#and meg is poto meg NOT lnd meg

[ereyies]

love never dies? love should die.

[birdstooth]

Alexa, play

Inspo from

[symphony-in-a]

I believe the wording on the last poll was perhaps misinterpreted and needlessly complex. I’ve corrected that, and also added a link to help aid people in their decision. Now we can get accurate results for the true best song in Love Never Dies.

[kimwexlers-brownhair]

Chapters: 14/? Fandom: Phantom of the Opera - Lloyd Webber, Love Never Dies - Lloyd Webber, Le Fantôme de l'Opéra | Phantom of the Opera & Related Fandoms Rating: Not Rated Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Erik | Phantom of the Opera/Meg Giry, Raoul de Chagny/Christine Daaé, Christine Daaé/Erik | Phantom of the Opera, Comte Philippe de Chagny/La Sorelli, Darius/Original Male Character, Meg Giry/Original Character(s), Original Female Characters/Original Female Characters Characters: Meg Giry, Erik | Phantom of the Opera, Christine Daaé, Madame Giry (Phantom of the Opera), Original Characters, Raoul de Chagny, Darius (Phantom of the Opera), Comte Philippe de Chagny, La Sorelli (Phantom of the Opera) Additional Tags: Fix-It of Sorts, Alternate Universe - Historical, LND critical, Erik is bitter and pathetic just the way i like him, when i say i overcorrect the lnd characterizations i don't exactly mean erik, i guess i'm taking out my lnd rage on him as my alw stand-in

  Summary:

Erik's redemption still hangs in the balance. His villainy and obsession are far from conquered, particularly when the wrong girl steals the silver screen.

In which I overcorrect the mischaracterizations in Love Never Dies, while also speeding up filmmaking by about fifty years.

***

Chapter 14. Meg and Erik are absolutely sure they’ll get over each other now that they’re on opposite sides of the country. No doubt about it. Yep, any day now.

[marleneoftheopera]

Courtney Stapleton as Meg Giry in the 2023 LND concert in London.

Photos from here, here, and here.

[musicofthemask]

Okay this was going to be a joke but it turned into character analysis… enjoy.

London Love Never Dies Phantom is so badass for showing up maskless to confront Raoul. He knew he was going to win the bet (let’s not forget he is the one who suggested it) and wanted the vicomte to be left, on some level, traumatised that Christine left him for a man with such a severe deformity because yes, the LND deformity is more shocking than the original one.

Raoul makes his case worse when he makes all of his arguments, comebacks, whatever you want to call them, about Erik’s physical appearance (“…foul as sin, hideous, horrible…”), which he seems to feel better about ten years after Christine confronted and moved something in him (“This haunted face holds no horror for me now, it’s in your soul that the true distortion lies.”) because, let’s be honest, Erik’s behaviour in this sequel shows a lot of maturity and control.

He isn’t angry anymore, he understands his wrongs and wants to right them. Maybe he understands why Christine didn’t stay (looking at you, Ramin’s nod in the 25th), and grew to accept it, worked on himself, and now believes he has earned a second chance. In his mind, he is the one that now deserves her, even more so with Gustave in the picture (in this case he might even feel it’s his duty as well, but for him it’s a delight).

The truth is that Erik has become the healthier choice for Christine by the time the events of the musical happen. He is a respected businessman, who has learned to love himself and dedicated ten years of his life to build his dreamland, where he helps others like him feel safe and accepted so they won’t have to go through the same as him, we see this in “Beauty Underneath”, something Christine taught him about, no doubt.

Not only that, but Phantasma is a charming attempt at helping others see what’s different with, not even compassion, but straight up wonder and amazement.

The Phantom is the ultimate example that some people just deserve a little bit of love (Final Lair kiss) to realise their worth and change for the better.

The MINUTE Christine kisses Erik he becomes a changed man. He lets her go with a man he was clearly jealous of, and he disappears from her life for both their own goods. Erik becomes incredibly selfless while also taking care of himself (GROWTH!).

It isn’t until he feels accomplished and happy on his own that he decides to contact Christine. Even after the rush of emotions inside him tempt him to return to his old ways when he sees her again, Erik gives her the freedom to leave him and is okay with just hearing her sing one last time. No wonder some of Christine’s final words to him are “…take the love that you deserve…” because he should never have had to earn it.

Erik deserved love the moment he was born, and every time he was denied it, he deserved it even more. Going back to the final lair, he is so angry when Raoul, a handsome aristocrat, who is also Christine’s fiancé, asks for compassion. What’s his answer? “The world showed no compassion to me!” Sometimes the actor is sarcastic and sometimes just plain mad which means Erik is either trying to cope or simply gave up on it. If anyone is long overdue compassion, it’s him, not Raoul.

Minutes later he learns love when Christine kisses him, and later on in a certain scene we never get to see (yep, it’s “Beneath a Moonless Sky”), and then a third time when they reflect on what happened that night. “I woke to swear my love…” and what’s the next line? That’s right, “and found you gone instead!” Erik left.

