ML Fic Recs - AUs

ML Fic Recs - AUs

Last week was crazy and I didn’t get around to posting, but now I’m back with your weekly rec list. As usual, I’m trying to rec fics that readers are less likely to have read. (I base that off of kudos on AO3. The general rule is fics under 1000 kudos, but usually I try to keep it under 500!) You can find my other rec lists on my blog at #jennarecsml

If you enjoy these, please reblog so more readers can find these awesome fics!

I love the what ifs of taking are characters and changing something–or everything!–of their circumstances. What if Adrien never went to school? What if soulmates were real? What if there weren’t miraculous? There are so many ways things could have gone differently and I love these explorations. Here are some of my favourite alternate universes!

like poles of a magnet by @rosekasa

ladybug spat her blood at chat noir. invincibility was only granted to the ladybug and black cat that worked together. not even the miraculous cure could heal them, otherwise.

(or, five times they didn’t hate each other, and one time it was love).

Multi-chapter. Enemies AU.  The enemies dynamic here is AMAZING!! Adrien is so in character even when he’s a “bad guy”, and the backstory of how he ended up working with Hawkmoth is perfect. (Also, how is Gabriel even worse??) I love the way the identities are played with, and especially the repercussions of Chat working for Hawkmoth on what Adrien is allowed to do.

I Love You To Pieces by marichatting

Marinette’s wrist is blank. She knows that one day, she will kiss her soulmate for the first time, and her soulmate tattoo will appear on her wrist, but how is she supposed to wait patiently for that day to come?

She is dying to know whether or not Adrien is her soulmate. Meanwhile, a certain cat has the same burning question about Ladybug.

One-shot. Soulmates AU. This is so freaking sweet, I can’t even. I love when an author takes the rules of the AU and thinks through how they might play out with our characters and their dynamic, and that’s what we have here. Love the interaction between the soulmate kiss and secret identities!

A Series of Meets: Postcards by @damagectrlwrites

When Adrien moves into his first flat, he discovers postcards already in his mail box addressed to someone none of the neighbors seem to know. The postcards come from a young woman traveling the world for a few months named ’M’ and her diligent, once a week cards make Adrien decide to hold on to them in hopes of delivering them to the correct receiver. However, with each postcard he gets, he learns more and more about ’M’ and soon finds himself falling for the postcard’s mysterious writer.

One-shot. No powers/Never met AU. Okay, technically this is a chapter in a collection of AU one-shots, but it deserves individual attention. I loved the mystery of this one, and watching Adrien slowly fall for someone he’s never even met. I don’t want to give away too much with this one, but when I finished reading it the first time I had to go back and give it another read to see how everything connected.

Footsteps by @sariahsue

“I’m not sneaking!” Marinette blurted out as soon as she saw him. She noticed three things instantly. He was blond. He was holding his hands around his eyes like binoculars, and he was in the nicest tuxedo she had ever seen.

(Marinette’s about to get married to her soulmate, a man she’s never met before. Too bad she meets that cute groomsman in the hallway first.)

One-shot. Soulmates AU. This is ridiculously, impossibly sweet. I love how even in a world where they’ve never met and things are clearly very different (marrying someone you’ve never met??), they’re still so very recognizable as themselves. I love this.

A Series of Meets: Reach by @damagectrlwrites

Paris is safe, except from the rivalry of its two superhero guardians: Ladybug and Chat Noir.  Since they were teenagers, the two have raced around Paris, trying to out do-good each other.  

After Chat Noir saves a bus of people from falling into the Seine before Ladybug can even get there, Adrien is in high spirits.  He helps a young woman reach some chips high on a shelf, kicking off a friendly conversation that ends with a coffee date.  

It’s a terrible day for Marinette.  First she had a hectic day at work, then Chat Noir gets all the praise for saving a bus of people, and then she nearly topples over trying to reach some chips.  At the very least, a nice guy helps her and asks her to coffee. Surely, things will get better, right?

One-shot. Enemies/Never met AU. Okay, technically this is a chapter in a collection of AU one-shots, but it deserves individual attention. This one is absolutely amazing and hilarious and YOU NEED TO READ IT!! Ladybug and Chat Noir are superhero rivals, always trying to outdo each other, and being annoyed at the other. Marinette and Adrien get a meet-cute and fall in love. The juxtaposition is perfect and ridiculous and THAT IDENTITY REVEAL OMG.

The Soul System by @peppermint-shamrock  

A series of fics taking place in the same soulmate AU, where soulmates experience an intense feeling of connection and recognition upon first contact - and only first contact. With no lasting proof beyond memories, things don’t always go smoothly.

Series. Soulmates AU. This one is full of angst and heartbreak, but it’s so good. The worldbuilding is phenomenal. This is one where the author has really thought through the consequences of the alternate world, and then figured out how to inflict those on our canon dynamics in such a way that they inflict maximum hurt. Ladybug and Chat Noir are soulmates, but Marinette’s in love with someone else. Someone who already has a soulmate. 

lost without the shape of your heart by @beaubcxton

“I heard you today at the coffee shop.” Ladybug whispered, and noticed the way he stiffened immediately. “Don’t worry, I didn’t figure out who you were but I saw the back of your head as you left.”

“Oh.” He pulled away then, and offered her a wobbling charming smile. “You didn’t happen to hear anything I said, did you?”

Four times Marinette stumbles onto the boy behind the mask, and the one time she meets him.

One-shot.  Never met AU. This is such beautiful ladynoir, and I love how that relationship grows and deepens. Meanwhile, of course, they’ve never met as civilians, but there’s nothing stopping them from recognizing each other. The ending absolutely sent me.

The following fics is amazing and absolutely worth reading, but does feature sexual content, so minors beware.

Overheard by @ghostlyhamburger 

Marinette and Adrien are roommates. Adrien overhears some odd sounds from Marinette’s room.

Rated E. Multi-chapter. Roommates/Housemates AU. This is really hot and sweet, and then the angst hammer comes in. I just really enjoyed the entire thing, watching these two be idiots and seeing how the misunderstandings arise.