#dbda fics

[tragedy-machine]

love potion au drop

Sparkles dance in Charles’ eyes as he looks at Edwin shrouded in a rosy fog, and for a short second, he can swear that he feels his undead heart beat out a rhythm that he already recognizes. Oh.

OR: a love potion au where the boys tirelessly try to lift the spell from Charles

tagging y'all since you were sweet enough to express interest in this <3

@edwin-paynes-bowtie @manualamadrugada @northen-light @pringle-slut @phoenix-soar @she-who-loves-monsters @the-wine-dark-sea @dear-lucrow

[not-the-living-ghost]

DBDA Fic Recommendation List - Part 1

I have read SO many Dead Boy Detectives fics, so why not give some love to some of my favorites? (Fair warning: almost all of these are Payneland centered, and most of it is hurt/comfort and fluff)

The Case of the Hellbound Souls by JUBE514 (@jube514) Rated: T 21,890 words Summary: The Dead Boy Detectives take up a case that results in Edwin losing his memories, and they must band together to get his memories back Notes: I'm a sucker for a good memory loss fic, and I love the way that this one executes the angst of a typical memory loss fic whilst making it heartstoppingly sweet.

a map of your stars by pisces_spider (@pisces-swirlix) Rated: T 19,181 words Summary: 5+1 fic where Charles draws Edwin's different features Notes: I love the way that this one portrays Charles and Edwin's dynamic. They don't shy from writing Edwin as a smartass or mildly pretentious, and Charles' short attention span is definitely prominent in this fic. And yet, it all blends together perfectly in this fic, with their mutual fondness for each other still shining beyond anything else — in perfect Payneland fashion

Tonight's the Night You Fight Your Best Mate's Dad by Opossum_Subatomic Rated: T 22,279 words Summary: 5+1 coffee fic Notes: This fic perfectly captures the "no homo," "and they were roommates" vibes of Charles and Edwin's relationship. This fic truly had me stopping every 5 minutes to smile, shake my head, and think "this is so them."

Reach Out And Touch Faith by coloursflyaway (@coloursflyaway) Rated: T 7,482 words Summary: After his confession, in order to avoid crossing any boundaries, Edwin stops being as physically intimate with Charles as he used to be — and Charles has Feelings about it (basically Charles being touch starved for 7k words!!). Notes: THIS the fic. This is the fic that got me into fanfiction, and oh my God, I am forever grateful I was recommended this fic back in June

Brothers In Arms by Stringsofstars Rated: T 40,538 words Summary: The Dead Boy Detectives solve a case helping Gregory Payne — Edwin's late brother — pass on, as he is tethered to the land of his death. Notes: Very interesting OCs and it does a great job delving into Edwin's family life. I admittedly know very little about the Edwardian era, but it all felt very well researched

Don't Die of Ignorance by dearheartdont (@dearheartdont) Rated: M 559 words Summary: A snapshot of what Charles' life was like in the 80s, specifically during the AIDS crisis with a homophobic father Notes: I am always a sucker for fics that do a bit of a deeper dive into what Charles' childhood was like — especially as a bisexual teenager growing up during the AIDS crisis — and this fic does exactly that

Cry With Joy At The Depth Of My Love by coloursflyaway (@coloursflyaway) Rated: T 18,028 words Summary: Edwin takes the Cat King up on his offer and goes missing for 6 weeks. Charles has Feelings about it. Notes: This fic has so much angst, and I absolutely live for Charles Rowland angst — and God, is it worth it for the fluff at the end

Edwin Payne's First Solo Case by T4Tsangho Rated: G 566 words Summary: Edwin Payne shoots Donald trump. Need I say more? Notes: This fic is fucking hilarious and everybody needs to read this

When I Picture You by Gruoch (@madamedevil). Rated: M 69,935 words (not yet finished) Summary: Season 1 AU where the Cat King takes Charles instead of Edwin, and Charles realizes that he's in love first Notes: It is a perfect mix of everything: Charles angst (so much Charles angst), unresolved Payneland tension, Niko and Edwin being besties, Crystal and Edwin annoying the crap out of each other, Charles being jealous of Monty, it's all just truly perfect

The Case of David Bowie's Made up Sexuality by williamvapespeare (@williamvapespeare) Rated: T 14,154 words (not yet finished) Summary: The agency takes up a new case that brings up unresolved feelings Notes: Charles is SO bisexual in this fic and I love him for it

we get to stay around and watch the stars come out by laiqualaurelote (@laiqualaurelote) Rated: M 2,117 words (not yet finished) Summary: Black Doves alive AU, where Crystal and Charles are married. Secrets about Crystal's lives are unearthed as they go on the run with Edwin, an assassin and Crystal's former best friend Notes: I haven't even watched Black Doves, and I am still 110% invested in this fic

