I'm okay, even if I leave my grin behind
is a fanfic written by SaltyOni666. It is a crossover fanfic between three fanfics: the original fanfic The dark never consumes all, for the light remains within its core by the same author, itself a crossover fic between Miraculous Ladybug, Ninjago, Dark Parables and MyStreet/MinecraftDiaries; Scarlet Lady by zoe-oneesama; and Cheshire (Miraculous Ladybug) by RozonRozark
Time is said to be a linear construct, but that’s never the case. For what would’ve happened is something happened back at the start.
After being forced to defect the order and of the jury by his first holder, Plagg had unfortunately developed a legacy of being only used by those of unsavoury entities, against his own will, the last being Garmadon. Yet a quarrel between the Dark Lord and his former apprentice resulted in the ring being lost for centuries, until it found itself in the hands of an innocent girl.
Seeing this as a chance at redemption, Plagg attempts to guide her onto a peaceful path, using his powers as little as possible. But his path is hindered by Chloe, the school bully, Garmadon, who has found her, Hawkmoth and more.
Can he finally break this circle of cruel corruption.
Tropes found in I'm okay, even if I leave my grin behind:
- Adaptational Angst Upgrade:
- Marinette was never in the best of situations in the original fics, but in this, she doesn't even have the support of the city or what would’ve been her friends. It’s also implied that her parents’ business wasn’t a great success, despite constantly being available to do catering.
- Distant Prologue: The prologue delves into how the Black Cat Miraculous was lost for almost a century before being found by Marinette: Lucifer, after having enough of Garmadon letting Humans live, stole the miraculous in an attempt to commit humanicide. He was defeated by the combined efforts of Garmadon and Master Fu, but Lucifer managed to blind them and cast away the Miraculous, alongside the hand bearing it so that he could deprive them of a total victory. Depending on who you heard this from, Garmadon had either promised Master Fu the entirety of the Dark Miraculous in his collection only to back off his words afterwards (Fu’s version), or simply Plagg’s and that Fu was caught attempting to steal the rest of it (Garmadon’s version).
- Adaptational Jerkass: the class are this, as usual in any of Salty Oni 666’s fics, whit a few minor changes:
- Chloe Bourgeois, who takes Lila’s place from the original fic as one of the big bads, all whilst retaining her goal of ruining Marinette’s life.
- Alya doesn’t even appear to be friends with Marinette in this fic, whereas she was supportive of her (as Marigold/Cheshire) in the other fics..
- Adaptational Nice Guy: In a surprising turn of events, Adrien is given this treatment. In the original fanfic, he was only interested in Ladybug, not Marinette, and did what he could in an attempt to make her his alone once he learns of her identity, and yet in this, he has no interest in romance as of yet (mostly because he has the Bee Miraculous instead of the Ladybug or Black Cat miraculous), and didn’t really know either Marinette or Cheshire really well (thanks to Chloe’s interference). He also wants to make up for ‘stealing’ (in reality, not able to return it to her) her umbrella from their first encounter.
- All of the Other Reindeer: Marinette is this because of Chloe's machinations.
- Artifact of Doom: Like in ‘Cheshire’, everyone thinks that the Black Cat Miraculous is one of these, while in reality it’s just unluckily always in the palms of evil (apart from Marinette’s)
- Attention Whore: Chloe is this in spades, believing that everything goes her way simply because she was born in this world. She carries this trait as Scarlet Lady, where she’s the centre of every news station.
- Big Bad Ensemble: It’s between Chloe, Hawkmoth and (possibly) Lucifer, with each one having their own agenda.
- Black-and-White Insanity: Many people who are on the Parisian heroes’ side (especially those who wield a miraculous) suffer from this, even those with a good nature like Adrien/Honeybee.
- The Call Knows Where You Live: Even when she attempts to avoid any necessary fights, Marinette will join the battle as Cheshire when the other Parisian Heroes make a hash of it.
- Cheaters Never Prosper: Averted. It’s implied by Kim’s dialogue in chapter six that Chloe might’ve actually gotten away with copying Marinette’s hat designs for the contest.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: As usual, Garmadon has a habit of turning a battle into this whenever he goes into one as himself. So far, only Cheshire is capable of holding her own against him.
