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fandom-necromancer · 4 years ago

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Questions for you (if you're ok answering): what is your favorite fic that you've written and what is your favorite that you've read of somebody else's

Okay, first of all: I love getting questions! I just tend to overshare so I hope that’s okay XD That’s a hard one, though. For one because I have a shit memory, but also because there are so many and I can’t decide. So, this will likely get long and I’ll put it under the cut not to disturb people that aren’t interested!

Shorts

My favourite one I wrote lately was likely the Cyberpunk AU for the Secret Santa? Because I could write whatever I wanted really and it was the first one in a long, long time that I sat down, had no idea what to write, began writing, was sucked in and a few hours later I was sitting there with a story that I absolutely loved. And that has become such a rare occasion lately because nothing is really fun anymore because Corona keeps me in a constant down phase? Idk. That was cool.

Also, the “A little distraction” series was fun! It’s an old story from last year and when I reuploaded that one, I was blown away how many people wanted more of that. As this had been planned for a longer story initially I had to condense into a short, it made me happy too, because people would have liked to read the longer version too, maybe? If I had ever written it? It was just really cool.

The Halloween short with Gavin being an eldritch shadow monster most people overlook completely was fun also because of the same reason as the Cyberpunk AU. I got lost in that one so hard. Really fun to write.

My all-time favourite short story though is likely the pebble series. It started as a joke in my head but when I sat down to write it, it just felt natural. I kinda really projected on Nines in there and I think I like his personality there the most from all the fics I’ve written about him. They are both just really cute in there.

You can also look for the top ten stories in my opinion from last year’s anniversary if you search my blog in the tag #One Year of Stories and I think the real tag was something like #Last year revisited? I’m not sure though because tumblr and searching blog tags is horrible, hence the archive project XD. Should be around June 2020.

Big stories

I would say A Soldiers Purpose, but that doesn’t count as it isn’t a fic anymore while I rewrite it to be an original Story. Plan to publish that as a “real world” book in German and English hard copy as well as eBook and it should be international publishing? I’m not that sure as I’m still comparing self-publishers and some only serve Germany, US and Australia whats weird but okay. Although I believe with ISBN it should be available almost everywhere just not in stores? I always planned to have it ready before I finished my bachelor thesis but we will see if that is happening (I guess not but I will try).

The Werewolf AU, definitely. It started as a vent fic to get me out of a really bad place (I guess anyone who read Somebody to die for knows it’s pretty dark) and I mean I’m here now and while I’m not happy I’m definitely happier than when I wrote it so... win? But now that I’m writing Wolfheart I really want to give them a happy ending and hopefully once that story ends the whole personal reason I started writing it ends too, so yeah. Maybe a really personal reason but I’m really invested in that story.

My favourite fic I have ever, ever written though will be one you never get to read (thankfully, hopefully). It’s super old, it’s German, it’s uploaded on a different platform I hope no one of you knows, it’s under yet another name of mine and it’s absolutely objectively bad. The writing is bad, the plot is okayish and I literally killed off the gay characters without noticing that as something bad because I was a very different person back then. But I love it to this day regardless because it got me through some hard times.

Also, as a last comment to my own stories I love my longer stories on AO3 far more than these shorts. Not because they are more fun to write or anything but because I feel like I put a lot of effort into them and put a lot of soul into the stories. But yeah, that’s to that.

Other’s works

My favourite fics I read are so, so damn many… I generally write more than I read but with the amount I write I guess it cancels it out. Also some are pretty old because I mostly read fanfic on the bus and now I haven’t really left the house for a year. I’ll try to keep it short. They are not in any particular order I just went through a few sites of my history. Really I just enjoy everything reverseAU, SoulmateAU, Mute!Nines and them all being softies. Also just the dbh stuff because I’m not sure you would be interested in other fandoms.

Accident by sv926 Soulmate AU, I really dig how the personality of Nines and Gavin are displayed and that it isn’t a “We are soulmates all is perfect now” storyline (although I like that too). Amazing.

Traitor by Skye_Willows, Stujet9rainshine If hurt/comfort was a fic. MedieavalAU. I really love the portrayal of manipulation and how Nines tries to save Gavin from it all. Also Nines is a painter so I’m in.

