#dead boy detectives prompts

[midnight-skylie]

I know most of the DBDA fandom probably thinks at paineland at the trope of "x fell first, xx fell harder" is Edwin falling first and Charles now falling harder; because Edwin was obviously shown first to express his feelings.

But consider this-

Charles falling in love with Edwin slowly a little more every day, falling a bit deeper for him every day they spent side by side.

And at some point later- Edwin is crushing hard. Realizing "oh shit, I love him-" and falling hard in a chaotic storm of feeling he doesn't know how to deal with, he's a complete mess.

Idk, I personally prefer the second version more but both options can be great interpretations of their dynamic.

[cindyslesbian]

🕯️🕯️🕯️ dbd writers i summon u 🕯️🕯️🕯️

bc i made u writing prompts for pride month!!!1!

here are some things to keep in mind:

this is flexible!! there’s no daily structure or anything, just pick what u like - the numbers are just a formality!!

make sure to use the #dbd pride month prompts 24 tag for tumblr and the ‘DBD Pride Month Prompts 2024’ ao3 collection!!

finally… if u like these prompts and want to join a fun dbd community, check my pinned to join the dbd fan server (and see all our cool fun perks!)

ok enjoy! 👻🔮🌷📚

[shaylogic]

DBDA Season 2 Wishlist Part 2:

Seeing the inside of Charles' Bag of Tricks and learning more about the mechanics of it

Charles running into one/some of the bullies that killed him. They're much older now. Maybe he has realizations about them like Edwin did with Simon. Or maybe they're still scum attacking people, and Charles poltergeist-haunts their asses

Finding out more about how Edwin learned all these languages, magic tools, and supernatural creatures lore. Did he pick it up in Hell or after he got back from it?

On that note, what exactly went down with him in Hell? "--traded to a demon who traded me to another demon who traded me to something WORSE than a demon!"

Crystal family/ancestor tree realm and powers. I'd love to learn more about each woman at the table, like Avatar past reincarnation life flashbacks

Niko new character love interest?

Mission to help Tragic Mick. Maybe we get to see Sedna?! Crystal could potentially make that happen, since she addressed Lilith and the Forest Spirit.

The Dandelion Sprites/"gods"? become cursed to be mortals and now they have to figure out how to navigate the world as attention-seeking assholes. Maybe they work with Crystal's parents lol

Crystal and Charles really make a go at dating to see if those feelings can really go anywhere, but there ends up being quite a bit of conflict and difficulty. Still, we get lots of nice ship moments in the early half of the season.

Edwin has started accepting and leaning into modern gay culture and tries chatting up guys to distract himself from Charles and Crystal (trying to be a good friend to Charles, especially).

If they can get the copyright permission, please gods give us Edwin and Niko watching Heartstopper together. Charles happens to witness a bi Nick scene when he's walking through.

More Niko & Charles friendship development. They didn't get enough moments together in season 1.

More ghost possession! The Night Nurse is already well aware of them, so they're not alerting her. But of course she would not allow it.

Night Nurse refuses to be a secretary and forces the boys to do paperwork after every case. They've got homework now.

Also, in s1e1, there's a pregnant pause between Edwin and Charles talking about the dangers of possession. There's a story there, and I need to know it in season 2. What did Edwin do? Who'd he try to possess?

More clear explanation to the audience of how touch works between humans/ghosts and ghosts/ghosts on various planes (earth vs hell for example, so we can go back to scream and cry at s. 1)

Crystal and Niko girls' day sightseeing in England!

Now we're in London, we're back on the boys' turf. Where are their main hangouts, contacts, and magic shops? Do they have any place special to the two of them with nostalgic memories? It's been 30 years!!!

We've seen some Edwin culture clash (and I want more!) but also more Charles culture clash with modern times (charles: "😮‍💨 Can you believe they don't make mixed tapes anymore?" Niko: "🥰they do playlists online now. I'll make you one! " Crystal: "👀 You made mixed tapes, Charles?")

