[|87

[nondelphic]

writing is 10% storytelling and 90% rearranging three sentences for an hour like you're trying to solve an ancient curse

[breadbut3d]

I actually feel slightly sick over the fact dead boy detectives was cancelled. Like I’ve only had the show a maximum of 4 days and I’m distraught that I probably won’t get anymore.

Unless Netflix stops being stupid and realises that people like the show! That’s a thing that could happen right! Please! I need some hope that it can come back I’m actually begging atp!

[griffineatsbread]

So much wasted potential in not letting us have filler episodes. We could have a beach episode. Having the boys just do random cases. the owners of the cat king try to get him neutered. hijinks ensue. niko tries to introduce edwin to yaoi. monty tries to figure out how to make edwin like him, tries to be more like charles. charles is not amused. the backpack goes missing. So much potential

[shhhhimwatchingthis]

Sort of bums me out that so many people didn't seem to Get the Cat King so here are my thoughts:

So let's start with Edwin's crime. He uses something the cat desires (a sardine) to lure the cat to him and then uses an enchanted string to trap the cat with magic. He demands the answer to a question in exchange for its release. Edwin knows it is dangerous to use magic on a cat, that it violates Rules but he does it anyway.

Binding a creature and agreeing to set them free under a certain condition is very Classic Fairytale. its also a favourite trope of Neil Gaiman's (he did not write this show but his influence is there). In both the Sandman and his novel Stardust (and the film adaptation) trapping a creature with magic and demanding a task/favour in exchange for their freedom is an extremely important plot point. Edwin binding a cat and demanding an answer in exchange is exactly in line with this Fairytale trope

And so is the Cat Kings response. The Cat King is a trickster. What he does to Edwin is exactly what Edwin did to one of his subjects. He entices Edwin, he binds him with magic and when Edwin demands to be free he turns his own words against him "why all the fuss for one little spell?" Edwin did something wrong. He imposed his will/magic on another creature and the Cat King is punishing him for it in a way that is poetic. Its fairytale. its trickster. its classic.

I've also seen people complain that the task Edwin was given 'count all the cats' is 'impossible'...except its fucking not. Edwin does it. He does it so well he actually BEATS the Cat King ("you didn't count yourself" Are.You.Kidding.Me. Classic!Fairytale!Vibes!)

The Cat Kings choice to bind Edwin to Port Townsend is good on so many levels. From a storytelling perspective it forces characters who can travel anywhere in the world to stay in one place, and increases the stakes for these characters who are supposed to be on the run. From a genre perspective...its an excellent use of fairytale tropes using both Rules of magic, a protagonist who is unkind to a seemingly weak creature who is punished by a more powerful law, a binding, a task to complete, etc

Which just leaves the character perspective which it ALSO does really fucking well and introduces the final aspect to the Cat Kings character. He's seductive. He is responsible for Edwin, 100 years old ghost boy, finally unpacking his internalized homophpbia. he is the catalyst (cat pun not intended)

He pushes Edwin, challenges him, at times literally forces the truth out of Edwin, but he really never does violate his consent. Significantly Edwin is attracted to him, like its an important part of his character that he is. He may not like the Cat King but he is attracted to him!

The Cat King is such a great example of a trickster, a morally grey character who imposes a sense of justice on Edwin after he crosses a line, but also has his own selfish interests and meddles. Hes so important to the plot of the show, to Edwin's character arc, to the genre.

And he's just fun. Unapologetically queer, powerful, complicated. Silly little outfits. Petty cat behavior. Deep heart.

Some of you just didn't get it. And I'm sorry for you. because the Cat King is Excellent actually.

[sherlock-is-ace]

[lesbiannieism]

good afternoon i made a thing

[densewentz]

When a cunty witch beats you to death then steals your boy toy for eternal torment 😢 (based on that 'don't you miss her???' meme)

[mysillydragonhoard]

[lesbianmastermind]

“Using magic on a cat is a total car crash on your part”

Oh, how I love you you huge loser Cat King of Port Townsend.

[brokenintrovert]

dbd shitpost: CAT KING AGAIN. Bet you weren't expecting that, huh

[humani-dar-te]

this gif but it's Charles looking at a wolf-in-a-sheep-costume bad guy thinking "mate, you're absolutely fucked"

[griffineatsbread]

i love it when the boys go into team mode. like when they're messing with twitchy richie and immediately establish that charles will throw him around and edwin will throw papers and move the scissors for dramatic effect. the drama brawn and the drama brain.

[idliketobeatree]

we need to talk about the Blue Light.

how it represents a safe passage forward from Death, and more broadly it symbolises the idea of a personal, individual to each person Heaven;

how the person usually isn't as directly lit as Edwin here, but from a side?

and how, when Charles looks at Edwin with the slightest smile and utter conviction in his eyes, Edwin is completely bathed in blue?

and. how Edwin, dead on a technical error, never got to see where his soul really belonged when it comes to his afterlife— and yet it's doubtless, from this shot alone, what his original destination would be.

[madnessiseverything]

[thepearlyalbatross]

I loooooveeee all the fics where the agency finds Edwin's remains and Bury them with Charles but I cannot help but wonder in centuries time if people find them again and are just so fucking confused.

Especially if like they set Edwin's bones nicely with Charles' or like they're holding hands or some shit and these archaeologist r just like oh fun people who died together BUT NO. Bc Edwin died 70 years before Charles so wtf is going on here.

We don't know how these teenaged skeletons came to be like fuckin intertwined with each other but its cool ig?

And they try to separate them or something but they keep ending up together again. Just over and over until everyone is convinced it's some magic shit and to just let them be together.

[e-payne]

charles rowland, dying and delirious, sits across a table in an attic that will become his tomb, staring up at the most beautiful boy he's ever seen

he's bathed in warmth and light and charles asks him if he's an angel

edwin's all oh no. far from it and charles says I think you are. you look like one

it takes at least a couple weeks into their ghost adventures before charles can be convinced otherwise

some days he's still not entirely sure

[sneebl]

niko sasaki you mean everything to me. you spent your life chasing after love, and when you found it, that love was the cause of your death. but it doesn't matter to you. because you'd do it again in a heartbeat. because you got to love and be loved in return.