However, in a 2008 interview with The Advocate, Muhly stated that the opera is based on the true story of an online friendship between two male teenagers, one of whom stabs the other. The opera was reworked both before and after its 2011 premiere.
However, according to Muhly's 2008 interview with The Advocate, the opera draws from a true account of an online friendship between two teenage males, one of whom committed a violent act against the other. The opera was revised before and after its 2011 premiere.