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flightfoot · 1 year

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Miraculous Ladybug Fanfic Recs for 2022

As a lot of you know, I read metric butt-ton of Miraculous fanfics, so I wanted to share with you 19 multi-chap fics, and 16 Miraculous one-shots (I just went through all the ones I really wanted to rec people instead of trying to fit a particular number) that I think y’all should take a look at. I tagged people’s tumblr blogs when I knew them, but I may well have missed some, especially if their username was different between AO3 and tumblr. Feel free to tag authors who I missed. Note that I’m only counting fics that were completed in 2022, so no ongoing fics. Enjoy!

Multi-chap fics:

When The Morning Comes by @into-september:

Gabriel Agreste has been unmasked as Hawkmoth, and the girl who was fighting him all these years turns out to be Tom Dupain's daughter. And standing between them is Adrien Agreste with his life in shatters that Tom Dupain has no way of piecing together.

But baking is at least a place to start.

I love how this not only digs into Adrien’s character, but Tom’s as well, especially how both of them have been estranged from their fathers. I haven’t seen that come up much.

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Walking That Mile by @nomolosk

Nino and Alya wake up in the wrong bodies. Several things result from this, including, but not limited to, identity reveals and a better understanding of what their respective best friends are going through.

Never knew I needed Nino!Plagg and Alya!Tikki in my life, but there you go XD. It’s not all fun and games though, this is a Hawkmoth Takedown fic as well, and dealing with the effects of that.

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The Sidekick Conspiracy by @bring-the-storm:

It's common knowledge among the heroes of Paris that their sidekick, the civilian Marinette Dupain-Cheng, is actually secretly their leader, pretending to be a normal girl who just ‘happens’ to show up at battles. Common knowledge to everyone except Marinette. What do you do when you're in the center of a conspiracy that doesn’t actually exist? In which Marinette is confused, Chat has no idea what's going on, Master Fu just wants Marinette to be safe, and everyone is misinterpreting the situation.

This one is just fun! Marinette has no idea she keeps on being given jewelry all of a sudden, and Fu’s frustrated that she won’t actually USE the damn Miraculous already.

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As the dust settles by @pengirl91:

After Ladybug lost everything and yet her partner stood by her, she realized what she had been trying to lie to herself about for months. She is undoubtedly in love with him. The only problem is that she's terrified of what that could lead to and there's a monumental task ahead of them before it might be safe to act on her feelings for him... more than she already has.

Post Strike Back with my hopes, wishes, and predictions for season 5 as I wait with great impatience. Now complete.

The meat of this story is mostly a SentiAdrien fic. Adrien discovers that Gabriel is Hawkmoth, so Gabriel orders him to stay silent about what he found out, as well as giving orders to help him with plans to obtain the Miraculous he needs. Luckily, he doesn’t know that Adrien is Chat Noir...

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A Little Fall Of Rain by @funnydoesntlookdruish:

Unable to transform in time, Marinette sacrifices her life to save Adrien from an assassin. With the help of the Kwamis, Adrien is able to bring her back to life, but it comes at a price. One that Adrien alone must pay. Now, Adrien is forced to keep even more secrets. The fact that Marinette is alive and that she has been his Lady all long. More than ever, they must defeat Hawkmoth. Only then can Marinette return to her life.

This one’s pretty angsty, arguably even more on Adrien’s end than Marinette’s. As part of their cover, Adrien has to be injured pretty badly, in ways that couldn’t be reversed if not for magic.

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Strangely Familiar by @sunfoxfic

Alya Césaire’s life is perfect. Indeed, between the success of the Ladyblog, how well she’s doing in school, and the fact that she’s a superhero who has never bore the weight of a crisis of epic proportions, her life almost couldn’t be better. Almost.

But Alya has always been a go-getter, and so she’ll chase after that perfect life if it kills her. Which is how she ends up rushing to move out of her father’s apartment and in with Marinette, Adrien, and a complete stranger: Nino Lahiffe. And in fact, her life does seem perfect — she and Nino are fast friends. They spend a lot of time together and get to know each other really well.

But in the end, fortunate situations will bear unfortunate truths, and she learns things about herself that aren’t quite comfortable. Like I said, though: Alya has always been a go-getter, and she won’t let new feelings deter her from chasing after her perfect life.

This is the single longest DJWifi-centric fic on AO3 (which is a travesty) and it is GLORIOUS. Alya and Nino are both well fleshed-out here, with their own problems and baggage they’re dealing with, but it’s easier together.

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final girl by @picayunearts:

Marinette has ninety-nine problems, and the superhero trio of Paris counts for a hundred.

[AU where Marinette follows through on giving up her earrings after Stoneheart, but becomes the Guardian to protect her replacement.]

This is just great. Marinette thinks she failed, but the other heroes wouldn’t agree. And eventually, she gains some confidence in herself as well.

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Over and Over by @stcrsquad:

Marinette Dupain-Cheng has had the worst day possible. She's failed to confess to Adrien (again), made an embarrassment of herself, and got into a fight with Chat Noir.

Adrien Agreste has had the worst day possible. He is tired of being pushed aside by everyone, including his crime-fighting partner Ladybug.

