zellephantom

Merry Christmas (or whatever else you celebrate!)- here's some Phantom Thoughts as my gift to you, whether you like it or not!

I'm skipping over some parts a bit, as there's not really much I can think of to say about them.

{The woman laughed, screamed with laughter! Raoul darted away, roaring with anger, ran up-stairs, four stairs at a time, down-stairs, rushed through the whole of the business side of the opera-house, found himself once more in the light of the stage.}

I'd start a tally for 'how many times Raoul has been openly laughed at in this novel', but I think it would just be depressing... (Plot twist- he's actually gone this whole book wearing a red clown nose or an equally humorous accessory and everyone has noticed it except for him, so no one can take him seriously.)

{At the same moment the stage buzzed with a new sound and, amid a crowd of men in evening-dress, all talking and gesticulating together, appeared a man who seemed very calm and displayed a pleasant face, all pink and chubby-cheeked, crowned with curly hair and lit up by a pair of wonderfully serene blue eyes. Mercier, the acting-manager, called the Vicomte de Chagny's attention to him and said:}

I know this is supposed to be a man, but the way he's described just sounds like someone talking about a baby. 'Oh, he's so calm and pleasant- and just look at those chubby pink cheeks!'

{Raoul was the last to enter. As he was about to follow the rest into the room, a hand was laid on his shoulder and he heard these words spoken in his ear:

"ERIK'S SECRETS CONCERN NO ONE BUT HIMSELF!"

He turned around, with a stifled exclamation. The hand that was laid on his shoulder was now placed on the lips of a person with an ebony skin, with eyes of jade and with an astrakhan cap on his head: the Persian! The stranger kept up the gesture that recommended discretion and then, at the moment when the astonished viscount was about to ask the reason of his mysterious intervention, bowed and disappeared.}

The Persian! Oh, it's so great to see him again (and we'll be seeing a lot more of him soon enough)! But if he was trying to communicate with Raoul subtly and quietly, HE MIGHT'VE CONSIDERED NOT SPEAKING LOUD ENOUGH TO BE RENDERED IN ALL CAPS.

{One morning, the managers found on their table an envelope addressed to "Monsieur O. G. (private)" and accompanied by a note from O. G. himself:

The time has come to carry out the clause in the memorandum-book. Please put twenty notes of a thousand francs each into this envelope, seal it with your own seal and hand it to Mme. Giry, who will do what is necessary.}

Would that amount of bills even fit into a single envelope? (Maybe I'm just not used to handling large amounts of money...)

Also, I don't really get why usually the managers (or sometimes the narrative itself) keep interchangeably calling Madame Giry either Madame Giry or Mother Giry. Madame I get, but isn't Mother a bit strange and superfluous, as everyone presumably knows her as Little Meg Giry's mom? Nobody goes around calling my mom Mother Phantom (and not just because it's not my actual last name)!

{At first sight, Richard and Moncharmin thought that the notes were still there; but soon they perceived that they were not the same. The twenty real notes were gone and had been replaced by twenty notes, of the "Bank of St. Farce"!}

Is this implying that Erik took the time to draw up some fake bank notes just for a prank? I guess he can't spend all his time working on Don Juan Triumphant or pining for Christine...

{"Don't let us make ourselves ridiculous! All Paris would laugh at us. O. G. has won the first game: we will win the second."

He was thinking of the next month's allowance.}

Let's see, Timmy gets a quarter in allowance for making his bed every day, Wendy gets a dollar for washing the dog, aaaand O.G. gets twenty thousand francs for being the best opera ghost and making a general nuisance of himself!

{Nevertheless, they had been so absolutely tricked that they were bound to suffer a certain dejection. And, upon my word, it was not difficult to understand. We must not forget that the managers had an idea at the back of their minds, all the time, that this strange incident might be an unpleasant practical joke on the part of their predecessors and that it would not do to divulge it prematurely. On the other hand, Moncharmin was sometimes troubled with a suspicion of Richard himself, who occasionally took fanciful whims into his head.}

Flashback to that terrible attempt at a comedy song from the David Staller Phantom musical where the managers are growing increasingly suspicious of each other as the Phantom uses tricks to pit them against each other. (My vague recollection was that it was called something like 'Now Who's Running the Show'??)

{The next time fell on the same day that beheld the disappearance of Christine Daae. In the morning, a note from the ghost reminded them that the money was due. It read:

Do just as you did last time. It went very well. Put the twenty thousand in the envelope and hand it to our excellent Mme. Giry.}

Erik has learned the power of positive reinforcement in getting people to do what you want XD

{"And now," he said, "let's have Mother Giry in."

