I Reincarnated As A Minor Villainess and Survived Past My Death Scene
is a Mobile Suit Gundam Wing fanfic written by Thai Tea Addict.
After being killed in a traffic accident, Duo Maxwell receives the isekai shoujo experience as he transmigrates in Endless Waltz, a fantasy medieval romance. Unfortunately, he's stuck in the Male Lead's first spouse who's supposed to be an awful excuse for a human being and already dead in a greenhouse fire!
Intent on righting the wrongs commited by his novel counterpart, Duo decides to improve everyone's lives — and accidentally finds himself fixing his relationship with his long-suffering husband, the Duke of Yuy.
Contains the following tropes
- Amnesiac Dissonance: Duo claims he cannot remember anything before the fire in the greenhouse to explain why the heartless, nasty Duchess suddenly grows some empathy and sense of duty. It's later hinted he might actually be the Duchess, making it more fitting.
- Arranged Marriage: Deconstructed with Heero and Past-Duo — the latter was deeply infuriated and resentful about having to marry without even having the choice of picking his husband, and he did everything he could think of in order to make Heero's life hellish as a consequence.
- Awful Truth:
- Past-Duo's demise in the greenhouse fire might have not been an accident, after all, when one considers how unhappy he was.
- Heero basically suffers a Heroic BSoD when Duo finally admits he has transmigrated and was operating under the premise that the young Duke ultimately would fall for Relena Darlian.
- Awful Wedded Life: Past-Duo was infamous for verbally and emotionally abusing Heero, sneering at his commoner blood, throwing his gifts away and avoiding him as much as possible in public and private. It was so bad, when Duo starts writing letters to the Duke, Heero doesn't know how to deal with that.
- Bad Boss: Past-Duo's maids and the butler in the countryside Yuy estate are flat-out terrified of him and mentions the Duchess would "correct" them when he deemed them at fault. One of Duo's first actions is to reverse that.
- Bears Are Bad News:
- Played for Laughs when Commander Broden from the Duchess Guard asks for live bears in order to spice his soldiers' Training from Hell. Duo and Heero immediately and firmly veto the idea.
- Very much played for terror when Duo and his attendants are assaulted by a hungry bear in the countryside, after wandering away from the party to take a bath in the river.
- Because You Were Nice to Me: Why would Heero agree to the Arranged Marriage? Because he already met Duo Maxwell on a hunt, and not only the other boy didn't care a whit about him being half a peasant, he defended Heero from the older guests.
- Berserk Button:
- Do not throw Wufei's hydrangeas. Meilan being Meilan, she shamelessly pushes it and it always winds up with her fistfighting her husband.
- Duo explodes at Heero for attempting to fire Hilde, when the Duke ought to have approached his spouse first and asked for his opinion.
- Cheshire Cat Grin: Duo's secret weapon when he really, really wants to manipulate his hapless target into bowing to his will is a blinding smile. The Duchess Guard woefully comments the only recourse when he busts the smile is to resign oneself to a dread future.
- Cool and Unusual Punishment: When Duo is upset with someone, he invites them to a tea party and forces the most sugary treats possible down their throats.
- Death Glare: Hilde is described by almost everyone as "this girl with murder-eyes". She mainly directs it at Duo for making her life difficult, but she also glares at people whom she deems annoying or a threat to her beloved Duchess.
- Deconstruction Fic: The author slightly pokes at the isekai genre, with Duo refusing to treat the Duchess he replaced as a plot device. Heero also is very much freaked out by the concept of transmigration, as he's hopelessly in love with his spouse and disgusted by the prospect of falling for someone else entirely, even if said person happens to wear his spouse's body.
- Deliberate Values Dissonance: The Sanc kingdom strongly believes in keeping one's spouse at home, and heavily discriminates against people from commoner blood.
- Dandies and dames are noble scions groomed for homosexual marriage, and are supposed to perform as the gender opposed to the one they are born with.
