@vladimirsangel 's Innocent In Needle Felt

Doomed by the narrative.

They doomed themselves and each other. They treated each other like monsters and believed themselves to be monsters.

The "monster or human" narrative is one of the central conflicts of the story. Were we made wrong, or did we lose our souls somewhere along the way? What happens when you believe you are a monster?

Before I worry anyone unduly, my well-being is, well, quite well. A reason I hesitate to post my writing is that I'm worried I'll make people concerned - yes, a lot of it is based on experience, but it's gothic fiction and I paint it darker than it is. Also, I have a gremlin in my brain that screams, "MAKE IT WEIRDER!" A weird imagination is the side effect of growing up feeding on novels, don't read too much into it.

Welp, I suppose we'll soon know just how weird it is, if I don't chicken out and actaully release the creepy lil creature into the internet.

Bad day all round for Scrooges, gooses, and aspiring singers/caterwaulers. (My day 2 card!)

Art by @purrlockswatson aka @purrlockholmesbooks

Show me your's!

C'est le mien !

Doing colouring as a kid, I always ignored instructions and drew snot and tears on all the things with faces. To stop old habits from popping out, I traced this with baking paper against my phone, then traced that with watercolour paper against my desk lamp. It hurt my arms, so I filled in the details freestyle, I hope it worked! Phans with a printer, follow instructions now!

Colour it in your style!

Well, originally this was my valentine's day drawing.... buuuuut i hate christines pose, and then i gave up.

Well, iiiiiiiiif you want, download it, print it out, colour it in your style :-)

Credit me, so i can see what you did 😍 have fun!

Random question: What fictional character do I remind you of?

It's been on my mind since someone recently told me I looked like Mavis Dracula from "Hotel Transylvania" (by a happy coincidence, I have her hairstyle). Would love to collect more of my fictional doppelgängers/matching weirdos.

Tiny Erik is here to say cheers to you!

His hat looks CURSED off-camera, so I gave him some juice (it's Lego, and I can't say how much I love that piece). He still looks a little frightened and brain-off, as Aiden says, but I think he's buzzing inside about so many good stories about him!

Konrad and I have just proofread chapter 29 of the webcomic. I'm so incredibly happy that I've covered the next 10 months with enough comic chapters.

My visit at the doctor today was pretty sobering. Tomorrow I'm going to see another doctor for other problems.

Due to my state of health, it took me about 4 weeks to draw chapter 29. I'm currently putting off the next 3 bonus chapters. No energy for storyboarding.

But I am soooo happy. Chapters 16, 17 and 18 are already prepared in Tapas. I can't wait to read what you have to say. 😍✨✨✨

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.

WIPs. I sure hope we never see any Phantoms other than a cat Phantom wearing duck swimming trunks because, oh boy, is that cursed!

None-cursed (or at least less cursed) cat phantoms here!

Thank you, @frommarshtheycome @blackghostm2o & @vladimirsangel for the tags, I'm honoured 😭 10 favourite films in GIFs:

why is daroga so fat

Because of magnificent fur:

But I don't generally assign body shapes to my goober cats unless it's explicitly in the design of their human counterparts. So he can be anything you like.

Small cats are not always small characters (case in point: Kitty Cherik). I draw whatever best showcases my perception of the character.

(Drawing is from this comic. All Phantom of the Opera art here)

*sneaks in* Pssst, a-are you still interested in drawing prompts for that game?

If so,may I request any Erik of your choice, as well as little kid Pierce for 11?

Alternatively an OC of your choice for 15

Anyways,I hope you are well!!! Sending you good vibes and much love and admiration always!!!🥰💖💖💖💖

(No worries if you don't get to,or don't want to do this ask btw.)

I love your silly goober kitties so much💖💖💖💖

Hi, thank you for the ask and kind words! 💖💖

Prompt 11, OC at age 5. Here's Pierce at ages 5, 15, and 25:

Kiddie Pierce (though Pierce was not his name back then) had a nice, spoiled childhood, he only looks like that because they wouldn't let him hold his favourite rat while posing for his portrait - children often had long hair in his time, like this painting of Winston Churchill.

In his teens, Oscar Wilde had long hair, so so did he. Maybe we can convince him to wear his hair long again, at age 150.

25 was the year he became the vampire Pierce.

I swear I'll return for the rest of the prompts! I really want to draw Phantom cats again, but my brain won't leave me alone right now.

Send me prompts from this list!