"Who? You mean your teammate in the Codependency World Cup?" - Pre canon series by @roseganymede95

Like Fool's Gold Rated: T 27,727 words Summary: Charles gets consumed by magic mushroom spores and Edwin teams up with John Constantine to save him Notes: I love the way the author writes John Constantine, and his relationship with Edwin is incredibly charming

Hold This Rated: M 26,194 words Summary: Edwin and Charles are trapped in an evil wizard's dungeon, and they must figure out how to escape Notes: I cannot stress this enough, Charles is so Charles in this fic. Like my oh God

Mom Says It's My Turn To Jump On The Grenade Rated: T 47,631 words Summary: During the early days of the Dead Boy Detectives agency, Edwin tries to get Charles to leave him and pass on to his afterlife Notes: Codependent Payneland my loves <33

Professional Networking Rated: G 14,596 words Summary: Charles and Edwin are introduced to Johanna Constantine via John Constantine Notes: If John Constantine's relationship with Edwin is charming, the boys' relationship with Johanna is doubly so

Like We're Gonna Die Young (Again) by RoseGanymede95 Rated: M 74,556 words (not yet finished) Summary: Edwin and Charles make a deal with a fairy and end up at a party having lost the memory of their deaths. Notes: This fic has a very interesting depiction of what Charles' life might've been like before his death, and it's honestly probably my favorite DBDA fic. Plus, one of the OCs in this story has genuinely become one of my blorbos; I am kind of obsessed with him, actually

[starlight-archer]

Here we go! The official prompt list for Catwinter! (shout out to the catwin discord for brainstorming prompts with me again)

Each week of December has a theme so you can do all prompts, pick and choose or combine them however you like!

Remember to use the tag #catwinter when you post any art/fics etc that you create! There will be a collection added to AO3 closer to the start date, (titled CATWINTER 2024) too for you to add your fics to if you post there!

[majorlb]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Dead Boy Detectives (TV) Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Edwin Paine | Edwin Payne/Charles Rowland, Edwin Paine | Edwin Payne & Crystal Palace & Charles Rowland & Niko Sasaki Characters: Edwin Paine | Edwin Payne, Charles Rowland (DCU), Niko Sasaki, Crystal Palace (DCU) Additional Tags: Dentistry, Wisdom Teeth, Everyone Is Alive, Getting Together, Marriage Proposal, under the influence, Surgery, Fluff and Humor, Romance Summary:

Charles has wisdom tooth surgery and starts flirting outrageously with Edwin. Crystal shrieks with laughter and films as much of it as she can.

[gali-in-distress]

"Your Mess is Mine" Chapter 1 on AO3

“Hey!” A shout comes from behind him, Charles doesn't need to turn around to know who it is. “Listen to me, you asshole!” Charles doesn't.

He continues to hold Crystal upright, she's starting to shake a little bit and her eyes keep darting around.

“You can take her home tonight but it doesn't matter, she's gonna crawl back to me anyway.” David's voice is loud but doesn't seem to be getting any closer. Charles dares a look in his direction one last time and sees him starting to walk away, muttering something to himself and wiping at his mouth. There's a glimpse of red on his hand when he pulls it away.

Tags: Alternative Universe - Modern Setting, Polyamory negotiations, Implied/Referenced alcohol/drug use, Implied/Referenced Sexual Assault, Non graphic violence, Protective Charles Rowland

Rating: Teen and Up Audiences

Relationships: Payneland, Cryland, V Shaped Polyamory

Completion status: in progress

Chapters: 1/3

For @crylandweek Day 1 "Protective"

(PS: I know this looks kinda straight but I swear it's not)

[ahyperactivehero]

i haven;t been writing much for my fics lately because i've been all over twitter trying to keep the hashtags trending. just know that i am working on them, and i will post more of one of my fics sometimes this week! let's try and #SaveDeadBoyDetectives

[oxymoronicdumbass]

MEATBALL <333

second stage of fandom is wanting to make a reference to your show, but not being able to because the reference is to a fanfic, and it is almost guaranteed that even among fellow members of the fandom, nobody will understand what you are talking about

[colourmornings]

Quick note on Charles's speech for fic writers or anyone interested, really.

Charles uses tag questions, where he ends a sentence with a question, doesn't he? I see a lot of "innit" thrown at the end of sentences, which is right, sometimes.

There is unfortunately grammar. First off, if the main verb is negative, the tag will be positive, and vice versa.

When the main verbs in the sentence is a form of "be" or a modal verb (must, could, would, have, will, can, do etc), he's going to repeat that same form at the end of the sentence. An exception to this is a positive main verb of "I am" in which case the tag will be "aren't I?"

"[You're] Not going back to hell, are you?"

