#also I have no idea where I’m going with Utterson

[aanthonyvb]

I love your Jekyll so so much!! Could you please draw him having a diner? 👉👈

Nice dinner with your boyfriend after 30 years of repressed feelings

[definatelymrhyde]

Definatelymrhyde’s guide to Worse Than I Had Thought and it’s giant TGSxOther Jekyll and Hyde universe crossovers

Okay so WTIHT is gonna start getting real confusing as of now. So for the convenience of the however many people read it, my editor @jekyll-everything and even myself I’m making a short little guide to explain it!! It’s even completed with Drawings!!

There’s a short summary of the basic plot without spoilers, then how to differentiate the different characters from all the different universes!!

Short story summary for simplicity reasons

Worse than I had thought is based on this idea: TGS Jekyll gets caught up in some experiment that used lots of chemicals and lightning, something happens and he ends up in another dimension where one; It’s in the perpetual state of being a musical, and two; There’s another Jekyll and Hyde there! And a Murderer! Wow! It seems really simple until you get into later in the story…

It was initially meant to be a crack fic but then I started taking it seriously. So now it’s like.. a real actual story.. it’s still partially a comedy with lots of jokes, though!!

SPOILER ALERT FOR CHAPTERS 14/15 FROM THIS POINT ON I GUESS.

THE CHARACTERS!!

This is all the Jekyll and Hyde’s you will meet. First and foremost, the main men themselves, TGS Jekyll and Hyde! We call them Henry and Hyde in the fic. Alternatively, we also call them ‘Society Jekyll/Hyde, and Henry had an Alias ‘Henry Wallace.’ Hyde doesn’t have an alias because plot points and I forgot to give him one.

Second, WTIHT Jekyll and Edward! Their universe is where everyone gets stuck. This Jekyll JUST created Hyde and probably hates himself for it. We call these two Jekyll and Edward . Or Musical Jekyll and Edward. They’re not the ones from the musical though. Theyre universe is a mish mash of a bunch of different Jekyll and Hyde univserses! They’re kind of like my own adaptation of the story in a way!

And last but not least, OG Book Jekyll and Hyde!! We call him Dr. Jekyll, The Doctor or Mr. Hyde. This Jekyll and Hyde story is the OG where Hyde is like a spooky alchemical induced Flesh costume and just the same conciousness. However, Jekyll refuses to admit that they’re literally the same conciousness out of pure being a terrible person.

Then there’s some other dudes.

Like the board of govonors who are really non-important.

BUT

This universe has its own Utterson! And it’s Own Lanyon!! Surprise!!

Utterson is essentially the TGS Lanyon of the WTIHT Universe, being WTIHT Jekylls BFF.

WTIHT Lanyon and WTIHT Jekyll however…

We’re gonna say that they’re not on talking terms…

Lucy and Emma/Lisa from the musical are also mentioned!! I’m not sure yet if we will ever see them but they DO make a really cute couple, at least their WTIHT versions do..

Sir Danvers Carew MIGGGT be mentioned later on. Still unsure of that. But like. Oh well. He’s pretty cool. He’s Emma/Lisas father and is very eccentric but just.. understands nothing of what’s happening. He is blissfully unaware but he’s a real good guy I promise.

Anyways, There is also tons of world building for the WTIHT universe that I’m not going to get into right now because I’m gonna be real with you here, it’s long. So that’s all for now!!!

If this made everything somehow more confusing I am SO sorry!! If I was unclear on something please don’t hesitate to ask I don’t bite I promise (Edward might, though.)

[duckvenger]

Going insane, it’s past midnight and I need to be up early tomorrow, BUT JEKYLL AND HYDE BRAINROT HAS HIT SO-

Jekyll and Hyde AUs / random takes I have in my tiny brain.

Jekyll and Hyde’s appearance stops changing when the potion malfunctions and they get stuck as one of their forms. Have ‘em stuck as Jekyll if you want Hyde angst and Jekyll suffering from withdrawal; have ‘em stuck as Hyde if you want the lads on the run from the law.

Lots of folks have Jekyll and Hyde communicate through mirrors. What about through their shadows? “Utterson could swear that he saw Jekyll’s shadow blink, but it must have been a trick of the light”

AU where Utterson is the one to witness the murder instead of the maid and he helps Hyde cover it up to protect Jekyll. How long can a man bite his tongue when he has blood on his hands? Oooh... Tell-Tale Heart (Edgar Allen Poe) vibes...

Lanyon seeing Hyde transform into Jekyll and instead of dying, he spreads the truth around London. You can either have him called a madman, or have the cops trying to break down Jekyll’s door.

I’ve got several Jekyll and Hyde stories where instead of dying in the end, the lads run away to the country side, blending in amongst a small town. In most versions of this ending, they write letters to Utterson that they never send out of anxiety. In one version of this ending, the town they run away to is the same place where the DeLacey family lives and Mr Hyde ends up befriending a certain Monster of Frankenstein’s.

^ I’m not saying that Jekyll and Hyde in the countryside need to have a cottagecore alchemist aesthetic, buuut... y’know, they could, if that’s your thing. I like to write them as local doctors who use herbs and plants in the area to make their potions. (Sadly though, I usually set their story in winter, so goodbye cottagecore, hello big fluffy coats).

Victorian doctors are certainly funky, huh? If Jekyll and Hyde ever get a penny dreadful, having them penned as “Sawbones” would be iconic.

I am very sad that I have no Einfield thoughts, but am too sleepy, need to go to bed now.

Also if any of these rambles have sparked art, meme or writing ideas, pleeeeeeease go for it. I love seeing anything Jekyll and Hyde related, so I will happily consume your content.

(And I swear that I will write my Jekyll and Hyde & Frankenstein crossover someday, or maybe make an ask blog (via reviving Hyde-jacked Asks). But not rn. Too many projects, so little time.)

[bansheeoftheforest]

Okaokay so- I’m still working on the Utterly Sick comic and I was getting pretty sad thinking about it, so to cope I thought of another Utterson AU:

AU where Jekyll, instead of having a thing for Lanyon, started crushing pretty hard on Utterson. Gabriel (who also had a major crush on Jekyll) picked up on it, and at the first occasion confessed his feelings. Long story short Jekyll and Utterson start dating in college and STAY A COUPLE.

The years go on, and Utterson is offered a pretty good job in France as a law consultant. But instead of going their separate ways Jekyll says “SCREW IT” and transfers to France WITH UTTERSON. The two are now living their best lives in Paris. They live together, probably have a cat, and they go on fun dates in the most ROMANTIC city in the world.

Jekyll works part time as a primary care physician and doesn’t really do alchemy anymore. He still does some alchemy related research, and regularly reads books about alchemy out of curiosity, but he doesn’t do any actual experiments anymore. He doesn’t really have any reason to be a “perfectly perfect Victorian gentleman” anymore, so he becomes more relaxed, doesn’t try as hard to hide is accent and thanks to Utterson being the most supportive partner in the world, Jekyll comes to terms with his bisexuality and is more upfront about his emotions.

That’s it and they lived happily ever after. 🥺

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Eddie my guy you have no idea how much I needed this rn <3<3<3<3<3

Gabriel and Henry getting each other??? Deserving each other??? Loving each other more than anything and refusing to hurt each other???? Always supporting each other???? Apartment on the highest floor or a house by themselves so they can spend the nights watching the stars together???? Cuddles in the moonlight??? Henry never becoming terribly obsessed with alchemy and science, still being interested, but never creating Hyde because he didn't feel the need to?????? Henry and Gabriel getting to grow old together in Paris????????? Henry and Gabriel living their best life visiting their respective families at least once a year????? Cafe dates????????????? Henry being absolutely terrible at french because of his Scottish accent and french is a bullshit language that doesn't even deserve to be capitalized????? Literally everyone knowing that they are gae af for each other but no one mentioning it because they are so cute???? Them retiring to a farmhouse on the French Coast and living their happily ever after watching the sea??????????????

I'm not crying you are--

[starlene]

I briefly discussed this with @chazmina​ back in, what, February, and wrote a note to myself that I should make a post about it... well, I guess time’s a construct and it’s always better late than never, so here goes.

The Problem with Emma/Jekyll in Jekyll & Hyde the Musical

So. I’ve never really felt any chemistry in between Emma and Jekyll in J&H the musical, and whenever I watch the show, I have a rather hard time trying to get invested in their relationship. I wanted to write a little post exploring why that might be!

First off, because coming from me, someone might think this is the case – I don’t think it’s because I ship Utterson and Jekyll. The way I ship those two (namely, a semi-unrequited mess of mostly bad feelings) doesn’t really get in Emma/Jekyll’s way. If anything, having an impending wedding to someone else enhances my Utterson/Jekyll experience. And hey, you know what the meme says, Jekyll has two hands... and he effectively uses them both to hurt many, many people. :)

But, thinking about Emma...

The musical, of course, does what every other adaptation of Jekyll and Hyde does and gives Jekyll and Hyde separate girlfriends. And at first glance, the whole situation with Emma and Lucy is built on some very tired stereotypes: you have the goody-two-shoes rich blonde for the good guy and the promiscuous poor brunette for the bad guy. The musical does little to combat this – but for me, the things it does make the situation worse, actually.

The Problem

When we first meet Emma in the engagement party scene, we soon find out she’s not quite what you might expect. Sure, the writing’s ham-fisted at best, but even so – instead of a demure little wife-to-be, Emma is rather sassy. She’s also broken off a relationship before, apparently simply because the man didn’t appreciate her for who she was. And now, she’s marrying a man of her own choosing, even if there are people out there who don’t approve of the match. Pretty advanced for (our stereotypical vision of) the Victorian era.

I think in some other story, this would be great! A quick-witted, self-confident lady to balance off the scientist with lofty ideals. However, in J&H the musical... first, the musical takes pains over showing us why Emma and Jekyll are a good match – come on, they badmouth the stuffy party crowd together! – and then, we see Jekyll take his leave of this fantastic woman to go ogle at dancers in a local burlesque house.

(Sure, sure, it’s a bachelor party cliché to hire some strippers, but even so. He doesn’t even hesitate. Maybe it makes a little more sense whenever they’re using the script where it’s Utterson’s idea to go to The Red Rat, but it doesn’t seem like many modern productions are based on that.)

Then, of course, Jekyll runs into Lucy, and we’re supposed to believe he sees something in her right away. Something, you might assume, that’s altogether different from whatever he sees in Emma.

