PR's Tumblrdome
ellievsbear
Cosimo Galluzzi
Sade Olutola
sheepfilms
bliss lane
Lint Roller? I Barely Know Her
RMH
art blog(derogatory)
Cosmic Funnies
The Bowery Presents
Doug Jones
let's talk about Bridgerton tea, my ask is open
Phantogram Three
@theartofmadeline
Noah Kahan
❣ Chile in a Photography ❣
Color Me Curious
Discoholic 🪩
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United Kingdom
seen from Spain
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from Malaysia
seen from Canada
seen from Malaysia
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from South Korea
seen from United Kingdom
seen from Malaysia
seen from Germany
seen from Canada
seen from Thailand
@dross-the-fish
Hello everyone!
This blog is mainly art and fandom focused and I am always looking for inspiration so feel free to send art requests or suggestions and I might draw you something nice. My ask box is always open.
Fair warning, if you have a blank blog and I'm unable to confirm you are human you run the risk of being blocked.
18+ side blog for sending your more nsfw asks and requests
Feed the fish please!: Ko-fi
Art and Writing
AO3: Drossthefish
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
Free to watch • No registration required • HD streaming
have you seen Sinners? What would Theo do if she met Remmick and he invited her to join him? Would him being an Irish vampire like her make him relatable?
I tend not to answer Sinners related asks because they're always about Remmick and I just don't like him very much but I'll answer this one. As a villain he does fine, he has just enough depth to give him a little flavor but he's not what I'd call very exciting. He is a functional monster at the end of the day. Theo wouldn't give him the time of day. She'd think he was too far gone and she'd probably be relieved to hear he was killed off. Kind of like how she's not interested in joining either Dracula or Carmilla Theo has no inclination to join a vampire that has forgotten that human beings are people. I can't imagine she'd feel anything for him but maybe pity and a little loathing.
So from what i gathered, Adam would probably be happy to help someone who is injured? (a very non-self-indulgent ask that has nothing to do with me falling off a bike and needing an arm sling for like a week (or more))
I'm sorry you got hurt! I hope you feel better soon. Adam would be very gentle with a friend who was hurt. He'd insist on taking care of them and they'd find their meals brought to them through out the day or little books left for them to stave off boredom while they recover. He may even offer to sit by their bed and keep them company while he whittles them something.
You're laughing? Adam Frankenstein is sitting at the dinner table with his knees on his chest and you're laughing?
(its me, I'm mean and laugh at the visual of, all that,, Sorry buddy, hope you get that dream house of door frames you can fit through someday...)
I am laughing but also it's cathartic to imagine him suffer like that. I draw from experience, I have a partner who is shorter than me and most of the furniture we own was his and the car we share is also his. He is a shrimp. A little feller of only about 5'5". I have several inches of height and 100 lbs on him so I spend a lot of time adjusting the showerhead, scrunching myself into his tiny clown car, hitting my knees on the underside of his desk when I need to print things because the desk and chair are low (our only printer is hooked up to his PC because my ancient dinosaur of a desktop doesn't recognize the printer) All of my minor annoyance at not having enough room goes into writing Adam's experience with regular sized furniture.
How much is there in your Au? It sounds so huge.
There is a lot. And to share something a little personal, having this AU to pick and and build is the thing that makes life more bearable. I feel like a lot of people, at some point in their lives, start picking up hobbies or doing projects that aren't really meant to go anywhere, they're just things to enjoy. For some it's gardening, or painting, other people get into legos. It's a little THING to have that you can build and grow and shape as you please. It's not huge, or disruptive, or meant to bring in a tone of money or anything. It's just nice, it's creative, and it's fun. That is what my goth lit AU and the adventures of the Motley Crew are to me. It's my thing that I build and re-arrange to blow of steam or occupy myself when I have a little spare time or in the evening if my job is slow but I can't leave my desk yet. It's huge because it's nearly 7 or 8 years old by now and I've been developing and adding to it bit by bit all this time. At some point I want to make a collection of written fics or maybe even a book once my writing skill is where it needs to be but I think I'll also be satisfied if it just continues to be a thing that makes me happy.
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
Free to watch • No registration required • HD streaming
Hi! Figured I'd answer both here!
