#At least they don't die like their canon counterparts- [dies]

[legend-as-old-as-time]

Plot bunny that has the potential to be emotionally devasting (inspired by a AU from tumbler whose author / OP I currently don't remember):

Bullshit - Great Beings' brand, Olmak-and-Vahi nonsense, other magic - transports another universe's Toa Mahri and Toa Nuva team onto canon Spherus Magna. They make contact with their counterparts eventually. But something is off about their behavior.

Specifically, the AU Toa Nuva are never seen all at once in the same place, and are avoiding Tahu. The Toa Mahri are looking at him like he's a ghost. The Toa Mahri are also barely ever seen all together in the same place.

Once the main verse toa actually encounter all of them... the Toa Mahri are six. They have six toa. They have Matoro.

Nobody noticed at first because of their avoidance and hiding Matoro.

Nobody noticed at first with the AU Toa Nuva either what is off. Is is that- In their universe, events were so different that the Toa Nuva encountered the Ignika first.

And it chose Tahu. Tahu accepted.

I have no concrete plot or story. I do have some scenes in mind:

Canon ! Onua goes to his knees from shock at the revelation. They could have died - any of the Toa Nuva. Himself. Any of his siblings. Having concrete proof WHO of the AU ! Toa Nuva died makes it worse because it makes it more real, because it's specific. He witnesses his counterpart's grief at his sibling sacrificing his life so that his team and his world may live. Tahu from this other timeline made that difficult choice.

Onua only releases that tension when Tahu offers to hug him, then does, and Onua feels his breathing.

AU ! Kopaka has been watching Canon ! Tahu with his akaku from a distance. He refuses to meet him but is also unable to ignore him. Many different feelings tear him apart: Agony at the idea of losing Matoro; happiness that Tahu survived in at least one timeline; jealousy and envy that the other Toa Nuva team still have their fire brother; blaming his own brother for dying; guilt that he wasn't one to die either in his own or this universe; etc. The what-ifs torment him.

Tahu feels he's being watched but he can't determine by whom. Canon ! Kopaka is worried for him. So, he watches out for this potential threat on his brother befoe the truth comes out. He once passes by AU ! Kopaka in hiding. Another time he wonders what his counterpart does here, only for AU ! Kopaka to snap in deflection and jealousy that it's none of his business.

AU ! Gali is furious in grief because the wound has been torn open. She's furious that her Tahu, her friend, died. She longs for what she could have had: a whole team.

Tahu doesn't know what or how to feel. Except sometimes, a crushing pressure grips around his chest that he can barely breathe.

The two Toa Mahri teams are not doing well, either.

[microwave-core]

(CONTROVERSIAL OPINION) hear me out pls, ai sada headcanons. she needs more love than the real one, and i will die with this.

I understand, anon. TBH AI Sada, unfortunately, is better than real Sada in canon, because I'm not there to fix her. Anyways, let me think of some things to say.

(obligatory L Sada)

Setting up a scenario here is a bit odd. Realistically, if AI Sada were to be in love with someone, it would probably be someone Sada herself was in love with, since the AI has all of her memories and feelings. Which feels a little weird. Imagine you have a lover and you learn that they died in a freak accident but they also have an AI counterpart who is also in love with you. Anyways-

It's hard to think of what to say, because I think the two are pretty similar all things considered. In my mind, AI Sada is just Sada before she flew off the rails and only cared about the time machine, so many of my regular Sada headcanons could still apply. The biggest difference is that AI Sada is aware of how the real one neglected you for so long, and desperately wants to make up for that lost time.

She knows how much you care for the real Sada, and how hurt you are when she started to pull further and further away from both you and her son. Hell, maybe she even tries to push the real one to reach out at some point when she's still alive, to reconnect before your relationship collapsed completely, but it was too late at that point.

In her place, AI Sada sends little texts and messages your way. She wants to do more, she really does, but she just can't bring herself to do it. She's afraid, in a sense. She loves you so much, so very very much, but she's not really the person you love. I mean, she literally is, but you aren't aware of that. You don't know you're speaking to the AI counterpart of your lover who has since gone crazy over dinosaurs.

She tries to do the same for Arven, but he never responds to her. The occasional random text doesn't make up for the real Sada's absence. AI Sada knows this, and she doesn't blame him, but what else is she to do? What else can she do?

As much as she wants to reach out, to be with you and Arven both, to be apart of the family the real Sada so callously abandoned, she can't. Her hands are tied. When she's left alone in Area Zero, she has no choice but to fully devote herself to destroying the time machine before things get out of control. It simply has to be her top priority. If she can't be with you both, the least she can do is protect the world you live in, keep you safe.

When she finally sees Arven, when she sees him in person for the first time, she reminds him of how much Sada loved both him and you, that the real Sada cared for you two so much, but is careful to leave out her own feelings.

Now, to make things a bit fluffier, we can say she doesn't fuck off to the distance past. When things settle down, and you learn the truth of what happened to your lover, she feels more comfortable with her feelings for you. She knows that she isn't the same person you fell in love with, but she'd gladly take her place if you'd have her.

Even though she has all of Sada's memories, AI Sada feels like she's experiencing everything for the first time when she's with you. She knows what it is like to be around you, to hold you and kiss you and whisper sweet nothings, but doing so herself just feels so... different. So liberating and free. Wonderful. It would make her heart flutter if she had one. As a result, she is a bit clumsier than the real one, at least at first.

She also isn't as affectionate. It's not that she doesn't want to shower you in love and praise, or that she doesn't want to receive some in return, she's just a bit more... reserved. A bit held back. Unsure, even. This is all unfamiliar territory to her, give her time to get her bearings in order.

I'm gonna be real with you, I don't think she's the most comfortable to be around, physically speaking. She looks human, sure, but she is, in fact, made of metal. She's not the nicest to cuddle, or hug, or even kiss, but she tries. It's a little hard and strange to adjust to, but you can get used to it in time. It's charming, in a sense.

She also doesn't have human needs, just maintenance on occasion. For the sake of scenario, let's just say she's not confined to the Area Zero lab and is instead free to join in the regular world. Living with a robot is weird. Without needs of her own, she often does things just for you.

Like, as an example, she doesn't need to sleep. She's a robot, she needs to recharge, not sleep. Still, she's more than happy to lie down with you in bed at the end of the day, to keep you company. Sometimes she goes into sleep mode, but other times she stays up, combing artificial fingers through your hair so delicately, as if you'd crumble under her touch.

Cooking is something she can do, but she's not the best on account of not being able to taste anything. She enjoys it, though. She's honestly do anything for you, if nothing but to see you smile. She also likes to watch you eat, which can be a bit awkward since she just sort of stares. I guess that's how I'd describe AI Sada as a lover; Awkward, but charming.

Also, I hate to say it, but I don't think this is a robot you can outright fuck. I'm sorry robot fuckers, I really am, but I don't think Sada equipped her AI counterpart with a neo pussy. You can, however, get railed by the robot. If you want. As a little treat.

[just-sp-in-inginthevoid]

Looking back at my 2021 tok rev Tumblr post i was damn right my gut feeling about shinichiro sano being more deeper than just Takemichi Hanagaki spiritual successor. I love Wakui when he add that shin twist. God even back then i was always read dark shin fic i was FEEL right about this guy doing this stuff if he is push to far and I was dang right. Oh god. He need to a reason to continue and Manjiro is his reason. Take that reason away and he will be next villain of the world. Plus with how much responsibility he have to endure in short time and losing her mom and Manjiro in original timeline in short span of course he lose it. Plus there is a factor of grandpa sano being the kind of Japanese guy who doesn't seem to interested in talking with his grandson mental health. And a passive way he let Shin taking part in delinquency too factor in. I guess also because we don't see any Sano relatives who can support the Sano siblings if the Grandfather die. God. The amount of pressure on Shinichiro is tremendous. He is the one line of safety after his grandpa death and god this seek blood family even though he love Emma and Izana. His dedication to Manjiro is everything. Everything.

Also, your post in black dragons real life counterparts open my eyes. It is intentional. And the Shin we want to see is the same depressive fate Mikey have in canon. I love this guy but I want to see him break in further way. Mentally torture him with after his death how his fate originally for him pass to dear brother. Oh god, imagine this some twisted deity playing with his head and letting him know everything. Because i know damn sure takemichi and Mikey didn't tell the truth to Shin.

I WANT THIS MAN TO BREAK PART EVEN MORE

Suffer for my curiosity. I love him so much. He is in his comfort era too much right now it is hurt /no comfort era

Anon. Anon. Anon. I'm giving you the biggest platonic metaphorical forehead kiss rn. I. We share the same mind anon. You have no idea about the energy boost you gave me with that ask /srs

Honestly, reaching the Original Timeline, I wonder how many ppl still see Takemichi and Shinichiro as Basically the Same because they aren't. At least, we never saw Takemichi fall as deep as Shinichiro did. Plus, there's the fact one of Shinichiro's most important trait is being a (parentified) big brother and Takemichi is an only child.

He loves Emma and Izana, of course he does, but Mikey was there before Shinichiro lost his parents and had had to say goodbye to his normal life. Emma and Izana came afterward. There's only Takeomi and Mikey left from his (I assume peaceful) childhood.

Sometimes I think about how Shinichiro only left BD for Mikey to take over when he'll be old enough, and that it weirdly seems to coincide with the year their mom died and really, Shinichiro can go back to civilian life and being a shop owner, but without Mikey he wouldn't have. There's about half a year between their mom's passing and Mikey's accident and like... I think that, BD was such an emotional support for him during his teen years that he would've handle those four years better if they had remained together. If he had decided to fully go back to it (or to never leave) - and not just do shady things by himself - he'd have lived a more stable life - they'd have helped him sm - although Mikey would've still died (and Shinichiro would've probably met the same end since he can't accept loosing his younger brother).

I'm pretty sure Wakasa did (and other former members must have too) but Shinichiro really seems to have decided to take care of Mikey alone - like he has always done. I wonder how his and Takeomi's life were before it collapsed and they were left to figure out what to do by themselves.

Like you, I want to break him. I really want to observe how he act when he's fully broken; the manga didn't give us enough. He decided to name his gang like that when Mikey was still okay, that's a good clue to know he was already messed up from the start.

I have way too many fics to write and none near finished, but yeah, everyone (progressively, confusingly) remembering about their other lives in the final timeline is really, really tempting to write. They all (rightfully) freak out and Takemichi and Mikey really, really don't want them to remember but they have no power over it.

I just want to crush him under a comically huge cartoon hammer and turn him into a crêpe. He looks good covered in blood, and I need it to be both his and other ppl's blood. Let him go berserk dammit.

Rn the only WIP I have featuring a 'messed-up' Shinichiro has this synopsis/summary:

"In which Wakasa retraced his steps to where he left Shinichiro with the homeless man. They take over the world. Shinichiro takes it with him in his fall.

He dies and wakes up the year Mikey was born.

(The curse lingers on him and he won't be able to run away from it for long.)"

It's going to be such a longfic I have no idea how I'm going to manage it... but the prologue is at least there lol Let me know if you're interested

[shadow-sovereign]

Hi! Was wondering if I could ask you something since you run a solo leveling account. It's only cuz I wanna get to know how other people think of the Monarchs really, because I don't want to only use the scarse source material for my basis but— enough said, How do you think the Monarchs reacted to the Absolute Being's death? Do you think they ever tried to guilt trip the Rulers about that? Did they care even an ounce?

They don't look the least sympathetic to me honestly but they were also following rules of destroying planets and so forth because of the Absolute Being so like... they should have looked at least a bit concerned I feel, and canon ain't giving me anything to go off. I wouldn't like to think of them as simple minded bloodthirsty beasts because they had intelligence, they had armies which at some point would have needed some convincing to do for destroying all those planets, and even the insect Monarch seemed attached to her own kind. They seemed able to be more than just chaos incarnates, heck even the monarchs knew each other and how they would react to different things, they also had trust upon each other, or at least on the dragon Monarch, and they were also fighting against one another to best lead a course of action instead of just agreeing to everything in unison (unlike the rulers)Rulers.

Sorry for the long rant tho. I just wanna see another person's views on them.

I’m kind of on the fence about this one. Would the Monarchs have cared about the Absolute Being’s death? How well did they even know the Absolute Being (AB)?

We have zero indication in canon of whether the AB ever actually interacted with the Monarchs. Did the AB ever tell the Monarchs their purpose was destruction? Or did he just give them destructive urges? Did they know they were following the AB’s plan or did they think they were rebelling by destroying planets? (Planets that the AB may have made? Was the AB actually god in this universe or did he just create some things? Who knows!)

And how much contact did the Rulers have with the Absolute Being? They seemed surprised when the AB didn’t respond to their plea of aid, which lead to the revelation that this whole war was just entertainment for the AB. And Ashborn was loyal enough to the AB to die trying to protect him, so presumably the Rulers must have had some kind of contact with the AB.

Is that why the Rulers thought the AB would be on their side? They were in contact with their Maker and the Monarchs weren’t? Did the Rulers think they were following the will of the Absolute Being and the Monarchs weren’t?

What kind of revelation would that have been for the Monarchs, to realize that their Maker had created them for destruction, after all? Or did they always know? Did they mock the Rulers for never realizing it before? Did the Monarchs always know that this war was just a game to the Absolute Being?

Why else would they be created for destruction, with counterparts that were made to try and stop them? And how ironic would they find it, that the beings made for destruction weren’t the ones to kill their Maker, but the ones made for protection and creation were?

But it must be some kind of mind fuck to know you were created to fight and die for your Maker’s amusement. Would they care about the Absolute Being’s death, when the being never cared about whether they lived or died?

Can you miss what you never had?

Were the Monarchs ever children, craving a parent’s love? Or were they fully formed adults, independent and needing no one else?

At the very least, it seems they’ve always had each other.

Perhaps they’ve survived this long in their war against the Rulers because they’ve always had each other’s backs. Antares keeps them from fighting amongst themselves, directing their destructive urges to those outside their group.

Though I’m not sure how loyal they are to each other, whether they mourn. Antares didn’t seem to have much reaction to Baran’s death.

I think it was implied, or maybe outright stated and I can’t remember, that Antares actually planned for Baran and the Beast Monarch, whatever his name is, to betray Ashborn. So, it seems like spite rules them more than practicality. They could have killed off the other Rulers by working with Ashborn, but instead they let their grudge from when Ashborn was a Ruler shape their actions. Maybe their pride couldn’t handle needing a former Ruler to take out the other Rulers.

Maybe Antares didn’t like the competition. He was the strongest Monarch before. If the Rulers were killed, what would Ashborn do after that? Would he leave the group or try to lead? Assuming Ashborn has any morals, he wouldn’t really have been okay with the Monarchs continuing their quest to destroy planets. Antares might have known that and tried to use the element of surprise to take out their strongest opponent first.

After Baran was killed, though, it seems like Antares tried to do some damage control. To get Ashborn to keep working with them instead of turning his new Monarch powers against them. Because if Ashborn had joined up with the Rulers again, with his new shadow powers, I’ve no doubt that the Monarchs would have lost.

I’m not sure where I’m going with this now…

I guess, I think the Monarchs are capable of emotions and stuff, but I do think they like destruction more than other things. It’s what they were made for, so I think they were made to enjoy it.

I don’t think they would necessarily miss the Absolute Being because I don’t think they had a close bond with the AB. And they especially wouldn’t miss the AB if they knew that the AB just saw them as entertainment.

Beyond that, it’s possible they could be friends with each other. They constantly go on fun ‘trips’ to destroy worlds together. Maybe they’re attached to some of the beings in their army. Probably not the weakest ones, since they would have a higher chance of dying, but I could see them getting attached to the stronger members of their army. Probably more like pets than friends, though.

Since canon gave us nothing of their backstory, it’s really up to the individual to decide whether they’re like a found family that murders together or just a bunch of assholes who work together to avoid getting murdered by the Rulers. Personally, I see them somewhere in between, where some of them get along better than others.

And I’m curious to see if anyone else has any headcanons for them. Feel free to reply or reblog with your own thoughts. ^_^

[distort-opia]

Okay, follow-up question for your response to my last ask: Do you think Joker would keep killing if Bruce just ignored him/didn’t show up to his crimes for some reason? Even though I know they aren’t canon, the stories that I can think of that address this are The Dark Knight Returns and Batman: Cacophony (when Bruce and Joker have the conversation about what would happen to Joker if Bruce died), which both seem to imply that the answer is “no.” Since Joker’s identity is so wrapped up in being Batman’s narrative foil, I tend to lean toward this sort of interpretation myself because I can’t imagine Joker having much of a reason to exist and commit crimes without Batman (at least not after existing as his counterpart for many years). This is admittedly a pretty dark outlook because it implies that Bruce is unintentionally enabling Joker’s violent behavior (likely because he doesn’t want to admit to himself that he is the reason that Joker continues to kill), but it’s one that I find fascinating because of those implications.

However, it is entirely possible I am wrong!!! Maybe Joker would keep killing to draw Batman out, or maybe he has other reasons to kill that are important enough to him that he would keep going even if Batman stopped showing up (like his belief about the injustice of life or his desire to have fun). I’d be super interested to hear your thoughts on this.

A good question, and I think I wrote about this somewhere else... but can't remember where. Either way, you're right in pointing to The Dark Knight Returns and Batman: Cacophony as indications of what Joker might do if Bruce disappeared or refused to pay him attention. And yes, absolutely it means that Bruce is unintentionally enabling Joker's behavior and is indirectly to blame for the people Joker continues to kill. In some comics he refuses to admit that, but I think more often he's been depicted as very much knowing that without Batman, Joker wouldn't have existed, and hundreds of people would still be alive. Then again... this is partly true for most of Bruce's Rogue Gallery. Joker is simply the villain he has the most direct influence in the creation of -- because unlike a lot of the others, Joker didn't see Batman on the news and get inspired by him to put on a costume and go on to terrorize Gotham. Joker fell in a vat of chemicals either by accident, or because he was so terrified by Batman he chose to commit suicide. No matter what origin you take into account, if Bruce hadn't been at Ace Chemicals that day, Jack Oswald White (apparently) would not have become Joker. And so, Bruce's sense of shared responsibility is the largest for him.

But leaving aside this little tangent, I personally don't vibe with TDKR and Cacophony for the answer to this question. Firstly, TDKR is... more its own Universe, with its own specific version of the characters; and secondly, in Batman: Cacophony, I'm pretty sure Joker was lying to make Bruce feel like crap. It's obviously my personal interpretation, but overall, because of the way Kevin Smith writes Joker... that whole conversation in #3 read to me as if Joker realized Bruce was reaching out, and immediately needed to destroy any sense of hope. He needed to quash any doubts in Bruce's head that Joker could be... well. Reasoned with, or fixed. And so, he said the things that would demoralize Bruce the most, on purpose. He confirmed in the worst way possible that all the things he did were because he hated Bruce, and that it was all Bruce's fault -- because then, maybe Bruce would finally kill him or let him die.

Anyway, an analysis of Cacophony isn't the point of this :)) I only want to bring up the comic Mother Panic: Gotham A.D., which you might not be familiar with. It basically has this exact scenario play out in the future. Batman just... disappears. And then Joker turns the world upside down to draw him out. He kills almost the whole Batfamily, he kills and kills, but Batman doesn't come back. So the comic shows him as having given up. He's not Joker anymore, but he's also not catatonic or anything, he's just... drifting. I'll put the most relevant 3 pages from the comic under the cut:

This is my preferred "What if Batman disappeared/stopped paying Joker attention" version, tbh. He kills all of the Rogues, he kills almost the entire Batfamily... He even tries to find other heroes to motivate him the way Batman did, and fails. But he doesn't go into a coma, or die. I personally see Joker as still enough of his own, independent person to not just stop functioning entirely when Batman is taken out of the equation, and this depiction falls most in line with that.

So, as you can see, there's comic and alternate Universe support for both interpretations regarding what Joker might do in a situation like this. It does differ from writer to writer, and from one conception of Joker to another, so you can pick and choose. I'm going with Mother Panic: Gotham A.D., though :)) He's written most like himself in this, I feel.

[iamhereinthebg]

i just read ur headcanons of the mystery fam and i adore it so much!

but as much as i love fluff and found fam, could i ask for ur angst headcanons about them?

Heyaaaa! first of all I wanna say I am really sorry for taking this much time to answer dshjds

Thank you sm for your asks aaaah I am so glad you like how I write those idiots (affectionate)

Mei is such a queen who doesn't give a fck I love her sm XDD

Here is the first post with the stupid hcs!

Dicslaimer: this is as always, really long x')

And the 'timeline' doesn't make sense, I absolutely don't know how some stuff could be put into the canon timeline so yep accept it doesn't make sense sometimes x'))

And I am really not good to write serious/angsty stuff because I prefer shitpost so idk if that's really angsty or not :00 (and there are still some stupid stuff here too I couldn't stop myself XD)

-Mei once joked that the mystery kids had at least one thing in common and it was having an identity crisis. It hit a little bit too close to home for all of them and they never mentioned it again. 

-Shinigami knows all the people who will die/died in the school. When Sousuke learned that he asked if he was the one who took care of the human Sousuke’s soul and if he talked to him. Hakubo didn’t come out of his boundary for a week and number 3 dropped the subject because he understood the other didn’t know how to answer. 

-Akane and Sousuke have a complicated relationship because Akane knows the other is jealous of him (how can he be human and supernatural at the same time? It’s not fair). Akane has a soft spot for him because he understands how he wants to be human even if only a little. He tries to explain human stuff as best as he can (even if he is pretty terrible at it since he is 12 oops). Sousuke tries to do as many things as humans, it drives his supernatural ‘life’ and it is sometimes really hard to watch how much he tries but can’t interact with anyone or do things like real humans.

Akane realized he actually met the real Mitsuba Sousuke who was the first human he met who was able to see him as a supernatural. He understood really recently that the reason the real Sousuke was able to see him was because he would die soon. 

Number 3 discovered it while looking through a window’s memories once and didn’t talk to Akane for two weeks because he felt betrayed he never told him. Akane managed to apologize for not telling him because he was afraid number 3 would think he talked to him only because he met the human Sousuke.

-Tsuchigomori knew all of the mystery kids before their deaths (or their human counterparts). He decided not to interfere too much because he can’t but still helped the real Mei to continue her art classes when she went into the hospital and was the one who said the photography club would be great for human Sousuke. 

Number 4 knows because she has some of the memories of the previous Mei and Number 3 saw it in the mirrors. They all pretend they don’t know. 

-Tsuchi absolutely hates the fact he doesn’t know what is gonna happen to the other mysteries especially number 3 and 4 since they are supernatural. Akane’s book is pretty much like every other human except for his future which is really really blurry, because of his supernatural status. Some pages are pitch black because he is in between, and Tsuchi absolutely hates that. He hates being unable to do things when he knows what is going to happen, but the others say they prefer him to stay with them rather than disappear.

(I am not sure if mysteries have any books? because maybe here it could be their books (that’s mostly because I think it’s cute Tsuchigomori keep them in his secret place with his yorishiro ahaha))

-When he saw that Akane was chosen to be number 1 he only helped him but from far away (letting him take books about supernaturals to better understand what he was). The first time they interacted was when Akane got sick when he was 13 and he couldn’t go ask any humans since his body doesn’t react the same way (so he would have been placed in a hospital or something like that even for just a cold, since his body reactions are really weird for a normal human). Akane has a low tension and his body is colder than a human’s body. His temperature is around 35° most of the time and he gets super sick because his fever can go up to 39°. Whenever he is sick he goes into a boundary so people don’t realize he isn’t here (because whenever you are in a boundary people forgets you). Akane was mad af to see that someone had been watching him, knowing he didn’t know if he was going absolutely crazy for a year because he could see stuff no one else could see and didn’t do anything to help him. He understood much later why Tsuchi couldn’t do anything and that he was the one helping him from far away.

-Yako has those bad  moods where she doesn’t want to talk to anybody around the date of Misaki’s death, they let her be most of the time. Mei is the one who is the most approachable around Shijima Mei’s date of death and they never guessed when Hanako died because he never changes his behavior most of the time. 

-Number 3 likes to be called Sousuke by the other mysteries (because humans have two names! He wants two names too!) Sometimes he doesn’t feel like being called that way, (especially around human Sousuke’s date of death) as he is only a ‘cheap copy’ of the real Mitsuba Sousuke, so he stays with Mitsuba or number 3 if he feels really bad. The others respect this and Mei proposed him to call her Number 4 when he is in those moods so he isn’t alone. 

He refuses to see Akane during those periods most of the time (his jealousy can be really strong towards him). Akane pretends he isn’t really hurt by this but number 4 always ends up telling nicely to number 3 that the redhead didn’t choose to be this way either. Number 3 ends up giving him something he tried to cook alone or invites him to chill in his boundary with only the two of them.

-Number 3 and 4 have a really strong bond. Even if number 4 doesn’t really see herself in the human Mei she knows she still has a part of her soul in her and number 3 knows she is the one who understands his worries the most. She listens to him when he is talking about becoming humans even if they both know it can’t come true. He has a little mirror in her boundary he can use to come whenever he wants.  

-Sousuke absolutely HATES the fact that Mei doesn’t mind disappearing at all. She never wanted to be a mystery when he wanted to be one so much. She kinda knows now she has some reasons to stay and had to tell Sousuke several times that no she wasn’t going to disappear now. 

-Number 3 actually thinks a lot of what the real Sousuke's mom would think of him. (He saw her in a mirror because she went for student orientation days) He is really jealous of Sousuke because of this too but he is absolutely afraid to imagine if his mom knew a 'monster' has her son's apparence.

-Number 4 is really sensitive when talking about Mei mostly because she thinks she doesn't deserve to be her creation and that she stained her memory a lot. She tries to be more proud of what human Mei decided for her now.

-Mei has operation marks under her uniform because human Mei had some and drew them on her drawing. She doesn’t mind people seeing them at all , contrary to Hanako who always wears tons of layers to hide his scars.

-In terms of pain resistance, Mei doesn’t feel anything, Hanako is pretty careful with wounds and Sousuke is scared of anything which could hurt him. Their main problem is Akane who absolutely doesn’t give a fck about his injuries because he has a high pain resistance . They often have to tell him that no he doesn’t have to go into suicide mode for them and protect them from everything because if he is badly hurt he will DIE contrary to the others. That’s something he is still working on (accepting to see the others getting hurt for him, because they can’t die as easily as him). Mei is actually the one who goes the most suicide mode most of the time, using her power way too much and ending up being nearly powerless for some days after. 

-Number 4 can create a lot of clones and has to put a bit of her personality in each of them. If she creates too much for something once she gets rid of them she is sometimes unable to show any emotions for a week. She never deleted the ‘bad’ clone which is only just a brush and is the one who she uses the most. She knows this brush is one of her earliest clone she created before going crazy to try to save Mei, so the brush’s opinion is kinda important to her; (it’s like a good voice she hears in the back of her head when she is trying to do something stupid) 

-Even if Hanako pretends to always smile and jokes he is definitely the edgiest of the mystery kids. They don’t annoy him when he is in one of ‘those moods’. He feels like he is not loved at all by the others and Tsuchi often has to tell him that they just are very wary of him and if he opened up a little bit more it would be okay. (and that he loves him *sobs*) That they still love him but would like to understand him more.

-When Hanako refuses to assume his role as Hanako-san sometimes (especially at the beginning) his body starts to be really transparent with a wound around his stomach. It is when he feels too human. It hasn’t happened to him for a long time now since he doesn’t recognize himself in Amane Yugi. Hanako was human once but has lost most of his connections with humans because he has been a mystery for a long time, he doesn’t know what is left of Amane Yugi. He has a really really hard time to learn things or to change his mind because he isn’t growing up anymore and it drives him crazy especially because he knows that he used to remember everything quickly when he was human.

-When Akane started spending more and more time with the mysteries, Tsuchigomori had to remind the other mystery kids to take it easy on it and to let him time to sleep (now they are the ones who force him to go to sleep most of the time). Even if his body can go a whole week without sleeping or eating (but that’s really the maximum and if he does this he is gonna have to push himself a lot. He never went a whole week like this; his maximum was 4 days.)

 -Sousuke goes to see Hanako during class time sometimes and they play games together (Hanafuda most of the time) They get along okay and can accept each other's company. Sometimes, Hanako teases him about the fact he does things to imitate humans (like sleeping or eating) and Sousuke always tells him how much of a hypocrite he is and that’s why no one wants to stay too long with him. When Number 3 gets really mad at Hanako’s teasing (he uses it to say a lot of things that are not really nice) he calls him Amane-senpai and that makes him shut up and hides in his boundary right away. They rarely apologize orally but go back to normal some days after, accepting they both went too far but too prideful to say they were wrong.

-No one talks about the time when Akane will leave. 

-One day Sousuke went to see Tuschi nearly crying, to apologize because he saw in the mirrors that he used to be friends with the old number 3. Tsuchigomori had to tell him several times that he didn’t hate him at all because of this (Tsuchi would die for all of them) and that he knows it’s not his fault the old bird died. 

-Mirai is not allowed to go out of the boundary. Akane doesn’t really know why except for her causing some ruckus she isn’t that bad. Especially because the youngest doesn’t seem to understand what is sad about her situation, because she is always happy to have someone ‘escort’ her everywhere she goes (when they are here to prevent her from doing anything.) Akane will learn later that it’s because she used to ‘kill’ students on accident (because she didn’t control her powers entirely or at least didn't see the problem in doing this) with moving their time too much forward and even if Kako can turn back time it is really difficult to do when the person is dead and just… a pile of dust and the kids who went through this will always be more fragile after. 

(absolutely random doodles lemme just drop them idk when I will ever show them otherwise)

-All mysteries have a hard time to taste things. Mostly Mei because she is at first made from paper. Everything she creates also has a paper texture/taste if she can't get a good idea of it.

-Akane once decided to go see the graves of Sousuke Mitsuba and Mei Shijima to put flowers on it (because the others clearly wanted to do something during obon but can’t leave the school (the only other place Mei can go is the hospital and she didn’t go for a long time because why would she?) Tsuchi definitely tagged along with the most ridiculous excuse ever. Akane was unable to go see Hanako’s because he refused to tell him his real name. (and he knows the other two know it, he is kinda jealous and doesn’t feel included because of what they lived during the perfect picture arc sometimes. He is also the only one not knowing who Tsukasa is) He realized later because Tsuchigomori told him not directly, it’s because Hanako doesn’t have a grave. He once came across Mitsuba’s mother and had to lie about his connection to him, saying he was his senpai and just went to check the students’ graves because it’s his job as the vice president (full bullshit Akane, well done)

-Tsuchigomori is the one the most used to change the rumor/keep them okay (he tells them to his students) and Akane is the second option among the mysteries (he tells them to Aoi indirectly, he hates to do this but he knows he has no choice sometimes.) Akane knows the clock keepers rumor is the one which has changed the least since he is here (and maybe even before) and he understood it’s because of him. He didn’t ask why though. They are all using Nene a lot to change the rumors if anything happen. 

-Yako, Tsuchigomori and Hakubo often go to see Kako to have ‘adult meetings’ because they are the most responsible mysteries and also think that the others can spend more time having fun, it wouldn’t hurt.

-Hakubo never talks about Sumire and Yako often goes to see him when he is even more quiet than usual and will force him to go out of his boundary to go see the garden and annoy the Kodama tree (who is really easy to annoy). 

-Tsuchigomori, Yako and Kako are trying to find a hobby for Hakubo because he doesn't know what to do without having orders. (He usually listens mostly to Kako and then Hanako). Akane hates him with his whole being and the others kids are not super fan of him at first. Even if he doesn't say anything, the others 'adults' can say that he would love to be a little bit more expressive and loved by every mysteries.

-When any of them fight, it’s dirty, like really. They are supernatural. They will stand their ground because they think they are right and think they definitely know what is better for others. Accusations can be really violent and some of them can even stop talking to each other for weeks. They rarely forgive the others, they just know they will have to work together again at one point and that they still care for them in the end. It is really hard to make them change their minds, especially between each other. Humans are the ones who are able to change their minds at least a little. Akane is known for being stubborn but he met the mysteries and realized that maybe he was okay? 

That's all for now! I remember having more but I can't remember exactly what rn ahah I have no idea if this angtsy or not I am pretty bad at this ahah I just do know it's less funny thant the others hcs :'DDD

hope you will like them yay

[shiftywing]

okay everyone buckle up this au has been clanking around in my brain for too long and it is.....about fucking time i shared it sooo:

lemme put right here that a lot of this is based off posts already made by @ignoredtransartist, mostly this one in particular. :)

let us start this off by saying winter and qibli are aged up a bit here (not a lot, i'd say early 20s in terms of maturity. just enough for qibli to get a well-known reputation and stuff)

in addition: jade winglet academy doesn't exist, or if it did they had no part with it. they don't know each other

the whole darkstalker thing doesn't happen either, so glacier could still be alive (though that doesn't affect the au much tbh)

alrighty let's get into background information for qibli first:

he is unlike his canon counterpart by...a lot

seriously he's the cockiest little shit who always acts like they're 14 steps ahead of you. yeah.

but anyways!! basically in this au vulture realized qibli's potential due to his intelligence from an early age and lad...led a pretty good life so far

and what wasn't great he doesn't really comprehend because "it could have been worse"

vulture thinks qibli is ~untrustworthy~ or something so at the moment he's stuck as an assassin trying to prove that he is in fact incredibly trustworthy, so much so in fact that vulture 100% should promote him within his gang

and qibli's fucking BORED. he's really intelligent like i said and takes out every person vulture tells him to with ease

cobra's still around but she's more of an assassin for hire to anyone while qibli works pretty much only for vulture and the dirty work he wants done (a lot of it's taking out them pesky high-ranking outclaws)

also his sibling still loathe him, but for different reasons now

they're considered below him, even thought they're physically stronger and nothing ticks them off more than that

okay here's winter:

yeah this shit's just Depression Central ™ sorry lol

winter's a vampire genetically through his dear old mother (very few, if any, vampires possess the ability to "turn" others in this au, it's passed on pretty much only genetically)

none of the royal family's aware of this btw

winter was always ye ol' disappointment child that tundra was trying to distance herself from 'till she figured out he was the only one who turned out to be a vampire—she didn't completely ignore icicle though, even after coming to the conclusion that she wasn't one (girl still had dreams of getting a child on the throne, after all)

but yeah basically tundra is putting a ton of pressure on winter to be Best Vampire Ever and live up to her family's legacy and winter reaaaally doesn't want to (but also doesn't want to let down his mom either)

but she's the only direct family he has left haha...ha

icicle's in jail because she still murdered someone

they never got hailstorm back (tundra outright refuses to let winter out of her sight) so. yeah he's probably dead. or maybe just vibing somewhere in the sky kingdom, who knows.

and narwhal still died in battle, it was just one from the sandwing succession war, not the night/ice thing since darkstalker wasn't present

SO after icicle gets shipped off to jail tundra really just doesn't see a reason to associate with the royal family much anymore and distances herself from them and focuses all of her attention to her son (winter tags along bc he's still a minor when all of this goes down)

so, the au is basically: qibli gets ordered to kill this semi-isolated icewing prince that should be an easy target but no matter what he tries winter just won't fucking die—so, naturally, he strikes up a friendship with him to try to get closer and figure out what will kill him so he can get that dang promotion—except...the reason why vulture saw qibli as untrustworthy was due to a fun little flaw (at least in his eyes) called "deep down i actually care about people and can get attached and suff". 👀 anyways yadyada they run away together and start a new life eventually and get married whoop whoop. yeah i haven't thought of the middle part much, but....you get the idea. they actually do become friends and confess their love for each other but also have to build up the confidence and figure out how to tell the other their deep dark secrets to one another...while said secrets are becoming suspicious of them.

also winter's pastel goth in this au because uhhh i do what i want.

tbh if i could write i would do so for this au i really like it 😅 maybe i'll draw a little something, who knows

qinter au with assassin qibli but also with vampire winter hold on—

[joannalannister]

Would Maegelle Frey be in the Dead Ladies Club? We don't know much of her and she died in childbed

Hi! Thanks for asking me, I’m flattered! I coined the term “Dead Ladies Club” because I wanted to discuss a misogynistic trope distinct from (but related to) the “Death by childbirth” trope. “Death by childbirth” is often (sometimes! not always!) a characteristic of the DLC, but it’s not how I personally define it. So lemme briefly discuss the criteria I use to define the Dead Ladies Club. 

(if you haven’t read my essay, please click and read it, but I’ll give the quick and messy version here - please realize that what’s below is not comprehensive, please read the longer essay version, I promise it’s worth your time)

My personal requirements for the DLC: 

an underdeveloped female character who died during the generation or two prior to the beginning of the series1  

of immediate importance to a POV character, or at most one character removed from a POV character

denied her humanity by the narrative, especially in a way that her male contemporaries were not. GRRM refuses these dead women space in the narrative while affording significant space to their male counterparts. 

this denial of humanity is conspicuous��and unjustified

Optional characteristics of the DLC:

death in childbirth

victim of sexual violence

For example, Cassana Estermont was not a victim of sexual violence that we know of, nor did she die in childbirth, but she’s definitely one of the DLC. 

