#Jekyll is so nice to draw

[ashpenly]

Man I love doodling on my classes thats all I do these days

[dontmixpaintinyourcoffee]

I really love the Lodgers, their designs are so varied and fun. I'm planning on drawing the rest of them as well, they're really good as a warm-up. Cantilupe is probably my favorite here, out of everyone we see she gives me the biggest Classic Mad Scientist vibe (barring Frankenstein and Hyde I think)

Misc thoughts under the cut because I love this comic

I love thinking about what the Lodgers are doing while all the primary plot is happening. Like, Jasper would probably hang out with Lavender and Cantilupe a lot for work stuff since they're cryptozoologists as well. Which is a delightful image to me, because he is an extremely mild-mannered werewolf kid hanging out with two very nice women who have the most deranged job in the world. Lavender is very sweet and all, but I don't believe for a second that you become the caretaker of Cthulus and Leviathans without being a little bit terrifying yourself. If not in personality certainly in skill.

Drawing so many of these guys in a row really made me appreciate some of the subtler design features of the whole cast. Like, almost all of the lodgers I've seen have some sort of protective eyewear on their person. The only one here who doesn't is Helsby, but he wouldn't need them, all of his research would be conducted through other types of equipment that you can't exactly carry around (like the diving suit we see him in just before the exhibition!) All the scientists that work with chemicals or other dangerous substances have rubber or leather gloves. Then, when I was looking at the icon of Arythusa's blog, I realized that we haven't seen Jekyll wear those goggles in the comic. Which makes perfect sense. During the events of the story Jekyll is so preoccupied with the social navigation of keeping the Society running that he doesn't have time to do his own experiments. The only times we see him actively brewing something are spur of the moment, like the cough suppressant, or when he's incredibly sleep deprived like in the flashbacks. That missing element from his design also visually aligns him with Lanyon more than any of the lodgers, which is very neat to me. I don't even know if all of this was on purpose, but it's cool regardless.

[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

[leonenjoyer69]

@thedangerwizardparttwo hi I have many thoughts on Mind Jekyll 😋😋 my evil little freak

So!!!!! In my Lanyon takes the potion AU (with Elias, the little fella), Lanyon's mind scape includes both Jekyll and his father :3 not because they represent some perfect thing for him, but bc they're the most influential people in his life. He doesn't really obsess over becoming anything perfect like Jekyll does, nor does he really idolize people.

But!!! The silly--- (I need to draw him more fr 💔)

Mind Jekyll takes on a few traits from Hyde, since Lanyon knows that Jekyll and Hyde are the same guy and it kinda skews his perception of Jekyll. Thus, mind Jekyll is quite emotionally unstable at times. Otherwise, he's very manipulative, and what I like to call a living sparkle machine, bc holy shit does this guy try to abuse his charm. He acts quite posh, but can sometimes still act very,,, mad sciencey? Idk, he can get a bit unhinged tho, prone to succumbing to his temper if pushed too far or set off by something.

Hes definitely not a great guy, especially towards Elias (Lanyon's "Hyde"). He plays very nice at first, charming Elias up, making him feel safe, before finally kinda breaking and becoming the evil little shit he really is :3 he basically wants Elias gone, like Mind Lanyon did with Hyde, except he's much more cruel about it, kinda trying to emotionally destroy poor ol' Elias too. There's this whole little mindscape ballroom scene thing I've rambled about and drawn something for too, under the oc tag for this guy, but yeah, he's not great lmao.

He does like Lanyon tho, and is actually kinda genuine nice to him, though he still tries to abuse his charm to get Lanyon on his side about things-- especially the whole "we need to get rid of Elias" thing.

Mind Jekyll also plays on Lanyon's fear of potions and sciencey stuff, being kinda sinister with any "creations" of his. He's also quite the charmer around Lanyon's little mindscape ballroom, especially with the women, since Lanyon was scared of Jekyll leaving him for a woman in university teehee.

Uhhhh I think that's all I have for now?I know I've already said some of this, but yeah, Idk, I need to build him out more, as well as Lanyon's mindscape in general bc ughhhh it's so cool and fun, I love picking these silly guys apart.

[instantdoodlez]

Jashtober Warmups

Bunch of (13) jash fanart with descriptions. Transferring them over from twitter because No. Sorry for not being active here for literally more than a year.

Day 1, Cosmic. Loosely based on the lines "and when Harmonia shines, atlas beholds her". Had a lot of fun with the warm colors and stuff, and Mr Jash reposted it! Which was both exciting, and just about gave me a heart attack.

Day 2, Videogame. Based on the shot with the ds in the Forest For the Trees. Mr Jash reposted this one too, which jumpscared me once again.

Day 3, Folklore. Went through like three separate drafts of this before settling on some kind of cryptid lookin fella. HSH's dlc came out on this day too, so I was really screwed for time.

Day 4, Hindsight. Not too much to note, except Eyes. Staring mf

Day 5, Instrument. First drawing I ever made based on the Ship of Theseus album, actually! Based on the second part, because.. Lyre.

Day 6, 20XX Inspired. Buff man, feat. me attempting to draw muscles. Must have not done too bad of a job, since Mr Jash liked it (third heart attack of the project /pos)

Day 7, Jashlings. This one was a bit rushed. When I heard "jashlings" I immediately thought of HMS, so I drew those three.

Day 8, Outfit Design. Soul wears the monster energy merch while Mind watches on in horror. Mr Jash liked this one as well, so that means this is canon now /j (Side note: this was entirely unintentional, but I had multiple people across different platforms tell me Mind looked like Veronica Sawyer from Heathers. And... yeah, I see it.)

Day nine, Duality. Should've titled it Feathers. Dear god, so many feathers. Also, yin and yang - ish.

Day ten, Compromise. Based on the hc that Jekyll and Hyde draw up a custody agreement for who controls the body when. Also, their eyes are the other one's primary color because I say so and it's cool theming.

Day 11, GW/Literature inspired. Carmilla, that scintillating sinner!

Day 12, Power Hour. Worked on this one for two days longer than I meant to, but it came out pretty damn nice imo. And it got Jash reposted, so I was extra going insane.

Day 13, Reinvention/self sacrifice. Did this one a few days late. The color pallette for the sixth Ship of Theseus album cover is so fucking pretty. Didn't do it justice, but I tried.

And that's it! All 13 (yes, I didn't do the "14: free space" one, ran out of time) Jashtober warmups. I'm going to be working on posting all the Jashtober prompts I've done so far in another post like this, then I'll just start posting one per day from then on. Thank you for reading all the way through if you have, have a good day/night/[applicable time]!

[mika-meowz]

Lodgersona Masterpost

That's right, you all (one person so far) indulged me, now you gotta deal with me

So, right off the bat, this thing doesn't have a name. Nor can I seem to find their reference? But I have drawings. So stay tuned to see those

I haven't actually figured out how to squirm them into the story by any means so haha. WHOOPS

But I can tell you the ideas so far

I wanted their role to sort of be something in between Jasper and Rachel? Basically being a "ends up being seen as a protoge for both Jekyll and Hyde for different reasons"

While initially a little too innocent-seeming for Hyde's trouble-making, they eventually find a much-needed freedom if they somehow convince him to bring them along

On the other hand, they like Jekyll, but they find his way of speaking to be *too* rehearsed, and eventually can't tell if he's just Like That or if he's keeping them at arms length

I like to think they'd get closer to him by convincing him to be a bit more laid back (when possible) through a very gutting sequence where he sees them starting to mirror him and thinks he's made a good influence on them,

But through conversations with Hyde, they mention that while they do look up to him, they're actually just copying Jekyll's more posh demeanor because they feel *ashamed* of being more rough around the edges when he's there

So Jekyll starts to ease up so that they see him as less of a cold-hearted-ever-shaming asshole (exaggeration, of course. Maybe Hyde's words)

Now. If that wasn't self-indulgent enough for ya, STRAP IN, because this is where even I get a little embarrassed sharing it because of how much it is

At some point or another, I like the idea of Hyde going into a sort of spiral?

Because instead of trying to stop his chaos for safety's sake, like Rachel, or trying to stop him for goodness' (and also safety's) sake, like Jekyll,

They don't try to stop him *at all.* Yet, still don't entirely agree with the amount of trouble he causes.

And something something, this contradiction perplexes him so strongly he starts to go into a sort of "if IM darkness eternal then what is that thing. Why is it so nice. How can it be so nice while not being evil with me. Is it an angel or some shit" and goes a little mad while Jekyll desperately pleads for him to take a breath

Alright art

I present to you One Drawing That's Actually The Book-Jekyll-And-Hyde Version of this OC, two instances of Hey I Discovered Scottish Dancing, and one of Oops Jekyll's A Dad (doubles as a style study of the comic via photobashing for the lineart/sketch, and a lot of shading layers)

Almost all of these were from when I was VERY early into the comic so if it looks silly.. pretend you don't see it

Also Hyde on his little streak of madness

[beacedocrime]

Art of the characters from @basilthesnakingthing 's Monstrous Children AU. Check it out!