One of the best analyses I've ever seen of what the heck is wrong with Victor's father comes from @dross-the-fish. I'd head to his blog and search "Alphonse," because he has several posts discussing this in detail, with textual support, and breaks it down brilliantly.
Now, I do have a degree in English literature and write professionally so I should pull out my copies of the novel and cite my sources here but also...........it's the weekend and I do not want to lol.
Alphonse is fundamentally about presenting his family as idyllic and perfect to the outside world, and has a habit of either brushing unpleasant things under the rug or completely failing to recognize how troubling they are in the first place.
Exhibit A: Caroline, Victor's mother. Victor mentions that there is a "considerable" age gap between the two of them, and it's inferred that Caroline was a teenager when Alphonse--an older, fully-grown man, mind you--took her in and then eventually married her. It's skeevy, it's weird, and it smells suspiciously like grooming. Sure, okay, fine, "That was the way things were in the late 18th century." That does not make it okay, and Mary Shelley would have been hyper-aware of that dynamic more than anyone.
Predation in relationships shows up a lot in the novel, starting with Victor's father. What else was Caroline supposed to do? Her father's friend takes care of her, shows her kindness, and she has literally no other options. As a woman in the 18th century, she is stuck. So when he sidles up to her and marries her the second she's old enough to wed, she accepts. She has no other choice. We're given to believe that they loved each other deeply, but of course, you have to question the origins of this love. Adult man takes in a literal teenager only to marry her soon after. That AIN'T A GOOD LOOK.
Also, as @dross-the-fish points out, it's mentioned at one point that Alphonse's favorite painting of Caroline (which HE commissioned, mind you! He paid an artist to paint it!) depicts her as a child weeping over the grave of her dead father (who was Alphonse's best friend). He hangs it in a prominent place in the home. He admires it all the time.
How are we supposed to unpack that suitcase? Has Alphonse preserved her childhood suffering to remind himself that he's the patriarch and hero? Is he into the idea of a child mourning the loss of a parent?
Is Caroline only an emblem to him--something which he may acquire and pet and dote on and mold into the perfect little wife? (The men in this novel, including the Creature, often view women like this: as molded and made for men. The Creature, I suppose, has something of an excuse at first, since he knows nothing else, but everybody else...yikes.)
There's a whole other racist lil suitcase of Alphonse and Caroline later taking in Elizabeth, specifically, instead of the other Italian children because she's fairer and prettier than the kids with darker skin. Yeesh. (This happens in the 1831 version; in the 1818 version, she's Victor's cousin and Alphonse takes her in sight unseen since she's family.)
Exhibit B: Alphonse does not tolerate unpleasantness. When Victor is understandably distressed because of all the, you know...murder...the best way Alphonse can think to deal with it is to effectively say, "Buck up, kiddo, let's not talk about things like that. Try being happy. Have you tried not being sad?"
I mean, holy Lord, there are an usual amount of deaths popping up all over the place, Alphonse; is your son not entitled to his distress?
It's giving "Turn It Off," but for uncomfy emotions, period:
He's also at turns quite dismissive of his children's interests. When young Victor excitedly tells Alphonse about his burgeoning interest in alchemy, Alphonse immediately dismisses it as "sad trash." And fine, sure, it's antiquated by the 18th century but we learn eventually some part of it taught Victor something because it works and here comes an eight-foot-tall Creature!
For Victor, who is already grieving the loss of his mother (another thing we DO NOT LINGER ON, KIDS, says Alphonse; You can be sad about your mother but not so sad that it starts to disrupt the facade of happy harmony I have to maintain!), this dismissal isolates him further, and he retreats deeper into his studies. He only finds real intellectual kinship at university, not with his father.
Also! Alphonse immediately shoves Elizabeth into Caroline's mothering role after the latter dies. Immediately. He expects her to be pleasant and accommodating and to take care of everyone else without complaint. Never mind what Elizabeth wants; the men have decided for her. There's no room for even the notion of questioning. She's going to take care of everyone just like Caroline did and she's going to marry Victor because Caroline asked her to on her deathbed--you don't want to make your dying mother unhappy, do you? (Caroline's a whole other can of worms, man. She didn't really stand a chance, either, but that doesn't mean her choices are okay.)
