#demon detective au

[mlady-magnolia]

Day Three: Restraint

“Listen to me, Kafka.”

[jube-art]

Idle thoughts. Idle doodles.

[aletterinthenameofsanity]

Charles Rowland and Edwin Payne (Despair AU)

Charles can't help himself. He steps forward, despite Edwin's protests, his glare, the fire that begins to spontaneously lick its way up Edwin's arms, and pulls Edwin into a hug. "God, mate," Charles says, burying his face in the crook between Edwin's shoulder and neck, feeling Edwin's tight posture and the iron-hard tension in his spine through his suit, wishing more than anything that he could bring relief to Edwin's soul, "I should have been here with you. You didn't have to save my soul like that."

"I didn't save your soul," Edwin says, and for the first time, his voice cracks. "I claimed it." Some shiver runs through Charles' soul at that, but it is not an afraid one. It almost feels like excitement, like relief, like love. "You are mine, I'm afraid, and I am deeply sorry for it-"

"Don't be," Charles says, all ferocity, because the hellfire should be burning him but all he has ever felt is warm in Edwin Payne’s arms. "I'm yours. I have been since the moment we left that attic. Hell, I probably was yours before that, from the moment you handed me that lantern."

-aletterinthenameofsanity, you go down just like holy mary on a cross

@bigtirednoodle

@tumblerislovetumblerislife @every-moment-a-different-sound @mellxncollie @nix-nihili

@tragedy-machine @anything-thats-rock-and-roll @wordsinhaled

@idliketobeatree @tw0-ravens @dear-monday @sasakisniko

@bequietimsodizzy @regina-cordium @spacegirlsgang

@shadowflame84 @the-moons-jade-rabbit @pappelsiin

@frogsondeckchairs @flaggersribs @lesbicosmos

@tititilani @flowerbritts @silverysnake @ohfallingdisco

@depressedandoverdressed @1kazul @nobledragonflying

@pappelsiin

[eikichi-supremacy]

If nothing else Koenma is a Kuwabara stan and I'm right there with him o7 (I need to write the kuwameshi fic that goes with this fr)

[atomra]

I had to draw my favs doing an outfit swap! Neuro and Alucard would get along great 😎💙 (feat. atom)

[a-dauntless-daffodil]

.... well this noir Vaggie au edit got waaay out of hand ha ha!

self indulgent au lore under the cut bc WEEEE

Detective Vaggie finally got enough blackmail on Valentino for Charlie and Angel to pin him in a corner, but as Vaggie expected, Angel Dust ends up doing what almost every other Sinner has done after Vaggie hands the evidence over to them, and chooses to just accept Valentino’s renegotiated and seemingly better soul contract rather than break it and make a mortal enemy out of an Overlord

Of course the first thing Val does is force Angel Dust to destroy the evidence they’d used against him, just like every other Overlord Vaggie's worked against always has, leaving Angel at his mercy again

And also leaving Charlie devastated. She'd given Angel her promise of protection as soon to be crowned king of hell-

(long story) (Lucifer wanted to kill Vaggie for scarring Charlie a few years back and Charlie had to beat him up to stop him) (the Overlords, led by Velvette and the Vees, decided to flex their power by saying this invalidated Lucifer as king and made Charlie the new ruler of hell) (she reluctantly accepted because..)

-hoping it would be enough to counter any Overlord threat against Angel once he was free

Ironically though, Angel Dust having come to see her as a friend after all this and not wanting to put her in the line of fire ends up with him sticking with Val instead, who gloats about it, and tells Charlie to her face what he'll do to her friend and her pet P.I. if she (as soon to be king) doesn't back down and let the Vees do all the real running of hell (like they already have been)

Charlie the Pissed let's slip she's had enough of Val as she leaves his studio (both her and the studio being on fire)

No one takes her little threat seriously, except for Vaggie, who sees Charlie picking up and weighing Vaggie's spear in her hands when she thinks she's alone. Vaggie freaks out realizing Charlie is about to go do a murder

So Vaggie decides to break her own no-more-murder vow AGAIN for a girl AGAIN (last time was for Velvette) and she kills Valentino before Charlie can reach him, regaining her wings (kinda), absorbing his demonic energy (yuck), belatedly becoming one of the Vees like Velvette had once wanted (not in the way Velvette had wanted), and accepting all Val's soul contracts including Angel’s, which she breaks