Close ups and explanations of my thought process for some of my decisions under the cut

First of all, Victor Frankenstein. His physical descriptions are sparse, except for how ill he looks. I tried to give him a slightly sickly looking skin tone, but skin in general isn't my forte, so I'm not sure how much I succeeded. Other than that, I always imagined him with black hair and green eyes, and as having somewhat sharp features.

For the colours, idk, I just thought purple would look on him. I wanted the vest to have simple gold detailing on the lapels, but the watercolour wasn't really obvious, and I couldn't be bothered to search for my pencils. He's never described as wearing glasses as far as I'm aware, but I liked how he looked with them better.

After inking him, I could tell there was something I didn't like about his face, but I couldn't pinpoint why. Later, I realized his eyes weren't spaced correctly. I made a quick little sketch to correct this.

Basil said the gravedigger guy was gonna be inspired by some other classics character, but she hadn't given an example and I didn't have any ideas so I decided to make him as generic as possible. I thought he'd look funny among all these fancily dressed children.

When I drew these, I hadn't been told that in this au Jekyll and Hyde would be their first names, so I drew Victor calling out to 'Henry' with Jekyll in mind. However, since this isn't possible in this universe... thoughts on Henry Clerval 👀?

Jekyll! Drew him slightly sleep deprived and did not make good decisions about that vest. Fixed it later. Like Victor, not a lot of physical descriptions, so mostly going off of how I imagined him- brown hair and brown eyes, softer features.

Debated a bit on the colour scheme, before deciding mellow browns and yellows would be a good fit. Don't know why his sleeves are rolled up other than I thought it looked nice.

Not much else to say about his appearance, I was fairly satisfied with him (other than the vest). Though his jawline came out a bit uneven, and the shape of his pants look weird (I was not inking this on a table like a normal person and he slightly suffered for it)

Basil mentioned once that this version of him and Hyde also have the talking in the mirror thing, so I made a small doodle of that.

Hyde! With a quick bonus Dracula.

So, just to say this quickly, I did not think at all about Dracula's clothes, it was just a quick sketch cause I really wanted to draw this scene. Also his proportions are weird, and his skin not pale enough.

Hyde! Similarly to Victor, I did not like something about his face in the first inked version, so I fixed it in a quick sketch. This time it was his chin. His face felt too long, and I wanted it to be rounder.

Like the other two, Hyde doesn't have a confirmed hair and eye colour as far as I'm aware. His descriptions are along the lines of 'pale and short with bad vibes'. I imagined him with reddish brown hair, and the same colour for eyes.

I didn't mean his vest to be pretty much the same colour as his hair, but it happened, and I like it, so. I made his vest the same kind as Jekyll's, just on the other side. He doesn't have a necktie because things around my neck give me sensory issues, and I'm projecting. His button-up is pink because, like many other design choices, I thought it would look cool.

The sharp teeth were one design choice that the creator of the AU wanted him to have.

Other stuff- they all have coats/jackets (not sure which one is the correct term) that I haven't drawn here. I tried to give the colours a slightly washed-out look to fit in with how the creator described the setting to look, though I'm not sure how successful I was. I wanted Creature to be bigger, but by the time I'd realised that it was smaller than I wanted, I couldn't really go back.

[randall-lloyd]

Warning: Rudy gets VERY sappy and a lot of people are abt to be tagged n told how radical they are IM SORRY THAT YOURE GETTING A STUPID NOTIF LIKE THIS

So the past.... Month. Has been very eventful. Coping with a rough break up, work being hard. I'm almost 21 I kinda figured it'd be rough being in my 20s. I really was expecting it to be the end of the world, but then I made a really good choice.

I joined a few discord servers over this month, and I can't begin to explain just how wonderful that's been for my mental health.

I've made so many new beautiful friends who just mean the world to me, and those new friends along with old friends and my beautiful angel wife who's stuck with me while we both heal, it's just nice.

I wanna say a few words [or a lot words. I'm a yapper] and I jus wanna really detail my appreciation for the following people.

@your-pal-smoochins, my perfect angel wife. You and I have had a lot of things against us. You've been such an amazing support system through these past couple years and I don't tell you enough just how much I love and appreciate everything you do for me. You lift me up when I really need it and I've never felt more loved than when you've been by my side. Thanks for being my rock, my sun moon and stars, and just thank you for being mine. You do so much more than you give yourself credit for, having escaped the situation you were in and going to college. You're so strong, and you're my beautiful angel forever.

@carbonateddelusion Rox! You were one of the first friends I made when everything got locked down and my first memory of you was drawing some of my guys. I dunno if you know but those gifts are still in my phone. I look at those and your newer stuff and I'm just beyond amazed at your progress. You've been a really amazing friend and I love you, man. You really rock, rox [yes that was on purpose]

@toondamien Damien!! one of my very first tumblr friends and the guy who lets me use his oc for my story stuff! You're a little older than me, and as such you've kinda been a role model to me. I still look up to you [metaphorically, hehe] and I'm glad you're my No. 1 DSAF mutual. You're great, dude.

@springlucked Spring. Though we only started talking recently, you are still someone I consider a dear friend. Your fics got me out of some really bad art blocks and my really low days. While Dearly Detested makes me cry and fills me with just the right amount of emotions to break a tree in half, you are so awesome. Your writing is so good and you're so humble when you get gift art from people regarding your fics. You are like a slightly bothersome little sister and for that I love you, ya lil punk.

@dexabite Dex Dane Dexabite Freakabite Miller Jekyll Jade [not real name. obviously] my sworn enemy /j. Your art rocks. Your art inspired a lot of my more detailed pieces and your character design stuff actually made me wanna branch out more not just with character design, but also poses and colors! You're an inspiration to this guy who mainly draws that dumb orange boy and ily /p

@igottoo MJ!! Like if I was a second person! You rock dude. Your art? slaps. Your animation? slaps. Your insane jokes? Slaps. you unintentionally gave me a pose reference that made me leap out of my comfort zone and yknow what? People loved it!! And thats because you're so cool! We scarily have a lot in common so the reasonable assumption is we are in fact the same guy [silly] but i love you to BITS /p. My lagomorphed brethren and the guy I'll be sending my Dave doodles to before showing the public. You're a bro, dawg. As the No. 1 Old Sport fan I'm VERY glad I'm best pals with THE No. 1 Dave Miller fan.

thank you all for being my friends. You guys make my heart full and make me wanna keep working towards being a good person

[yourfavouritefighter]

Just saw the expression meme, so I thought I'd throw B3 with Jekyll your way. I just wanna see the nice man with murderous intent in his eyes for a change. XD

murderous enough for you?

(original ask meme if anyone wants to join in…link clink)

(totally didn’t forget to post this after drawing it like an hour ago…couldn’t have)

[tokiro07]

Toki Reads Shonen Jump 2025, Issue #16: Yikes Week

Roboco: At the Kawasaki Frontale soccer game, the opposing team sabotages the Frontale, causing them to be late, forcing Roboco and the gang to play as substitutes. Now I'm no soccer fan, but I don't think you can order food to be delivered to the field during play

Sakamoto: Uzuki's plan comes to fruition - by overtaking the JAA, he has essentially overtaken the Japanese government as well, coercing the Prime Minister to distribute one gun and three bullets to every Japanese citizen to do with as they please without repercussions. Well, that answers my question from last week - the JAA was a secret to the public, BUT was also effectively a shadow government - I feel like that should have come up earlier; the fact that Uzuki seems to just want to see what happens rather than orchestrating a specific outcome seems thematically appropriate with his multiple personalities, as it's effectively win-win for him - either everything ends in blood and proves him right, he engineers a mutually-assured-destruction scenario and creates a peaceful nation, OR everyone chooses to be peaceful and proves him wrong

EluSam: Morofuyu praises Tokiyuki for his growth, revealing that he knew that Tokiyuki was actually training with his wives and musing that Tokiyuki is the type to gain power from love; as Tokiyuki asks for him to come back as Fubuki, Morofuyu retorts that his strength comes from eating - specifically people, such as his own sister. Given the timing of this reveal, I wonder if perhaps this is Fubuki rather than Morofuyu painting himself as more of a villain so that Tokiyuki won't want him as an ally anymore and will instead be willing to kill him? Admittedly I don't know Fubuki's character well enough to draw any meaningful conclusions

Witch Watch: As the student council president hassles Fran to join the council, she accidentally hits Jekyll with a device that reverses all of his intended actions; as he becomes Hyde and goes berserk, the only way to stop him is to destroy the device, which Fran begs Rabuka to use her magic to do; Rabuka joins the student council. I honestly really like Rabuka, and the development of her and Fran's relationship is always a nice little treat for me; if Shinohara doesn't give me poly, he can at least give me yuri

Blue Box: Taiki and Chinatsu discuss how their lives might be different if they had made different life choices, but conclude that they made the right ones; Chinatsu tries to work up the nerve to kiss Taiki, but instead kisses him through his scarf, sending him into a blind panic, as teenagers are wont to do. Watching these two gives me such a nostalgic feeling, flashing me right back to falling in love with my wife in high school...a nice little reminder that even if I'm not where I necessarily want to be in life, I must have done something right to be with her to this day