Christine was to be married, and he didn’t want to hurt that part of her life. He also felt ashamed of himself, but he never says it was because of his face, all he says it he was “ashamed of what he was” (someone an engaged woman cheated with? In THAT period in time), not only that but he was afraid to face her. He took the love she had given him and left before it could turn into hate (after all, it had happened in the past… “tears of hate”, anyone?). So yes, this is the first sign of Erik taking care of himself and a further demonstration of his selflessness that we first see in the Final Lair.

After all, what he does with that little bit of love is work on himself and become the man he believes Christine deserves even though she might never even get to see it. He knows she wants him to be okay and as long as she is too, then they both can be alright with being away from each other.

*cue LND overture, the new chapter in their story where Erik finds out Christine isn’t okay at all*

Once more, character development at its absolute finest!

So no, Raoul, you’re not hurting him in the least by calling him ugly. After all, he has found the beauty underneath as well as the love that he deserved (yes, Gustave, that’s you).

Erik discarding his mask for one of the most important scenes in the show is such a power move in his journey to acceptance. Unmatched.

[xifoe]

for the record i don't enjoy love never dies. but for devil take the hindmost i will endure it

[nebylitsa]

im the cunt you married. the only time you liked yourself was when you were trying to be someone this cunt might like. im not a quitter, im that cunt. ive killed for you; who else can say that? you think youd be happy with a nice swedish soprano? no way, baby! im it.

[friendly-neighborhood-reblogs]

Madame Giry’s line, “I’ve been mother to you and Christine as much as my daughter!” in response to Erik accusing her of stealing Gustave is living rent-free in my head. Like please elaborate. Where are the fics

[howdicallme]

Should i read the book or watch the movie/show of lnd? My only purpose is megstine

[bonesandpoemsandflowers]

to me, LND proves what the '04 movie suggests: Webber cannot imagine Christine as a grown ass woman. She can be of child bearing age, so she can give the gift of a male heir, and then she dies. Not out of authorial malice, I think, not even subconsciously. But as an expression of a truly fuckin baffled "well, what else can a woman do?" kind of cluelessness.

see also: the kind of evo psych guy who literally goes around wondering out loud what "purpose" women over 50 serve, wondering why evolution "allows" this to happen when it's clearly (to them) suboptimal.

but ANYWAY.

Gaston Leroux's Christine would never. You just know she ends up being like 90 something in some Northern village somewhere giving cryptic one liners about her mysterious and romantic past to wide eyed children and swooning teenagers and envious and yearning younger adults. probably had like five other weird as shit scandals happen to her before settling down, honestly.

It will always bug me that Christine died relatively young, outlived by Raoul and seemingly the Phantom. Even without LND, she’s dies like late 50s, early 60s. And yeah people didn’t live long back in the day, but she was a wealthy woman who I’m sure had the resources to live a longer life than others.

There’s so many characters that are alive and kicking that are around the same age that Christine died: The managers, Madame Giry, the music conductor, the old owner. So I don’t buy that it’s just “old age”.

She should’ve been in her 80s, the last one out of the three, giving cryptic interviews to the press on “The Strange Affair of the Phantom of The Opera”. She should’ve been a consultant on movies based on the tragedy and fuck with the directors so nobody ever knows the real truth.

How is it that the center of this massive story was never able to share her POV? She doesn’t live long enough to tell her story and instead we have to figure it out based on the perspectives of the men who loved her but also never fully understood her.

[luneemeritus]

Love Never Dies slander because I can (it's ok if you like the show, I'm just giving my personal opinion)

The wasted potential of Love Never Dies haunts me.

Because a sequel to the musical is not a bad idea, actually. But writing an adaptation of "Phantom of Manhattan" (very famous for being horribly written) was definitely a terrible one.

Andrew basically wrote a bad E/C fanfiction that ignores completely Erik's redemption (and obviously, his past terrible actions) and Christine's arc of empathy and indepedence. Meg Giry and her mother became villains for some reason? And they have the worst swerfy slutshaming against Meg, really disgusting. Gustave is a useless character, he only exists to bring Erik and Christine together (Beneath a Moonless Sky woulndt exist without him, I don't know if that's a bad or a good thing). And, even though I heavily dislike Raoul, I agree that it's pathetic what they did to him. Raoul became an alcoholic caricature of himself that mistreats both Christine and his son for no reason other to make Erik look better. Again, I don't like Raoul, I also think he's toxic and he could be portrayed REALISTICALLY as a bad husband. But not like that lol

And, like. What is the purpose of erasing Erik's redemption and giving him Christine's (and Gustave's) love as a prize if you make him even worse? This Erik abandoned Christine after FUCKING HER. He and Raoul make a bet over owning Christine like if she is some kind of object. This Erik is horrible to Giry, which makes no sense, he even creates a freakshow and exploits disabled people??? Literally what has done to him in the past??? Also, Erik being a rich business man with little to no social struggles is so ridiculously out of character lol. "Mister Y" doesn't act like Erik himself.

