#i don't actually know what happens in phantom of the opera by the way i just read the genius annotations for “phantom of the opera”

[tearlessrain]

please help me- i used to be pretty smart but i’m having so much trouble grasping the concept of diegetic vs non-diegetic bdsm!

gfkjldghfd okay first of all I'm sorry for the confusion, if you're not finding anything on the phrase it's because I made it up and absolutely nobody but me ever uses it, but I haven't found a better way to express what I'm trying to say so I keep using it. but now you've given me an excuse to ramble on about some shit that is only relevant to me and my deeply inefficient way of talking and by god I'm going to take it.

SO. the way diegetic and non-diegetic are normally used is to talk about music and sound design in movies/tv shows. in case you aren't familiar with that concept, here's a rundown:

diegetic sound is sound that happens within the world of the movie/show and can be acknowledged by the characters, like a song playing on the stereo during a driving scene, or sung on stage in Phantom of the Opera. it's also most other sounds that happen in a movie, like the sounds of traffic in a city scene, or a thunderclap, or a marching band passing by. or one of the three stock horse sounds they use in every movie with a horse in it even though horses don't really vocalize much in real life, but that's beside the point, the horse is supposed to be actually making that noise within the movie's world and the characters can hear it whinnying.

non-diegetic sound is any sound that doesn't exist in the world of the movie/show and can't be perceived by the characters. this includes things like laugh tracks and most soundtrack music. when Duel of Fates plays in Star Wars during the lightsaber fight for dramatic effect, that's non-diegetic. it exists to the audience, but the characters don't know their fight is being backed by sick ass music and, sadly, can't hear it.

the lines can get blurry between the two, you've probably seen the film trope where the clearly non-diegetic music in the title sequence fades out to the same music, now diegetic and playing from the character's car stereo. and then there are things like Phantom of the Opera as mentioned above, where the soundtrack is also part of the plot, but Phantom of the Opera does also have segments of non-diegetic music: the Phantom probably does not have an entire orchestra and some guy with an electric guitar hiding down in his sewer just waiting for someone to break into song, but both of those show up in the songs they sing down there.

now, on to how I apply this to bdsm in fiction.

if I'm referring to diegetic bdsm what I mean is that the bdsm is acknowledged for what it is in-world. the characters themselves are roleplaying whatever scenarios their scenes involve and are operating with knowledge of real life rules/safety practices. if there's cnc depicted, it will be apparent at some point, usually right away, that both characters actually are fully consenting and it's all just a planned scene, and you'll often see on-screen negotiation and aftercare, and elements of the story may involve the kink community wherever the characters are. Love and Leashes is a great example of this, 50 Shades and Bonding are terrible examples of this, but they all feature characters that know they're doing bdsm and are intentional about it.

if I'm talking about non-diegetic bdsm, I'm referring to a story that portrays certain kinks without the direct acknowledgement that the characters are doing bdsm. this would be something like Captive Prince, or Phantom of the Opera again, or the vast majority of bodice ripper type stories where an innocent woman is kidnapped by a pirate king or something and totally doesn't want to be ravished but then it turns out he's so cool and sexy and good at ravishing that she decides she's into it and becomes his pirate consort or whatever it is that happens at the end of those books. the characters don't know they're playing out a cnc or D/s fantasy, and in-universe it's often straight up noncon or dubcon rather than cnc at all. the thing about entirely non-diegetic bdsm is that it's almost always Problematic™ in some way if you're not willing to meet the story where it's at, but as long as you're not judging it by the standards of diegetic bdsm, it's just providing the reader the same thing that a partner in a scene would: the illusion of whatever risk or taboo floats your boat, sometimes to extremes that can't be replicated in real life due to safety, practicality, physics, the law, vampires not being real, etc. it's consensual by default because it's already pretend; the characters are vehicles for the story and not actually people who can be hurt, and the reader chose to pick up the book and is aware that nothing in it is real, so it's all good.

this difference is where people tend to get hung up in the discourse, from what I've observed. which is why I started using this phrasing, because I think it's very crucial to be able to differentiate which one you're talking about if you try to have a conversation with someone about the portrayal of bdsm in media. it would also, frankly, be useful for tagging, because sometimes when you're in the mood for non-diegetic bodice ripper shit you'd call the police over in real life, it can get really annoying to read paragraphs of negotiation and check-ins that break the illusion of the scene and so on, and the opposite can be jarring too.

it's very possible to blur these together the same way Phantom of the Opera blurs its diegetic and non-diegetic music as well. this leaves you even more open to being misunderstood by people reading in bad faith, but it can also be really fun to play with. @not-poignant writes fantastic fanfic, novels, and original serials on ao3 that pull this off really well, if you're okay with some dark shit in your fiction I would highly recommend their work. some of it does get really fucking dark in places though, just like. be advised. read the tags and all that.

but yeah, spontaneous writer plug aside, that's what I mean.

[applebunch]

love the whole "phantom of the opera" situation leon and michael had going on seasons 1 through 3. the whole thing about how leon was, like, helping him and stuff, but it was still just kind of messed up.

it's all that stuff the phantom was doing with like channeling his voice through a singer and and slowly taking them over as a result or something except leon isn't evil and he's doing this entirely by accident. whoopsies.

also it's an office instead of a theater, which is you know. more boring. which obviously = more funny

"THE PHAAAAAAAAAAAAAANTOM OF THE MAGAZINE IS THEEEEEEEEEERE. INSIIIIIIIIIDE MY MIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIND"

"THEY SEND THEIR WOOOOOOOES TO ME. PLEAD FOR ADVIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIICE. I AM YOUR PSEUUUUUDONYYYYYM." "THEY'RE MY REPLIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIES"

"TYPE FOR ME MY ANGEL OF WRITING"

*tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap*

"TYPE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

*TAP TAP TAP TAP TAP TAP TAP TAP TAP TAP TAP TAP TAP TAP TAP TAP TAP TAP TAP TAP TAP TAP TAP TAP TAP TAP*

let the record show that the typing rate managed in this scene is the highest typing rate ever reached in the entire production!

also, someone in the audience yawns so loudly that you can hear them over the singers

[uppastthejelliclemoon]

cats the musical isn't bad, y'all are just mean: sincerely, a cats fan who is exhausted with having to defend her favorite show

every time one of those theater polls pops up with a show against cats the musical, it's inevitable that the other show's fans, despite cats fans never saying anything negative, decide to make really negative and rude comments towards the musical and the fans.

most of the comments always say that no one understands how anyone can like cats the musical, or how the other musical is superior, or how the other musical is so incredibly important to the fans.

a show being important to someone is extremely valid, but people who are fans of other shows seem to always forget that there is also a reason why cats the musical has fans.

so allow me to provide some reasons as to why someone might be a fan of cats the musical:

the dancing, which is incredibly athletic and impressive

the songs, which provide a way for different actors and actresses to show off their vocal prowess, and have different tempos and meanings and also, you know, include one of the most iconic Broadway songs that has ever existed

the costumes, which have specifically character-oriented designs

the countless number of non-replica productions that take different interpretations of the show, and create incredibly creative designs for costumes and sets

the amount of LGBTQIA+ coded characters and relationships that take on different interpretations based around how they are played and portrayed.

the amount of LGBTQIA+/POC actors who have portrayed characters in the musical throughout the years, many of which put their own gender/sexual identity into their portrayal of the character.

cast members who directly interact with the fandom, and who encourage fanworks and posts about the musical with excitement

the different countries that have pulled Cats the Musical into their culture, and that have allowed countless groups of fans to be able to see the show live

but you know what?

People don't have to give a reason for why they love a show. If someone is asked why they enjoy a show like, say, Newsies, or Phantom of the Opera, or Falsettos, those fans don't have to go into a deep dive defending their love of the show.

There's a type of stigma that Cats is cringey because of the costumes, or because it "doesn't have a story", which is something that people say that I always find funny, as the story of the show is described in one of the FIRST songs of the show.

Jellicle Cats meet once a year At the Jellicle Ball where we all rejoice And the Jellicle leader will soon appear And make what is known as the Jellicle Choice When Old Deuteronomy just before dawn Through a silence you feel could cut with a knife Announces the Cat who can now be reborn And come back to a different Jellicle life For waiting up there is the Heaviside Layer Full of wonders one Jellicle only will see And Jellicles ask because Jellicles dare Who will it be? Who will it be?

If anyone ever gave a second of thought and research, they would see that the show's premise is literally sung about at the start of the show. It's something kind of important called exposition that actually happens in a lot of shows, but apparently Cats isn't allowed to have exposition.

There's also the matter of characters.

There are multiple different characters, both within the main singing cast and the ensemble, who provide fantastic layers to the show itself.

Grizabella, the outsider character who is redeemed and gets to become the Jellicle Choice, and who happens to have the aforementioned most iconic Broadway song, "Memory", a character who provides a contrast to other characters such as Victoria, who is the featured character during the Jellicle Ball

The Rum Tum Tugger, a seemingly selfish and haughty character, who also provides the song for Mr. Mistoffelees, a magical cat who is able to summon back the Jellicle Leader, Old Deuteronomy, who was kidnapped by Macavity, the antagonist of the musical.

It is a show that has so much emotion and meaning, which can be seen even on the most surface viewing. It doesn't take a genius to understand that there is a message of redemption and acceptance within the show as well.

and while i don't like using the awards Cats has been nominated for in order to discuss how impressive the musical is, because I absolutely think it doesn't need the awards to describe how amazing it is, but like... just look at the list of awards for the original London and original Broadway productions:

Cats the Musical was nominated for these awards, and won many of them, for a reason.

