mrhyde-mrseek

[mrhyde-mrseek]

LMAO it’s probably not gonna be finished for a while (but I’ll be sure to consider you for a role once auditions start! /j /lh)

Hyacinth song update! I’m currently putting the actual script writing on hold so I can make a list of every song in the musical, and then writing them all out before getting back to the script. It’s making the whole process a MILLION times easier.

“Fall, Pt. 1”

APOLLO: I’ve felt this before, I know it far too well

Once again Eros has me under his spell

But this man . . .

(Spoken) There’s something special about him

MUSES: (harmonies) Hyacinthus, Hyacinthus, Hyacinthus

APOLLO: (spoken) Hyacinthus . . . NO!

Come to your senses, he’s only a man

Mortal men are so fragile, they all die in the end

One slip and he falls to the same fate as them

*Kaloí theoí, you know this by now

MUSES: (under Apollo, harmonies) Ooh . . .

APOLLO: Now look at me, I’m acting a fool!

One look in his eyes and I’m all so confused

But can it be helped if I want something new?

Maybe I’ll get this one right somehow

MUSES: (cascade) Oh, oh, oh!

ALL: Entrancer, bewitcher, now what have you done?

Who knew a mortal could pull down the sun?

You’ve caught the attention of a being of light

Who knew the sun could fall from the sky?

MUSES: (under Apollo, harmonies) Ooh, ah . . .

APOLLO: I know what I’ll do, I’ll take his hand in mine

Then with him in my arms, we’ll take to the skies

Never mind, that’s too sudden, let’s try something else

Maybe go to my father to ask for some help

Oh, but what if he’s gone by the time I get back?

Besides, Father’s probably busy with someone’s dick up his—

HYACINTHUS: (spoken) Phoebus Apollo!

APOLLO: (spoken) ACK!

*according to google translate, kaloí theoí is Greek for “good gods.”

[mrhyde-mrseek]

Hyacinth song update! I’m currently putting the actual script writing on hold so I can make a list of every song in the musical, and then writing them all out before getting back to the script. It’s making the whole process a MILLION times easier.

“Fall, Pt. 1”

APOLLO: I’ve felt this before, I know it far too well

Once again Eros has me under his spell

But this man . . .

(Spoken) There’s something special about him

MUSES: (harmonies) Hyacinthus, Hyacinthus, Hyacinthus

APOLLO: (spoken) Hyacinthus . . . NO!

Come to your senses, he’s only a man

Mortal men are so fragile, they all die in the end

One slip and he falls to the same fate as them

*Kaloí theoí, you know this by now

MUSES: (under Apollo, harmonies) Ooh . . .

APOLLO: Now look at me, I’m acting a fool!

One look in his eyes and I’m all so confused

But can it be helped if I want something new?

Maybe I’ll get this one right somehow

MUSES: (cascade) Oh, oh, oh!

ALL: Entrancer, bewitcher, now what have you done?

Who knew a mortal could pull down the sun?

You’ve caught the attention of a being of light

Who knew the sun could fall from the sky?

MUSES: (under Apollo, harmonies) Ooh, ah . . .

APOLLO: I know what I’ll do, I’ll take his hand in mine

Then with him in my arms, we’ll take to the skies

Never mind, that’s too sudden, let’s try something else

Maybe go to my father to ask for some help

Oh, but what if he’s gone by the time I get back?

Besides, Father’s probably busy with someone’s dick up his—

HYACINTHUS: (spoken) Phoebus Apollo!

APOLLO: (spoken) ACK!

*according to google translate, kaloí theoí is Greek for “good gods.”

#hyacinth: a greek tragedy #hyacinth #apollo x hyacinthus #apollo greek mythology #apollo greek god #apollo #hyacinthus #musical theatre #wip musical #greek mythology #musicals

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hot artists don't gatekeep

I've been resource gathering for YEARS so now I am going to share my dragons hoard

Floorplanner. Design and furnish a house for you to use for having a consistent background in your comic or anything! Free, you need an account, easy to use, and you can save multiple houses.