The old woman was sent for. She entered with a sweeping courtesy. She still wore her black taffeta dress, the color of which was rapidly turning to rust and lilac, to say nothing of the dingy bonnet. She seemed in a good temper. She at once said:}

Okay, how would a black dress fade to a *lilac* purple with age? I could see it fading to a darker purple like mulberry or plum, but the almost-lavender of lilac?

{"First of all, Mme. Giry, I have a little question to put to you."

"By all means, M. Richard: Mme. Giry is here to answer you."}

Did- did she just refer to herself in the third person? Are Erik's habits catching on?

{"Are you still on good terms with the ghost?"

"Couldn't be better, sir; couldn't be better."}

"After all, you tried to fire me, but *he* appreciates me enough to murder my replacement to get me reinstated!"

{"Oh, you, understand quite well. In any case, you've got to understand... And, first of all, tell us his name."

"Whose name?"

"The name of the man whose accomplice you are, Mme. Giry!"

"I am the ghost's accomplice? I? ... His accomplice in what, pray?"

"You do all he wants."

"Oh! He's not very troublesome, you know."}

Doing all he wants could generally be seen as being an accomplice to some degree, Madame Giry. And the sheer audacity to say Erik's not very troublesome- I think Carlotta would have a thing or two to say about that, not to mention Joseph Buquet, if he were still around to say anything!

{"How much does he give you for bringing him that envelope?"

"Ten francs."

"You poor thing! That's not much, is it?}

Yeah, he could at least give you enough to buy a nice new dress so you wouldn't have to keep wearing that one. Or, for that matter, the managers who are HER ACTUAL EMPLOYERS could pay her more, if they actually are as sympathetic as they say they are for her shabby state...

{"I'll tell you that presently, Mme. Giry. Just now we should like to know for what extraordinary reason you have given yourself body and soul, to this ghost ... Mme. Giry's friendship and devotion are not to be bought for five francs or ten francs."}

No, she needs at least twenty francs before she'll acknowledge you publicly as a friend! (At least she's not poor Meg in Love Never Dies, who actually gives herself over body and soul in a fruitless attempt at gaining Mr. Y's attention and love...)

{"But this is a matter that concerns myself alone ... Well, it was in Box Five one evening, I found a letter addressed to myself, a sort of note written in red ink. I needn't read the letter to you sir; I know it by heart, and I shall never forget it if I live to be a hundred!"}

And I very much hope you do, dear lady, or at least live long enough to see your daughter become a baroness!

{And Mme. Giry, drawing herself up, recited the letter with touching eloquence:

MADAM:

1825. Mlle. Menetrier, leader of the ballet, became Marquise de Cussy.

1832. Mlle. Marie Taglioni, a dancer, became Comtesse Gilbert des Voisins.

1846. La Sota, a dancer, married a brother of the King of Spain.

1847. Lola Montes, a dancer, became the morganatic wife of King Louis of Bavaria and was created Countess of Landsfeld.

1848. Mlle. Maria, a dancer, became Baronne d'Herneville.

1870. Theresa Hessier, a dancer, married Dom Fernando, brother to the King of Portugal.

Richard and Moncharmin listened to the old woman, who, as she proceeded with the enumeration of these glorious nuptials, swelled out, took courage and, at last, in a voice bursting with pride, flung out the last sentence of the prophetic letter:

1885. Meg Giry, Empress!}

I feel like context is important for understanding how the aforementioned women attained their high positions. Also, you think Erik would just go for 'Queen' or something- it's a little bit more attainable, I think, as Empress implies possessing an empire and I think there's probably more kingdoms than empires in the world.

{"You have never seen him; he speaks to you and you believe all he says?" asked Moncharmin.

"Yes. To begin with, I owe it to him that my little Meg was promoted to be the leader of a row. I said to the ghost, 'If she is to be empress in 1885, there is no time to lose; she must become a leader at once.' He said, 'Look upon it as done.' And he had only a word to say to M. Poligny and the thing was done."}

Because the leader would therefore stick out more and be more likely to attract the attention of a royal personage in the future?

(With both their levels of blind devotion to who, unbeknownst to them, is the same person, I'd almost think Madame Giry and Madame Valerius would get along well.)

{"I, sir? I? ... I swear ..."

"Don't swear, Mme. Giry! ... And now I will tell you the second reason why I sent for you. Mme. Giry, I am going to have you arrested."}

We like to keep things PG here, Madame Giry.

{"HAVE ME ARRESTED!"

The mouth that spoke those words seemed to spit the three teeth that were left to it into Richard's face.

M. Richard behaved like a hero. He retreated no farther. His threatening forefinger seemed already to be pointing out the keeper of Box Five to the absent magistrates.

