#Felix and Safie

[thedrawingduke]

Suprise! My sister got married so she took priority for the month of December. ♥️

New year, new style (?) for Fantomestein…well, different modus operandi. I am finally strong enough to admit that I shall never be a great inker. I’ve tried so hard, but I can’t fight what I am! What can I say, I’m an impressionist at heart.

@thedrawingduke on Instagram + bluesky

[lordoftablecloths]

the De Laceys! I was really debating whether or not to draw em, but hey its already 4- wait no now it is 5 am in the morning so whats stopping me

Some notes:

Agatha is older than Felix & is closer to De Lacy than him. (i feel like this opens up more complex character dynamics as Felix more troubles himself over Safie and blames everything on himself)

De Lacey is usually sitting, only standing here so as to see design.

Oh and De Lacey's design is based on my english teacher lmao i wonder if he'll notice if i show him

another fun surprise detail under the cut ;)

Adam finds and raises a little kitten during this time :3 I just really want him to hold a tiny little bitty kitten okay this is my one thing

oh and he names it "Cat" leave him alone he's two years old and doesn't completely understand the concept of names yet okay

also: it runs away when he sets the De Lacey's house on fire :( definitely not a microcosm of the plot right there

alright im done with the character designs for real this time

[the-real-dev]

my and my boyfriend assigned frankenstein characters fruits & veggies on call here's what we've deduced:

victor -> sad pathetic green apple

henry -> aesthetic red apple

adam -> deformed carrot

elizabeth -> crisp raspberry

william -> small banana

justine -> unpicked blackberry

ernest -> normal lemon

alphonse -> guacamole avocado <- according to bf

caroline -> already ripped open pomegranate

old man de lacy -> sour grape

felix -> not too lumpy potato

safie -> dark pink & cut in half dragonfruit

whatever the other de lacy's name was (the girl) -> sweet grape

[adrienbaedrien]

WHO IS THIS DIVA 💜

[fromgallowsandgraves]

It's incredibly dangerous for Adam to still have Victor's journal, but I think he still does carry it with him... or at least, carries a coded variant.

Since my blog is mostly-musical-based, he probably also has Victor Frankenstein's last journal, where he would've talked about his plans before his death and may have mentioned his family's spirits playing a part in his epiphany about his "son".

[immediatebreakfast]

Another one for Adam's incel moments compilation.

[faithful-grigori]

”#Do you think that maybe Felix's weird attraction towards Safie would have influenced Adam?, #Of course we call Adam an incel but it would be a misstep to think that he has the same values as them, #We pull out the watsonian and the doylist explanations for this, #But I think it would be better to examine how Adam's limited environment shaped his views on ''male'' and ''female'', #I haven't read paradise lost but after your explanation and the fact that it was one of the first books he read, #Adam probably holds it as something very important”

I think it’s very easy to make parallels between Adam’s reasoning and incels, but stepping away from it a bit, I think there’s an obvious difference: while incels believe that they have been rejected by “the female population” which they claim to have a right to, Adam feels himself rejected by mankind as a whole. So why is he too demanding a female companion, specifically?

I think it is interesting because so far, the companions he has sought out haven’t been women as such. When he was seeking companionship with the De Lacey family, he wasn’t focused on Agatha or Safie in particular, no, he was focused on the family as a whole, I would almost argue that his focus was somewhat slanted towards Felix and Mr De Lacey. Likewise, his next attempt at companionship was to kidnap a boy child, William.

So again, how did he go from that to the conclusion that he wants a female companion?

After killing William, Adam sees Caroline’s picture and expresses his attraction towards her. Previously he has described people as beautiful, but iirc this is the first time he speaks of attraction. So it could be that he realises that he specifically wants a companion with whom he can have a sexual relationship, which is disturbing, since he doesn’t plan on giving his companion a choice of being with him; he already assumes that she will be, no matter her feelings.

But also, perhaps he always wanted a female companion, but until now he sought out potential companions that already exist and therefore there’s a limit to what he can expect them to be. Given the opportunity to have a companion made “from scratch”, he chooses to request a female companion.

