#realistically I think Edwin would know that Charles doing it would cause Charles to have a complete nervous breakdown

[sthilarions]

Bear with me here because I’m thinking this idea through as I type it and also this is rather gory/borderline body horror so scroll away if that bothers you

Runes/enchantments/spells written on Edwin’s ribs - but there’s no magic way to make them appear there, they have to be actually manually engraved

Edwin’s pain tolerance/history of being torn apart in much worse ways means he thinks this is totally fine. Just apply a little iron to get him solid (and in possession of internal organs such as a skeleton), get the necessary tool, peel -

It’s right around the word “peel” that Charles stops staring in horror and starts throwing things, and Edwin never gets to the genius part of the plan, which is that once the iron is off, his ribs go back to being not-really-real, just part of his spectral after-image, as it were, which means it’s impossible for anyone to break the enchantment without destroying him entirely, as it’s now part of his soul.

The problem is, though, that Edwin can’t get the angle to do the engraving himself. (At least, that’s Edwin’s problem. Charles seems to have some other one.)

The matter is dropped for multiple decades, until after Port Townsend.

Because the enchantment Edwin wanted, you see, was a planar binding curse. Locks the enchanted item - in this case, Edwin - onto the earthly plane, so it can’t be taken whether by choice or force to any other… such as, for example, Hell.

And now Charles has seen Hell; and he knows what Edwin meant, when he said Hell was far worse than getting a bit of body art; and it’s getting rapidly harder for him to disagree.

[tragedy-machine]

“Edwin, do you ever think about… what it’d be like if we went to school together?”

“I cannot say that I do, Charles.”

“I do, sometimes. About how life would be like if we were both alive and attending St. Hilarion right now.”

“I assume your vision does not include any of our classmates being killers?”

“Nah, ‘course not. Times are different now, aren’t they? So… what do you think?”

“Well, you would be a star of the cricket team, no doubt. And you can certainly bounce a ball without letting it fall for a very long period of time, so maybe a football star, as well.”

“I don’t know about being a star, but– cheers.”

“Of course. Indeed, given your natural charisma, one might readily surmise that people would be most inclined to gather about you. If they possessed any sense whatsoever, your classmates should eagerly seek to make your acquaintance. You would graciously give everyone the time of day, much as you do with our clients, and they would be endlessly charmed by you. ”

“Now you’re really overdoing it, mate. What about you?”

“Me? Oh. I would… greatly delight in the study of languages. I have heard it said that schools nowadays offer a wider array of them within their curriculum. Literature, too, holds a special allure for me; indeed, I might even volunteer my services in the school library, simply for the opportunity to spend more time there or attend a study club. Science has also been a source of fascination for me—chemistry in particular, I could well imagine devoting a lot of time to it.”

“Mhmm, go on.”

“Whatever do you mean?”

“What of your friends?”

“I have not considered– perhaps other members of the literature club? Our recent adventure in the States have shown me that although people are decidedly still not my forte, it is possible for me to make acquaintances with them if they share my interests. If they are not dreadfully insufferable, that is to say.”

“And…?”

“And?”

“C’mon, how do we meet?”

“Oh. Realistically, I do not think our paths would cross. You would have more than enough friends interested in sports and music and other activities you enjoy, and I would never set foot near a gymnasium or a music room. We are an unlikely pair, after all.”

“...what? You don’t think we’d be friends if we were at school together?”

“I merely mean to say— as I have mentioned— with a sufficient company of good and worthy friends around you, you would have little cause to seek me out at school, particularly as we would be spending our time entirely differently.”

“Edwin, that’s horrible. A load of tosh, if I’ve ever heard one. I refuse to believe that. We could meet in class, or– maybe I’d have trouble with English, it’s never been my favorite, could never get my letters correct, could I? And since you’re so good at it, you’d offer to tutor me.”

“You believe I would offer?”

“‘Course, you’re proper kind like that, aren’t you? Or I’d ask you and you wouldn’t be able to say no to me.”

“So certain I would not be, even right from the beginning?”

“Isn’t that how our first meeting went?”

“...touché. You can be quite persistent. However, that does not mean you would have to befriend the boy who tutors you.”

“I liked you right when I met you, didn’t I? It’d be the same.” 

“You are awfully confident regarding the matter.”

“Yeah, mate. Think about it, we may be an unlikely duo, but against all odds, we met. We stayed together. And will stay together. We’d find each other in every universe, just like we had in this one.”

“...who is the one ‘overdoing it’ now?”

“Come off it, mate! But just think about it, we’d go to uni together, you’d study– English or, or Law, you’d make a great lawyer, you know, and I– I don’t know, I’d study something too, and we’d live together.”

“Would we start a detective agency together as well?”

“I don’t see why not.”

“Alive Boy Detectives does not have the same ring to it. Neither does Alive Men Detectives.”

“We’d figure something out.”

[thechangeling4]

a good point. but also not very surprising. he's 107 year old, he spend 70 of those in hell, where all he had to do was get tortured, plan his escape, think and find constructive ways to cope. from what we see, he was practical even when alive. charles has 46 years of life experience, but he's spend most of them trying to be cheerful/positive through everything that got thrown at him and please others. something edwin realised already when he was alive, that he would not be able to do. i know an optimist like charles and when they break, they break hard and fast. chrytal is what, 16-17, and while pre-memory loss her IS a total bitch in the worst ways, it's very telling that the moment she can't remember her life, while she still clearly has all the emotions connected to it, her first reaction is "we MUST help", to be kind. indicating that her bitchiness is a reaction to her envionment, a survival technique. edwin found his pressure valve, he regulates through snark and pouring determination into cases, and when the pressure rises hard and fast he lets it out in short constructive bursts at a carefully chosen target. charles hasn't found his valve so he has to wait for crack to form. crystal had a valve and regulated in all the wrong ways and directions. niko found her valve and is generaly good at regulation, but hasn't learned yet to deal with hard and fast spikes(but she's also only 16-17), so when that happens she directs the reaction at herself. crystal and charles both have violent streak, that edwin and niko lacks. crystal and edwin are realists and better at thinking things through and finding constructive reactions, niko and charles are optimists and better at rolling with the puches 'cause they always try to live in the moment.

Rant (Thought About Edwin Payne Too Much Again):

Edwin may be the best one out of the main four in regards to dealing with his own anger. Isn't that something?

I mean, Crystal is constantly angry and letting it out in ways that hurt others or even herself. Niko gets angry at love and herself and thinks changing her whole personality is the answer instead of facing what she did wrong. Charles, well, duh.

But Edwin. We see him get worked up on episode one until he breaks down, says everything he needs about how the cases matter to him, and accepts the comfort that comes afterwards. From then on I think we don't see him get mad for a good while.

He gets annoyed of course, all the time, but that's just him. Anger, though? I can only remember the second instance being with the Cat King in the forest, shoving the bracelet in his face. Which he was brilliant to do, had every right to, stood up for himself and left.

He takes the anger when it comes, does something about it and lets it go. Something no one else seems to have learned how to do.

In conclusion: Edwin Payne, somehow the emotional role model of this fucked up little group