Overly Enthusiastic

this rest of the thread continues after the third tweet from the reblog.

like THE FULL THREAD is genuinely so reassuring.

sometimes, it is not enough to just know, sometimes you might need that reassurance of "do you really think of me when i'm away?" and someone reassuring you that yeah, they do. and evaluate that! trust that! just like op did.

and then learning that ykw, it's NOT any of my business really. and finding comfort in that trust that like. whether they are or aren't thinking of me, they really do love me.

Darkness stirs and wakes imagination.

Silently the senses abandon their defenses,

Helpless to resist my song unseen -

RI have marked some of the most important locations mentioned in the Leroux novel on this 19th century map of Paris:

Erik's home, the Palais Garnier

Christine's flat in the Rue Notre-Dame-des-Victoires (no specific number)

The Persian's flat in the Rue de Rivoli (presumably at no. 204, where the real Persian lived)

The Madeleine Church, where Erik was planning to marry Christine

When the ballerinas are talking they hear a noise outside, and the head ballerina goes to check it out with the knife she always has, straight up ready to stab a ghost

The phantom shows up at the dinner party between the new and old managers and nobody says anything because they all think he's with the other guys

He doesn't have any dramatic entry to the masquerade ball - he's just wandering around in a cape with DON'T TOUCH THIS GUY embroidered on it in gold, and when somebody does he grabs them and glares at them, because come on, man, my cape asked you to do one thing

The phantom’s name is Erik. We know this because my dude is constantly talking about himself in the third person like an anime imouto

Ever wonder why there's suddenly a horse in the musical? Turns out it's because he just fuckin' steals one. Dude gets himself a basement horse.

His lair is a house on an underground lake with specifically surreal "middle-class" decorations. Dude has, like, cabinets from Pottery Barn

Except for his own room, which is all in black, and where this goth motherfucker sleeps in a literal coffin because "One has to get used to everything in life, even to eternity"

Dude goes out shopping and makes lunch. Christine specifically talks about eating some shrimp and a chicken wing that he'd set out like fuckin' Pagan Min

Christine has way more spine and agency than in the musical. Erik doesn't just randomly decide to bring her back from the first abduction; she deliberately butters him up over two weeks to convince him she'll come back if he lets her go

Then when Raoul demands to know where she's been she's like buddy I was at the corner of Nunya and Business

It's also her own idea to stay so Erik can see her sing on stage one more time

Erik's eyes specifically glow in the dark. This is relevant because one night Raoul thinks he sees glowing eyes out on the balcony. He tries turning the light on and off a couple times, and they're still there, and not answering when he calls out. So he is sure it's the Phantom and shoots him with a gun. There's some blood and Raoul's brother is like dude you shot a cat, and it's never mentioned again, so I guess there really is a cat out there with a scar and a very weird story

The phantom claims that the chandelier just did that

This is the part where we learn the methods by which the phantom kills people, and every single one is fucking amazing

Even just the good old basic lasso has a bonkers backstory where he worked for a sultana murdering convicts for her amusement, and "the little sultana herself learned to wield the Punjab lasso and killed several of her women and even of the friends who visited her," which seems like it would cut down a lot on visits

He actually has an extensive employment history, including being a contractor working on the opera house, so I guess all the other construction workers were just like, "Yep, that's ol' skullface mixing the cement"

One deathtrap is called the Siren. This is where he has an alarm set up that tells him when somebody is approaching the lake, so he can go swim into it and then near the surface to breathe and sing through a reed until the intruder, drawn by the music, comes close enough that he can jump up and drown them. Which is just so many steps

The managers try to catch the phantom picking up his salary (he has a salary he is very insistent about), but when they look in the envelope he's replaced it with the old-timey France version of Monopoly money. There's a whole sequence about them trying to evade getting their money taken. It is seriously like 2 chapters.

Have I mentioned that Raoul cries a bunch? Because he does

Enter the Persian, who is (along with Christine) the real hero of the whole thing, and whose job it is to get this twink through the plot alive

Erik calls the Persian "you great booby" at least 4 times

So you know how before I said that Erik goes out shopping? Did you wonder how he does that? The Persian tells you. "When he went out in the streets or ventured to show himself in public, he wore a pasteboard nose, with a mustache attached to it, instead of his own horrible hole of a nose. This did not quite take away his corpse-like air, but it made him almost, I say almost, endurable to look at."

