#and i'm not just saying that because of esther's snake i'm saying that because it's the sign that doesn't fit in with the rest of the zodia

[deconstructthesoup]

Y'know, for all his talk about astrology, we never found out what Monty's sign was

[pippin-katz]

Iron Burns

Something I'm super curious about is just how badly iron hurts when a ghost touches it. I posted a little ramble about Charles being chained and unable to help Edwin while she tortured him, and how we didn't get a reaction shot of him hearing Edwin screaming. And something clicked in my brain. I will preface this by saying that I can't prove anything, and could very well be completely wrong. This is just a possible explanation/option.

This was supposed to be relatively short, and that did not happen lmfao Here's your long post warning 😂

Charles VS Iron

This is Charles we are talking about. He is fiercely protective of Edwin, and let's be honest, can get physically violent when provoked. He was sitting there, listening to Esther, until she specifically brought up rescuing Edwin from her plans. It's only when she says that that he starts moving, and he very obviously intended to attack her.

It confirms in Charles' head that there is a specific reason why Edwin is separated from him, and that is bad. Very bad. He possessed Esther to get them out of their first fight with her; she very nearly succeeded in getting them eaten by that Forest Elemental. She is seriously dangerous, and he knows it. Whatever she has planned for Edwin, Charles knows it's vicious and vile.

That thought spurs him to physically attack Esther, without hesitation. Based on the fact that his hands are open, Charles was going to grab her rather than hit her, and, based on her proximity to him, by the throat. That is the only effective attack from his position I can think of; it's the only way he can completely incapacitate.

Logical reasoning aside, choking someone is a pretty common violent anger response. It's probably because it's the easiest way to kill someone with your bare hands; in shows, many characters use a weapon to hurt their adversaries. It's the bullet, the blade, the bat, or whatever that actually hurts them, makes contact with them. It feels different when it's literally you hurting them. Your hands are weapons on their own if you know how to use them. Ex: Vi from Arcane has boxing as her go-to fighting style.

Okay, I went on a bit of tangent there, but my point is that Charles is fucking pissed. This is Charles, who fears being like his father, wanting to hurt Esther.

Violence is the last resort for all of their cases and situations. Charles will take out his cricket bat if he senses danger, but it's more of an intimidation tactic than a true threat. Charles does not actually attack anyone with the cricket bat who is not already an established threat. He takes it out during their first encounter with Esther, when they meet the Cat King, in the Devlin House, when the Night Nurse first shows up, in the forest against David, and against the snake. Most of those encounters are not a matter of negotiation; the first fight with Esther, the Devlin House, David, and the snake were all situations where "talking it out" was not an option, so pulling out the cricket bat to intimidate them would have been pointless. When he takes the bat out in those cases, he's already fully intending to use it. When he takes it out against the Cat King and the Night Nurse, he waits. He holds it up to send a message. It says, "Don't make me hurt you, because I will if I have to."

Charles doesn't want to hurt people, and usually tries his best to find another solution; even when we see him having to fight someone, a military veteran no less, he apologizes and only defends against him because he knows this is a ghost who's cursed, and doesn't deserve it, despite his violent behavior. They attempt to talk the Night Nurse out of taking them for several minutes before she attacks him. She attacks him mentally and emotionally in a way the others don't see and can't fathom; you could even argue that it is a physical attack as well because she makes him relive being beaten by his father and stoned by his friends. The Night Nurse does not hit him, but she hurts him, hurts him bad. When Charles hits her with that music box, despite what the others see, he's retaliating, not initiating. Because again, Charles wants to find another solution first.

But with Esther? He is so far passed that. He is so furious that he wants to attack her. He wants to hurt her. And that is before she starts torturing Edwin.

When he heard Edwin screaming, do you realize just how angry Charles would have been? I can't comprehend how badly he would've wanted to break free and fuck Esther up for what she did. Charles is genuinely intimidating when he's angry; he would have been absolutely terrifying.

Tiny Note: this is the best shot of Charles in the whole show. Let my boy beat the shit out of someone without getting judged for it, please! Let him go apeshit, please!! 🙏🏻

I struggle to believe that anything would have stopped him from getting to Edwin in that state, iron collar be damned.

But Charles doesn't. He doesn't break free. He tries, and continues to fail repeatedly. Almost every movement makes the collar burn him.

The thought I had was how little Charles would care about his own safety/pain if it meant saving Edwin. This boy willingly enters and traverses Hell itself for him. He tells the Night Nurse that if he goes, he can either succeed in bringing Edwin back, or get stuck in Hell so she knows where they are. Charles admits that he would rather be stuck in Hell with Edwin than spend another second without him. When Crystal asks, "What if something happens to you?", he has no response. He honestly does not care if something happens to him, but he doesn't want to admit that to Crystal's face cause that would hurt her, so he refuses to answer.

Getting hurt does not matter to him, so just how painful was that iron that Charles, at his angriest, and in his most desperate state, could not break out?

We see him pulling on the chain and struggling, but he's moving as little as possible because he's trying that hard not to touch the collar. He lets go because it hurts too much. Even when his bag is just out of reach, which is the solution to all of his struggles, he can't bear the burning long enough to get his foot under the strap.

Based on all of that, my brain told me this: the iron burning was so painful that Charles could not endure it long enough to escape, even in his angriest and desperate state, listening to the most important person in his world screaming in a way he has never heard before, and pleading for Esther to stop hurting him.

Like, that sounds crazy to me. Seeing how angry he got at the Night Nurse, and the intensity of his rage in that scene makes me wonder what was going through his head while chained up.

