#and I just started the original phantom of the opera book

[kuwupikaa]

I need to stop buying books faster than I read them man. At least 70-80% of the books I have is unread😭

[hotvintagepoll]

Propaganda

Mary Philbin (Phantom of the Opera, The Man Who Laughs)— I must simply say I love Mary Loretta Philbin. She was known for her, in the words of Wikipedia, ethereal screen presence. In fact, Pat O' Malley says it best, "If I were superstitious I would think that the spirit of some great tragedienne of a forgotten past slipped into Mary's soul when she heard the camera begin to click." I first saw her in the Phantom of the Opera adaptation of 1925, where she plays a very interesting rendition of Christine Daae (I would argue a foundational performance, since this was the first mainstream portrayal of the character outside of Gaston Leroux's 1910 book) opposite Lon Chaney as the title character, and I Loved her performance, and ofc developed a bit of a crush on her. After her years in Hollywood, she stopped acting in 1930 and lived the rest of her life in relative peace. One fact that always stuck with me was the fact that later in her life, she very rarely made public appearances, but did in fact do so in order to attend the Los Angeles opening of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Phantom of the Opera. And if all that isn't enough to convince you, look at a photo of her. She is really, stunningly beautiful.

Musidora (The Vampires)—none other than THE irma vep lady—but never mind that, you know her as the sexy bat! [image under the cut]

This is round 2 of the tournament. All other polls in this bracket can be found here. Please reblog with further support of your beloved hot sexy vintage woman.

[additional propaganda submitted under the cut.]

Mary Philbin:

She is hot?

Shes just so cute

Mary Philbin started acting after winning a beauty contest hosted by Universal Pictures and went on to star in a number of films, including one of the most iconic silent horror films of her era, "the Phantom of the Opera". She also gave a sweet, heart-wrenching performance in "The Man Who Laughs" alongside Conrad Veidt.

Musidora:

"She’s the original dark mysterious film beauty. Also I think the name Musidora is badass."

[amaribelt]

malleus draconia and the pipe organ and why i love it

so. this is going to be a long post and thats because i have to basically tell you the entire history of the pipe organ and how this relates to malleus 'very scary' draconia. i am extreamly sorry but their will be a summary at the end if you just dont care but it would mean alot if you listen to this ramble of mine

CW: lots of mentions of religion churches and cathedrals one cult mention and some book 7 spoilers

-PART ONE TOCCATA AND FUGE IN D MINOR

Pipe organs are everywhere, from weddings and baseball games but one of the most common places to hear an organ is horror movie scoring, from youtube videos of creepy organ music to its first use in a movie doctor jeckle and mr hyde and other arrangements in things like phantom of the opera pipe organs have almost become one with fear dread and horror witch is quite odd with its religious connotations that we will get to in a second.

the pipe organ originated from greece its earliest predecessors are from the 3RD CENTURY BC, these things are quite quite old and required a lot of man power to play before technology. a pipe organ is a piano on steroids it has a bunch of connecting pipes and all of these pipes have different stuff in them to give it a variation of sound sometimes their are reeds like in woodwind instruments and sometimes their are those cut outs from things on recorders. whenever an organist plays a key wind goes through the pipes to make a sound, back in the day air was supplied though enslaved people but now we have electric moters attached to our pipe organs but because of how big pipe organs are it would take many people to get all the air needed to play these things, the Winchester cathedral organ took 2 people to play it and 70 men to blow air into it and the sound from said organ can be heard from throughout the city.

pipe organs are not small and dainty these are MASSIVE instruments that construction has to bend around to make space for all of the organs equipment their are rooms whose sole purpious is for the function and upkeep, organs are an absolute monster of an instrument not only in volume but in the sound they make some of these tones cant be picked up by *human ears* the atlantic city convention hall has a pipe that is 64 feet (19.5072 meters) and that is FOUR AND A HALF STORIES TALL.

-PART 2 BACH, CHURCHES AND HOW ORGANS WORK

not only are these things massive their are petals on the bottom that organists have to PLAY their is music solely for the foot keys their are 3 rows of manuals (keys) and stops (things you pull out to control a selection of pipes and thats where 'pulling out all the stops' came from you are going to 100 percent) and so their is a lot of skill that goes into playing an organ. so unless your like an octopus and have 8 arms or your just insane (just kidding i love you organists) playing the organ was hard

NOW THIS IS WHERE BACH COMES IN, basically one day bach watches into a church with their organ takes a prewritten melody and improvise an 8 part harmony so for non music nerds he went up to an organ started playing the pre written music and off the TOP OF HIS HEAD created 7 other melodies that he had to play with both his HANDS AND FEET. and you wanna know why this is so damn cool, it was almost impossible for organists to practice as theirs nothing that sounds quite like an organ and pianos werent invented yet so if you wanted to practice your organ playing then you were going to need a team of people just to get the air to play and then your scales are going to be heard by everyone in the town. so anyone who could play the organ were hyper privlaged music genius types, because no one would hear them practice on an organ let alone a harpsichord they just show up one day and start playing. thats the kind of person an organist is

those glorified harmonicas that were portable organs werent what people were playing on they would be playing on the organs that were so big they had to be built around by architechs, this is where the church comes in. the fact that you couldnt move them made them great for churches cathedrals and religious establishments and because of how big these were churches were the only ones with the money to fund these organs. theirs a phycology behind it too because these instruments are so big so powerful that the only person that could fulle these endeavors are god himself. so if you could play the organ you were some loner freak of nature who is one of the only people who could handle this machine

-PART 3 JECKLE HYDE AND JESUS

sooo way back at the top i mentioned its first use in jeckle and hyde were picking up that thread again because this is where this comes into play, so in the opening credits of the movie they played toccata and fuege in D minor. (the song i linked in the very top) but following that we get a scene of jeckle playing another peice by Bach  Ich ruf zu dir Herr Jesu Christ (i call to you lord jesus christ) Herr Jesu Christ is originally in F minor but they transposed it to be in the same key as tocatta and feuge they did this not only to show they put thought and care into how these two peices would sound back to back on screen but they did it as musical shorthand

they are using a religious peice of music and instrument to show what kind of character this is, these are gigantic powerful pieces of instruments with heavy religious connotations, i swear we are getting malleus i just need to keep explaining a little more just keep this all in your mind and compare it to what we know about malleus and what other people VIEW the being that is malleus draconia. 3 years after the film jeckle and hyde we get toccata and fuege in another horror movie the black cat, this time played on an actual organ this movie follows a cult leader who plays an organ notably the track that is now associated with villainous characters due to its use in jeckle and hyde. throughout the black cat we hear other organ pieces throughout the film we are no longer looking at religious organ music in the pure and fluffy way it was originally used in churches now we are hearing a sick and twisted use of the organ being used to celebrate satanic cults all of the religious imagery has been corrupted it has had a quite literal fall from grace.

in carnival of souls our main character is in a sort of purgatory and throughout the film she plays guess what an organ for the church. over time shes not able to keep up with the holy and religious music the church expects her to play as her playing goes into something erie and haunting that upsets the minister, as she looses her connection to the living world she cant play the religious music on the organ and thats haunting to the people around her. it isnt the organ thats scary but whos playing it. this man has channeled the power of god in the power of his own home to play this holy instrument and because of the nature of the organ organists have to spend lots of time alone and praticing multiples times a week so they dont sound awful think of this with a religious background all of the power of a god but not pure intentions

-PART 4 MALLEUS DRACONIA

ohh boy we finally made it to malleus draconia this essay of a tumblr post is quite latterly lagging down my laptop but i have a LOT to say. i feel like a lot of people misinterpret malleus as a character due to the fact that hes been a shadow looming over us in the main story although its implied that the character Yuu knows malleus on a much deeper and its implied they spend lots of time together its important to know that we as the audience and the reader dont get to see that, we are purposely being withheld information about him and that adds to the ominous aura he gives off to not only students in NRC but also us as the viewer, we *know* theirs a different side to malleus that we can see in vignettes but thats only a sneak piece into the multilayered cake that is malleus draconia.

somewhere it was revealed that malleus' threateneing aura was a blessing and i dont remember where i saw it but i swear i saw it on a chapter 7 translation so if anyone knows what im talking about please let me know, because of this he has been 'cursed' to be feared by all humans and respected by all fae to the point they treat him and anyone in the draconia family as a GOD. (see heres that religious mention again) i don't want to say malleus has a god or superiority complex but the people around him certainly do see him as superior due to his family heritage and the fact that hes one of the top 5 mages at such a 'young' age (for fae standards) and due to his magical status and what his family has done for the biar valley other are not only put off by him he has that intimidating aura curse thing that makes other people who arent fae put off and avoid him. something that was ment as a blessing has only caused more sorrow for malleus as people isolate him, he has so few opprotunities to have a social life.

its heavily implied (i swear it said it somewhere im just tierd its 11:55 at night as of writing) that music is an important part of fae culture, lilia has a tallent for multiple instuments and can supposedly sooth crying infants. malleus' humming is overlayed durring his spell when he overblots and in lilias dream we hear his mom singing so its all heavily implied that music is important to fae in twisted wonderland just like it is in our real life folklore.

we see malleus play the organ at the end of the endless halloween event and although theirs one line that suggest that malleus has a bit of trouble not everyone is able to improv on an organ like bach did, we still see him play in the twistune although we dont hear it but its implied that malleus can play the organ(we hear like one bit of the opening but we dont hear it during the song but the like 3 seconds are good so)

it makes perfect sense for malleus to play the organ its an instrument that requires alot of isolation and dedication to master lest you have the whole city know you cant play, the godfearing loyalty of fae in the briar valley who treat the draconia family like gods and the humans so afraid of them they avoid them like the plague. the religious connotations of the organ with the twisting of that religious imagery all line up so well with malleus draconia as a character. the twisting of a once holy instrument into something horrid and demonic just fits with malleus so well i wish it was all intentional but i know im giving too much credit where its not due as this is just the unhindged hyper fixated ramblings of a teenager.

