#krispos rising

[smbhax]

Illustration by Romas Kukalis

[nobodyfamousposts]

Good ML fic recs? I really trust your taste as you’re an amazing writer!!

...Oh boy...

To be honest, there isn’t nearly enough room for all the ML fics I would want to recommend because there are a great many very good ones. I guess it would depend on what you’re looking for, but for now I’ll try to note the biggest ones that come to mind for now.

Please note that these are only some of my recommendations for completed works.

Oleanders and Belladonnas by Cynial Wonderland - There is an akuma running around targeting young women and putting them into comas and Ladybug and Chat Noir are on the case. But things get worse when Marinette becomes the next target. The intrigue is great and the characterization is spot on. It hits upon some of the issues of the characters which can often be overlooked in many stories, and notes how those issues are utilized by the villain to enact his plans. It’s the sort of level of manipulation and hard-hitting emotional impact I would have expected from Chameleon.

A Familiar Story series by Freedom Shamrock - A magic AU where Marinette is a witch who is looking for a cat to be her familiar. She is found by a black cat who seems intent on having the job. Plot twist: the black cat isn’t just a cat. It’s wholesome content and I adore how much love there seems to be and consideration the characters have.

Prince Charming by MiniMinou - A fantasy AU where Adrien is a prince “blessed” to be charming—and it’s not a good thing. Anyone who sees him falls under his spell and he hates it. Normally with this sort of story, there would be one girl in all the kingdom not affected who would become his true love. That doesn’t happen here and the story is all the more beautiful and tragic for it.

Operation secret garden - secret weapon by Krispo - Kim does not get enough appreciation and this story proves it. Adrinette happens and it’s thanks to the last guy that any of the girls would have thought.

A Teacher Does Her Job by Music_Feeds_My_Soul - In which Bustier is a good teacher and steps in before things get out of hand in Chameleon.

You Can Say No by PsychoBabble192 - Another Chameleon-based fic, but addressing a very different point than most others and an issue that has long been overlooked. Namely the tendency of certain persons to infringe on Adrien’s personal boundaries and Adrien’s struggle to voice his discomfort on the matter.

Welcome to the WC by Omeganian - In which an identity reveal happens in the restroom and Adrien and Marinette are forced to hide in a bathroom stall together to avoid getting caught. It doesn’t help that Chloe and Lila start up an argument over which of them Adrien is in love with and Adrien didn’t keep trying to kiss Marinette.

Nine Lives by P_Artsypants - Can I just say ouch? In an attempt to keep his dad from forcing him to leave Paris, Adrien goes to some…rather lengthy extremes. There are consequences.

It Started as a Joke by TheNovelArtist - to make Alya happy for her birthday, Chat Noir proposes to Ladybug. Now Paris wants to throw them an official wedding.

Double Sided, Double Blinded by mckinlily - In which Marinette discovers that Adrien is Chat Noir and Adrien discovers that Ladybug is Marinette. Both have difficulty coming to grips with this. Marinette tries to deal with this through puns and flirting. Adrien just tries to deal.

Sting by KryallaOrchid - A bit of a kwami swap involving Adrien getting the Bee after he somehow loses his Miraculous. It’s unique and expands quite a bit on Pollen, Gabriel, and Adrien’s mother.

Obsessions by KryallaOrchid - The Miraculous come with side effects. For Ladybug, it’s a struggle with cold and winter. For Adrien, it’s a need for pats and physical affection. Luckily, Marinette helps out with that.

Yesterday was plain awful by zipadeea - An akuma attack goes horribly wrong and nobody knows if Ladybug survived. It’s a lot of focus on the aftermath, for Marinette, Adrien, and everyone.

When May Comes by Blikdelie - A Marichat May but with Felix. He tries to lay claim to Marinette’s balcony. Marinette has a few things to say about that.

Talk This Through by Blikdelie - Ladrien happens but goes wrong. Chat Noir confronts Ladybug to find out why she dumped his civilian self and was not expecting the answer he got.

