#hit them with a cricket bat

[beardedmrbean]

The Extinction Rebellion campaigners admitted using hammers and chisels to break windows at HSBC in Canary Wharf in the morning of 22 April 2021, but denied this was criminal conduct.

They were protesting against the bank's investments in coal and for facilitating other fossil fuel financing.

They wore patches with the words "better broken windows than broken promises" - a phrase coined by the Suffragettes - and put up stickers on the windows saying: "£80 billion into fossil fuels in the last 5 years."

According to the group, the jury made several requests for further information during the course of the trial, including for an explanation of the Paris Climate Agreement, information on what the British government had done to address the climate crisis and an explanation as to how HSBC was able to come up with the estimated cost of the damage to the windows - just over half a million pounds - within hours of the action.

The jury returned a not guilty verdict after two hours of deliberation.

The nine women - including 40-year-old Extinction Rebellion co-founder and sustainable fashion lecturer Clare Farrell - all denied criminal damage.

The other eight defendants were: Jessica Agar, 23, Holly (Blyth) Brentnall, 32, Valerie Brown, 71, Eleanor (Gully) Bujak, 30, Miriam Instone, 25, Tracey Mallaghan, 47, Susan Reid, 65, and 41 year-old former fashion designer Samantha Smithson.

British fashion designer Stella McCartney lent the women shirts, blazers and suits to wear during the three-week trial. The jury returned the verdict on Thursday.

The climate activist group is known for previous tactics - including blocking a London Tube train - that involved disrupting the general public's every day life.

However, it announced in January that it was ditching such methods for fear of alienating the public and later admitted blocking the train was a mistake.

Following the verdict, Extinction Rebellion co-founder Clare Farrell, said: "This was a trial of unusual agreement, the facts of the day were not in any dispute, and the fact that we're on course for civilisational breakdown and climate collapse seemed strangely not to be in dispute either.

"It's tragically surreal to live in times when the justice system agrees we're totally f****d but has nothing to say about the cause, the remedy, the victims or the perpetrators. We must continue, we will."

Grandmother and retired community care worker from Preston, Susan Reid, said she took part to protect children from the damage wreaked by burning fossil fuels, funded by groups like HSBC.

"Unicef estimated that over 20,000 children are displaced each day, and that climate change is the key driver," she said.

"That means over the course of our three-week trial, over twenty thousand children have had to pick up the things around them and leave."

HSBC declined to comment.

[downbaddetective]

You know, I saw a little bit ago a quote from the ceo of Netflix which was something along the lines of "we have never canceled good shows" and that's why I am ultimately not shocked at the news we got today. Deeply saddened? Yes. Disappointed? Extremely. Shocked? No.

Clearly, the people in charge have a terrible sense of what success is and ultimately I am little glad that we don't have the opportunity to go down the same route that a lot of other popular Netflix show have. I'm not gonna lie, Netflix has been notorious for either canceling amazing content after one season or they run amazing content into the ground, and honestly, I'm a little glad that the second one isn't going to be the case for Dead Boy Detectives.

This was not the news that we wanted, but now we don't have to fixate on the uncertainty of whether we get renewed. So, I hope that after the initial grieving period, we can collectively keep creating in this space. This show has revived creativity in a lot of people, and I genuinely hope that it stays in spite of the cancelation.

[morphean42]

“One fell first the other fell harder” doesn’t quite work with Payneland, because I think they both fell first and neither fell hard. They meet at the worst point in their lives— Edwin has spent decades being tortured, he doesn’t remember the last time he knew someone who laughed or smiled at him, and Charles who is dying and has never had someone care for him while he is suffering— and they both fall in love at least 60% of the way that first night. They latch onto each other with desperation until it’s not Edwin and Charles but EdwinandCharles.

So of course they are in love. Neither of them realize it but they fall in love a little bit every day for 35 years. It’s small things (like tandem bicycles and teaching each other how to dance) and big things (solving dangerous cases and saving each other from their own pasts), but it happens slowly and gently.

Until Port Townsend, and suddenly Edwin realizes that he’s been in love this entire time. But he doesn’t fall in love then, thats the thing, he’s been in love for decades. And no one in their right mind can argue Charles doesn’t love Edwin just as much, but to me there isn’t gonna be some great big “Charles fell harder” moment because he fell a long time ago, and has continued to fall every time he gets that full face grin on Edwin when they’re alone, or when Edwin reads to him during the nights they both wish they could rest like living boys.

So, in conclusion; they both fell at relatively the same time (that is, over and over again, because every time it seems impossible to love him more he saves you with his magic books or he effortlessly proves he’ll knock Hell itself away with his cricket bat) and it wasn’t hard. It wasn’t sudden. It wasn’t quick. It was 35 years of being EdwinandCharles, and maybe the realization hits them both fiercely, but the love has always been there hasn’t it?

[fazcinatingblog]

no wade, no hurricanes

[niqhtlord01]

Humans are weird: Dealing with zombies

( Please come see me on my new patreon and support me for early access to stories and personal story requests :D https://www.patreon.com/NiqhtLord Every bit helps)

Undead alien horde wanders into town Alien: Run for your lives! Human: Why? Alien: Monsters are coming!!! Alien 2: They can’t be killed! Human: So they’re undead? Alien: Yes!! Human: Goes home and revs chainsaw Fucking finally. ----------------------

Alien: Watches human carving through undead horde Alien: How are you so calm!?! Human: finishes carving through undead Me and my friends used to do stuff like this all the time when we were kids on Friday night. Alien: Are these undead such a problem on your world?! Human: Oh they flare up from time to time, but then the market gets saturated with them and people just lose interest. Alien: What the hells does that even mean!?!?” ---------------------