Soft Spot by Headfulloffantasy A story I really regret not reading earlier. Casefic with amazing characterisation and a plot that leaves you on the edge. Every time you think you got an overview of what happened or an idea of how it continues there is another facette revealed that you just didn’t expect. Can’t wait to read the next chapter.

XVIII by Sandara Cuteness overload but also prepare for the feels. It’s an ReverseAU that is set during the game events. It’s so damn well written I just love it.

Feral Nines by Kaini Nines whump. Kinda. I love it so much. Broken Nines is my weakness and also Mute!Nines. You get a lot of feelings reading this.

all the lonely nights in your life by willgrahamssadness SoulmateAU that hurts but picks you up and shows you all the fluff in the end. I love it.

Safe and sound by a_calipygian Soft Reed900. With a lot of hurt/comfort. Lovely story about healing and found family.

The Lion Tamer by celexdraw Equally cute as their drawings. CircusAU I didn’t know I needed but it is so well done. It is a happy story but has enough darkness to make me miss my busstop.

Despite it All by Jennilah Another SoulmateAU I absolutely love. Also has Hannor content I think but I didnt get to read that part yet.

Scrapyard Rookie by Pence Reverse AU that caught my heart. Really cute but with a little bastard GV if I remember correctly.

Sleeves by BloodthirstyMerc More Mute!Nines talking about Gavin’s past self harm. Super cute and comforting and aaaaa.

These Violent Delights by MechanicalBones Will absolutely destroy you. Is amazing and everything I ever wanted. Can recommend to those who too enjoy holding back tears on the bus.

Static Truth and Hunter Hunter Hunted by whatsanapocalae Both are super cute, super angsty and so, so comforting. The author has a really nice writing style too. Got to these fics because i wrote their Deus Ex stuff and discovered they write dbh too.

Rewind the Film by connorssock,Sylvestia Allen60. You will cry. And you will like it. I’m happy it was like 11pm on a bus no one uses coming home from uni when I came to the part that hits you right in the feels. You have to read it.

Heavy In Your Arms by CatiDono More ReverseAU with Gavin whump. It’s also kinda a reset story. I usually don’t like these, but it starts after the reset so we never get to see the Gavin from before, just the onset of “I used to be a person before and there is someone loving me and grieving but I don’t know them but they are nice what do I do?” I really enjoyed this, although it’s kinda a heavy thing to read.

A mute Gavin one I can’t remember who or where it was from. I think it was on tumblr and timewise before the cornpocalypse but I’m not sure. Could be from connorssock? definitely on tumblr and Gavin lost his voice due to injury. I will try to find that again.

Also one from tumblr I can’t remember the name of, but it was homeless Gavin with Nines helping him. I think that one was from dumb-ways-to-deviate?

I could go on, but I already told far to much when you asked for like... 2 stories? I’m just excited to talk about stories XD

#Toaster Talks #oh boy I'm thinking about deleting half of it but I will hit post now because i spent too much time doing this #fic rec #dbh fic rec #my personal favourites #I have a lot more but aaaaaaaaaaaa

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zuka-themed-username · 6 years ago

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z-t-r: Phantom 2018

Phinally! (sorry - but I spiced it up with some stage photos this time, creds to eternalyjun/searching the tags)

I had the absolute supreme pleasure of seeing Snow Troupe’s Phantom twice during my trip to Japan in November. I had arrived with a ticket for an opening day s-seki seat in Takarazuka, but during my travels a wonderful fan club was able to provide me a b-seki seat the following morning, and holy smokes am I glad I saw it twice. I don’t know why I thought I could handle an s-seki seat - the sheer force that is Nozomi Fuuto is completely overwhelming that close up - but it was nice to not have to use my opera glasses!

For all that Thunderbolt Fantasy/Killer Rouge was my favorite show I’ve seen live, Phantom was the best I’ve seen in Japan. In terms of technical execution and emotional power this show takes the cake. While I was a bit surprised they would have Phantom near Elisabeth as they can be seen as tonally similar from a distance, I see now why they were not concerned.