Edwin VS Iron

But my brain was not done with this information. One of my favorite details that I want to be explored in the future is how nonchalant Edwin is while his hand is burning.

He did not notice it was burning until Crystal pointed it out. He looks and sounds genuinely surprised when he sees it. His expression and the way he says he was careless makes me feel like he wasn't in pain and trying to play it off, but was upset with himself for making a very noticeable mistake in front of Crystal while trying to show off and prove a point.

Edwin's pain tolerance is so high that he does not even notice a simple iron burn.

The second time he gets touched by iron is when Esther knocks him across the garden. He looks down at the burn that's what's hurting him, but I don't buy it.

This boy just got swatted like a tennis ball across a courtyard into a small greenhouse.

We all know that Charles does the fighting/takes the hits, so Edwin getting hit like that is probably a new feeling. Since iron makes them tangible for a couple seconds, he probably physically felt it when he landed.

Being burned and crashing into things are two very different sensations, and one of them Edwin hasn't experienced in thirty years. The burn is localized to his hand, and it's a burn. It stings. Hitting a structure that fast and landing like that is going to effect your whole body. It's aching, it bruises every part of you, from your skin down to your bones. It's so much more uncomfortable and hindering than a simple burn. If you burn your hand, you can still operate day-to-day almost normally, but if you mess up your body in some way, you're not going to be able to walk without being in pain. If you asked me which one I'd rather have happen to me, I would take the burn so fast.

Point being that him looking distressed and hurt after that hit makes a whole lot of sense, despite his high pain tolerance. It probably surprised him more than hurt him. It doesn't last long either.

The only time we see him truly react to iron is in Esther's torture device, which is obvious but I'll talk it through anyway.

The cuffs restraining his arms are touching his bare wrists, tightly and constantly. His wrists smoke from it. Him gasping at that makes sense.

But the real kicker here is obviously the rods. Upon first glance, it looks like they touch down on his torso, zapping him or whatever you'd call that, on a surface level. But if you pay close attention to the shots where he's somewhat transparent you can see that those prongs are actually going through him, at least a little bit.

I took a screenshot, up-ed the brightness, and marked where it looks like the rods hit him, versus where they actually end.

Edwin moves around a bit, so there are definitely some shots where they are just touching his skin, but that's kind of the point I'm trying to make. The rods are not moving, they are static, so when Edwin's body moves around them, they stay put. That is fucking painful.

The rod is not moving, but Edwin's body is, and there is nowhere for his skin/muscles to go but through the metal, like it is cutting through him in reverse. If you push a knife down to cut through something, like a carrot, it cuts. But if you hold the carrot, and push it down on the blade, it still cuts.

That would explain even more why Edwin reacts to whenever Esther touches him, even when the device is paused. It would also explain why he was begging Esther "don't come any closer" during one of the cutaway shots.

If you think about it, that doesn't make any sense. Esther's proximity to the device doesn't determine whether it's on, off, or higher/lower. She walks around the room with her glass of ghost juice or whatever you want to call it. She gestures with her hand when she turns it on and turns the intensity up.

Esther getting closer to him wouldn't matter since the device is already on. That is, unless she was actively doing something to him while torturing him. Considering how sadistic she is, I wouldn't put it past her to mess with him whenever she got bored of just watching. Touching him, shaking him, whatever, would almost definitely make it worse. Edwin not wanting her to get close to him would make perfect sense if she was occasionally doing something like that.

So, we have iron making him corporal, burning him, and zapping him with some kind of electricity-like energy, that are also piercing into him, and yet Edwin doesn't scream from the pain initially. There's quiet moaning that you can tell he's holding back, but he doesn't gasp or yell. This is same metal that hurt Charles so badly he couldn't escape in his angriest state. It takes hours of prolonged exposure and gradual increasing of the intensity to make him scream.

The secondary question to this whole thing is just how high is Edwin's pain tolerance that he is able to endure that while withholding making noise?

I can't comprehend it, honestly. Though Edwin spent 70 years in hell being literally torn apart over and over again. We have no idea how long he feels the sensations of his previous body after he respawns or how quickly he does so, especially since the manner of death in this case wouldn't be instantaneously fatal. If his head and heart are in some capacity intact, he'd still be alive for at least a few seconds. As Dr. Alan Grant explains to that kid about raptors in Jurassic Park, you are alive when they start to eat you. It would be believable if Edwin is basically immune to pain unless it's a fucking insane amount of it. I mean, in the Cat King's words to Esther, "Edwin has been through more pain than you, or I, could ever imagine."

That would be pretty fucking crazy if this is all true/accurate.

Is it intentional? Probably not. Could I be reading too much into it, and unintentionally hyperbolizing it? Absolutely. I'm using observation and some information about their characters that I can't actually prove to be true. Maybe I'm just seeing things with the prongs and they're not going through Edwin. I can't prove that Charles would've been angry enough to break out of restraints if they hadn't been made of iron. Maybe iron effects all ghosts differently. Who the hell knows?

Even if I'm not 100% accurate, we do at least know for sure that Edwin has a way higher pain tolerance than anybody else based on the burning hand that he didn't even notice was burning, and how long he was in that device before he started screaming, and that's badass as hell on its own.

(ko-fi)

[niamh-writes-things]

hang on a sec, what if instead of dead boy detectives we had vampire boy detectives!

