#the Cat King

[thats-a-little-queer]

i want the cat king back i miss his antics an unnormal amount

[not-the-living-ghost]

“catwin would’ve been canon in season 2, so no payneland :((“

nonono, you guys aren’t seeing the VISION. imagine the ANGST that will ensue once charles find out about catwin. imagine the way charles will undoubtedly feel ridiculously jealous and simultaneously hate himself for not being able to be okay with something that’s clearly making edwin happy. IMAGINE.

[merses-haunted-cat-bed]

WTF adult experience

Many seemed to obsessed with the headcanon he would wear a fishnet but I bet he'd take a suspender so here it is

[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.

[fallenfrommars6277]

Okay, I've seen the cameo where George hints at Edwin's "first adult experience" with the Cat King and I wish to share my two cents about it.

First of all, disregarding which pair anyone ships, I believe we can safely say that Payneland will eventually be endgame: it is left as an option by Charles in Hell, it is hinted in the show and it is basically sustained by Jayden and George themselves.

I am, for one, a Payneland shipper. I admit that at first I wanted them to stay just friends because I am a sucker for great friendship stories, but rewatch after rewatch I started to see them as soulmates in a romantic kinda way.

Nevertheless, I think (and honestly have thought since the beginning, not just because they said that now) that it would be great to see how Catwin would evolve and in particular I think it's just right that Edwin has his first experiences with the Cat King, maybe not straight away sex, but in general intimate experiences.

Let me explain.

Yes, it would be nice to see Edwin and Charles getting together and awkwardly kissing and having together their first intimacies: it would be a first for both of them, because I believe that while Charles may have fooled around a bit, he didn't ever actually make love to anyone, let alone a boy. So it would be all romantic and gentle and blushing virgins and it absolutely would be great.

BUT.

Both Edwin and Charles are on a journey to self discovery, in general but especially in the love and sexuality area, but they are at different stages of it. While Edwin has been repressed for over a century, he has been now awakened (by Charles, by Monty and above all by the Cat King) to feelings and sensations and wants that he now needs and IS READY to fulfil.

On the other hand, Charles isn't there yet, he just now learns that his best mate is in love with him and he feels nothing but love and adoration towards him but he fundamentally doesn't know what actual love (as in being in love with someone and being the one someone is in love with) looks and feels like, also they're both guys and while he has been nothing but supportive of Edwin about him coming to terms with his homosexuality, considering the time and especially the household in which he lived in, I don't think he wouldn't have problems realizing and admitting to himself that he is bisexual (I know it's not canon, but come on) or at least that he fancies another boy. And even when this happens, I think that he would have a lot of holding back, being insecure about his "ability" to love and not wanting to hurt Edwin.

That said, I think that Edwin has always loved and will always love only Charles, but it is only fair for him now to start having his experiences and exploring his sexuality and, while Edwin and Charles have been a whole for over 30 years, doing everything together, I believe this is something he has to do by himself and the best person with whom to do this is the Cat King because they're both attracted to each other, because the CK is very experienced and I think this would be someway reassuring for Edwin (like he's doing this, he's experimenting with someone who knows very well what he's doing), because the CK would never be judgemental of his inexperience, and above all because the CK cares about him, but also knows that no matter how much he can care about him and be affectionate towards him and even love him, he will never actually have him because Edwin's heart belongs to Charles since that night in the attic.

I expect (yes, I'm talking like this is actually happening because maybe I'm delusional but I've not given up hope yet about a second season) that while Edwin does this and experiments and learns things about a part of himself that has always been hidden and repressed, Charles someway does the same, of course not realizing that he wants to have sexual experiences because he is, if not actually experienced, more acquainted with this "area", but that he has to explore his sexuality to understand how he can fit loving Edwin into it and then actually act upon this, but to do this he also needs to find a way to separate himself from his father, from his painful childhood, and control his anger and navigate and accept his own emotions, all the shades of them, to start appreciating himself and considering himself worth of loving and being loved.

In conclusion, as I said before, they both are going through a journey, but while Edwin's at the end of his and is ready for what comes next, Charles has just now started it, so it's just right that just this once they don't do this together, because they KNOW that even if they take metaphorically different roads, they eventually will find each other at the finish line.

[anxious-witch]

-Pierre Corneille, The Cid (tr. by A.S. Kline), 1636

[yowlthinks]

It was such a good and tender moment.

But also, Payneland shippers (me included) , come on, we know Edwin and Charles IS the endgame, but the story requires drama and character development, and as in life we grow while interacting with others, they give us perspective.

