Idk If/how This Will Be Extended But When I Played Through Rafayel's Your Fragrance Card, I Near-instantly

Ohh, so I was looking at my storage and found these! I originally shared them on twitter before yeeting the platform. Anyway, feel free to use! Art memes for your oc :D

MariClaw AUs

AU thinking let's go. Bad boy x sunshine is a classic dynamic and I saw MariClaw (marinette x claw noir) and the possibilities are endless. Since I'm a love square shipper this is going to be MariClaw and Marinette x Emo!Adrien! Highkey I headcanon that Adrien became emo because Marinette did it first so I'm not going to dive into mechanics of why Adrien is emo but Marinette isn't. I would say 'maybe he watched too much anime' but the brand of claw noir feels a bit more more wattpad bad boy (back in 2016) than shoujo bad boy, depending on the shoujo. He's been pining for literal years AU

maybe she once gave him a bandaid, maybe he's always seen her from afar and curiousity became love, who knows! Point is, he's liked her for SO long and when he's given the chance to go to school, he's super excited because that's the school she goes to!! Cue manga cliches and the title is probably something like "The New Delinquent is Actually a Softie at Heart and He's is in Love With Me???" It could be so cliche, with very lighthearted and cute romcom moments. maybe a secret admirer AU!!

It could also be super angst/fluff. Marinette thinks the whole thing is a prank, or doesn't think he actually likes her, and it's the slowest burn or the most comedy romcom. OR it's the first person who appreciates her slash doesnt bully her (the standards are low here, kids, cause i'm going on the assumption she's heavily bullied), and it's a story of self-acceptance! All of these ideas assume that Adrien has the bravery to approach her and talk to her though :> (not quite romantically, thats up to you. Personally, I think he's too shy to be able to blatantly flirt) Integration of Claw Noir is possible is so many ways that I'm not going to go into it. He joined the Supreme to get back at her bullies + protect her AU I once read a villain!chat blanc fic where he and her are soulmates and he does questionable things like follow her around and is kind of wary but also curious. This would have the same vibes! Could also be more wholesome/pining where he stays in the shadows. Plus hurt/comfort when she realizes, plus the fact that his powers are corroding him! Sick fic potential Can also be a lovesquare enemies to lovers (+ mistaken/secret identity), if Ladybug is part of the Resistance and Claw Noir is with the Supreme ;) The Balcony cliche AU

Marinette has mixed feelings on the Supreme but there's one hero who she sees a lot (potential for pining on Claw's part) and it bothers her so much that one day she meets him on the balcony and gives him food and it becomes a Thing! Traditional Marichat vibes but with a more kuu/tsun-dere Noir

Reverse crush AU There's a certain brand of danmei where the MC is really really shy and it's a lot of angst until the ML realizes that the stoic MC is just shy and is actually the cutest, kindest person ever. This! Is! EmoAdrien x Marinette!! One of the potentials, anyway. Marinette thinks Adrien hates her because he keeps glaring/staring at her (and all the stares she's used to are judgemental ones), only talks to her in clipped sentences, and never goes near her. Then, something happens!! Maybe he gives his umbrella to an abandoned cat or something, idk. Point is, she gets more interested and it's a slow burn-ish progressive romance :) Now the above [she thinks he hates her] except he keeps partnering her with projects and events and everything and she's really confused by the mixed signals so can he please stop. I think everyone collectively died when EmoAdrien realized + quietly blushed in the movie so flirting would be SO fun here because both of them would get really embarrassed.

Secret Identity AU Maybe the secret is that he's Claw Noir or the secret is that he's Adrien Agreste but either way it'll be fun :> Maybe she hates his alt persona so he dies a little inside everytime she makes a comment or a jab and this can be either very comedic or very angsty or both Dengeki Daisy AU, same scenario, enough said. Would probably be more interesting if its Claw Noir + OG Adrien / Chat Noir + EmoAdrien, just to have more of a switch. (In Dengeki Daisy, MC has online friend A who she's never met, and a classmate B who she kind of hates. She talks to A about B, where she rants about B and A comforts her. A and B are the same people).

