#and charles and edwin would absolutely love that

[perseidlion]

So I am a certified Catwin shipper. I have written a series that currently sits at 90k words that is casefic but also them getting together. But I am also a multishipper and have written some Payneland stories as well.

So I was understandably quite happy to hear we would've gotten Catwin in S2 because I love the dynamic and I love Lukas Gage and his performance.

But it has made me very sad to see how some people are genuinely upset by this news. I don't think it's justified, frankly. People are doing a lot of filling in the blanks, guessing, and supposition. Just because Catwin would have happened doesn't mean Payneland wouldn't have. Also, we have no idea the context in which all of this would have gone down.

It's important to remember that The Cat King also went on a journey and changed as a person throughout season 1 (as did all the characters.) He is not the same person who slapped the bracelet on Edwin when they first met and not just because he died and was resurrected.

He's matured, settled and grown. It's very possible this arc would have continued. Even if you hated TCK in S1, you may have come to love him in S2, or at least hate him less. Redemption arcs are great fodder for stories and I have no doubt the writers and Lukas would have done that kind of arc justice.

Or maybe Edwin would have had his hot girl summer and TCK was the same old lothario. In which case, he'd definitely be no threat to Payneland endgame. This scenario would make me sad for TCK because he does seem to have genuine feelings for Edwin beyond the sexual, but that was certainly a way they could have gone with it.

My point is, we're missing a lot of context. If you were to take plot points of S1 out of context as well, it would be very hard to envision the final product.

I mean:

Niko gets infested with dandelion sprites that nearly kill her. These sprites manifest with cartoon sparkles around her head and they feed on attention. When they get out of her brain, they're tiny snarky humans she keeps in a terrarium.

Jenny gets set up by Niko with a quiet librarian who turns out to be psycho killer stalker.

People jump off a lighthouse and get swallowed up by a giant angler fish who is siren-ing them to their death. Their ghosts linger, and this annoys the ghost who mans the lighthouse so he hires the boys. Charles yeets the Night Nurse into the fish, and inside she has a talk with an oddly calm and optimistic man. Oh, also the fish is called Angie and she didn't do any of this maliciously.

My point is, this show is camp. That's part of the charm of it. Camp plotlines sound absolutely wild when you distill them to one-liners. When you add in inciting incidents, context and character interactions, these turn from wacky scenarios into full, entertaining stories.

Please don't catastrophize based on crumbs! Whether we get a S2 or not, it's really not worth getting that worked up over. We can't draw conclusions based on what we've been given. It's all guesses, and it could have changed a million times before the episodes were finished.

Also please don't get upset at Catwin shippers for being happy about this. We just wanted to see more of Lukas and George interacting. Most of us are Payneland fans, too and understand that would be the most likely endgame.

[fairandfatalasfair]

Absolutely incredible takes in the tags on this post:

#combine this with the whole ‘Charles loves Edwin’s bitchiness bc it means he’s honest about his emotions’#edwin sees himself as ruthless and cold and unable to connect to people the ‘normal’ way#charles sees himself as always making the wrong decision destined to become his father no matter how hard he tries#but edwin calls charles out and fosters his empathy and intelligence and treats him kindly without bullshitting it#and charles sees edwin as brutally honest and a bit bitchy sure but also the smartest person he knows#they both find comfort in each other while also admiring one another#it’s the mutual respect and admiration that gets to me#like it would be so easy to have their bickering devolve into jabs at each others expense#but they care about each other and value one another too much for that#just. yeah#i’m so normal about them

(via @read-write-thrive)

#something something Edwin is the opposite of the Good Guys Charles has constantly been let down by#he’s not (intentionally) charming or really even all that nice#but he also isn’t selfish or manipulative or constantly trying to fit in snd get everyone to like him#he never hides his intentions#and he’s deeply kind to the point where he sits and reads to a dying boy knowing he’s risking getting caught and sent back to hell#and he never once makes Charles feel sorry for putting him in that position#or makes it seem like Charles owes him somehow like guys like Brad and Hunter would#so Edwin’s not a Nice guy but he’s definitely a Good guy and that’s what Charles loves ab him

(via @wr0temyway0ut)

I don't think Edwin particularly likes his own cold, self-interested analysis or his quick temper or his venomous tongue. I think he's accepted them as faults that he probably won't be able to change, but I don't think he's proud of them.