Sure, the obvious thing that pops to mind first is that Lucy is sexually available in a way Emma is not – but then again, it’s six weeks to go unti Jekyll and Emma’s wedding, so soon enough, Emma will be too. (And even back in those days, I guess if they wanted to get it on right there and then, they could. I repeat, it’s six weeks, so even if they got a baby on the way right away, she wouldn’t be showing until after the wedding.) So maybe instead, Lucy understands Jekyll mentally in a way Emma does not? But if she does, what was Jekyll and Emma’s big song about knowing and loving each other as they are about? Are we supposed to think it was insincere? Or are we supposed to assume that Jekyll assumes that, unlike Emma who knows and loves Jekyll, Lucy would also love Hyde as he is? (I guess that might be it, I’ve previously talked about this with someone who was an advocate of that theory – but it’s still a lot of assumptions stacked on top of each other without ever making the situation quite clear.)

This all leaves us with a rather weird situation: Jekyll is in love with and getting married to Emma, who loves him back and is very likeable. At the same time, Jekyll finds Emma lacking somehow, because when he gives way to his repressed urges, he immediately goes to cheat on her with Lucy.

Of course, you could use a setup like this to argue, say, that you shouldn’t except any single relationship to fulfill all your dreams, and that monogamy is not the right lifestyle for everybody – but this show is decidedly not smart enough for that, and the extremely stereotypical way the women are otherwise handled doesn’t really allow for enough nuance to argue something like that. From a storytelling point of view, in a show like this, you’d except something a bit more overt.

The Solution

To fix this, here’s what I’d do:

I’d still write Emma as a feisty, likeable character – but I’d add in a couple of lines where the engagement party guests whisper about her embarrassing breakup with Simon and how she’s getting on in years, so it’s good she’s settling down with someone, even if Jekyll is way beneath her.

When it’s time for the big Jekyll/Emma duet, then, I’d write it in a way that makes clear something’s not quite clicking in between them, that they’re not quite in tune with each other (maybe literally.) There would be some clever lyrics implying that, while they’re dreaming of a harmonious future together, their exceptations of what their marriage will be like actually contradict each other. Maybe Jekyll doesn’t even understand Emma’s sense of humour, and when she tries to make some sassy remark about a party guest, he just stares at her, nonplussed.

And then, when Jekyll and Utterson leave the engagement party for The Red Rat, you could have Jekyll confessing he’s a bit worried about how balancing his work with the duties of a family man is going to work out. And Utterson’s all, hey bro, I hear you, but it can’t be that bad, I mean, correct me if I’m wrong, but once she inherits her father’s fortune, [insert ka-ching noise]... and then you could have Jekyll sheepishly admitting that Papa Carew’s fortune is something he indeed considered when proposing to Emma... but John, don’t get me wrong, it’s also that I’ve never met any woman I like as much as I like Emma, and isn’t that a perfectly respectable reason to get married to her?

And boom, then Jekyll meets Lucy, and she’s the one. He knows it immediately after seeing her: what he feels for Emma is nothing compared to this, this is the woman of his dreams, the only one for him, and no matter what he does or who he marries, he’ll never be able to put her away from his mind. (Shhh. I know it’s saccharine. I guess at heart, I’m a tragic romantic.)

Then, Jekyll’s dilemma becomes this: he knows that by breaking up with Emma, who’s already scandalised everybody by breaking off an engagement with Simon Stride, he would destroy her chances of ever getting married, and he cares for her enough that he doesn’t want to ruin her. He knows that by now, it’s his gentlemanly duty to go through with the wedding. What’s more, he obviously knows marrying a prostitute would destroy whatever credibility he still has in the London society – and if he ever wants to advance his career and make a real difference in the world, he cannot have that. He knows that a connection with the Carew family, and in time, Papa Carew’s fortune, would greatly help him to reach his professional goals.

And maybe Hyde treats Lucy badly not only because she prefers Jekyll to Hyde, but because somewhere deep inside, Jekyll and therefore Hyde is angry at her for existing – for destroying what would’ve otherwise been an okay-ish marriage and an okay-ish life. Because now that he knows her, he knows how true love (and lust) feels like, and a lukewarm existence simply will not do anymore.

What do you guys think? Does this make sense to you? Or if you really like Emma and Jekyll’s relationship in the musical and don’t think it should be changed, why is that, and what is it that I’m not getting about it? :D

[nik-the-bik]

"Exchanging Body Heat" - Jekyll & Utterson Fic

Here I go combining the "snuggle for warmth" and "only one bed" cliches like the hack that I am.

Jekyll/Utterson is superior y'all

CW: Some hints of internalized homophobia from one of the characters. A character feels kinda guilty for having sexual thoughts and I definitely scaled it back from what it was in the first draft but if I need to go further please please please let me know.

Read more of my "Oh My God They Were Roommates" fics?

*****

It was late, bitterly cold, and the winter winds rattled against the ice-covered window as Henry Jekyll finally came back into the tiny room he shared with Gabriel Utterson.

“Any spare blankets left?” Gabriel asked, teeth chattering as he sat on his bed wrapped in nearly every sweater, jacket, and blanket that the two of them possessed.

“None,” Henry sighed, wrapping his own collection of sweaters and coats tighter against himself. He brushed a hand through his hair, which was getting far longer than he was used to and starting to grow out into a thick collection of curls. “I don’t know how we’re expected to sleep tonight.”

“I cannot believe that the school hasn’t found us any alternate housing,” Gabriel said. “How can we be expected to live through the winter with a hole in the building’s roof? It’s negligence, and quite frankly I’m willing to start a nasty petition to--”

“The hallways are freezing,” Jekyll murmured, coming to Gabriel seated on the bed.

“Are you alright?” Gabriel asked, lifting the blankets to let his best friend sit next to him and wrap himself in their warmth.

“I will be,” Henry smiled at him, his cheeks pink from the bitter air that dominated their dormitory.

Henry’s smile warmed Gabriel only slightly. “What are the others doing?”

“Well,” Henry began, “the folks who were able to reach the extra store of blankets first seem to have hoarded them all for themselves—”

“That’s kind of them—”

“--and there’s a collection of people camping out around the fireplace in the common room.”

“How many?”

“There’s barely any space to walk around them on the floor.”

“Dear Lord.”

The two sat in silence for a moment, the only sound the shrieking of the wind outside.

“This never would have happened in that brand new building near the river that you would have been in if I hadn’t—” Henry began.

“Henry, don’t.”

“Well, it’s true.”

“None of this is your fault,” Gabriel said, staring hard at Jekyll. “I wouldn’t change my mind about living here with you for a moment.”

“I still wish that I could afford better.”

“And I wish your father wasn’t such an arse.”

Gabriel was pleased to see that Henry’s glum expression cracked into a small smile after that comment.

“Besides,” Gabriel said, “it’s really not unbearable when we’re both under these blankets together.”

Henry’s smile widened and cheeks grew a touch rosier. “That’s thermodynamics for you.”

“What now?”

“Thermodynamics,” Henry said, that small twinkle in his eye appearing as the topic turned to his favorite subjects. “Well, more like entropy, really. It’s when energy transfers from one thing to another as heat.”

“Oh.” “Entropy is neat because everything is always trying to reach thermal equilibrium. So, because you were warmer than I was under these blankets, your body is trying to warm up my body.”

Gabriel blushed. “That’s, uh—”

“Before, your body was just losing heat to the outside air, which was much cooler than your own temperature. Now that I’m here, and my temperature is maybe slightly warmer than the outside air, I’m helping you preserve more of that heat energy for yourself. Make sense?”

“Mmhmm,” Gabriel affirmed, suddenly unable to look at Henry without feeling flustered.

“And then a little friction should help too,” Henry said, teasing now as he started rubbing his hands rapidly over Gabriel’s shoulders, shaking him back and forth.

“Alright, alright, I get it, Chemist.”

“Well, thermodynamics is really more in the realm of physics—”

“A technicality. It’s all science stuff.”

“I thought little technicalities were important to Lawyers.”

Gabriel finally brought his gaze back to Henry’s and was filled with that comfortable fuzziness of seeing his friend looking so affectionately back at him.

“I guess what I’m trying to get at,” Henry said, glancing downward, “is that if we want to stay warm tonight, maybe it’s best if we stay close.”

Gabriel’s stomach flipped. “What? But—but how?”

“Well, I know it’s not ideal, but—” Henry started, his whole face blushing now.

“But?”

“But if we shared the same bed and used all of the blankets together, we’d probably avoid frostbite tonight.”

Gabriel gulped. Share a bed? Share an itty bitty single-person bed? With Henry? The two of them would have to be practically on top of each other!

“Do you really think—”

“I know it won’t be very comfortable at all, but—”

Gabriel’s mind began to wander to the two of them, wrapped in each other’s arms, Henry’s body beneath his--- his eyes flickered back up to Henry’s. “If it means surviving the night and being able to keep all of my fingers in the morning, I think we can manage.”

Henry gave him a shy smile in return. “I think we can manage. Just for a night.”

“There are plenty of worse people I could be doing this with, anyway,” Gabriel teased.

Henry laughed. “I can’t think of anyone else I’d rather explore entropy with.”

“God, Henry, when you say it like that—"

Both erupted into nervous giggles.

“Well—should we try to get some sleep then?” Henry offered. Gabriel felt his heart do a little skip as he nodded.

Neither of them bothered trying to clean up before going to sleep. They didn’t want to risk losing any of the warmth they had built up in their little blanket pile together. The two of them worked themselves into a position on Gabriel’s bed, which sat further from the very poorly insulated window than Henry’s. With Henry being the taller and broader of the two, and both a bit bulkier from all the sweaters, it was tricky finding a position where they could fit comfortably without Gabriel being cradled right up against his chest.

“Are you alright?” “Mmhmm.”

“Maybe if your arm goes—”

“Yeah.”

The two of them lay chest-to-chest, Gabriel just slightly on top of Henry, hands against his chest while his face rested in the crook of his friend’s neck. He felt the thrill of his heart fluttering in his chest, something he was all too cognizant of with Henry being oh-so close. He couldn’t deny how good it felt to be laying against him, the weight of a thick pile of blankets laying heavily over them both. Henry squirmed slightly underneath him.

“Do you mind if I--?” he asked, as he pulled his left arm, slightly trapped under Gabriel, out and instead draped it over his friend, resting it comfortably around his waist.

Gabriel blushed deeply, grateful that they had turned out the lights before laying down.

“Is this okay? If not, I can move,” Henry whispered.

“No, no, it’s perfectly fine. If I’m practically crushing you, you deserve to be as comfortable as possible,” he answered.

Henry sighed, and the two lay still for a moment.

“I’m sorry if this is uncomfortable for you. I know it’s weird, but—” Henry began.

“Henry, I’m alright,” Gabriel muttered, heart sinking. “Besides, there are plenty of worse people I could be with, remember?”

Henry chuckled. “Goodnight, Gabriel.”

“Goodnight, Henry.”

They grew quiet. The bit of Gabriel’s face that was exposed to the open air felt the chill of the room while the rest of him basked in the warmth of the little nest they had created together. Soon he became used to the gentle rhythm of Henry’s breathing as his friend quickly drifted off to sleep. Gabriel, however, wasn’t very tired at all.