-TLDR </333

the pipe organ has lot of religious connotations and has often flipped those one its head to give a spookey vibe in horror movies witch is why pipe organs have become a holy wood go to for a evil character. these instruments are so expensive and require to much work to put into them characters associated are offten high class and loners preferring to keep to themselves, sometimes their is a religious aspect to the character and that correlates with their playing of the organ. malleus draconia is viewed by many as a god has a terrifying aura to him and is prown to isolation by his peers.

giving the twst devs to much credit is the name of my game as i see too much symbolism in things where theirs not

thank you for reading especially if you read all of it i love you alot<333333333333333333333333333333333333333

[havikshoochiemama]

My Star Wars Acolyte rant >:(

This shit is not proofread LMAO it’s 5 am i’m mad leave me alone just me being the hater that i am 🤭

I originally wasn’t gonna talk about the Acolyte because clearly the show was just another emotionally immature shitty Disney cash grab with horribly written characters BUT DUDE i keep seeing ads and stuff on my tumblr NONSTOP and i’m actually sick of it .. most of you guys saw one Tumblr Sexyman and just went ham with that…We as a fandom need to stand up because Disney doesn’t care about star wars imma keep it a buck they just want to make their next mcu and they just greenlighting anything at this point

“oh but i like Andor” yeah that’s like what ever 10 shows they make they make one good one that’s not good 😭… anyways like i was saying they are literally pulling shit out their ass they are getting shit from the star wars legends that’s it’s own universe and putting it in…like excuse me ??? those books don’t follow the events of the movie so why would your show that allegedly takes place before the movies (I said allegedly because writers can’t even get characters ages right ) also i’m talking about that bs w the helmet that stops lightsabers… apparently it’s called cortosis from legends never once mentioned in any of the movies (i’m not watching them live action shows idgaf i like SOME of the animated ones) but they use it as a Mcguffin when they want bc they never built on this they just stole it from legends LMAOAA you just can’t do that  i’m literally about to pop a blood vessel 😭 i’m not watching that show again but let me critique the shit i do remember… also the “Gayest Star Wars we ever made” KEEP MY PEOPLE OUT YOUR SHITTY WORK !!! but after that man who’s to edgy for a name killed all her friends she “loved” she’s sees his face and is like wow 😍 literally thinkin with her pussy very hetro of you 💀 gah this show just pisses me off star war at its heart is a fuckin space opera and i dont think disney understands that. i literally fell in love with star wars back when i played battlefront and watched all the movies read as many comics and books as i could get my hands on and seeing something you love become something you hate is fuckin sick and crazy it’s started with me from the force awakens that movie is horrible you bitches say pretty graphics and said oh good movie 😍 NO NO it literally was just a new Hope setting everything that luke did back making him basically useless LMAO and they butchered the old characters to help the new ones which are really not that great 💀 i’m still mad that them used Finn as a token black person 😐 i could rewrite the force awakens better same characters and all and yk actually do something better (joking i would if Disney paid me to)LMAO also i hate kylo ren don’t get me wrong i love my cry baby tantrum throwing villains but he’s nawt it LMAO i’m sorry this is a rant about the shitty show YALL NOT READY FOR ME TO SPEAK ON THE FORCE AWAKENS 😭

yeah i hate that show i literally don’t wanna talk about it anymore heart emoji 😝 remember when people said the Phantom Menace was bad yeah…  at least it have character development atleast it had good world building atleast the universe was establish and yk i liked it but the prequel’s have always been my favorite clone wars literally came out on my birth year >:3 it was made for me 🤭 but i’m just a whore for world building and lore yeah… umm idk to me start wats ended with the return of the Jedi 🗣️

dont @ me idc this is my opinion and if you want to continue meat riding corporate greed that literally is ruining my fave franchise pop off if you liked the show i don’t care good for you (your def new gen star wars fan)

also Darth Plagueis ?? LMAO WHAT they just doing anything i see and why where all the jedis fuckin morons … okay ? and your main character sucked you don’t get the satisfaction of character arcs like “her joining the dark side” if there was no character building to begin with like ? it not to late Disney just burn it get it over with. Also it’s all so Fuckin boring LMAO also i can talk shit about character development and arcs all i want bc i’m writing my own novel and i’ve did a lot of research even tho this whole rant is a mess it’s 5 in the morning give ur girl a break i just really like my silly space movie okay 🥹 i literally spent a band on the Star Wars encyclopedia leave me alone

Um if you wanna argue my comments are open <3 i love arguing i’m somewhat of a scorpio myself

[glindaupland]

The Phantom of the Opera | Seoul, South Korea | October 8-14th, 2023 [REVIEWS]

Wow it's about time I posted these reviews that I kept lying about (this week! tomorrow! in 10 years!) Better late than never?

In this post I'll drop a few general things about the production, but the performances are analyzed in my reviews linked here. I recommend reading those all in order since I revisit points about actors I've made previously along the way to avoid repeating myself. Also leaving a disclaimer that these performances are from October so there are some changes in what the actors are doing now (with the exception of Jeon Dong-seok since he left in November) Apologies in advance for my wordiness, but this is more of a "release my feelings for my sake and if anyone else likes it that's cool too" kind of thing? Listen - I wrote a lot of notes on my performances there. So just go in knowing this is the more coherent version of my insane looking notes app!

Before I start I want to thank a few lovely friends who helped me out with this trip because it wouldn't have gone as well as it did without them!

Thank you to @lucygold95 for helping me so much with planning over the past months and for giving me the best time in Busan. Thank you @capitanogiorgio for all the shenanigans we went through and the most special time going to the 1500th and meeting Yoon Young-seok. Thank you to @fadinglandtragedy for the fun talks and the good advice before my trip! The best part of things like this is making friends of course! : )

PERFORMANCE REVIEWS:

| October 8, 2023 | October 11, 2023 | October 12, 2023 | | October 13, 2023 (M) | October 13, 2023 (E) | October 14, 2023 |

STAGE & THEATER

This was as close to the original staging as possible. So I was able to take it in one more (or I guess 6 more?) times post-Broadway closing. The Charlotte Theater is a lot smaller than the Majestic so every view was pretty solid in my opinion, even the second to last row. I took a video of my view from 4th row under the chandelier during the exit music on October 11th so you can see! The angel and chandelier are shown halfway through. I'd say 5th row was almost the cut off for the chandelier drop (that was my spot next day) Broadway seats in this area were always too expensive for me so I'm glad I was able to grab these spots for this production

There were photo zones you can take pics at which you've probably seen. One was a large rose wall, the other was the cute statue of their mascot 오유령. People also take forever lining up for the cast boards for photos and yes I was one of those people. Here's a comparison of the cast boards from the second season (pictures I found when reading old reviews on Naver) and the cast boards now (I forgot to take a photo of one on the top floor though)

I found this review where someone took more detailed clean photos than I did if you're curious about the layout and decorations!

MERCH AND GIFTS

The tickets had these designs! If you booked on Yes24, you received a special envelope and a ticket holder with the face of the Phantom performing for that show

I only didn't receive a second Ju-taek because that was booked on another site - Interpark (bottom middle ticket). I also received paper masks with printed autographs every day I went to commemorate the 200th performance of the run/100th for Seoul and the 1500th overall Korean performance. We used them for the curtain call photos on those two dates (with Jeon Dong-seok then Kim Ju-taek). There are multiple versions of the program book and at the time of writing this I have all except the Daegu one. The first Busan program book was pretty bare and only had the teaser pictures - the same was the case for my Les Mis program book in Busan. -There are different photos in each one, so to me it was worth grabbing them all. My third version signed by Kim Ju-taek is currently on display as you can see below! (The writing says "내 노래를 날게 해 주오 - Make my song take flight") Once again thank you to Lucy for this! 🥹❤️

Here's some of my POTO merch (including a spare cupsleeve from the coffee shop next door, I also had a keyring, but I forgot to show it) RIP to the second program book I sacrificed for scans I still have the pages stored/displayed though! I'm not wasteful! I'll have more to post soon after sharing these reviews

TRANSLATION

Let me emphasize this: my Korean abilities are limited, so don't look to me as the expert on this at all. But I'll still share my notes and perspective as an outsider who's studying The lyrics have changed quite a bit since 2001-2. There are still lines kept or songs that are mostly similar. MOTN had a lot of similarity to 2009-11 even with its changes, STYDI was identical to 2009-11, but Angel of Music was pretty different from even the last season, etc etc. The Phantoms all have unique lines sprinkled here and there, mainly in MOTN (this happens sometimes in Korean musicals). You get some things like random single line changes in some parts depending on the actor or different order/wording of the same lines as well. Just tiny diversions from the script. This is the case for the Christines and Raoul to a lesser extent. Additionally, actors are often permitted to do some occasional improvisation/ad libs. Some unique lines are pretty normal parts of their interpretations now, some appear depending on the feeling of the performance, some are one time only events. I'll mention some of the actor-specific ones and such in their actual reviews, but I have been trying to mark down all of the differences like these for example

Of course, some things obviously have to be adjusted to make sense because of cultural / linguistic reasons. So one example would be the "Wrote...written" line in Notes I. Firmin speaks rudely and informally, but quickly tries adding a more respectful ending particle 요 after Raoul and André give him a shocked 'what did you just say?' kind of look. So "대체 뭘 썼다고 하는 건데...요!" is pretty much like "What the hell are you saying I wrote?" André would look so embarrassed by this each time 🫣

퇴근길 / STAGE DOOR

Stage door doesn't really work the same as it does in places like New York, London, etc. Most of the time if an actor comes out it's more like a quick greeting or chat with the fans. Some actors (not in this case) might sign or take photos in designated spots, but it really depends and it's not so common. It's gotten more restricted ever since COVID as well. 퇴근길 -> "way home from work" is literally what this is called. Dong-seok did wave at us a few times happily after the 200th performance, Gun-ha briefly came out to thank fans after the 1500th while Ceci and I waited to meet Young-seok who had agreed to meet us. I did not have the time (or strength) for the Seung-woo mob, but he usually greets fans after shows.