Akane: Issho informs Akane which three stories she needs to master to even be able to attempt Shiguma's Art, and derides her hubris for thinking she can achieve what better performers than her have failed to do; Akane laughs in his face, refuting that she has no intention on limiting herself by letting past performers continue to be "better" than her; in reality, this is exactly what Issho wanted, to light a fire in Akane; Akane approaches Shomei for the first story, God of Death, but he refuse to teach it to her. I like the idea that Issho has just been playing Bad Cop as a long con to find someone with the guts to surpass him

Kill Blue: Noren's realization that she loves Juzo makes it difficult for her to interact with him, prompting Otohime to drag her out class for some girl talk, suggesting that she face her feelings head-on; Juzo approaches the student council to learn how fierce his competition is. For as sure as I am that Noren is going to turn out to be an adult, I am also sure that Otohime will NOT, so it's definitely going to be a scene when she realizes she's crushing on a middle-aged man; I really like Otohime, though, so I'm probably going to be upset to see the state that she gets left in

Nue: Believing that Gakuro will get stronger if he has a girlfriend, Nue calls a meeting for all of the girls of Squad 6 to reveal to them that Gakuro plans (under Nue's coercion) to confess to one of them at the upcoming festival, a prospect that absolutely no one objects to; Shiroha decides to take the initiative and confess first, though she refuses to hear Gakuro's response until all of the other girls have had a chance to do the same; simply hearing this confession awakens a new power in Gakuro. Don't you bait me, Kawae! Give this boy super forms specific to each girl! I may not recognize literally half of them, but if you make them poly you can bet I'm gonna commit them all to memory!

Kagurabachi: The truth of the Seitei War's conclusion is revealed - as a treaty was ready to be signed, the Sword Master insisted on the nuclear option, and Magatsuma responded with its True Realm, Malediction, to wipe out the entire population of the enemy island; we also learn that if the Sword Master dies, so too will all of the other Swordbearers. Not a surprising outcome, but the exact circumstance being genocidal rage rather than pure political greed was a bit unexpected; Samura's plan to let the Hishaku get all of the Enchanted Blades makes a lot more sense now that he has a guaranteed method of taking them all out in one go, but obviously things aren't going to go how he wants them to

Chojo: Another old "rival" of Chojo's, Mikage, appears and near-instantly falls in love with Ippongi. Oh, we're still on this plot point from last week? Is Ippongi's love life going to continue being the focus for a while, or just the occasional gag when Mikage is present?

Astro Royale: As Hibaru and Shikaba fight, Shikaba muses on his philosophy of stealing whatever he wants, be it power or love, which Hibaru seems to be fine with so long as Shikaba stays by his side. I can't say I understand Shikaba's motivations even a little bit, but at least his imagery is kinda cool

Kiyoshi: Hydrako tries to defeat Kiyoshi with various poisons, but he tanks all of them to steal the antidote for her other victims; though he manages to defeat her, Kiyoshi gets turned into a baby for his troubles. I kinda liked Hydrako, shame to see her go so soon, but her role was clearly to nerf Kiyoshi for the arc, so at least she wasn't just there to kill time

Hima-Ten: The girls talk about romance while in the bath, though none of them admit that they like Tenichi, except Mayu who clearly says it to rile up the rest of them; after getting some couch time with all of the girls during a horror movie, Tenichi and Himari are sent on a snack run, where Himari proclaims she can't root for Tenichi's success with Honoka anymore; while looking at some beautiful scenery with the group, Himari gives serious thought to her relationship with Tenichi. Ooh, you wanna be poly so bad, ooh!!! That couch scene was so good, I know you can do it!!!

Ichi: The Bakugami Magik first appeared in the land of Bakugami, then Kagami, ten years ago to the princess, Richia, as she grieved her mother's death amidst a national economic crisis; with its power to instill joy, Bakugami gave the people the will to go on and attracted desperate people from all of the world, making Kagami a bustling tourism hub; as this story and Bakugami's importance are being relayed to Desscaras and Kumugi, Ichi and Gokuraku burst in to attack Bakugami. ...Shoulda seen that comin'; with the introduction of Richia, I'm wondering if the ally the prophecy mentioned isn't actually referring to Gokuraku...obviously he'll still be one, but there might be more to it, like maybe the entire Kagami nation becoming an ally to Mantinel once everything gets cleared up? Probably not

Shinobi: With comms back up, Op reveals that Kawasemi was supposed to have died eight years ago, and his fighting style seems completely different; no longer alone, Yodaka gets a second wind, and manages to take out Kawasemi with a pincer attack from Hibari. I'm guessing this isn't Kawasemi and is just someone using his name for some reason, but it may also be that he got brainwashed or something and needed to switch up his fighting style as a side effect? The latter feels pretty convoluted, but I assume that this mystery is going to become a major plot point either way

Syd Craft: Syd and Souffle tail a suspect in a drug trafficking case, necessitating Souffle to quick-change through a bunch of outfits to maintain cover; when her superior sees her dressing up, he mocks her despite her saving someone on the job, prompting Syd to chastise him and compliment Souffle on her looks; Souffle starts dressing more girlishly as she always wanted, catching Syd's eye. Probably won't amount to much in the long term, but nice to see something akin to character development

Embers: Haitani and Takami manage to outscore the A- and B-Team members, netting Haitani his first-ever win; because of his poor sportsmanship and teamwork, Inunaki gets booted from the A-Team, a decision he tries to protest, but Shizuki stands her ground despite him getting physical. As Shizuki says, people who want to be the best will always come back after a loss, so it seems likely that Inanaki's character arc will see him learning to apply his skills in tandem with others and coming back at a crucial moment

Beethoven: As Beethoven begins coaching Yaso, suggesting things like "try drinking alcohol" or "seducing another man's wife" so he can better understand his esoteric metaphors, he tries to remember his mindset when composing Appassionata, only to have his memories locked by what appears to be a devil; however, Yaso's playing manages to unlock one memory, of a meeting with Beethoven's "Immortal Beloved," seemingly to the devil's chagrin. I can't say I was expecting to see demons in this manga, but I'm glad that the mechanism of Beethoven's reincarnation is being alluded to early so it will feel less out of nowhere when it gets an actual explanation down the line; it's also an interesting way to sidestep the unknown portions of Beethoven's life, disallowing him from simply reciting information that the author can't possibly know while also establishing that such holes exist for readers that are unfamiliar with Beethoven's history

I considered naming this issue after all of the girls talking about their love interests in Kill Blue, Nue and Hima-Ten, but with six heavily inked dramatic moments between the reveal of Uzuki's plan in Sakamoto Days, Morofuyu's declaration of cannibalism in Elusive Samurai, Issho's subterfuge in Akane-Banashi, the Sword Master's genocide in Kagurabachi, Shikaba continuing his cycle of abuse in Astro Royale, and the literal Devil's unexpected appearance in Star of Beethoven, all I can say is:

Then there's Ichi publicly attacking Bakugami, Kiyoshi getting turned into a baby, Kawasemi possibly being a fake in Shinogi Undercover, Shizuki booting Inunaki from the team in Embers...maybe not as big of moments as the rest, but a lot of twists and turns to be had that also elicit a definitive yikes

This Week's Top 3:

Nue's Exorcist, surprisingly, for giving me a quality reaction image that I've been giggling about for literal days and also for suggesting that we might actually be going the poly route

Star of Beethoven for dropping a hint that both answers and asks more questions, while also fleshing out Beethoven himself

Hima-Ten for just being really dang cute this week, and giving Himari a moment of genuine honesty and introspection

Amazingly I passed over Ichi this week! I don't think I've done that since Undead Unluck ended, but it just wasn't that impressive of a chapter this week. It was good, certainly, but it was mostly exposition without actually revealing anything particularly noteworthy or furthering the plot in a way that was surprising

Kagurabachi similarly went in a predictable direction, though its presentation was definitely good enough to warrant being Top 3. I think it missed it because the dread of the Sword Master's mass murder just didn't resonate with me the way that Hima-Ten's moment of intimacy did

The reveal of Uzuki's plan in Sakamoto Days also sparked dread, and actually inspired me to think about it for the last few days, but I think the sheer number of "yikes" moments this week might actually be what's directing me towards the softer moments of the week; there's fewer of them, so they stand out more

Blue Box's cute moment was similar to Hima-Ten's, but I think the introspection on Himari's part was overall more interesting to me than Chinatsu's retrospection

Overall, this was another super strong week for me, and I think that the goal of this project is really starting to come to fruition! I'm feeling more motivated to revisit each series, even being prompted to reread older chapters that I don't remember, and coming up with issue titles helps me draw connections between the series within each week! This is the most engaged I've felt with the entire magazine in a long time, a feeling I was really worried I would lose after Undead Unluck's departure!