He tells the Cat King that he's ashamed of wanting to make a case for his innocence, to protect himself in the process of helping others, as though that would undo the good he does. He immediately calls himself out on his own vindictiveness when Despair tells him he was about to gloat over Simon's suffering.

I don't think he's particularly beating himself up for those things, but I do think he thinks of himself as selfish, and possibly cruel, and Charles as the opposite of those things.

Charles is the one who helps Edwin, and their clients, out of the goodness of his heart with no hope of reward. Charles is the one who had the option of heaven and chose Edwin instead. Charles is the one who never has a harsh word to say about anyone. When he says Charles is the best person he knows I think that's part of what he means: that he sees in Charles all the virtues, the kindness and selflessness, that he thinks he lacks.

(Charles, meanwhile, loves Edwin's bitchy side, and I think attached himself to Edwin at least in part because the kindness Edwin showed him in his last hours epitomises the good guy he desperately wants to be. But I don't know if Edwin fully believes that.)

I dunno I just think there's something fascinating in that - in Edwin's ruthlessness in holding himself to these impossible standards, and his view of Charles as someone who meets them.

[deadboydetectives-confessions]

I’ve seen people talking about the season 2 spoilers and I think the one thing that irks me the most are the people talking about Edwin being a “party gay.”

I mean no offence to the people who genuinely take to that interpretation of his character, but I just can’t get behind it.

So much queer culture is built around parties, and bars, and clubs, and performances (drag or no) - events with crowded spaces with lots of people and noise and lights. I get why it’s that way, but it makes connecting with other queer people more difficult for those of us who can’t, or won’t, participate in these functions.

Would I have liked to see Edwin, as someone just recently coming to terms with himself, explore these spaces? Absolutely. Would I have liked to see him immediately fit into them? Hell no.

He is still partially caught up in the etiquette of his time. He spent seventy years in Hell, and from what we’ve seen of it, it’s overcrowded and overwhelming. He still struggles with touching Crystal, even though he loves her. I think a big event with lots of people could easily trigger his experiences with Hell, or be very off-putting at the very least. I’d like to see him come to terms with that, and the fact that a lot of queer events are too much for him. I’d like to see that disconnect from the community, and how he struggles to accept that it’s just not his scene, because, as a queer person, it’s almost expected to be his scene. At the end, I’d like for him to find other queer spaces he can be himself in. Maybe he finds connection to the past in a queer museum, maybe a love interest (though I don’t really care about him getting a love interest besides Charles, I know some people do) in a queer bookshop he frequents, maybe it’s not even a queer space at all, but he finds people who he feels seen by, and develops quiet relationships with, where there’s no pressure to perform surrounded by alcohol and lights and loud noises.

Maybe, by the end, he slowly works his way up to gay bars and drag shows and genuinely enjoys them. First, though, I’d like to see a bit of struggle, and acknowledgments that the “party gay” side of the community isn’t for everyone.

Anyway, this might just be me projecting onto a character I like too much, but I think it would be nice to see an experience like that reflected onto DBDA, which has done so well with exploring queer themes already.

.

