#the case of crystal and charles

[shaylogic]

Okay, so we know that Charles' polo goes red>burgundy>black and back by the end of the season.

Because there's so much going on, I always missed the exact transitions. This time I specifically tracked them down. (Apologies if this has already been done.)

Charles shirt is bright red through the majority of the Devlin House, even in Hope's Diary scene, when he opens up to Crystal.

Even when he first swings at Mr. Devlin and gets knocked back, his shirt is red.

The very subtle shift to burgundy is after he disappears and first reappears in the loop.

It remains burgundy throughout the entire lighthouse leapers episode and beginning of the two dead dragons.

I finally realized the very last moment we see of Charles in the burgundy is with Crystal. She tells him after the confusing makeout night, "But I think we should be friends," and kind-hearted Charles, of course, respects that and puts on a friendly smile.

It's difficult to see in the next scene with him because of his jacket, the angle he sits at on the ladder, and the lighting, but it's immediately after that when we first see him in the black polo.

My brother in death, you are NOT doing well.

here's another song from Jayden Revri's official Charles playlist, that I think is about this conflict with Crystal:

His shirt is still black during the "I don't wanna be a bad guy" scene.

After Edwin's affirmation of Charles' inherent goodness, it is directly after this scene that the shirt goes back to burgundy!!!

He's still wearing the burgundy during the confession:

BUT IT GOES BACK TO BRIGHT RED LITERALLY RIGHT AFTER EDWIN'S CONFESSION AND THEY ESCAPE HELL TOGETHER!

Yo I equally love Cryland and Payneland but the show canonly said "Crystal hit him in the loneliness and Edwin hit him in the loved"

[niko-sasaki-dbd]

the lesson you get from the flashbacks of edwin and charles' deaths is that hate crimes are real and the suffering they cause had been getting overlooked for over a century.

that there's still people dying like that somewhere, and there's people, young people, that are going to die believing that they didn't matter.

[fan-a-tink]

wanted to make this gif just because it's one of the most stunning shots in the show, but also....

...the symbolism of David pushing Crystal and causing her to lose her balance, while Charles is the one catching her and helping her regain her balance... *chef's kiss*

[leahaart]

Eeepy boys

[lesbicosmos]

there's one specific shot in dead boy detectives that i need to yap about

this one.

now this might just be the film student in me overanalysing because the scene itself isn't even really about the relationships but i think the positioning of the characters is so specific it has to have meaning??

like if the goal was just charles and edwin in the centre, they would've had it so they walk over and the order is crystal-charles-edwin-monty

but they didnt

they specifically had charles walking into the space between edwin and monty

and we know that this makes sense - charles is who's causing the rift between edwin and monty, he's literally in the middle of them because edwin's feelings for him are the main thing stopping edwin and monty becoming a thing

but this positioning also puts edwin in between charles and crystal

so if charles is between edwin and monty because edwin's feelings for him are what's stopping the other relationship, is edwin in between charles and crystal for the same reason??

[aletterinthenameofsanity]

Not the Bullet, Ashe Vernon | The Case of the Lighthouse Leapers, Dead Boy Detectives (2024)

[mountainsoftreatos]

I love how in sync Edwin and Charles are that Edwin yells, "Charles... NO!" when Charles goes to possess Esther because Edwin can tell what impulsive decision Charles is planning. He knew exactly what Charles was doing before he did it.

[pippin-katz]

Every time I read a fic where Charles has some serious self-worth issues, I think, “Man, this is kind of overdoing it.”

Then I remember that this is an actual scene from the show:

He pauses for so long before he just says “No”. The fact that Charles has nothing to say in response to that question is so telling. I can feel the way he wants to say, “That doesn’t matter.” or something similar, but he doesn’t because he knows that will upset Crystal.

Charles does not give a fuck if anything happens to him. He would rather be trapped in Hell with Edwin forever than exist anywhere else without him. When you stop to think about that, it's actually a little insane.

[atariakana-art]

Behold the thing I have been laboring over in a mad fervor for the past week. I started it way before that, but life happened and I didn't get to work on it very much, and then there was a deadline... don't ask me how many hours I spent on it, though, I don't wanna talk about it /lh

Detail shots & ref pics under the cut! (pleaseee zoom in on this lmao I put wayyy too much detail in it as usual)

Details:

References:

The reference to the first cover got kind of lost I fear bc I changed the pose/angle so much. But the title is at least recognizable if you're familiar with the material, I hope

also sorry these are such crunchy jpegs i downloaded them off a Hardy Boys fan website

[galacticlamps]

To-Do List for Today:

1) Don't think about how alarmed Charles is when Edwin's straining against the mirror in 1.2, how he yells at him to stop before he 'rips his arm clean off,' or about how Edwin (almost uncharacteristically) has no retort at all to that but immediately composes himself

2) Also don't think about how, judging by the already-somewhat-unnecessary explanation Edwin provides in 1.7, Charles must be learning for the very first time that (at least some of) his 70+ years being Tortured In Hell consisted of a giant spider demon repeatedly tearing him apart

3) Especially don't think of those two facts in tandem--

ah damn I've fucked it up already, oh well I guess there's always tomorrow

[shaylogic]

Part of a greater slideshow project I'm working on. I figured I'd go ahead and share this slide about my theories on the Costume Design of these three characters.