Manhwa style

Sweet, strong, feminine, girlboss MC? With a the stoic, rich, powerful, smitten ML? say less. He might be more of a tsundere than stoic, though. Gabriel Agreste is definitely the hidden boss. Could be the above but also a villainess/reincarnation/transmigation AU. Reincarnated into a game like an RPG or Stardew or something could also be fun, and bonus points if Mari liked him (as a character) before transmigation!

Gaming AU! Gaming AU. Maybe they meet in a game, on Discord, or because they're always playing at the same time and get matched? This is so beautifully canonical. Especially when Adrien is home schooled, he probably gets really attached to his online friend. And if they're both bullied?? they're each other's comfort (be careful to not let this be co-dependent, unless you're going for that). Can have secret identity AU. But, in my personal opinion, the super cute option is to also have them realize on their own! Maybe they've been doing discord calls for ages and recognize each other's voice. Maybe he's been telling her about the school and they realize they're going to attend the same one! Tbh this doesnt have to be mariclaw but the vibes are cute

Extra notes

Yeah Claw Noir doesn't have to have superpowers in all/most of the AUs

Marinette is a loner/bullied in most of these AUs because otherwise it feels a bit too much like a Mary Sue/self-insert (cute competent popular girl meets famous pretty emo boy who hates everyone except her). Can it be done if she's friends with Nino and Alya? Yep. Heavier themes on friendship where Alya (and maybe Nino) are more wary at first but grow to like him and help him be more self-confident. Less romance focus, more character development/trauma healing

If we're going with canon then for all of these, a true happy ending would involve the Supreme being dealt with, but I don't want to deal with that (plus I don't think we know who he is, anyway)

I realize a lot of these are a flavor of Chat Blanc but I had already written it all anyway

Personally, I am a sucker for smitten x insecure and EmoAdrien x OGMari fit that to a tee. Emo x Sunshine I have mixed feelings on because boi have I read a lot of that, but if it's done well it's super cute and MariClaw does that really well!! I could probably think of more AUs but I've already spent at least half an hour purely typing I pretty highly doubt I'll write any of these since they feel like longer fics + I don't have enough canon info on Claw Noir to comfortably characterize him; if anyone wants to write or draw something based on these then feel free to!

my questionably fatal flaw is having like 20 small scale writing ideas that aren't enough to make a fic so i mash things together and create a fic using 2-4 initially separate ideas

Tips for writing those gala scenes, from someone who goes to them occasionally:

Generally you unbutton and re-button a suit coat when you sit down and stand up.

You’re supposed to hold wine or champagne glasses by the stem to avoid warming up the liquid inside. A character out of their depth might hold the glass around the sides instead.

When rich/important people forget your name and they’re drunk, they usually just tell you that they don’t remember or completely skip over any opportunity to use your name so they don’t look silly.

A good way to indicate you don’t want to shake someone’s hand at an event is to hold a drink in your right hand (and if you’re a woman, a purse in the other so you definitely can’t shift the glass to another hand and then shake)

Americans who still kiss cheeks as a welcome generally don’t press lips to cheeks, it’s more of a touch of cheek to cheek or even a hover (these days, mostly to avoid smudging a woman’s makeup)

The distinctions between dress codes (black tie, cocktail, etc) are very intricate but obvious to those who know how to look. If you wear a short skirt to a black tie event for example, people would clock that instantly even if the dress itself was very formal. Same thing goes for certain articles of men’s clothing.

Open bars / cash bars at events usually carry limited options. They’re meant to serve lots of people very quickly, so nobody is getting a cosmo or a Manhattan etc.

Members of the press generally aren’t allowed to freely circulate at nicer galas/events without a very good reason. When they do, they need to identify themselves before talking with someone.