People don't want to admit that Cats the Musical is a good show because it is nothing like what has been on Broadway. There is a reason a lot of shows on Broadway right now are revivals, jukebox musicals, or based off of previous media. While, of course, Cats is based off of T.S. Elliot's poetry, it is done in a way that is incredibly original and unique. People are afraid of original ideas on Broadway. It's the reason why, along with Cats the Musical, Starlight Express is also seen as a weird show, because despite the fantastic music and costumes and storyline, because the actors and actresses are dressed as trains or cats, it's a weird show, and the fans are weird.

(though, as you can see above, I am NOT against revivals, jukeboxes, or media-based shows when they are done well. If you're familiar with my main blog, @tending-the-hearth, you are well aware of how much I adore the Outsiders musical, which is just one example of quite a few shows.)

I don't personally like Falsettos. On the poll putting Cats against Falsettos, I did not discuss why I disliked the show, or that it was a crime people were voting for the show.

I adore Newsies. I have a Cats/Newsies crossover fanfiction. My brother and I are obsessed with it. I love Cats more. I'm not writing on the poll that I'm disgusted people are voting for Newsies over Cats.

It is so genuinely unfortunate that, while every other musical and its fans are given love and support by the musical theater community, Cats the Musical and its fans are consistently ostracized and made fun of. (Rather ironic, considering the entire story of Cats the Musical and Grizabella's character)

You can talk about how much you love a show, or why a show is important to you, but you have to understand that for every person who loves a different show, there's someone who loves Cats the Musical for a similar reason.

Me personally? I love Cats the Musical because it's fun. It's an entertaining show with incredible music and characters. I love the show because it is the reason I've met some of my best friends in the entire world. The show got me through COVID, and some very difficult times with my mental health. It's the show I've been lucky enough to see live multiple times, with the most fantastic and kind cast. It is the show that helped me learn about the LGBTQIA+ community via the fandom, understand and become comfortable with being bisexual, and provided characters that I can identify on a personal level. It is the show that made me fall back in love with writing, and helped to create one of my most favorite OCs in the entire world.

I genuinely say that Cats the Musical saved my life.

And that's just my experience.

There are people who have had experiences with other musicals. They see the show as having saved their life, or giving them new experiences. I love that. I love seeing how musical theater has impacted the people who experience it. I think it's wonderful, and it's amazing that there are so many different shows that people can see and fall in love with.

Why are the experiences of Cats the Musical fans suddenly deemed inferior just because of the show they enjoy? Why do we, as fans, have to defend our enjoyment of a show?

You're not cool for hating on Cats the Musical.

You're not cool for hating on fans of the show.

Cats the Musical is a good show, it ran for years in London for a reason, it ran for years on Broadway for a reason, and it's STILL running in Japan for a reason.

Cats the Musical isn't bad, y'all just hate fun.

[tainbocuailnge]

we're told and shown very little of what shalem and phantom's bond was and is like, so there's a lot of ways to interpret it. but personally I think it's a bit of a waste to show them straightforwardly getting along when they're both extremely insane in conflicting ways. the only on-screen interaction they have is shalem reprimanding phantom, and then testing him, and phantom's response is that he'll do something really detrimental to himself if shalem asks. so to go with their first impressions as looming ominous guy and modest nervous guy and portray shalem as losing composure & getting all blushy at phantom's advances doesn't feel right to me.

shalem actually presents himself to doctor as the one you go to when /you/ lose composure. his profile is clearly written by the troupe instead of rhodes HR like everyone else, and it tells you "you don't remember meeting, but you trust him and rely on him," like a command for the situation to develop as such, rather than a report of how the situation developed. his colleagues think shalem is weirdly pessimistic sometimes, but he's capable and reliable. his role as "modest and gentle shalem" requires him to be composed. in those new CN lines where doctor hands him an outfit to put on he doesn't sound embarrassed about it either. I don't think flirtatious attention would get him to blush that easily.

all the glimpses of what he's like outside that role show him as pretty decisive. every instance of breaking character is him being more forceful than his image allows. if something needs doing and nobody is doing it shalem will go "this is stupid why are we letting this happen" and step in. when he loses composure in his oprec he tries to :/ through the pain before getting screaming mad. when he's scared he gets mad too. shalem tries very hard to be a meek person and his life would be easier if he actually was, but he's not. he's mentally stronger than a lot of people including himself give him credit for. he just doesn't like when it's quiet.

and phantom clearly trusts shalem enough to completely submit to his judgement. the one interaction they're shown having is phantom saying he'll sing if shalem wants him to. phantom will explicitly do what shalem tells him to even if he thinks its a bad idea.

his codename may be phantom and his cat's name christine, but lucian is the christine in this situation. he's the young actor kidnapped and forced to sing by his shadowy teachers. they're making him play the phantom of the opera but that doesn't mean he actually is the phantom. shalem is far more like the phantom of the opera than lucian. shalem can't exist without the mask that lets him pretend to be a real person or leave the theater that mask was made for. it's just that his mask is also salome, which makes him extra insane (love) because salome was a no-name normal girl used as a tool in political machinations until she got written into a play that reinterpreted her as insane and a willing participant. so shalem's nightmares try to convince him he actually did want that guy's head on a plate.

phantom's second module says he doesn't see any art in killing despite how much the troupe hyped it up to him, but he works as assassin and went back to kill the troupe. shalem does still see the art in it, but he works in logistics and ran away because he didn't want to kill. we know phantom left after he realized his teachers were villains and that he completely trusts shalem's judgement, so while there's no clear proof it's likely that shalem's betrayal is what inspired phantom to leave as well. everyone in the troupe was raised to look up to lucian, and told that they had no worth if they couldn't make it to his level. shalem didn't have what it took to become like lucian, but that's exactly what made phantom want to be more like shalem.

and again, we know very little of what their relationship was like, or is like now. we know phantom completely trusts shalem, but the only opinion shalem expresses about phantom is "we're certainly similar, but I'd like to stay away from all that" and their only interaction is shalem reprimanding and testing phantom. so it's possible that shalem doesn't like phantom at all, and is only saving him because the situation is stupid and someone has to do something. phantom is the only person who could begin to understand shalem, but shalem doesn't like being seen closely because he's scared he has no "self" behind the act, so phantom understanding him might not be a good thing to shalem.

I think that kind of resentment between fellow survivors is really interesting. they both left, but lucian is still the troupe's favourite while shalem is called a cowardly traitor. even if shalem does get along with phantom, that would still be simmering below the surface right? their experiences were similar, but lucian was the standard that the others were held to, and the punishment for not being able to live up to that standard was death. isn't it a sick joke to have to go back to save the man whose mere existence made yours harder?

phantom knows that he was the bait the troupe used to draw in fresh blood, and he feels deeply guilty over it. so I think his willingness to submit to shalem's judgement is also because he knows he's at least partially to blame for what's wrong with shalem. meanwhile shalem's nightmares taunt him by saying the troupe was wrong and he's a great actor, so I think part of him still wants to prove himself as an actor. he wants to escape the audience in his head, but can't fully let go of the promise of getting to be on the stage either. and while phantom is the more outwardly insane one, he's making new friends and picking up new hobbies in his oprec while shalem has to be in the eternal nightmare vortex. even in rhodes island phantom is the one who actually gets what shalem wants.

so you have shalem, who wants a normal life he can't have because he was raised to be an actor-assassin with no self, and phantom, who is willing to do whatever shalem says to make up for being the symbol used to ruin shalem's ability to live normally.

phantom in general tends to punish himself. he refuses both medical treatment and gratitude until folinic corners him and chews him out. he feels guilty over being a dangerous person to associate with, but also over rejecting the help he is offered in spite of this. he's willing to submit to shalem's judgement and accept any punishment from him, but shalem wants to be normal and just helps him because it's the right thing to do and this whole situation is stupid, but that only makes phantom feel even more guilty. that too is unresolved resentment.

there's a tension between them where phantom repeatedly shows a desire to leave his decisions to others, while shalem desperately tries to take his decisions from the hands of others. there's clear incentive for phantom to just hand all his agency over to shalem, especially if we assume that shalem leaving is indeed what inspired phantom to follow, and depending on how you read the scene it's phantom's willingness to do what shalem says rather than his reluctance to sing that confirms to shalem that phantom is back to usual. phantom through this respect for and trust in shalem gives shalem a lot of power over him that shalem doesn't actually want to have, because the only decisions shalem wants to be controlling are his own.

they certainly are similar, but they cannot recognise themselves in that mirror, because the part of them that wants to be like the other is at odds with their actual desires. phantom left the troupe like shalem did, perhaps even to follow shalem's example, but shows no indication of wanting a normal life. shalem is a valued coworker, and phantom is an elusive mystery that schwarz warns you as someone familiar with the underworld to stay away from. he speaks of guilt and punishment and truth, but not of what comes after, and he's largely dependent on miss christine to be his moral compass. he's making friends and getting hobbies only because miss christine pushed him to. phantom values justice, but struggles to make his own judgements, and seems to reason that since he's already a murderer he might as well keep killing.

shalem meanwhile values normalcy, but doesn't seem to care nearly as much about justice. his reasoning for defying the troupe and letting his target go wasn't that it was wrong to kill, but that the situation was ridiculous and there had to be a different way. what shalem's nightmares taunt him with isn't the morality of his actions, the way phantom stumbles over his words to justify himself in his own nightmares, but whether they were really his actions. violence excites shalem in a way it doesn't for phantom, and he has no hesitance about threatening murder to secure his agency.

so phantom values justice, and he values shalem's judgement, but he appears unaware that shalem doesn't actually share those values. a normal life just generally doesn't require or involve murder. so while phantom is frequently punishing himself out of guilt and is implicitly looking to shalem to deliver some of that punishment, shalem doesn't really give a shit, because he doesn't really want to think about let alone reckon with their pasts at all. what shalem reprimands him for is causing trouble for the doctor.

their relationship is, by virtue of both operating through externally imposed personalities, inherently somewhat out of sync. you might even call it somewhat parasocial. I think there's probably a lot of pity involved too, pity for the one made to chase your shadow, and pity for the one who cannot escape that shadow. as fellow survivors they're the only ones who could possibly understand each other, but their values and priorities don't line up, and so neither do their expectations and images of each other.

but crucially, i think if any moves are to be made between them, it has to be shalem who makes those moves. because phantom wants to leave his choices to others while shalem is far more decisive than he appears and in fact much of shalem's character tension is based in being forced to finally step up and do something. phantom has very decisively put the ball in shalem's court by establishing that he'll literally do whatever shalem says. all of which is a very long way to say. i respectfully disagree with some of the fanart ive seen on twitter dot com lately.