Quick spoiler-free plot summary: Christine Daaé (Maaya Kiho) is an aspiring opera singer out on the streets of Paris selling her new hit single ‘Melodie de Paris’ when she is discovered by Philippe (cast A - Ayanagi Shou) who tells her to go to the Paris Opera House to meet the general manager Gérard (Ayakaze Sakina). When she arrives she finds that he has been ousted by Alain (Asami Jun), though circumstances allow for her to stay and meet the new prima donna/Alain’s wife Carlotta (Maisaki Rin). Carlotta allows her to stay, where the Phantom (Nozomi Fuuto) hears her beautiful voice. He hides part of his face behind a mask (and has a Black Angel-esque cohort) because of Tragic Reasons but still becomes her singing teacher, and she eventually gets the starring role in the upcoming production of “The Fairy Queen”. Due to Shady Circumstances something happens to her voice and The Phantom is Not Pleased. All hell breaks loose, and yes, a chandelier falls in a really neat way. There’s a whole lot of drama, and then a startlingly peppy finale as with all two-act zuka shows.

As with my other reviews this will be a total scattershot of notes and impressions. Spoilers will be indicated with a “[s]”. However as this is a show that’s been performed many times, feel free to ask me more detailed questions if they’re not answered here! And yes, you’ll want to buy the DVD/Blu-Ray. If not I might finally figure out streaming and show it.

[s] Right off the bat: in comparison to the 2004 version, Daimon (Nozomi) does not kill the gentleman (Joseph - thanks @daimongumi!) in the beginning. He instead does the tasteful tumble. The moment the set rolls out you see that there is not space for him to stumble down a set of stairs and be stabbed. The Phantom is instead shocked and horrified.

- The start of the show has an elaborate video projection during the overture (including the show curtain shown above). It does a nice job of establishing the extensive catacomb system under the Paris Opera House. I do wonder though if it was used to shorten what I call the “visual overture”, where the Top Star does a dance or some sort of interpretive performance to music at the top of a show as otherwise the plot does not require them on stage for quite some time. While Daimon is a triple threat I’d definitely put dance at #3 - and frankly I’m all for shortening the extensive moody Phantom & co. dances if it allowed her to conserve lung power for the real focus - her kick ass voice! A bit more on this later.

The Phantom pushes away the haters (I’m all three musumeyaku)

- There were amazing / borderline excessive projections whenever the Phantom was onstage, and I guarantee they will not show up well on the recording. I can only hope they do not wash out costuming and lighting. I feel like they were supposed to be tendrils of darkness, though as they were projected light it looked instead a bit like vines. When Daimon was wearing the sage green lounge wear later it was especially noticeable. Again the image doesn’t do it justice (but can we appreciate this shocking apple green color?)

Another set of Incredibly Insightful and Deep Notes directly from my intermission scribbles:

- “Carlotta is hilarious”

- “Maaya Kiho is perfect”

- “Nozomi Fuuto is perfect”

- “tiny organ”

- “hella candles”

and lastly,

- “shady swag Willy Wonka”

which works better with a crossing the silver bridge gif but for now:

Anyway back to more fleshed out thoughts:

- To the clown and the jester in the far back of the stage during Melodie de Paris: thank you.

- More specifically, there are about five “rows” of Parisians on stage during Maaya Kiho’s introduction, and there was one performer in the far back right dressed like a jester. They started out juggling. Kind of. There was another civilian with them pretending to be entertained. They juggled for about five tosses, then headed offstage. “Ok,” I thought, “let’s see what else is happening.” I looked to the far left and there was a terrifying old-school clown clowning around. I was impressed with the costume and the commitment but quickly looked back to the right. The jester had returned. With a pillow. And was spinning it like a basketball. Just like a regular couch pillow with tassels. Spinning it on her finger until it started to wobble, then she’d reset and try again. It was riveting.