Luckily, fate (and Bunnyx) works in mysterious ways because they wake up again on the same day. A do-over. Except it keeps happening. Can the two figure out what they need to fix to break the loop, or will they be stuck forever?

Look these two will sit down and has things out even if it takes being stuck in a time loop together to make that happen.

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When Bunnyx Brings A Baby by @funnydoesntlookdruish:

Marinette thought she was up to any challenge. She was Ladybug after all! But when Bunnyx arrives with a baby in her arms asking her to babysit, Marinette quickly learns that Akuma battles are easy compared to taking care of a baby. A baby that seems to know her and for some strange reason... Adrien?

Anentry in the “Lovesquare has to babysit their future children” genre! This is just adorable. Has an ongoing sequel too.

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The Call of the Running Tide by @nemaliwrites:

To escape an arranged marriage, Adrien runs away from home, leaving behind all that he has ever known. In search of easy transportation, he sneaks aboard a ship at the docks. Everything seems like it is going according to plan — until he finds out that the ship belongs to the fierce pirate captain Ladybug.

I’m amazed this isn’t more popular. I mean, Lovesquare pirates!AU, with the Miracuclass as Ladybug’s crew? Come on!

It mostly has Adrien trying to fit in with the crew, find his way, that sort of thing. Though there is a confrontation with his father at the end.

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metamorphosis by @peachcitt:

“I was thinking about that time you hated me.” “Why?” "I don’t know." “I didn’t.” “I know.”

three years after hawkmoth's defeat, marinette is still trying to figure out her version of normal. there's also sleepovers.

This has been a very popular fic so most people probably at least know of it, even if they haven’t read it themselves, but in case someone out there hasn’t: basically, Chat runs off with the Butterfly and Peacock Miraculouses after Hawkmoth’s defeat and never shows up again, worrying Ladybug sick and making her fear that he died. But then a mysterious new Butterfly Holder starts attacking Paris, only he seems a lot nicer than the last one, more of an Anti-villain than anything...

A Major Test of Strength by @nemaliwrites:

There is only one thing in Paris hated as much as the akumas: Ladybug herself. In an effort to help the Savior of Paris, Adrien winds up on the wrong end of an akuma attack — only to find himself stuck reliving the same day.

With enough time, anyone can be a hero, and as he continues dying over and over, he is forced to confront the idea that these loops may be just as much of a blessing as they are a curse.

This is loosely inspired by “All You Need Is Kill”, but no knowledge of that manga is needed to understand the story. There’s a bit of a mystery element going on as Adrien tries to figure out why he keeps dying even when he takes steps to prevent it, how he keeps coming back, and what the deal is with Ladybug, anyway.

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Cataclysm by Lucid:

When Chat Noir uses Cataclysm on an akumatized ring that ends up being his amok, Marinette is left alone to solve the mystery of Hawkmoth's motives and bring back her missing partner.

This Sentiadrien fic does something I haven’t seen really explored before: it delves into what might happen if Adrien had to be recreated after having been destroyed, and the problems that might arise from that attempt. I love when we get to see Adrien’s perspective especially.

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in case you don’t know me tomorrow by @thelibraryloser:

“We live in a crazy world where pieces of our lives can be erased like they never even happened. I just wanted to memorize this moment so… so I could keep it, if that makes sense.”

Adrien's heart gave a little flutter. She wanted to keep this moment, meeting him. She wanted to keep… him.

“I understand exactly what you mean."

In a world that has created a way to selectively delete memories, no moment is truly safe. So how do you hold on to something when the memory of it is gone? And how do you keep fighting for someone when you're the only one who remembers?

This is a SEVERELY underrated fic. It’s got some shades of “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” in the world, though the plot is very different - the memory erasure ain’t willing.

Basically, the first few chapters are establishing Adrien’s and Marinette’s romance, and then the rest of the fic is dealing with Gabriel being an absolute DICK and using any means at his disposal to break them apart. It’s fantastic and I highly recommend reading it!

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Shelltering Others by @rosie-b:

When Ladybug wakes Nino up in the middle of the night to scold him for revealing his identity, he thinks his career as a Miraculous holder is over. But instead, Ladybug gives him the opportunity to prove himself by becoming Chat Noir's confidant and learning his secret identity through a scavenger hunt of sorts. Will Nino pass Ladybug and Chat Noir's test, or will he fail to put the pieces together in time?

Quick disclaimer here: the first chapter looks kinda salty towards Nino, with Ladybug laying into him for revealing his and Alya’s secret identities to Adrien and Marinette. She’s mostly just trying to scare him into taking them seriously, though, since she herself has just proposed that Nino become Chat’s secret-keeper, and he can’t afford to be lackadaisical with that identity. I highly recommend getting through at least chapter 2 of the fic when giving it a shot, because this had some great character development and introspection for Nino, on Chat Noir, Adrien, Ladybug, and himself.

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run boy run by tinuviel_tinuviel

Nino was sprawled on the floor of his room with Alya when his phone chimed, in the quiet of a premature autumnal sunset. It was one of those lazy evenings that had become rare lately. Contrary to popular belief, he and Alya could get studying done when in the same room, and he was elbows-deep in late assignments, which meant his phone was on Do Not Disturb, which meant the notification could only have come from one person.

