alexwilltellyouthings - Tumblr blog

[alexwilltellyouthings]

Ok this is bothering me a lot

I don't like Catwin at all but I've been seeing the debate on this and I feel like some people are ANNOYINGLY WRONG

First of all, the Cat King IS problematic, why would anyone say he's not? He is actively trying to coerce Edwin into sex, I mean?????

But also he's not a terrible awful person because of it. Yes this sounds crazy doesn't it. Almost like it's a nuanced character with multiple levels of writing behind.

He's an antagonist who does not go too far into his wrongdoings and therefore doesn't turn into a whole ass villain, even though the wrongdoings are very much there.

He changes his tactics over the season. He treats Edwin differently and ends up caring for him. He acts in ways that are selfish and also in ways that aren't. He's complex.

Characters, especially fantasy characters, don't have to follow the same moral rules as us. Enjoying characters that are morally flawed is just part of being a fan sometimes.

So, bottom line: its okay to recognize a character or s ship is inherently problematic and STILL SHIP IT. Doesn't make you a bad person. Shouldn't give anyone the right to say you're a bad person.

Honestly y'all seem very new to fandom culture so I hope you realize soon that it's really just about having fun. So have fun and shut up thank you 💜

[alexwilltellyouthings]

GUYS????

WHAT DID WE NOT GET??? I've been thinking about this for 15 minutes and have thoughts already but I need y'all to freak out a little bit with me

(also the rest of that interview??? esther? surprise cameo? more endless? OH THEY'LL FEED SO MUCH)

[alexwilltellyouthings]

You know what really gets me in Dead Boy Detectives queer rep???

It's that it's both endearing and honest and it balances those things beautifully!

You know how there are some shows in which being queer is a given and there's no LGBTphobia at all? I love it. It feels like the safe space I have within my friends and found family.

And then there are stories where the real world happens and it's important, because we're still very much fighting, and media should also show that.

But dead boy detectives!! Has!! Both!!

Not one person (that matters) in Port Townsend has a problem with queerness, no one bats an eye at it, presumably everyone is queer actually. And yet, one of the main characters was murdered in a hate crime for being gay.

They have Monty and the Cat King and Jenny all being unapologetically queer, and they also have a heartfelt conversation about punishing yourself for being who you are while in HELL.

Honestly, I don't remember any other show doing it like this.

[alexwilltellyouthings]

There's one thing about the scene where Charles beats up the night nurse that I think says a lot about his anger.

He was raging, yes, but he wasn't out of his mind-blind-with-rage. And you can see that in the way he decides to proceed.

He picks the musical sphere thingy and *wounds it up* before driving the night nurse to fall. He used her as bait and closed the case, when he could have just killed her without considering any of that.

What does that make of him? Dangerous, for sure, to the people that should not have messed with him. But also someone who sees the world around him even in his darkest moments and that is so, so important, even if it can go in a lot of different directions.

It also makes him a badass. A very hot badass

[alexwilltellyouthings]

i think they should release a dead boy detectives version of clue. for the brand of course

[alexwilltellyouthings]

wips.......

[alexwilltellyouthings]

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

[alexwilltellyouthings]

[alexwilltellyouthings]

Something I haven’t seen discussed much (perhaps I’ve just missed where it’s being talked about) is that Edwin’s escape from hell must have been an iterative process, and what survival instinct and strength of hope it took to achieve it.

At least 3 different entities “owned” him while he was down there, the baby doll spider had him for decades but seems not to have had him the whole time - but it chased them right to the door of Hell when he and Charles escaped together the second time.

He must have been back and forth and back and forth and back and forth. He would have had to figure out the layers of hell and the path from scratch. He would have taken wrong turns, suffered the torments. From his notes, he seems to have ended up in Avarice at least once. I’m pretty certain he’s the one who created that hidden hole in the wall. I wonder how many years it took him to do that. I wonder if he only got the chance to start after the spider owned him because it doesn’t seem sapient in the same way the demons did.

He figured out the hard way why not to ring that bell. I wonder how many times he made it to the Lobby before he was caught, and how many times he only got as far as gluttony or lower down. I wonder if he made it halfway up the staircase before and was dragged back, which is why he made Charles stop to talk when he did.

Maybe he made it to the lobby the 56th, 57th, 58th and 61st attempt, but not the ones in between. Maybe he despaired when he failed at it twice in a row. I wonder, after the first years of being nothing but a frightened teenager in a terrifying place, how many chunks of years he lost in the middle to defeat and hopelessness before deciding to try yet again. No wonder Esther wants to eat his soul so bad, you don’t find strength like that every day

[alexwilltellyouthings]

You know when Edwin is with Despair and he says he doesn't have his books, and Despair says the room where Simon is has a lot of books and Edwin says yes, but not *his* books?