"I am going to have you arrested, Mme. Giry, as a thief!"

"Say that again!"

And Mme. Giry caught Mr. Manager Richard a mighty box on the ear, before Mr. Manager Moncharmin had time to intervene. But it was not the withered hand of the angry old beldame that fell on the managerial ear, but the envelope itself, the cause of all the trouble, the magic envelope that opened with the blow, scattering the bank-notes, which escaped in a fantastic whirl of giant butterflies.}

I don't think Richard is the hero here- which one of them is the one who's interrogating and pretending to be friendly with a gullible but harmless older lady for the sake of pinning a crime on her, and which one is the (not so!) harmless old lady who just wants what's best for her daughter?

You go, Madame Giry- box some sense into those managers who think you're a dastardly mastermind capable of pulling off elaborate tricks and crimes!

{"I never said that," declared Mme. Giry, "seeing that it was myself who put the twenty-thousand francs into M. Richard's pocket." And she added, under her voice, "There! It's out! ... And may the ghost forgive me!"

Richard began bellowing anew, but Moncharmin authoritatively ordered him to be silent.

"Allow me! Allow me! Let the woman explain herself. Let me question her." And he added: "It is really astonishing that you should take up such a tone! ... We are on the verge of clearing up the whole mystery. And you're in a rage! ... You're wrong to behave like that... I'm enjoying myself immensely."}

Can I just say that asking forgiveness from an angel makes much more sense than asking a ghost's forgiveness?

Richard: "But I thought we agreed to do a 'good cop, bad cop' routine!"

{"Aha!" said Richard, suddenly assuming a swaggering air which Moncharmin did not like. "I knew nothing either! You put twenty-thousand francs in my pocket and I knew nothing either! I am very glad to hear it, Mme. Giry!"

"Yes," the terrible dame agreed, "yes, it's true. We neither of us knew anything. But you, you must have ended by finding out!"

Richard would certainly have swallowed Mme. Giry alive, if Moncharmin had not been there! But Moncharmin protected her.}

I'd hardly say that Madame Giry is terrible, even if she did just box someone in the ears for calling her a thief.

Do I need to start a count for 'cannibalism references related to eating Madame Giry'? (Is she everyone in management's go-to for 'if we were stranded on a deserted island and running out of food, this is who we'd eat first' ? She really doesn't deserve that.) Because if so, in the immortal words of Doctor Doofenshmirtz, "I'd have two nickels - which isn't a lot, but it's weird that it happened twice."

Current Mood: anxious

Well, it's been *checks calendar* almost two years exactly, and we're finally at part 40! It seems like we're finally out of the Apollo's Lyre scene, and I'm no liar XD (Side note- I really love the wordplay in Hadestown when Orpheus says he plays the lyre and Eurydice responds with "Oh, a liar, and a player too! I've met too many men like you ". It's just *chef's kiss*.)

{A cold sweat poured from his temples. Two eyes, like blazing coals, had appeared at the foot of his bed. They stared at him fixedly, terribly, in the darkness of the night.

Raoul was no coward; and yet he trembled. He put out a groping, hesitating hand toward the table by his bedside. He found the matches and lit his candle. The eyes disappeared.}

Yeah, not gonna lie, I would also be super freaked out by that. Also, wow, if that really is Erik, it is really weird to just be at the foot of your rival's bed and stay there staring at him like some kind of sleep paralysis demon.

{"She told me that HIS eyes only showed in the dark. His eyes have disappeared in the light, but HE may be there still."

And he rose, hunted about, went round the room. He looked under his bed, like a child. Then he thought himself absurd, got into bed again and blew out the candle.}

There are other things that look like they have eyes that glow in the dark- deer, cats... and that's all I've got. At least it's not a deer in your room!

I would totally check under the bed if I were you, Raoul. Who knows what kind of terrifying mutant dust bunnies might be lurking there? (Also, it would be super awkward if Erik did duck under the bed to avoid detection, and then Raoul checked under there and they made eye contact and Erik was like *finger guns* 'Hey, fancy seeing you here, Vicomte'.)

{He sat up and stared back at them with all the courage he possessed. Then he cried:

"Is that you, Erik? Man, genius, or ghost, is it you?"}

Two of those three things are not mutually exclusive, if he means genius like 'look at this genius cat who can play the piano'. And what is he expecting in reply?? 'Yes, Raoul, it's your brilliant nemesis Erik here to taunt you about how Christine loves me and only me and we're going to be together forever and take long walks on Sunday and sing better than anyone else in the world- and if you weren't awake, I was just planning to whisper that in your ear and try to get the message through subconsciously'??