In a way, it makes sense considering his education from Paradise Lost. Now, I haven’t read it at all, but from what I understand it’s something of a retelling of the biblical creation myth, and that one I am intimately familiar with (having both studied it closely in an academic context and translated it myself). So, when God created (the biblical) Adam, Adam tried to find a companion among the other creatures but was unsuccessful, as he wanted someone who was like him. Then God created Eve, the female companion of the male creation (I’m holding back from discussing gender in the creation myth further, because there is so much to say, but this is not the time or place). Adam (the creature) reading that would quite naturally assume that the companion created for him should be female, to “complement” his maleness.

But that made me think: how did Adam come to understand himself as male? He “grew up” completely isolated, so where would he have gotten the information? Even if he watched the De Lacey family closely and intimately enough to see a physical variation between Agatha/Safie and Felix/Mr De Lacey/himself, would he understand what that means?

Which makes me wonder if he wants a female companion specifically because of a true desire for “the female”, or simply because it is what he understands to be the natural complement to himself as male. Incels want a female companion because they see women as a subspecies which they have an inherent right to, but for all of Adam’s incel tendencies, I would say it’s rash to assume he holds the same views and values, especially considering how limited his education and life experiences are.

[cru5h-cascades]

What We Know About Emio V3 (written 7-17-24)

Well, folks I think we just figured out who Emio is after a week of investigation! Thanks to the new interview, we now have a decent idea of who this Smiling Man is! Yay...? I guess?

Emio, full game name Emio - The Smiling Man, is the newest entry in the Famicom Detective Club series and the first new game in the series in 30 WHOLE YEARS (not counting the remakes).

The game is actually gonna release NEXT MONTH ON THE 29TH HUH WHAT. I honestly thought this was gonna come out on "the next palidrome date" like the Nitter keeps hinting at (said date being sometime next May).

Now, the golden question: WHO TF IS EMIO? Or rather, the Smiling Man. Idk. I guess the names of Emio and Smiling Man are interchangable 'cause the game's named after the dude. Anyways... the Smiling Man is an urban legend. This dude "is said to offer crying girls a paper bag with a smile drawn on it in exchange for their life". I guess this is probably where the whole suicide & cruelty aspect of the game comes in. Man this interview's making me regret using the Smiling Man as my player character for Miitopia...

The interview hints that it might not actually be Emio himself doing these murders but someone simply replicating them, in turn becoming the Smiling Man himself.

Welp. I saw this coming from a mile away. Emio's the bad guy, both in the urban legend and essentially as the murderer in the game, whoever that may be. But a few question still remain... what about the domestic violence aspect of this game? What roles will the names mentioned in the Nitter account (Corrine, Agatha, Felix, and arguably Safi) play? And why go after girls specifically?

Welp, to the guy on the Nitter account who knew that Emio was gonna be the bad guy, my hat's off to you.

Oh! While I'm at it, the Nitter account posted another bit of text a few minutes ago!

彼らは近づいてくる = They come closer

This one's probably a no-brainer: the release of Emio - The Smiling Man is coming close!

And at that, I think I can stop with the ARG stuff. Thank fuck. I'm still gonna post stuff about Emio I think, so don't worry about that!

And the animatic I've been planning... yeah now that we actually have an idea of who Emio is and stuff I dunno if I'm gonna go through with it. If I do then I'm using what I had in mind as the backstory of the urban legend. Nobody said if the actual Emio is doing these murders, after all...

[batsarebetterthanpeople]

Doesn't Frankenstein deliberately build his creature to be beautiful? Dude's already doing eugenics by selecting the most aesthetic cadaver parts.

Well yes he did and it ended up the opposite despite his best efforts but to be honest the creature is described with black hair in conjunction with the line about making him beautiful so I would say that he's building a man to his aesthetic tastes rather then attempting to make a perfect Aryan or something. Which I suppose is a kind of eugenics technically maybe depending on how you define eugenics. But I don't think it's useful to our understanding of eugenics or to our understanding of the novel to apply that lense to it. Aesthetic choices need to be made in Victor Frankenstein's build a bitch laboratory. While he might be somewhat limited in skin color by being in Germany, he can pick more or less any hair or eye color he likes any bone structure he likes and so on. The monster is by necessity intentionally designed in a way that human beings are not. So any aesthetic choices made being made differently would result in the same moral outcome. It's less selective breeding for particular traits and more like basing the face mold of your android based off somebody's porn viewing habits like in that movie ex machina with Oscar Isaac.

