Ghost or Jenn, 30s, she/they. This blog is mostly Dead Boy Detectives and Young Sherlock, a little Witcher, a little Heated Rivalry, and a little whatever I feel like. I'm ghostinthelibrary on AO3. Asks and prompts open. Header image by alterego77!
You can find me here on AO3 or on Discord at ghostinthelibrary. Anyone who would like to translate, remix, podfic, etc. my work has blanket permission. Just please credit me and send me a link so I can flail happily about it. I do not give permission for my work to be crossposted to Wattpad, etc., or rated on Goodreads. I do not give permission for my work to be fed to any AI programs such as ChatGPT, even if you don’t intend to publish the results.
WIPs
Meaner than my demons: Crystal & Edwin, M, 1/4 chapters, 7K+ words. During what should be a routine transfer of a demonic artifact, Crystal learns that her boyfriend and partner, David, has been possessed by a demon for years and now wants to use the tablet to open a portal to Hell. On the run with her professional nemesis, Edwin Payne, Crystal has to reevaluate everything she thought she knew.
be my mirror, my sword and shield: Ghostcat, E, 18/28 chapters, 196K+ words. Prince Edwin Payne of Hilarion, accompanied by his first knight and childhood best friend, Sir Charles Rowland, travels to the kingdom of Townsend to secure the peace treaty between the two nations. Upon arrival, he is told that he is to be wed to the infamous Cat King, Thomas Kitt of Catting, the man who notoriously betrayed his kingdom to pledge his loyalty to the Witch Queen, Esther Finch.
However, Edwin and Charles quickly learn that not all is as it seems in Townsend, especially when it comes to the Cat King. In fact, if any of them plan to survive this marriage unscathed, they must all learn to trust one another — both with their lives and with their hearts.
A collaboration with ObsessedWithFandom and artemisadore.
Our Get-Along Potion: Ghostcat with a Catland focus, E, 2/3 chapters, 18K+ words. When the Dead Boy Detectives are targeted by a malicious sorcerer, Charles and the Cat King are hit with a potion that keeps them stuck within arms’ reach of each other. For how long? No one knows. Now the Cat King is around all the time—on cases, in the office, during movie nights with Crystal and Niko—and Charles thinks he might go mad. Because he hates the guy. Definitely not because he’s starting to realize how much he might not hate him.
(Completed works and fics that are coming soon below the cut!)
Series
Undead Boys Detectives: Payneland with background Cryland, 5/? installments complete. Charles and Edwin return from Hell as living boys and have to deal with the consequences while hunting a dangerous spirit and dealing with their burgeoning feelings for each other.
Ministry of Supernatural Investigations: Payneland with eventual Palasaki, 6/? installments complete. An AU where Edwin and Charles are partners working for an agency that solves supernatural crimes and are pining like crazy for each other.
A Case for the Dead Girl Detectives: Palasaki and Payneland, 2/2 installments complete. A role reversal AU featuring Niko and Crystal as ghost detectives, Charles as a psychic, and Edwin as a student at Gray Wake who gets pulled into their orbit.
Cricket Bat Heart: Payneland, 2/? installments complete. An AU inspired by the book Swordheart by T. Kingfisher, where Charles has been bound to a magic cricket bat (that used to be a sword) for centuries when it falls into Edwin's hands.
Superhero Charles AU: Payneland w/ background Palasaki, 3/3 installments complete. An AU where Charles is a vigilante known as the Ghost and Edwin is the journalist oblivious to the fact that his best friend and the man who has saved his life multiple times are one and the same.
Standalones
Say her name like an elegy: Edwin & Crystal, T, 2K words. 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.
Like the slumber that creeps to me: Payneland, T, 13K words. While on a case, Charles falls victim to a cursed necklace that causes everyone who touches it to sicken and die. While his friends frantically search for a way to break the curse, a weakening Charles has plenty of time to think about his feelings for his best mate.
I will love you (I'll really love you): Payneland, T, 5K words. Five times Charles tries to tell Edwin that he's in love with him and one time he succeeds.