Edwin's circumstances of death would have to be different of course, but Charles can have the same but instead of chilling and waiting for him to die Edwin bites him.

as undead beings they can still see ghosts and all and therefore still try to help them. their reasoning is that they are trying to balance out the evil they do when biting people. they probably have a policy of only biting animals or proper bad guys like murderers and abusers and people who are dicks to women, and they probably steal from the hospital every so often. as much as i like my crazy murder guys, edwin and charles just arent like that, they would want to avoid biting people as much as possible and try to avoid it until they absoloutely have to.

this would make the dynamic with Esther really interesting. she would probably say something like "how are we any different, you feed on the blood of humans, killing them, and my snake feeds on little girls, killing them and giving me beauty!" and instead of an iron cane and an iron collar it's silver. when charles has to go into the snake pit he can just smell all the blood from the girls and he can have a mini crisis.

also they would probably have to rent a room because people can actually see them. jenny probably just thinks theyre fellow alternative people. niko and crystal would definately be a bit afraid, but warm up to them. the interactions with the cat king would have much more tension and stuff.

the story would probably get much darker as our boys actively kill people, but the threat of the knight nurse and edwin returning to hell wouldnt be there. it would probably be replaced with what if one of them is staked, or if we still want the night nurse, she's after them because they werent supposed to be turned, they were supposed to di and go to their seperate afterlifes and she's trying to trick them into goingt to their afterlifes anyway via some kind of magic or a deal with death or something. again with the show being darker, maybe when theyre on a case theres a guy whom was accidentally killed by his abusive father and charles goes a bit mental on him.

charles still gets his crisis because hey, his dad enjoyed inflicting pain on others and he feeds on blood which causes pain so are they the same? can he ever really be a good person as a vampire? is he a horrible person like his dad was?

OOOh and clothes! edwin can keep his outfit because he just isnt comfortable in modern clothes but charles probably embraces the campire aesthetic and goes even more punky than he already is

guys i'm gonna be honest i just really like vampires and i really like dbd and now i need to write a new fanfic

[melefim]

Swearing in Dead Boy Detectives: Episode 8- The Case of the Hungry Snake

Episode Overview:

58 total, 12 different words said by 12 characters.

Charles: 1 Bloody Hell

Crystal: 5 Fuck, 5 Shit, 2 Bitch, 7 God. 1 Jesus, 1 Prick

Jenny: 10 Fuck, 1 Shit, 1 Ass, 1 God, 1 Jesus, 1 Screw

Niko: 2 God

Esther: 3 Fuck, 4 God, 1 Screw

Cat King: 1 Fuck, 1 Dick

Kingham: 3 Fuck

Girl in Memory 1 (Cheating BF): 1 Damn

Crystal's Mom: 1 Damn

Crystal's Dad: 1 Jesus

Girl in Memory 2 (Club Fight): 1 Fuck, 1 Slut

Girl in Memory 3 (Traffic): 1 God

Curses Per Character:

Charles: 1

Crystal: 21

Jenny: 15

Niko: 2

Esther: 8

Cat King: 2

Kingham: 3

Girl in Memory 1 (Cheating BF): 1

Crystal's Mom: 1

Crystal's Dad: 1

Girl in Memory 2 (Club Fight): 2

Girl in Memory 3 (Traffic): 1

Uses Per Word:

Fuck: 23

Shit: 6

Bitch: 2

Ass: 1

Damn: 2

Bloody Hell: 1

God: 15

Jesus: 3

Dick: 1

Prick: 1

Slut: 1

Screw: 2

Lines:

Girl in Memory 1 (Cheating BF): Why are you being so goddamn mean?

Crystal: Am I ever wrong about this shit?

Crystal: My parents won't say shit, they don't even--

Crystal: Jesus Christ! You guys scared me.

Crystal: God, it's like being punched in the face and the stomach.

Crystal: Yeah, well blame my parents. Holy shit!

Esther: God, you're nosy.

Crystal: Mom? Oh my God. Mom is that--

Crystal’s Mom: They're wasting our goddamn time, Seth, go tell him!

Crystal’s Dad: This is Art, for Christ’s sake!

Girl in Memory 2 (Club Fight): Get your fucking hands off my boyfriend, you slut!

Girl in Memory 3 (Traffic): Oh my God, did you guys hear? James got hit by a car.

Crystal: Maybe karma is just a bitch.

Crystal: Oh, my God. Oh, I'm a fucking awful person. Oh, God, I'm the worst.

Crystal: God, I was a bad person before him.

Crystal: Because if you did, God, you'd hate me.

Jenny: What the actual fuck?

Jenny: And why the ever-loving fuck is my hair braided?

Jenny: Fuck that! That is bullshit!

Jenny: No fucking way.

Kingham: "No fucking way" to you. "No fucking way" to that side braid. What the fuck is that?"

Jenny: Fucking fuck!

Jenny: Screw it. I'd rather know my own life, no matter how fucked up.

Jenny: Jesus, fuck!

Crystal: Oh my God, Jenny are you OK?

Crystal: Shit (digging Niko out of rubble)

Niko: Oh my God. Am I dead?

Niko: Oh my God. Is that why the magic eight ball kept saying "outlook not so good"?

Jenny: Esther's a witch? I thought she was just an asshole.

Crystal: Fuck! (Realizes Esther has the boys)

Jenny: I figure a meat cleaver can cut up a witch, but what the fuck do I know anymore?

Crystal: Because whatever fucked-up little thing you have going on with Edwin, you must care about him a little.

Cat King: So was her wayward husband. A real swinging dick.

Cat King: Fuck me. Did you even listen to my story?

Crystal: She probably put a, like, kill-you-instantly spell or some witchy shit on the door.

Esther: Don't ever trust a goddess to grant your wishes, because she'll definitely screw you over good.

Esther: Oh, God! Oh, God, no, my face… Is fine.

Esther: Oh my God, my own sacrificial knife? I'm impressed. But I'm not fucking around that you're also gonna patch that wall before you die too.