All that being said he was designing a monster to impress German and Swiss scientists in the 17th century of course there were eugenics involved in his reasoning on the features. But the loosely implied eugenics are not even the most racist thing about the book either. It takes time out of its day to be orientalist as fuck. When Clerval comes to school he's taking fucking oriental studies which lumps together Arab Indian and Chinese philosophy, when the monster is living in the out house of the peasants an Arab woman named Safie arrives and her whole motive for being there is that she is trying to marry Felix because in the west women are allowed to have a station in society(citation needed) and if she went back to those barbaric Muslim countries she would be forced to join a harem. And then Clerval decides his calling is to quote "aid in the European colonization of India" and that line is just glossed over, he's a completely sympathetic character, and he dies at Adam's hands before he can do it. But I don't particularly blame Mary Shelley for any of that because who was gonna tell her that that's racist? It's the background radiation on society at the time. I hope if I ever get published people reading my book in 200 years will think of me as a pioneering trans author in my genre who was low key racist because it will mean society got better on the race issue.

Anyway tl;dr maybe, but reading the creature as a stand in for marginalized people is reading way against text (I think if you're reading it as a trans allegory the against text reading could work but a racial minority reading falls apart very quickly). The book contains orientalism that is jarring to a modern audience so let's not put the cart before the horse. It like most novels written in a year that starts with a 1, is a product of its time and requires that you read it with that in mind. it's part of how you read a book

[lordoftablecloths]

safie's redesign!! flows more nicely, i feel .. . oh and i let old man de lacy sit down poor guy

dont remember if i mentioned this but i designed him based off my english teacher lmao

[faithful-grigori]

“#EXACTLY, #Fuck you Felix I hope Safie leaves you, #He offered to free the merchant all without charge because it was justice~ but the second Safie is in the picture is all, #''Oh what a beautiful daughter 👀'' such hypocrite”

Right at the beginning:

The injustice of his sentence was very flagrant; all Paris was indignant; and it was judged that his religion and wealth, rather than the crime alleged against him, had been the cause of his condemnation.

Oh, what an interesting observation. Perhaps this chapter won't be a huge mess of xenophobia and islamophobia.

...

Safie related, that her mother was a Christian Arab, seized and made a slave by the Turks

...

taught her to aspire to higher powers of intellect, and an independence of spirit, forbidden to the female followers of Mahomet

...

Felix soon learned that the treacherous Turk, for whom he and his family endured such unheard-of oppression, on discovering that his deliverer was thus reduced to poverty and impotence, became a traitor to good feeling and honour, and had quitted Italy with his daughter, insultingly sending Felix a pittance of money to aid him, as he said, in some plan of future maintenance.

How dare he pay me so little for something I offered to do for free. It must be because of his religion/nationality.

[pussinbootsandbountyhunter]

Once Upon a Studio (Series) Season Two; Episode Eight: Giving a Miracle

(A Special Episode)

Info: It’s Mirabel’s 18th birthday but she and Asha discover King Magnifico and Queen Amaya’s secret that they had lost long ago, so they decided to do something special

Characters that would be part of the episode: Mirabel, Julieta, Agustín, Isabela, Luisa, Bruno, Alma, Pepa, Dolores, Camilo, Felix, Antonio, Asha, Magnifico, Amaya, Star, Sabino, Valentino, Sakina, Bazeema, Dahlia, Dario, Gabo, Hal, Safi, Simon, Mickey Mouse, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, Minnie Mouse, Ortensia, The Mad Doctor, Gremlin Gus, Gremlin Prescott, Anna, Elsa, Olaf, Kristoff, Yen Sid, Pinocchio, Jiminy Cricket and Blue Fairy (properly more characters since this is a special episode of season two)

