zellephantom

{In spite of the seriousness of the circumstances, the absurdity of the question would have made them roar with laughter, if they had not caught sight of a face so sorrow-stricken that they were at once seized with pity. It was the Vicomte Raoul de Chagny.}

Poor Raoul. He just can't catch a break. First a fight with his brother, then his plan to get Christine far away from there is preempted before it can even begin, despite all his planning.

{Raoul's first thought, after Christine Daae's fantastic disappearance, was to accuse Erik. He no longer doubted the almost supernatural powers of the Angel of Music, in this domain of the Opera in which he had set up his empire. And Raoul rushed on the stage, in a mad fit of love and despair.}

At this point, I almost think Raoul would somehow blame Erik if he stubbed his toe in the Opera house... Not that his conclusion here was wrong, of course.

{"Christine! Christine!" he moaned, calling to her as he felt that she must be calling to him from the depths of that dark pit to which the monster had carried her. "Christine! Christine!"

And he seemed to hear the girl's screams through the frail boards that separated him from her. He bent forward, he listened, ... he wandered over the stage like a madman. Ah, to descend, to descend into that pit of darkness every entrance to which was closed to him, ... for the stairs that led below the stage were forbidden to one and all that night!}

I'm getting some Orpheus and Euridyce vibes here. Of course, we all know that singing "I love her! Does that mean nothing? I love her!" is utterly ineffective against Erik. (And if he hadn't followed it up with "Show some compassion!", Erik's retort would have probably been along the lines of "Well, that makes two of us!".)

{People pushed him aside, laughing. They made fun of him. They thought the poor lover's brain was gone!}

Not cool, people.

However, the phrasing just makes me think of "Brain and brain! What is brain!?" from the episode Spock's Brain of the original series of Star Trek. (A short video to enlighten and entertain those unaware can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgqbW83slXU ) "Someone stole Raoul's brain!" And just picture the Persian piloting Raoul's body via remote control when they go down to find Erik...

{Hideous thoughts flashed through Raoul's congested brain. Of course, Erik must have discovered their secret, must have known that Christine had played him false. What a vengeance would be his!}

I really feel the whole 'congested brain' thing, being mildly sick with a cold at the moment.

{And Raoul thought again of the yellow stars that had come, the night before, and roamed over his balcony. Why had he not put them out for good? There were some men's eyes that dilated in the darkness and shone like stars or like cats' eyes. Certainly Albinos, who seemed to have rabbits' eyes by day, had cats' eyes at night: everybody knew that! ... Yes, yes, he had undoubtedly fired at Erik. Why had he not killed him? The monster had fled up the gutter-spout like a cat or a convict who—everybody knew that also—would scale the very skies, with the help of a gutter-spout ... No doubt Erik was at that time contemplating some decisive step against Raoul, but he had been wounded and had escaped to turn against poor Christine instead.}

Who says it has to be like a cat or a convict? Why not a convict cat, like Macavity, who's "broken every human law" and must face justice for numerous crimes, including tax fraud?

And you might be thinking of him, Raoul, but I doubt he's considered you a significant enough threat to be thinking about you.

{Bitter tears scorched the boy's eyelids as he saw scattered over the furniture the clothes which his beautiful bride was to have worn at the hour of their flight. Oh, why had she refused to leave earlier?}

Had she actually said she was going to marry him at this point, or was this just based on the engagement game?

{He pushed, pressed, groped about, but the glass apparently obeyed no one but Erik ... Perhaps actions were not enough with a glass of the kind? Perhaps he was expected to utter certain words? When he was a little boy, he had heard that there were things that obeyed the spoken word!}

I don't think the password is 'Open Sesame', Raoul.

{Suddenly, Raoul remembered something about a gate opening into the Rue Scribe, an underground passage running straight to the Rue Scribe from the lake ... Yes, Christine had told him about that... And, when he found that the key was no longer in the box, he nevertheless ran to the Rue Scribe. Outside, in the street, he passed his trembling hands over the huge stones, felt for outlets ... met with iron bars ... were those they? ... Or these? ... Or could it be that air-hole? ... He plunged his useless eyes through the bars ... How dark it was in there! ... He listened ... All was silence! ... He went round the building ... and came to bigger bars, immense gates! ... It was the entrance to the Cour de l'Administration.}

I think Leroux needs the equivalent of a swear jar for every time he uses ellipses in this book.

Current Mood: exhausted

{It was at that moment that the stage was suddenly plunged in darkness. It happened so quickly that the spectators hardly had time to utter a sound of stupefaction, for the gas at once lit up the stage again. But Christine Daae was no longer there!}

Did the Phantom get his hands on some Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder? XD

{Where had Christine gone? What witchcraft had snatched her, away before the eyes of thousands of enthusiastic onlookers and from the arms of Carolus Fonta himself? It was as though the angels had really carried her up "to rest."}

Well, she hasn't been carried up to rest... I think you might have more success looking down. Also, I'm just curious, is Carolus Fonta meant to be based on a real life opera singer of the time, or is he basically the proto-Piangi?

{But Raoul hurriedly left his seat, the count disappeared from his box and, while the curtain was lowered, the subscribers rushed to the door that led behind the scenes. The rest of the audience waited amid an indescribable hubbub. Every one spoke at once. Every one tried to suggest an explanation of the extraordinary incident.}

'Indescribable hubbub' is such a good phrase. And I'm picturing everyone offering explanations in almost a Buzzfeed Unsolved kind of way, and there's one person who's absolutely sure that it was aliens and will not be convinced otherwise.

{At last, the curtain rose slowly and Carolus Fonta stepped to the conductor's desk and, in a sad and serious voice, said:

"Ladies and gentlemen, an unprecedented event has taken place and thrown us into a state of the greatest alarm. Our sister-artist, Christine Daae, has disappeared before our eyes and nobody can tell us how!"}

I wonder how well he knew Christine- were they friends? They'd probably at least worked together in rehearsals. I mean, they probably aren't super close or else he would've been mentioned before (and a certain lurking Phantom would have gotten jealous and likely tried to get him assigned to a different role- can't have Christine falling for the handsome lead tenor), and the 'sister-artist' is likely just a theatrical flourish...

{Behind the curtain, there was an indescribable crowd. Artists, scene-shifters, dancers, supers, choristers, subscribers were all asking questions, shouting and hustling one another.}

And there's that 'indescribable' again, although it's undermined by the fairly successful attempt to describe the contents of the crowd that's gathered. Okay, what exactly are supers and choristers?

I know what subscribers means in this context, but it's much funnier to imagine a more YouTube-esque scenario where every so often the performance just stops and one of the actors goes 'Don't forget to subscribe for more great opera content like this!' 'Check out our new merch in the foyer- 50% off with the promo code FAUST!' 'Hit the bell to turn on notifications so you don't miss any of our future performances!' and they address the subscribers with some cheesy name like the "Garnier Gang" or something like that.

{"Ah, here's Carlotta! Carlotta did the trick!"}

Also funny to imagine: Carlotta, Philippe, Raoul, and Erik were all trying to take Christine away sometime during the performance for drastically different reasons, but their attempts kept foiling each other's and Christine makes it through the performance just fine, unaware of these machinations, but finds them all waiting for her afterwards looking varying degrees of peeved and shooting glares at each other.

Or the crowd just desperately grasping at straws for any possible explanation, and involving anything and anyone in their line of sight in their theories. ("Look- there's a prop broomstick backstage!" "Weren't there supposed to be two of these?" "I bet Christine flew off on the other one!" "Yeah, didn't you hear someone yelling 'So, if you care to find me- look to the western sky!' during all that commotion?" "That's not what happened- besides, she's a soprano, not a mezzo-soprano!")

{"No, it was the ghost!" And a few laughed, especially as a careful examination of the trap-doors and boards had put the idea of an accident out of the question.}

Riiiight, because the ghost is only responsible for accidents. He wouldn't do something so purposeful as vanishing the leading lady during the middle of the performance to take her down to his secret underground lair. The Ghost would never do something like that, right? /s

{Amid this noisy throng, three men stood talking in a low voice and with despairing gestures. They were Gabriel, the chorus-master; Mercier, the acting-manager; and Remy, the secretary. They retired to a corner of the lobby by which the stage communicates with the wide passage leading to the foyer of the ballet. Here they stood and argued behind some enormous "properties."}

Remy! I almost forgot that he wasn't a MAZM Phantom original. [insert obligatory Ratatouille the Musical joke here]

{"I refuse to know or to do anything before the commissary arrives," declared Mercier. "I have sent for Mifroid. We shall see when he comes!"}

Mifroid! Wow, I'd forgotten how attentive the MAZM Phantom game was with even the names of minor characters! (They managed to mangle Erik's redemption, which is kind of the entire point of the story, but still! Props for attention to detail!)

{"What do you want me to do down there for{sic}?"}

[sic] indeed! But then, I'd probably not be paying as much attention here either- this whole scene and the managers' antics that follow manages to disrupt the flow of the whole story, just when tension is building over Christine's disappearance, and I don't really find the whole safety pin thing particularly engaging or funny.

{The stage-manager walked away, shrugging his shoulders, fuming, muttering insults at those milksops who remained quietly squatting in a corner while the whole theater was topsyturvy{sic}.}

Okay, I didn't mean two typos in roughly the span of a page was excusable...

{"Moncharmin opened the door at last. His eyes were starting out of his head. I thought he meant to strike me. I could not get a word in; and what do you think he shouted at me? 'Have you a safety-pin?' 'No!' 'Well, then, clear out!' I tried to tell him that an unheard-of thing had happened on the stage, but he roared, 'A safety-pin! Give me a safety-pin at once!' A boy heard him—he was bellowing like a bull—ran up with a safety-pin and gave it to him; whereupon Moncharmin slammed the door in my face, and there you are!"}

New method of dealing with interruptions: tell the person that you can't be bothered dealing with them unless they have a safety-pin. (Or, you know, just read a book on anger management or effective management practices or inspiring loyalty in your employees through leadership.)

{"And couldn't you have said, 'Christine Daae.'"

"I should like to have seen you in my place. He was foaming at the mouth. He thought of nothing but his safety-pin. I believe, if they hadn't brought him one on the spot, he would have fallen down in a fit! ... Oh, all this isn't natural; and our managers are going mad! ... Besides, it can't go on like this! I'm not used to being treated in that fashion!"}

That last sentence seems more suited to Carlotta than anyone else. Maybe if you'd had a safety-pin on you, you might have persuaded them into offering you a raise?

{Rimy gave a grin, Mercier a sigh and seemed about to speak ... but, meeting Gabriel's eye, said nothing.}

And now there's no [sic], right when a character's name is clearly misspelled?

Skipping some lines due to my capacity for bearing with excessive ellipses and all caps becoming exhausted.

{"Oh, so you admit it! And high time, too! And THEN, THEY WALK BACKWARD!"

"BACKWARD! You have seen our managers WALK BACKWARD? Why, I thought that only crabs walked backward!"}

I thought crabs walked sideways? But admittedly, I know nothing about crabs, and I suspect studying them further would only make me... crabby XD

{"Perhaps you can tell me this, Gabriel, as you're an intimate friend of the management: When I went up to M. Richard, outside the foyer, during the Garden interval, with my hand out before me, why did M. Moncharmin hurriedly whisper to me, 'Go away! Go away! Whatever you do, don't touch M. le Directeur!' Am I supposed to have an infectious disease?"}

Well, if you aren't social distancing and wearing your mask, I can't blame them for avoiding you...

{"And Moncharmin, behind Richard, also turned about; that is, he described a semicircle behind Richard and also WALKED BACKWARD! ... And they went LIKE THAT to the staircase leading to the managers' office: BACKWARD, BACKWARD, BACKWARD! ... Well, if they are not mad, will you explain what it means?"

"Perhaps they were practising a figure in the ballet," suggested Gabriel, without much conviction in his voice.

The secretary was furious at this wretched joke, made at so dramatic a moment.}

Come on, Remy, you had to admit he had a golden opportunity there XD

{"You did see it, Gabriel, for you went with Mercier and Mother Giry to Mercier's office. Since then, you and Mercier have been seen, but no one has seen Mother Giry."

"Do you think we've eaten her?"}

"Well, you do already have a ghost in your workplace, so I don't know if secret cannibalism is that much of a stretch." (But kudos for a joke that actually made me laugh- assuming this isn't some other bizarre mistranslation...)

