Mary Shelley - Tumblr Posts

Oh yeah, this is now my Frankenstein’s monster/ creature/ Adam. This is what Mary Shelley’s version looks like for me. If you disagree you’re wrong!/j no but Fr, like I said, this is MY version. If you disagree or don’t even call him Adam, cool

i think if i read the novel before watching monster high i would definitely be a frankie stein stan but oh well anyway some creature fanart for your mind and soul

I love how one summer, a bunch of nineteenth century emo kids wrote some books, kinda making fun of their friend, and somehow they are the reason why now, 200 years later vampires are hot and people still make new art about bringing corpses back to life

people misuse 'ghajini' the same way they misuse 'frankenstein'

One of the best readings fr 🙌

(This was like seven months ago or smt👾)

Modern Prometheus

Happy (somewhat belated) Halloween!

I originally planned something more elaborate, but in the end I had to settle for this rather quick doodle of Frankenstein, as I am currently a bit short on time. (Hence also the void background and lack of details in this painting)

(Alternative version & close-ups)

I've talked a bit about this before: I LOVE how in Frankenstein, Shelley had the perfect excuse to make an allusion to the Bible and genisis, and instead she chose Paradise Lost. Creature connects to a story about what a creation did rather than how someone made them, because the life matters more to him than the birth; in telling his own story, he brushes past his "origin" in less than a page.

By that choice, Shelley emphasizes the theme that what mankind creates matters less than how we respond to it.

"When Shelley's corpse washed ashore, a friend identified it by a copy of Keats's 1820 volume in the coat pocket, which he knew Shelley had taken with him. Then, after cremation in which Shelley's heart, hardened by calcium, did not burn, this same friend snatched it from the embers and presented it to Mary Shelley, who kept it thereafter in her desk, wrapped in a copy of 'Adonais."

Here’s your morbid literary fact of the day.

“How sad that history does not value young women who have accomplished extraordinary achievements…”

Jane Austen really said ‘I respect the “I can fix him” movement but that’s just not me. He’ll fix himself if knows what’s good for him’ and that’s why her works are still calling the shots today.

What is Frankenstein had a roommate?

Now, I am not talking about the monster. In the book, the monster was never named, so when I talk about Frankenstein I'm talking about Victor Frankenstein. So, Victor is a college kid in England, he just moved and he's getting an allowance from his father. He finds that the housing prices are a little higher than expected and he can't afford a flat. So he goes looking for a roommate. He meets a nice young man named Clark who goes to the same school and has a part-time job that can't quite cover rent. They move into a two-bedroom apartment near campus together. Clark is studying literature and is the sole reason Victor can eat (after an incident Victor was banned from the kitchen.) He helps pull Victor out of his books and is good for him. Victor helps Clark with schoolwork and tells him about all the new scientific discoveries. They eat dinner together every night and go on walks in the park. They enjoy each other's company. When Victor writes letters home he tells them all about Clark, how good of a chef he is and how social. Clark does the same, telling his family about how smart and determined Victor is. They stop being able to imagine life without each other. One night Victor says that once they part ways he'll miss Clark and that they should write often. Clark FREAKS OUT about this. He gets super upset cause he doesn't want this to stop. He likes being domestic with his friend and doesn't to live with anyone else. Clark likes Victor, even with all of his eccentricities. And that night Victor gets a letter from Elizabeth, and for the first time, he starts to wonder if he really wants to marry her. He realizes that he just wants to stay here in this flat with Clark.

A month later Victor starts going down the rabbit hole that leads to the creation of the monster. Despite Clark's best efforts Victor stays firmly lodged in his books. Clark gets worried and asks his parents if he could go for a visit. They agree and tell him that he should "Bring that Frankenstein boy you're always talking about." So Clark asks Victor to go meet his parents. Victor wants to but he sees this as the perfect time to work on the monster, so he declines. Clark leaves food and cooking instructions and sets off.

When Clark comes back the flat smells like herbs and has an underlying scent of decay. His mind immediately jumps to "Has Victor murdered someone?" He almost giggled. Victor? His sweet, shy, nerdy Victor? He couldn't kill someone if he tried. But someone else could murder Victor. Someone else could be in here right now. Clark steels himself and walks into the kitchen. It does look like someone was murdered, with body parts in jars and something vaguely humanoid on the table. He cringes and looks at the shelf. "Is that a jar of blood?" He vomits. Clark hears someone rushing into the room and Victor, his sweet Victor is there, carrying something wrapped in butcher paper. He puts the thing down on a chair and rushes to Clark, helping him to bed. Victor leaves for a bit when he comes back he climbs into the bed, snuggling up. It is winter, after all.

