- Everyone knows the Beast was selfish and unkind—which, of course, is exactly what a jealous enchantress would want the world to think. An AU in which young Adam was an innocent victim caught up in his father's past mistakes, and Belle a willing presence seeking to repay her own father's debt. And with a vengeful witch on the loose, Gaston is the least of their worries.
Written by greensearcher
, Mirrors is an Alternate Universe Fic of Beauty and the Beast, with the main difference being that the Beast was an innocent victim the entire time. One day, Adam finds an old man breaking into his castle, trying to steal valuables to pay for his wife's illness. Unable to part with his possessions(as they are actually his servants under the spell), but empathizing all too well with the man's situation, Adam gives him money to pay for medicine with the condition that he never speak of where he got the gold. When the old man and his ailing wife leave for Paris to see the city doctor, their daughter, Belle, grows curious about where her father got the gold, and decides to seek out their benefactor...
Can be found on Archive of Our Own here and on Fanfiction here.
Not to be confused Mirrors, which is a The Legend of Zelda fanfic.
This Fic features the following tropes:
- Adaptational Angst Upgrade: All over the place. Adam in particular goes through a full blown Trauma Conga Line that started before he was cursed.
- Adaptational Nice Guy: The premise of this fic is that Adam really was an innocent child when he was cursed, and he's a much nicer person when he first meets Belle. Interestingly, it's actually the way it happened in the original fairy tale.
- Adaptation Relationship Overhaul: Mrs. Potts is Chip's grandmother in this version, with her daughter being his mother.
- Adaptational Villainy: The enchantress is a full blown villain in this story.
- Animated Armor: Original Character Sophie, one of the maids in the castle, is cursed into being a suit of armor.
- Bookworm: Belle naturally, and this aspect of Adam's personality is much more prominent than in the original, including him indexing the massive library and teaching his servant's how to read.
- Big Bad: The enchantress.
- Big Bad Wannabe: Gaston.
- Cheerful Child: Adam in the flashbacks.
- Constantly Curious: Belle.
- Driven to Suicide: A flashback revealed that one of the servants, Charlotte, had thrown herself off the wall of the castle, shattering into pieces.
- Dude Magnet: Belle when she and Sophie visit a neighboring village. Numerous young men start competing for her attention, to the point that a brawl ensues right in front of her.
- Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: The enchantress's gambits repeatedly fail thanks to this.
- Expy:
Word of God confirms Sophie was inspired by Alphonse Elric of Fullmetal Alchemist. - Failed a Spot Check: Gaston is the only person in the entire village that doesn't know Belle's parents have left town.
- Flashback: Frequently, shedding light on how Adam and his servants make the most of their lives under the curse.
- Forceful Kiss: Gaston kisses Belle without her consent, while promising to do worse later on.
- Fourth-Date Marriage: Averted. Adam and Belle's short romance over several days in the original film is changed to develop over months with Belle visiting the castle daily and getting to know him.
- Gilded Cage: The castle is effectively this for Adam. An invisible wall keeps him from leaving the castle grounds. What makes this especially cruel is the fact that everyone else in the castle can leave.
- Good Parents: Adam's parents, explaining why he's so sweet despite his terrible circumstances. Belle's parents as well who fight for her to have an education and try to protect her from Gaston.
- Hated by All: Gaston ends up having this. As it turns out, what Belle thought was respect and admiration for him was in fact fear of his wrath.
- Insecure Love Interest: Unsurprisingly Adam has to work through a lot of self-loathing and doubt to believe Belle could love him in his cursed body.
- Kick the Dog: The enchantress does this to Adam every chance she gets. One that stands out is her attempt to convince Adam that Belle simply pities him, and has no chance of loving him.
- Laser-Guided Karma: A single act of kindness provides Adam the perfect chance to break the spell over him and his servants.
- Locked Out of the Loop: More justified than in the movies. Adam tries to tell Belle about the requirements of breaking the spell, but the spell works in a way so he can't tell her.
- Marry for Love: Adam's parents, though the circumstances were complicated. And of course Adam desperately wants to do this with Belle.
- Nice Guy: Adam is almost painfully sweet, more than explaining why Belle falls for him despite his form. Also Henri, Chip's father and Sophie's Love Interest. Belle and Sophie are female versions.
- Original Character: Several.
- Royals Who Actually Do Something: Adam wishes he could be this, but circumstances keep the poor boy from fulfilling what he sees as his duty.
- Running Gag: The first chapters have Belle attempting to guess Adam's name, which are usually based on what kind of animal she thinks he is. He eventually gives up and tells her his name.
- Single-Target Sexuality: Adam and Belle only have eyes for each other. In Adam's case, it's because Belle is literally the first human woman he's ever met since he was cursed as a child. Belle, on the other hand, has never met anyone before Adam who piqued her interest.
- Single Woman Seeks Good Man: Belle falls in love with Adam due to his kind nature. The enchantress quite simply doesn't understand this.
- Stay in the Kitchen: Emphasized more than the original film, with Belle more obviously suffering alienation from the town's people and being physically attacked when she tries to attend school with the boys as a child.
- Uptown Girl: Prince Adam, who is heir to the throne, is a gender-inversion to commoner Belle, a farmer's daughter. Belle is rather worried about this, both when they become friends and as their relationship deepens, while Adam couldn't care less as he's much more concerned about his beastly form putting her off and that he has remarkably progressive and egalitarian views thanks to his mother's influence.
- His parents were a more downplayed version - his father was a Prince and his mother, while noble, was only the daughter of a minor baron, so of a much lower status than his arranged match to a foreign princess.
- Will They or Won't They?: Adam and Belle, specifically on will they or won't they confess their love to each other as it takes a verbal confession to break the curse.