And again, when Justine and William die and Elizabeth is, understandably, incredibly upset, Alphonse contacts Victor to take care of it because he's at a loss. He can't deal with it, although he's mentioned he's tried. And sure, this is understandable to an extent, but given Alphonse's history of quickly shoving emotions that make him uncomfortable into the cupboard, it's telling that he passes a traumatized Elizabeth onto someone else. She's no longer playing the dutiful Caroline Part II and he can't handle it. Oh, no! She's a person? "Victor, get back here, she's breaking protocol!"
Ultimately, while both of Victor's parents do show their children love in the only ways they know how to, Alphonse is very much a man of his time: wealthy, with a noble name and family image to protect. One could argue that his willing obliviousness to Victor's inner turmoil indirectly leads to disaster. He's a "no news is good news!" sort of fellow because it's easier to be so. Victor insists his childhood was a happy one, and it's clear he had plenty of happy moments. But critical textual analysis shows us that there were some strange family dynamics happening even before he was born.
And Alphonse shacked up with a teenage girl and that is gross no matter what century it is, the end.
I've been summoned! It's Alphonse hate o'clock folks! *cracks open a beverage* And Alphonse's behavior was WEIRD ENOUGH at the time that even he knew he had to leave Caroline to be fostered with his with relatives until she came of marriageable age and that raising her himself would have been unacceptable. HE LITERALLY HAD TO WAIT FOR HER TO GROW UP SO HE COULD MARRY HER. I'd also point out that Alphonse has a pretty distinct history with estrangement. A sister that never talks to him, Victor alludes to a love interest Alphonse may have had that didn't pan out, Caroline's father....all of these people at some point went no contact with him or he went no contact with them. He has NO friends while Victor is growing up and insists, even as everyone around him is dying, that the people who are left should just cling closer to each other. It's also notable that Victor and Elizabeth's only prospects are each other. Victor leaves for Ingolstadt and Alphonse badgers him about the long periods that Victor isn't writing home. It's SO telling. This man is terrified that people will leave him if they are able. Alphonse likes a world that is insular and that he has full control over. One thing we see over and over again in Frankenstein is how truly helpless everyone in the book is. The only one who technically isn't is Alphonse but he never uses his power for anything except to bring people into his household and then prevent them from leaving it for very long.
How old was Robert when he made his contract? I thought Jane was really young when Wendy went missing
Robert was still pretty young himself, about 12-13ish Wendy had already been missing for a few years at that point due to the on going conflict between Oz and Neverland and it's very difficult in general for adults to enter or exit Neverland as the usual "pixie dust and think happy thoughts" doesn't work as well for adults as does children given that adults have heavier thoughts weighing them down all of the time. Wendy got in with the help of a flock of flying monkeys who were attacked by lost boys and captured along with Wendy. Peter had been growing increasingly more unstable and malicious. Neverland also messes with one's perception of time so what Wendy perceived as only a few weeks was actually much longer. She had to wait for Peter to get bored of his current game and forget he was holding her hostage before she tried to escape with the few surviving monkeys. Robert's contract is what actually sealed her in Neverland with no way to return. So even when she freed herself from Peter and thought she was in the clear she couldn't get out. To survive in Neverland one is required to play games with Peter and keep him entertained. So Wendy replaced Hook as the Jolly Roger's captain (Hook had survived his "death" and found a way to leave Neverland without faerie dust through the Crocodile) Now she's caught in perpetual battle with Peter because Peter wants pirates to play deadly games with and the original Hook is gone. The longer Wendy stays the more she begins to notice changes, like her blood turning an unsettling color. Her memories also start to become scrambled and she has periods of forgetting she was ever Wendy Darling at all.
Re: The Crocodile and why Wendy doesn't know that being eaten by it is the other way out. It's not a real crocodile, it's actually an elderitch beast that is perceived as a crocodile because Peter wishes it to be one. Neverland bends to the whims of the eternal child and as such things are not what they seem. Neverland inflicts a degree of insanity on it's inhabitants so while under Peter Pan's influence they see what he wants them to see. In times when Wendy manages to break through or Peter's influence is weak she sees through the illusion and realizes the Crocodile is larger and more monstrous than it seems when Peter's influence is strong. The crocodile is actually an aspect of the mythical Leviathan and in its belly is a different world and a gate to the city of Atlantis and its various Merfolk inhabitants. Hook is initially picked up by the stuck crew of the Nautilus who's submarine is lodged in the creature's throat but after a dispute with Nemo he is kicked off the ship, though he is given a few supplies and a life boat to find his own way.
How are Robert and Co doing all that world hopping?
Mostly with the use of Jane's star-map. It opens portals between realms by activating reflective surfaces. For regular transport when in London where magic is limited/unavailable Robert "borrows" a certain motorcar from one of his parents while said parent is occupied with Dracula related problems and he drives himself, Jane, Louis wherever they need to go.
What stats and classes does Team Rescue Wendy have?
This part of the game is still under construction and has never fully been played through so a lot of this is untested as of current timeline. The setting is also mostly in locations like Oz, Neverland, the Faerie realms or Wonderland so they have full access to magic. Robert is a melee unit with bonuses in knives and ranged weapons and healing abilities. Obtains the Vorpal sword at one point from his mother after she gets it back from Edward (The sword is hers but she loans it to Edward while he works with the crew. He keeps it in his cane) Robert also has a hidden faustian contract for players to discover. Jane is a magic user though most of her spells are lower level in the beginning and there are requirements to unlocking higher spells. Most of her spells are status effects like inducing sleep, casting blindness, or petrifaction for 2 turns. Dorothy Gale is not a permanent member but she is also a spell user who specializes in weather based magic like wind and lightening, really good for offensive use. She also has a special item "The Witch of the West's Broom Stick" that lets her fly though she is vulnerable to ranged attacks while in the air. She's built around the classic DnD wizard class with a few Oz specific alterations. Louis isn't much good in direct combat but does function in non-combat roles as an information gatherer and usually finds useful items or ingredients through his "forage" feature. He can craft healing supplies as well. The Wizard Merlin is more of a late game addition and he is built around the druid class and can turn into various creatures and use plant based magic (summon vines, roll boulders, poisoned thorns, ect) he also has a bunch of nifty healing spells. Alice is also not a permanent unit but can be accessed periodically. She has potions and cookies that give her temporary buffs. Eating a cookie makes her 12 feet tall and adds +5 to her strength and con rolls. Drinking a potion will shrink her and allow her to slip through small openings and retrieve items. Rook (an OC from Oz assigned to guard Jane in the event there aren't enough player characters with melee classes) is a sword user and the only pure melee unit in the group. He has an emerald saber that lets him shape shift and bonuses to stealth. He has a vendetta against Peter Pan and the lost boys. High dex, high charisma, good hit pool. Bonuses to athletics and performance. Dependent on player choice and a very risky character to recruit due to a high chance of betrayal if persuasion checks aren't consistently passed or you can't afford to pay him. It's also possible to miss the quest where he becomes available : James Hook, former captain of the Jolly Roger. Perks in pistols and can use his hook for melee. Decent hit points, high charisma, high dexterity. Moderate strength. Bonuses to intimidation checks and trap disarm.
How did you build a DnD game out of gothic literature? Did all the players play as the familiar characters or did they play their own PCs and characters like Henry Jekyll (/Hyde), Adam, Erik ect were NPCs and more side characters?
I used regular DnD as a format for the games rules and players invented their own OCs while the motley crew functioned as NPCs and quest givers. A lot of decisions about the AU were made based around functionality. Like Adam's stats were developed because most of the players were very mushy and would most often pick classes like rogue or bard archetypes so I wanted them to have the option of at least one tank to soak damage while they dealt DPS from the back. Adam has the highest con stat and the highest strength stat. He also got bonuses to unarmed and unarmored and a bonus to athletics. A very solid front lines unit. Watson because you have to have some kind of healer unit. Watson has a "field medic" perk that lets him cure a character's status effects or restore hit points. He was the weakest combat unit next to an transformed Larry. Selma was functionally a paladin with a ranged weapon. She has healing and blessing buffs and has a respectable hit pool and a perk that gives her a "divine marksman" ability where she does extra radiant damage to vampires without having to use blessed bullets.
Quincey was a pretty basic fighter but worked well as a balanced melee unit. Erik was a rogue with an engineering/traps perk. Erik has the highest stealth stats in the game, elevated perception and an assassin perk. Theo, as a vampire, had monster stats and abilities.
Larry was pretty weak in human form but in werewolf form he got significant boosts to strength and constitution and did slash damage. Edward had rogue stats but was tankier than Erik with bonuses to strength and a significant hitpoint buff from his serum boost feature and I swapped out traps with potions meaning he can throw flasks that explode, poison or deal acid damage in combat. He also had some minor healing perks, less effective than Watson's but similar in function.
Players would go on missions and select two or three crew members to take with them and as they completed personal quests they could unlock new abilities and storylines. I build my games to reward curious players who like to explore and do a lot of heavy roleplay so the more they interact the more they find. Having well rounded NPCs makes it more fun for them and me.
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
Free to watch • No registration required • HD streaming
When Adam first arrived at the London estate, did he experience any difficulties due to his size? The bed was too small, the bathroom too small, the chairs too small, and constantly banging his head on the doorframes?
The Talbot manor has high ceilings so that's a relief but he does have to duck through all the door frames and that gets old after awhile. He also had to have furniture custom made. At first they moved a second bed into his room to give him something bigger to sleep on and substituted chairs with backs and arms for things like ottomans and benches where they could. The furniture is still a bit short for him, he struggles to get his knees under tables and desks sometimes but mostly he's had accommodations for his height.
Odd question— how would the Motley crew feel about Gregor Samsa?
They'd feel very sorry for him and they'd try to help him if possible. If it's after what happened to Louis Edward will wonder if there's some thing going around that makes people turn themselves into insects. Watson would be disgusted by how Samsa's family is treating him and why they aren't making more of an effort to support him. Adam feels terrible for him and tries to befriend him, assuring him that he's in good hands....and trying not to make nervous side eyes at Edward while Edward pulls out several sharp objects and dubious chemicals. Erik is sitting this one out because it has nothing to do with him and he's not particularly interested. Selma is also a bit creeped out but stays polite and tries to be comforting. Theo is offering her sympathies from a healthy distance away, like the farthest corner of the ceiling. Larry will commiserate and tell Samsa "At least you didn't kill anyone? You're just a bug. I mean...that's bad...but it's also not as bad as it could be?" Quincey is all in on getting this problem solved and helping the poor bug man become human again.
A quick painting of Raoul De Changy from my goth lit AU
Robbie...my sweet boy 🥺
People tend to think he's the sibling you need to watch out for because he has a temper but he IS generally a good guy who cares very much for his friends and family. He has a very fierce sense of loyalty, which actually is one of Henry's better traits as well.
Do Jekyll's parents appear in your AU?
No, at best you'll get a little smidge of backstory as Edward tells Selma a little about his childhood. A lot of the background lore is just stuff I keep in mind when I write the characters. Jekyll having the kind of family that wasn't unloving or abusive to him but was still toxic and dysfunctional behind closed doors does a lot for helping ME understand how my version of Henry Jekyll got from point a to point b.
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
Free to watch • No registration required • HD streaming
Is Robert drawn to medicine for the same reasons as Henry?
Robert goes into medicine largely because Louis is so fragile and he is hoping that if he has a better understanding of medicine he can take better care of his younger brother.
Do you read anything other than gothic literature?
I do, outside gothic and classic literature I also read thriller or horror novels, occasionally fantasy and mythology. I just don't talk about them as much because I'm not building anything out of them. Goth lit comes up as my primary topic because that's what I based my DnD game off of.
Outside of novels I also read quite a bit of non-fiction, mainly history and science related. I like finding articles about world history and anthropology/paleontology to peruse over when it gets slow at work. I was kind of into dinosaurs as a kid and haven't really grown out of it, I think now as an adult I'm less in awe of the organisms themselves and more by the process paleontologists use when piecing together what they looked like and the environment they lived in. I also like seeing evolutionary patterns through time, like seeing how early cetaceans were entirely land-dwelling and almost rodent like once and have in the modern day become fully marine animals we call whales but crocodilians by comparison have changed very little. That fascinates me.
To be honest I'll read or watch just about anything that grabs my interest and I like falling down rabbit holes. Gothic literature is only one of many interests I have.
