ā Some old 1910's Phantom of the Opera illustrations!ā
-I found these on a random website so sadly, the quality is quite low- :(
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occasionally subtle
PUT YOUR BEARD IN MY MOUTH
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@cestlefantome
ā Some old 1910's Phantom of the Opera illustrations!ā
-I found these on a random website so sadly, the quality is quite low- :(
PotO: Erik's house floor plan (book based)
While there already exists a pretty cool floor plan of Erik's house (this one) it's constructed around the idea that there is a shore or rock formation on which the house is built and that it looks like an actual house. That didn't sit with me as the book clearly says that the house is built inside the double casing of the foundation, so I made my own model. And yes, I totally built it in the Sims.
Things we know from Leroux that helped me build the model:
The placement of the house in between the inner and outer wall of the foundation suggests that it would be roughly rectangle-shaped
There must be some kind of small platform on which you could step out from the boat. A hidden mechanism must then move a part of the wall to reveal the actual door to the house, similar to the entrance from the third cellar
The entrance from the Lake opens directly to the drawing room. I'm no expert on Victorian architecture but it appears to me that a drawing room is basically a living and based on some photos of Victorian houses I saw I concluded that there'd be a fireplace and possibly some shelves for books, even if they are not directly mentioned in the novel. Erik would also surely have a rug. Persian of course ;-)
A door in the drawing room leads directly into the Louis-Philippe room. Connected directly to it there is also an en-suite bathroom. There is also an additional door that supposedly leads to the Torture Chamber. There is a fireplace (Erik/Christine mention the scorpion and grasshopper boxes on the mantelpiece), a bed set, some kind of sofa, and a chest of drawers.
Considering how the Torture Chamber is shaped and what it does, as well as the fact that Daroga is unable to find the hidden latch on the wall that the Chamber shares with Louis-Philippe (the wall on which the peeping window must be located) I concluded that the door mentioned by Christine must actually lead to a sort of oddly shaped room/corridor that goes around the chamber where the heating system and mechanical elements are located (this unfortunately couldn't be properly rendered due to the limitations of the game). From there you can access the actual Chamber by pushing a plain frameless door. Since it opens inwards and has no handles, in order to open it from the Chamber, you'd have to resort to some kind of spring system as described in the book.
We know that the dining is accessed from the drawing room. Considering it's the dining, it must also be connected to a kitchen and pantry from which, I'd assume, one could access the cellars with wine, water, and whatever else Erik might keep in there
After dinner, Erik takes Christine's hand and shows her his room. There is no mention of them first going back to the drawing room. That led me to believe that the door to Erik's room is located in the dining room. The drawing room has enough doors as is anyway.
Leroux mentions a pipe organ that takes up an entire wall. I know organs are large but I think it would be the narrower one. Then we have the coffin in the middle (unfortunately the Sims didn't have anything I could use as the canopy), a desk the exact location of which is unknown but I'd place it near the organ, possibly some wardrobe or chest of drawers, and probably a door to another en-suite bathroom as I imagine he wouldn't be using the one attached to the Louis-Philippe.
If you like the model feel free to use it / reference it in your fanart or fanfic :-)
Another Voice:Ā āRed Death Triumphantā orĀ āErik finally gets someā
Full story on AO3Ā HERE
beneath a moonless sky
Erik and Christine - The Seduction of the Soul
Ever since I first saw (and then read) āPhantomā, I - like many others - have been fascinated by the relationship between Erik and Christine. There was something incredibly touching, moving, earth-shattering about them in both their ALW and Leroux portrayals. Both narratives are comparable in the degree of ambiguity they afford to their relationship. But why exactly are Erik and Christine so compelling as a couple? They probably mean different things to everyone, but I have tried digging a bit more into the reasons why I personally love this tragic pair so muchā¦
One of the reasons their relationship holds such a huge appeal for me lies in the deep symbolism it carries. Throughout the narrative, Erik and Christine are presented as opposites - angel and demon, black and white, beauty and ugliness, underground and aboveground. They represent the dualism of the human condition, embodying extremes that complement each other. Just as there is no light without darkness, either is incomplete without the other. That symbolism brings a universal, almost transcendental quality to their relationship. Visually, the āyin and yangā symbol sums them up perfectly:
They are not only opposites - they also mirror each other. It is no surprise that the mirror is such an important symbol in their story, literally turning them into mirror images of each other. They are two sides of the same coin, both representing a part of dualistic world. And just as Erik shows Christine her own darkness, she brings out the light in his soul.
