Sometimes I think about the contrast between the two characters I have who are schizophrenic. It wasn't "Erik" who had me interested in the subject, because I didn't realize he seemed schizophrenic until maybe five years after his creation. It was another character I developed around the same time in 2005 who I knew from the start would have the illness: Dorian. He was the whole reason I researched the subject. He has the kind of schizophrenia that you imagine when you think of it: completely disruptive, and ultimately what killed him. (spoiler? even though the story is sorta dead?)

If the two of them lived in the same place and were forced to spend some time together, "Erik" would have immense sympathy for him, I think. Like I can see him legitimately wanting to make sure he's okay and seeing if there's a way to help him/keep him safe while he's away. He's not like a suppppper dad-ish kind of guy, that much is obvious, but Dorian's dysfunction would endear him and make him a little wistful. He'd probably study him a little and worry that he could end up that way in the future.

Unfortunately, "Erik" would be really intimidating to Dorian. Surely, if he approached him in his Phantom get-up, Dorian'd probably shit his pants off medication. He'd need to be near him in his normal clothes and it would still take time for him to earn some trust. We've all got energy about us, you know? "Erik"'s would still seem tense and agitated, and although he would attempt to subdue this around him, before he ever knew what Dorian was going through, he'd not care if he broadcasted that negative energy. Dorian would still remember it. And he'd notice how "Erik" doesn't seem to have other friends.

This is interesting. I like introducing characters to those from other stories. It reveals other sides to them.

LORD, IF "ERIK" AND AKIRA WERE IN A ROOM TOGETHER, ALL HELL WOULD BREAK LOOSE.

Was having a thought about how I compared Lily's presence in her household to "Erik"'s.

She's the shadow, he steals the show, that whole bit?

See, I still think he would find a way to relate to her, and the reason he would relate to her lies in these comments found in chapter 51, which I actually elaborated on since it was last posted, two years ago. When Lily brings up that Mr. Worden has told her "Erik" has schizophrenia:

“And you think that means something.” (...) “Suddenly something about Erik makes sense. We know how to treat him, now. We know how he thinks. We are equip, now, to deal with Erik. We have the words to understand how he thinks, who he is. We have to be careful. He's not really there.”

“I never said that.”

“Do you think I'm an idiot, now? Do you think everything I have ever felt was nothing?”

“No. I know you're very intelligent, and you've a right to your feelings. I'm the one who's- who's a-an idiot.”

“Being careful with Erik, now. I don't like it when you're afraid of me!

Now, just before I start, I want to make known that there is a huge distinction between how he personally interprets his illness and how he knows other people see it. He's reacting with supreme frustration to 1. the way that other people judge those with mental illnesses, and 2. the imaginary power/sensibility/autonomy that "non mentally ill people" think they possess.

So when I say that he "stole the show" of his household, it's moreso that his illness, his antisocial behavior, his other issues have stolen the show. The focus is "what do we do about him?", and even though that is a very good question, it doesn't feel good being surrounded by people who are just trying to find out "what to do about you". For a very long time in his life, he has felt like just a walking problem. His true self has become a shadow on the wall. Nobody has tried to relate to him in a way that reaches past how he is problematic. I think after a while, people forgot that he had a heart, or was hurting inside, or that he cared about anything, had dreams, had talents. I can see him describing feelings like these in a cryptic way during the second arc, which I still need to rewrite, and he already hints at it during their first physical meeting, when Lily feels she hasn't gotten any closer to figuring him out, and he says "Madam, you have gotten to know me more than anyone ever does.”