Comparing Heights. Input the heights of characters to see what the different is between them. Great for keeping consistency. Free.

Magma. Draw online with friends in real time. Great for practice or hanging out. Free, paid plan available, account preferred.

Smithsonian Open Access. Loads of free images. Free.

SketchDaily. Lots of pose references, massive library, is set on a timer so you can practice quick figure drawing. Free.

SculptGL. A sculpting tool which I am yet to master, but you should be able to make whatever 3d object you like with it. free.

Pexels. Free stock images. And the search engine is actually pretty good at pulling up what you want.

Figurosity. Great pose references, diverse body types, lots of "how to draw" videos directly on the site, the models are 3d and you can rotate the angle, but you can't make custom poses or edit body proportions. Free, account option, paid plans available.

Line of Action. More drawing references, this one also has a focus on expressions, hands/feet, animals, landscapes. Free.

Animal Photo. You pose a 3d skull model and select an animal species, and they give you a bunch of photo references for that animal at that angle. Super handy. Free.

Height Weight Chart. You ever see an OC listed as having a certain weight but then they look Wildly different than the number suggests? Well here's a site to avoid that! It shows real people at different weights and heights to give you a better idea of what these abstract numbers all look like. Free to use.

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Reblogging this because I’ve made a couple changes to the roster:

TAC

Morgan is an ace lesbian, Angel (who used to be straight) is also a lesbian and they are married

Anthony no longer exists currently because his character felt super flat

THATH

Ryan is also bi now

I’m constantly questioning my stance on Katie’s sexuality so right now she’s also questioning her sexuality

Red Sun

Okay I think I’ve figured out the main crew’s sexualities

Sanzang’s still aroace

Huo’s still bi

Wujing is also aroace

Wukong is asexual

Bajie is bi with a preference for women (let it be known his sexuality has NOTHING to do with his overactive dick)

Longma is gay

(He also definitely had a tiny crush on Sanzang when they first met because the monk is canonically super pretty. Did he ever DO anything about it though? Absolutely not. He was also a horse at the time.)

I find it so funny how few straight/cis characters I have. Like, in SMS alone, we have:

-Holmes and Watson, who are a couple (and Holmes is also demisexual)

-Griffin, who’s aroace

-Jekyll/Hyde, who’s gay

-Victor, who’s gay

-Both Harkers, who are each some flavor of queer (I can’t decide) and also polyamorous

-Mycroft, who’s aro

-Utterson, who’s bi

-Edmund, who’s pan

-And Walton, who’s a gay trans man

AND THEN you’ve got all my other stories, such as:

The Case Files

-Clara (aroace)

-Watson (bi)

-Harker (bi)

-Adam (unlabeled)

-The Time Traveller and Jekyll/Hyde (dating, TT is gay, J/H is bi)

-Griffin (aroace) (I really like that headcanon for him in every universe apparently)

-Allan (demisexual)

-Wendy (lesbian)

-Christine (ace)

-Dorothy (lesbian)

The Haunted and the Hollow

-Libra (bi)

-Koda (demisexual)

-Birdy and Lily (dating, B is pan, L is a trans lesbian)

-Henry (trans boy)

-Maya (aroace)

-Ryan (nonbinary)

-Jodie (lesbian)

-Max (lesbian)

The Afterlife Chronicles

-Sasha (bi)

-Robin (lesbian)

-Anthony (bi)

-Baz (gay)

-Morgan (aromantic)

-Loreley (bi)

-Nicora (lesbian)

-For Thanatos I have absolutely no fucking clue, he’s not really interested in romance or sex, he’s more focused on ruling Heaven and stopping the approaching Apocalypse.

-And then we also have a list of angels and demons who just muddle the whole matter up so for most of the non-humans, identity is just chaos.