ADRIEN 🐈: cmoe ove rnow ADRIEN 🐈: like riggt now ADRIEN 🐈: plag NINO: that is literally incomprehensible NINO: wait is that you plagg ADRIEN 🐈: mov faster

So this is a “Adrien finds out that his father is Hawkmoth and consults with Nino about what to do” fic, with Nino throwing Hawkmoth off Adrien’s track, though inadvertently at his own expense. Love Nino’s perspective here, and I always enjoy a good Hawkmoth-takedown fic!

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Restorative Justice by @kasienda:

Chloé has never been a fan of Ms. Bustier’s community building activities. In fact, she detests them. She doesn’t want to learn about the drab boring lives of her peers. And she absolutely can’t stand it when their confessions make her feel things. Feelings that she doesn’t even have names for. But when Adrien unknowingly shares his struggles with his double life, Chloé vows she will do anything to get Ladybug to set things right. Even if it means pissing off the heroine. Chloé was already mad at her anyway.

I ADORE people talking out about what hurt them, with everyone growing to understand each other, and focusing on making recompense rather than just punishment, so this was fantastic. This isn’t all about Chloe either, Marinette, Adrien, Alya, and Nino all get to hash things out with each other as well in a group session, and it’s just really, really nice to read.

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48 Hours To Make You Love Me by @mysticraven20:

“When did you stop?”

“Stop what, M’Lady?”

“Stop loving me?”

When two heroes miss the minibus for their winter get away with the gang they have no other choice but to make their way to the resort by themselves.

After avoiding their feelings for years, a freak snow storm makes them reconsider more than just whether to carry on driving.

Luckily, they find a quaint little bed and breakfast where suddenly they’re thrown into a situation where their feelings can no longer be held back; but, is it too late?

The interference of an elderly couple after an eavesdropping accident helps both Adrien and Marinette come to terms with their feelings and their actions.

Through movies, hot chocolates and snuggling to keep warm, Marinette wonders if it’s possible to make Adrien love her again, and more so can she do it by the time they need to leave their little sanctuary?

This just has a lot of adorable Adrienette shenanigans, with a fun time travel twist that had me inwardly squealing XD. If you want some Lovesquare fluff, this is a good one.

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team is a four letter word by @ladyofthenoodle:

Alya didn’t want to come between Ladybug and Chat Noir. But she didn’t want to stop being Rena Rouge either. And if Chat Noir didn’t want to talk to her, then she’d need to find a different way to prove all three of them could be a team.

Her plan unintentionally brings a few secrets to light, which leads to even more secrets coming to light, which leads to... well, Alya is sure it'll all work out eventually.

This is a season 4 fic, with a heavy emphasis on repairing the relationships that were damaged, or could have been damaged, during that season. I love how everyone gets to really feel and react, be hurt and then gain understanding, with a happy ending to cap it off!

One-shots:

hella enchanted by @xiueryn:

Years ago, Marinette's father died and she was left with her awful stepmother. With magic forcing her to obey every command, she lived as a servant and gave up hope. When a man appears, searching for the very fairy that blessed her, Marinette decides to give life one more try. AU.

(a different ella enchanted au.)

Even though it’s a one-shot this one is pretty long, clocking in at over 30k words. Absolutely worth a shot, though. The first third is basically Marinette dealing with being pushed around because of her “blessing”, and the other two-thirds is just some adorable fluff of her and Adrien touring the country together.

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Is it cool that you’re in my head? by @bring-the-storm:

Alya stared at the picture plastered across the homepage of every single tabloid and news site, whispering every curse she could think of under her breath. SHOCKING SECRET ROMANCE BETWEEN LADYBLOGGER AND PARISIAN SUPERVILLAIN REVEALED!!! the headline announced, casually shouting the words she had been dreading for all of Paris to read.

--- Alya had always assumed that someday Paris would discover that she had secretly been kissing their most wanted vigilante, but she had never thought it would happen so soon. As the domino effects of her relationship with Ladybug go spiraling through her life, Alya turns her sights towards the one responsible: the elusive superhero Hawkmoth.

AKA Someone outs Alya and her girlfriend so she retaliates by deciding to take down Hawkmoth

I recommend this to anyone who either A. Loves Alya and wants to see more of her in a starring role, or B., wants to see an AU where Parisians could feasibly believe that Hawkmoth is the good guy, and that Ladybug and Chat Noir are, if not villains, at least reckless.

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We’re breaking free (there’s not a star in heaven we can’t reach) by @pauliestorylover:

Wing binding was a symbol of prestige in high society, but Adrien would much rather be born a pauper than be forced to bind his wings for another day. Becoming Chat Noir might be the chance he had been waiting for to break free and gain a taste of the heavens.

Meanwhile, Nino and Marinette were quickly learning the joys of the pastime called ‘hating rich old white men who moonlighted as supervillains’.

Excellent Wingfic here! It’s got some excellent worldbuilding in it. I especially like how it’s customary to exchange feathers with people you’re close to, and put them in particular places on your wings to symbolize what they mean to you, whether they’re friends, family, or lovers. That particular piece of lore is used to great effect in the story.