I literally asked Yoon Young-seok directly on Instagram if Ceci and I could meet him and give him gifts because I figured it didn't hurt to try! When he agreed, my anxiety was not necessarily about meeting an actor, but more about my ability to express my thoughts in another language. But he was truly the sweetest guy and incredibly patient. I think he got that I understood everything he said, but that replying was a whole other challenge. I'm glad I was making enough sense that he was able to get my points and helped me finish sentences if I looked stressed about it 😂 I basically told him I had been planning this trip since the cast announcement because it was too perfect to miss and that I came for 6 shows. I really like to listen to his Phantom on the cast recordings and I thought he made the shows I had seen so far so much fun.

We both said where we were from (the US and France) and he was amazed. He was also shocked when I pulled out my original Korean cast recording (I still laugh thinking about the way he said "와, 세상에!" like "Wow, oh my god!" and enthusiastically took it agreeing to sign when I was mid-way asking him haha) I also thought it was funny when he asked Ceci if she saw his Phantom last season. We wish! But she mentioned she had gone to Busan a few times and he looked very touched and appreciative that we went to multiple performances 🥹 This poor man was tired he signed our things with November (11.13) though and he also spelled Ceci's name wrong first time, but it was the 1500th show though okay. And if he says it's November...who are we to question him? Ceci should also legally change names so he isn't wrong. Anyway, ramble over you can find the art we made for him in this post

OTHER

Here's just bonus fun I had that I will manage to connect to POTO despite it not being POTO because I love doing that. I mean I went because I like these musicals as well (otherwise I would've been foolish enough to go see Ben-Hur but I have, uh, standards for my plots sorry to Park Eun-tae 😭), but it's fun to point out these things. I'm happy to share my show experiences in a different post if anyone's interested in my thoughts on those

Rebecca

I went to see Rebecca, mainly focused on seeing a scheduled date for 이지혜 Lee Ji-hye (Ich) and 장은아 Jang Eun-ah (Mrs Danvers). The whole cast was fantastic. Some Korean musicals have special encore bits they do where the leads sing a part of a song from the show during bows so that was really fun. Unfortunately, we don't get to have fun at POTO like that haha

Lee Ji-hye was in Y&K Phantom as Christine in the same cast as Jeon Dong-seok (Erik), Yoon Young-seok (Gérard Carrière), and Lee Sang-jun (Cholet). Two other cast members in Rebecca were in Y&K as well - 에녹 Enoch (Maxim) who was Philippe and 신영숙 Shin Young-sook (Mrs Danvers) who was Carlotta. Sadly, they had such few shows this season due to a busy schedule, so I couldn't see them (when will trot give Enoch back to musicals). Original Korean ALW Raoul and Y&K Erik 류정한 Ryu Jeong-han was also on rotation as Maxim, but I picked another day for my show so I didn't see him either

Les Misérables

I went to opening night of Les Mis in Busan! It was the Dream Theater, same place POTO played at before. As many of you already know, Choi Jae-rim is playing Jean Valjean at the same time as the Phantom.

I could recognize him easily as the Phantom, but honestly when he appeared at the very start of Les Mis it took me a minute to process that it was him! While I did enjoy his Phantom a lot, I think I enjoyed his Valjean performance a little more. It was only opening night, so curious to see how things develop!

The actor who played Javert that night, 카이 Kai (stage name), was a former Y&K Erik for two seasons too. So many Phantoms!

Frankenstein

On the last day I got to see Dong-seok and Ji-hye once more in a concert for the musical Frankenstein which they have been in together. So have some pics I took without a mask blocking his face!

Ending Note

Thinking back to December 2022 when I said: "Maybe I'll go to Seoul and see Dong-seok once or twice and that's it, I can have my first international POTO" That was funny. That was really very very funny and silly of me to say. 9 performances and 6 of those were POTO! But I'm so grateful and I have zero regrets about it. This is one of the best experiences I've had even if it might look ridiculous to some people to do something like this...I don't care! I hope my crazy essays can help paint a good picture for you!

[night-unfurls-its-splendour]

Susan Kay's 'Phantom' Read: Part V (Erik, 1856-1881)

Before we start I feel that I need to talk about a perspective shift that I've had. More than half-way through the book now with the completion of this episode I've come to a realization.

Phantom is not what I thought it was. This epiphany has been slowly dawning but here we are.

My impression of Phantom, based on how I have seen it talked about in the Phandom (and certainly how the reviews on the back of the book present it) was that it was Leroux's story but with the blanks filled in and a few small liberties taken.

I had this impression because I was told that for quite a few years, Phantom was basically considered Canon and also because I have often seen Kayrik (or Kerik) and Lerik (or Leroux's Erik) conflated in discussions.

But as I'm reading I have finally realised that I don't think this is ever what Kay intended.

Don't get me wrong I hate most of the decisions she's made, but this book is a complete re-working of the source material with many elements of the book, some from the musical and some original folded in. For Erik's history she mainly follows the life-history detailed by Leroux, but in terms of Erik as a character, he more closely resembles Musical!Erik than anything (except that Kayrik's deformity affects his entire face, not just half). When we arrive at the Opera, she again adheres to Leroux's history. But once we catch up to the canon events, this time line is swiftly abandoned.

Nadir and Erik bump into each other and resume their friendship.

A few weeks later, Erik finds Joseph Buquet's body in his torture chamber.

A few weeks after that Erik hears the news of the Opera's change in management, and hears Christine sing for the first time.

In the source material, Buquet's body is discovered on the same night as Christine's initial triumph (so three months AFTER Erik began to teach her), the same night that the old managers, Debienne and Poligny, have their farewell celebrations and hand over management to Firmin Richard and Armand Moncharmin. Leroux describes Raoul rushing across the stage, "On which Christine Daae has just triumphed, and under which Joseph Buquet had just died." [This excluded from the original translation.

Why Kay chose to alter the progression of events I don't know, but that combined with a final nail in this coffin for me to realise that I had been approaching this book from entirely the wrong perspective. That final nail is the fact that Christine Daaé, in this book, is dark- haired and not blonde.

Kay does what most Phan-author's do: she cherrypicks her preferred elements from both book and musical (Erik general erudite comportment, his mis-matched eyes, Christine's dark hair) and combines them with her own headcanons to create an AU fic that, because of the reclusive nature of Fanfiction at the time and the fact that this work was published and widely circulated, became, for many fans not interested filling in the blanks themselves, erroneously synonymous with actual canon for a goodly number of years, despite its open contradictions to the source material.

Does that mean I like it any better? Haha fuck no. My irritation with Kay's choices persists. It's just that my ire for this book's influence is more accurately directed at the Phandom at large for making it something of a Golden Calf.

And like the Biblical Golden Calf I am here to pound it into dust and make everyone drink it.

So at this point I was going to complain that Kay never made mention of Erik being Christened "the trap-door lover" in Persia. There's even a CHAPTER of Leroux's novel called "The Masterstroke of the Trap-Door Lover". And this didn't come up even ONCE in Nadir's narrative. In fact the Persian and Leroux's narrator both talk about how Erik "rigged the palaces". Which is to say he made alterations to existing buildings and "turned the most honest construction in the world into a demonic house where one could not speak a word without being watched, or betrayed by an echo. How many family quarrels, how many bloody tragedies had the monster left in his wake with his trap doors?"

In Kay's narrative, Erik doesn't alter any existing palaces, he only constructs the Trick Box inspired palace described in Leroux's epilogue and his love of trap doors? Apparently it just isn't a thing.

Moving on

So of course we have to come back around to his mother. That was inevitable and I do actually appreciate it because we know Erik's furniture in the lair was his mother's.

The part where he views his mother's body is... eighhhhhh.

Erik describes the ravages of time in Madeleine's face and also the ravages of death. He talks about the irony that there's actually some resemblance between them now. And we get... this

And as I looked at her, I suddenly understood her revulsion at last--because now I shared it!

I felt no anger or grief as I looked down upon her . . . nothing except a disgust which enabled me to forgive any act of cruelty that she had ever shown me.

[...]

I did not kiss her, now that I had the opportunity.

I knew that she would not have wished it.

And I no longer felt any desire to do so.

