#the difference is that the cat king tries to abuse his power while edwin is a sweetheart even though he rejects monty brutally oof sorry pa

[makemeimmortalwithahug]

for @tacoreib hey there, thanks!

prompt: thoughts on why supernatural creatures are in love with him

that's not written in prose, it's just me pretending to be literate and clever enough to analyse these characters in a meaningful way. it makes sense in my head, yeah? yeah

trigger warning for talking about the cat king and his dynamic (and its issues) with edwin

word count: 779 words

Well, the supernatural creatures in question are Monty and the Cat King. Let’s divide that cause I feel like their views of Edwin differ significantly but also unite in one aspect: they find Edwin exciting. And that’s wild, right? This Edwardian boy who reads tons and only rarely gifts anyone - who isn’t Charles or Niko - an honest smile.

Well, in general, we know that Edwin never got really along with other humans, up until he met Charles. And while Edwin seems to not be the biggest fan of cats – especially after the Cat King Drama –, I can picture Edwin finding solace in animals in his childhood. Nature and magic are deeply intertwined and Edwin also is quite handy when it comes to spells and such. Yeah, he argues a fair lot with Crystal and he’s incredibly close to Charles and finds a kindred soul in Niko, but in conversations with clients he’s cool and collected. He knows his way around the supernatural world and seems to fit right in, not like back in his school days. He is gentle and calm most of the time, no sudden movements and quiet competence. Those sound like good reasons for supernatural creatures to fall in love with Edwin.

Let’s start with the Cat King. For him, his attraction to Edwin is probably a form of asserting dominance. Sure, he calls himself a “consensual king” and gives Edwin an out with the whole counting-cats thing, but in the end he likely counts on Edwin tiring of his little game and caving. He has a following of loyal subjects, he has a throne, so he most definitely is used to a mix of admiration and worship towards himself. The Cat King has this aura of someone who knows that others desire him. Others, who know why he is so appealing.

But then, along comes this cute posh ghost with his little bowtie who seems utterly confused by his feelings and that’s what’s so exciting for the Cat King. It’s power over him. Later, it becomes apparent that that’s not all, that the Cat King really does feel something beyond attraction for Edwin and that most likely stems from him slowly growing attached to Edwin and his remarks during their little meet-ups, but especially Edwin’s flustered appearance. For the Cat King, this is what really attracts him to Edwin. This put-together detective who gets red in the face whenever the Cat King steps too close.

He does get better at their final meeting and seems much more genuinely fascinated by Edwin, that’s likely to do with the Cat King knowing and hearing about what went down – Edwin in hell, Niko’s death, the torture – and Edwin coming out of all of this… well, not alive, but with his head still upon his shoulders and still this kindness in his heart. To be kind in the face of all of this, that’d do it.

Now, Monty. Monty Monty Monty. Monty was never meant to become supernatural in any sense of the word. He was crow. Then, he’s suddenly a boy with real feelings and real impact on others, being able to communicate with them in a meaningful way. At first, Edwin was Monty’s mission. Make him trust you, lure him and Charles in – cause you realise Charles follows wherever Edwin goes – and leave him in his betrayal.

And that backfires spectacularly cause Monty never counted on Edwin being – again, kind. He does not openly show it but he’s by no means cold when he meets Monty. Honestly, his behaviour reminds me of myself being shy and anxious in social interactions. That might be read as disinterested but it’s not. Of course, when they meet, Monty is obviously just over the moon because wow, that boy’s pretty, right? That’s new to him, being attracted to someone, and that’s probably why Monty feels it so strongly. The astrology books are a way to get close to Edwin but then Monty wants to step closer and closer as he realises that Edwin genuinely invests his time into his conversations with Monty and becomes more approachable. Monty can see their progress. Someone is aware of Monty and deems him important, a small centre of the universe for a small amount of time.

Also, Monty is entirely new to this “being human” thing (aren’t we all?) and Edwin always seems incredibly confident. And he has every reason to be confident. He is a Dead Boy Detective, after all – he’s competent in his profession. For Monty, Edwin is the one who has it figured out while Monty basks in his attention. That’s why Monty seems to rotate around Edwin and finds him so exciting.

So there's that, I guess? additional thoughts are sooo appreciated, i love this fandom and id love talking with y'all about all this

[anxious-witch]

Part four of the height/stance analysis and this time, we'll take a look at our favorite psychic, Crystal!

She was a very interesting study given she is a lot shorter than Charles and Edwin, which is why any time she is noticably taller/bigger is definitely relevant. But! Let's start from the beginning.

When we first meet Crystal, after David has been exorcised, she is lying on the floor, with both Charles and Edwin towering over her, even while crouched down. Which makes sense-she is at her lowest, without her memories, without any sort of purpose. This kind of shots continue throughout episode 1, when Crystal is sitting up in a bed in the agency, etc. Bc she is essentially at mercy of boys' kindness. Until she takes Becky Aspen's missing poster.