Current Mood: exhausted

It's been a while, hasn't it? Hopefully, I'll be able to actually finish commenting on this book someday... Let's see, I believe we were last at Apollo's Lyre...

{"No, no, he is working, I tell you, at his Don Juan Triumphant and not thinking of us."

"You're so sure of that you keep on looking behind you!"}

Christine's hypervigilance here is honestly relatable. Is it reaching too much to headcanon her with PTSD? (Iiii kind of don't care and will probably just do it anyway.) And, yet again, Raoul is taking the potential danger of the Phantom much less seriously, as opposed to Christine, who sometimes overestimates the threat he presents, but you can't really blame her for that (different canon, but reminds me of the ALW musical's "And if he has to kill a thousand men / The Phantom of the Opera will kill / and kill again!").

{"Hadn't we better meet outside the Opera?"

"Never, till we go away for good! It would bring us bad luck, if I did not keep my word. I promised him to see you only here."}

I don't think it's 'bad luck' as in tripping while walking down the sidewalk- it sounds more like 'deliberate misfortune that will be brought down upon you' as in chandeliers falling, scorpions and grasshoppers, et cetera.

{"It's a good thing for me that he allowed you even that. Do you know," said Raoul bitterly, "that it was very plucky of you to let us play at being engaged?"

"Why, my dear, he knows all about it! He said, 'I trust you, Christine. M. de Chagny is in love with you and is going abroad. Before he goes, I want him to be as happy as I am.' Are people so unhappy when they love?"}

'I want him to be as happy as I am'- *sarcasm* And you're very well known for being happy, aren't you, Erik? So happy that just getting kissed on the forehead is enough for you to taste all the happiness the world can offer and then die. (Spoilers for a book over a hundred years old, I guess?) Poor, unhappy Erik, indeed.

But it's at least good that he trusts her that much and isn't overcome with murder-y jealousy towards Raoul. (Yet.) It seems that being in unrequited love with Christine has made both these men very unhappy- but how does this attention make Christine feel? It doesn't seem like her feelings are really the focus or really matter as much when there's men expounding on how their love for her makes them feel all the unhappy, tumultuous feels.

{"No. He gave me his word not to be behind the walls of my dressing-room again and I believe Erik's word. This room and my bedroom on the lake are for me, exclusively, and not to be approached by him."}

They trust each other! Even after all of this, they trust each other! (Not enough to go outside the Opera House, but still.)

{"It is dangerous, dear, for the glass might carry me off again; and, instead of running away, I should be obliged to go to the end of the secret passage to the lake and there call Erik."}

'The glass might carry me off again' is such a poetic turn of phrase, though it raises many questions about the logistics of the process, especially when Erik isn't there to facilitate her journey through the underworld.

{"Erik will hear me wherever I call him. He told me so. He is a very curious genius. You must not think, Raoul, that he is simply a man who amuses himself by living underground. He does things that no other man could do; he knows things which nobody in the world knows."

"Take care, Christine, you are making a ghost of him again!"

"No, he is not a ghost; he is a man of Heaven and earth, that is all."}

I mean, he does kind of amuse himself by living underground and messing with the managers? But, yeah, he doesn't just live underground for the fun of it.

I just really love this whole exchange?? Christine calling Raoul dear is very endearing, and then you've got things like E & C trusting each other's word which ignites a tiny spark in my shipper heart, plus 'Erik will hear me wherever I call him' (I keep wanting to type 'whenever', b/c that just makes more sense in my head.). I don't know what to make of the 'man of Heaven and earth' thing- maybe my brain is just tired from studying for finals, but I've just never understood the implications of what it means, other than the obvious 'he's not a ghost but can do incredible things'.

{"A man of Heaven and earth ... that is all! ... A nice way to speak of him! ... And are you still resolved to run away from him?"

"Yes, to-morrow."

"To-morrow, you will have no resolve left!"

"Then, Raoul, you must run away with me in spite of myself; is that understood?"}

Christine thinks kidnapping is romantic #confirmed (jk I'm kidding)

Also, wow, Leroux and/or de Mattos, you think there's enough ellipses in that dialogue??

{Christine opened a box, took out an enormous key and showed it to Raoul.

"What's that?" he asked.

"The key of the gate to the underground passage in the Rue Scribe."}

This gets so much funnier if you imagine the key as one of those ridiculously huge ceremonial 'key to the city' things XD

{"Oh heavens!" she cried. "Erik! Erik! Have pity on me!"

"Hold your tongue!" said Raoul. "You told me he could hear you!"

But the singer's attitude became more and more inexplicable.}

I think it's less 'inexplicable' and more 'probably on the verge of having a panic attack'.

{"The ring ... the gold ring he gave me."

"Oh, so Erik gave you that ring!"}

Is this really the time for that, Raoul?? Put aside your jealousy for one minute and help Christine out.

{He put out his lamp and felt a need to insult Erik in the dark. Thrice over, he shouted:

"Humbug! ... Humbug! ... Humbug!"}

Okay, I find this really adorable for some reason?? Like Raoul trying to be all tough and insult his rival but the best thing he can come up with is 'humbug', and probably not even an Ebenezer Scrooge caliber humbug at that??

Current Mood: amused
Current Music: Raoul, I've Been There

{"Christine," said Raoul, rising, "you tell me that you love me; but you had recovered your liberty hardly a few hours before you returned to Erik! Remember the masked ball!"

"Yes; and do you remember those hours which I passed with you, Raoul ... to the great danger of both of us?"

"I doubted your love for me, during those hours."

"Do you doubt it still, Raoul? ... Then know that each of my visits to Erik increased my horror of him; for each of those visits, instead of calming him, as I hoped, made him mad with love! And I am so frightened, so frightened! ..."}

This is... interesting. I almost wonder if Christine's exaggerating her horror of Erik to Raoul so he won't get jealous.

{"You are frightened ... but do you love me? If Erik were good-looking, would you love me, Christine?"

She rose in her turn, put her two trembling arms round the young man's neck and said:

"Oh, my betrothed of a day, if I did not love you, I would not give you my lips! Take them, for the first time and the last."

He kissed her lips; but the night that surrounded them was rent asunder, they fled as at the approach of a storm and their eyes, filled with dread of Erik, showed them, before they disappeared, high up above them, an immense night-bird that stared at them with its blazing eyes and seemed to cling to the string of Apollo's lyre.}

She.. avoided that question very effectively. Christine said, basically, "It doesn't matter if I love Erik, especially in a circumstance that could never be- I love you and I wouldn't let you do this if I didn't."

But it's an interesting thought. If Erik didn't have such an unfortunate face (therefore making his childhood and life in general a lot less awful and hopefully make him less of a jerk), would Christine still love Raoul? I think she would, but I don't know if she would ultimately choose him as a romantic partner in the end. She loves Raoul, both as an old friend and romantically, but, in this AU, would she love Erik more, enough to spend her life with him? (The E/C shipper in me says YES, but really I could see her falling for and ending up with either one of them in this scenario.)

Also, I'm a little confused. Did they actually see that Erik was there watching them, did they imagine it, or simply recognize the possibility that he could be watching and decide to leave in order to be safe?

{There was no performance at the Opera that night and the passages were empty. Suddenly, a queer-looking form stood before them and blocked the road:

"No, not this way!"

And the form pointed to another passage by which they were to reach the wings. Raoul wanted to stop and ask for an explanation. But the form, which wore a sort of long frock-coat and a pointed cap, said:

"Quick! Go away quickly!"}

Ah, the ever-delightful daroga makes his first appearance!

{Christine was already dragging Raoul, compelling him to start running again.

"But who is he? Who is that man?" he asked.

Christine replied: "It's the Persian."

"What's he doing here?"

"Nobody knows. He is always in the Opera."}

Christine is so chill about this. "Oh, yeah, we have a mysterious creepy guy lurking around the Opera all the time and nobody knows what his deal is... Well, technically we have two counting Erik, but nbd."

{"You are making me run away, for the first time in my life. If we really saw Erik, what I ought to have done was to nail him to Apollo's lyre, just as we nail the owls to the walls of our Breton farms; and there would have been no more question of him."}

Overly violent threats really don't suit you, Raoul. (And you're still harboring the delusion that you could, in fact, take Erik in a fight. Seriously, if it wasn't for Christine you'd be dead.)

Also that's just a super disturbing practice?? (I really like owls. They're gorgeous birds. You wouldn't hurt Hedwig, would you?? Or Gylfie, for that matter, if you like semi-obscure fandoms.)

{"My dear Raoul, you would first have had to climb up to Apollo's lyre: that is no easy matter."}

Christine here with a much-needed reality check that manages to convince Raoul of the thoughtlessness of his plan without hurting his ego.

{"The blazing eyes were there!"

"Oh, you are getting like me now, seeing him everywhere! What I took for blazing eyes was probably a couple of stars shining through the strings of the lyre."}

Or WAS IT??

Current Mood: accomplished

{His Don Juan Triumphant (for I had not a doubt but that he had rushed to his masterpiece to forget the horror of the moment) seemed to me at first one long, awful, magnificent sob. But, little by little, it expressed every emotion, every suffering of which mankind is capable.}

I like this DJT better than ALW, I think. An artistic masterpiece, the effort of a lifetime, that expresses just how DONE Erik is with the world and how cruelly it treats him and all those who are different from the norm.

{Presently I heard the sound of the organ; and then I began to understand Erik's contemptuous phrase when he spoke about Opera music.}

So, Erik is a pretentious opera snob, then?

{'Erik,' I cried, 'show me your face without fear! I swear that you are the most unhappy and sublime of men; and, if ever again I shiver when I look at you, it will be because I am thinking of the splendor of your genius!' Then Erik turned round, for he believed me, and I also had faith in myself.}

That's quite a dramatic 180 there, Christine. The text doesn't say, but there has to be some sort of timejump between Erik going to his room to sulk and this declaration??

{He fell at my feet, with words of love}

Again, dramatic 180, but not exactly unwelcome. You SHOULD be falling at Christine's feet begging for forgiveness, Erik.

{"What more can I tell you, dear? You now know the tragedy. It went on for a fortnight—a fortnight during which I lied to him. My lies were as hideous as the monster who inspired them; but they were the price of my liberty.}

Owww this hurts. Christine, despite her admiration of him, still can't get over the horror of Erik's face and has to lie to him to spare his feelings and gain her freedom.

{I burned his mask}

Bold move, there, especially given that you actually can't stand to see his face.

{I managed so well that, even when he was not singing, he tried to catch my eye, like a dog sitting by its master. He was my faithful slave and paid me endless little attentions. Gradually, I gave him such confidence that he ventured to take me walking on the banks of the lake and to row me in the boat on its leaden waters; toward the end of my captivity he let me out through the gates that closed the underground passages in the Rue Scribe.}

The power dynamic is so weird and complicated here. He is her "faithful slave" and duitiful servant, and yet she is his prisoner who needs permission to take a walk outside.

Also for some reason I'm picturing the boat thing as some weird version of Kiss the Girl from the Little Mermaid except with candles and weird lake monsters instead of charming talking crustaceans.

{"Yes, dear, and I must tell you that it was not his frightful threats when setting me free that helped me to keep my word, but the harrowing sob which he gave on the threshold of the tomb. ... That sob attached me to the unfortunate man more than I myself suspected when saying good-by to him. Poor Erik! Poor Erik!"}

Ohhhh. Christine is SO GOOD. So caring. Able to even feel sympathy for people who've hurt her. Frankly, she deserves better than either of these two ridiculous men. (*cough* I still ship E/C though because their dynamic is interesting to explore *cough*)

Current Mood: lazy

Hello everyone. Long time no Phantom posts. It's good to see me again, isn't it?

No need to respond- that was rhetorical.

{"Then I saw the keyboard of an organ which filled one whole side of the walls. On the desk was a music-book covered with red notes. I asked leave to look at it and read, 'Don Juan Triumphant.' 'Yes,' he said, 'I compose sometimes.' I began that work twenty years ago. When I have finished, I shall take it away with me in that coffin and never wake up again.' 'You must work at it as seldom as you can,' I said. He replied, 'I sometimes work at it for fourteen days and nights together, during which I live on music only, and then I rest for years at a time.' }

Isn't red ink so much hard to see on white paper?? Why does Erik like to use it so much??

