History Fanfic / Spellbound

* RelationshipUpgrade: A considerable portion of the story is about showing how the friendship between Adrien and Marinette (and Felix) develops, starting from a year before canon, and then Adrien and Marinette eventually start officially dating. Part of the reason the Love Square is cut short is that Marinette notices how Adrien had started getting uncharacteristically tongue-tied, just like her.

** Adrien and Marinette's first official meeting (ie with Adrien in human form) involves a misunderstanding with Adrien giving Marinette a dead leaf. Later, when they're past that, he starts a tradition of giving her charms for her bracelet on birthdays and Christmas, with the first being a leaf. Marinette also doesn't let him forget it, bringing it up as an embarrassing story when meeting new people. When they later visit the same park on a date, Marinette gives him a dead leaf. [[spoiler: It's not until after his fae nature is revealed that she finally learns what was actually going on: the leaf was really a necklace under a magical illusion.]]

It features Adrien and Félix as twin brothers, with their mother being one of TheFairFolk (an Aos Sidhe) who recently succumbed to the call of magic and vanished into [[LandOfFaerie Tír na nÓg]]. As half-fae, the boys are [[ChildOfTwoWorlds caught between two worlds]], inherently magical ([[{{Shapeshifting}} shapeshifters]], in fact) but capable of more human behavior like selflessness and lying. With their mother's loss, their father becomes more distant and cold, resenting everything magic including his sons, and they latch onto someone else as their anchor to the material world and humanity: a baker's daughter named Marinette, who captivates Adrien with her generosity and creativity and passion for life.

** This was somewhat turned around on Plagg, though; one such person turned into a large black cat and became the ancestor of the Cat Sidhe. [[spoiler: Then, centuries later, a Cat Sidhe becomes the holder of Plagg's Miraculous (and Plagg isn't thrilled about it).]]

* MercyKill: A DeaderThanDead case. The soul of a human who wandered into a sidhe [[spoiler: and was eaten by a kelpie]] calls out to Felix and begs him to [[SoulEater put it out of its misery]]. [[spoiler: He does, but has mixed feelings about it]].

* SoulEating: Cat Sidhe are capable of consuming the souls of the departed, which permanently increases their magical power but makes them less human. [[spoiler: Felix is pressured into using this on a human eaten by a kelpie.]]

** Marinette likens Adrien's early notes, when he's trying to break the ice, to "a letter she might get from an Animal Crossing character."

* {{Shapeshifting}}: Adrien and his brother Felix can transform into cats.

''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/14998685 Spellbound]]'' is a ''WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug'' fanfiction by [[https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lilafly/pseuds/Lilafly Lilafly]], and is in progress as at October 2020, with over 400,000 words in 85 chapters thus far.

However, the more their lives intertwine, the greater the danger of her [[TheMasquerade learning about the existence of magic and the fae]] and becoming a [[KilledToUpholdTheMasquerade target]] -- especially once a different kind of magic starts sending akumas to rampage through the city, and an old guardian recruits Marinette and Adrien to fight back.

* ShoutOut: When Felix is braiding Marinette's hair for Christmas Eve dinner, and she learns that he hasn't had the chance to practise since his mother disappeared, she responds with, "Well, [[Literature/TheHungerGames I volunteer as tribute]] for future hairstyling sessions then. This looks beautiful."

* DramaticIrony: Nadja Chamack wants Ladybug and Chat Noir to admit that they're in love and dating, and has various photos intended to prove it. Of course, those shots are taken out of context and don't prove anything; Ladybug and Chat Noir certainly weren't dating in-mask. But ''out'' of mask, they were. For extra irony, when Nadja presents her "proof", [[spoiler:Marinette knows that Chat Noir is Adrien, and they are still in a relationship, but Félix and Bridgette have taken over the Miraculouses, so the Ladybug and Chat Noir being interviewed are not in fact dating]].

It features Adrien and Félix as twin brothers, with their mother being one of TheFairFolk (an Aos Sidhe) who recently succumbed to the call of magic and vanished into [[LandOfFaerie Tír na nÓg]]. As half-fae, the boys are [[ChildOfTwoWorlds caught between two worlds]], inherently magical ([[{{Shapeshifting}} shapeshifters]], in fact) but capable of more human behavior like selflessness and lying. With their mother's loss, their father becomes more distant and cold, resenting everything magic including his sons, and they latch onto someone else as their anchor to the material world and humanity: a baker's daughter named Marinette. However, the more their lives intertwine, the greater the danger of her [[TheMasquerade learning about the existence of magic and the fae]] and becoming a [[KilledToUpholdTheMasquerade target]] -- especially once a different kind of magic starts sending akumas to rampage through the city and an old guardian recruits Marinette and Adrien to fight back.

Going out on Midsummer had been a very bad idea, Adrien was able to admit that much. He couldn’t regret running into a girl named Marinette though, who helped him through the time where Faerie tried to call him with sweet songs.

He really wanted to get to know her better, but there was a slight problem: he was a ''Cat Sidhe'' and if she found out about it, she might as well be proclaimed dead on the spot. But the loneliness he had seen in her eyes had been too familiar for him to just leave her alone. Keeping her ignorant of the presence of the fair folk, while he himself was one of them, proved to be a lot harder than he had expected it to be though.

* AbusiveParents: Gabriel's mistreatment of his sons extends to installing [[ColdIron iron]] gates and security screens to keep them in the mansion, and even punishing Adrien with a bell collar (which hurts their cat ears). To add insult to injury, on one occasion where Felix actually ''wants'' the security screens closed [[spoiler:to block out the temptations of the LandOfFaerie]], his father dismisses his concerns and re-opens them.