Alien: What are we going to do? Human: *swipes everything off table and lays out giant map Human: We need to reach the local Costcoooo Mart and seal it up. Human: The walls are at least two feet thick of concrete so we only need to worry about the main doors, emergency exits, and loading bays to seal up. Human: There should be enough fuel there to power generators and supplies to last us a while. Alien: *Looks down at detailed map with several cascading footnotes. Alien: Why do you have this? Human: Have what? Alien: This map…..why do you have it already prepared? Human: Oh, that. Human: Every human has a zombie plan ready; sometimes several. Alien: Really? Human: *Shouts down corridor Human: Yo STEVE! What’s your zombie plan? Steve: *shouts back from down the hall Steve: Take my family to countryside where it is isolated and hold fort on a farm until things blow over. Human: *Turns to alien Human: See? Everyone’s got one. -------------------

*Pair of humans and aliens sneaking through zombie infested streets Human 1: Alright; if we can make it to the train station we should be able to follow the rail lines out of the city. Alien 1: There are too many of them; we’ll never make it through. Alien 2: This will help. Alien 2: *Hefts large plasma pistol. Human 2: Are you crazy?! Human 2: No guns! Alien 1: Why would we not- Zombie: *Lurches over to them and groans Alien 2: *Panics and fires plasma pistol. *Zombie is cut in half by the weapon blast but the loud boom attracts every zombie in surrounding area towards them Human 2: That…..That is why genius.. -----------------------

Alien: Why do you prefer using melee weapons? Human: Because they don’t run out of ammo, are relatively quiet, and you look badass while using them. Alien: Really? Alien: You are using a cricket bat. Human: Badass right? Alien: To quote a human saying. Alien: “You look like a wanker.” --------------------

Alien: Why do the undead keep falling down? Human: *Watches zombies step forward and fall down Human: God bless undertakers. Alien: Huh? ---------------------

Alien: How can you be so calm about this? Human: They’re only human zombies, nothing to be worried about. Alien: Only…. Alien: What do you mean by that? Human: The real shit hits the fan when the animals start turning zombie. Alien: Like? Human: Zombees. Alien: What? Human: Zombie bees; Zombees. -----------------------

Alien: I’m still surprised you have a functioning vehicle during these times. Alien: Let alone one with such a lovely shade of red. Human: Well to be fair it was white this morning? Alien: Really? What happened then? Human: Speed bumps. Alien: Speed bumps? Human: So many speed bumps. ---------------------

*Zombie horde approaches Alien: Don’t worry, I got this! Human: Wait don- Alien: *Uses flame thrower on zombies Human: You idiot, that does not kill zombies! Alien: What?! *Sees flaming zombies now shambling towards them Human: Damnit you’re just making them deadlier! -----------------------

Alien: So you are saying I shouldn’t wear armor? Human: Some armor, but nothing heavy. Alien: Why? Alien: They wouldn’t be able to get through heavy armor. Human: True, but when they swarm you and drag you down you won’t be able to push them off. Human: So you’ll either starve or have them eventually rip the armor off you and eat you slowly. Alien: Why do I feel like you have debated this before? Human: It’s a tale as old as time…. -------------------------

Alien: We’re surrounded. Alien: *Looks down at dog. Human: Why are you looking at my dog like that? Alien: If we set the dog loose it’ll attract zombies and we can escape. Human: Ah, no. Human: We are not sacrificing my fluffy boy. Alien: But- Human: One more word and I’ll throw you to them instead. Alien: Surely you wouldn’t. Human: *Cocks pistol Human: It’s a gamble you will lose. Human: *Scratches top of dog’s head

[august-stars]

after the way he was treated roughly his entire life, charles is never anything but gentle with edwin. his father would hurt him and scream until his throat was sore and his mother would scoff and spit poison from her mouth, so he cradles edwin's terrified face between his hands when they're in the depths of hell. he nods along and smiles fondly as edwin goes on tangents about whatever has caught his attention. he steps in front of him without a moment's hesitation when danger closes in on them with nothing but his cricket bat to protect them. he fights any opponent and travels any road he has to to keep edwin safe and happy. never hitting, never scoffing, never allowing any of his anger to flow in edwin's direction.

[fairandfatalasfair]

I know people have posted about this before but it honestly it striking how much the boys do not default to violence as a way of solving problems. They're detectives in the classic sense - they're looking for clues and unravelling mysteries, and most of the time they can handle things with subtlety instead of force. It's not off the table, but it's very much an option of last resort.

The first time we meet them they're dealing with a ghost that is actively trying to kill them, and they're not fighting, they're running. While trying to figure out what happened so that they can go back in with a better strategy. Even when the cursed ghost catches up with them, Charles hits it exactly once, to get enough breathing space that they can get back to the office and get the resources they need to break the curse. Their plan with Becky was to slip in and out while Esther was distracted - they only ended up in a fight because hauling Edwin and Becky out of the magical void took longer than expected.

And as much as Charles comments in Ep. 3 about puzzle solving being "Edwin's way" and hitting things with a cricket bat being his, that absolutely goes for him as well. In the flashbacks where he confronts his friends, he pulls them off and puts himself between them and the kid they're beating up - he doesn't continue the fight once the victim is safe. In the Devlin house he's visible shaken and upset from the first round of the cycle, but it's not until they've witnessed the murder several times and Edwin's plan to break the loop has failed and he's confronting the possibility that there may not be another option that he tries to fight Devlin directly. Most of what he does with his cricket bat is pull it out and plant himself between Edwin and whatever he's decided is a threat.

I suspect that's part of why Edwin was so rattled by the first encounter with the Night Nurse - not because it was wrong or unjustified, but because it's not normal for Charles to hit first.

And these are not normal circumstances! Charles has been pushed pretty hard at this point, and has just been assaulted in a way that Edwin probably isn't fully cognizant of, and was acting urgently to stop the Night Nurse from doing the same thing to Edwin. I think his reaction was absolutely justified, and possibly necessary. And I think Edwin's response, whether it was intended that way or not, did read as condemnation - at least to Charles who is already beating himself up for not being able to protect the people he loves and doubting whether he's a safe, trustworthy person.

