Somehow, I'm Unable To Draw Cats Or Hampsters Now, So I Made MCR-themed Keychain Earrings And A Black

I just shut my drawer. Looked down. HOLY CLAPPING MONKEYS, ERIK, WHY ARE YOU LOOKING AT ME LIKE THAT?

Woolly Erik photoshoot here.

Sneak peek of some Kitty Cherik.

The pixelation is for spoiler reasons, I'm NOT emulating *that* cursed segment of the cursed Phantom 1990 edit I mentioned before although I can't say it's got nothing to do with the video.

Two very different vampires

Very nice, Pierce, but maybe don't flash your, ah, ankles. Dear Aurik is by @vladimirsangel

Originally, I only planned a doodle of smol Pierce next to Aurik because a midnight conversation turned from the division of chores in the Dracula household to vampire height difference. But it's been a weird week, and I kept adding to the sketches to unwind. I hope my 'stress art' makes some people happy, too.

On vamp fashion: Pierce's dressing gown is based on Klimt's The Kiss, reference to the Klimt-inspired robe in Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992). Aurik is NOT a brat; he probably borrowed the t-shirt from Vlad. His outfit is a combination of this Goth one and his Ugg boots.

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.

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.

@blackforrestpunk 's Erik and Sasha

Sorry for the sketchiness, I've already broken my vow of art abstinence once today and was cursed with creating yet ANOTHER accidental vampire thirst trap, so please accept this offering until I can safely draw again.

This artist is officially my rival now - reference to Chapter 7, part 6 and 7 of their brilliant comic!

The Phantom has spoken. Do it or risk the chandelier.

What's the tea? (News!)

Ko-fi

25% discount off Purrlock Holmes Books's Commissions

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Good morrow!

Here, I get up to shenanigans with fellow artists, review and ramble, post my writing, crafts and PoTO art because reasons.

My main blogs:

Book/history blog: @purrlockholmesbooksblog

Main art blog: @purrlockholmesbooks

My Gothic literature fanfic Gothic Tales from Melancholia is on AO3

The illustrated t-shirt does exist.

What I welcome in my ask box:

-Art requests are always welcome! I mainly draw, but will also get (hand)crafty if you have good, or unhinged, ideas.

-Asks about drawings, writing, OCs and projects.

-Asks for opinions/reviews of books, films, etc. I love researching and jabbering about my findings.

-Personal questions that won't help any unsavoury individuals to find me in real life (i.e., by all means ask me about my existential crises, but not about my nationality).

*Catatonic in the floor because I'm on art break and can't make more of these*

Coffin pillow talk

That scene when Lestat talked from inside his coffin is inexplicably hilarious to me. ⚰️

I seem to be unable to stop myself from hitting vampires in the face in these drawings. I swear it's not a thing. See Armeownd get hit in the face by a laptop here! Also Rockstar Lestat meets Taylor Swift here!

(The number of silly comics I've made about Interview with the Vampire has become slightly concerning to me. I'm doing it to stave off the misery -- I'm yet to recover from season 2, episode 1.)

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.

-

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

<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3

SO many hearts, for you. You incredible person.

Aaaaahhhh, thank you very much!! Right back at you, friend <3<3<3<3

(Loosely related fact: I always thought <3 was supposed to be a really scrunched-up looking sideways smiley face, never occurred to my Undead Victorian brain that they're hearts)