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Blog post: The Freedom to be Grotesque and Gothic Authoresses

Purrlock Holmes Books

The Freedom to be Grotesque: Gothic Authoresses

Reclaim authorship over “grotesque” writing. Writers have long been forced to deny the impact of their writing for fear of frightening reade

"I shall thus give a general answer to the question, so frequently asked me—How I, then a young girl, came to think of, and to dilate upon, so very hideous an idea?"

- Mary Shelley, Introduction to Frankenstein

In the 1831 edition of Frankenstein, Mary Shelley explained how she, as a 19-year-old young woman, wrote a work that shook contemporary intellectuals.

“I didn’t mean anything by it; it’s only flight of fancy,” the writers who defined gothic literature said to a world that was not prepared to accept that women with no formal education were capable of the intellectual prowess woven into these tales of dark, profound, terrifying worlds.

We have long lived in a society that is quick to denounce, demonise and deny the voices that speak in a different tone. Even if you never show it to a single soul, write. Write, because to write dark, terrible things is to accept that they exist inside you without shame.

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Unedited post - with a short piece I published years ago - linked above!

Vlad's Erik (Vlerik)

Doodles of @vladimirsangel 's Erik Carrière from his story, Trying Again. Click for close-ups:

Right-oh, advertisement time. I'm not-so-well at the moment and can't muster the strength to make sense, so I'll just say that I went to menace the author with my excitement the moment I finished reading. And had to shorten my original message by half so as not to scare the living daylights out of him.

A Christmas Carol, but Scrooge is dead (Pt 2, 3 & footnotes)

@blackforrestpunk Gruel is served! (Pt. 1 here)

Maddy, please love your lil shites, or they'll riot! Look at them!

I feel awful when I see artists say their art is not important, but I'd also be the first to roast my own art. I know what it's like to look at all the art out there and think, "Welp, time to move to a flooded cellar."

It's hard to convince ourselves that we matter. But hey, a lot of things are hard to believe, and it doesn't make them less true!

Yesterday (or better today at night) while drawing my stupid shitpost I was thinking: “Wow… In the phandom there are so many artists who draw beautiful and meaningful illustrations inspired by this fantastic story and this is my contribution… A stupid shitpost…”

Not to say that I’ve not enjoyed doing those, but isn’t this a bit sad?

*Slams this lil dude down on the table* Phandom, dinner time!

I found out that the Chinese Phandom calls the Phantom 饭桶, "Rice Bucket," because it sounds like "phantom" (fàntǒng... meh, close enough).

That isn't the best bit.

If someone is a rice bucket, it means they're good for nothing but holding rice inside them (i.e., eating). So it means "useless person."

Now, isn't that perfect for someone who cools his heels in a dank cellar and blackmails his way to massive wages?

More POTO nonsense here!

Idea by @blackforrestpunk art by @vladimirsangel and angry floof by me.

(L-R Aiden's OC Punk Erik, Vlad's Aurik and my Pierce.)

Sorry to hear the germs got you, I hope you get them back. Have a Chickula.

I made him before I made Innocent. Believe it or not, he was harder to make. He keeps judging my life choices so I didn't finish him, but well, I hope that was entertaining. How entertained do you want to be? Because, like the entertainment industry in general, I am absolutely capable of becoming a menace.

-An imaginary human living in your phone

IS THERE NO END TO YOUR TALENTS??

Count Chickula: Vere is my tail, @purrlockswatson? My majestic vampire feathery tail?

tsk these judgy undead poultry

Little fluffy Nosferatu, Ankle-Biter Krysa Veinessa Thumb Whateley-Dickenson, is hankering down to watch the new Nosferatu film. Sadly, this photoshoot was before I knew of the existence of the sarcophagus popcorn bucket, so our traditional one will have to do!

I'm not sure if she can eat the popcorn, but she does like holding them.

(Thank you to @greenfinchwriter @takeiteasyonmeimstilllearning @thatbluevampire and @vladimirsangel for giving her her lovely names!)

WAIT, this deserves a drawing reblog:

Pierce, mon cher, that's nice, but your philosophy of 'You have problems? That's all right, me too!' is the reason you have so many relationship problems. And you're lucky Aurik is an angel who puts up with your shenanigans. (Your hair looks magnificent in any style, Aurik.)

Vlad, this is better than anything I could have imagined when I first started posting doodles of my disaster kitten Pierce, thank you 😹

Well, Aurik, you did say he could do your hair.

@purrlockswatson

What are your "Oh no, if people I know read this, they'll be concerned," writing projects?

I don't often talk about these original characters, Lolly and Stephen Wargrave, since their story is quite twisted and hard to make into funny posts. Well, I had the urge to cattify them today, and it's sort of funny, so here they are.

These gory weirdos are brainrotting me now, so maybe I'll blab about them again soon.

Romance authors, we have beef!

I came across this while turning off my brain with Kindle before sleep. I became very awake.

Where to start? Christine Daa? seems a good place. Then there's Musique D'ange. My French education is rolling on the floor in agony.

And which part, please, is this unique? I've seen one too many attractive Phantoms for my sanity lately, so I'm getting out the beef. I won't argue with people's interpretation of fiction, to each their own, but I DO have a problem with people taking away Erik's right to be unattractive.

Dracula is fair fodder. Appeal is part of his monstrosity, although I'm not happy with how attractive they make him as it distracts from the fact that he is supposed to be hated by his victims when they are lucid. (All hail Eggers' Nosferatu.) But Erik? Author, you crossed a line with me using Erik's name. Your rightful portion is Mr Y. Take him and welcome. I take it personally when people fudge around with Erik's reputation. Leave my cellar gremlin alone to be amoral in a way that is actually portrayed as amoral instead of an extension of his dark broody attractiveness.

Honestly, so many "morally grey" characters in fiction are actually "morally dark and handsome and does horrible things in the name of love." Not the same, shouldn't be taken as the same.

Bah, sorry about that. If you didn't hate it, my rambles about other POTO adaptations here