But I also think it's notable that the next time he deals with the Night Nurse - after he's processed some of his feelings of anger and helplessness, after he's been reassured that he's still the best person Edwin knows - he takes a different tack. She's still imminently threatening to split them up and send Edwin to hell, which is probably Charles' worst nightmare. But this time he turns to negotiation, to appealing to her sense of justice, to looking for a loophole that could let them stay together. He's back to trying to solve problems by working through them.

And in fairness, the fact that she came back after being eaten by Angie is also a pretty strong indication that trying to fight her wouldn't have worked. But I do think it says something about Charles' attitude to the world that despite describing himself as "the brawn" and thinking of himself as the fighter between him and Edwin, his reflex is still to problem solve first, to use force defensively and only when necessary. That yes, he's angry and justly so, but unlike his father, or the boys who killed him, he doesn't choose to turn that into an excuse to hurt people. That his use of force is judicious and careful and is always, always about preventing harm.

[pippin-katz]

Iron Burns

Something I'm super curious about is just how badly iron hurts when a ghost touches it. I posted a little ramble about Charles being chained and unable to help Edwin while she tortured him, and how we didn't get a reaction shot of him hearing Edwin screaming. And something clicked in my brain. I will preface this by saying that I can't prove anything, and could very well be completely wrong. This is just a possible explanation/option.

This was supposed to be relatively short, and that did not happen lmfao Here's your long post warning 😂

Charles VS Iron

This is Charles we are talking about. He is fiercely protective of Edwin, and let's be honest, can get physically violent when provoked. He was sitting there, listening to Esther, until she specifically brought up rescuing Edwin from her plans. It's only when she says that that he starts moving, and he very obviously intended to attack her.

It confirms in Charles' head that there is a specific reason why Edwin is separated from him, and that is bad. Very bad. He possessed Esther to get them out of their first fight with her; she very nearly succeeded in getting them eaten by that Forest Elemental. She is seriously dangerous, and he knows it. Whatever she has planned for Edwin, Charles knows it's vicious and vile.

That thought spurs him to physically attack Esther, without hesitation. Based on the fact that his hands are open, Charles was going to grab her rather than hit her, and, based on her proximity to him, by the throat. That is the only effective attack from his position I can think of; it's the only way he can completely incapacitate.

Logical reasoning aside, choking someone is a pretty common violent anger response. It's probably because it's the easiest way to kill someone with your bare hands; in shows, many characters use a weapon to hurt their adversaries. It's the bullet, the blade, the bat, or whatever that actually hurts them, makes contact with them. It feels different when it's literally you hurting them. Your hands are weapons on their own if you know how to use them. Ex: Vi from Arcane has boxing as her go-to fighting style.

Okay, I went on a bit of tangent there, but my point is that Charles is fucking pissed. This is Charles, who fears being like his father, wanting to hurt Esther.

Violence is the last resort for all of their cases and situations. Charles will take out his cricket bat if he senses danger, but it's more of an intimidation tactic than a true threat. Charles does not actually attack anyone with the cricket bat who is not already an established threat. He takes it out during their first encounter with Esther, when they meet the Cat King, in the Devlin House, when the Night Nurse first shows up, in the forest against David, and against the snake. Most of those encounters are not a matter of negotiation; the first fight with Esther, the Devlin House, David, and the snake were all situations where "talking it out" was not an option, so pulling out the cricket bat to intimidate them would have been pointless. When he takes the bat out in those cases, he's already fully intending to use it. When he takes it out against the Cat King and the Night Nurse, he waits. He holds it up to send a message. It says, "Don't make me hurt you, because I will if I have to."

Charles doesn't want to hurt people, and usually tries his best to find another solution; even when we see him having to fight someone, a military veteran no less, he apologizes and only defends against him because he knows this is a ghost who's cursed, and doesn't deserve it, despite his violent behavior. They attempt to talk the Night Nurse out of taking them for several minutes before she attacks him. She attacks him mentally and emotionally in a way the others don't see and can't fathom; you could even argue that it is a physical attack as well because she makes him relive being beaten by his father and stoned by his friends. The Night Nurse does not hit him, but she hurts him, hurts him bad. When Charles hits her with that music box, despite what the others see, he's retaliating, not initiating. Because again, Charles wants to find another solution first.

But with Esther? He is so far passed that. He is so furious that he wants to attack her. He wants to hurt her. And that is before she starts torturing Edwin.

When he heard Edwin screaming, do you realize just how angry Charles would have been? I can't comprehend how badly he would've wanted to break free and fuck Esther up for what she did. Charles is genuinely intimidating when he's angry; he would have been absolutely terrifying.

Tiny Note: this is the best shot of Charles in the whole show. Let my boy beat the shit out of someone without getting judged for it, please! Let him go apeshit, please!! 🙏🏻

I struggle to believe that anything would have stopped him from getting to Edwin in that state, iron collar be damned.

But Charles doesn't. He doesn't break free. He tries, and continues to fail repeatedly. Almost every movement makes the collar burn him.

The thought I had was how little Charles would care about his own safety/pain if it meant saving Edwin. This boy willingly enters and traverses Hell itself for him. He tells the Night Nurse that if he goes, he can either succeed in bringing Edwin back, or get stuck in Hell so she knows where they are. Charles admits that he would rather be stuck in Hell with Edwin than spend another second without him. When Crystal asks, "What if something happens to you?", he has no response. He honestly does not care if something happens to him, but he doesn't want to admit that to Crystal's face cause that would hurt her, so he refuses to answer.

Getting hurt does not matter to him, so just how painful was that iron that Charles, at his angriest, and in his most desperate state, could not break out?

We see him pulling on the chain and struggling, but he's moving as little as possible because he's trying that hard not to touch the collar. He lets go because it hurts too much. Even when his bag is just out of reach, which is the solution to all of his struggles, he can't bear the burning long enough to get his foot under the strap.

Based on all of that, my brain told me this: the iron burning was so painful that Charles could not endure it long enough to escape, even in his angriest and desperate state, listening to the most important person in his world screaming in a way he has never heard before, and pleading for Esther to stop hurting him.