I have so many questions. Did jesters do this? Are you supposed to be juggling the whole scene? Why did you exit the stage and not just bring the pillow with you at the start? Did this change every night? Whose pillow is this? Are they ok with you spinning it like that? Where did this come from?? How -

(By then the scene was ending, and thank goodness I knew the plot otherwise I would have been completely lost. Also thank goodness for seeing the show twice, as Maaya’s voice is a golden treasure and if I had been too distracted to listen to it I would have been quite upset with myself.)

- Asami Jun as the new, slightly skeevy general manager of the Opera House is a joy. I had so much fun watching her be so into Carlotta, shooing people away or making a path for her wherever she went. He showers her with compliments and is utterly distraught when he misspeaks. I can’t imagine what Ayanagi’s interpretation would be like, as she was so fantastically sincere as Philippe, but I’m glad they will have a chance to stretch themselves as actors, since there’s really only one solo song between the two roles if I am remembering correctly.

- There were two musumeyaku Phantom followers and it was nice way to break up the choreography. While I am still not 100% convinced that the followers as a whole are incorporated effectively (I would like to see more interaction between the Phantom and his followers outside of setting them up to make mischief), they executed some interesting choreo well.

- One thing that really struck me throughout this production is how well Takarazuka as a whole is able to create worlds on their stage, through the simplicity / complexity of having a ton of background people onstage telling silent side stories. Sometimes sheer volume works, as with large city scenes (here Paris, also Guys & Dolls’ New York City), but also in any number of smaller cafe or club scenes. While painstaking measures are taken to ensure it does not interfere with the Top Star or Top Musumeyaku, it is still motion on stage that can draw the eye away (*ahem* jester). I would like to highlight my second favorite set of background characters, the prop guys in “Home”, as an example of how tricky this balance is. Plot Happens and Christine finds herself with some laundry and some music backstage in the opera house and begins the setup for her big solo turned duet, “Home”. Maaya is near the front of the stage, to the right in a light spotlight. Behind her are 4-5 sets of 2-3 people representing different segments of the opera company. There are dancers, some folks around a piano (I think), costume folks, and two guys on the far left checking props - our Spear Guys. They are all doing some light tasks amongst themselves. When Maaya begins singing, they all stop, except for the Spear Guys who are still joking around. As the song continues, they freeze and another group begins moving. This repeats until each group has had a silent solo, moving about behind Maaya until the huge Phantom set piece rises from the stage. The first time I saw the show I was seated on the far right - prime Maaya placement (thank you!!), but also lined up to have the Spear Guys right behind her. The second time up in b-seki it was not nearly as distracting as I could see the 15-20 feet between them and Maaya, but they still didn’t stop at the start like the other groups. I don’t think for a second they missed their cue two days in a row, but I do find it interesting that the direction does not have the entire stage freeze for Maaya’s intro. I wonder if that would be more distracting - to have 10-15 people suddenly stop moving and then have small groups begin moving, so they instead try to smooth out the transition with our Spear Guys. Or perhaps they wanted to highlight that she’s not a big deal yet as a laundry girl, despite this being a big song, so they don’t emphasis it as much with total stage isolation.

I don’t know why this specific thing stuck with me, perhaps I just wasn’t used to “Home” being staged instead of just an audio recording. But I won’t let this more intensive thought on direction make me forget to mention that: I sincerely hope no one gave Daimon any direction after opening night in regards to her facial expressions whenever the Phantom hears Christine’s voice. Idk if new tumblr will allow the gifs, if y’all pick up what I’m putting down.

- A quick side note: the sets and costumes feel refreshed and much more intricate. I’m somewhat surprised they were able to load the huge set pieces just four days after Castle of the White Heron. Huge shout out to the Takarazuka Theater Stage Crew/Staff.

- This goes without saying but Daimon and Maaya’s voices were flawless. I have a note that “Nozomi actually out-sung the ensemble”, which, duh? Her voice + microphones? I wish I could remember what I was going for there.

