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Edwin Payne - Blog Posts
Okay, so something I’ve noticed in Dead Boy Detectives episode 3 that I haven’t seen anyone talking about yet is Edwin and Niko’s talk in the library.
So Niko asks Edwin while he’s in disguise 4 questions.
1. Are you always a woman?
2. Is Charles a woman too?
3. Can you change your eyes and nose like Mr. Potato Head?
4. Do you know who Mr. Potato Head is?
And do you know what Edwin’s answers were?
Yes, No, No, Yes.
IM SORRY, EDWIN???? YES YOU’RE ALWAYS A WOMAN??????? WHAT????
Anyway, trans Edwin canon.
How is Edwin real!!! (Shut up you know what I mean)
He lives a shitty life for 16 years, dies and suffers like no one else for decades, does the unthinkable and escapes hell with only his will and wit, turning into basically the strongest ghost ever.
And then. Doesn't really lift a finger again. Doesn't even know how to throw a punch.
If you tell his backstory to literally anyone, people will imagine a macho hero figure, muscles crawling out of hell, probably cold and insensitive or very angry.
Instead you have this
And this
And this
I love him so much I'm gonna be sick
I just know that the cat king turned off Monty and Edwin's lantern and made a magical lamp appear in the middle of the forest, just so he could show off his shiny coat
How is Edwin real!!! (Shut up you know what I mean)
He lives a shitty life for 16 years, dies and suffers like no one else for decades, does the unthinkable and escapes hell with only his will and wit, turning into basically the strongest ghost ever.
And then. Doesn't really lift a finger again. Doesn't even know how to throw a punch.
If you tell his backstory to literally anyone, people will imagine a macho hero figure, muscles crawling out of hell, probably cold and insensitive or very angry.
Instead you have this
And this
And this
I love him so much I'm gonna be sick
Instead of a confession Edwin came out to Charles on the staircase
~O~0~o~0~O~
“I’ve never actually really thought about it until you asked me,” Edwin said into the quiet air, pulling Charles back from his own thoughts.
“Huh?” Charles asked.
“What it’s like.” Edwin said. “Being in love.”
“Oh.”
“It’s like- no words can describe it, right? But at the same time, I feel like I could use every word in every language, and it would still never be enough.”
Charles didn’t say anything. What was he supposed to say to that?
“Honestly I feel like I could probably talk forever about it.” He seemed to realize what he was saying and looked over at Charles. “It’s not like I could ever talk to our friends about it though. I mean- not that I don’t trust them. It’s just not really the kind of thing you tell them.” Charles got it. If Edwin ever brought anything like that up to Crystal and Nico, he would never ever hear the end of it.
“You can talk to me,” he offered, his voice more of a whisper than he meant it to be.
Edwin looked at him a minute, his expression unreadable. “Thanks,” he said finally.
“Yeah,” Charles said softly and his heart rate sped up, just a little. Silence fell between them again. …
“You really want to hear about it?” Edwin asked later that night.
“If you want to talk about it.”
“I don’t want to feel like I’m just making you listen to me talk.”
Charles shrugged. “I like listening to you talk.” That seemed to be enough to assure him.
Edwin thought for a moment. “It is,” he said, “the most amazing and terrifying feeling I have ever known, at the same time.” He closed his eyes as if trying to picture it. “It feels almost- almost unreal,” he said once he opened them again. “Like maybe I’m just imagining everything and I’m going to wake up at any minute. And yet it’s like the most sure thing I have ever known. It’s like standing on the edge of a cliff, and someone is supposed to be at the bottom to break the landing, but I’ve already jumped off before checking if they’re there. Every time I see him, it’s like the breath has been stolen from my lungs, and my whole world has been turned upside down. And yet- he makes everything fall into place. And it’s breathtaking. Like when we’re together, everything is how it’s meant to be. Like right there, in that moment, everything is right. Like nothing else matters when I’m with him. And then I look at him and… Looking at him is like looking at forever.”
“Oh,” Charles said, because what else could he say?
“It’s everything,” Edwin said softly, looking over at Charles. “He’s everything.”
Charles caught his gaze and his smile was breathtaking. And oh. Because that’s how Edwin had described it. Breathtaking. But Edwin was talking about the boy who held his future. And this was just Edwin. His best friend. So maybe it didn’t have to be the love of his life to find someone breathtaking. Maybe best friends can be breathtaking too, he decided.