[rwrbficrecs]

Hope you all enjoy our recs for November ❤️ (even though they're a little late!!) Incenatus by @missgeevious (book/movie-verse)

@suseagull04: I can't recommend this fic enough! If you love Twilight and The Phantom of the Opera, this fic is for you! A mysterious masquerade, a soulmate connection, and chemistry that's off the charts all culminate to make this one of my new all-time favorite fics!

Meaning Something by bleedingballroomfloor (book-verse)

@dot524: Really enjoyed this Liam POV that goes deeper into what actually happened with Alex and Liam, his relationship with Spencer, and how Liam reacts to Alex & Henry during the book. The feelings & coming out are really well done.

Needy & Greedy by @clottedcreamfudge (book-verse)

@heybuddy-drabbles: It's been HELL of a month in good and bad ways so I didn't have time to read much. I'm choosing to recommend a series of unconnected one shots, all steamy and delicious and fun and short for casual reading when you don't have much time to commit to a 70k fic. If you like smut tis for you!

Taste the Way You Bleed by @cha-melodious (book-verse)

@myheartalivewrites: a super fun What We Do In the Shadows AU, written for the RWRB halloween fest. Alex and Henry are oblivious vampires, pining for centuries, and the rest of the super-six turn up in hilarious mockumentary-style interviews. The summary alone had me HOOKED.

Camp Llwynywermod by bleedingballroomfloor (book-verse)

@myheartalivewrites: one of my go-to for comfort, all time fave fics. Alex and Henry as co summer camp counsellors, pining and bickering for years. The tension is top notch!

@dot524: It’s funny and I really enjoyed the camp setting and their journey from enemies to friends to lovers. This is a fun and cute fic.

Downburst by @cricketnationrise (book-verse)

@rmd-writes: an AU of The West Wing ep 'In the Shadow of Two Gunmen' - mind the tags, this is an angsty but beautifully written fic with very clever use of multiple POVs to tell several stories of love (including platonic love). This is so good I was mad I didn't write several lines in it myself.

@thesleepyskipper: Truly an incredible and unique work that was done with care. The way the various memories/flashbacks are done and how they are used as part of the storytelling absolutely blew me away. Loved that we got multiple POVs here too!

Underground by @zwiazdziarka (book-verse)

@suseagull04: An adorable kid, fantasy (including mentions of fantasy classics!) and a rescue mission make this such a fun read! The world building in this fic is phenomenal too.

A Long Way From the Playground by @three-drink-amy (book-verse)

@dot524: This is a getting-back-together AU where Alex & Henry were childhood friends who grew apart in college and then unexpectedly are neighbors. I enjoyed the slow burn here and the payoff — it’s just a comforting feel-good fic!

Five-Drink Henry by @whimsymanaged (book-verse)

@daisymae-12: I was honestly already hooked from the title and the fic did not disappoint – so much so that I’ve reread it so many times the past month. Loved everything about this fic!!

The Domestication of Household Spiders by @cultofsappho (book-verse)

@daisymae-12: This was everything I didn’t know I needed from a spiderman AU! Loved it so much. There’s also 2 new recent fics published in this series – plenty of spiderman Alex to read!!

you make it look so easy, i know it's not by @anincompletelist (book-verse)

@daisymae-12: A really fun fic about Henry’s first American Thanksgiving not quite going to plan. I was already laughing from the summary alone

The great turkey calamity? by @smblmn (book-verse)

@zwiazdziarka: This fic tells us what is actually means to talk turkey and this once Cornbread is a star he deserves to be. It's crack, it's exsistential crisis, it's hilarious. Oh, and Alex and Henry fall in love here too.

Lay You Down by ronans (book-verse)

@inexplicablymine: when I tell you the fluff is fluffing, Henry runs a sleep YouTube and Alex is in his comment section and in his DM’s and in his head. Do yourself a favor if you need a sweet treat today and read this work

@thesleepyskipper: OMG this could not be any cuter. I loved the way we got to see their relationship grow as they got to know each other online. Truly an adorable, well-written story that will plaster a smile on your face throughout.

Risk is Just a Board Game by @three-drink-amy (book-verse)

@suseagull04: Angst, domestic fluff, college AU, the holidays- this fic has it all! A look at why friends with benefits isn't always the best idea that culminates in an ending reminiscent of a Hallmark movie.

On My Mind (Let's Go) by @sparklepocalypse (movie-verse)

@zwiazdziarka: contrary to popular fanon, Henry can dance and here he uses that to get what he wants on New Year's Eve party. No notes, just go and read it.

check out our past Monthly Faves here ❤️

[randomrabbidramblings]

Phantom's "Captain Opera-Beard and the Bumbling Brigands of Toilet Water Bay"

[Opera Beard's design is bound to change, I'm still not sure about his coat and especially his hat]

I've thought about this for a couple of weeks now and it's time to share some things I thought of! There's no real plot and I don't know if I will ever evolve it further than this, but I hope you enjoy it! (if you don't, it's Phantom's fault he wrote it lol)

Opera Beard is said to have lost his heart after some kind of love story and that's why he's seemingly invincible. Voices say to defeat him, you have to put his heart back, so he can become vulnerable again. However, he holds a secret...

Opera Beard isn't properly "dead". He was cursed by one of his past lovers to be a ghost before he lost the heart.

The Pirates under Opera Beard's command aren't cursed. They were some of his old theater crew that stuck with him. Hovever, even if they were around since the beginning of their piracy era and witnessed him getting cursed to his spectral form, even they don't know what happened to the Captain's heart.

Speaking of the heart, it's not really clear what happened to it. Some stories say he lost it because one of his lovers was a witch and she stole it, some others say he purposefully threw it away because of a terrible breakup and some even say it whithered away for the overuse. Without his heart the Captain is said to be invulnerable, so it needs to be put back to defeat him.

One of the Captain's goals is to find a soulmate. He spent his life witnessing all of his lovers drift away from him, be it his fault or the lovers'. He always justifies himself saying he has too much love to give and all of his past flings were too overwhelmed by his affection.

Opera Beard can take a smaller form and manfest legs to disguise himself as a living being, but only during the day. He's still very recognizable though, so to prove he's not the cursed pirate, he can mimic a heartbeat. It's in this form that he will go around on land in search of his soulmate.

In his usual specral form he's interestingly very wary of personal space, however in his "living" disguise he's pretty tactile and physically affectionate. He justifies it as not liking his spectral form and not wanting anyone feel how cold he is.

The Pirates's way to attack other ships is tostalk them in rocky or foggy places, often in the night when the other ship is busy manouvering or finding their way. You know they're right behind you when your sailors stop singing but the song doesn't.

The Pirates are attracted to music even when they're not stalking anyone. It's one of the Captain's only weaknesses.

The Pirates kidnapped Princess Peach of the near Kingdom once. The Captain thought the lady whose pure heart was known around the world, would be the perfect soulmate. What he didn't think was that she had a whole army ready to fight him including a seemingly worthless sailor who was able to kick his ass. Opera Beard wrote a loooong song about this sailor drowining as "revenge".

And lastly the Captain's secret: his heart was never lost. He made up the whole thing as to give himself more of a "cursed pirate" look and to deter people to try and defeat him just after he was cursed with his specral form. His insistence on personal space is an excuse to not let anyone hear his heartbeat while he's a ghost and his "fake heartbeat" of his living disguise it's his actual heartbeat.

[phantomonabudget]

We need to talk, Pham. Stop shaming Christine Daaé.

I have seen this behavior consistently for the 30+ years I have been a Phan. What's worse is that I see A LOT of it from grown women. I see posts calling her foolish for leaving Erik. Slut shaming her or calling her a gold digger. Calling her stupid, weak, or unworthy because a "real woman" (presumably the women posting these absurd notions 🙄) would have loved him better and been worthy of his awesome talent and capacity for love. 😳🤮

It's disturbing, disheartening, and disgusting. And it needs to stop.

First off, none of these characters are real, so perhaps let's take things a little less seriously in general. It's a fictional story. I get it: we all love it, and probably love the Phantom's character. That's fine....I've made a 20+ year career dressing as the dude, for crying out loud. 🤣 Maybe we all identify with Erik/The Phantom to some degree. Regardless of the version of the story, if the actors or authors do their job well, we *should* feel pity and compassion for him. But feeling compassion and completely ignoring the character's dangerous and abusive behavior are two very different things. It has the potential for some severe consequences in the real world.