- Having a lover is almost expected in the nobility, because of Arranged Marriage being the norm. However, you're supposed to not flaunt it.
- Delicate and Sickly:
- Past-Duo's made his debut in society two years later than usual and wasn't allowed to leave the Maxwell estate in his childhood because he was rumoured to be fragile and ill. Said illness is implied to be Power Incontinence, and when you're The Necromancer...
- The current Queen from the Sanc Kingdom is growing sicker and sicker, to the point that she cannot give audiences anymore and is expected to die in a few years.
- Aoi Clarke is mentioned to have been physically frail, and perished when her son was rather young. It was part of the reason why the previous Duke of Yuy never married her.
- Ditch the Bodyguards: An unfortunate habit of Duo, especially when you take his Doom Magnet tendences in account.
- Does Not Like Spam: Duo loathes sugary sweet desserts and often threatens to feed them to people who wear on his nerves — it's surprisingly effective.
- Doom Magnet: Meilan comments on Duo being unable to walk anywhere — yes, even in the Yuy estate — without making life interesting. It stresses the Duchess Guard a lot.
- Driven to Suicide: Duo claims he only wanted to destroy the greenhouse in a fit of despair, but he nonetheless stayed inside as the fire raged, throwing some ambiguity on his motives.
- Easily Forgiven:
- What Duo believes regarding Past-Duo's horrendous behaviour, leading him to insist he must be banished from the Dukedom. Quatre firmly disagrees and argues Duo more than enough made up for Past-Duo's crimes.
- Averted when Quatre, Howard and Hilde lie about Duo's faith in order to make him attend a church dedicated to Peacemillion. Duo explodes at them, the staff is utterly appaled in spite of the Harvester faith being considered creepy (and Heero was bent on firing Hilde on the spot if his spouse hadn't intervened), and Hilde is painfully aware that the Duchess' trust in her has been heavily damaged.
- Fire-Forged Friends: Courtesy of Past-Duo being an awful human being in her vicinity, Meilan couldn't stand him and barely bothers hiding her contempt for Duo when he meets her. After he helps her to bust a human trafficking ring by personally putting his life on the line, she becomes a staunch supporter and defender for the Duchess.
- Fish out of Water: Duo Maxwell was an modern American raised in poverty and studying mechanic engineering, so when he transmigrates as a pampered, gently-raised Duchess in a medieval fantasy setting, he makes a lot of blunders.
- Flat "What": Heero's reaction when the husband who blatantly and openly loathes everything about him sends a love letter to the young Duke. Further letters cause him the same distress, mainly because of the messes Duo manages to stumble into.
- For Want Of A Nail: Because of Duo's survival and work on improving life for the Dukedom of Yuy, Meilan doesn't die, Quatre isn't horrendously scarred on the neck, Heero grows hopelessly devoted to his spouse and people are borderline worshipping the Duchess now.
- Freudian Excuse:
- Played for Laughs with Wufei's open sexism, as Duo believes it's the reason why Meilan is so bloodthirsty.
- Past-Duo was stuck in an Arranged Marriage with someone he didn't pick and who couldn't respect him as an individual. After living a while as the Duchess, Duo starts to understand him much better.
- Gilded Cage: What Duo actually thinks of being a Duchess. He's showered with luxuries and has the power to implement positive change for people living in the Dukedom, but his own spouse won't show him love and he's treated as "the Duchess" when he just wants to be "Duo Maxwell".
- Girlfriend in Canada: The townsfolks are surprised when the disguised Duo finally introduces them to his husband, as they apparently believed "Max" made the guy up to avoid seduction attempts. Duo feels a mite vexed about the matter.
- Good with Numbers: Quatre is worth a whole team of accountants on his own.
- Heir Club for Men: Inverted, as the succession line to the throne of Sanc is matrilineal. It means the Lost Princess is the rightful heir over her older brother.
- Hope Spot: When Heero fails to meet Relena Darlian on the beach and trigger a Rescue Romance, Duo allows himself to believe he might keep his husband to himself after all — and when they are on a date in the town's market, Relena stumbles upon them.