It had been a little over a year now since Gabriel had realized his romantic feelings for Henry. He loved him, deeply, and was content to spend the rest of his days loving him as the best of friends if that was all Henry ever wanted. But there had been plenty of nights where the two laid separate in their own beds, Gabriel fantasizing about scenarios a bit too much like this one. He’d lay there, thoughts wandering to embarrassing places as Henry lay innocently on the other side of the room. He would never dare confess to these private desires and risk destroying his friendship with Henry, even though Gabriel had no idea how Henry would react if he ever did find out about his feelings. It’s not as though the topic of homosexuality had ever come up naturally…

A tiny part of him wanted to harbor hope. To hope that Henry cared for him too, that Henry could also—

Fear squandered that part of him though. Gabriel wasn’t one to let himself daydream like that for very long.

Still, here they were. And it had been Henry who had suggested cuddling to stay warm, hadn’t it? Did this even count as cuddling if it was utilitarian, the way he had tried to assure Henry that it was?

Cuddling or not, Gabriel couldn’t help but relish in this moment. It was almost perfect. He cherished the sound of Henry’s gentle breathing, his smell, the feel of Henry’s strong arms around him, the feeling of his chest beneath his hands…

It was around then that he felt Henry move beneath him. Henry sighed, pulled him closer, and –

Dear god. Had he felt Henry’s lips brushing against his forehead, or was he only imagining it? He could have sworn that it had felt like the softest, most delicate kiss.

Gabriel felt himself tense up and his breath catch. Surely that was an accident? A trick of the mind? Nothing but wishful thinking? It took all willpower he had inside of him to deny his instinct to snuggle closer to Henry, wrap his arms around him, kiss his neck, tangle their legs together—He felt his face grow hot and his breathing get shallower—mind exploring places that his hands would never dare. His heart was racing and surely, surely with how close they were, Henry must be able to feel it too?

A wicked thought sprung into his head, and before he had time to rationalize it away, Gabriel felt the devil seize his tongue.

“Henry, H-henry!” he whimpered.

Henry stirred and lifted his head just a little. “What is it?”

“I-I-I’m fr-freezing, please—”

“Come here, come here!” Henry pulled him still tighter to his chest and didn’t pause for a second when Gabriel threw his arms around him. Soon Gabriel could feel the firm pressure of Henry’s hand rubbing along his back, each movement sending his poor heart into a frenzy. A tiny part of him felt guilty deceiving him like this, tricking his friend into letting him delight in their bodies entangled together, indulging in his deepest fantasies.

Yet he had never, ever, felt so deliciously warm.

[ohnothewheatisonfire]

ok J&H Fandom, let’s talk:

“Popular” blog @thatsmyhyde​ is a prominent creator in the J&H Fandom. But here’s where the problem shows up: 

the content they make is concerning at least, and full of red flags at worst. 

DISCLAIMER: This is all information I have gathered through their tumblr blog - I am not aware of what other things they may be posting on other social medias or their written work.  ANOTHER DISCLAIMER: Please be polite, I am a minor, and am just creating this post to ward off / warn other minors from following this person. If you are an adult interacting with this post and blog, be mindful of your actions and be responsible

Trigger warnings for: discussions of homophobia, discussions of p//phillia, fat-shaming, fat-phobia (?), etc. Just be on general edge for this post, we’re talking about a lot of weird stuff

I will be linking their posts as I am not going to take screenshots of their art.

This is not a comprehensive list of all the things they’ve done - these are the ones I could think of and was able to adress. If you have anything additional you want to add to this post (such as concerning things they may do on other social media), feel free to reblog and add on the things you need to say, just please don’t be dumb. 

Let’s start with the premise: Henry Jekyll creates an alter ego, Edward Hyde. They begin a relationship - an emotional and physical one. Their AU features Jekyde (A popular ship in the fandom, the name stands for Jekyll x Hyde), people have various views on this ship. 

So far so fine, right? Here are the problems:

1. Their Henry Jekyll is an awful person. Now, let’s start by saying that of course you can have bad people in your works, those are, after-all: villains. The problem is,Henry Jekyll is a harmful walking gay sterotype, and an outlet for Biscuit’s obvious fat fetish. But their relationship isn’t just toxic it’s romanticised in how toxic it is.

a. The harmful stereotype - Their Henry Jekyll has a “thing” for younger men, even though he is in his middle-ages, and Hyde looks like a young child. (Age gap relationships are their own thing - they come with their own burdens, and this is not the post to discuss them. This topic will lead into the Edward  Hyde section of this post.) But, it was a known homophobic scare-mongering tactic of straight parents to accuse everyone who is gay that they are ‘out to prey on your youths’. This is a stereotype that stigmatized the LGBT community, and still harmfully affects them to this day. 

b. The fat fetish: Jekyll is frequently seen with cake (as seen here, here, and here)  or being self-loathing, to the point of suicide. (click the link here to acess a list of suicide and other crisis hotlines! you matter to me!). Now, the self-loathing could be a symptom of depression or other mental illness, so I am not going to talk about it, as a person with mental illnesses.  But the self-loathing in addition to him being fat is not good. Media is drowning in the “self-loathing fat person” and as someone who isn’t thin i’m tired of seeing this. 

- The fetish aspect comes in him constantly being referred to “Chonky”, a term usually used for overweight/obese cats and being drawn obsessed with cake. It fetishises his weight and dehumanises him into something people call their animals. Also, here’s more of Jekyll eating food and being embarassed by it, though this time because it’s seen as “servant’s food”. 

- Biscuit admits to liking them “Big and chunky” in posts like this. 

[Photo id: A string of texts that says: tantok, frankenstein, twink lore, dorian slipped through the cracks and got himself sketched by yours truly the other day because he brought lord henry along, he and the slime didn’t have to fight to the death because they’ve both got their own chonky old toxic henries to focus on, but this blog still ain’t big enough for the two of ‘em. end id]

- They also talk about how they ‘prefer’ to draw fat (chonky) people. Image attatched above. the thing that should be noticed is that they say ‘chonky old toxic henries’ . they, once again, are making fat people a fetish. 

[Photo id: Anonymous asks: are you gonna make a victor design tho biscuit responds: Oh, man, anon, I hate to disappoint but.....probably not. Aside from my non-humanoids and hellspwans (slime gremlins, corpse creatures, and etcetera), I’m extremely uninterested in drawing young thin men. I really need middle-aged chonk to hold my attention. If poor Victor Frankenstein had only been 40-something and round when he made his great creation, then he’d definitely get a design from yours truly. As it is though, he’s not holding my attention enough to want to. end id] 

Biscuit once again talks about how he doesn’t want to draw ‘thin men’, because he is only interested in older ‘round’ people. He, is, once again, bringing to light his fetish for fat people. 

2. Edward Hyde is basically a child - Edward Hyde is drawn in boy’s school clothes, is taken in and raised like a child after Jekyll’s death, and is constantly cooed over by the creator, even earning a nickname of ‘slime’ from them. In addition, he also has ‘family photos’ taken with Utterson, has his toenails kept, is the height of a child, and teeths. This, paired with the fact that he is in a toxic, abusive, relationship with a man in his middle ages is concerning and should not be romanticised. 

[Photo id: the text reads: In his first year of existence, Hyde lost teeth and regrew them in a mildly similar fashion to a kid losing baby teeth - except it wasn’t all of his teeth (Just the canines and some random molars) and they weren’t replaced with a larger set, just with teeth exactly the same as the ones that had been lost. No one knows what was up with this. the teeth are still in Jekyll’s study in a little jar. end id]

a. Hyde is treated like a child after Jekyll’s death. Hyde teething is concerning because that’s something infants do. He also clings to utterson like a child. The idea that he gets taken in by Utterson, whisked away to an estate out in the country, despite both of them having romantic feelings for Jekyll is. how do I put this: WEIRD. (seriously, imagine your father/father-figure dating ur significant other / having a crush on them before you two got together and after). 

b. Hyde dresses like a child, whilst being sexually active and wearing lingerie. Now, on their own, these traits aren’t a problem - but together? They are very much a problem.  

- Hyde dressing as a child is concerning because he is also treated like a child at certain points in their “lore”. After Jekyll’s death, Hyde becomes a singular entity, and is taken away by Utterson. To care for, like a child. This post sums it up well: he wears both children’s clothes and lingerie. 

- Hyde has a very strange appearance - if you compare it to his early design (which was less cartoony and looked more like a man in his twenties), Hyde’s current design is concerning. Why does he have the height of a child? Why does he have eyes that take up a grand part of his face? Now, one could argue that ‘he is not human’ - but if he is treated like a human, whilst wearing children’s/youthful clothes, teeths, and his general enchanment with the world - he appears as human (and looks eerily similar to a child), which is why him being sexually active, wearing lingerie, and being friendly with prostitutes (one that gave him underwear and other articles of clothing)  is concerning. 

- That said, Utterson is directly talked about being ‘adopted into gremlin fatherhood’ (paraphrasing). 

[Photo id: the text reads: 59. Jekyll is irresitibly attracted to everything about Hyde, but if he could somehow be forced to list hte most attractive physical attributes of Edward Hyde in his opinion, aside from Hyde’s youthful appearance in general it would be his eyes, his overbite (Jekyll perceived the way Hyde’s-) the screenshot cuts of the rest of the paragraph. end id] 

- Jekyll has a ‘thing’ for younger men. This is to the point that the most attractive part about Hyde is that he is young. (or looks like it), Hyde looking very young is concerning because that would make their verison of Doctor Jekyll a p*dophille . This is something the artist has either not recognized, realised, or simply does not acknowledge. 

3. The toxic relationship (and how it’s romanticised) - The relationship in this ‘AU’ is: love comes first, toxic nature comes second. If you scroll through the blog you may see some reference of ‘Henry Jekyll is such a toxic person teehee’ and a lot of them kissing, being together, smiling, or enjoying life. Now, obviously, an artist - if they do not want to - should not draw characters being toxic to each other. But it is concerning when the above points come into a factor, that the toxic nature of their relationship comes second to the highs of their relationship, at least on their blog. 

Here is one of the only examples I’ve seen of Biscuit talk about the relationship in a detailed negative light. 

4. The fandom - Whilst Biscuit says it’s ok for minors to interact with his blog (in that blog he says that he tags nsfw - which is true.) he does not regularly mention that his jekyde is toxic - not in a concerete way. He romanticises it (despite acknowledging it’s flaws), and the only way it may or may not be (i would not know) acknowledged is his fic: which is mature and not meant for minors. He does not tag his posts with regular triggers for things like: alcohol, drugs, mental illnesses, or abuse (any variants). They’re not even in his blog’s description! If Biscuit had acknowledged it in his blog, something along the lines of: “Hey! This blog has <content warnings> be warned when interacting! But no, he does not. 

