Warning!! What you are about to read (if you dare) is a 100% self indulgent fluffy demestrap post that is also kinda stupid, but my mind came up with it (almost) by accident and I canât stop thinking about it.
Recently, I watched the Phantom of the Opera on YouTube. It was absolutely beautiful and I loved it! The problem (which is not actually a problem) is that I watched the musical while still being in the middle of my Cats obsession, which resulted in me relating POTO to Cats. Long story short, I ended up coming up with a cute little demestrap scenario where Munk and Demeter go on a nice date night, and it goes a little bit like this:
One day, Demeter found out that there was going to be a POTO performance at Gusâs theatre, so she asked Jellylorum if she could ask Gus if he could help sneak Munk and Demeter in the theatre for them to enjoy a little date night together. (I share the widely accepted headcanon that Munkustrap is sort of this workaholic whose life revolves around his job as protector, which usually leads to him overworking himself. This, of course, only comes from a place of love and wanting to keep his family safe.) It took a bit of persuasion from Demeterâs part, but eventually Munkustrap agreed, partly because of the persuasion, but mostly because he could never deny anything to Demeter, he absolutely adores her and wants to make her the happiest queen in the junkyard. Gus gladly agreed to help the two lovers sneak into his theatre to watch POTO. Upon their arrival, Gus took them to a little hidden spot in the theatre where they could perfectly watch the performance while staying hidden from the humans, so that they wouldnât get kicked out. (The people who work at the theatre donât allow any animals inside, only Gus and sometimes Jellylorum.)
When the performance began, both cats were immediately drawn into the plot and the music. (Being Jellicles, they have a special connection with music, even human music). They both watched the show, cuddled up together, but at some points Demeter would feel Munkustrap holding her tighter, closer to him. The first time it happened, was during the âWhy have you brought me hereâ part, when the Phantomâs voice can be heard and Christine falls to her knees with overwhelming terror right in front of Raoul. When Demeter felt the light squeeze, she looked up at him, but she didnât want to interrupt the performance for him, so she didnât say anything. The only thing that she saw was the expression in her mateâs face, which was one of frustration, stress and almost anger. Demeter didnât think much of it, until it happened again during âMasquerade/Why so silent?â, she looked up at Munkustrap again, and the same expression of frustration was marking his features. This happened a couple more times throughout the play, for example, during âNotes/Twisted Every Wayâ, and âWandering Child/ Bravo Monsieurâ. Even though he sometimes looked frustrated, it didnât seem as if Munkustrap didnât enjoy the play, he actually seemed very invested in the story and clapped loudly and smiled brightly at the actors during the curtain call, so Demeter decided to dismiss her worry and just enjoy the rest of the night.
On the walk back home, they spoke about the performance and their opinions. Demeter was surprised at how amazing the music and vocals were, she even said that it sounded (almost) as good as any Jellicle song, considering it was humans singing and not their own kind. Munk agreed with that, and they carried on with their conversation sharing their opinions about the performance. Throughout the entire conversation, Demeter felt like asking about the frustrated look Munk wore during a couple parts of the show, she didnât mention it until she was able to pluck up the courage to ask.
Munkustrap was caught off guard by the sudden question, he was sure that Demeter hadnât noticed, but him being Munkustrap and loving Demeter with everything he had, he couldnât deny his mate the answer. After a couple seconds of thought, Munk went on to explain that there were certain parts in the play when Christine reminded him of Demeter. He said that this thought began when Erik (the Phantom) began to get agressive with people and his actions started hurting Christine. He saw how absolutely petrified Christine would get at the sound of the phantomâs voice, how hurt she was, all because of a man whose actions turned him into a monster. This entire situation reminded him of Demeter and her previous relationship with Macavity and how skittish, paranoid, anxious and emotionally scarred Demeter was right after getting out of the relationship, before becoming Munkustrapâs mate.
But that wasnât all of it, he continued to explain. Next, he spoke of how frustrated he would get whenever Raoul was with Christine and she was in clear danger or near having a panic attack (example: around the second âNotesâ song). He could not understand how Raoul was just able to stand there and not DO SOMETHING, ANYTHING! How Raoul could just stand around and watch Christine be hurt by the Phantom, was beyond him, because if he were in Raoulâs position and Demeter were Christine, he would do anything in his power and more to make sure she was happy and safe. He would at least try to comfort her and calm her mind to the best of his ability.
The parts that angered him the most were: âWandering Childâ (when Christine was right in front of Erik and Raoul just stood there screaming her name instead of immediately getting her away from Erik, to safety), and when Raoul came up with the BriLLiAnT (yes, he added the sarcasm, he can be extremely sassy when he wants to) idea to have Christine act in âDon Juan Triumphantâ as bait to capture the Phantom. How could he allow Christine, his love, who clearly was terrified of this man, to be put in such danger? He went on to explain that if he were Raoul, and Demeter were Christine, he would not hesitate to do ANYTHING in his power to keep her safe, calm and happy.
That was why he felt frustrated, it reminded him of the pain and suffering his beloved queen had been through, of the monster that would hurt her both physically and mentally. It made him realize how much he wanted to shield her from the horrible monster that was Macavity. If Macavity were ever in front of him, he would not hesitate to throw himself at him (again) and put an end to him, so that he never ever had the chance to hurt his family ever again. After letting all his thoughts and feelings out, he looked sort of ashamed, but at the same time, releaved, he always felt better after talking to Demeter, even if he feared sheâd think his feelings were silly, which was never the case. When he looked up at Demeter, she looked completely taken aback by his answer, she was not expecting him to say that.
Demeter felt her body go warm with a wonderful feeling of love, pure love for her mate and how truly and strongly he loved her. For a few moments, she contemplated how lucky she was, how lucky she was to be with him and to call this tom hers after the complete and utter nightmare that was Macavity. If Munkustrap hadnât explained to her why he looked so frustrated, she wouldnât have ever seen it that way. But now that Munk explained the entire situation to her, she could clearly see the similarities between her life and the play.
After hearing all of that, Demeter tenderly brushed up against Munkustrap and sweetly nuzzled her head under his chin. Relieved to finally let his thoughts and frustrations out, Munk returned the gesture by holding his queen close, in the safety of his arms. As they resumed their walk back to the junkyard, they both kept close to each other, just the way they were right now, spending the rest of their date night in the most perfect way possible.
Ok so thatâs it! Thatâs literally what I thought of while I watched POTO for the first time, I know this is a completely stupid and pointless little scenario, but Iâm a sucker for demestrap and fuzzy things like this, so yea... I truly hope I didnât offend anyone with my (possibly) shallow opinions and takeaways from POTO. I understand that there is so much more to POTO than just my simple mentions of it in this post, so donât think I donât see the deeper meanings behind it. I watched it once more before they took it off YouTube just to be able to appreciate it without thinking of Cats during it (I canât say I was able to do that during the entire thing, but I tried). I absolutely adore the musical and itâs definetly one of my favs, itâs almost as high up in my fav list as Cats. (Almost!! But not quite as high up, Cats still holds a very special place in my heart). If youâve read this far then, thanks! Thanks for reading my self indulgent, plotless, lovey dovey demestrap scenario! I appreciate it.