- The Dragon: every single villain group has one:
- Kim/Alya to Chloe
- potentially Adrien to Master Fu
- Harumi to Lloyd
- Lloyd to his father
- In the past, Lucifer was once Garmadon’s dragon until a certain period (either before the incident, or longer than that, given their attitudes and beliefs).
- Criminal Craves Legitimacy: Downplayed; Marinette, a civilian, just wants to live a peaceful life, but with most, if not all, of the heroes after her for the crimes of being a Black Cat user, as well as Chloe’s continuance to meddle in her affairs, make her life a living hell.
- Dark Is Not Evil : a central theme in the fanfic, mainly through Marinette, a kind outcast that is hunted by the heroes because of the dark legacy of the Cat Miraculous.
- Garmadon is also this case, as even though he’s a villain, he’s still more respectful than the Parisian heroes.
- Deal with the Devil: Garmadon’s proposal of an alliance with Cheshire by Chapter 4 can come across as this.
- Dramatic Irony:
- Marinette believes that Adrien really is like her classmates, which was cemented when he stole her umbrella from their first encounter. Adrien Agreste, in reality, is really a nice guy who hasn’t had the chance to return her umbrella.
- Chloe and the other heroes had doctored some footage of the fight, misleading people into thinking that Garmadon and Cheshire were in league with each other. While the footage was when the two are fighting, they did make a truce afterwards, yet it never meant that the two themselves are allies.
- The Dreaded: Lloyd and Garmadon both retain this trope from the original fanfic. Chloe can also be this for some as well.
- Dude, Where's My Respect?: Marinette doesn’t get a break as Cheshire because every hero uses the legacy card (reminding people of the cat’s history) so that they perceive her as the enemy, and to justify every one of their attacks on her. It gets worse when they capture and doctored some footage of their battle in Ninjago, falsely implying that Garmadon and Marinette are in league now (which isn’t that far off, but still false).
- Downer Beginning: before the fanfic begins, we learn that Shad, Plagg’s first user, had defected from the Order alongside several kwamis, that would become bound to the Dark Miraculous, and since then had been passed down to other villains before being locked away by the order. Not long after that, Garmadon had requested that the entirety of the Miraculouses would be handed over to him, and promptly stole the Dark Miraculous when his request was denied. Lucifer, Garmadon’s former apprentice, had attempted to wipe off humanity with the cat miraculous and, once defeated, cast away the ring from their possession. Marinette, on her side, was an outcast because of Chloe, and as the hero Cheshire, she’s been seen as a villain by Scarlet and the other Parisian heroes.
- Entitled Bastard: In her first appearance in the fanfic, Chloe thinks that the universe owes her for simply existing. Also serves as her Establishing Character Moment.
- Even Evil Has Standards:
- Any mention of Lucifer will bring some bad taste to those that are at the very least aware of his existence, just ask Master Fu or Garmadon. Given his track record, their disrespect towards him is justifiable.
- Everyone on Garmadon’s side (that includes those working for the Sons of Garmadon) treated Marinette better than her own classmates.
- Everyone Has Standards: Luc is rather shocked to learn that a child was ultimately responsible for dealing with the paperworks for the trip, and will have none of what Chloe threatened with.
- Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: Chloe doesn’t see why she has to literally help people, nor why she shouldn’t be abusing her position and powers.
- For Want Of A Nail:
- The origin of how Plagg had fallen into Marinette’s hands had been altered, with Lucifer having a hand in it. He had used it in an attempt to end humanity, but when he was foiled by the combined effort of Garmadon, his former master, and Master Fu, he opted to get rid of the ring by casting it away, alongside his hand that quickly deteriorated into dust.
- Adrien gets his hands on the bee miraculous, instead of the ladybug miraculous.
- in ‘Cheshire’, Misterbug’s team is the one with Hero with Bad Publicity, thanks to Alya being there to film their mishaps. In this fic, Marinette’s the one to be hit by this, because of both Chloe and Scarlet Lady (who happen to be one and the same) in an attempt to hog the spotlight.