TBHK Ch 114 (manga spoilers)

moving on to TBHK cause I think Aoi is a bit underrated and Teru a bit oversimplified and the new chapter is SO much fun

It’s so interesting to compare Aoi now vs then!! Based off scraps. She seems better at acting cute but also seems more jaded which I wonder is because of Teri’s influence (boy can be toxic), the engagement, or the changes of her family (lore of her father?? I can’t tell if her family has changed from past line to this line but him having two whole other daughters is insane :<< she seems a bit more unhinged (slaps him with cold eyes and then pouts a second later) and whether that’s her stronger manipulation or the effects of her mixed-message childhood, it’s interesting…

I’m also still so curious about her relationship with Akane. Has he confessed at all? Or hasn’t because she’s engaged? Does her ver of him know neither of them want it? Are they still close or are they more distant? Props to Aidairo for trying to navigate all the convolution and idk we’ll ever find because we have our Akane not hers. But it’s interesting to think about.

on the earlier topic of family, it’s really sad because this whole chapter reinforces the idea that while everyone else lives are improved, Aoi became worse, esp if she and Akane are not close. While she potentially lost her family earlier than og, has a stupid amount of expectations on her due to her status as Teru’s fiancée, and might be chronically be looked down upon by Teru (cause he can be condescending and she’s def the type he doesn’t like), Teru has..more?

He has his mother now (which OMG the Kou-mother interaction T-T and she’s bad at cooking) which potentially can be SO much to him. His father appears to be more present as well. I’m not sure if Tiara is there or not. But either way, he doesn’t have to grow up quite as quickly as he does in canon. It’s hard to say how present line him is different from our line him cause Aoi can tell that’s something is up but that might mostly be to him not acting the way we agreed on?

I’m lowk brainrotting over Aoi cause I feel SO bad for her and omg kid Teru was an unfiltered child. Amazing chapter as always from Aidairo!

This year, I'm participating in the @kaishinbigbang! Shoutout to the lovely admin of the big bang for hosting and please look forward to the partnered artwork by @la-pulga-rancia <3

Okay but Skip Beat will live on in my memory as being one of the first major pining stories ive ever read and theres SO much tension (that arc where Ren was acting as Cain...) They're not one of my active ships but Ren and Kyoko have my whole heart and soul and yes the series is ongoing and yes it started in 2002. .....my plot memory is insane why are half of my major investments over a decade old ongoing?? (GSNK, OnS, DetCo, ToG, probs more)

This has been living in my head rent free since I saw it two days ago and now I'm like Cousin AU, where Toichi still died but whatever happened between the brothers didn't happen (idk if anything actually happened, I can't watch the movie until it's off theaters TvT) so the cousins knew each other and are pretty close. Dunno why Yusaku didn't look into his death (maybe decided it'd be better for it to go unsolved/lied about, which has def happened in canon before and Shinichi did it too in the whole plastic surgery case) But young!Shinichi is like no!! i swear something is up and I will prove it + I will protect my friend/cousin >:( and they work together from the start Introducing the progressive shounen-action-ification of the DetCo series xDD first we get explosions, now we get power creeping!! Don't know if it's been confirmed or denied canonically if Snake is part of the B.O. but if he is that would honestly be hilarious. Part 1: the entirety of Magic Kaito 1412, including the multitude of other thieves. So. Many. Thieves. (not that I'm complaining) Part 2: You've defeated the theives, now you're up against Snake's organization!! Mystery focus potential, but also explosion potential Part 3: You've defeated Snake's organization, but that was merely an introduction into the Black Organization (Shinichi may or may not get shrunk, I haven't decided). Insert ominous foreshadowing and a single clue that spirals Part 4: Some level of B.O. shenanigans, and then a strange woman becomes Ran's English teacher! (Jodie) Part however-long-this-series-will-go-on: the entire world gets involved with the pair at the center of it and somehow the B.O. still hasn't been handled. Vermouth dynamics with Kaito and Shinichi would be SO much fun (would Kaito also get a nickname or would he be brushed off LOL) What's Yusaku doing in all this???? Avoiding his editors, probably. Bonus: The Kudo mansion with a secret room AND an aviary. Just make it Hogwarts at some point. Bonus 2: Agasa and Jii interactions!!! Which I swear has been hinted at in canon that Agasa is the friend and has (unknowingly) helped with KID gadgets. Bonus 3: Agasa actively working with KID on gadgetry would be off. the. rails. Chaos squared.