- There’s a song contest in act one, and frankly I think they should make the song the ensemble has to sing the actual contest. Boy does that song not translate well. It’s incredibly fast and while Snow Troupe does their best it’s legitimately impossible to follow. I need to see rehearsal footage to see ensemble folks just be like, “whelp this is fastest I can go, how are you doing?” and the shrugs in response. And then Daimon being like, “well I had a to practice a bunch but when I did it over a decade ago-” *nails it*

[s] When Christine faints from, idk, finally having a chance to follow her dreams and then promptly being poisoned, and the Phantom ‘sweeps her off her feet’ to his underground dungeon palace (with way too many candles - I assume candle maintenance is what the followers do most of the time), it was more of a ‘1 - 2 - hngh” on the Phantom’s part. I heard that it was very quickly taken out and I can attest that it didn’t need to happen if Daimon was going to hurt herself. Also I like that it gives Christine the tiniest bit more agency if she has to stumble through the mirror with him instead of being completely unconscious.

[s] Speaking of which, Maaya’s approach to Christine. This is another tricky thing that I could write a short essay about. In this version of Phantom, (compared to Andrew Lloyd Weber’s The Phantom of the Opera where Raul, a Philippe-type, is immediately there to try and help with the creepy Phantom situation) Christine is much more isolated, and greater attempts are made to humanize the Phantom. We get the sad details of his birth, upbringing, and current situation, including the weird twist that Christine looks just like his mother. Another essay could be (and no doubt has) been written on that topic, however what I would like to focus on is that Christine is aware of all of this information. She’s aware of how he ended up with a “horrendously” disfigured face and why he is deeply ashamed to the point of violence if discovered. So when she uses her beautiful, angelic voice to convince him to take off his mask, sees his face, then runs off screaming, it’s truly heartbreaking. There are a million ways to play this scene and the character up to this point, but the unfortunate reality is that Christine has to run out of the grotto/garden in order to make it back up to the opera house (somehow, which brings up more questions) for the plot to proceed and for last 40-50 minutes to happen. Therefore the actress is a bit stuck. With that eventuality in mind, I think Maaya makes Christine as ‘modern/realistic’ as possible, in that she screams without too much fear, and her face is a bit.. flat? I don’t mean that in a negative way. I wouldn’t be surprised if she received a few notes along the lines of, “be sure to be really scared by his face” but wanted to treat Christine as a woman that could understand - or simply wanted to have the chance to understand - the man under the mask/scars, so her reaction both times almost looked like, “ok I’m screaming and running because the plot requires it but I’m here for you-” *and gone*. This is reinforced by the much stronger reaction she has when she realized she made a mistake and struggles to go back behind the mirror to him, and her polite but not very enthused duet with Philippe (side note: the Phantom walking up with flowers after that scene - a punch to my stomach). I don’t even think it’s out of true romantic love, but out of a desire to truly understand. For all that they come from different backgrounds, they do have the same goal of making beautiful music, and with this much less murderous interpretation of the Phantom I could root for them. This is in stark contrast to the 2004 version, where I was much more ok with the Phantom’s demise in the end.

[s] That all being said, Maaya’s voice in the song that convinces the Phantom to remove his mask is f*ing beautiful. I am legitimately tearing up just hearing the echoes of it in my memory. When the Phantom is alone and breaks down crying after tearing down the world around him (quite literally), he is perfectly centered on the stage and just so small. It’s an amazing bit of staging that tore out my heart. The use of religious-style themes as well is just crushing.

[s] Speaking of which, I can’t forget to mention the incredibly long but intense story of the Phantom’s upbringing with this gorgeous stained glass in the background:

[s] The suggestion of questionable morality by tilting it is clear and fantastic, the dancing and anguish throughout is just flawless. For all that it does not make me sympathetic for the weirdly young dad (yes yes struggs of being nibante and not senka), I could still get behind the raw emotion of it all, which is rare for me. The “Ave Mariiiiiiia” is now ringing clearly in my head as well and I’ll just say good luck buying the soundtrack because I already ordered every copy.

[~s] Not quite a spoiler but at one point the Phantom is in a boat with Christine and is wearing a standard suit with tails. Intermission hits and when we come back to to our seats the plot has not progressed and yet they went and Top Star’ed the suit to make it the intricate blue one shown in most of the promos. I chuckled a bit.