Cat King and Meowpheus interaction

Domestic friend fluff (core four all in a big bed together watching movies)

Feel free to add your own wishlist in the reblogs/comments! <3

[sonseulsoleil]

my randomest, most unfounded dbd headcanon is that Edwin and Crystal are actually related without knowing it

[the-nerdiest-insanity]

So, I have too many Dead Boy Detectives ideas and not enough time and motivation to write them. These ones are up for grabs, but I'll let you know if I ever do revisit any of these

Edwin and Crystal have to pose as a couple for a case, and neither is happy about it

There's some case involving an elite restaurant or some place where only couples can get in. Crystal pulls strings to get them in, but Charles and Niko are off investigating something else. Edwin was held back to search their books for anything. That leaves only Edwin and Crystal forced to act as a couple to get in

5 times the boy’s “old married couple” tendencies came out, and 1 time one of the boys noticed it

Could be little things like "that's Edwin's spot," or "Charles always puts his backpack there" to bigger things like being undercover on a case and accidentally winning a best couple competition

Crystal (and Niko) learning from Charles that the Cat King and Monty were just the latest in a line of broken hearts that Edwin has left. Edwin has been completely oblivious to all of them

Just love the idea of oblivious heartbreakers and Edwin definitely never notices anyone's affections unless it's very clearly spelled out for him

Desire wants to know why their sister is so fascinated with Edwin, so they catch him while he’s in Hell. Getting a confession where Desire is taunting Edwin til he spills everything… Only for Charles to be standing there, coming to rescue his best friend. Desire’s work is done, and they leave, and the boys must deal with the aftermath

Thinking like House of Hades style where Desire is more heard, but not seen as Edwin talks about Crystal and how much he is frustrated by her because he envies her. Highly recommend looking up the House of Hades Cupid Scene to get the vibe I'm talking about.

One thinks they’ve been dating for years vs we’ve never been romantically involved no matter how badly I’d love it trope with Charles and Edwin. Charles is convinced they’ve been dating for like a decade or two while Edwin is completely oblivious and badly pining. Charles “We’ve been dating for 20 years, but Edwin doesn’t like labels or touch, so he’s my best mate, and I keep my distance” Rowland vs. Edwin “I’d walk back into Hell to taste your lips and hear you call me love” Payne

Another trope I just adore that I think would be interesting with the boys. Especially since Charles just thinks it's because of how Edwin was raised or that he's just like that, and not realising the disconnect. Then, Edwin thinking the exact same about Charles. The best miscommunication version

One of the demons Edwin gets transferred to is Crowley (a token of appreciation the higher-ups say). So, Edwin gets dragged along with Crowley to stop the apocalypse (Charles would fit in there too, idk how)

Just want more Good Omens crossovers. Edwin would love to finally use his detective skills to help Crowley and Aziraphale and also finally get some fresh air. Crowley is done with Hell, but has too much of a heart to just send Edwin off to someone else who'll hurt him. Plus, Aziraphale gets attached, so what can he do

Edit: forgot to add this one originally and it's a crime

Crystal, Niko, and Charles get out that Edwin likes a boy and all come to the wrong conclusions about who

Edwin gets over his crisis faster and the others feel comfortable enough to tease him about being open about his first crush. He gives them very little information, but they all think of someone else. Charles thinks it's the Cat King, Niko thinks it's Monty, and Crystal thinks it's Charles. Chaos ensues as they all try to figure out what's true.

[diaphanoushyperfixation]

Just Edwin and Charles living in my head without paying any rent

*Charles just took some inconsiderate risk on a mission*

E: Charles, I was so afraid of losing you

C: But I'm ok you do not have to be sorry Edwin *hugs him*

E: *blushes and step out of it* you are crazy

C: Yeah but the kind you like kind of crazy *smirks proud of himself as usual*

E: *shy and awkward around his feelings, feeling mocked*

C: *notices and takes his hands* hey, listen man, I know we haven't talked about it but as I told you when we were coming back from hell, it's ok really, you're still my buddy

E: yeah... thank you*looks at him in the eye and smiles, because he doesn't wait for something more, he knows Charles is straight and likes women but he still feels a little something, a pain in his chest*

*a little later Charles talks with Crystal about the risk he took before and why people might worry*

C: But I was ok! I had the situation secured i don't understand why he has to worry

🔮: Charles you have to understand, how would you react if it was Edwin who did something so careless?

C: Edwin would never act like that! I'll always be there for him so he never has to worry about it.

🔮: But sometimes you can't do anything, right? Like with the Cat Kings crush events-

C: Don't even mention that guy!

🔮: It's more of a god- but yeah yeah sorry I forgot how jealous you were.

C: Me?? Jealous?? *looks at her in disbelief*

🔮: *between laugh and cries, watches from head to toe* yeah you, or like with Monty, it's ok, you like to have Edwin's attention, and guys that like him are in the way of your relationship

C: I am not jealous! Yes of course Monty pissed me off but in the end, I was right to feel like that about him! And the cat king is just super annoying!

🔮: And Edwin had something else in his mind than you also, nah? *glances at him* It's ok you wanna be the only one by Edwin's side, I understand but you know that someday since you rejected him he is gonna love someone else and maybe take his distance a little, right?