Crystal: I am so sorry he was a colossal prick.

Esther: Who the fuck are you?

Esther: What the fuck? Hey hey hey no! What did you just do?

Crystal: Hubris is a bitch, am I right?

Jenny: God, that sounds so fucking procedural.

Crystal: I don't have to give up my new fucked-up life while I'm trying to sort out my old fucked-up life.

Charles: Oh, bloody hell. And you're always just popping up. Where do you even come from?

Notes:

Previously on Dead Boy Detectives…

Shown in this episode’s recap but not counted above:

David: I can’t, you stupid bitch! (Episode 7)

Bonus:

Esther: Oh, shoot. Or as the French say, merde.

‘Merde’ is French for ‘shit’

Updates:

-Added ‘slut’, updating charts and counts.

-Added bonus quote from Esther

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

More Dead Boy Detectives Swearing Posts:

Masterlist

Swearing by Episode

Swearing by Character

Swearing by Word

All Swearing Posts

And if you like lists of things like I do, you can check out my other Dead Boy Detectives ones here!

When Charles’ Shirt Colors Change

George Rextrew’s Edwin comic inspo board

Full soundtrack with timestamps

Moves, Incidents, and Cases Masterlist

First pass at finding where the songs in the score are used- full post with timestamps in progress

[paraphwrites]

i wonder, sometimes. it's interesting to me that it's a snake that is able to get around lilith's spell. lilith, cast out of eden, the goddess of wronged women. it is a snake, infiltrator of eden, the devil incarnate. i think it would be remiss to consider that a coincidence. because the devil cares for none, not even those he tempts.

it would make sense that lilith and the devil (both cast out of eden, both wronged by god) would team up. the enemy of my enemy is my friend, yeah? but they don't. because the devil cares for no one, only for destruction. the devil teams up with esther because esther is angry and will cause more destruction

anyway i'm not trying to imply the snake is satan?? i'm just trying to say that there's symbolism. they did a symbolism. appreciate it. wooo.

[misty--nights]

And finally, episode 8. This rewatch has been fun. It really forced me to pay attention to the details and I’ve found so many interesting thing I’d missed before. I think by now it’s more than safe to say that this has become one of my absolute favorite shows, and I can’t wait for my brain to insist I should watch it yet again.

Edwin's reaction feels so fair to me. I also did a double take the first time I saw Crystal swallow the memories. Love that Charles is trying to be supportive and stuff, but I agree with Edwin on this one. Those things are so big, how is your first instinct to swallow then whole?

Charles' face when Crystal is explaining her name is kind of similar to the one he has in episode 3 and 5 when Niko is doing something amusing. It's a mixture of endeared and a little baffled that I find so charming

Can Esther understand Monty in crow form or is she just pretending to have conversations with him like how you do with pets? Honestly, I'm not sure which one would be better. Both options have a lot of potential

Someone please give Crystal a hug. Or two. The way her voice breaks when she's talking to her parents, how her eyes get dimmer and dimmer the more she realizes that they suck and didn't miss her, how she sounds when she tells the boys about it, ugh. It breaks my heart

Back to another intro detail, but doesn't the surface of the mirror the skelletons go through kind of look like the mirror Charles sees himself in in episode 7. Like the frame is different, but the surface with the grid lines reminds me of the one in hell

I love the rooftop scene so much. Edwin and Niko have such a precious friendship and I wish we had even more of them interacting. Now I know I've seen people mention how Edwin is so comfortable with Niko's touch and how ge lets her cuddle up to him in that scene. But also, up until this point we haven't seen him truly iniciate touch with others (besides Charles) but he bumps Niko's shoulder when he's joking about Monty and offers her his hand to take. I just think that's neat

Crystal looks tiny next to Niko when they're talking to Jenny

"The whole thing was such a mystery" and "no rest for the wicked". The tone the officer uses for these lines? Chilling. I'm telling you, there's something weird about the people in town at times and the Port Townsend police are walking a line btween purposefully useless and downright sinister

There's something to be said about Crystal offering to wipe Jenny's memories, if she wants. We've followed her the whole season trying to get her own memories back, so it's huge that she's willing to take someone else's if that could help. Because she cares about Jenny, in that same, quiet way that Jenny cares about her and Niko. Also the way she emphasizes that she can take the memories only if Jenny wants that is actually so important to me

For some reason I always assume the girls are going to hold hands in that scene where they're looking for the Cat King and Crystal gives Niko her cleaver back. Even though this is the third time I watch it, I always expect it, and I'm always a little disappointed when all Crystal does is change what hand is holding her own cleaver

Not to question old dark magic or anything, but I am so curious as to how Esther's snake works. Did she already have the snake? Did she find it and make a pact with it? How does it transform little girls into youth for Esther? Also, the Cat King calls it Esther's snake, but then later on Esther says "I never thought I'd be eating kids to stay young and beautiful" so I don't know. Many questions about this

Tragic Mick makes a point of saying the bear figure is a gift and is on him, but the girls very much leave the store without paying for the salt so... Two gifts?

Niko keeps insisting she's not brave, but she was ready to charge into Esther's house after hearing Edwin's scream

Litty and Kingham's coats in the igloo have a dandelion decoration on the chest

[tititilani]

I've been thinking about this for a while and I realized that there are two scenes that actually really mirror each other really well that I didn't even realize.

The scene in the Devlin house when Crystal and Edwin are trying to work together and Edwin says "I could lose - We could lose Charles" is a fantastic way to show that he has slowly come to accept that he is not the only one to care about Charles any more but it also goes to show that Charles is, at the end of the day, his first priority.