{The eyes were still there, at the foot of the bed. Were they between the bed and the window-pane or behind the pane, that is to say, on the balcony? That was what Raoul wanted to know. He also wanted to know if those eyes belonged to a human being... He wanted to know everything. Then, patiently, calmly, he seized his revolver and took aim. He aimed a little above the two eyes. Surely, if they were eyes and if above those two eyes there was a forehead and if Raoul was not too clumsy ...

The shot made a terrible din amid the silence of the slumbering house. And, while footsteps came hurrying along the passages, Raoul sat up with outstretched arm, ready to fire again, if need be.

This time, the two eyes had disappeared.}

I'm amazed at Raoul's ability to, presumably, manage a steady shot when he's A) only just woken up and B) has been trembling.

{Servants appeared, carrying lights; Count Philippe, terribly anxious:

"What is it?"

"I think I have been dreaming," replied the young man. "I fired at two stars that kept me from sleeping."

"You're raving! Are you ill? For God's sake, tell me, Raoul: what happened?"}

Aww, he really does care about his brother!

Also, stars??? Raoul, that's a terrible excuse if you were trying to make one. What about 'I think a stray cat got into the house and it was bothering me so I shot at it'? Sure, it makes you seem very unkind to cats, who are majestic animals that do not deserve such treatment, but it makes much more sense and sounds less mad than trying to shoot down some stars that were bothering you.

{Raoul was leaning over the balcony with his candle: "Aha!" he said. "Blood! ... Blood! ... Here, there, more blood! ... That's a good thing! A ghost who bleeds is less dangerous!" he grinned.

"Raoul! Raoul! Raoul!"

The count was shaking him as though he were trying to waken a sleep-walker.}

Acting this happy at the sight of blood just makes you seem like a serial killer, Raoul XD

Also, cute/bittersweet headcanon that bby!Raoul did have a problem with sleepwalking and that Philippe or one of his sisters had to get out of bed and wake him up and gently get him back in bed like Lucy taking Linus home from the pumpkin patch at 4 AM in "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown".

{"You can see the blood for yourself. I thought I had been dreaming and firing at two stars. It was Erik's eyes ... and here is his blood! ... After all, perhaps I was wrong to shoot; and Christine is quite capable of never forgiving me ... All this would not have happened if I had drawn the curtains before going to bed."}

Yeah, maybe ask Christine before you decide to shoot Erik on sight if you ever see him? And absolutely draw the bed curtains and the regular curtains before you go to sleep- I for one absolutely cannot sleep unless it's pretty dark. Or maybe invest in a sleep mask, Raoul?

{The count's valet said:

"That is so, sir; there is blood on the balcony."

The other man-servant brought a lamp, by the light of which they examined the balcony carefully.}

Whatever you're paying the servants, Philippe, they deserve a raise after dealing with all this nonsense in the middle of the night.

{"My dear fellow," said Count Philippe, "you have fired at a cat."

"The misfortune is," said Raoul, with a grin, "that it's quite possible. With Erik, you never know. Is it Erik? Is it the cat? Is it the ghost? No, with Erik, you can't tell!"

Raoul went on making this strange sort of remarks which corresponded so intimately and logically with the preoccupation of his brain and which, at the same time, tended to persuade many people that his mind was unhinged.}

And he's already in a somewhat delicate frame of mind especially in regards to Erik, so when he's actually stuck in the torture chamber, it makes things that much worse for him :(

Probably overthinking things, but I wonder if this passage, with the confusion between Erik and a cat, is the basis on which several adaptations give Erik a pet cat, like Ayesha in Kay's novel? I haven't read Kay, so I don't know if she covers this scene, but perhaps Erik with a cat adaptations interpret this as Erik's cat doing his bidding by bothering Raoul?

Current Mood: amused

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.

Current Mood: accomplished

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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Current Mood: accomplished

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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Current Mood: accomplished

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)!

Current Mood: accomplished

{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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{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!

{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

{"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

{"The little baggage!" growled the count.}

Weird insult, but okay.

{Raoul, behind the curtain of his hands that veiled his boyish tears, thought only of the letter which he received on his return to Paris, where Christine, fleeing from Perros like a thief in the night, had arrived before him}

Boyish tears? I was under the impression that tears were simply water flowing from one's eyes- I wasn't aware that they were inherently gendered.

{Thenceforth, certain of herself, certain of her friends in the house, certain of her voice and her success, fearing nothing, Carlotta flung herself into her part without restraint of modesty ... She was no longer Margarita, she was Carmen.}

Forgive me for my little knowledge of Opera, but aren't Margarite from Faust and Carmen from.. er, Carmen, two completely different character types?