Like, that sounds crazy to me. Seeing how angry he got at the Night Nurse, and the intensity of his rage in that scene makes me wonder what was going through his head while chained up.

Edwin VS Iron

But my brain was not done with this information. One of my favorite details that I want to be explored in the future is how nonchalant Edwin is while his hand is burning.

He did not notice it was burning until Crystal pointed it out. He looks and sounds genuinely surprised when he sees it. His expression and the way he says he was careless makes me feel like he wasn't in pain and trying to play it off, but was upset with himself for making a very noticeable mistake in front of Crystal while trying to show off and prove a point.

Edwin's pain tolerance is so high that he does not even notice a simple iron burn.

The second time he gets touched by iron is when Esther knocks him across the garden. He looks down at the burn that's what's hurting him, but I don't buy it.

This boy just got swatted like a tennis ball across a courtyard into a small greenhouse.

We all know that Charles does the fighting/takes the hits, so Edwin getting hit like that is probably a new feeling. Since iron makes them tangible for a couple seconds, he probably physically felt it when he landed.

Being burned and crashing into things are two very different sensations, and one of them Edwin hasn't experienced in thirty years. The burn is localized to his hand, and it's a burn. It stings. Hitting a structure that fast and landing like that is going to effect your whole body. It's aching, it bruises every part of you, from your skin down to your bones. It's so much more uncomfortable and hindering than a simple burn. If you burn your hand, you can still operate day-to-day almost normally, but if you mess up your body in some way, you're not going to be able to walk without being in pain. If you asked me which one I'd rather have happen to me, I would take the burn so fast.

Point being that him looking distressed and hurt after that hit makes a whole lot of sense, despite his high pain tolerance. It probably surprised him more than hurt him. It doesn't last long either.

The only time we see him truly react to iron is in Esther's torture device, which is obvious but I'll talk it through anyway.

The cuffs restraining his arms are touching his bare wrists, tightly and constantly. His wrists smoke from it. Him gasping at that makes sense.

But the real kicker here is obviously the rods. Upon first glance, it looks like they touch down on his torso, zapping him or whatever you'd call that, on a surface level. But if you pay close attention to the shots where he's somewhat transparent you can see that those prongs are actually going through him, at least a little bit.

I took a screenshot, up-ed the brightness, and marked where it looks like the rods hit him, versus where they actually end.

Edwin moves around a bit, so there are definitely some shots where they are just touching his skin, but that's kind of the point I'm trying to make. The rods are not moving, they are static, so when Edwin's body moves around them, they stay put. That is fucking painful.

The rod is not moving, but Edwin's body is, and there is nowhere for his skin/muscles to go but through the metal, like it is cutting through him in reverse. If you push a knife down to cut through something, like a carrot, it cuts. But if you hold the carrot, and push it down on the blade, it still cuts.

That would explain even more why Edwin reacts to whenever Esther touches him, even when the device is paused. It would also explain why he was begging Esther "don't come any closer" during one of the cutaway shots.

If you think about it, that doesn't make any sense. Esther's proximity to the device doesn't determine whether it's on, off, or higher/lower. She walks around the room with her glass of ghost juice or whatever you want to call it. She gestures with her hand when she turns it on and turns the intensity up.

Esther getting closer to him wouldn't matter since the device is already on. That is, unless she was actively doing something to him while torturing him. Considering how sadistic she is, I wouldn't put it past her to mess with him whenever she got bored of just watching. Touching him, shaking him, whatever, would almost definitely make it worse. Edwin not wanting her to get close to him would make perfect sense if she was occasionally doing something like that.

So, we have iron making him corporal, burning him, and zapping him with some kind of electricity-like energy, that are also piercing into him, and yet Edwin doesn't scream from the pain initially. There's quiet moaning that you can tell he's holding back, but he doesn't gasp or yell. This is same metal that hurt Charles so badly he couldn't escape in his angriest state. It takes hours of prolonged exposure and gradual increasing of the intensity to make him scream.

The secondary question to this whole thing is just how high is Edwin's pain tolerance that he is able to endure that while withholding making noise?

I can't comprehend it, honestly. Though Edwin spent 70 years in hell being literally torn apart over and over again. We have no idea how long he feels the sensations of his previous body after he respawns or how quickly he does so, especially since the manner of death in this case wouldn't be instantaneously fatal. If his head and heart are in some capacity intact, he'd still be alive for at least a few seconds. As Dr. Alan Grant explains to that kid about raptors in Jurassic Park, you are alive when they start to eat you. It would be believable if Edwin is basically immune to pain unless it's a fucking insane amount of it. I mean, in the Cat King's words to Esther, "Edwin has been through more pain than you, or I, could ever imagine."

That would be pretty fucking crazy if this is all true/accurate.

Is it intentional? Probably not. Could I be reading too much into it, and unintentionally hyperbolizing it? Absolutely. I'm using observation and some information about their characters that I can't actually prove to be true. Maybe I'm just seeing things with the prongs and they're not going through Edwin. I can't prove that Charles would've been angry enough to break out of restraints if they hadn't been made of iron. Maybe iron effects all ghosts differently. Who the hell knows?

Even if I'm not 100% accurate, we do at least know for sure that Edwin has a way higher pain tolerance than anybody else based on the burning hand that he didn't even notice was burning, and how long he was in that device before he started screaming, and that's badass as hell on its own.

(ko-fi)

[mayhaps-a-blog]

Something about how few of the conflicts in Dead Boy Detectives are solved by violence. Something about how the few times it is, it's presented as weird, wrong, extreme. Something about Jenny and her cleavers, Charles and his cricket bat, Crystal and the knife.

The first fight, against the WW1 ghost, Charles has a knife - an iron knife, that would hurt the ghost. And even when he's pinned down, all he goes for is the mask - even when he could use it to get the ghost off of him.

And Esther? Sure, they try - Charles with his knife, Edwin with his fists. And fail immediately, instantly. It's Crystal who holds her back, with her memories - it's Esther who swings around her cane, just because she can.