I'm even feeling more connected with the series that I'm not a particular fan of! I don't think I'll necessarily mourn them if/when they leave, but I'm glad that I'll be able to better enjoy them for the time that they're here

[dross-the-fish]

I found myself thinking of Jekyll today and wondering if it causes him physical pain to have to fake a smile. To what extent is Henry Jekyll, pleasant doctor and sophisticated upperclass gentleman a painful mask he has to wear and does the discomfort ever feel physical?

I was at the local aquarium today (this is the perfect time of year to go because it's open but there are no tourists so it's never crowded and admission is cheap) hanging out and doodling on one of the benches while I watched the fish. I had on headphones to listen to an audio book and to provide a buffer between myself and anyone who might try to talk to me and I had been looking forward to relaxing for a couple of hours when a family walked up and the father waved his hand in front of my face to get my attention. The minute they started asking me questions about what I was drawing I was filled with what I can only describe as intense dismay.

Obviously the family being present isn't in of itself an issue, it's a public aquarium, it's aimed at families and parts of the aquarium are geared specifically at children, but the family noticed me drawing and stopped to talk to me.

I reiterate that this was not something they did wrong, they were just being friendly, but I was really not prepared to have a conversation and I found the whole ordeal to be...well an ordeal. They were interested in what I was drawing (a sketch of Henry Jekyll because he's been on my mind off and on) and just the thought of having to explain who this character was, hoping they got it, and having to potentially explain why I was drawing him felt overwhelming.

And it was, they did not know who Henry Jekyll was, they were vaguely aware of Jekyll and Hyde but weren't the type of people to read classic literature and had never heard of the musical or actually seen for themselves any movies featuring the character. The mom commented that he looks like "a Disney villain from back in the 90s" which...fair assessment, I can't pretend I don't see why she would have thought that. The older kid was probably the most interested and wanted to see more of my drawings which made me really uncomfortable but I let him look through my sketchbook anyway because his parents kept saying he was interested in drawing and he loves art and I felt too anxious to say no.

I made small talk with the parents for a while, all the usual, "what's your name, where you from, what's your job?" (I hate those questions, they are usually the least interesting things about any people, myself included) and I wondered if this is what Henry does on a regular day. Has ordinary conversations with reasonably nice people and feel completely like a fish out of water the whole time. I felt pretty terrible about it too, I didn't have any hard feelings or resentment but the whole time I was thinking "Stop touching my things, go away, please fucking leave so I can get back to my audio book and my drawing. I just wanted to sit with the fish for a few hours because it's supposed to be quiet here this time of year."

No one ever seems to catch on that physically talking to people is an effort for me. I've gone my whole life and no one has ever noticed that I'm anxious or uncomfortable in situations where I have to speak out loud because I've gotten good at faking small talk and I know how to make my voice sound pleasant.

It's strange because I express myself easily enough in writing and I like messaging with people over text but the minute I have to be verbal with people I don't know I feel like I'm putting on an immense effort. I have to consciously choose a tone, figure out what words I want to say, be ready with an explanation in case I'm asked questions and I have to do all of it in real time on the spot. It feels like improve, like I'm constantly doing an improve routine and I know most people would say "Just be yourself!" But myself doesn't want to be doing this at all. Myself wants to be drawing and looking at fish. Even as a child I was never very social, I liked to doodle or daydream or build with my lego sets. I got reprimanded a lot for being too quiet. So I made myself more talkative and learned how to hold conversations. I learned to blend in but it's so tiring at times and I can swear when it's at its worst it feels almost physical. The discomfort becomes a suffocating "texture" on my skin and in my brain and I have to keep pretending like I don't notice it because every time I try to articulate how I feel people don't understand it. It's just not a thing they experience.

So I just keep "acting normal," and wonder if there's something wrong with me, like I'm operating on a different frequency from the people around me and I'm the only one on that frequency so other people don't even know it exists. It's...incredibly isolating at times. Even my partner doesn't seem to hear the world as loud as I do or experience the "texture" it's just a strange THING that I'm stuck with by myself. I wonder if it was the same for Henry Jekyll? Except instead being of too quiet he was too loud, too boisterous, threw tantrums, didn't know when to stop rambling about anatomy and weird gross medical facts. So he learned how to cover it and move through life pretending to be interested in everyone else but keenly aware they could never share his interests because his favorite subjects were too grisly and if he started talking about diseases he'd put everyone off. I head-canon Jekyll loves what he does, but he doesn't love it for reasons a doctor should, he doesn't care that much about healing the sick, he cares about conquering illnesses, he likes to learn about symptoms, he enjoys the disgusting viscera of his work. But he can't let on that this is what he enjoys about his work because that's not noble or heroic, it's something most people would find creepy of him. So he buries it and pretends he cares about curing the sick. He pretends he enjoys talking to people who don't know anything about who he is or what he does but they think they do because they are aware of doctors and understand that medicine exists. All the time he loathes it, it exhausts him and he can't even indulge in activities he enjoys to blow of steam because he enjoys things like brawling, doing drugs, and fucking. All things a man of his status shouldn't be seen doing. There's an image people associate with Henry Jekyll and it's an image he can't afford to tarnish...

but it's not really HIS image, it's just a buffer he keeps up to make himself more palatable. I wonder if that ever hurts him physically, if the mask ever feels like a "texture" muffling him.

there are times when I feel like it's no wonder he wasn't repulsed by Hyde when he first saw his reflection. Because I can only imagine by the time Hyde showed up he was already completely burnt out on being Jekyll.

[strangestcase]

In the original novella, we only "see" three characters die. One is Hastie Lanyon, whose death isn't gruesome and startling like Carew's, but that meets an arguably violent end.

While Carew draws the ire of Hyde through simply being at the wrong place at the wrong time, being cordial to the wrong person, being, Lanyon rather doesn't. Instead, it is his act of loyalty towards Jekyll, the man he hasn't talked to in a decade and calls him a pedant when he isn't listening, what kills him. Once again good deeds are punished with death. The difference, though, doesn't just reside in the fact that Hyde never once needs to put a finger on Lanyon to kill him, but the fact that it is a deeply personal loss- on both sides.

Jekyll-as-Hyde correctly assesses that Lanyon will help a friend in need. He himself says that Lanyon would gladly sacrifice his right arm to save him in body and mind, and with those words he convinces him to come to the rescue via bringing Hyde the serum's ingredients from the cabinet, now forbidden to him. And Lanyon is a good man. He's sensible enough to bring a gun with himself, he's kind enough to help Jekyll even though he believes he's finally lost it -and he's not entirely wrong-, and he's open-minded enough to not only chalk up his supernatural hatred of Hyde to a silly personal bias rather than dismiss him as "deformed", but to also fight against it and be nice to him.

No, Lanyon doesn't meet his violent end through physical violence. All he does is fall into Hyde's trap and give in to curiosity. And that's how, in his narration, Chapter 9, we learn what really killed him in Chapter 6, weeks after the events transpired. His mysterious "disease", the thing eating up at him, is the revelation. One of his closest friends -despite it all- has placed his trust upon him, and his reward is to see him at his pettiest, his cruelest, his worst. To learn that his friend was a monster, all along. No. That he turned into one, on his own volition. The choice was his. And now that he's realized it was a dark path to walk, he can't un-walk it. He can't stop, even if he wanted to, cursing himself with a monstrousness that fights back at any attempt at a fix and yet needs to be fixed to save its skin.

There is no "normal" to recover. Jekyll had always carried with him the elements of his destruction- his arrogance and his bile. The revelation that Hyde never really existed destroys Lanyon's static and material worldview, smashing the orderly world he lives in to bits. The revelation that Hyde was created for a specific purpose, and what it was, destroys Lanyon's view of Jekyll as an eccentric but harmless man, a good person with misguided opinions and fanciful theories.

Does Jekyll ever learn of Lanyon's death? Does Utterson ever bring it up behind the scenes, out of the third-person narrator's scope? Will he ever know that his last crime was killing the man that saved his life?

Well... Ironically, Lanyon didn't really save Jekyll's life. He only extended it for a couple of months, prevented Hyde from being arrested and tried and executed for God knows how many crimes of indeterminate nature. After all, if his criminal record killed him of shock, or at least poured salt into the wound, it had to be gruesome. Thanks to Lanyon's intervention Hyde can return to the house as Jekyll and attempt at resuming a normal life, without success. Soon enough he transforms again, and runs out of salts, and is found dead on the floor with the vial he just emptied of cyanide still in his cold hand.

How do we define violence in a world in which body and mind are one? In the world of Jekyll and Hyde, thoughts and ideas are physical, real, tangible. Hyde is, ultimately, a concept, the sketch of a person disguising a fractured mind disguising a sad mad genius that desires to not desire. We can consider Lanyon one of Hyde's victims, but can we call Lanyon's death violent? I would say so. Like Carew, all he ever did, at least within the constraints of the story -a snapshot of a disjointed Gothic world-, was being kind to someone who didn't deserve it.