Hint: This episode is inspired from ‘At All Costs: A Rewrite’ that was written by UnaRei, Mirabel’s talent has been sewing beautiful clothing for her and maybe for her parents, Magnifico has a soft spot for children while Asha finds that surprising, Amaya and Julieta have a good bond, Mickey and Mad Doc are still having a secret relationship, Winnie the Pooh helped Agustín to get honey that was a good nod from S01 E09: A Special Honey Mission and Mirabel’s birthday is the 1st of March

Note: I'm planning to do some once upon a studio series as everyone wants to see if they can lend a hand for me by likes, comments and reblogs their ideas and create arts if they want!

[fallen-down-slowed-down]

(warning: 160+ f/o’s)

💌books

Cage Lackmann – The Graves of Whitechapel

Calvin Evans – Lessons in Chemistry ( book + TV series )

Dr. Henry Jekyll – Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde ( book + musical )

Fred Weasley – Harry Potter saga ( books + films )

Jacopo Ortis (poly) – Ultime Lettere di Jacopo Ortis

💌films/series/tv shows

Agent Stepdaughter + Gretel + Hansel (poly, with agent stepdaughter & Gretel) – Secret Magic Control Agency

Alva + Jesper Johansen + Mogens (poly, with Alva & Jesper) – Klaus

Anglaigus – Astérix: le Domaine des Dieux ( film + comic )

Aziraphale + Crowley (poly) – Good Omens

B.E.N. – Treasure Planet

Ballister Blackheart (poly) – Nimona

Benjamin Dunn – Mission: Impossible saga

Betterfly – Miraculous World: Paris, les Aventures de Toxinelle et Griffe Noire

Bruno Madrigal – Encanto

Burn-E – Burn-E

Camilo + Carlos Madrigal – Encanto

Chuck – Angry Birds duology

Cinderella – Disney’s Cinderella trilogy

Clopin Trouillefou – Disney’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame

Cloudy – 7 Zwerge trilogy, 💍24.01.2021

Diaval – Maleficent duology

Dr. Herbert Cockroach – Monsters vs. Aliens

Ebenezer Scrooge – Scrooge: a Christmas Carol

Eugene + Rapunzel Fitzherbert (poly) – Disney’s Tangled

Félix Fathom – Miraculous: les Aventures de Ladybug et Chat Noir

Fix-it Felix Jr. – Wreck It Ralph

Gabo + Safi + Simon – Wish

Grand duke Rainier (nnic) – Disney’s Cinderella trilogy

Griffin – Hotel Transylvania saga

Grinch – Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch (2018)

Harrison Knott – Press Play

Héctor Rivera – Coco

Hermes – Disney’s Hercules

Hickory – Trolls: World Tour

Jack + Kio + Noki + Pino – Red Shoes and the Seven Dwarves

Jaq – Disney’s Cinderella trilogy

Joe Bradley – Roman Holiday

John Watson (poly) – BBC’s Sherlock Holmes

Lieutenant Columbo – Columbo

Lumiére – The Beauty and the Beast ( films )

Major Major Major – Catch-22

Megamind – Megamind

Miles Miller – Bad Times at the El Royale

Mr. Tumnus - The Chronicles of Narnia

Mugman – The Cuphead Show!

Ned McDodd – Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears a Who!

Once-ler – Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax, 💍24.07.2022

Pasunmotdeplus – Astérix aux Jeux Olympiques

Peter Graham – Hereditary

Rhett Abbott – Outer Range

Rigolin – Pil

Robert Floyd – Top Gun: Maverick

Snake – The Bad Guys

Stanley Uris – IT (2017-2019)

Stephen Meeks – Dead Poets Society

Tadashi Hamada – Big Hero 6

Tatsuhiko Shibusawa – Bungō Stray Dogs: Dead Apple ( manga + film )

Thranduil – The Hobbit trilogy

Timon – The Lion King trilogy

Tin man – Legends of Oz / Fantastic Journey to Oz (separately)