- A lot of the people who draw things, or generally interact with Biscuit are minors. Being exposed to such a thing may be harmful to my peers, and I am worried. To minors who are fans of Biscuit: if you’ve made it this far, thank you, I know you’re mature and responsible, but being exposed to content creators like Biscuit could lead you down a dangerous path of having this kind of thing normalised to you. Be careful with the content you consume, please! And thank you for making it this far, I’m sure you’re a lovely person :)!

Thank you for taking the time to read this! Stay safe, tell the people you love that you love them. 

[thepdcast]

Hello!

This is just a little info page we’re going to be updating every so often! To get updates on our other socials check out this link.

What does ‘The PDCast’ stand for? The Public Domain Cast! The idea behind our show is to take characters, plots, or sometimes both from stories in the public domain and adapt them into modern, queer stories. Like theft, but it’s legal!

Where can I find your work? Here on Spotify, here on Apple podcasts, here on Google podcasts, and here is a general RSS feed! Our first trailer is all that’s currently available, but we’re working on a second right now and are almost ready to begin recording the show in earnest!

Our current project: Right now we’re working on a modern retelling of Robert Louis Stevenson’s ‘The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde,’ creatively dubbed ‘Jekyll and Hyde’ (I named it, I’m allowed to be mean). Gabriel Utterson, an anxious young lawyer, tries to piece together what has happened during his best friend’s year-long disappearance from the public sphere, but no one is particularly forthcoming with information, especially not Henry.

It’s got about as many science fiction elements as the original (which is to say, very few), but it’s part not-a-real-detective thriller, part epic romance. But don’t worry, that doesn’t make it all sweetness and light - in fact, quite the opposite.

And, if all goes to plan, we have a ton of ideas in the pipeline! A draft of an intensely polyamory positive ‘Dracula’ is already in the works...

Meet the cast: We have a cast of people who are all entirely new to audio drama! In fact, you could almost say they’re all people our producer knows from university... Our main cast!

Mick Zijdel as Dr Henry Jekyll

Callum Sutherland as Gabriel Utterson

Melissa Cartwright as Ricki Enfield

Subhi Loganathan as Dr Hastie Lanyon

Sameera Mohammed as Charlie Guest

We also have voice actors who will be credited as Poole and swing characters.

Any questions? Shoot us an ask, or contact us on twitter. Or, if you’re looking to have a more personal conversation, you can talk to our producer here or @kindofwriter (they may or may not be the only team member who actually uses twitter...)

Just the fact that you’re reading this post means the world to us; it’s been a difficult year for producing content, and we’re all really excited for the finished product! Thank you!

[bindi-the-skunk]

The Son Of Frankenstein

Chapter five: Plots and plans

Everything hurt, he wanted it to go away, did he take his potion to let Hyde out?

No

This was a different kind of pain, this was aching, persistent, chest felt so tight...hard to breathe...why couldn't he breathe...

"Wake up Henry, you need to take some pain medication, your crying and groaning even in your sleep" came a soft voice from the chemist's side.

Pain pills did sound very appealing right now...and listening to more of that lovely voice.

'WAKE UP YOU IDIOT! YOU GOT HIT BY A CARRIAGE!' came Hyde's screech out of nowhere that seemed to echo as if they were both inside a cave, green mist swirling behind his closed eyelids.

Shut up Hyde let me listen to the nice voice and not your dying cat scree-wait...

... THE CARRIAGE!

Red eyes snapped open as the memories flooded back, looking around wildly and the doctor tried to get to his feet, only to be shoved back into something soft and found Robert looking down at him.

"Don't move, you have several broken bones, tears, and scrapes, you need to just lay still for a while" Robert said softly, no need to get Henry any more excited than he already was, the other doctor could hear his lover's heartbeat pounding franticly "Here, you need to take these, they will soothe the pain" the purple wearing doctor produced a glass and medication which the chemist happily took, eager to be rid of the throbbing in his limbs, but glad that sitting up seemed to make it easier to breathe despite how it made the discomfort worse in his shattered body.

"W-where are ..." Henry started after his mouth finally figured out it could talk again after taking in some of the refreshing liquid.

"Everyone is outside the door, which is locked, no one is going to bother you till you are ready to see them" Robert stated, glad when his love settled back into the pillows, content with the news.

"Suppose you want to know...why I'm like this" Jekyll said as he prepared to relive what made him run into the streets like a child after a lost ball.

"Frankenstein already told me...I must say you surprise me every day it seems like" Robert chuckled, trying to offer some comfort, but not really knowing how or what could he possibly say to him in a situation such as this? Finding his biological mother, who previously hated his guts, now seemed to have done a one-eighty in less than an hour and was more than eager to try and play house, despite her blunt admittance her son was an accident and that she dumped him right after birth.

"Your...not upset?" Henry asked slowly.

"Why would I be angry with you? You did not know till just now and got hurt because you had an anxiety attack, no more talk of being mad, get some more rest, I'm heading out to pick up more bandages and pain medication, I will lock the door behind me and won't be more than twenty minutes" Robert said, kissing the uninjured side of his love's face, earning a genuine smile and left, locking the door like he said he would.

Henry settled back down, Hyde groaning inside his head at having to sleep more, but Jekyll could tell he was also reeling from this new information.

They would also need to talk about this, not like either one could go anywhere anytime soon. --- "Where are you going, Doctor Lanyon?" Ito asked when she saw Robert make his way out of the infirmary and lock it.

"I'm heading out to pick up more medicine and bandages, he's sleeping right now and does not want to be disturbed, I will be back shortly and I will be expecting an explanation from Miss Frankenstein" and with that Robert turned on his heel and marched out of the society.

"Like I will tell him anything!" Frankenstein huffed, it was none of that fat-faced chipmunk's business what happened in the past! What matters is the NOW.

"Well, he and Doctor Jekyll are together so-" Lavender started only for the life-weaver to let out a noise of pure disgust.

"Him and MY son!? I do not think so! He's the cause of all of that skittishness!" Victoria Frankenstein nearly hissed, still sore at Jekyll's words and actions towards her, but thinking once he actually got some proper learning from her, things would be fine, he had been brainwashed his whole life after all.

"The doc is an adult and Doctor Lanyon is always trying to make sure he is okay" Ito mentioned, grateful to Lanyon, as it was because of him she got introduced to her own lover Gabriel Utterson and well she certainly did not like how both doctors seemed to enjoy controlling everything, she never wanted either one hurt!

"I know how we can make both of them feel better! I can make up some treats and we all can sit down and listen to Frankenstein tell us what happened when the Doc was a baby, that should cheer everyone up and show him we are happy for him finding his family" Mr. Doddle suggested.

"That...is not a bad idea...we have been kind of ignoring him lately...just because we don't want to do the exhibition does not mean we can't all still be friends!" Miss Flowers smiled.

Frankenstein did not like the idea of reliving that horrible night, but if it perhaps kept her from being snarled at or locked out of her own son's room well he was injured, so be it, she would play the stupid lady of grace when the chipmunk returned so all of this could be over with and they could move on.

And she could tell Henry off for his bad taste in men... --- Well, this went better than expected! He should be back in only ten minutes thanks to the helpful druggist who heard about the incident and was sympathetic after Robert lied through his teeth and said Zosi got out chasing a nasty rat, ran into the streets and Henry ran out after him trying to save his dog and got hit.

Such a sweet story would no doubt keep things calm, no one needed to know about the mental breakdown, that would not do anyone any favors.

Let human selective memory do the rest, their brains would make up seeing a dog running around even when there was none during the accident and Zosi was such a tiny thing anyway he very well could have escaped viewing even if the story had been true.

He just had to let the lodgers and Henry himself in on his story, they would play along to avoid any more trouble at the very least.

He even bought Zosi a treat despite him not having the ability to talk, might as well cover all bases.

[sleepypompomart]

Electric Eve - part one

Sumary: Lanyon, Utterson, Jekyll and Enfield have a tradition of getting together the day before Christmas, but this year Jekyll hasn’t turned up. (Warning: references to suicidal behavour in this first part.) (Also set during the earlier parts of the Strange Case before Hyde kills Carew)

---

“We got everyone?” Lanyon asked, sticking his head around the door. He’d started on the brandy not long ago and was already flushed. Utterson tried to force a smile.

“Not quite. We’re missing Jekyll.” Lanyon paused in the doorway, and then, seeing Utterson’s solemn face, stepped close and gave him a pat on the back.

“I’m sure he’ll turn up.”

“Do you think so? He’s been skittish recently. And – we didn’t actually get to remind him about it.”

“It’s Christmas Eve! We’ve done this every year for – well, years! No way has he forgotten.”

 Utterson stared out the window. Snowflakes thumped against the glass and piled against the brickwork of the houses outside. Here and there the cobbles peeped through the snow. They’d be covered before long, but for now their icy coating glistened under the sky.

 He turned around. It was warm inside. The fire crackled and spat in the corner. Before his household staff had gone on holiday, they’d helped transform his sitting room into a cosy and bright haven. A large tree loomed over the couch, its branches brushing the ceiling. Lanyon had stayed up with him the previous night to decorate it. The tinsel definitely made the room look festive, but Lanyon’s approach towards bauble-hanging had been indiscriminate and headache inducing. Utterson didn’t mind. A painful-to-look at opium-trip tree was better than a bare tree, and they’d had fun. But last year Jekyll had been there too. The three of them had a full-on tinsel fight. And then Jekyll, when prompted had led them in a very slow, scientific approach to decorating that had gone on late into the night, and resulted in three exhausted gents and a smart tree, gleaming in red and gold.

 “By the way,” Lanyon said. “You know how you don’t like having real candles on the tree because of the fire risk?”

“Yes?”

“I have solved the problem,” He held up a string of electric lights encased in glass bulbs and strung them around Utterson’s shoulders. Utterson smiled.

“That’s a lovely idea,” he said, scratching his chin. “Except we haven’t got electricity down here yet. There’s nowhere to plug them in.” Lanyon shrugged and threw them aside.

“Ah, well. It looks pretty anyway.

 “Turkey’s out the oven,” Enfield cried from the kitchen. Utterson slumped against the window, pressing his noise to the glass. It felt like dipping his face into the surface of freezing water and it misted under his breath. He could faintly hear the roar of the wind outside. No Jekyll.

 “Gabriel,” Lanyon said, pausing to consider his words.

“Yes?”

“Just in case Jeks doesn’t show – I’m sure he will, but just in case – please don’t let it ruin your Christmas.”

 Utterson didn’t reply. He turned from the window, grabbed his coat off the hook, and buttoned it up to his chin.

“Where are you going?”

“To get him.”