At the beginning of this post, I said there were three on-page deaths, three deaths we got to "see" in Stevenson's novella. The third death would be Jekyll's. And it is violent, as well- first his original identity dies, unable to be present, made physical, made real, by want of not being able to manifest itself, or rather, by want of not being able to not manifest Hyde's. In a sense, he's run out of opportunities to be "good". If Jekyll can no longer be Jekyll-as-Jekyll, and only has Jekyll-as-Hyde left, Jekyll no longer exists. As he puts it, he's forced to resume Hyde's personality for the last time- to put on a costume that has turned into himself. Hyde never existed as a person, and in the last eight days of his life he has to be, because Hyde is all he's got left of a person.

It's impossible to not think of a suicide, even a suicide by poison, as violent. But Jekyll's death is violent not just because he eventually goes through with his "promise" of sorts that he'll have to die to rid the world of Hyde (and so we have Hyde killing himself if only to not end up in the gallows, fullfilling his ultimate desire, because that's what he, as a concept, was designed to do). It is also violent because by the time he physically dies, he's long gone. He's committed enough violence against himself already, destroying his belongings and thinking of himself as either his oppressive father or his idiot son, depending on what body he's been thrown into at the time.

The horror of Jekyll and Hyde is the horror of the perversion of the intimate, on all levels. Your best friend is not who he claimed to be. Your body as an extension of yourself isn't to be trusted. Helping others gets you killed. Edward Hyde pollutes everything he touches- breaks into a homicidal rage at someone being polite at him, accidentally curses his savior with the decay of the soul, self harms in the most twisted way possible and dies two times, brings the worst in all those that look at him, brings terror into your house, ruins the night, and breaks the peace.

It is only logical that something -someone?- that ruins everything to its very core comes from within, and is ultimately the cause for three very twisted, and violent, forms of death.

[marisol-000]

The Sandbox Scientists ch.4

I swear to GOD if I ever take that long to update again I'm dropping one of my classes. They're simply not as important as this. I hate school and classes so goddam much nothing would make it worth but I gotta do it and it sucks.

Honestly I think any job I do would be fine so long as I had time to write and draw stuff like this. I'm gonna try to make more time right now though+

So, something interesting is I'm learning coding right now so I may have a new way to structure notes soon...

Ive been going back and forth on how i want to put the notes and whether they should be interspersed or at the end I dont know, I hate to change it so much but I want to include the notes.

I think of it like a painting in a miseum vs a group discussion, I want to talk and hear other people.

Anyway, SUPER late but heres chapter 4!!

[a03]

Rachel watched as Lanyon fussed over Henry's outfit for the millionth time, the poor boy looking quite cross.

Henry had started the day practically unresponsive. She’d had to drag him to the kitchen for breakfast. Now though he looked a few prods away from smacking the doctor, his small face scrunched into an angry pout.

“Robert, I'm telling you it's fine. It doesn't have to fit perfectly.”

“And I'm telling you it does.” he sniffed, “You can't expect Jekyll to walk around with unfitted clothes, you know how important his reputation is.”

The tailor had worked fast, that or gotten lazy and grabbed whatever they had lying around. The two boys wore matching outfits resembling their everyday attire. A simple shirt and pants with matching vests, red and green of course.

However neither fit quite right, something Robert was quietly fuming about, the clean white shirts and black slacks hanging loose in some places.

While Lanyon had gone to fetch the boys’ clothes, Rachel did her damnedest to shove eggs down their throats.

She’d been hopeful the day before, when they devoured their snacks with a healthy appetite. Now though they just picked at their plates the way Dr. Jekyll did when she forced him to eat.

“Robert.” Rachel grit out patiently, “Jekyll's a child. He doesn't have a reputation.”

“Of course he does! In high society a child reflects onto the parent. In this case, Jekyll.” The man took his hands away long enough to nudge his own eggs and toast around uselessly, only to dart back as though letting someone walk in on Henry's slightly tilted cravat were the worst crime imaginable.

“I just can't let him be seen in such a state. Jekyll will be upset when he gets back.”

Rachel hesitated, elbow deep in soapy water. “Look Robert, the shirts fine. He'll grow into it.”

That seemed to be the wrong thing to say as Lanyon snapped around to look at her, mouth flapping. He crossed his arms, wrapping them around himself.

“Well-! Maybe I should have taken him in person! At least then you wouldn't have lost him.”

Rachel narrowed her eyes, “Well maybe they just didn't read my numbers right, because I managed to make perfectly fitting outfits.”

“Well maybe they couldn't read your scratchy handwriting!”

“Oh do you have a problem with my handwriting now?”

“Maybe I do!”

Henry quietly slipped away from the man while the two argued, climbing onto the other Henry's chair with him.

The thing Lanyon put around his neck was awful, it was hard, and itchy. He wanted to pull on it to loosen it but the man would probably just tighten it again.

It seemed weird that the adult would be so upset about his clothes when other Henry's were even looser. He didn't quite know what reputation meant but he knew his parents didn't like when he got his clothes dirty on outings. Maybe he didn't look nice? But if he didn't then other Henry didn't either and doctor Lanyon didn't even look at him.

The blond was messing with his own strip of fabric the way the man did Henry's, trying to make them match. Henry felt he could do a better job and pulled on one end, getting an “Urk!” sound from the boy. He pulled back and the two tried to figure the tie-bow-thing out, doing and undoing each other's work.

Rachel hissed out a sigh, gritting her teeth and unballing her hands.

“Look… I know you're scared, I’m scared too. But we’re not gonna get anywhere squabbling like this. We have to work together like mature adults.”

Rachel gently rested a hand on the man's shoulder. Someone who didn't know him might have said he was leaning into it. Or at least wasn’t leaning away.

“We're all on the same team here.”

Robert avoided the woman's eyes for a moment, then sighed too.

“I know, I know…it’s just, frustrating. Henry is probably the only person smart enough to fix this and he was the one dumb enough to get in this situation in the first place.” he pouted.

Rachel snickered, “Well you can give him an earful about it when we fix this. And we will fix this.”

Robert nodded.

Seeing this, the boys climbed out of their chair, shined shoes tapping softly on the tile.

Lanyon glanced over at the two approach- “Hyde's clothes don't even fit him!”

Rachel startled as though she were the one with a hand in the cookie dough.

“That- that's on purpose!”

“You purposefully gave the tailor the wrong numbers? What are we going to do about this? How are we supposed to undo the potion when we can’t even get two kids fitting clothes!?” he cried.

“Good lord it’s like I'm watching three children. I’ll just hem it Robert! It’s not the end of the world!” Rachel dragged her hands down her face.

Lanyon felt a tug on his sleeve. Looking down, he was surprised to see Edward looking back up at him.

“Can you help me tie my bow please?”

Try as they might, the boys had only managed to mess the cravat up worse.

For whatever reason they had tried to make a bow, but the material was a bit too stiff to knot properly; resulting in a lopsided tangle.

Lanyon blinked. “Er, well I…”

Fumbling for an answer he looked to Rachel. The girl shrugged, a wide smirk on her face, “Girls don’t wear cravats.”

Huffing, Lanyon begrudgingly knelt down to his level, the boy tilting his head up helpfully.

Flexing his fingers, he reached cautiously for the cloth, as though expecting the boy to start biting. When he doesn’t Lanyon starts untying it, frowning at the new creases in the fabric.

“Hmm, this will have to be ironed later but it’ll do for now.”

He refolded the cloth as best he could and started tying it around Edward’s neck.

“Aw, look at you two getting along.” Rachel cooed.

Ignoring her, Robert explains the process to the boy.

“See how one end is longer? Hold it like this, then hold the fabric against your collar, the ends are brought around the front, the two ends right over left to form a simple knot, the longer length on top is fanned out as much as possible and then tucked under the waistcoat, or inside the shirt. Here a broach can be pinned if the occasion calls for it.”

Rachel raised an eyebrow as the explanation went on, her face a silent grimace, “I’ll get you something easier to tie later.” she promised.

Rachel cooed at Edward while she pinned his clothes in place. He was wearing a big bow around his neck and looked like a kitten on christmas!

He seemed more receptive to praise than Hyde usually was, with blushing cheeks and a blessed lack of curse words, but he was still acting oddly quiet. Keeping his eyes down and shuffling his feet.

She sorted through all her boxes and drawers and thankfully managed to find a red that matched Henry’s vest. He seemed unhappy to be messed with again but Rachel didn’t fuss nearly as long as Lanyon did, tying the bow and backing off quickly.

Looking at the them it was true, Edward’s clothes didn’t fit him. But it was on purpose, thank you very much!

When making the notes for the clothes, Rachel had made sure to leave some wriggle room for Edward to grow in to. He was concerningly light whenever she lifted him. Almost malnourished…

She’d suspected for a while now that Edward was a gentleman, but some part of his orphan upbringing must have been true if this was what he had looked like as a child.

Oh, she could just cry at the thought of what his life must have been like before he met her! No matter. Rachel was here now and would make sure he got all the food he wanted! She’d make sure to swaddle him in the softest blankets and give him lots of hugs! He’d never have to go through life on the streets again!

When she finished folding his sleeve in place with more pins, he gently pulled his arm back and wrapped it around himself.

