I Did Ask George Rexstrew Some Cameo Questions, And While I Half-wanted To Hoard Them For Myself, I Figured

I did ask George Rexstrew some Cameo questions, and while I half-wanted to hoard them for myself, I figured it was only right to share the love! :D

The big hits for those who can't (or don't want to) turn audio on:

For love languages, touch is a pretty strong no. Acts of service and quality time are his primary love languages. Also, he may not realize it, but he would actually love to be on the receiving end of gifts, because it would "surprise him." He hasn't gotten a lot of gifts over the course of his existence!

Edwin hates/dislikes a bunch of stuff, but the things I found most interesting were: abandonment; Satan's star; being late; loud chewers; and tobacco pipes.

"Loud chewers" threw me off, but then I remembered that he got devoured alive for 70 years straight so it makes sense again.

"[Hates] girls...☝️ he's not a misogynist, though." AJSHDKJASDHK

I made a whole ass post talking about how the show is great for making romantic payneland seem both very possible and not certain

But what I meant to say is AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA IF IT DOESN'T HAPPEN I'LL AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Since I very much enjoy the idea of Edwin being permanently a little fucked up after his 2nd trip to hell and everything with Esther, I have made a few posts about that if you're interested ~ I think a potential part of that would be to consider if Charles, and Crystal, ever battle feelings of guilt about being the reason they all ended up in Port Townsend.

Like, I wonder if when they finally got everything calmed down and are back home, if the night nurse absent-mindedly says something about the possession of Esther being the thing that got her department involved and Charles just gets this horrible sinking in his gut.

And then he starts thinking about everything and how it might have looked to Edwin.

How he and Crystal pushed Edwin to go to Port Townsend, and how often they all ended up with Crystal and Edwin facing each other to argue and Charles physically on Crystal's side.

Possessing Esther even though Edwin had always told him to never do that and how confident he had been that nothing was going to happen and Edwin was just being Edwin.

How his response to Edwin coming back leashed and clearly upset about the cat king was to give him shit and push over and over on the topic.

Letting Edwin get taken to hell again, even though Charles had been right there.

Esther.

Niko.

Also, when they learn Crystal willing let David in and how potentially upsetting that could be to Edwin? Even if Charles didn't know a lot about hell, and I don't think he did, demons must be something that kind of trip Edwin up a little, right? Maybe those cases make him go a little quieter, more likely to stick close to Charles, etc.

They got Niko out of Port Townsend, and they ended up in a better position with the Lost and Found department by the end of everything, but still.

Everytime Edwin now flinches away from the light because he's got a headache, or he's so exhausted after a case that Charles basically has to carry him back, or an iron burn takes much longer to heal then it ever has... the guilt makes Charles feel like he's going to get sick.

Maybe Edwin also checks out a little more then he did previously, eyes going a little hazy and clearly not seeing or hearing them. He doesn't talk and he'll just sit there, sometimes for days. Charles has to coax him onto the couch for a little more comfort, getting him to lay down even though it really doesn't do anything, Edwin always going easily to wherever Charles nudges him. He doesn't know exactly where Edwin goes during those zone outs but he can guess and it's nothing good.

🌙🌙🌙

This no way meant to say anything bad about any of the characters and if you take it that way then you didn't pay attention. Charles is usually really good with people and really good with Edwin, but I think he got so distracted by Crystal that things just got messy. And once things started spiraling, it just kept going.

Edwin is absolutely not blameless in all this either and I love Crystal but the beginning of the relationships between all of them was a hot mess.

We've all at some point, been brushed aside for something shiny and new. It's a terrible feeling. Add in the fact that Charles is basically Edwin's only person and his world got very small and lonely, very quickly.

Set breakdown time! Next up: Niko's room.

As before, I've circled the points of interest and numbered them to make them easier to talk about. Cool? Cool. Let's do this!

1: Niko's mom's name! This part is her and Niko's surname. The kanji are 佐々木.