- This happens much earlier in the show but Carlotta’s song introducing the frenzied world of opera is so fun and amazing - I remembered it just now as if my brain was trying to lighten the mood for me. You could tell they really reveled in the lighthearted scenes and nailed all of the comedic shenanigans.

- Come to think of it there’s a lot of tossed paper, envelopes, letters, music, etc. that is wild yet contained, though there is a letter dropped from the ceiling that juuuust barely made it on stage on the second day. It fell in the slot between the lights and the orchestra pit and I hope there’s a day where a musician has to hand it to them XD.

- Despite the age of the show it felt quite fresh, and the staging did not feel nearly as stiff as say, Elisabeth. That being said, all of the Phantom’s emotional struggles had the same setup of powerful song into a moody dance (except the big rehearsal scene, which is still all dance, though modified). This makes sense given the previous set of Phantoms (Wao Youka, Haruno Sumire, and Ranju Tomu), but I think for Daimon flipping the song and dance would have been beneficial. It would have been a bit hassle in terms of structure and orchestration, for sure, but continuing to shorten the Phantom-centric dance segments in exchange for a smoother and higher emotional peak, along with extended glorious singing by Daimon (also because the Phantom is a composer, not a choreographer) would have been neat.

[s for a bit] And here I was about to go into the auxiliary musings without detailing Daimon’s approach to the character! It was, in short, exactly how Daimon would approach the role. A total cop-out description, but I still think the most apt, despite me being unsure of how she would approach it before I saw it. Daimon has a way of blending vulnerability and ferocity that is quite unique to her and on full display here. The Phantom as a character is emotionally stunted and traumatized. He has the full strength and rage of an adult that has been wronged, the anguish of an artistic teen trying to find his voice, and the naivety of a boy that has only been loved by a woman that was scorned by everyone else. It is quite messed up when you lay it all out, and yet it does not allow for violent acts such as physical/emotional possession of another person and straight-up murder. As I mentioned before, when I saw the much more intentional murder in the 2004 version I was engaged and impressed by the gutsy-ness of it. “A Top Star is a villain, wow!” The emotional appeal in the second half of the show for me fell flat, until the very end when Hanafusa Mari is cradling Wao because of the sheer power of their Golden Combi. Hence I always saw the role as one or the other. A Phantom that is a villain with selfish desires (2004) or a misunderstood artist that gets swept up in emotion and acts out (2006). Here I can see both existing simultaneously. When Daimon is sad and aching, she is sad. Make no mistake, she was crying, many people in the audience were sniffing - two people on the second day had like racking sobs they were trying to control. No doubt a result of having seen it live, it is difficult for me to look at the character as a whole and cast one final opinion - I’m thinking of core scenes and moments where the emotion - sadness or rage - is just so strong. That’s something I think, whether or not you’ll like it when you see it, you can’t deny. Daimon’s expressive face is conveying every emotion quite strongly. When she goes to kill Carlotta, (RIP, you suck for sabotaging Christine but damn do I love your attitude) the intention is quite clear. Carlotta messed with Christine, so she’s gotta go. It’s terrifying, the calm appearance and slow, methodical style at first. The only thing that makes it mellow out for me is the absurdity of the red outfit and mask. It’s clear he raided the costume department and/or worked on the outfit for sometime despite being so incensed the moment he discovers who is at fault. Regardless of that flash of comedy, the cold intent is classic evil scary Daimon that I wanted to see.

What then I like about this is that we have three different situations with three different outcomes instead of just “too much emotion = murder”.

In 2004 we have:

someone saw the facial scarring -> murder

Phantom is not a fan of the new way the opera is being run -> murder

someone messed with Christine -> murder

In 2018 we have:

someone saw the facial scarring -> an accident/fall out of fright (This sets up better how “genuinely scary” his face is when Christine sees it. As an aside, his body still shows up in the glass case later on so I guess someone had to go find his body? I figure the followers had to draw straws, but that the Phantom would capitalize on it regardless is problematic.)

Phantom’s not a fan of the new way the opera is being run -> someone passes out from fright or overexertion during the Phantom panic?

someone messed with Christine -> oh shit, murder

This makes the murder all the more shocking, to the point of nearly being out of place, but the murderous intention comes not out of habit but because of love/infatuation with finding the voice of an angel/their mom. Which is a sentence I never thought I would type but here we are.