I'm deeply confused as to what Kay is trying to convey here. Is Erik really saying that he doesn't want to kiss his mother because death has made her ugly? He goes on a lot about how death is gross and ugly and like... you just found out that your mom never re-married after you left. Never left the house she raised you in.

The misogyny REALLY steps up to the foreground here as well. He says of his mother's friend, Marie Perrault (the only person in this entire book with any rights imho)

This nervous, anxious, well-meaning lady had taught me to respect all members of the weaker sex.

Which, simply by calling them the "weaker sex"... you clearly don't? And after proclaiming is respect for ALL MEMBERS of the weaker sex, in the NEXT sentence he puts in a caveat about how he's never harmed an innocent woman, and also says something about the Khanom that really made me very, very queasy, and also reinforced my squicky suspicions about why Kay chose to make the cruel and capricious female figure in Persia an older woman (a domineering mother) rather than Leroux's "Little Sultana".

Very annoyed how Kay has graduated Erik's voice from "Automatic Aphrodisiac" to "Literally indistinguishable from Jedi Mind Tricks".

Erik regails us with how, using only his voice he is able to "reduce certain men to a trance-like state of obedience" (once exhibited on Nadir and his son Reza). When he meets Nadir again in Paris we are treated to this observation:

"Do you understand, Nadir? Keep away!"

His hand slid him it carriage door and he stood back with a trance-like obedience. He made no effort to prevent the brougham moving away, but although I knew my secret was safe for tonight, I felt no sense of complacency.

Once before he had broken free of my control, torn down the swaddling cocoon of sound with which I had bound him. Unlike Jules [Erik's lackey], he was not a natural subject; his will was too strong, his sense of identity and purpose too well developed.

Whenever he chose to fight my voice, I knew I would be unable to hold him.

That's a Jedi Mind trick. I'm sorry it is.

This section is actually quite enjoyable where the building of the opera house is concerned, but it takes a downturn, both in terms of the story and just the quality of the writing.

There are two instances of redundancy.

His death excited little excitement.

"My old interest in divination had never left me, and from time to time I still consulted the tarot cards in desultory fashion. It had been a long while since they had revealed anything significant, but now of late, each time I picked a card at random I seemed to turn up Death...

And this latter example leads me to something that really made me want to throw the book.

Since Nadir's narrative I have looked askance at something that has come up repeatedly: Susan Kay goes to GREAT LENGTHS to ensure that the readers know that Nadir I 100% straight. NO HOMO HERE, DEAR READER. ABSOLUTELY NOT. She shoehorns in a dead wife that Nadir never got over losing, and went into unnecessary detail about how when Nadir feels "the itch of manhood" (🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮) he avails himself of a prostitute or an odalisque. It comes up SEVERAL times. And when Nadir pops back up in Paris she makes sure to tell us that he has a mistress that he sees regularly. All of this to bring us to THIS infuriating line:

And so even as I walked with Nadir, talked with him, rejoiced in the warmth of communicating directly once more with a human soul, there was a part of me that looked at him with suspicion and wondered what part fate had assigned him in this new, unrehearsed opera.

Not the Lover, that was for certain. I'd seen enough girls leaving his apartments in Persia to be reassured that all of his instincts were purely heterosexual."

I'm not generally into gay readings of PotO. I don't ship Erik with either Raoul or with The Persian. But I will say that if there is an argument to be made for anyone in this book being anything less than 100% heterosexual, it's The Persian. Leroux makes no mention of him having a wife or anything of the sort. Tie that in with the determined responsibility and complex bond he seems to hold with Erik and a case can be made for our dear Daroga feeling something rather more than just sympathy for Erik. (I don't personally subscribe to this, but the case can certainly be made--I'm more of a DaRaoul girl tbh. I think that's an untapped gold mine).

But not here. Kay bends so far backwards as to have Erik say outright "Nadir is defo straight", while (even more bafflingly) implying that, perhaps, Erik is not. WHY, SUSAN. WHY?

Christine’s introduction is the single most "reads like Fanfiction (derogatory)" thing I've read in this book so far, but I find it very interesting how, when Christine sings for the first time Erik says that she "possesses a near perfect instrument". He says her technique is faultless, and that there's no weakness in either register. My first problem is that Leroux's Erik only ever calls Carlotta's voice an "instrument", because that's all it is to Carlotta. My second is that, according to Christine, her lower register was muffled and her upper register was shrill and her middle register wanted clarity. Maybe that's just Christine being too critical of herself, but I doubt that she had "flawless technique" when Erik began teaching her. Incredible latent talent for sure, but I do believe that she needed help with technique as well as motivation to reignite her passion.

Lastly we have Erik's description of when he first sings to Christine. His narrative regarding his motivation is actually very similar to my own:

She wanted an Angel of Music--an angel who would make her believe in herself at last.

[...] There was no reason in the world why I could not be the Angel of Music to Christine. I couldn't hope to be a man to her, I couldn't ever be a real, breathing, living man waking at her side and reaching out for her. . . .

But I could be her angel.

Is his motive here altruistic? No. But the sentiment is sweet enough. The notion of inspiring Christine's self-confidence is present.

Pity then that he takes a sharp left turn in the very next paragraph and utterly compromises any positivity in his intent.

I could not steal her body--but I could steal her voice and weld it irretrievably with mine; I could take it, and mold it, and make it mine forever...

Softly at first, infinitely softly I began to sing an old, heathen, Romany song. The Hollowed bricks carried the haunting melody relentlessly to her, permitted my voice to envelop her gently like a poisonous mist, seeping inexorably into her mind and staining her soul with darkness.

Well, well.

Once more unto the breach I go...

Masterpost

[twentyfivemiceinatrenchcoat]

hi ari!!!! hope you’re doing well!! 🐟🐟 these days the weather is so so nice and the sea is so tempting……………… i went ahead and took some days to swim like the fish i am! surprisingly the water wasn’t so cold and it seems i wasn’t the only one who thought of swimming because the beach was full of people 🙂‍↕️ it was really fun!

anyway!! i wanted to ask you, which films and/or cinematic universes you think your jjk favs would suit the most??? :33 if it is too restraining you can name tv series, of course!!

(p.s.: oh, i’m glad you liked my silly rant about statue!gojo TT 🫶🏼🫶🏼🫶🏼 it has been rotting in my mind for months now but i’m a procrastinator and i have too many wips… i think it might be that summer is near and i’m super inspired but i don’t know where to begin lmaooo. my notebook is overflowing with half-finished prompts and chapters that are waiting to be completed……. 😭😭) — 🐟 anon

HIIIII MY LITTLE 🐟 ANON!!!! :33

i’m so happy that it’s getting warmer where you are!!!!! the weather is starting to take a turn for the better here too hehe….. but wahhh!!!! beach trips!!!!!!! i miss them i do…. you’ll have to have double the fun for both of us!!! <3333

AND . GULP. that’s a super fun question and also super tough bc i don’t watch …. a lot of movies……… 😔😔 i’ve been watching more recently!!!! but honestly i have a lot of trouble remembering series and movies that i’ve watched….. my brain doesn’t store a lot of them. HOWEVER . yk what i do watch??? and adore????

……. musicals >:33

so here are some musicals that i associate w my jjk favs!!! I HOPE THAT’S OKAY… i got a little too into it i think 😭

gojo - legally blonde

I JUST THINK HE WOULD LOVE IT SO MUCH……….. i know him personally . honestly i would’ve given him the movie if i had followed your original assignment bc it just screams gojo to me either way!!!! i think he loves chickflicks. :3 and this is definitely one of his comfort movies…… the musical is also just SUCH a bop i knowwwww this man is terrorizing his coworkers by singing ”gay or european” in broad daylight (specifically to nanami)……

sugu - the phantom of the opera

THE PHANTOMMMMMMM OF THE OPERA IS HEREEEEEEEE 🎶🎶🎶🎶 …. <- sugu doesn’t sing along to musicals + doesn’t rlly like them that much in general but i know in my heart and soul that he would hum this part quietly to himself . what can i say….. this is just a very classy musical that i think would appeal to him <3333 he’d read the book beforehand too. he’s a lil pretentious but it’s okay :3 he’s veryyyy picky abt what musical renditions he enjoys tho…….

shoko - the guy who didn’t like musicals

MY PERSONAL FAVORITE MUSICAL OF ALL TIMEEEEE <333333 i just know she’d adore it. the blend between horror and comedy is soooo shoko and i feel like she wouldn’t like musicals at ALL lmao so she’d appreciate the meta commentary!!!! it’s just. suchhhh a good musical….. i love starkid so much it hurts………… AND THE WHOLE ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE THINGGG she would eat that up!!!! pls watch this one if you haven’t 🐟 anon you can find the full thing on yt and it’s INCREDIBLE i’ve watched it like 10 times!!!! it’s my most beloved!!!!

kenny - beetlejuice

BEETLEJUICE 👏 BEETLEJUICE 👏👏 BEETLEJUICE 👏👏👏 okay so i actually lied this one is ALSO my absolute favorite . and i’m giving it to kenny solely based on vibes :3 HE REMINDS ME OF BEETLEJUICE OK…. and i think he’d love it a lot. the songs are so fucking good and i know he’d appreciate them. the theme of life/death is also very kenny obv !!!!

toji - black friday

ANOTHER STARKID MUSICAL. this one is just…… soooo good and funny and also . tragic. one of the characters reminds me a lot of toji :’3 former veteran w a dead wife…. who struggles to show his son how much he cares…… and the theme of capitalism and money and how it corrupts ppl also feels in line w toji’s character!! but above all else this musical is abt. Family. and that’s more toji than anything!!! :((( this is another musical that i rlly recommend checking out, it’s set in the same universe as the guy who didn’t like musicals but like . an alternate timeline. it’s not my favorite in the series but the songs slap and it made me cry so <3333 yeah.

nobara - heathers

was lowkey considering six the musical for my beloved nobara (bc of the gorgeous women and catchy fun songs) but . i think heathers fits her more!!!! i just feel like she’d ADORE it…… i know she’s singing along at the top of her lungs too LMAO especially to dead girl walking <3333 it’s just such a fun badass musical and i think she’d be obsessed. she does NOT like jd tho god bless 🙏🙏

[your-coquette-queen]

GUYS IM BACK!