- I Need a Freaking Drink: Duo wonders if he really ought to create whiskey and improve the recipe for beer since he can see the butler Howard diving for the tea because of the Duchess' antics and he doesn't want for the guy to turn into an alcoholic.
- Insecure Love Interest: Duo insists that Heero will leave him for Relena Darlian after finally meeting her, as he genuinely doesn't believe someone would want to stay married to the man who mercilessly abused them.
- King Incognito: Duo enjoys wandering through the market as "Max" in order to destress, but he also launches surprise inspections to investigate rumours of human trafficking.
- Knight Templar Big Brother: Solo Maxwell's idea of caring for his baby brother is to track the man who attempted to poison the Duchess of Yuy, gruesomely torture him then gift his bones to Duo when he visits home. And in the original timeline, Solo willingly offered his body to the Harvester in order to resurrect Duo.
- Laser-Guided Karma: Duo glibly suggests his Doom Magnet status is caused by the Universe seeking to maim and injure him for his crimes (Past-Duo's actually, but he's impersonating the Duchess). His servants and friends are utterly horrified by the prospect.
- Like Father, Like Son: Duo ultimately accuses Heero from keeping him in a Gilded Cage yet not caring about genuinely loving his spouse, just like the previous Duke of Yuy Odin Lowe kept his lover Aoi Clarke secluded away until her untimely demise. Heero is horror-struck by the comparison.
- Long-Haired Pretty Boy: The characters constantly pay attention to Duo's looks, insisting on his daintiness and waifishness, and much emphasis is granted to his hair.
- Manic Pixie Dream Girl: A male example with Duo, whose enthusiasm and cheerfulness lead to grow beloved by the whole Dukedom of Yuy.
- Masculine–Feminine Gay Couple: Enforced by the social mores. Heero Yuy is quite manly since he's one of the greatest commanders in the Sanc kingdom, while Duo Maxwell is expected to look pretty and fragile.
- Murder Is the Best Solution: When Trant Clark — one of Past-Duo's lovers — comes knocking, Meilan eagerly suggests to kill him. Hilde declines on the grounds it would cause trouble for the Dukedome to murder a son of a count.
- Non-Action Guy: As a dandy, Duo is physically frail and unable to defend himself. He's pretty unhappy about it and decides to get physical training.
- Noodle Incident:
- Trowa once stumbled upon a very pregnant, very angry mountain lion and found himself covered in placenta after helping it to deliver kittens, prompting Duo to dub him a cat whisperer.
- Duo got banished from the kitchens because he just wouldn't stop destroying parts of it as he attempted to recreate modern recipes.
- One-Man Industrial Revolution: Duo will drag the Dukedom in the Industrial Age, rain or shine. It helps for him to have studied mechanic engineering when he still was living in New York City.
- Poor Communication Kills
- Discussed by Quatre, who muses it's very easy for people to misunderstand each other and that's why they need to talk together.
- The root behind the Awful Wedded Life of Heero and Past-Duo. The young Duke genuinely loved the other boy and wanted to cherish and protect him, but Past-Duo believed Heero only cared about the political assets he would bring to the Dukedom of Yuy. So he was as awful as possible in order to "test" Heero's attachment to him, and fell deeper and deeper in despair when Heero interpretated that as Past-Duo wanting space and avoided him, culminating in the Duchess setting fire to the greenhouse while he still was inside.
- "Reborn as Villainess" Story: Duo Maxwell is killed by a car and awakens as the Duchess Duo Maxwell-Yuy, a backstory character in Endless Waltz who turned the Male Lead into an aloof, insecure mess by giving him an Awful Wedded Life. However, Past-Duo is slowly revealed to be more complex than a mere villain — and he might not be a separate person from Duo at all.
- Rich Bitch: Past-Duo, and how!! Terrifying the staff, buying gaudy outfits, sneering at his husband for being half-commoner, flaunting his unfaithfulness...