She also breaks the truth of everything to Charlie on coronation day-

(maybe also breaking up with or getting dumped by her, even though they weren’t even dating)

-confessing to the murder and her exorcist past

Now that she’s an Overlord and Charlie’s about to be King of Hell, anything publicly personal between them (like Vaggie staying the basement of Charlie's abandoned hotel instead of sleeping in an alleyway next to a dumpster every night) would throw the other Overlords into a rage over the power imbalance with normal sinners caught in the crossfire or getting used as canon fodder, something neither Vaggie or Charlie can stomach

Besides which Vaggie feels 0% worthy of Charlie anymore after breaking her no-murder vow, and Charlie is feeling more things than she knows how to name about that and the exorcist thing, none of them good

Their last kiss (for now) leaves claw marks on Vaggie’s face to match the scar she gave Charlie all those years ago-

(which Charlie has finally also confessed to her about, to Vaggie's horror, Vaggie having blotted the memory out after binge drinking with Husk the following week)

-the scar from when Vaggie happened to still be holding her spear as Charlie reached out to help her, and ended up lashing out instead of flinching back, unintentionally driving away Charlie and their happy life together

(this shit luck is what pinged Overlord Husk's gambling powers and led him to Vaggie, meanwhile Angel dropped a paying client to go check on the random demon chick- Charlie- soon to be nicknamed Apple Slice by him- holding her bleeding face in her hands as she stumbled down the street in a daze)

Charlie and Vaggie made do with other friends when what they both most needed was each other

They’ve both been miserable and lonely since then, had only just started to build up what they should have had together all along while camping out at the old hotel working on Angel's case together, but the case is done and now…. this

This is NOT a good timeline for them (yet)

[ghostinthelibrarywrites]

Chapter One of young blood (never get chained) previously known as the demon!Charles AU that I've been picking away at since May, is up!

Pairings: Payneland with background Palasaki

Rating: E for eventual smut

Warnings: Canon-typical violence; past child abuse

Summary: When Charles, a half-demon student at St. Hilarion’s University, steps in to stop one of his classmates from getting sacrificed to a demon, he accidentally binds Edwin’s soul to his own to save him.

You can read the first scene below or here on AO3!

***

Charles is leaving the library when he feels the presence of another demon close by. It’s the prickle of awareness on the back of his neck, the slight taste of sulfur on his tongue, the sense that if he looks up at the gabled roof of Payne Library, he’ll see burning red eyes staring down at him.

He goes still on the steps of the library, backpack thrown over his shoulder and thumb hovering over the screen of his phone, halfway through a text to Crystal and Niko telling them he’s on his way home. Chancing a glance upwards, he sees that the roof of the library is free of demonic presences, but the taste of sulfur only grows stronger in his mouth. Whatever’s happening, it’s close by.

It’s just before midnight on a damp, chilly Thursday and the campus of St. Hilarion’s University is quiet. There was a smattering of other students in the library and he can see a couple of late-night pedestrians making their way home, but there are no visible signs that anything is amiss. Most of St. H’s students are probably home in their dorms or flats, windows and doors closed against the weather. It’s where Charles would be, if a need to escape all distractions hadn’t driven him to the library to finish a paper.

Without finishing the text to Crystal, he pockets his phone and reaches into the backpack, silently calling to the cricket bat. It springs from the infinite void, the smooth wooden handle finding his hand. He’d rather head home to order some late-night takeout and watch a bad movie with Crystal, but if there’s trouble on campus, especially of the demonic sort, that’s his problem to handle.

On a hunch, he turns left, heading past the dining hall and the science building in the direction of Broderick Hall. The oldest dorm on campus has been closed for renovations the entire time Charles has attended St. H’s, making it a prime location for illicit parties, hook ups, and evil lairs. Sure enough, the rotten taste in his mouth grows stronger as he approaches.

The side door hangs ajar, the lock broken, and Charles pushes his way inside. He twirls the cricket bat in his hand nervously. Hopefully, he’ll just have to give the interloper a friendly reminder that St. Hilarion’s is his turf and that the students here aren’t easy pickings. In his experience, demons usually respond to friendly reminders by trying to flay him alive, but it’s nothing he hasn’t dealt with before.

