Phandom - Blog Posts
When Daniel Howell started opening up about how much he hates shipping culture surrounding his relationship with Phil, but I never did that shit even as a kid so I get to watch people getting shamed for their fucked up behaviour
Help.
Someone, anyone
Please Tell me to fuckdy fucking go to sleep, like, right the fuck about now. I got school tomorrow and I can’t seem to find an end to tumblr scrolling. Please help
Ps. Sorry for tagging unrelated things I just really need people to tell me to go the fuck to sleep
IM FREAKING THE FUCK OUT
So i forgot to write a post about Dan’s video but all I wanted to say was that I’m so very proud of him, and i related to a lot of his points in the video and I’m just so happy.
Ps. I know I’m kind of a sander sides blog but I’m in other fandoms too and the phantom is one of my firsts if not the first so I’m very happy to be here and support them even though I’m one of millions to say this but I truly love them and will never stop loving them
i imagine janice is going to have a very angry customer in the shop tomorrow
i did a thing
i saw some danny art and i had to give him super messed up injuries
Still Feel by Half Alive
(there is a second of flashing at the start was unsure if i should tag it or not, but this is the warning)
[youtube video link]
danny can summon ectoplasm just fine, it formes like a floating ball in his hand or shoots out of his fingers and what not. but absolving ectoplasm is a little....weirder. danny has to physically eat the ectoplasm. for example if he had a ball of ectoplasm in his hand, he would have to eat it like and apple. or he can drink it. and other. (listen i just need unconventional ways danny eats ectoplasm and everyone that isnt used to his weirdness gets confused as hell)
headcanon: Danny's body force-transformes itself into his phantom form when he gets a panic attack. It's a defense-mechanism to help him calm down as he doesn't need to breath in his ghost form.
Do with this whatever you like
"You can take me hot to go!"
If I have adorableness, you get adorableness. If I get brainrot, well, so do you! Je suis désolée.
All phantom cat stuff here!
Maddy, please love your lil shites, or they'll riot! Look at them!
I feel awful when I see artists say their art is not important, but I'd also be the first to roast my own art. I know what it's like to look at all the art out there and think, "Welp, time to move to a flooded cellar."
It's hard to convince ourselves that we matter. But hey, a lot of things are hard to believe, and it doesn't make them less true!
Yesterday (or better today at night) while drawing my stupid shitpost I was thinking: “Wow… In the phandom there are so many artists who draw beautiful and meaningful illustrations inspired by this fantastic story and this is my contribution… A stupid shitpost…”
Not to say that I’ve not enjoyed doing those, but isn’t this a bit sad?
Phantom of the Opera (1990), you did Erik proud
Alternate title: Christine, we have beef!
(Meme inspired by this post.)
I have not a bad word for this Erik (and not just because I can feel a certain friend of mine holding a chandelier over my head). The 1990 adaptation made some big changes to the story, but it perfectly captured the childlike soul of Leroux's Erik that is often lost in translation but vital to him. (When I was explaining POTO to someone outside the situation, i. e. my mum, two things I kept using as comparisons were a child and Gollum - not because he's a chaos gremlin, I was trying to describe how he has a skewered perspective of the world that isn't evil but doesn't follow the accepted moral system. But that's for another time.)
I found myself trying very hard not to resent Christine - a first time for me. I will defend her choosing the Compte de Chagny over Erik, she doesn't owe Erik love, no matter what he did for her. The problem is that she took on a responsibility she couldn't possibly carry.
Never, ever assume to fully understand someone. Especially someone like Erik, who thinks and exists on a different pane as most people. Christine was wrong, terribly wrong, to assume she 'knew his heart.'
When faced with a person so sensitive, so particular, when you are the one person trusted by someone who trusts no one, don't make huge gambles like that. She shouldn't have assumed she knew what Erik needs better than he himself does - if he told you he is happy with where they were, then stay there with him! Instead, she pulled the 'I can fix him' and shattered him completely. I don't hate her for being unable to catch Erik when he falls, I hate her for blindly promising to catch him and failing him.
(I do realise how much of the above describes myself and my worries about how people treat me, so fair warning, I may be a bit biased.)
An opinion: in most versions of the story, Erik emotionally manipulates Christine, but here, Christine is the one who is emotionally manipulative. ('Manipulative' may sound malicious, but manipulators aren't always aware of what they're doing.)
In the second part of the series, she said at least three times 'If you love me...' Now, that is one of my least favourite sentences to see and hear in the best of times, but this is somehow even worse because Erik DOES do everything because he loves her. In other versions, there is the question of possessiveness against love when it comes to their relationship; in that context, I would accept her saying this, to remind him that he should love and not obsess over her. But here, Erik is not possessive.