It was a good morning to wake up for catwin shippers 😻

[ymbly]

the thing with monty is that you can simultaneously ship him everyone or no one and it makes sense

Edwin? do I even have to explain why

Charles? enemies to lovers classic trope

Cat King? bird and cat. at minimum it would be Interesting

No one? yeah that guy was humanified for romance. not engaging in that after would be literally so understandable

just like that aspect about him

[montythehumancrow]

hey, if catwins basically canon, where's all the smut depicting the aforementioned first adult experience?? and might i mention that since catwin was basically canonized, payneland is like gone we got cricketcrow and catwin now. like what happened??

[starcraftt]

dead boy detectives is superior.

[dead-but-still-sarcastic]

The series of simple pleasures for Dbda characters is ending

We’ve done polls for 10 characters, as well as 4 bonus polls and here’s 1 final poll in this series for you guys, and under the cut is a long rambling of all the information from the polls if you’d like it And there may be another series of polls coming soon

Charles Rowland: he got a cool trinket and the bonus poll was a three-way tie between a guitar pick, a paper clip refolded into the shape of a heart, and a small fidget The original poll got 156 votes, the bonus poll got 16

Edwin Payne: he got a cool trinket and the bonus poll gave him specifically a key that doesn’t open anything The original poll got 138 votes, the bonus poll got 171

Niko Sasaki: she petted a cat or dog The poll got 143 votes

Crystal Palace: she took off uncomfortable shoes at the end of a long day The poll got 127 votes

Jenny Green: she took off uncomfortable shoes at the end of a long day The poll got 135 votes

Monty: he got a cool trinket and the bonus poll gave him a shiny coin with very little financial value The original poll got 133 votes, the bonus poll got 110

Tragic Mick: he got a cool trinket and the bonus poll gave him a piece of sea glass The original poll got 112 votes, the bonus poll got 93

The Cat King: he got a good stretch The poll got 118 votes

Esther Finch: she took off uncomfortable shoes at the end of a long day The poll got 101 votes

The Night Nurse: she took off uncomfortable shoes at the end of a long day The poll got 107 votes

[downbaddetective]

Seeing as a lot of people seem to be feeling the microwaved gatorade really bad, I'm gonna be doing dbda art/sketch requests until it's over (December 15th-ish). Don't know how fast I'll get them out, but any reasonable requests sent to my asks during this time I will do my best to get to y'all in a timely manner. I will note that I'm also going to be trying to participate in catwinter at the same time, and I am slowly working on getting my howl's moving castle au character illustrations done and posted. I might do more rounds of this in the future if it goes smoothly, but keep requests simple and sfw this first time around, please. ❤️🔎

[petvampire]

Do knifeplay cat king x charles!

OH CAN I

trying to corral the muses back into working order, so of COURSE this is where I go first. 🤣

~

He’s accustomed to being in danger. Really, it’s par for the course; detective work seems to involve about one quarter research and fact checking, one quarter chasing down leads that go nowhere, and the rest is running for their afterlives. And Charles, as the self-proclaimed brawn, will always be the one to put himself on the front line.

He wasn’t expecting it this time, he’ll admit. Largely because he’s not on a case, he’s not dealing with a hostile apparition, and he’s feeling less afraid than he is…

Okay. Well. He’s just a bit turned on.

Because the Cat King has a slender, elegant blade to his throat, just barely touching; enough iron in it to make the ghost’s skin feel it, though it doesn’t burn like pure iron does. It’s not the knife that has the detective off guard, though. It’s the almost feral look in the shapeshifter’s eyes, a dangerous sort of smirk curving his lips, flashing the barest hint of gleaming fangs.

“Would’ve thought you’d use your claws if you wanted to threaten somebody,” Charles manages to get out, though he stays stock-still, chin tilted up under the pressure of that deceptively delicate blade.

“Who says I’m threatening?” The voice is a dark purr, the knife sweeping slowly down, pricking at the hollow of Charles’ throat, slicing through the half-corporeal fabric of his shirt, a hint of smoke curling off the blade.

Charles swallows hard. He’s seen the Cat King pissed before, certainly. And he’s seen him when he’s playing, toying with any one of his lovers for the sheer thrill of it. This is something between the two, and there’s something that lurks beneath that cold facade.

Oh, fuck.

“— shit. Sorry. Case went long, we should have—“

His voice trails off as that blade drags along his chest, the briefest touch that sears like lightning along his nerves. Thomas knows just what will ignite Charles’ ability to feel, and what goes beyond that to true pain. He’s still firmly on the former side of the line, but his temper is obvious nonetheless.

“Yes, you should have.” The words are cold, but he sees the slightest softening in golden eyes. “Luckily, you can make it up to me.”

[perseidlion]

Chapter 5 posted Nov 24.