They also have quite a few features in common: Both have a past of being travelling performers. Both are each otherās āangelsā. They are also both enormously talented and passionate musicians. The soul-deep connection they share through music is incredibly intimate, passionate and spiritually erotic - and it is the core that lends an almost otherworldly quality to their relationship. Through music, Erik and Christine seem to unite as one being, creating their private world where nothing matters but their hearts and souls:
āMusic has the power to abolish everything in the world except its sounds, which go straight to the heart.ā (Christine DaaĆ©)
Emotions are heightened and pushed to the limits here, resulting in what Christine repeatedly describes as āecstasyā. This transcendental experience of going ābeyond themselvesā, of transcending the limits of their own being to connect with another, is a deeply Romantic concept.Ā But just as too much passion can become overwhelming and consuming, resulting in a loss of control, Christineās connection to Erik becomes both necessary and terrifying as she fears losing herself in it, both fascinated by him and equally afraid of his potentially destructive power. Erik and Christine are in equal parts moth and flame to each other. They are helplessly drawn to each other despite knowing that the other holds the power to destroy them.
But perhaps the most important reason why I love Erik and Christine together is the fact that Erik is so utterly, completely, head over ears in love with her. What might appear as just an obsession at first glance is proven to be the truest kind of love in the end - a selfless love that puts Christineās needs first and makes Erik sacrifice everything for her, ācalmly cutting his own heart to piecesā. His love is like a searing light in the darkness, beautiful and pure. In the end, it does not even matter if Christine returns it because his love for her is so powerful that it alone redeems him. It also helps him grow and become a better person. He recognizes that his behaviour has been wrong, that love mustnāt be forced, and that he must give her up if he really loves her:
āIn the end, most of the Phantoms, including Lerouxās, sacrifice their desires for a womanās and honor her choice. [ā¦] This sacrifice is the true aphrodisiac of most Phantom narratives: womenās desires are upheld, no matter how conventional. It is this moment that earns the Phantom narrative its audienceās loyalty, not the unseen āhappily ever afterā promised to Christine by her conventional Raoul.ā (Ann C. Hall, āPhantom Variationsā).
It is not certain though just how happy the āhappily ever afterā will turn out for Raoul and Christine because we never even get to see it. Both Leroux (with his allusion to Christineās āsolitary singingā and her return of the wedding ring to him) and ALW (implying that a solitary Raoul seeks closure by buying the Phantomās music box for Christine as an old man) insinuate that the loss of Christineās almost symbiotic artistic relationship with Erik means that her soul will be missing an important piece for the rest of her life. And this is the extended tragedy of it, because Raoul also really loves Christine and would be willing to give up his life for her - the difference between him and Erik being mostly that Raoul is never required to go through with that sacrifice.
And even if Erikās love for Christine might not be entirely unrequited, it still remains unfulfilled in life. It is no surprise that Leroux links them to Romeo and Juliet - they are, in a sense, also star-crossed lovers whose love is doomed, both by wrong choices and by circumstances outside their control. Raoul, who is quite perceptive, sums it up in his fateful question in āApolloās Lyreā:
āIf Erik were handsome, would you love me?ā
Christineās reply of ā Why tempt fate? Why ask me about things I hide deep within my conscience, the way one would hide a sin?ā was not included in the widespread de Mattos translation - possibly because it is the most telling expression of her harbouring deeper, forbidden feelings for Erik that she canāt admit, since she is clearly unwilling to answer Raoulās question. In Leroux, the narrator also implies that after Erikās death, Christine returned to him and put the gold wedding ring he had given her on his finger, ultimately fulfilling their impossible love in death.