Note: I theorize that the human guy possessed by the demon before Crystal was named David, and that the demon has some True Name he won't reveal, because then he could be controlled/banished, so he goes by David.

The citation linked to @captainfantasticalright's excellent Crystal Costume Design Post is here. I highly encourage all their meta posts on costuming and DBDA/Dante's Hell.

[greyskyflowers]

Big fan of the idea that Niko and Crystal keep accidently walking in on a private moments between Charles and Edwin.

Something where they freeze up and stop breathing as soon as they notice, still in the doorway and incredibly thankful the door doesn't creak. They haven't been seen yet.

Charles is sitting on the coach, slouched a little, and Edwin on his lap. Crystal can't really see Edwin's face from this angle but it looks like they're talking, Charles occasionally leaning in to nip at his jaw or throat.

They're both stripped down a few layers, nothing indecent, just the clear desire of wanting to be closer to skin.

Charles has his thumbs under Edwin's shirt, just stroking the skin there. He says something and Edwin leans forward to kiss him, there's a lazy roll of his hips that has Edwin pulling back and hiding his face in Charles's shoulder.

There's no rush to their actions, it doesn't even seem like they're trying to get off as much as they're just enjoying each other.

It's... intimate and very distracting. They look really good together. To be completely honest, Crystal isn't entirely sure who to look at - the confident and so very careful way Charles is easing Edwin into it, sharp eyes watching for any hesitation or displeasure or the slow and sweet way Edwin is letting himself sink into it, trusting and oh dear god they need to focus. They absolutely can't be seen.

Edwin will freak out. He'll get flustered and embarrassed, work himself up into panic, and never let himself relax enough to be in a situation like this again. It took Charles and him a long time to even get to this point, over 30 years, and she refuses to be the reason why this never happens again.

Niko and her have backed up slowly and are almost back through the door when she glances up and freezes. Charles is watching them out of the very corner of his eye, a warning look on his face, and she tries to convey that she knows and they're working on it, okay? Keep him distracted.

She rolls her eyes a little at him. Protective asshole probably doesn't like anyone else seeing Edwin like this, not that she blames him. She's had fleeting thoughts before that Edwin could be very attractive, especially if he updated his style, but she never really thought of him as attractive. She sees the appeal now though, how good Edwin looks with someone who knows what to do with him.

The flush on Niko's cheeks seem to indicate she's feeling the same way.

Edwin says something and Charles easily turns all his attention back to him again, a pleased grin breaking out on his face and he looks absolutely smitten.

Even when she and Charles had their little thing, he never looked at her like that and honestly there's no way he would look at anyone except Edwin like that.

The door closes silently behind them and they both sigh, exhausted and relieved. They take off down the hallway as quickly and quietly as they can.

They'll come back later.

🌙🌙🌙🌙🌙

Been thinking about intimacy and relationship dynamics...

Also Charles is 100% someone who always starts smiling when he's kissing.

[fan-a-tink]

another day, another gifset - some moments from my favourite episode: the case of the two dead dragons!

"You kissed?" - "Oi, keep it down!"

2. Charles' reaction to the "cash & condoms" (and Edwin trying very hard not to react at all)

3. "Brrrrr... this is far too much emotion for one day"

4. this Edwin walk™

5. two adorable Edwinisms from the scene that shall not be named

6. and finally, this last one is titled "moments before disaster"

other episode gif sets: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 6 - 7 - 8

[qwanderer]

The Case of the Dandelion Shrine

[deconstructthesoup]

Edwin and Charles are prince and knight coded

Crystal and Niko are palace mage and princess coded

[niko-sasaki-dbd]

Honestly, the ghosts can feel other ghosts theory is very well supported, and I would like to share some proof shown during the season.

In episode 1, Charles clearly felt the other ghost (the WWI soldier, Wilfred) strangling him, he also got his face covered in that black liquid after he took the cursed mask off his face.

If ghosts could be able to play the same rules with other ghosts as they do with the living, Charles could have chosen to simply pass through Wilfred and seize the knife. However, he was unable to do so.

Also, during Episode 3, when that ghost's head exploded, Charles and Edwin were covered with the pieces of his ghostly brain, so I guess, fluids are other things that have their own rules when we talk about ghost-to-ghost interaction.

Sure these are not the prettiest of examples, but they support my point just fine. And I guess, it's good information for when you're writing... All sorts of fanfiction.