the ribbons free from her dark hair. Kim grinned, she was smiling! A far cry from the tears she had been shedding when he first found her. The question burned on his tongue, but it might not be a good idea to talk about it right now. Maybe after she seems a bit more at ease? He shrugged, starting down the path of the park and mentally fistbumping when she started along with him.

"That's my gym bag." He grimaced, "Though now that there's akuma juice on it... Hawkmoth can have it."

She laughed, her arm nudging into him as they followed the small path at a slow pace. Kim never thought he'd be skipping class with Marinette Dupain-Cheng, then again, he didn't think he'd have to save the literal sunshine from an akuma. But everyone has their days, everyone has bad days. Kim frowned, probably didn't help everyone was pushing her about today. He heard Nino and Alya criticizing her, but before he could've asked what was going on Lila was claiming a napkin was going to take out Max' eyes. Kim remembers the way his eye twitched, the way Alix immediately stood after Max made a very dry comment and started to preach Lila, her sarcasm missed by the new girl as the trio began to gather their things and leave. Ignoring the tales of wonder of Lila's sacrifice behind as Max proceeded to rant and rave about their classmates having less intelligence than a single cell organism if they believed that.

"Your sacrifice will be remembered," She snickered, patting his shoulder. "I'll make you a new one, if-if you want that is. So it won't be lost in vain?"

"Oh hell yeah!" He fistbumped, ready to brag his ass off about getting a custom design from Marinette and to flex on Alix and Max, on Ondine, on his teammates, mostly on Alix though. "I will never say no to a DC original! Alix is gonna be pissed!"

"Oh, I can make her on-"

Kim interrupted her, grabbing her by the shoulders and pressing into her space. His face turned serious, brows furrowed as he stopped them mid-walk. When he spoke his voice had dropped into just barely above a whisper and eyes staring at her intensely.

"Whatever you do, don't make her one." She squeaked, her cheeks heating as Kim continued. "I want to forever have bragging rights on that little shit."

Marinette blinked, once, twice. Then she snorted, eyes rolling as she playfully pushed at his chest. He grinned, mischief glinting in his eyes as she proceeded to grumble. Trudging along the path quicker, and aware of the effortless way Kim kept up. Never once losing the smile that made dimples form in his cheeks. She delighted in the mock hurt and offense that took over his expression when he actually heard what she was saying. The giant athlete bemoaning her cruelty and begging her to reconsider giving Alix more things to allow Shortstack to have bragging rights on him. 

"Maaaaarrriiiii," He threw an arm around her shoulder, hearing her squawk as he leaned some of his weight onto her shoulders. Snickering as she stumbled about under his hold. "The betrayal of a sweet treat as yourself cuts ever deep as a thorn of roses!"

"That made no sense!" She laughed, shoving at his arm that was refusing to budge. "Kim! Get your meaty arm off me you oaf!"

"Oaf? Oaf?! Oaf!" He staggered, hands pressing into his chest as he spoke with an exaggerated huff. "How dare you! I am a theater jock!"

"Oh, is theater still your secret side piece to sports?" Marinette teased, and Kim grinned. Hands in his pockets as she stared up at him, shoving her fringe to the side. Her hair flawlessly turning into a brain under her deft fingers. He hadn't seen her with a braid in years. He forgot what she looked like with it. "I thought you dropped theatre last year."

"I did, but I didn't like that one class I took instead, oh the one with the thing and thing?"

"Home Economics?"

"Yes! It was laaaame, besides maman is going to show me how to do all that stuff this summer so I took theater and dropped it."

Marinette nodded, "Well if you want help cooking, you know maman and papa will help in a heartbeat."

"What, not gonna help me at all?"

She rolled her eyes, "I know you know how to cook, I also know you pretend not to when anyone asks."

"Rude. Fair, but rude."

They walked for a few moments in silence, the sound of the trees rustling in the wind. The smell of the flowers drifting through the air and surrounding them as the sun warmed them from a cloudless sky. The park wasn't filled, which made sense since most of the occupants of the park were currently in class or at work. Never in their lives did they think they'd end up skipping class, especially together. Not when he skips for sports and bets, and she skips for battle. Not that he knew that last bit.