If things were different, if Erik had been born with a normal face and lived a different life because of it, Erik and Christine might have had a chance at happiness. But this is left to the audienceās imagination and wishful thinking, perpetuating the fascination with their tragic tale of unfulfilled love.
Artwork by @elfinmirror
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(É¢į“ź±į“į“É“ Źį“Źį“į“x, į“Źį“ į“Źį“É“į“į“į“ į“ź° į“Źį“ į“į“į“Źį“)
The scorpion and the grasshopper always hold a unique meaning to fans of Gaston Leroux's original Phantom novel. Erik's ultimatum to Christine forced her to choose between marrying her ghoulish captor, or deny him at the peril of everyone in the Opera House. It was implied that the grasshopper was connected to the stores of gunpowder Erik had wired to blow the building sky high.
I recently found this brilliant, antique Japanese bronze grasshopper figurine, and knew I had to acquire it. It just arrived from Japan, and is a brilliant piece. Paired with an antique Chinese scorpion and model caskets, it makes a beautiful addition to my Phantom collection.
I do not understand how Ramin Karimloo continues to grow MORE attractive the older he gets
I thought 2010 Love Never Dies era Ramin was cute but have you seen 2017 fine as aged wine Ramin????
Like??????Ā
This is still valid, and as proof Iād like to submit evidence of 2018 Ramin
What about 2024 Ramin?
šØRED ALERTšØ šØRED ALERTšØ
šØFOOTAGE OF RAMIN IN TITANICšØ
The curls. The sweat. The muscles. The veins. The bandana. The white tank. The overalls. The tattoo. Dare I say the nipples? Costuming did the lord's work with this one.
Video from TT
ššØš«šš«šš¢šš¬ šØš šš§š šš„š¬
Welcome to the 25th installment of 15 Weeks of Phantom, where I post all 68 sections of Le FantĆ“me de lāOpĆ©ra, as they were first printed in Le Gaulois newspaper 114 yeas ago.
In todayās installment, we have Part III of Chapter 10, āAu bal masquĆ©ā (āAt the Masked Ballā).
This section was first printed on Monday, 1 November, 1909.
For anyone following along in David Cowardās translation (the link is to the Kindle edition on Amazon US), the text starts in Chapter 10 at, āIn this fashion they climbed up two floors,ā and goes to Christineās line, ā'Not a farce, Raoul: a tragedy!āā in Chapter 10. Note, however, that a large part of this section in the Gaulois was cut in the 1st Edition. See below.
There are some differences between the standard 1st Edition text and the Gaulois text. In this section, these include (highlighted in red above):
1) In the Gaulois text, this line reads:
Translation:
⦠Christine (for it was certainly she; he had recognized her by her eyes, and he could further recognize her by her voice)*
* NOTE: The fact that Leroux states that Raoul could only see Christineās eyes helps to clarify the design of her mask, which was a black domino mask with a piece of fabric hanging down from the bottom of the mask, covering her mouth. This piece of fabric was called a ābarbeā (ābeardā), similar to this historical mask below from a museum collection in Helsinki. The credit goes to @rjdaaeā for finding the historical documentation to support the design of this type of mask. In this scene, Christineās black mask is meant to mirror Erikās, whose black mask Leroux described as having a ābarbeā that covered his mouth.
2) This section in the Gaulois text, which describes events that are discussed in the next chapter, āThe Magic Envelope,ā was removed from the 1st Edition along with āThe Magic Envelopeā chapter in order to maintain the consistency of Lerouxās narrative:
Translation:
He could barely hear Christineās whispered words, the young womanās breath was so light.
āThere is someone in the box next to ours ⦠I hear him movingā¦ā
He tried to speak, to tell her that it would be easy to go elsewhere to talk, but she silenced him with an emphatic āshush.ā
Hunching over, she crept up to the front of the box and risked a glance outside; this seemed to be enough to apprise her, for she returned immediately and said: āI thought I had recognized his voice⦠He talks to himselfā¦ā
Raoul, who was beginning to grow puzzled by Christineās behavior, asked her:
āWho is it?ā¦ā
āIt is a Capuchin monk!ā she said, still in a whisper⦠āAnd I am sure that the other one will arrive soon.ā
āWhat other one?ā asked the Vicomte in the same tone of voice.
