#transphantomweek

[tearosesarts]

Weekly Pride Month Drawings: trans PotO headcanons/AU

These are a couple drawings I started awhile ago and meant to post for @transphantomweek, but I missed the actual week and then was busy with other things.

I've seen plenty of people with trans Raoul and nonbinary Erik headcanons/AUs, but not a whole of trans Christine content to speak of (maybe two or three phics?). I know it's probably because she's a soprano, but while it's not common, some AMABs are able to sing in that range (countertenor, I believe it's called. Could be wrong, though. @ emerald_elixir on TikTok is an example that comes to mind), so it wouldn't be an impossibility, and I like the dynamic. I also have Erik as a demiboy. When I was originally starting this I was thinking of having them be genderfluid, but revisiting it I decided to go in a different direction. Either way, Erik is a he/they (hey, that rhymed).

[transphantomweek]

August 31-September 5 is Trans Phantom of the Opera Appreciation Week!

What is Trans Phantom of the Opera Appreciation Week? A week dedicated to creating fic, art, meta, editsm playlists....basically anything that you can think of in celebration of trans Phantom of the Opera headcanons.

Anyone who wants to celebrate trans Phantom of the Opera headcanons is welcome to participate! Check out this blog for info and the Q & A masterpost, and follow this blog and the tag #transphantomweek for updates! And please reblog for visibility!  I can’t wait to see the creativity of the phandom! 

[devilswalkingstick]

at first i was not going to participate in @transphantomweek bc i couldnt figure out how to properly show how important it really is to me for these characters to be portrayed as trans

but here i am with a couple of pieces that come close to conveying my feelings

my name is virgil, i am nonbinary and i use they/them pronouns.

my dream is to become the first trans phantom on broadway.

these two pieces are portraits of myself as erik and perhaps some day itll be a reality

[lestatslestits]

And now for something totally different...

I wanted to do something a little silly and fun for the last day of @transphantomweek, and I feel like this fits the bill. I’m not the best at photoshop, but this made me smile so I hope it makes others smile too.

Feel free to use for whatever reason, although I would love a reblog if you do (or if this post made you smile).

[Image IDs: A collection of eight photos from The Phantom of the Opera. The images are a photo of Erik standing behind the organ from the stage production, a photo of Christine on the gondola from the stage production, a photo of Raoul holding a rose from the stage production, a photo of Meg in her white ballerina costume from the stage production, a photo of Madame Giry standing with her cane from the stage production, a photo of Carlotta singing and holding a fake head during Hannibal rehearsal from the stage production, a photo of Piangi during Hannibal rehearsal from the stage production, and a photo of Andre and Firmin walking together from the 2004 movie. Beside each character there is a white speech bubble with a black outline, and inside each speech bubble are the words “TRANS RIGHTS!!!” in blue, with a pink outline. End ID.]

[emptymasks]

For Trans Phantom Week!

Bonus: Because who better than to help you wear your first dress than your genderfluid partner.

I only found out about it today and while it might be over in my time-zone, it’s still going in some! Thank you to @geickogarbage for letting me know about this.

For those that aren’t familiar with my Erik, I have a comic I’m working called Death and the Phantom, but also have a modern au for those characters were Erik is a visual kei rock star (and may be in a band with @geickogarbage‘s punk Erik). So for context, this is modern au visual kei Erik with a crossover of Death from Elisabeth das Musical.

Inspired by @jeremystollemyheart‘s fanfic which I read this morning and got all emotional over. I’d been thinking of making modern au Erik genderfluid, but as I myself am genderfluid I was worried that one, people who think I was shoving myself onto him, and two, that some trans people aren’t okay with genderfluid people and I’m so new to this fandom I got really nervous. But @transphantomweek​ is so inclusive and they were really sweet to me about calming my nerves.

[gracie-p8-officialblog]

My entry for @transphantomweek! I may or may not have been late for Trans Phantom Week but... Anyways... I made icons of the trio with the updated Trans Pride flags. The pink, white and blue one is still valid tho but since times are changing and with the rise of hate crimes against minority races... I decided to go for a more inclusive flag.

Anyways, everyone is valid regardless or pronouns, race, religion or sexuality. I hope y'all are taking care of yourself!