“...Miss Rachel?”

“Hm?” She looked at him. He shifted, not looking back.

“I don’t think I want my name to be Henry anymore.”

Rachel blinked, a heavy feeling settled in her chest. “Is this because of what Frankenstein said yesterday?”

He nodded.

She sighed, “Alright, if that's what it takes to get you to stop copying Henry I’ll take it; but mark my words that old bat is a loon who wouldn't know decency if it bit her. She’s not even a real doctor!”

She turned to glance at Henry, who was watching them silently. Neither of them seemed to take her word for it.

It made sense, Frankenstein was their hero, their inspiration, her opinion was everything to the two. Meanwhile Rachel was some girl they’d just met.

Hyde had trusted her. He joked about not needing anyone but he always took her advice when it mattered. The kind of closeness and trust that came from knowing someone for so long, only, this Hyde didn't remember any of that.

Well, that just meant she’d have to remind him! She wasn’t going to lose Hyde too, there had to be a solution to this! She just had to keep hope. Right?

If they couldn’t get their memories back they’d just make new ones! Even if she couldn't cheer them up right now, she knew someone who always could!

She clapped her hands, startling the two.

“Alright, no more moping about! I know what you need, we're gonna go meet someone!”

The two look up at her, eyes shy and frowns evident. Hm, they’d probably be wary of meeting anyone after Frankenstein… good thing there was no way this could possibly go wrong!

The woman- Rachel, confidently led them in random directions, peeking into random rooms and even closets. Henry stayed close to her, hiding in her skirt whenever they passed some of the lodgers. They were nice to him yesterday, but he didn’t feel much like talking right now.

Fortunately Rachel didn’t stop to chat much, only pausing to ask Miss Lavender if she’d seen whoever they were looking for.

Henry and 'Edward’ followed along quietly.

He didn't blame him for not wanting to be Henry anymore. He didn't want to be Henry anymore either. He wished they never came here and met Miss Frankenstein.

Was he really so bad as an adult? Such a bad scientist that THE Frankenstein was so mad at him? He didn’t want her to be mad at him! He wanted to be friends!

It wasn’t fair. He quietly rubbed his sleeve against his eyes.

The room they were in now seemed like a large library. It was pretty, tall shelves, taller than him or Rachel, with big windows, the books had leather covers and shiny titles. Though many seemed to be out of place or upside down. A few even had burn marks on them! Almost all of them had several bookmarks or different sized pages added in.

He ran a hand over the covers he could reach, He wondered if the librarians were mad about it.

They got to a small clearing with less shelves and a few tables, and an exit past them. Rachel headed towards it to keep on the trek when something entered.

“IS THAT A DOG???” Edwards squealed, making Henry jump.

Padding through the doorway on a walk of his own, was a small Scottish Terrier.

The woman perked up, “Ah, there you are! Here Zozi! Here boy!”

The pup raised its ears at hearing his name, and happily trotted towards them. It's insides were showing and some of its legs were all bones!

The boys instantly lost their frowns and got sparkles in their eyes to rival jewels.

They gasped, “Is- is that a church grim?!”

“Yup! Zozimos here is Dr. Jay's dog. And he's the goodest boy in the whole wide world!” Rachel grinned, mentally patting herself on the back.

Henry held his hand out like he did with stray cats he found, not daring to get closer and startle the dog. Edward doing the same.

Zozi trotted right up to the boys and sniffed their hands. Suddenly he perked and jumped around, bones clacking on tile. “ Arf! ”

The dog rubbed against their legs and wagged his tail excitedly as they began to pet him. Butting his head into their palms. They knelt down to pet the puppy, careful to avoid the holes. Both boys giggled as the dog slobbered on their faces, Zozi looking back and forth between the two, his tail wagging more every time.

“Awww wee dug!”

Rachel sighed in relief.

Everyone knew how much Jekyll loved his dog. He’d even mentioned to her once how the pup had helped him through a hard time in his life, if anyone could help him now it was Zozi.

And Zozimous loved him just as much, cuddling up to Jekyll and occasionally leaving him dead “gifts” the man had to dispose of but always seemed happy about.

What not many people knew is that he was rather fond of Hyde too.

On the nights it stormed too hard Rachel would refuse to let Hyde out of the building. Especially after the incident with Luckett on the society rooftop.

On those nights he spent his time pestering the lodgers and playing with Zozi. Chasing him, fetch, even helping him dig holes in Archer and Birds root vegetable beds.

She was almost surprised at how easily the church grim could pull out his more sensitive side. Openly cooing and cuddling with the small terrier on her kitchen counter.

“Of course! A fearsome hound of hell is the perfect companion to a madman like myself!” he cackled.

Said ‘fearsome hound’ yawned wide and buried his head back in the man's lap, who cooed again and went back to petting him.

“Yup, you're quite the pair.” she giggled.

Hyde nodded smugly, “I’m glad you’re seeing reason.”

“Do I really have a church grim as a dog when I'm grown up?” Henry asked, eyes glittering. His frown was long gone, replaced by a wide grin.

“Yup!” she grinned back, “If you want, I could tell you all about what you're like as an adult. You do lots of cool stuff, and you're a great doctor who helps people!”

“What about me? Do I do that too?” Edward asked, scratching behind Zozi’s ears.

“Er…” Well, it probably wouldn't be great to know he was a brawling alcoholic who no one had ever actually seen do his job.

“You're very… passionate, and fun! You go to parties all the time!”

He looked up at her, wide eyed and jaw dropped.

“Do… I have friends?”

Henry looked up at her too, eager for an answer.

Her heart melted. “Of course, you both have lots of friends. In fact, you’ve already met some of them! Remember the lodgers? I’m sure they have tons of stories to tell you.”

She paused, “If you're up to it we can go ask them now.”

The boys looked at each other, still ruffling Zozi’s fur. Slowly they turned back to Rachel and nodded.

Oh how I love my beloved Zozi!!! I have drafts for like three different fics with Zozi in them but I've only gotten this one finished just now ToT

The video I used for the cravat explanation is How To Tie and Make a Regency Cravat; 5 Different Knots by Pinsent Tailoring!

[leonenjoyer69]

hiiiiiii i demand you drop everything you have on Elias like uh this instant (he’s so silly i love him ahajajsbdbsha)

KGKEKGKEK FIGHTER YOU'RE OBVIOUSLY TRYNA KILL ME, SENDING ME THIS ASK RIGHT AFTER DRAWING HIM 🫵 MY AUTISTIC ASS CAN'T TAKE ALL THIS POSITIVE ATTENTION, I'M GONNA SHAKE YOU!!!! JSKVKDKVK YOU'RE SO COOL!! FIGHTER WHEN I GET YOU, WHEN I GET YOU FIGHTER--

BUT, Since you asked so nicely I suppose I can deliver 🤭, lucky for y'all, @dustmint and I had an awesome discussion on Elias in the Mindscape (primarily on Mind Jekyll, hehe), all stemming from a drawing y'all will probably get to see quite soon (is this one :33). Once again, these are all messages from discord, so I'm sorry if the formating is weird but I really don't know how else to scribe these 😭 Mints messages are the indented green ones, and mine are the orange :3

(FIRST THO, Mint and I also came up with the ship names DayBreak (Jekyll and Elias) and NightFall (Hyde and Elias) bc we were feeling a little silly teehee (TYSM MINT FOR SUGGESTING SHIP NAMES ILY!!) but, also ofc there's Hydas (kinda reminds me of Midas, which I think is cute since they're both blond) and,,,, most the ones for Jekyll don't really flow as well, but Jekyias is pretty good :3)

Anyways, onto the discussion:

does a Mind Hyde exist in Lanyon's mindscape?? Or does Mind Jekyll just has some like characteristics that make him look a bit like Hyde 👁👁??

I think Mind Jekyll would just have some odd/intensified characteristics from Hyde. since Lanyon was able to see bits of Jekyll in Hyde before he even knew of the split, I think his mind would very quickly just connect Hyde back to Jekyll and skew his perception of Jekyll. Plus, I just don't think Hyde by himself has made enough of an impact on Lanyons life that he would get his own mind person, Lanyon barely knew anything about him and everything he learned about Hyde just kinda fed him more on Jekyll, and that's who he actually cares about. (Sorry if any of that is confusing jekvkksf english is hard rn) but!!! Mind Jekyll, right? Yeah, he would probably dislike Elias, Just like how Mind Lanyon dislikes Hyde. Mind Jekyll would probably think he's helping Lanyon (especially with how much *Lanyon* dislikes Elias) by either getting rid of (or at least keeping control of) Elias in the mindscape

Oooo, yeah, I think I understand :0 (dw! I understand that) Also, poor Elias, he already has some doubt about the real Jekyll liking him, and the Mind version of him just dislikes him 😭 would Mind Jekyll ever try to get rid of Elias in a similar way to what Mind Lanyon did? (Trying to cut off Elias's head) Also, how would Elias feel about Mind Jekyll disliking him and stuff?? ((Also, maybe Mind Jekyll tries to lock Elias in the mindscape or something like that 👁👁??)