C: What annoyed me was that he was distracted, nothing else! And... *thinks of Edwin loving someone else and feels as if someone just twisted brutally his guts* h-he would never leave me, it's him and I until the end.

🔮: Yeah but before the moment you are with me were in the past moment you would have passed with him, don't you think?

C: Yes but still he wouldn't be like that...

🔮: Why would he, not Charles, if he is in love you have to be supportive and let him have space like he does with you

C: It's just not the same

🔮: And why is that?

C: It's just- when he confessed it didn't seem like that.

🔮: Like what, like he would go? You rejected him and his feelings remember?

C: Yeah but it's because he is my buddie I just don't love him this way!

🔮: If you are so sure then why are you jealous and why won't you accept that he might like someone else?

C: *snaps* BECAUSE HE IS MINE *regrets instantly and avoids her gaze*

🔮: He is yours but you don't like him, uh? Charles listen, we already discussed the fact that we were just both alone and sad and we mistook attachment and friendship for something else. But him, Charles you went to hell for the guy, you would die again and again if that could save his ass, you don't want anyone but you by his side. Also, you are just so different when you are with him, you are natural. If it's keep being his buddy that scares you just know that you already act like an old married couple, so nothing will really change. *puts her hand on his shoulder* I don't say I know everything Charles, just think about it, if there were no consequences what would you do or who would you be for him?

C: *looks at her, clearly lost* I don't know Crys...

🔮: It's ok you don't have to have all the answers now, you don't have to ever have all the answers, just think about it 'k? I'm going to sleep. *waves him and goes back to her room*

C: *sits on the sofa, Edwin was out with Yuki tonight, so he was now alone, and more lost than he ever imagined he could be*

And sorry I don't have any beta readers on this so it's really not perfect, do you want me to continue this?

[makemeimmortalwithahug]

wanna write about dead boy detectives and space...

edwin and charles being each other's north star, leading the other back on their way home

niko being a beautiful star cluster, chaotic and genuine and bright

crystal being a gorgeous supernova, exhilarating and powerful

[polymona]

Dead Boy Detectives fanfic ideas/prompts (free to good homes) 1) AU/Good Omens crossover where during his 70 years in hell, at some point Edwin is accidentally acquired by Crowley and Crowley has to figure out what to do with this ghost-boy --assign him paperwork? -help him escape hell? -team up with Aziraphale to adopt him? who knows… 2) AU/The Good Place crossover in which upon Edwin getting dragged to hell a second time, The Bad Place looks quite a bit different than he remembers, less butthole spiders, more desk and chairs and "Everything is Fine!" 3) Niko convinces Edwin, Charles, Crystal (and maybe even Monty? and The Cat King?) to play some Dungeons and Dragons campaign, the plot of which is suspiciously similar to one of her favorite mangas.

[theongp]

Just came up with a new prompt for Painland's fanfic

They gave each other magic (wedding) rings so they can be together even in the afterlife. And that made the vow "till death do us apart" not appropriate anymore.

It have to be a slowburn, mutual pining, unrequited love to requited love with so much codependency between them.

[ghostinthelibrarywrites]

Say her name like an elegy

Here's a small-ish fic for Dead Boy Detectives Appreciation Week. You can read it below or here on AO3.

Prompt: hugs

Rating: T

Relationships: Edwin & Crystal

Warnings: canonical major character death (RIP Niko)

Word count: approx. 3k

Summary: When Edwin finds Crystal distraught and reading a book on necromancy, it doesn’t take much detective work to figure out what’s wrong. Providing comfort is a much more challenging endeavor

***

Edwin thinks he is acclimating well to having not one, but two additional members of the Dead Boys Detective Agency. After thirty-five years, he and Charles have learned to work together nearly seamlessly, with Charles accepting Edwin’s many idiosyncrasies with grace and Edwin coming to appreciate his friend’s occasionally chaotic way of doing things. However, he has not built such an effortless rapport with Crystal or the Night Nurse.

It would be easier if people would stop rearranging his damn bookshelf.

He’s explained his exact organizational system to both Crystal and the Night Nurse twice. He even labeled things at Crystal’s request. But the Night Nurse had barely been part of their agency for a month when she rearranged everything to a system she found more efficient, an offense he may never find it in himself to forgive. He’s just gotten everything back to precisely how he likes it again and now his bookshelf is out of order once more, with multiple books lying on the floor and others replaced haphazardly on the shelf. Several are missing altogether.

It’s almost enough to make him reconsider if the torments of Hell were all that bad.

Upon closer inspection, he sees that the out of order shelf is filled with tomes about witchcraft. The culprits could be Charles or the Night Nurse, who are in Prague investigating the cause of a particularly nasty bloodline curse. But Charles has been scrupulous about putting all of Edwin’s books in the right order since the Summoning Circle Catastrophe of 1993 and Edwin doesn’t believe his friend would let the Night Nurse anywhere near his bookshelf.