From below, there’s a muffled scream. Charles follows the sound, descending the stairs into the basement.

The basement of Broderick Hall has become a graveyard of twin beds, dressers, and desks while the dormitories upstairs are renovated. It’s dimly lit, with only the faint glow of streetlamps filtering through the small, dusty windows and a beam of light on the other side of the basement. Moving carefully so as not to trip over a desk chair and give himself away, Charles weaves through the furniture towards the beam of light, which moves erratically, bouncing off the ceiling and damp brick walls.

There’s another scream, followed by cruel laughter, just as Charles rounds a corner and spots his quarry. It’s not the demon he was expecting, but six figures, all of whom seem human. Five of them are gathered in a circle around one of the twin beds, where the sixth person is stretched out, wrists and ankles bound to the headboard and footboard. From the muffled shouting, he can guess they didn’t sign up for this.

Charles spots the source of the light: a long, industrial flashlight held by one of the figures over a thick, leather-bound book in his neighbor’s hand. In the glow of the flashlight, Charles recognizes the one holding the book. Simon Mould: school football player, son of one of the richest men in Britain, and complete fucking twat. Which means that his companions must be the pack of idiot footballers who are always following him around. What the fuck are they doing down here?

“We call upon the demon Sa’al,” Simon says, smirking down at the bound figure as his friends laugh and catcall. “We offer up this little prat as a virgin sacrifice.”

Fucking hell.

The taste of sulfur is choking him and Charles knows it’s already too late to stop the summoning, but he surges forward anyway. The boys don’t notice him until he’s upon them, bringing down the cricket bat on the grimoire in Simon’s hands with all his might. Simon shrieks in surprise, the book falling to the ground.

“What the fuck is this?” Charles shouts, his voice echoing around the room. Maybe if he kicks up enough of a fuss, whatever they summoned will decide it’s not worth it and fuck off back to Hell.

“Shit!” Simon scrambles backwards. “ Rowland ? What the fuck are you doing here?”

Charles kicks the grimoire away. “Where did you find this?”

“Got it from my brother! We were just trying to—”

“I know what you were trying to do. Now get out of here.”

“Oi.” The one with the flashlight, who stands a head taller than Charles and is built like a brick wall, crowds into his space. “We were just having a bit of fun with the little bitch. No harm done. He might piss his pants, but he’ll live.”

That gets another mean laugh from the group.

“Don’t think he agrees with you, does he?” Charles glances back at the sacrifice, who is still fighting his bonds, hands twisting helplessly. Maybe if it weren’t for the rage thrumming through him and the taste of sulfur on his tongue, he would try the diplomatic approach. But he’s not feeling real diplomatic, not when there’s cruel laughter echoing in the air and a terrified boy tied to a bed behind him.

“What the fuck do you care?” Simon demands. “This isn’t any of your fucking business, Rowland.”

“Nah.” Charles bares his teeth into a smile. “I think I’ve made it my fucking business.”

The one with the flashlight doesn’t wait for Simon to reply. He lunges forward, flashlight raised like a club, and Charles moves. He dances to the side, dodging the blow, and brings his cricket bat down hard on his attacker’s arm. The brick wall of a boy shrieks and drops the flashlight, which clatters to the ground. As he bends to retrieve it, Charles hits him in the back of the knees, knocking his legs out from under him. He folds, wailing.

Someone—Simon—grabs him by the arm and Charles sinks his fist into his stomach hard enough to send him stumbling backwards, crashing into one of the desks, which splinters under his weight. Another boy lunges at him and Charles brings his bat up between his legs, eliciting a satisfying shriek.

“Come on.” Charles twirls his bat, waiting for the next attacker. He both loves and hates the rage that thrums through him and how powerful it makes him feel. He feels like he could take apart this entire fucking building brick by brick with his bare hands. He feels like he could dropkick these twats into the sun. He feels like nothing can stop him, like he could keep fighting until the end of time. Later, he knows it will be terrifying. Right now, it’s exhilarating.