Feel free to use these with credit!

Stay safe, drink water, wear a mask, and if you live in the US, VOTE!

[maze-zen]

A small addition to trans Phantom week

I haven't had much time to write this week, but I've had this idea for some time and managed to get it down. Maybe I will elaborate on it one day.

Different

It was never Erik's face that kept him away from life above ground. It may have been the reason he fled below the opera with the help of the young ballerina, but as he grew, his deformity began to look less horrid than the faces of soldiers returning from the war. People would surely stare, yes, but he would be able to live in society with such a face if he wanted. 

If it had been the only thing to set him apart from the rest of the world. 

What he wanted wasn't possible. Maybe in another time he could have been born as the man he was and have married a woman who would treat him as such; the bindings he wore around his chest would be ignored and the difference between his legs be compensated for with some of the devices they used for hysterical women. 

But it wasn't meant to be. At best he could live as an outcast in Paris, looked down upon by polite society and sexually abused by men born in the right body. 

It was much preferable to live below the opera where he could live as the person he was. No one would judge him for his nature. 

Meeting Christine was a revelation. A woman born by a man who had chosen to live as one. She understood that some people were born differently and she accepted it. They had lived as nomads for this reason, but she had understood and held no grudge against him. 

Several times she would ask her Angel of Music if her father lived as a man in heaven as he had wanted to on earth and Erik had cried as he answered yes, desperately hoping that it was true. 

She revealed other things as well, like the love she felt for both men and women, attracted to them equally. Gender was of no consequence to her, only the heart inside a person. 

It gave him hope.

Falling in love with her was inevitable. She was kind, beautiful and accepted those who were different. 

The true obstacle was the fact that she believed him to be the Angel of Music. He had lied to her, an unfortunate mistake, but surely she, of all people, would understand. She hid her true self as well, acting like her love for little Meg was innocent and platonic. 

If he chose the right way to show her who he was, she would forgive him and accept him. There was even a chance she could learn to love him. 

[transphantomweek]

I hope this makes any cis people who want to participate but might be nervous feel more at ease. It’s okay to not know everything, and it’s pretty wonderful to take the effort to branch out from your comfort zone. 💜

What I can tell you as a transgender woman is that occasionally I will read trans woman characters written by cisgender authors. And I can pretty much always tell when the author is cis, even if the character is portrayed respectfully, because they get some details wrong or something. But I certainly don’t think that they shouldn���t be allowed to take a stab at it, and I actually appreciate any representation that isn’t egregiously harmful. And I certainly don’t think that only transgender women should be allowed to write transgender women because then it falls on me, and that’s rather tokenizing, isn’t it?

[transphantomweek]

Happy Trans Phantom of the Opera Appreciation Week!

As of today, the week has begun and you are welcome to post content at any point!

If you’re interested in following prompts, Day 1’s prompts are Mask, or The Stage is Set. There is no obligation to follow any prompts, or to participate every day!

As a reminder, this event is first and foremost to foster a safe space for trans people in the phandom. Anyone who supports all trans people is welcome to participate, though!

Everyone enjoy your week!

[devilswalkingstick]

"It's an engagement, not a crime."

He says the words with a matter-of-fact tone, but they both know it's not quite true.

The fabric squeezing his chest seems to tighten when she looks up at him.

The look says what neither will voice aloud.

Philippe hadn't been thrilled to hear about his relationship with Christine.

He'd always said they could figure something out if Raoul wanted to marry a woman, but he hadn't expected a chorus girl from the Paris Opera House.

It's almost funny that Philippe has always been supportive of Raoul's identity, but frowns upon a relationship with someone lower class.

Raoul has known since he was very young that he is not comfortable with the body he was born in, or the frilly dresses, or the long hair, or any number of other things that make him hate existing.

He told Philippe first, and the amount of grace with which his older brother handled it is something Raoul marveled at years later—he also considered, those several years later, that perhaps the reason he took it so easily had something to do with the man who used to spend long weekends at the de Chagny estate, and even came on holiday with them more than once.

Philippe is a bachelor—and a confirmed one at that, Raoul now knows—so perhaps that is why the idea of Raoul being more comfortable in a suit and with another name is not quite as ill-received as other families might have treated it.