Also, gentle readers, I have taken the liberty of removing the massive amounts of quotations from Faust in this chapter. It might mean something to someone who is familiar with Faust and could pinpoint where exactly they are at the moment, but I am generally disregarding it.

{The uproar in the house was indescribable. If the thing had happened to any one but Carlotta, she would have been hooted. But everybody knew how perfect an instrument her voice was; and there was no display of anger, but only of horror and dismay, the sort of dismay which men would have felt if they had witnessed the catastrophe that broke the arms of the Venus de Milo...}

Well, I'm glad that the audience likes Carlotta and isn't taking the oppertunity to kick her while she's down. (Even if she might deserve it, given her treatment of Christine.)

{So much so that, after some seconds spent in asking herself if she had really heard that note, that sound, that infernal noise issue from her throat, she tried to persuade herself that it was not so, that she was the victim of an illusion, an illusion of the ear, and not of an act of treachery on the part of her voice....}

How dare you, Carlotta's voice! You treacherous wretch! (Also, it's interesting to note that Carlotta's ego is partially right- her voice is a technically perfect instrument, and the audience recognizes it.)

{Moncharmin and Richard had turned very pale. This extraordinary and inexplicable incident filled them with a dread which was the more mysterious inasmuch as for some little while, they had fallen within the direct influence of the ghost. They had felt his breath. Moncharmin's hair stood on end. Richard wiped the perspiration from his forehead. Yes, the ghost was there, around them, behind them, beside them; they felt his presence without seeing him, they heard his breath, close, close, close to them!}

It's not polite to just stand there and breathe down people's necks without saying anything, Erik. At least give them something ominous to haunt their nightmares! (Or, alternatively, the quacking incident has put the managers so on edge that they're just imagining things.)

{THEY FELT THAT THEY WERE SMARTING UNDER THE GHOST'S ATTACKS.}

WOAH SUDDEN ALL CAPS TO EMPHASIZE THE DRAMA (seriously, Leroux really likes sudden all caps)

{"I feel without alarm ...
I feel without alarm—co-ack!
With its melody enwind me—co-ack!
And all my heart sub—co-ack!"}

That feeling when you get the hiccups.

{And, at last, they distinctly heard his voice in their right ears, the impossible voice, the mouthless voice, saying: "SHE IS SINGING TO-NIGHT TO BRING THE CHANDELIER DOWN!"}

Okay, just because you can't see who's talking doesn't mean he doesn't have a mouth!

{The chandelier, the immense mass of the chandelier was slipping down, coming toward them, at the call of that fiendish voice. Released from its hook, it plunged from the ceiling and came smashing into the middle of the stalls, amid a thousand shouts of terror}

So, is Erik up there with the chandelier throwing his voice, or is he down in Box Five with the manager and somehow remotely crashing the chandelier? For that matter, was Carlotta really quacking, or was that him throwing his voice? And if he messed with her throat spray, then why did it fail at that exact moment and not earlier, while she was being Carmen-esque?

Current Mood: contemplative

I'm skipping chapter 6, since it's very short and I legitimately could not think of anything to say about it. For the curious, the chapter is basically the managers trying to figure out what's going on in Box Five while the Phantom scares them by somehow creating an illusion of statues laughing at them. Also, the managers resolve to sit in Box Five for the next performance of Faust. There was also some slight wordplay with Pandora's box and Box Five, which I highly approve of.

{"He has the chief management of the stable."

"What stable?"

"Why, yours, sir, the stable of the Opera."

"Is there a stable at the Opera? Upon my word, I didn't know. Where is it?"

"In the cellars, on the Rotunda side. It's a very important department; we have twelve horses."}

The new managers have been in charge for HOW LONG and they don't know about an important department and the at least 6 employees that work there??? Also why are horses such a necessary feature in operas that they need TWELVE of them?? Are there just a lot of horse-heavy operas in 19th century France that I just don't know about?

{"These are 'places,'" Mercier interposed, "created and forced upon us by the under-secretary for fine arts. They are filled by protegees of the government and, if I may venture to ..."}

So the GOVERNMENT did this? I'm just picturing government officials saying "Do you know what the opera house needs? HORSES!! At least TWELVE of them! And they need, of course, six stablehands to care for them!" "Simply genius! I shall implement this right away!"

{"Has Cesar been stolen?" cried the acting-manager. "Cesar, the white horse in the Profeta?"