I will follow you by Blikdelie - Ladybug is the lone hero of Paris, trying to get by in akuma attacks on her own while waiting for her partner to appear. Then some blond kid finds out her identity by accident and won’t leave her alone.

Miraculous on Ice by moonbabyscoot - Marinette can ice skate! And apparently has a less than fully positive history on the rink. Adrien decides after an akuma attack where he was next to useless that he needs lessons. Good thing he happens to get the perfect partner.

If At First You Don’t Succeed by Leisey - The class as a whole has had enough. Adrien and Marinette are clearly in love but won’t admit it for some reason, so the group decides to step in to push the matter.

Benefactor/Top Cat by Otoshigo - Adrien wants to help Marinette but knows she won’t let him. But she can’t refuse random gifts from Chat Noir. It starts getting out of hand.

What’s Black and Red and Red All Over? by Otoshigo - Deadpool comes to Paris. Enough said.

Snitches Get Stitches by Otoshigo - Marinette finds out Adrien is Chat Noir and if anything, it actually lessens her view of Adrien. Adrien is convinced Marinette is Ladybug but can’t confirm it. Plagg has had enough but Tikki is no help and won’t let him reveal the truth. That’s okay. Plagg’s had hundreds of years to know how to get a girl to fall for a guy so she can do it for him.

Unfinished Business/The Love Itch by Otoshigo - Adrien gains an obsession and is desperate to get someone to say three words to Marinette. He remains oblivious to his own feelings, things get out of hand, and Marinette has a hard time dealing.

A Host in Paris by Otoshigo - Tamaki from Ouran High School Host Club comes to Paris. Enough said.

All That Jazz by midnightstarlightwrites - An akuma attack goes wrong and sends Ladybug back in time to 1920’s New York while switching her with the Ladybug of that time. An interesting take on the previous Ladybug and Black Cat holders as well as time travel complications.

Scarlet Lady AU by zoe-onesama - An AU where Chloe stole the Ladybug earrings from Marinette that first day and becomes Scarlet Lady, the heroine of Paris! A nice bit of catharsis after the train wreck of a “redemption arc” in the series.

Anything by iamthepunchlord. Flat out anything. But in particular…

Manynette - Akumatized Marinette where she is so exhausted and overwhelmed that as an akuma, she’s split into multiple versions of herself. People have difficulty dealing.

Loyal Chevalier - This actually predicted a couple of things—that Hawk Moth can akumatize two beings at once, that he can akumatize an object as well as a perosn, and what ended up happening in Chameleon to an extent with the return of Lila and sabotaging Marinette. Marinette gets akumatized, but she’s not alone. She  has a loyal companion who promises to protect her no matter what.

Lucky Fox Paradox - Marinette successfully gave up the earrings to Alya and considered herself done with Miraculous, but the Miraculous aren’t done with her.

a little problem - Kwami curse AU, where there’s a curse that comes with misusing a Miraculous and Gabriel is on the receiving end.

Rise of Mariposa - Kwami swap where the Ladybug is the Miraculous being used for evil while Marinette finds an abandoned Butterfly Miraculous.

Just Our Luck - A superhero AU. Marinette has good luck that helps others at the cost of herself. Adrien has bad luck that hurts the people around him and leaves him pretty much slated for a future of villainy. Good thing luck works in mysterious ways.

A Declaration of Love - Kwami swap where Marinette got the Peacock and Adrien got the Fox. This was before the reveal of the Peacock being damaged.

Echoing Balance - Kwami swap with Cat!Marinette and Ladybug!Adrien.

Curiosity and Satisfaction - Enemies AU where Marinette must fight alone against Hawk Moth and Chat Noir. It’s primarily from Adrien’s perspective showing his take on trying to fight Ladybug to bring back his mother and just dealing with issues, as well as his growing interest in a certain baker girl.

Trouble In White - Akumatized Adrien is Chat Blanc. And apparently Marinette’s soulmate.