 He dived out into the storm, the wind stinging his eyes. He hadn’t bothered with a hat – he would have lost it immediately anyway. The morning was darker than he’d expected. Cloud blocked out the entire sky. The lampposts stuck out of the snow like twisted iron teeth and had ceased to glow: the wind would have tossed any wannabe lamp-lighters off their ladders. And even if some brave soul did manage to cling on, the lamp would only blow out again.

 The snow crunched under Utterson’s boots and he found himself hugging his coat around him – it was a felt affair, too thin to be much good against extreme weather. By the time he made it to the square, his moustache was caked in ice.

 The square was imposing in the half-light. Snow drove right through the windows of the derelict houses. Nobody had bothered to clear it away so it built up huge banks against the walls, deep enough to hide bodies in.

 Utterson knocked on Jekyll’s door and waited. No reply. His staff would be on holiday, which meant there would be no one to answer the door if Jekyll was in the back. Utterson teetered on the porch. He’d come all this way without really thinking about how to catch Jekyll. He knocked again, not expecting an answer.

 He knew there was a backdoor. He’d caught Mr Hyde going in by it once: it connected the laboratory to the streets of Soho. Utterson had never used it himself, and never known Jekyll use it either, but he left the square and circled around.

 The Soho streets were narrow and dark. The buildings crowded in like vultures. Utterson ducked under overhangs, praying he wouldn’t come across any troublemakers. It was Christmas – surely even criminals went home for Christmas?

 He found his way to the backstreet and paused beside the door. A small figure lay in the gutter. His cape was thin and sodden with water, and he curled his knees into his stomach as if he were in bed – except the sheet covering him was made of snow.

 Utterson cried out and brushed the snow away from the man’s face. An eye shot open and blared into him, black and weeping. Utterson snatched his hand away.

“Mr Hyde,” he said, as the man rose from the gutter, dripping slush. His face was pale and inhuman. “What on earth are you doing?”

“Freezing to death,” Hyde rasped. His hair hung down in sodden black strings.

“I can see that.” Utterson didn’t like Hyde, but the man looked on the edge of death. What was he doing, lying in the snow outside Jekyll’s door? Utterson’s investigations had led him to believe that he either had blackmail material on Jekyll, or – god forbid – Jekyll actually liked him. Neither was a good reason to leave him in the snow. And at Christmas! Would Jekyll be that heartless?

 He gestured at the door.

“Is the doctor around?” Hyde cackled, then clawed at his chest and let out a gasping croak as his throat gave up.

“He’s – around, alright. I’ll-“ he paused, rasping. “I’ll get him for you.” He pulled a key from his pocket, wrenched the door open, and closed it in Utterson’s face. Utterson waited with a forced smile and listened to the sounds within.

 Footsteps on the floor – and then, gurgling, as if Hyde was running liquid through Jekyll’s chemical equipment. And then a horrible shriek that burnt a hole through Utterson’s ears. He lingered on the doorstep, almost on tip-toe, fighting with himself – had Hyde hurt Jekyll? But then he heard Jekyll’s voice, strained, but recognisable.

“I’ll be there in a moment Utterson. Let me put some sensible clothes on first.”

---

I wish tumblr would actually let me indent paragraphs properly but no. Normally I do it in the word document, but it was playing up and I did not feel like fighting.

[fox-guardian]

Meeting the Master (part 2)

Part 1

His first task of the morning was to wake up his master with breakfast, so after getting dressed, he went out to retrieve it. Eggs, bacon, juice, biscuits; it smelled rather tasty. He brought it back up to his master's room and knocked upon the door.

"Master Henry, it's time to wake up," he called. He didn't get a response. He did this a second time before opening the door just a tad. Now he could hear snoring. He stepped inside and approached his sleeping master. He was laying on his luxurious bed wrapped in his luxurious sheets, and hugging a luxurious pillow tightly to his chest as he snored loudly. 

"...Master Henry," he repeated. Henry's eyes snapped open as he jolted awake. He turned and squinted at Poole, "Mm...Morning...." he greeted as he tossed his pillow aside. Poole took his master's glasses from his nighttable and presented them to him alongside his breakfast. Henry woke himself up a bit more, put on his glasses, and then sighed, straightening himself into perfect posture as he began eating. Odd, Poole thought, he didn't need to look so formal. He had just woken up. 

Poole stood there awkwardly watching him eat. "Is there... anything I could do for you, Sir?" he asked.

"You could leave me alone," Henry replied, rather bluntly. He then froze, as if immediately regretting what he'd said.

"I'm afraid I can't do that, Sir, unless you have a specific task for me to do," he said, noting that this must be the sort of behaviour his father would want to hear about. Speaking of which, he hadn't seen Mr. Jekyll yet today. Or Mrs. Jekyll, for that matter. Perhaps they weren't up yet? 

Henry sighed, and continued eating in silence. Poole found a chair and sat down on it, taking in the room around him. It was clean and perfectly organized. He looked over at what appeared to be a sort of makeshift study area or miniature laboratory, with books and a chemistry set that took up most of a desk. 

"Permission to speak, Master?" Poole asked.

"Su- Yes, permission granted, Poole..." he replied. He didn't seem to be used to giving orders. Poole thought he would've had some experience with the other servants, but perhaps he was so naughty that those privileges had been taken away before he could practice.

"What's all that?" he finally asked, pointing at the bottles and beakers.

"Oh, I recently got back from university. I'm now a doctor of medicine. That's my chemistry equipment," he still seemed annoyed by Poole's presence, and he couldn't blame him. He wouln't want someone spying on him all day either, but he assumed he was deserving of such punishment so he didn't have much sympathy for him. 

"Doctor of medicine? That's an interesting field choice," Poole said, trying to see how such an apparently unruly young man could graduate from a university.

"Mm," said Henry between bites of bacon, "My parents weren't as excited about my passions for science as I was. Perhaps that's why I also got a couple of degrees in law..." 

Law degrees? And chemistry? That's a lot of school he'd have to commit to attending...

"You've already gotten both law and medical degrees? How?" he asked.

"I attended medical and law school simultaneously. It's a matter of careful scheduling, really," he paused and took a sip of juice, "I didn't get much sleep..."

Poole was surprised. He didn't think someone so "disobediant" and "defiant" could commit to such a schedule. Surely there was a reasonable explaination, though he couldn't find it yet.

...

Later that day, Henry announced that he would be going out to spend time with a couple of friends. Poole asked another servant where Mr. and Mrs. Jekyll were, and was informed that Mr. Jekyll had left for work and that the Missus was off with friends somewhere and that neither would be back before the evening. A busy bunch, he thought.

Poole, as he was instructed, followed his master out as he went to visit his friends. They arrived at a cafe and Henry approached a certain table with two other young gentlemen sitting at it, eating lunch. One was a heavyset fellow donning a suit of soft blues and light blonde hair, and the other a taller, more brawny fellow wearing reds and browns, with very pale blonde hair that mostly covered one eye, glasses, and a nice mustache. 

Henry's demeanor seemed to shift as he greeted them. He stretched out his arms and spoke clearly and articulately, you could hear the smile on his face as he spoke, "Ah, Utterson, Lanyon, my dearest friends! How are you?"

They looked at him, a bit shocked and disturbed, as if a stranger had approached them. 

Henry continued, "Let me introduce you to my new servant, Poole," Poole stepped forward and bowed for them, "His job is to serve my needs..." his tone shifted slightly, "...and to report my misbehaviour to my parents."

His friends' faces fell with pity and understanding. Perhaps they were troublemakers as well and Poole was keeping them from their fun. They sat down with the two young men and ordered their food. Poole learned that the one in blue was "Utterson" and the one in red was "Lanyon". He also learned that Henry had met them both during university, he studied medicine with Lanyon and studied law with Utterson. 

The air became tense once again, and in an effort to break it, Lanyon suggested going for a walk through the park. As they made their way over, Poole stood behind the three friends, noting how much his master stood out from them. Not only was his fashion sense much darker than theirs with his jet black coat and hat contrasting with their more gentle blue and brown coats and hats, but they way he held himself was also odd. His friends walked... simply. Just walking as people do. He supposed Lanyon walked with a certain excitement, swaying a doctor's bag proudly with each step, while Utterson seemed more reserved, keeping his hands in front of him. Each of them bobbed with each step they took, and from a distance, nothing was very unusual or unique about their ways of moving. It was only up close and next to Henry that a distinction could be made. He held himself with perfect posture, his arms shifting only slightly by his sides and his head staying still with each step. If you couldn't see his feet on the ground you'd think he was floating just above it. His walk was perfectly even, almost eerily so. If it weren't balanced by his cheery demeanor, Poole would think a ghost was walking ahead of him. But even then it still seemed off.

Everything had started to seem off.

...

They finally arrived at the park, picking up pebbles and skipping them into the pond, occasionally picking up a conversation topic only to end it a tad sooner than Poole thought made sense. They weren't talking about anything awful, just reminiscing about recent get-togethers, or even university... but each topic seemed to die prematurely. It was quiet, tense. Poole noticed that Henry hadn't tossed any stones yet. He was simply standing by, out of place among his own friends. At first Poole thought that perhaps they simply spent time with him because of his status, but it became clear to him that Henry wasn't usually like this around them.

They stopped skipping stones and went further into the park. Lanyon suggested going off the path and wandering among the trees. Despite no signs saying that this was prohibited, and Poole recalling many times where people would do just that, Henry adamantly but politely declined. 

Poole looked at his master. He was smiling a perfect smile. The same smile he'd had on the entire time. It started to waver. It looked as if he was trying to fight back whatever expression was trying to pass over his face. He took a deep breath, exhaled, and finally agreed to step off the path. His voice also seemed to be caught in a struggle as he spoke.

They all wandered into the trees. Utterson pointed out animals and bugs, Lanyon smiling at the little flowers that popped up here and there, and Henry stepping on every stick he could find until it made a satisfying snap. 

"...Does anyone else smell pie?" Henry asked, sniffing the air.

"Oh!" said Utterson, "That's probably me. I went over to my parents' house and baked a cherry pie with my mother, so the smell may be lingering."

"Ah, that's right, you moved out of your parents' house, didn't you?" Henry asked.

"Yes, I'm still getting used to it... I miss waking up to the smell of breakfast wafting in from the kitchen," he said wistfully, and then laughed, "Now I've got to make it myself!"

"Get yourself some servants," said Lanyon, "a cook, a maid, a butler, it'd make things easier."

"True," Utterson replied, "but my mother taught me all these skills... It'd be a shame never to use them."

As they were talking, Poole glanced over at his master, who seemed to be trembling. Poole then came upon a realization. Ah... he thought, that's what's been creeping onto his face...

Henry then bent down and picked up a large, leafless branch. Suddenly, he lifted the branch over his left shoulder and swung it at the trunk of a tree, snapping the branch in half with a startling crack. Everyone jumped, including Poole. 