* BerserkButton: The Fair Folk don't like to be called faeries. One way Adrien notices Chloe embracing her fae side is that she starts objecting to the word.[[note]]Although her selfishness and cruelty were also pretty good indicators.[[/note]] Felix becomes temporarily sensitive to it as well, after [[spoiler: his experiences at the Samhain revel]].
* BreakingSpeech: When Felix has to persuade Alya to stop investigating [[spoiler: missing person cases that he knows are magic-related]], he points out how her investigative style is reckless and dangerous for herself, her family, her friends, and even the city's heroes. It reduces her to tears, but she does back off.

* {{Curse}}: Felix curses Alya to "[[spoiler:fail to unmask Ladybug no matter how hard you try]]." The balance of magic means that he even gets some good luck out of it. Adrien is unhappy about the potential side effects, though.

** After Felix deliberately "unroots" himself [[spoiler: in preparation to survive a revel]], he takes a long time to adjust to life again. His sense of empathy never fully recovers after [[spoiler: eating a soul]].

* TheDogBitesBack: It took three centuries, but ultimately Bridgette killed her former master, and the daughter resulting from [[SexSlave his treatment of her]], with an [[ColdIron iron]] dagger.

** King Finnbheara made a deal with a Fuath queen to borrow Bridgette as a bride, with the queen owning any resulting children. However, they didn't actually make any stipulations about Bridgette herself, and he then proceeded to [[IKnowYourTrueName take away her name]], thus enslaving her to him.

** During the Dark Cupid incident, Chat Noir refers to "the Court" in front of Ladybug, and she tries afterward to persuade him to explain what he was talking about, but he insists that she stop digging. Tikki gives the same advice, which Marinette finds [[LockedOutOfTheLoop very frustrating]].

* FateWorseThanDeath: The fae are surpassing experts in this. There's a good chance that they ''will'' kill you in the end, once they're bored, but the intervening time can be pretty horrifying -- torture, slavery, humiliation, the works -- and afterward some of them can even eat your soul. Felix looks away after a human is [[spoiler: fed MindControl fruit and then told to strip and get down on all fours]], not wanting to see what would follow.

** Adrien's magic, combined with his Miraculous, lets him immediately [[spoiler:recognise Ladybug as Marinette]].

** Marinette and Adrien still end up with mutual crushes that the other is oblivious to (though it doesn't drag on endlessly like canon).

** King Finnbheara made a deal with a Fuath queen to borrow Bridgette as a bride, with the queen owning any resulting children. However, they didn't actually make any stipulations about Bridgette herself, and he then proceeded to take away her name, thus enslaving her to him.

He really wanted to get to know her better, but there was a slight problem: he was a ''Cat Sidhe'' and if she found out about it, she could as well be proclaimed dead on the spot. But the loneliness he had seen in her eyes had been too familiar for him to just leave her alone. Keeping her ignorant of the presence of the fair folk, while he himself was one of them, proved to be a lot harder than he had expected it to be though.

* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: When Marinette's mother hears that the twins snuck out of their bedroom window to come and visit against their father's wishes, she is quite put out with them - not for disobeying their father, but because it's a long way down.

* FateWorseThanDeath: The fae are surpassing experts in this. There's a good chance that they ''will'' kill you in the end, once they're bored, but the intervening time can be pretty horrifying - torture, slavery, humiliation, the works - and afterward some of them can even eat your soul. Felix looks away after a human is [[spoiler: fed MindControl fruit and then told to strip and get down on all fours]], not wanting to see what would follow.

* NotBrainwashed: An interesting case when Adrien and Félix first attend school and "meet" Marinette, whom they have actually known for a year. They don't want to reveal their friendship to Chloe, lest she take petty revenge on Marinette for being part of their lives. [[spoiler: Adrien uses a MindControl effect in a song, influencing the target to like and trust him - while knowing that Marinette is wearing a protective necklace that makes her immune. He then has a perfect cover to explain their closeness to any other fae. And Marinette has no idea of what's happening except that her friend just serenaded her during class.[[note]]Tikki and Plagg, however, are ''very'' aware of the magic he used, and are not happy.[[/note]]]]

* ShutUpHannibal: When [[spoiler: the Evillustrator]] realises that Marinette was just playing along and fooled him, he angrily says that she's just like Chloe. Chat Noir, who [[spoiler: has him pinned and was already envious of their fake date]], ''[[TranquilFury very calmly]]'' points out the flaws in his accusation.

** This typically happens to anyone who visits the LandOfFaerie - including Mrs Agreste. She is likely to return safe and sound one day, but it could be decades or centuries.

* MercyKill: The soul of a human who wandered into a sidhe [[spoiler: and was eaten by a kelpie]] calls out to Felix and begs him to put it out of its misery. [[spoiler: He does, but has mixed feelings about it]].

-> ''Not one of the fair folk was good. If they found a human, they made them their plaything until eventually losing interest and killing their unfortunate victim.''\\
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''They liked things that were shiny and new, discarding things that were old and used…or leaving them behind cursed.''\\
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''They were drawn to the innocent because the unpredictable ways in which they thought amused them. They were drawn to the guilty to give them back what they deserved. They were drawn to those that were in between two worlds like they were; teenagers for example, halfway to adulthood but still not severed from childhood.''\\
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''They loved their little games and delighted in the humans’ naivety and misfortune.''\\
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* {{Trickster}}: Faeries are naturally this, of the more cruel and sadistic variety. Adrien and Felix keep it low-key with pranking each other, such as when Adrien buys Felix a shirt in his preferred colour but a feminine style.

* MeaningfulName: After Chloe's [[spoiler: attempted kindnapping of Marinette falls through]], Felix reflects on how the term "queen bee" fits her remarkably well, because the fae use the term "queen of insects" to refer to [[spoiler: one who has lost influence with other fae and rules over mortals instead]].