"Thank you." She said it so softly, he wasn't sure he heard it. "For-for helping me, get away from the akuma and making me... yeah. Sorry you caught me, well..."

"Mari?" She hummed at his question, watching their shoes as they walked. "Why were you crying in the bathroom?"

"I-"

"Was it that chick, Alya? I know you've gotten close since she transferred, and it's good seeing you making new friends on your own." He stopped their walk, gently turning her to face him and lifting her chin from the ground. "But if she's not turning out to be all that great, you know you're always welcomed to break Bustier's rules and come sit with me and Nath, or even Nino, I know she banned the four of us from sitting together because we were hiding you and Nath from her so you could draw, but-"

"It wasn't- it wasn't Alya..." Marinette admitted, he raised a brow. Her gaze broke from his and she sighed. Her shoulders slumping. "Okay, her and Nino didn't help. But, it's-it's fine. We don't have-"

"Cupcake, unless you don't want to talk to me about it, which you know you just have to say so, what happened? Let your big strong knight be your shield again!" 

She laughed, the sound soft, if a little pained. She heaved a breath and when she leaned into his side, he didn't hesitate. Wrapping his arm around her and pulling her close as they continued to walk. It was silent, comfortable. He missed hanging with her, with Nathaniel and Nino. He wondered how well Max and Nath would work together, or Alix and Nino. Considering he can't imagine ditching old friends for new, or new for old. Maybe that's what Marinette needed, some new friends too! He was already thinking of dragging Max to the bakery one day with him, to bond with her. Well, they did like video games and-

"Lila threatened me."

The world stop. The air left his lungs as his vision went dark around the corners. Lila threatened Marinette. Lila threatened Marinette. The Italian sausage threatened! He swallowed the urge to storm back to that school and just take care of that problem growing like fire in his chest. How dare. How fucking dare that new bitch. 

"She should've stayed in Italy." 

"Kim -NO!"

Her hands clawed at him, and Kim grunted when Marinette threw herself onto his back. Like that would stop him. He bench presses her weight, on a light day! He growled, she growled back and it didn't stop him from starting the track back to Dupont. Oh that bitch!

"Kim I don't have a bag to throw if you get akumatised! Stop!"

"Get off."

"No!" Marinette climbed further and he forgot how much a fucking spider monkey she was. "I will tell you everything but only if you promise not to do anything rash! I did and I got expelled."

He froze. She was expelled. Lila did that. Kim remembers asking Max to look into the cameras, remembers Nathaniel looking at the heirloom and telling him that it was a necklace from Gabriel Agreste. He knows because Marinette sent him the picture of them from the window earlier that same week to give inspiration for his art. They had already been on the way to make Damocles look when she had been sent back to class, her expulsion ending and Kim had noticed the look on Lila's face. She had been happy, and now Kim knows why. 

He could see her over his shoulder, her bluest blue eyes wide and darting through the sky over their heads. She was looking for an akuma, watching out for him. Which... considering the butterfly probably no longer smashed against a wall in the locker room, it is a fair precaution. He took a measured breath, fists clenching at his sides. He focused, trying to reel his anger in even if part of him dared the butterfly obsessed freak to send one after him. Just so he could tear it apart with his hands, or better yet. Marinette has carried a sewing kit with her since she wanted to become a fashion designer and he knows she has a pastel pink seam ripper in her purse. 

He breathed again, eyes closing. In through the nose, out the mouth. He could feel her warmth against his back, could smell vanilla, of warm bread, and cookies from the wind. Could feel her hair brushing against his skin as her arms locked around his neck. Holding tight to keep from falling. Her ankles locked on his stomach to keep herself up, and feel her purse pressing into the small of his back uncomfortably.

Kim relaxed, thoughts of tearing something apart with his bare hands replacing thoughts of dismembering something to make Hawkmoth stay the fuck away from him. From her. He needed to go hit a punching bag as soon as he could, just the thought had his anger fading away. The tension in his muscles easing as she continued to cling to him like a koala. 