He finished his thought, ...rage.

Henry started pacing and muttering to himself, "...what's the point if he's just gonna tell them ev'r'thin... doesn't change anythin... it'll all be the same anyway..."

Utterson approached him, resting a hand on his shoulder, and began softly whispering to him. He seemed to relax. Lanyon also tried to calm him down, but to no avail. He started trembling more, crumbling into a little ball on the ground, hiding his face in his hands. They all stood by silently until he threw his hands up in frustration and stood up again.

"Forget it! I give up!" he said, having lost his perfect composure, "Doesn't matter anyway. Why bother? Let's go climb a tree."

Poole was... confused, at best. He had no idea what he was talking about, but was more than a bit concerned about that little rage fit. He'd have to report that, definitely.

They went on, enjoying themselves more thoroughly. Lanyon and Henry raced each other up a tree while Utterson stood at the bottom telling them were going to hurt themselves, they made little crowns out of flowers, and told silly jokes. Poole took note of everything particularly dangerous or inappropriate for a young gentleman to be taking part in, but they were mostly just being young men. Playing silly games, having fun... nothing Poole hadn't done when he was younger. He wasn't really seeing the man that had been described to him. Perhaps there was worse to come? Surely there was. This was far too tame to require a chaperone, especially for a grown man. Maybe the Jekylls simply had different standards? But wasn't this a tad extreme? 

Time would tell, he decided. He still had the better part of a week before the first meeting, there was still a lot to learn about his new master. Hopefully things would start to make more sense...

((Hoo boy a multi-part story W O W look at me go. I’ll probably do a third part soon as well but yeYE this is fun. This one feels a little messier though, so I hope y’all still enjoy it.))

[t4tbruharvey]

5, 12, 14, 21, 34, and 36 to end it!!

TY OWL YOU CONTINUE TO BE A REAL ONE

5 - top five formative books?

hmm i think I'm gonna have to go with what was for the longest time my list of favourites. please mind in bear that some of these have questionable themes/authors and I'm always mostly in it for the prose.

1. the great gatsby (prose, characterisation, yearning)2. the book thief (prose, introduction, something that happened while i was reading it that i don’t want to get into)3. how to kill a mockingbird (intro again)4. the picture of dorian gray (prose and plot and that bit where it breaks off and describes jewels for like five pages)5. ....*deep sigh* it was jekyll and hyde. i really really liked and still like the strange case of dr jekyll and mr hyde. the descriptions of the settings and the main character (UTTERSON THE MC IS NOT JEKYLL) is very well done. he has nuance and you have to be told that on the first page and yet he does prove it. stannable.(bonus 6. the secret of platform 13 bc I'm OBSESSED with the idea of a distinct supernatural world interacting with ours through specific passageways)

12 - which story of yours do you like best? why?

i think at the moment it’s magic salem 100%. i think there are elements of other wips i’m very attached to –– style with venice fairytale, characterisation with toaster and sleeby peebles, plot with reese’s pieces and setting with the 20s one –– but magic salem has the fun of creating my own world and rules within it, as well as having a brilliant cast that i can apply to pretty much any situation (it got me back into sophie ellis bextor, not that i ever was into her) AND there are werewolves in it.

14 - what does it take for you to be ready to write a book? (i.e. do you research? outline? make a playlist or pinterest board? wing it?)

okay so here’s the thing. i’m still not ready? i’ve done a  ‘dump doc’ which is just songs and ideas and world building for magic salem, i’ve done a bit of research for venice fairytale and bough many many postcards with pictures of venice on them (the aesthetic is great so i’m killing two birds), i have a basic plot for sleepy peebles and reese’s pieces which is more than i can say for the rest of them, and i’ve done literally everything possible for toaster. i have a massive colour-coded folder on my computer with aesthetics for all the main cast and clothes and stuff, and many side aus, but no plot? so maybe that’s it. 

so, to answer the question, research and outline mostly. but playlists add some fun to it.

21 - what aspect of your writing are you most proud of?

absolutely extended metaphors and lexical fields. they’re the most fun thing to write, possibly ever. also character development. i know all of my characters inside fucking out, even background ones.

34 - unpopular writing thoughts/opinions?

if your grammar’s off i’ll be immediately taken out of the story, unless it’s a continued stylistic choice. like, maybe that’s mean, but it applies to me too: if i make a typo and DON’T find it before showing someone i’ll want to hurl myself into the void.

also cliches about light are so good!! they’re so fun!! i don’t CARE if they’re overused i WANT to know how the light is streaming in through the curtains of our YA protagonist’s room!!!!

36 - post a snippet

aaaa you know i will!!!! i love spoiling my own stuff!!! also do you know how long it took to find this. sigh.

-

The toddler is still downstairs, crying. Good. If it’s crying, it’s awake.

Mal considers bringing soap, but it’ll probably leak, and anyway. Space. So they get toothbrushes and toothpaste because Ophelia once said that toothache can make you go blind, and while they don’t really believe that, they don’t want to risk it. And then another thing Ophelia said fights its way through their other thoughts, shoving itself to the forefront of their mind.

Ophelia, cooing and awwing over the toddler, bouncing it on her lap and saying thank you for the tea Mrs Jani and letting the toddler pull her hair. 

“It’s a nightmare,” Mal had said as soon as their mum left the room. “It’s always up in the middle of the night, screaming and shit.”

“He’s lovely.” The toddler had its hands in Lia’s hair, trying to pull it out of the french plaits she’d put it in. “Aren’t you? Yes you are!” 

“You’re using the pet voice.”

Ophelia ignored that and went back to bouncing the toddler. “If he bothers you that much when you have to watch him, just give him some toys to play with. I do it all the time with my cousins.”

[melodiouswhite]

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde rewritten - Ch. 51

51. Bitter goodbye

Utterson came together with Lanyon and Lady Summers to see Jekyll the next morning.

He had got no rest that night, because he had been so worried.

If they had got into an argument, like the hot-headed madmen they were, he wanted to be there to mediate and help them pick up the pieces – just like he always had.

But all three of them were surprised to find Jekyll in a good mood.

“Good morning!”, the Doctor greeted them gaily. “How are you?”

The three of them looked at each other.

“Good morning”, Utterson finally answered, “We were going to ask you that.”

Jekyll blinked in confusion. “I'm fine. Why would I not be?”

“And where is Mr. Hyde?”, Lady Summers inquired. “We're especially concerned about him.”

“Oh.” Jekyll's face fell. “He's never been so cheerful and so fond of me as today, but he still won't tell me what the matter is. And I can't look into his head and hear his thoughts anymore, so I'm at loss.”

Utterson's alarm bells rang.

More cheerful and affectionate than usual?

That was odd.

Hyde was nonchalant and light-hearted, but he was never actually cheerful. Or affectionate, for that matter. Flirtatious, yes. Affectionate, no.

“Where is he?”, he repeated the Lady's question from earlier.

“He's upstairs”, Jekyll told him. “Poole only said that I'm having guests, so Hyde didn't want to come down with me to see them. You know how much he dislikes attention from strangers-”

All of the sudden, Lady Summers looked past Jekyll and cried: “Ah, good morning, Mister Hyde! Where are you going so early?”

Hyde – who apparently had tried to sneak past them – stopped dead in his tracks, being caught red-handed.

Utterson was surprised to see, that the young man was wearing his black raincoat and two big travelling bags. And he was looking extremely uncomfortable.

He turned to Jekyll and lifted up his bags. “Uh … you don't mind, if I take these, right?”

But Jekyll was frowning. “Where did you find those? Why are you carrying luggage for a faraway journey? And most importantly, where are you going and when were you planning to tell me?”

Hyde's face scrunched up in anger. “Oh, don't worry”, he snarled, “I'm not going far. Just out of this house.”

“Why?!”

“Because I need space!”, the brunette snapped, “Because I don't like this house, because I want to be alone and because I DON'T WANT TO BE YOUR FUCKING WHORE!!!”

Utterson, Lanyon and Lady Summers winced in unison.

Lanyon knew approaching trouble, when he saw it.

He also knew Jekyll.

The blond had grown pale. His left eye was twitching. His expression was one of utter shock and mortification. Then Lanyon noticed a dark spark ignite in those brown eyes.

He knew what was about to come.

And so did the others, because Utterson tried to intervene: “Uh, why don't we go to the study and settle this like adults?”

But he was ignored.

Jekyll just about managed to keep his composure and asked calmly: “I never said you were. What gives you the idea that I see you this way?”

Hyde laughed mirthlessly: “Ohhh, my dear soulmate, where do I even begin-”

“You know what, spare me! I don't want to hear all the reasons for why you hate me so much!”

“I don't hate you, you're just a fucking idiot!”

“Idiot?! How dare you speak to me like that, I am your-!”

“Don't even go there!”, Hyde snapped back, “I owe you nothing, you old twit! Nothing!”

Oh no …

Lanyon saw it coming, before it happened. He had seen it before once; when-

The blond scientist glowered darkly at his other half. “Oh, you don't, do you? And it wouldn't matter to you anyhow, because you don't know what gratitude or obligation is! Don't you dare walk away! I didn't allow you to-”

“Just fucking watch me!”, the brunette hissed, picked up his bags and moved towards the exit.

For a second, Jekyll was stunned. But then his face distorted with rage.

Lanyon could tell that his former lover was about to make an even graver mistake, but before he could keep that from happening-

“You ungrateful little demon! You leave me alone, just like that?! Me, the one who created you and always provided for you!”

Hyde sneered: “You say that like it's something to be grateful for. I didn't ask to be made! And don't worry about your money! Somehow I will find a job and pay it all off and then you will never again be able to claim that I'm a freeloader, living off your wealth. Isn't that fabulous, Jekyll? As soon as I have left this house you will be able to pretend that I never existed! No nagging voice in your head, demanding to be let out or to have your attention! I would forever be out of your hair, just like you always wanted! That's why you created me in the first place, wasn't it? Because I was nothing but a stain on your so called respectability? What is your problem? The only thing you want from me is my body and I'm tired of it!!”

For a few minutes the group was wrapped in silence.

Lanyon glanced at the others.

Utterson looked completely heartbroken.

Lady Summers looked just sad and shook her head at what was going on.

Then the hoary doctor noticed Poole standing at the bottom of the stairs. Judging by his face, the elderly servant saw exactly what he saw and more.

Right … Poole witnessed it all back then.

Jekyll gaped at Hyde in response to the younger man's rant.

Then he grew even paler and stuttered: “That … that isn't … all these things … they're not true! They used to be, but not anymore! Don't go, Hyde! Please don't leave me, I beseech you!”