Hyacinth

-Apollo (bi)

-Hyacinthus (gay)

-Zephyrus (gay)

-Artemis (aroace)

-Hermes (bi)

-Dionysus (pan)

-Thamyris (gay)

Red Sun

I haven’t actually really given this one much thought; the only two I’m positive of are:

-Sanzang (aroace)

-And Huo (bi)

But I don’t know about Wukong, Bajie, Wujing, or Longma yet.

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(ED MENTION!)

Been rewatching Scooby Doo Mystery Inc. and hyperfixating on small town gothic mystery aesthetics, so here’s my version of the gang if I were to write my own adaptation:

Fred

19, engineering major

6’2”

Autistic

His special interest is traps

Asexual and biromantic, he/him

In a pre-established relationship with Daphne, they’re a ride-or-die couple and can sometimes be sappy to the point that they gross the others out

The heart of the group, brought everyone together, is usually the one to cool down arguments

Decent at cooking but REALLY good at baking

Gets ascots from Daphne every year for his birthday

Knew Velma a little in high school, mainly from physics and math but never got to actually know her until college

Got the Mystery Machine from a sketchy car dealer when he turned 16 and loves the old rust bucket to death

Velma:

18, forensics science major, minor in history

4’11”

Also autistic, self-diagnosed because it’s really hard to get a diagnosis

Lesbian and genderqueer, she/they

Had a crush on Daphne a few years ago, but when Daphne and Fred got together she forced herself to ignore it until it eventually went away

LOVES true crime podcasts, kinda wants to start their own one day

Super blunt and sarcastic, can sometimes come off as rude to the people who don’t know them that well

Struggled with an eating disorder for a while, Shaggy helped her recover and now they’re best friends

Tech wiz

Daphne:

19, fashion design major

5’6”

Pan, she/her

Grew up in a wealthy family with four older sisters, was always pressured by her parents to fit their image of perfection, so she eventually started deliberately doing things to piss them off

Starting a relationship with Fred was the breaking point and now she doesn’t talk to them (she still keeps in touch with her sisters, though)

Natural blonde, dyes her hair

The most athletic out of all of them, used to do gymnastics and dance throughout middle school and high school

Quit when she realized how much it was negatively affecting her body image

Hates when people assume she’s ditzy just because she’s hyperfeminine

Looks mean at first, is actually super sweet

Fascinated with ghosts and cryptids

Loves ‘80s and ‘90s Heathers-inspired fashion

Shaggy:

20, culinary arts major but was undecided for a while

5’9”

Aroace, he/him

Mix of hippie and grunge aesthetic

Definitely smokes weed

Loves ‘70s and ‘80s music

Has a panic disorder, ADHD, and dyslexia

Has seen every classic horror movie to ever exist despite being terrified of them

Everyone assumes the Mystery Machine belongs to him until someone in the Mystery Gang corrects them

Will eat basically any type of food you put in front of him

Shitty relationship with his parents since they have unreachable expectations for him and constantly compare him to his classmates and cousins

Scooby:

Shaggy’s psychiatric service “dog”

Not actually a dog—in reality he’s an alien who crash-landed near Shaggy’s house and took the form of a Great Dane, the Rogers got him trained as a service dog for Shaggy’s panic disorder, and the rest is history

Shaggy still has no idea (although he and the gang do think it’s weird that Scoob can talk)

Despite being a bit of a coward he’d do anything to protect the gang, especially Shaggy

Likes horror movies just as much as Shaggy

Will eat literal garbage if hungry enough (which is all the time)

Started developing doglike traits over the years (barks at people walking by, hates the vacuum, developed a taste for dog treats, etc.)

Also here’s the full body photos i drew:

#i’m very out of practice with drawing dogs if you can’t tell #i’ve also been listening to the podcast heart starts pounding while drawing these and the vibes have been immaculate #scooby doo #scooby gang #scooby doo au #college au #scooby doo adaptation #shaggy rogers #shaggy and scooby #fred jones #velma dinkley #daphne blake #scooby doo redesign #cw ed mention

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I’d say the Monkey King graphic novels by Chaiko Tsai! They don’t cover the entire story (only about up to the Bull Demon King arc) but they’re one of my personal favorite adaptations, and the art is absolutely gorgeous!

