Romance Authors, We Have Beef!

The Phantoms meet Love Never Dies Phantom. They are Unamused. I refuse to accept that this Phiasco Phantom is the same entity as the Phantom from the original musical.

I said I'll be pretending LND doesn't exist for the rest of my life. I lied. I watched it yesterday. Lying is bad.

All my Phantom cats here!

Have some more silly comics of Leroux Erik roasting his descendants while I storyboard a Phantom music video animatic.

@jennyfair7 your reblog of my WIP is on point, that's basically what happened 😹

All PotO cat comics here

Erik feels a bit lonely on Christmas.

(Let me make clear that I only ship Pharoga on condition that they are a fluffy perisan cat and a bald gremlin sphynx cat. But in this particular case, I will do it often and obnoxiously.)

Erik DOES cook chicken. The meal is canon, people. More (very canon) Pharoga cats here!

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!

I forget my notebook in desk drawers with worrying frequency. If someone was to pick it up, I think THEY would also be rather worried too. Because it's either full of long essays from the void of my soul, or Mondays fit for sitcoms:

Or stuff like this:

I think you people may recognise some of these:

And there's also this:

(Auditory overload from people blabbering. I give people basilisk stares for talking near me)

I WILL BE BACK WITH ACTUAL DRAWINGS SOON, I SWEAR, JUST LET ME GATHER MY BRAIN CELL PIECES.

More POTO cats here and Van Helsing cats here.

Ages has passed, and now he's looking at the even bigger box that says 'Series'.

Word count, bane of my existence

Now I have to spend ages fattening him up with descriptive prose and literary references…

I never got round to posting photos of my Nosferatu bag, did I? Meet Stephie.

She might be small and look like a sock monkey, but she has a fur collar and a silver heart locket (and mouse minions) just like Count Orlok. Perfect size for keeping my phone safe, and perfect emotional support for ventures outdoors because I can hold her hand when I walk.

(Someone who saw me making Stephie came around the other day and asked me, "Where's the rat?" I didn't bother correcting them. As long as nobody calls her dead baby Yoda, we're fine.)

Yes, very convincing, Cherik. Oh well, he tried. And hey, it worked! Apologies for messing with Kerik again, it's this or put him in prison, sooo...

Anyway, new reaction picture?

All POTO cats here! Prompts from this list still welcome!

<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)

Not even the whole song, only that.

Thanks to @grisha-brain for the tag! I hope you don't mind me answering with my 'ramble' blog. And thank you for stalking my art blog, haha!

@windforkthewriter @nalesnik-z-morela @blackforrestpunk @vladimirsangel @whyisthereacentaur @hazbinash @t4z-0n-p4wz @greenfinchwriter

ATTENTION

If you see this you are OBLIGATED to reblog w/ the song currently stuck in your head :)