Bad Day All Round For Scrooges, Gooses, And Aspiring Singers/caterwaulers. (My Day 2 Card!)

Too tired to draw, so I'm whipping out this old thing. It's me and the geniuses I share joint custody of a braincell with - @blackforrestpunk and @vladimirsangel . If you feel particularly un-brained today, it's probably my fault, I was forced to pummel the braincell because of a series of circumstances that led me to interview a vet and snail around on public transport for hours. But I had pizza, so that was all right.

(See here for context)

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.

@blackforrestpunk and @vladimirsangel ! I drew so many cat comics that they'll need a whole new post. Oh, and there's me:

Vlad, you win Design Choice Headache Award, combats and plaids are no joke to draw. Aiden, gold star fashion choice.

Probably? Mes amis, it's fudging canon!

Behold, me using the Original Text as proof of something unhinged again.

All Eriks have funny weird humour. There's no way this genius didn't have a better disguise.

(Chrissy's hair, ahhhh, I love it!)

Leroux Erik would be proud. Probably.

My Erik has a funny weird humor, that doesn't appear that much in my stories. Well.

Vampurr to vampurr. I've seen people wearing antique Victorian gowns to cinemas to meet the Count, but I'm afraid I'm in my hoodie.

Computer is dead, brain is rotted. The mostly hinged Phanart I'd completed is unavailable, so have some unhinged Nosferatu.

Someone challenged me to write a romance.

Call it my special brand of braincell torture, but I decided to take it further.

I shall try to write something sweet with a happy ending, with no gloomy-doomy self-inserts, no characters with 1,800 personal problems and absolutely no long discussions about the meaning of life, the justification of murder, love, loneliness, alienation, complicity, or suchlike.

Somebody help. I don't know how to write anymore.

I don't dare to say no vampires. Do you want me to be absolutely miserable?

Here are some stupid pics of my gremlin cat :3

(Maybe they can be a bit of help) <3

I HAVE BEEN BLESSED BY THE GREMLIN cat!

Every one of these photos is precious, but there's a special place in my heart for blurry cat pictures. Here's my stuffy gremlin as a tiny token of gratitude🥹 Thank you so much, Ghost!

(I was shooting him with a Lego gun. As an Experiment.)

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!

Haitus is over! It's been over for a while, but every time I try to say so, some accident occurs.

History/book/blog content will be posted @purrlockholmesbooksblog while this will be my art and monologue blog. Most posts will be reblogged to @purrlockholmesbooks but since it's still not fully functioning, I won't directly post there.

We're coming (back)! The drawing one cat a day series will be continued, as well as new daily posts! Blog posts will be returning on the weekends. Thank you all for sticking with the literary cats!

You're a mean one, Mr Grinch 💅🏻

I didn't make him fancy; he always has been.

Monster Pin-ups is not something I thought I'd be doing, but as they say, these things do happen.

If you asked me my favourite Christmas song, I'd say the You're a Mean One Mr Grinch cover by Sabrina Carpenter or Carol of Bells, depending on how refined I want to appear. Both are equally true.