#poor erik he’s literally a mess and too in love with christine

[operas-phantom]

An artistic dramatization of a picture Christine and I took earlier today. Outfits courtesy of a designer from Derry named Beverly Marsh.

[tornrose24]

Thoughts on Cinema Sins ‘Everything wrong with Phantom of the Opera’ video.

Well at least ONE of the movies I was hoping Cinema Sins would cover happened. Some sins were expected, but I wasn’t expecting that the CS guy apparently saw the musical and has some knowledge about the history of PotO in general.

-”Several people died.” No not really unless not everyone got out of the burning opera house.

-Knew he’d make a Minions joke the second ‘illumination’ was mentioned.

-Aww, no sins off for the use of the Overture music? And its from the 80’s so of course it would sound the way it does.

-Ok, I admit showing the seats losing their dust and becoming brand new again as a ‘what if’ for movie theaters when quarantine was over was amusing.

-There’s a difference between good opera singing and annoying opera singing, which is why the ladies didn’t care for Carlotta’s singing.

-I wonder what a Silence of the Lambs opera would be like, speaking of CS getting his Hannibals mixed up.

-Raoul and Christine are supposed to be around the same age, so the fact that Patrick Wilson was like 13 years older than Emmy does make the ‘childhood sweethearts’ thing strange.

-Oh great, now CS made 2004!Raoul and Christine’s age gap as problematic as with her and Erik’s by pointing that out.

-Minnie Driver is a great Carlotta AND was a memorable part of this film.

-Oh Christ, 200,000 francs equals almost a million bucks in today’s world? Isn’t that a little too much to demand, Erik?

-Yeah Emmy doesn’t exactly HAVE the right voice for Christine when you compare her to other stage Christines (but at least she doesn’t have a weird vibrato like a certain someone).

-Christine doesn’t strike me as a super social person, and her father was a supporter of her musical talents so it makes sense that she wouldn’t be amongst her new fans and pay a visit to the chapel.

-I wonder if Ramin (aka one of the best Phantoms) found out that he was compared to Harry Styles in this video.

-Christine was supposed to keep her lessons a secret, so it makes sense that she’d confide in Meg after that.

-CS points out the unfortunate implications of Christine being a child when she was approached by Erik in this adaptation and I’m pretty sure CS is going to utterly destroy Webber for this someday.

-Actually yeah-where the hell did everyone go when there was so many people outside Christine’s dressing room a few moments ago?

-I do appreciate CS calling out Giry for just letting the Phantom stalk Christine and not stopping it sooner. (And it does feel strange that she’d let the girl she considers a surrogate daughter go through this).

-”Psychedelically laced smoke.” Every fan thinks that too.

-Also, the mirror is a trick mirror. Kind of obvious later.

-Also he needed her to think he was a divine tutor and didn’t show up until Raoul came into the picture (and because he wanted to move on to actually facing her like a real person).

-Well the horse WAS in the book, but him being part of Christine’s ‘possible hallucination’ makes sense too. Also the idea of her ridding the Phantom is amusing.

-No that WASN’T the sewers they were going through–the opera house literally had an underground lake and there’s a history behind it since the opera house this story is based on is real. 

-Erik building the statues makes more sense to me since the guy is meant to be hyper talented.Also note that this is where you can especially tell CS had experience with die hard fans of the book since he refers to the Phantom by his actual name for this sin in addition to saying WHAT they told him specifically.

-Actually CS has a good point about how the final note of the title song is shown off. They should draw more attention to Christine singing that note since its not only a display of her talent but a show of just how much influence/power Erik has over that. Instead we don’t see Emmy singing (and as anyone will tell you, she sang it as an E flat and not an actual E note).

-Yeah that scarf mask is weird.

-The smoke eye has been a mystery for AGES CS and no one can answer why.

-Love the description of singing “Music of the night” as to treat it like going to a glorious destination.

-Thanks for reminding me why the casting choices and changed up backstory makes 2004!Erik worse than he needs to be (God... what the hell were you thinking ALW and JS?!)

-If CS is familiar with the musical, I wonder if he’s aware that 2004!Erik was many a teenage girls’ crush with that in mind.

-Ah the return of the original ‘creepy doll that looks like a character’ that I almost forgot about. Except CS makes it more creepier by pointing out something about it that makes 2004!Erik more creepier than he needs to.