By shaming Christine for leaving Erik at the end, you are potentially telling young people that staying in abusive relationships is the right thing. You make them think that if their significant other is talented, misunderstood, been abused themselves etc, then they should stay and love them into a healthy relationship. That if they just love their abusive SO harder, sacrifice themselves a little more or for a little longer, or keep putting that person's needs above their own, that the relationship will suddenly become this wonderful, euphoric experience. It won't. As a survivor of longtime abusive myself, I can tell you from experience: it doesn't happen that way.

Celebrate healthy relationships and enforcing healthy boundaries. Stop shaming Christine for fighting for and winning her life and saving the man she loves.

And please stop calling this a romance. It's the antithesis of romance.

I am sick of members of this Phandom completely ignoring Erik/The Phantom's behavior to justify their blind adoration. Erik is an abusive and dangerous character, and extremely toxic. He lies to and manipulates Christine using her trauma from her deceased father. He kidnaps her, multiple times. Threatens her and her colleagues. He extorts hundreds of thousands from the business managers. He endangers dozens of people with the chandelier crash, and effectively holds hundreds hostage for months or years at a time with his reign of terror at the Opera.

Then there are the murders. Several of them. Probably been at that for awhile so we can assume it's far more than the two we see in the show. We don't know his actual body count, but we do know he's adept and comfortable taking human life.

And yet, I see some mature phans out here completely ignoring all those things and still shaming Christine for leaving him. Why? Because he's "sexy" (author's note: PLEASE go re-read Leroux. Please). And he's talented. And has so much love to give. And is misunderstood. And society was terrible to him...so it's all fine. 😳🤮 She should have just stayed and loved him like he deserves to be loved. 🙄

Recently I saw a post shaming Christine and the justification was that Raoul was so much worse. He isn't. Is he a perfect character? No, not at all. Does he make mistakes and try to use Christine? In some versions, yes. Does he run around extorting, manipulating, threatening, and killing others? Also no.

Pleasw don't ever use LND!Raoul's character assassination as some kind of justification, because he's still the most sane, normal human being in that show, and Erik is still 1,000 times worse than Raoul in LND. Also, using LND as justification for anything makes for a very weak and uninformed argument.

"Hurt people hurt people." Ever heard that phrase? Abused people sometimes abuse others, especially if they haven't done the work to heal themselves. Their previous abuse does NOT entitle them to abuse others. That is always a deliberate choice and those choices have consequences. The dangerous, disgusting rhetoric I see in the Phantom community basically excuses toxic behavior because Erik was previously abused and nothing is his fault. That is simply not true. Those that abused me were previously abused. Didn't make my abuse hurt any less. And I made the choice to do the work so that the abuse stopped with me. Previous trauma is a reason for the behavior, but it is NEVER, ever an excuse.

And don't let the fact the dude can sing or that he's a snappy dresser blind you to his toxicity.

We can all enjoy the Phantom character's complexity and love him, while still acknowledging his flaws and holding him accountable for his deeply inappropriate choices.

We talk a lot more these days about trauma, toxicity, and self care. And yet, as a community, we still shame the character of Christine Daaé for doing the healthy, correct thing. The ONLY thing. And in doing so, we set a disturbing precedent for our young or vulnerable Phans who now might think that staying in toxic relationships in the real world is okay.

Please do better, Phandom.

[bonesandpoemsandflowers]

my bohemian ass woke up at noon on a friday so I'm not firing on all cylinders yet, but there is this important distinction in the novel, The Phantom of the Opera, and the musical The Phantom of the Opera. I understand why a novel length distinction is cut for time and narrative tidiness for a medium that happens on stage, but I think people draw some very unfair, unflattering and incorrect conclusions from the stage that they port into their reading of the novel.

that is: Erik, the phantom of the opera, knows about Christine and Raoul's engagement and he's actually totally cool with Christine's plan. This is not incel behavior. This is not ~toxic masculinity~ or whatever contemporary bullshit you want to spew on the intentionally sympathetic monster in gothic literature. Raoul is supposed to leave on a naval expedition to the north pole. Christine's plan is to be engaged with him until he leaves. "This is a happiness that will hurt no one," she says. I don't have the exact quote for it but later on she relates how Erik knows and approves, at least of this intended to be limited engagement engagement. Why? Because he's the happiest of men with Christine, and he wants Raoul to experience that happiness. He does also expect Raoul to, you know, fucking leave when he's supposed to, but still. Christine and Raoul are romping around the Opera, kissing and crying together, and our ghost dude here is just like: good for them.

What sets him off is not the idea of a romantic rival. He does not, imo, feel "entitled" to Christine's love or whatever batshit nonsense the Erik-as-incel narrative huffs like paint fumes. What sets Erik off is how Christine has lied to him: not about the engagement, but about the degree of visceral disgust she feels for Erik specifically as a result of his deformity. She details, in graphic detail, how she closes her eyes instead of looking upon him, how she tells him that she only averts her eyes because she is in awe of his genius. She tells Raoul how horrible even physical proximity to Erik is, how grotesque his face is, how the horror of an animated corpse proclaiming his love to her is--well, horrible, and horrifying. Erik is on the floor, on his knees, kissing the hem of her dress, and Christine has her eyes closed the whole time.

I also think contemporary audiences can't handle that. They need Christine to be a pure and wholesome Good Girl (regressive bullshit), who is the victim of an evil evil man, and only the victim (also regressive bullshit). But also because she is a female character in the contemporary mind, she is allowed no flaws. She must reject Erik because he is a bad man. It would be ableist otherwise, yes? And the contemporary audience cannot handle lack of physical beauty being the reason. There can be no nuance to Christine's reactions. She is Good. Erik is Bad. That's all there is to it. The audience member is so sure that they themselves are above moral reproach, too. That's what is at stake here, also.

Never mind that Christine herself, repeatedly, notes that Erik is right when he says that if she thought he was handsome, she would stay. Never mind that when Raoul asks her if she would still love him if Erik were handsome, Christine declines to reply.

To be clear: this is not a Christine bashing post. I think her complexity here is fascinating. I hate a flat one note ingénue and that's not what she IS, and it pains me that fic authors write her that way, as if it's superior. No! Here she's human and she's magnificent! She's conflicted! Erik is alluring but also in ways that are no fault of his own, terrifying.

We gloss over the intended body horror of the novel. I know I do. I forget that he smells like rot and death, that he's cold and clammy to the touch, that he moans like a ghoul, that is supposed to have a gaping nose hole and eyes you can only see in the dark.

I don't think Christine is wrong to lie. But it's easy to understand, if you let yourself, how betrayed the monster might feel when he finds out about all this concealed disgust.

So, two points here

The rage upon being unmasked isn't just because he's unmasked and she broke a rule or whatever. It's the death of his whole gambit and his last hope, and Erik is, canonically, very smart. He knows this. He knows his face IS the issue. He knows it is THE issue. He reads Christine correctly in that the Angel of Music bit is ultimately forgivable in her eyes, and she likes that he brought down her favorite horse, she absolutely is there for their shared spiritual musical raptures. I want people to understand this: ERIK IS RIGHT about his own situation, a LOT of the time. He comes to some bad conclusions after, but in terms of understanding what's happening around him, he's accurate.

And so the rage and despair post Apollo's Lyre isn't "oh no, she loves Raoul," or even "how dare she, that SLUT," as some people make it out to be. It's the realization that he's been a monster to her this whole time. All this time he thought that she saw him as a man, and she has not. All the presumably good memories he has of her and her two weeks she lived with him are now revealed as lies. She's been enduring this whole time, not acclimating. She feels horror. She feels, again, disgust. She's shuddered at the touch of his hand in hers and put on a brave face and he's believed her up until this point, and he's having his physical inadequacies and his uncharacteristic naiveté described in excruciating detail to his romantic rival. He probably feels real fuckin stupid, on top of all else. He's been duped. He also feels disgusting and unlovable, because Christine has just repeatedly described him as disgusting and unlovable.

It is, of course, wildly incorrect to then decide to blow up an opera house about it.

But it's not entitled incel behavior and that's such a boring and contemporary narrative to shove a beautiful example of gothic literature into. Intellectually lazy and artistically myopic. I think most of us, if we're honest with ourselves, can think of a time we thought somebody liked us--maybe romantically or sexually but also maybe not, maybe just as a friend, as a bestie--and we turned out to be very wrong, because the person was just being polite or avoiding awkwardness or whatever. That is: they lied, in a very understandable and justifiable and socially expected way. And how did that feel, dear reader? Not great, right?

The point of the phantom of the opera is that it's a bunch of normal human experiences turned up to the max, dialed into a sublime hum that goes so hard it turns inhuman and terrible. It's that what makes a monster, what makes a man line, which is only interesting to walk if it's identifiably very human in parts. So Erik isn't just romantically rejected: he is rejected in just about EVERY way possible, besides his divinity of music. And this is supposed to the story of his entire life, over and over again, just most vividly and poignantly illustrated by his failure with Christine, when he most desperately wants to be just like everybody else.

And I think it's a shame to lose that very basic narrative and thematic point, but also a shame to lose the nuance of: Erik wants to share his happiness with Raoul. He loves Christine so, so much that he seems to find Raoul's lovesick desire very relatable. Of course, who wouldn't allow his fellow man a glimpse of heaven? And I just chose my words carefully there, if not the rest of the post. In his approval of Christine and Raoul's playful engagement, Erik is briefly engaging on a man-to-man level. He feels human about it. And when he feels human and accepted as human, instead of a walking horror show, he's immediately kind of gracious.