While it’s not as shocking on the meta level and can definitely be seen as making the character more tame, it also makes the incredibly long appeal to his tragic background less out of left field and a bit more of a situation to struggle with as an audience member. This does not excuse the dramatic trope of being shot and then having a solid 1-2 more hours of emotional appeals on the silver bridge, running about the opera house with the most incompetent guards, and entire song reprises before then being shot again, Andre on the Bridge-style. It’s a bit too long, and I wouldn’t mind switching the getting grazed on the side scene with the Phantom/dad reunion scene, if only so we could have a moment where not only does Gerard see his son get shot but is also seen by guards having talked to him, so there is more tension in the final moments. Not to re-write the script, but throwing in a bit of smugness from the guards to be like, “Nah, he won’t shoot his kid,” - then, “Father!”, then - *bang* adds perhaps a deeper shock to the bystanders? Or perhaps it’s 1 AM and I need to finish pontificating on something I saw just long enough ago to forget more interesting details.

Regardless, that aaallllll being said, Daimon’s Phantom is one that seeks to cover every base as strongly as possible. He is the saddest, the most anguished, the most angry, the most vulnerable and the most capable of cold and calculated revenge. Thus it could read as a bit overwrought or youthful, but I think it works with this greater shift in narrative that the Phantom lacks the emotional training one would get from having been raised in a more... conventional mask-free non-catacombs environment.

[end of s]

- On the finale: y’all, I was so exhausted. This show is so much. I’m never prepared for a mini revue after a two act show and this was no exception. It was fast. I want the script-lettered “phantom” sign in my house. The songs were upbeat and it was jarring. This scene happened:

and there’s a hip move (?) that was real sassy. My face was stiff from trying not to cry and still an eyebrow twitched in surprise. When the gif hits tumblr it’s gonna blow up. Get ready for Music Revolution is all I can say. It’s already better than Super Voyager.

A few auxiliary notes:

- People were cryyyying. A lot of sniffles. Two people actively sobbing on day two.

[s] On opening day during one of the final scenes Christine plays, if I remember correctly, a few notes of the “oh you are music” line on the piano and “revives” the Phantom for a final moment. Except kinda? It went up correctly but on the way down she didn’t hit the right note and ended up with a nice jazz remix. You better believe she had it right the next day but I loved the *note, note, wrong note. tasteful pause. a note that sounds like a venturing guess. a pause. another note aaaaand the scene continued* I love knowing that she’s actually playing those notes.

- I’m not surprised if they didn’t release the opening day curtain call speeches - Rika Masumi could not remember Gaston Leroux’s name (original author of The Phantom of the Opera - and fair, this show is so far from the book I’m surprised it has to be mentioned at all) and Daimon was trying to explain the cast split but got caught up in “ums” (which sounds like “eh”), which led to a funny bit where she was like, “you know, cast... eh... eh... ah, A!” (’A’ also sounding more like “eh”). Then there were two more curtain calls at which point Daimon was literally like, “buy the CD, buy some sandwiches and drinks... go home please” and then was like, “ok let’s do a phantom mask sign-off, everyone put your hand up like this” *hand up like the phantom mask* “ok with me, ‘Phantom...’” *audience repeats* Then Daimon pulled her hand away and said “maerou!” which literally is just like, “Phantom... is over!” I’m sure there’s a more elegant way to phrase it but people chuckled and starting packing up so I followed suit. I really wanted Maaya to speak but alas that’s not how things roll. If anyone has any insight on how she said she was going to approach the role (beyond, “I’m going to support otokoyaku”) please let me know!

I’m no doubt missing a whole bunch, probably will edit in the morning, and might add some comments if I remember, but otherwise this sums up my trip! So glad to finally have it all out there and finished. Can’t wait to hear people’s impressions of the Tokyo run!

#takarazuka #snow troupe #phantom #yukigumi #nozomi fuuto #daimon #maaya kiho #murder #i was dead #but in the good way not like *spoiler*#:o

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