Aaaallllright, it's been...8, months since I did the last chapter of this story and put it on hiatus. Now, I take it off hiatus!...to officially announce it as dead. Or, well, 'abandoned'. Planted. That's a better way to put it. I love My Hero. I love Ladybug. But after a point, I kind of stopped loving this story. It's fun, absolutely, but I felt like I put too much pressure on myself regarding it so I decided to put it aside for a while and see if I could rekindle that same love I had when it first bubbled up. Sadly, it instead proved to be the final nail in the coffin, so instead of this being a triumphant return to form, it will instead be my story notes I had for this wild ride. THIS IS THE FINAL WARNING FOR IF YOU WANT TO AVOID ANY 'SPOILERS' ABOUT THIS STORY ON THE INFITISIMAL CHANCE THAT I TAKE IT UP AGAIN ONE DAY, OR SOMEONE ELSE TAKES UP THE TORCH. TO ENSURE THIS, I WILL BE MAKING A TEXT GAP, HERE. ...We Good? Then here we go.
Story
My initial premise was obviously about Deku having landed in Ladybugland aka France, and while we got a little view of that, I had WAY more stuff planned to put between 'major' scenes. Things like going around his new neighborhood for local gyms, grocery stores, banks, parks all while interacting with OC's who may or may not one day Akumatize. To say nothing of his classmates. But this is just the 'day-to-day' side of the story.
As a juxtoposition, I tried to write my fight scenes in a very specific way; quick, without warning, and suddenly brutal. Because when the chips are down, Izuku is REALLY hardcore. Like, he breaks HIS bones to break YOUR bones crazy. And that's REALLY different from the usual Persian Hero MO. Which leads into the next point.
Consequences
There were obviously plenty of them, most of which we sadly didn't get to see. There were the obvious levels, like the fact that Izuku doesn't have a literal reset button made of Magic, but I intended for there to be farther reaching problems as well. Namely, if one superhero is already working with the police, why aren't the other two? Which would have 'hopefully', lead into some dramatic scenes between the two forces facing off and the fact that one's openness of identity can cause such a massive shift. As far as Izuku was concerned, it was just common sense that the police would know who he is, because why would they not? Comic VS Reality logic, as it were.
The biggest part of this fic that never really got the time they deserved yet though? Oh ho, boy, was it a doozy.
Quirks
The fact is that I was planning on doing a whole 'reveal' of what happens after Duke defeats a foe as opposed to Ladybug or Chat. Remember how there was no scene of a certain butterfly drifting away into the night away from out fight scene(s)? That was intentional. Because the Butterfly NEVER left the body. The connection was broken from Papillion/Hawkmoth/Fancy Pants, and One For All did what it was best at; subsumed a power into a transient form. In this case? Guess who suddenly have a related power. I viewed it as OFA returning whatever 'Quirk' it was fighting against to a 'Normal' state, which for its bearer would be a completely different thing than other people. It sounds a little shoe-horned in when I'm writing it like this, but I was honestly really excited to do the reveal of this with the next 'interlude' that would have come on.
The interlude would have been Timmy's parents apologizing for what happened while the kid gushes about what happened in a way only kids really can, leading to later when they're back home and making dinner, asking Timmy if his favorite would cheer him up...only to see him cheering while moving around his action figures on strings coming from his hands, making them freak out, and Timmy wonder what was wrong.
*QUE PRESENT MIC SCREAM STRONG ENOUGH TO PIERCETHE DIMENSIONAL SCREEEEEEN!* Name: Timmy -YYEEEAAAAAAHHH!-
Quirk: Strings!
This little guy packs a super useful secret! By straightening and pulling his fingers, this kid can shoot thin threads from the tips that are able to grip and grab whatever they land on! They can only carry as much as he can physically lift though, and hurt if pulled too tight! Careful, no-one likes a stray hair!
Like That. I spent a LONG amount of time thinking about the various Quirks characters could get too! Like So.
Name: Jessy
Quirk: Maximum Mussel!
His arms are made of the same material and consistency of clams and mussels! This means that, with the side benefit of being more more flexible than normal arms, can give him incredible strength when the arms become more and more compressed! The down side though, is that the more compressed they get, the smaller! Doesn't matter how strong it is if it's a baby fist!
