writingsofophelia

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One of the things that I appreciate (and because of the cancellation, also find frustrating) about Dead Boy Detectives is that I am intensely curious about how the story was going to continue, not because there was one big cliffhanger (the first season actually ends in a reasonably narratively-settled place, last-minute teaser aside), but because there are so many things I wanted to know about almost every single character.

I was rather surprised to realize that David the Demon was one of those characters that I wanted to know more about, not just in terms of how Crystal is going to deal with the obstacle that he represents, but in terms of who he is and what he actually wants.

I didn't really think about David the Demon as a character very much until I saw Episode 06. I was focused on him as a force that Crystal was going to have to deal with, and on trying to evaluate how he was operating and what, if anything, of what he was telling Crystal was actually the truth. But that changed with Episode 06 and Episode 07.

In The Case of the Creeping Forest, we see David taunting Crystal from the mirrors in the woods, and she tells him that she doesn't have her powers anymore. And while says "there's no way, Crystal," his face in the mirrors changes — it's out of sync with his words. He looks scared and uncomfortable, and that made me sit up and take notice.

If anything, I had expected disappointment, or maybe disbelief, even if they didn't quite line up with the swagger. But as soon as David looked scared, I went "Wait -- what's that about?"

We never find out. Charles smashes the mirrors with the cricket bat just a few moments later.

And then in The Case of the Very Long Stairway, when Crystal demands that David open a doorway to Hell for her, not only does he say that he can't, he says "Don't you think I'd go back if I could?" and again I thought, "What's up with that?"

Why is David unable to go back? Why does he want to go back rather than spend more time on Earth? Is he exiled? Is he hurt? Is he on some kind of mission? Does Crystal have something to do with any of that?

And then after David gets locked away, we see — for a lack of a better name — David the Human Guy, unsure where he is and presumably stranded an ocean away from home. I felt a little bad for him, but I also had even more questions... chief among them being why David had picked this guy again after being forced out of Crystal's body, and how that happened.

(Is David the Human Guy complicit? Was he convenient? Or was he just really unlucky? — and then that made me wonder if *Crystal* was just unlucky to have met David, or whether she was a target all along…)

One of the things I was certain we'd get to see in Season Two is the continuation of Crystal's arc with David as she realizes she can't just bury her problems indefinitely. But I'm also really curious as to what else we would find out about David himself, and the start of that was really these tiny little hints from his reactions about who he is beyond just the swagger and the sneer and the blatant manipulation.

And I think that David Iacono portrayed all of those things quite well.

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“Charles, it’s alright.”

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top 10 things Edwin has said in S1 of Dead Boy Detectives

"If you punish yourself, everywhere becomes hell"

"CHAAAAAAAARLES!!!!!!!"

"Stop being so nice, Charles 😤"

"Charles, that was extremely hot omg extreme"

"dOeS tHaT lOoK bLuE tO yOu cHaRlEs?!"

"We are best friends, if you must know 💅"

*staring at Charles* + gay little gasp

"Where did you cultivate such ~excellent~ investigative instincts?"

"If she had died last night, I'd have no issue with her being here"

"CHAAAAAAARLES!!!!!" (pt. 2)

[writingsofophelia]

10 more iconic things Edwin has said in Dead Boy Detectives because this diva should not be limited by *my* rules

"I spent over 70 years in the worst place with the worst people. I can assure you, bad guys do not worry about being bad guys. And you, Charles Rowland, are the best person I know" (🥹❤️)

"I'm busy right now 😃"

"The water closet was 🌟pristine🌟 and full of decorative soaps"

"...there is a fuzzy lizard motioning"

*high-pitched screeching*

"This is unacceptable 😤 kindly remove it"

"That was rather embarassing for you ☝️"

"Maybe it's your outfit 💅"

"She can find that insolent little girl Emma and take polaroids in a graveyard or some other nonsense"

"No staring 💅"

[writingsofophelia]

Iykyk

imagine trying to confide in your new friend about being in love with your best friend but then your new friend kisses you and it’s your first kiss and then you find out he’s a bird

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This is an appreciation post for edwin’s stupid little hands-over-chest pose he does when he’s shocked

he’s so stupid i love him

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Crystal, mocking Edwin: 'We dO nOt nEeD a pSyChIc, wE cAn dO iT tHe gOoD oLd fAsHiOnEd dEtEcTiVe wAy!!!'

Edwin, sounding exactly like that: I DO NOT SOUND LIKE THAT!!!!

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something something about edwin, the hyper-verbal, eloquent language person, being reduced to a simple 'Charles, I'm in love with you' and Charles, normally answering immediately with exactly what he's thinking in that moment taking the time to think about an answer before giving it

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charles those feelings you have for edwin are definitely not platonic!!! Charles!! oh god, he's got airpods in he can't hear us

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thinking about the fact that the WW1 ghost in ep 1 represents a possible future for Edwin if he hadn't died and the fact that Hope Devlin represents a possible future for Charles if he hadn't died.

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something probably obvious that’s been eating at my brain a lot is that charles asked to go with edwin.

he’d known this boy for a couple of hours at most and had heaven itself presented to him and chose to stay with edwin. we know this.

BUT it’s important to note that charles didn’t reject heaven over an afterlife as a detective. he didn’t snub the afterlife over a sense of purpose or duty, over the promise of adventure and fulfillment. he could not possibly have known that this choice would send him down a mystery-solving path. all he knew was that he wanted to stay with edwin.

charles did not choose an afterlife as a dead boy detective in that moment. charles chose an afterlife as edwin’s best friend. in a heartbeat.

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happy pride to the most emotionally repressed idiots to have ever died and become dead investigators

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I have watched DBDA like four times now. It took me reading a tumblr post about it to realise that "Tragic Mick" was a play on "magic trick". If I had not read that tumblr post, I would have continued in ignorance.

My best friend just watched episode 2 for the first time. She heard them say Tragic Mick once and immediately said "oh like magic trick, cool".

I think we have a definitive answer on who's the smart one in this friendship.

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"why did they not realize Monty was the bird" why tf would they?? They heard the birds name once and who would meet a new person and immediately think 'hmm I met a bird with that name once that's super shady'

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i'm going slightly insane over the fact that this is niko. because when you look at it from that perspective the entire last scene makes so much more sense. the little looks she gives at the boys? the way she gasps at seeing her own case file? how she grants them to stay? insane. i'm crying.

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i hate to think about it but charles' dad kinda looks lile jack nicholson in the shining and i can't help but feel it was intentional despite the fact that it probably wasn't