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How Could I Not? by SorryJustAnotherPerson

In fairy tale books, Princesses were saved by nights from ferocious dragons. Those books were not their story, but Rose was happy to flip over a new page with her Juleka every single day.

Many years ago, she was put to this tower by her parents and her kingdom, along with a fire breathing dragon, so she could find her prince charming one day. How foolish for them to not calculate her falling in love with the dragon. I mean seriously.

How could she not?

I love fairy tale type stories, especially fractured fairy tales. And Juleka being a dragon is awesome. This is just a fun and adorable story.

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Once Upon A Time by kao_rei:

"Humans fear wolves. I mean, we're horrible, sickening creatures, aren't we?" Adrien laughed.

"I don't think so," Marinette muttered. "Well, not anymore when I met you."

Marinette's days are all the same—she puts on her red cape, makes deliveries for her parents' bakery, and goes home to rest before another busy day. Adrien is a wolf-boy who watches her from afar, awaiting the day they finally meet to change their stories.

While falling in love may bring about some challenges, they're willing to fight through them together because they'd never settle for a "the end". They want a "happily ever after", too.

(In which Marinette is Little Red Riding Hood, Adrien is the Wolf, and they fall in love somewhere between deliveries, flower fields, and shiny red apples).

Did I mention I love fairy tale stories? Because I do.

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(pockets full of) stones by felledstar:

Even though he wants to be “normal” and go to a “normal school” and have friends just like everyone else, Adrien’s discovered that he’s… not very good at it. It isn’t that he’s a superhero in his nonexistent spare time, or that he’s got a job modelling for his father, or that he’s got so many activities that it takes a whole other person to keep track of his schedule. It’s that… he’s always tripping over things that everyone else seems to know that he… just doesn’t know.

First day of school and we already have two lovebirds.

But there are some things that he does know, no matter what anyone else—Nino, Plagg, the entire population of Paris—thinks.

How he feels is one.

Whatever. She’s just a friend. A friend.

He loves Ladybug. Marinette is his friend.

Why doesn’t anyone believe him?

This is an aroace!Adrien story, that digs into the effects of amatonormativity on people. Especially with how the class all assumes that Adrien would be romantically interested in Marinette, and tries to matchmake him and Marinette in order to make both of them happy, much to his frustration. Based on what the class did in Guiltrip, I could see this happening. They love and care about their classmates and want to help them as much as they can, but that doesn’t mean they always know how best to do that.

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Lady... bird? by @graaythekwami:

“Marinette!” Tikki called, flying towards the small room of water. “Marinette there’s an akuma– we need to transform!”

The parrot’s head popped up, recognizing these words. They were always said when the report came on TV– a routine he had come to know well. Akuma report, we need to transform, and finally–

“Tikki!” The bird cawed happily. “Spots on!”

This story is just hilarious. Tikki ain’t happy afterwards XD

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I Won’t Let You by @generalluxun

After Gabriel's defeat, two individuals not party to the celebration run into each other, and find each other.

The summary doesn’t give much of an idea of what the fic’s about. Post-Hawkmoth Defeat, Chloe and Felix run into each other at the celebration of Gabriel’s downfall, and vent about their problems. Neither of them think the other one has it too bad - Chloe’s worried about disappearing, since her worth was entirely tied to her family’s prestige and wealth, and being seen as friends to a terrorist is gonna cripple both of those, while Felix is on edge about Ladybug having the Peacock Miraculous, since she has the ability to kill him at a moment’s notice (yes this is a Sentifelix fic).

They both make each other understand the turmoil the other is going through in extremely visceral ways, showing the other what it’s like to be them, in the circumstances they’re in. I don’t want to spoil what, exactly, they do, but needless to say, it’s worth a read.

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don’t you worry child by kopycat_101

Marc and Nathaniel have a good life, married and living together in a cottage in the woods. But they consider having children at some point.

Marc in particular really wants to start a family with his husband. He knows the fey are real, so he goes searching in the woods to find one to strike a deal.

He may get a bit more than he bargained for in the process.

This is based on a tumblr post that’s been going around, which I think a lot of people will recognize as they continue going through the story. That post is credited at the end of the fic, so as not to spoil the plot.

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Chat Walker’s Trial by @pearl484-blog

Instead of Catwalker showing up to serve as her new Chat Noir, Ladybug is stunned to find that Chat Noir has returned to her, having "improved" himself by repressing his emotions, memories, and willfulness. Deciding that this will not stand, she organizes her teammates to convince Chat Noir that giving those traits up and becoming the perfect partner was not the right move, but how can she argue against perfection?

Adrien Augreste 2022 entry for the day 23-24 prompt: Swap

This is a really intriguing fic. Instead of becoming Cat Walker in Kuro Neko, Adrien instead runs across a mage who helpfully provides some spells to make him into the “perfect” partner for Ladybug, magically suppressing his emotions and urge to rebel, as well as his memories of being Chat Noir, in order to make sure he doesn’t love her anymore. Ladybug, naturally, is distraught about this, but since Chat did all of this of his own free will, she needs to actually persuade him it was a bad move, which isn’t as easy as it sounds. It’s exquisitely painful at times with the amount of self-hatred Chat has for his previous self, and how the Miracuteam is divided on how bad these changes actually are, since he does seem more focused now - though the holdouts are a lot less on board when they think of someone who’s closer to them going through this process.