-CS keeps referring to actors by whatever they were in/a character they also played. And I’m just reminded how strange it was to see Emmy in Shameless (and she’s not enough to make me want to watch that show).

-CS forgot that the managers were supposed to be ass-kissing when he wondered why they were in the dressing room.

-If I remember correctly, a company performs one opera production at night and then practices/rehearses for the next one during the day. The one they perform happens for a certain amount of time before its time to switch out. But yeah, the film makes it look like this is all happening in 24 hours which shouldn’t be possible.

-Nothing for that guy mooning Carlotta? Ok then, moving on I suppose.

-I’ve seen this movie hundreds of times and I NEVER saw the boat in the woman’s wig until it was pointed out.

-Was he not paying attention? Erik kills Bouquet because the guy was trying to go after him. The original reason why he died in the book was for the same reason.

-I’m glad that CS has sympathy for Christine for all she went though in a supposed 24 hours. I’d crack under all that too.

-Surprised he didn’t sin the snot shot on the roof. (You know what I’m talking about).

-Yeah, so much for a secret engagement if you got the ring exposed.

-Not sure why CS finds the gold guys funny other than they are ‘just there.’

-I would love to see the party-goers go after Erik since they DO outnumber him as an alternate scene during that moment after ‘Masquerade.’

-No ‘This is Sparta’ jokes? Ok then, moving on I suppose.

-Christine’s dad is implied to be famous in this movie (explaining the mausoleum, but in the book he was poor so he shouldn’t have one). But that does raise questions as to why Christine seemingly has little money to her name in this version.

-Dude, seeing the gave fight scene as Nite Owl vs. Leonidas was something I couldn’t unsee for more than 10 years. But I bet the Snyder fans loved that joke. (Speaking of CS and superhero films WHEN WILL YOU STOP TEASING ME WITH ‘ANIMATED SUPERHERO FILMS’ THAT ARE JUST ANIMATED DC FILMS AND SHOW ME THE ONE I ACTUALLY WANT TO SEE?!)

-I would love to see a Home Alone version of PotO since CS pointed it out.

-Actually I would love to see the au where CS is a critic in the PotO world and just not give a shit if Erik threatened him.

-Yeah, Raoul making Christine the bait and endangering her IS messed up. As much of a dolt he is, novel!Raoul would NEVER have done that to her.

-Erik’s hair looks nice because its a wig, CS.

-Oh boy, the reveal of the bad make up. No surprise it got a sin. I loved that CS showed Lon Chaney’s version (and hopefully will get people to watch the original silent PotO) and was more impressed by it over what this movie had. I also love how blunt CS is in summing up the deformity.

-There wasn’t a fire when the mob went after the Phantom in the musical. But as history can prove, some mobs care more about their goals than their own safety.

-I think they wanted to squeeze in one more trap before the final confrontation and Raoul WAS trapped in a room that became filled with water in the book and silent film. Though I’m amazed CS didn’t notice the reverse direction the bubbles were going during that scene.

-I don’t know how to answer why Christine was just standing around and doing jack shit to help Raoul during the final confrontation.

-A recreation of one of the most famous kiss scenes in musical history and CS just sums it up as ‘yeah your first kiss always sucks.’

-I love the contrast of Super Mario music with shots of PotO for the bonus round.

-Holy crap, that WAS a lot of candles.

-Some of the alternate audios for the last bit were unfamiliar but that Bug’s Life scene for when Christine is heading towards the mirror is perfection.

-And of COURSE CS would use that one Mission Impossible scene.

Final verdict: Predictable at times, but pretty amusing for a PotO fan like myself. I do hope the next movie musical CS covers is ‘Little Shop of Horrors.’

[thewriterinthebatcave]

So, I read The Phantom Of Manthattan

In its entirety. @baepsyche had tried to dissuade me, she did her best, but I wanted to wade through the sewage that book is by myself and form my own opinion on it. I mean, I had a very clear image of how bad it would be when I heard @lindsayetumbls give the rundown in the Musicalsplaining episode of Love Never Dies, but I had no idea how bad it could actually be!

TL:DR The book is a mess that makes no sense as a sequel to whatever, nor it makes sense on its own because of how it’s structured and written. It sucks, it’s poorly written and isn’t worth the paper it’s printed on. Love Never Dies is a fucking masterpiece worth of all the awards for musical theater out there in comparison.