After a moment, he felt her slide against him. Her fingers clawing down and he shuddered, goosebumps breaking across his skin as she came to stop. Her hands curled in the fabric of his red hoodie gathered at his lower back. His neck burned, and he resisted the urge to roll his shoulders back. Ignoring the pleasant little buzz coming to life in his blood, pushing at all the thoughts trying to rush to the surface. 

He needs her not to do that again, that felt way too good. His mind betraying him with the million and one ways her grabbing at his back could be twisted. He needed a cold shower after beating a punching bag, maybe one of the guys from his sports team would be willing to go a few rounds in the ring with him later? He was going to need it, even if the only reason he felt all pleased is because he liked backrubs. Stop looking at him like that.

She hesitated before taking his hand, leading him down the path until they came across a far off spot. Bushes filled with roses laid about the area and Kim realized she gave them privacy. He didn't know if he liked the idea of this spot, of her taking someone here, probably Adrien because it had become quite clear she had feelings for him. Feelings for the blonde prince, as Alix said to him one day when her phone wouldn't shut up and Alya was trying to scheme them together without Marinette knowing. 

Shaking the thoughts to the back of his head, he waited as Marinette slid against the trunk of the tree. Watched as she slowly stopped with her knees to her chest against the bark and caught his eye before patting the seat beside her. Offering him a seat even if the invitation had been there when she started leading him to the secluded little piece of safety. Kim settled beside her, lifting his arm and resting it on her shoulder when she leaned into his side. The smell of vanilla, of bread and cookies surrounding him with the fragrance of the flowers. She fidgeted, her fingers picking at each other until he caught the aforementioned digits in his other hand and squeezed. She was stalling, maybe trying to get that overworking mind of hers to figure out how to start it all. Kim didn't mind, he'd gladly wait for her to get the words out. She's always been worth the wait, even if he wasn't the most patient of the bunch. That was Nino’s and Nathanial's expertise, but Kim... he could listen. He could sit still for her.

When she began to speak, Kim had reminded himself to keep his mouth shut. To hold his questions to the end as her soft voice washed over him. Any other day it would've been peaceful, would've been nice even. The stuff out of those fairy tales Rose loved so much. He breathed through his nose, letting it out through his mouth slowly with every new thing she told him. When she finished, they sat there. Breathing as she let the weight fall off her shoulders, as he took it from her as he always would. Maybe she should rely on him more? She tossed the thought before it could finish forming, focusing on the questions he asked in that slow, calm, yet tight tone. She prayed to Tikki that Kim wouldn't leave, and wouldn't do as Alya did, what Nino did. Wouldn't do what Adrien did...

Before she could spiral, he squeezed her closer. Earning a squeak as he snickered, pressing a kiss to the crown of her head. The pink on her cheeks making his smile genuine, despite the protective rage simmering in his eyes. How he didn't attract an akuma, he wouldn't know. What he did know was that he had several things added to his agenda and clear in his mind. 

For starters, Adrien Agreste is no prince charming. Not in any of the storybooks, or tales of love and daring do. Not in a million years, not hers at the very least. Take the high road? Really? That was not the way to handle a school yard bully, maybe tabloids, maybe lie-rags. Maybe even crazy fans. But not a person threatening to tear someone down amongst their peers. It took everything Kim had to not scowl, not to pull out his phone and text the model. Alix' love for the twisted version of the stories came to mind, the one when the princes were the real bad guys of the stories. 

A new sort of resentment built inside him. For Bustier's constant victim blaming teachings, and for separating him from Marinette in the first place. If they were together, Lila wouldn't get the fucking chance to push the sweetest girl in school to the back of the class. Not only that, but she also wouldn't get her nasty ass claws inside Kim like she did Alya. 

Which brings him to his next point.

Alya is no friend of Marinette's. When they got banned from sitting together, he and Marinette had challenged each other. To make friends with whomever they got seated next to. Just her luck she got fucked with blonde prick and fake news. He took a breath, giving Marinette another squeeze. Best friends push you to do your best, but they don't push you into doing your worst. When you aren't comfortable, when you're scared, they are the spotter to catch the weight you're lifting. Alya hasn't been that for Marinette for a while now. 