Raoul remembers his first public appearance. A journalist had asked Philippe if he'd brought his youngest sibling, the little girl twenty years his junior, and he laughed, like the journalist had said something entirely incorrect—which he had, really, and Philippe had an incredible amount of elegance to the way he replied, "I've brought my youngest sibling, but I assure you, he is not a little girl."

The journalists laughed, and the man who asked looked embarrassed about his information being wrong.

"Let's not argue," Christine says, pulling him back to the present and pulling the conversation away from his statement.

Her fingers slip away from his hand and he watches her disappear into a crowd of colors and movement.

He wonders if he was foolish to even suggest marriage in the first place. He knew the obstacles they would face, yet he got her a ring, and he asked, and she said yes.

Philippe could surely get someone to marry the couple, but would it even be legal?

Would it matter, really, if it is or isn't?

Raoul and Christine are happy together, they love each other—they don't even need the marriage, it would mainly be for appearances anyway.

What a scandal it would be if Raoul, Vicomte de Chagny, lived in sin with a chorus girl.

He finds her in the crowd, taking her hands into his own, and he hopes he isn't doing the wrong thing.

"I love you," he says, and his eyes say a million more things he can't bring himself to voice.

"And I you," she replies, and her eyes acknowledge everything else.

He wants to marry the woman in front of him, but he thinks that even if he can't, just having her with him would be enough.

[lestatslestits]

We Could Just Kiss Like Real People Do

It’s a day late, but @transphantomweek Day 4!

Prompt: Safety Pin Did y’all really think I wasn’t gonna sneak Erik/Christine/Raoul in here somewhere? Wrong.  Every piece I have written so far has been personal to me in some way, but this one especially so. Some of the most precious gender-affirming clothes I have ever owned have been gifts given to me by friends, out of their own closets.  Also, as a side note, I generally headcanon that Erik is non-binary but fine with he/him OR they/them pronouns. BUT I wanted to explore other options for this fic, and I’m happy with the results. 

Raoul raps his knuckles against the door frame and leans his head in. 

“Hey, how’s it going in here?” 

Christine barely looks up, just says, “Raoul! Grab me those safety pins over by the machine, if you don’t mind.” 

She says it around the two that she’s already holding in her mouth. It’s either a credit to her diction or to his attentive listening that he doesn’t hesitate for even a second, just obeys the request. She keeps the safety pins all strung together in a chain. He picks up one and the rest follow. 

“Thank you,” she says a little absent-mindedly when he drapes them over her shoulder for easy access. 

She’s working on the fiddly task of making sure she’s marking the seam correctly, keeping the pins she’s already used in a careful line. Her model fidgets under her hands. This is not the first time.

“Erik,” she keeps her voice purposefully light and calm, because they are anxious and flighty under the best of circumstances, and this is all new to them, “I need you to be as still as possible.” 

On some level, asking Erik to be still is like politely asking time to stop marching forward. It’s an impossibility. But they listen to her request, fixing their posture and confining their movements to twitches of their long, slender fingers.

“It isn’t going to fit,” they voice their frustration in a quavering tone. It’s unusual for Erik to have anything but complete control over their voice. The vulnerability Christine recognizes here is the same vulnerability she heard only a few days before when they began spilling out frantic and half-jumbled words to her and Raoul about being incorrectly man, about being non-woman, about the comfortable nothing that existed in between those two labels. 

There had been hugs after that, and then tender kisses shared between the three of them, and then Christine, at a loss for how to properly celebrate, had started baking a pie at ten til midnight. 

They ate it together, still too hot, burning their tongues, in the early hours of the morning. 

The next day dawned with new pronouns and new labels, but the same comfortable, lived in name that they had chosen years ago. 

“It’s going to fit,” Christine reassures them. It’s a promise she can make because she is going to make it fit by sheer force of will if she has to. 

Erik chose this dress from her closet with care and reverence. She’s not going to let them feel like they are playing dress up in their new clothes. 

“Nothing fits off the rack,” she continues breezily. By this time she has used the safety pins she held in her mouth  so she can talk freely, “everything is tailored, but no one tells you that.” 

She is not a tailor. The handful of costuming classes she had been forced into in order to fulfill a theatre degree aside, she’s barely a seamstress. But she does own a sewing machine and this is something she’s committed to. 