Name: Nino
Quirk: Bubble Blower!
His hands are able to secrete a special liquid on command that, when blown through, create bubbles that chime in various tones and sounds depending on the size and amount of air. These bubbles tend to float around rather than fly away due to their inexplicable weight. They also stain most clothes.
Name: Nathaniel
Quirk: Ink Blot!
He has the ability to freely manipulate ink on any surface, by absorbing it into his body and redistributing it as he wishes. Results vary depending on his level of concentration, and he also can only take in an amount of ink limited to the room on his skin!
Such as the above. There were a few more, but i've forgotten them as of the time I'm writing this all out. You can understand what I was going for though.
SCENES
Now, I'm sure a few of you already know about my writing process either from my other fics where I explained it or cause I told you about it on Discord, but I'll say it again. Rather than fully fleshing out a story, I will (usually with only one exception) first come up with scenes I want to see made, then work a story around them to connect them all together in a way that makes sense or amuses me the most, hopefully both. These, are the scenes that brought this story to life.
-Izuku sitting in his living thinking while staring at his broken fingers, having had to resort to 100% flicks in the face of the last Akuma he thought. This would lead into a scene where he considers medical aid but then dismissing it for the moment because 'people would ask questions, but it would also take too long at the moment'. Then he would lament the lack of Recovery Girl being around before blinking and going on a muttering storm. Recalling just how her Quirk functioned, what it felt like when it was used, then, after a certain point of the all to familiar rumblings of One For All, kickstarting his recovery rate to the point the fingers de-purple, making him grin...before suddenly clutching his side in pain and rushing to the fridge, wasting no time chugging a full 2 liters of milk, a whole carton of eggs, all the cheese he had available and as much frozen eat as his teeth could break, leaving him a mess as he pants on the floor as it occurs to him that instead of his stamina being drained, it straight up used his vitamin and fat stores, making it incredibly dangerous no matter how useful. This would have served as a good way to ensure Izuku always started 'fresh' before a fight no matter how I ended it.-
-Izuku spotting the Miraculous duo fighting a flying Akuma, who was quite possibly going to be a disgruntled Airline Pilot being forced to retire due to his age and was going to become the Akuma Jet-Setter, and decided to incorporate one of the more unconventional lessons Aizawa-Sensei gave him. Namely, by throwing a shotput ball like a baseball at the Akuma ala Orientation, possibly with a cry of 'BASEBALL DIAMOND-SMMMAAAASH!'. Then we POV shift to the duo in person struggling to ground their foe only for a ball to go straight at his gut like a mini-cruise missile and send him falling to a heap with a cry of 'Pilot down!' Making them wonder just what the what happened, but hey, free damage.-
-A full 100% Full Cowling ala Eri thanks to the help of The Ladybug Miraculous continuously focusing its effect on him alone, most likely as the 'final' fight of the fic. Didn't have much to note for it cause it was so far off, but you have to admit that Mad Spark Deku fuxing up the Papillion-Zepplin is a cool picture.-
-A scene of Izuku calmly chatting with a classmate while he works out or discussing random events. This one was a bit more ambiguous of them all, but the main thought was something like helping Nathaniel balance character powers for his novel or doing an interview with Anya while he does dumb-bell reps, possibly with someone also ambiguous hiding in a corner or window watching and drooling at the beef on display. That last bit was mostly omake material than what would actually happen, but you never know with me and my moods.
-The Copycat Akuma tries to turn into Deku's favorite Hero to make him hesitate to avoid an ass-beating. Obviously, this is Ladyb-PUNCH, okay wait he meant Cha-PUNCH, wait how about Supe-PUNCH...Captian Crusader? *Barely dodges last punch* AH, GOD DAMNIT!' Didn't really go much farther than that because, again, a bit off, but this much still made me chuckle.-
And, there we go. All the notes for this story that I have an ability to transcribe for you all. Everything else, was all up in my brainmeats. I know it isn't honestly as much as it could be, but this was still an amazing ride, and you all deserve better than potentially hoping this will come back one day.
I know, one of you reading this will make something amazing. Beyond any shadow of doubt, greatness awaits within you.
Goodnight.