Not only that, but what person schemes to hook up their bestie with their crush when neither have had a decent conversation? Or encourages the stealing of phones, privacy, and what was it? Oh yeah, stalking. After Kim was far more calm, he would be marching Marinette's ass home and telling her to take down everything. No schedules, no knowing everything there is about him from the internet. No future birthday presents, none of that shit. You're supposed to help coach the crazy, not encourage it. For fuck's sake!

Kim made sure to make a note to himself to have a long overdue chat with Nino. Take him out, sit him down, and if Kim's lucky, Nino can give Alya that dose of reality she apparently needs. If not, well, Nino has always been as protective as Kim. The duo never hesitated to protect Marinette and Nathaniel on the playground as they grew up, or from the teachers. They might have drifted, but they were still friends. 

Kim stood, tugging her up with him and offering her a charming smile. She blinked up at him, but let him lead her out of the park to the Bakery. Kim had some work to do. No sausage haired new chick was going to alienate his honest to kwami best girl.

[howhow326]

Anyway, I just know Shadybug is going to be the best villain this show has and the baddest bitch alive because she's Marinette.

Hawkmoth? Played out.

Chloe? Boring.

Felix & Lila? Awful writing.

Villain!Adrien? We have like 10 of those.

But Villain!Marinette??? We have never seen that before because she's too powerful. The show would end if Marinette even got akumatized, according to Astruc. Marinette never gives up. She always wins, and now she's the villain. And if Shadybug's world is anything like the main universe, then all of the other villains must have been defeated by her by now. If this Marinette is anything like our own, then she probably doesn't even see herself as in the wrong.

Shadybug is the ultimate threat, the strongest antagonist that Marinette will ever face because she is her.

Shadybug is canon Saltinette.

Top ten posts that aged badly

[plumsaffron]

Miracusalters roast Pt. 7!

So, if salt fic!characters have flaws, shitty behaviors and criminal charges (yes I’m including “Saltinette’s” aka Marinette, the salt writers who claim to adore her yet they turn her into a monster) theirs would be:

Bystander syndrome

Cowardice/spinelessness

Short temperedness

Unprofessional behavior (you know who I’m referring to)

Cultish behaviors (leader(s) is absolute, with me or against me mentality)

Inclusivity bias (dissing other groups for not “siding” with them)

Delusions of grandeur (main/major/recurring characters thinking they’re the top of the world)

Misappropriation of funds (usually Lila stealing money from classmates to buy things she wants)

Criminal conspiracies

Conspiracies to commit murder

Theft (again, Lila is the victim of the salt fic writers)

Misinformation

Plagiarism (I stg the salt fics have way too similar formulas by even just remembering them)

(Aggravated) assault and battery

Abuse (familial, domestic, etc. you get the drift)

Murder

Attempted murder

Suicide baiting

THIS

Them salt writers denial game so strong they aren’t even able to see they are doing magnificent acts of disservice to who they adore.

Oof I just stumbled on a Lila steal fic while scrolling here today before seeing this.

But yeah mhm. These losers manage to become or transcend the mindset of the very things they write or salt about.

And they like committing/seeing copy paste Stale Template Trash.

They do love the mission of spreading misinformation (which is more amusing considering their unstable hatred or mockery of certain tricksters) and then blame characters that they think should be immune.

Drag down whoever they feel didn’t align with their cult how they feel, didn’t align correctly as wished, or involve characters that don’t need to be involved.

Speaking of conspiracies, I remember some dweeb reviewer (They deleted their blog) was able to acknowledge that Juleka was sacrificed hard again by Marinette but proceeds wanting Lila to be a serial killer and proceeds pretty much blaming Lila solely.

[gameguy20100]

Wait why do people make marinette and Chloe friends in salt fic while bashing Adrien and the class?

Because they're addicted to the "Bad girl" archetype and want to be a massive bitch to people without consequences.

As for the bashing, they have the attitude of "You have to do what I want all the time and never question or disagree with me. Otherwise we aren't friends."

So they turn Marinette into their revenge obsessed, entitled, petty self insert.