Charles throws a pot at a zombie, and breaks the magic vessel. Charles tries to hit Brandon Devlin, and gets trapped. They can't kill Angie, just put her to sleep. Jenny runs from Maxine - despite being tough, and strong, she hides rather than attacks. The Night Nurse hits Angie, but is only freed when Kashi asks, instead. Crystal punches Esther, but Tooth Face isn't defeated until she frees him. Charles throws a bomb at the demon, but it's still coming - they win by running, not by fighting. Jenny brings a cleaver to a demon fight, but instead is possessed, her weapons turned against her. And in the end? Esther isn't defeated by fighting her, by Crystal stealing her knife or her power - she's defeated when her power is broken, by Crystal crying out for justice.

The most violent scene, from the protagonists, is when Charles attacks the Night Nurse. It's brutal, it's violent, and it's wrong. The others are left staring, shocked, at a loss. It's extreme, Edwin says. It was a lot, Crystal says. And you know what? It didn't work. It inconvenienced her, sure - but she came right back, once she was free.

What does work? The good they did coming back around. Kindness, friendship, reaching out to others - that's what keeps them winning.

[highlyillogicalandroid]

Things I’ve noticed on my Dead Boy Detectives rewatch(es):

Please I NEED to know who the creepy ass clowns on the train were I know it was For the Gag, but PLEASE.

The boys have so many different versions of Clue in their closet???

Also lmao at them being *in the closet* together.

Hnnnn Jenny

I know other ppl have spotted this but the first book Charles grabs in episode 2 (the pink one) ends up being the one with the answers they need to help Niko (not the blue one Edwin insisted he needed).

I love Crystal and Niko look at those girls go.

In episode 3, they learn about evil seagulls and severed feet washing up on shore. In episode 4, Edwin picks up some sheet music that Mick says is cursed and attracts evil seagulls!!

“A bird cries? Is it sad?” Niko my precious darling angel I love you for always.

Okay, okay, I know Valley of the Dolls isn’t about actual dolls but Edwin, did YOU know that when you decided to read it??

The music box thing in episode 4 is absolutely playing Wellerman, right? I’m not imagining things??

“Remarkably low compatibility between Taurus and Aries?” That’s Crystal and Charles, btw.

As Charles starts to spiral about his abusive dad and his own rage, his polo gets darker. When he confesses his fears to Edwin in episode 5, Edwin turns up his collar, revealing its red lining, bringing Charles back toward his hero look. Excuse me while I sob.

“I will always hit a demon with a cricket bat for you.”

“Wrong way. AVARICE. Everything too heavy.” Gives me CHILLS.

The fact that Edwin tore the dollhouse corner out of his notebook.

Charles’ devastated face in episode 7 when Edwin tells him that ringing the call bell hurts the souls in limbo, after he’s already rung it on the way in.

The Night Nurse complains about Niko but she told Niko about the man in the fish?? No one can resist the pull of Friendship with Niko!!

The Cat King gives Edwin calla lilies as a consolation gift at the end of episode 8. Calla lilies are incredibly toxic to cats. Cat King, babe, I know you’ve got a thing for him but damn, have a sense of self preservation, PLEASE!

Edwin’s little saunter right before he kisses TCK on the cheek.

“You’re properly missable.” AHHHH CHARLES YOU LIKE HIMMMMM.

The way Charles and Edwin open the box together sure is something!!

It’s not just the hug (although WHAT A HUG), it’s the buildup to the hug! It’s the way they drift away from each other and then pause and turn toward each other at the same time and it’s so choreographed yet so natural and so perfectly them, like they orbit around each other and are always going to be drawn back together and oh my God I am not normal about it.

Also it’s Edwin who has his back to Charles and turns to glance behind in a lovely little reversal of the Orpheus and Eurydice archetypes from ep 6 and oh isn’t that just so juicy!!!

Okay but it’s also the hug. It’s how tight it is and how they don’t want to let go and how their hands brush against each other when they eventually do drift away.

The way Charles leans over Edwin and puts their heads so close together? Okay you fucking flirt.

Nikoooooooo

[windybreeze12]

DBD Quotes that are my Roman Empire (and my reactions to them)

No version of this where I don't come get you - Charles S1 E7 (SIR???? IM SORRY??? If someone said that to me, i'd faint. Edwin is a strong one) .

Do you think it must be torture? Being the way we are? - Simon S1 E7 (I swear you could audibly hear my heart break when he said that) .

Teethface, what the fuck? - Esther S1 E6 (I love her. She's an awful person and is literally irredeemable but dammit she does her shit with style and sass and i love her) .

He did not feel the same way. But I think we are better friends because of it - Edwin S1 E8 (THEM. JUST THEM. I CANT WITH THEM.) .

You, Charles Rowland, are the best person I know - Edwin S1 E5 (It's like they want me to go throw myself off a cliff their friendship is everything to me) .

And we've got literally forever to figure out what the rest means - Charles S1 E7 (Charles is raising the bar too high i fear. the standards are through the roof) .

When you punish yourself, everywhere becomes hell - Edwin S1 E7 (*starts sobbing in the corner*) .

Imagine thinking there was only one way to do any one thing. How difficult would life be? - Kashi S1 E6 (I swear Kashi walked into this show to spit straight facts and then was never seen again. Icon.) .

We didn’t matter, he and I - Edwin S1 E1 (No because the way I swore to myself that I would protect these boys with my life the minute he said this) .

I will always hit a demon with a cricket bat for you - Charles S1 E6 (Fellas, never settle for anything less than Charles Rowland) .

I wasn't talking about you - Edwin S1 E5 (I'm not even kidding I paused the show, got up and had to take a minute because OOF Monty darling) .

As more than a friend, I’m afraid. Charles, I'm in love with you - Edwin S1 E7 (No joke this is one of the best scenes in a show I have ever watched. The acting, the dialogue, the pacing, the emotion??? UGH!!! Perfection) .