- In this, Marinette and Garmadon manage to form some sort of truce, and she seemingly gets along with his son. These sort of interactions aren’t present in The dark never consumes all, for the light remains within its core
- Speaking of which, Master Fu is still alive, with his memories intact, unlike in the original fanfic where he was killed off some time after passing on the title of guardianship to Marinette.
- Friendless Background: Marinette and Plagg have had no friends in their entire lives (unless you include Garmadon, the dark Kwamis and the second Jury of Nine for the latter, though given his attitude towards them, he doesn’t appear to like them.)
- Hero with Bad Publicity:
- Because of either Scarlet, or just the Miraculous users in general, Marinette’s the one with bad publicity in the public eye. It gets even worse when the heroes upload some doctored footage showing Marinette and Garmadon meeting up.
- It’s implied that Scarlet and Chloe’s influence has this effect on Marinette in her civilian life, as certain people stay clear of her (even if there’s little to no reason for it, as seen from Luka and Kagami’s indifference when the class plan to cancel her reservation of the room, despite having never met her before.)
- Hero With An F An Good: Most, if any, of the Parisian heroes aren’t qualified to be heroes, even if they've got the best of intentions in mind.
- Horrible Judge of Character: Everyone (excluding Marinette, Plagg and Tikki) in Paris believes that Scarlet is The Paragon, and a true hero. Master Fu isn’t that bothered that Marinette isn’t Ladybug here, stating that Cheshire is their top priority.
- In Spite of a Nail:
- In spite of how the past was altered from the original fanfic, Marinette still gets Plagg's ring by the river. (‘Cheshire’)
- Marinette seems to be able to retain her ability to reverse the damage made in the battle, Cataclysm. Though it isn’t seen as such, so it’s debatable if the author kept the power’s side effect.
- Even though he’s not Mister Bug, Adrien is still in contact with Fu.
- Despite not being the class president, Marinette still has to fill out the teacher’s paperwork under the pretence of it being a model student’s work pack.
- The class is still going to Ninjago for a school trip they won.
- Marinette, whilst the trip is still on, is still not immune to the class’s horrible attitude.
- Chloe still has her hands on the Ladybug Miraculous (‘Scarlet Lady’)
- Lloyd is still the a controlling bully, even if a bit more friendly to Marinette than he was in the original fic (The dark never consumes all, for the light remains within its core)
- It's All About Me: Chloe’s nominal trait, to the point she believes the universe owes her the right to existence.
- Light Is Not Good : the Miraculous users of Paris claim to be on the side of good, but most of them are those that are bullying, or are complicit in this, and are only in it for themselves. It’s implied (and later confirmed in chapter 4) that master fu exhibits this trope.
- The Load: Most of the classmates act like this. Though when they do help, they’re making things worse, such as inadvertently aiding Garmadon by spearheading his army, as well as turning his focus from the conquest to the heroes themselves.
- Screw the Rules, I Have Money! / Screw the Rules, I Have Connections!: How Chloe deals with obstacles in her path, as well as how she makes Marinette’s life a living nightmare..
- Recursive Fanfiction: this fanfic is basically a recreation of the original fanfic, mixed with Scarlet Lady and Chesire
- Role Swap AU: Marinette has the Cat Miraculous and goes by Cheshire, Chloe has the Ladybug Miraculous and goes by Scarlet Lady, and Adrien has the Bee Miraculous and goes by Honeybee.
- Shout-Out: The title is based on a line from the song Cheshire Kitten (we're all mad here) by SJ Tucker, specifically the line “If I leave my Grin behind, remind me that we're all mad here, and it's okay.”
- Skewed Priorities: instead of focusing on the Akumas, the heroes would rather attack Cheshire simply because of the cat user's legacy.
- Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: This is the case for Marinette and Garmadon’s proposal, at least for Marinette’s side. She only joins in when she learns that she can still beat up Lord Garmadon. As for Garmadon, he’s content that he’s got the cat Kwami by his side again.
- It’s possible that the Parisian users are this, given their interactions during battle in chapters 2 and 3.
- Token Good Teammate: Adrien appears to be this for the Parisian miraculous users, just a bit naive to see what’s really going on with his teammates.