That means there’s only one possible culprit. He’s disappointed; save for a few hiccups, Crystal has mostly been respectful of his organizational system. He thought they had come to an understanding after Port Townsend. She also dislikes the Night Nurse even more than Edwin does, never having forgiven the woman for what she did to Charles at Point No Point. He thought they were allies against a mutual enemy.

Clearly, boundaries must be drawn. Edwin pivots and steps through the mirror, reappearing by the front door of Crystal’s flat.

“Crystal.” He doesn’t try to keep the bite from his voice. “I told you, I am happy for you to use my collection to aid you in researching your powers, but all I ask if for a little consideration and—”

He falters upon catching sight of Crystal, sitting cross-legged on her couch with one of his books open on her lap and a circle of crumpled, used tissues around her. Her eyes are red-rimmed and her face blotchy and tear-stained.

“Ah.” There is a crumpled tissue resting on the page of his book. He would like to request its removal, but can hear Charles’s voice echoing in his head, telling him to have a little sympathy. “Are you quite alright, Crystal?”

She glares at him fiercely, which he prefers to the crying. “What did I say about just showing up unannounced?”

“You clearly showed up to my office unannounced when you plundered my bookshelf.” Edwin puts his hands on his hips. Sympathy is getting him nowhere. “If you’ve gotten snot on that book, so help me, but I’m taking your spare key and—”

Crystal bursts into tears.

Edwin backs up a step, like the unseemly display of emotion is contagious. “Has something… happened?” he asks carefully. Could she and Charles have had a quarrel? No, Charles has been in Prague for the past two days and besides, whatever the state of their arrangement is at the moment, they both seem content enough.

“It’s alright,” Edwin says, when she just keeps weeping and doesn’t respond. “I won’t take your spare key. If I did, Charles would just replace it anyway.”

Her only answer is a sniffle. Frantically, he thinks back to yesterday morning, when he last saw Crystal. She said something about attending some event, perhaps an art exhibit. Ah, of course. Crystal’s parents are artists, are they not? He’s instantly awash with the satisfaction of having just deciphered a particularly tricky clue.

“Have you been to see your parents?” he asks, only a little smugly.

Crystal blows her nose, crumpling up the tissue and dropping it on top of the book. Edwin reminds himself that he spent decades being hunted down and consumed by a giant spider made of doll heads over and over again. He can endure this.

“They hate me.” Her voice sounds small, matching her hunched posture. He forgets sometimes that she’s a true teenager—not frozen in time like him and Charles—but right now she looks very young, sad, and uncertain.

“I’m certain that’s not true,” he says, since that seems like the right thing to say.

It apparently is not. “Are you, Edwin? Are you certain? Because I touched my mom’s hand and all I felt was… annoyance. I was trying to tell her about Port Townsend without telling her about the witches, ghosts, and demons, but she didn’t care. She was just ready for me to go so she could get back to all her admirers and stop being burdened by my problems.”

Gingerly, he goes to sit next to her on the couch, out of range of the circle of tissues. “Without knowing all the details, she cannot truly understand what happened in Port Townsend.”

“She wouldn’t understand anyway, because she doesn’t want to.” Angrily, she dashes away her tears. “The minute I stopped being their perfect little princess that she could show off to her friends like another piece of art, she stopped giving a shit. You don’t know what that’s like.”

Edwin opens his mouth to ask if he truly seems like the product of a happy, healthy family to her, then hears Charles’s voice in his head, reminding him that this isn’t a competition and Crystal is distraught.

“My parents were similar,” he says. “They weren’t artists, but they cared very much about appearances. I was their only son and they had a vision of what I would grow up to be. When it became apparent I wouldn’t live up to their expectations, they rather lost all interest in me. They sent me to St. Hilarion’s hoping I would learn to make something of myself.” His lips quirk into a smile. “I suppose I did, just not in the way they envisioned.”

Crystal’s voice drops to a whisper. “I was trying to tell my mom about Niko. How I made a friend, probably the best friend I’ve ever had, and then she died right in front of me.”

“Ah.” Edwin has to take a moment to compose himself, pressing his fists together tightly. Before that terrible day in Esther Finch’s house, he almost forgot how grief could dig its claws in you and never quite let go. When he’d returned from Hell, he’d found that everyone he’d ever known—parents, grandparents, sisters, the chubby-cheeked nephew that had been born the summer before he was sacrificed—was long gone. He could still remember the sting of losing his favorite Uncle Freddie, the only relative who ever indulged his chatter about his detective stories, when he died in the trenches during the Great War, but that old hurt had faded with time. He had grieved Charles while he watched him slowly freeze to death in that attic, but that was mitigated when Charles chose to stay with him.