[skateboardtotheheart]

why compare and pit against each other the various versions of charles and edwin when the truth is that they would be absolutely Thrilled to meet the different version of themselves and discover that the two of them meet and become friends in Every Universe

[edwinisms]

i get such a sense of primal envy when looking at edwin’s clothes up close because god you can just tell his coat is real wool and made to last and not cheap flimsy mass produced garbage and auggagghhhh that was just STANDARD in his time. by no means am i saying i was #borninthewronggeneration because i like having vaccines and household appliances but. man. to have a personally-tailored coat like that that’d last for years and years……. and fabrics of fine thread-dense quality………. if only

[theaceace]

imagining a world in which Simon agreed to go with Edwin and try to escape hell, imagining Simon developing an immediate and very inadvisable crush on the cute guy that just threw a grenade at a demon and Edwin's reaction to that, imagining the reaction of Charles Overprotective Rowland when he finds out that the guy Edwin insists on dragging along with them is one of the guys that sacrificed him to a demon in the first place, imagining the Night Nurse's face when three dead boys pop back through the door instead of two

[a-bisexual-panicking]

question for the dead boy detectives fans:

would you prefer for Edwin and Charles' relationship to stay platonic or to become romantic?

i'm just genuinely curious

[landedinpayne]

absolutely obsessed with the intensity of love and care and attention in the way that charles is looking at edwin he’s responding to the confession. i have literally never seen a person look at someone so lovingly and carefully and now that i’ve seen it i will never recover i fear

[weaponizedducks]

in s2 charles should just keep comparing him and edwin to old tragic love stories he never finished. patroclus and achilles. enjolras and grantaire. hamlet and horatio. quinn fabray and rachel berry. keith kogane and lance mcclain. it just goes on and on and every single time the room goes silent and everyone just slowly stares at him

[asexualenjolras]

We all know that it's canon that Edwin Payne reads (and loves) a lot of Arthur Conan Doyle's books, and we know it's likely that he's a fan of the Sherlock Holmes stories.

But imagine him being introduced to BBC Sherlock by Niko or Crystal and seeing an autistic detective that struggles with communication and empathy, wears formal clothing and doesn't like many people beside his best friend ... who he's in love with.

I think he'd combust. Let that Edwardian ghost find out what Johnlock is.

(Niko would absolutely introduce him to Johnlock fanfics)

[twilight-zoned-out]

Edwin Payne is a dweeb who gives terrible weak comebacks, who can be unnecessarily petty, or overly smug, who is inordinately pleased with himself when wearing detective gear and using scientific gear, the thought never crossing his mind that he might not look as cool as he thinks he does, who carries a continual and utter absolute delight at acting like the characters he loved to read about, who was enthralled by his magazine detective and adventure stories and who wears a similar smile when he sits on the bed watching Scooby Doo with Niko, 'these detectives are terribly clever,' whose board game collection is mostly variations of Clue, who requires payment (because any good detective is worth some kind of payment) but whose idea of payment is whatever interesting object the client offers to add to his collection, who has encyclopedic intelligence he clearly dedicated hours to learning, who has a particular way of acting and speaking like everything is of vital importance, because to him, it is.

[deconstructthesoup]

If I had a nickel for every time I was obsessed with a piece of media that featured a classy little detective boy with less-than-optimal people skills who was previously bullied by a closeted gay guy, is an academic workaholic who presents himself as very lawful but is absolutely a badass in his own right, is severely queer and has a lot of angst and character growth about it, has his internalized anxieties about being queer manifest in a freaky doll monster who haunts his nightmares even after he's escaped from it, has been to Hell and had a really good bonding experience with his chaotic bisexual punk friend whilst in Hell, and has a weirdly attractive and morally corrupt cat person as their primary character arc antagonist and instigator, I would have two nickles

Which isn't a lot

BUT IT'S VERY FUCKING WEIRD THAT IT HAPPENED TWICE!

[dont-offend-the-bees]

The Kind of Light That Means Just Love (When My Baby Smiles at Me)

Had a prompt in writing group today and felt moved to write a sweet little Charles/Edwin fic! 1.4k, no warnings ^_^

Also readable on Ao3 (for registered users only - sorry, it's a last-ditch flimsy anti-AI scraping measure!)

~

Click!

Edwin blinked, partly in surprise – partly to dislodge the blots in his vision left behind by the sudden, rapid flash of white light that had danced across the pages of his book. He looked up to find the culprit grinning at him from across the room.