HEY EVERYONE!

I'm sorry for the two year hiatus, I went through a period where I struggled and I really just had to come out the other side finding who I am. However, I am now back and feel so much happier! In case come of you forgot, I'm Ava! I originally had this account and ended up talking mainly about rock bands (notably KISS), Stranger Things, and Star Wars!

However, over the past two years a lot has honestly changed. I still love music, mainly now pop and musical theatre however I do love rock and still love talking about it with people. I love Star Wars still however my main fandom is currently Supernatural. Hopefully I have some Supernatural enjoyers in my audience and we can connect.

I also love 2000's everything and Incorporate into a lot of my style , so just expect to likely to see lots of 2000's core on here

A little UPDATED bit about me:

IT WILL BE LONG JUST NOTE:

Expect lots of music on here! I think I will just have one blog and move throughout fandoms that I enjoy so expect a bit of everything!

I am Christian! Christianity has been a long journey for me but I am so thankful to be in a really positive place with my faith. I left this blog two years ago with a lot of struggles but have come back overcoming those problems! I likely will not post a lot about faith as that is not the main part of the account but it is a big part of my life and something I am proud of. If I have other Christians here, I am always open to talking!

I love makeup!

Favorite tv shows:

Supernatural

ER

Movies:

Ten Inch Hero

Wedding Crashers

Cinderella Story

Legally Blonde

Without a Paddle

Star Wars: Phantom Menace

Star Wars: A New Hope

Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith

Clueless

Hunger Games

Scooby Doo!

Batman: Dark Knight

Twilight

Princess Diaries

She's the Man

Singers/Bands:

Britney Spears

Christina Aguilera

Rihanna

Destiny's Child

Duran Duran

Katy Perry

Beyonce

NSYNC

Nelly Furtado

Timbaland

Frankie Valley and the Fourth Seasons

Simple Minds

Alice Cooper

KISS

Megadeth

Journey

Motley Crue

The Temptations

Dianna Ross

Michael Jackson

Ice Spice

Lay Bankz

Ayesha Erotica

Meghan Thee Stallion

Fergie

Madonna

Nikki Minaj

Jessie J

Marvin Gaye

1 Direction (when I was like 14 but idc their songs still cook😭😭)

Fav Musicals:

Cats

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat

Starlight Express

Falsettos

25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee

Book of Mormon

& Juliet

Miss Saigon

Rocky Horror

Spamalot

Back to the Future

Guys and Dolls

Suisical

Pippin

Legally Blonde

Ain't Too Proud

Little Shop of Horrors

Guttenberg

Young Frankenstein

Little Women

Music Genres:

Rock(multiple genres within!)

Pop

80's/90's county

K-Pop

Musical Theatre

Opera/Classical

New Wave

Alternative

Actors/Celebrities I love:

Paris Hilton: SHE'S MY QUEEN/ ONE OF MY BIGGEST INSPIRATIONS

Jared Padalecki

Jensen Ackles

Matthew Lillard

Misha Collins

Christian Bale

Ryan Reynolds

Channing Tatum

Hayden Christensen

Ryan Gosling

Pamela Anderson

Heather Locklear

Chad Michael Murray

Mark Wahlberg

Reese Witherspoon

Josh Hutcherson

Elizabeth Taylor

Taylor Lautner

Tom Cruise

Tom Selleck

I will likely update this as I start interacting on here again but I am so happy to be back!

Excited to talk to some of you guys again🤍

[cwpidfangs]

CWPID♡READS🪽

The Phantom of The Opera

(1909) by Gaston Leroux

Another one that I unfortunately couldn't finish reading.

I was super excited to read it because I have recently started to watch musicals and, like I usually do with movies, I wanted to read the book before watching. Unfortunately my experience was not as good and I imagined it would be.

In the beginning, I was extremely interested and excited with what this new story would bring me, but as I progressed throught it, my boredom only grew.

The narrative is extremely repetitive and because of that it is very tiring to read, with very few character and plot development, nothing that makes the story get a good pace and start to become more interesting. Also, the extremely discriptive writing — something that does not attract me at all in books — lengthened the scenes too much, contributing to the boredom. My desire to read until the end because I wanted to know more about the story evolved to the desire to just reach the end.

At a specific moment I thought there would be a plot twist that would make the story interesting for me, but at the end of this brief moment the story went back to its original slow pace and I decided to abandon it.

I was dissapointed because it was a story that really interested me. All I have left is to know if the musical is better and does justice to the massive fame The Phantom of The Opera has.

[zyalahmiscfandom]

An Unexpected Trip: Dhawan!Master x f!reader pt1

AN: This is total canon divergence. 13 didn’t regenerate and Yaz is still her companion (pls let me have this, I’m not ready to let go of them). Can be read as a stand alone story but goes better with my previous Master x Reader here.

MASTERLIST

You sat on the hexagonal steps of the TARDIS. The blues and reds of the lights mixing to create a beautiful purple hue. A light mist swept across your ankles, and a small smile spread across your lips as you watched the Master dance around the controls, even though you weren’t going anywhere exciting, he always piloted as if you were. It was one of the million reasons you loved him and the life he had gifted you.

“You don’t need to flatter me anymore dear,” The Master stopped and turned to you, “I’ve already agreed to your little trip idea.”

You blinked confused for a moment, before you remembered. He was bloody telepathic.

“Ugh Master, you promised not to do that.” You fake moaned, standing to join him at the centre console.

“Then don’t think so loud.” He booped the end of your nose, his tone only semi-chastising.

“Sorry, I can’t help it, I’m excited.” You started to buzz.

“Mmm I can tell pet.” He smirked turning back to the controls again. “All this for a silly little human play.”

“Opera.” You corrected. He stopped again, raising an eyebrow at your boldness. You knew that if anyone else had tried sass-back at him, they would be dead. With you however he found it adorably endearing.

“And besides it’s not just any opera,” You sauntered up to him, your eyes big,”It’s THE phantom of the Opera. The second longest running west end musical!”

“I know, you’ve told me before.” Annoyance started to creep into the Master’s voice. “Several times. In the past week alone. Hence why YOU’RE going.”

“And I am ssooooo, grateful for that,” You cuddled up to his arm, giving him your best puppy dog look. “Buuut, I thought it’d be nice if you came with me.”

You had tried for weeks to get the Master to agree to see Phantom with you. You’d gushed about the characters, the music, the set design, and how much you simply adored the show. When that didn’t work you’d talked about how the original book was inspired by true events, but that had just led to him suggesting you both go and drop the real chandelier at the Paris Opera house in 1896 instead. After a while you realised that asking the Master to sit silently in the exact same place for almost three hours was never going to fly, so you had acquiesced. Mostly.

“Pet…” The Master warned. “I told you,”

“I know, I know.” You sighed letting go of his dark blue tweed clothed arm in defeat. “I’m just playing. When the Master says no, he means it.” You turned to walk back to your seat on the steps but before you could the Master caught your face between one strong hand.

“Tsk, tsk.” He stared deep into your eyes. “Darling don’t you know it’s suicide to mock your Master.” Though his words sounded serious, the mischievous glint in his eyes told you there was no real maliciousness to them. One of the first things the Master had promised you was that he’d never intentionally hurt you, unless you asked him to.  

“No mocking,” You said through puckered cheeks, “Just wanted to have a normal trip with you for once.” You admitted.

He chuckled to himself, before letting you go, and pulling on the TARDIS break, jutting you both forward in the sudden stop.

“What about the beach on Doulcabis?” He countered.

“Oh yeah that was nice and normal, until the planetary army started bombarding us.”

“How was I supposed to know the Queen mother still held a grudge against me.”

“You stole her crown jewels and threw them into a black hole!” You laughed, amazed at his declaration that that trip still counted as a normal one.

“Hence why I’m letting you go to that silly little play of yours.” He motioned to the door. Clearly you were at your destination. “Now say thank you Master.”

You sighed, you knew it was foolish to try and trick the Master of all people into a real human date. Hell you weren't even sure you were dating.

“Thank you Master.” You smiled, giving his cheek a quick peck. Something you were only permitted to do in the TARDIS. “I’ll see you in three hours.”

“Try to have fun with out me.” He challenged.

“Try not to commit any war crimes without me.” You laughed back.

“Spoil sport.”

You gave him one small wave before exiting through the TARDIS’s fake wooden doors.

“Keep him safe T.” You asked the time machine as you stoked the HA HA plaque on the front door. A quiet hum churned out of the wooden facade and for the first time since you met the Master you walked away from the machine alone.

The Master had dropped you off a short walk away from the theatre. The distance was nothing compared to how much you seemed to run on a daily basis, but without him by your side it seemed so much farther than it was, and so much more lonely.

