#poto asks

What are your thought on a Phantom of the Opera vampire AU? 👀

OMG OMG OMG

I do not have the brain to write one, but I WISH I did and I am SO excited to share why.

About two years ago I got into a minor debate about whether "sexy" vampires are a "modern" invention or if there's any basis for it.

Now my standard for "Modern" as far as vampires go is BD and AD ("Before Dracula" and "After Dracula")

So the answer to that was "Yes and No".

No, because "original," vampires of Slavic folklore are mainly zombie-like.

Bram Stoker's classic Gothic novel is largely considered the birth of the modern vampire in pop-culture, and that's TRUE

BUT

He is NOT the first example of the Vampire as a fantastical erotic stalker in media.

Now most people probably do know that Dracula was predated by John Polidori's The Vampyre and Varney the Vampire or the Feast of Blood by several decades.

But the ORIGIN of the erotic vampire predate THEM by more than a century.

Widely considered the first appearance of a vampire in media is the 1748 poem Der Vampire by Heinrich August Ossenfelder. (Read more about that here)

The poem is notable, not only for being the first recorded appearance of a vampire in fiction, but also for its intense erotic subtext.

So how does all this relate to a PotO Vampire AU? Well because when I rediscovered this poem after getting into PotO I discovered in it a few things that connect it, albeit loosely, that connect it to Phantom, some things I think will probably jump out to you as well, including, what I think, is the ideal title for a PotO Vampire AU.

Here is the text of the poem's English translation, which is, like the first translation of Phantom of the Opera, flawed but iconic:

My dear young maiden clingeth Unbending. fast and firm To all the long-held teaching Of a mother ever true; As in vampires unmortal Folk on the Theyse's portal Heyduck-like do believe. But my Christine thou dost dally, And wilt my loving parry Till I myself avenging To a vampire's health a-drinking Him toast in pale tockay. And as softly thou art sleeping To thee shall I come creeping And thy life's blood drain away. And so shalt thou be trembling For thus shall I be kissing And death's threshold thou' it be crossing With fear, in my cold arms. And last shall I thee question Compared to such instruction What are a mother's charms?

If I ever DID work up enough of an actual story to write a PotO Vampire AU, I would, without restraint entitle it "But My Christine, Thou Dost Dally"

But the other section I highlighted you'll notice is the mention of Tockay.

Now Tockay appearing here is not an astonishing thing. It's a sweet Hungarian wine, and as the poem alludes to the Eastern European origins of vampiric lore, the likening of a maiden's blood to this particular wine is not at all shocking.

What does make me smile to myself a bit is the fact that Tockay is also mentioned in both Dracula and The Phantom of the Opera. Its not really a massive bombshell in either of these places either, because Dracula himself serves Jonathan Harker at his castle in Romania, with his tasty roast chicken dinner; and Gaston Leroux has Erik serve Christine a duvet of Chicken with tockay during her stay in his house by the lake.

(Also not too much of a stretch in the case of PotO because Tockay was very in vogue in the early 20th century and only fell out of favour following the Great War when availability became scarce. But Gaston Leroux was a noted admirer of Dracula, and even mentioned Erik reading vampire serials in the original Gaulois serial.)

Tl;dr I have the perfect title for a PotO Vampire Fic

I just don't have the brain to write it.

8. Why do you love phantom?

It was basically the first piece of media I ever consumed that said “you’re allowed to have complicated feelings about people, you’re allowed to love people and still let them go if they are toxic to you, you can save yourself, and beyond that, compassion saves. Stories don’t have to have happy endings to be worth telling.”

Those lessons have stuck with me throughout my life, and ultimately they all got their start from Phantom.

Aside from that, it’s just a beautiful story.

