#charles and edwin will be the death of me

[technically-human]

So, @meraki-yao sent me a request today (thank you! I will work on it soon...ish) and I won't spoil what it is but it got me (and my girlfriend, because I showed her the request as I usually do) thinking and...

Edwin as Cinderella AU... Kind of

So I don't have a lot of details but the concept is basically one of Hell's tortures is just... Setting Edwin free for a few hours. Maybe he has to spend them at The Ball™ if we want to go the fairy tale route, maybe at St. Hilarions, the point is, he knows he has a limited amount of time because this is meant to be torture. Maybe it happens more than once.

He ends up finding Charles. They fall in love very quickly because this is a Cinderella AU, bla bla bla, come midnight, Edwin drops his map of Hell just like in the show and Charles goes after him, rescues him and they live happily ever after.

Perhaps it wasn't meant to be torture at all. Maybe it was Death, or the Night Nurse, or someone trying to help, idk. But the possibilities.

[ace-and-the-rpg-horrors]

there's no denying that Edwin and Charles are gay as fuck because ME personally i would not be running AWAY from either Death or The Night Nurse rather i would- (i am put down)

[aletterinthenameofsanity]

Payneland Doctor Who AU (The God Complex)

This is the last straw, Edwin knows. Break Charles’ faith to save his life.

Break Charles to save his life.

Charles will never stay with Edwin after this. Edwin wouldn’t ever ask it of him. 

“Edwin,” Charles says, and even after all of this, he still believes. The Minotaur is at the door and yet he still believes, because he grits his teeth and says, “It’s changing my thoughts. It wants me to praise it. But I won’t- I can’t-”

Charles can’t believe. It is the one thing in the universe that could kill him, because the Minotaur would feast on his faith forever, and it would become a living hell, and Edwin cannot allow that.

Edwin would rather be hated by Charles forever than be the cause of his suffering.

Edwin kneels down in front of Charles. In front of the belt on the ground. In front of Charles’ blood staining his hands, because he let Charles end up under the hands of his father again, and he will never forgive himself for it. Edwin will carry the weight of Charles’ pain on his shoulders until the heat death of the universe. “I can’t save you from this,” Edwin says, voice simple, voice matter-of-fact, “I can’t save you from your father, or from the Minotaur. I can’t save you from anything.”

-aletterinthenameofsanity, leads you here despite your destination (under the milky way tonight)

"God loves you, but not enough to save you"

So, baby girl, good luck taking care of yourself

But in the end, if I bend under the weight that they gave me

Then this heart would break and fall as twice as far

We all know how it goes

The more it hurts, the less it shows

But I still feel like they all know

And that's why I could never go back home

-Ethel Cain, Sun Bleached Flies

Aka: hello. Here to finally drop a new chapter (and war crimes) in y'all's laps. Have fun!

@gendrsoup @vyther15 @anything-thats-rock-and-roll

@tititilani @flowerbritts @silverysnake @ohfallingdisco

@regina-cordium @nix-nihili @wordsinhaled @bitterdesert

@lesbicosmos @spacegirlsgang @1kazul

@flaggersribs @depressedandoverdressed @sasakisniko

@frogsondeckchairs @stark-lord

[notur-dreamboy]

Assinging the endless to dead boy detectives characters because I can. (With explanations using a mix of comic and tv show lore)

Edwin - dream This was a hard choice, and while Despair was the more Canon choice as she claimed him as her friend in the 7th episode. Alternatively, I like exploring the similarities in dream and Edwin's character arch. In the comics edwin died in 1916 and escaped hell in 1989 much like the show, in the comics dream was kidnapped from 1916-1989 as opossed to the show where he escapes in 2020 or 2021 (I am unsure as to which one) they also both go through archs of finding companionship/acecpting people into their life and finding a greater purpose/finding peace with the one they're given. They're also both the bitchy intellectual type and hate most people.

Charles - destruction. I see so much fan content with him and desire, and while I see the vision, I have to disagree. (I also wanted to save them for the much more obvious choice) Destruction abandoned his position after he saw science being used as a tool for destruction because he didn't want to be the cause of massive devastation or obliteration (paraphrased from destructions page on the sandman wiki) and if that's not so incredibly Charles I don't know what is. Charles arch, we see him deal with this destructive type of anger he wants nothing to do with, so much so he represses all of it with a smile until it becomes too much.

Crystal - destiny. I gave her destiny because her arch and plotting in so intertwined with Edwin and Charles's it feels like it was nothing but destiny. Without her they wouldn't of even noticed the Becky Jackson case, the start of everything. Nothing would've happened without her. Because of her charles faced things he was hiding from himself for years, edwin let other people into his life, they wouldn't of saved niko if Crystal never had that quick interaction with her in episode one. She is so intertwined into everything I wouldn't be surprised if she was crafted by destiny himself.