When he wakes up the fire is dead and Victor is still curled in his arms. Clark sighs and goes back to sleep.

They don't mention it. Victor's monster of a man never gets discussed. Victor works on it and Clark moves around it. He's sad to see his beloved friend losing himself in this way, but Clark can't do much. The only positive so far has been cuddling up in the same bed on cold nights. Besides that Victor doesn't talk or interact much. Clark decides to visit a friend for supper. He leaves Victor with his dinner and a quick kiss on the head. He's not sure when that started happening, but neither complained. Victor gives him a small, rare smile and mentions that the monster is almost complete.

When Clark gets back he finds Victor had left and the monster was sitting in his kitchen. He quickly deduced that, despite appearances, this is a giant toddler. Clark gives him some food and finds clothes for him. After the monster is asleep he sets to the task of scrubbing his kitchen.

Victor comes back the next day with a strange man. They both seem shocked at the monster sitting on the kitchen floor, eating an apple. Victor almost faints and Clark explains to the man, who he's found out is names Henry Clerival, that right now is not the best time and that it might be good for him to get a hotel room. Henry agrees and leaves after helping Victor to bed.

They name the monster Percy Frankenstein. Victor woke up and freaked out, but Clark told him to take responsibility for the person he created. Percy got Victor's old room after he moved in with Clark. They have reinforced all of the furniture so that Percy can use it. He's quickly able to talk and read. Some people cower but after getting to know Percy they find that he's truly quite sweet. He calls Victor his father and it's true enough. They're happy. And then the letter comes. It's from Victor's father, asking him to come home. It asserts that he's been gone for too long and heavily implies that it's high time he married Elizabeth. So Victor starts planning his trip. He says he will be gone for a month, and makes sure that Clark and Percy will be okay without him. The night before he is set to leave he starts to cry. Clark gets worried and Victor tells him that he doesn't want to go home, he doesn't want to get married to Elizabeth, and he wants to stay here. He says that it all feels so far removed, that he would much rather just stay with Clark and Percy thank you very much. Clark sympathizes, kissing him all over his face and telling him that it will be okay. He promises that he'll write every day, and he'll try to get Percy to do the same. He tells him not to marry Elizabeth if he doesn't want to and to come home as soon as possible.

Clark and Percy go with Victor to get a horse. He tearfully hugs Clark and his son. They exchange goodbyes and he's off. The first week goes by quickly. Clark misses having Victor in his bed, and Percy missed talking with his father, but it's overall very normal. They write letters every day, alternating who gets to write. Percy accidentally breaks a chair and starts to cry, but Clark reassures him and they write it as a funny story for Victor.

The next three weeks are the worst. They're both missing the third piece like crazy. Victor completes their puzzle, and it's awful without him. Percy's never been without his father for this long and is having meltdowns near daily. Clark misses cuddles and quick, scratchy kisses from when Victor forgets to shave. He misses the way that Victor forgets where he puts small things and how he looks so excited when he talks about something he's passionate about. He stops talking as much, let's the house go a bit, and just generally quits being himself.

The last two weeks are better. They're both looking forward to Victor's return. Clark starts to clean with a passion and Percy starts reading Paradise Lost at his father's recommendation. The pair are happier and start going out more. Percy loves walks in the park.

Then Victor's home. They weren't sure when he was going to be getting home, so Clark was surprised when he heard a key turn in a lock at ten o'clock at night. He was having trouble sleeping and had been reading after putting Percy to sleep. For the first time in a month, Victor came home. Clark was up immediately, crushing Victor in a hug that made him drop his bags. Victor said "I love you" and Clark said it back. Percy was asleep but he got a quick kiss on the head from his father.

Victor didn't marry Elizabeth. She and his father had both asked if he loved another. He answered that he loved her, but as a sister. Elizabeth was upset, but not surprised. She had expected this. He had known her from childhood and often called her cousin. He had had a lovely time despite this, but he was very glad to be home.

so I don't 100% know how making posts works here but if you see this caption I've succeeded I guess

first post! is frankenstein art because yes.