But the brunette shook his head. “You call me 'brat', 'insult to God', 'child of hell', 'little demon' and other charming things like that, when you're angry. And now, that I'm finally tired of your nonsense, you beg me to stay? This kind of shit is why Lanyon left you! And I'm not remotely as forgiving as he was to you or as patient as Gabriel would be! I'm fed up with this and I'm leaving!”

“Edward!” It was a wail, so desperate and pleading that Lanyon's heart shattered into pieces, just like Utterson's.

And it seemed to get to Hyde as well, because his mask of coldness slipped. For a second, the hoary doctor recognised the pain and heartbreak in the brunette's acid green eyes, giving away that he didn't want to leave Jekyll behind, not really.

Lanyon hoped that maybe the young man would-

“Goodbye, Jekyll.”

Then he turned his back on them and left the house.

Lanyon caught side of him waving on the street and yelling for a cab.

Hyde got onto a hansom and was gone.

[blapis-blazuli]

For that one ship meme: any Invisible person you feel like doing. Don't overload yourself, though.

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

I wasn’t sure which one to pick, so have all of them

Scientific Romance (Arthur Kemp/Jack Griffin/Flora Cranley/Rosemary Carew/Henry Jekyll(/Jack Griffin)) [Monster AU]

When or if I started shipping it: For a while now. As it currently is? Uh… Our conversations on Discord would imply since early September of last year, given the development between Rosemary and Flora.

My thoughts: It’s cute? It’s a lot of fun to come up with things for all of them? Maybe too much fun even?

What makes me happy about them: They’re all dorks in love and it’s great.

What makes me sad about them: Universal will never have the balls to make Griffin/Kemp canon, let alone this. …Then again, Universal had the “brilliant” idea of trying to cast Johnny Depp as Griffin (which I still think was terrible casting), so maybe it’s for the best that they don’t try to do something like this. (Plus, you and I both know how bad The Umm turned out. I can’t say I’m looking forward to seeing their new take on my favorite of their monsters)

Things done in art/fic that annoys me: I’m kinda concerned that a hypothetical fanbase for this AU would:

Ignore that they’re all in a happy, consensual relationship

Ignore that none of them are straight and only focus on Jack/Flora and/or Henry/Rosemary

Fetishize Flora/Rosemary and ignore that they’re both also happy with Jack and Henry respectively

Fetishize either Jack/Arthur and/or Jack/Henry and either act like Flora and Rosemary don’t exist or treat them like they’re evil and “in the way” of one of those relationships

Things I look for in art/fic: I’d be impressed if someone besides us wrote about them at all, to be honest.

Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other: Eh.. The closest thing I can think of is an AU where Jack was nicer to Thomas Marvel and they also got together and maybe things ended up working out with Henry and Gabriel Utterson. Other than that… I dunno.

My happily ever after for them: I just want them all to be happy.

Their favorite non-sexual activity: Just relaxing together and enjoying when things aren’t falling apart around them.

Invisible Poly-Square (Kitty Carroll/Helen Manson/Geoffrey Radcliffe/Frank Griffin(/Kitty Carroll)) [Monster AU]

When or if I started shipping it: The moment we started figuring out how to fit both Kitty and Geoffrey into this AU.

My thoughts: They are incredibly sweet. I love them.

What makes me happy about them: Everything? They’re just great?

What makes me sad about them: I’d say “Universal would never make it canon” but… Well, see the previous one for why that doesn’t bother me.

Things done in art/fic that annoys me: I have a few of the same concerns for this ship as I would for the previous one.

Things I look for in art/fic: I’d be impressed if it existed at all, especially given the… lack of popularity regarding both Invisible Man Returns and Invisible Woman.

Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other: I dunno.

My happily ever after for them: That they’re happy at all.

Their favorite non-sexual activity: Just being near each other and enjoying a quiet moment together, all four of them.

Dr. Jekyll/Claude Griffin/Mr. Hyde [Mad Monster Party/Mad Mad Mad Monsters]

When or if I started shipping it: Oh gosh, uh… shortly after watching Mad Monster Party for the first time, if not during the first time seeing it.

My thoughts: Best MMP couple. No contest.

What makes me happy about them: I think they’re just fun to think about in general, especially as a way to explore the idea of Jekyll and Hyde both being in love with the same person and that person loving them both back (and with someone who already knows they’re both in the same body).

What makes me sad about them: …Does anyone even care that much about the movie they’re from?

Things done in art/fic that annoys me: I’m pretty sure Mad Monster Party/Mad Mad Mad Monsters fic doesn’t exist.

Things I look for in art/fic: That it exists to begin with.

Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other: I don’t know, but I definitely don’t see Claude getting back with Nagatha.

My happily ever after for them: They escaped Baron Boris’ island together and are happily starting a new life with each other.

Their favorite non-sexual activity: For Jekyll and Claude: just talking about things together. For Claude and Hyde: causing mischief.

Henry Frankenstein/Nagatha [Mad Mad Mad Monsters]

When or if I started shipping it: After I tried thinking about what Nagatha would do with her life after divorcing Claude (let’s face it that marriage wasn’t meant to last) and thought about her maybe going to assist Henry Frankenstein.

My thoughts: They’d be a much better match than Nagatha and Claude.

What makes me happy about them: I enjoy the thought of them working together while also breaking the animated formula of having the Invisible Man with the Invisible Woman (fuck you, Hotel Transylvania).

What makes me sad about them: It’s gonna take some time to think of a way for them to get together that doesn’t feel forced. Not like I can do much worse than the actual relationships in that special though.

Things done in art/fic that annoys me: lol implying Mad Mad Mad Monsters fic exists

Things I look for in art/fic: That they exist to begin with.

Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other: I dunno, just don’t have Nagatha and Claude get back together.

My happily ever after for them: I haven’t thought that far ahead yet.

Their favorite non-sexual activity: Science!

Boobula/Ghoul [Mad Mad Mad Monsters]

When or if I started shipping it: A little less than a week after we first watched Mad Mad Mad Monsters together, apparently.

My thoughts: I think they’d be great boyfriends. They’re vampire-invisible person solidarity, which is honestly underrated. A vampire can see things that other humans can’t. Things like an invisible person. So Boo would have no problem actually seeing his invisible boyfriend, things that others usually wouldn’t be able to see.

What makes me happy about them: I like to think they’d have a gradual childhood friends-to-lovers kind of romance and they’re already so close that it takes a while for them both to realize they have romantic feelings for each other.

What makes me sad about them: That some dipstick gave one of them the name “Boobula” like who tf does that I don’t know of anyone else who ships it.

Things done in art/fic that annoys me: That would require for said fic/art to exist to begin with.

Things I look for in art/fic: That it exists?

Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other: …I dunno.

My happily ever after for them: They’re happy together whether their respective families approve of their relationship or not. (Which at least Claude does.)

Their favorite non-sexual activity: Mostly harmlessly horsing around with regular humans, and each other too.

Eric Creighton/Sid Griffin/Nadia/Danya [OC/Gravedale High/OC/OC]

When or if I started shipping it: I think we started shipping Sid and Eric pretty shortly after we started working on him, and I kinda started shipping Nadia with Sid pretty quickly too. I pretty much immediately jumped to shipping Nadia and Danya.

My thoughts: I love them and look forward to hopefully doing more for them at some point? Sid was kinda not treated very well by the other students in his class, even towards the end of the show, and he’s the only one who never had a close friend like everyone else in class did, so I like how this kinda changes that.

What makes me happy about them: It’s been fun developing OCs for a show that doesn’t really get that much love outside the internet that happen to fall for a character I adore like a son? I think this finally helped me let go of the idea that OCs who end up with canon characters are inherently cringy and/or badly-written that I was pressured into believing as a younger teenager.

What makes me sad about them: That this show never even got a DVD release, what the fuck, Universal, give me my teenage monster children

Things done in art/fic that annoys me: Not about this ship exactly, but have I mentioned how disheartening it is to find that the few GH fanfics I’ve found mostly focus on Vinnie and Reggie as if they’re the only characters from this show worth focusing on? (They’re great, but the others deserve attention too.)

Things I look for in art/fic: I haven’t even drawn Danya yet, and I somehow lost the one rough sketch I’ve done for Nadia, so…

Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other: (shrugs)

My happily ever after for them: All four of them live together with their future daughter Grisephone.

Their favorite non-sexual activity: Musical comedy nights. I mean, any time they’re together they have fun, but especially musical comedy nights, because who knows what’ll happen.

Dr. Henry Davenport/Edgar Raven [Monster in my Pocket]

When or if I started shipping it: Er… late July of last year, apparently?

My thoughts: They would absolutely be dorks together.

What makes me happy about them: Thinking of them being Carrie’s dorky dads together is endearing to me.

What makes me sad about them: I can pretty much guarantee that Edgar isn’t even in the other unaired episodes that are who knows where now so I don’t think we’ll ever know what he looks like.

Things done in art/fic that annoys me: I’m pretty sure that Edgar’s not even in the very few fics for this show that do exist.

Things I look for in art/fic: I’d honestly be impressed if any art of Edgar exists, fanart or otherwise.

Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

My happily ever after for them: Edgar and Davenport get married and the latter officially adopts Carrie to become her official Monster Dad (the other three good monsters being her honorary monster uncles).

Their favorite non-sexual activity: Reading and writing together with one helping come up with ideas for the other.

Thank you so much! I’m sorry this is so long, I have a lot of feelings for invisible characters.

(Send me a ship?)

[ff7central]

Creator Spotlight: Seth

Miri here, with the next entry in our Creator Spotlight series. This time the random number generator has summoned artist Seth Suffers ( https://seths-art-suffers.tumblr.com/ and https://genesis-and-angeal-do-stuff.tumblr.com/ ).

Want to be on a future spotlight? Sign up on the FF7Central directory to get in on the list: https://goo.gl/forms/u0h5rJXmgv40zX9m2

Miri: Which of your works is the most memorable to you? I don’t necessarily mean favourite or best work, it could be the work that taught you the most making it or that holds a special reason in its creation.

Seth: I consider my piece where Genesis complains about finding grey hairs only for Sephiroth to get offended is my most memorable. When I made it I just thought "haha yeah this is a joke, hopefully people will find it funny" and I didn't expect it to get to 319 notes as of this interview. Because it got so many notes by my standards it keeps in my head because I find it great that one little joke I made got a bit of attention.

Miri: Comments on the reblog, or in the tags. Do you have a preference?

Seth: On the reblog because it's easier to reply to comments which I love to do.

Miri: Who is your favourite character from the FFVII setting? What do you love about them?

Seth: Angeal. Definitely Angeal. I'm in love with the first class trio in general but I like Angeal the most. I like him because he's the more grounded one of the three and he's 100% built to be a member of SOLDIER. His relationship with Zack is also adorable to me and I like his role as Zack's mentor before Zack somewhat becomes that to Cloud.

Miri: Favourite media to work in?

Seth: Mostly just basic digital because if I make a mistake I can easily undo it. I have however recently taken a liking to acrylic paint after using it in an exam.

