#detective ramblings

[antennatoheaven]

[crowkip]

yeehaw, baby!

[writerofstuff]

Dead Boy Detectives was surprising.

It surprised me when, instead of Crystal dropping in and fracturing Charles and Edwin's thirty years of friendship, they went with Crystal sinking into the fold of Charles and Edwin's friendship and becoming an important and unique addition to the group.

It surprised me when, instead of Gay Boy Pining Over Straight Best Friend, they went with Gay Boy Realises Feelings For Straight Best Friend And Confesses Almost Immediately with a bonus of Straight Boy Accepts Confession With Surprising Grace And Nothing Changes, Not Really.

It surprised me when, instead of making the female characters repetitive and semi-rational and ultimately less powerful, they went with characters who are smart and selfish and kind and cruel and strong and flawed and oh, they happen to be female too.

It surprised me when Charles liking Crystal did not affect one bit of how much he loved Edwin.

It surprised me when Jenny talked about spinsters with cats and Niko did not bat an eye.

It surprised me with Edwin and Niko. It surprised me with, we have forever to figure the rest out. It surprised me with Crystal's kindness, Jenny's empathy, the casual and absolute, the good you do will come back around.

Dead Boy Detectives was surprising. One day, I hope I can sit back and watch another show and none of this has to be surprising anymore.

[edwinisms]

the way that charles seems to be walking on air, schoolgirl-level giddy in the scenes after edwin’s confession instead of awkward or distant. the way he seems soooooo satisfied after all these bouts of jealousy over other guys edwin’s been entangled with because out of all those options he’s the one edwin chose. the way he responds ‘it didn’t’ without needing to think about it for a single second when edwin expresses his fear that he’s made him uncomfortable by confessing. the way he’s flirting with him by the end of the finale, teasing about how charming his smile is to the guy who he knows very well has been charmed by him. charles rowland you are not subtle

[pippin-katz]

Edwin's Smile

I don't think any of you understand how desperately I need more flashbacks, or entire flashback episodes. This is a necessity.

Edwin doesn't smile with his teeth. He just doesn't.

Except for when he sees Charles in hell and when they realize they don't have to run anymore.

But at the beginning of the show, he smiles and laughs showing teeth multiple times. If you pay attention, Edwin is so much more animated in those first few minutes of the show, prior to meeting Crystal.

He's so comfortable and happy around Charles. He doesn't mask, at all; he allows himself to express his emotions freely. Even after he becomes friendly and comfortable with Crystal, and connects really well with Niko, he never looks like this again.

Too much has changed, too much is happening, and he can't seem to allow himself to relax enough to laugh or smile the way he does with Charles at the start.

I need to see more of Edwin prior to Crystal's arrival. I need to see him and Charles bantering, having fun, and generally enjoying solving cases together. Show me the Edwin who was Charles' best mate for 30 years.

Note: This is in no way slandering Crystal by the way. Don't be commenting/reblogging/tagging any Crystal hate on this post. To quote John Mulaney, Crystal is a bitch, and I like her so much.

(ko-fi)

[wiredust]

so if charles and edwin name all their cases ("the case of the shrieking doll", etc) then things like "the great chewing gum debacle of '06" aren't even real cases it's just things they did or happened to them that they decided to name and remember to the end of time.

that's just so funny to me like imagine they get stuck in a haunted house and it's not part of a case so they call it "the haunted manor escape of '96" which of course is different to "the case of the haunted manor."

how do they remember all of these?? does edwin keep notes on all their little adventures even if it's not officially a case ??

[lucabyte]

On autonomy, and what it means to be Obliged to Help.

Bonus:

[potato-lord-but-not]

someone asked how the boyfriends would be with Faroe after Kayne brings her back, and sorry for being a downer but I’m on the “Arthur doesn’t get Faroe back” hill so I initially wasn’t gonna ponder about it.

And then I started pondering. weeks later. and decided I can indulge just this once because tbh I need more adorable Faroe in my life (we all do). I indulged a little too much tho and decided to make an actual post instead of answering the ask so HERE WE ARE

[technically-human]

Hey, don't cry. Ghost yuri, okay?

(Now that you know the girls, they need to meet the boys!)

