#anyway! watch dead boy detectives

[bookshelfdreams]

you may be dead, but I will follow you to the underworld and drag you back into the light really is the most powerful romance trope there is

and cornelia funke was insane for employing it with a distinct This Doesn't Mean Anything It's Strictly Professional Just Guys Bein Dudes Haha undertone

[many-gay-magpies]

my favorite cricket bat-wielding bisexual ♥️

+ some other background variants

[dotswithbrainrot]

The shipping in the show has some AMAZING potential, but can we talk about Nikos and Edwin's BOMB FRIENDSHIP?? I LOVE THEM SO MUCH THEY HAVE SUCH A GREAT DYNAMIC. Two people with autism bonding and helping eachother emotionally. I LOVE THAT!!

[heathridgemanor]

on one hand i could very much justify the orpheus and eurydice reference from charles while believing his feelings for edwin are completely platonic but on the other hand HOW DO YOU COMPARE YOU AND THE GUY WHO JUST CONFESSED HIS LOVE FOR YOU TO FUCKING ORPHEUS AND EURYDICE AND THEN ALMOST IMMEDIATELY FOLLOW IT BY SAYING YOURE NOT IN LOVE WITH HIM BACK ????

[landedinpayne]

in case you are in the mood to feel devastated here’s an alternate way of viewing charles’ response to edwin’s confession:

we know that charles kinda puts edwin on a pedestal- yes they are partners but there is a bit of a hierarchy between them. charles just looks up to and admires edwin in so many ways while constantly looking down on and being really hard on himself. he puts on his big happy persona because he thinks that people wouldn’t like him if they actually got to know him.

so when edwin confesses, it’s like a blow to him. he took his charming persona too far and went and tricked the most important person in the world into thinking he was worthy of love. and it’s worse because he does love edwin in that way, which is exactly why he can’t let him know that. charles still believes that he is like his dad, and he saw exactly what his parents’ relationship did to his mother.

he thinks that loving edwin in the way that he wants to would only cause more pain to this boy who has already been through far more than he deserves. so he blinks back his tears, attempts the same charming smile he’s used all these years, and dishes out the gentlest non-rejection in the history of forever

[seance]

You don't belong here. You don't know anything about us.

[idliketobeatree]

you know who is THE character ever? Niko Sasaki.

she's 16. she rents a single room above a butcher shop in Townwhoknowswhere, half a globe away from home. she hasn't spoken to her mum back in Tokio in years. she has no friends. everyone in the gang would wrestle demons in knee-deep mud for her. nobody truly gets her. she's an outstanding listener. she stands up for her boundaries, mantaining an inquisitive spirit. she keeps the parasites who wanted to explode through every orifice in her body in a little mason jar; they are nothing but explicitly mean to her. she tries to reason with them everytime. she shows the ghost boy from the 1900s Scooby Doo and bonds with him over mutual Kindness and Autism. being in her proximity makes people inherently better and more understanding. she arrives at the scene of the crime 45 minutes late banging pots and pans. she's a fashion colour-coding icon. she loves love. she's never kissed anyone. she's the wingwoman. the date she sets up for Jenny and Maxine ends in the serial killer woman getting her head split in half. she outtricks the Night Nurse with the power of excellent media comprehension trained on yaoi mangas, and saves the day. she acquired a small bear charm before she died and now she will live forever. nobody, nobody does it like her

[guardianspirits13]

Dead Boy Detectives but if they were actually 16yo boys…

[sagurus]

So I'm watching the Dead Boy Detectives thing and I keep being a little like 'haha they're all teenage detectives'. And what with there being a Japanese character who has already talked about reading detective manga I have been kinda wondering if I'm going to see any detco reference snuck in. But what I wasn't expecting:

Magic... Magic Kaito reference in popular western media??????????????????????????????????

Like the librarian is saying this to previously mentioned Japanese character, and it's said like. With Japanese pronunciation on the title.

[image description in alt text]

[fan-a-tink]

something aesthetically pleasing

something silly

something for everyone, I guess

[setevulpo]

yknow what i find interesting? the cat king's cat body language. like the way it changes until he shapeshifts back to human in that first meeting? pure gold actually, kudos for the kitty playing the part

the first shot we get of him has our darling king in a pretty calm posture. he's lying down on his side, his ears are forward, he's looking straight at the group, but his pupils are still pretty big. his tail is extended but relaxed. all of that points to him being, at most, interested in the wonder trio, but still showing he's dominating the situation (that's the looking right at them part mostly)

that changes when they actually get closer. we see him lower his head a bit, and the tip of his tail starts flicking. those are both things cat do when focused, and it's a stance closer to the one they use when hunting, but the fact that only the tip of tail is moving also means a little bit of playfulness is involved.

and then! it actually changes again!! when crystal says that "it's just a bunch of cats" and it pans out to the dude's corpse on the floor, the king starts pretty much wagging his whole tail! he is not happy that someone (who may or may not be the one who trapped his cat) decided to underestimate his subjects. a wagging tail in cats differs from the one in dogs cause it's often used to convey frustration or annoyance instead of excitement.

and it isn't a slow wag either (that would mean some form of relaxation still)! that tail is full-on irritation that someone insulted his people!

i am losing my mind over this so it had to be set out there for everyone else to be exposed but! it's so cool!