“Charles,” Edwin admonished, gently closing his book with a finger tucked between the pages to hold his place. “I have asked you to stop fooling around with that contraption and get some work done.”

“I have been!” Charles defended, gesturing broadly at the higgledy-piggledy array of items around him. Evidently, taking stock of the contents of his bag of tricks was an expansive task. “Taking a break.” He snatched the small square of paper from the Polaroid camera and began to shake it with abandon.

Edwin rolled his eyes. Ever since they’d acquired that camera as payment for a job ‘well jobbed’, Charles had scarcely put it down. Edwin, admittedly, had been intrigued by it at the start – it was certainly a testament to how far photographic technology had advanced since his own life and subsequent death. It was quite fascinating; seeing the slow, hulking monstrosities he’d been forced to sit rigidly still in front of for aeons in his youth, compressed into such a portable and efficient form. But after a few days of study, digging around in its component parts, comparing its output to that of sepia-tinted newspaper clippings from his day – as well as the baffling digital displays on Niko’s portable telephone – the novelty had worn off, and he’d turned his attention to more pressing matters.

But Charles remained enamoured. He’d had the thing slung round his neck for at least a week, and showed no signs of taking it off anytime soon.

The amateur photographer in question grinned infectiously, as the chemicals on the paper settled. “Ah, yeah. That’s a good one, that.”

He held it up proudly, and Edwin was treated to a lovingly framed image of the chair in which he sat, with an open book floating above it.

“I hardly see why you bother,” said Edwin, crossing his legs the other way and letting the book fall open on his knee. “Neither of us show up in photographs. I highly doubt that’s going to change with repeated exposures.” And a good thing, too, as Edwin hadn’t consented to be photographed in just his rolled-up shirtsleeves. His states of improper dress were quite strictly reserved for quiet, studious evenings in the privacy of their rooms; unlike Charles, he had standards with regard to flashing every dip and plane God gave him in mixed company.

“Well. Thought that counts, innit?” Charles bounced to his feet and over to the secondary cork board that had recently been added to the office. Unlike the first, which was full of case notes and theories, this one was exclusively populated by Charles’ photographic whims. The only faces that appeared were those of their living friends – Crystal, Niko, even one snap of Jenny wearing stiff shoulders and a reluctant grimace while Niko hugged her from the side.

Charles and Edwin featured only in the notable absences. Empty chairs, floating objects, the spaces between their friends in the group shots. The only one in which they were ‘visible’, by a loose definition of the word, was the one where Charles had insisted they cut eye holes out of white sheets and drape them over their heads. “Like Beetlejuice!” He’d said; and he’d sounded so excited that Edwin hadn’t even asked him why on earth one would juice a beetle, or what it had to do with playing dress-up.

The new photo found its home amongst a cluster of similar absent Edwins – a floating magnifying glass, an empty desk, a hand of Cluedo cards with no holder. “Brills,” Charles grinned, stepping back and crossing his arms to admire his collection.

“I really don’t see the point of this exercise,” said Edwin. “Who’d even know that’s a picture of someone?”

“I know, don’t I? I can look at these and be like –“ he pointed at the floating magnifying glass image – “That’s the time Edwin got all fussy about Niko’s rent contract ‘cause he thought her landlord was pulling a fast one. And this –“ his finger moved to the Cluedo cards – “This is the time Edwin knew what the answer was for forty bloody minutes, but he held off on making his accusation because he wanted to watch me go round and round in circles, like a knob. See what I mean?”

“Is your point that you keep these as evidence for blackmail?” Edwin asked.

“No, point is, I remember.” Charles tapped his forehead. “Got it all in here. Don’t need a bloody photo to remind me what you look like, do I? Seen you every day for the last thirty years.” He cast Edwin a flippant smile, soft round the edges like the warm browns of his hooded eyes. “Know your face better than I know my own.”

