Cliffs of Insanity

"The Cliffs of Insanity" is a storyboard installment of a story then entitled "The Pseudoscientists", a prototype Jekyll & Hyde interpretation that would go on to inspire and become The Glass Scientists. It was originally released on Deviantart as a four part flash comic published from August 22nd, 2011 to October 25th, 2011. It features early designs of Henry Jekyll, Edward Hyde, Frankenstein, and a much unchanged appearance of the Creature.

> "*The Cliffs of Insanity* is a silly side project about two infamous *Victorian scientists* who learn a very special lesson about friendship. And gravity."
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Since Adobe Flash Player's discontinuation, it is now primarily available, though since edited and only in part, on Sage's official website, SeeGoatRun, within their 2013 personal storyboard portfolio. However, the original 2011 flash comic has also been screenshotted board by board and is now archived below, under the Archive section.

## Background and Development

The story in its essence is noted to have been inspired be a trip Sage took to see their friend Pia in Austria.

> "There I learned that, apparently, Austrians have an infinite stamina for climbing up really steep things, and that I do not."
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The premise of The Cliffs of Insanity centers around Jekyll accompanying Frankenstein on a journey across Europe after being forced to flee London (assumedly, after the murder of Sir Danvers Carew). The story takes place in Frankenstein's home country, Switzerland. It alludes to the past between Frankenstein and Jekyll, where they met in the arctic. Jekyll had embarked on a voyage up North at 19, met Frankenstein, half dead from frostbite, and Jekyll nursed him back to health. Their relationship has since developed into something resembling friendship, and the both of them have since both grown as people, but Frankenstein still absolutely hates feeling indebted to Jekyll, resulting in a good deal of petty conflict.

The Cliffs of Insanity's iteration of Frankenstein does differ significantly in a few areas from The Glass Scientists', one such glaring difference being of gender, but TCoI's Frankenstein does exhibit significant ties to TGS's final design. TCoI's Frankenstein is notably combative, unintrospective, and emotionally dense. He's perhaps more prone to shallow teasing than TGS's Frankenstein's more ruthless verbal assaults, and is additionally more amiable when he's called to self reflection than perhaps TGS's may be, but he can be just as stubborn and unhelpful, and this is still *after* developing a somewhat positive relationship with both Jekyll *and* Hyde (though the latter, he doesn't really understand much at all and simply tries to avoid). Given that TGS's Frankenstein doesn't know or like Jekyll in the least, her behavior's development is hardly a stretch as far as consistency of characterization may be concerned.

As shown in Sage's piece "The Casebook of Victor Frankenstein", Frankenstein's design in TGS bears striking resemblance to TCoI's Frankenstein at 19: long haired, blonde, and bespectacled. Young Frankenstein was originally imagined as an incredibly brooding and melodramatic pretty boy, the likes to surpass Jekyll's level of melodrama by miles. When the decision to adopt the look of 19 year old Frankenstein for TGS Frankenstein's final design came about is at this time unclear. TCoI's design of Frankenstein featured in art as late as early 2013. It could have possibly come about early on in TGS's conception, around mid 2014 per se, when Bleeding Heart was finished, or even earlier. However, it just as easily could have been a more last minute decision, not finalized till Chapter 3 of TGS came to an end in mid 2016.

It's relevant to note how far Jekyll's character has come in its development as well. As of "The Pseudoscientists", Jekyll's character, while quite similar on the outside, held notable differences in his backstory and concept. Of course there's that of Frankenstein's personal influence on his story, but his backstory as presented in TGS, detailing Jekyll raised into a middle class Scottish family, wasn't implemented until some time later in his development. As of TCoI, he'd most likely been raised as upper-middle to upper class, and he was likely born and raised British, as depicted in the *Strange Case* novella. It's notable that Jekyll's expedition to the Arctic as of "The Pseudoscientists" was something resulting in part from general disillusionment and teenage rebellion as a high society boy.