He could have let Crystal smash the tape to possibly solve the case for good, as a "the ends justify the means" kind of move, even knowing he could have lost Charles. Lots of shows do it. But he doesn't. He stops her because even though he doesn't know how else to solve the case in that exact second, he can't risk it if they lose Charles. He even lets Crystal take charge to an extent up until the misery wraith/David shows up in with her preparing the tape.

Later in the show when Edwin is strapped to the table screaming and Crystal shows up to save the day and slide Charles his bag, something kind of similar happens. It's a bit more blink and you'll miss it but it definitely goes to reiterate it's the same for Charles, even if he's a lot more willing to accept new people and change.

Crystal slides him his bag and says "We need to help Edwin." and Charles' first response is to go "So do I." He doesn't say anything about fighting Esther or the snake or say something like "I need to help you" or whatever. He explicitly states that he needs to help Edwin. That him getting to Edwin is his first priority. And to further drive home the similarities, he even has to let Crystal actively save Edwin and doesn't fight her on it while he goes and fights the snake.

It doesn't matter that Crystal already basically said they would save Edwin - that's Charles' job. Crystal literally has to tell him instead what he needs to do.

I don't really know where I'm going with this, I just think it's neat how these two scenes are mirrors of each other and just shows again and again the devotion these two have and how unlike any other show it is. And also how both scenes used Crystal to help save the boys (or at least try to).

[many-gay-magpies]

for the DBD ask game!

7. favorite headcanon from the fandom so far?

13. favorite case we see the detectives do?

15. favorite line in the show?

have a lovely day/night!

ooh yes thank you!!

7. favorite fandom headcanon:

to second your answer, i fucking LOVE aromantic charles and each fic surrounding that premise is an absolute treasure. it really is about the all-consuming and wholly devoted love, and how POWERFUL that is, no matter what form it takes. it's about charles feeling like there's something wrong with him/like he doesn't deserve edwin because he can't give edwin what he needs, only for edwin to assure him that romantic or not, he as never felt as loved by anyone else as he is loved by charles. it's about the realization that there is nothing "lacking" in the way you feel, even if it's not quite the same as everyone else. and yeah it really is about not knowing what the fuck romantic love even is anyway because really WHAT THE FUCK IS IT

in an effort to give an answer that is more than just me parroting your answer but with more words, i also absolutely ADORE all the headcanons people have come up with for the boys' orb forms, and the many wonderful fics that have been born from the idea of them caring for each other in those forms!

13. favorite onscreen case:

i've said it before and i'll say it again, i LOVE the case of the two dead dragons so incredibly much. not only is it fun getting to see the boys and crystal have the time of their lives scaring the shit out of twitchy ritchie, it's such an excellent exploration of interpersonal relationships, both between the agency crew and with the side characters in the episode (shelby, maren, ritchie, the dead jocks, etc.)

15: favorite line

god that's a TOUGH ONE, there are so many good ones!! a few favorites off the top of my head, in no particular order:

"i went with grab it" (and really just that entire sequence)

"i can't really say that i'm, like, IN LOVE with you back, but there is no one else—NO ONE else—that i would go to hell for" (i know its a popular answer but its popular for a fucking REASON)

"oh. my. fuck."

"some people drink almost milk, some people skip carbs, some people feed their gigantic snake children to stay young and beautiful... it's honestly NBD" (and every esther line ever)

"...but i just think the painter was on psychedelics. i should know! i painted it"

[thatonesongyouretryingtoremember]

1, 12, 20 for the DBD question game :)

Askbox meme

1:fave character

My fave is definitely Monty! I think his story has so much potential and is complete headcanon-fuel for me. I have made so many posts on this already so I'll spare y'all from the headcanon tornado! I just love seeing the way that he reacts to things and his emotions and everything are just fascinating for a character, and pretty entertaining.

After him, probably Edwin and Niko because I think they're both autistic just like me :3

12: uncommon lgbtq+ headcanon for a character

I really don't have headcanons for many of these characters, which is odd bc I normally have so many. I'll just talk about some of my interpretations of characters whose identity might not get a much attention.

Edwin is cis and also genderqueer to me. As an aro agender person, I totally have experience with the way that sexuality as an identity in the social landscape impacts one's understanding of gender, and I think that being gender non-conforming and gay really queer-up Edwin's understanding of his own gender, if not gender as a social construct (which he may or may not currently be examining as well due to certain event in the show)

And I think this one might actualy be well agreed on but I'm not sure because nobody brings it up, but I think Monty is also gay. The way he tries to make Edwin jealous but specifically sticks to Charles who is the only other male in the group, for example. Even though Charles might be considered a less believable option for Monty as he has expressed distaste for him in the past, Monty takes it as a given to keep Niko and Crystal out of it. There's also something to be said for his own understanding of gender, being raised as a crow with little understanding of human social structure by a beauty-obsessed (lesbian?) mother who overperforms femininity and expresses her own unique self instead of performing gender for others while also perpetuating the cycle of sex-based violence against young girls. Esther's story is so heavily gendered that it is impossible for Monty not to have an interesting relationship with gender even if he had been a human boy the whole time and taught human gender roles from birth. Add into the mix that he himself was transformed into a human and his relationships with other people will always subtly be influenced by the fact that they percieved him as a human, a boy, and let's face it, attractive, because Esther gave him all of that on purpose. I have a drafted post where the song I ascribe to him is literally called "i wanna be a boy", which was written by a nonbinary trans man, because it just reminds me so much of his relationship to being human, let alone a boy. All that to say, I interpret him as a cis male, but I claim him for us transgenders.

20. something in the show that made you laugh

I think I'm gonna make this about Monty again... but I have more so don't the rest of y'all shy away from sending 20 again!