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disconnected by @just-an-ordinary-fan

Lady Wifi believes she might be the only one who does not want to obey Hawkmoth's orders.

When she sees another akuma hesitate in the battle, she finds she might not be entirely alone.

I actually wrote my own fic, Nullius in Verba, based off of this one. It’s short but has an intriguing premise, with all the akumas being transported to this warehouse after the fight’s over, having been basically forced to do Hawkmoth’s bidding. The akumas also don’t seem to remember who they were before, or even that they WERE ordinary people before, which is an interesting twist.

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Shadow of the Chat by @pearl484-blog

Chat Noir discovers that he has a living Shadow. Unfortunately for him, it is not fond of Ladybug.

Inspired by the prompt: 5 times Character A and B thought they didn’t have anything in common and 1 time they realized how similar they are.

I wrote a fic based on this one and @wackus-bonkus-maximus fic “One Does Not Love Breathing”, basically importing Shadow into odnlb in order to help take down Monarch. It’s called “One Does Not Love Shadows”, btw.

Anyway, I love how this one-shot uses some of Carl Jung’s ideas about everyone having “shadows”; parts of ourselves that we consciously reject or suppress, and using that to get Chat some help. If you’ve ever played a Persona game, this will be familiar to you, as those games are based off of Jung’s ideas as well.

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Day 7: Book by @andromeda612

During one of his works, Marc comes across a rather interesting book.

MarcNath AU fic here! Basically Marc is a super powerful warlock, and is brought in to help with the case of a lying witch who apparently caused a lot of problems for people, using her magic to help fool everyone. She’s actually dead by the time the story starts, and everyone’s trying to go back through and figure out what she’s done and why memories surrounding her seem to be foggy. Meanwhile there’s a book she left behind which appears to be sentient, and which Marc’s taken a liking too...

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Find the Sentimonster by @taketwoinink:

Nino has a lot of conspiracies. He watched one too many mystery movies and now fancies himself a detective. It's not often that he gets the entire class together for an interrogation, but it's never fun. Chloe makes everyone's life miserable and Marinette and Lila never get along.

And this time? Secret sentimonsters in their class? The fate of Paris hanging in the balance?

Mylene doesn't need this stress in her life.

This is based off of an episode of Glitch Techs, so if you’ve seen the show, it might be familiar. I just really enjoyed watching the class trying to puzzle out who the sentimonster spy might be, with all the wild accusations and theories being hurled around, especially knowing the actual truth.

Come Take My Hand by @carelisswriting:

Luka heard his soulmate for the first time when he was ten. All he knows about her is that she likes fencing. It's just a coincidence that Kagami likes fencing, right?

(Lukagami Soulmate AU, written for the Miraculous Ladybug Secret Santa Exchange!)

I’m a sucker for soulmate fics, and this had an interesting take on it, with your soulmate able to hear you thinking only about the thing you’re most passionate about. Loved Kagami’s way of showing Luka she’s his soulmate especially!

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When Feelings Are Too Big For Words by ClockworkCaptain:

When Luka takes a gig playing for a drag show he's falls hard and fast for the drag queen Buttercup who uses her performances to work through her own emotions. Meanwhile Adrien's been using drag to work through his own emotions and thinks maybe Luka coming back into his life and showing interest might mean a second chance.

Made for @mlsecretsanta 2022

Published on New Year’s Eve, this just barely makes it to the deadline for this list. I’m glad I don’t need to wait a year to talk about it though! One of the issues I tend to have with Luka shipfics, and with Lukadrien especially (though I think Lukanette actually has this problem worse) is how Luka tends to disappear within the fic and the pairing, feeling more like “The Love Interest” than his own person. Not so here! While most of the intrigue surrounds Adrien, I still got the sense of Luka being his own person, not just existing in the fic for Adrien.

I adored Adrien getting to display an aspect of himself through persona and performance - that does align well with how he approaches Chat Noir - and overall I just had a lot of fun with this fic!

#miraculous ladybug #ml fanfic rec #ml fanfics #adrien agreste #marinette dupain cheng #Along with a lot of other assorted characters #But let's be real #Most of these are about those two #I do have others in here though

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starlitangels · 1 year

Text

Fell Through

This idea’s been rattling around in my head for a bit. So... while I’m on a bit of a Sam/Darlin’ brainrot train... here you go. 3.2k words

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I knew something was wrong the moment Sam opened the door. He looked... wan. That confident posture slouched. The T-shirt under his plaid flannel was wrinkled. That last one was the bit that caught me off guard. Sam was a guy who liked to keep things neat. “What’s wrong?” I demanded.

“What? Nothin’,” Sam replied.

“Don’t you dare lie to me, Collins,” I said, bustling right into his house and shutting the door behind me. “What kind of mate do you think I am? I can tell something’s off.”

“Nothin’s wrong, darlin’,” Sam insisted as I guided him to his spot on the couch and sat him down. “It’s just been a bit longer’n usual since I fed, that’s all.”

“How come? Don’t you have that app where empowered people who want to be fed on can arrange feeding times?”