I mean... I’ve read bad books in my life. Once upon another time I handled a blog dedicated to poor literature - both printed and online - I’ve read my big fat share of bad literature, I binged on the Fifty Shades trilogy but Sweet Jesus Christ POM makes 50 Shades look like high art! 

Let’s start from the beginning, shall we?

1. Too many POV characters. There’s like... the Phantom, three different journalists two of which are there for one chapter alone and never return, there’s the priest, and a couple more I forgot. But... WHY? Why so many different POV characters in a book so short I literally finished it in a couple half hour long sessions? WHY? It makes no sense from a narration standpoint, it’s crowded and confusing and voyeuristic! Also, never including Christine’s POV you diminish her character to a paper thin token. Also, where’s Raoul?

2. Speaking of which, Raoul. Poor guy, the book shits on him from chapter 1 (the only barely readable chapter of the book), and by doing so right in the beginning the “big reveal” of Pierre/Gustave true parentage feels more of a “captain obvious” joke rather than a “I would have never guessed!”. Not that it is such a grand plot twist in Love Never Dies I mean, but Jesus, not like this! 

3. Yeah, speaking of that. People shit on Love Never Dies for “Beneath A Moonless Sky” and the sex scene that never was, but this is way worse! At least the song gives you a context, a moment you can at least imagine what the hell happened and maybe even why, but here? Nothing! They don’t even TALK about that, let alone explain to the reader that those two had sex! What the fuck! Pierre just happened to be born and Raoul never even questioned his parentage! Or maybe he does, he just doesn’t care since he fullfills the nobility’s expectations of a male heir, who knows. HE DOESN’T SAY ANYTHING RELEVANT IN THE WHOLE BOOK! No wonder in LND they turned him in the abusive alcoholic, they had no material to build on in this... thing. 

4. The Phantom and the backstory. I appreciate the fact that they tried to give him a past, and I really liked the fact that Forsythe took his time to even give at least a fraction of time/place context to the original book that hasn’t one by figuring out Leroux had a post-electricity Palais Garnier in mind, but the backstory for the Phantom... I’ve read more interesting fanfics. I haven’t read Kay’s Phantom, I have it but I haven’t started it yet so I can’t make comparisons, but seriously, I’ve really read fanfics retellings of Erik’s past more imaginative and fleshed out that this book.

Which leads me to...

5. Satanism? Really? Satanism? Of all the shock cards Forsythe could have dropped on the table, Satanism? Listen guys, I’m a metalhead, I listen to stuff that people have called “the music of the devil” (classic rock, blues and jazz included) for the past fifty years on daily basis, one of my favourite songs of all time is Emperor’s “Inno A Satana” which literally means “Hymn to Satan” in Italian. My parents were scared to death when I started dabbling in heavy metal because of the whole “satanism” thing, I know my shit about satanism (I actually have done my research), and let me tell you that shit is old. Like, dusty and moldy old, not just not fashionable, it’s such an old story no one finds it so shocking anymore. So... WHY? It makes no sense, drives no point in the story, it’s a damn McGuffin that isn’t even relevant anymore! It wasn’t at the time the book was published (the whole trial to Judas Priest, Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne had happened like... 10 years prior the book was written so... meh) and I really hope it will never be again because... seriously... nope, it’s stupid and pointless, why on Earth it was used as a plot device I have no fuckin’ idea. 

6. Darius. Dude has no backstory, no descriptor except his greed and “devotion” to money and wealth. Oh and he smokes hashish. That’s it. We’ve got no other data on him. Jesus Christ, for the antagonist of the story he surely is kind of... bland? I mean, he’s non existent! Such a cop out, like really... WHY! At least Meg falling for the Phantom and getting all jealous crazy makes a teeny tiny bit of sense, but this guy? Bland, children’s book cutout satanism aside, which is a terrible choice of moving force for reasons above, the dude himself is so terribly fleshed out (ID, he isn’t) that his motivations are unclear at best and laughable at worst. You are the Phantom’s face in the world, he has so much money that if you start putting a side a grand here and a grand there he wouldn’t notice, you have power to make deals in his behalf, why don’t you just get the money and go? Have you learned nothing by working with the Phantom? Can’t you make your own money and become filthy rich yourself so you can honor your damn god  on your fucking own? Don’t you think your god would appreciate more you making your own wealth instead of pigging on the Phantom’s back and take only morsels of his own wealth? Fuck this book is a mess. 

