#Paper Relics

[trevlad-sounds]

Sleep Space 2

19.08.2024

Sleep Spaces

Hey everyone,

A series of ambient mixes designed to help you unwind and drift off into a peaceful sleep. As someone who struggles with sleep deprivation, I know firsthand the power of ambient music to create a calming atmosphere.

I’ve curated a collection of what I believe are particularly positive and soothing ambient pieces, weaving them together into roughly two-hour mixes. The goal is to provide a consistent and relaxing soundscape to help you relax and prepare for a good night’s sleep.

Sweet dreams! Trevor

Sleep Space 1

Ishqmatics-Aqua Dub 00:00 Luke Sanger-Monday Misfit 11:08 David Cordero, Rhucle-Beyond the Horizon 15:52 Thrupence-The Difference (Original by Flume & Toro y Moi) 19:18 Sam Rosenthal-leading to the edge 25:38 Go Outside-not far away 26:39 Dark Fidelity Hi Fi-Outcodes 29:29 Christopher Willits, East Forest-Tunnels – East Forest Remix 31:17 anthéne-monochrome (awakened souls rework) 35:06 JB Dunckel-Égérie 38:53 From Overseas, zakè, Chihei Hatakeyama, Hakobune-Live Improvisation II – Live 41:53 Lesjamusic-Lesjamusic is Lost 1:02:32 Kenneth James Gibson-The Art Of Forgetting Yourself – Awakened Souls Remix 1:06:08 Giulio Stermieri-Wide Plain, Desolate Place 1:09:52 Ann Annie-Cottonwood 1:15:39 Paperbark-Faint Roads 1:17:40 Ed Herbers-Cruising Altitude 1:23:35 The Green Kingdom-Arcadian Skies 1:29:59 Tim Linghaus-Poplars In Your Eyeball 1:34:17 The Green Kingdom-Softly Away 1:37:06 No Death, Rhucle-Twilight Mood 1:41:09

Sleep Space 2 synkrotron-Pallas 00:00 Socool & Ireless-Ground 09:50 Francesca Heart-Circular Motion of the Nine Muses 11:58 Paul Cousins-Improvisation for 3 Tape Loops 15:32 Binaural Space-Use Your Illusion 30:20 Garden Gate-The Overground Church 35:19 Francesca Heart-Angelsummit.net 36:50 Time Rival-Pumice 41:36 Rhucle-Holy 46:08 Maps and Diagrams-An8kh 48:35 Lionmilk, Club Diego-Delagation of Delights 49:55 Willebrant-Sands l (New Light) 56:00 Viul-Eighties 59:03 Paper Relics-I Know The Way 1:01:05 Chris Russell-Forever In Blue 1:04:07 Paperbark-Antique Correspondence 1:13:00 Mark Ellery Griffiths-I sailed to meet her 1:19:57 Multi-Surface-Wrinkled Smile 1:22:58 Bvdub, Inquiri-Please Let Go and Let Me Hold You 1:25:40 Letters from Mouse-Piglet 1:44:45

[fuckyeahchinesefashion]

cnetizens post souvenir they got at various chinese museums

these are all fridge stickers

[britishchick09]

the ultimate ag historicals lineup! (as it should be!) :D

(shoutout to @bohemian-rhapsody-in-blue, whose tags reminded me to make an updated version with courtney, claudie and isabel & nicki! and here's how the lineup looks in modern ag books)

[carkeyarts]

manna of the wyrm

(inspired by this post by @mebis-art-dump!! bc it got me thinking abt the wyrm carcass)

[reestallized]

Day 4: battle / alternate universe

Mystery Dungeon real!?!?!? BRITISH PEOPLE!?!?

[fragmentedblade]

I can't believe they made Blade ask with a broken voice why is it only abominations that come back over and over again. Blade, who can't die, who comes back to life again and again

[christineshanshanhou]

caress | 07.23.24

[elytrafemme]

having fond memories of when me and my best friend took a walk and we just started like. discussing platonic/socratic philosophy. like idk if this is a Gay Person activity but there's something about meandering back and forth from a CVS listening to your buddy talk about Alcibiades

[medievalnun]

I just need people to see these guys

[go-learn-esperanto]

Praying every day Staff forgets the music player exists so they never change it.