[salad-juice-enjoyer]

"My fic has Alya as the true mastermind of Marinette's ostracization, and it's done to a degree that Lila is horrified UwU"

[wyvernseeker]

So many of those stories like penny-a-dozen Count Of Monte Cristo knockoffs/ripoffs. Except with much less quality or being unironically memorable.

Regardless of the actual quality of the episode Charmeleon might just be the worst episode just because of the impact it's had on the fandom. It's like 4 years old and people are still writing New Salt about it.

I don't get it.

What is it about that episode that enrages People that much?

Do you have any ideas?

When it first came out, a lot of it had to do with opening up these plot threads, this threat, that went unresolved. Lila threatened to turn all of Marinette's friends against her, so naturally people took that and thought of how that could happen, what that would look like, and what the consequences would be.

Then people just went completely batshit with it.

I think people gradually started being less angry about Chameleon itself, and more seized it as an excuse for a plotline that tends to be popular whenever someone opens the door for it: the "all my friends are treating me badly so I get to show them just how special and necessary I really was, how underappreciated I was, and get righteous revenge on them while my new, better, more powerful, true friends who would never wrong me or disappoint me in any way help me to get my vengeance on my old false friends" plot.

The Harry Potter fandom has Azkaban fics, where Harry's falsely sent to Azkaban, befriends the poor, misunderstood Death Eaters imprisoned there, and breaks out and gets revenge on the Wizarding World with their help. The Percy Jackson fandom has betrayal fics (often Chaos fics), where he was chased out of Camp Half-Blood, Annabeth cheats on him, and then he discovers that he has an even cooler, more powerful bloodline and abilities than his already OP status in canon. Pokemon has the Tournament fics, where Ash's companions all mock him for losing a tournament (except whoever the author wants as his love interest) and then he goes away and trains for several years and then shows back up to completely annihilate a tournament and prove he's the best that ever was. And the My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic fandom has the Anon-a-Miss fics, which are the most similar I think, with Sunset's friends believing that she's the person anonymously revealing embarrassing information about them (which to be fair, she'd done that kind of thing before in order to purposely break the Mane 6 apart), and shunned her as a result.

Notably, Pokemon's and Percy Jackson's betrayal fics don't stem from any sort of canonical trigger. Someone got the ball rolling, and that's all it took for copycats to spring up. Honestly it could happen in ANY fandom, so long as someone opens the door.

I'm just glad it hasn't hit The Owl House yet at least. I don't need to see Gus and Willow made to beat up Luz while Amity cheats on her to give Luz an excuse to connect to the Titan, become supreme empress of the Boiling Isles, and then throw all her former friends in the Conformatorium.

The sheer vitriol and popularity of ML's Saltdom, now that's just... ugh. Especially since the particular way that these plots manifest in the ML Saltdom has some very bad implications on top of the general distastefulness of the demonization itself, particularly with how Alya is usually treated in these plotlines.

[princess-of-the-corner]

I think the number of characters salters think "wrong" Marinette plays a factor in why Saltinette fics have more character salt than Saltdrien fics do.

That too.

Like with Saltdrien it's usally focused on Mari and the class only gets some 'salt by association' depending on how much the author thinks they helped/enabled/didn't stop Mari.

With Saltinette, Alya and Adrien get it the worst because they had more active 'sleights' against Mari in the Lila conflict. But the rest of the class did at least participate in thinking Lila was a decent person so.

[broadwaycutie16]

Calling all Adrien stans! Calling all Marinette salters! Calling all salt fic haters!

For those of you who don’t know, I wrote a sequel to the infamous Karma of Lies fanfic, with the help of a friend, and have decided to start a series where I write sequels to fix certain salt fics, especially those who are harshest to Adrien. But I would like some co-authors. Anyone who is interested, please comment on this post.

SUGGESTIONS

No one sees me but know I’m right here by kellikat23

Rejection AU by various

The Wolves in the Woods by FoxWitchWrites and Rafe_Minsi

Two Letters by CartoonAddict564

The Karma of Lies by CartoonAddict564 (because that one is just so horrible and needs more sequels)

Karma Overbalance by Shadymissionary

New Life and New Friends by Cornholio4

What Goes Around Comes Around by Cornholio4

Leave comments if there are any other stories you want to see.