“Yes,” Sam said, sounding tired. “And I have one of those meetin’s arranged for after sundown tonight, in about forty-five minutes. The meetin’ I had scheduled for last night fell through. But I’m fine. I can manage.”

I inspected him while he spoke, searching for signs of injuries or damage. Because it’s what I would do. Sam wasn’t like me and I knew it, but I needed to check for my own peace of mind. Running my hands over him, checking for wincing or obvious lumps from bad bruising. Lifting his shirt hem and peeking under his collar when he didn’t protest.

“I’m coming with you,” I said.

“I don’t think that’s such a great idea.”

“I won’t, like, go into that little feeding room you told me about or anything,” I replied. “But you look so drained... I don’t want you to be alone before you get your energy up.”

He gave me a sarcastic look as I finished my inspection and deemed him—relatively—fine. “Darlin’. I can more’n handle myself. And it’s not like Dahlia’s got a high violent crime rate or anythin’. I can drive to a little empowered café on the other side-a town and back without anythin’ noteworthy happenin’. I’ve done it hundreds-a times.”

“And how many of those hundreds of times were you this drained?”

Sam opened his mouth to reply, dug the point of his slightly-extended fang into his tongue, and closed it.

“That’s what I thought,” I said. “Just... let me drive you there, okay?” He sighed. “Please?”

“A’right,” he agreed reluctantly. “You can drive.”

I got up from the sofa and went to the kitchen. “I’m guessing you’re out of bagged blood, then?”

“Mmhmm,” he replied, staying where he was. I opened his fridge. “We can usually only get some every couple-a weeks and we gotta feed every couple-a days max if we don’t wanna... wane.”

I narrowed my eyes at him as I shut the fridge door. “Is that a MoonBound pun?”

Sam blinked silver eyes at me. “... No.”

I snorted, dissolving into laughter. “My grumpy, mature, serious mate just made a damn pun. Oh my God—” I staggered on knees pretending to be weakened by laughter back to his living room and flopped across the back of the loveseat. “This is the best day of my life.”

Sam rolled his eyes. “I thought the day we said we loved each other for the first time was the best day of your life,” he pointed out.

I shrugged. “Eh.” The sarcastic humor in my tone—showing I didn’t mean my dismissiveness—earned me another eyeroll, but Sam knew.

Once my giggles quieted down, I straightened up.

“I think every day I’ve gotten to spend with you since that first day we said we loved each other has always felt like the best day of my life. Because I get to have you in it.” I held a hand out for him. He took it and let me haul him to his feet.

“Feelin’ sentimental, darlin’?” he asked as I let him lead me to the garage.

“You brought it up,” I returned. He tossed me the keys to his truck. I opened the passenger door for him and waited for him to get inside before closing it. Then I circled the hood and got in the driver’s seat. His truck was pretty big, which felt a lot different compared to my motorcycle. But I’d driven it a couple times so I knew how it handled.

The drive in to Dahlia wasn’t terribly long, but Sam did live quite a distance out in the woods. Sam navigated me with his phone to where his meet-up was. The sun had gone down before I got to his place.

“Cute café,” I remarked as I parked the truck and we both hopped out. I’d parked at the very far end of the parking lot so I had plenty of space because I hated parking his enormous bulldozer of a truck in cramped spaces since it often took me several tries. “This is in D.A.M.N.’s ward boundaries, isn’t it?”

“Mmhmm,” Sam agreed. “Not an unempowered soul here who ain’t informed. If any at all.”

“Huh.” I reached out for his hand. He took mine.

We started to cross the parking lot. Sam was leaning a bit heavily against my arm. He was a lot worse than he was letting on. I knew the feeling of wanting to be strong, even in front of people you cared about. So I knew exactly what I was looking for. I let go of his hand and wrapped my arm around his waist instead. He gave me a grateful look and put his arm around my shoulder blades.

Three figures emerged from between some cars.

“I feel like this is some cliché teenager movie,” one of them said to the other two. “A vampire and a shifter.” I caught the derision in their tone and felt the muscles in my jaw tense unconsciously. I rotated so I was between Sam and the three. They were approaching from my side anyway.

“Beat it,” I snapped. One was Psychokinetic. The others felt like maybe an Illusory and a Stealth.

“What if we don’t want to?” the first one who spoke asked. “This is public property. We can stand here.”

“Sure. But harass me and my mate again, and you’ll end up in a wolf’s jaws,” I retorted.

“Darlin’,” Sam warned softly. “They’re not worth it. Let’s just go.”

If it had been anyone but Sam, I would have ignored his dissuasion. But I tightened my grip around his waist and tried to ignore them.

I heard the snap of fingers and an illusory wall sprung up in front of us.

I knew it wasn’t tangible so I walked right through it with a scoff.

One of them grabbed my shoulder and yanked. “Hey, shifter,” they snapped. “We’re not done talkin’ to you.”

I growled low in my chest. “Too bad. I’m done talking to you.” I ripped my shoulder out of their grip.

“Look out!” Sam exclaimed, grabbing me and yanking me out of the way of the Psychokinetic’s shoving blast of magic.

I put myself between him and the three random idiots who were about to get sent to the Healers. “Sam, get inside. I’ll take care of these three.”