[heleneplays]

once again the blorbos in fluffy pocket love universe are out there being so wonderfully in character

[trevlad-sounds]

Sleep Space 12

28.10.2024

Wodwo-Night Windows 00:00 Volker Rapp-Out of Memory 03:51 UNKNOWN ME-mercury seven 04:43 BVSMV-Other Landscapes 08:53 Viul-Tensing 13:02 Haruhisa Tanaka-Dusk 14:32 Suncastle-Hilaboa 17:31 Louis Cole-nothing 22:20 Paper Relics-Here Before 25:25 Paul Cousins-Light Leaks 29:25 Polaroid Notes-Lunar Melancholy 32:30 Steve Hillage-Four Ever Rainbow 34:49 Dylan Henner-Music Box 54:34 Slow Dancing Society-Time Won’t Forget What You Meant to Me 1:00:31 Kilometre Club-In Real Life? 1:09:26 Ed Herbers-Fragile Beauty 1:12:39 Coral Morphologic, Nick León-Deep Call 1:18:20 sea + i-tone alone 1:24:51 Henrik Meierkord, Pawel Kobak, Marco Lucchi, Rocco Saviano-Peace Within 1:31:16 Xu & Francis Gri-Ghost Hills 1:35:50 IDRA-Glimpses 1:41:47 Mardit B. Lleshi-Pedantephone 1:46:58 morimoto naoki-nary 1:53:59

[emacrow]

Tim whom is still banned from caffeine went into looking into other ways to get caffeine.

He went into anonymous source from someone name KingTuck4ever who talk about a energy drink that kept him up for weeks during a critical time of his life and Tim was at this point of desperate to spend any time of money he got.

Later that night, he received 6 very large Dark green boxes with a DP logo on it filled with Lightening Green tall soda cans with the name Ecto-Spark!, ingredients tags on the back, made with organic vegan products, DO NOT NEAR MEAT RELATED PRODUCTS, guaranteed to keep you caffeine deprived souls awake and alive enough to enjoy a night afterlife party! Or your money back.

Tim at the point didn't read the back as he pop open the top, smelling a strong scent of caffeine, carbonated bubble and a taste of lemon lime mixed with a tang flavor that had his mouth drowning nearly in drool.

He took only one experimental sip, before his eyes widen instantly and immediately began chugging the soda can for all the liquid caffeine it had inside. This was 1000 times better then Death Coffee Cup from his favorite Cafe that he was still banned from.

It felt like his whole body got electrified with energy and feel like he can run a whole 4 week marathon without breaking a sweat. This drink was like tasting nirvana after a week of being in a Gobi desert for his fucking soul.

.....

.....

.....

Bruce can never know about this. He can't tell anyone about this drink. Not Damian, Not dick, not step, maybe Jason, but Cass can kept a secret since she knew body language. He might possibly go rogue and kill Bruce himself if Bruce tried to take this from him.

Meanwhile Tucker was amazed of the total amount of money he received from the anonymous Caffine obsessed ghost. Usually he ended up receiving old relics, Egyptian related artifacts, gold coins, etc but this is a first he got actually modern day money.

Poor dude must've been recently form a core to spend that much money. Good thing he had send extra since he know how crazy those caffine-obsessed ghosts can be over the new drink he made specifically for himself, Sam and Danny but it's nice to have extra cash for new tech making. Especially since Danny became high king of the ghost zone when he became 20 year old, and the amount of paper works that had been left for dust collecting could filled a planet to the very brim.

Took him, Sam, Danny, Ghost writer and Techno 5 months to fully turn at least 26% of sacrifical gifts from ritual, contracts, conquests, complains from territorial ghosts about humans taking their land/house/property/or about their murder, help hundreds of ghosts stuck in their personal hell of a limbo of their own death, guy name Constantine whom was rapidly becoming a pain in Tucker's ass especially when he got one contract form his former previous life about this guy.