"There are not two Cesars," said the stud-groom dryly. "I was ten years at Franconi's and I have seen plenty of horses in my time. Well, there are not two Cesars. And he's been stolen."}

I know the Phantom didn't leave a note, since there's such a mystery around this, but what if he *did*? Like this:

Dear stablehands,

Henceforth, Cesar is now MY little pony. Make no attempt to see him again.

xoxo the Opera Ghost

Current Mood: tired

{"Yes, the other evening, it was he who was talking when you were listening behind the door. It was he who said, 'You must love me.' But I then thought that I was the only one to hear his voice. Imagine my astonishment when you told me, this morning, that you could hear him too."

Raoul burst out laughing. The first rays of the moon came and shrouded the two young people in their light. Christine turned on Raoul with a hostile air. Her eyes, usually so gentle, flashed fire.

"What are you laughing at? YOU think you heard a man's voice, I suppose?"

"It's you, Raoul, who say that? You, an old playfellow of my own! A friend of my father's! But you have changed since those days. What are you thinking of? I am an honest girl, M. le Vicomte de Chagny, and I don't lock myself up in my dressing-room with men's voices. If you had opened the door, you would have seen that there was nobody in the room!"}

Christine: So I hear this voice in my dressing room- it's the Angel of Music from my father's stories! He is only heard by those who are destined to achieve musical greatness!

Raoul, who is only a decent singer at best: But *I* heard the voice! So it wasn't the Angel lol

Christine: So you think there was a MAN in my dressing room??? How dare you! I am an entirely proper lady and would *never* do something so SCANDELOUS!!

Raoul: ...welp guess I'm alienating my crush then

{The first floor of the Setting Sun was at no great height and a tree growing against the wall held out its branches to Raoul's impatient arms and enabled him to climb down unknown to the landlady.}

So Raoul just casually climbs out the window and down a tree AT NIGHT in order to follow Christine?? Is his inner monologue at this point just 'what would Philippe tell me NOT to do because it would shame the family name? ok, I'm doing that. all for Christine, of course.'??

{Her amazement, therefore, was all the greater when, the next morning, the young man was brought back to her half frozen, more dead than alive, and when she learned that he had been found stretched at full length on the steps of the high altar of the little church.}

And after doing this ridiculously impulsive thing he falls asleep waiting outside the church and nearly FREEZES TO DEATH?? That poor landlady- she has no idea what she's gotten herself into.

{Q. "In what condition of mind were you?"

R. "Very healthy and peaceful, I assure you.}

Does a healthy and peaceful person climb out of bed, out a window, and down a tree IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT in order to follow his crush and see what she's doing???

{She knelt down by her father's grave, made the sign of the cross and began to pray. At that moment, it struck midnight. At the last stroke, I saw Mlle. Daae life{sic} her eyes to the sky and stretch out her arms as though in ecstasy. I was wondering what the reason could be, when I myself raised my head and everything within me seemed drawn toward the invisible, WHICH WAS PLAYING THE MOST PERFECT MUSIC! Christine and I knew that music; we had heard it as children. But it had never been executed with such divine art, even by M. Daae. I remembered all that Christine had told me of the Angel of Music.}

So the Phantom does get out of the Opera House sometimes! (Wouldn't it be awkward if he was staying in the same boardinghouse? The landlady is like 'so what guests do I have today? a pious girl coming to visit her father's grave, a vicomte who vehemently denies that he's following the girl so much that it must be what he's doing- oh, and that weird masked guy with the violin who keeps muttering about an angel of music!)

{"First a skull rolled to my feet ... then another ... then another ... It was as if I were the mark of that ghastly game of bowls. ... But I was quicker than the shadow and caught hold of a corner of its cloak. At that moment, we were just in front of the high altar; and the moonbeams fell straight upon us through the stained-glass windows of the apse. As I did not let go of the cloak, the shadow turned round; and I saw a terrible death's head, which darted a look at me from a pair of scorching eyes. I felt as if I were face to face with Satan; and, in the presence of this unearthly apparition, my heart gave way, my courage failed me ... and I remember nothing more until I recovered consciousness at the Setting Sun."}

So was Erik just aggressively rolling skulls at Raoul to try & scare him off in what sounds like the world's weirdest game of bowling?? And then decides 'well, if skulls won't scare you away, what about MY TERRIFYING FACE??? oops he fainted- back to the Opera House!'

Current Mood: indifferent

{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

{ The moment they entered the box, they came out again and called the box-keeper, who asked them what they wanted. They said, 'Look in the box: there's no one there, is there?' 'No,' said the woman. 'Well,' said they, 'when we went in, we heard a voice saying THAT THE BOX WAS TAKEN!'"}

Oh, the lengths Erik goes to in order to protect his unassigned assigned seat.