Simon makes an aborted movement towards the grimoire on the ground, pausing when Charles rests his cricket bat on it. He looks up at Charles with what he probably thinks is a menacing expression. It would be more intimidating if he weren’t clutching his stomach, looking like he’s about to be sick.

“Get the fuck out.” The rage is thrumming under Charles’s skin, telling him to attack, to swing his bat and keep on swinging until they stop moving. “Go.”

Some scrap of prey instinct must alert the five of them that they’re in the presence of something bigger than they can comprehend, because they turn tail and run, the boy Charles hit in the balls being supported by his two friends. Simon is the last to flee, shouting, “Fuck off, Rowland!” over his shoulder. None of them will ever know that Charles just saved their sorry lives.

Charles turns to the sacrifice, who has gone still, head turned away so that his face is hidden. He’s only wearing a thin t-shirt and a pair of pajama pants, his feet bare and his body wracked with tremors. His attackers must have dragged him out of bed.

Charles breathes until he no longer feels the wrath bubbling under his skin, then steps forward to reach for the ropes around the sacrifice’s ankles. The boy flinches like he’s expecting a blow.

“It’s okay, mate,” Charles says softly, but his attempt at comfort gets no reaction. “I’m not going to hurt you.” 

Upstairs, there’s a shout and a clatter. Charles’s head jerks up, expecting shrieks of agony to follow. Instead, there’s another shout and a door slams. Simon and his dipshits, at least, are out of harm’s way.

The would-be sacrifice screams.

Charles knows what he’s going to see before he turns around. The demon—a lower demon with gray, mottled skin and empty eyes, probably pressed into service as an errand boy—looks down at the sacrifice with a disgruntled expression, like he can't believe he had to make the trip from Hell for this. For his part, the boy is screaming into his gag. Most of it is muffled, but Charles gets the gist: lots of no’s and please’s and leave me alone’s. Charles could’ve told him that begging a demon for mercy is pointless; they aren’t creatures that respond to pleas and tears.

What they respond to is brute force.

Brandishing the bat, Charles steps between the sacrifice and the demon. “Sorry, mate,” he says. “But there’s nothing for you here.”

“Little brother, you know the rules.” The demon has a raspy, but almost pleasant voice. “He was sacrificed to Sa’al. Now I’ve got to take him to Hell.”

The sacrifice whimpers.

“Right,” Charles says. “But see, the problem is that St. Hilarion’s is my territory. The souls here aren’t anyone else’s to give away.”

Crystal helped him conduct the ritual after the incident with the poltergeist in the dining hall last term. He doesn’t know if it will be considered legally binding in Hell, but the incidents of supernatural chaos on campus have sharply declined since he put his blood into the soil and declared this place his.

“Your territory.” The demon regards him with those empty eyes.

Charles nods. “So I can’t just let you walk off with one of my souls, can I? There are rules against that.”

“And what would you need with a university full of souls?”

“That’s my business.” Charles hopes he projects the air of someone who absolutely has a nefarious plan for a university campus’s worth of souls and isn’t just pulling all of this out of his ass.

The demon moves closer. “Your territory or not, this one was offered as a sacrifice. You can request compensation later, but in the meantime, the kid’s life is Sa’al’s.”

The sacrifice makes a choked-off, gasping noise and Charles can’t help but glance over his shoulder, hoping to silently convey that everything will be alright. For the first time, he finds the sacrifice staring back at him, eyes enormous in an ashen face, and realizes that he recognizes him.

He and Edwin Payne lived in the same hall their first term at St. Hilarion’s. Edwin was the quiet, standoffish sort who never came to social events and always seemed to have his nose buried in a book. A couple of times, Charles tried to strike up a conversation, but Edwin had always seemed perplexed that anyone would want to make small talk about football or music when there were books to be read.

But Charles used to watch him sometimes when he saw him in the library or the dining hall, observing the way his lips would curl into a little smile while he read or the graceful way his hands moved when he spoke. All he knew about him were things he had gleaned from gossip in their hall—the Payne Library was named after his family, he had an uncle or a grandfather or something in Parliament, his parents were both barristers—but he’d always found him oddly fascinating.

Maybe Charles would have tried to befriend him in earnest at some point, but then he’d met Crystal and the demon possessing her, and then there had been the incident with Niko and the dandelion sprites only a couple of months later. When the dust from all that had settled, the term had been over and Charles had been moving into Crystal’s house with her and Niko.