[yanderenightmare]

All For One

TW: nsfw, noncon, yandere, captive reader, mind deterioration

fem reader

All For One has a habit of subjugating you for his own pleasure. 

It’s a game he likes to play—quite like chess, only… you start off with a single pawn, and you don’t know any of the rules. And he’s been world champion ten years in a row. And he plays dirty.

Tonight, he’s dressed you up in a costume. Not any old Halloween costume, but a slutty one. Not a playboy bunny or a maid, nor a schoolgirl—this was worse—a sleazy rendition of your old hero uniform.

You’d barely recognized the faintly familiar design when he first laid it out on the bed for you. Silly and naïve, you thought his games of derision would end when you finally offered your submission, but that was a fool’s thought. What fun were you if not proof of his undying victory—a reminder, a trophy, a relic?

It’s beyond degrading. Tight and revealing. Less than an actual costume, it was more something one would wear in the bedroom, cosplaying for some fantasy starring an overly sexualized you. Only God knows where he’d gotten it from.

Your steel armor, once with the dignity of a knight, had instead been swapped out for a silly silver bikini—the shimmery fabric tacky and cheap, allowing your nipples to peak forth. Covering it was a top and a skirt made up of silver chains, which only further mocked the appearance of chainmail—looking more like the jewelry a stripper might wear.

He’d forgone your helmet, boots, and sword entirely. Truly, if it weren’t for the detailing of the pattern making the fabric vaguely resemble plated armor, it wouldn’t have been much different from any other set of lingerie.

And still, it’s just similar enough to make it sting.

“Look at you...” he jeers, his voice sodden with taunt—carmine stare faded and gleeful, thoroughly enjoying it. “What a sight for sore eyes.”

He stands behind you in the mirror, holding you delicately by the hips, intimately close, dressed in another one of his black suits, fully clothed in devastating contrast to you. His smile curls as he roams your ill-covered body, kissed with the flush of chagrin, leering at you in the reflection—his voice slithering right by your ear.

“Though I can’t say I remember it being quite so revealing, can you?” he jokes, running his hands up and down your waist, fiddling some with the intricacies—metal daintily clinking and clangoring. “No, there’s something else that’s different...”

You feel so humiliated, so small—as if he could hold you up by the scruff of your neck with ease. It isn’t just a feeling—you’re well aware that he most likely could.

“Why yes, of course…” he hums with delayed realization—you know he’s faking for anticipation, chittering while wrapping his thick arms around your tiny midsection, giving you a firm squeeze. “You’ve lost all muscle.”

It’s a painful truth. You don’t know how many months it’s been. Perhaps a year has passed already, maybe even more. He keeps you well aware of his triumph in the outside world, but time still eludes you.

You’d tried maintaining it in the beginning, even after he’d taken your quirk. You’d been vigilant, keeping up your workout regimens just as religiously as before. But you couldn’t pick what you ate, nor when—and he’d only feed you cake. It wasn’t long before all your hard-earned muscles had melted away like popsicle syrup off the stick, licked and lapped right up by the man holding you.

“Mmh, yes…” he murmurs gratingly while swaying you back against him, lips pressing against your ear. “And it’s left you oh-so-soft.”

His bulbous crotch slots against your upper ass, resting there as it grows fatter and warm—a sign of his enjoyment. The weight of him makes you feel all but paper-thin.

His voice rasps now. “If I were to give you your quirk back, I wager you wouldn’t even be able to use it anymore—it would sooner rip your poor limbs apart.”

It’s beyond cruel to suggest—as if disgracing your old costume wasn’t enough torment already. You bite your lip, gnaw it harshly—don’t cry, don’t cry, don’t let him see you cry.

“Isn’t that just fascinating?” He gives your earlobe a gentle bite, and the whimper in your throat springs free like prey out of hiding.