Bitch puts on a Groucho nose and mustache to go buy shrimp

One of the spooky things attributed to the Opera Ghost is a "floating head of fire" in the basement, which turns out to just be the ratcatcher guy walking around with a red lantern and a shitton of rats

Raoul and the Persian get into Erik's lair through what they keep calling "the Communists' road"

As somebody mentioned before, Erik's whole plan is to marry Christine and have a nice regular house with no pit traps because "now I want to live like everybody else. I want to have a wife like everybody else and to take her out on Sundays." Dude just wants a place in the suburbs

And then slide directly into getting trapped his Room What Is For Killin' People and accomplish absolutely nothing

The Killin' People room is a bunch of mirrored walls with an iron tree so that it looks like you're trapped in an infinite forest - specifically "an African forest!" because there are also heating elements so you get super hot and thirsty and delirious and eventually hang yourself. This takes a while, so Erik hangs around behind the scenes freaking them out more by using instruments to make lion noises. I have to love any murder method that requires foley work

The phantom is apparently nicknamed "the trap-door lover"

While they're trapped in murder room, the Persian does all the useful work of searching the walls for the escape switch, while Raoul just runs around flipping out. Seriously the most useful thing he does is flop down on the ground for a while because then the Persian is like, good, he's out of the way and not bonking into the mirrors like a Pomeranian

Eventually they find the switch escape into a basement full of gunpowder

This chapter is called "Barrels! Barrels!"

Because, see, Erik's plan is - stick with me here. There are a little scorpion and a little grasshopper on the mantel, and if Christine says "yes" to marrying him, she's supposed to turn the scorpion around, and if she says "no," she's supposed to turn the grasshopper around. Because the grasshopper lights a thing that will make the barrels explode and blow up the Opera House. Erik emphases this threat by constantly saying that the grasshopper "hops jolly high!"

When Christine eventually does agree in order to keep her friends from being very complicatedly murdered, she is like, "Hey, wait a minute, you're sure the scorpion is the one that DOESN'T explode everything, right?" and the phantom's like "Yes, it is definitely probably not not not the exploding one"

Except what the scorpion does is flood the basement/murder room, so the dudes almost drown instead, until Christine is like OKAY OKAY I WILL MARRY YOU AND I WILL THROW IN A BONUS OF NOT KILLING MYSELF, which she earlier tried to do by bashing her head against the wall, holy shit

So then the dudes are okay and kicked out. And we learn about Christine showing compassion and then being let go from Erik, who goes and talks to the Persian about it

Look, say what you will about Andrew Lloyd Webber, simplifying this part was...it was a good decision

And then. Once the phantom has come and told the whole rest of the story to the Persian, our last glimpse of him is as he gets into a cab

The vestibule through which the abonnés entered the Opera House. The ornament on the ceiling was designed to conceal the signature of Charles Garnier and the dates of contruction, 1861-1875.

A corridor in the administrative wing.

The staircase next to the Grand Foyer.

The library of the Opera House.

The entrance for regular spectators (non-abonnés)

To hell with Gluck and Haendel...

I know this means something completely different, but...

Music has always been an integral part of „The Phantom of the Opera“. Long before Andrew Lloyd Webber came along, Gaston Leroux put together his own „soundtrack“ for his novel and wove it into the story. He was very familiar with opera and often used music as a device of foreshadowing or adding subtext.

I have put together a playlist containing the most important pieces from the novel which can be found here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3N3HOQcCzKIH0D4UROxO0N?si=VYjQlsvsQ0OUQZD1dFt0gQ&dl_branch=1

For those who don‘t have Spotify, there are youtube links included as well. The songs are listed in order of appearance in the novel, and I have added a bit of background information for each piece. Enjoy 🌹!

Tracklist

1. „Ouverture“ from „Le roi de Lahore“ by Jules Massenet

In Chapter 1, the body of Joseph Buquet is found hanging from a set piece from „Le roi de Lahore“. Lahore is the capital of the Punjab, a province in what is now Pakistan (formerly India). Buquet was strung up on said set piece using the „punjab“ lasso. In this opera, a young priestess falls in love with the voice of a man who speaks to her in her room without showing himself, and commits suicide at the end to evade a forced marriage to his enemy.

Watch on youtube: https://youtu.be/mFc6_EHqAjk

2. „Danse macabre“ by Camille Saint-Saëns

The famous „Danse Macabre“ is part of the gala night programme. The piece is originally based on a poem by Henri Cazalis and is dominated by a solo violin. Its theme of „dancing with death“ ties in very well with the novel as a whole.

Watch on youtube: https://youtu.be/G-KSTWO5ir0

3. and 4. „Valse Lente“ from „Coppélia“ and „Pizzicato“ from „Sylvia“, both by Léo Delibes

Those pieces are also part of the gala night programme. In the novel, Leroux lists them as the „Pizzicati“ from „Coppélia“ and the „Valse Lente“ from „Sylvia“, but he apparently confused the two ballets, since there are no „Pizzicati“ in „Coppélia“ - but there is a famous Pizzicato in „Sylvia“. „Coppélia“ is a ballet about an automaton magically coming to life.

Watch on youtube: Coppélia: https://youtu.be/sVdf-1rgLzE, Sylvia: https://youtu.be/We7KAkWJow8

5. and 6. „Finale“ from „Roméo et Juliette“ by Charles Gounod (Part 1 + 2)

„Roméo et Juliette“ is the one of the most significant operas used in „Phantom“, together with „Faust“ and „Otello“. The finale is sung by Christine during her triumphant gala night performance. The line quoted („Seigneur! Seigneur! Pardonnez-nous!“) is the very last line of the opera. The intertwined themes of love and death and also the liebestod motif are reflected in Leroux‘s novel.

