The Kitten Is Absolutely Smitten!

Erik live reaction:

(This happens every week. Erik should not be allowed near good WiFi reception.) Vlad, it's beautiful. The little hairs on his wrinkly forehead are vital. And you used one of my favourite Raoul kooky quotes! My first little bald cat Erik has come so far *teary sigh*

"With Erik, you never know. Is it Erik? Is it the cat? Is it the ghost? No, with Erik, you can't tell!"

@purrlockswatson has this fantastic version of Erik who is a Sphynx cat. So I thought I'd do a portrait of him because I really enjoy drawing cats. And Eriks.

Susan Kay's Phantom, WHY?

Lord save me from Erik and Christine's child. I'll never recover from all the times the existence of that child hurt me - not in a good way.

The last 80 pages really turned the grasshopper for me. Kay built a beautiful opera house, then sent a flaming, gunpowder-loaded chandelier through the roof. I enjoyed the first three-quarters of the book. It took incredible storytelling and research to build up that sprawling history only hinted at in the closing of original novel, and I love how the story made a spectacular Frankenstein Phantom from many adaptations.

But then came Christine.

Kay's afterword makes it worse for me. She states she doubts that A) Raoul would doubt Christine's love for him, and B) whether pity is a strong enough motivation for Christine to go back to Erik in spite of her fear. Ergo: Raoul was right when he suspected Christine loves Erik.

Well, I can clear up both of those points - A) Raoul is an insecure, jealous boy; B) aside from pitying Erik, Christine thought she could pacify him by going back, making pity AND fear her motivations, which she explains in Apollo's Lyre.

But Phantom's loyalty to the original is beside the point. What disturbed me about this explanation is that Kay meant it to be a love story. But there is no love.

I have already harped on to two friends about Phantom of the Opera and sexuality (thanks to @blackforrestpunk and @blackghostm2o for putting up with me). I think I can write an essay on the subject. After all, vampire fiction is my area of expertise.

⚠️Warning: Heavier subjects discussed below. I don't usually post content like this, so I thought i should give a heads up.⚠️

Leroux's Erik was never sexually attracted to Christine. All his fantasies he concerning her were purely romantic, even domestic ('a wife to keep amused on weekdays and take out on Sundays') whereas in Webber's adaptation, seduction is a recurrent theme in the Phantom's songs. There is nothing wrong with adding this extra layer to Chrsitine and Erik's relationship, as long as it doesn't overshadow their artistic bind through music.

But in Kay's Phantom, towards the ending, Erik's music becomes purely a sexual euphemism. It's a hypnotic drug that he uses to control Christine, and of course, there is that scene where he describes himself assaulting her by playing Don Juan Triumphant.

That is deeply misguided. Erik's music was his one connection to the purest, truest part of humanity. He was treated like a monster and often lives like one, yet he could express and evoke feelings that no most people could never, through his song.

And there is the child.

Erik thinks that Christine looks exactly like his mother. He speaks of her as his daughter. He is, self admittedly, old enough to be her father. And they still have a son together. There is no context, no possible way, that this is romantic. Horrible things can happen in a book. But it needs to be clear that it is horrible. Not so with this abominable ending. It was written as a romance, the bittersweet parting of starcrossed lovers. If Kay set out to write a love story for Erik and Christine, she did not do it: there is no evidence whatsoever in the text I read that Christine and Erik love one another. Erik lusts after her; Christine is drawn to his dark broody mystery. That is not love; it's Twilight.

I will reread this book for the sake of the brilliant child Erik, who I see myself in, and for Nadir and my feline lady Ayesha, but I will never be reading past Erik's delightful meetings with his old friend. As far as I'm concerned, he lived in his damp cellar in peace, with a large salary, to the end of his days.

More rants, I mean, very dignified and reasonable reviews of POTO adaptations here.

I drew this with a pen on its last gasp:

Obsessed with the clean 6-inch gaps between them. @vladimirsangel I love your Pierce, he looks like a Christmas elf beside the others, bless him.

And of course they are talking about chicken.

Dumb sketches because I got obsessed with their height differences. Sorry it's so rough but my brain is like tangled wool tonight

Feel better soon @purrlockswatson!

Have a better day @blackforrestpunk!

(I don't know what they're talking about. Something fun)

He's right over my desk, and I feel him judging me. Very annoying. He'll be happy there.

As for the gingerbread vampire, I didn't get instructions about how to feed you, Innocent, and I'm pretty sure it hurt him more than it hurt you.

This is the situation. Please advise.

He stole my gingerbread man, and I found he's made a sort of den in my bookshelf.

...I should just leave him there, shouldn't I?

Ahhh yeah. About that. Both my main OCs are a bit obsessive about nesting. Innocent favours inconvenient places, so anywhere he'll be most in the way or most annoying to have to walk past all the time. He also loves puzzles so sitting right atop Cain's Jawbone will make him feel right at home.

He has some feedback on the baking, by the way.

Making a Nosferatu bag. Paused and went, "Oh no, it's Bitsy!"

Do you see it? Yes?

Yes.

Vampire Bitsy:

Christmas Advent Calendar

I'm making an advent calendar. It will be available for 1£ (1.2$) on my Ko-Fi.

What else should I draw? Left to my own devices, I will fill it with fluffy krampusses, rats hitting each other with candy canes, and anxious festive turd.

New chapter of Gothic Tales is up

Wanted to draw something but my holidays end tomorrow and I'm as motivated as an undead potato right now.

I've already got around 1,800 things to do in the first week back, it means I have to visit basically every office on campus and it's going to be absolute shite.

What's not shite, at least I hope not, is this fresh upload:

https://archiveofourown.org/works/63019435/chapters/161671531

(I don’t know why the link looks like that, just my luck, my Internet is messing with me right now)

Anyway, enjoy a Frankenstein Monster having a crush that doubles as an existential crisis while I go and try not to turn into mash.

Remember Woolly Erik? His debut has been delayed due to a sad wardrobe mishap. Let's just say the seat of his trousers isn't... seated.

I'm making him some cheeky untucked shirttails to make up for it.

More of my needle felting shenanigans. Lots of monsters. Well, all monsters.

It's a bit early for Valentine's, but it's never too early for ✨️miscommunication✨️

This happened during Erik's monologue to the Daroga after he dragged him off the boat. I maintain that we don't know what Erik was wearing when in Siren Mode, so it COULD have been duck swimming trunks.

Pharoga cats are back! More of them here and all PoTO cats here! (Spot more Erik in ducky swimmers)

THIS!

It's hilarious! It has the Daroga! And it has the best characterisation of Christine I've see so far! Ramble tomorrow, my brain is on strike today.