āThe other Capuchin monk.ā
āIf youāre so afraid of being in the vicinity of Capuchin monks, we should go!ā
But she seemed quite agitated.
āOh! That could be highly unwise right now! Itās madness!⦠Why did he tell me that he had a rendezvous in the Box of the Blind, which is located above?ā
Suddenly, she stood bold upright:
āBut then he is also going to come himself!⦠Yes, yes, letās go!⦠Letās go!ā¦ā
She opened the door to the box and closed it almost immediatelyā¦
āToo late!ā¦ā
And visibly, she began to tremble.
āPut your mask back on, monsieur! Put it back on and do not remove it for any reason.ā
And she leaned against the door, as if to prevent him from opening it. Christine was on the verge of fainting; Raoul tried to hold her up, but she pushed him away with her hand and pointed to the partition wall.
They then heard a voice which said:
āAt last, monsieur, you are here! But do you not think it would be better to chat in your office? Here, monsieur, we must always be wary of eavesdroppers! Let us go to your office, monsieurā¦ā*
And they heard nothing else but a door openingā¦
Christine let out a deep sigh. It seemed that at last it was permissible to breathe.
And she opened the door, saying:
āThere is no more danger, Raoul!⦠But I was very afraid!ā¦ā
āAfraid of what? What has made you afraid? You must tell me, Christine!ā implored the young man, who asked himself whether or not he would finally have an explanation for all of these bizarre comings and goings, all of these expressions of hope or fear. Christine did not reply. She continued to watch attentively through the gap between the door and the partition wall to see what was happening in the corridor.
Raoul watched behind her. At first, he saw two monks who looked like two friars and who were already descending the staircase leading to the second tier boxes.
The two hoods under which they were hiding were soon no more than two little shadows at the top of the stairs, and then they disappeared. In the same instant, Raoul, who was following Christineās gaze, saw, on the highest step of the staircase which ascended to the tier above, a red foot place itself on the stair.
⦠And then, two red feetā¦
* NOTE: As is related in āThe Magic Envelope,ā this was Erikās voice speaking to the Managers (who are the two figures dressed as Capuchin monks), telling them to go to the managerial office.
3) Minor differences in punctuation.
Click here to see the entire edition of Le Gaulois from 1 November, 1909. This link brings you to page 3 of the newspaper ā Le FantĆ“me is at the bottom of the page in the feuilleton section. Click on the arrow buttons at the bottom of the screen to turn the pages of the newspaper, and click on the Zoom button at the bottom left to magnify the text.
Welcome to the 24th installment of 15 Weeks of Phantom, where I post all 68 sections of Le FantĆ“me de lāOpĆ©ra, as they were first printed in Le Gaulois newspaper 114 yeas ago.
In todayās installment, we have Part II of Chapter 10, āAu bal masquĆ©ā (āAt the Masked Ballā).
This section was first printed on Saturday, 30 October, 1909.
For anyone following along in David Cowardās translationĀ (the link is to the Kindle edition on Amazon US), the text starts in Chapter 10 at, āIt needed no more to rekindle his hopes,ā and goes to, āThe black domino kept turning round and twice appeared to see something very frightening, for she began to walk even faster, obliging Raoul to follow suit, as if someone was after them.ā
There are some differences between the standard 1st Edition text and the Gaulois text. In this section, these include (highlighted in red above):
1) In the Gaulois text, Leroux gave greater specificity to the room where Christine told Raoul to meet her (bolded below):
Translation:
⦠he at last entered the small room that Christineās note had specified, in which an entire section was formed from the monumental fireplace of the Grand Foyer.*
* NOTE: see photos of this room below.
2) The following lines were included in the Gaulois text:
Translation:
But within the holes of the mask, he had seen her eyes, those limpid eyes. And he could not mistake those eyesā¦
3) Minor differences in punctuation and capitalization.
