A Vampire T-shirt I'm Working On. The Transfer Paper Won't Unstick, So I've Got To Slowly Scrub It Off,

For someone who claims to be a vampire, I react very badly to getting my blood sample taken. Once, I looked so horrified that the nurse was afraid I'd faint and gave me a juice box.

So when I was editing this story just now, I was squirming in my seat. (This is not the worst scene. The other one is a spoiler, so wait a few weeks - if you actually want to suffer through it, that is, and if I actually stick to my plan). That probably means I've done my job well, but WHY did I do this to myself?

Content warning: blood, needles, mild body horror, strangulation, decapitation, Sarah being Sarah and enjoying the gore a bit too much

Feel free to tell me what you think, I'm not holding a sword. Or a needle.

Thank you @windforkthewriter for sending a 💀 in my asks for an excerpt!

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.

Spat out my tea reading my Dracula annotation.

[Ha! That's rich, talking like you have a coachman!]

Context: the great Count Dracula has no servants. Blood-slaves? Thralls to his hypnotism? Nah. Just little old him and three vampire ladies who don't help with the chores and try to steal his snacks (and/or his lawyer).

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!)

Thank you, @greenfinchwriter , for tagging me in this tag game! I know we're supposed to reblog, but I can't hide long posts when they're shown on the "my posts" tab and that sometimes gets my goat, so I hope it's all right if I make a separate post!

Last TV show: Arcane

Last movie: Hammer's Dracula... I think? I've completely lost all sense of time.

Last book: A vampire romance in which the vampire, I kid you not, conjures cheesecakes.

Last thing I searched: Just checked. It's "bub meaning." I wish I could say it's "Sherlock Harpoon," but that was this morning.

Sweet/savoury/spicy: You are asking the gremlin who puts sugar in soup. Sweet.

Relationship status: extremely occupied with matchmaking my original characters.

Favourite drink: Cocoa, tea, soup, blood

Songs playing 24/7: "Judas" by Lady Gaga, "Love me normally" by Will Wood

Current favourite character: Van Helsing and Mina Harker (specifically from the Dracula book)

Fun activities I wish to get into: I want to try animating softwares, but it'll have to wait until I have a computer again. My antique PC is sadly ignoring me.

Last video game: Good grief, this ancient Undead hasn't played one in ages. Probably the Halloween game on Google Doodles?

Anyway, I drew Sherlock with a harpoon ages ago.

Oh, yes, I forgot to tag! @frommarshtheycome @windforkthewriter @t4z-0n-p4wz @whyisthereacentaur

As @ablatheringblatherskite eloquently put it in their lovely tags for this post:

Now, go read it, people.

Erik - Top of the Sky Update

another sad chapter. man, this drama will take some time. AO3 Fanfiktion Song of this chapter:

Spotify

No Surprises

Radiohead · OK Computer · Song · 1997

About Mr Pierce

I don't like OC bio templates, so I tackled this with my best work attitude: sarcasm and chaos.

Pierce is from my novel, Gothic Tales from Melancholia.

Phantom of the Opera (2004), we have beef!

(I'm sorry, Gerald Butler's Phantom, you're still very cool. See the original drawing without beef here.)

I'm not saying that the film is entirely bad. It's only that I tend to be extra critical about plot and portrayal. Phans of the film, feel tree to sit this one out. Now, the beef.

🥩 1. They cut out one of the most powerful scenes

Before I fell (or rather, was pushed) into the Phandom, I saw a clip of Sierra Buggess and Ramin Karimloo performing the 'SING!!!' part of The Phantom of the Opera, and even then, it struck me. Watching film, I was waiting to see it again... But they just kept rowing the boat. I find this direction choice rather symbolic of the angle of the entire film: they lowered the prominence of Christine's thrall to the Phantom's music and instead focused on their dubious romantic attraction.

🥩2. The Phantom's origin story

Perhaps they felt the need to explain his past more, but this is a case of the more you explain, the worse it gets. Why on earth would you feel the need to explain that the Phantom has been visiting Christine since she was a child? That is not only terrifying but also creates unnecessary confusion. If he's been teaching her for so long, I find it dubious that nobody has noticed her behaving strangely before the Hannibal performance.

🥩3. They gave Mme. Giry too many hats to wear

In the film Mme. Giry essentially took on the role of three characters: her own, the Persian's, and Mama Valeris' (Christine's surrogate mother in the book). Initially, I liked that they gave Mme. Giry a more active role in the Phantom's past, but then it gets very weird because she's essentially matchmaking her surrogate daughter with a man her own age whom she has witnessed killing someone. I mean, it's not implausible to give a character two conflicting roles, but the film gave no viable explanation for it.

🥩4. The graveyard duel

Why were they using rapiers in 1870? The Phantom dueling I can get behind, being the theatre kid he is, but Raoul? Get a pistol, monsieur le vicomte. Anachronism aside, this addition doesn't add more to the scene. It's meant to show how the Phantom tried to lure Christine again and Raoul comes to disillusion her, but with the duel added in, it's just a question of who wins the duel, who gets to leave with Christine. And I keep wondering how the heck the Phantom lost the fight in spite of his Magnificent Cloak advantage. (Cloaks were used as shields back in the day of rapier duels.)

🥩5. Carlotta

I adore Wendy Ferguson's Carlotta. I understand that the film wanted to make a contrast between Christine and Carlotta, but making her something out of Mean Girls was uncalled for. You got the wrong musical, mate.

I talk about other POTO adaptations here!

Voilà, lots of sillies and... other things. If you wish me to elaborate, let me know 🤣

@vladimirsangel @blackforrestpunk @whyisthereacentaur @blackghostm2o @nalesnik-z-morela @ruvyn29 @greenfinchwriter No pressure tags, if like me you hesitate to post photos because you live in a gremlin nest and can't take any pictures without getting photo bombed by A) rubbish or B) demons, never mind!

First 3 photos are from past posts: Blood Box Bandits, Pharoga Kitty Kisses, Camp Vamp.

tagged by @bossboudicca

six non-selfie photos from my camera roll

tagging a few babies don't feel compelled to do this if you don't wanna

@rockygetsrolling @ethantheannus @terrasilvershade @windforkthewriter @pandapool @moosekababs

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)