Suddenly, he has a terrible suspicion why he’s found Crystal sobbing over a book after having a conversation about Niko with her mother. He peers over and his stomach drops when he sees the familiar illustrations under the tissues. “Crystal, please don’t tell me that’s Craven’s Book of Necromancy.”

She says nothing, but the guilt in her expression is answer enough. Edwin draws himself up to deliver a lecture, because how could she honestly be so foolish, so thoughtless? She saw what Esther Finch became when she toyed with the laws of nature. Is that the path she wants to take, and after Niko died for her?

Crystal looks at him, eyes filling with fresh tears, and the lecture dies on his tongue. With a sigh, he pinches the bridge of his nose. “She wouldn’t be Niko anymore,” he says. “She would be a monster wearing Niko’s face. That’s not what she would want and it would bring you no peace.”

“I know.” Her knuckles go white from gripping the book. “I read the book and I saw how much pain it’s caused.”

“It’s the last copy I know of,” Edwin says. “If that helps. And Charles and I have only used it to banish those revived through necromancy.”

“I had to look. It’s all I’ve been able to think about since I saw it on your shelf. And then I went to see my parents and—” She sucks in a breath, squeezing her eyes shut. “It’s not fair. Niko had a mom who loves her. Mrs. Sasaki is grieving her whole family now. Niko died for me. I’m still alive and for what? So I can go visit my parents and watch them wish I would fuck off back to Port Townsend?”

Bloody hell, Edwin is not qualified for this. Charles should be here, with his warm smiles that always seem to make the world seem a little kinder. Niko, who was kind and sweet and had such a big heart, should be here. Even the Night Nurse would probably do a better job of consoling Crystal.

“You are still here because Niko cared for you,” he says. “And because if Esther had killed you, Niko would have been next, and Charles and I would still surely be trapped in that house. You saved us and you were only able to do that because Niko—” The words catch in his throat as he remembers the blood blooming across the front of Niko’s white blouse, the way her eyes went wide with surprise. The living never truly appreciate how easily they can die, not until the worst happens. “Because she loved you.”

Crystal makes a ragged noise, pressing a hand to her mouth.

“If you must blame someone, blame me,” Edwin says. “She came to that house to save me. She knew the risks and she still came. I wish she hadn’t.”

“Of course she did,” Crystal says. “Because she loved you too.”

Edwin’s vision blurs. It takes him a moment to realize that his own eyes are filled with tears. Now he remembers why he spent thirty-five years keeping out of the affairs of the living. Loving mortals means losing them eventually. He just thought that he would have decades more before he had to feel the sting of losing Niko, who was so vibrant, so alive that it seemed impossible that death would ever touch her. He should have known better.

Someday, they’ll lose Crystal too. She’s young and healthy now, but she won’t always be so. She will age and she will weaken and then, eventually, not even modern medicine will be able to help. It’s a thought that makes him feel like he’s sucked in a lungful of icy air, though it’s been well over a century since he needed to breathe.

“I am so sorry for Niko.” His voice came out a rasp. “But I’m not sorry that she saved you. And I know she wasn’t sorry either.”

Her lower lips trembles and she sets the book aside. “No one’s ever cared about me like that before, before Niko and Charles. My parents wouldn’t have jumped in between me and Esther or fought David for me. Neither would any of my old friends. And I don’t know if I even deserve it.”

Edwin remembers feeling the same guilt the first time Charles was badly burned by iron trying to protect him. Sometimes, he still doesn’t understand how someone like Charles could consider him worth saving over and over. “They think we do. That’s what matters. Niko died knowing she had saved you. That has to matter.”

She’s quiet for a moment, visibly struggling to contain her tears. “I just wish there was a fix for this. It seems like such bullshit that Esther Finch got to cheat death for centuries, but Niko is just gone.”

“There’s no real cheat for death,” Edwin says as gently as he can manage. “I tried searching, right after Charles. Some things simply can’t be fixed.”

Crystal loses the fight against tears, sobbing quietly into her hands, and Edwin wonders what Charles would do if he were here. He thinks of all the times that Charles has comforted him: the warm smiles, the reassuring hands on his shoulders, the way his brown eyes go soft with affection. Edwin isn’t a warm or comforting presence. He doesn’t know how to be.

But then he remembers hugging Charles after that fiasco of a case with the two American football players, the way Charles melted into his embrace, like there was nothing more comforting than Edwin’s arms around him.