Raoul, who is good at sewing on buttons but not much beyond that, helps by managing the safety pin chain. 

By the time Christine is satisfied, there are pins everywhere. Buying a whole new dress would be easier, but less meaningful. 

“Okay, take a look,” she spins Erik in the direction of the full length mirror, in her closet, and for once they do not protest, do not flinch away from seeing themself. 

Their eyes light up, even behind the mask.

 They practice letting the full skirt flow with their movement. Christine claps her hands, and Raoul whistles, low and appreciative and enamored. It’s better than words. Erik still shies away from traditional descriptions of beauty when someone offers them, but this is enough. It’s all it takes for them to devolve into hugs and soft kisses again, and for Erik to melt into the comfort of Christine and Raoul’s embraces.

And if it’s hard to hold someone who is decked from head to toe in safety pins? Well, no one seems to mind much.

[transphantomweek]

This is a good general overview on writing a trans character. I want to re-emphasize that trans stories DON’T have to be about trans suffering. They also don’t have to involve coming out or transitioning (although they can). It’s also a great reminder that not every trans person is going to physically transition, and not everyone’s transition is going to look the same.

Also I want to echo what OP said: if you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to me and ask either here or on my personal blog. I won’t be offended, I won’t judge you, and I will always do my best to either give you my personal experience/research, or point you in the direction of a source with more thorough informafiom.

How To Write A Trans Character

for y’all good cis people who genuinely care and want to give good representation!! thank!! love ya!! [please note that this is just the opinion of one trans *man* and that circumstances vary. This isn’t a catch-all, just some general tips.]

-  If you’re an LGB+ person/nurodivergent/etc, try to picture your own identity in the place of your trans character’s. If you wouldn’t like to read about something done to a character with your identity, maybe don’t do that to your trans character.

- Try to avoid adding transphobia without a solid reason for it. Does this person being a transphobic dick advance the plot? Does it create a poignant character moment? Is it truly more than just the Obligatory Transphobic Comment? Remember, people read fiction to escape the real world, being reminded that transphobia exists in my fantasy escapism kind of sucks.

- Don’t make a big deal out of it or draw a lot of attention to it. Personally, the best thing to me is when it is briefly mentioned once that a character is trans, and that is it. Don’t get me wrong, it’s fine to mention it more than once, but it’s so refreshing to see it not be a big deal.

- Make the character a character first, and trans second. Being trans is not a personality trait, or a hobby, or a lifestyle. We’re just people. Write us like it.

- There’s many different types of dysphoria. (see: this post) Social, mental, physical. Sometimes it’s general, and others it’s very specific. Sometimes it’s weird (I’m dysphoric about my wrists, how weird is that?) And some trans people experience little to no dysphoria, that’s cool too.

- Dysphoria fluctuates and changes a lot, some days it’s not bad, others it is, some days it’s about something, other days it’s about something else.

- Dysphoria feels like your worst insecurity times 100. A lot of the time mine makes me feel physically sick, like I’m gonna chuck. It can also feel almost claustrophobic, like you’re trapped somewhere and can’t get out (… because you are.)

- Gender euphoria is also a thing and it’s like being high.

- Feel free to give your trans baby a supportive family, they do exist and it would be nice to see a well loved trans person (the family doesn’t have to be biological, though, if that’s the way the story goes.)

- Do a bit of research on certain terms/names for things, it won’t take super long and it will make a WORLD of difference.

- Please try not to focus on the character suffering for being trans. I know you mean well, but trust me it won’t come out right. Feel free to throw a bunch of angst at your trans character, just please don’t make that angst around being trans. Make it about their best friend being eaten by a lava sloth squid monster. or whatever.

- Different trans people want/have different transitions. Your character might want to have one surgery, but not another, or maybe they’re on hormones but they’re not interested in any surgeries or vice-versa. Maybe they don’t want to physically transition at all, and that is perfectly normal and okay!

- Non-binary people exist and are cool! (But if your character is a robot or an alien… maybe don’t make them non-binary.)

- Please don’t make your villain the only trans person. Please.