Niko - death. There are multiple reasons why I gave niko death (including and in spite of the obvious). The biggest one is her future role as the principal, an employee of the afterlife and death. This is also another case of the personalities lining up. Death is seen as welcoming and kind despite being hated and feared as a concept. Death is also seen as wise and understands her role in life she is also the endless dream is closest with. On the sound of her wings when dream is feeling down about his quest for his tools being she allows him to shadow doing her job and offers him advice about his own state. I also just think death and dream's relationship is so similar to niko and Edwin's.

The cat king - desire. Really, this one is obvious. I don't know what you want me to say. His kingdom is all about want and pleasure, wuth is literally desire. His entire role is just to wake edwin up to his own desires. This is such a common concept that the most popular head Canon for him is that he is desires child.

Jenny - despair. I almost gave despair to edwin along with dream given their Canon interaction, but I decided otherwise. We don't know much about Jenny's backstory, but things can be assumed and interpreted certain ways. She owns her family's butcher shop but no family is ever mentioned (outside of a quick anecdote about her father in episode 5 but more on that later), she doesn't seem to have any friends or a social life for that matter. The letters, she reads them and follows up on the but is immediately off put on the idea of a date, which ended horribly. Her father, described as an acholohic and raging narcissist, couldn't have been a man who provided a great childhood either, yet she still took up his butcher shop. We can assume he's out of the picture for one reason or another as Jenny runs the shop herself. The first piece of advice she offers essentially boils down to people who are selfish, it can be assumed this is pulled from personal experience. Jenny is a character surrounded by despair and has grown so comfortable in it she doesn't even notice it anymore.

Tragic mick - delirium. The only endless to have 2 forms, delirium used to be delight before she evolved to delirium for reasons unknown to even destiny. Mick initially seen as comfortable in his human for until we learn about the washer woman. Niko gives him a piece of sea glass in hope it will help but instead we see him descend further into the quite madness he's proven himself into. Then we hear his story, a tragedy about a walrus forec to live the rest of his life as a human because of a bad decision. He's winds up mad (or delirious if you will) by thus decision, now wanting nothing more than to go back to being a walrus.

Bonus (Esther, monty, and the night nurse as various sandman characters) (little explanation, sorry)

Esther- the Corinthian. Created (or blessed) by a god-like deity for a certain purpose but took it too far out of pure selfishness

Monty- Mathew. Simply because they're both anthropomorphic birds.

The night nurse- lucienne/ lucien. A loyal assiant to their respective endless. Certain events cause them to drift from what they've always done or thought.

[snoopy0706]

Most people probably didn't notice how intimate Charles reaction to Edwins Confession was.

Edwin has this type of edwardian pyjama/underwear kinda thing going on. The wide boatneck opening. But there is fabric on the shoulders.

Charles puts his hands on his shoulders. Saying all those very reassuring things.

(going to hell for him is btw the most romantic thing)

he slides his hands down his shoulders

and the decides to slide them up even further. touching Edwins collar bones. a very sensitive spot. It's lovely. and very intimate in a way.

[reyenii]

GEORGE: we just hit it off straight away, chemistry is an organic thing, it's not something that can be curated. we were just very lucky that we were the yin to the others' yang. people would often comment on our chemistry during filming, so luckily that was one of the things that i wasn't conscious of while shooting the series.

[kermit-coded]

But There's No One Else That I Would Go To Hell For

murmur by cameron barnett // dead boy detectives (2024) // ocean vuong // dead boy detectives (2024) // to be haunted by jessie lynn mcmains // dead boy detectives (2024) // marjane satrapi // dead boy detectives (2024) // adonis, from selected poems (tr. khaled mattawa) // dead boy detectives (2024) // a field guide to getting lost by rebecca solnit // dead boy detectives (2024) // selected poems by leonard cohen // adonis, from selected poems (tr. khaled mattawa) // dead boy detectives (2024) // talk by hozier // dead boy detectives (2024) // everything is illuminated by jonathan safran foer

[dead-enby-detective]

I wonder how much this scene plays a role in Monty choosing to target Edwin over Charles after Esther sends him to befriend the boys and then later how it impacts him falling for Edwin.

Edwin is the first one to enter so he’s the first one Monty sees.

Monty doesn’t crow when Edwin enters the house but waits until Charles enters. Does he already like Edwin better? Did he see Edwin and see something special?

Charles immediately responds to the crowing by telling him to hush. Did Charles’s words stick with him after Esther gave him a human body and mind and feelings? Were his feelings hurt or was he just annoyed by it?

Edwin pulls his gloves off as he passes Monty’s cage, does he think about that after becoming human? The way Edwin takes off a piece of his armor right before going into danger?

After Edwin tell his partner he believes in Charles’s ability to open the lock, Monty crows, and Charles sasses back. Edwin pays him no mind. Does that frustrate him, later when he’s human?

After Charles opens the lock, Edwin is the one who figures out that cabinet is a trick door.

I may not like Esther but she is clever. Was Monty learning from her the entire time he was her familiar? Does he take after her in that way? Always learning, always being wanting to be clever?