There's something there that has been scratching at my brain for weeks but I CAN'T figure out what it is. Does anyone have any thoughts on this scene?

[alexwilltellyouthings]

[alexwilltellyouthings]

I don’t know what these people are on about, I fully support Charles beating the Night Nurse and feeding her to the sea monster

[alexwilltellyouthings]

When the Cat King transformed into Monty, he was being playful, testing the waters and getting a gasp out of Edwin.

When he turned into Charles, however. He wasn't joking. He didn't even speak, which would tarnish the illusion.

I fully believe he would go as far as Edwin allowed. Fucking insane, that cat

[alexwilltellyouthings]

hii idk if this will make any sense but i think charles has to be the one who taught edwin all about the world during the 70 years he missed. i think subverting the nerd/smartass role edwin often plays could be cool in any way you want to view it (its been some shitty belligerent years but on the other hand gay people have rights now) IDK also it’d be a good contestan for edwin’s first *oh* moment with charles, a chance for hik to view the world through his eyes

Yessssssss. Into this. Let's have a ficlet about it:

---

“You seem perfectly polite to me.”

Charles looks up from the stack of vintage comics he’s found in the attic they’ve settled on haunting for the time being, raising an eyebrow.

From his place by the window, Edwin nods to… ah.

“Came with the jacket,” Charles explains, breaking into a smile at the memory. “One time I’d run away from home, see, but I hadn’t stopped to dress for the weather. Bloke who gave it to me was down from Manchester for a gig. Told me to hang onto it and that it was as old as I was. See, Rude Boys are… okay, so, after the war, right—”

“The Great War?” Edwin asks.

Charles flinches. Right. Seventy years of Hell.

“The second world war,” he says softly.

Edwin’s eyes widen. “There were two?”

“Yeah, second one was… bad. Not that the first one wasn’t, mind, but the second one was proper brutal. Darkest days of humanity stuff. Just about half of London flattened, they reckon seventy-five million people died. It was… bad.”

Edwin nods, mouth hanging open.

“Anyway,” Charles says, scared of putting Edwin off sticking around if he lets on too much about how miserable the century’s been so far.

He reckons they’re mates already, real mates, but he doesn’t want to be such a downer so early that Edwin gets sick of him. They’ve only known each other three days, and a lot of that time has been spent running, hiding, and afraid. He wants Edwin to actually enjoy spending time with him.

“After the war, there was what’s called the Windrush Generation, when people from all over the British Empire moved here to start new lives,” he explains, fiddling with the edge of his jacket. “Mum was one of them. But loads of people from the West Indies, too, and especially Jamaica. Long story short, Rude Boys were a kind of subculture in the ’70s. Troublemakers, sometimes,” Charles adds, grinning. “But for a good cause. Like me. Which is exactly what Manny said when he gave me his jacket. He was all right.”

Edwin nods the nod of a person digesting a lot of new information. “I see. I’ve… missed rather a lot, haven’t I?”

Charles shrugs. “Nothing you can’t swot up on. I didn’t actually live through most of that.”

“No, but you were obviously paying attention in your history classes,” Edwin says. Something’s changed about the way he’s looking at Charles.

Whatever it is, Charles decides he likes it. Edwin’s looking at him like it’s good he’s here. Which is more than most people ever have.

“You’ll have to tell me more,” Edwin declares. “I will have to rely on you for the knowledge of everything I missed.”

Charles laughs. “Unlucky.”

“No, I don’t think so,” Edwin says. “You seem very reliable so far.”

Charles looks back at the stack of comics. He’s currently learning that ghosts can still blush. He can’t feel anything external, but he can definitely feel his ears burning. Just as well it’s dark in here and he’s not got the most obvious blush in the world.

He wants to be Edwin’s friend so badly. A real friend, not just a mate to knock about with. Not that he doesn’t want that, too. Just that he wants more. A best mate.

He’s never had one, but Edwin could be it. Is it, really, already.

“What made you run away from home?” Edwin asks.

Cold pours down Charles’ back, icy as a handful of snow being stuffed down his collar.

He forces himself to shrug as casually as he can. “Normal kid stuff. Everyone runs away from home sometime.”

“True,” Edwin agrees. Charles almost falls through the floor with relief.

He wants to be fun. Edwin doesn’t need to know any of the unfun bits.

Not yet, anyway. There’ll be time. They’ve got, as far as Charles knows, forever.

He glances over at Edwin out of the corner of his eye, and finds him looking out the window again.

Right now, forever doesn’t sound half bad.

[alexwilltellyouthings]

[alexwilltellyouthings]

More details 💕

[alexwilltellyouthings]

brb I need to. cry.