Also, exaggerating to impress your crush much, Erik? Unless you're genuinely supernatural, which you've admitted you aren't, you can't be a generally productive person and work for FOURTEEN DAYS STRAIGHT WITHOUT FOOD, WATER, OR SLEEP. And, unless there's some weird Sleeping Beauty type shenanagins going on, or are in a coma somehow, YOU CAN'T SLEEP FOR YEARS AT A TIME. (Unless he means that after his creative efforts are spent, he lives for years just going through the motions mechanically, without any spark of inspiration or interest in anything.)

I find it interesting that he started work on DJT 20 years ago- in ALW you (or at least me) get the impression that it's more of a recent passion project that's bordering on self-insert fanfic. But in Leroux, what prompted him to start composing? It's much less of a major facet of his character skills than it is in ALW.

It's kinda nice of Christine to basically say "If you're going to die after you finish this, then you *really* shouldn't work on it. Make as little progress as possible. Live."

(But isn't the point of composing to eventually get your work performed?? So why plan to not live to see your work performed or even have ANYONE ELSE BUT YOU FIND OR SEE IT IN THE FIRST PLACE??? I'm so confused by the quote above and I just had to try and unpack everything. Moving on!)

{"What did you do?"

"I had no time to think about the meaning he put into his words. We at once began the duet in Othello and already the catastrophe was upon us.}

Yeah, if it took me this long to process my thoughts about what he just said, I can't imagine having to react in the moment to this *incredibly weird* declaration.

(And if the catastrophe is your singing, I'm sure it can't be that bad.)

{I sang Desdemona with a despair, a terror which I had never displayed before. As for him, his voice thundered forth his revengeful soul at every note. Love, jealousy, hatred, burst out around us in harrowing cries. Erik's black mask made me think of the natural mask of the Moor of Venice. He was Othello himself. Suddenly, I felt a need to see beneath the mask. I wanted to know the FACE of the voice, and, with a movement which I was utterly unable to control, swiftly my fingers tore away the mask. Oh, horror, horror, horror!"}

While I do appreciate Shakespeare and have some general knowledge about all of his plays (which might not apply, since this is clearly some sort of opera), I probably need a refresher on Othello in order to really comment on how this applies to the situation.

The whole Christine being 'unable to control' herself from tearing off his mask thing has me curious. Was she just overcome by curiosity and had a Psyche moment? Or was this a moment like Erik doing his ambigously hypnotic control thing like in ALW with "I am your angel of music/Come to me, angel of music ... Sing for me!"?

And if it was the latter, why would he self-sabotage like that?

{Christine stopped, at the thought of the vision that had scared her, while the echoes of the night, which had repeated the name of Erik, now thrice moaned the cry: "Horror! ... Horror! ... Horror!"}

You're not being sneaky, Erik. This whole "echoes in the night" thing isn't fooling me.

{Raoul said: "Strange, Christine, that this calm, soft night should be so full of plaintive sounds. One would think that it was sorrowing with us."

"When you know the secret, Raoul, your ears, like mine, will be full of lamentations."}

Yes, it's strange, Raoul. Almost like someone is spying on you. Maybe you should, I don't know, CHECK BEHIND THE BIG STATUE??

(Also, if I didn't know better, I'd almost think Christine knows Erik is there and is covering for him.)

{"Yes, if I lived to be a hundred, I should always hear the superhuman cry of grief and rage which he uttered when the terrible sight appeared before my eyes ...}

Worst superpower ever: being able to scream ridiculously loudly and emotionally to an inhuman degree. It may freak people out, but it certainly wouldn't get you on the avengers.

{But imagine, if you can, Red Death's mask suddenly coming to life in order to express, with the four black holes of its eyes, its nose, and its mouth, the extreme anger, the mighty fury of a demon; AND NOT A RAY OF LIGHT FROM THE SOCKETS, for, as I learned later, you can not see his blazing eyes except in the dark.}

I take that back- glow-in-the-dark eyes are the worse superpower. Especially if they don't come with night vision abilities. You can't sneak up on anyone at night, but I guess you could freak them out?? Maybe lurk beside country roads at night and pretend to be deer whenever a car drives by??

{he hissed mad, incoherent words and curses at me. Leaning over me, he cried, 'Look! You want to see! See! Feast your eyes, glut your soul on my cursed ugliness! Look at Erik's face!'}

CURSE YOU, YOU LITTLE LYING DELILAH! YOU LITTLE PRYING PANDORAAAA!

{Now you know the face of the voice! You were not content to hear me, eh? You wanted to know what I looked like! Oh, you women are so inquisitive! Well, are you satisfied? I'm a very good-looking fellow, eh? ... When a woman has seen me, as you have, she belongs to me. She loves me for ever. I am a kind of Don Juan, you know!'}

Points for snark, but the sexism definitely cancels it out.

{And, when I turned away my head and begged for mercy, he drew it to him, brutally, twisting his dead fingers into my hair.}

Minus a million points for hurting her. Maybe try to be a decent person for once in your life, Erik???

{"Enough! Enough!" cried Raoul. "I will kill him. In Heaven's name, Christine, tell me where the dining-room on the lake is! I must kill him!"}

The sentiment is relatable right now, Raoul, but you must be dreaming if you're even thinking of fighting Erik, let alone winning.

The Dining Room on the Lake sounds like a delightful fancy restaurant, though.

{"Then he hissed at me. 'Ah, I frighten you, do I? ... I dare say! ... Perhaps you think that I have another mask, eh, and that this ... this ... my head is a mask? Well,' he roared, 'tear it off as you did the other! Come! Come along! I insist! Your hands! Your hands! Give me your hands!' And he seized my hands and dug them into his awful face. He tore his flesh with my nails, tore his terrible dead flesh with my nails!}

This is. Messed. Up. Erik using Christine as a vehicle for self-harm and projecting his own self-loathing onto while also terrifying and hurting her. Just messed up.

{'Know,' he shouted, while his throat throbbed and panted like a furnace, 'know that I am built up of death from head to foot and that it is a corpse that loves you and adores you and will never, never leave you!}

In a different context, this statement would be kind of romantic?? But here? NOPE.

{As long as you thought me handsome, you could have come back, I know you would have come back ... but, now that you know my hideousness, you would run away for good...}

You're making shallow generalizations about women, Erik. Maybe your ugliness wouldn't scare her away, but the yelling and hurting her? Definitely would.

{'When my own father never saw me and when my mother, so as not to see me, made me a present of my first mask!'}

So does he even know who his father is? Was it that he was illegitimate, that Mom hid the baby away him/ran away from him, or what?

{And then he crawled away like a snake}

Hilarious mental image, that.

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We're on a roll!

{"Before answering that," said Raoul, at last, speaking very slowly, "I should like to know with what feeling he inspires you, since you do not hate him."

"With horror!" she said. "That is the terrible thing about it. He fills me with horror and I do not hate him. How can I hate him, Raoul? Think of Erik at my feet, in the house on the lake, underground. He accuses himself, he curses himself, he implores my forgiveness! ... He confesses his cheat. He loves me! He lays at my feet an immense and tragic love... He has carried me off for love! ... He has imprisoned me with him, underground, for love! ... But he respects me: he crawls, he moans, he weeps! ... And, when I stood up, Raoul, and told him that I could only despise him if he did not, then and there, give me my liberty ... he offered it ... he offered to show me the mysterious road ... Only ... only he rose too ... and I was made to remember that, though he was not an angel, nor a ghost, nor a genius, he remained the voice ... for he sang. And I listened ... and stayed! ... That night, we did not exchange another word. He sang me to sleep.}

Ohhh I feel for you, Christine. It's HARD to articulate complicated feelings about people, especially about people who hurt you. How can I hate him? He's so pathetic. I reduce him to tears! To self-deprecation! To emotional declarations and prostrating himself before me for forgiveness! What terrible villain would do that? He respects me, even to the point of groveling as if I was a queen! And yet he ensnares me and holds me captive with his voice!

{"When I woke up, I was alone, lying on a sofa in a simply furnished little bedroom, with an ordinary mahogany bedstead, lit by a lamp standing on the marble top of an old Louis-Philippe chest of drawers. I soon discovered that I was a prisoner and that the only outlet from my room led to a very comfortable bath-room. On returning to the bedroom, I saw on the chest of drawers a note, in red ink, which said, 'My dear Christine, you need have no concern as to your fate. You have no better nor more respectful friend in the world than myself. You are alone, at present, in this home which is yours. I am going out shopping to fetch you all the things that you can need.' I felt sure that I had fallen into the hands of a madman. I ran round my little apartment, looking for a way of escape which I could not find. I upbraided myself for my absurd superstition, which had caused me to fall into the trap. I felt inclined to laugh and to cry at the same time.}

Erik likes writing in red ink A LOT. (And yet I almost wonder if it's ink and not... ketchup.) Also, if she has no better or more respectful friend than you, Erik, I'm concerned at the state of her social life.

(I'm just trying to picture Erik in full mask getup shopping at a modern grocery store. Highly amusing. I strongly recommend it.)

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The long-awaited return!

WE'RE BACK! Finally. Sorry for the long wait, but things have been busy and not great lately.

{"Christine! Christine! Something tells me that we are wrong to wait till to-morrow evening and that we ought to fly at once."

"I tell you that, if he does not hear me sing tomorrow, it will cause him infinite pain."

"It is difficult not to cause him pain and yet to escape from him for good."}

I can't believe I'm saying this but.. good point, Raoul. It would definitely hurt Erik more if he knew that Christine was *planning* to leave him and deliberately sang for him one last time than it would if she just vanished, which he could blame on Raoul convincing her to leave on a whim or something because no way would she just leave him by himself ON PURPOSE. No way it could be a planned, premeditated thing. It MUST have been the vicomte!

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Buckle up for a long one, folks, because it's BACKSTORY TIME!

{"Tell me how you saw him first."

"I had heard him for three months without seeing him. The first time I heard it, I thought, as you did, that that adorable voice was singing in another room. I went out and looked everywhere; but, as you know, Raoul, my dressing-room is very much by itself; and I could not find the voice outside my room, whereas it went on steadily inside. And it not only sang, but it spoke to me and answered my questions, like a real man's voice, with this difference, that it was as beautiful as the voice of an angel. I had never got the Angel of Music whom my poor father had promised to send me as soon as he was dead. I really think that Mamma Valerius was a little bit to blame. I told her about it; and she at once said, 'It must be the Angel; at any rate, you can do no harm by asking him.' I did so; and the man's voice replied that, yes, it was the Angel's voice, the voice which I was expecting and which my father had promised me. From that time onward, the voice and I became great friends. It asked leave to give me lessons every day. I agreed and never failed to keep the appointment which it gave me in my dressing-room. You have no idea, though you have heard the voice, of what those lessons were like."}

Of all the words you could use to describe the Phantom's voice, the first one you pick is adorable??

As much as I hate to blame a widowed old lady verging on senility, it is a little bit Mme. Valerius' fault. (Mostly Erik's fault for taking the Angel idea and running with it, though.)

(ohh now I want to read fanfics about Christine and Erik just hanging out as friends during the Angel days before it all went wrong...)

{"We were accompanied by a music which I do not know: it was behind the wall and wonderfully accurate. The voice seemed to understand mine exactly, to know precisely where my father had left off teaching me. In a few weeks' time, I hardly knew myself when I sang. I was even frightened. I seemed to dread a sort of witchcraft behind it; but Mamma Valerius reassured me. She said that she knew I was much too simple a girl to give the devil a hold on me ... }

So, was Erik also playing the accompaniment? Just standing there trying to hide a piano in the wall??

Dramatic change in oneself *is* very frightening, even if it is change for the better. Mme. Valerius is not exactly comforting, though. 'Oh, you're too straightforward and stupid for the devil to want to mess with you.'