7. Christine. I mean, she’s rarely there, for the time she is she’s either a hysterical mess or a an angel on stage, and she is supposed to be the reason everything happens. In reality, it looks like everything happens in spite of her. She has no power on her own, she’s like a piece of wood floating in the sea during a storm. 

8... No, I’m not going further with this. I could shit on this book for the whole day, but I have other things to do, better things to do. 

I’m going to wash my eyes with bleach now. 

[glassprism]

Since you're also in other fandoms, are there any ships/pairings you like? Who's your favourite pairing in POTO? Who are your favourite characters (from POTO to all your other fandoms) and why? Ooh, here's a rather unusual one: who's your favourite side character (name one for all your fandoms!) and why?

Yeah, definitely! Though whether some can be counted as actual “ships” is debatable, as you’ll see in a bit.

For Phantom, my favorite “ship” is the love triangle - E/C/R. Not in a polyamorous, threesome way, but one where I love the dynamics of the characters, the way they affect one another, the ways Erik and Raoul are similar and different. So it’s not quite a “ship” in a traditional sense where I want characters to end up with each other, but more in the sense that I like to explore and analyze them.

As for other “ships” or pairings, I’m just going to list, like, every fandom or random-ass thing I’ve ever loved in semi-chronological order (time to go back to my middle school fandoms!). Under the cut for length.

Harry Potter: Sirius Black and Harry Potter. I adored the godfather-godson bond between the two (absolutely no romance; I clicked on an mpreg fic of the two when I was but a wee lass of twelve and it scarred me): how Harry was the last living reminder of Sirius’s best friend, whose death he still feels responsible for; how Sirius is the parental figure Harry wanted, how they were never able to be happy god damn it Rowling. (You can imagine how much my eleven year old self cried when I read the fifth book. Oh boy, the tears.)

Star Wars: Vader and Luke. Again, totally familial, father-son relationship only. (Speaking of scarring experiences, I once stumbled on a romance fic between the two, where yes, both of them were still father and son, and I have that summary etched into my brain permanently.) The way Vader obsessively hunts down Luke, the first emotional connection he has had with a person in literal decades! The way Luke has just ached all his life for a father figure, to the point where he will take a homicidal Sith lord if that’s who he is! How he never gives up on trying to redeem him! How Luke is right. Loud screeching.

Pirates of the Caribbean: Will Turner and Bootstrap Bill and Will Turner and Henry Turner. More sad father-son dynamics (you may be noticing a pattern here). Repeat what I said with the Star Wars relationships, only with more pirates and less homicide. (And way more parental abandonment guilt.)

Halloween: Michael Myers and Laurie Strode,  remake universe. Yet again, no romance, just a severely messed-up brother-sister relationship. I can’t begin to tell you why I like the horrific relationship between a serial killer and the little sister he was so obsessed with he ruined her life, completely traumatized her, and ended up leading to her death, but I do. Maybe it’s the dark obsession aspect of it, that in the midst of all his murders, there’s still one person Michael Myers longs to have a connection with, the baby sister who represented total innocence in his mind. Maybe it’s the “what could have been” aspect too, as Laurie never recognizes him or realizes their connection until it’s far too late. Maybe I need to re-examine my life choices. I’ll figure it out someday.

Bat Boy The Musical: Bat Boy/Shelley. Yes, this is a romance; yes, they are half-brother and half-sister, yes, you can get on me about this, but in my defense how about you watch the musical and NOT come out of it shipping these two against all your better instincts.

POTO: E/C/R, as stated above and for all those reasons. Oh, and you know what - The Phantom and Gustave from Love Never Dies. Can’t get away from those father-son ships. I actually care about that relationship than E/C or R/C in LND (maybe because both E/C and R/C suck in the sequel so what else am I going to latch onto).