“Darlin’—”

“I can handle myself, you know that.”

“I know. But—” He sighed. “Come in when you’re done.”

With a Zip! he was gone.

“He knows me so well,” I muttered under my breath with an affectionate snicker.

Then I squared my shoulders and looked the leader in the face.

“Alright. I’m here. Still talking. What do you want? If you’re looking to pick a fight, you’ll lose.”

The leader scoffed. “Maybe you can’t count, shifter. There are three of us and one of you since you sent your boyfriend inside.”

“Okay, one: he’s my mate, not just my boyfriend. Two: Maybe after you get two more guys it’ll be an even fight.” I smirked. The thought occurred to me that if Sam heard me say that, he’d probably start worrying about me again.

The leader at the front huffed in frustration.

I easily stepped out of the way of a wild haymaker that threw him off-balance immediately. “You really need to learn how to throw a punch better,” I remarked casually. “If all three of you suck this bad, I could probably beat every last one without even shifting. Yeesh.” I stepped out of the way of another haymaker, this time from the other arm.

I grabbed their shoulder and forced them to face me square before socking them right in the nose.

“See? Like that.” I smirked and glanced at the other two. “How about you all get out of here and you stop picking fights with people who could put you on your ass without even breaking a sweat? Actually. Scratch that. How about y’all take off and stop picking fights in general? Especially with strangers in parking lots after dark. Because sometimes the stranger grew up roughhousing and really enjoys a good scrap.”

I cracked my knuckles and tilted my head. It was a canine habit that every shifter I ever met did. Even David—though he was loathe to admit it.

The other two looked concerned, but the leader was undeterred. He swung at me again.

“Unfortunate,” I said.

With a sharp twist, I got in close and whacked them in the head with my elbow. They dropped to the ground.

“That was easy.”

I turned to the other two.

“So. Gonna take off and let me be on my way or do you wanna end up like this idiot?” I asked, nodding to the little gang leader on the ground.

The other two exchanged a look.

And ran.

“Yeah, that’s what I figured. I wouldn’t wanna fight me either.” I made a face and turned, jogging to the entrance of the café.

I got to the door at the same time as it opened.

Sam was blinking heavily, almost like he couldn’t get his vision to focus.

“Is everything okay?” I asked.

He shook his head. “My meet-up... they’re not here.”

I ran a hand down my face from cheek to chin. “Rude,” I muttered. “C’mon. Let’s get back to the truck.” I half-supported him across the parking lot. Sam eyed the downed gang leader. “They tried to hit me. I knocked them out and the other two fled. Don’t know what they wanted. Don’t care. Probably just looking to make themselves feel big by hurting others. Picked me because I looked tough.”

Sam snorted. “Picked the wrong shifter,” he muttered.

“Agreed.” I opened the back door of the truck. Sam gave me a look. “Just get in,” I said. He climbed in. I climbed in after him, sitting beside him on the back bench.

“What’re ya thinkin’, darlin’?”

“I’m thinking you need to feed before you pass out or go feral from starvation,” I replied.

“And?”

Instead of replying I half-shifted enough to sharpen my teeth and bit into my wrist, offering it to Sam. “Here,” I said, releasing my magic and reverting to full-human form.

“Darlin’—”

“Just drink, cowboy.”

He’d kissed me softly dozens of times, but the brush of his lips against the skin of my wrist was so gentle it was like he was trying his best to not touch me at all. I could feel him drinking my blood, but it felt safe. Nothing like...

I clenched my jaw and blinked hard to clear my head, not wanting to shake my head like I often would have. I didn’t want to startle Sam.

After a moment, Sam grabbed my hand and forearm in both hands, holding my wrist closer to him and drinking harder. I flinched, but forced myself to relax. I knew him. He’d only take what he needed. He wasn’t Quinn.

When I started to get a little lightheaded, Sam pulled away, healing my wrist as he did. He wiped my blood of his lips with his wrist—and then licked it up. Never one to let anything go to waste. His eyes were wide as he watched me sway a little. “Darlin’. I... I’m sorry. I—”

“I told you to. Don’t beat yourself up,” I said. “You needed it. I could give it.” I shrugged and handed him his keys. “I think it’s better if you drive now, though.”

He took the keys and nodded. “Just rest, darlin’.”

“Don’t have to tell me twice. This time, anyway.”

That earned me a fanged grin. “That’s certainly a first.”

—

Sunlight was peeking past blackout curtains in Sam’s house by the time I opened my eyes.

“Sugar. Fluids. C’mon,” Sam said the moment I was mostly-awake. He nodded to the bedside table—where a cup of apple juice and some cookies were sitting. Beside my phone and chapstick. I assumed he’d removed them from my pockets—and also removed my jeans by the feel of it when I moved. “You gotta get your blood back up.”

“Not even a ‘good mornin’, darlin’, how did you sleep’?” I asked, poorly mimicking his accent, as I pushed into an upright position.

He sighed. “Good mornin’, darlin’. How did you sleep?”

“Great,” I replied. “Better a big blood donation to make me woozy instead of blacking out from a bonk to the head. Never ask David about that, by the way. Any time that incident is mentioned I get a half-hour lecture. Somehow different every time.”