I certainly hope not, that story ends tragically - Edwin S1 E7 (There are already a million and one posts about the implications of Charles referencing Orpheus' story so go check those out but holy hell the way it made my heart twist) .

I could- we could lose Charles - Edwin S1 E3 (This was such a tiny detail but GOD I replayed it ten times before moving on) .

Honestly I just find her so charming - Edwin S1 E2 (I knew from this moment that Edwin and Niko were going to be a pair to watch. And boy was I right) .

That was my third life you bitch—i only get nine; would you fuck off - The Cat King S1 E8 (now THIS is how you creatively use a cat's nine lives in media I love it I freaking love it) .

You sacrificed me to a demon who traded me to another demon who traded me to a thing that is worse than a demon and this is your punishment! An eternity of papercuts! - Edwin S1 E7 (Honey I have an eternity of questions cause what the FUCK is this human trafficking system down in hell??? but also go off king??? 😭)

I'll update this whenever I remember anymore. Tell me more quotes in reblogs/replies i'll add them into this!

[anxious-witch]

Inspired by this post by @purgatory606 because after seeing that, I wanted to talk about DBDA weapons/fighting styles of characters. Well Charles and partially Edwin here, I might also analyze Crystal and Esther in another post.

I'd like to start from the scene from the first episode where Charles is trying to teach Edwin self defense and he chooses boxing. Which is quite interesting, if a bit odd choice.

He gives Edwin boxing gloves, and then required him to his his palms, albeit protected, but still. Such an odd choice? Without anger or adrenaline from the fight, most people find it quite difficult to hit something-or someone particularly hard. Doubly so when a person holding a target you should be hitting is someone you care for. It's difficult to override your naturally instinct to pull your punch back, which is what I think happens to Edwin. Especially because he generally isn't someone who leans into violence, even in situations where it would be warranted.

I think we can presume Charles was either teaching Edwin how to fight in case he finds himself weaponless, given he doesn't have an infinite backpack, or he was judging by his own instict, not seeing how Edwin wouldn't want to use brutal force. If anything, Edwin would likely do better with a more precise, long range weapon. Like a sword, or a bow.

But I am getting ahead of myself. Let's look at Charles' weapons of choice and how he utilizes them. Throughout the s1, we see him use a cricket bat, a music box(?), a molotov cocktail and a sword.

Cricket bat is his preferred weapon of choice and as the og post said, bats are for pure, raw pain. Traditionally there is not much elegance or finesse with it. You use a bat when you want to inflict the most amount of hurt in the shortest and most brutal way possible. What I find interesting is the way Charles wields it, which he does in a way that is almost elegant.

We see him twirl it on several ocassions and while he does hold it in a way that one would expect would inflict most damage, I am not sure we ever see him use it that way? Esther knocks him down with her cane before he can, he doesn't actually get to use in on the Cat King, he beats up the Night Nurse with a music box, not his bat, he breaks David's mirrors in a way that he actually sends the bat flying, not actively smashing mirrors with brute force like one would expect. And when he faces Esther's snake, his bat breaks.

What does that tell us about Charles? I think his bat actually reflects him quite a bit. Both how he sees himself, and how people who don'tknow him well do. So many people make a mistake of writing his off as just the brawn, of someone only there to deliver lethal sort of damage. Even Charles himself seems to sometimes think of himself that way. Of someone capable of great violence. Because he thinks that's simoly what he is. A bat cannot be used for anything else but direct damage.

Except....Charles finds a way. His attacks may be brutal, but they are very precise as we saw in David scene. And even when we consider other insance when he used different weapons, thr only time his blow didn't land as expected was against Esther in episode one.

The attack against the Night Nurse was brutal amd seemingly uncontrolled, but he got the job done precisely the way he intended? He didn't kick her around mindlessly, he kicked her off the cliff to get rid of her and the sea monster they were trying to lull to sleep. It was violent yes, but he was still very aware of what he was doing.

Throwing the molotov cocktail at the Dollheaded Spider? Also very calculated to allow him and Edwin time to run. Hiss fight against the snake? Once he concluded brutal force of his bat wasn't working, he choose a very precise and deadly weapon instead. And used it perfectly, in quite an elegant move, too!

In conclusion, I think Charles' weapon of choice has more to do with his perception of self rather than his actual realities or abilities. Which I think is why we get a scene of the bat breaking in the last episode and have it replaced with a sword! His perception of self changed from a weapon more used for it's brutal force to a weapon more commonly associated with knights and heroes. I'd be very curious to see if the bat returns to s2 and how it'll be utilized

[kylefletchersgf]

Hey I was wondering if I could have a hook imagine if your open for request

basically me and him have dated since 13/14& grew up together and now we’ve turned in our 20’s and he wins the title against Jericho and we all celebrate and he asks me to marry him/ I find out I’m pregnant and everyone is happy for us & stuff

Hook: Fated to You

Summary: Hook has been dating his childhood sweetheart since they were teenagers and tonight is the night he wins back the FTW championship back from Chris Jericho and him and Y/n celebrate by him proposing to Y/n, but little does he know Y/n has a surprise of her own

'*•.¸♡ ♡¸.•*''*•.¸♡ ♡¸.•*''*•.¸♡ ♡¸.•*''*•.¸♡ ♡¸.•*''*•.

Masterlists | Aew Masterlist | Hook Masterlist

-ˋˏ [Word Count] ˎˊ : 936

-ˋˏ [Genre] ˎˊ : Fluff

-ˋˏ [TW] ˎˊ : Fluff, mistakes I might have, Chris Jericho, and this was not proofread before being published

-ˋˏ [Taglist] ˎˊ : @oblivionsera @nev-danielgarciawife

[Comment to be added to my taglist]

'*•.¸♡ ♡¸.•*''*•.¸♡ ♡¸.•*''*•.¸♡ ♡¸.•*''*•.¸♡ ♡¸.•*''*•.