I Am Flesh And I Am Bone (I've Got Fire In My Soul): Payneland w/ background Palasaki, M, 11K. On Halloween, when the veil is thinnest between the living and the dead, ghosts are at their most corporeal—and their most vulnerable. When Charles, Crystal, and Niko go to a masquerade and walk into terrible danger, Edwin has no choice but to leave the safety of their warded office to save them.
Beneath the winter snow: Pre-Payneland, T, 2K. In the days before they leave St. Hilarion's and set out to start the Dead Boy Detective Agency, Edwin and Charles are just two boys playing in the snow.
it's hard to see me (at least you tried): Pre-Payneland, M, 10K. Charles and Edwin have been the Dead Boy Detectives for over a year, tracking down lost items and estranged loved ones, when they take on a new case that takes a terrifying turn. When an overwhelmed Edwin drives Charles away—possibly forever—with a thoughtless comment, he finds himself alone and in the kind of peril he thought he had left behind in Hell.
An Acquired Taste: Payneland, T, 3K. When Edwin ducks into a coffee shop to avoid an awkward run in with his ex-boyfriend, he meets Charles, a charming barista with a penchant for terrible latte art. Edwin can’t stand coffee, but that doesn’t stop him from returning again and again.
young blood (never get chained): Payneland with background Palasaki, E, 93K words. When half-demon university student Charles saves one of his classmates, Edwin, from being sacrificed to a demon, he inadvertently binds their souls together and makes a powerful enemy in Hell.
When I'm Gone (I'll Carry You Home): Gen, M, 22K. When Crystal begs Lilith to give her more time with Niko, the goddess grants her wish—by sending Crystal back to the moment before the Tongue & Tail explodes. Desperate to save her friends, Crystal lives through Esther’s attack again and again, trying to get all of them out unscathed.
Half in the Grave: Payneland, M, 77K words. An Edwin who returned from Hell mostly alive and a Charles who survived his brush with death in 1989 and went on to become an assistant at Tragic Mick's must work together to solve a string of murders in 1999.
Wedding Vows and Other Lies: Payneland, E, 109K words. When Edwin needs to get married in order to inherit his eccentric great-uncle's fortune, Charles naturally volunteers. After all, he'd do anything to help out his best mate. It'd be the perfect solution, if only Edwin weren't already madly in love with him. Updates weekly on Sundays.
heaven need a sinner (you can't raise hell with a saint): Payneland, E, 6K words. When Charles, a half-demon, interrupts one of his classmates being sacrificed to a demon, he only has a matter of minutes to stop Sa’al from claiming Edwin’s soul. The ritual calls for a virgin sacrifice, so Charles can only think of one solution: make sure Edwin isn’t a virgin by the time Sa’al arrives for his prize.
(not) so crazy in love: Crystal & Edwin, Payneland, and Palasaki, T, 6K words. When Charles and Niko are caught up in a sorcerer’s love spell, Crystal and Edwin have to save them. But in order to fit in with the besotted couples surrounding them, they need to pretend to be madly in love while they do it. After this, breaking the spell is going to be easy.
A Little Push: Payneland, T, 6K words. After watching Charles react with jealousy to a client flirting with Edwin, Niko gets a brilliant idea: she and Edwin will pretend to date. That will definitely make Charles realize his feelings for Edwin, right?
Of Mistletoe and Meddling: Payneland, T, 5K words. The Dead Boy Detective Agency—including Crystal, Niko, and Jenny—are invited to the Lost and Found Department’s annual solstice party. Inexplicably, Edwin finds himself stalked by mistletoe.
Mandatory Bonding: Night Nurse & Edwin, T, 6K words. When Night Nurse and Edwin are captured by a demon that plans to snuff them out of existence, it's hard to tell what's the bigger inconvenience: imminent annihilation or being locked in a warded cell together.
You can find a list of my Witcher fic here or my single Last Binding fic here.