{My progress, by the voice's own order, was kept a secret between the voice, Mamma Valerius and myself. It was a curious thing, but, outside the dressing-room, I sang with my ordinary, every-day voice and nobody noticed anything. I did all that the voice asked. It said, 'Wait and see: we shall astonish Paris!' And I waited and lived on in a sort of ecstatic dream. It was then that I saw you for the first time one evening, in the house. I was so glad that I never thought of concealing my delight when I reached my dressing-room. Unfortunately, the voice was there before me and soon noticed, by my air, that something had happened. It asked what was the matter and I saw no reason for keeping our story secret or concealing the place which you filled in my heart. Then the voice was silent. I called to it, but it did not reply; I begged and entreated, but in vain. I was terrified lest it had gone for good. I wish to Heaven it had, dear! ... That night, I went home in a desperate condition. I told Mamma Valerius, who said, 'Why, of course, the voice is jealous!' And that, dear, first revealed to me that I loved you."}

So did she have to try and make an effort to keep her voice concealed, or was she 'magically' back to her usual level of singing after the lessons?

That's.. strange. Realizing you love someone who you haven't seen in years because your boyfriend slash tutor got jealous of you talking about him.

{"I went back to my dressing-room in a very pensive frame of mind. The voice was there, spoke to me with great sadness and told me plainly that, if I must bestow my heart on earth, there was nothing for the voice to do but to go back to Heaven. And it said this with such an accent of HUMAN sorrow that I ought then and there to have suspected and begun to believe that I was the victim of my deluded senses. But my faith in the voice, with which the memory of my father was so closely intermingled, remained undisturbed.}

UNDERHANDED MANIPULATION TACTIC, ERIK. THAT'S VERY MUCH NOT A GOOD THING TO DO *AND* YOU JUST GAVE AWAY YOUR GAME. (Wait- DID she suspect at the time or was it just obvious in hindsight? The former would be very interesting.)

I'm... not touching that last sentence. There's a lot of ways you can interpret that if you want to, but I personally prefer the non-vaguely-incestuous version of 'my dad promised to send me the Angel of Music- if this isn't the Angel, then was my father lying to me or failing to keep his word? no, it MUST be the Angel. my father would never fail me.'

{I had thought about my love for you and realized all the useless danger of it; and I did not even know if you remembered me. Whatever happened, your position in society forbade me to contemplate the possibility of ever marrying you; and I swore to the voice that you were no more than a brother to me nor ever would be and that my heart was incapable of any earthly love.}

This needs to be emphasized more: R/C IS *ALSO* FORBIDDEN AND SOCIALLY UNACCEPTABLE LOVE. IT IS NOT THE EASY WAY OUT.

{I don't know how it was that Carlotta did not come to the theater that night nor why I was called upon to sing in her stead; but I sang with a rapture I had never known before and I felt for a moment as if my soul were leaving my body!"

"Oh, Christine," said Raoul, "my heart quivered that night at every accent of your voice. I saw the tears stream down your cheeks and I wept with you. How could you sing, sing like that while crying?"}

Had you checked for Dementors? That would explain both the soul-sucking and the fainting.

(Also more crying together. Gee, I wonder if this will ever be important later?)

{"I felt myself fainting," said Christine, "I closed my eyes. When I opened them, you were by my side. But the voice was there also, Raoul! I was afraid for your sake and again I would not recognize you and began to laugh when you reminded me that you had picked up my scarf in the sea! ... Alas, there is no deceiving the voice! ... The voice recognized you and the voice was jealous! ... It said that, if I did not love you, I would not avoid you, but treat you like any other old friend. It made me scene upon scene. At last, I said to the voice, 'That will do! I am going to Perros to-morrow, to pray on my father's grave, and I shall ask M. Raoul de Chagny to go with me.' 'Do as you please,' replied the voice, 'but I shall be at Perros too, for I am wherever you are, Christine; and, if you are still worthy of me, if you have not lied to me, I will play you The Resurrection of Lazarus, on the stroke of midnight, on your father's tomb and on your father's violin.' That, dear, was how I came to write you the letter that brought you to Perros. How could I have been so beguiled? How was it, when I saw the personal, the selfish point of view of the voice, that I did not suspect some impostor? Alas, I was no longer mistress of myself: I had become his thing!"}

MORE MANIPULATION... At least she's become confident enough to reclaim herself as mistress of her own actions, unswayed by any man!

{Pity me, Raoul, pity me! ... You remember the terrible evening when Carlotta thought that she had been turned into a toad on the stage and when the house was suddenly plunged in darkness through the chandelier crashing to the floor? There were killed and wounded that night and the whole theater rang with terrified screams. My first thought was for you and the voice. I was at once easy, where you were concerned, for I had seen you in your brother's box and I knew that you were not in danger. But the voice had told me that it would be at the performance and I was really afraid for it, just as if it had been an ordinary person who was capable of dying. I thought to myself, 'The chandelier may have come down upon the voice.' I was then on the stage and was nearly running into the house, to look for the voice among the killed and wounded, when I thought that, if the voice was safe, it would be sure to be in my dressing-room and I rushed to my room. The voice was not there. I locked my door and, with tears in my eyes, besought it, if it were still alive, to manifest itself to me. The voice did not reply, but suddenly I heard a long, beautiful wail which I knew well. It is the plaint of Lazarus when, at the sound of the Redeemer's voice, he begins to open his eyes and see the light of day. It was the music which you and I, Raoul, heard at Perros. And then the voice began to sing the leading phrase, 'Come! And believe in me! Whoso believes in me shall live! Walk! Whoso hath believed in me shall never die! ...' I can not tell you the effect which that music had upon me. It seemed to command me, personally, to come, to stand up and come to it. It retreated and I followed. 'Come! And believe in me!' I believed in it, I came ... I came and—this was the extraordinary thing—my dressing-room, as I moved, seemed to lengthen out ... to lengthen out ... Evidently, it must have been an effect of mirrors ... for I had the mirror in front of me ... And, suddenly, I was outside the room without knowing how!"}

That's.. an uncomfortable appropriation of Christianity. Like I get that he's supposed to be an Angel, but yeesh... Just rubs me the wrong way.

{ You, who saw me disappear from my room one evening, may be able to explain it; but I can not. I can only tell you that, suddenly, there was no mirror before me and no dressing-room. I was in a dark passage, I was frightened and I cried out. It was quite dark, but for a faint red glimmer at a distant corner of the wall. I tried out. My voice was the only sound, for the singing and the violin had stopped. And, suddenly, a hand was laid on mine ... or rather a stone-cold, bony thing that seized my wrist and did not let go. I cried out again. An arm took me round the waist and supported me. I struggled for a little while and then gave up the attempt. I was dragged toward the little red light and then I saw that I was in the hands of a man wrapped in a large cloak and wearing a mask that hid his whole face. I made one last effort; my limbs stiffened, my mouth opened to scream, but a hand closed it, a hand which I felt on my lips, on my skin ... a hand that smelt of death. Then I fainted away.}

Yay! No creepy mirror bride in this version! Just more fainting.

{"When I opened my eyes, we were still surrounded by darkness. A lantern, standing on the ground, showed a bubbling well. The water splashing from the well disappeared, almost at once, under the floor on which I was lying, with my head on the knee of the man in the black cloak and the black mask. He was bathing my temples and his hands smelt of death. I tried to push them away and asked, 'Who are you? Where is the voice?'}

I remember there was mist...

Well, that's certainly.. different than ALW.

{His only answer was a sigh. Suddenly, a hot breath passed over my face and I perceived a white shape, beside the man's black shape, in the darkness. The black shape lifted me on to the white shape, a glad neighing greeted my astounded ears and I murmured, 'Cesar!' The animal quivered. Raoul, I was lying half back on a saddle and I had recognized the white horse out of the PROFETA, which I had so often fed with sugar and sweets. I remembered that, one evening, there was a rumor in the theater that the horse had disappeared and that it had been stolen by the Opera ghost. I believed in the voice, but had never believed in the ghost.}

So he stole her favorite horsie? That's an impressive amount of attention to detail.

{Now, however, I began to wonder, with a shiver, whether I was the ghost's prisoner. I called upon the voice to help me, for I should never have imagined that the voice and the ghost were one.}

That is incredibly ironic. Also super awkward for Erik. 'Voice, save me from the terrifying opera ghost!' 'Umm... I am the terrifying opera ghost?' 'Oh' 'Oh indeed'

{But the figures of which I caught sight had made me run away. There are demons down there, quite black, standing in front of boilers, and they wield shovels and pitchforks and poke up fires and stir up flames and, if you come too near them, they frighten you by suddenly opening the red mouths of their furnaces}

Well, that's not a very nice thing to call the hardworking furnace tenders, even if they are creepy. (I assume that's what going on and not anything supernatural?? feels very Hades/Persephone though)

{I sprang to my feet. I was in the middle of a drawing-room that seemed to me to be decorated, adorned and furnished with nothing but flowers, flowers both magnificent and stupid, because of the silk ribbons that tied them to baskets, like those which they sell in the shops on the boulevards. They were much too civilized flowers, like those which I used to find in my dressing-room after a first night. And, in the midst of all these flowers, stood the black shape of the man in the mask, with arms crossed, and he said, 'Don't be afraid, Christine; you are in no danger.' IT WAS THE VOICE!}

Woah, easy does it with the sudden all caps announcement of who's in the room- you'll give me flashbacks to bad fanfic. (Also how dare you?? I have never yet met a flower which I would call stupid.)

{I had, no doubt, to do with a terrible, eccentric person, who, in some mysterious fashion, had succeeded in taking up his abode there, under the Opera house, five stories below the level of the ground. And the voice, the voice which I had recognized under the mask, was on its knees before me, WAS A MAN! And I began to cry... The man, still kneeling, must have understood the cause of my tears, for he said, 'It is true, Christine! ... I am not an Angel, nor a genius, nor a ghost ... I am Erik!}

I am FIRE! I am DEATH! I am ERIK! Doesn't quite have the same ring to it. (again with the sudden all caps, Leroux? seriously?)

{An echo behind them seemed to repeat the word after her. "Erik!"}

Yep. Still just an echo. No spying going on here.

{"We have nothing to fear except the trap-doors, dear, and here we are miles away from the trap-doors ... and I am not allowed to see you outside the theater. This is not the time to annoy him. We must not arouse his suspicion."}

Nothing to fear but fear itself (and also trap doors)!

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{The shadow had followed behind them clinging to their steps; and the two children little suspected its presence when they at last sat down, trustingly, under the mighty protection of Apollo, who, with a great bronze gesture, lifted his huge lyre to the heart of a crimson sky.}

Wonderfully poetic, with an unfortunate side of infantilization.

{"Soon we shall go farther and faster than the clouds, to the end of the world, and then you will leave me, Raoul. But, if, when the moment comes for you to take me away, I refuse to go with you—well you must carry me off by force!"}

So, along with stalking, does Christine also think that kidnapping is really romantic? (Explains quite a bit.)

{"What compels you to go back, Christine?"

"If I do not go back to him, terrible misfortunes may happen! ... But I can't do it, I can't do it! ... I know one ought to be sorry for people who live underground ... But he is too horrible! And yet the time is at hand; I have only a day left; and, if I do not go, he will come and fetch me with his voice. And he will drag me with him, underground, and go on his knees before me, with his death's head. And he will tell me that he loves me! And he will cry! Oh, those tears, Raoul, those tears in the two black eye-sockets of the death's head! I can not see those tears flow again!" She wrung her hands in anguish, while Raoul pressed her to his heart.}

So are we supposed to feel sorry for moles now? And worms? And.. miners? And people who live in survivalist bunkers?

Umm... Christine, do you know who 'kneeling before you, crying, and telling you how much he loves you' also sounds like?? (*cough* Raoul, especially in the previous chapter *cough*) I can see why you'd want to be free of both of them.

{"No, no, you shall never again hear him tell you that he loves you! You shall not see his tears! Let us fly, Christine, let us fly at once!" And he tried to drag her away, then and there. But she stopped him.

"No, no," she said, shaking her head sadly. "Not now! ... It would be too cruel ... let him hear me sing to-morrow evening ... and then we will go away. You must come and fetch me in my dressing-room at midnight exactly. He will then be waiting for me in the dining-room by the lake ... we shall be free and you shall take me away ... You must promise me that, Raoul, even if I refuse; for I feel that, if I go back this time, I shall perhaps never return."}

Never return as in 'get murdered' or never return as in 'be stuck as a captive' or never return as in 'get married'??

(Out of context, someone waiting for you in a dining-room by a lake sounds like a really nice date. But who eats dinner at midnight???)

{And she gave a sigh to which it seemed to her that another sigh, behind her, replied.}

Probably an echo, right?? Totally. No Phantoms here.