It's a few weeks before All In where Hook will face Jericho for the Ftw title, you and Hook watch from his locker room as Chris Jericho's interview starts; Renee puts the mic to her mouth "at this time I am joined by the Learning Tree" "Hey guys!" he yelled as he waved to the camera. Renee tried not to laugh as she continued "How do you expect to beat Hook at All In?" she asked as she moved the mic to his mouth."Hey guys!" he waved again. He continued "Renee as you know All In is in a few weeks and I will beat Hook because he forgot the lessons I taught him. But the rest is secret thanks, bye guys!" he said the last part enthusiastically and waved before he left with Big Bill.

Bryan Keith waited back for a few seconds looking at Renee then leaning in close to her as he yelled “You better respect Chris Jericho!” before walking away. When it went back to the commentary table I look over at Hook and we both laugh at how stupid Chris Jericho is. "Are you scheduled to fight tonight?" "No but I have a promo scheduled later though" "what time?" "9:30." I sat down with him on the couch watching the show until it was time for his promo, when the clocks hit 9:30 he got up walking to the door holding it open for me then walking out the door behind me shutting it behind him. He held my hand all the way to where we usually did the interviews but he let go as soon as when the camera started rolling.

"I am joined here by Hook with Y/n, now Hook you heard what Chris Jericho said earlier in the night do you care to respond?" "Chris Jericho I will get back my Ftw title and cut down all your branches on the way too. All In." he said the last part pointing at the camera. When the interview ended Hook and I went back to his locker room for the rest of the show, he looked over at me "I fight Big Bill next week and you will stay here during my match" "but-" "no, do you understand me Y/n?" "yes" "now at All In you can sit at the commentary table with Taz ok?" "ok"

skip to All in

You stood with Hook in his locker room while he got ready, he looked over at you "what color babe?" he asked as he held up blue shorts in one hand and grayish-silver in the other hand. "Do the gray" you told him as you was getting TV ready. You fixed his eye patch to waste time as the Learning Tree did their entrance. When it was Hook's turn you walked on the side as he walked down the ramp, You sat at the commentary table next to your soon to be father in law Taz as Hook got in the ring. You put the headset on as the match begun, You look over at Taz "hi honey" "hi" you replied happily.

Towards the beginning of the match Jericho put Cricked balls onto the mat which made you question it, but learning from wrestling some things are just better not asked about or left unsaid. Hook got out the ring grabbing a Cricket bat and 'oh no' was all you could think to yourself. He started smacking everyone with it then started picking up the Cricket balls and started flinging them at all three of them, you couldn't hold in your laughter anymore. After he did that he went behind Jericho choking him with the Cricket bat yelling "hey guys! Hey guys!" mocking Jericho as you laughed harder adding in "hey guys!"

"C'mon Hook!" you yell to encourage him to get up as he was getting jumped by Bill and Bryan. Hook got back in the ring swinging wildly missing as he got smacked on the head with the trashcan, Jericho missed the Judas Effect going straight into a T-bone suplex by Hook. Hook go up taking off the eye patch yelling "I can see!" pointing at his eye. Towards the end of the match Taz got up putting Bryan in his submission letting Hook get the win by Red Rum. Taz backed up so you could hug Hook first, Hook walked up to you kissing your head then hugged you for a few seconds as you took off the headset.

He walked over to Taz hugging him until he decided to take you backstage, he wanted to be alone with you in his locker room. Even though he is very public about kissing your head or his arm being around you, everything else is behind closed doors; he is a very private person. He wanted to do this next part privately, you turn around to look for something and you couldn't find it so you turn back around to face him to see him down on one knee with a small box; it had the most beautiful engagement ring you have ever seen. You nod nonstop before he could even ask you to marry him, he stood up putting the ring on your finger as he kissed you softly.

When he pulled apart you looked at him "then this is the best time to tell you I'm pregnant" you laugh through the tears. He looked at you smiling big; that cute smile that he hides from the public. You're marrying your best fried, now you have all you could ever ask for in life.

[freudensteins-monster]

Or or or or.... Time bubble fic.

The DBDA return to Port Townsend because they need the Cat King’s help on a case. While at the cannery an enemy of the Cat King’s and/or the bad guy of the week the DBDA were trying to figure out how to stop barges in and pretty much tries to blow everyone up with magical attacks.

The Cat King tries to teleport everyone away, and maybe he gets Charles and Crystal out of the building, but he's hit with something just as he teleporting himself and Edwin to his private chambers.

They crash into the room. After being assured that Charles and Crystal are fine they spend a minute bandaging each other's wounds before trying to teleport out.

They crash into the room. The Cat King tries to leave by himself, Edwin tries to walk through the walls... they crash back into the room.

After the initial freak out, trying to figure out what went wrong and why, Edwin has a new more horrible freak out - how much time is passing on the outside?? The last time Edwin was in the Cat King’s chambers for five minutes and hours had passed on the outside. They've already been stuck in there 30mins, how long has it been outside - a full day??

As time passes inside, they go through the five stages of grief before settling into Acceptance a few weeks into their confinement. By which point they've gone from taking out their frustrations at each other, to crying in each other's arms, to using each other as a distraction, to falling in love.

They're lying in bed, one lazy not-morning, when the Cat King sits up suddenly. Something’s changed. The Cat King doesn't give either of them time to worry about what awaits them outside. He just holds Edwin close and tries to teleport them out... and it works.

They're greeted by a confused and increasingly angry Charles who's standing over bad guy of the week with his cricket bat. Turns out the time bubble had worked the other way around this time: mere minutes had passed on the outside, the containment spell broken when Charles knocked the caster the fuck out.

A tearful, confused reunion between the DBDA is had during which time the Cat King is trying to mentally/emotionally prepare himself for Edwin pretending nothing happened or that it wasn't real, only a product of their circumstances...

He isn't prepared for Edwin to throw himself at him, kiss him passionately in front of Edwin and Crystal, and all but beg him to return to London with them, or go for a walk outside, or to the bloody malt shop. Anywhere but here, just so long as they're together.