“Three seconds without the Master and I’m a complete mess.” You bemoaned to yourself, grateful that the Master couldn’t hear you now, because he’d never let you hear the end of it.

“Y/N?” An old familiar voice called from behind you. Confused you turned to meet the gaze of an older gentleman. It took you a second before you remembered, he was with the Doctor on your failed trip to the SS.Fairfax. You hadn’t seen him or the Doctor since.

“Graham?” You asked unsure. “Or was it Ryan? I didn’t really catch your name.”

“Oh uh it’s Graham.” He smiled gently, the older woman next to him, in a pinstriped suit and combat boots however seemed cautious. “And this is Ace.”

“Hi.” You smiled politely. Unsure of where this was going. “Um, I don’t mean to sound rude, but I kind of have a thing I’m meant to be doing, soooo…”

“Did the Professor send you to do something?” Ace perked up.

“The who?”

“She means the Doctor.” Graham answered. “And no Ace she’s not here for the Doc, Y/N’s with someone else.” The older man gingerly danced around the truth of your Time Lord companion.

“Who else would she be with?” Ace awkwardly laughed, “Not a lot of Time Lords out there with companions.”

“Maybe some of them have changed.” You unintentionally sassed back. You didn’t mean to be rude it was just from the Master’s stories it seemed there were several former companions of the Doctor who had been on his kill list, and you figured they probably wouldn’t believe you if you said he’d changed for the better.

“Not bloody likely.” Ace scoffed. “So if you’re not with the Professor, who dropped you off?”

“Uhhhh.” You blanched. You did not want to get into it in the middle of a busy London street, but your brain seemed to have broken. “Sorry, I’ve really go to go. I’m going to be late.”

You started to back away, waving awkwardly as you did.

“It was nice to meet you Ace, and Graham, always a pleasure. Bye.” You practically sprinted down the street, faintly hearing Ace yell after you.

You turned the corner and into a small alleyway, stopping to catch your breath against a brick wall. Checking your phone you saw you had five minutes to reach the theatre and it was still a ten minute walk. Would the theatre let you in if you were five  minutes late? You had gotten so used to the Master demanding your entrance to places and getting in, even when you weren't invited. You really were spoiled by the Master weren’t you.

Sighing you composed yourself as best you could, you couldn’t deny that the encounter with former Doctor companions had knocked the wind out of your sails a bit. You loved the Master, you really did, but you sometimes wished his name didn’t evoke hatred and/or fear from everyone who heard it.  

A part of you wanted to call the Master, have him come pick you up and never suggest normal trips ever again, but after the stink you’d kicked up to go see this opera, you’d feel bad about cancelling.

“Urgh, big girl time Y/N” You hyped yourself up, “We are a grown ass adult, we are not co-dependant!” You announced to yourself, only believing it a little. Straighting up you turned to head back out to the street, however a less than impressed Ace blocked the narrow entrance.

“I know whose TARDIS that was.”

“I’m sorry Y/N,” Graham emerged from behind the older woman, “But this is for your own good.”

“Fuck.”

*****

The Master’s knee bounced impatiently as he sat in the uncomfortable chair the humans had installed in their opera box. He was losing patience with this whole farce and he’d been here for only two minutes.

“Height of luxury ha!” He laughed aloud, looking back at the TARDIS he’d landed in the far corner of the box he’d secured for his Y/N. The only reason he saw fit to degrade himself and wait in this theatre was the surprised look on his darling pets face when she walked in and saw him waiting for her.

He imagined her eyes glittering and her perfect smile bursting across her face. She would become putty in his very capable hands, and he would prove again how he was the better Time-Lord and companion.

‘The Doctor could never make her as happy as I do.’ He thought possessively to himself. Y/N had told him several times that there was no competition between himself and the Doctor. That he didn’t need to be so hard on himself. She didn’t want the Doctor she wanted to be with him, yada yada, and yes he believed her, she couldn’t lie to him, no-one could, but still there was that horrid tiny voice in the back of his mind that told him he wasn’t good enough. Not for the Doctor and definitely not for Y/N, and he never would be.  

“Where is she.” He growled, his jittering leg becoming more restless by the second. “She should be here by now, praising my kindness, shooing my dark thoughts away.” He scratched painfully into his palm, a terrible self soothing action he thought he’d outgrown.

Dark thoughts started swirling dangerously around his mind. What if she’d left? What if she’d run away? But she promised forever. She lied. She hated you. She was afraid of you and ran way the first chance she got. This whole playthinghadbeenAndExcusetoEscAPEYOU!!!

“Shut Up!” He slammed his fists against his head, if he couldn’t will the thoughts away he’d beat them out of himself.  

A deep sound rang out from the TARDIS, pulling the Master out of his self-hate spiral, curious he entered the machine.

“What?!” He yelled. Another deep sound was the reply, soon the monitor lit up, showing CCTV of a boring London street. “Get to the point.” He chastised. The video sped up, showing a panicked looking Y/N hurry down a alley way, before being followed by two others.

“Y/N.” His brown doe eyes widened in horror as the video sped up again. Showing armed men enter the alley, before exciting with a clearly unconscious Y/N, and the two who had initially followed his beloved human.

“Dorothy and Graham.” His voice was laced with venom as he watched the Doctors former companions. “What am I going to do with you?”

[ofliterarynature]

DECEMBER 2023 WRAP UP

[loved liked ok no thanks (reread) book club*]

Mixed Magics • Chalice • To Shape a Dragon's Breath • The Haunting Season • Hither Page • The Henchmen of Zenda • System Collapse • The Phantom of the Opera • An Unexpected Peril • A Minor Chorus* • The September House • (The Dream Thieves) • The Fragile Threads of Power • The Pinhoe Egg • (Network Effect) • Some Desperate Glory

total: 16 (audiobook: 12 / ebook: 4)

Happy New Year booklr! Here's to actually getting my last monthly wrap-up post of 2023 out in decent time for once.

Some Desperate Glory - I'm getting myself off to a bad start here because I don't actually remember much from the book and I didn't write a review at the time. oops. But I do remember that once things got going I was hooked, and I couldn't wait to pick the audiobook back up. Definitely some content warnings to look out for, but an incredible read. I definitely need to go back and check out the author's other work.

Network Effect - the last book of my Murderbot reread, still great, glad to have finally read this in a text format! Also better suited to be read *after* Fugitive Telemetry, I wish I'd known to read them in chronological order the first time.

The Pinhoe Egg - a nice wrap up to the main Chrestomanci series! Though if anyone can tell me why on eARTH the 'recommended' reading order is like *that*, please explain it to me. I'd forgotten so many things by the time we got back to Cat, if I ever reread I'm going chronologically.

The Fragile Threads of Power - lord help me, I could do a whole rant. A quick summary of my relationship to this series: loved Shades of Magic when it first came out, did not love/was very annoyed by most of it when I reread them in 2023. Also have not really liked any of Schwab's other work. BUT. I was under the impression that this spinoff would have new main characters, and the old ones would be present but not in the center. If I didn't just make this up, it was LIES. The original MC's still dominate probably at least 60% of the book, and you'd think 7 years in-book and more experience on behalf of the writer would mature them, but a) no, and b) so many goddamn flashbacks. And Kel's assasin-sona was so cringe I wanted to cry. I did actually like the new main character which really is the biggest shame of all. If you see me contemplating the next book please stop me.

The Dream Thieves - I don't know that I have much to add yet to my thoughts about TRB in my Nov post, but I've been having a very strange experience where when I'm actively reading these, I'm having an incredibly good time; when I'm not I completely forget I was reading it. lol?

The September House - this is possibly the closest to my ideal horror book that I've ever found??!!? I have a weird relationship with horror, wherein I am not uninterested, but I almost never enjoy the ones I read (I think it has to do with my irl anxiety, idk). But THIS one. It's such an INCREDIBLE blend of like, mundane horrors and dark humor? I loved it. The "you can live with the horrors if you just follow the rules" is very much my vibe, and the way the author chose to have it integrate with the main character's experiences of domestic abuse was very smart. Deeply enjoyed, but probably won't be a favorite.

A Minor Chorus - this month's book club pick! I really really wish I'd liked this, and I'm torn between "thank god it was short," and "oh I wish this was longer." It's about a queer Indigenous doctoral student in Canada who's somewhat lost his way on his dissertation and is instead writing a novel (maybe), inspired by the stories of people in his community. On one hand, the writing was sometimes very beautiful and the different stories were interesting! On the other, my academic-speak abilities are limited, and the narrator did not hold back. He even explicitly states at one point, oh I can't describe my book this way to [character] because he won't understand my academic language. And...yeah. My brain got a little overwhelmed and I skimmed a lot of those parts. The hopeful part of me thinks if that if the book had been longer maybe I would have had time to "get it," but idk.

An Unexpected Peril - Veronica Speedwell is as Veronica Speedwell does. Had a good time with this even though it's proving to not be the most memorable. Mostly I remember intensely panicking over whether or not V had practiced forging the princess's signature, lol.

The Phantom of the Opera - this was a last minute sub for my classics challenge; I've never seen any of the adaptations, but I happened to see the book on tumblr when I was scrambling for a replacement and thought it might be fun. And it was! Quite ridiculous and dramatic, and I had a good time reading it. I was surprised by the outsider POV on the story, but it was good, just a shame that it didn't allow Christine to tell her own story. If anyone has a Christine-centered retelling I should read, let me know! And are there any adaptations I should watch?