The saga is split up into two volumes, Journey to the West and Wukong’s Disgrace. (They’re on Amazon by the way—you can get them as the two volumes, or there’s a complete volume that’s both combined.)

I kind of want to read Journey to the West but idk what translation is recommended and my attention span isn’t the greatest 😔

#journey to the west #jttw #chaiko tsai

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Here’s some more Hyacinth lyrics! This song’s called “Before the Storm,” and for about two months it was sitting unfinished in my notes app until like last week so uh… blame writer’s block.

Before the Storm

ARTEMIS (spoken): You have two choices, Zephyrus. Head back to Olympus and leave Apollo and Hyacinthus alone, or stay perfectly still while my hunters shoot you out of the sky. It’s up to you.

ZEPHYRUS (spoken): Hmm, hard choice . . . how about . . . no!

ZEPHYRUS: Lift your eyes to the sky, but watch out below

Apollo’s become Icarus 2.0

I hope you’re all on the edge of your seats for the final act of the show

He’s gonna crash and burn

Then, goddess, it’s your turn

So if the three of you won’t move, then I’ll just blow you off course

ARTEMIS: Have you lost your mind?

Did the thin air finally get to your head?

You’re challenging a goddess who loves her brother more than life

I’ll shoot you if you touch a single hair on his head

ARTEMIS, HERMES, DIONYSUS: Yeah, you hurt Apollo and you’ll end up dead!

You better turn around and fly

Off into the western sky

The storm’s on its way

But it’s coming for you

Not even the Moirae can help you now

You’ve messed with the wrong gods

And stacked up all the odds

So heed our warning ‘fore it’s too late

Your lust is the problem

It’s our time to solve ‘em

So go and take your final bow

ZEPHYRUS: I’m not to blame

If my love is in vain

Eros struck me right through the heart

So now I must do

What is necessary and cruel

You can say I’ve become a monster, but I’ve been one from the start

You’ve messed with the wrong god

And stacked up all the odds

So heed my warning ‘fore it’s too late

If my lust is the problem

It’s not your place to solve ‘em

Tell Apollo to take his final bow

(Overlapping)

A, D, H: You better turn around and fly

Off into the western sky

The storm’s on its way

But it’s coming for you

Z: Lift your eyes to the sky, but watch out below

Apollo’s become Icarus 2.0

I hope you’re all on the edge of your seats for the final act of the show

He’s gonna crash and burn

Then it’ll be your turn

A, D, H: You’re not gonna blow him off course!

Z: You’re not gonna blow me off course!

#hyacinth: a greek tragedy #hyacinth #greek mythology #artemis #artemis goddess #dionysus greek mythology #dionysus #hermes #hermes greek mythology #zephyrus #apollo x hyacinthus #hyacinthus #musicals #musical theatre

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I am not your pet, I never liked you, I don’t care about you, I won’t wait for you. I bite.

He’s so Chief coded I love him

#science most sinister #the invisible man #asa griffin #griffin the invisible man #dr griffin #gothic literature #classic literature #classic lit #gothic lit #isle of dogs #wes anderson #y’all have no idea how proud i am of that pose and perspective

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CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR BOOK 2!

And then we’ve got several characters who are associated with one or both of the orders in some way, and/or play an important role in TCFOCH:

Katherine “Kitty” Baker

Mina Harker

Sterling Abbott

Victor Alden

Thomas Hendriks

#the case files of clara holmes #gothic literature #classic literature #gothic lit #classic lit #dracula #dracula by bram stoker #dracula book #mina harker #katherine baker #kitty baker #victor alden #sterling abbott #thomas hendriks

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CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR BOOKS 2 (PUBLISHED) AND 3 (WIP)!