It's when he finds out that he's been a monster and not a man this whole time, in the eyes of his beloved and his rival, that he seems to go: I'll show you what a monster is.

[kemihaydeestantonva]

You wanna know the very moment Helluva Boss absolutely gripped me

Because I have a feeling it's probably not what you'd expect

It was this moment right here

Like I know this episode has been dissected to death but I don't care I need to gush

This exact part of the trip sequence was the very moment I knew this show was going to be something special.

Like yes, the show up until now was funny, but for me it's ALWAYS about the subtext and substance, and the fact that there's SO much to read into in the trip sequence was what told me that this show actually cares about the character's inner worlds and what it means to their relationships.

Like breaking this down, Moxxie is a huge musical theatre nut, but has a lot of self esteem issues. His inner world is so vivid and colourful, and it's EXTREMELY telling that he sees Blitzø as essentially the Phantom from Phantom of the Opera - a tortured soul who is gentle underneath but refuses to let anybody close. He's unknowable to Moxxie at the point, an enigma, but also somebody that Moxxie holds in high regard.

And Blitzø, oh Blitzø. It's so easy to hate this little bastard in the early episodes, (and honestly in future ones too because he IS a jerk) but we can now see inside his mind and it's an absolute mess. There's no substance to it whatsoever, it's all grey muck.

The people in it constantly morphing from one shape to another, and the goop they produce stick to him and weigh him down. We don't know why these characters in particular are tormenting him yet but we can sense that they left deep impressions on his mind and sense of self worth.

Moxxie speaking to him the way he does, taunting him with "crack open a dictionary sometime" is a CLEAR dig at something we HAVE been shown many times before now but never paid much attention to - Blitzø is almost completely illiterate. He can barely read or spell. He clearly comes from poverty.

To him, Moxxie is this well-spoken, well-read guy who seemingly likes "sophisticated" things like theatre and opera, and it makes him feel like an idiot. It explains so much of why he's so mean to Moxxie in particular. I happened to make a mental note of how bad Blitzø's spelling was and this was the moment I went AH, this show has a BUNCH of stuff brewing beneath the surface!! Omg!

And then there's this literal stairway to heaven, and as the feathers touch it, all the goop and grime is wiped clean! And at the top is Stolas, this otherworldly, untouchable being. The way he's willingly climbing the stairs, but then also shackled and pulled up - he wants Stolas, wants to feel close to him, but also sees Stolas as something so far above him that he could never truly be equal or worthy of his love. He's only a toy, a plaything, that's all he'll ever be good enough for, and when Stolas comes in for real later you can SEE it in his face!

This sense of awe and infatuation, but also deep discomfort at feeling this way towards him.

When Stolas goes in for the kiss there's this tiny moment where Blitzø flinches like "oh no this is getting too intimate for my comfort" and pulls his feathers, taking control and turning the moment into something purely sexual rather than emotional.

THAT'S character exploration. I eat this stuff ALL the way up, and this episode shot Blitzø all the way up to the favourite character slot, and informed how I view all his scenes moving forward. This show has faults but ultimately it has so much to say and I FUCKING LOVE THAT. I'm obsesseddddd

[thegoodending-thelasttime]

my reaction to the resident lover lore drop: part two

access the doc yourself here

spoilers utc

DONNA CONTD

i have a lot to say about the the donna and daniela relationship section, none of which i feel capable of putting into words for the time being. i will, however, say this.

"Donna is watching what could've been in regards to her past self when it comes to Dani and MC"

"Just sometimes [Donna] really wants to hit [Cassandra] you know?" i think a lot of people in the fandom know after Cass' infamous neutral ending

"She grieves but she lets herself live too." all the muscles in my face are convulsing

"Donna struggles to stand up for herself for a long portion of her route and only through the aid of MC will she start to show a little more of her backbone." Donna. i can help you be brave Donna. pick me. choose me. love me. (delusional 3)

"There is a brief scene in which Miranda and Donna are having tea while Donna has a complete and utter breakdown about just how on the edge she is. Miranda of course encourages her to keep spiraling..." miranda i'm going to get you.

"Donna is mentally unstable at this point and can either be sent into the abyss or helped out of the low point toward a brighter future." I CAN HELP YOU TOWARD A BRIGHTER FUTURE DONNA I SWEAR PLEASE (delusional 4)

Depression being a theme is just. I'm going to write a hurt/comfort fic about this.

and, "Destiny [Soulmates]" don't think I'm normal about that either. cuz i'm not.

the nursery being an allegory for Donna. my brain feels like a backyard and you're mowing it with a tiny little lawnmower.

"Hades and Persephone" words. in my mind.

glad that Donna fans unknowingly cracked phantom of the opera though, that's fun

"...she is not unwilling to lunge towards Miranda herself and brandish a weapon in her direction." she's so real for this

"Miranda has had to trigger the loop several times in reaction to a violent outburst of Donna’s." WOOOO YOU GO BABE. FUCK UP MIRANDA'S LIVES HELL YEAH

"MC shows unconditional and unwavering love towards someone with severe abandonment issues and gets a very attached flower shop owner for their troubles." SHUT UP MY HEART.

"...a small part of her is pleased to know she got the upper hand on Miranda. Donna’s ability to make MC explicitly reject Miranda has left the goddess incredibly pissed..." FUCK YEAH

"Post Donna Miranda is particularly cruel about how she treats the toxicologist and parades MC near her but never in reach." top five sentences that make you want to kill a cult leader

"LIKES: Stuffed Animals..." help i love her so much my heart really can't take this

"LIKES: Pranks. I’m sorry she’s a menace" i'll prank her back (by kissing her on the face)

"DISLIKES: Those really sad adoption commercials where they play ‘I Will Remember You’ while a slideshow of really sad puppies plays. They make her cry" NO DONNA POOKIE BEAR DON'T CRY COME HER LET ME HUG YOU

"DISLIKES: Miranda" OMG SHE DISLIKES MIRANDA TOO (shocker) !?!?! WE'RE SO SIMILAR WE SHOULD MARRY ACTUALLY

MIRANDA

MC and miranda being burned alive the first time around. man wtf

love that they were both canonically sickly victiorian children at one point

"Death penalty for sodomy" that actually has me so fucked up. how could you do this to me

"[MC] Drowned, Miranda was nearby but chose not to save them" WHAT WHY

"Mia got mad and threw a stone at MC" i would get mad too if i saw someone repeatedly fall for miranda over the course of multiple timelines

"Miranda ran MC over in an accident" HELP 💀

miranda really fell for the unluckiest motherfucker goddamn. tom and jerry ass

"Yes + Mia" "No + Mia" best way to word this. i will be using these from now on. ask me a yes/no question i dare you.

"This life is when the very first iteration of Eva is born and it completely changes Miranda’s soul as a confounding variable in their soulmate-hood" oh my GOD. i'm a little scared miranda's section might be making me start to like her a little.. NO I REFUSE. THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING.

"Toxic Yuri + Loving" thank you Cinder. i appreciate you for your silliness.

really wish we got more eva content but oh well. maybe in the dlc content the team said would probably come out in a few years/maybe more

"Mia’s soul has slowly changed over time and has grown to naturally despise Miranda’s soul for its unwitting part in MCs death every life" nvm i like Mia infinitely more than miranda

"Mia acts as a foil to Miranda’s relationship in every life they meet because she is - without fail - naturally resistant to them being together and highly suspicious of the way Miranda behaves" FUCK MOTHER MIRANDA ALL MY HOMIES HATE MOTHER MIRANDA. MIA'S A REAL ONE.

"[Bela and Miranda] would be insane if they worked together, but unfortunately, they are narratively designed to be pitted against each other" i disagree i think it's very fortunate they're not on the same team

"Miranda is afraid of [Donna] because she remembers every single time loop... Donna is also handy with sharp objects and has been known to attempt a few murders at meetings when pushed..." fuck yeah. be afraid miranda.

"...views Donna as “cursed” due to her family history of deaths" can i say kys just this once (to miranda).

"Intrinsically offended when MC chose Donna during the loop" be offended. L + bozo + cry about it + Donna's better

"[Donna and Miranda have] used each other as crutches in moments of weakness... they used to have regular tea together in which they would act out their familial roles and encourage each other further down their spirals" i'm actually not okay rn thanks for asking!

...that legitimately has me so fucked up

"Miranda actively encourages Donna’s fears to keep her under control..." "She would kill Angie to both punish Donna and to relieve herself of the annoyance" hey miranda come here. what do you mean, i don't have anything in my pocket. don't worry about it just come here. so i can... hug you. SHANKS YOU MIA STYLE BUT IT ACTUALLY WORKS THIS TIME SHANKS YOU MIA STYLE BUT IT ACTUALLY WORKS THIS TIME SHANKS YOU MIA STYLE BUT IT ACTUALLY WORKS THIS TIME

"Miranda and MC are soulmates, all the way up to their 19th life this is 100% proven and true (even though they don't always get to meet) but the 20th life is different because Miranda is still in her 19th. It could be argued that MCs soulmate is who 20th Miranda was supposed to be. (Could've been if a coin had been flipped)." I'M ACTUALLY HYPERVENTILATING RIGHT NOW THANK YOU FOR FEEDING USTHANKYOU MY HEART OH MY FUCKIUNG GOD ASDFGUIHUADSDHLFKAJHSDFKLGJHDAFKJG. I BANGED ON MY DESK THAT'S NOT EVEN A JOKE WHAT THE ACTUASL FUCK

"MC would go into divorce arc which is salvageable but very long winded" need yall to elaborate on this, also it made me giggle

"The only exceptions are Mia (who told Miranda to fuck off), Bela (who still remembered), and Angie (who doesn’t listen to anybody)." that's so based of all of them. naming them the based squad for this.