A sniffle shortly followed—along the dribble of the night’s very first tears. Your diminished spirit has made you all too prone to cry as if there’s nothing else for you to do but indulge in the small comfort it gives.

“Oh, sweetie—don’t weep over prowess long since lost. It was never enough to challenge me anyway,” he coos, as if consoling you—swaying your smaller brittle body back against his looming chest, a cage that seemed to swallow you whole.

Steering your jaw, he holds your face still before the mirror, unable to look away as the tears dribble down your sorry cheeks—he smears them further with a kiss.

“The world would chew you up as you are now, fragile like glass.” The grin curling his lips makes you resemble prey caught on a predator’s teeth—you can’t help but shiver at the sight of it. You wish he wouldn’t toy with you like food and just kill you already. “Mark my words, hero—the belly of the beast would not grant you as much comfort as I do.”

His other hand slips down to cup your mound—firmly, with a squeeze that has you curl yourself back against him as he presses two tough fingerpads into your clothed clit, rubbing it tightly enough to make your thighs shake.

“You’re better off like this,” he grunts, snickers at how your weak hands clutch the sleeve of his suit, curling the fabric in your palms until your knuckles whiten—watching the furrow further crease between your cinched brows as you try and bite back your pathetic little sounds even as more tears come tumbling down your swollen cheeks. “Mh, my pretty plaything.”

He makes you continue to look at yourself as he simply slides the panty to the side of your cunt. Encouraging you to place your hands flat against the mirror as he bends you forward, then to step back and stand atop his dress shoes.

“Don’t be shy now,” he makes sure to tell you. “You’re as light and negligible as a feather.”

He parts his feet and yours along with them, spreading your thighs enough to accommodate the fat heat he soon slides between them. Rigid and veiny, it competes with the size of your forearm—so thick that when he slaps it up against your slit, your knees buckle from the impact.

His chuckles rumble across your body like an earthquake. You only realize how much it makes you shake when he encloses your hip in his big hand, steadying you. Holding you still as he drags his engorged cockhead through your lips, catching your clit before resting on your entrance.

You’re so sore from prior nights—countless hours locked in this room with his visits the only thing keeping you company—everything has yet to forgive you for the wreckage those visits leave behind. Your sorry little puss rues and dreads another defeat now as he sinks inside the comfort of your battered walls, one unyielding inch at a time. 

You wince and tense, shoulders bracing, and yet he pushes deeper, sliding you down his shaft until you rest at the hilt of his base, kneading the tip into your gummy womb, giving it a deep kiss that bulges out from your poor belly.

The sight in the mirror is morbid, even more so than the feeling—the way he molds your insides to fit him, to cater and house his length and size. 

“Ah—just perfect, isn’t it, hero?” he purrs, chest resting heavily upon your spine while dwarfing both your hips in a firm grip, chin-stubble scraping along your neck as his voice comes out hot against your ear, “Obedience suits you so well, don’t you agree?”

Your knees buckle once he starts the heavy pace—slowly pounding into you from behind, dragging out and pushing deep in womb-robbing thrusts. You pant from the toll of it, feeling your muscles give—too tired and too broken to continue acting tough. He’s the only reason you’re left upright on your feet—keeping you standing with just his hold on your haunches. It seems like nothing to him, though it feels like the weight of the world to you.

“It’s only a shame it had to come with all these scars.” He clicks his tongue, eyes raking across your body as it takes him, resting on each mark disrupting the otherwise milk-smooth skin. “If only you’d accepted your place sooner.”

The ember burning within you is all but a piece of cooling charcoal now. You feel it diminish every day, leaving you even thinner than before.

“But then again, I quite enjoy you like this—littered with my battle scars from your toes up to your crown. It’s rather intimate, isn’t it?” he hums with a smile. “Proof of all the times I could’ve quashed you beneath my foot like a pitiful bug but decided to spare you. Teach you how to worship like the weak ought to.”

There was a time when you still humored the thought of killing him, even with your quirk taken from you. You thought, in your foolishness, that being this close to him must garner an opportunity, any, however slim, just enough for you to take advantage and finish what you vowed to end so long ago.