Charles flopped back onto the couch, letting his head fall against the arm. “Tell me about him?” he asked.
“Okay,” Edwin agreed, then paused. “I’m not very good at describing people,” he said.
“Tell me anyway.”
Edwin was quiet a moment, like he was trying to gather up the courage to speak. “He has the prettiest brown eyes that light up when he talks about something he loves, and the most charismatic smile you’ve ever seen. He’s kind and he’s smart, even if he doesn’t think he is. He’s brave and compassionate and spontaneous…” his voice trailed off. “And he’s perfect,” he said. “I wish he could see that.”
“You could tell him,” Charles suggested, but when Edwin smiled, it didn’t reach his eyes.
“He wouldn’t listen,” he said quietly.
PART 9 Everybody’s alive AU, where Niko is a friend of Edwin and Charles is a friend of Crystal
GEORGE REXSTREW as EDWIN PAYNE Dead Boy Detectives (2024) — Season 01, Episode 02
I think by the time Monty kissed Edwin, Edwin already knew that he loved Charles. In the same that Charles would always go to Hell, they may not be in love or an official romantic relationship, but they do love each other and they are domesticate partners in a technical sense of "living" together. (The only time either Charles or Edwin are in relaxed clothing is when they are alone together.)
And Charles did not reject Edwin. He accepted the love and the notion of Edwin being in love, he just expressed that his reciprocation isn't quite there. He also leaves it open, he doesn't say: No, for good, I will never be in love with you. He says: We have literally forever to figure the rest out.
Monty is a sweet boy, a good character, and one of my favorites, but to imply that their relationship would necessarily work as an endgame relationship is a bit crazy to me.
Edwin is dead, Monty didn't even really want to be human or alive in the state of consciousness where he can experience love. And I don't think love is what was driving Monty, it was infatuation.
Monty had never loved anyone, he didn't even know about it a few days ago, but there's this pretty boy who makes him want to smile and he seems to like him back.
And Edwin, rejecting Monty, was great on Edwin's part. He handled it gently, as gracefully and kindly as he could. Simply, so as not to lead the poor boy on.
So yeah
GEORGE REXSTREW as EDWIN PAYNE Dead Boy Detectives (2024) — Season 01, Episode 01
“Everything Nice” pages 15-23
((Deadboyween Day 4 - Orbs))
taking from folklore here- jack-o-lantern’s original purpose was to ward off evil spirits during Halloween when the veil between our world and the next was thinner! so i feel it’s fitting to give charles his own role as a supernatural-fighting-glowing-pumpkin
Just remembered/realized that Edwin & Charles have been besties™ for like over 30 years yeah but they’re ghosts and don’t sleep so that’s 30+ years of 24 hour days so it’s way longer than a human 30+ years because yeah no 8hr sleep everyday so they get extra hours together and yeah and sob anywho love them 🥰
No but the way Charles can dish it but can't take it when it comes to jealousy is so funny to me. He's talking about "getting it on" with Crystal making Edwin all jealous but as soon as Edwin TRADES BOOKS with Monty Charles like Wtf is this mate
Butch! Edwina and fem! Charlotte cause it makes sense for their stories +fem! catwin for me personally cause I'm feeling awful and I need more of them 😩🙏
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.
The infamous puppy debacle of '94
DEAD GIRL DETECTIVES
I just know that they got what was going on between them much faster
portable boyfriend, part two!
outfit deconstruction
Edwin Payne's got a whole look going for him, and I love that for him. This is me layering him up and down to have a better idea of how the outfit fits together.
@painlandweek Day 3: First Kiss
S2 catwin where TCK's the one getting distracting gay flashbacks but instead of the raunchy ones Edwin was getting s1 it's the most innocuous fluffy shit you've ever seen
charles and edwins disguises look so married and now I can't stop thinking about some random guy trying to connect with charles in his disguise over 'I hate my wife' jokes and charles goig on a wild tangent about how much he loves his wife and how she's his favorite person in the world and getting really protective because internally he's like: that's not his wife that's his best friend but if he WAS his wife he would love him so much
and then he would simply not get the implications of that and go about his day like "wife successfully defended, friendship successfully friended, job officially jobbed 😃👍🏻"