System Collapse - new Murderbot! I was so excited for this, I'm irritated that my brain and work schedule didn't want to cooperate and let me read my nice pretty hardcover; I ended up getting the audiobook from the library instead. I had an incredible time, because it's Murderbot, how could I not? But it's also interesting, because Network Effect felt quite cohesive and contained on its own, but this feels very much like an in-between story (almost like Fugitive Telemetry), rather than a continuation of the same thread. I'll be interested to see where Martha takes us from here.

The Henchmen of Zenda - my last KJ Charles of the year! I did mean to get through all of her books, but things slipped by me these last few months so I still have a couple, but managed to fit this standalone in! It's not the only time she's pulled characters from works of classic fiction, and I admit, I'm now very curious and kind of want to read the original Prisoner of Zenda? Definitely this version had an exciting plot that was fun to read, though I don't think it'll be my favorite of her works (yay for a non-traditional relationship structure tho :)

Hither, Page - I don't think I've read Cat Sebastian before, but I've had this one recommended and it sounds right up my ally - historical/cozy myster/spy shenanigans/gay romance! And it was an incredibly pleasant read, would recommend, but I do think it could have been better as both a mystery and a romance.

The Haunting Season - I almost picked this up in October for spooky season, but put if off for Dec since it's meant to be wintery ghost stories - and only just remembered it in time! I almost wish I hadn't. The first two stories were so meh for me that I almost DNF'd it, I just didn't want the fuss of having to find a new audiobook for work the last day before Christmas break. Luckily Natasha Pulley showed up next with a good story (I really ought to read her books) and there was a good run of 4 stories with another 2 meh to round things out. It wasn't a total loss, but I wouldn't really recommend.

To Shape a Dragon's Breath - If you've seen people singing the praises of this book, they're not wrong! It's a very good if sometimes heavy read, and this is definitely the closest I've gotten to liking a boarding school story since Protector of the Small (I got burned out on them very quickly, lol). It does sometimes read like the debut it is, it's not perfect (lots of infodump speeches, lord save me from the technicalities of alchemy/chemistry, and I would have liked to see more done in her relationship with her dragon), but it's also doing some incredible and unique things that really make me want to see more books in this series and whatever else the author writes.

Chalice - I've read Robin Mckinley before and I've found her work ok, but this one has been repeatedly recommended in the HOTE discord server - I figured it would be a good one to wrap up the year with! And surprise surprise, the fealty-coded discord loves a book about... fealty XD and good stewardship, and magic bees, etc. It's incredibly on brand, and I had a lovely time with this fairy-tale of a book.

Mixed Magics - a collection of Chrestomanci short stories; I actually read one of the stories a few months ago due to the recommended reading order (bleh), and thought it would be fairly simple to finish it off before the end of the year, now that I'd finished the rest of the series. All fun, if not equally interesting, and a nice end to the year. Now I just need to find a new Diana Wynne Jones series to try (not on audiobook, alas, my library is all out of those).

(I did almost consider then binging the Hither, Page sequel on new year's eve, just so I wouldn't split the series, but decided against it :D)

[saint-jussy]

Navigational Guide to My Blog

Hello! Just realized I never made a pinned post for this blog and I probably should.

This is a sideblog dedicated to the French Revolution. I’m still relatively new to studying it, so I am in no way an authority and the stuff I say should not be taken for certain. It’s always better to read academic books instead of trying to learn history from Tumblr. People much more well read than me have done reading list recommendations; you can find them in my #resources tag.

Also, I got into Frev via the Phantom of the Opera memes -> Les Mis memes -> Frev memes pipeline, so I didn’t start off very serious about it, but I’m trying to get better about consuming actual academic content.

What I enjoy doing is producing upscaled, English-subbed, and sometimes annotated versions of Frev media. My releases so far:

La Terreur et La Vertu Part 1 - Danton (1964)

Saint Just et La Forces des Choses (1974)

La Révolution française (1989), French version

La Révolution française (1989), English version

Nilaya Documentary, French original version

Nilaya Documentary, English dubbed version

BBC Documentary but only the parts where Saint-Just is being Robespierre’s emotional support shoulder devil

The RAWs for all of these should be in the video description! Ask me for them if they’re not. I’m a ho for HD and if you make edits it better be HD.

Many more productions are in the works, including La terreur et la vertu part 2 and that infamous history channel documentary (will heavily annotated, I swear!!)

Other projects indefinitely in the works:

The Frev mythbusters master doc

Frev master timeline (VERY incomplete, I’m only adding events whenever I see a date in the academic books I read)

Frev calendar project (on hold because I need to catch up with my day job stuff before continuing with the designing)

Tags for academic-leaning stuff:

Primary Sources

Excerpts from academic books

Frev artifacts

Tags for Specific Historical Figures:

Maximilien Robespierre

Augustin Robespierre (#BONBON LA TERREUR)

Saint-Just

Camille Desmoulins

Danton

Marat

Fun Stuff:

Memes

Amazing Art

Art I commissioned myself (mostly cute Robespierre & Saint-Just stuff NGL)

[bakanokiwami]

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TOP 10 PLAYS/MUSICALS ON FANFICTION.NET BASED ON NUMBER OF FANFICTION (2000-2022)

To make this bar chart race, all series titles in the Plays/Musicals Section on November 29 (or the closest date to it) of every year were copy-pasted from Wayback Machine to Google Sheets, rearranged according to number of fanworks, and then inputted to Flourish to turn into a bar chart race.

The Plays/Musicals section was created in March 5, 2009. Before this date, play/musicals were found in the Misc. section.

Up until 2005, the only entries for plays/musicals were Musicals/Plays and Screenplays.

In 1999, fanfiction weren’t divided into sections like Anime/Manga, TV, Books, etc. yet. It was just a small list of mixed fandoms. There wasn't any play/musical entry in the only archived page I have for that year.

Phantom of the Opera was removed from the Plays/Musicals section by 2011. All the fanfiction were transfered either to the Phantom of the Opera in the Book section or the Movies section. In 2015, Phantom of the Opera was added to the Plays/Musicals section again. However all but 1 fic were published in 2015 onwards.

Musicals/Plays, the catch-all category for all musicals/plays that don't have their own category, remained in the Misc. section with all the other Misc. [section] catrgories.

Originally, the fanfiction list was sorted alphabetically too, but was changed to number of fics at around early 2013.

By November 2013, FFN started abbreviating numbers above 1,000 to K, so exact numbers aren't available for series with more than 1,000 fanfiction.

This bar chart was made with the assumption that the numbers listed in the Plays/Musicals section are correct. I can't seem to get the same numbers for some of these categories when I go to the specific categories' page and toggle ratings, other filters, and language to All though... I'm not sure where the discrepancy is coming from. (And it’s not the crossover fic numbers that need to be added to serie’s total fics from what I’ve observed.)

Please refer to this post for more bar chart races.

Thanks for understanding and hopefully I didn’t mess up anywhere! 🙏

[noblevicartstudio08]

Okay. So. Was thinking of a way to fix "Love never dies," cause as it is, It sucks ass. For starters, we need to add a few things so that in the context of the original Phantom of The Opera, Love Never Dies should've never really happened. However, I think I've come up with a few ideas that could fix up the story and make LND make just a little bit more sense.

For starters, if you're gonna make Raoul villiainous, and make The Phantom the main love interest, give hints in the original play. In Phantom of The Opera, Raoul is still a spoiled rich boy, but he is still kind, loving, and cares for Christine so much that he is willing to risk his life for her. Home boy loved her through and through and it makes no sense for him to have this heel turn for literally no fucking reason. However, in the book, he was more whiny, entitled, and selfish, so if you implement more of those traits in the original Phantom of The Opera, then not only do you give Raoul more character but Love Never Dies makes more sense. Plus it gives that added tragic factor where Christine chooses Raoul over the Phantom in the end. So that would be the first thing I would do. Make Raoul a legit villainous character that wins in the end because The Phantom can't keep her. Hell, for added flavor, make Raoul responsible for some of the murders and pin it on The Phantom! That will also contribute to Raoul basking in his role as "The brave hero that slayed The Wicked Phantom and saved his childhood sweetheart."

Okay. Now onto The actual events of Love Never Dies.

I feel like Erik would take whatever riches he could and flee to America after the events of "Phantom of The Opera." He would become an anonymous poet, composer, and even an opera singer himself. His talents get him recognized in a smaller theatre on Coney Island where he thinks he can start his life anew. I think that Meg and Girys would still help him escape as they might have sympathy for him. Meg is a kind and gentle soul that Love Never Dies does DIRTY. So if she is going to have a new role, it's a support system for Erik. They help him craft a new identity and start a new life to cope with his heartbreak.

10 years later, Raoul, Christine, and Guastave move to Coney Island, with little Guastave wearing a mask that covers his entire face and his father giving him a dirty look. Yup. Raoul has a similar deformity to The Phantom when he was born and Raoul is not happy. He constantly accused Christine of going behind his back and, "whoring herself off to that hellspawn." When, no. No, it was sheer coincidence, or the gods above not giving poor Christine a break. At least The poor boy has his ever-loving mother to comfort and raise him while his father is getting drunk and gambling their money away. Things get so bad, that Gustave starts singing on the streets for cash as a street performer at night. Meg catches wind of Christine's financial situation and how Raoul has been treating her, so she gets a plan. She invites Christine to perform at the same theatre she's performing at along with her "new friend and colleague," Simon Rose. Upon meeting "Simon" she knows exactly who he is, but she keeps it to herself, but stays professional for her family's sake… and his. Simon does the same. However, upon seeing the love of his life again, he starts to spiral. He threatens to fall back into his old ways, and Raoul grows more and more suspicious with each passing day.