{"There is some one in pain," said Raoul. "Perhaps some one has been hurt. Did you hear?"

"I can't say," Christine confessed. "Even when he is not there, my ears are full of his sighs. Still, if you heard ..."}

Yep. Just an echo. Nothing to see here.

Stopping short right here because next time we go into BACKSTORYYYY yay

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{The precious days sped in this way; and Raoul and Christine, by affecting excessive interest in outside matters, strove awkwardly to hide from each other the one thought of their hearts. One fact was certain, that Christine, who until then had shown herself the stronger of the two, became suddenly inexpressibly nervous.}

Yep, I know that feeling of awkward. (Not so much the suddenly having a nervous disposition, since I've always been that way, but it must be disconcerting for Raoul.)

Oooh, she's 'the stronger of the two'- just wanted to point that out...

{When on their expeditions, she would start running without reason or else suddenly stop; and her hand, turning ice-cold in a moment, would hold the young man back. Sometimes her eyes seemed to pursue imaginary shadows. She cried, "This way," and "This way," and "This way," laughing a breathless laugh that often ended in tears. Then Raoul tried to speak, to question her, in spite of his promises. But, even before he had worded his question, she answered feverishly:

"Nothing ... I swear it is nothing."}

Poor Christine. This reminds me of the moment in the musical before All I Ask of You when Raoul is calling her name, but then you also hear the Phantom calling her name but don't know if it's Christine's imagination or he really is calling her, since Raoul doesn't seem to hear it.

{"You have shown me over the upper part of your empire, Christine, but there are strange stories told of the lower part. Shall we go down?"

She caught him in her arms, as though she feared to see him disappear down the black hole, and, in a trembling voice, whispered:

"Never! ... I will not have you go there! ... Besides, it's not mine ... EVERYTHING THAT IS UNDERGROUND BELONGS TO HIM!"

Raoul looked her in the eyes and said roughly: "So he lives down there, does he?"

"I never said so ... Who told you a thing like that? Come away! I sometimes wonder if you are quite sane, Raoul ... You always take things in such an impossible way ... Come along! Come!"}

Raoul, sometimes I wonder if you're really thinking things through. You know the Phantom is down there, and that he hates you, but YOU STILL WANT TO GO DOWN THERE.

(Also, Christine dear, you're not really one to talk about being sane. I have my doubts as to whether anyone in this Opera House is sane. Good job follow ALW!Madame Giry's principle though! "Those who speak of what they know/May learn too late that prudent silence is wise")

{And she literally dragged him away, for he was obstinate and wanted to remain by the trap-door; that hole attracted him.}

Raoul, honey, you really need to learn to have a sense of self-preservation.

{"No, no, it was the 'trap-door-shutters.' They must do something, you know ... They open and shut the trap-doors without any particular reason ... It's like the 'door-shutters:' they must spend their time somehow."}

Is that a legit job??

{"But suppose it were HE, Christine?"

"No, no! He has shut himself up, he is working."

"Oh, really! He's working, is he?"

"Yes, he can't open and shut the trap-doors and work at the same time." She shivered.

"What is he working at?"

"Oh, something terrible! ... But it's all the better for us... When he's working at that, he sees nothing; he does not eat, drink, or breathe for days and nights at a time ... he becomes a living dead man and has no time to amuse himself with the trap-doors." She shivered again. She was still holding him in her arms.]

She has to be exaggerating. NO ONE CAN STOP BREATHING FOR DAYS AT A TIME, NOT EVEN A 'LIVING CORPSE'. (Interesting that *she's* holding him, though! 'Stronger of the two', indeed...)

{"Are you afraid of him?"

"No, no, of course not," she said.}

You're kind of sending mixed messages here; 'keep away from trap doors or else! the underground is HIS domain' than 'yeah, no way am I scared of him!'

{At last, one afternoon, she arrived very late, with her face so desperately pale and her eyes so desperately red, that Raoul resolved to go to all lengths, including that which he foreshadowed when he blurted out that he would not go on the North Pole expedition unless she first told him the secret of the man's voice.

"Hush! Hush, in Heaven's name! Suppose HE heard you, you unfortunate Raoul!"}

To the tune of Poor Unfortunate Souls from the Little Mermaid: Poor unfortunate Raoul! In love! Naive!

(It's a... work in progress.)

{"I will remove you from his power, Christine, I swear it. And you shall not think of him any more."

"Is it possible?" She allowed herself this doubt, which was an encouragernent, while dragging the young man up to the topmost floor of the theater, far, very far from the trap-doors.

"I shall hide you in some unknown corner of the world, where HE can not come to look for you. You will be safe; and then I shall go away ... as you have sworn never to marry."}

GOOD FOR YOU! WHO SAYS CHIVALRY IS DEAD! BRAVO MONSIEUR! WAY TO USE YOUR PRIVILEGE TO HELP OTHERS!

{And she dragged him up toward the summit. He had a difficulty in following her. They were soon under the very roof, in the maze of timber-work. They slipped through the buttresses, the rafters, the joists; they ran from beam to beam as they might have run from tree to tree in a forest.

And, despite the care which she took to look behind her at every moment, she failed to see a shadow which followed her like her own shadow, which stopped when she stopped, which started again when she did and which made no more noise than a well-conducted shadow should. As for Raoul, he saw nothing either; for, when he had Christine in front of him, nothing interested him that happened behind.}

Is Christine physically stronger than Raoul? She is *dragging* him, so...

*whispers* He's here, the Phantom of the Opera!

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{Christine returned on the following day. She returned in triumph. She renewed her extraordinary success of the gala performance. Since the adventure of the "toad," Carlotta had not been able to appear on the stage. The terror of a fresh "co-ack" filled her heart and deprived her of all her power of singing; and the theater that had witnessed her incomprehensible disgrace had become odious to her. She contrived to cancel her contract. Daae was offered the vacant place for the time. She received thunders of applause in the Juive.}

Poor Carlotta- her self-confidence is utterly wrecked due to one small mistake. Maybe, if you're going to cancel your contract and don't have the will to sing, try to find another career that's less ego-driven? You could take up knitting??

The Adventure of the Toad- hey, isn't that one of Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories? (Or maybe I'm thinking of the Giant Rat of Sumatra lol)

{The viscount, who, of course, was present, was the only one to suffer on hearing the thousand echoes of this fresh triumph; for Christine still wore her plain gold ring. A distant voice whispered in the young man's ear:

"She is wearing the ring again to-night; and you did not give it to her. She gave her soul again tonight and did not give it to you... If she will not tell you what she has been doing the past two days ... you must go and ask Erik!"}

Daroga (I'm assuming this is the daroga- it would be a weird way to express an inner monologue, and doesn't quite seem like Erik's style), you're not being that helpful.

I mean, she was wearing the ring all throughout the secret engagement (or at least at the very beginning of it), and NOW is when it upsets you?? You might've asked her to take it off earlier, or, you know, ACTUALLY MENTIONED YOUR CONCERNS TO HER.

Also, if she gave her soul away again, how many souls does Christine even have?? Where does she get them??

{Raoul at once threw himself on his knees before her. He swore to her that he would go and he entreated her never again to withhold a single hour of the ideal happiness which she had promised him. She let her tears flow. They kissed like a despairing brother and sister who have been smitten with a common loss and who meet to mourn a dead parent.

Suddenly, she snatched herself from the young man's soft and timid embrace, seemed to listen to something, and, with a quick gesture, pointed to the door. When he was on the threshold, she said, in so low a voice that the viscount guessed rather than heard her words:

"To-morrow, my dear betrothed! And be happy, Raoul: I sang for you to-night!"}

Sweet dramatic boy... (I SAID earlier that he should be on his knees begging her to associate with him, and now he does it! Yay! Character growth!)

Oh, hey, people crying while kissing... Wonder if that'll come up again. (#nospoilers)

Ewww "like brother and sister" GASTON LOUIS ALFRED LEROUX do you *want* me to root for their romance or not??

TAKE THAT DAROGA (or whoever that was)! She WAS singing for him! (I mean, ideally, I want her to sing for herself, but it's a sweet sentiment I guess??)

{But those two days of absence had broken the charm of their delightful make-believe. They looked at each other, in the dressing-room, with their sad eyes, without exchanging a word. Raoul had to restrain himself not to cry out:

"I am jealous! I am jealous! I am jealous!"}

You are overly dramatic! You are overly dramatic! You are overly dramatic!

{Raoul thought that she would propose a stroll in the country, far from that building which he detested as a prison whose jailer he could feel walking within the walls ... the jailer Erik ...}

Maybe YOU detest it, but have you considered that she might not? She does work there, after all.

{And she would drag him up above the clouds, in the magnificent disorder of the grid, where she loved to make him giddy by running in front of him along the frail bridges, among the thousands of ropes fastened to the pulleys, the windlasses, the rollers, in the midst of a regular forest of yards and masts. If he hesitated, she said, with an adorable pout of her lips:

"You, a sailor!"}

Awww cute! (Also, interesting date idea if you aren't incredibly scared of heights like I am.)

{And then they returned to terra firma, that is to say, to some passage that led them to the little girls' dancing-school, where brats between six and ten were practising their steps, in the hope of becoming great dancers one day, "covered with diamonds ..." Meanwhile, Christine gave them sweets instead.}

Not all the children are brats, surely. YAY CANDY AND BEING NICE TO PEOPLE

{She took him to the wardrobe and property-rooms, took him all over her empire, which was artificial, but immense, covering seventeen stories from the ground-floor to the roof and inhabited by an army of subjects. She moved among them like a popular queen, encouraging them in their labors, sitting down in the workshops, giving words of advice to the workmen whose hands hesitated to cut into the rich stuffs that were to clothe heroes. There were inhabitants of that country who practised every trade. There were cobblers, there were goldsmiths. All had learned to know her and to love her, for she always interested herself in all their troubles and all their little hobbies.}

There was a post going around in Phantom circles on tumblr about how Christine is unintentionally becoming the next Opera Ghost, and I would link to it here but I can't find it??

Christine is totally the queen of the Opera House, though. (Queen but isolated and alone, as it doesn't mention her introducing Raoul to anyone she considers a friend- just underlings and co-workers who she goes out of her way to be nice to.)

{She knew unsuspected corners that were secretly occupied by little old couples. She knocked at their door and introduced Raoul to them as a Prince Charming who had asked for her hand; and the two of them, sitting on some worm-eaten "property," would listen to the legends of the Opera, even as, in their childhood, they had listened to the old Breton tales. Those old people remembered nothing outside the Opera. They had lived there for years without number. Past managements had forgotten them; palace revolutions had taken no notice of them; the history of France had run its course unknown to them; and nobody recollected their existence.}

Ohhh childhood callbacks... (How cool would it be to secretly live in an opera house, though? Probably a lot less cool if you can't remember what it's like outside. Also, what does Erik think of these people? Does he secretly have a soft spot for them, recognizing the parallels in their circumstances? Does he merely tolerate them? Does he take an interest in their wellbeing?)

Current Mood: calm
Current Music: Poor Fool, He Makes Me Laugh!

{The next day, he saw her at the Opera. She was still wearing the plain gold ring. She was gentle and kind to him. She talked to him of the plans which he was forming, of his future, of his career.}

So they've reached some sort of unspoken truce- cool!

{He told her that the date of the Polar expedition had been put forward and that he would leave France in three weeks, or a month at latest. She suggested, almost gaily, that he must look upon the voyage with delight, as a stage toward his coming fame. And when he replied that fame without love was no attraction in his eyes, she treated him as a child whose sorrows were only short-lived.

"How can you speak so lightly of such serious things?" he asked. "Perhaps we shall never see each other again! I may die during that expedition."}

Okay, there's a lot to unpack here. First, I'm fairly sure this is one of the few if any instances of CHRISTINE treating Raoul like a child and not vice versa (the only other one that comes to mind is maaybe when she signs her note 'my dear little playfellow'??).

Also, Raoul, you didn't seem to make as big a deal out of you dying/wanting to die earlier?? I thought this expedition was something you WANTED to do... but now you're not sure you'd want to if Christine wouldn't miss you?

{"Or I," she said simply.}

Is this 'yeah, maybe the Phantom will kill me while you're gone?' or just 'yeah, you might die but SO COULD I- let's be real- there's plagues and danger IN PARIS, too.' or maybe something else?