Batman: Listed here, but my heart really lies with three ships. Jaytim is the first: it’s the whole “angry woobie destroyer of worlds who hates everyone meets seemingly well-adjusted and cheerful individual who is secretly hiding their own issues” dynamic. Bane/Talia from The Dark Knight Rises is the second. Doesn’t matter if it’s familial, friendship, protector and protectee, or romantic, I eat it up, and to be fair, it’s never explicitly stated what the relationship is in the movie. All we know is that the two grew up together in a hellhole prison, probably dependent on and solely trusting only one another, and that bond continues even after they leave, and not even death will make them leave one another. Finally, we have Jason Todd/therapy from the Arkham games. Because the poor guy needs it.

MCU: STEVE/BUCKY (aka Stucky). This ship (again, could be friendship or romantic) dominated my thoughts for four years. Steve’s fish-out-of-water status! Bucky’s horrific imprisonment under Hydra. The way the two find each other after and the angst. The fact that Steve refuses to kill Bucky and, even after seventy years, succeeds in breakthing through to him because their connection runs that deep. The fact that Marvel just ruined this relationship so now I have to rely on fanfic. Oh yes, and I also slowly fell into the Kastle ship (Frank Castle aka The Punisher and Karen Page). Another ��hardened killer with sad backstory who connects to idealistic young woman with hidden darkness” dynamic.

Terminator: T-800 aka “Uncle Bob” and John Connor. Returning to sad father-son dynamics, I have this from Terminator 2. A robot learning emotions! A boy learning to take his place as a leader and all-loving hero. The bond they form, partially because the T-800 will do nothing else but protect John and partially because John has no father-figure of his own, so his robot bodyguard will do. THE ENDING.

ASOIAF/GOT: I actually have very few ships from here other than Arya/Gendry (and only when they’re older) and, weirdly, Theon/Sansa from the show. The Gendrya ship is just cute, it may well be the most wholesome ship on here, while Theonsa has shades of Stucky in it, I suppose, given that Theon has been tortured so badly he can barely remember his own name, until Sansa turns up and reminds him enough that he breaks out of it to help her.

Favorite characters from each of those:

Harry Potter: My favorite characters from here are probably more side characters, so I’ll just say Hermione Granger. Her focus on academics, fear of failure, and conviction that the library holds all the answers, felt all too reminiscent of myself.

Star Wars: Darth Vader,  no contest whatsoever. Cool mask, cool cape, cool lightsaber, and the absolute worst life one can imagine.

Pirates of the Caribbean: Interestingly, Will Turner. Yeah, I guess Jack Sparrow is cool and Elizabeth is absolutely awesome to watch and has the greatest change in the series, but oh-so-serious Will, with his deep loyalties and slow slide into moral ambiguity because of those loyalties, fascinates me.

Halloween: Laurie Strode, all versions. My favorite final girl, my survivor of trauma (except in the remake, where, well, she doesn’t survive). Also, her daughter in the Thorn trilogy, Jamie Lloyd, the most tragic little girl to walk across a horror movie screen.

Bat Boy The Musical: Ah, wow, haven’t thought about this. I guess Bat Boy and Shelley, more by default than anything.

POTO: Christine Daae, no contest. Love her character, love her arc, love her songs, love her costumes.

Batman: Listed here.

MCU: Bucky Barnes (unless he counts as a side character), but I also love Steve Rogers, Natasha Romanoff, Karen Page, Elektra Natchios... and I’ll leave it at that.

Terminator: John Connor. (There’s a reason I haven’t watched Dark Fate yet... or ever.)

ASOIAF/GOT: Three of them! Daenerys Targaryen, who I love because she tries so hard to rule well, who is so observant and cognizant of the things going on around her. Then Sansa Stark, who makes such astounding growth, who retains her empathy and compassion throughout, who is capable of startling perception and insight which most others underestimate. And finally, Cersei Lannister. She’s terrible. I love her.

And favorite side characters from each of those:

Harry Potter: Sirius Black may well have been my first fictional crush. But Remus Lupin is the kind of person (and teacher) I aspire to be.

Batman: I swear, depending on the comic series or movie, everyone is a side character. I’ll just link to my old ask again.

Star Wars: Batman syndrome all over again; every character in Star Wars might be a side character elsewhere, and every side character gets to be the main character of their own comic, book, movie, etc. Erm... I really liked Rose from the sequel trilogy and Chirrut Imwe from Rogue One. I find Mara Jade from the Legends universe fun to read. WAIT I GOT IT - Queen Amidala’s handmaidens from Episode I (Sabe, Rabe, Eirtae, Yane, Sache). Highly trained in both politics, decorum, and weaponry, able to be utterly nondescript or the Queen’s decoy at the drop of a hat? I love.