“Crystal?”

She looks up with wet eyes. “What?”

“Can I hug you?”

She tries to scowl at him, though the tears streaming down her cheeks ruin the effect. “What happened to ‘a handshake will suffice.’”

“You’ll need to get better at mimicking my accent if you insist on doing it repeatedly.” He draws back. “And it’s fine. I just thought I’d offer. I thought it might be… comforting.”

She lets out an incredulous little laugh. “Comforting?”

“I see now that I was mistaken,” he says stiffly. “I apol—”

She surges forward, sending both the book and a shower of tissues sliding to the ground. Before Edwin can protest the treatment of a one-of-a-kind text, her arms are around his middle and her face is buried in his shoulder. For a moment, he’s perfectly still, hands hovering over her back. Then, he tentatively wraps his arms around her, closing his eyes. He can almost understand what Charles meant when he said he couldn’t feel kissing Crystal, but could feel it in his head. Edwin can almost feel the tickle of her hair against his nose and the dampness of her tears soaking through the front of his shirt. It’s not entirely unpleasant.

“I miss her too,” he whispers into Crystal’s hair. “So much. But I have to believe that wherever she is, she’s happy. She deserved nothing less than paradise.”

Crystal sniffles.

“And if you’d ever like to talk about her, I’m happy to,” he adds. “I’m sorry if you’ve felt alone in your grief. I don’t find talking about these things easy.”

That gets a wet little laugh out of her. “I had no idea.”

“I have grown to value you.” Christ, why is talking about his feelings so challenging? He would rather be facing down a hellhound. “And I’m not only saying that to get you to stop crying. I see you as a…”

“A friend?”

“Yes.” He nods. “A friend, like Niko was to me. For what it’s worth, you say no one has ever cared about you like Niko and Charles. I do. Well.” He pauses, considering. “Not precisely like Charles. I will object if you try to snog me.”

Her shoulders begin to shake and for a terrible moment, he thinks he’s hurt her feelings. Then he realizes she’s laughing. “Oh my God,” she says through giggles. “I love you too, Edwin.”

He feels a reluctant smile tug at the corners of his lips. “And I… hold you in very high regard.”

“We’ll work on it.” She lets him go, wiping her eyes. “I’m sorry about your bookshelf. I was in a hurry. I didn’t want you to find me looking through the books on necromancy.”

“I forgive you.” Grimacing, he looks down at the book on the floor. “However, must I reiterate that this book is one-of-a-kind? I have to object to the amount of snot-stained tissues that are touching it right now.”

She bends to retrieve the book, shaking her head and smiling. For now, the tears seem to have stopped. He knows there will be more where that came from later. Their grief over Niko won’t go away with a single conversation. There will be other dark days, though hopefully Charles will be around to provide his own kind of comfort. It will never feel fair that they had to lose Niko, who still had so much to live for.

But right now, Crystal isn’t crying, is even smiling. And to Edwin, that feels enough like what Charles would call a job officially jobbed.

***

If you enjoyed it, please consider letting me know on AO3!

[midnight-skylie]

This is my official request for Dead Boy Detectives prompts!

Preferably about Edwin and Charles. Especially more about Charles but not necessarily.

I just finished my fanfic and I'm desperate for new ideas, I want to keep writing about them.

Comments, ask box, and dm, are all open.

Any prompt would be appreciated🫶

[artemis-writes-things]

The feral urge I have to write something with dead boy detectives but absolutely no ideas is slowly rotting away my brain.

Anyone have story ideas?

[teejaystumbles]

Asking for Mermay prompts!🐠🦑

With May coming up I went looking for MerMay prompts, but I didn't feel like using the lists I found. So instead of making my own I wanted to ask my mutuals and followers to send me prompts, preferably short!

It can be anything merpeople related, and, if you want to specify, preferably for Sandman/Dreamling! Dead Boy Detectives is also a new thing I like so feel free to send me prompts for that, too, if you like! If you do not specify your prompt I'll chose which characters to draw or write for. I'd be especially happy if you gave me ideas for Hell or High Water stuff, but something new is also fine! I'll be sure to have fun!

I do not promise fic or art, I will see what your prompt makes me do, alright?

Thank you!! 🥰

[the-nerdiest-insanity]

Watching the Colours Go By

Also on Ao3

Day 1 of the Dead Boy Detectives Pride Month Prompts- Pride Parade

When you’re dead, days begin to bleed together. Without needing to drink, eat, and sleep, there isn’t much point in keeping track of dates. Sure, they count how many days a case may take, but it doesn’t matter if it happened in January, May, or October. 

Charles tried to keep track. If not every day, at least what month it was. It helped him stay grounded. Made him feel more alive. 