{She no longer smiled or jested. She seemed to be thinking of some new thing that had entered her mind for the first time. Her eyes were all aglow with it.

"What are you thinking of, Christine?"

"I am thinking that we shall not see each other again ..."

"And does that make you so radiant?"}

It seems strange, if she's so excited about the fake engagement prospect, why she'd no longer seem happy but still be 'radiant'. Is she also realizing the impact of what Raoul just said, and contemplating their own imminent mortality?

(Also nice job giving her a compliment without technically phrasing it as a compliment, Raoul.)

{"And that, in a month, we shall have to say good-by for ever!"

"Unless, Christine, we pledge our faith and wait for each other for ever."

She put her hand on his mouth.

"Hush, Raoul! ... You know there is no question of that ... And we shall never be married: that is understood!"

She seemed suddenly almost unable to contain an overpowering gaiety. She clapped her hands with childish glee. Raoul stared at her in amazement.}

Yep, that's basically my reaction as well, Raoul. What even is going on in Christine's head right now??

{"But ... but," she continued, holding out her two hands to Raoul, or rather giving them to him, as though she had suddenly resolved to make him a present of them, "but if we can not be married, we can ... we can be engaged! Nobody will know but ourselves, Raoul. There have been plenty of secret marriages: why not a secret engagement? ... We are engaged, dear, for a month! In a month, you will go away, and I can be happy at the thought of that month all my life long!"}

Oh, think of it! A secret engagement!

(Side note- can it really be called an engagement without an intention to get married eventually? You can be engaged without getting married, but that's because someone decides to break off the engagement because they realize they don't want to be married to that person, not because they never wanted to get married in the first place. The term "fake dating" is actually more accurate to this situation than "secret engagement". In this essay I will-)

{She was enchanted with her inspiration. Then she became serious again.

"This," she said, "IS A HAPPINESS THAT WILL HARM NO ONE."}

Maybe toy with a certain vicomte's feelings a bit, though..

{Raoul jumped at the idea. He bowed to Christine and said:

"Mademoiselle, I have the honor to ask for your hand."

"Why, you have both of them already, my dear betrothed! ... Oh, Raoul, how happy we shall be! ... We must play at being engaged all day long."}

Awww they're adorable (I feel as if I'm slightly betraying my OTP of E/C by saying that, but they *are*!)

{It was the prettiest game in the world and they enjoyed it like the children that they were. Oh, the wonderful speeches they made to each other and the eternal vows they exchanged! They played at hearts as other children might play at ball; only, as it was really their two hearts that they flung to and fro, they had to be very, very handy to catch them, each time, without hurting them.}

Oh, hey, now LEROUX is infantilizing both of them- this is not exactly progress... (Nice metaphor, though.)

{One day, about a week after the game began, Raoul's heart was badly hurt and he stopped playing and uttered these wild words:

"I shan't go to the North Pole!"

Christine, who, in her innocence, had not dreamed of such a possibility, suddenly discovered the danger of the game and reproached herself bitterly. She did not say a word in reply to Raoul's remark and went straight home.}

How was this something you didn't consider?? You KNEW he had very strong feelings for you- feelings that wouldn't be satisfied by merely A MONTH of pretending at a future relationship that could never come to be... So you just noped right out of there.

{This happened in the afternoon, in the singer's dressing-room, where they met every day and where they amused themselves by dining on three biscuits, two glasses of port and a bunch of violets. In the evening, she did not sing; and he did not receive his usual letter, though they had arranged to write to each other daily during that month.}

Weird meal but okay. (Also- is this referring to British or American biscuits? Because that's kind of an important detail that might change the whole meal.)

Did she normally sing for him during the evening, or was this just referring to her usual practice for her job?

Awww they're writing love letters to each other- that's a really good decision since after the fake engagement is over they'll have keepsakes of that month to remember each other and their happiness by. (In nineteenth-century Paris we write letters... we write letters.. sorry, couldn't help myself!)

Current Mood: complacent
Current Music: All I Ask of You

{Thereupon, seeing the hostility with which her ward had addressed the viscount, Mamma Valerius suddenly took Christine's part.

"And, if she does love that man, Monsieur le Vicomte, even then it is no business of yours!"}

YEP! (Thanks for *finally* agreeing with your basically adopted daughter, Mme. Valerius.)

{"Alas, madame," Raoul humbly replied, unable to restrain his tears, "alas, I believe that Christine really does love him! ... But it is not only that which drives me to despair; for what I am not certain of, madame, is that the man whom Christine loves is worthy of her love!"

"It is for me to be the judge of that, monsieur!" said Christine, looking Raoul angrily in the face.}

And Raoul just started crying again- I should really keep a count of how many times he cries in this novel. EDIT: I did a CTRL+F, and I think, as of this point, he's burst into tears 4 times so far.

(Also, Christine is right. It's her choice, even if it is a bad decision. Raoul is within his rights to express his concerns to her, but it is ultimately HER DECISION as to whether or not she does decide to be with him.)

{"Raoul, why do you condemn a man whom you have never seen, whom no one knows and about whom you yourself know nothing?"}

GOOD POINT. (*whispers* the reason why is JEALOUSY, Christine)

{"Yes, Christine ... Yes ... I at least know the name that you thought to keep from me for ever ... The name of your Angel of Music, mademoiselle, is Erik!"

Christine at once betrayed herself. She turned as white as a sheet and stammered: "Who told you?"

"You yourself!"

"How do you mean?"

"By pitying him the other night, the night of the masked ball. When you went to your dressing-room, did you not say, 'Poor Erik?' Well, Christine, there was a poor Raoul who overheard you."}

FINALLY HE FIGURES IT OUT. (Still, spying on her is not cool.)

{"This is the second time that you have listened behind the door, M. de Chagny!"

"I was not behind the door ... I was in the dressing-room, in the inner room, mademoiselle."}

Raoul, that's not exactly absolving you... 'Oh, I wasn't eavesdropping on you from OUTSIDE your door-' 'Oh, good!' 'I was hiding INSIDE your rooms and listening!' 'Seriously?'

{"Oh, unhappy man!" moaned the girl, showing every sign of unspeakable terror. "Unhappy man! Do you want to be killed?"

"Perhaps."

Raoul uttered this "perhaps" with so much love and despair in his voice that Christine could not keep back a sob. She took his hands and looked at him with all the pure affection of which she was capable:}

Raoul... You need help. Therapy, preferably. Even Christine thinks so.

{"Raoul," she said, "forget THE MAN'S VOICE and do not even remember its name... You must never try to fathom the mystery of THE MAN'S VOICE."

"Is the mystery so very terrible?"

"There is no more awful mystery on this earth. Swear to me that you will make no attempt to find out," she insisted. "Swear to me that you will never come to my dressing-room, unless I send for you."}

So, basically, Raoul- you need to chill and stop spying on people.

{"Then you promise to send for me sometimes, Christine?"

"I promise."

"When?"

"To-morrow."

"Then I swear to do as you ask."

He kissed her hands and went away, cursing Erik and resolving to be patient.}

And what he gets from 'you should seriously stop spying on me ' is 'well, since I can't follow you WITHOUT your knowledge, can we maybe hang out sometime?'. I do hope that he can learn to be patient, though! (And actually do what Christine says..)

Current Mood: anxious

{"On the contrary, mademoiselle," said the young man, in a voice which he tried to make firm and brave, but which still trembled, "anything that concerns you interests me to an extent which perhaps you will one day understand. I do not deny that my surprise equals my pleasure at finding you with your adopted mother and that, after what happened between us yesterday, after what you said and what I was able to guess, I hardly expected to see you here so soon. I should be the first to delight at your return, if you were not so bent on preserving a secrecy that may be fatal to you ... and I have been your friend too long not to be alarmed, with Mme. Valerius, at a disastrous adventure which will remain dangerous so long as we have not unraveled its threads and of which you will certainly end by being the victim, Christine."}

Why are you so stuck on the possibility of her getting murdered???

{"An impostor is abusing her good faith."

"Is the Angel of Music an impostor?"

"She told you herself that there is no Angel of Music."

"But then what is it, in Heaven's name? You will be the death of me!"

"There is a terrible mystery around us, madame, around you, around Christine, a mystery much more to be feared than any number of ghosts or genii!"}

Remind me, when did she tell Mrs. Valerius that? Because I don't recall her ever disabusing the notion that her absences were simply her visiting the Angel of Music. EDIT: no, wait- she did! though in more of an 'I'm just saying this to get you to calm down' way

Also, isn't the plural of genie genies??

{"That is what you must promise, Christine. It is the only thing that can reassure your mother and me. We will undertake not to ask you a single question about the past, if you promise us to remain under our protection in future."}

That's.. nice. 'Yeah, we won't make you answer any questions about the weird things that are happening, but you can't disappear or have music lessons with this 'angel' ever again.'

(Also, Raoul sort of manipulating her by holding the conversation within earshot of her adoptive mother and deliberately making her worry in order to ensure that Christine will stay? Not cool, man.)

{"That is an undertaking which I have not asked of you and a promise which I refuse to make you!" said the young girl haughtily. "I am mistress of my own actions, M. de Chagny: you have no right to control them, and I will beg you to desist henceforth. As to what I have done during the last fortnight, there is only one man in the world who has the right to demand an account of me: my husband! Well, I have no husband and I never mean to marry!"}

YOU GO, CHRISTINE. YOU AREN'T MARRIED TO HIM AND YOU SHOULDN'T LET ANYONE ELSE CONTROL YOUR ACTIONS. (this mean you, Erik.) IF YOU DON'T WANT TO TELL THEM WHAT HAPPENED, YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE TO. ALSO RAOUL IS BEING RATHER NOSY AND OVERSTEPPING HIS BOUNDS.

{"You have no husband and yet you wear a wedding-ring."

He tried to seize her hand, but she swiftly drew it back.

"That's a present!" she said, blushing once more and vainly striving to hide her embarrassment.}

Yeah, maybe don't grab someone without asking, especially while you're in the middle of a disagreement.

{"Christine! As you have no husband, that ring can only have been given by one who hopes to make you his wife! Why deceive us further? Why torture me still more? That ring is a promise; and that promise has been accepted!"}

Ah, yes, why torture me still more, because my feelings are the only ones that matter... It's not her fault that you didn't notice the ring before and thus assumed she was free to be with you.

{"What I chose," said Christine, driven to exasperation. "Don't you think, monsieur, that this cross-examination has lasted long enough? As far as I am concerned ..."

Raoul was afraid to let her finish her speech. He interrupted her}

LET HER SPEAK. Just a minute ago, you demanded an explanation. Now, you might be getting one but you cut her off because you're afraid of what you might hear.

{"I beg your pardon for speaking as I did, mademoiselle. You know the good intentions that make me meddle, just now, in matters which, you no doubt think, have nothing to do with me. But allow me to tell you what I have seen—and I have seen more than you suspect, Christine—or what I thought I saw, for, to tell you the truth, I have sometimes been inclined to doubt the evidence of my eyes."}

Frankly, you should be getting down on your knees and *begging* her to let you associate with her again. Also, I really don't think 'good intentions' is a good excuse for your recent behavior, nor does it justify meddling, no matter how close you were in the past.

*insert Wicked's "my road of good intentions/led where such roads always lead" here*

by the way, she thinks the matters have nothing to do with you, and she's right! they don't. Respect the lady's wishes, Raoul.

{"I saw your ecstasy AT THE SOUND OF THE VOICE, Christine: the voice that came from the wall or the next room to yours ... yes, YOUR ECSTASY! And that is what makes me alarmed on your behalf. You are under a very dangerous spell. And yet it seems that you are aware of the imposture, because you say to-day THAT THERE IS NO ANGEL OF MUSIC! In that case, Christine, why did you follow him that time? Why did you stand up, with radiant features, as though you were really hearing angels? ... Ah, it is a very dangerous voice, Christine, for I myself, when I heard it, was so much fascinated by it that you vanished before my eyes without my seeing which way you passed! Christine, Christine, in the name of Heaven, in the name of your father who is in Heaven now and who loved you so dearly and who loved me too, Christine, tell us, tell your benefactress and me, to whom does that voice belong? If you do, we will save you in spite of yourself. Come, Christine, the name of the man! The name of the man who had the audacity to put a ring on your finger!"}

As I recall, you were pretty entrance by the voice too, Raoul, so you have no room to criticize in that regard... Also, I just hate that he says 'we will save you in spite of yourself', like he's the hero and she's the poor frightened manipulated child.