Pirates of the Caribbean: Hmm... you know what, I thought Syrena the mermaid was pretty cute.

Halloween: Rachel Carruthers! Your typical girl-next-door but well done and with a touching relationship with her foster sister. I will die mad about her death in the fifth movie.

Bat Boy The Musical: Uh.... I’ll get back to you on this...

POTO: Carlotta is super fun.

MCU: Oh heck, Dottie Underwood. (My taste in female characters goes like this: a) intelligent and observant, 2) sweet and compassionate, 3) batsh*t insane. She’s the third.)

Terminator: Not sure how much of a side character she is, but Kate Connor. Wife and second-in-command to John Connor, able to heal wounds and kick butt depending on what the movie requires.

ASOIAF/GOT: I’ll probably think of someone else, but you know what? Queen Rhaenys Targaryen, younger sister and wife to Aegon the Conqueror, whom he wed out of desire. Playful, spirited, loved to fly, sponsored musicians, initiated reforms for the smallfolk, what’s not to love? (Apart from one possibility of her death... but we don’t talk about that.)

[broadwayy-trash]

a rundown of the poto soundtrack

overture - loud organ playing, bright lights, and the carlotta show

think of me - the carlotta show again, but the phantom tries to scare her away. oh shit! christine can sing???

angel of music - okay so... christine has a literal angel looking over her?? also, meg is being a good bff to her

little lotte/the mirror - uh oh! raoul’s back and he loves christine! so whats the phantom gonna do? oh right! KIDNAP HER and take her to his creepy lair

the phantom of the opera - erik: master manipulator

the music of the night - erik: master manipulator pt.2 ... and also vulnerable?? i guess erik has feelings for christine, too

i remember/stranger than you dreamt it - so christine wakes up from her fever dream... what now? oh yeah, she messes with the scary man with the mask and then he yells at her.

magical lassoo - bouquet’s being a bitch and scaring those poor dancers. oop— ms. giry gives him a piece of her mind.

notes/prima donna - lol we’re so done this these mf letters from this “phantom” but anyway, we’re not gonna listen to the creepy man’s demands, so we’re gonna cast carlotta as the lead instead of christine. oh well what can go wrong??

poor fool, he makes me laugh - so the play starts with carlotta as the lead and christine as the silent paigeboy, but erik, aka the scary man with the mask, takes matters into his own hands. also,,, he kills bouquet lol

why have you brought me here -

raoul: christine you’re crazy, he’s literally just a dude.

christine: but RAOUL. he’s the ANGEL of MUSIC. he s c a r e s me raoul :’(

all i ask of you - raoul and christine express their undying love for each other through a lovely and meaningful song

all i ask of you (reprise) - so, uh, erik heard christine and raoul basically pledge to love each other forever...poor erik :( oh no... he ANGRY. hmm angry or sad??

masquerade / why so silent? - oooo a party!!! ah shit erik ruined the party. again. AND he has ANOTHER opera that he wrote. fun times.

notes/twisted every way - MORE DAMN NOTES. wait— raoul has a plan to capture erik! but he wants to use christine as bait...what does she do?

wishing you were somehow here again - awww christine misses her dad :(

wandering child/ bravo bravo - omg is that her dad speaking to her? nope that’s erik. a dramatic song sung by the love triange of the century: a misunderstood yet dangerous genius, an innocent and indecisive girl, and an overprotective pretty boy

the point of no return - if sex was a song this would be it

down once more/track down this murderer - a 20 min song that entails lust, hate, desperation, fear, and heartbreak :(

****feel free to add whatever you want!

[earlgraytay]

thanks to this i now want to write a COMPLETELY RIDICULOUS AU fic of DUBIOUS HISTORICAL VERITY AND CHARACTERISATION but because i have ZERO TIME and about TWO SPOONS and who the freg actually wants to read a ALW!POTO/Matilda crossover fic, you get the not!fic version instead