"DISLIKES: Her height being mentioned" i don't care if it's a low blow and that she's actually one inch taller than me. i'll call her short. short ass. imagine being 5'6" lmao

part three coming up

[phantoms-autistic-hands]

HERE'S THE OUTLINE ABOUT THIS BRAINWORM

i haven't rly thought of a name for my OC so i'm just gonna use the placeholder name jean for now [after Jean Vic. don't @ me on this]. he might not even end up french tho we'll see…… anyway he was a sailor (don't ask me for further details, it's blurry. it's Real blurry) and he just got back from a voyage but he was discharged from the navy.

what happened during the voyage was he got into a relationship with a higher ranking officer and they were close but was pursuing their relationship knowing that when they get to land they won't be able to continue it (not if the officer wanted to stay in his social circles) buuut it was kind of an open secret on the ship. then there was an Accident, in which the higher ranking officer died (yes i'm going down the dead lover cliche pathway--shhh it's for the plot later). so when the higher ups were looking into the death, they found out about their relationship, which is why the discharge from the navy [[listen. i think at this point france has decriminalized homosexuality but i have no clue what it's like in the navy. so i'm assuming it's the don't ask don't tell thing. so don't @ me on this. or do, i would Love to know if anyone knows]]

so heartbroken and out of a job jean found a job vacancy of being a stagehand at the opera house. his job would be way down below the stage or way up above stage, and the job requirements reminds him of finding his way on a ship, so he's doing just fine with this. he does his job well enough, keeps his head down, tries to be friendly when he can.

after a while of doing bits and pieces here and there and he's established himself, the new chief stagehand gives him the main job of maintaining the area on the mezzanine floor where joseph buquet was killed (i'm smooshing leroux canon and alw canon together here btw. canon is toy blocks for me to pick and choose) since a lot of stagehands avoid that place like a plague. it's not out of malice, it's just that they all realize that jean doesn't rly believe in superstitions or ghosts so they're all like why not? he's knows about the stories but since he doesn't believe in ghosts (and thinks that anything about phantom as an actual dude is an exaggeration of events to attract patrons) he's like eh, alright.

all this happens while jean suspects that he's definitely traumatized by the events that happened during his voyage, obviously. he knows of stories of what happens to people who's traumatized enough. at this point in time he's given in to talking out loud to his dead lover when he's alone, so this is how one day erik heard him through that trapdoor into his home (/torture chamber). when erik tries to scare him off by speaking to him in a disembodied voice, jean Naturally thought that his trauma has given him auditory hallucinations. he at first breaks down about this because he thought he was doing better mentally, but this is a sure sign he isn't doing that great actually.

erik, absolutely confused about this reaction, decides to show himself physically after some time, just to prove to jean that he's not Actually having auditory hallucinations. but jean first mistook him for a lost patron, and is like sir u can't be here without supervision?? and jean's worried he'd lose his job if someone catches a patron wandering down here with only jean watching him bc he sure as hell ain't qualified to give patrons a tour below stage. but erik would mysteriously disappear any time anyone comes close to them. cue a whole bunch of meetings like this bc erik's lonely and this man new to the opera thinks he's a patron and treats him like a normal man and he's been starved of company ever since christine left and the mob hunted him done and he stopped bothering the opera

so they get closer. jean's half worried that erik's a hallucination, since he disappears a lot and is never seen by anybody else but jean, but he seems so real……

they get to a point where erik tells jean of christine and they bond over having lost someone they loved. erik speaks longingly of his dreams of being married and having a wife to go on sunday walks with

at this time jean is a little (a Lot) in love with him and gets his heart shattered into pieces bc god damn it he wants a wife Of Course he'd want a Wife...........

and then somehow erik finds out that jean is in love with Someone and he asks about it (somehow feeling something like Rage and Something Else because jean? in love? WHO WOULD CAPTURE THIS MAN'S ATTENTION? WHO DARES? WHO DESERVES IT?) and jean is like its of no matter (because he thinks erik wouldn't reciprocate. he's not the exactly right gender)

then jean spends a long time thinking it over and realizes that even if erik doesn't return his feelings, erik seems like someone who would benefit from being told that in this world Someone does loves him, even if he [erik] doesn't love jean back. so he tells him and it takes a while to convince erik of it but then erik remembers that jean said his love for erik is "no matter" and goes batshit about it bc does this mean he doesn't matter to jean????

and jean tells erik that it does matter. it matters to him a lot. erik matters to him a lot. but he can't give erik what he wants, their relationship would not exactly be an open one. it would be some secret thing, at the very least half hidden from society. he won't impose that on erik when he knows erik wants his little walks in the park with his lover........ erik's showing the 404 error code.

anyways idk how it goes from here but they'll get together. i swear

[pumpkinsy0]

Do u have headcanons about or what do you think about a 90s or 00s AU (maybe) where Curly Shepard is a punk and Ponyboy a goth or a babybat? ^_^ Like imagine purly but ponyboy tries to show his obsession for edgar allan poe and curly or the gang JUST DON'T GET IT 😭

wym anon that literally already IS purly🙄🙄

BUT YEA I DO HAVE HCS!!!! o(^-^)o

(for context who dont know, baby at is the name for like ppl who r newly goth basically, theyre just starting out listening to music n stuff like that)

•since curly is punk here and the whole idea of punks is essentially anti establishment and love individuality i will NOT make him make fun of pony for being goth, especially when hes a babybat hes just embracing himself

•also curly is curly i feel like hes a bit morbid himself and would be at the very least interested in edgar allen poe, so even if he wasnt punk he wouldnt make fun of pony for liking him, even if he does thats just bc hes being friendly and just does NOT like poetry

•ill place this in like, late 90s and early 2000s, so there is that huge thing against goths and punks for being ‘weird’ and against god or something along those lines

•curlys pretty used to being targeted for being different for his punk style and such while pony isnt exactly used to that so i imagine that hes more protective while ponys trying to figure himself out in that regard

•some bands pony would b interested in is evanescence, the cure, and siouxsie and the banshees, london after midnight, of course there IS more but these r like more so his favs

•how pony found out about gothic bands was like, a song was playing in darrys car radio and darry didnt rlly like it so he changed it but the song was already stuck in ponys head

•he brought it up to curly but pony was just like ‘idk maybe itll pass’, it in fact DID not pass and later they was just chillin in curlys car and the song came back on the radio and pony was like ‘neuron activated’

•curly was personally not rlly into the song, but hey, ponys happy so its whatever

•personally i imagine that pony doesnt have a gothic STYLE more so he has a love for gothic songs and literature, yknow what i mean??? but maybe he does borrow some clothes from curly thats more on the gothic side or thrifts some clothes

•other than edgar allen poe, he does like phantom of the opera, frankenstein, dracula, carmilla, dr jekyll and mr hyde, also he would like ruby gloom (thank my gf for this hc)

•his art style is kinda influenced by those media actually

•as for what type of goth he is i could mostly see him being like a geek goth, but he is interested in the looks of victorian goths and gothabilly goths

IVE BEEN TALKING ABOUT PONY FOR TOO LONG NOW ON ABOUT CURLY

•tbh, not much to add for this guy, punk curly is literally just regular curly but more understanding of who he is and what he wants in the world yknow??

•think of curly but actually a lil more, idk thought provoking in his own curly way with a better understanding of the world

•MAY I INSERT MY HC OF CURLY HAVIN AN AFRO MOHAWK HERE🗣️🗣️

•he is from a haitian household tho and haitian moms especially tend to be more, religious and all that jazz, so while tim and angela get their ears yelled off for well being them, its especially happening to curly bc in his moms eyes hes “turning away from god” n what not being a “vagabon” as many haitian moms would put it

•he likes customizing his own clothes, he thrifts and gets a bunch of hand me downs so might as well make them look cooler

•hes a graffiti artist and hes acc pretty well known, everyone knows its him but they dont rlly say anything cause 1) hes curly shepard but 2) his work rlly isnt that bad actually

•i could totally see him liking green day and he does NOT like fall out boy but he does like a coulle of songs from them (much to his dismay

•hes picking up guitar (how he afforded it??? i payed for it lets just say that)

WHEN IT COMES TO THE GANG, they dont rlly get pony being goth, they support him of course, but they do tend to make fun of him a bit</33 but darry, soda, and johnny do try to understand him more, its rlly just two

ps anon my gf said she loves u for ur idea (shes goth, u got the goth stamp of approval)

[glassprism]

This may be an odd question, but do you think the Phantom is as “powerful” as he really claims or is it more psychological? Like physical do you think Raoul is as strong as he is? For example if he actually dod keep his hands at the level of his eyes and avoiding the lasso, Do you see him being able to (to put it bluntly) knock the phantom out or subdue him to escape or get him arrested? I like to think if the Phantom didnt “turn nice” and let them go they could have still won somehow..

P.S. I may have asked this on a couple pages to get different opinions I hope that is ok

I think there are a bunch of related but also separate questions, so I'll just tackle each one.

First, is the Phantom as powerful as he claims? Well, in my memory, I don't think the Phantom actually claims to really be that powerful at all. He claims to be the Opera Ghost, the Phantom of the Opera, the Angel of Music, all of that, and at specific moments he will make a threat, albeit a nebulous one ("...a disaster beyond your imagination will occur!" "Remember, there are worse things than a shattered chandelier!"). But the occasions where he does make some powerful claims are pretty limited, in my opinion, and usually happen only when he's around Christine.