[riacte]

Re: popularity and clout gap, this thought has been lurking at the back of my mind but it didn’t hit me until a friend pointed out it was like how some parts of the audience used to treat hermits in MCC. As in: the hermits could achieve something technically amazing but were ignored simply because they weren’t popular (see False’s back to back win being ignored post MCC12) when the exact same achievement would cause them to lose their minds if it was done by someone who was more “popular”.

Post Demise 2, I joked this was like Blue Bats over again in which False (and Ren) won with the power of friendship in a wholesome storyline yet some parts of the audience chose to be salty their fave didn’t win instead. Sometimes you can see such a severe cognitive dissonance because people watch different hermits. Like that post on Reddit innocuously asking about Perry when I’d seen him around for weeks now and people pointed out Perry had been featured in the Neighbourhood’s videos for a while. (Nothing wrong with the post but it shows how vastly different the viewing experience is.)

It’s kind of like we’re back to 2020/21 era esque “hermit erasure” but it’s (unintentionally) done by some hermit fans. Okay, actually I’ll erase the unintentionally. Plenty of people only watch a few hermits and I emphasise that is fine and you can do anything you want forever. Enjoy HC in any way you like. Be free. The problem only surfaces when people pretend their corner is the only corner that exists and everyone else are the side characters. Like, it’s really fine to admit you don’t know everything. Someone on the MCC Reddit tried making teams and admitted they didn’t know the hermits well but somehow their teams ended up being more hermit accurate than most teams I’ve seen.

This situating done by some parts of the audience of some hermits as “main” and some hermits as “side” to the whole production of Hermitcraft makes me think of 2020/21 MCC again. In which people were discussing protagonists and villains and cannon fodder. Which was why I wrote Battle Scars, a parody / satire / sincere piece of work / whatever, to show that my faves (Blue Bats) could be the protagonists too. And it feels like I’m back. Scrambling to script my faves as characters worthy to have their stories told. Why are we back again.

And why does it lowkey feel worse because this is happening within the same fandom.

… And now I realise that’s also part of why I wrote Feel It Still, another crack treated seriously fic. Because it’s a Superhero AU proudly situating my faves in the lead roles based on canon stuff, while the typical protagonists of Superhero AUs in this fandom are delegated to side characters and are the trainees under a main hero. It’s this sort of twisting of canon that I keep on (subconsciously) doing, attempting to give some sort of spotlight to my faves by mimicking / parodying fandom trends and tropes, trying to make them more palatable and spread propaganda or whatever.

Tldr: it feels like we’re back to “hermit erasure” era and there’s a lot of fanon attention on a few. And you just know certain events would receive significant more attention if they were done by the popular hermits instead of the less popular ones. But it’s mostly crickets outside my circle and the people that I know of. Like hey yeah this is someone I know from chat and someone I know from Twitter. And I know about “being the change you want to see” and “make stuff you want to see” and “promote your faves”. I know. We all know.

It just gets tiring sometimes.

In the end, a number’s game is a number’s game.

[bluecatwriter]

There's a long history of Dracula adaptations clearly made by people who have never read the book.

I think in this fine tradition you specifically should adapt the Beetle without reading it

You are SO right, anon. I am going to direct the movie version of The Beetle upon which all other adaptations will be based! It will full of iconic quotes that are not in the book and I will butcher all the themes and characters!

Initial thoughts:

-Robert Holt will be played by some no-name actor who is putting his entire heart, soul and mind into the performance. The Brick Guy is also played by this guy. The first part of the movie is filmed in a very straightforward period-drama style, with the exception of a Carpet Scene, which is filmed in soft focus like a "flashback to dead wife" scene.

-Robert will also of course be referred to as "Bobert" and wear jorts. Alas, he does not get a GAP sweatshirt or a slushie in this version because there are no Ordinary Solicitors to save him.

-The Beetle will be portrayed as just a beetle of varying sizes, and they will be CGI. Specifically the really low-budget bad CGI of the early 2000s. This is very important for my artistic vision.

-Paul Lessingham will also be CGI.

-The cat will be a real cat, and will be voiced by the guy who voiced Garfield from the 1990s Garfield and Friends cartoon.

-I am open to casting suggestions for Sydney Atherton, although again, I suspect that it would be best to forgo celebrities and cast a guy who has played the comic-relief guy in Oklahoma at community theater one too many times. I will change nothing about Sydney Atherton's atrocities, and will in fact probably add a few more, but all the other characters will say how manly and wonderful he is while he's like beating someone to death with a cricket bat in the background. The movie critics will read a lot into this directing choice.

-I will make Marjorie and Dora both girlbosses™ by giving each of them a sword and a multi-level marketing business. They will contribute nothing to the plot and I will be offended if people think they are bland characters.

-I don't really know the other characters, so they will be played by a gender-inclusive rotating cast, and everyone will keep mixing up their names. The goal is for it to be impossible to keep track of who's doing what at all times.

-The cat still dies but goes to Cat Heaven and there's a whole musical dream sequence (inspired by 1930s cartoons and musical numbers from Gene Kelly movies) about the cat having a really great time in Cat Heaven.

-During some mundane scene with this rotating cast of characters and CGI Paul Lessingham, Bobert will dramatically die of starvation in the background. Nobody notices.

-The train crash will be on-screen instead of off, and there will be a very long monologue from the train themself as they dramatically fall off a broken bridge (this will be a practical effect with a full-sized train). This monologue will be delivered by the same guy who plays the cat, and if the actor isn't crying real tears by the end, we will redo the take until we get it. There will be a lot of montaging and soft focus. We will give the train a tragic backstory, but the train is also kind of accepting of their fate, you know? The book of Ecclesiastes will probably be mentioned somewhere in here.

-I will be diverging from canon by having Sydney Atherton die in the train crash. Not from the train, though, he chokes on a shrimp cocktail moments before the train hits the ground.

-Credits roll

-Epilogue scene: Sydney Atherton ends up in Cat Heaven and all the cats jump on him like the hyenas at the end of Lion King and there's just a giant wriggling ball of cats. Bobert is there too, drinking a slushie in the background. Hard cut to black.