 Christine retires from the opera because idk trauma + marriage but before she can get married to Raoul Something Happens of a nonfatal nature idk raoul has an Elderly Great-Uncle of Plot Convenience who says that they CANNOT MARRY because reasons  

and raoul’s trying to convince him otherwise but shitty great-uncle is like NOPE

raoul would rather be poor but happy with christine but at the same time he doesn’t want to watch her suffer moar so he’s like “i’m going to try to take care of this for a year and if that doesn’t work then we just elope like hooligans ok? ok”

So Christine’s like ‘freg this I’m going to support myself until we get this settled’ and winds up becoming the governess for the TRULY TERRIBLE WORMWOOD FAMILY who are idk nouveau riche english expat garbage fire people instead of Literally The Alpha Couple From Tallahassee If They Were British And Had Children. except that mr. wormwood is still danny devito.  

of course she becomes matilda’s Real Mum in about ten seconds because who doesn’t. and she notices matilda’s spooky powers and also that matilda has a lovely voice and starts trying to teach her to sing. by doing so christine starts to work through The Mess That Is Erik and be okay with singing again...

uuuuuuuuntil erik shows up. like a bad penny. 

it’s not for “STALKING OF CHRISTINE!!!1! LOVE NEVAR DIES!!!!” reasons tho. turns out erik had ~spooky matilda powers~ as a kid and sorta grew out of them when he discovered music and architecture and shit. and he’s coming to kidnap matilda because PEOPLE DON’T UNDERSTAND AND HATE AND FEAR THEIR KIND!!!!eleventy!!!!

but christine is there. and christine is Not Happy To See Him. christine is the exact opposite of happy and may or may not hit him with the fire poker out of sheer instinctive fear. she tries to get him to Bug Off Forever. 

he manages to convince her that he’s trying to do the right thing and she manages to convince him that kidnapping small children off to your hell lair is wrong. but then matilda’s all “ok but i want to be kidnapped though. just not Like That, that sounds like a bad idea.”

the three of them hatch a plan together to get Matilda Out and to get the Wormwoods Out Of France Forever. with No Murder, even! 

 and erik kind of sort of tries to apologise for his Bullshit and really has no idea how because what the hell do you say after trying to murder your crush’s boyfriend and scare her into living with you in your secret murder lair. there is nothing you can really say. there is nothing that makes that better at all ever. christine’s like “cool motive still murder” but she does sort of forgive him. at least for as long as it takes to get Matilda The Hell Out. 

they convince the wormwoods their house is haunted through ingenious use of Parrots, A Few Cunning Traps, and other Shenaniganery.  meanwhile christine figures out how to adopt matilda once she and raoul get hitched. 

raoul finally manages to get Shitty Plot Device Great Uncle to consent to their marriage and they GET MARRIED with MANY FANCY DRESSES and Matilda gets to wear a FANCY DRESS too. and erik is DECENT ENOUGH NOT TO SHOW UP even in an ‘i’m in ur rooftops singin dramatic emo songs’ way. it is a FANTASTIC LOVELY WEDDING. 

and the way things shake out, raoul and christine are matilda’s mum and dad now and they make sure she gets the Best Damn Education Physically Possible for a young girl in 1800s France. and erik manages to redeem himself enough to be the Weird Uncle who occasionally shows up with Various Bizarre Things for a friendly chat, though he manages never to do it when raoul’s around for the obvious reasons. and he has enough of a family now that he can start healing a little inside too. 

and matilda grows up to be idk a great author or the first french female astrophysicist or something. and They All Live Happily Ever After, the end. 

[wolfgangamaderik]

Personal aspects of POTO in my life- Why do I ship E/C

 So, I think I share my personal views on Phantom of the Opera, because this story means a lot to me in the last 10 years. (yep, it’s been 10 years I have read the Original Novel for the first time). 

 I just tell my view in a nutshell at first: It may sound totally weird but I know E/C is abusive relationship in the original novel, but exactly that’s why I ship it. 

No, not in the way you would think. I ship it because, from a personal experience and because of my eternally childish and optimistic attitude, I believe that they still could lead a happy and somewhat normal relationship IF both of them want to. 