“Now is not the time for humor, darlin’.”

“Why? It’s how I cope with literally everything.” I picked up one of the cookies and put the whole thing in my mouth. It wasn’t particularly big so it wasn’t like that was difficult.

Sam watched me. “You... I drank from you,” he said, disbelief on his tone.

“Yup.”

“Why—why did you bite into your own arm?”

“Because if I didn’t, you wouldn’t.” I stretched my neck and took a swig of the apple juice. “But if I did, you wouldn’t let the effort go to waste.”

He sighed. “You shouldn’t—”

“Sam,” I interrupted. “It’s not a big deal.”

“Darlin’, after everythin’ you’ve been through because-a... my kind—you shouldn’t have to—”

“You—are not—Quinn,” I said slowly, emphasizing each word. “I trust you.”

“I felt you flinch.”

Okay. He had me there. “Instinct. Not conscious.” I popped another cookie in my mouth. “My body did it, my mind didn’t want it to.”

“Don’t talk with your mouth full,” Sam chided.

I shrugged. “I was literally raised by wolves.”

That earned me a roll of his eyes, but he was smiling a little.

I chewed and swallowed. “Sam, I trust you. I knew you wouldn’t take more than you needed.”

The smile vanished. He looked down where my knees were covered by the blankets. “I did.”

I shook my head and took a sip of apple juice. “No. Your body knows what it needs more than your mind does. You took what you needed. Even if it was more than you wanted to take from me.”

Sam sighed and shook his head. “I’ve been a vampire for a long time, now,” he said softly. “I know when I’m sated. Maybe last night was the most drained I’d ever been, but I had a good guess how much I’d need to be fully fed.” I took his hand and tugged. He climbed onto the bed while I scooted over and snuggled against my side. “I knew how much I needed to take from the empowered person I was supposed to meet up with.” He pushed his hand that wasn’t snuggling me through his hair. “I took more’n that from you.”

“Don’t beat yourself up, Sam,” I said softly. “I’m a shifter. There’s more magic in my blood than there is in a regular empowered person’s. I can’t blame you for liking the taste a little more.” I gave him a wink.

“Darlin’,” he breathed, finally meeting my eyes. He swallowed. “The closer a vamp gets to needin’ to feed, the more our... the more our fangs ache. They feel hollow. The sensation gets worse the longer it’s been. Feedin’ makes it go away. But—” He tore his eyes away and turned to look toward the door to the hallway. “But it didn’t with you. Or, at least, not as fast as it normally would.”

I reached over and cupped his chin, gently encouraging him to face me again. “Hey,” I entreated. His silver eyes met mine. “I think you’re scared, and that fear is blowing things out of proportion. It happens to everyone.”

“I’m not blowin’ things outta proportion—”

“But it doesn’t change the fact that I trust you. I trust you more than I trust damn near anyone else. Actually, scratch that. I do trust you more than anyone else. Don’t tell David I said that. He’d get all grumpy and make it into a thing—like I don’t think he’s a reliable alpha or something stupid.” I blinked a few times. “Maybe he wouldn’t. I think he’d get that I trust my mate more than anyone else.” I shook my head, trying to clear the jumbling thought-spiral so I could finish. “Anyway. Point stands. You’re not gonna do anything to hurt me. And you’re probably the only one in my life who never has, intentionally or not. So... stop. Stop beating yourself up over something I initiated, okay?”

Sam opened his mouth.

I cut him off before he could say anything. “And before you make some claim that being hungry was making you not think clearly: don’t even try that argument with me.”

Sam closed his mouth.

I snuggled against his side, wrapping both arms around him. As a shifter, I tended to run hot. Vampires tended to run cooler than a human. But Sam’s warmth—subtle as it was—was comfortable. He smelled like home. Like safety and the chance to relax.

“Got it?” I asked.

He sighed. “I hear ya,” he said.

I tilted my head up from where I’d rested it on his chest and puckered my lips a little.

He kissed me.

“I love you,” I said softly.

“I love you too, darlin’. So, so much. I... I don’t know what I did to deserve you.”

“Musta been something bad, considering I’m a train-wreck and a menace.” I nipped playfully at his earlobe.

“Hey. None-a that,” Sam chided forcefully. “If I don’t get to beat myself up, neither do you.”

I bit my lower lip and smirked. “Fair enough.”

My stomach growled, ruining the mood. Sam looked toward my torso. “Hungry?”

“Apparently.”

“When was the last time you ate?”

“I... plead the fifth,” I said.

He snorted. “C’mon, you menace,” he joked. “Let’s go get you some breakfast. Least I can do after last night.” He scooped me out of the bed and carried me downstairs, setting me on the counter.

“All Southern gentleman, aren’t you?”

He kissed my temple. “Just for you.” He turned to survey his kitchen. “Now, what do you want?”

—

Tag list: @zozo-01 @thegoldenlittlerose @mainhoesstuff

#Redacted ASMR #fic #Redacted Sam #Redacted Darlin'#Sam Collins #Darlin'#Sam #Redacted Audio #i would say 'we'll be back to regularly-scheduled brainrot later'#but let's be real #Sam/Darlin' is A Lot of my regularly-scheduled brainrot #Starlit Fic

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