"I wouldn't wanna be dead with anyone else, would I?"

"No, we're not going anywhere, are we?"

"Well, I can't see where you're pointing to, can I?"

"We don't want a repeat of the infamous puppy debacle of '94, do we?"

He uses "innit" a lot less than people think, I think. It took me a while to find examples of him saying this, I ended up having to search a transcript. It follows the same rules as above, except the subject is always a thing, or the pronoun "it," and the main sentence is positive, so that the tag can be the negative "innit" (isn't it). *Edit* "innit" is not used as a question! It's mainly used to reinforce a talking point! (Thank you @elizabear). While the other tags are like rhetorical questions, this one is flat tonally and can end with a period, too.

"Boxing's a gentleman's sport, innit?"

"Magical void, innit?"

"That's the injustice we fight, innit?"

When the verb is not one of those above" he uses a form of "do."

"Well, that sounds a lot like you, doesn't it?"

"Wanna keep things professional, don't I?"

Charles also ends a lot of sentences with just the word "yeah."

"Psychic thing makes case work go a lot faster, yeah?"

I am usamerican, but I have a masters in Linguistics. People who actually use tag questions, though, please add on or correct me!

[many-gay-magpies]

smooch

i originally drew this to be companion art for my new fic, where primroses bloom, but u do not need to read that to comprehend. smooch

also for @painlandweek day 3 - love confession/first kiss <3

[a-jasminator]

When your best mate is about to go full vengeful and there's only one way to shock him back to his senses...

Companion piece to my fic Spectral Rage!

[overlord-of-chaos]

All of these look amazing! I am seconding the rec of my healing needed more than time because I am absolutely loving reading that

Another Dead Boy Detectives Fic Rec List

Netflix sucks and I'm sad, but the Dead Boy Detectives fandom continues to be awesome, so here are some more very quick fic recs!*

Tonight's the Night You Fight Your Best Mate's Dad by Opossum_Subatomic

Everyone's Alive College/University 5+1 things fic featuring Charles bringing Edwin coffee and slowburn payneland. Also Family/Wedding Drama involving Everyone Thinks Their Dating so acute is verges on Fake Dating. This author is seriously fantastic, everything they write is gold.

You should also check out Kissing Lessons, which is a high school AU that does what it says on the tin while also giving non-binary Monty and polyamory.

Ornithology by Rosie447

Monty gets a job working at Tragic Mick's. This one's not actually payneland, being gen and Monty-centric. I know, gasp. It's a fantastic and very sweet exploration of Monty discovering his sense of self post canon and works as a great metaphor for recovery from toxic family/relationships. Also, the ex-animal solidarity and bonding with Mick is lovely.

what some circumstance stole by Chrome

The Sandman crossover featuring Edwin and Hob being kidnapped and tortured together. Their friendship is really wholesome with eventual Father Figure and Found Family Feels for the whole agency and background Dreamling.

dandelion wine (life and death in summertime) by world_wanderer

Payneland Right Person Wrong Time AU in which neither of them die but they still meet and become friends. The May/December friendship is sweet but tragic, with a bittersweet ending. Superb.

Mirror Image by Anonymous

Charles' afterlife gets taken over my an evil shape-shifting doppelganger, leaving him with plenty of time to regret never talking to Edwin about his feelings. Angsty but with Feelings Realisation and the Power of Love and Friendship vibes.

my healing needed more than time by babyseraphim

Case fic with de-aged Charles! Baby Charles is precious but be prepared for discussions of childhood trauma/abuse.

The same author has also written I'm So Aces at Babysitting, which is a really cute two-chaptered AU featuring Charles and Edwin babysitting the kid versions of each other, with bonus Crystal and Niko doing the same. It's very wholesome and the author writes little kids really well.

Pouring into me by tragedy_machine

Love me some "Charles wants to date Edwin to figure out his feelings but gets turned down" fic. Feelings are hard, OK?

thank u, next by KiaraSayre

Edwin fucks and Charles seethes. It's very funny and also features some interesting worldbuilding with the Fae.

Like We've Never Known Hurt by dearheartdont

Just cute established relationship PWP and praise kink. So good.

all of these hollows by handwrittenhello

The boys are alive again but sans memories. Can they still find each other and prove their devotion to the Night Nurse?? While also evading heavenly and hellish forces trying to keep them apart??? Very interesting concept executed well.

Suo Gân by emryses

The agency takes on the case of a traumatised Edwardian ghost searching for her missing baby... Read it for Edwin family feels.

Where Primroses Bloom by PantryJesus

Reading aloud as a love language and Watership Down feels. Idk, I'm now convinced that Edwin is kind of rabbit-coded with the whole "if they catch you they'll kill you. But first they must catch you" thing. A lovely well written fic.