In my AU fanfiction, Devil’s Little Face, I actually tell that the first year of their marriage (which I will write more about in my other ongoing fanfic Requiem and Resurrection) was a total mess. Things don’t change to the better just because of a kiss on the forehead, and Erik remains the same nutcase for another year or so. He throws tantrums, he is jealous even though Raoul ISN’T EVEN THERE, he accuses Christine of betrayal, and most importantly: he doesn’t know and doesn’t understand WHY did Christine stay with him, which makes him insecure. To be honest, neither does Christine. But Erik, within some time, finally calms down and accepts the situation itself, and slowly but steady is able to lead a close to normal life with Christine, and they clearly love each other after a time. Erik is, no doubt, still Erik, but he calmed down a lot in those years  and is able to give and accept love. 

It can happen. I know it can, and that is what I want to show. Love can make people better and make a couple be together and learn to love each other. Of course, not each time. Both of the couple have to work a lot to be able to turn out to be a better person, and here, Erik is the one who needs to change. But what if he can? This is why I write AU, to show that no person is “lost forever”. 

 And now: Story time. I post  “Read more” line from here, as it is my life experience. If you are interested, feel free to read. 

 I was born in a small town of Hungary in a family, where both of my parents are disabled. My father is blind and my mother has eye disorders as well, and I inherited their illness. I had a happy childhood, as my parents, despite of their disabilities, raised me in love and support. My life was beautiful up until the point I got into school because there came bullying. 

I was abused, bullied, hit and humiliated a lot by my classmates and some of my teachers because of my disability and my kind of weird hobbies. I was always the strange kid, who was rather sitting in a corner, coming up with stories looking at a book’s illustration, looking through her strong glasses, and did not want to play with them at all. I also acted out the scenes loud, which did not help at all. Otherwise, I wasn’t a problem child, I was obedient, but if they hit me, I hit back. Bullying got so bad at the end of 8th grade that I spent each break between class in the school restroom locked up in a stall just not to meet my abusers. 

Yep. That’s why I sympathise with Erik, as I know what he feels. 

 I was nine years old when I heard Mozart’s German Dance at a school music class. That gave me my weird hobby that separated me even more from the other kids: Mozart. I was listening to his music the whole day, watched Amadeus, collected CDs, read biographies... and learned to play the piano. Music became my obsession. Yep, another point to join with Erik. 

Years passed. I finished a secondary school in music major and learned French in High School. In the graduation year, I read POTO. Then Erik instantly became my favorite character because of the aforementioned two reasons. I was yet too childish to see the abusive side of the story, I was yet 18, and I am more childish in a way than my age. 

 When I turned 20 years old and was in Music Major college, I met a boy. We met because of our POTO enthusiasm, and we became great friends, Then we slowly fell in love. But here comes the bad part: 

As I was abused through a childhood by most of the other people than my parents, I had an extremely low self - esteem, which is, you clearly may know, isn’t the best recipe for a relationship. My boyfriend is Autistic, so he has trouble communicating his emotions, so I felt I wasn’t good enough for him. Things got worse, when to my bf’s advice I got myself checked for OCD, and it was diagnozed. Who wants a nervous wreck as a gf, really? Adding that it is a long distance relationship between Hungary and PA, USA. He can find a better girl anytime. 

That’s where the Hell started. I literally became a mini Erik to that poor guy. I kept telling him he wanted a better girl, I accused him of cheating, he accused me of being heartless, and in the end we broke up for a summer. At first, I hated him for ditching me, and spent hours crying over him... but in the end: 

I realized I had made mistakes. 

I seeked for help. 

i made peace with myself and built up some self esteem and THEN I searched him again. We worked things out and got back together. It was hard, but we did it. 

So now he tells me in my native that he loves and adores me, and we are planning to get married. Both of us are fine and in love. It can happen if you both work hard enough, not always, but it can. 

That’s why I ship E/C

[operas-phantom]

Best moment of my life so far.

So dear Internet, I am proud to say I have discovered what movies are (after internet research; we don’t have anything with which to watch them in the opera house so I never knew until I got this phone, which is sort of a recent development) and watched one with Christine. It began to drag on a bit and so she fell asleep. Leaning close. To me.

I have attempted to take a memento selfie of this moment.

(Please note I am only posting this after she said it was okay to do so. She has no idea why I chose that angle. You can clearly see the satisfaction in my eyes. This is the moment. I have made it in the world.)

[operas-phantom]

This post was made by Mask Gang.

[operas-phantom]

Some of my favorite depictions of angels.

Christine isn’t exactly a depiction, but you get the idea.

[operas-phantom]

I edited this together.

One day. Hopefully.