And that makes sense when you think about what he is: he is just a man, though a very intelligent and manipulative one, hiding within an opera house. Much of his power relies on using subterfuge and trickery and veiled threats - so yes, psychological, not physical. His power lies in his mystery and people not knowing what to expect from him. Because at the end of the day, no, he isn't as powerful as to take on an entire opera house; were they to realize this and turn on him, he has nothing against sheer numbers. And in fact we see this at the end: once his spell has broken and the mob is in his home, his only choice is to flee; he cannot fight all of them - though he still relies on one last trick to do so.

I suppose that also answers your second question: is he as strong as Raoul? Again, we don't really know, except perhaps in non-replicas or restagings where the two engage in fist or sword fights, but in those, and I'd argue in the replica as well, I'd say the answer is no; the Phantom is pretty soundly defeated in them. And yeah, part of that feels like plot armor - Raoul basically can't be defeated because he's needed in the final scenes - but I would also argue that the Phantom is well aware of this, which again, is why he relies on tricks like the fireball - or sneaking up on Raoul and trapping him in the lasso (or a cage if you're Vegas).

And that leads to your last statement. I know it's not a question, but I want to address it as one: could Raoul and / or Christine have escaped if the Phantom hadn't redeemed himself? I wanted to talk about it mainly because the statement implies that if the Phantom did not resort to physical strength or psychological tricks, the pair could figure out a way to get away from him, but I think that discounts one last but very important factor: the Phantom's emotional hold on Christine, which then extends to Raoul. Because I think the show makes it very clear that Christine holds very conflicting feelings on the Phantom, going from fear to pity to compassion, and a great deal of her journey is resolving all of those.

So I think the question of whether the two could escape is very up in the air (and thus ripe for fanfic fuel). Christine might resist the Phantom all the way, in which case she and Raoul might "win" over the Phantom. But what if that doesn't happen? What if she resists initially but starts to succumb to her sympathetic feelings for him? What if she strikes a deal and goes along with the Phantom out of a combination of wanting to save Raoul and feeling sorry for the Phantom? What if she genuinely starts to fall for the Phantom? Because if any the latter options occur, this potentially puts Raoul in a bind, because doing anything to the Phantom could lead to hurting Christine in some shape or form. It might not even be what she wants anymore, escaping the Phantom.

So yeah, that's my thoughts on the whole thing.

[totallynotsilversora]

That One Reference to That One Musical In Lies of P (that I think only I noticed)

Yeah you heard me.

Aside from the multitude of Pinocchio characters that litter the entirety of Krat, there's also a few other characters that are a reference to other things if you look hard enough. Veningi and his references to Batman, Giango and his reference to an actual famous alchemist - so on and so forth.

But there's one particular pair I don't see get mentioned in that list and would like talk about more:

The Red Actress and The White Lady

(spoilers below cut)

So first off there's actually two references between these characters - a reference to a musical AND a reference to a fairy tale - but since I said musical in the title I'll start off there.

Before we can reach the King of Puppets at the Estella Opera House, we have to brawl our way through Rosa Isabelle Street which is connected to Hotel Krat. If you roam around a bit, you get to encounter one of the fanciest Stalker bosses that wander the formerly entertaining street - The White Lady.

And no, her name is not Karen, but we'll learn that eventually.

Apart from being a difficult boss encounter and having the coolest outfit and mask EVER, her voice lines reveal early on that she is the sister of the famous Adelina Corday, the Red Actress. Given how devastating the Puppet Frenzy has been for every party involved, it's unsurprising that she takes her frustration and grief out on every puppet she comes across as it's likely her sister has perished to the hands of said puppets. Her locket even shows how close they were, wishing to share the stage of their dreams alongside each other.

Or so we presume.

After fighting our way through the streets we can finally reach the Opera House and encounter Adelina herself, tucked away in a side hall attempting to sing a song with her petrified throat and apologize to a woman named "Patricia". From there you can take on her last request - to feed her a plump apple full of juice to quench her thirst and restore her parched throat (using the Red Apple you can purchase from Polendina after finding a Krat Supply Box).

If you don't find her prior to fighting the King of Puppets, however, you only find her dead body lying on the ground with a locket containing a torn portrait of a girl and a scratched out name. Finding her prior to the fight will reward you her record "Fascination" along with said locket.

Now if you guys aren't getting the musical references yet (The White Lady's white mask, this Actress, and the ghastly theater with a swinging Chandelier prior to entering the King's boss arena) they're a nod to the Phantom of the Opera musical. However, Adelina's not a reference to the protagonist, Christine Daae -- she's actually a reference to Daae's rival, the Prima Donna Carlotta.

See, the characters Christine Daae and Carlotta were actually based on two real opera singers who also shared a rivalry: Christina Nilsson (left) as Christine Daae and -- wait for it -- Adelina Patti (right) as Carlotta Giudicelli who, in some adaptations, wore red as her main color.

The reason that's so important is because when you complete her quest, Adelina in the game asks that we listen to her final confession before she dies: while striving for stardom her jealousy provoked her to get rid of her biggest rival by tricking her into drinking poison that would ruin her throat and prevent her from singing for good:

Patricia Corday, her sister, whom she is uncertain about the fate of given that she is unable to leave the Opera House.

Well, we know what happens.

We kill her prior to arrival, not as Patricia Corday but as the White Lady.

Yeah. Kinda messed up ;-;

So now aside from being the angelic singer who could have become "The White Goddess" according to one of her fans, The White Lady has become the Phantom of the Opera herself as she is unable to show her face on stage due to the lack of singing voice after being poisoned. Or you could argue Adelina became the Phantom as she's the one who dies alone in the Opera House. Either way, both sisters suffer a horrible fate apart from each other, with neither knowing what happened to the other.

Speaking of sisters, guess what fairy tale involves a pair of color coded sisters written by the Grimm brothers:

Snow White and Rose Red

Now I know the two aren't related to the other Snow White fairy tale (also written by the Grimm bros) but given how much crossover references are in Lies of P it doesn't surprise me Neowiz decided to merge the two stories together so bear with me.

The sisters can fill in each other's roles as Snow White (The White Lady) and Rose Red (The Red Actress), but the rest of their story follows the original Snow White and the Seven Dwarves:

Adelina, the jealous sister, tricks Patricia into drinking poison that ruins the source of her charm the same way the jealous step mother tricks Snow White into eating a poisonous apple so she can be the prettiest person on the planet. Ironically, Adelina is the one who perishes after eating an apple - petrified and frozen by the disease, while Patricia became her own Prince by becoming a Stalker after her voice became ruined.

It's a loose reference, sure, but honestly it's a pretty cool one nonetheless!

I'm really looking forward to all the other references the game devs decide to hide in Lies of P (heck I didn't even put together Champion Victor being a Frankenstein reference or Murphy the Robo Cop boss), along with maybe future games they have in store (I see you Rise of P ending I know).

But I'll end my thoughts here for now! Check out the game yourself if you ever get the chance, it's SO worth it!!

[blue-eyed-giant]

i saw poto for the first time ever today since wanting to see it since i was 11 years old and there are some stuff i've noticed (and i will talk non stop bc this was a dream come true)

this was an incredibly creative stage. it was rather small but it was used so well. there was a spinning stage frame on the real stage and during in-play opera performances it would spin to show you what the cast backstage would see. it took all shapes throughout the play as if it was playdough just by spinning. it was stage, it was christine's dressing room (yes, phnatom stepped out from its inside through the mirror), it was andre and firmin's office, it was rehearsal room... i think if it was on broadway it could get a tony for stage design

DRAMATIC. ASS. LIGHTING. for the first half and hour or so it was so impressive because it made every movement so dramatic and it was perfectfor the spooky mood but. it got too much. sometimes it was hard to see actors' faces and expressions and it was constant. if the light had been used more variably this would be an incredible lighting piece.

the overture. i had never seen how the stage looks during overture but i loved this sooo much it looked like those start-credits scenes from movies. it showed all the key moments from the show in slow mo with shadows, as if raoul was remembering what had happened all those years ago. it was nostalgic and it was terrifying because even if you didn't know anything about the story you would clock something terrible and tragic happened there. at the very start you see two actors with an actress between them bowing together and then the actress goes to the side with one of them, the other looking at them as they go and taking some time before going to the other side himself. yeah, i think you got my point.

orchestra was live. and it was magnificent i think. this is all i have to say i can't think of a way to make you believe how a not particularly big orchestra was so impactful without actually showing you live.

carlotta's comedic acting was so on point. the "these things do happen" bit is my favourite and i loved seeing it a lot. "think of me" also was very well acted not just by carlotta but also by andre and firmin.

madame giry sounds real young. she is also less strict or stiff than the way she is traditionally portrayed.

the head male ballet dancer was surprisingly delicate for his size and i tell you that guy had a real broad torso and a lot of big muscles and the hannibal damce was beautiful

SO MUCH FUCKING MEGSTINE!!! during "think of me" christine panics and stops singing with a hitch in her voice and only gets her courage up and continues when meg holds her hands and has her sing looking only at her eyes

you very quickly realize meg is just as vocally strong as christine in this production

you immediately notice ramin's microphone being loud as fuck. the sound team said "people come here for this bitch let's give 'em what they want" so everyone is singing at a normal volume and quality and then ramin comes in with his full hd 4k stereo 1080p voice (not complaining tho)

you don't get it. this fucker isn't just playing phantom. he IS the phantom. he's studied, he's acted, he's lived, he's embraced, absorbed, eaten the part. i doubt the fucker drops a chandelier every week in his house. you know how people say "oh he's added a second/third dimension to this part"? this bitch is forcing his way into the sixth at this point. he's doing it such naturally and in a nuanced way i could believe this is his office job. think of 25th and make it better, that's what it was.

this phantom isn't just miserable. he is so much older and wiser than our leads and he knows this and he is actively holding this over their heads. he knows exactly what leaves christine vulnerable and plays into those things. he knows he's manipulative, you can sense that in his mimics and voice and chuckles. he holds great power over christine whether she allows it or not. he also treats christine like a predator does to a younger person, which makes the dynamic very realistic bc it is exactly that

amelia milo is young, which makes you realize just how young christine actually is because she actually looks, sounds and acts like a 21 one year old and this makes a lot of her decisions and reactions make so much more sense

when the ballet starts andre keeps bumping into the dancers and the male dancer doesnt know what to do with him so he just. picks him up, spins him and moves him out of his way.