That’s just for starters.

I apparently have a big list to go through…

[cyberphuck]

Now Reading: Harry Turtledove's "Krispos Rising"

A boy named after delicious glazed donuts wakes suddenly to find that his town is being attacked by Raiders from the North. Despite him saying something sassy and cute to one of the raiders, he and his entire village are taken as slaves and force-marched up to Russia the North (I can't remember what it's called, it sounds vaguely Slavic) and made to work on farms there that the Raiders basically use as their food stores in winter. It sucks. But then Krispy Kreme and his family are ransomed by the kingdom, which apparently consists of a priest who really doesn't want to be there and a pedophile who inappropriately manhandles KK in front of a live audience.

One of the raiders gives Krispy a gold coin, and the priest flips his shit and declares that that coin represented all of Not North Country and now it's all in K. Kreme's hands. K. Kreme is nine and does not really care.

Krispy and his family are taken back to the verdant lands of... not the North (I can't remember what that one was called either, it starts with a V) and placed with a bunch of army veterans who teach the villagers how to fight. Years go past and then Krispy loses his virginity, only to have that sassy lady scooped up to be married someone else. Dad says "it's okay son, you go out and find yourself another bitch like I did" and so Krispy does.

(on the day that Mr. Kreme loses his cherry, the rest of the village is doing hilarious Midwinter Fest skits, one of which is about Krispy and his wrestling coach having buttsex. Krispy is not amused. For some reason Krispy going "NO HOMO" is becoming a theme in this book.)

More years go past and KK stumbles upon another band of raiders. He runs back to the village to warn everyone and then the villagers gather up their weapons and kill the raiders. K. Kreme's dad almost dies but a priest does magic on him and he comes out okay. It turns out that Krispy's an awesome soldier at heart and everyone wants him to go to the city and become the most epic Officer that ever lived, but he says no, I wanna be a dumb farmer forever.

Someone teaches Krispy how to read.

Then OMG CHOLERA and pretty much half the people in the town die, including Krispy's parents and his youngest sister, most of the army vets, and the priest who came to heal them. (Look, I know that cholera is srs bsns and you're le srs author but I did not need five pages of you finding different ways to say "and then he fell over and shat himself and died.")

Since half the people in the village are dead, the harvest sucks that year, but an Evil Tax Collector comes to town and does not care for their plight. Taxes have gone up and he's taking what he's owed and fuck you guys right in the eye.

Krispy declares "man, fuck this" and leaves for the Big City. I am not sure what he expects to happen to his village, it's not like him leaving is going to keep them from starving to death but whatever.

So Krispy goes to the big city and finds a monastery to stay in. In the dead of night, the Abbot has three dreams about a mysterious judge telling him to go and call out the name "Krispos" and treat whoever answers like he's the hottest ho on the block. The Abbot decides that "treating him like his own son" means "giving him a job at a horse barn run by the same pedophile who felt him up in front of a hundred people when he was nine" and brings Krispy to Idekmybffjill, who takes one look at Krispy and says "hey I remember you, you're just as hot as before! Want my dick in your butt?!"

I'm paraphrasing here but I am completely serious that is what went down.

Krispy says yes to the horse-handling job but no to the pole-smoking one, though Idkmybffjill vows not to give up until he's pounded some fudge into that sweet pre-Emperor ass.

This is where I left off.

I'm on like page fifty. I sort of hope the events slow down a little, because the horror of cholera (and buttsex) seems to dim a little when it flies by you at light speed because the author didn't want to ignore the hero's Tragic Childhood but was too lazy to actually write it out properly.

Maybe it's unfair to compare H. Turtledove to Robin Hobb, but in the Farseer books, most of book one is dedicated to Fitz's childhood, not just to show us random things that happened to him but also to watch him grow as a character and interact with the important people in his life. When people die in the books later, it hurts, because you got to know them.

When people were dropping dead of cholera in this book I kept going "wait, which one was he again?"