Now for the Case Files antagonists:

Dion Tantlos/Edgar Wick

Abraham “Brom Bones” Van Brunt (whose name I somehow managed to type incorrectly onto the moodboard)

The Headless Horseman/Hans Woelfel

The vampire colony

#the case files of clara holmes #gothic literature #classic literature #gothic lit #classic lit #the tell tale heart #edgar allan poe #dion tantlos #edgar wick #the legend of sleepy hollow #abraham van brunt #brom bones #the headless horseman #hans woelfel #dracula by bram stoker #dracula #dracula book #vampire #vampire colony #tcfoch vampires

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Now here’s the moodboards for the Women’s Order of the Haunted Hollow:

Katrina Van Tassel

Alice Perez-Liddell

Wendy Darling

Christine Daaé

Dorothy Gale

#the case files of clara holmes #the women’s order of the haunted hollow #gothic literature #classic literature #gothic lit #classic lit #katrina van tassel #the legend of sleepy hollow #alice in wonderland #alice perez-liddell #peter pan #wendy darling #the phantom of the opera #christine daee #the wizard of oz #dorothy gale

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Similar to how I made moodboards for SMS, I made some for the Case Files characters!

There’s a LOT, so this’ll be split into multiple parts. First, we have the Order of Peculiar Mortals and Other Such Figures:

Clara Holmes

Dr. Watson

Jonathan Harker

Adam Shelley

The Time Traveller

Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde

Griffin

Allan Scholar

Ichabod Crane

#the case files of clara holmes #gothic literature #classic literature #gothic lit #classic lit #clara holmes #dr watson #sherlock holmes #acd watson #dracula #dracula book #jonathan harker #frankenstein or the modern prometheus #frankenstein #frankenstein book #adam shelley #the time machine #the time traveller #dr jekyll and mr hyde #the strange case of dr jekyll and mr hyde #dr jekyll #mr hyde #the invisible man #griffin the invisible man #the raven #edgar allan poe #allan scholar #the legend of sleepy hollow #ichabod crane #the order of peculiar mortals and other such figures

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Every single person deserves shelter, food, water, and healthcare.

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Some more Hyacinth lyrics! This time for Eros’s song, which is easily my favorite out of the ones I’ve written so far.

EROS

[EROS]

Is it a problem I’m erotic?

That my voice is so hypnotic?

Like a siren, soothing tonic

One shot, one shot and you got it

I’m a master of emotion

Unconditional devotion

A chain reaction of sex set in motion

It’s your world, baby let me rock it

If you want love, don’t look no further

I can take you to the sky and be your devoted servant

Every mortal man will say he fucks like a god

But if you’re seeking a good time, then it’s Eros you want

[MUSES]

E!

R!

O!

S!

God of romance, god of sex!

E!

R!

O!

S!

No matter what, the answer’s yes!

E!

R!

O!

S!

Your heart’ll beat right out your chest!

E!

R!

O!

S!

Piss him off and you’ll be dead!

[ARTEMIS] (spoken)

This was a bad idea. How is a god of sex going to be of any use? It’s not like we’re trying to help Apollo lose his virginity. (She realizes what she just said and shudders.) . . . I should have phrased that differently . . .

[DIONYSUS] (spoken)

Trust me, Eros is more powerful than you think. He’s Aphrodite’s son. His arrows have the power to make anyone fall in love with anyone, mortal or immortal. Even gods like Zeus or Hades.

[HERMES] (spoken)

If he has arrows that can make people fall in love, shouldn’t he have ones that make people fall out of love?

[DIONYSUS] (spoken)

Lead arrows. I’ve never seen him use them, but I’ve heard rumors. A group of satyrs were talking about it a few months ago during an orgy—

[ARTEMIS] (spoken, hasty)

Okay-that’s-enough-you-can-stop-there!