{He looked at Mme. Giry, in her faded shawl, her worn shoes, her old taffeta dress and dingy bonnet. It was quite evident from the manager's attitude, that he either did not know or could not remember having met Mme. Giry, nor even little Giry, nor even "little Meg!" But Mme. Giry's pride was so great that the celebrated box-keeper imagined that everybody knew her.}

Awww... As much as I prefer the ALW musical's ballet mistress Madame Giry, this proud mama Giry moment just warms my heart.

{Mme. Giry opened her eyes with astonishment at such ignorance. However, she consented to enlighten those two poor innocents.}

^ ALW Madame Giry every time she opens her mouth.

{"Still, that doesn't let us know how the Opera ghost came to ask you for a footstool,"}

Which is very important information to know, obviously. Who can say what dastardly deeds one might need a footstool for, especially if one is a sinister Opera Ghost? (Also, Erik, since you're so good at avoiding detection why can't you fetch your own footstool instead of bothering sweet old Mme. Giry?)

{"Tut, tut! A ghost asking for a footstool! Then this ghost of yours is a woman?"}

I am very confused at how needing a footstool automatically equals the Ghost being female... I also REALLY want an AU where the Phantom is actually an elaborate scheme devised by Madame Giry.

{"Well, I brought the footstool. Of course, it wasn't for himself he wanted it, but for his lady! But I never heard her nor saw her."

"Eh? What? So now the ghost is married!"}

AGAIN with the footstool = female thing! Is there some historical context I'm missing here?

{"excuse me, how does the ghost manage to give you your two francs?"

"Why, he leaves them on the little shelf in the box, of course. I find them with the program, which I always give him. Some evenings, I find flowers in the box, a rose that must have dropped from his lady's bodice ... for he brings a lady with him sometimes; one day, they left a fan behind them."}

Ah, yes, because even a murderer like Erik is still decent enough to tip the people serving him. (also of note, Madame Giry's late husband's name was Jules.)

Does this mean Christine came with him to performances sometimes (seems unlikely to me given the current state of their relationship and that she IS a performer there and would presumably be participating in those shows), or just that Erik likes to carry around flowers, has a fan for some reason, and prefers to use a footstool and Mme. Giry assumes he has a lady friend because those things are somehow traditionally feminine??

Current Mood: blah

{Did the ghost really take a seat at the managers' supper-table that night, uninvited? And can we be sure that the figure was that of the Opera ghost himself? Who would venture to assert as much?}

I would. It just makes sense, and I don't see you offering a better explanation, Mssr. Leroux. Ooh, also him being at the dinner party is described as a "sublime piece of impudence" which is pretty cool.

{"The ballet-girls are right," he said. "The death of that poor Buquet is perhaps not so natural as people think."}

So Erik came to the party to:

A) Freak people out and make things awkward
B) Basically admit to murder??

{'We really can't work to keep ghosts! We prefer to go away!'}

Have you considered another career, then? You know that many theaters claim to be haunted, right?? You're basically signing up to be a ghost zookeeper!

{'If I had such a troublesome ghost as that, I should not hesitate to have him arrested.'}

I'm not sure if that's legal, since by definition ghosts are dead. Can you arrest dead people?

{He soon remembered that it was the red handwriting in which the memorandum-book had been so curiously completed. He recognized the clumsy childish hand.}

I really want to headcanon Erik with elegant handwriting, but then I remember that this exists.

{DEAR MR. MANAGER:

I am sorry to have to trouble you at a time when you must be so very busy, renewing important engagements, signing fresh ones and generally displaying your excellent taste. I know what you have done for Carlotta, Sorelli and little Jammes and for a few others whose admirable qualities of talent or genius you have suspected.

Of course, when I use these words, I do not mean to apply them to La Carlotta, who sings like a squirt and who ought never to have been allowed to leave the Ambassadeurs and the Cafe Jacquin; nor to La Sorelli, who owes her success mainly to the coach-builders; nor to little Jammes, who dances like a calf in a field.}

Dear new managers,

I really don't want to be a bother, but here, let me roast your entire cast! Also, I'm going to threaten you if you don't reserve my favorite seat!

Your Humble Servant,
The Totally Legit Opera Ghost

(What do you mean that's not how it happened??)

{"They are keeping up the joke," said M. Richard, "but I don't call it funny."}

Have you considered, that maybe, just maybe, THIS ISN'T A JOKE?? Like who goes to this much effort on a prank that isn't even that funny to begin with?

{"Reputations are easily obtained," replied Moncharmin. "Haven't I a reputation for knowing all about music? And I don't know one key from another."

"Don't be afraid: you never had that reputation," Richard declared.}

I just wanted to put that bit here because the managers snarking at each other is fun.