[dizzying-faust]

One of my worst fears as a Marinette fan is people thinking just because I like her means I must be an Adrien and Alya salter, when I actually HATE the salt the latter two get.

[miraculoustakes]

I feel like a good litmus test for Miraculous fans in terms of salt is how they view the fic Two Letters. In-universe Marinette is the bad guy, not the good guy. The fic is a deconstruction of saltinette and many salt fic tropes, except for what they did to Adrien for some reason. Marinette literally goes obsessive stalker mode on Luka like she did with Adrien. If someone sees it as just another salt fic, their media literacy is poor.

.

[howhow326]

What the fxck?

Why does she look like... that. The black jacket + fishnet fingerless gloves and black nail polish combo are great... but like... w h y. Why a pink skunk stripe and weird peek a boo bangs??? I also don't think her boots match her outfit well, but I don't like normal Marinette's shoes anyway.

This angle makes her look really bad.

That's better. Despite being an AU character, the use of colors on her outfit is honestly better than normal Ladybug. Marinette looks a thousand times better with actual black hair and the red eyes blending into the rest of her design is better than the blue eyes. Makes me wonder why Marinette even has blue hair and eyes...

*cough* racism *cough*

Anyway, this girl looks like Saltinette, which makes me think the writers are stealing more ideas from fanfiction.

[freedom-shamrock]

How much salt do you think a salt fic should have before it becomes too unpleasent to read?

Great question! First, it's important to note that different people are going to have different salt tolerances, some folks just want a little for flavoring while others want the whole dang salt shaker. But there is a happy medium that most can agree on as pleasant to read.

Next we need to define salt. Because it's slang and it gets used (and misused) to mean a lot of things. One need not go out of character (OC) and full evil to be salt. Salt/salty has to do with being upset, angry, bitter, or hostile. Some people require these feelings to be associated with embarrassment, failure, being attacked or out of place in order to be considered salt, but most people (myself included) don't require this qualifier.

To be a salt fic, these salty feelings need to be the driving theme of the story. This can be realistic, exaggerated, or wildly unrealistic. You can keep the characters as canon as possible or go massively OC.

In my Saltinette story the goal was to be realistic and stick with canon as much as possible. As a result it's on the lower end of salt options for this situation. To increase the salt content, I had Marinette decide to leave school and let go of her friendships. It's a somewhat nuclear option for her academic and social life, but it's also something both my kids have had to do as a result of bullying.

In the follow-up story, Treading in the Brackish Pool, shows a lot of those salty feelings, this time from Marinette's former classmates once she's left. Again, the goal was to stay realistic and close to canon, which meant I had to explain how and why the classmates made the decisions that ultimately pushed Marinette away. I wanted to avoid making them actively evil; they're just young and a little ignorant on social stuff.

That last bit highlights where things tend to cross into too much salt to be a satisfying story. Taking a canonically kind character and making them a psychopath will definitely increase salt, but without any explanation or set up, it's going to feel wildly OC and a lot less pleasant to a larger number of people. But it can work if you set it up right.

A lot of people who write heavy Miraculous salt make Alya an active bully. In some cases this works because it's built up over time (starting with disappointment, moving to chastising or ridicule before verbal bullying and finally physical bullying). In other cases, there's no groundwork or authorial hand waving to explain how Alya went from being kind, confident, and maybe a little pushy to being okay with assault or murder. Adrien also often gets an evil makeover in heavy salt. If the author takes the time to build up Adrien's corruption from the Miraculous or a two-faced nature like his father (Paris' sweetheart in public vs controlling asshole in private) it can work really well. But a lot of times he's just OC with no justification, which will make it appeal to a smaller audience.