One night, Simon is walking the streets alone at night, when he sees Gustave performing for a few coins so the poor boy can buy groceries. Simon, feeling pity for the child as he was in the same position once, gives Gustave pretty much all the money in his wallet. Not only that, he takes the boy to a nearby park to perform a small song together on the park piano. Feeling comfortable with the child, he removes his mask showing the child his true face. Gustave is delighted and takes his off. Erik is the first person that's just like him. They share a tender bonding moment that has Gustave wishing Erik was his father instead of Raoul.

Alright. Alright. Because I am a slut for "Devil takes the hindmost" & "Devil takes the hindmost Quartet," I found a way to work into this version. After getting Gustave home safely, Erik is outraged at Raoul. Here is his poor son, begging strangers for money, while he's becoming a stinking drunk that practically burns through what little money they have. Erik confronts Raoul at the bar he's drinking at and the wadger is on. During Christine's next performance, if she doesn't sing, Raoul wins. He gets Christone, his family, and all the money to fill his pockets and pay off his gambling debt. If she does sing, Raoul leaves alone. Forever. The devil takes the hindmost. However, Raoul panics and tries to bring back that pretty boy charm to win Christine back. Something of note here. In "Before The Performance," The Phantom puts a diamond necklace on Christine. While it may appear to be a romantic gesture, similar movies like Moulin Rouge and Titanic portray this as an act of control and obsession for our female heroine. Like a diamond encrust collar or leash of sorts to tie them forever in a golden cage. I think this kind of thing would be better if it was Raoul putting the diamond necklace on Christine, using the last of his money in a last-ditch effort to secure his love before the show. It would also be more thematic if Erik came to her and took the necklace off her as he sings about her setting the music in her free. As for Devil takes the hindmost Quartet, Girys' lines would have to be changed, but you're gonna have to that. Just because I'm the firstborn of a lyricist doesn't mean I am one folk.

Christine chooses to sing. And love never dies can have a few meanings here. Not just love for Eric. But love for Gustave, Meg, herself, and The art of performing. Christine had to give up all of that except for Gustave after she married Raoul, but she takes back her life and choose her happiness for once instead of the happiness of others. After the performance, Erik runs up to her backstage and gives her a Hollywood-worthy kiss, dip, and all. They then give their short reprise version of "All I ask of you," but there's one problem… Where's Gustave? Erik and Christine panic, when Meg states she saw Raoul run off with Gustave towards the pier. Christine, Erik, Meg, and Girys all rush off to find Raoul and the poor child before something tragic happens.

Meanwhile, at the pier, Raoul debates whether to shoot little Gustave or drown in the ocean with him, all while the poor child is sobbing and pleading for his life. Erik and company show up just in time, but Raoul holds a gun to all of them, threatening to kill Gustave if they get any closer. It's there that Raoul hashes out all of his grievances, his insecurities, and his hatred towards Gustave. All he can see is "That Damned Hellspan," even though that's 100% biologically his son, he just has a similar deformity to Erik. Erik uses his skill to lasso the gun and Gustave away from Raoul and has the cruel drunk at his mercy. He's tempted to kill him right then and there, but then looks over to Christine and Gustave. His anger quells and Erik gets a bit of character development here. Because he now knows what real love is… It's taught him so much. Romantic. Familiar. Platonic. Self-love. It has changed him forever. It has taught him patience, kindness, empathy… and mercy. Erik harshly tells Raoul to board his cruise and leave. Never return. Raoul leaves like a dog with its tail between its legs as Erik comforts his family.

Time skips to an elderly Raoul lamenting about the woman he lost, and "has died," because while he still loves Christine, she's dead to him now. (You know, mirroring the beginning sequence of the original play~?) Meanwhile, on Coney Island, Erik, Christine, and Meg sit in the opera box and listen in awe as a grown-up Gustave's voice fills the opera house with a beautiful rendition of "Think of Me."

The end! This is… by no means perfect, and could DEFIDENTLY use some tweening, but this is what I got so far. Hope you all enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it and feel free to give me some feedback!

[hug-me-brutha]

Here are my reviews of the nine Phantom of the Opera adaptations I own on dvd (I have than these digitally but for now I'm just doing my dvds)

Phantom of the opera (1925) - Lon Chaney

Accurate to the book in a lot of ways, good soundtrack and atmosphere, amazing makeup for Erik

The changed ending takes away from the story and the silent movie format doesn't work well with the emphasis on singing

3.5/5

Phantom of the opera (1943) - Claude Raines

Christine just vibes the whole time, fun interactions between the two normal suitors

Less sympathetic Erik, all the names are changed, less horror, weirdly would have worked better if they did their original plan of having Erik be Christine's estranged father

3/5

Phantom of the opera (1983) - Maximilian Schell

Keeps the horror part intact I guess?? Prosthetics good

Everyone has different names, the main plot is changed for the worse and there is no levity, Erik is a creep even before his "transformation"

1/5

Phantom of the opera (1989) - Robert Englund

Good song as Erik's hallmark, good prosthetics, good casting and references to the book

Supernatural elements and changed backstop for Erik lessens sympathy for Erik, somewhat hard to follow plot

2/5 (ignoring my general dislike for medical-related gore)

Phantom of the opera (1990) - Charles Dance

Great cast, keeps the spirit of love and tragedy from the book, all plot changes work well, SO SAD

Why change Raoul to Philippe? Some lip-syncing not so good

4.5/

Phantom of the opera (2004) - Gerard Butler

THE VIBES! THE EMOTIONS! WAAAAAAHHH!

Some of the singing is iffy, having old man Raoul popping up all the time is kinda boring, all the age changes (especially the age at which Erik started teaching Christine) are for the worse

3.5/5

Love never dies (2011) - Ben Lewis

Some songs are pretty good, the cast tried their best?

What is that plot? No, really. What is it? Also. BATHING BEAUTY

2/4

A monster in paris (2011) - Sean Lennon

Great soundtrack, character design (especially Francour) is amazing

VERY loose adaptation, some animation is kinda wonkypretty much no horror

4/5

Phantom of the opera (2011/1986) - Ramin Karimloo

Everything good about the 2004 movie but add in great singing and better pacing

Why replace the Daroga with Mme Giry? Shame it didn't have the original production's set design

4.5/5

I love talking about PotO so feel free to leave your own reviews of the ones you've seen! I'm always up for friendly debate when it comes to phantom adaptations lol

[milkyetoile]

I've confused myself with my own Fandom Trumps Hate offer lol so I thought I'd make a new post. Please see below for my FTH offers and refer to the listing post for further details.

OFFER #1 Fandoms: Good Omens, Merlin, or original work Length: 5-10K words Highest Rating: M

OFFER #2 Fandoms: Any (including original work) Length: 3K words for fandoms I'm familiar with, 1.5K for fandoms I don't know Highest Rating: T

For examples of my podfics, you can refer to my AO3 profile here:

Please see under the cut for a list of fandoms I can do up to 3K words for:

Artemis Fowl (book ONLY ohmygod) Back to Back (musical series) Card Captor Sakura (only until 2nd movie, I haven't watched Clear Card yet) Chanters of Tremaris Trilogy Club Slazy Dear Evan Hansen (musical only - idk if the movie has differences) Detective Conan/Magic Kaito (separately or not at this point; I'm honestly so behind but idc LET'S GO) Diamond no Ace Dimension 20: A Crown of Candy (/cries) Dimension 20: Misfits & Magic* Doctor Who (New Who; I've only watched until start of Twelve but I'm familiar enough with the succeeding parts) Fullmetal Alchemist Frozen (movie and musical) Gensoumaden Saiyuki Good Omens Hadestown Hamilton Harry Potter (original series & Marauders era)* Howl's Moving Castle (book or movie) Idolish7 In the Heights Kyou Kara Maou! Legally Blonde (movie and musical) Marvel (mainly Avengers until Endgame) Mean Girls (movies and musical) Merlin Mula Sa Buwan Naruto (original until Shippuden maybe) Ouran High School Host Club Percy Jackson and the Olympians (original book series and TLT musical - haven't watched the TV series yet and the movies do not exist--) Phantom of the Opera (musical) Pokemon Prince of Tennis (The) Prom (musical and movie) Sherlock Holmes (ACD, BBC, Enola Holmes, RDJ movies) Spies Are Forever (TCB) StarKid: A Very Potter Musical* StarKid: Firebringer StarKid: Holy Musical B@man! StarKid: The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals+ StarKid: Twisted Tiger and Bunny Tolkien (LOTR and The Hobbit movies) Usagi Restaurant Walang Aray Wicked (book and musical)

* If you're requesting these fandoms, please make a donation towards the Sherlock’s Homes Foundation or organizations that support transgender rights. + I'm honestly willing to go 3K words for any Hatchetfield verse. Or pretty much any StarKid that I can easily watch. The rest are on my list of to watch anyway. The same goes for other Dimension 20 seasons except maybe Fantasy High, which is ongoing and now very long. I'm only just working my way through the shorter ones ok 😂

Thank you very much for your consideration and donations <3