- Please avoid the ‘soft flower boi’ stereotype if you’re writing trans guys please. We are men. Write your trans man character like you would if he was a cis guy. I’m not saying don’t make feminine trans men, but… please be careful of that stereotype.

- Trans women can be tomboys. They can also be super mega ultra girly. Again, character first, trans second.

- Avoid fetishizing trans people. It’s totally fine if your trans person does The Sexytime (it is encouraged, in fact,) but don’t overly focus on the fact that they’re trans. That’s creepy. Some trans people have different boundaries with nakedness/their body, consider that, too.

- Please give your trans character a happy ending and for the love of god don’t kill them off. Let them have a partner, and pets, and friends, the whole unlovable edgy trans stereotype is getting really old really fast.

- Honestly. If you’re really unsure how to write a trans character, just write a character. And then slip in a one sentence about them wearing a trans pride pin. Boom, you just wrote a great trans character, good job!!! 

- Talk to a trans person. And if you’re worried about saying something wrong, talk to me. I promise I won’t get mad at you, no matter what you want to ask. Trust me, we want more trans characters out there, don’t be scared to write one. Representation is good!!

- All trans people are badass, funny, smart, amazing, wonderful and perfect. If you don’t make your character all of these things, it’s transphobia. (Okay this one is a joke… We’re also awesome. *fingerguns*)

[raoul--daae]

Okay, so it slipped my mind, but I promise I will have my transphantomweek fic up tomorrow. On Thursday for the Wednesday prompt, but y'know.

[transphantomweek]

Trans Phantom Appreciation Week Prompts:

Here are the prompts for the week! 

As a reminder, Trans Phantom of the Opera Appreciation Week will take place from August 31st to September 5th 2020! 

These prompts are meant to be suggestions or jumping off points to kick start your creativity. Feel free to use them, combine them, use them out of order, use other prompts of your choice, or use no prompts at all! Day 1: Mask or The Stage is Set

Day 2: Truce or Behind the Scenes

Day 3: Lesson or Late Night Conversation

Day 4: Tender or A Safety Pin

Day 5: Future or A Lazy Sunday 

Day 6: Wishing: Use a previous prompt or a prompt you want to see!

[transphantomweek]

AHHH!! This is absolutely adorable and I’m so honored that my fic inspired it! Your art is absolutely gorgeous and this makes me smile so wide! Thank you for participating!

I wanted to draw a thing for @transphantomweek , but I lacked time to do something bigger, sincerest apologies. Hope im not too late for contributing ;0;

Still, here's a lil fanarty doodle of @jeremystollemyheart 's fanfic (which you can find here !) that I read earlier today and found incredibly adorable 🥺 just pierce my heart with the ECR fluff, will you ?

Also dresses look amazing on everyone, and I discovered especially on Erik. Cheers !

[filthybonnet]

I'm not sure if you are intentionally misreading and misrepresenting the post from transphantomweek, but I'm not sure where you are getting the 'ruined' aspect from, considering you have been reposting about people who have been spouting TERF tropes which are easily proven false. I'm sorry you feel victimised here, which I can see from your 'hate mail' inbox, but if people feel unsafe with the spread of biggoted untruths, what do you want them to do?

2/2 ...Also, I'm not sure why you are saying that the 'community' was totally 'ok' with that disgusting r**e fan fic trope, its absolutely vile and the fact you are whatabouting valid criticisms onto something else which was never okay, and that many would absolutely not accept within the Phandom today. Your deflection to that and 'privilege' just shows that you cannot accept the criticism or back up yourself.

I was being a bit dramatic and sarcastic when I said I “ruined” the Phandom. If others can be dramatic so can I. And I’m saying the Phandom was OK with that rape fic because so many people jumped down not only down my throat but other people’s throat standing up and saying rape fic doesn’t count as first time fic. Even after somebody came on an anon and said it triggered them to see that the person curating the list was like “Whatever I won’t censor writing. Just don’t read it.”

I just can’t help but wonder how these same people in the Phandom would react if someone submitted a story for transphantomweek if like transErik was hesitant about having sex with Raoul for their wedding night and Raoul raped her because it was transErik’s wifely duty to please her husband on their wedding night. I mean would those same people who told me Cis Erik raping Cis Christine counted as first time would say the same thing about this?