I'm so sick of online love by Hse11z5

College/University AU where the boys meet through a dating app. It's cute.

you can have the best of me, baby (and I will give you anything) by aletterinthenameofsanity

Again, it's the Friends with Benefits but with real feelings and mutual pining for me. Now has a Charles PoV companion fic.

True Love's Kiss by Asidian

In which Charles curses himself with a Sleeping Beauty enchantment in order to confirm his feelings for Edwin and Crystal is the real MVP. I love this one because the boys are both SO stupid but in very different in-character ways.

I also recommend Promised, in which they kind of play the Green card angle to keep Edwin out of Hell? Which honestly needs to be more of a trope. And Tight Quarters, starring the boys trapped in a magic circle, leading to Forced Proximity induced Feelings Realization (in more ways than one! 😉).

Something I Can Turn To by DontOffendTheBees

I love some domestic fluff, in this case as an Everyone's Alive/Childhood Friends AU in which the boys are poor but happy living together. I liked how they both survive their respective traumas, but Reality Ensues.

I also recommend Lived My Whole Life Before the First Light for a lovely but melancholy Soulmate AU that goes for the "seeing colours" trope for extra wistful angst.

Dining at the Ritz by TerresDeBrume

Meeting the Parents fic in which Edwin's parents are awful and Charles is Not Having It. This has Everyone Thinks They're Dating and autistic Edwin stimming representation, plus discussions of racism, classism and ableism. The fic is also part of a great Modern AU series in which the boys attended St Hilarion's at the same time and Charles saved Edwin from a non-supernatural but still almost deadly prank. Highly recommended!

The Case of the Couples Retreat by juliasfanart

Listen, I can't get enough of undercover fake dating/relationships at a couples retreat, OK? Some minor angst but overall very cute and fluffy.

acu (aysar cinematic universe) by ObsessedWithFandom

The agency is hired to solve the mystery of Charles' death and bring his killers to justice. I'm genuinely obsessed with this series; I love its OCs and Charles having an exboyfriend gives Edwin a fun crisis. Plus haunting Charles' killers is very satisfying and cathartic. Just imagine they're Netflix execs, y'all.

*Not actually quick, as it turns out. 😅

I love doing these lists because I always think I've only got a few recs and then I look back over my recent bookmarks and I've got a metric ton of great fics to rec. You guys are so talented. ❤️

[tragedy-machine]

Lovely Poison ch8 COMPLETED

Sparkles dance in Charles’ eyes as he looks at Edwin shrouded in a rosy fog, and for a short second, he can swear that he feels his undead heart beat out a rhythm that he already recognizes.

Oh.

OR: a love potion au where the boys tirelessly try to lift the spell from Charles

In chapter 8:

“Perhaps. However, you have attempted to take something of mine as well, and so I have no pity to spare for you.”

Something in Charles lurches way too eagerly at being called something of Edwin’s in that unyielding voice of his. Regrettably, Charles will have to have a talk with the other ghost about saying distracting things during dangerous situations.

[not-the-living-ghost]

I was working on one of my fics today, and I wrote one of the characters' first impression of Edwin and Charles being how young they looked. Then it occured to me that other writers might not write the same, as Edwin and Charles look significantly older than their canon age in the show. Seeing as the Night Nurse repeatedly emphasizes the youthfulness of the boys, but the Cat King also repeatedly hits on Edwin, I realized that technically speaking, there's no set way that the boys are supposed to be perceived among other characters, and I'm interested to see how other writers are interpreting it

Reblog for a bigger sample size xx

[honorarypines]

Yet another cool aspect of the Dbda experience is that when you're entering the show Edwin easily seems the more fashion-forward one out of the duo, with his neat little suit and bowtie. And then at some point you realize that he's actually wearing his fucking school uniform out of habit and never really puts any thought into what he's wearing (aside from the confession sweater™️ of course). Charles meanwhile took actual effort to change his outfit when he died and had to magic every single pin onto his jacket, proving once and for all he's the true fashion icon here

Unparalleled

[alexrod-dbd]

I’M BACK WITH A NEW DBDA COVER YALL

Let me introduce you to Soul Protector from @ice-elf 🗡️⚖️ (Link here)

Thank you to @linuxvaloare for letting me use their incredible illustration! ✨ (I’d been waiting for a fic that could fit this drawing for so long, I love it so much)

I’m really proud of the result, I debated whether I should add drawings on the back but after trying it out I figured it was better without 🙌🏼

[technically-human]

Stay near me now...

So have you guys read My love for you is true, I swear it is, it just will kill you in the end ? Because it killed me. It killed me, I am now dead like the boys.

This was a commission for @regretsofaghost and I loved every second of working on it, ESPECIALLY reading this beautiful fic. And this scene!!!