He’s only seen Edwin in passing around campus over the last couple of years and hasn’t thought about him much at all. But here he is, tied to a bed and watching two demons debate the ownership of his soul like it’s the last biscuit at a tea party. He’s not screaming anymore, but his chest rises and falls with quick, panicked breaths and his wrists twist uselessly against the ropes binding him to the headboard.

“Tell Sa’al that Edwin Payne’s soul is mine,” Charles says, not taking his gaze off those wide eyes. “It’s bound to me and it’s no one else’s to take.”

It’s not the involved blood ritual that had taken him and Crystal the better part of a month to perfect when he claimed St. H’s as his territory. He doesn’t expect it to do anything except stall the demon while he figures out a way to get Edwin Payne out of this cellar with his soul intact. Except, as soon as he says the words, he feels something in the air shift. A current of something old and powerful seems to surge around him, making every nerve in his body spark.

He’s suddenly aware of sickening terror, betrayal, confusion, desperation. None of it is his own; its source is shivering in a bed less than a meter away.

Well, fuck.

“For fuck’s sake.” The demon pinches the bridge of his nose in a gesture that’s startlingly human. “This is above my fucking paygrade. Kid, you’re making a real nasty enemy. Sa’al won’t take kindly to the likes of you depriving him of what’s rightfully his.”

Charles has no idea who Sa’al is, but really hopes he’s just a measly lower demon, like the piece of shit who possessed Crystal two years ago. Someone who will be easy to deal with when he inevitably comes calling.

“But if you want to piss off an archduke of Hell over a single human soul, that’s your business.” The demon steps back, hands raised.

“An archduke?” To his mortification, Charles’s voice cracks like he’s fourteen.

The demon shoots him a knowing look. “I’ll leave you to your prize.” He glances at Edwin and shakes his head like he can’t comprehend all this fuss over one human soul. Turning, he vanishes into the shadows as quickly as he appeared. The taste of sulfur dies on Charles’s tongue as the oppressive feeling of menace ebbs away.

The cellar is silent except for Edwin Payne’s raspy breathing. Charles can feel the fear and uncertainty radiating off of him, hanging in the air as heavily as the taste of sulfur did.

“He’s gone.” Charles keeps his movements slow and measured as he reaches for the scarf tied around Edwin’s head, gagging him. “Everything’s alright now, yeah? You're safe.”

There are tear tracks on Edwin’s cheeks and when Charles pulls the scarf away, he sees that the corners of his mouth are puffy and red. Edwin’s tongue flicks out, prodding at the irritated skin, before he rasps, “What the bloody hell was that?”

Charles busies himself with untying his wrists. He has no idea how to answer that, because there's no easy way to explain the existence of the supernatural to a human. Crystal, a psychic, already knew about the existence of the paranormal before she was possessed by her demon boyfriend. Niko took learning there were dandelion sprites living in her head with unusual aplomb; she even keeps the little terrors in the room she shares with Crystal, much to Crystal’s dismay. Something tells Charles that Edwin won’t be so open-minded.

“Well,” he says slowly as he starts to untie the ropes around Edwin’s ankles. “Your friends accidentally summoned a demon. At least I think it was an accident, because if it was a genuine attempt at a ritual, they did a shit job. Didn’t even bother with a binding circle, did they?”

“Of course they didn’t,” Edwin says disdainfully, like sloppy spellwork was tonight’s biggest offense.

“Right,” Charles says. “Anyway, demons exist—”

“Yes, I gathered that, given one just tried to take me to Hell.” Edwin’s voice stays even as he sits up and swings his legs over the side of the bed. The spike of anxiety Charles feels in his own chest is the only sign that he's shaken. Maybe Edwin Payne will be more open-minded than Charles assumed. “And who exactly are you?”

Charles lets the ropes fall to the ground and holds his hand out to shake. “Charles Rowland. I lived two rooms down from you in Warren Hall.”

“I remember you.” Edwin hesitates, then takes Charles’s hand. His fingers are long and cool in Charles’s grasp. “But I don’t remember you scaring off demons with a cricket bat.”