Monty and Esther talking! They're both so estranged from reality in completely different ways and they see through eachother but not themselves, but this basically results in them saying the most batshit things.

Every time Monty is in the presence of Esther, he transforms, magical girl-style, into the cookie-cutter disinterested teen. He's so fed up with whatever bullshit Esther's cooked up today that he's only half listening, and he doesn't like her enough to perform politeness so his voice takes on a more natural monotone, but which sounds so out of the ordinary for him that it sounds as if he's *trying* to be a "grouchy tennage boy"

meanwhile, Esther's off in her own little world, and goddamn that little brat and his hormones. "Some people feed kids to a magic snake to stay young, TBH it's NBD" need I say more?

thank you for the ask, these are always so so fun to fill out!!!

[thefoxlady]

Here are the rules of making Betty Boop fanart according to the one anon I had a conversation with:

1. You CANNOT make Betty Boop fanart where Betty, Koko, and Bimbo are demons, vampires, witches, or half snake creatures, it's considered anti-semitic. I don't know about werewolves but that's probably anti-semitic too.

2. You WILL NOT think about making a Betty Boop AU where the characters are vampires, demons or witches, that's anti-semitic. Even if you say it's not ment to be against Jewish people and it's made "just for fun", it's still anti-semitic.

3. You MUST be educated on negative Jewish stereotypes so you don't accidentally make anti-semitic Betty Boop fanart. I don't care if you worked hard on the art piece or whatever, delete immediately if you posted it.

4. You MUST inform people about the real history about Betty Boop's inspiration and about the Baby Esther thing. If you still wanna draw Betty Boop black that's fine.

5. You CANNOT put Betty, Koko, and Bimbo in costumes that could be considered anti-semitic: Vampires, Demons, Snakes, Half Snake Creatures, Horned Creatures, Fanged Creatures.

If you are afraid to draw Betty Boop or her friends because you don't want to be called anti-semitic, then don't draw them at all. I'm never drawing these characters again because I might accidentally make anti-semitic art.

If you're saying I'm taking away fun from drawing Betty Boop characters, I'm sorry but that's how it is, it's not my fault. If I'm not allowed to draw Betty Boop vampire AU fanart, then no one else is.

[containatrocity]

"Listen! I can't be too sure, He's spent the entirety of these past few weeks actively riling you up, I'm worried next time we all get together to hang out you're going to try and kill him with his own mic cable." It's good natured- he knows Cyan doesn't mean any harm, and that he and Josie's dynamic is one built on the idea they do respect each other- they simply find bickering more fun. "And that's gonna leave me conflicted, because I like, 'support women's wrongs' or whatever that phrase he taught Wren the other day was, but also I like GiGi, and it'd be kinda rude to kill her dad." He laughs as she declares that the 'going at it in a pile of books' idea is hot. "Baby." He admonishes softly. "You're fuckin' incorrigible, you know that?" It leaves him just in time for her to turn and bite into his arm a short, alarmed squawk before he laughs. "Okay. I should have expected that one- We aren't ruining any books we could sell or trade or give to the library just because you're not looking at the bigger picture of 'papercuts in weird places'."

There's a comfort in people who's promises he knows aren't empty. The Weirdlings and Declan, the Band, Edgar- even Esther, despite the newness of their tentative mending of bridges- people he knows he can trust, despite it all. Josie makes sweeping promises for the future, and he believes her, just like he believes them. They'll be good parents, when the time is right, when he feels safe enough to take that plunge. They'll look after his grave- he just needs to say the word, and pick a day, and they'll go. It is... strange. To be a priority in some capacity for his friends when he needs them and to not feel the guilt that chewed at him as a boy when he was forced to be the priority for his sibling- and an afterthought for anyone and everyone else. She relaxes into him- insists she's calmed down, over the past few years. "Little victories where you can take 'em." He teases, setting a kiss against her temple as she snakes his cigarette for a drag. "Ah, I think we're doing okay, all things considered. Until a pharmaceutical truck and a full psychatric ward drops out of the sky into the middle of town, 'okay' is probably the best we can hope for, right? But- Maybe this weekend, then? KB's going to be at the station all day, I don't have work on saturday, so my uh, 'dance card is free' as Mr. Romero likes to say."

"Silas is different, I mean I don't want to beat the living shit out of Ben and he's my actual brother" 'Give it time josie' She thought. It was only a matter of time before they got comfortable and started picking on each other. "Cyan just has a Punchable face and the mouth to match it" she said this with all the love in the world. There was a part of her thought that dispite her outward appearance she able to take on a man of Cys stature. She was certain he was letting her win. But she would take it none the less. She rolled her eyes "The sex babe, always " she smirked at him before Tilting her head at him "And I like it when you do....I don't go out side so you shouldn't have to. This is your home too now.....our home" she echoed a bit almost like she was still processing that. She had missed smoking, but she had found that maybe a tiny bit of her attachment to G was getting her fix on the mess of cigarettes. From His lips, his hair, his hands, his clothes. She almost didn't want to smoke anymore just so he could be the only vice she had. Still she indulged once in a while. She took in his second hand in that moment. Something she had always wanted to do with someone she loved. "hm you hold that thought about the books. That's hot." She pointed to him, her mouth going to his arm and biting down like she always did.

