#edwin makes me sad.

[painehell]

@that-trans-autistic-guy tagging you bc idea.

but, anyway, in the comics (& i think charles references it in the show?) charles mentions a winning spaghetti eating contest when he was alive. i wonder if edwin even knows what spaghetti is. back before it became a popular food in the .. 60s/ smth similar, spaghetti came to europe and america as this strange and odd food but it was canned (1930-1950s mainly), and before that, you didn't know it existed unless you lived in italy or had italian friends. spaghetti was so weird that the 1957 BBC made a news segment on spaghetti trees (link <--). the idea that edwin doesn't know what spaghetti is or thinks it is a weird mystical thing is extremely likely.

he probably doesn't know what a lot of foods are and foods he ate back in the day are probably banned. ex: ox tail soup, pig tail soup, snapping turtle soup, brown shark fin soup, (source: chinese cookbook i have from 1947, when those dishes weren't seen as odd/weren't illegal.) and then you take in the fact that there are certain modern day foods or drinks that taste extremely different from his day (ex: coca cola, water (many people who've drank fallout shelter water says it tastes better and different than today's water), etc).

edwin just .. doesn't know. and since he was in hell for so long, he didn't even get to witness these changes unlike emma (crystal's friend in ep 1) & charles, who (probably) got to witness the changes of the earth after their time and obviously relatively adapted. charles got to witness the shift into the 90s and the nazis overtaking the skinhead subculture and he got to witness the world thinking it was going to end twice and he got to witness more acceptance of queers, he got to witness all of this change and adapt, whereas edwin didnt, and edwin is obviously quite stuck back in his time, evenmoreso than charles is. charles still dresses, speaks, everything of his time, but he's adapted and you can tell. edwin, however, doesn't know modern things and hasnt adapted his views to change. edwin's still stuck in the year he died.

[theworldisabrokenbonebutitishome]

[insp.]

Save Dead Boy Detectives

[madememoria]

"ORPHEUS: Dear Eurydice, I miss you.

No—that's not enough."

- Eurydice, Sarah Ruhl

[witchinatree]

does anyone else get really sad thinking about charles breaking his cricket bat and not even really acknowledging it because it's to save edwin. or is it just me.

[iwritenarrativesandstuff]

While Edwin’s more than a bit stand-offish and definitely not the most tactful, I never did get the sense that he doesn’t like people - in fact, I think his insistence that he’s “not good with people” and his general emotional detachment/disinterest has a lot more to do with his assumption that they don’t or won’t like him.

And while that’s very sad to think about… it’s not as if his belief here is hard to understand, considering his past experiences. But it’s left him quite guarded and lonely, and of course, the more he isolates himself from people other than Charles (and even here, he allows himself little vulnerability), the more he reinforces this fear that people won’t like him, and the less he allows himself to properly sympathize or empathize with others, which is why his friendships with Crystal and Niko and Monty (short-lived as that was) are so important. Once he started to let some of those walls down, to not be so scared of vulnerability and to be around people who allow themselves to feel and want so readily (to live! who allow themselves to live without fear of loving!), he’s really not nearly as bad with people as he seems to think he is - and, in fact, he’s actually quite good at saying or doing the right thing for them when it really counts.

[inigosayshi]

They were the first thing I thought of when I saw this post.

Edwin's death being a prank gone wrong.

Vs

Charles' death being an intentional violent act. (They didn't know he was gonna die but I don't think they would have cared either way)

[stasyalovem]

today I think of those detective stories that Edwin found in the attic and read to Charles. it is clear that in the days when Edwin was alive they were very popular and many boys at school could read and leave them somewhere. but what if these are the same copies that Edwin had and read? just imagine: dying in a horrible way, spending 70 years in hell, escaping and came back to the place of your death, to a world that has changed beyond recognition, where is no one you knew and who would remember you. and how it is to understand that the only thing left after you is only a few copies of silly little detective stories in an abandoned attic which no one cares about (like no one ever cared about you)?