Charles thinks Edwin might be giving him and his bat too much credit. He pulls Edwin to his feet. “That doesn’t happen as often as you’d think.”

“You haven’t answered my question.” Edwin pulls his hand from Charles’s grasp, trepidation radiating from him. “ Who are you?”

Charles looks around the darkened basement. “It’s a long story, mate. We should walk and talk, yeah? That demon is going to go straight to Sa’al and I’d rather not be here if he decides to come up from Hell himself to see what happened to his human sacrifice.”

Edwin’s throat clicks audibly as he swallows. “No,” he says faintly. “I’d rather not be here either.”

Charles picks up the discarded grimoire and tosses it in his backpack. He can’t just leave it lying around for anyone to find. “Come on, then. Let’s get the fuck out of here.”

***

You can read the rest here on AO3!

[uzi-x33]

you and me we’re not the same.

i am a sinner, you are a saint.

CHAT IM DONE YIPPEE!!!! they’re so siblings:3 i love the traumatized mafia kids😋 spreading my bisexual dazai and lesbian yosano bestfriends agenda with this one🔥🔥

[mindfulofbrit]

Manjoume is one of those annoying ghost influencers because he wasn't doing well trying to go viral elsewhere.

The Domino Academy Ghost Club likes to explore places reported on Sho's Ghost Sighting Blog to debunk or prove the existance of non-human entities.

For some reason Manjoume has a difficult time recording whenever Haou's around. The footage keeps getting corrupted. Weird.

---

Sorry, I didn't want to completely finish this piece but I wanted to share it because Manjoume's face is hilarious, and Tetsu gave me a ton of terrifying anime faces to reference.

He's not pointing at Haou, btw. He's pointing PAST Haou at some creaking or something.

Here's what his face looks like under the effects - his 'shadow look' is not seen outside of camera lenses.

[celestialvoid-fanfiction]

Sterek Dead Boy Detectives AU: Derek and Stiles are detectives, taking on the cases with supernatural connections that the living aren’t capable of handling. They extinguish supernatural threats and helping lost souls find peace and move on to the afterlife… oh, and they’re dead.

Both boys never found peace, never moved on. Now they are on the run from Death, trying to help others find their peace.

A client contacts them to help her friend, Lydia, a clairvoyant who’s possessed by a demon.

They are able to exorcise the demon, but Lydia is left with no memories and no idea who she is except for her name. While Stiles and Derek argue about whether or not they let her stay with them (because the dead shouldn’t interact with the living), Lydia picks up a missing child poster and has a vision. The child is alive.

Lydia teams up with the boys to help them find the child, but things take a turn when Stiles uses magic on a cat, a misdemeanour that the Cat King demands he answer for. His punishment? He is trapped in Beacon Hills until he counts all the cats. That wouldn’t be too bad if they hadn’t also pissed off a witch. And, on top of that, they’re still hiding from Death.

[impcarcass]

Y’all miss me?

Reuploading (if I did already) an old magma sketch I did. Still really proud of some of my work, yearning to join another magma in the future

[mlady-magnolia]

Demon Detective AU

Hunt down the demons plaguing Penacony and exorcise them. That was the Bureau’s job. Caelus’? Well… his was a bit more complicated than that.

[jube-art]

Payneland server got me thinking about Incubus Edwin

[aliensubstance-011]

Demon!Edwin Au

Me and a pal have been throwing this idea around for a little bit and I'm obsessed so here's a Demon!Edwin AU:

Edwin still crawls out of hell around the same time Charles is dying, but really wasn't expecting to find a very much still living human

So, as to not scare him to bad (the guy's dying, and Edwin certainly isn't a cruel demon), Edwin takes human form

He's... seen those enough to get it right...right?

So Charles, in his dying moments, meets Edwin. It's just that his limbs are a little too long, his joints twist just a bit too far, eyes just a little too lifeless

Oh, and he looks like he's from the early 1900s. So Edwin lies and says his a ghost- which Charles believes, until he's a ghost himself.

In which Charles figures that Edwin definitely isn't a human, but it's not like he's doing any harm, is he?

At first, Edwin doesn't particularly care for this human- he's just another one off to his afterlife, and Edwin is far more concerned with getting used to this new body.