The ending is straight up bullshit. It's too ridiculous and irritating to be tragic. Christine has absolutely no agency in LND, her entire arc is choosing between her boring alcoholic husband or the teacher that abandoned her after fucking her 10 years ago (not to mention that Erik's past mistakes, like, idk, maybe KIDNAPPING HER, killing Piangi and Buquet, is not even mentioned. No one remembers that). And then she sings a pretty song, chooses Erik, and dies. Wow. Amazing. She dies by accident by the way, because Meg shot her... unintentionally? Depending on the actress, I think. I won't even talk too much about Meg's character assassination because it just frustates me. "Oh the deranged sex worker that is punished with abandonment and pain by the end". Ugh.

The songs are amazing though. This I can't deny, even like, Bathing Beauty, it has nothing to do with POTO but it's a good song honestly.

Love Never Dies could be a good sequel. Erik trying to make amends for his mistakes, having terrible coping mechanism (as always), maybe they could explore his relationship with Madame Giry (even if she is depicted as a morally grey character). Christine realizing that she and Raoul were too young when they made the decision to marry, and that she has much more potential than what the victorian patriarchal society has to offer her. It could even end with E/C being canon, but like, with actual development??? Him learning how to behave apropriately, actually healing and being a better partner? (because he doesn't grow in Love Never Dies, he just gets Christine for sometime before she dies, he learns nothing, he just becomes an asshole that is portrayed as the good guy 'cause "Raoul is worse")

[kimwexlers-brownhair]

Bombshell (1933) -- Lola's beautiful rant.

I would forgive a lot in LND if Meg's breakdown went like this instead.

[blackghostm2o]

Ok… I’ve watched Love Never Dies, the Australian version. Spoilers (if you even care)

The ending is horrible… It feels… Unfinished? Idk if that makes sense and I don’t even know how to explain it. Someone could probably say: “Yeah, That’s how an open ending works.” Ok, but it feels like the play should continue just a lil bit more…

Now… Idk if it’s just me misunderstanding, but at first didn’t Madame Giry say that she and Meg helped MISTER Y (pretty shitty name if you ask me, it would have been a lil better if they used the E to make it sound like Mystery and also allude to the name Erik) to go to the States, like saving him? Later Meg is being: “I’ve come here for him and restarted my own life for him and he doesn’t even care.” (Not really, but you get it).

Madame Giry idolising Mr. Y??? Meg loving Mr. Y (I hate this name, I’ll call him Phantom from now on). Idk… It really feels wrong, really random and out of character. Both of their relationship with the Phantom are strange, don’t like it. Also Meg KILLING CHRISTINE???? They were good friends, but ok… Let’s play the devil’s advocate and say that she went a bit crazy, why tf the Phantom was “Oh! But you are like a rough diamond! The BeAuTy UnDerNeAtH! But btw… Nobody can be like Christine.” DUDE!!! WTF IS WRONG WITH YOU!??! She has a gun and is jealous af rn! Mah… Needless death.

The characters have been butchered, not only the 2 Giry, but also Raoul and Christine.

I’m not a really big Raoul fan (I admit it), but I don’t think he could be a gambler, a raging alcoholic and a shitty father… Nah, that’s not Raoul. His main song is about he being a shitty person and you think “maybe he will get better” WRONG! He takes a bet with the Phantom (he’s a gambler so it checks out). That choke scene??? ,’:)

Christine loving the Phantom… Hmmm, not really in line with ALW poto. Her having sex with the Phantom… Don’t really like it. When would have happened? The ending of PotO wouldn’t make sense if they had sex before.

Another thing that really annoys me is him having a freak show. Even in ALW’s canon he was used as an attraction so why would he open a place like that and inflict to others what happened to him as a kid. I believe that he would burn down a place like that instead of opening one.

Some songs are good and really catchy, others are ok.

LND is basically ALW being the 1st Erikstine fan, that’s it.

[elegantfelinity]

favorite actors in 2004 poto/lnd?

hii pookie ♡ i’ve already discussed anna and emmy in my christine post , so i’m not gonna include them . however , i do have additional preferences . ben lewis is my favorite erik ever . his take on the character is unhinged , a good example of his acting . his voice is amazing – especially as of recent in recordings with amy manford . it doesn’t hurt people have told me i look like he and colleen rose curran’s christine had a daughter lol

gerard butler’s erik is special to me for the same reason emmy’s christine is – they were my first exposure to poto . i think his performance is overhated and the fans ( primarily the 25th anniversary proshot stans since everyone i’ve seen dunk on him ironically praises ramin karimloo to “ defend their reasoning ” ) need to grow up . was he the best erik vocally ? no . but was he utterly terrible ? also no . like oh my goodness , can you believe they prioritized acting over singing in a film interpretation ??

cw - love never dies spoiler

lastly , sharon millerchip . it was hard not to include everyone from love never dies , especially maria mercedes . regardless , sharon was an incredible meg . like gerard , her performance is underrated , and overshadowed by meg’s character development . i can and probably will make a post about how andrew didn’t ruin her character like everyone claims . i feel like we’d be able to understand that as a fandom if most weren’t blindsided by christine’s death . retreating to her general performance , she made the audience hate meg . i'd imagine that's a hard task to turn everyone against a fan favorite , and you know what they say – whoever can pull off a loathsome villain is the best performer .