They really were. And i only use initials in private chat - otherwise it's too confusing. So it's shorthand w/ a friend b/c we know who we're talking about.
The Phantom thing - the fandom has a system where they do an actor initial and then 'Erik'. Which works out okay until you get to Ramin Karimloo who did 3 different versions of the Phantom - his West End run, the 25th Anniv performance, and Love Never Dies (tho no one talks about LND b/c it sux). So Ramin gets ! bangs to separate his specific styles of Phantom.
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The Phantom thing - the fandom has a system where they do an actor initial and then 'Erik'. Which works out okay until you get to Ramin Karimloo who did 3 different versions of the Phantom - his West End run, the 25th Anniv performance, and Love Never Dies (tho no one talks about LND b/c it sux). So Ramin gets ! bangs to separate his specific styles of Phantom.