Miri: Inquiring minds have asked if you have any tips for dealing with art block/slump.

Seth: Normally, I tend to redraw scenes from comedies I like and place characters into them. Parks and Rec tends to be my go-to comedy because I can easily place the SOLDIER and turks members into the setting and then draw it out.

Miri: Is there a character/idea you haven’t gotten to yet that you really want to do?

Seth: There are two AUs I really want to do that I've kept dissuading myself from: a reincarnation AU and a Jekyll and Hyde one. I've really wanted to make this reincarnation AU where they actually look somewhat different reincarnated. The Jekyll and Hyde AU came from me reading it in class and thinking "okay but what if Angeal was Utterson, Genesis was Lanyon and Sephiroth was Jekyll"

Miri: Any remake thoughts or hopes you’d like to talk about?

Seth: I keep hoping they might add some crisis core stuff to it, like Genesis. I feel his story is incomplete and I wouldn't mind seeing it concluded as a DLC.

Miri: Throw a headcannon at us that you’d like to see more of.

Seth: Sephiroth could've been saved, I like the idea that he wasn't entirely broken during nibelheim and there was still hope for him.

Miri: Do you have a favourite/easiest character to draw? Or a character you tend to draw when you need some comforting/relaxing art time?

Seth: Sephiroth is my favourite, easiest and most relaxing to draw because his hair isn't too outrageous and he has an easy to draw face.

Miri: Anything you’d like to say to the community?

Seth: I'm not too good with words but, keep on creating! I honestly love seeing everyone's content and as a youngling to this fandom I get inspired seeing the masterpieces everyone creates and it makes me want to stay!

Miri: Here’s a few pieces picked out with some help from friends to share with everyone, with Miri made titles. :D

“Code Names” https://seths-art-suffers.tumblr.com/post/165404556699/i-should-be-revising-for-assessments-i-genuinely

“Who Broke It” https://seths-art-suffers.tumblr.com/post/164266453629/kill-me-ive-spent-my-entire-day-suffering-while

“Taller” https://seths-art-suffers.tumblr.com/post/171762206624/send-help-i-cant-draw-angeal-for-shit-and-genesis

“Grey Hair” https://seths-art-suffers.tumblr.com/post/174669713289/sinnamon-art-box-i-honestly-see-this-happening

“Sephiroth Week: Friendship” https://seths-art-suffers.tumblr.com/post/166740818829/sephiroth-week-day-2-friendship-because-i-like

“Have You Seen My Cloak: https://seths-art-suffers.tumblr.com/post/167736339104/i-want-to-die-this-is-horrible-and-i-feel-sick-as

“Adopting a Puppy”https://seths-art-suffers.tumblr.com/post/165015120729/i-cant-actually-find-the-original-thing-i-based

[starlene]

The night before Henry Jekyll's wedding to Emma Carew, John Utterson has to make a very difficult decision.

Wedding preparations

For as long as he could remember, John Utterson had dreaded Henry Jekyll’s wedding day.

It was late and John’s thoughts circled around the ceremony tomorrow. His shoes were polished, his suit brushed, his tie ironed, his hands shaking. Only one thing left to prepare anymore.

Or two, keeping in mind that he was supposed to be giving a speech at the dinner tomorrow. He hadn’t put any thought into that. If, by some miracle, the wedding day proceeded without incident all the way to that point, he could certainly improvise something about the bride looking radiant and the groom unbearably dashing and commendably non-murderous, so please have a nice rest of your life together, have my blessing to make plenty of babies and see you in hell.

At the moment, John was more concerned about the details of his outfit.

It was a ridiculous thing, really. John’s uncle had given it to him on his 21st birthday. Just the sort of gift you’d expect from Uncle Abraham, honestly, ceremoniously handed to him with a solemn speech about the importance of a young man arming himself against the forces of evil. As far as John was concerned, it was better to avoid places where you’d expect to encounter forces of evil altogether, so for years, the sword cane had stayed hidden in the back of his wardrobe.

This time though, he couldn’t really avoid facing the evil. And before morning came, he would have to make his choice: should he take the weapon with him to Henry’s wedding?

~

It was a true wonder John hadn’t gotten himself discharged from his work yet. Ever since his first meeting with Edward Hyde a few weeks ago, he had spent his nights worrying, unable to sleep, and his days resting his head on top of the ever-growing piles of poorly drafted wills and contracts that were taking over his desk.

Worrying – or, lately more often than not, wide awake with Edward Hyde in his bed.

It was nothing to be proud of, but after having opened his door to Hyde once, John had ended up welcoming him into the house nearly every night. It was not Henry, but it was the closest he was ever going to get, and since Hyde always initiated it… John didn’t have it in him to say no.

That didn’t mean John didn’t always feel terribly guilty afterwards. What was he doing, taking such risks and doing such things with the devil that was tormenting Henry? And, supposing Henry was in there somewhere, aware of what Hyde was doing, feeling everything – well, how could John ever justify his own actions to him? John was certain Henry wouldn’t agree to him using his body like this. In all likelihood, their meetings were just one of Hyde’s many ways of making life more miserable for Henry.

Still, John wanted it so much he always let Hyde in. Let him in and thought about Henry.

Upon their first meeting, John had been certain – had desperately wanted to be certain – that Hyde was a completely separate creature from Henry, a surplus soul possessing his body. Every time they had met each other since, it had become harder to hold onto that belief. John was disturbed by Hyde’s sense of humour. It was disturbing that the demon had a sense of humour to begin with, and it felt even worse to realise how familiar Hyde’s tone actually was. John could hear Henry in Hyde’s snarky, often scornful words. The only difference was that Henry never aimed his truly biting remarks at John, trying his best to make his friend laugh by describing others instead, while Hyde’s derision was usually directed towards him.

Besides the ways they moved and the ways their voices sounded like, there were two big differences between the two that John could notice, as far as he could notice anything while receiving Hyde’s full attention. Henry had shame where Hyde had none, and while Henry had always been temperamental and tactless, Hyde was downright cruel, both in his words and in his actions. Hyde couldn’t take no for an answer – not that John was in the habit of refusing him, but everyone has his limits – and while John was stronger and sturdier he was, the punches hurt all the same.

Despite everything, it terrified John to see how skinny Henry’s body had gotten, so he didn’t strike back.

~

On the nights that Hyde did not knock on his door, John had plenty of time to think about him.

Most nights, John thought about an article he had read in the newspaper, complete with a gruesome illustration, about a girl being murdered at a brothel and the murderer getting away unnoticed. A girl that looked, as far as you could tell based on the messy illustration of her mutilated body, all too familiar, in a brothel that John could well recognise.

How could it be possible that Henry had created something that was capable of such senseless, ultimate cruelty?

And could it be possible that Hyde would do it again?

John had a certain respect for Emma Carew. Sure, when Henry had first told him about her, he had wanted to tear her head right off for taking away the last sliver of a chance that John could keep Henry to himself. But, upon meeting her, it had turned out he had a very hard time actually hating Emma. She was too clever for that, too quick-witted and down-to-earth. John had a feeling that, had Emma been born a man, she would have made a better lawyer than he could ever become.

Had Emma been born a man, there would also have been no wedding to worry about.

And had Emma been born a man, maybe she would have been able to take Hyde’s blows like John did. As she was, with her short stature, John was not so certain.

~

The pre-wedding dinner that evening had been the most excruciating affair John had ever taken part in.

It was the first time he had seen Henry in weeks. Of course, he had seen his body – the thought of how familiar, in fact, he had become with Henry’s body made John’s face burn – but this was the first time in weeks he could see Henry in there. Could be sure that the body’s original occupant was in charge of it.

If John still had some doubt as to whether Henry was aware of Hyde’s doings, the way Henry turned red at the sight of him cleared that from his mind. Clearly he could remember.

Most of the evening was spent in agonising silence. Emma’s bridesmaids, Elsie and Clara, tried their hardest to tease the groom-to-be and to talk with Emma, but their efforts were met with stone-cold silence. Sir Danvers mumbled a couple of awkward sentences about young people and pre-wedding nerves and spent the rest of the dinner quietly fiddling with the stem of his wine glass. John, Henry and Emma spent their time by, in turns, trying to catch and trying to avoid each others’ eyes.

While the dessert was being served, Henry excused himself with some unintelligible words and rushed out of the house. No one knew what to say to that, so the rest of them continued spooning away at their puddings without a word.

As John was about to leave, Emma caught up with him in the empty hallway.

“John. You have to tell me what’s wrong with Henry.”

“I don’t know.”

“Don’t lie to me. You have no idea how this feels like. First I don’t see Henry in weeks, then he comes here tonight, looking completely unwell. He doesn’t speak to me, and for half the dinner, you two keep exchanging weird looks, and then he simply runs away. Clearly you know something that I don’t.”

“I said I don’t know.”

“I said don’t lie to me!”

“Miss Carew… Emma… if you’re so worried about him, have you considered…”

“Now you’re going to suggest I should call off the wedding, right? You would think it’s that simple, wouldn’t you! For Christ’s sake. After what happened with Simon… I can’t. It would ruin father, it would ruin me! You understand there is no way I’d be getting a third chance at marriage after that, do you?”

A silence.

“It’s not fair! I’m supposed to be marrying him tomorrow, I’m supposed to be moving into his house to live with him for the rest of my life, but it’s like he doesn’t trust me at all. It’s clear he’s telling you something he’s not telling me.”

“He doesn’t tell me anything anymore either.”

“John, please be honest with me. Don’t tell me what’s wrong with him if that’s such a bloody huge secret, but please, tell me this. Do you think he is ever going to get better?”

A silence, again.

“I don’t know, Emma. I really don’t know.”

~

The clock struck three in the hallway. For a short little moment after the unfortunate dinner party, John recalled, he had considered telling Emma the truth.

Had he loved Henry any less, he would have told her.

What was there to do? If Sir Danvers knew his precious daughter was marrying a murderer, he would use all his influence to get Henry before a judge and a jury before the day was out. John knew that to speak of what he knew would be to condemn Henry to a certain death, no matter if Hyde ever came back or not.

But not to speak… Henry had clearly been smitten with the girl Hyde had murdered. Henry had been best friends with John since they were twelve years old, yet Hyde had threatened him with a handgun, had hit and disparaged him… What if it wasn’t Henry who stood by the altar tomorrow but Hyde, and what if Emma looked at him the wrong way? Or what if Sir Danvers got in his way, or someone else? What if Hyde didn’t arrive unarmed?

Could John stand there and watch and not do anything?

For as long as he could remember, John Utterson had dreaded Henry Jekyll’s wedding day.

Placing the sword cane by the clothes he would put on when morning came, he wished, for the millionth time, that the day he would have to attend his best friend’s wedding would never come.