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[2023 Mini Edit Essay: This is such a relic oh gosh. Okay, I feel this is worth discussing when looking back— it's not clear here, but although Justine's complexion appears a little darker than the other characters, she was still supposed to read as white in this piece. It doesn't help that the others are extremely pale (this Clerval was just based on a random existing design I had seen, and not my own yet). As such, Justine had much more tanned, sun-kissed skin and a naturally rich undertone, as if she enjoyed spending time outdoors. I say this because if Justine were to be seen as the only non-white character in this image, it would perpetuate a harmful racial implication, considering she's a household maid and is unjustly executed.

I experimented further with her design and then regrettably considered her being a POC for a while slightly later (being biracial, with Indian and white heritage), before I soon recognised the above problems. Even though she wasn't the only non-white character in my designs, the issues still stood. I had designed her with no malicious intent, but I messed up and didn't consider my actions regardless. Of course, it goes without saying that artists who are POC have every right to present her character this way to explore her identity: but as a white person, it's my job to be conscious of my choices, particularly when the topic of her race is not part of the story.

I moved my design away from this; she now had a similar, tanned complexion to Elizabeth, only with cooler undertones. After these changes, I ended up adapting this old design into an OC instead, and again returned to the drawing board. With this second try, I ensured the newer Justine had no chance of being interpreted as anything other than white by lightening her tan and hair. I soon stopped drawing Frankenstein art anyway, but felt this was all worth mentioning. I apologise again, and hope it's clear this initial drawing was not part of the later choice I made. Thank you for reading!]

Here I drawing I made while at Mississippi since I'm never gonna finish this might as well post it.

“Listen to me, Frankenstein. You accuse me of murder; and yet you would, with a satisfied conscience, destroy your own creature. Oh, praise the eternal justice of man!”

-Mary Shelley, Frankenstein

I once had a friend who said "of course I trust the people I love, how could you love someone if you didn't trust them? Of course I trust you, otherwise I couldn't love you." I didn't know how to tell her that to me, love had almost always hurt, that I had grown so used to betrayal that I had trained my ears to twist promises into truths so this hope wouldn't hurt when they ripped out of my chest. I didn't have to say much, I think, she saw me flinch at the slightest noise, and knew I didn't understand, and so I hope she never does.

I do not love in spite of all this rage. I rage because I love, and I want to know a love that doesn't hurt, I want the knife in my back to burn with pain instead of this dull ache of pulling my hair up and offering my shoulder blades again, again, while I dig my fist in the ground to punish something else. There is so much love in me and it should make you scared. It terrifies me. Like a raptor dying with its love clutched into its bent talon, I would rather die than let go of the hand pulling at my hair. I want to learn to let go. I want to learn to love less. I want a promise I can believe but words have been ruined for me.

Now all I do is scream.

📚 Mis lecturas del 2023 📚

¡Hola!

Lo venía haciendo en Twitter y decidí darle un mejor formato y mayor espacio, así que acá están mis lecturas de este año, en el orden en que fui terminando los libros.

Algunos los arranqué antes pero los pausé y continué con otro. Están clasificados y ordenados según la fecha en la que los terminé.

Enero:

Le Guin, Úrsula K. (1976) El Nombre del Mundo es Bosque. Editorial Minotauro

Albertalli, B. y Silvera, A. (2018) What if it's us

Klune, T. J. (2020) The House in the Cerulean Sea

Klune, T. J. (2020-2022) The Extraordinaries, Flash Fire, Heat Wave

Febrero/Marzo:

Continué lecturas, pero no terminé ningún libro, estaba preparando finales.

Abril:

Hall, Alexis (2020) Boyfriend Material

Doyle, Arthur C. (1902) El Sabueso de los Baskerville. Editorial Salvat.

Dick, Philip K. (1988) Cuentos Completos I: Aquí Yace el Wub

Hall, Alexis (2022) Husband Material

Mayo:

Marcos, Álvaro (2021) El Mago Merlín y el Poder del Dragón

Hall, Alexis (2022) Paris Daillencourt is about to Crumble

El-Motar, Amar, Gladstone, Max (2019) This is How you Lose the Time War

Miller, F., Janson, K., Varley, L. (1986) Batman: The Dark Knight Returns. Editorial OVNI.

Lewis, R., Mazzuchelli, D., Miller, F. (1988) Batman: Año Uno. Editorial OVNI.

LeBlanc, Maurice (1907) Arsène Lupin: Caballero Ladrón. Editorial Salvat.

