Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Next up on the smashing block is 'A Dangerous Case' by @LeInkPen otherwise named Audrey Thompson.
Her story is a fanfiction of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Even if the property to the names and events in the original classical novel are not held by anyone in particular, I still consider this a fanfiction by its nature. One that manages to be in that legal grey area where it can likely be published for real if the author wanted.
I love fanfiction, started off years ago writing fanfiction on fanfiction.net and have read dooooooooooozens. Even ones that have 2 million+ words. I wouldn't be here today if I hadn't read some that, to this day, continue to inspire how I write.
Since this is a fanfiction it is worth mentioning the original material. In the Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde you got a dude investigating mysterious shit going down. You meet Jekyll and you hear about Hyde. Shit goes down in the background 90% of the time and the main character is just a detective sort without actually being a detective. Hyde did all kinds of crazy things besides murder. Might have even pissed on someone's head, I don't remember. He explored every impulse no matter how juvenile or cruel. Eventually Jekyll is dead and leaves behind a confession that he was Hyde all along. Now, people often, when thinking of Jekyll and Hyde, think of them as two separate people. This is a common misconception. Kinda like how vampires are today in every conceivable way or thinking Frankenstein's monster was stupid. The original material was a psychological investigation into what a person does when he has the anonymity to pull off his darkest impulses. Such an idea done by Jekyll is a modern day 'Ring of Gyges', an idea presented by Plato that explores what a good guy will do if he can put on a ring of invisibility and do crimes without punishment or need to put on a face for societal norms, and in this way reveal who he truly is. This is the basis of Jekyll and Hyde and a core detail is that the core person inside both Jekyll and Hyde is aware of himself at all times and is in full control of his actions no matter what face he wears. He explored his impulses through Hyde like an addict and then cleaned up his messes afterwards while putting on a face of culture and respect as Jekyll. The only thing separating them was their physical appearance. Its a dark concept filled with grey lines and a deep exploration of the human psyche.
I won't spoil this story too much, but it is worth mentioning that as a fanfiction it falls into that common misconception in thinking of the original concept as separate identities as well. I won't deny I was a bit disappointed in this narrative approach, as it removed the core concept of the very material it tried to base itself on that kept it alive as a classic and then replaced it with a generic stereotype that is done oh so often.
But this is only if you try to be extra nitpicky about things and base ones opinion of this story on its source material. That is not the point of this review. And as a fanfiction, then naturally it gets its freedom to do whatever the hell it wants!! Because screw social norms! If Hyde wrote shit it would be fanfiction! :D
TLDR; A take on Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde where science goes wrong and you have a war over the body. Oh, and there is a romance in there to help push the rivalry along cuz I guess love triangles is the thing these days?