佐 – sa, meaning help or aid

々 – an iteration mark. When you see this, basically it means "exactly what the last one said, one more time." So another sa meaning help or aid

木 – ki, meaning tree

It's really neat that they picked a last name for her that doubles down on her role in the narrative. Just like Niko is there to support and help other characters in whatever way they seem to need, her surname hammers it home by including 佐 not once but twice.

2: Riza (リザ) Niko's mother's given name. Somewhat odd here is that it's written in katakana and not kanji. Without getting sidetracked too much (you can pop over here to read more if you're interested) most Japanese people write their names in kanji.

Katakana seems like a bit of a strange choice here, unless a) Niko for some reason doesn't know the kanji for her own mother's name (weird, given that she's in high school) b) her mother is a foreigner (a possibility; foreigners usually write their names in katakana) c) the set designer/whoever prepped the letters didn't know the appropriate kanji for "Riza" (seems unlikely, given how accurate all the rest of this is) or d) some sort of personal habit. An interesting side note is that her letter to Niko also puts Niko's name in katakana.

3: Cutesy stationery, used for marking your place in a document or book

4: A cute blue purse!

5: Watermelon! Judging by the shiny material and placement near the other bag, I'm going to guess this is another purse

6: Niko's clothes :>

7: Pink luggage

8: Lots of instant noodles

9: A rice cooker

10: Rice vinegar

11: This girl LOVES her some plants

12: Probably food items…? The one on the right looks like it might be a five-pound bag of rice, but I don't recognize the brand

13: Lots of unwashed dishes

14: A toaster oven

15: Chopsticks

16: A cute octopus pillow. I think I saw someone mention that it's from Ikea :>

17: She often leaves dirty dishes sitting on the bedside table

18: A painting of what seems to be a skyscape

19: Brightly colored pillows

20: Metal art in the shape of a moon

21: A decorative window hanging

22: More plants :)

23: Candles

24: Her tv

25: Cute pens with pompoms on the end

26: Regular tape

27: A cute cat statue

28: Marble Pop Ramune, strawberry flavor. Ramune is a type of soda that's a popular festival drink in Japan. It's sealed with a  glass marble and you have to pop the marble down into the little catch basin before you can drink it.

29: Anime wall décor

30: Fruit jelly cups. In Japan, small gelatin based snacks like this are popular. They're tiny, about an inch tall, and you eat them in just one or two bites.

31: Niko's laptop. She has stickers on it

32: Washi tape! It's decorative Japanese tape, often with bright colors and patterns, used for crafting.

33: A lot of cute magnets, including the bunny one, which serves double-duty as a kitchen timer

34: Niko's grocery list. The only thing on here that's here because she wants it is strawberry ice cream. The rest of the items, licorice tea, manuka honey, and Epsom salts, are all natural remedies. She's been trouble-shooting how to get rid of the effects of the sprites. She knows she's sick, but not why

35: Cutesy craft supplies! Sequins, glitter, and pompoms

36: More washi tape!

37: Niko's manga collection. She is that particular brand of organizational mess that does not put her numbered volumes in order. She has made an exception for the series that makes a complete picture when you line them up, though

38: More plants :)

39: Manga posters! Issho is one of the series that she has on her shelf

40: A decorative jar

41: Little metal bird sculptures

42: What seems to be the only framed picture in her room. The angle is wrong to see what the photo is, but it's interesting that they added just one in here. Maybe it's her family…?

Thanks @likephysics for the prompt of the boys, dressed down, making each other laugh.

Edwin and Charles being "more than friends" not because their friendship is any less important than a romantic relationship, but because they are lovers on top of being friends.

Their romance is an addition, an evolution of their friendship, not a substitute for it. Everything that happened before Edwin confessing or Charles deciding that yes, he is IN love with Edwin, isn't any less powerful or real. They're each other's number one and always have been from the beginning. They never stop being each other's best mate.

They were friends and it was a love story, they are lovers and it's the same love story, just with an added shade on top.

Just Edwin and Charles being friends before anything else.