The experpt of TCoI found within Sage's 2013 storyboard portfolio has been edited for length, going through a cut version of parts 1-3, and ending when Hyde makes his in person appearance. The dialogue has also been edited and rewritten in places, notably how the Creature addresses Jekyll, and the argument between Frankenstein and Jekyll preceding Frankenstein's fall is rewritten to be notably less scathing on both sides.

* For the most part, The Creature's appearance and personality are consistent between TCoI and TGS. The most notable change may be that in TCoI, Creature doesn't wear any clothing, while in TGS, he wears a tattered pair of pants.
* While in TGS, Frankenstein's accent is never written phonetically, it is, and relatively consistently, in TCoI.
* While Frankenstein's hair appears white in the storyboard and brown on the cover art, Frankenstein's hair was shown to be dark with heavy white streaks in earlier designs.
* The art on the covers for parts 1 and 3 of TCoI were also used as a school project to reillustrate the cover to a book, in this case, *Frankenstein: the Modern Prometheus* by Mary Shelley, as well as the *Twilight* series.

* In early development and likely up to TCoI, Hyde is noted to have a strange but powerful affection for Frankenstein, often leaving (or offering, in TCoI's final conception's case) little grisly 'gifts' of dead things (often diminutive of people) in a similar fashion to a cat leaving dead birds.
> "Jekyll and Frankenstein have this weird history and a lot of unresolved tension, the odd result of this being that Frankenstein is the one person in the world that Hyde is more likely to nuzzle against than stab."
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* In early development, Frankenstein and Hyde get along rather well and with relative ease, Frankenstein gladly following Hyde around London when he should find himself a bit lost within the city. How their relationship started as of TCoI, if changed, is at present unknown.

The Cliffs of Insanity in its entirety is not canon to The Glass Scientists. However, it holds significant observational value as a developmental piece, giving a bit of insight into how the characters' interpretations have evolved over the span of over a decade.

## Archive

The full 4 part storyboard, as archived from the 2011 flash comic.

### Part I

The scene opens up over a Swiss mountain range, scanning through the landscape before arriving at a cliff's edge. Out walks Victor Frankenstein to admire the view, with Henry Jekyll close behind, exhausted from their several hours of climbing.

Frankenstein invites his companion to come and admire the view, which Jekyll tries to do, before promptly falling on his back. He asks for a break, much to Frankenstein's confusion, as they hadn't been climbing very long at all by his standards.

Jekyll explains that the medicine kit he carries with him is rather heavy. Frankenstein considers this, taking the kit, and flippantly suggests Jekyll simply abandon it. After all, it's only a chemistry set, and Frankenstein doesn't carry his equipment everywhere he goes. Jekyll politely but strongly refuses, as it's much more important to him than Frankenstein seems to account for. A short keep-away style scuffle ensues as Jekyll tries to take the kit back, though the moment he manages to grab it, he loses his footing, stumbling over the edge of the cliff.

Before he can plummet to his death, he's promptly caught in Creature's hand, who expresses his distaste in the two scientists' squabbling. To Jekyll's dismay, as he's carried back up, a vial falls from his kit, falling and disappearing from sight at the bottom of the cliff below.

Frankenstein shrugs, saying maybe they'll see it on their way down, and Jekyll balks. They'd spent 2 days climbing the mountain, and it was incredibly steep. However, Frankenstein pointedly ignores his concerns, tying a rope around his waist and starting down the cliff, beckoning Creature to follow. Creature disdainfully asks if Jekyll will be needing his help again, to which Jekyll politely declines, sighs, and follows Frankenstein down.

### Part II

The scene reopens at the side of a cliff with a narrow pass along its side, and Jekyll loudly complaining to the indifference of Frankenstein. Jekyll decidedly hates mountains, but Frankenstein insists they're good for the spirit, and better than stuffy London city amenities. Jekyll insists that literally anything would be better, actually.