I suspect that Raoul's fatal flaw is, much like Harry Potter and Percy Jackson, a 'saving people thing'. And maybe a little of Emma Woodhouse's 'I know people better than they know themselves, which justifies any manipulation of them because it's for their own good, even if they don't realize it yet' as well. (If you haven't read Jane Austen's Emma and are now thinking 'wow, this person sounds horrible'- don't worry. She gets better.)

Current Mood: amused

{But look here!" he cried. "Can't you tell me what all this means! ... You are free, there is no one to interfere with you... You go about Paris ... You put on a domino to come to the ball... Why do you not go home? ... What have you been doing this past fortnight? ... What is this tale about the Angel of Music, which you have been telling Mamma Valerius? Some one may have taken you in, played upon your innocence. I was a witness of it myself, at Perros ... but you know what to believe now! You seem to me quite sensible, Christine. You know what you are doing ... And meanwhile Mamma Valerius lies waiting for you at home and appealing to your 'good genius!' ... Explain yourself, Christine, I beg of you! Any one might have been deceived as I was. What is this farce?"}

Well, Raoul, you really don't seem to act like you think Christine is 'quite sensible' and knows what she is doing... (At least he's admitting that he's probably been deceived.)

{Christine simply took off her mask and said: "Dear, it is a tragedy!"

Raoul now saw her face and could not restrain an exclamation of surprise and terror. The fresh complexion of former days was gone. A mortal pallor covered those features, which he had known so charming and so gentle, and sorrow had furrowed them with pitiless lines and traced dark and unspeakably sad shadows under her eyes.}

If *that* is what causes you surprise and terror, you won't last a minute of seeing Erik's unmasked face.

{"My dearest! My dearest!" he moaned, holding out his arms. "You promised to forgive me ..."

"Perhaps! ... Some day, perhaps!" she said, resuming her mask}

Yes, she said she might not be able to forgive you right away- just think of what you said to her only a few minutes ago! (Also I love that Christine wearing a mask is emphasized and connected to her putting up a front for Raoul. One thing I miss in the ALW musical is that Christine never wears a mask herself in masquerade- only sometimes carries one.)

{ He had only time to hide in the inner room, which was separated from the dressing-room by a curtain.}

Oh, so you're trespassing in her room without permission now, aren't you, Raoul?

{Christine entered, took off her mask with a weary movement and flung it on the table. She sighed and let her pretty head fall into her two hands. What was she thinking of? Of Raoul? No, for Raoul heard her murmur: "Poor Erik!"At first, he thought he must be mistaken. To begin with, he was persuaded that, if any one was to be pitied, it was he, Raoul. It would have been quite natural if she had said, "Poor Raoul," after what had happened between them. But, shaking her head, she repeated: "Poor Erik!"

What had this Erik to do with Christine's sighs and why was she pitying Erik when Raoul was so unhappy?}

Not everything is about you, Raoul. If anything, 'poor Christine' would be more appropriate, as she's currently under more strain right now than you or Erik. (Also why is Christine pitying Erik after these events? Because of how he as Red Death was treated at the masquerade? Because she realizes that she might potentially care for Raoul more than him? Or is it something else?)

#givechristinedaaeabreak

{"Here I am, Erik," she said. "I am ready. But you are late."

Raoul, peeping from behind the curtain, could not believe his eyes, which showed him nothing. Christine's face lit up. A smile of happiness appeared upon her bloodless lips, a smile like that of sick people when they receive the first hope of recovery.}

Why is he late? Did he have too much 'fun' terrorizing people at the masquerade? Did he run into the daroga? Was he checking on Raoul's whereabouts?

{The voice without a body went on singing; and certainly Raoul had never in his life heard anything more absolutely and heroically sweet, more gloriously insidious, more delicate, more powerful, in short, more irresistibly triumphant. He listened to it in a fever and he now began to understand how Christine Daae was able to appear one evening, before the stupefied audience, with accents of a beauty hitherto unknown, of a superhuman exaltation, while doubtless still under the influence of the mysterious and invisible master.}

Oooh, there's some excellent phrases here: 'gloriously insidious' 'irresistably triumphant' 'accents of a beauty hitherto unknown'. This paragraph is just gorgeously rendered <3

{The strains went through Raoul's heart. Struggling against the charm that seemed to deprive him of all his will and all his energy and of almost all his lucidity at the moment when he needed them most}

The Phantom definetely isn't as ambigously magical in Leroux as he is in ALW, but his voice does seem to have some sort of hypnotic quality that bends people towards his will or deprives them of the strength of ability to do more than just listen enrapturedly.

{Christine walked toward her image in the glass and the image came toward her. The two Christines—the real one and the reflection—ended by touching; and Raoul put out his arms to clasp the two in one embrace. But, by a sort of dazzling miracle that sent him staggering, Raoul was suddenly flung back, while an icy blast swept over his face; he saw, not two, but four, eight, twenty Christines spinning round him, laughing at him and fleeing so swiftly that he could not touch one of them. At last, everything stood still again; and he saw himself in the glass. But Christine had disappeared.}

Okay, seriously, WHAT just happened. Is he delirious from lack of sleep or food, is this magic, hypnotism, a hallucination, or just a weird inexplicable Phantom-y trick??? I'm so confused.

{Then, worn out, beaten, empty-brained, he sat down on the chair which Christine had just left. Like her, he let his head fall into his hands. When he raised it, the tears were streaming down his young cheeks, real, heavy tears like those which jealous children shed, tears that wept for a sorrow which was in no way fanciful, but which is common to all the lovers on earth and which he expressed aloud:

"Who is this Erik?"}

I wouldn't say Raoul's entirely empty-brained. Just young and a bit thoughtless and reckless and quick to jump to conclusions. (Also for someone who was so quick to link the Angel of Music = a guy who's just pretending to be that in order to get close to Christine, how is it that he can't figure out that the man's voice = Erik??? I mean, she was just talking about Erik, and then the voice showed up so??)

{He came upon a charming picture. Christine herself was seated by the bedside of the old lady, who was sitting up against the pillows, knitting. The pink and white had returned to the young girl's cheeks. The dark rings round her eyes had disappeared. Raoul no longer recognized the tragic face of the day before. If the veil of melancholy over those adorable features had not still appeared to the young man as the last trace of the weird drama in whose toils that mysterious child was struggling, he could have believed that Christine was not its heroine at all.}

For the last time, she is NOT a helpless child that needs to be taken care of, she is a grown woman and she IS the heroine of this 'weird drama'.

Current Mood: blank

{With his face in a mask trimmed with long, thick lace, looking like a pierrot in his white wrap, the viscount thought himself very ridiculous. Men of the world do not go to the Opera ball in fancy-dress! It was absurd. One thought, however, consoled the viscount: he would certainly never be recognized!}

Picturing Raoul in a lacy getup is.. very strange. Also hilarious. (And note the example of Raoul's mental what-would-Philippe-do- apparently not go to the opera ball in fancy dress, but that's not stopping Raoul!)

{He was afraid of losing her, after meeting her again in such strange circumstances. His grudge against her was gone. He no longer doubted that she had "nothing to reproach herself with," however peculiar and inexplicable her conduct might seem. He was ready to make any display of clemency, forgiveness or cowardice. He was in love. And, no doubt, he would soon receive a very natural explanation of her curious absence.}

At least now he's forgiven her and given her the benefit of the doubt, instead of making judgments about her character! Good for you, Raoul!

{As Raoul once more passed through the great crush-room, this time in the wake of his guide, he could not help noticing a group crowding round a person whose disguise, eccentric air and gruesome appearance were causing a sensation. It was a man dressed all in scarlet, with a huge hat and feathers on the top of a wonderful death's head. From his shoulders hung an immense red-velvet cloak, which trailed along the floor like a king's train; and on this cloak was embroidered, in gold letters, which every one read and repeated aloud, "Don't touch me! I am Red Death stalking abroad!"}

Ohhh the Phantom's also in the crush-room; how appropriate!

{The black domino kept on turning back and, apparently, on two occasions saw something that startled her, for she hurried her pace and Raoul's as though they were being pursued.}

Does Christine think the Red Death is following her (I am almost certain that Christine knows that Red Death is the Phantom), or does she think it's someone else, like the Persian?

{She tried to close the door, but Raoul prevented her; for he had seen, on the top step of the staircase that led to the floor above, A RED FOOT, followed by another ... and slowly, majestically, the whole scarlet dress of Red Death met his eyes. And he once more saw the death's head of Perros-Guirec.

"It's he!" he exclaimed. "This time, he shall not escape me! ..."}

Now is not the time to play romantic hero, Raoul.

{"Whom do you mean by 'he'?" she asked, in a changed voice. "Who shall not escape you?"

Raoul tried to overcome the girl's resistance by force, but she repelled him with a strength which he would not have suspected in her. He understood, or thought he understood, and at once lost his temper.}

Christine: now, officially, just as strong if not more so than Raoul!

{"Who?" he repeated angrily. "Why, he, the man who hides behind that hideous mask of death! ... The evil genius of the churchyard at Perros! ... Red Death! ... In a word, madam, your friend ... your Angel of Music! ... But I shall snatch off his mask, as I shall snatch off my own; and, this time, we shall look each other in the face, he and I, with no veil and no lies between us; and I shall know whom you love and who loves you!"}

That's.. probably not a mask of death, Raoul. It's his face... Be more considerate- some people just have naturally ugly faces!

(Also, at this point does Raoul think that Christine was lying about the whole Angel thing to cover up that she has a lover, or does he think she's being duped by someone pretending to be the Angel in order to get in a relationship with her?)

{He burst into a mad laugh, while Christine gave a disconsolate moan behind her velvet mask. With a tragic gesture, she flung out her two arms, which fixed a barrier of white flesh against the door.

"In the name of our love, Raoul, you shall not pass! ..."}

I'm very confused. Whyyy at this point does she love him? Is it for the sake of the past? Does she recognize that he has good intentions despite his actions? Does Christine just think that stalking is really romantic? (That would explain a lot, actually.)

{"You lie, madam, for you do not love me and you have never loved me! What a poor fellow I must be to let you mock and flout me as you have done! Why did you give me every reason for hope, at Perros ... for honest hope, madam, for I am an honest man and I believed you to be an honest woman, when your only intention was to deceive me! Alas, you have deceived us all! You have taken a shameful advantage of the candid affection of your benefactress herself, who continues to believe in your sincerity while you go about the Opera ball with Red Death! ... I despise you! ..."

And he burst into tears.}

When did she give you reason to hope at Perros?? Also, I know he's trying to berate Christine here, but the self-loathing leaking in is.. disturbingly strong.

(To be fair, I would also cry in that situation, as conflict-averse as I am.)

{"You will beg my pardon, one day, for all those ugly words, Raoul, and when you do I shall forgive you!"}

That's.. really nice of you, Christine! Recognizing that he doesn't know the truth and has no reason to think you're behaving honorably right now, and that's what's driving the cruel words coming out of his mouth.

{He shook his head. "No, no, you have driven me mad! When I think that I had only one object in life: to give my name to an opera wench!"}

What about your career in the navy? Your family? You have so much more in your life to care about other than Christine- you can't hang your entire hopes on one person!

{"Raoul! ... How can you?"

"I shall die of shame!"

"No, dear, live!"}

How can he? Well, he can propose, and you two can get married, and you would take his name and title and become the Viscomtess de Chagny.

(Also, I question whether Raoul's being hyperbolic due to the strong emotions of first love, or if this situation has sparked genuinely suicidal thoughts in him? Poor boy.)

{ He risked one more sarcasm:

"Oh, you must let me come and applaud you from time to time!"}

No offense, sweetie, but that's not really funny. Or a good use of sarcasm. Maybe leave that to the Phantom.

{"I shall never sing again, Raoul! ..."}

Never sing again as in sing for an audience (as opposed to the Phantom alone), or that she just doesn't want to sing anymore because of the strife it has caused?

{"Really?" he replied, still more satirically. "So he is taking you off the stage: I congratulate you! ... But we shall meet in the Bois, one of these evenings!"}

Ohhhh he's obliquely mock-congratulating her on her engagement. Now THAT was actually good use of sarcasm.