[ARTEMIS’s shout causes everyone to freeze. All eyes are on them.]

[MUSES] (spoken, overlapping)

Who let those three in? What are they doing here? What’s going on? I thought Artemis was asexual? Ooh, has Dionysus come to host another nymph orgy?

[EROS] (spoken)

Muses, please, it’s alright. Hermes over there sent me a little message earlier explaining everything.

(sung)

These gods have come here with a problem

Apollo’s gonna hit rock bottom

And Zephyrus is green with envy

The prince’s heart is in a frenzy

All because a couple tiny arrows shot ‘em

You three are lucky that I’m so nice

It’s not easy to reverse a spell of mine

So I’m afraid there’s gonna have to be a price

[DIONYSUS]

Tell us what you had in mind

[EROS]

Well, if Zephyrus succeeds in blowing them apart

Then I won’t need to break your brother’s heart

But if you prevail

And the wind god fails

His servitude is what I want

[ARTEMIS] (spoken)

In other words, you want us to restrain from attempting to kill him when we try to stop him?

[EROS] (spoken)

Exactly.

(sung)

If we make a little deal

Then the contract’s signed and sealed

Just shake my hand and I will do

Anything you want me to

[HERMES] (spoken)

It’s a deal. I mean, how hard can it be? He’s only a minor god, we can easily overpower him without hurting him.

[EROS] (spoken)

Oh, you underestimate the power my father has over you in times of conflict.

(sung)

If you want love, don’t look no further

I can take you to the sky and be your devoted servant

Every mortal man will say he fucks like a god

But if you’re seeking a good time, then it’s Eros you want

(Eros riffing, Muses in parentheses)

It’s Eros you want

(God of romance, god of sex!)

It’s Eros you want

(No matter what, the answer’s yes!)

Whether you admit it or not

(Your heart’ll beat right out your chest!)

It’s Eros you want!

[EROS] (spoken)

Don’t say I didn’t warn you!

#hyacinth: a greek tragedy #hyacinth #greek mythology #musical theatre #music #eros #eros greek mythology #artemis goddess #artemis #hermes #dionysus greek mythology #dionysus #the muses #the muses greek mythology #mythology

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Reblog if you're not homophobic

Every url that reblog’s will be written in a book and shown to my homophobic dad. 

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Ramadan is coming up and I can’t stress enough how much Palestinians have never got the chance to experience one normal Ramadan for 75years

You may not have been subjected to this, but as a person from an Arabic country, every Ramadan from every year there’s always headlines of Israeli iof soldiers or Israeli extremist settlers attacking Palestinians during Ramadan, especially Palestinian worshipers trying to pray in the al aqsa mosque

It’s happens almost every single year

Ramadan is suppoused to be Muslim people’s month of worship, of Baraka and it is very important to Muslim people

But Palestinians never ever experienced a normal Ramadan because Israel attacks them Viciously

Almost

Every

Single

Fucking

Year

And I will dare and say that Israel does it on purpose, it does it every Ramadan on purpose

And now, this year, with Ramadan being only a few weeks away, I doubt that they’ll have a normal Ramadan, not in the West Bank, and not in Gaza

All what I have to say here is that Israel will still follow this trend, something bad is gonna happen this Ramadan, keep an eye on Palestine during Ramadan

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SCIENCE MOST SINISTER: VOLUME II - PART SEVEN

(God, I am so sorry for the hiatus, life happens and people get busy, y’know? But WE’RE BACK BABY WOOHOO!)

(CW: Some body horror.)

The train whistle screeched, making Griffin jump a mile into the air.

Charing Cross Station was overly crowded with travelers and commuters, all shouting at once and bumping off each other like the world’s most chaotic game of marbles. Griffin was already tense at the thought of returning to Port Burdock, and the added worry of being slammed into and discovered did nothing to relieve his stress.

Fortunately, they all made it to their two train compartments—his consisted of Gwen, Victor, Utterson, Watson, and Edmund—safely. Griffin only released his breath when the whistle blew again, and the wheels began turning.