[waywardsonsandaughters]

Not thinking about how The Boys never realized that The Night Nurse found them out because Charles possessed Esther.

Charles would be devastated if it ever came up.

[reeama-the-mage]

The difference between the tragedy of Edwin's and Charles' lives and deaths and what makes Charles' much more compelling to me is that Edwin never had anyone he could trust: he grew up with distant parents who i imagine he saw rarely and could not confide in, then he went to school and was immediately recognized as other in a way he had not fully realized of himself yet and was killed for it, and then comes hell and well who can u trust in hell? Certainly not the things that chase you until your legs ache, and even if your compatriots in the whole ordeal are as innocent as you, trapped in the same technicality, what is the good of trusting them, when they are just as helpless as you?

But Charles? Everyone Charles was supposed to trust betrayed him. His parents were close to him, atleast somewhat, atleast his father was around enough to get sick of hearing owner of a lonely heart, and his mother was around enough to watch his father beat him and be silently horrified and ultimately not do anything about it, maybe she stepped in once and we just never saw it, but I wouldn't bet on it, Charles' mom is 'quiet' that's her defining feature to Charles not protective or gentle just 'quiet', then Charles gets to school and he is popular he has friends! He has people who care for him (or should maybe, as long as he's good at sports like he's needed to be) and then he stands up for one person, because he has always wanted to be good and maybe he trusts himself to do it just this once and his friends kill him and his own actions signed the death warrant and he cannot even trust himself to do the right thing properly (it never got better and then you died)

And maybe, maybe Edwin does it too, with less intention to hurt, and with less knowledge but Charles and Edwin trust eachother maybe more than anything (maybe Charles would sooner slip away from earth's gravity than stop putting his trust in Edwin who he thinks is good and smart and brills and aces) and maybe Edwin still looks at Charles trying to protect him after Charles has had maybe the worst week of his existence and says "that was a bit...... extreme" and Edwin still promises Charles can tell him anything while hiding himself in a way that makes Charles feel untrustworthy

So yeah I'll never stop thinking about the tragedy of Charles Rowland actually 👍 think about him with me

[badassindistress]

Edwin Payne enjoys a good mentally stimulating puzzle. Always has. And his afterlife has quite pleasantly been full of them. Supernatural mysteries abound and the Dead Boy Detectives are here to lay them to rest. Only their usual cases aren't quite this... peculiar.

"It is not for me to know the motives of my superiors," the Night Nurse insists for the third time, eyes closed in frustration. She doesn't grasp the reasons for this new assignment either. How exactly are they meant to banish the spectre of "internalised homophobia"?

Or; The Finality once known as Niko Sasaki has been made aware of two dead boys who have saved her before, and she'll make damn sure they'll save her again, saving themselves in the process. All this paperwork does not spark joy, she'd like to get back to reading about boys kissing, thank you very much.

Read Rules are Rules here!

[sam-txt]

but alas i was no swimmer / so i lost my clementine

[weatheringtea]

Here we go. Time for some self-indulgent nonsense as a new fic from my favourite headcanon :>

East City Shindig - AO3 Summary:

Seven months after coming back from the other side of the Gate, and living a life that had been more or less calm in Resembool, Winry asks Ed if he wants to join her on a business trip to East City.  Just the two of them.  It wasn't the first time they'd travelled alone together, but seven months had passed since their last adventure and things were different this time.

[livuvur]

BH Al to Ed at the end of the series: What about you... And Winry?

CoS Al to Ed at the end of the series: What about Winry?! Don't you know she misses you too?!

[libraryleopard]

Adult historical romance with magic

Sequel to A Marvellous Light

Follows Maud Blythe, the younger sister of Robin from the first book

When the elderly witch Maud’s supposed to be escorting on a transatlantic trip is murdered for the priceless magical artifact she possessed, Maud finds herself hunting a mysterious murderer while trapped onboard a ship

When Maud joins forces with Violet Debenham, a scandalous aristocrat-turned-actress from a magician family, sparks fly between the two of them despite their precarious situation

Murder mystery with a strong romantic subplot (quite frankly the horniest book I read this year which is impressive given the number of romance novels I’ve read recently)

Advances the overall plot of the trilogy while introducing a lot of new characters

Fun locked-room-mystery vibes of the ship at sea

Lesbian main character, bisexual main character, F/F romance

[inigosayshi]

Do you ever think about how Charles was Edwin's first case?