- Running Gag:
- Duo threatening people with pastries. It's more dreadful than it sounds.
- Meilan being bloodthirsty.
- The Duchess Guard ramping up the Training from Hell and protectiveness after another adventure. But live bears are not allowed!
- Servile Snarker: One of the first things Duo notice about Hilde is her ability to discreetly snark at the Duchess' face, in spite of her boss' atrocious temper. As she gets familiar with the new and improved Duo, Hilde's snark grows more free and unrestrained.
- She Is the King: Nobility titles are gender-neutral (except for royalty), so Lucrezia Noin is a Duke and Duo Maxwell a Duchess.
- Shipper on Deck:
- Because he has read Endless Waltz, Duo staunchly believes Relena Darlian is fated to cure Heero's broken heart and insecurities by making him forget his Awful Wedded Life with his first spouse. However, it's implied Duo is an Insecure Love Interest who cannot see why Heero would keep loving his husband after the emotional abuse he suffered.
- Duo's maids very much support the idea of the Duchess and the Duke finally being happy with each other.
- Sickeningly Sweethearts:
- Trowa and Quatre. After a few months of separation, they indulge in Held Gaze and Say My Name, to Meilan and Duo's utter disgust.
- What everyone think of Heero and Duo when they go on dates and generally interact together. Hilariously, Duo doesn't understand what they are talking about.
- Skewed Priorities: Duo is very much excited over the iron ore he just found, as it will give the town an opportunity to prosper, but his bodyguards are far too busy freaking out because the Duchess was almost killed by brigands to share the enthusiasm.
- Slap-Slap-Kiss: Meilan and Wufei just won't stop fistfighting and insulting each other. However, when she died in Endless Waltz, Wufei was utterly devastated.
- Spared by the Adaptation:
- The nail on which the story opens is Duo Maxwell-Yuy apparently surviving the fire in his greenhouse.
- Meilan was supposed to investigate a human trafficking ring on her own, only to heroically die when finding herself overwhelmed by numbers. Duo is ecstatic when he realizes he saved her life because he insisted to help her.
- Succession Crisis: Hinted with the Sanc Kingdom. Queen Catherine declared her sister Sabrina's children would be her heirs — sa far, it's good. Then Sabrina is unable to produce a daughter after giving birth to Prince Maximilliardo, leading the court to speculate she's cheating on her husband because she thinks his seed worthless. When she finally has a baby girl, Sabrina suddenly vanishes in the air with said baby, leaving her son as the only potential heir, but since the succession line is matrilineal... Of course, the crisis can be solved with the Lost Princess being found alive.
- Sweet Tooth: Past-Duo apparently had a thing for sugar-loaded treats, to Duo's utter dismay since he cannot stand the stuff.
- There Is Another: Duo isn't the only transmigrator present in the setting. Relena also is one.
- Training from Hell: Commander Broden's answer to the Duchess' antics is to ensure the guards will be ready for anything — it involves climbing walls in full armor and porcupine relay, but the Duke firmly vetoed wrestling with live bears.
- Unfit for Greatness: Aoi Clarke was the love of Odin Lowe Yuy's life, but she was far too gentle and sickly to become his Duchess. The Duke put her in seclusion instead, and claimed their son had been born of a peasant mistress.
- Wham Line: "Google would be so helpful right about now..." Said by Relena Darlian, the Lost Princess.
- What Beautiful Eyes!: The Maxwell family is well-known for their purple eyes. Duo's pair is noted to be very bright, almost an amethyst shade, and is hailed as a major charm point.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Duo is infuriated when he learns Quatre, Hilde and Howard manipulated him into believed he was a devotee of Peacemillion when the Maxwell family traditionally worships the Harvester, on the grounds that the latter is considered an heretic faith.
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Why Would Anyone Take Him Back?: After all the abuse piled upon Heero by his spouse, Duo is genuinely baffled when the young Duke flat-out refuses to consider a divorce.