Had she learned from it? Learned to push people away. To hurt people, to let them fall for her and break their heart. Gaslighting them to thinking they were the problem that she had made it very clear she only wanted something casual when she hadn't. She had done that the Nico. Why was G so different? Why had she never imagined doing such horrible things to him. Was it that she felt that they were so similar and so different that it wasn't as scary? And also so terrifying it was almost paralyzing. She had hid this part of herself from everyone that hadn't even seen her romance novels until just recently. Her copy of warm bodies ripping at the seams long since past the point of repair, gave her away. Then he mentions being a better parent and her cheeks get warm and she gets flustered. She puts the butter knife down to settle herself down. while any other thoughts or guilt go out the window "You will be....we will be. when the time is right" she smiled softly at him. "You just say the word hon and we'll go. I really don't mind going We can always put on the calendar make it a thing we do like every month." She leaned into his kiss and she settled down. She still wasn't used to this being thrown off by the other. His arms around her waist making her heart beat out if her chest. More so now than ever. She leaned back in his arms sighing contently. She was so Happy . "and that's because of trauma folks." She said with a laugh reaching for his cigarette now taking a drag from it herself. "I think I have calmed down in recent years...."

[soap-stains]

Sanders Sides Confessioms

By your local Orange~Chan.

I don't remember who made the original thing, I just,,, found it,,, sorry lmao

Oh wait found them! @im-not-evil-you-are ;3

-Most favourite Side? Deceit.

Why? Idk. I'm just so intrigued by this side. I really want to see more of him, and I'm excited to see an interaction with him and Remus.

-Least favourite Side? Either Roman or Remus.

Don't get me wrong; I actually don't dislike any of the sides! The "twins" are just at the bottom of my list because, I guess, I'm just not too interested in them? Idk.

-Opinion on Logan? I relate to Logan, actually, and I think that's why he's my second favorite. I see myself as being a little more mature than my friends, because I am, and they'll tell you that. But I despise being thought less of. Enough of it, and... I'll snap. I'll regret it, but listen to and respect me, thanks. I'm glad Logan is there to explain how stupid the others can be- even if he, himself, is a little stupid sometimes. Yay for Logic!

-Opinion on Roman? pff. I'm not even sure how to put this into words. He's just- great- I guess? His obvious love for Disney and general singing makes him so fun. We love our prince :3. I want to see more of him interacting with Remus- because, you know, he... Wasn't in most of the last episode...

-Opinion on Patton? Dad jokes. So loving and funny. I think he's who a lot of people like to relate to, because of everything that happened in the Nostalgia video. I'll just say, though,,, Pat has been so... I don't know. He's STILL so obsessed with forcing on Thomas that he's a 'good person.' Nobody is perfect, everybody has these dark thoughts or general sides to themself.

-Opinion on Virgil? He's made a lot of progress since Accepting Anxiety. He's so much more invested and open to the others, and he's really grown. Number three! Here's the big 'but' though, because Virgil is being a stubborn brat/kinda hypocritical recently. He's so dead-set that the Dark Sides are the absolute bad guys. Which, what the heck? Who was the exact same way, Mr. "I was one of them"? Virgil knows firsthand that just because someone is made one way doesn't mean that they are that way. Look, I get it if he's been emotionally scarred by the Darkies in the past, but I kinda think he just never cared to think that just maybe the others' number one goals aren't to destroy Thomas. Oh also i want to see Deceit impersonate him because that honestly just sounds really funny.

-Opinion on Deceit? "...I don't want Thomas to be disadvantaged in a world where you can die, by not following the laws made in the name of a lie." I, myself, lie kinda a lot? No, that's not a good thing, but it helps to get myself out of trouble. Anyway. He has this bigger plan that we don't know about, I think, and it's really interesting. He's so compelling, and I just can't wait to see more of him. And, maybe, just maybe, see him and Virgil come to some sort of agreement,,,,,? A stretch, I know.

-Opinion on Remus? Garbage rat man, get him out of here. I'm kidding. Remus is so openly honest with everything, and that's a little scary to be honest? I don't really struggle with intrusive thoughts, but I have had the occasional 'it would be so easy to shoot up a certain part of the school' and I jUST REALIZED HOW AWFUL THAT SOUNDS OH MY GOD. Eh, no one's judging me. I hope. Remus in general is a very fun character, and I can't wait to see where the team takes him.

-Speculations on Deceit’s name? I don't know. I don't really think about that stuff lol. I just call him Dee/DJ/Damien. Oh, but I do think Remus might know Deceit's name. Probably not. If he does know, though, I bet he's accidentally gonna let it slip :). Think about it; Remus never actually refers to Deceit by name. He says, like once, 'a certain snake.' That's all.

-Favorite romantic ship? I ship it all. I guess Prinxiety, Loceit though,,,

-Favorite platonic ship? Moxiety.

However, I can see it both ways; Virgil romantically with Pat, or dad Pat. Esther's good!

-Least favorite ship? Remus x Roman.

I won't discourage it- you do you- but eh. To me, they'll always only be twins that just don't get along. Pure opposite of Hikarou and Karou. Did I spell those right,,,? Don't care.

-Favorite episode? "Selfishness v. Selflessness"

As an actress(kinda), I personally don't like the end/outcome of this episode... But I still really like it. Lawyer Deceit? Uh, yes please! I love the court room setting.

-Least favorite episode? "Why do We get Out of Bed in the Morning?"

I just couldn't follow this episode, for some reason. It just drug on, and I got bored...

-Favorite quote? Ugh, I have so many! I'll list some.

"Fla- Flames. On the side on my face. Seeth- Seething flames-" A lot of people don't know that this is from an ending of the movie Clue! Ugh I just love this joke. https://youtu.be/92IkddsjtAA

"...my chemically imbalanced romance!"

"...I don't want Thomas to be disadvantaged in a world where you can die, by not following the laws made in the name of a lie."

"Your mom misses you!"

"FALSEHOOD!"