Monty, is shown soon after becoming human, to have a vast knowledge of zodiac signs. Did he learn all that in that short time span or was some of it things he’s taken in from Esther over the years? How much had he learned from her, from her spells, her books over the years?

Was he “raised” to appreciate cleverness even as a crow? Did he admire Edwin’s cleverness from the beginning?

Did he become human and immediately think back to when they first entered the house and wonder if Edwin would appreciate cleverness in return? Would appreciate the opportunity to learn something new from him? Hoped that they could be clever together?

There’s just so much to this scene from Monty’s perspective that I think we should consider.

Did he ever wonder if he was clever enough, would it be enough for Edwin to give him a chance?

Like he said, he never asked to be human… did he hope that, when the time came, with all his cleverness, that Edwin would understand that?

That he had never really had a chance in the first place?

[edwinisms]

it’s actually so wild to me that this fairly quirky YA type show gave both of its main characters deaths that can, in one way or another, solidly be considered hate crimes. they were both flat out murdered as a result of being A) gay and effeminate or B) brown (south asian, specifically) and you could argue whether or not those kids thought of it that way in the moment or whatever but the bottom line is that they would not have been in the situations that killed them if they weren’t of their respective minorities. like legitimately that is a ballsy choice for this kind of netflix show, let alone for the two Main Characters, and i respect it big time

[moon-song-and-star]

One of my favorite things about Charles is hes not a big jealousy guy. I love all the "he was jealous of monty" takes because they're Right, but I don't see anyone talking about how charles deals with those feelings. Hes a little sad when Monty and Edwin ignore him, but he deals and leaves. He tells Edwin that he's glad Edwin made a friend and is happy, but almost gently reminds him they want to go home. Obviously from our standpoint he's a little jelly, but there's NO anger is his demeanor. He only gets angry at the Cat King bc consent issues + kidnapping. I think when he finally does fall in love with Edwin (please please I want to watch him fall in love so badddd), I don't think he'll be super jealous. He's so confident in his and Edwin's relationship already.

[technically-human]

When the ghost who read to you as you died activates all of your Must Protect instincts

[thenerdiestmanalive]

Time to spread my Charles and Edwin are Orpheus and Eurydice reincarnated agenda

Dream, please come get your son, he keeps going down to hell to save his partner

[aletterinthenameofsanity]

Payneland Doctor Who AU (Gridlock)

And for a moment, Litty and Kingham are quiet up front, stopping their bitching and bickering, and even Crystal seems slightly soothed by the music as she asks, half-jokingly, "So, what do immortals pray to?”

And that has never been a question. It hasn't been since Charles was sixteen and he flew off in a magic box with the best person he's ever met.

“Edwin. And the TARDIS. Well, the heart of the TARDIS. It's the reason why I'm the way I am, you know.”

Crystal arches an eyebrow, and Charles has never been afraid of telling people his own love story, never been afraid of telling people how he managed to snag the most beautiful man to ever exist, never afraid of showing people just how much he loves Edwin Payne.

So as the hymn “Abide With Me” fills the car and the people above, below, and all around their car sing asking help of the helpless, abide with me, Charles tells the story of how he became immortal. How he became a fixed point in time, forever locked in at Edwin's side, the best place in the universe to be.

He talks about how Edwin tried to save him. How Charles had refused to be saved. How he refused to step away from Edwin's side. How he had taken his cricket bat and opened up the heart of the TARDIS and looked into it, as no human was ever meant to, because he was more willing to embrace death than he was willing to embrace the possibility of losing Edwin. And then, how he set aside death entirely in order to stay with Edwin forever, the two of them carving out their own path, their own home, across the stars.

Charles talks about faith. About making your own gods. About how Edwin Payne has been his guiding star, his lantern in the dark, since they first met.

-aletterinthenameofsanity, leads you here despite your destination (under the milky way tonight)

I swear I've known you for centuries

You're heaven-sent, how you save me

In our final hour

Call on higher power

Erase my sins, my communion

'Til death do us part, it's a union

A guiding light

You're my love divine

-Tom Walker, Holy Ghost

@gendrsoup @vyther15 @anything-thats-rock-and-roll

@tititilani @flowerbritts @silverysnake @ohfallingdisco

@regina-cordium @nix-nihili @wordsinhaled @bitterdesert

@lesbicosmos @spacegirlsgang @1kazul

@flaggersribs @depressedandoverdressed @sasakisniko

[theaceace]

imagining a world in which Simon agreed to go with Edwin and try to escape hell, imagining Simon developing an immediate and very inadvisable crush on the cute guy that just threw a grenade at a demon and Edwin's reaction to that, imagining the reaction of Charles Overprotective Rowland when he finds out that the guy Edwin insists on dragging along with them is one of the guys that sacrificed him to a demon in the first place, imagining the Night Nurse's face when three dead boys pop back through the door instead of two

[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)?