"all i ask of you" is portrayed in such a different way without changing a single line i was speechless. like yea??? technically you can play it like that and it will change everything about raoul and christine's relationship even if the script is the exact same. right before the song starts christine rushes to the roof with raoul following, gives her speech about the phantom, and tries to jump off, rould yells and begs her name to stop her. then he sits right at the edge with his legs dangling, as if he's showing if she jumped so would he. AIAOY sounds like raoul desperately putting in all his effort and saying everything he could to keep christine from killing herself. it isn't the little ray of light in the midst of the chaos, it is just another little, happier chaos in the big chaos. even christine doesn't seem to be particularly happy, they both seem to think "we'll look into this later"

not a huge fan of vinny coyle's raoul. like many raouls he wasn't particularly bad, but also he wasn't so good either. ofc he had his moments like his good dancing and small stu ts during "masquerade" but he couldn't shine where he had to shine big and be the prince charming (aiaoy was very underwhelming bc of that). in the end i was wondering how would bradley jaden be if he stayed for the milan cast as well

this

also, probs due to lack of ensemble members, half the masquerade guests were puppets on wheels which made the whole vibe so creepy

after long years of poto, earl carpenter was also a cast member that shined and added so much character to the production

THE SPECIAL EFFECTS!! PHANTOM APPEARING, REAPPEARING AND THEN DISAPPEARING!! HIM TAKING PIANGI'S PLACE WITHOUT THE CHARACTER LEAVING THE STAGE! the special effects were top notch

at first she sounds kinda weak but towards the middle of the play amelia milo's voice gets so strong and impressive you start to hink she did it on purpose to show how amateur christine was at the beginning.

PHANTOM HAS BLACK BAT WINGS AND SOARS IN WANDERING CHILD

thank for coming to my ted talk :)

fr tho, they either fucked with ramin's mic or he just sounds so strong his voice feels solid bc that IT'S OVER NOW THE MUSIC OF THE NIGHT was something else

edit: at one point during an opera meg jumps on stage just to yell "he's there the phantom of the opera!!!!". it's not even her scene, she wasn't supposed to be on stage and gets called back by her mom. we love a hatergirl <3

[holly-louisexox]

Ribcage X Andy Biersack- Part 14

Masterlist

"There's one thing you should know about me Delia Vincent, I don't date. Got no heart to break and emptiness is safe, keep it that way."

He was adamant in his choices…

…But then things changed.

"Okay, I must admit, being in a New York venue is really fucking cool!" Delia grins taking in the sight around her. She had always wanted to visit New York and see a show on Broadway, sadly finance never allowed it. 

"Well it's the city that never sleeps Delia, get ready for a wild one!" Jake laughs patting the shorter girl on the back. "Let's get this show on the road lads!"

"D, wait until tomorrow, me and you will go explore the shit out of the city, you'll love it!" Shevy hypes. "But for now, we need to get this soundcheck done, the traffic set us back a bit but let's go!" 

---------------

Watching the guys perform felt different this time round. Delia hated that she was attracted to Andy, he was everything she should hate, yet she couldn't bring herself to dislike him. Instead, it's almost as if there was something drawing her to him.

"I built these walls to watch 'em crumbling down. I said, then I lost it all, and who can save me now?"

Lost it all had easily become one of Delia's favourite songs this tour, the lyrics were so vulnerable and Andy always managed to have such a raw edge to his voice, it was almost as if Andy was fighting with himself during the song. It was as if he did not want anyone seeing the truly vulnerable side of him, especially after he had built the whole persona of not caring. Wait a second, Andy was staring right at Delia, surely he wasn't though? Letting out small smile, Andy then continued the rest of the song whilst breaking away the eye contact.

"I stood above another war, another jewel above the crown."

This was just getting weirder and weirder. Delia did not want to be attracted to Andy, she couldn't allow herself to be. She had to try and find a way to get over him...

... But how?

----------------------

New York City baby! This is going to be a good show tonight boys!" CC hypes the band up.

Currently they had half an hour before VIP began so that band, Shevy and Delia were just relaxing backstage after having some food.

"It's crazy to be in New York, I've always dreamed of visiting here. I would do anything to see a live Broadway show." Delia explains with a slight thrill to her voice.

"A Broadway show? Really?" Andy speaks up looking at her- it was the same monotone voice as always but this time he actually seemed as if he was interested in what she had to say for once, he wasn't harsh or unkind about his comment.

"Yeah, I've always dreamed about seeing The Phantom of The Opera live on Broadway as it's my favourite musical. Even just having you guys play the opening overture at the beginning of the set gets me super hyped." At this point Delia was geeking out a little and she was not ashamed at all. "Whoever came up with that idea I applaud you." This brought a grin to Andy's face.

"It was actually my idea." Andy grins- the rest of the band (including Shevy) were looking between the two in shock. Shock that Andy was genuinely smiling for the first time in years and shocked at how the two people who seemed to clash a lot could have such a big common interest. They all could tell something had happened or will happen, even if Delia and Andy would not admit it. Of course Shevy knew more than the others and this just added fuel to her fire. Andy was changing and for the better; it was all because of Delia even if the two of them did not want to admit it.

"Really?" Delia asks in shock. "Sorry I just did not take you for a theatre fan." 

"I love Phantom of The Opera, it's one of my favourites alongside Sweeney Todd." Andy continues to grin whilst getting excited. "Dude we should totally go see Phantom, we have a few days in New York before the next show."

"What?" Delia freezes, she could feel the rest of the room holding their breath in anticipation as to what was going to happen between the two.

"Yeah, you're right, it's stupid." Andy coughs going back to his monotone voice. "It's not like we're friends or anything anyway. I couldn't think of anything worst than sitting next to you for 2 and a half hours."

Just like that, Andy was back to his cold ways. To say it hurt was an understatement, Delia had a feeling of remorse about Andy's sudden coldness. She knew that she should not have been surprised by this, but somewhere deep down, she thought she was finally getting through to him.

"Yeah, of course." Delia felt her smile falter slightly, but she refused to give him the satisfaction of seeing her hurt and embarrassed in front of everyone.

--------------------------------------

"Where is the spark that won't fade away? And where is the queen to my king of pain?"

Andy was doing it again, he was singing in Delia's direction again. To say she didn't feel the cliche of butterflies would be a lie, instead, she felt as if she could live in that one short moment forever and she'd be happy.

"Wait, is it just me or was Andy totally staring you down just then?" Shevy squeals; she had popped over to the sound booth to check in with Delia and ended up staying a little longer than planned.

"He did it earlier." Delia muttered without thinking about what she was saying.

"He what? When? This same song?" Shevy asks in shock whilst smirking. "I mean, I can't say king of pain is the most romantic song but I guess the gesture is cute, the guy is definitely thinking about you."

"It was during lost it all." Delia states simply.

"Okay I was not expecting that one." Shevy is now genuinely shocked. "I know you don't want to believe it, but this is the most vulnerable I have seen Andy in 2 years, D. Maybe he isn't completely in love with you like I keep joking about but you have changed something inside of him."

"Shevy, please, do not start this. It's bad enough I felt completely embarrassed by him earlier. I can tell he wears a mask, especially to be the star. When he went so cold on me after showing his true self and being genuinely normal, that hurt and it was so humiliating that it happened in front of everyone. The rest of the band definitely suspect something now if they didn't already." Delia focuses on the tech in front of her to try to hide the hurt on her face; she was close to tears but of course she would not admit this nor did she want Shevy seeing her like that.

"Yeah, that was so uncalled for of him, but I wouldn't be embarrassed by it, D. Maybe you just need to try to get some one on one time with him. Maybe grab coffee or something so that you can try to discuss these things with him. Yes, I know he can be difficult to talk to but you will never get this stuff sorted if you don't try." For once Shevy had ditched her joking side and was actually being serious; Delia could tell this by her tone alone. It was very rare Shevy was serious like this, normally she was full of fun and bubbles, when Shevy turned serious you knew she meant business.

Maybe Shevy was right. Maybe the only way to sort this out was to try to talk to Andy. After all, Delia did not want to like Andy but here she was. Maybe if she were to lie to herself and try to let him down easy, it would help her get over him. But at the same time, if Delia and Shevy were reading all of the signs wrong, it would result in major embarrassment. Equally, there was only 2 weeks left of the tour, just over, she did not have to avoid him completely but they could go back to being civil and after the tour she simply never sees him again. Although, is that what she really wanted? Of course not...

... But she knew for her own sanity and to protect herself, she had to get over Andy Biersack and leave him behind.