"What the heckity-heck five abs in one pec..." I've referenced this so many times.

"There's never a wrong time to drESS AND DRAG AND DO THE HULA OHHHHHHH!"

"We get it, you're adorable!"

That's all I'll list...... For now.

-Favorite non-canon (incorrect) quote?

"Anything's possible!"

Thomas: "Thanks, Roman!"

Roman: "That wasn't me. That was Virgil."

Virgil: "Seriously... Anything could possibly go wrong right now."

Thomas: "...Thanks, Virgil."

-Favorite headcanon? Oooof I don't knowwww!!!

-What pet do you think each of the sides would have? Patton; a bird, like Ari. Idk what that kind of bird is called. Virgil; a little black and white cat. It hates everyone but him. Logan; a fish or geckos. Small, but he's willing to put in the work for it. Roman; either a big German Shepard, or like, a Corgi. Or both. The dog(s) is(are) named after Disney characters. Deceit; cant think of anything but two ball python sneks? Idk??? Remus; Rats. Hear me out, I have a friend who has pet rats. Not the huge sewer ones, but almost mice like. Just rats.

-Each of the side’s favorite snacks? Pat; Microwaved popcirn. Heavily salted. That's all. Logan; Toast with jam spread on it. Deceit; Oreos, I guess. I'm not sure. I'm just thinking random things, here. Remus; Straight-up cold pepperoni from the bag, what you buy when wanting to make a pizza. No ideas for Virgil or Roman,,,

-What is your theory on the next dark side? Ugh, I don't know. It bothers me that there might be more Dark Sides than Light Sides, that it's not eVeNnNn, so I don't think about it.

-Favorite angst headcanon? Strap in, y'all, we goin for a lil ride.

The Dark Sides were actually pretty upset when Virgil left. They weren't really accepted by the Lights or Thomas, so they just had each other. Virgil, however, strived to be out of the shadows, as the others grew to accept it. They were sad that he left them and thought that being a Dark Side was shameful, and the others were awful people. So now they mess with him and tease him and are just in general rude to him. They called him a brother; but he decided it wasn't enough, not entirely realizing what he was doing. Now he can't go back, even if he wanted to.

I don't feel bad for ending on angst.

[melefim]

Swearing in Dead Boy Detectives: Esther Finch

Overview:

21 curses total, 6 different words said in 5 episodes.

Episode 1: 1 Jesus

Episode 2:

Episode 3: 1 Shit

Episode 5:

Episode 6: 1 Fuck, 1 Damn, 3 God

Episode 7: 2 Fuck, 2 Damn, 1 God, 1 Screw

Episode 8: 3 Fuck, 4 God, 1 Screw

Curses Per Episode:

Episode 1: 1

Episode 2: 0

Episode 3: 1

Episode 5: 0

Episode 6: 5

Episode 7: 6

Episode 8: 8

Uses Per Word:

Esther’s favorite word is God, which she says 8 times. After that is Fuck, said 6 times, and Damn, said 3 times.

God: 8

Fuck: 6

Damn: 3

Screw: 2

Shit: 1

Jesus: 1

Unique Words:

Esther, Crystal, and Jenny are the only characters who say Screw.

Percent of Total:

Esther swears 21 times throughout the season, which is 6.5% of all cursing in the show.

Rankings:

Who Swears the Most: Esther’s 21 curses puts her in 4th place overall.

Curse Word Variety: She is tied for 4th place for cursing variety with the Cat King, with 6 different curse words each.

Individual Words: She is tied for 1st place with Edwin for most uses of Damn. (3 each)

She is tied for 2nd with Niko for most uses of God- 8 times each.

Lines:

Episode 1: Monty! Jesus! I'm trying to threaten some kids!

Episode 3: Quit loitering you little shits.

Episode 6: Oh, God, well without her precious little dead boys she'll be snake food in no time.

Episode 6: God! You're not going gaga for the uptight boy?

Episode 6: I mean, this is why we had a plan, Monty, so I wouldn't be the one traipsing through the goddamn woods!

Episode 6: God, I love final moments.

Episode 6: Teeth Face, what the fuck?

Episode 7: I'm gonna wring that chic little kitty's goddamn neck.

Episode 7: Oh, god.

Episode 7: I know you blew up Monty's spot, you little fucking snitch.

Episode 7: And I'm gonna take that power, and get this goddamn town under my thumb.

Episode 7: You, you.. you think that you're the only one who's ever been screwed over? You're not. I fucking deserve this!

Episode 8: God, you're nosy.

Episode 8: Don't ever trust a goddess to grant your wishes, because she'll definitely screw you over good.

Episode 8: Oh, God! Oh, God, no, my face… Is fine.

Episode 8: Oh my God, my own sacrificial knife? I'm impressed. But I'm not fucking around that you're also gonna patch that wall before you die too.

Episode 8: Who the fuck are you?

Episode 8: What the fuck? Hey hey hey no! What did you just do?

Notes:

Esther is the only character to swear in another language- in episode 8 she has the line “Oh, shoot. Or as the French say, merde.” — ‘Merde’ is French for ‘shit’. (Not included in count above)

Updates:

Updated Percent of Total Swearing chart.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

More Dead Boy Detectives Swearing Posts:

Masterlist

Swearing by Episode

Swearing by Character

Swearing by Word

All Swearing Posts

And if you like lists of things like I do, you can check out my other Dead Boy Detectives ones here!

When Charles’ Shirt Colors Change

George Rextrew’s Edwin comic inspo board

Full soundtrack with timestamps

Moves, Incidents, and Cases Masterlist

First pass at finding where the songs in the score are used- full post with timestamps in progress