Tristain – Pil

Tulio (poly) – The Road to El Dorado

V – V for Vendetta

Victor Van Dort – Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride

Vincenzo Santorini – Atlantis: the Lost Empire

Walter Beckett – Spies In Disguise

💌videogames

Aesop Carl – Identity V

Alexandre + Brandon + Frank + Ji-Yeong + Lee + Soul – Subway Surfers

Akihiko Satou – Ikemen Vampire

Anatoli – Alchemy Stars

Azul Ashengrotto, 💍06.04.2024 + Jade Leech – Twisted Wonderland ( videogame + manga )

Barbatos + Beelzebub + Lucifer – Obey Me! duology

Barton – Alchemy Stars

Charon – Alchemy Stars

Daniel Schwartz – Alchemy Stars

Dire Crowley + Rook Hunt – Twisted Wonderland ( videogame + manga )

Faust – Alchemy Stars

Florine – Alchemy Stars

Gertzurde – Alchemy Stars

Jane – Alchemy Stars

Johann Georg Faust – Ikemen Vampire

Jola – Alchemy Stars

Jomu – Alchemy Stars

Julian Devorak + Lucio Morgasson – The Arcana

Leo – Alchemy Stars

Leyn + Matthieu – Alchemy Stars

Luke – Alchemy Stars

Moon + Sun – Five Nights at Freddy’s: Security Breach

Narrator – The Stanley Parable

Novio – Alchemy Stars

Roy – Alchemy Stars

Sariel Noir – Ikemen Prince

Steel – Speedy Ninja

Sucre + Zacharie – OFF

Trey Clover – Twisted Wonderland ( videogame + manga )

Winston – Royal Match

💌other type of source

Adam – Hellaverse

Adrien Agreste – Miraculous universe

Alastor + Vox – Hellaverse

Asmodeus + Fizzarolli (poly) – Hellaverse

ATEEZ/Black Pirates/HALATEEZ – ATEEZ ( band )

Bane – DC universe

Beetlejuice – Beetlejuice ( musical )

Caine + Jax + Kinger – The Amazing Digital Circus

Doppo Kunikida – Bungō Stray Dogs universe

Edward Nashton – DC universe

Ethan Green – Hatchetfield universe

Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald – Bungō Stray Dogs universe, 💍09.06.2022

Gabriel Adrian (nnic) – Hatchetfield universe

Hank Miller – OC

Henry Hidgens – Hatchetfield universe

Howard Phillips Lovecraft + Nathaniel Hawthorne – Bungō Stray Dogs universe

Johnathon Ohnn / the Spot – Marvel universe

Joker – DC universe

Grell Sutcliff – Kuroshitsuji universe, 💍03.09.2022

Knuckles – Sonic universe

Lucifer – Hellaverse

Luigi – Nintendo universe

Luka Couffaine – Miraculous universe

Marc Anciel + Nathaniel Kurtzberg (poly) – Miraculous universe

Marcus Cubitus – Astérix universe

Mark Connor (nnic) – The Simple Plot of... ( music videos )

Millie + Moxxie Knolastname (poly) – Hellaverse

Motojirō Kajii + Ryūrō Hirotsu – Bungō Stray Dogs universe

Mountain ghoul + Swiss Army ghoul – Ghost ( band )

Nathalie Sancœur – Miraculous universe

Night Owl – Miraculous universe

Ōgai Mori, 💍01.11.2022 + Yukichi Fukuzawa (poly) – Bungō Stray Dogs universe

Patrick Waff + Peter Roghlow (poly) – @scimmy’s OCs

Sparrow – Miraculous universe

Spiderman Noir – Marvel universe

Stolas – Hellaverse

Ted Spankoffski – Hatchetfield universe

Zestial – Hellaverse

[thebibi]

The thing that's really wild is that Shelley condemns the colonization of the Americas and the genocide of indigenous people in earlier chapters. And from what I understand, Shelley also boycotted sugar as an abolitionist because it was predominantly made by slave labor. She was properly "woke" by 1810s standards. But she cannot humanise Turkish characters in a way that gives them the same sympathy.