[dancingmyselfaway]

Anne With An E, cancelled

The OA, cancelled

Gentleman Jack, cancelled

Julie and the Phantoms, canceleld

First Kill, cancelled

Shadow and Bone, cancelled

The Midnight Club, cancelled

Our Flag Means Death, cancelled

And now Dead Boy Detectives?????

I swear we cannot have anything good at all. This is becoming unbearable and if you didn't have a reason to stop supporting companies and streaming services I hope you do now.

[many-gay-magpies]

god what really gets me about dead boy detectives and what i think i love so much about the show and the relationships in it is that like. the romantic and sexual relationships aren't portrayed as being more unique or important than the platonic relationships. they're all just RELATIONSHIPS.

charles and crystal's attraction to each other and eventual hookup isn't this big end-all be-all relationship that shatter charles and edwin's friendship and draws charles' attention away from edwin; it's just a THING that happens. they're just two people that care about each other and happen to also be attracted to each other, and a hook-up happens, then they decide that neither of them are in the right place for it and it's nothing awful. crystal kisses charles, but it isn't some big spectacle of her declaring her love for him; it's just her saying goodbye and that she cares about him, like her hugs with niko and jenny and her handshake with edwin.

edwin realizes he loves charles romantically and tells him, and charles says he doesn't really love edwin romantically BACK, but it's okay, because they still love each other so much in so many other ways that this one tiny difference could never change them—and it doesn't!! they're still just as close, still care for each other just as much, still SHOW that care for each other just as much. their relationship didn't completely end because edwin loved charles in a way charles couldn't reciprocate, but at the same time it isn't "solved" by edwin getting over it, because there's nothing TO solve. it's just another type of love, added to everything that already exists between them. and they have LITERALLY FOREVER to figure out what it means.

the relationships between edwin & niko, crystal & niko, and crystal & edwin aren't given any less weight for being solely platonic, just as charles & crystal's relationship and edwin's feelings for charles aren't given (that much) MORE weight for being romantic. crystal and charles' conflict in the closet is about EDWIN, about how they're BOTH his friend and BOTH want to get him back; it has very little to do with the feelings between THEM, romantic or otherwise. similarly, the weight of charles' and edwin's relationship isn't diminished in the LEAST by charles not reciprocating the romantic side of his feelings (or SAYING he doesn't reciprocate, at least—we can all argue about the legitimacy of that in the notes).

i'm sure there are more examples than this, as well as probably some examples that CONTRADICT this, but like... by and large, it feels like dead boy detectives is a show where all the relationships are given equal weight regardless of platonic, sexual, romantic, or familial status, and as someone on both the asexual and aromantic spectrums who has struggled time and time again with shows casting out the importance of all other relationships in favor of prioritizing romance, that is INCREDIBLY refreshing to see.

[read-write-thrive]

saw @tma-thoughts ‘s post talking about not enough butch charles rowland and wanting to see more butch4femme painland and naturally I spent the entire rest of my day brainstorming, researching, and then drawing this time period accurate (to the best of my abilities) butch!Edwin(a? Edie?) x femme!Charles (definitely Charlotte/Charlie)

I have whole spreads of photo references for both of them but in case anyone is interested, Charles is inspired by rudegirl/ska punk/skinhead/punk/goth feminine aesthetics from the 1980s UK (even more specifically by the band The Bodysnatchers) while Edwin is inspired mainly by sportswear for women in the 1910s as well as what photos I could find of teenage girls during that era! in terms of Edwin reading as butch, I wanted to combine the shortest hair I could get away with (for the era and while still reading as Edwin—too 20s reads as too fashion forward which is not the vibe), as well as balance the line between sportswear (which imo reads as butch) and Edwin’s usual fashions. I also kept her makeup-free, accessory-free, and overall more “practical” in her dress to try and read as more butch. something to note that you don’t see here— Edwin is 100% wearing bloomers/trousers either as part of or underneath this skirt. I couldn’t get it to read correctly in the design but I need you to know they’re there lmao

feedback welcome (and further discussion even more so, I’m a slut for fashion history x character design!!!)

[bisexualbuckleyy]

charles when edwin slaps a hand over his mouth and tells him to be quiet:

[brokendoor16]

Guys guys guys I am literally BEGGING y’all to watch dead boy detectives like. This show has EVERYTHING!! Without spoilers, we’ve got:

A terrifically repressed Edwardian ghost (he’s my fave he’s worryingly relatable I want to kill him affectionately)

His best friend- who happens to be yet ANOTHER emotionally repressed ghost with a near-permanent smile and no impulse control

An adorably bitchy psychic who shows up in episode one and is IMMEDIATELY there to stay

A very good-omens-y plot point about the afterlife being some kinda bureaucracy

An incredibly sexy and RIDICULOUSLY pissed-off witch

The most INCREDIBLE relationships between characters- ESPECIALLY the developing platonic relationships

FAR too many emotions for me to be okay with

A RIDICULOUSLY addictive plot tbh. Like. Watched this last week and I’m still thinking about it 24/7

So erm. In conclusion, YOU WILL NOT REGRET WATCHING. (Also the more ppl who watch it the more likely we are to get a season 2 so. PLEASE.)