Best Short Alternate Universe (AU) Fanfics
Alternate Universe (AU) novellas — 10k to 50k words, polished and contained. Curated from AO3, ranked by kudos.
Top 20 Short Alternate Universe (AU) Fanfics
Ranked by AO3 kudos. Each fic is tagged with alternate universe (au) and falls in the 10,000–50,000 words range.
Fireman Derek's Crazy Pie [Cheeseburger Baby]
by owlpostagain
“He can't blame me for the fact that I live in a building full of people united in the singular effort to ogle Hot Fireman as often as humanly possible." Laura laughs, loud and echoing in the empty restaurant. "Hot firemen can make a girl do crazy things," she agrees, nodding towards her brother's n
With a Conquering Air
by inexplicifics
From the kinkmeme: AU Warlord!Geralt receives Tribute!Jaskier as a sacrifice to appease him in every way possible. Jaskier has no choice on the matter and he’s fully aware of the awful rumours that have spread about Geralt and his ruthless conquests. (But we all know those aren’t legit.) A classic a
Stiles Stilinski, Boyfriend Extraordinaire
by MereLoup
“Beacon County Sheriff's Department, this is deputy Mahealani speaking.” “Oh thank god!”“Stiles?” “I, uh, I need some advice.” “Advice?” “Yeah. So, hypothetically, say you met your boyfriend’s mother and sister for the first time ever. Completely by accident. In the grocery store. And they convin
One Dollar Yoda
by exclamation
Stiles is an unbonded spark, so he's been dealing with courting alphas since he was ten. It's gotten a lot worse since he turned sixteen. Some are assholes, some are nice, but Stiles hasn't wanted to spend the rest of his life bound to any of them. When Derek Hale shows up at his school, Stiles expe
How Kuroo Found Kenma
by SuggestiveScribe
"Oh my God," Kuroo said, eyes growing wide. He slowly turned to fully face Oikawa, "I'm in love with Kenma."Oikawa brought his tea to his mouth. "Yeah," he said, smiling through the steam rising in front of his face, "I know."
The Guiding of Death
by RayShippouUchiha
“Hades and Persephone reborn huh,” Fury states then more than asks, “no need to ask which is which.”Toni’s brows furrow even as dread begins to squirm to life inside of her.But before she can say anything, before she can open her mouth and set the record straight, she hears it.A murmur as loud as a
Silent Shadow
by tunafishprincess
All Might is too late to stop the Sludge Villain the second time, leading Izuku Midoriya to die in his childhood friend's arms.Good thing for the League of Villains. A fresh Quirkless body is exactly what they need for their new round of Quirk replication experiments. After all, why have one warper
Night Changes
by proseandpulse
Shane is drunk, concussed, and hiding in a phone booth when he calls the only number he knows by heart. The man who answers is not Hayden Pike.
you are a paradigm
by 1electricpirate
Sometimes, only sometimes, when Sherlock is very far away and absolutely guaranteed not to return for at least three hours, John sits on the sofa and lets the tea make itself. In which John is (reluctantly) a wizard, Mycroft is (apparently) omniscient, and Sherlock is (surprisingly) oblivious.
Saved by Hufflepuff Friendship
by whitedandelions
Tom probably was meant to be a Dark Lord. But this Hufflepuff won't leave him alone and somehow he gets these stupid protective feelings and he ends up saving the world. That's just great. Tom was pretty sure he would have been happier being evil, but luckily for the world, Harry strongly disagre
Just Hold On (We're Going Home)
by kiaronna
Where Yuuri remembers the banquet, Viktor forgets, and Yakov Feltsman has his own plans.“I’ve been made aware of your recent break with Celestino Cialdini, and would like to offer you a trial period where you train under me, in St. Petersburg. There are only three conditions: you will board with ano
take this compass, follow it home
by lightning_anon
Tommy's a fuck up, he can't pay attention, and never sits still. He taps his hands, pushes people away, and has never had a best friend. He's a screwed up, forgotten kid lost in the foster system. He's also just been placed with a new family. Tommy knows how this goes, he never ends up staying long.
Corner Store Coffee Shop (sometimes villains stop by)
by orphan_account
-DISCONTINUED-Tommy is an ordinary coffee shop worker but when Siren, wanted villain, comes one day and just orders a coffee suddenly villains come by casually.Turns out Siren decided he would recommend the shop to every villain who breathed in his direction.Tommy was not paid enough for this.
gossamer in the light
by islandbreeze
The stranger quirks a smile, his eyes twinkling a little. He’s very cute, actually, but Jimin is hardly concerned with that right now. “Aren’t you going to introduce me?” the man asks expectantly, glancing at Hyungsik.“Of course,” Jimin says, turning to face Hyungsik. “How rude of me. Hyungsik, this
Twirl Three Notes and Make a Star
by inexplicifics
The Warlord of the North receives an invitation to the elven summer festival, and Geralt sends Jaskier, Eskel, and Ciri (and more than a dozen overprotective Witchers) off to be diplomatic.Or: Eskel finally gets to take a vacation. If you can call riding herd on Jaskier and the little menace a vacat
scramble
by IHadHimOnTheRopes (CarterReid)
The words on his skin were his everything. After everything he'd seen, done and been through, they were a reminder that Bruce Wayne still existed. That somewhere there was a person who would love him despite the coldness in his chest and the scars that roped their way across his skin. A reminder tha
Thirty-Eight Days and Counting
by thecommodore_squid (orphan_account)
It didn’t escape him that Steve shared his assumed last name. “Are you gonna be my cousin?” Bucky asked dully.Steve frowned. “Husband, actually,” he said easily, holding up his left hand to show a typical golden band.Bucky scowled and closed the door.AKAAn AU in which Bucky is put in the witness pro
Once Upon a Time (A Fairy-Tale Love Story)
by littlebirdtold
In a universe with no Federation, where First Contact never happened, Jim Kirk is your average popular guy. On Christmas Eve, thanks to a series of strange events, Jim finds himself in a parallel universe where the Milky Way is under the control of an alien race and ends up as a servant in the resid
I'll Be Your Man
by jeosheo
The two of them have never gotten along, not even for a second since they met, and they are, as far as Wonwoo is concerned, sworn enemies. So, you can imagine Wonwoo’s surprise when, on a regular Wednesday morning, Wonwoo is making a cup of tea in the office break room and the door slams open agains
No Rush
by blacktofade
Laurent is eleven when he’s introduced by his brother to Prince Damianos.
More Short Alternate Universe (AU) Fics on AO3
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About Alternate Universe (AU)
Stories set in a different universe or setting than canon, from coffee shops to space operas.
Infinite creative possibilities - seeing beloved characters in entirely new contexts.
Common scenarios: Coffee shop AU, college AU, royalty AU, no powers AU, historical AU.
About This List
This list of 20short Alternate Universe (AU) fanfics spans 547,638 total words. Kudos range from 10,880 on the newest entries to 34,929 on the most established. Nearly all (85%) are complete, so you can start any of them without WIP anxiety. The most common rating is Teen And Up Audiences (6 of 20 fics).
Recurring tags across this list: Alternate Universe · Fake/Pretend Relationship · Alternate Universe - Human · Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies · Timeline What Timeline.
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