The redeeming factor of Safie is that she was raised as secretly Christian by her mother, and as such she is afforded a happy ending. Ironically, while Shelley writes how much Safie longs to be free from the shackles of the harem, women's rights were more progressive in the the Ottoman Empire as it was in Germany. Women could divorce, own and inherit property. Her freedom of movement would be restricted only if she was middle class or rich, but as usual poor women where always expected to work. So the insistance that she can live a better life in a strange country by marrying a white man because women are freer is a total lie.

On the other hand, I cannot help but think about how Safie and Adam are both outsiders who have been abandoned by their parents (or rather, Safie abandoned her father, and Adam was abandoned by his). I wonder if Adam gains the idea of wanting a bride from hearing how Felix bargains for Safie, as if it could be that simple.

[faithful-grigori]

“#the timeline changes are apparently just to fix a slight discrepancy, #so they don't really make a big difference”

It was in the latter end of August that I departed, to pass two years of exile. Elizabeth approved of the reasons of my departure, and only regretted that she had not the same opportunities of enlarging her experience, and cultivating her understanding. She wept, however, as she bade me farewell, and entreated me to return happy and tranquil. "We all," said she, "depend upon you; and if you are miserable, what must be our feelings?"

1818

It was in the latter end of September that I again quitted my native country. My journey had been my own suggestion, and Elizabeth, therefore, acquiesced: but she was filled with disquiet at the idea of my suffering, away from her, the inroads of misery and grief. It had been her care which provided me a companion in Clerval—and yet a man is blind to a thousand minute circumstances, which call forth a woman's sedulous attention. She longed to bid me hasten my return,—a thousand conflicting emotions rendered her mute as she bade me a tearful silent farewell.

1831

One last comparison from today's chapter - and it's another 'let's remove nuance from Elizabeth to make her more of a caring/supportive woman figure' change!

In 1818, when Victor leaves, she thinks he has a good idea (remember his reasoning was to see more of the world before settling down to married life) and wishes she could do the same. A small moment, but one that ties into feminist themes regarding the difference between treatment of/expectations for men and women. This also reminds me of Safie and Felix; she was quite well traveled, but when moving about under her own power could only go straight to seek a man who would offer her refuge. She also needed to be taught by Felix, including geography which definitely struck me as pretty condescending given her background and a clunky way of ensuring the Creature would know where he was going. Finally, Elizabeth ends by crying and worrying about Victor, leaving him on a question. Not only does that emphasize the uncertainty surrounding his own actions, and even the entire narrative of the novel - it also is phrased in a way to exacerbate his feelings of responsibility towards his family. And of course, thus his failures to meet said responsibilities. If he is miserable, what must be their feelings = their feelings depend upon him, and his failure to be happy/finish things with the Creature manifestly makes life worse for them. Not that I'm saying Elizabeth is intending anything but to express concern, but the way she does so ties in well with ongoing themes and weights on Victor's mind.

In 1831, Elizabeth's reaction is changed dramatically. It might not seem so at first, given that she worries about him in both versions, but let me explain. Rather than considering his reasoning and deeming it worthwhile, this Elizabeth simply agrees to the trip because Victor chose it himself. In 1818 Victor that would have been more of a sign of him coming out of his shell and taking charge or his own life, but since 1831 Victor has already been more consistently doing so, this reaction doesn't read that way. Instead it gives a more passive "well, I trust you, dear" kind of meek wife vibe to me. Similarly, this Elizabeth doesn't spare a single thought for her own desires outside of worrying for Victor; in losing that we lose the feminist angle. She is worried about him suffering away from her, and so provides him another companion, but even then worries because Clerval as a man could never be as dedicated to Victor's needs as she is as a woman. Elizabeth has nothing on her mind but taking care of Victor. She still cried this time, but instead of asking Victor to take care of himself, she instead begs him to return to her soon. This also emphasizes the romantic relationship between them, especially given that in 1818 she doesn't seem to mind him being gone multiple years, while in 1831 she's much more concerned about a trip planned to be less than a year. Finally, by losing Elizabeth's parting question we not only lose how it ties into all those themes of family/duty/failure... she also is literally silenced. She doesn't get a speaking line at all, doesn't get to wish she could travel too, doesn't do anything but worry over Victor and hope he comes home soon.