One of the easiest ways to help determine the months were the holidays. Different stands would pop up on the streets below them, or parades and marches would pass by. Charles loved to stand at the window and watch the people go around during the agency’s downtime.

Out of all the marches, Charles never expected to see this one in person. Of course, it took him dying to actually see it.

Only a handful of months after Charles’s death, he saw the colors from the window. He saw people of all kinds dressed in bright, loud colors with make-up, jewelry, and feathers scattered around. Some people held signs he couldn’t read but could see the circles with crosses paired together next to circles with arrows. A few flags were dotted along as well, some with pink and some without.

Charles leaned against the window frame, smiling as he watched the people pass by. Even if the city couldn’t promote it, the turnout was still massive.

He sat there wondering, as he did every time, what it would feel like if he was down there and living. Feeling the bodies jostling around him. Flying down the path til his feet ache. Shouting out chants as his chest aches. Maybe even working up the courage to ask how people do their make-up. 

Someone jumped up in the crowd and caught Charles’s eye. They wore a white tank top with suspenders and a pink feather boa wrapped around their neck. They had dark black eyeliner with red eyeshadow thrown on last minute and a bright red kiss mark on their cheek. Their black curls just barely fell into their eyes as a gold hoop earring bounced against their neck.

Charles’s smile brightened. If he squinted a bit and imagined the earring on the other side, he could see himself down there.

As quickly as the look-a-like popped up, they were pulled down by the person next to them. The person was wearing a button-down with bright flowers covering it with a gray vest on top. Their dark hair would be slicked back if someone hadn’t run their fingers through it. If Charles squinted, he could almost make out smeared red lipstick across their mouth. They appeared as though they were annoyed with the doppelganger’s antics, but the small smile attempting to break through said otherwise. The look-a-like was beamed at the other person before throwing an arm around them and laughing wholeheartedly.

Something about the interaction made a part of Charles’s unbeating heart clench. He watched the pair go down the route until they rounded a corner and out of his sight.

“Charles, are you going to help with this case report? I can’t do it all myself,” Edwin called to him from the desk.

Charles knew Edwin could easily do the report himself, but Charles didn’t feel like being alone anymore. And he had a feeling Edwin didn’t either.

“Yeah, I’ll be right there, mate.”

[dream-of-the-bitchless]

Reg's Birthday Prompts

To close off my birthday month, I wanted to celebrate with you all as well!

So, no matter if we're mutuals or not, you're not only welcome but rather encouraged to send me prompts for a short fic (: (if you don't have anything that specific in mind, you can also send me one of these, or these, or these, or any, really). The prompts may be shippy or character studies or something entirely different!

These are my current obsessions:

The Sandman: The Corinthian/Dream of the Endless; The Corinthian/Daniel Hall; Hob Gadling/The Corinthian

Dead Boy Detectives: Edwin Paine/Charles Rowland; Crystal Palace/Niko Sasaki

Hellblazer

Hazbin Hotel: Lucifer Morningstar/Alastor (radioapple)

Cheers, everyone! Thanks for making my year so much fun <3

[makemeimmortalwithahug]

for @bookholichany for the prompt: "Monty meets Matthew the Raven" at last! I'm sorry that took so long, it's been weird to get back into writing after so long but I'm hopeful to post your other prompts in the next few days as well!

word count: 1167

“C’mon boss, one teensy-tiny favor for your incredibly faithful companion here,” Matthew called as he flew a few meters behind Dream and eventually perched on his shoulder. He ruffled his feathers, pressing his beak into Dream’s collar in the process. The weather in the Dreaming had been a little colder than usual for a while now, which probably had something to do with a minor fight between him and Hob. Matthew would argue that he tried not to be too involved in their relationship but who was he kidding? He was basically their therapist. One favor in exchange for unpaid and actually solid advice should not be asking for too much in Matthew's books.

“Matthew,” Dream acknowledged with the wary air only a being as old as the universe would be capable of. “Go on. Do not make me regret this.”

“Well, you see, before you say anything, I know we’re not supposed to snoop around in people’s dreams, but,” Matthew talked faster, speeding up even further when he saw how Dream’s eyebrows rose judgingly.

“But last time I was in Washington, I visited this small town, yeah? You remember? My ma was from there, I told you about the butcher shop there.”

Recognition lit up in Dream’s eyes, nodding once carefully without jostling Matthew.

“Indeed. You recommended the shop to Hob. You mentioned it could prove an adequate possibility for the next time Hob needs to assume a new identity.”

