Why Hello, Emo Cherik.

Finished a(nother) draft of my writing and looked down to see my gingerbread vampire looking back at me like this:

Mr Pierce... Mr Pierce, what have you done? What do you know? Why are you looking like me that?

Well. Unless this little doofus has better ideas, Tale One is complete - that is to say, it has a beginning and an end and a relatively coherent plot in between. That's a victory for me!

I have to delete so much stuff... too many long talking scenes about the meaning of life and such. I don't know how it happened, and I'm eager for it to un-happen.

Cleopatra (middle) makes her vampire partner Pierce (right) and his ex Alexander (left) watch Phantom of the Opera (1990).

To clarify, Pierce likes rats. In a completely normal way.

(All characters are from my WIP Gothic Tales from Melancholia)

(All my Phantom art here and here)

Red death.

I was recently informed by @blackghostm2o that we never got to see Cherik at a masquerade. This is my humble attempt to rectify that, since we all know that Cherik is the best dressed Phantom. The fashion historian Bernadette Banner has made a Red Death gown with the boning exposed to give it a skeletal look, so I borrowed the idea and incorporated a boned corset.

*gestures vaguely* And here are my horrors.

Link to my writing here.

If you end up reading it, let me know what you think, I wish for your feedback!

If you want to share your writing, send me the link, and I'll give you a follow, kudos, crumpets, whatever it is you people do there (lordy lord, I feel like a relic)

I think my profile picture deserves a spotlight:

Germs got me. The whole inside of my head, throat and chest feels inflamed. Like a vampurr who snorted garlic powder or something - I've lost my singular braincell, can't really be poetic.

Oh well, guilt-free bedrot and "Salem's Lot" audiobook. I'm not a fan of Stephen King, but vampire fiction is vampire fiction.

I'm not going to be up to much these days. I do have some weird drafts stored up, and if my brain comtinues to be so swollen, I might just post them.

Phantom of the Opera (1990), you did Erik proud

Alternate title: Christine, we have beef!

(Meme inspired by this post.)

I have not a bad word for this Erik (and not just because I can feel a certain friend of mine holding a chandelier over my head). The 1990 adaptation made some big changes to the story, but it perfectly captured the childlike soul of Leroux's Erik that is often lost in translation but vital to him. (When I was explaining POTO to someone outside the situation, i. e. my mum, two things I kept using as comparisons were a child and Gollum - not because he's a chaos gremlin, I was trying to describe how he has a skewered perspective of the world that isn't evil but doesn't follow the accepted moral system. But that's for another time.)

I found myself trying very hard not to resent Christine - a first time for me. I will defend her choosing the Compte de Chagny over Erik, she doesn't owe Erik love, no matter what he did for her. The problem is that she took on a responsibility she couldn't possibly carry.

Never, ever assume to fully understand someone. Especially someone like Erik, who thinks and exists on a different pane as most people. Christine was wrong, terribly wrong, to assume she 'knew his heart.'

When faced with a person so sensitive, so particular, when you are the one person trusted by someone who trusts no one, don't make huge gambles like that. She shouldn't have assumed she knew what Erik needs better than he himself does - if he told you he is happy with where they were, then stay there with him! Instead, she pulled the 'I can fix him' and shattered him completely. I don't hate her for being unable to catch Erik when he falls, I hate her for blindly promising to catch him and failing him.

(I do realise how much of the above describes myself and my worries about how people treat me, so fair warning, I may be a bit biased.)

An opinion: in most versions of the story, Erik emotionally manipulates Christine, but here, Christine is the one who is emotionally manipulative. ('Manipulative' may sound malicious, but manipulators aren't always aware of what they're doing.)

In the second part of the series, she said at least three times 'If you love me...' Now, that is one of my least favourite sentences to see and hear in the best of times, but this is somehow even worse because Erik DOES do everything because he loves her. In other versions, there is the question of possessiveness against love when it comes to their relationship; in that context, I would accept her saying this, to remind him that he should love and not obsess over her. But here, Erik is not possessive.

As for Monsieur Carrière, I have beef with him, too. It's an even bigger, tougher slice of beef. He is irresponsible: not once, but twice, he got in relationships and then left his partners when they have children. The first time could be a mistake; the second time, especially when kept Erik's mother in the dark about his marriage, is inexcusable. Yes, he stayed with her till the end, but then left their son in a basement. Yes, he reached out to Erik in the end, but too little, too late. If Erik is emotional and irrational, it's because Carrière never gave him the guidance he should have.

Christine and Carrière love Erik, I don't doubt it. But it's still painful to see Erik fall down through everyone and everything that should have caught him: his talent, his parents, Christine.

If you'll excuse me, I need to cry in the catacombs and draw something miserable.

I talk about several other adaptations here!

February first was hourly comics day! As always, I'm late to the bandwagon.

That was my February second. To clarify, I didn't go to bed at 11 pm. I just ran out of space because I didn't realise until then I'd drawn 9 panels and not 12. My last braincell was not at home that day.

Pharoga cats are back!

Gremlin Cat Erik returns with his ducky swimmers! It should be a tag now, I've drawn them at least three times already

More Pharoga cats here, all POTO cats stuff here

I have returned from the dead cinema. For those who missed the news, I went to see Nosferatu with my mum. Which is discouraged unless your mum is a funny one.

Without further ado, I present the popularly requested What my mum said about Nosferatu:

"There isn't enough of Nosferatu. The director must have run out of money."

"I don't like the crunchy noise he makes when he bites people. It isn't elegant, and he's supposed to be a nobleman." (Cue us joking that it's the sound of Orlok's teeth falling out. Chaotic humour is a family trait, I'm afraid.)

"Does the professor die?" Me: "Noooo, unless Thomas threw him out the window right after the end." Her: "Thomas, lock him in the chapel."

"It's a shame Ellen's friend dies. She has such nice clothes."

*Sailor hammering open Orlok's crate.* "C'mon, he's not at home!"

"Did Thomas get the bag of gold, at least?"

(More Cat Orlok drawings here and here!)

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.