Watch on youtube: https://youtu.be/SnObknpiPQ0

7. „Vous qui faites l‘endormie“ from „Faust“ by Charles Gounod

When Box Five is sold to the public against Erik‘s wishes, he takes revenge by kindly letting the husband sitting there know that his wife is making out with her lover behind his back, causing a brawl between the two men. To insinuate the wife‘s infidelity, he references several lines from Mephisto‘s aria that is sung on stage at that time.

Watch on youtube: https://youtu.be/LO98x1ASbLM

8. „Lorsqu‘à toi je me suis donnée“ from „La Juive“ by Jacques Fromental Halévy

This part of „La Juive“ is sung and referred to by Madame Giry, while she is questioned about the opera ghost by the managers. However, the first part „Près de celle qui j‘aime“, while being mentioned in the synopsis on wikipedia, seems to be missing from the recordings I was able to find.

Watch on youtube: https://youtu.be/PcnUmYcZxf4

9. „Faites-lui mes aveux“ from „Faust“ by Charles Gounod

During the „cursed“ performance which ends with croaking Carlotta and the fall of the chandelier, Christine plays the role of Siebel, the young man who is Faust‘s rival for the affections of Marguerite (played by Carlotta). She sings this piece -  also known as the „flower aria“ - when she suddenly notices Raoul in the audience, and her voice starts to falter.

Watch on youtube: https://youtu.be/zdS6kiWz-g0

10. „Nuit d‘hymenée“ from „Roméo et Juliette“ by Charles Gounod

After the masked ball, when Erik comes to meet Christine in her dressing-room, he sings the „wedding night song“ while he is walking through the secret passages and Christine follows him through the mirror. Originally, this is the song that Romeo and Juliet sing to each other during their wedding night. This is probably the most romantic and erotic duet used in the entire novel. The line „La destinée m‘enchaîne à toi sans retour/Destiny binds me to you forever“ (in Leroux, intentionally or not, given as „you to me“) is repeated three times in the novel, charging it with significance.

Watch on youtube: https://youtu.be/_X8LsHwJXfA

11. „Canzone del salice“ from „Otello“ by Gioachino Rossini

When Erik brings Christine to his house for the first time, he sings for her until she falls asleep, starting with the „Canzone del salice“ from „Otello“ - a lament about the cruelty of love. This aria is originally sung by Desdemona. Due to the introductory harp solo being mentioned by Christine and the story being set before 1885, the piece must be from Rossini‘s „Otello“, not the more famous Verdi opera.

Watch on youtube: https://youtu.be/eHZ6FoKhi2w

12. „Ouverture“ from „Don Giovanni“ by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

„Don Giovanni“ is only mentioned by Erik, when Christine asks him to play from his own „Don Juan Triumphant“, as the version he would rather play her instead since his „Don Juan“ is too consuming and would be „unhealthy“ for her. Erik does not seem to hold Mozart‘s version in very high regard.

Watch on youtube: https://youtu.be/3vnu-xOAM-Q

13. „Notte per me funesta“ from „Otello“ by Gioachino Rossini

During the unmasking scene, Christine (as Desdemona) is expecting to be murdered by Otello, and is actually enticed by the idea. Since „Notte per me funesta“ is the dramatic duet that ends with Otello stabbing Desdemona, I assume that this is the duet they are singing in this scene.

Watch on youtube: https://youtu.be/GsV7y5spyQk (this also includes the preceding duets, which were possibly sung as well)

14. „Finale“ from „Faust“ by Charles Gounod

When Erik abducts Christine from the stage, she is singing the final trio from Faust, imploring the angels to take her soul to heaven. The ambiguity of the „angel“ is clearly used here by Leroux, as the „Angel of Music“ is the one taking her away instead. The final trio is preceded by the duet „oui, c‘est moi, je t‘aime“ from the prison scene, which was also used in the Charles Dance version.

Watch on youtube: https://youtu.be/i2C4ezHUF1I

15. „Dies irae“ from „Requiem“ by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Following Philippe‘s death, Erik sings the „Dies irae“ from the requiem mass. It is not certain if the piece is really Mozart‘s, but this requiem was very widely used in funeral masses. The „dies irae“ itself is a chant dating back to medieval times. The „dies irae“ has also been incorporated into Erik‘s bedroom decor in the form of a wall hanging with the notes on it.

Watch on youtube: https://youtu.be/FGqoU9NIjZw

16. „Presago il core della tua condanna“ from „Aida“ by Giuseppe Verdi

This is a bonus track because it is not from the Leroux novel, but from „Phantom“ by Susan Kay. It is one of the pieces that is significant to Erik‘s and Christine‘s relationship. One of the quotes that Christine is buried with is from this duet („Foreseeing your condemnation into this tomb, in your arms I wish to die“).

fuck it!!! kerik bundle post

I still think about how there was a Wishbone version of Phantom of the Opera and he was Raoul. 

Bonus, because you know it happened: