#dead girl detectives au

[merlilica]

Dead Girl Detectives - A DBDA Role Reversal

Edwin Payne is a living boy who goes to St. Hilarion's and takes a strong interest in the occult. A little... too strong. When Edwin gifts his demon boyfriend (now ex-boyfriend) a body in the mortal world, the Dead Girl Detectives are summoned to take care of it.

Crystal Palace is a psychic who died in 1923, and the de-facto leader of the Dead Girl Detective Agency. She can't remember how she died, but she does remember each of her fifty-six years in Hell before escaping into Niko's living room.

Yeahhhh so I REALLY love role reversal aus, and this one is my newest! At the beginning it was just an excuse to draw charles with white hair, but then morphed into a big ol' au.

To elaborate a bit, Edwin doesn't get posessed like Crystal does, but he essentially gets manipulated into helping his demon (name tbd) possess someone, then he promptly abandons Edwin to find someone stronger. He doesn't yet realize his demon is only manipulating him, and he's actually rather upset when the DGDs try (and fail) to send him back to hell.

Crystal keeps her memory plot, but also absorbs Edwin's Hell plot. She's on the run, but doesn't really know why. She does most of the legwork on the cases, and Niko does the paperwork and research in exchange. She also uses a baseball bat. Because I said so. I put Crystal further back than Niko because it is wild that Edwin's from 1916 if you think about it. Like women couldn't even vote yet.

[duchess-doodles]

Dead Girl Detectives AU because it just works so well!!!

(In case it wasn't obvious: Olivia as Crystal, Chris as Niko, Ivy as Edwin and Laura as Charles. Also not pictured but Rowan as Jenny)

Some more thoughts + closeups under the cut

Ok so. Some loose thoughts on the au

Most of the plot moves the same as the show. Ivy died in 1916, Laura died in 1989. (I might make some tweaks to how they died later, but for now its basically the same) They meet Olivia, who's psychic, go to Port Townsend, piss off a witch, get trapped by the Cat King, hijinks ensue

Most of the Port Townsend denizens are the same, like Tragic Mic and Esther. The Cat King and Monty are basically the same just genderbent so they can be Ivy's lesbian suitors or whatever

Rowan is Jenny, obviously. The only real difference is he's an emo butcher, not goth. I will draw him eventually

Olivia is still psychic, but she doesn't do the whole summon greater power from her ancestors thing. That's a black girl power and it feels weird to give it to Liv. Also I'm a big fan of Liv "what, like its hard?"ing her way through learning to use her foible, so I think the same applies here with her psychic powers. She's just a prodigy

Ivy isn't immortal anymore (obviously, she's dead) but I think the immortality translates into the whole edwin being more durable than other ghosts thing. Maybe her time in hell also gave her *ahem* west virginia-esc qualities, if you catch my drift

Chris eventually gets powers as well, though how those powers work and what they might be will depend a little on what they do with Niko in season 2. But he will get something

There's no romance between Laura and Olivia like there is with Crystal and Charles. Laura just found an annoying amnesiac and said "can we keep her 🥺" and got a new bestie out of it

I honestly can't see Laura being as in the dark about her feelings as Charles is, so I think maybe on the steps of hell when Ivy says I love you maybe they kiss. Or at least Laura reciprocates. Or is going to before the fucking spider shows up

I adore the dynamic this au poses of Ivy and Chris as besties. I feel they would be very comfortable around each other, but they don't actually interact one on one in canon a lot (unless??) so who knows

That's all I got for now, but I don't think I'm done thinking about this au so expect more later!

[madmaxified]

letting myself cook and sharing my dead boy detectives swap au on here ‼️

( also i wanna note that if an adult and teen swap so do their ages, so some characters are aged down and some are aged up )

the night nurse ( or charlie as i have graciously renamed her in reference to what charles said in the finale ) takes edwin's place, still dies in the 1920’s but however, instead of dying at the boarding school, she dies in a ‘I hate women look i have a spell book boom demonic sacrifice’ style hate crime and that’s how she ends up in hell ( it’s giving rosalie from twilight’s death ) she’s still a bookish, nerdy little shut in, but there’s less of edwin’s sass and more of her being so blunt and straight to the point that she often comes off as quite rude

jenny takes charles’s place, she dies in the late 1980’s early 1990’s but instead of getting attacked by classmates her abusive, alcoholic father almost beats her to death and then she wanders out into the night in the middle of winter and dies of extreme hypothermia. she’s a lot more upbeat and outgoing than canon jenny is but is still giving jade west vibes. when it comes to her trauma and how she died, she’s alot more cagey about it and gets angry and just flat out mean any time someone brings it up so charlie always avoided talking about it. she’s a gay little fella and is one hundred percent fully aware of and comfortable with that fact.

charlie is still absolutely and one hundred percent in love with jenny but has a really hard time understanding feelings and so she’s not really sure what she feels most of time. jenny is utterly devoted to and in love with charlie but never knows when to tell her

esther is swapped with crystal comes from a long line of witches and has inherited those magical abilities and ability to see everything supernatural, but she’s lost her memories due to a sketchy deal with a demon she made in order to get out of some ‘trouble’ ( she killed her cheating boyfriend and his lover and wanted it covered up ) her and jenny make out a lot and it’s very messy and filled with way too many feelings and they’re not super good for eachother and it only makes charlie hate esther more. she’s a lot most mischievous than crystal is and legitimately believes lying, scheming and violence is the solution to every problem the agency encounters, she eventually leans tho because character development!

monty is swapped with niko and is the scooby doo obsessed nerd that lives across the hall from esther. he’s just as sweet as he is in canon and is the girl’s emotional support, grounded in reality member who’s job is essentially to make sure nobodies emotions get so incredibly out of whack no one can do their job

crystal and niko are a witch / physic medium and her cat familiar who was once a human girl. niko’s relationship with charlie is not romantic at all and instead niko and crystal have an insane toxic yuri arc going on. once they were both human and in love and happy but after lillith granted crystal eternal life niko realized she needed a way to be with her forever. crystal promised they could be together if niko let her ‘change’ her and then she made her gf into an immortal cat who she kinda emotionally manipulates ( toxic yuri save me save me toxic yuri )

edwin is esther and monty’s landlord, instead of running a butcher shop he runs a small independent bookstore and is still struggling to figure himself out. he’s less mean than jenny is initially, except to crystal he’s very mean to her, but is still very overprotective of his tenants

charles is the night nurse, overworked, underpaid and stuck in a job he doesn’t want, he’s just working towards retirement, and if he can catch those slippery dead girl detectives that might just been the case that fills out his retirement requirements. he’s just as fed up, if not more, than the night nurse is in canon

maxine is the cat queen, and on top of flirting with charlie and giving the poor girl a horrible sexuality crisis, she’s also flirting and teasing jenny every time the two get close, something jenny does not appreciate at all. her connection to crystal is through niko because since she’s a cat most of the time she’s technically one of maxine’s subjects so she’s always looking out for her

thomas ( the cat king ) is the pet shop manager with big heart eyes for edwin, who after being set up on a date with edwin by monty, reveals that he’s actually a creepy weirdo and then he dies ( everyone cheered )

bonus : when charlie confesses to jenny on the stairway to hell jenny confesses back and they share a kiss before escaping hell forever

( bonus two : this is only one of two swap aus I have for this show mwa ha ha )

[gardenveela]

dead girl detectives 🔍

dbd and it’s the same but everyone is gender swaped so it’s not

[verianal]

Uhm waiter theres a payneland in my yuri... 😬

[lorastyrels]

Dead Girl Detectives 🔍✨

[ro-doodles]

Did someone ask for a role swap AU?

No? Well, take one anyway.

In this AU the agency would be based in the US, maybe New York or Boston, since Crystal and Niko are both from or live in America in the show. Then instead of Port Townsend they would go to a small sea side town in England. Like I mentioned in the Charles blurb, I’m swapping Jenny and the Night Nurse for this au, but I’m not sure what to do with the rest of the characters, so I’m open to suggestions.

More of this au:

Jenny and the Night Nurse

The Cat King and Esther (+ Monty)

Doodles 1

Doodles 2

[stark-lord]

Side A

[tma-themed-brain]

Sketches of the girls + incoming milf and dilf

[thepearlyalbatross]

have some sketches of Swap! Palasaki and Payneland

[hannaloony]

ohhhh i absolutely love your comic <3333

Hi! Thank you so much 💖💖 I DO appreciate your kindness and interest in these little stories 💖 I hope you have a nice day!!

also taking this opportunity

As you maybe know, I'm currently working on several comics and AUs that are in progress and you can see them on my blog and I thought you might have some questions?

If so, I would be happy to answer with pleasure (if of course I have these answers 😂😂)

So feel free to ask them here, guys 💖

[novacomics]

palasaki week day 2: dead girl detectives

honestly this was the day I was the most excited for 😸😸 @palasakiweek

[foultreenightmare]

If dead boy detectives continued, Edwin would have had more exes/love interests that could battle Romona Flowers.

Speaking of which a Scott Pilgrim au of Edwin as Romona and Charles as Scott but like less creepy Scott and idk maybe whoever knives is is just a really close friend of Charles. I just found the little au cute and because Edwin would have a whole BOOK of people that he either dated or had a crush on him

[aletterinthenameofsanity]

Ghostcrow & Palasaki (The Old Guard AU: Chapter 5)

There is something expanding in Charles’ chest. Something that threatens to wash warmth through his entire body, a sensation, a light, not helped when Monty continues: “They’re pretty fucking glorious, those banyan trees. I mean, I only saw pictures, not the real thing- this is the first time I’ve ever been outside of Washington- but god. They call them strangler figs, for the way that they grow, the way that they squeeze the life out of the trees they wrap themselves around, but all I could see when I saw them were palaces. The way that accessory trunks grow out from the roots, so that you could be walking through an entire forest and it only be one single organism-” Monty swallows and Charles forgets to breathe as Monty says, “All I could dream of for so long was getting to see all those trees in person. Getting to see them with Charles and Edwin. Getting to feel them beneath my finger tips. Getting to walk between all those extra trunks-”

“Getting to be kissed under them?” Niko asks, all reckless romanticism, conjuring up a story that Charles and Edwin have shared between them so many times, that Charles did not let himself dream of for fifty years, that Charles did dream of back in 1972, as Monty pressed him up against the bookshelf in the farm house, kissing his neck, the wood at Charles’ back, when Charles knew he was going to lose Monty, but before he did, he wanted to see Monty home, wanted to have Monty and Edwin together beneath that very tree.

“Yeah,” Monty admits, and the world shatters supernova, enough to send Charles’ hand to his chest, as Monty confesses, voice wistful, aching: “Still do.”

Charles shouldn’t be shocked. Monty did say that his time with them was heaven amongst hell. 

But Charles hadn’t dared dream that Monty still wants them. That he still cares. That he still dreams of the same things that Charles and Edwin do.

Monty wants them. God, more than that, he still wants them. He never stopped. Even through the ruin of their relationship and the wreckage of the years, love endured on both ends, strong as a banyan.

-aletterinthenameofsanity, no grave can hold my body down (crawl home to them)

Slip noose hanging in my darkest dreams

I'm strangled by your haunted social scene

Just a pawn outplayed by a dominating queen

It's four o'clock in the morning

Damn it listen to me good

Thank God my music is still alive

And someone saved my life tonight

-Elton John, Someone Saved My Life Tonight

@pappelsiin @itsbitmxdinhere @rexrevri @sweet-like-h0ney-lavender @saffirez

@the-ipre @sunnylemonss @days-light @agentearthling @helltechnicality

@sethlost @catboy-cabin @secretlyafiveheadeddragon @vyther15

@anything-thats-rock-and-roll @queen-of-hobgobblers @every-moment-a-different-sound

@nix-nihili @mellxncollie @tumblerislovetumblerislife @lemurafraidofthunder

@likemmmcookies @wr0temyway0ut @thelakeswillbreakourfall

@sapphic-corgi @occasionaloneshots @troublegoblin

@cairngorm-ard @petesdragon @alittleemo @charswithbatsmybeloved

@bigtirednoodle @the-moons-jade-rabbit

@wikipediagreen @wooooooaaahhhhh-oooooops

@spacegirlsgang @cc-tinslebee

[alltimefail]

Don't get me wrong I've been loving all the Alive AUs for the boys set in the Edwardian era and in modern day with the girls...

but I would REALLY REALLY REALLY LOVE it if someone would write an Alive AU set in Charles' time (1989). Please!!! I promise there is soooo much to explore there!

[zinnie-zoloft]

I absolutely love the dead girl detectives role swap AU because it’s such a great way to analyse the parallels between the main characters

There’s the parallels in their circumstances, Niko and Edwin both having distant relationships with their families and being sent away to boarding school, Charles and Crystal being involved with bad crowds and people they thought they could trust that eventually turned on them

There’s also the parallels in their character, Crystal and Edwin both having an incredibly strong sense of justice and drive to help people despite their selfish tendencies, Niko and Charles both feeling pressured to appear happy by the people they love and putting others safety and happiness above their own to their own detriment

I’m not usually a fic writer but this show has such a hold on me I had to come up with this concept