[peachie-bun]

i think about charles saying "sorry, no version of this where i don't come get you" literally every day. truly an insanely gay thing to say when he is not the one confessing his love in this scene

[marsidotcom]

thinking about touch starved edwin and charles, newly terrified every time his best friend leaves the room.

edwin comes back from his second go at hell worse for wear, jumpy and tight-faced at all hours of the day, wringing the hems of his sleeves near threadbare if his clothes hadn’t lost corporal existence alongside him.

charles comes back shaken, clingy and fierce in his fear of losing edwin again- of seeing him die firsthand, torn apart in those damp, dingy halls of hell.

they get touchier, which almost feels impossible. charles will loop an arm around the crook of edwin’s, tugging him closer, shoulder to shoulder.

edwin will reach out for charles when lost in thought, scrutinizing old police reports on the office desk and thumbing gentle circles into charles’ hand.

one that comes entirely from left field, however, is the discovery of just how easy it is to get eachother to relax with physical touch, despite the sensation’s complex relationship with the paranormal.

charles will get the good kind of quiet with a gentle pressure on his back- edwin’s arms, looped around his middle where charles’ face is tucked into the cut of his shoulder, palms flat against the clothed skin there and rubbing gentle, steady pressure into the long-dead nerves of his spine.

crystal mentions something about back rubs awakening some childhood ease, a reminder of maternal memories. edwin tries his best not to think of charles, a baby in his mothers arms. fails when trying not to cry about it when he thinks about it alone.

edwin will curl up on nights when a phantom exhaustion eats at him, bone deep, and charles’ hands will find their way to edwin’s hair, raking dark brown strands from their slicked usual appearance into tumbling, messy curls. charles will smile and tell him that they’re matching now while edwin dozes against his side. ghosts don’t need sleep, but it sure as hell doesn’t hurt.

[acediscowlng]

so edwin and internalized homophobia right? because it is just internal. he never really shows any issue with homosexuality except when it's towards himself. niko talks about her sexy yaoi manga with him, monty very openly and blatantly flirts with him and he never seems uncomfortable or even shocked or surprised with that. and his discomfort with the cat king's advances are more about his own reactions and feelings as opposed to what the cat king is doing.

so edwin doesn't have a problem with homosexuality. he has a problem with his homosexuality specifically. and i think this is why it was important that he fell in love with charles specifically. because that's what helps him break through the mental block that's upholding the inherent contradiction of his views.

and not in a "romance fixes everything kind of way" but in the sense that. okay. so edwin has always known he's gay. and he's been made to feel that there is something wrong with him for being gay, that him being gay is terrible enough that it's going to get him murdered. but he falls in love with charles. charles who he thinks the world of. and he has always loved charles but now his love has taken on a form that he has been taught is wrong but it's charles and he has to reconcile the idea that either the love he feels for charles is wrong or this fundamental belief that feeling that kind of love at all is wrong. because if he is in love with charles, then how can that be something bad? he has loved charles all this time and it has only ever brought him good things.

which is what makes it important. he didn't need to learn homosexuality isn't wrong. he apparently figured that out all on his own before canon. he needed to learn that his own love and desire is something beautiful and should be celebrated because his relationship with charles is something beautiful and worth celebrating no matter what form it takes.

[emi-the-gremlin]

My favorite post confession Edwin, is the one that’s happy and comfortable with their relationship, and therefore uses his newfound understanding/acceptance of himself, to ruthlessly and shamelessly fluster Charles any chance he gets.

[fairandfatalasfair]

Feral about the way the dead boys admire each other, how they both see the other as the standard to aspire to, the example of who they want to be. The way they both say the other is the best person they know. The way they look to each other to know if they're doing the right thing. The way Charles hangs his self-concept on Edwin's approval of his actions, the way Edwin bends his routines and expectations into knots because Charles asked it of him, the way Charles delights in Edwin's bitchy commentary and ruthless negotiation, the way Edwin reins himself in when Charles reminds him about his bedside manner. The way Charles grins when he meets Edwin's eyes, the way Edwin softens and smiles whenever Charles reminds him that he's important to him. They're so good for each other.

[edwinisms]

I wanna see edwin stubbornly avoid a conversation or an argument by deciding to literally sink through the floor into the room below. now THAT’s how you get the final word

[conversationaltreestump]

Imagine if you were that cat Edwin put a spell on in episode one, and you go to your leader thinking he's going to punish that mean ghost for fucking with you. And then the Cat King tries to hook up with the mean ghost, and literally keeps him in the town indefinitely in order to keep flirting with the ghost.

I would be fucking fuming