Edwin ducked his head, tamping down on the peculiar feeling in his face and stomach. Like an abrupt upset of the humours – an anomaly of the ectoplasm. At least, that’s how he would’ve characterised it some months or years ago. Now, he was more than painfully aware that it was probably more akin to the spectral equivalent of… blushing. Lord help him.

“Then why take the photographs at all?” Edwin pressed, setting his book aside and giving Charles his full attention. He winced at the sharp tone of his own voice. It was quite unintentional – he had no desire to judge, only to understand.

Fortunately, Charles knew his voice as well as his face. He shrugged, unoffended, eyes roving over his collection. “We’re still here, ain’t we? Not alive, but… we should have memories too, yeah?” He reached out, twitching the corner of a photo. One of Edwin – or the absence of him. Him and Niko, that is. Edwin remembered it well; remembered Niko perching birdlike on the arm of his chair, hugging his arm, nudging her head against his and beaming for the camera. She’d insisted he pose his fingers alongside hers, although in the end result of course only hers were visible. One half of a broken heart.

“Shouldn’t just be for the living, should it?” said Charles, smiling that strange, sad little smile of his at the picture. The one he was so careful not to let people see. “Making new memories to keep.”

Edwin rose, stepping carefully over Charles’ assorted chaos to join him at the board; and Charles watched his advance with that easy, open curiosity on his face. When Edwin’s hands clasped around the camera strap, Charles bowed his head and let him take the device without a fight.

Sometimes, his trust felt as real and visceral in Edwin’s hands as a living, beating heart. But now wasn’t the time for poetics.

Quickly reacquainting himself with the various switches, Edwin held the viewfinder to his eye, framed his shot, and took the snap. Charles did a remarkably good job at not flinching with the flash – but Edwin supposed this style of photography had been more commonplace in his lifetime. He just stood and watched, bemused, as Edwin retrieved the photograph and gave it three short, sharp shakes.

When the image of their photo board revealed itself, not a Charles to be seen despite the fact the camera had been pointed squarely at him, Edwin cocked his head and contemplated it. He had to concede that Charles had a point; though there was no Charles in the photo, Edwin could easily fill in the gaps himself. How could he not? He’d watched the white light paint Charles’ familiar, beloved features; highlighting the amused twitch of his lip, the fond warmth in his eyes. The glint of his gold chain against his white vest, cutting stark across the warm tones of his skin. The confused acceptance with which he’d stood perfectly calmly, waiting for Edwin’s motives to reveal themselves.

Edwin stepped up to the board and held out his hand. Wordlessly, Charles dropped a drawing pin into his palm.

“This,” said Edwin, glancing sidelong at Charles as he carefully pinned the photo up beside the silly shot of the two of them in their butchered bedsheets. “Is the time Charles made a surprising amount of sense; whilst talking utter nonsense.”

Charles smiled, brighter than a camera flash; the after-image of which Edwin would be carrying on the backs of his eyes for days to come.

~

Hope you liked it! Comments and reblogs are super duper appreciated! ^_^ 💛

I have no idea if I'm gonna write/post more fic for these guys, tbh my interest is relatively casual atm and my time/concentration is limited, plus at any given moment I may be lured in by the siren call of horror movie fic on my alt account. But they're very sweet and I have the odd plot bunny so we'll see!

[skateboardtotheheart]

there is just something about the difference between edwin's love interests and having the cat king's reaction to edwin in hell being "i'll be waiting when he gets back" vs charles "no version of this where i don't come get you" rowland convincing a powerful trans-dimensional being to open a door to hell just so he could get him back

i am insane

[edwinisms]

banging my head against the wall every time I see someone reblogging a post of mine with tags mentioning the ‘unrequited confession’. we have been OVER this it is NOT a case of unrequited romantic love it is completely canonically up in the air as a possibility. listen to jayden revri himself and be enlightened i am begging you

[diamondsunbursts-and-marblehalls]

dead boy detectives is the perfect cure for a broken heart