16. What’s your favorite phantom memory?

The time @wolfsbaneblooming and I went to see Phantom for the first time when we were 14, and the older woman standing next to us in the line for the bathroom at intermission (who had seen the show before) kindly listened to us babble at her for ten minutes about how excited we were and how amazing everything was, and how much we loved everything Phantom.......and then when we went to see the show again when we were adults and we were seated behind a bunch of little kids (probably 9-11 ish) who were SO EXCITED that they had cosplayed all the characters, and suddenly WE were the adults who had seen the show before and it felt beautifully full circle.

21. How would you make your least favorite adaptation better?

The actual answer is “I would wipe it from existence,” because obviously my least favorite adaptation is Rat Phantom. But that’s not a very good answer, so, I’m gonna pick another adaptation.

I’m not terribly picky with Phantom adaptations, tbh, but I’m not a huge fan of the Claude Raines Phantom. I would scrub away the last vestiges of the dropped subplot of Claudin being Christine’s father and have him actually teach her rather than fund her lessons. There are plenty of other small things I would cut or change, but those are the big ones.

I do still plan on answering that ask to the best of my ability, but if it was you who sent it I’d really appreciate it if you sent it again, so I can answer you more specifically than just listing out what I remember. I should get to it either tonight or tomorrow.

So the last two weeks have been just awful, but I can offer a little snippet.  This bit takes place in Ordinary Time after Piangi realizes something is going on between Erik and Christine.  He cannot help but recall the start of his own romance with his diva Carlotta, then has to go but gently teases Erik on his way out the door, much to our masked idiot’s shock.

Erik sat in stunned silence.  He stared at the door and hung on to the last giggle and sigh from the hallway.  Something monumental had just happened and he needed a moment to process it.   Piangi had shared something very personal, and had done so with such joy that it was hard not to imagine Carlotta as something other than the fussing, demanding woman he knew.  She was a woman who was adored, and adored by Piangi, a professional, colleague and… friend.  

Piangi was in love-- was still in love-- with a woman he’d fallen for years ago.  How extraordinary Carlotta’s voice must have been.  

That Christine was single meant there were a lot of fools out there who didn’t see what he saw in her.

Erik imagined where the hard drive must be by now, and touched the curving edge of the mask.  She obviously didn’t see what others did.  

(Had to do a modern verse because I’m fairly certain two runaway slaves could not attend a fancy reception without raising suspicions, a few eyebrows, and good old-fashioned racism).

“I still don’t understand why you insisted I bring her along,” King remarks to Django with a glance up the stairs.

“You’d be impossible for the rest of the night if you didn’t ask her,” Django replies. “Sides, Hildy likes her and it was her idea, not mine.” King side-eyes his partner as if he doesn’t quite believe him. Django just gave him his fixed stare in reply. A few moments later, the girls were ready. Broomhilde looked as lovely as ever, every bit the princess she was named after. Yellow really was her color and Django’s normally stern features softened as he smiled at her.

“Look at you, lil’ troubemaker.” He says fondly. “You gonna outshine every lady in the room.” Hildy ducks her head and she grins, swatting her husband’s shoulder playfully. King waits patiently for Nora and wonders what exactly is taking her so long until she emerges from the room and it’s like everything falls away for him. She’s dressed in soft baby blue and to him, she resembles a goddess and he finds it increasingly difficult not to stare. Hildy notices this and nudges Django with a knowing smile.

6: How were you first introduced to PotO?

I was dimly aware of the 2004 film ( I think I watched part of it on TV when I was 14 or so?) and then I read the novel when I was 18 and listened to the OLC recording and was instantly hooked :D

18: Who are your favorite artists/writers in the phandom?

I have waaay to many to list them all, but obviously Muirin’s and Alvadee’s art is amazing (also Muirin’s writing!), as is @elfinmirror‘s. Also @cocokat, @madmoro, @mendedpixie7, @wicked-elegy, @toastysalt, @bloomingbanana, @rjdaae, @mendedpixie7 (art and writing for both), @viscountess‘ amazing modern PotO designs, @wheel-of-fish (whose fics I only recently discovered)

I’m probably forgetting lots of amazing ppl here but these are the first that come to mind!