hey, could you rec some of the most underrated identity reveal fics in your opinion? i love a good creative identity reveal! ps your fic rec lists are a literal godsend 🥰
So since you asked for underrated, I'm going to stick to the rules of my hidden gems series and try to only rec fics that have less than 500 kudos on AO3. Also, the identity reveal needs to be a feature of the story and not just incidental. I actually had a rec list like this started ages ago, but this one's pretty time intensive in terms of going through the fics and ensuring that the identity reveal is actually a focus. (Which is all to say sorry it took a little while.) Thank you for your kind words. I’m so happy people are enjoying my recs!
lost in translation by @fictionalinfinity
“What do you mean I can’t be Ladybug anymore?”
“I’m sorry, Marinette. With Hawkmoth at large, it’s simply too dangerous for the Miracle Box and the Ladybug Miraculous to be in the same place. If something were to happen...”
In which Marinette has to give up the Ladybug Miraculous, and decides Adrien Agreste is the perfect choice for the new holder.
One-shot. So I’ve seen a few fics with Chat giving Marinette a miraculous, but how about Marinette trying to give one to Adrien?
Santa Baby, Slip a Superhero into a Box for Me by therealjanebingley
There's an akuma with the ability to give everyone their heart's desire for Christmas.
But when your heart's desire is your crush, and your crush has a secret identity...who's going to show up under your tree?
Multi-chapter. This is such a creative reveal and one that hasn't received nearly enough love. Adrien's heart's desire is Ladybug. Marinette's heart's desire is Adrien. But that's not exactly what they get when they're hit by the akuma. This is so sweet and fun and funny! And the characterizations are spot on.
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.
Multi-chapter. Warning, this fic is a WIP! I'm obssessed with this one. Season 4 spoilers all over the place, but the dynamics between Marinette & Adrien & Alya & Nino, the characterization, the emotion, the different perspectives and distinct voices!!!! I'm sure once it's complete it's going to zoom past that 500 threshold, but it's so, so good, I'm going to rec it while I can lol
The Angst of Adrien Agreste and Chinese Finger Traps by @coffeebanana
Chat Noir gets gets his fingers stuck in a toy he can't get out of, and Marinette wasn't expecting Adrien to show up to school the next morning with the toy she'd given Chat Noir.
SEASON 4 SPOILERS (Gang of Secrets, Optigami)
One-shot. This should be crack, but it's not. While the vehicle for the reveal sounds ridiculous, the fic does a great job of delving into the underlying issues season 4 has been brewing and actually addressing them in a way that doesn't feel like crack at all.
can i try again (and again and again)? by @karkalicious769
"I won't force you to stay if you're really done," Marinette whispers, voice cracking. "Just… tell me why?" It's a request, not an order.
He takes a deep breath, his heart hammering in his chest. Chat still isn't holding her back, but he's relaxed somewhat, and if that's all Marinette is going to get, then she'll take it. "I…" He searches for the right words. "I thought that I should just rip the bandage off," Chat says quietly. "Get it over with myself before you took my miraculous back anyway."
After his spectacular failure in New York, Adrien relinquishes his ring and role as Chat Noir. Unfortunately for him, Ladybug isn't ready to let him go.
One-shot. NY Special fic where Marinette prioritizes her partner over keeping their secrets. This one hurts, but in a really good way, and it's so well done and feels so true to the characters.
The Handkerchief by meeble
This was their new normal. They slipped into it much more easily than she’d expected. Well, it was easy for her, since she knew him well as Ladybug, but she had been admittedly surprised at how easily Chat seemed to want to know her.
It was a learning experience, in a way. Sometimes, Marinette forgot that there was a boy under the mask. A boy her age, who also had hopes and fears and good days and bad days. A boy who had a rocky family life, who was kind and didn’t want to hurt his friends, a boy who cried at Disney movies and preferred macaroons over any kind of cookie.
And they were friends. That alone made her feel good. She had forgotten, in the midst of everything going on, that she and Chat were supposed to be friends on top of partners. Maybe she had taken that for granted.
One-shot. This is some quality Marichat. I love when the focus is on that platonic friendship that slowly becomes something more. Especially when the two of them spending more time together leads to an eventual identity reveal so that everything can come together and they can be happy together.
Better Half by @somethingvaguetodo
It made no sense to say that she was in love with Chat Noir. Just because they used loving pet names for each other, she liked to sit wrapped up in his arms, and he gave her a kiss goodnight didn’t mean anything. Rena had no clue what she was talking about.
One-shot. This one is amazing because they're both just. So Stupid. The denial is master level and these two are so stupid in love with each other that they reveal themselves in such a stupid way and this is all said (affectionate) because this is quality love square shenanigans right here and I love it a stupid amount.
Revealing Behavior by Socchan
Adrien's attitude takes a turn for the worse when Ladybug reveals her identity to the wrong side of him.
One-shot. This fic is like identity reveal inside of an identity reveal with reveals both deliberate and accidental. And it goes exactly the way I wanted it to with exactly the right level of misunderstandings and stupidity and pining and I really love it!
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 as a chapter of a collection of one-shots. (I recommend them all but we're just talking about this one right now.) So I debated including this one since it's an AU and I've recced it before. 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 I had to include it, it's so good!!
The following fics are amazing and absolutely worth reading, but do feature sexual content, so minors beware.
The Pole Kit and Kaboodle by @chatonne-rousse
When Adrien tries to make getting undressed a bit more entertaining for Marinette, he ends up revealing more than just his underwear.
Rated M. Established adrienette that features them being sexy and silly and hopelessly in love. I love this fic so damn much!!! Watch Adrien being comfortable being ridiculous with Marinette and do a ridiculous (hilarious) striptease for her. Bonus identity reveal that just makes everything even better.
Rated M. One-shot. Definitely one of the most unique reveals I've ever read. I mean a pole dancing reveal?? It's funny and sweet and loving and just so, so good. This fic is the reason that Rosie and I became friends because after I read it I had to read all of her other fics and spam her with comments. But I'm 100% unbiased in this rec because I loved the fic first and the reveal and the post-reveal emotions are EVERYTHING.
@devillustrator | nsfw art blog | will draw for €€€ by @isadorator
Nathaniel is a Starving Artist™ that regularly gets commissioned by Adrien to draw fluffy and cute LadyNoir art. But everything changed when the Hormone Nation attacked.
Rated E. This two-part series is Ladrien with the sexiest identity reveal I’ve ever read in my entire life and possibly my favourite reveal of all time!! We’ve got humour and sexiness and I’ve read this an embarrassing number of times. This is the kind of fic that, every time I read it I’m like “I wish there were 5,000 other fics in the fandom exactly like this one.” Seriously, I don't know why y'all are sleeping on this one but it's so, so good. Adrien's reaction literally made my entire life.
