“He is demonic!!”

Me: “First of all, he is not. If you allowed that ridiculous lie to seep into your thick skull, then find some way to remove it. Secondly, to call a man who was brutalized since birth because of the way he looks and for said man to repeat those actions done to him, does not make him evil. He knew no other way and he learned since birth he had to be on constant vigilance. That is simply how the human mind operates.”

“But he called himself a curse by God! He must be a demon! He’s evil!”

Me: “No! He was made to believe by the world who was supposed to protect him as a child that he was a mistake by the Creator! He was continually told the very same lies into adulthood whilst being publicly humiliated and physically abused. And his very first abuser was his own mother! Of course he began to believe that lie. The world, even its own Christians, have the tendency to make anyone they deem lesser feel that way. That is the true evil. Learn to have compassion.”

The final chapter is up!🥲

Chapters: 9/9 Fandom: Le Fantôme de l'Opéra | Phantom of the Opera & Related Fandoms, Le Fantôme de l'Opéra | Phantom of the Opera - Gaston Leroux, Phantom of the Opera - Lloyd Webber, Phantom - Susan Kay Rating: Mature Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Erik & Nadir Khan, Christine Daaé/Erik | Phantom of the Opera, Raoul de Chagny/Christine Daaé, Erik | Phantom of the Opera/Nadir Khan Characters: Erik | Phantom of the Opera, Nadir Khan, The Persian (Phantom of the Opera), Christine Daaé, Raoul de Chagny, Carlotta Giudicelli, Gilles André, Richard Firmin, Original Characters, Darius (Phantom of the Opera) Additional Tags: Erik and Nadir being Idiots, Friendship, Angst and Humor, Illusions, Magic Tricks, Could also be read as Erik/Nadir, During Canon, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Injury, This story just gets darker as it progresses, Murder, Unrequited Love, Historians will say they're best friends, Surgery, Canon Compliant, Ghost Stories, Pining Summary:

Nadir Khan used to be a rational man, the Daroga, but witnessing death has him hoping for an afterlife, for ghosts and phantoms.

The supernatural activities at the Palais Garnier quickly become the bane of his existence. Knowing this, Erik plays along.

And them on

Another shot

I've seen, quite a few times now, people saying that Erik in Phantom of the Opera is weird cuz he like "groomed" Christine. And acting like it took years.

CANONICALLY that's Not true. Like, what version are y'all reading? I've read the De Mattos & Ribiere translations. In Both of those, he's known Christine for months. 6-9 MAX.

He didn't get her while she was underage/in school. And he didn't go into this looking for a relationship. There's actually no fucking evidence of that anywhere in Leroux's novel (unless you know something from like the original French novel that's not in any of the translations that I have)

Her father died, Madame Valerius put her into the Paris conservatoire, she got accepted into the Opera Garnier.

She admits that she'd lost herself after her father's death. Raoul says that at the conservatoire she was like a souless, singing automaton. The ballet girls point out that a few months ago she was bleating.

Christine is NEW at the Opera. She's not some longstanding primadonna like Carlotta. She's like freshly 20yo.

Erik doesn't even call himself the Angel of Music until SHE asks if he is.

He just asks if she'll allow him to teach her.

Obviously Erik saw a sad, lonely new girl and offered help.

He goes quiet the day she mentions Raoul because I think it hits him that he's developed feelings. He comes back the next day and tells her that he can't keep teaching her if she's in love with someone else. He admits after he kidnaps her the 1st time that he fell in love with her.

Before that, he was fully committed to living his life in isolation, mildly harassing the directors and working on Don Juan. His PLAN was to finish it, lay down in the coffin and die, NOT to kidnap anyone or get married.

I LOATHE it when anyone dares try to tell me not to have empathy for Erik. That is the most heartless and disgusting mindset I have seen in response to a literary character. I don’t know how it’s humanly possible to read about Erik being rejected by his mother and never being loved by anyone, all to side with the people who hurt him and absolutely would if given the chance. Just shut the bloody hell up. I have no tolerance for that appalling display of stupidity and apathy.

Those same people: *calls Erik the monster*.