Creature teases him a bit, asking if any part, perhaps a more 'primal' side of him, may be enjoying this. Jekyll makes a show of asking said primal side, and giving a definitive no, only to find Frankenstein and Creature have gone ahead, leaving him talking to himself. Jekyll sighs and goes to follow on ahead, perhaps more silently this time.

His shadow lingers and morphs on the wall to take the shape of Hyde, further teasing Jekyll and his sanity for his own amusement before following Jekyll ahead.

The scene cuts to Frankenstein and Creature sliding down a steep mountainside, easily landing on thick jutting branches. Jekyll has significantly less ease with it, hitting his face and scrabbling to catch himself, to Creature's brief amusement. Frankenstein reminisces, having been raised nearby, and Jekyll divulges that he knows; he'd heard and when Frankenstein was rumored to have died, he'd made the trip out here himself, hoping to find and save Frankenstein. Frankenstein remarks that was very stupid of him.

Jekyll huffs and agrees with a mirthless laugh, letting go of his branch and sliding the rest of the way down, landing with a thud. Frankenstein swears and follows him down, Jekyll continuing on his now cynical reflection about traveling with Frankenstein.

Frankenstein returns it in kind, saying he has no need for a "city rat" like Jekyll. From that point, their exchange gets increasingly personal, Jekyll poking fun at Frankenstein's sorry past, what with Creature and his dead family, and Frankenstein in turn poking fun at Jekyll's mental health and chemistry aided substance abuse. Creature watches on from above, exasperated.

### Part III

Creature drops in between the two scientists, reprimanding them and breaking up their argument. There's a beat of silence... before Frankenstein gets the last word in with a comment on Jekyll's taste in women. Properly fed up, Jekyll makes to demand what right Frankenstein has to talk, and Frankenstein defends that he used to have it all. Jekyll makes a pointed remark about Elizabeth, and Frankenstein's ire drains from him, leaving him momentarily speechless... before the ground at the edge of the cliff they're now standing on gives out from under his feet.

Frankenstein stumbles backwards, falling to the ground below... and grabs Jekyll on his way down, sending them both careening off the cliff.

For a long moment, they both scrabble uselessly for some purchase to slow or stop their fall, but it's not long before it seems to prove useless, for Jekyll. Dark eyes turn bright and chemical, and quickly, his hand darts up and grabs a sturdy branch, and with his other, catches Frankenstein, halting both their falls.

Frankenstein looks down, relieved to see it's not too far a drop now, before of course, he's dropped. He falls the rest of the way, and lands with a loud crack. As Frankenstein drags himself into a sitting position, his companion drops after him, standing to reveal none other than Hyde. He effortlessly catches Jekyll's medical kit in hand, smug. Creature slides in after them, lamenting (jokingly) that Hyde still somehow failed to kill Frankenstein in all that, to which Hyde agrees at the travesty of it. However, their teasing is interrupted by Frankenstein's groan of pain. Creature runs over to assist him, and Frankenstein is pretty sure his leg is broken... it looks like that medical kit wasn't so useless after all. However, Hyde isn't fond of "playing doctor", and he makes to leave on his own.

Frankenstein panics and tries to convince him not to go, both as Frankenstein needs his help and as Hyde can't find his own way around, but Creature cuts his creator's pleading off, telling Hyde he saw a cottage some distance away. It's a place to stay, if the inhabitants can be... "persuaded". Hyde smirks and agrees, leaving Creature and Frankenstein with the medical kit.

Frankenstein asks if Creature just gave Hyde permission to murder the cottagers, and Creature shrugs, gives a flippant "probably", but at least this way Hyde will come back for them. Frankenstein only sighs.

### Part IV

Frankenstein watches Hyde go in vague horror, though Creature does remind Frankenstein that he *was* the one to push Jekyll off a cliff. Frankenstein basically defends that Jekyll started it, only for his tirade to be interrupted by sharp leg pain. Frankenstein declares they don't need Hyde or the cottage; he only needs a bandage anyway. Creature hands Frankenstein the kit, and Frankenstein frowns as he opens it to reveal rows of nothing but neatly organized vials.