"The Back of Pride Night", Shane Hollander, Ilya Rozanov, Scott Hunter [Hudson Williams, Connor Storrie, Francois Arnaud] from Heated Rivalry, the bonus rear cover from the [REDACTED] zine
Mar 2026
I messed up a few things with this one, mostly because it was going to have a big title text over the top of it. Shane and Scott's hands on Ilya's back look horrible (again, they weren't actually meant to be visible), and while I'm tempted to go in and change it, I'm not going to because hey, guess what? People make mistakes too. The little rainbow bit was a colour swatch from another part of the image, and I messed up the layers when I was overlaying it. If you know how hard it is to differentiate between 700+ colour layers, you'll understand my plight right now.
(Also, the first time I did this, I spelled both "Rozanov" and "Hollander" wrong and had to argue with my own brain even after I fixed it because I'd stared at it for so long they'd ceased to be words)
Please do not repost my work to other sites without permission
had another reread of @laiqualaurelote’s absolutely lovely season of mists (which, if you’ve not read, is the autumnal payneland fic of all time), so of course that means more edwin fanart 🧡
Unbury Your Gays: A Dead Gay Detectives Server Pride Zine 💀🌈
Happy Pride Month from the DGD server! Unbury Your Gays: A Dead Gay Detectives Server Pride Zine will be released on June 20, 2026!
The DGD Zine is a free digital DBDA fan zine featuring exclusive art and writing from Dead Gay Detectives server members. The zine, with the theme "colors of pride," will be made public as a downloadable PDF in June 2026. For more information, follow @dead-gay-detectives!
In the background of the video clip, posted by a fan at the hotel breakfast just before Christmas 2018, Shane Hollander is talking on the phone. He looks tired but he's smiling, pushing scrambled eggs around his plate with a fork. "I saw, baby," he says. "No, definitely, no way that was slashing, I'm with you. You'll get them next time, though. Beautiful goal you got in the first, that was so fucking sexy. I can't wait to see you tomorrow. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Love you."
Which leads to a bit of an uproar because omg Shane Hollander has a girlfriend?? who plays hockey???? that's so on brand for him like. okay who was playing last night and got a goal in the first period, we need to find the woman who has Shane Hollander crooning into his phone like a lovestruck teenager. and the consensus lands on an unsuspecting and entirely unrelated CWHL forward who has never even been in the same city as Shane but the Internet is running with the story and there's journalists harassing her and Shane has to get his agent to call her agent so he can apologise for this mess and she's like, dude, I know it's not your fault, but Shane feels so fucking bad about it, you know?
And unfortunately it doesn't really let up as quickly as they thought because it's right before Christmas and isn't this a great story, fucking Hallmark movie shit, so a very unimpressed Leila (her name is Leila) has to look a reporter in the eye after her team just played a really good fucking game of hockey and everybody wants to talk to her about some fucking guy, you know? so she looks him in the eye and says, no, I am not dating Shane Hollander, I have never dated Shane Hollander, I will never date Shane Hollander, I am literally a lesbian. I have a whole-ass girlfriend. She plays for the Blades.
And Shane Hollander is so consumed by jealousy he almost chokes.
Ahhhh it brings me so much joy that you have an interest in my Port Townsend AU. here is a bit of it!
~
“Nah, mate. Just…” Charles squinted. He couldn't be this thick, could he? “Did you have glasses on earlier? Because I feel like I would've noticed."
Edwin pushed the frames up his nose. “No, I didn't. I don't wear them often, but the brackish water did a number on my contact lenses. And before you comment, yes, I know they're large. I've been meaning to get a more subtle pair."
“I think they look aces,” Charles said. “I mean, they're kind of stylish, aren’t they? Girls at school wear big glasses all the time.”
He’d meant it as a compliment. Glasses were hot. When Maren Lowell came to class with a new pair of readers last week, he'd almost asked her out on the spot—and he didn't even like Maren. But Edwin curled in on himself, arms crossed.
“I'm not a girl, Charles.”
Charles’s stomach swooped. “I know. I didn’t mean—”
Edwin waved his hand. “Never mind. You're not first to draw such a comparison, and I'm sure you won't be the last. Now, can we focus? There's a case that needs our attention."