And Edwin failed to solve it/ protect Charles?

So he overworks himself on every case they get to try and make up for that one failure?

[deconstructthesoup]

One thing I absolutely adore about Dead Boy Detectives is the immaculate costume design. Specifically, how it perfectly encapsulates who the characters are, both as a whole and who they are in the moment.

From the very first scene of the show, we know immediately that Edwin is a bookish, somewhat stuffy guy from the Edwardian era who attended a boarding school, and Charles is a punk from the 1980's who's most likely the wildcard between the two of them, just going off of the way that they're dressed. Both of them have distinct color schemes and different styles, but the general shape of their outfits is actually relatively similar---both of them have collared shirts (Edwin's dress shirt, Charles's polo), something over those shirts (Edwin's vest, Charles's suspenders), a jacket of some kind (Edwin's suit jacket, Charles's flannel thing), a longer overcoat (Edwin's traveling coat, Charles's peacoat), something around the neck (Edwin's bowtie, Charles's necklace), slacks, and nice shoes. They're distinct, yet matching, two clearly defined separate characters yet part of a set.

Edwin's prim, proper, buttoned-up personality lends itself to the way he dresses throughout the season---in the first episode, he only dresses down when he's in the office with Charles, aka his safe place and his safe person, and he doesn't really dress down like that again for a good long while after getting stuck in Port Townsend (though, if my memory serves me correctly, he does take off the suit jacket while watching TV with Niko). But in episode six, he's changed up his usual look for a cozier, casual-looking sweater and a little bit of collarbone, and in episode seven... well, he's in his nightclothes, and he's about as open, raw, and vulnerable as you can get. Edwin's color scheme is also predominately blue, which lines up nicely with his logical and practical, yet deeply sad and closed off personality, and the only time he really wears anything other than his normal blue-and-brown outfit (willingly, that is) is when he's in that green sweater in episode six. And, uh... all I can say is that it's quite telling how blue and green---or, well, teal---are the main colors of the gay/mlm flag.

Charles, by contrast, dresses down a lot, and that makes a lot of sense when you consider the fact that unlike Edwin, he feels comfortable pretty much anywhere. On any given episode, he goes from wearing his peacoat to just wearing his flannel to ditching the flannel to not even wearing the freaking polo---though, again, the latter is something that only happens when he's in the office with Edwin. Safe space, safe person. And, well, plenty of people have analyzed Charles's polo shirt going from red to burgundy to black over the course of the series, and there being a little bit of red under the collar of his coat that's only visible when Edwin fixes it, and then it goes back to burgundy, and then it's red again when Edwin's out of Hell... for good reason! It's color symbolism at its finest! Not to mention, the red and black not only perfectly contrasts Edwin's color scheme, but it also lines up with Charles's personality---he's a rebel, he's hotheaded, he's bold and brash and loud... and yes, he's angry, but he's also so, so loving.

When we first meet Crystal after she loses her memories, her outfit choices feel very deliberate. They're stylish and vaguely trendy, they're arty and a little bit witchy---pretty fitting for a psychic who's also a showbiz kid, even if she doesn't know that last part. But all of her clothes appear thrifted, or at the very least vintage, and the patterns and the general vibe all feel natural and comforting. Her makeup's always fairly simple, her hair's either down or up in a couple of cute space buns... overall, this Crystal looks like the kind of person who'd make you tea when you're in a bad mood, who'll listen when you just need to vent, and who may not always know the right thing to say but will understand what you're going through. But when we see her in the flashbacks, her clothing's flashy and prioritizes high-end trends over comfort, she's either got her hair up or has it straightened, and she not only has dramatic makeup, but acrylics. This is a girl who talks shit about you behind your back, who's bitter and cynical and wants everyone to feel the same way, who makes up for the lack of love and stability in her life via material things. It's also worth noting that Crystal's color scheme has a lot of purple, which is a color that connects to wealth and luxury, but also creativity and magic---which, yeah, fits her two conflicting sides pretty damn well.