Now, you almost don’t care anymore. The world had moved on without you, and there was nothing more you could do about it.

You realize your promise had been as cheap as this outfit.

“The greater the fall, the sweeter the surrender, isn’t that right?” he states. “Doesn’t it feel good to finally accept your place in the world, hero?”

You can only nod your head and agree.

♡ BOKU NO HERO ACADEMIA masterlist

[nhlclover]

SECRET SANTA QUINN HUGHES

— event masterlist !

pairing: fem!reader x quinn hughes

summary: during a christmas party, an unexpected gift rekindles a cherished memory and leads to a heartfelt confession under the quiet glow of city lights.

warnings: brief mention of a grandparent passing, brief mention of alcohol, fluff

wc: 1.28k

notes: piece number eight of my xmas event! this is the locket i'm describing if you're curious!

Twinkling string lights draped around the room bathed the annual Christmas party in a warm, golden glow. The gentle hum of festive music blended with bursts of laughter and the cheerful clinking of glasses. Everyone had packed into Ava's cozy living room, ready for the chaotic yet heartfelt tradition of the Secret Santa gift exchange. Beneath the tree, a colorful heap of wrapped presents sat in a kaleidoscope of glossy paper and hastily taped edges, waiting to be unwrapped.

You sat cross-legged on the carpet, a glass of white wine in your hand, excitedly watching your friends open their gifts, attempting to guess who their Santa was, even though you’d all agreed it would remain a secret. Once everyone else had gone, a single gift remained under the tree — a neatly wrapped box tied with a satin ribbon, bearing your name. As Ava handed you the small box, the room quieted, the lighthearted teasing momentarily replaced by the collective curiosity of a dozen eyes on you.

“Open it!” someone urged, teasing grins spreading around the circle.

You slid your finger beneath the ribbon and peeled back the paper, revealing a velvet jewelry box. A strange mixture of hope and disbelief twisted in your chest. As you flipped it open, your breath caught.

Inside was a delicate gold locket, its surface engraved with intricate filigree, identical to the one you’d lost a few years ago. You froze, the room and its noise fading into a distant blur.

Your hand trembled as you lifted the locket, the weight of it familiar, a bittersweet rush of memories washing over you. The locket your grandmother had given you, a relic of her love and warmth, had vanished when you’d moved to Vancouver. You’d mourned its loss quietly, never expecting to see it — or anything like it — again.

For a moment, you couldn’t speak. The voices around you blurred into a hum.

“Whoa,” someone said. “That’s… way over budget.”

“Whoever got you that wins Secret Santa for life.”

“Any guesses who it was?”

You didn’t answer. You didn’t need to. Your gaze instinctively sought Quinn across the room. He sat on a footstool, hunched over with his elbows on his knees, focusing intently on his glass. His usual easy confidence was missing as he avoided your eyes.

The party swirled on, but the locket sat heavy in your palm, its presence grounding you.

Later, after the gift exchange dissolved into the comfortable chaos of card games and too-loud music, you found Quinn on the balcony. He leaned against the railing, his breath misting in the cold air, the city lights sprawling endlessly behind him.

“Hey,” you said softly, stepping out and closing the door behind you.

He turned, a small smile tugging at his lips. “Hey. Escaping the madness?”

“Something like that.” You joined him, your shoulder brushing his lightly as you leaned on the railing.

The chill in the air pricked at your skin, but the warmth of the wine in your veins and the quiet tension between you and Quinn made the cold an afterthought. For a moment, neither of you spoke, the sounds of the city below blending with the muffled revelry inside.

“So,” you began, your voice breaking the silence, “You going home for the holidays?”

Quinn shook his head, keeping his gaze on the cityscape below. “Don’t have enough time this year. Petey’s invited me over for Christmas dinner though.”

“I’m sorry you can’t go home,” you said softly. “If it’s anything, I’m staying here too.”

“You want me to snag you an invite to Petey’s?” Quinn asked.