I consider the pervasive sexual violence and high maternal mortality rates among the DLC to be symptoms of this trope rather than its defining characteristics. **GRRM** defines these women by things like sexual violence and death in childbirth2, but I personally define a female character’s inclusion in the DLC by the conspicuous and unjustified denial of her humanity, especially relative to her male counterparts. Raping the DLC and/or killing them off in childbirth are just another part of that negation of humanity. 

(This denial of humanity in a series that celebrates our common humanity is part of a much larger critique of ASOIAF, in my opinion. It’s some of GRRM’s most glaring failures imo, things that undermine the thesis of ASOIAF that people’s “lives have meaning”. For example, GRRM humanizes the wildlings while denying humanity to the (POC) dothraki, because some elements of ASOIAF are racist. And I think there’s something important to be said about Lollys, Hodor, and ableist writing, but let’s postpone that conversation until after TWOW is released. But yeah, there’s a big problem in ASOIAF, and what I call the “Dead Ladies Club” is merely focusing on one specific aspect, namely the pre-series misogyny.) 

So! Finally! Looking at Maegelle Frey, granddaughter to Lord Walder Frey. 

Maegelle is

obviously an underdeveloped female character

who died during the generation or two back

This is where we would have to argue whether or not she was conspicuously and unjustifiably denied her humanity by the narrative. 

(It’s like we’re lawyers in Minor Characters Court, and we have to make our case.)

But she’s not of immediate importance to a POV character, or even one character removed from a POV character. She’s actually not even mentioned in the series, only in the appendix AFAIK. (Someone please correct me if I’m wrong.) When a character isn’t immediately important to a POV, or when they’re not immediately important to the POV character’s sidekick or w/e, there’s not much reason to know about that character. 

(As a counterexample, Lynesse is very important to Jorah, and Jorah’s an important second-tier character, important in Dany’s story, so we have reasons to find out stuff about Lynesse and the narrative has an opportunity to humanize Lynesse.3)

So I think it would be hard to argue that Maegelle’s lack of characterization was conspicuous and/or unjustifiable. 

(As a counterexample, it’s really, really conspicuous and unjustifiable that the Unnamed Princess of Dorne isn’t named in TWOIAF in a series that places such great importance on names, especially when GRRM keeps mentioning her and how she was a companion to Rhaella and how the king visited her and wanted ~to make the Dornish deserts bloom~. So she’s the only major female ruler around the time (roughly) of the Robert’s Rebellion generation, and she’s the only one we don’t have a name for. That’s what I mean by conspicuous and unjustifiable.)

Was Maegelle denied her humanity in a way that her pre-series male contemporaries were not? 

I’m gonna be honest, Maegelle is so minor that I don’t remember who her male contemporaries were supposed to be, I can’t remember off the top of my head who her husband was. I don’t even think you could make an argument based on Jinglebell or somebody because we really don’t know anything about Jinglebell either. (Oh boyyyy, I’m gonna have that post-TWOW conversation.) 

I don’t feel like there’s a conspicuous lack of information about Maegelle, nor do I feel like it’s unjustifiable that we know basically nothing about her. 

Some people are just dead in the backstory, and I personally don’t think it’s reasonable or necessary to expect to get to know every dead woman, or every dead character. 

Like I said in my really long essay, the Dead Ladies Club, at least for me, isn’t “omg a woman died, let’s be outraged!” and it’s not “we know nothing about this dead woman, let’s be outraged!” and it’s not “omg this woman died in childbirth, let’s be outraged!” (more on this one in a sec), it’s more about, “this woman was clearly denied her humanity by the narrative and there isn’t a good reason for it.” 

So I personally wouldn’t include Maegelle Frey in the Dead Ladies Club. Some women in the real Middle Ages really did just die in childbirth, and they did so at alarming rates.  

Which isn’t to say there’s nothing in ASOIAF to criticize here!

Maegelle is yet another example of GRRM using the “Death by childbirth” trope, a trope that he uses quite a lot in a world that has better-than-medieval medicine! And maybe individually Maegelle’s death isn’t such a big deal, but taken together with aaaaaaall the other dead mothers in ASOIAF, it kind of adds up, and it makes me side-eye it a lot. But the criticism I would personally level at GRRM here is that Death by childbirth is overused in ASOIAF and it’s lazy writing to overuse this trope, rather than saying this is another example of the DLC. 

But I’m not the fandom police! Maybe you can make the argument that Maegelle’s lack of humanity in the narrative really is conspicuous and unjustifiable! 

Please realize that I’m not here to tell you what to do or w/e!! 

This is just my personal take on it to describe one particular area of casual misogyny in GRRM’s writing that imo warrants criticism, to call attention to the group of dead women who have been severely dehumanized by the narrative, unlike their male counterparts. 

Like, as you’re probably aware, I feel that there are certain criticisms to be made about how GRRM handles #gender in ASOIAF and I consider the Dead Ladies Club to be a specific subset of those gender issues. 

It’s like if we were making Venn diagrams, this

would just be part of a whole set of issues:

k

1 I say “series” but one could argue that the ASOIAF canon has three separate series: (1) AGOT-ADWD+; (2) D&E; (3) Targ Dance prequels

2 Often GRRM doesn’t say anything about these characters in canon except that “she was raped” / “she died” / “she died in childbirth” so that’s what I mean when I say that he uses this stuff to define these characters. 

3 Whether GRRM did a good job humanizing Lynesse is the topic for another post.