“You got it! Okay, so, I saw this crow while I was flying around. Little thing, name’s Monty. Playful, trying to keep up with me. That guy kinda grew on me, yeah? So I thought I could check out his dreams and see how he’s doin’.”

Dream stayed quiet for a long moment, silently contemplating as he was wont to do with any decision ranging from a date idea to the creation of a new nightmare.

“Very well,” he said at last.

“Hell yeah!”

----

The view around Matthew changed. The shallow lightning of the throne room vanished and was exchanged for a deep blue night sky with only the slightest hint of a moon keeping watch. Matthew was aware of Dream’s presence as a bird behind him, a protecting spectator that helped Matthew ground himself in the new environment. Residing in dreams was still new to him and he wasn’t sure it was something that he would ever do with the same naturalness Dream displayed. It wasn’t his purpose, Matthew reasoned. His purpose was to stay close to Dream and if that meant getting used to dream-hopping, then so be it.

Matthew’s gaze went toward the sky, expecting to see the little crow emerge any second now. Instead, two shadows moved in the corner of Matthew’s eye. The scene widened and a set of swings appeared, bathed in moonlight and mist.

Both shadows settled, one of them swinging higher and higher, giggling without a care in the world. It was so loud that Matthew could feel Dream softly jump behind him, surprised by the serene scene they were witnessing. The joyfulness of the person reminded him of the crow, always attempting to fly higher until they both would reach the trees that overlooked Port Townsend until he had to return to the weirdly hot lady (Matthew was still reeling from having that particular thought).

The two figures talked, too quietly to hear anything from their hiding spot. The longer the conversation continued, however, Matthew could see the shadows creeping in, closer and closer until they enveloped the couple, swallowing one of them in the process and leaving the smaller figure devastated on their knees.

The figure stood up and walked on shaking knees in the direction of them. Matthew chose that moment to reveal himself, hopping off a stone and into the clearing.

“Dude, are you supposed to be here?” Matthew wouldn’t assume that Dream had opened the way to the wrong dream, he wouldn’t make such a mistake but that left the only other possibility: someone had hijacked the crow’s dream!

Judging by the way the guy flinched backwards and let out a sound that sounded eerily similar to crowing, though, Matthew might have the wrong impression after all.

“Monty, you have changed considerably.” Matthew’s eyes bulged.

“Wait wait wait, replay that, what do you mean? Who is that guy?”

“Monty,” apparently-Monty and Dream said in unison.

Matthew looked up towards the sky once again, hoping for it to open up and hurl rotten tomatoes at these comedy wannabes. What was his life.

“I- I got that, thanks a lot. But the Monty I remember didn’t even reach my beak!”

The guy tried to wipe away the tears that still clung to his cheeks as a small smile took up his previously glum expression.

“Matthew, it’s been a while,” he grinned. His wide and misty eyes combined with the sincere smile were hard to take in. It humbled Matthew in a strange way.

“Dudeee,” Matthew said, for a lack of something better to say, feeling utterly out of his depth.

Monty giggled again, more subdued than in his actual dream but it was a nice sound nonetheless. Fuck, Matthew had missed that kid.

“What happened to you, man? Esther give you some weird protein food?”

Shaking his head, Monty opened his mouth to answer but Dream forestalled him.

“Young crow, magic has touched you recently. Did you wish for this opportunity of experiencing the human condition?” Dream, now resembling his human form again, stepped forward and inspected Monty with slight curiosity. Monty cowered under his stare. Matthew winced out loud – yeah, he could relate –, but neither paid enough attention to him.

“Eh, not exactly? I- I mean! I really enjoy life as a human so far, sir,” Monty mumbled. “It was not really my choice to make.”

Dream scowled, obviously not satisfied with that answer. Matthew shared that notion.

“Dude, that’s your body though, shoulda been your call. Mommy dearest thought she wanted to give kids another go after all these years? Well, at least you got the good fashion sense, the hair looks great too. Hey, was that guy back there your boyfriend?”

Instantly, Monty looked crushed again.

“No, uh, no. No.” He kicked a small stone with his shoe. Dream had his hands buried in the pockets of his coat, shifting slightly where he stood. That sure was an accomplishment, way to put your foot in your mouth.

“You know what? Forget the question.” He settled somewhat unsteadily on one of Monty’s small shoulders. “Let’s go back to those swings and talk. Oh, this is the Sandman, by the way. We thought we could visit your dream.”

“Oh okay,” Monty answered easily, “hello, sir.” Dream nodded while Matthew stopped short.

“You’re taking this way better than I thought,” he mumbled, slightly bummed out that Monty didn’t seem at least a bit impressed.

The former crow laughed.

“Trust me, Matthew, after the last few days, I don’t think much can shock me anymore.”