Next to him, Victor had crossed one leg over the other and was shaking it so hard he could feel it through the seat. “Stop that,” he snapped, “or I will hit you.”

Victor planted both feet on the floor. “I can’t help it!” he protested. “Hardly any of us have left the house in a year. Am I to be blamed for being at least a little anxious?”

Utterson glanced in their direction. Griffin shrank back and fell silent. He’d hardly known the man for a full twenty-four hours, yet his stoic manner and lack of emotion in his voice or expressions made Griffin uneasy. It was obvious why Jekyll had praised his skill as a lawyer so highly; Griffin almost suspected he was gifted with some sort of mystical, truth-seeking ability.

He turned to lean against the window. The morning was a blur rushing past, city scenery slowly melting into countryside as the train chugged along, the wheels clanking rhythmically on the iron rails. The steady motion was calming. He yawned—none of them had slept much that night—and soon felt himself drifting off.

•••

Griffin threw his head back as a deranged laugh tore itself from his throat. He loomed over Kemp, practically towered over the skittish scientist. Ignoring his bullet wounds, still fresh from the day before, he leapt across the room, throwing dining chairs aside as though they weighed nothing.

The pounding on the door grew louder. Those damn officers would punch a hole through it at this rate. He ignored it. Let them knock. Someone would find Kemp’s body at some point, anyway. It would save the staff the trouble of running to fetch the authorities. Shoving Kemp against the wall, he wrapped his hands around his throat and began to squeeze. Fire blazed through his veins, white-hot and angry. He grinned, baring his teeth.

He was so consumed by his own vengeful glee that he didn’t notice that Kemp had grabbed him by the wrists until, in a feat of strength that caught him completely off guard, the scientist had slammed his foot into his stomach and shoved him backwards.

The floor slipped out from Griffin. Instead of landing on hard wood, he kept falling, down and down and down into a pitch black pit. Kemp’s dining room faded to a pinprick of light, and soon even that was swallowed up by the blackness.

A hissing started. At first he thought it was the wind, but listening closer he realized it sounded suspiciously like incoherent whispers. Fighting against gravity, he struggled to peer around through the shadows. “Show yourself!” he demanded.

“As you wish.” Griffin’s heart stopped when he heard the answering voice. No. No, no, no, no. Not that thing. Anything else but it.

With a crack, his head snapped back, bent far enough so his hair practically brushed his spine. Something was crawling around in his brain—spiders, rats, a colony of rats, scratching at his conscience with their little claws, hollowing out a hole for a nest. He couldn’t move, couldn’t scream, couldn’t even panic properly, because that goddamn demon was back and it was in his head again and this time it was going to kill him and he couldn’t fucking do anything to stop it—

Then he jolted straight upright with a cry, the side of his head smacking the train window hard enough for his eyes to open.

He muttered curses under his breath, rubbing his forehead, and glanced around the compartment. Victor, Gwen, Watson, Edmund, and Utterson were all staring at him with a mixture of shock and concern. “What?” he snapped.

“Were you having a nightmare?” Gwen asked. “You were mumbling to yourself.”

“And twitching in your sleep,” Victor added.

He scowled. “It hardly matters.” Changing the subject, he asked, “How close are we to Port Burdock?”

Edmund pointed out the window. “See for yourself.”

A line of rickety docks bordered the muddy blue sea. Clouds were gathering overhead, dark enough to warn against oncoming snow but pale enough to not be much of a concern. If he squinted, Griffin could see the town a few miles off in the distance, small and insignificant compared to the ice-covered fields that stretched beyond.

Watson reached over Victor and tapped his shoulder. “We should be reaching the station shortly,” he said. “I know that Sherlock will want to begin the investigation practically the moment the train comes to a stop.”

Griffin nodded, and turned back to gaze out the window at the swiftly encroaching town he thought he would never step foot in again.

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