.. I may be listening to Chonnys Charming Chaos Compendium in order, which *may* be swaying my ideas a bit, but I think Mind Jekyll would kinda play "nice" for a bit mayhaps? Like, he certainly doesn't act like he likes Elias, more so making it obvious that he just begrudgingly tolerates Elias's presence. As it goes on for a bit tho, Mind Jekyll would probably start getting worse, being much more open about his dislike and actively trying to lock Elias away in sections or rooms of the mindscape (maybe sometimes even with/near one of Lanyons stray nightmares?)

Elias has a *very* complex view of mind Jekyll, bc on one hand, it's *mostly* kinda the guy he loves, plus, having to deal with Mind Jekylls hatred is still better than going crazy all by himself in silence (at least at first). On the other hand, Mind Jekyll does hate him quite strongly and hurts his feelings quite often, making Elias even more likely to spiral. Mind Jekyll is probably one of the main reasons Elias absolutely detests the mindscape. Elias has certainly left the mindscape absolutely hysterical a good few times, going straight to Lanyon, because even *he's* better than having to deal with everything in the mindscape (when he's not simply forced into the mindscape and kinda trapped for a bit, of course. He basically stops going in willingly after a couple of Mind Jekylls schemes (and perhaps meeting his dad, or seeing the ballroom?))

👁👁👁👁 ~~Elias is really going through stuff, damn–~~ Imagine if maybe Elias only ever saw the ballroom but like very vaguely, from the corner of his eye sometimes, and just decided "I'm never going there" because it just gives him some bad vibes and stuff, and just, Mind Jekyll locks him/forces him to go there, and it's Elias just wanting to go away the whole time, not having a fun time while Mind Jekyll is just refusing to let him leave, dragging him by the hand and stuff– ~~(I'm sorry but I can't help but imagine maybe Elias telling what happened to Lanyon later, and Lanyon just like: "😨😰")~~

VJKDJVKEK OMFG YOU'RE A GENIUS, MIND JEKYLL FORCES HIM IN THERE AND HOLDS HIM IN A WALTZ AROUND THE ROOM, BUMPING INTO ALL THESE FACELESS PEOPLE AS THEIR SENSELESS CHATTER GROWS LOUDER AND LOUDER, GRATING ON ELIAS'S EARS AND SENDING HIM INTO A PANIC BC HE CAN FEEL THE HATRED COMING OFF OF ALL OF THEM JSJVKDKVK, ALL WHILE MIND JEKYLL HAS HIM IN A VICE GRIP, PROBABLY BEING THE ONE TO START ALL THE MURMURING THOUGHTS IN ELIAS'S HEAD-- Whoopsie my fanfic writing spirit took over 🤭🤭

OWHROWHDOWHDK 👁👁 Maybe Mind Jekyll is like first sort of talking to the faceless people, maybe flirting with some of them, while Elias is just awkwardly standing behind him, feeling very out of place, and at one point he just decides he's had enough of this, and tells Mind Jekyll that he wants to go, he wants to leave. And Mind Jekyll sort of teases him with an overly sweet tone, and says something how they can't leave just yet, to at least let him have a waltz before that and then them just waltzing and stuff. And maybe at one side it just feels very nostalgic because it makes him think of back when ~~he~~ Lanyon and Jekyll had their affair, or when Lanyon was teaching Jekyll hoe to waltz. But those memories keep getting drowned out by everything else that's going on. AND WHAT IF ELIAS FEELS AS IF THE TICKING OF THE CLOCK IS GROWING LOUDER AS WELL AND ADDING ONTO EVERYTHING ELSE, AND MIND JEKYLL JUST KEEPS TAUNTING HIM BUT AT THAT POINT ELIAS CAN'T DISTINGUISH WHETHER IF ALL THOSE THINGS ARE HIS THOUGHTS OR WHAT SOMEONE ELSE IS SAYING. And then after somehow getting away from that ((and probably having a breakdown)) he just decides that he's never coming back there, and that he refuses to ever go into his mindscape ever since, and that he'll stay outside even if he or Lanyon are sick of each other because anything is better than that?? (Also, what if at one point they just. Lock him somewhere nearby the ballroom, and so Elias can still hear what's going on out there but he's locked and can't do anything except try to get out and listen to everything going on, and maybe he eventually gets out just because Lanyon drank the potion??)

LITERALLY READING ALL THIS AND GIGGLING OMFG IT'S PERFECT JDJVKEJKF YOU'RE A GENIUS ILYSM!!!! I MIGHT HAVE TO GRAB THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE BY THE THROAT AND BEAT IT INTO SUBMISSION BC OMFG I NEED TO WRITE SOMETHING LIKE THAT SO BAD NOW. AND JSKVKDKVKFK UGHHHH THINKING ABOUT HOW LANYON WOULD MAYBE REACT TO ELIAS FREAKING TF OUT OVER WHAT HAPPENED IN THE MINDSCAPE AND HAVING A FULL MELTDOWN. AT FIRST LANYON WOULD PROBABLY DEGRADE HIM FOR OVERREACTING AND BEING AS OVERLY EMOTIONAL AS USUAL UNTIL HE EVENTUALLY SEES HOW BAD IT TRULY SEEMS TO BE AFFECTING ELIAS AND HE ACTUALLY STARTS FEELING BAD KSKVKDKF

PQBDOQHDQODB, IMAGINE IF MAYBE IF THE REASON WHY HE WENT OUT OF THE MINDSCAPE WAS BECAUSE OF LANYON TAKING THE POTION. IMAGINE JEKYLL WAS WITH HIM, AND ELIAS JUST SORT OF GETS SCARED AT SEEING HIM CAUSE HE CONFUSES HIM FOR MIND JEKYLL FOR A SECOND, AND LIKE FLINCHES AND TELLS HIM TO LEAVE HIM ALONE AND GET AWAY FROM HIM MAYBE?? But also, Lanyon degrading him just making his meltdown worse, and then just Lanyon maybe eventually trying to help him?? ~~(also, what if at one point Elias just, for some reason *has* to go into his mindscape, and runs into Mind Jekyll after what happened at the ballroom)~~

OMG, JEKYLL WOULD *NOT* KNOW WHAT TO DO IF ELIAS HAD A BREAK DOWN IN FRONT OF HIM, *ESPECIALLY* IF IT WAS ACCIDENTALLY TRIGGERED BY HIM KDCKKFKEKD

BONUS POINTS!! Elias ends up running off to get away from Jekyll and Jekyll genuinely has no damn clue what to do and just sorta stands there super awkwardly for a while before looking for him. In that time, Elias has already hidden himself away somewhere, now stuck with just Lanyon as he absolutely melts down, drowning Lanyons words out with babbled explanations and questions and apologies. Eventually, Lanyon *does* in fact start feeling kinda bad and awkward and actually starts helping the best he can

If Elias gets forced into the mindscape after the ballroom fiasco he would definitely tread the mindscape more carefully. He'd probably hide in rooms and such, deciding that the loneliness was better than dealing with all of that (or something worse) again, and if he does come across mind Jekyll, he'd probably try to run off and hide, or at least try to lose him.

_______

Mmmm, Elias angst 🤭🤭 also!! Mind Jekyll would probably also be a poison enjoyer. I feel like Lanyon would be slightly scared of real Jekylls poison cabinet, bc why tf does that man need so many poisons, and have an underlying fear of taking any sort of potion from Jekyll. That's also probably intensified after he, ya know, takes one that splits him in two? But yeah, Mind Jekyll definitely encompasses that, lmao

But yeah, Elias does NOT get to have fun in the Mindscape. But hey, at least his clothes are comfy! And when he's in shadow/mirror form, he usually can't hear the pocket watch ticking, unless he's alone.

Additionally!!! I have a playlist for Elias, which if anyone wants to check out, is here. (It does have some unplayable songs tho, which is very sad bc I feel like they're the most accurate for him jekvkdk but!! I offer thee the links to listen to them on YouTube 😌 --- Love Psalm, Hole in the Sky, and Hell Frozen Rain)

ANYWAYS JDKVKKD THANK YOU FOR THE ASK FIGHTER ‼️‼️‼️ I'M GONNA GET YOU, YOU BETTER COUNT YOUR DAYS 😇😇 <3333

[currently-tired]

guys, i have been so insane about convergent evolution lately. (my ‘Lanyon takes Henry’s theory of duality a bit too seriously….’ tgs au)

wild. foaming at the mouth.

They meet! But they don’t know it’s each other! They fuck, and don’t know it’s each other!!! A relationship forms slowly... but they’re still torn over the person they loved, and continue to love so deeply. (They don’t know!!!!!)

Imagine this;

Hyde sees an oddly familiar, but incredibly handsome man. (He’s so damn familiar, for some strange reason, but they can’t remember where they saw him from…)

He glosses over that profound familiarity and goes over to proposition him.

