Milena’s Top 5 Clexa AUs is a list that is very near and dear to my heart due to how it came to be.
As a full time fan fiction reader for years, I’ve read stories from every single possible and impossible woman loving woman (wlw) fandom. No matter if I watched the show or the movie, no matter if I read the book or not. If it was a wlw couple – I was fully invested.
Through SwanQueen and Mirandy, through J/7 and Cabenson, The 100 shone like a bright star that it was, because finally, we had a wlw couple who were canon. On TV! And what a couple they were. Lexa and Clarke were amazing. They had love, they had trauma, they had angst galore and chemistry to spare. They had it all, until they didn’t. The ‘bury your gays’ trope reared its ugly head—for whatever reason the show runners officially gave to the desolate fans—and Lexa was killed off the show in such a thoroughly undeserving way. A character of her stature and importance to the community deserved better.
As a result of what happened to Lexa, I stopped reading Clexa fan fiction. There was no fixing it in my mind, no matter how many talented authors had tried. But amongst my sadness at the outcome of this ship, I discovered that there were many likeminded individuals, who—instead of trying to fix canon—focused on creating AU stories featuring the Clexa ship. And so my love for this couple returned, because Clexa fandom has created some thoroughly enjoyable stories set in numerous alternative universes.
1 She by thefooliam
Fandom: The 100
“She” by thefooliam is a college AU where Clarke Griffin is the classic misunderstood “woe is me, my life isn’t worth it” self-absorbed college student going through her school years in a haze of booze and bad relationship decisions. She isn’t even sure she wants to be back for her sophomore year. And she completely forgets to submit her dorm room application, thus ensuring that she is placed with a random student and not one of her actual choice.
Enter Lexa Woods, Clarke’s freshman year nemesis extraordinaire. The haughty, aloof, “I’m much too good for you, peasants” goody-two-shoes Lexa does not have friends and does not need friends. She’s not here to make friends anyway. Lexa is here to study, be the best and graduate so she can finally be what she always wanted to be – free. Rooming with Clarke clearly isn’t her first or second or even third choice.
The young women hate each other, or do they? When friends and circumstances keep either bringing them together or tearing them apart, will their tenuous peace hold?
2 What Heart’s Ease Must Queens Neglect by thrace
Fandom: The 100
“What Heart’s Ease Must Queens Neglect” is a royal romance set in a fictional European country of Markenland. Queen Lexa of Markenland is a young reformer who is trying to drag her country, kicking and screaming, into the new age. By triggering democratic elections she is endeavoring to transform it into a modern parliamentary monarchy. Young, haughty, surrounded by mystery and a powerful aura of an absolute monarch, Queen Lexa cuts a magnificent figure. Yet, beneath the powerful veneer, she is standing all alone in the face of her destiny.
To monitor the first ever free and democratic elections in her country, Queen Lexa invites the UN observers. Leading the delegation is none other than Clarke Griffin – the plucky, resourceful and fiercely loyal UN dignitary. Between staying impartial in the performing of her observer role and her budding attraction and feelings for the mysterious royal, Clarke walks a very thin line.
The women fall deeply for each other but both their responsibilities and higher duty stand between them.
3 More Women Than Warriors by steklir
Fandom: The 100
“More Women Than Warriors” is a British boarding school AU, where Clarke Griffin is recently orphaned with a baggage of guilt that would dwarf absolutely everyone. She keeps to herself, trying to avoid human interaction and any kind of emotional involvement. Her heart is broken, her family is dead and she is all alone in the world.
And then she sees her… The first time Clarke sees Lexa Woods, the Head Girl is literally sitting on a throne among her faithful subjects, ruling her domain with an iron but fair hand. British boarding schools have their own structures and strict rules and Lexa is the Head Girl who is surpassing every expectation for a poor, scholarship student, attending the school only out of the goodness of the Governors’ hearts.
The girls set out on a series of adventures that bring them closer and love is impossible to stop from growing even on the most inauspicious of grounds as broken hearts.
4 Mystic Coffee by blindwire
Fandom: The 100
Mystic Coffee by blindwire is a cute coffee shop set up against a backdrop of magic existing freely in the world.
Lexa Woods is an absolutely adorable nerdy Polis University student who supplements her scholarship by working as a barista at a quirky coffee shop – Mystic Coffee. She lives in a dorm room with her roommate and is generally on a trajectory towards a rather boring existence of a hamster running in the wheel of life.
Until one day a young woman enters the coffee shop and Lexa notices something on the woman’s wrist that changes her life forever.
You see, Clarke Griffin has magic and it makes the tattoos on her body move and pretty much live a life of their own, depending on her mood and her emotions. Despite her large number of friends, she holds a deep secret inside and is inherently a loner as well as deeply lonely. A shy barista accidentally noticing the flying raven on her wrist sets in motion a series of events that will either take away said loneliness or will drive her farther into it.
Secrets are unravelled and the tenuous connection between the young women is tested by events out of their control.
5 Don’t Wanna Be Your Girl by faithtastic
Fandom: The 100
“Don’t Wanna Be Your Girl” by faithtastic is a wonderful version of my girlfriend is a porn star story.
Lexa is a financially struggling, “sweet and innocent” adorably gay and properly self-righteous student who interns in a porn production ‘aimed primarily at queer female demographic”. Her gender studies and feminism come agains the concepts of free sexual expression and some more than friendly feelings she has for one fo the film stars.
Clarke Griffin is a relatively big name porn star, or as Lexa prefers to call her – an “adult entertainment performer” starring in lesbian pornographic productions with her friends, most of whom are coupled up and are doing this exclusively for their financial stability. Clarke is also an artist and a student and her side job pays the tuition bills until her artistic career, which has promise, picks up.
Will Lexa be able to handle Clarke’s day job, or will it break their volatile bond?
We hope you have enjoyed Milena’s Top 5 Clexa AUs. Find all our fanfic reviews here