Junio:

Dick, Philip K. (1989) Cuentos completos II: La Segunda Variedad.

Julio:

Silvera, Adam (2022) The First to Die at the End

Jemas, B., Bendis, B. M., Bagley, M., Thibert, A., Buccellato, S., Javins, M. (2001-2002) Spiderman, Poder y Responsabilidad. Marvel Comics. Editorial Salvat.

Álvaro, Marcos (2021) El Mago Merlín en la Torre Oscura

Agosto:

Machado, Antonio. (1899-1939) Poemas Esenciales. Selección de Jesús García Sánchez. Editorial Salvat.

Septiembre:

Stevenson, Robert Louis (1894) El Club de los Suicidas. Editorial Salvat.

Octubre:

Wells, Herbert George (1897) El Hombre Invisible.

Shelley, Mary (1818) Frankenstein, o el Moderno Prometeo

Capullo, G., Kubert, A., Lee, J., Snyder, S., Romita Jr., J. (2017-2018) Dark Nights: Metal. DC Comics. Editorial OVNIPRESS.

Noviembre:

Dick, Philip K (1989) El Padre-Cosa

Diciembre:

Millar, M. Kubert, A. & A. (2001-2002) Marvel Ultimave: X-Men. Men of Tomorrow. Return to Weapon X. Editorial Salvat.

Rothfuss, P. (2007) The Name of the Wind. DAW Books.

Cortázar, J. (2023) Historias de Cronopios y de Famas. 9a Edición. Buenos Aires, Punto de Lectura Editorial.

Arlt, R. (1926) El Juguete Rabioso. CAPÍTULO Biblioteca Fundamental Argentina. Centro Editor de América Latina.

Book Review: Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus, Mary Shelley

My Review in a Tweet:

Oh, Shelley, the care you put into the feelings and thoughts, dreams and nightmares of your characters shines through an exquisite writing. The dialogues read as if shouted to the crowd of a theater, trying to convey an emotion they feel new in its intensity.

My Full Review:

Continuing with the series of readings for Halloween, I went for the next one of the Classic Monsters (order entirely decided by the lenght of each novel). "Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus" by Mary Shelley, published anonimously at first on 1818, tells a generally well-known story of a man meddling with powers of nature beyond his complete comprehension and control: the energy of life.

The novel is a collection of letters and retellings of stories from differents points of view, which makes it a little "The Thousand and One Nights"-esque, reaching a point where we are reading the letters the captain of the ship wrote to his sister about the story Viktor Frankenstein told to him about the things the creature narrated to him about the tragedy of the poor family that lived in the cottage the monster was hiding in.

While Viktor Frankenstein seems to understand the "science of life" well enough for him to actually create life (or more technically, give a new one to things that were once alive), he seems to lack... responsability? I wouldn't say morality, because all throughout the novel he seems troubled by his experiment, by what he did and what it caused to the ones he loved, but only after many killings does Viktor actually confess or tells another soul about what he did. By that point, one loses any empathy and pity one might feel or have felt for either Viktor or the creature, both too enraptured and imprisoned in their feelings of guilt, remorse, sadness and anger to consider what they are causing to other people's life.

It's understandable to certain extent why they believe they are in the right, but their constant victimhood and cries for death upon themselves or upon others end up putting them beyond redemption.

This isn't to say the novel becomes unbearable because of this, on the contrary: the rich language with which they denounce the moral wrongs and the Providence's punishments they suffer and endure is very passionate and compelling, probably very typical of the Gothic movement the novel belongs to (I should read more literary theory).

I am a bit surprised and perplexed about which story beats have been used and expanded upon on different media such as movies, series, cartoons and other literary retellings. I think the character of Clerval has been very rarely used, if at all. The incident of the little girl that almost dies but is rescued by the creature is much more used, but it's quite a short part of the novel, and it's only mentioned once again, almost by the end of the book.

I'll make one short commentary in Spanish for any other argentinean readers that might come across by this review: que Viktor se case con la prima me pareció medio santiagueño (?

It was a very good reading, I enjoyed it a lot more than "The Invisible Man".

9/10.

My other 2023 readings.

The Bride of Frankenstein

An army dreamer

Out of curiosity

What does victor Frankenstein look like?

My version is only blonde because I figured most Germans have lighter hair colors in general, plus blonde is just cool and I need my blonde gay science nerd that faints every 5 seconds.

when mary shelley said she always felt on the inside like a little poor rain-drenched plant, we all felt that