But this human is...kind of charming, actually. and when he decides to stay with Edwin? Well, Edwin has 30 years to fully figure out his human/ghost persona.

Onto more general stuff:

Edwin doesn't particularly care about mortal life- human beings are like little ants to him, they live, they die and go to their afterlife.

But to Charles? Other people, especially helping them, is important to him- and Charles is important to Edwin.

So Edwin tries. They form the Dead Boy Detectives, and the plot of the show moves on!

That 'We didn't matter. Him and I' scene is mainly about Charles, but he slots himself in there to not only because it somewhat reflects how demons treat each other in hell, but because Edwin is extremely distraught about how anyone could treat Charles the way most people in Charles' life did.

Overall, Edwin is very bad at being a demon, but only a little bad about being a human ghost.

[sonofhelios2005]

Dead Boy Detectives AU, Demons. This AU would have both Charles and Edwin as demons. It is actually possible for humans to become demons in DC so it's not entirely impossible.

In this, AU Charles and Edwin would both attend St. Hilarions in the 1900s and are each other's best friends. They are both outsiders amongst the students, Edwin, because his mannerisms and behaviour are considered effeminate and Charles for being half Indian during a time when racism was truly rampant. They became close because of this and protected each other. Simon is much more vicious here because Charles actively stops him from bullying Edwin and frequently embarrasses him in fights which he loses, Simon is also very irrationally jealous that Edwin hangs around Charles and instead of him making his behaviour worse. When Simon and his friends try to scare Edwin with the fake sacrifice, they beat Charles and take him, too. Both Edwin and Charles are tied up together on the floor. Simon and his friends summon Sa'al who kills them. He's genuinely regretful about taking Edwin and Charles on a technicality.

In hell Edwin eventually ended up in the Dollhouse being chased by the Doll Headed Spider Demon (DHSD), As he's chased by the DHSD Edwin learns the layout of hell in the hope he can evade his demon and find Charles. Charles eventually ends up with a demon of Wrath, who alternates between tearing Charles apart disguised as his father and forcing Charles to fight against other souls until they bloody puddles on the floor. Charles isn't in a position to run like Edwin, so he hardens himself through his torture so that when he meets Edwin again, he'll be strong enough to protect them both. It takes 30 years for them to be reunited. They then both escape deeper into hell because the DHSD and Charles Wrath demon expect them to head upwards towards limbo. The deeper they go into hell through the lower Circles, the more time distorts for with years passing for only months on Earth.

Charles and Edwin spend centuries wondering hell learning and fighting. Edwin learns magic from damned souls and from books taken from the libraries of demons. Charles learns to fight the various denizens of hell, the damned souls, demons, and other creatures that live in the various circles. He becomes an expert in many forms of combat and killing. Over these hundreds of years, both of them have changed, adapting to hell very well and becoming demons. Despite being demons, they still retain some morality and don't desire to cause random pointless destruction. One day, they encounter Sa'al again, who is impressed with their survival. in exchange for capturing a few souls who had escaped him, Sa'al offers to show the boys how to Earth. They agreed and soon found themselves on Earth in 1989, 70 years after they died.

On Earth they quickly find bodies to possess as their true forms are very horrific. Their first priority is to recreate their human bodies as they have no desire to possess random people. This takes them a few months but eventually they are able to possess their own 16 year old forms. They don't become detectives here instead they are deal out vengeance for victims whose tormentors go unpunished. They are rather violent in their methods completely willing to kill or inflict horrific punishments. Over the years they gain a very dangerous reputation but a respected one.

I'm not entirely sure what they would look like as demons, but certainly not human. I'm also not certain if they would embody anything particular as demons, perhaps vengeance? Time being weird in hell is from Supernatural, obviously.

This won't be an actual story as I have no writing ability. It's just my mad rambling.

[downbaddetective]

"I don't envy you, dude. That is one bad curse."

I'm super happy with how she came out! (I might make this a gif in the future if I ever get to it. Who knows?) I have made some of my 'casting' choices based on what makes me laugh, so I personally think it's funny to have Crystal Palace be the one moving the castle. She also just kinda fit, so I got really lucky, I guess, lol.

The first draft of the first few chapters of this au are being ironed out, the balance of what gets taken from where is proving to be an interesting challenge.