#simon mould

[hannaloony]

[chaoticke-rambles]

The thing is: Simon being revealed to be gay is really cliché. We’ve all seen it before, the bully who goes after the gay kid because he has a crush and doens’t know how to handle or confront that. Been there, done that. So it got me thinking: why do I find it so impactful when Dead Boy Detectives pulled it?

Because it doesn’t matter.

Simon doesn’t feel like he was revealed to be gay as a way to expose “hidden depth,” which is why this move often feels cheap to me. It’s not used to justify his actions, and he is not excused for them. The narrative makes no apologies for his behavior. He murdered Edwin and the narrative underscores that

Instead, Simon being gay matters simply because it matters to Edwin, and that’s why this scene works. The revelation does not change how the audience is meant to feel about Simon; you maybe understand him better, but that is all. However, it changes everything for Edwin, because he’s recontextualizing all of these memories from when he was alive. The scene works because it allows Edwin to see himself in Simon, and to forgive himself for being gay and for being lonely. It’s not about Simon. It was never about Simon. It’s about what this knowledge about Simon means to Edwin.

[griffineatsbread]

yeah there's a character in dbda who goes to heaven after accepting his queerness. yeah i'm totally normal about it.

[brokenintrovert]

dead boy detectives shitpost: catholic school edition

[alltimefail]

These characters have a lot of issues...

[fear0phobia]

Do you think it has to be torture? Being the way we are?

[ineedhjalp]

and what if I told you st hilarion was the patron saint of loneliness. what then

[edwin-paynes-bowtie]

I'm sorry. Simon is a great character and Gabriel Drake's performance is amazing and gut wrenching and raw. Edwin's scene with him is one of my favourites in the show. But a lot of the fandom seems to forget that he is actually a Bad Person. He targeted his obviously gay classmate for bullying, called him slurs, snatched his cap off his head, and ultimately murdered him. I don't care that Simon was gay and had internalized homophobia. He killed someone in a hate crime.

Also, like, Simon wasn't attempting to play a little prank on Edwin, sorry. He and the other boys kidnapped him while he was sleeping with the aim of letting them know he was gay and making him physically unsafe because homosexuality was criminalized. It's actually insane.

Also, it's 100% cool to find Simon an interesting character. He is an interesting character. But one must also know that he also is willfully cruel and a murderer.

Tl;dr Simon is a great addition to DBDA but he is a foul and repulsive human being and we should remember it