The first time we truly see her use her powers, and notice the immediate shift in camera angle. We, as the viewers are suddenly looking UP to her. Because in that instant, as she uses her powers and then argues with Edwin to help Becky Aspen, she finds her purpose, which will stretch throughout the rest of the season, which is helping other people, especially women.

Generally, Crystal's height seems very tied into her powers and her sense of self. We'll touch upon this more later, but for now, let's look at some of her dynamics with other characters.

First of all, is of course, Charles. I briefly touched upon this in his analysis, given he always makes himself smaller and tried to get on the eye level of the person he is interacting with. We definitely see a lot of that in any scenes where he and Crystal are in close proximity, but especially whenever it's alluded to their romantic feelings to each other.

Look at how close in height they are! For reference, Kassius is 158 cm, and Jayden Revri is 185 cm. That's a huge height difference and YET, it shows how close their characters are, emotionally.

Their dynamics as equals is relatively consistent, shifting a bit whenever the other one is emotionally vulnerable (ie Charles at Devlin's house and Crystal during the Lighthouse Leapers episode, where Charles quite literally catches her in his arms), but is much less turmoilous than say, Edwin's and thr Cat King's.

One scene I find fascinating between is when Crystal is leaving for London and she kisses Charles and when they part, they are, once again, on almost equal footing. And then this happens.

She quite literally lowers herself and looks at the floor before stepping away. I think that's partially because she accepts her feelings for him, which she has clearly been avoiding. She let herself be vulnerable in that moment, thinking it'll be thr last time she sees him. Which reminded me of this moment.

The only difference is that it's Crystal rejecting Charles feelings vs Crystal accepting her own feelings. Whenever you like them as a ship or not, they clearly care of one another a lot. But Crystal is aware she has a lot of unresolved trauma caused by David and that prolonging what they have will be painful for them both.

Speaking of David, let's look at his and Crystal's dynamic from the very beginning.

While it's easy to forget bc we meet him as a scary, abusive demons ex, there was a time he charmed Crystal. And look at that posture! I'd say it's eerily similar to how Charles positions himself around her. No wonder she was reminded of him so often. There used to be a time where David was like that!

Of course, by the time we meet him in the story, he is constantly trying to scare Crystal and the camera always pans him as the bigger one, usually looming over Crystal. I choose the above instance bc this is right before Crystal taked him down and they are on eye level before he chokes her and tries to push her down.

After constantly looming over her and keeping her scared, David cannot stand to look at her as his equal. So he tries to do what he did before-pushes her down. But instead, he is the one that gets not only pushed to the ground, but gets buried in her mind. And really, I think that bit is obvious. He is lower than she ever was, because Crystal realized her through power, while his only depended on her fear of him.

Now, let's look at Crystal's memories and powers some more.

In her flashbacks, Crystal we see is almost unrecognizable to the Crystal we got to know throughout the season. Not only because of her meanness, but because of her stance. She is constantly in a dominant position around people she is interacting with, save for her parents, her spine straight. She also seems to utilize her powers a lot more freely and deliberately to take control of the situation, like in the scene with a security guard. But that's not who Crystal IS anymore and it's promptly followed by this scene.

Where she is on the floorz back at her lowest, from simple knowledge of who she used to be. Which funnily enough, gets us circling back to that scene from Charles' analysis, when she is packing and is in a more dominant position than Charles. Because she feels so helpless knowing who she was, she briefly falls back into her old pattern of taking control back with pulling away. And that is another reason why she is hunched down after kissing Charles. She is admitting she changed, that she cares. Not quite yet realizing that care is what makes her powerful.

Which is why her scene with Lilith is so powerful. Crystal is at her largest when she is using her powers for good, for helping someone. Even if we compare this scene of her yelling at Lilith with past! Crystal, there is a clear difference in camera angle. In the memoey scene, Crystal is a dominant figure, yes, but in a scene with Lilith, we are looking up to her once again. And she is bugger than Esther. In fact, if I am not mistaken, she is, other than Lilith the only character that gets a dominant position in any sort of scene with Esther.

Which makes sense. Esther is an immortal, powerful witch. Who could be more powerful than her? And the answer is...Crystal. Specifically Crystal who is seeking justice for not only Niko, but all the little girls Esther murdered over the years.

Which is why I think it's after that moment that Crystal decides to stay with the boys. Because she realized where her true strenght lies. That she doesn't have to give up everything she gained to fix her past mistakes.

And that concludes Crystal Palace height and stance analysis. As always, if anyone has anything to add and/or disagrees with any point of my analysis, I love hearing about it