You cannot talk about Niko Sasaki without talking about her outfits, and the meaning behind each of them has already been talked about at length. However, one thing that really stands out to me is that the reason they're so iconic isn't just because of the monochrome color schemes, but because they're out there. They're weird, they're eclectic, they're a little mismatched in style sometimes, and they're so unapologetically her. Niko wears heart-shaped sunglasses, unironically. Everything about the way she dresses speaks to how, even though she's a recovering shut-in who initially doesn't want to be perceived, she's still very sure of who she is.

Jenny's design, like Charles and Edwin's, is a design that gives you the key information you need the minute she first appears onscreen. The dark makeup, the silver jewelry, the leather apron, and the hairstyle all point to a person who's tough, doesn't take anyone's shit, and has long since given up on caring what other people think---in other words, she's a badass. But the butterfly tattoo hints at a softer side, a side that we see time and time again throughout the series as she shows that she cares about Crystal and Niko, and even the boys... eventually. Also, Jenny's design is perhaps one of the most clearly queer-coded in the series, to the point where her being a confirmed lesbian is pretty much a no-brainer.

Esther's design oozes camp, from top to bottom. The fluffy coat, the bustier, the boots and the cane and the everything, speak to a woman who's kept with the times and yet has seen it all. There's really not a lot I can fully say about her design, other than what Charles has already said: "She looks like a witch... like, kind of a sexy witch, who smokes a lot." (Or maybe I'm just tired and running out of steam at this point, idk, I love Esther's design and I can't really put it into words.) It's also pretty fitting that her color scheme has a lot of yellow in it---after all, she's always striving for more, so what better color for her than the color of gold?

Everything about the Night Nurse's design speaks to a woman who follows rules and discipline above all else, from the pantsuit to the pinned-up hairstyles to the tie to the heels. She's also the most muted out of the main cast in terms of color, dressing mostly in browns, dull greens, and duller browns---and while I don't have a lot to go into detail about there, I feel like that's kind of a symbol of her narrow-minded and bureaucratic worldview.

And the animal characters... Jesus Christ, I fully forget that they're all being played by human actors. Tragic Mick dresses like a man who's always spent his life by the sea, layered denim and all, and it's never a stretch to see this sad, bushy-bearded, baggy-clothed fisherman and imagine him as a walrus lounging on a beach. Monty, at first glance, seems to only wear black, which would be perfectly fitting for a crow, but when he's in better lighting, you see that he dresses in layers of red and blue, calling to how he envies Charles and Edwin and clearly longs for something more---and this might just be me, but I think that even though his outfits seem fairly normal at first glance, they feel kind of like a costume for Monty more than anything else, like he's trying to emulate a teenager that he's seen on TV more than someone in real life.

The Cat King fits this just as well, with all of his outfits aligning perfectly with whatever his cat form is at the time---when he's a fluffy ginger, it's always sequins and fur coats and clothing pieces that are specifically designed to take up space and call attention, and when he's a black shorthair, it's sleek styles and shiny leather and pieces that are designed to cut an intimidating yet more subtle figure. And while I could go into detail about all of those, what really stands out to me is how clearly queer everything is---more than Jenny's alt lesbian attire, more than Esther's campy coat and corset. From the very first scene he's in, he's wearing a skirt, and it looks natural. Nothing about the way the Cat King presents himself is exaggerated, nothing about the way he dresses is played for laughs---he's flamboyant and feminine and flirty, and he looks so fucking hot while he does it. It's gorgeous.

So... yeah, uh, all the awards for the Dead Boy Detectives costume designers!