{"Not in the Bois nor anywhere, Raoul: you shall not see me again ..."

"May one ask at least to what darkness you are returning? ... For what hell are you leaving, mysterious lady ... or for what paradise?"

"I came to tell you, dear, but I can't tell you now ... you would not believe me! You have lost faith in me, Raoul; it is finished!"

She spoke in such a despairing voice that the lad began to feel remorse for his cruelty.}

*That* is a finely worded question, Mssr. le Vicomte. An overly formal, but polite inquiry that even somewhat references mythology relevant to the situation! And you BETTER BE feeling remorse now, buddy, after what you just said.

Current Mood: calm

{"Madame ... where is Christine?"

And the old lady replied calmly:

"She is with her good genius!"

"What good genius?" exclaimed poor Raoul.

"Why, the Angel of Music!"

The viscount dropped into a chair. Really? Christine was with the Angel of Music?}

Being with an angel does not necessarily mean one is dead, Raoul. But, yes, poor Raoul- I bet he's entirely fed up with imaginative people, who don't say what they mean and believe in fairytales.

{He hardly knew what he was saying, for his ideas about Christine, already greatly confused, were becoming more and more entangled; and it seemed as if everything was beginning to turn around him, around the room, around that extraordinary good lady with the white hair and forget-me-not eyes.}

You seem dizzy- you should probably drink some water and lie down. That may be how intense confusion feels, but you still likely have low blood sugar or something.

{She is fond of me!" sighed the young man. He found a difficulty in collecting his thoughts and bringing them to bear on Mamma Valerius' "good genius," on the Angel of Music of whom Christine had spoken to him so strangely,}

And Raoul is immediately distracted from his missing, possibly dead crush because her mom just told him that Christine kind of likes him. (Oh, the utter distraction of a first crush!)

{He asked in a low voice: "What makes you think that Christine is fond of me, madame?"

"She used to speak of you every day."

"Really? ... And what did she tell you?"

"She told me that you had made her a proposal!"

And the good old lady began laughing wholeheartedly. Raoul sprang from his chair, flushing to the temples, suffering agonies.}

awww he's blushing!!! (Yeah, I'd be laughing too at that reaction.)

{"Is Christine engaged to be married?" the wretched Raoul asked, in a choking voice.

"Why no! Why no! ... You know as well as I do that Christine couldn't marry, even if she wanted to!"

"But I don't know anything about it! ... And why can't Christine marry?"

"Because of the Angel of Music, of course! ..."

"I don't follow ..."

"Yes, he forbids her to! ..."}

That moment when you're actually not sure if your crush has a boyfriend or not.

{"Oh, he forbids her ... without forbidding her. It's like this: he tells her that, if she got married, she would never hear him again. That's all! ... And that he would go away for ever! ... So, you understand, she can't let the Angel of Music go. It's quite natural."

"Yes, yes," echoed Raoul submissively, "it's quite natural."}

No, it's not 'quite natural'- it's M A N I P U L A T I O N. Which is not okay even if he is in love with Christine!

{Raoul de Chagny rose and, with a very authoritative air, pronounced these peremptory words:

"Madame, you will have the goodness to tell me where that genius lives."

The old lady did not seem surprised at this indiscreet command. She raised her eyes and said:

"In Heaven!"

Such simplicity baffled him.}

Mme. Valerius, you're not exactly helping him get over the 'was Christine murdered?!?' theory.

{He walked home to his brother's house in a pitiful state. He could have struck himself, banged his head against the walls! To think that he had believed in her innocence, in her purity! The Angel of Music! He knew him now! He saw him! It was beyond a doubt some unspeakable tenor, a good-looking jackanapes, who mouthed and simpered as he sang! He thought himself as absurd and as wretched as could be. Oh, what a miserable, little, insignificant, silly young man was M. le Vicomte de Chagny! thought Raoul, furiously. And she, what a bold and ... sly creature!}

Raoul, you are a tenor and good-looking. You have absolutely no room to talk. Also, isn't mouthing the words required to sing?? WHy is he upset about that???

You are silly, yes, and young. But earnest and big-hearted and absolutely well-meaning and sweet! If Christine really is as sly as you currently think, then you really deserve better than to make yourself miserable pursuing her.

Current Mood: busy

Finally out of flashback-land!

{"You don't answer!" he said angrily and unhappily. "Well, I will answer for you. It was because there was some one in the room who was in your way, Christine, some one that you did not wish to know that you could be interested in any one else!"

"If any one was in my way, my friend," Christine broke in coldly, "if any one was in my way, that evening, it was yourself, since I told you to leave the room!"}

GOOD POINT, CHRISTINE!

{"Then you were listening behind the door?"

"Yes, because I love you everything ... And I heard everything ..."}

Loving someone does not give you an excuse to spy on them and monitor their every conversation. (Sorry, just the 'I need to monitor everything you say because I love you' just hits a little too close to home for me.)

{"Christine!"

"Raoul!"}

Erik! (Oh, wait- he's not here yet.)

{He was terribly concerned and bitterly grieved to see the hours, which he had hoped to find so sweet, slip past without the presence of the young Swedish girl. Why did she not come to roam with him through the country where they had so many memories in common?}

Maybe she just needs some alone time? Maybe grief is a mostly private thing that she doesn't want to share with you, even though she recognizes that you miss him too? Just respect her wishes and try not to be overdramatic and read too much into it.

{They were marvelous red roses that had blossomed in the morning, in the snow, giving a glimpse of life among the dead, for death was all around him. It also, like the flowers, issued from the ground, which had flung back a number of its corpses. Skeletons and skulls by the hundred were heaped against the wall of the church, held in position by a wire that left the whole gruesome stack visible. Dead men's bones, arranged in rows, like bricks, to form the first course upon which the walls of the sacristy had been built. }

What a haunting mental image. Flowers and death are often intertwined, but the juxtaposition of flowers and long-dead bones is uncomfortable and wrong here, yet is the foundation on which this location is built. (And the presence of skulls reminds me of a certain death's dead who will appear momentarily.)

{A voice behind him said:

"Do you think the Korrigans will come this evening?"

It was Christine. He tried to speak. She put her gloved hand on his mouth.}

Oh. Now the tables have turned, and it is Christine who initiates contact with Raoul, and Christine who deliberately recalls elements of their childhood friendship. She mirrors his introduction in order to appeal for reconciliation, perhaps? (Also who would let children play and watch for mythical creatures in an area adjacent to a graveyard? Surely that is not the only place to glimpse the sea in Perros.)

{"And it was here that he said, 'When I am in Heaven, my child, I will send him to you.' Well, Raoul, my father is in Heaven, and I have been visited by the Angel of Music."

"I have no doubt of it," replied the young man gravely, for it seemed to him that his friend, in obedience to a pious thought, was connecting the memory of her father with the brilliancy of her last triumph.}

And Raoul tries to put two and two together. His current theory is good, considering what little information he has to go on. She was recently a success, and her deceased father promised to send her a means to achieve musical greatness, so since she achieved musical greatness she naturally attributes it to her father and his stories, because to do so otherwise would be dishonoring his memory.

{"I understand," he said, "that no human being can sing as you sang the other evening without the intervention of some miracle. No professor on earth can teach you such accents as those. You have heard the Angel of Music, Christine."}

Trying to interpret Raoul's tone here. We can reasonably assume that he does not believe the angel actually visited Christine, since his previous thoughts showed that he believes Christine only equates her recent triumph with her father's memory because of her 'obedience to a pious thought' (believing that her father sent the angel to bring her musical genius). Is he going 'yeah, I remember that story too! I can see why you would *metaphorically* associate that with your current musical talent, and I think you are as talented as anyone in those stories who was visited by the angel, and your voice has an unearthly natural beauty to it'?

{"Yes," she said solemnly, "IN MY DRESSING-ROOM. That is where he comes to give me my lessons daily."

"In your dressing-room?" he echoed stupidly.}

WHAT A SCANDAL, MISS DAAE. (Also Raoul's great surprise shows he was referring to the story to pay Christine a compliment, not out of genuine belief. If he was speaking literally, his surprise might be due to the fact that the angel visits her daily, when the story only mentions the angel appearing once in a person's lifetime.)

Current Mood: bored

{His wife died when Christine was entering upon her sixth year.}

And this is all that's mentioned about Mama Daae... I'm disappointed. What was her name? Was she musically inclined? Did she play an instrument or sing? Did she fall in love with Father Daae because of his enchanting music, or was it something he began after he met her? Does Christine have any memories of her?

{When Valerius and his wife went to settle in France, they took Daae and Christine with them. "Mamma" Valerius treated Christine as her daughter. As for Daae, he began to pine away with homesickness. He never went out of doors in Paris, but lived in a sort of dream which he kept up with his violin. For hours at a time, he remained locked up in his bedroom with his daughter, fiddling and singing, very, very softly. Sometimes Mamma Valerius would come and listen behind the door, wipe away a tear and go down-stairs again on tiptoe, sighing for her Scandinavian skies.}

Ohhh this is sad. Nobody sings very very softly if they're happy with life and themselves. This also makes me wonder how much of a say Daddy Daae actually had in their move to Paris, given that at this point he's financially destitute and dependent on a wealthy patron. I could easily see him being swayed by the Valerius' desire to give Christine a good education (Christine, whose wellbeing now entirely depends on Professor Valerius- and what is he a professor of? something music-related, I'd assume) despite his own misgivings about leaving Sweden for an unknown future in a foreign country totally depending on someone else's generosity.

{One day, a little boy, who was out with his governess, made her take a longer walk than he intended, for he could not tear himself from the little girl whose pure, sweet voice seemed to bind him to her.}

This reminds me of the ALW lyric "he was bound to love you/when he heard you sing", and that the Phantom isn't the only one who was initially drawn to Christine by her voice.

{And she saw a little boy running fast, in spite of the outcries and the indignant protests of a worthy lady in black. The little boy ran into the sea, dressed as he was, and brought her back her scarf. Boy and scarf were both soaked through.}

Raoul is totally a Gryffindor. (And, for anyone else interested, my other headcanons are Ravenclaw!Christine , Gryffindor!Carlotta, Hufflepuff!Piangi, Slytherin!Philippe, and *whispers* Ravenclaw or maaaybe Hufflepuff Erik.)

{At the aunt's request, seconded by Professor Valerius, Daae consented to give the young viscount some violin lessons. In this way, Raoul learned to love the same airs that had charmed Christine's childhood. They also both had the same calm and dreamy little cast of mind.}

Ohhh AU where Raoul is a violin genius and pursues it despite Philippe's protests, becomes a notable violinist and ends up playing for the Paris Opera House, where he finds Christine again. She's still being tutored by the "Angel of Music" who freaks out when he hears Christine has an admirer, but once he listens to Raoul play, he's touched and realizes that Raoul, Christine, and himself all have the same deep love of music. He offers to tutor Raoul (who goes and asks Christine 'why are the walls offering to teach me?' 'oh, that's the Angel of Music, he's legit') who accepts. Thus begins Erik's attempts to AGGRESIVELY MATCHMAKE Raoul and Christine together through ghostly shipper shenanigans. And everything is happy and nothing hurts, until you remember that canon exists.

BACK TO THE BOOK

{There was one story that began:

"A king sat in a little boat on one of those deep, still lakes that open like a bright eye in the midst of the Norwegian mountains ..."}

Is this something Leroux made up, or a story that actually exists somewhere? If it is the latter, I require a link posthaste.

{They were quite changed, cautious as two diplomatists, and told each other things that had nothing to do with their budding sentiments. When they took leave of each other by the roadside, Raoul, pressing a kiss on Christine's trembling hand, said:

"Mademoiselle, I shall never forget you!"

And he went away regretting his words, for he knew that Christine could not be the wife of the Vicomte de Chagny.}

Honestly, there needs to be way more emphasis on the forbidden love inherent in the nature of R/C, especially since Raoul is often seen as the more 'socially acceptable' choice of the two. In comparison to the Phantom? Maaaybe, (he's certainly the more stable one) but it would still ruin his reputation. In society's view? ABSOLUTELY NOT. Neither of them are socially acceptable husbands for Christine in the eyes of society at the time: one is overtly monstrous, the other on a pedestal of status Miss Daae shouldn't dare to aspire to (or else be considered a golddigger who needs to 'learn her place').

Current Mood: amused

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