(They’ve seen so many people in both bodies. Rich and poor. It’d be unusual if they didn’t recognize at least one someone in a room…)

Lanyon is trying to drown out thoughts of Jekyll in his other body. Hopefully while drunk, and roughly fucking his thoughts away.

The face of the man in front of them is familiar to him, yes, despite never meeting them before... (How unusual, for a person who is unique in appearance.)

To sate his curiosity, he lets the man flirt with him. Lets him drape himself over him, rest a hand suggestively on his thigh, and whisper in his ear.

Lanyon sees hints of Jekyll in that man. The Scottish accent [dulled by years in London, but still prevalent], and the fiery passion in his eyes.

Other smaller things. The way he sat down, leg crossed over leg. Something about his smile. The way he tilted his head…

That unshakeable confidence in his posture, even as he begged Lanyon to do filthy things to him.

(The features that were different, such as sharp claws and teeth, an insane glint to their eyes, and a high and raspy, almost shrieking voice, more of an exciting draw, then a downfall.)

Why not? He seemed so eager anyway…

It’d just be a one night stand. They’d never see each other again.

He’d never be faced with that man who was oh so much like Henry ever again.

So why the hell not?

…

[…They saw each other again, and again.]

They both bump into each other at the bar again. Stare at each other awkwardly, before drawing closer and closer, towards each other... (It’s still two strangers fucking. Nothing else. Nothing more, they assure themselves…)

Both happen to visit Blackfog on the same day. Happen to visit the same stall. A conversation is struck up and they rant about chemicals and alchemy (A relatively new interest of Lanyon’s, developed entirely by his interest in developing the potion, and a longstanding obsession of Jekyll’s), before ducking into an empty alleyway…

Time and time again, they find each other. Spend time with each other.

They become fast friends. They enjoyed each others company, the easy, effortless friendship, with a familiar dynamic that they slot into. (…Almost as if they had already known each other.)

And so, eventually they both begin to deliberately seek each other out.

Regular meetings at the bar, same table every single time.

Hyde shows him how to scale a building. Which foot-holes are too small, how to angle his foot, and which windowsills would support weight.

Snarky, and witty jokes, and friendly conversations are exchanged. (And for Hyde’s part, crude jokes, that always had a hint of intelligence underneath them; a glimpse of another side of the person Lanyon had initially only considered to be a hedonist...)

Lanyon showed them a cynical view of the world. Bitter, and dry, but when motivated or interested, passionate and opinionated.

And Hyde showed him his world. The joy and passion he had for everything in life. All the stupid shit they did, with absolutely no fear of pain or death

(If only they were like this full time! They’d grouse to themself. How nice would life be for them if Henry Jekyll wasn’t so damn numb, and sad!-)

As time goes on, they grow closer, and closer…

Hyde turns down invitation after invitation from perfectly handsome people because ‘Oh, he said he be here in… Ten minutes, sorry.” (Words said completely unapologetically, as they tucked away their watch.)

Lanyon drops a gala, because Hyde wanted to go to the park and catch rats for a rat census, and requested his help. (And if the two of them stayed just a little longer than intended, doing things they probably shouldn’t of, who cared?)

A one night stand evolves into some sort of shaky, undefined relationship.

Hyde starts to bring the man he doesn’t know is Lanyon chocolates and flowers. Other little presents and gifts. (He loved wine. And Jekyll’s own cellar would not miss a fine vintage…)

They start actively craving attention and love from him. (Something they had sworn against, after their heart break tore them apart…)

Jekyll ends up sitting in their office doing paperwork, bored or tired or angry, and imagining what HE would do if he was there. (Sometimes Lanyon, with his biting snarky comments, and sometimes that intense man, with a tease on his lips that always made his heart race…)

At a gala alone, wishing he had someone by his side. (But which someone..?)

Then he stuff the thought away in the corner of his mind, in favor of joining a conversation he prayed was interesting enough to draw this thoughts away completely…

Lanyon starts to look forward to the evenings. He strokes their hair tenderly, runs a hand up their naked spine. (No longer just rough touches, that they begged him for…

Soft fleeting things, that they never requested, but always accepted happily. Sometimes even with a purr.)

Alchemical books carried around all night, taken out of Lanyon’s bag and shoved forcefully into their arms, before he ran off back home for the night.

Their face, surprised at first, and then joyful and pleased when they saw what it was, burned into Lanyon’s retinas, and memory…

(Wait… Since when did seeing Edward happy make Lanyon so happy?..)

Both, a second away from whispering a certain four letter word, before choking it back…

Then, they both realize it’s gone too far. It’s no longer just a one night stand!-

(But none of them want it to stop…)

And Lanyon has to admit to himself that he’s falling for someone again, even through those thick walls he put up. And he also has to admit that their similarities to Jekyll are not the only reason he’s pursuing them. (…Or are they? Was Eddy just a replacement for Jekyll? They were so similar. But so different at the same time.

Which was it?-)

Hyde has to consider that their policy of being completely emotionally detached relationships is being challenged.

(Just one more time. There’s no emotions. Just good sex. I don’t care about him. He doesn’t care about me. It can’t be that bad! I would never let it get that bad!-)

Other times, they scream at the top of their lungs, and break things. How dare their heart betray them like this!-

HOW DARE IT MAKE THEM LOVE AGAIN!-

As Jekyll they sigh, and wonder if it is unfair. A betrayal, to love two people at once. (Both to themself, and to them…)

Could he truly devote himself to one now? Which?!-

(They did not have an answer for himself…)

Both shake, and lie awake at night, wondering, pondering. (Should I break it off? Should it keep going?

…How did I let this happen?)

But they’re both in far too deep to quit without broken hearts and pain…

And they don’t want to anyway.

[aemiron-main]

You Have To Be Your Dad: Will and TFS Brenner vs In-Show Lonnie

So, this post about Will being Brenner was originally a joke post (like it wasnt actually a TFS spoiler, i hadnt even seen TFS at that point) based on Will and Brenner’s similar hair colour + “Williams” being on the Creel clock. But after seeing TFS and all of the parallels/connection between Will vs Brenner Dr and Brenner Jr, I can definitely say that Apollo’s dodgeball whacked be directly in the face after making that joke post & seeing TFS.

And so, today, I want to talk about all of the connections between Will and the Brenners, PLUS the connections between Brenner (specifically TFS Brenner) and Lonnie.

So, before digging into the rest of this post, here’s a list of some of the parallels and connections betwen Will and the Brenners:

Stupid Girl

In this post, I talked about the Brenner-Will parallel where Brenner and Henry parallel the S3 Byler rain fight & Brenner has a “stupid girl” like just like Will’s S3 “stupid girl” line.

Project Rainbow Poster vs Will’s Flaying

I talked in this post about the visual parallels between the Project Rainbow poster (which is the project that Brenner Sr was part of & the project that kicked off Brenner Jr’s career) vs Will’s flaying.

Sweet William On His Deathbed vs Brenner Sr On His Deathbed

I talked in this post about the “sweet William on his deathbed,” line from The Ballad of Barbara Allen (which is part of The Dark of the Moon which is the play within a play in TFS) versus Brenner Sr literally being shown on his deathbed in TFS

The Eldridge, Project Rainbow and Will’s Rainbow Ship

James talked here about The Eldridge being the Project Rainbow ship versus Will drawing a rainbow ship.

And so now, let’s talk about Lonnie. TFS Lonnie really isnt the same as in-show Lonnie. Basically all of TFS Lonnie’s scenes are played for laughs, and while he does argue with Joyce, he’s not nearly as cruel/aggressive as we see in-show.

But y’know who really does reminds me of in-show Lonnie?

TFS Brenner does. He’s got that aggressive, intimidating, snarky attitude that in-show Lonnie has, and he also has the whole Jekyll and Hyde/cruel one second & nice the next thing going on that in-show Lonnie has (like how he goes from comforting Joyce on the couch to screaming at her when she finds out about him being in it for the money).

TFS Brenner’s even got the same sort of scruffy, unshaven look that Lonnie has, PLUS the visual parallels between the Lonnie-Joyce fight vs the Brenner-Henry fight:

And like I talked about in this post, he’s also got a dialogue parallel to Lonnie, where Lonnie says “you need me here, Joyce,” versus TFS Brenner saying “he needs me, not you, me” regarding Henry needing him:

And there’s a line from Alan Munson in tfs about “you have to be your dad”:

Which, that line brings us to Will- we’ve got all of the Will-Brenner stuff, but then we’ve also got the Lonnie-Brenner stuff PLUS the line about “being your dad”- which means that Will would “be” Lonnie. Lonnie, the guy with all these Brenner parallels.

Plus the whole “be your dad” thing vs TFS Brenner behaving differently than in-show Brenner and a.) behaving seemingly more like Brenner Sr/“being his dad” but also b.) behaving like Lonnie. Which means that Brenner Sr and Lonnie behaved in basically the same way- which means that Will and Brenner Jr have the “same dad” when it comes to these parallels/their dads’ behaviour is the same… which would make sense if Will and Brenner are somehow the same person

Long story short: what the hell is going on? Why is Will basically Brenner??? Why are they so connected??