One Night Can Stretch Into Forever - A Catwin Modern AU

I'm very proud of my WIP, a modern take on Edwin x Cat King. Cat is a personal stylist, and Edwin is an English professor. They meet one night in a jazz bar. They both start to catch feelings almost immediately, but Edwin is determined to keep it casual. Rating: E (soft E, non-graphic smut) Status: Ongoing. No less than 1 chapter per week, sometimes more.

CHAPTER 1

A jazz club was not Cat’s usual scene. Normally, he spent his time at underground clubs and posh cocktail bars. Part of that was practical. As a stylist with rich and famous clients, he wanted to have his finger on the pulse of what was new and trendy. When one of his clients told him about a speakeasy that had been getting a lot of buzz, he was intrigued. He’d been seeing hints of 1920s-inspired fashion in next years’ winter previews his contacts had given him a sneak peek of, which made the jazz club even more intriguing. 

London never had Prohibition, so the speakeasy vibe of Giggle Water was completely contrived. Fake or not, it was executed very well - from the hidden door at the back of a florist, to the exposed brick and brass finishings. He suspected the club might have actually been a Molly House that was given a jazz-era makeover. That would explain why, although the club was not explicitly a queer one, he saw many visibly queer people as he waited in the short line to descend into the club proper.

When Cat emerged from the narrow stairwell, he was greeted with a surprisingly open space with vaulted ceilings which suggested it was once a cellar for the historic building above. There was a small stage in the corner where a trio was playing klezmer music and the club was packed with young and fashionable people. That was a good sign that the visit was actually worth his while.

Normally Cat’s personal style leaned towards the garish and gender non-conforming. For once, he was there to see and not so much to be seen. His deep blood red blazer with subtle black brocade over a tight black t-shirt with a slight sheen and high-waisted, perfectly tailored slacks might be ostentatious on someone else, but on him, it was practically understated. His blond curls were tousled in an easy surfer style and he was wearing cologne that smelled like boozy cherries with a hint of musk. A diamond stud glinted in one ear and he was wearing a subtle amount of eyeliner to make his eyes pop and give them a slight cat-eye look. 

As Cat scanned the well-dressed crowd, he started to mentally catalogue the vibe of the most well-dressed people. Waistcoats for women with very masculine tailoring were well-represented, as were asymmetrical blazers for all genders. A very masculine-presenting person breezed past him in a corset paired with wide-legged trousers with very high slits giving a flash of silver booty shorts underneath. 

“Oh, yes,” Cat murmured to himself.

He’d have to get himself a pair of those pants. Maybe paired with a latex-look turtleneck and a diamond belt and ankle height go-go boots.

Cat had seen enough to know it was worth lingering awhile longer. It was still relatively early, and it was possible more interesting fashionistas and socialites would make their way into the club. So he got in line at the bar.

“The cocktails are quite excellent here. Though if you aren’t a fan of actually tasting the alcohol, you might find them strong for your taste,” came a masculine voice in a crisp, posh, English accent.

Cat turned to find a tall, dark-haired man in his mid-twenties. He was wearing a black and white patterned shirt with an identical tie, and an immaculately slim-tailored pair of black pants and a single breasted blazer that nipped him in at the waist. It was nothing groundbreaking fashion-wise, but it was trendy and well-tailored enough to catch his attention. He was holding a cut crystal glass with something dark and strong in it.

Cat gave him an obvious once-over, then grinned. “Well, I’d say that makes sense seeing as this is a cocktail bar,” he drawled. 

“Oh, you’re American.”

“You sound disappointed.”

“No, not disappointed. Are you a tourist?”

Cat examined the stranger, one eyebrow lifted. He was having a hard time reading him. It felt like he was being flirted with, but it could also simply be smalltalk. There was a soft lisp to his voice and a certain flow to his mannerisms that made his gaydar ping. However, he’d made the mistake in the past, misinterpreting poshness for queerness. There was also a note of hopefulness from the stranger that made him think he wanted the answer to his question to be no.

“Resident,” said Cat. He smiled wide enough to show his naturally pointed canines that had given him the nickname in his childhood that he now used exclusively. His gaze flicked to the man’s full glass, then up to his face. “Unless you’re second-guessing your drink, I’m guessing you’re not in line. So?”

“Pardon?” said the man. He was holding himself confidently, but something in his eyes suggested nervousness. 

“Are you going to offer to buy me a drink? Or have I…” he shifted a little closer, “...completely misread you?” 

Continue reading on Ao3

[gendernutralghost]

every gay friend group has: the repressed academic, the ska loving "brawn", the formerly mean girl psychic, the match making anime fan, the astrology lover, the lesbian butcher/reluctant big sister, the sexy cat with nine lives, the walrus who runs a magic shop and the local witch who wants to kill everyone