Frankenstein takes a moment to reflect, not on Jekyll's medicines but on Jekyll's expectations of Frankenstein. He seems to expect "wild adventures", but Frankenstein's instead only gone and thrown him off a mountain. He looks away, expressing that maybe they shouldn't have ever met, for Jekyll's sake. He was so much nicer when they first met.

Meanwhile, Hyde takes care of the cottagers. He ambushes the husband outside, and when the wife hears the commotion outside and opens her window, Hyde swings in to deal with her next. A resounding scream rings out, heard across the surrounding forest, and certainly heard by Creature and Frankenstein back where Hyde left them.

Creature seems relatively nonplussed, but Frankenstein brings up that Hyde could likely kill them both just as easily. Creature disagrees, not only just because Creature could rip his head off, but because Hyde, or more accurately Jekyll, simply wouldn't kill Frankenstein. They're friends. Frankenstein disagrees: they may have been friends once, but not anymore. Frankenstein doesn't understand Jekyll, and half of the time, he's that "yellow-haired demon": even stranger. Said blonde demon, of which Creature reminds, just saved Frankenstein's life. He could at least act grateful. Frankenstein ponders what exactly he's to be grateful for as he examines a vial, which he laments at being labeled unintelligibly. He complains that he'd more likely poison himself than figure out which vials are what, as Hyde makes his return known.

He stands over Frankenstein, still drippingly bloody sicle in hand, teasing Frankenstein's impatience, going through his things, then jokingly offers the cottagers' corpses to Frankenstein, should the older doctor have any use for them. Nervously but politely, Frankenstein refuses. Hyde teases his sudden manners, but quickly moves on to addressing his murder weapon, a choice thing. Apparently sicles come from farms. He should be a farmer, he declares. Frankenstein simply tells him he'd make a great farmer.

Hyde pauses, before rolling his eyes, sitting by Frankenstein to help him sort the medicines, obviously in need of his assistence. He explains the allegedly "*very simple"* regimen, which Frankenstein will have to follow exactly to the letter, under penalty of *death.* ... Just kidding. Hyde takes the sicle back away from Frankenstein's neck and asks to see his broken leg.

Frankenstein looks up to Creature, who gives him a nod. Frankenstein smiles softly. Hyde asks what that's about, and Frankenstein explains that Creature was just reminding him that if Hyde (or Jekyll) had wanted to kill him, he could've and would've much sooner. And he also reminded Frankenstein to thank Hyde, which he promptly and sincerely does, calling him a good friend.

Hyde immediately pales, asking how much blood Frankenstein's lost, as he's *clearly* delirious. Frankenstein argues his sincerity, offended, and the two begin to loudly argue back and forth. Creature sighs at their squabbling as the camera zooms and pans back up at the top of the forest and the mountaintops, bringing the storyboard to an end.

## Gallery

p1 cover.p2 cover.p3 cover.p4 cover."The Casebook of Victor Frankenstein" - Frankenstein at 19Jekyll and Frankenstein concept art - pre TCoI

## Works Cited

1. ↑ TCoI's full flash comic collection on seegoatrun.com.
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 TCoI part 2, DeviantArt release, August 31st, 2011.
3. ↑ TCoI part 4 DeviantArt release, October 25th, 2011.
4. ↑ "The Casebook of Victor Frankenstein" posted to DeviantArt December 22nd, 2011.
5. ↑ "Lost in the Darkness" posted to DeviantArt January 4th, 2013.
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Edward Gets in the Way" posted to DeviantArt December 24th, 2009
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 "Frankenstein Rooftop Fun" posted to DeviantArt January 27th, 2010
8. ↑ "Breakin' Dawn!" posted to Blogspot November 5th, 2011.
9. ↑ "Mr. Hyde Loves You" posted to DeviantArt August 8th, 2011.