“You think you can get me into such an exclusive event?”

Quinn chuckled, his breath coming out in little clouds. “I’ll try and pull a few strings.”

A comfortable pause settled over the conversation before you shifted your weight, fiddling with the locket hanging around your neck. You’d put it on the moment you’d stepped away from the tree, unable to let it go. Its familiar weight felt like a piece of you had returned, something you hadn’t realized you missed so deeply.

“Thank you for the gift, by the way,” you said suddenly, turning to face him.

His brow furrowed. “Wasn’t me.”

“Oh, come on, Quinn.” You tilted your head, smiling as his protests faltered. “Don’t play coy. You’re the only one who’d know how much this means to me.”

He shrugged his shoulders, trying not to let on how much thought and effort he’d put into the gift. “It wasn’t a big deal,” he murmured, his ears tinged red despite his attempt to play it cool.

Your heart swelled as his modesty only confirmed what you already knew. “Not a big deal?” you echoed softly, lifting the locket between your fingers. “This is everything to me.”

Quinn's posture tensed, his fingers gripping the railing. You took a deep breath, the words slipping out before you could second-guess yourself. “You’re the only one who’d know about this. About what it meant when I lost it.”

Quinn’s gaze finally met yours, the vulnerability in his blue eyes mirroring the lump forming in your throat. A memory surfaced unbidden — a quiet night earlier this year, the two of you the last ones awake after a group get-together. You’d been sitting on the couch, feet tucked under you, Quinn on the floor in front of you. The conversation had turned uncharacteristically deep, buoyed by the late hour and the weight of unspoken things.

You’d confessed how your move to Vancouver hadn’t been all adventure and excitement, how you’d lost something irreplaceable in the chaos. Your grandmother’s locket, you’d told him, the one she’d clasped around your neck the summer before she passed. How losing it felt like losing her all over again. You hadn’t cried, but your voice had cracked in a way that was almost worse. Quinn had listened, his quiet presence a balm, though you’d never imagined he’d carry that moment with him.

You reached out, your hand gently resting on his bicep. “You’re the only one who cared enough to do this.”

The corner of Quinn’s mouth twitched like he was about to respond, but no words came. Instead, you leaned closer, emboldened by the weight of the moment, by the way the world seemed to narrow to just the two of you. “It was you,” you whispered, the space between you growing smaller, like gravity was pulling you together. “And it’s the sweetest thing anyone’s ever done for me.”

Quinn swallowed hard, his breath hitching as your lips hovered near his. You didn’t wait for him to close the gap — you did it yourself, pressing your mouth softly to his, the cold of the balcony disappearing in the warmth of the kiss.

He froze for a heartbeat before his hand came up, cupping your cheek, deepening the kiss just enough to make your chest ache. When you pulled back, breathless, his eyes searched yours, both of you caught in the glow of the moment. He laughed softly, shaking his head. “I guess I should’ve confessed a long time ago.”

“Confessed what?” you teased, though your heart raced, knowing exactly what he meant.

“That I like you. More than like you,” he admitted, his voice low, a vulnerability threading through his words.

Your grin widened, relief and happiness blooming in your chest. “Good,” you replied, brushing a hand against his cheek. “Because I’ve been waiting for you to say it.”

Inside, the party roared on, oblivious to the two of you standing beneath the soft glow of the balcony light. And as the city glittered below, Quinn pulled you close, his lips capturing yours again, as if to make up for every unspoken moment.