Okay okay I know the shippers are grieving KaiShin right now BUT

May I offer you platonic/familial KaiShin?

Just think. They may not know it in canon yet, but Shinichi is technically Kaito's only relative who hasn't fucked off and abandoned him

Like at this point Shinichi/Conan probably gives more shits about Kaito/KID than both of Kaito's parents

Imagine the fanfic potential

Them finding out they're related

Kaito half glad and half weirded out that he has another relative who's actually here

Shinichi being baffled at Kaito's fucked family situation

Maybe even Shinichi going off on his dad for seemingly letting Toichi's son believe he's dead

Maybe even Kaito going off on his dad for, well, everything at this point

The drama

Imagine

this this this this

i feel like their journeys and character arcs change drastically depending on who the traveller is. Lumine as a reserved girl who becomes a villain? Stereotypical. Lumine as a reserved girl who has a coming of age arc underscored by grief and loss and insecurity? amazing Also if Aether is the abyss sibling then it's like, wtf happened for the sunshine guy who cares so much about his sister to become so cold? He talked SO MUCH in that dream flashback and when he meets his sister again, he says like 2 sentences?? Maybe it's the passage of time or whatever but the extreme change in his character creates so much interest

I love Aether as the traveler and Lumine as the Abyss princess I think that makes a lot of sense and is really fitting for the story. Plus abyss Lumine is hot af 🫶

But

I much prefer Lumine as the traveler and Aether as the abyss prince. I’m probably biased as I picked Lumine but I just find it really interesting. It’s a bit generic having the sunshine boy the good guy and the cold mean girl the bad. If you reverse it and make it the sunshine boy turned bad and the cold mean girl forced to be the hero, it becomes a much more compelling story.

Just imagine, the man who’s too kind for his own good, always helping people, friendly and social, has gone through that much trauma and pain that he wants to get revenge on the very people he once stood for. On the brink of insanity from all of the hatred he feels.

Now imagine Lumine. Cold, distant, calculating. Someone who’s never been in the hero role before and has suddenly just been thrust into it out of nowhere. She’s in her brothers place. This is a scenario her brother would thrive in. Not her. To make matters worse, she still has absolutely no idea where he is. She doesn’t know what to do. She’s absolutely trapped.

She has to learn to adapt over time. Learn more empathy. Be able to make friends more. Feel like she can truly trust people. It’s a learning curve for both of them. Lumine learning that she can trust people other than her brother, Aether learning that he can trust a lot less people than he originally thought.

Though, with everyone new Lumine meets she becomes more and more agitated and even more angry over time. She wants her brother. She doesn’t want to save nations. She doesn’t want to save people.

Her and Aether are two halves of one whole. They are what the other isn’t. They can’t cope properly without each other. All she wants is him. Imagine her desperation when she learns he’s missing. Her frustration and anger as no one properly helping her or taking her seriously. Knowing he’s alive but where the hell could he be!? Her utter relief and joy when seeing him again. Thinking they are going to go back home.

Now imagine her distraught when that same brother chooses the abyss over her.

Also love this cause of the pining!! I have such a soft spot for insecure characters and I’ve read way so many where the one who falls first has liked the other for AGES without expecting anything back so it’s super cute to see their affection be reciprocated, and usually so obviously! The emotional payoff is *insane*, both for the pining character to “unexpectedly” get what they’ve longed for, and on the readers part because someone wholesomely going up in flames because of their affection is incredibly fun to watch

(add in the Y always flirts but gets super flustered when X does something cute and I am figuratively dying. These roles are interchangeable tbh)

I think people misunderstand "x fell first, y fell harder " trope because it's not about like the one who fell harder loves the other person harder. It's just that the one who fell first falls in a graceful way, one step at the time, maybe gradually over a span of time. The one who fell harder smashes trough the air, there's blood everywhere, everything is fine-