Current Mood: bored

Double digits! (And yet we're only just starting chapter 3. Oh, well- I have a lot of thoughts.)

{A few of the dancers had already changed into ordinary dress; but most of them wore their skirts of gossamer gauze; and all had thought it the right thing to put on a special face for the occasion: all, that is, except little Jammes, whose fifteen summers—happy age!—seemed already to have forgotten the ghost and the death of Joseph Buquet. She never ceased to laugh and chatter, to hop about and play practical jokes, until Mm. Debienne and Poligny appeared on the steps of the foyer, when she was severely called to order by the impatient Sorelli.}

Little Jammes is one of my favorite book-only characters (my favorite is the Persian, obviously). She's just so delightful in spite of everything going on around her. And Sorelli keeps the ballet girls in line, as usual. (She seems to care more for her underlings than Carlotta does, even though she can be a little strict at times in order to maintain order.)

{Everybody remarked that the retiring managers looked cheerful, as is the Paris way. None will ever be a true Parisian who has not learned to wear a mask of gaiety over his sorrows and one of sadness, boredom or indifference over his inward joy.}

Ah, yes- repressing your true feelings for the sake of appearing happy all the time! It's the Paris way! (No offense to any Parisians who may be reading this.)

{In Paris, our lives are one masked ball}

Excellently fitting for the themes of this novel, but probably not emotionally healthy in the long term.

{an exclamation from that little madcap of a Jammes broke the smile of the managers so brutally that the expression of distress and dismay that lay beneath it became apparent to all eyes:

"The Opera ghost!"

Jammes yelled these words in a tone of unspeakable terror; and her finger pointed, among the crowd of dandies, to a face so pallid, so lugubrious and so ugly, with two such deep black cavities under the straddling eyebrows, that the death's head in question immediately scored a huge success.}

I admit, I had to look up what lugubrious meant. (It means looking sad or dismal, for the record.)

Is the notorious P. of the O. actually sad to see the old managers go? (Or does he know that the new managers won't be so easily cowed?)

{Everybody laughed and pushed his neighbor and wanted to offer the Opera ghost a drink, but he was gone. He had slipped through the crowd; and the others vainly hunted for him, while two old gentlemen tried to calm little Jammes and while little Giry stood screaming like a peacock.}

"Oh, haha, it's our old friend, the resident Opera Ghost! Let's offer him a drink!" is a very strange first reaction, I have to say.

And I have heard peacocks scream in person. Let me tell you, it is not pleasant. (Also rather frightening to small children, which is what I was at the time.)

{Here they found the new managers, M. Armand Moncharmin and M. Firmin Richard, whom they hardly knew; nevertheless, they were lavish in protestations of friendship and received a thousand flattering compliments in reply}

That's.. nice. (Probably not very genuine, but a nice gesture. Flattery! It's the Paris way! jk)

{And those little keys, the object of general curiosity, were being passed from hand to hand, when the attention of some of the guests was diverted by their discovery, at the end of the table, of that strange, wan and fantastic face, with the hollow eyes, which had already appeared in the foyer of the ballet and been greeted by little Jammes' exclamation: "The Opera ghost!"

There sat the ghost, as natural as could be, except that he neither ate nor drank. Those who began by looking at him with a smile ended by turning away their heads, for the sight of him at once provoked the most funereal thoughts. No one repeated the joke of the foyer, no one exclaimed: "There's the Opera ghost!"

He himself did not speak a word and his very neighbors could not have stated at what precise moment he had sat down between them; but every one felt that if the dead did ever come and sit at the table of the living, they could not cut a more ghastly figure. The friends of Firmin Richard and Armand Moncharmin thought that this lean and skinny guest was an acquaintance of Debienne's or Poligny's, while Debienne's and Poligny's friends believed that the cadaverous individual belonged to Firmin Richard and Armand Moncharmin's party.}

Do they really have nothing better to do at this fancy dinner than pass around keys? "Ooh, it's a key- I wonder what it does!" "WE ALL KNOW WHAT KEYS DO, BRIDGETTE. NOW GIVE THEM HERE."

Also did Erik seriously just crash a party for the sheer awkwardness he knew it would cause? Because I can totally see him doing that. Imagine trying to make small talk with a guy who won't say or eat anything and looks more like a cadaver than a living being (I'm assuming he wasn't wearing a mask? but I could be wrong). (And Erik, sweetie, you need to eat something or else you'll waste away! Turn into a skeleton, even!)

{the ghost had no nose and the person in question had}

Oh, wait, he's at least wearing a false nose. Also, after this is a short tangent about the realistic qualities of false noses, which I shall skip as it probably does not interest any of you or myself.

Current Mood: amused

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