I think it's essential to remember that fans of a show generally like the characters. Yeah, they may not love all the characters, but you're not going to watch something that focuses on characters you hate. When you warp characters into something they aren't, the story risks losing some of its broader appeal. The more popular a character is with the audience the easier it is to step into the realm of too much salt. The same can be said for the amount of canon material for a character. If they are a major character, it's easier to go too salty. If you want to go heavy salt, setting it up as an AU or taking the time to show how the characters grew from canon into something else will help. Failure to do either of these will result it a reduced audience appeal.

Did that answer you or did I go wildly around the question? Let me know! Thanks for asking

[gameguy20100]

Wow, "Once upon a time" sounds like predessor of every "class salt" fic ever

It does a bit doesn't it?

Granted, I'm assuming a 14 year old boy doesn't get all his assets stolen by the girl who sexually assaulted him and the narrative says his his fault. Or a teenage girl gets praise for burning down a school.

Yes those are both real.

[starguardianniom]

The Lila Alliance AU

Remember the alliance ring Sabine wanted to give Marinette in Jubilation? The one with the Lila avatar?

I swear it would have been interesting to see Marinette interact with the fake Lila.

Frankly, the only reasons she would not take the al Adrien is because she would never get anything done if he was her avatar, as she would drool over him all day probably and wouldn't want any more teasing of her crush on him via having him at all times in her ring.

Even when saying that it does sounds far-fetched, like a lot, too, but still, just for this, hear this out, if people can make Lila become Marinette's best friend in salt fics over the rest of the class who go too far in their behavior of not siding with Marinette over Lila, then this concept should be easier to accept.

With the Lila avatar, some light revenge through it sounds fun.

She can make her wear some ridiculous costumes, could probably make her call "Your queen" or something else ridiculous, heck she could probably get the Lila al to get her name changed to Super Liar or something, and get her to say a lot of stupid stuff. Maybe she could even design some ridiculous outfits for her to wear, like that banana man costume, and the virtual Lila would still wear it with a smile on her face.

Point is, Marinette get some fun out of humiliating the virtual Lila as she can't do anything against the real one for now.

This would be her therapy. And revenge, don't forget the revenge.

Of course, the fake Lila doesn't mind or notice that it is wrong, she's an al and doesn't have feelings nor is affected by the real Lila's hatred of Marinette in the show.

The fake Lila is nice and takes it all graciously, to her, her owner has a lot of free time on her hands to come up with all of this stuff. She's not there to judge.

It makes Marinette angrier because the fake Lila is basically the ideal image of what the real Lila likes to pretend to be normally.

It somehow makes Marinette sad that she can only like a fake Lila who's not at all who she knows, just like everyone else on the show who thinks Lila is actually as nice as her al.

The irony is not lost at all here.

Cherry on the cake, the real Lila is not aware of this at all.

And yes of course, Marinette takes the ring off when she transforms into Ladybug, she tries to leave it in her room, her locker at school, or with Alya when she can, or if not, in the first dumpster that she can find because no one would bother to think that someone would throw away an alliance ring in the trash, even less getting the trash picked up while there's an akuma attack.

Marinette gets to humiliate Lila in a way that doesn't affect neither of them, nor actually hurt anyone's feelings, as the al Lila doesn't care at all, she's not programmed to.

And no one else actually knows about it, except of course Tikki.

That would be the only Pettinette/Saltinette that I would accept in any form to be honest. Or the Marinette salt taken in some funny and unorthodox way that somehow works without making her look like a jerk in front of anyone or hurt anyone's feelings and it all works out and you can actually laugh about it without feeling horrible about it.

It's really some mindless fun and revenge but not actually taken on the actual person, just a virtual copy of themselves.

Like, you play the sims, make a character based on someone you hate, and you make them do stupid stuff, without hurting for real the actual person.

Again, the real Lila isn't hurt at all in this, as her avatar who is with Marinette is the only one who gets humiliated, except given it's a program, of course she has no feelings or opinions or shame, so it works for Marinette who doesn't get flak for being on the real Lila's case when she's doing stuff to her al, which is entirely legal given said virtual Lila is a virtual paper doll that can be dressed in all kinds of different and maybe some funny costumes and can be customized to say all the weird stuff of the earth, so the joke would be on the developers who didn't think this through more, not on Marinette, nor really Lila.