PLEASE NOTE:
I) Christine was not just wearing a black domino mask. Like Raoul, she also wore a piece of fabric that hung down from the bottom of the mask and covered her nose and mouth. This was a common style of mask in the day. Leroux wrote that she brought her finger ājusqu'Ć la hauteur de ses lĆØvresā: āup to the level of her lipsā; however, he did not say that she brought her finger up to her lips themselves (since her lips were covered). This piece of fabric hanging down from the mask was called a ābarbe,ā or ābeard.ā This is why Raoul was so shocked later in the chapter when Christine took off her mask and he could see her pallid face; if she had been wearing a simple domino mask without a ābarbe,ā he would have been able to see her pale lips and cheeks beforehand. The Gaulois text makes this more clear, since Leroux indicated that Raoul was able to recognize her by her eyes, which is the only part of her face that he was able to see.
II) Christineās mask mirrored Erikās mask, which was also a black half mask with a ābarbe,ā or piece of cloth, hanging down to cover his nose and mouth ā similar to this historical mask from a museum collection in Helsinki.
III) There is a mistranslation in Cowardās text in this section. Coward wrote:
It was a man dressed entirely in scarlet, with a huge plumed hat perched over a deathās head mask. And a very fine simulation of a human skull it was too!
However, Leroux wrote:
Ce personnage Ć©tait vĆŖtu tout dāĆ©carlate avec un immense chapeau Ć plumes sur une tĆŖte de mort. Ah ! la belle imitation de tĆŖte de mort que cāĆ©tait lĆ !
This translates as:
This figure was dressed entirely in scarlet with an immense plumed hat atop a deathās head. And what a fine imitation of a deathās head it was!
Leroux said nothing about this figure wearing a mask; he just says that he had a deathās head. And his description of the deathās head being an āimitationā I believe is Leroux being ironic, so that we will laugh at the art students who gather around Erik and compliment him on his fine āmaskā and costume.
IV) It should be noted that we have a bit of a role reversal going on here between Erik and Christine. Erik arrives to the masked ball wearing his bare face as a mask, and Christine arrives wearing a black mask with a ābarbe,ā which is very similar to the one that Erik wore when he was around her. This is part of the theme of the āInverted World,ā traditionally associated with Mardi Gras and Carnevale, that Leroux was playing with in this chapter.
V) These are photos of the great fireplace in the Grand Foyer of the Palais Garnier, and the little room behind it (from when I visited in 2015), which is where Christine told Raoul to meet her.Ā (See #1 above.)
Click here to see the entire edition of Le Gaulois from 30 October, 1909. This link brings you to page 3 of the newspaper ā Le FantĆ“me is at the bottom of the page in the feuilleton section. Click on the arrow buttons at the bottom of the screen to turn the pages of the newspaper, and click on the Zoom button at the bottom left to magnify the text.
Canāt believe I actually own this! š One of a kind 1/6 Custom Action Figure of Ramin Karimloo as The Phantom of the Opera from his performance at 2011 25th Anniversary
Okay, I need to tell about this one.
Ramin says this little heartbreaking "No" when Christine tryes to give him a mask, and he refuses, even make a gesture to wawes it off. He so devasteted, it looks like he wants just seat turn around from her and cry. But Christine tryes to give him a mask for a second time, and he finally accept.
š¶ Flattering child you shall know me,
see why in shadow I hide!
Look at your face in the mirror
I am there inside!š¶
š¶Angel of Music, Guide and guardian!
Grant to me your glory!
Angel of Music, Hide no longer!
Come to me, strange angel...š¶
š¶I am your Angel of Music
Come to me, Angel of Music ...
I am your Angel of Music . . .
Come to me, Angel of Music . . .š¶
š¶ Can it be, can it be Christine?
Bravo!
Long ago, it seems so long ago
How young and innocent we were
She may not remember me
But I remember herš¶
š¶Think of me, think of me waking
Silent and resigned
Imagine me trying too hard
To put you from my mind
Recall those days
Look back on all those times
Think of the things we'll never do
There will never be a day
When I won't think of youš¶