As for Monsieur Carrière, I have beef with him, too. It's an even bigger, tougher slice of beef. He is irresponsible: not once, but twice, he got in relationships and then left his partners when they have children. The first time could be a mistake; the second time, especially when kept Erik's mother in the dark about his marriage, is inexcusable. Yes, he stayed with her till the end, but then left their son in a basement. Yes, he reached out to Erik in the end, but too little, too late. If Erik is emotional and irrational, it's because Carrière never gave him the guidance he should have.
Christine and Carrière love Erik, I don't doubt it. But it's still painful to see Erik fall down through everyone and everything that should have caught him: his talent, his parents, Christine.
If you'll excuse me, I need to cry in the catacombs and draw something miserable.
I talk about several other adaptations here!
Phantom of the Opera (2004), we have beef!
(I'm sorry, Gerald Butler's Phantom, you're still very cool. See the original drawing without beef here.)
I'm not saying that the film is entirely bad. It's only that I tend to be extra critical about plot and portrayal. Phans of the film, feel tree to sit this one out. Now, the beef.
🥩 1. They cut out one of the most powerful scenes
Before I fell (or rather, was pushed) into the Phandom, I saw a clip of Sierra Buggess and Ramin Karimloo performing the 'SING!!!' part of The Phantom of the Opera, and even then, it struck me. Watching film, I was waiting to see it again... But they just kept rowing the boat. I find this direction choice rather symbolic of the angle of the entire film: they lowered the prominence of Christine's thrall to the Phantom's music and instead focused on their dubious romantic attraction.
🥩2. The Phantom's origin story
Perhaps they felt the need to explain his past more, but this is a case of the more you explain, the worse it gets. Why on earth would you feel the need to explain that the Phantom has been visiting Christine since she was a child? That is not only terrifying but also creates unnecessary confusion. If he's been teaching her for so long, I find it dubious that nobody has noticed her behaving strangely before the Hannibal performance.
🥩3. They gave Mme. Giry too many hats to wear
In the film Mme. Giry essentially took on the role of three characters: her own, the Persian's, and Mama Valeris' (Christine's surrogate mother in the book). Initially, I liked that they gave Mme. Giry a more active role in the Phantom's past, but then it gets very weird because she's essentially matchmaking her surrogate daughter with a man her own age whom she has witnessed killing someone. I mean, it's not implausible to give a character two conflicting roles, but the film gave no viable explanation for it.
🥩4. The graveyard duel
Why were they using rapiers in 1870? The Phantom dueling I can get behind, being the theatre kid he is, but Raoul? Get a pistol, monsieur le vicomte. Anachronism aside, this addition doesn't add more to the scene. It's meant to show how the Phantom tried to lure Christine again and Raoul comes to disillusion her, but with the duel added in, it's just a question of who wins the duel, who gets to leave with Christine. And I keep wondering how the heck the Phantom lost the fight in spite of his Magnificent Cloak advantage. (Cloaks were used as shields back in the day of rapier duels.)
🥩5. Carlotta
I adore Wendy Ferguson's Carlotta. I understand that the film wanted to make a contrast between Christine and Carlotta, but making her something out of Mean Girls was uncalled for. You got the wrong musical, mate.
I talk about other POTO adaptations here!
Phantom of the Opera (1925), what did you do to poor Erik?
The 5 stages of watching POTO 1925:
1. Beautiful set design. Mouth of Hell, giant skull for sitting on and decapitated head automaton -- peak Gothic atmosphere.
2. He's here! The Persian at last.
3. I want to live in this Erik's basement, that gondola-inspired bed is gorgeous.
4. Oh la vache, who let Erik drive?
5. THEY YEETED HIM INTO THE RIVER?
(Meme is originally Interview with the Vampurr Lestat's corpse yeet.)
I am not happy that they made this a 'monster film.' The greatest part of POTO is how it never denied Erik's crimes, but also never portrayed him as a mindless monster. But other than the ending, I did enjoy the film.
HOWEVER, now I'm in a mood and want to write a whole essay in complaint of the other silver screen adaption I've seen thus far, Phantom of the Opera (2004). That one I sometimes wish to roast with the heat of a burning opera house. See that and rambles about other adaptations here
How's the writing going, you say?
I was typing out my novel on my phone, looked up, and saw this. To clarify, I meant satin-LINED cavity, describing a casket.
Well, I hit my head on a toilet water tank today, so I can't expect myself to act rationally.
The story is about a vampire opera house. I played with the idea of adding Erik into it, but I didn't expect him to pop up out of nowhere to give one of my characters a house tour.
I think he wants to kill the vampires now, and I don't know what to do. How little control I actually have over my writing never fails to surprise me.
(More gremlin sphynx cat Erik here, fancy hat cowboy Phantom here)
Danny: Did you really eat your kids?
Clockwork: Only the annoying ones who asked questions.
Danny: Did they taste good?
Clockwork:...Do you want to be next?
these are the drawings i made for @dyxnamicart ‘s dtiys on ig...im honestly quite proud of this!
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also the last pic is....uhhh me trying to take a reference photo cuz i originally planned a different pose for phil...but as you can see it didnt work out lmao