(Watch me as I come up with an entire AU and magic system for said AU on the spot at work so that I can attempt to claim having the first Knitting Fairy!Marinette AU)
Okay so: is that Marinette is secretly a fairy. Her parents do in fact know this because they’re also fairies, but the three disguise themselves as human to fit in in. It’s pretty common for fairies to hide that way in the modern day.
Each fairy has their own special creative talent, called a Craft, like Baking or Gardening or in Mari’s case Knitting. But the magic they all can use isn’t limited to the one Craft, though being skilled in one thing does offer some unique powers not shared by others. Multiples of the same Craft can exist, it’s not uncommon for two or more fairies to have the same one.
Personality-wise fairies are a mix between the mythological Fae and the more child-friendly modern media interpretation. Kind-hearted but cunning, playful but tricksters, sweet but charming. They also can’t directly lie, but are very skilled in twisting the truth. Simply put, they’re like Fae but much nicer.
Fairies have the power to use magic to enforce a Deal, in which both you and the fairy must uphold your end of the bargain. Not every deal made with a fairy is a Deal, but you’ll find yourself compelled to uphold your end if it is a Deal, and if you don’t uphold it there are consequences. Specifically owing the fairy whose Deal you’ve broken a Favor, which isn’t something you’d want to happen as you never know what they will force on you as repayment.
Fairies can also give Gifts, tokens of goodwill and kindness created using their Craft. Not every gift from a fairy is a Gift, as Gifts are imbued with magic, whether it bears any tangible effects or not.
Sorry for rambling about the intricacies of this AU’s fairy Lore, couldn’t help myself. Now, onto Knitting Fairy Mari, the reason for this AU.
Mari’s Craft is, as previously stated, Knitting, and this ties into her canon talent as a designer pretty well. One big difference, though, is that all of her designs in the AU are hand-knitted, embroidered, and crocheted. She is a needlework fiend, everyone. She works with wool in ways the world would only wonder.
Marinette has actually visited Adrien when they were younger—she could feel that there was someone lonely and wanted to cheer them up, and that someone was a young him. So little Mari decided to be little Adrien’s secret friend, leaving little gifts for him and occasionally making herself hidden to talk to him. Adrien, while he never actually sees “The Knitting Fairy”, definitely believes his magic friend is real. And Chloé, his only other friend, also believes it, after being shown a lot of proof of course (and she might also have gotten a gift or two, not that anyone other than Adrien was allowed to know it). And Mari is there when both of the blondes’ mothers disappeared from their lives.
Fast-forward to when the show starts, and we see the effects already: a nicer Chloé. Not by much, mind you, but she’s definitely noticeably less of a bully. And also, a more confident Marinette, by virtue of being a very crafty fairy.
I’ve been going back and forth between whether or not the canon superhero shenanigans ensue, but I feel it would be more fun if they did. Specifically, we get Tikki being super excited to have a fairy as a holder, because fairies in this AU are beings of Creation, and Tikki IS Creation, so Mari’s also excited to meet Tikki, because something something fairy Lore mentioning her in high regard, it’s all around a very excited meeting.
Ladybug has a new outfit complete with literal working wings because she has natural literal working wings so the transformation just makes them ladybug shaped instead of fairy shaped it’s absolutely beautiful.
The scarf in Bubbler…let’s just say there’s a good reason Gifts are a thing I came up with in this AU.
And somehow having a third identity makes juggling all of them all that easier for Mari. Somehow. Even though she can’t actually lie. It somehow all evens out. Trust me. It does make sense. I’m just as clueless as all of you on the subject of how.
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