[contact-guy]

lol THIS ENDED UP BEING SO LONG but it's such a cute story opening that I had to draw Watson roasting Holmes's messiness for the newspaper and Holmes skillfully maneuvering his way out of having to do chores. It's all canon, even the indoor sharpshooting, except for the bit about the cold bath.

canon text under the cut:

An anomaly which often struck me in the character of my friend Sherlock Holmes was that, although in his methods of thought he was the neatest and most methodical of mankind, and although also he affected a certain quiet primness of dress, he was none the less in his personal habits one of the most untidy men that ever drove a fellow-lodger to distraction. Not that I am in the least conventional in that respect myself. The rough-and-tumble work in Afghanistan, coming on the top of a natural Bohemianism of disposition, has made me rather more lax than befits a medical man. But with me there is a limit, and when I find a man who keeps his cigars in the coal-scuttle, his tobacco in the toe end of a Persian slipper, and his unanswered correspondence transfixed by a jack-knife into the very centre of his wooden mantelpiece, then I begin to give myself virtuous airs. I have always held, too, that pistol practice should be distinctly an open-air pastime; and when Holmes, in one of his queer humors, would sit in an arm-chair with his hair-trigger and a hundred Boxer cartridges, and proceed to adorn the opposite wall with a patriotic V. R. done in bullet-pocks, I felt strongly that neither the atmosphere nor the appearance of our room was improved by it.

Our chambers were always full of chemicals and of criminal relics which had a way of wandering into unlikely positions, and of turning up in the butter-dish or in even less desirable places. But his papers were my great crux. He had a horror of destroying documents, especially those which were connected with his past cases, and yet it was only once in every year or two that he would muster energy to docket and arrange them; for, as I have mentioned somewhere in these incoherent memoirs, the outbursts of passionate energy when he performed the remarkable feats with which his name is associated were followed by reactions of lethargy during which he would lie about with his violin and his books, hardly moving save from the sofa to the table. Thus month after month his papers accumulated, until every corner of the room was stacked with bundles of manuscript which were on no account to be burned, and which could not be put away save by their owner. One winter’s night, as we sat together by the fire, I ventured to suggest to him that, as he had finished pasting extracts into his common-place book, he might employ the next two hours in making our room a little more habitable. He could not deny the justice of my request, so with a rather rueful face he went off to his bedroom, from which he returned presently pulling a large tin box behind him. This he placed in the middle of the floor and, squatting down upon a stool in front of it, he threw back the lid. I could see that it was already a third full of bundles of paper tied up with red tape into separate packages.

“There are cases enough here, Watson,” said he, looking at me with mischievous eyes. “I think that if you knew all that I had in this box you would ask me to pull some out instead of putting others in.”

“These are the records of your early work, then?” I asked. “I have often wished that I had notes of those cases.”

“Yes, my boy, these were all done prematurely before my biographer had come to glorify me.” He lifted bundle after bundle in a tender, caressing sort of way. “They are not all successes, Watson,” said he. “But there are some pretty little problems among them. Here’s the record of the Tarleton murders, and the case of Vamberry, the wine merchant, and the adventure of the old Russian woman, and the singular affair of the aluminium crutch, as well as a full account of Ricoletti of the club-foot, and his abominable wife. And here—ah, now, this really is something a little recherchè.”

He dived his arm down to the bottom of the chest, and brought up a small wooden box with a sliding lid, such as children’s toys are kept in. From within he produced a crumpled piece of paper, and old-fashioned brass key, a peg of wood with a ball of string attached to it, and three rusty old disks of metal.

“Well, my boy, what do you make of this lot?” he asked, smiling at my expression.

“It is a curious collection.”

“Very curious, and the story that hangs round it will strike you as being more curious still.”

“These relics have a history then?”

“So much so that they are history.”

“What do you mean by that?”

Sherlock Holmes picked them up one by one, and laid them along the edge of the table. Then he reseated himself in his chair and looked them over with a gleam of satisfaction in his eyes.

“These,” said he, “are all that I have left to remind me of the adventure of the Musgrave Ritual.”

I had heard him mention the case more than once, though I had never been able to gather the details. “I should be so glad,” said I, “if you would give me an account of it.”

“And leave the litter as it is?” he cried, mischievously. “Your tidiness won’t bear much strain after all, Watson. But I should be glad that you should add this case to your annals, for there are points in it which make it quite unique in the criminal records of this or, I believe, of any other country. A collection of my trifling achievements would certainly be incomplete which contained no account of this very singular business.

-The Memories of Sherlock Holmes: The Musgrave Ritual