Not huge changes to the text, but I think it's a pretty decent impact on Elizabeth's character.

[church-and-state]

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein in Comparison to Modern Ideas of Amatonormativity and Isolation Caused Violence

Frankenstein is a novel that carries many themes applicable to the modern day. The traditional lens through which Frankenstein is viewed is that of an omen of scary technology to come. But here I will go into the relationships within Frankenstein, and how their themes parallel to the present.

Amatonormativity is the assumption that all human beings pursue love or romance, especially by means of a monogamous long-term relationship. There are two main instances of amatonormativity in the novel, Victor’s marriage to Elizabeth and the Creature’s want for a wife. Starting with the Creature, through chapters 10-16 he witnesses the life of a family in a cottage. During this, he watches Felix and Safie court each other. His time watching the De Laceys is the Creature’s only prolonged study of humans at this point, and Safie’s arrival notably ups the spirits of Felix and the others in the house. The message the Creature then learns is that partners, especially those of a female kind, make one happy. This is exacerbated by Safie’s “otherness,” which the Creature identifies with. She comes from a distant land, and doesn’t speak the language, but is accepted nonetheless.

Additionally, the Creature continually seeks validation of his humanity. He wants acceptance, and even more so, he wants love. Romantic love is often seen as a hallmark for one’s humanity, we perceive it as going beyond animals’ basic need for procreation. When we strip those of their humanity, we tend to strip them of their ability to love. So to gain precious humanity, the Creature asks for a mate. And the way he describes her fits perfectly within the confines of amatonormativity; saying that they will live together, never seeing another soul, until his dying breath (a long-term monogamous relationship). This idea is so fixed in his mind that he eventually kills Elizabeth and Henry over it.

A thread through Victor’s entire life is his adopted sister, and eventual wife, Elizabeth. From the beginning of his life, Victor is heavily encouraged to marry Elizabeth. His mother wishes so on her deathbed, and his father reiterates this sentiment throughout the book. Victor’s relationship with Elizabeth is very important to him, and when he is threatened or feeling adrift, he tends to invoke her name. But the way he talks about her contrasts this. He tends to use more stilted language: “I love my cousin tenderly and sincerely, I never saw any woman who excited, as Elizabeth does, my warmest admiration and affection.” Especially in comparison to how he describes his best friend, Henry Clerval: “His wild and enthusiastic imagination was chastened by the sensibility of his heart. His soul overflowed with ardent affections, and his friendship was of that devoted and wondrous nature that the worldly-minded teach us to look for only in the imagination…” This is representative of amatonormativity because even though Victor has more explicit and broader affection for his friend, he focuses his life and thoughts around Elizabeth (the person he is supposed to be in a long-term monogamous relationship with).

This correlates to modern-day amatonormativity as codified in law. Married couples get tax deductions and next-of-kin privileges. By emphasizing the importance of romantic love in Victor’s and the Creature’s lives, Shelley reinforces ideas of romantic supremacy and the undermining of open and platonic relationships.

The Creature is, despite his initial benevolence, treated with extreme cruelty that eventually results in his complete social ostracization. He is rejected by his creator, he is rejected by people he thought of as friends, and any attempt to build himself a mate is thwarted. As a result, he lashes out. After being rejected by the De Laceys, the Creature burns down their cottage. This has a startling similarity to school shooters. According to a study published, school shooters “seem to be anomic and have stopped trying to integrate into groups,” just as the Creature had. Social isolation works as a “crisis multiplier”, this is seen represented in the Creature because, at the beginning of his tale, he is already in a precarious position. He is treated with hostility, homeless, and struggles to find food, but it is not until he is rejected by the De Laceys that he turns to violence. The Creature would have never acted violently if society at the very least, amicability interacted with him. This is mirrored by mass shootings, although their perpetrators’ motivations are more complicated, they both have solutions that lie at societal and individual levels. Either more societal acceptance for those perceived as “others” and/or one person who takes it upon themself to break through the norms, and provide a meaningful relationship.