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LADY ROSESONG LIVES!
Hi everyone...first off, I want to apologize for the very long absence. While I could give excuses, I won't, because it's not right or fair to all of you who have been great fans, friends, and supporters of my stories, and who have been waiting far too patiently. I am deeply sorry, not only for keeping you waiting with my stories, but for not making any sort of contact, especially to those of you who emailed me with your concerns. I am ashamed of my treatment to all of you, and hope to rectify the situation as soon as possible by getting my work updated within the next week or so, and when I say work, I mean ALL THREE of my current unfinished stories. I want to get "Tapestry of Deceit" finished as soon as possible, and get back to work on "Erik, the Date Phantom" and "The Mask and the Slipper". Once more, I am very, very sorry and hope that you can forgive me and that you will continue to enjoy my stories. --Lady Rosesong, March 3, 2008
Good grief, if her note apologizing for her absence is this padded, no wonder her fics are full of filler!
Phantom of the Opera
Currently, I have been writing "Phantom of the Opera" fan fiction. I saw Webber's musical on stage when I was 13, and I remember crying my eyes out at the end. Since that day, I have been a HUGE Erik/Christine shipper, and I am determined to write stories where they have a happy ending, as I believe they deserve. Therefore, if you do not like reading Erik/Christine, well, I'm afraid my stories are not for you. Also, my experiences with "Phantom" are purely based on the musical and film. If you choose to read my work hoping to see a Leroux-type story, I'm afraid you will be disappointed.Phantom Characterization
Erik is what I like to call an "antagonistic hero". What kind of hero is that? An anti-hero, a tragic hero, or a villain protagonist? He begins as a villain, a man who has been plagued by demons all his life, So far, so good... who comes across as cold, unfeeling, This isn't Erik, it's your average romance novel hero. fearsome, and perhaps, even a little mad. A LITTLE mad? Erik thinks very little of himself, in fact, he prefers not to think of himself at all. Never mind that the entire point of Erik's redemption was him realizing how his selfish actions had hurt others and choosing to let Christine and Raoul go. All his pride is given to his music, and any pride he may feel towards himself, is strictly related and based on music. Looks like Michael Crawford was wrong about the Phantom being a proud man, then. As the story unfolds, Erik relunctantly finds himself in situations where he is forced to rethink his character, especially after he meets Christine. Because her love changes him, Mama! :D Whether the story follows the "typical" POTO plotline at the Paris Opera House, or the characters are placed in an alternative universe, Erik will go through this transformation from villain to hero, yet no matter what, he will always remain dark, powerful, and mysterious. Not to mention tempermental a raging dickhead. Fixed that for you.
Other notes on Erik: I tend to copy actor Gerald Butler's I'm pretty sure most people in the PotO fandom know that Gerard Butler is the actor who plays Erik in the 2004 movie. Why do you need to specify that he's an actor? age and look for Erik--tall, slightly broader and more muscular than Butler, Then you're actually not writing about Butler!Erik at all, are you? dark hair (shaggy looking) with amber/gold eyes, Where do those come from? and the famous half-mask. Unmasked Erik tends to follow the unmasked look of Michael Crawford's Phantom. At least she, in a roundabout way, admits that Butler!Erik's deformity sucks. Erik's voice is a combination of the best elements from both actors. Much as I love Gerard Butler, his singing voice HAS no good elements.
Christine is perhaps the most fascinating character to me. I often feel that this young woman, who captures the Phantom's heart, has been unjustly treated by other writers, both professional and amateur. Those "other writers" better not include Gaston Leroux. Erik strikes me as someone who is quite intelligent; a genius with music, and as we learn from Madame Giry, he is also an architect, scientist, etc. While I'm sure Christine was quite pretty, and as we understand from whatever versions we read/see, she does indeed have a most beautiful voice, I can not help but think that Erik, with all his great intelligence, would loathe having a little obedient doll who sang whenever he wished and not once show some strength of spirt. "I don't like curious women," anyone? Oh, wait, Lady Rosesong hasn't read Leroux. My mistake. Therefore, in my portrayls of Christine, she may begin meek and mild In other words, your typical romance novel heroine. (in truth, I think this is purely her innocence), but as the story continues, she will come to a better understanding of her personal strength, and stand up and speak her own mind and heart. Sorry, hon, but I've read Tapestry of Deceit (yes, all of it), and your Christine is a doormat from start to finish.
Other notes on Christine: I tend to copy the look of Christine based on look of Sarah Brightman--curly brown hair, blue eyes, slim figure, but with obvious curves. I tend to base Christine's voice and age with actress Emmy Rossum's You're doing it again. characterization. *headdesk* What have I told you about mixing and matching versions, Lady Rosesong?
Other Characters: Depending on the story, I sometimes use other famous characters from "Phantom". Phantom of the Opera characters appearing in a Phantom of the Opera fanfic? I am SHOCKED! Because I write Erik/Christine, Raoul, should he appear, has either two portrayls: friend or villain. I'm curious--how do you decide when to portray Raoul as a good guy, and when to portray him as his usual OOC asshole badfic self? Yet no matter which way I choose to write Raoul, this will always remain true about his character: he will always be handsome, Damn straight! he will always be wealthy, and he will always inspire some feeling of jealousy for Erik. Carlotta is another character that often makes an appearance. Beware fans of Carlotta: she normally
Story Genres
I love most genres for Phantom. I prefer to write historical romance, simply because I am not confident with my skills when it comes to writing a contemporary setting, but perhaps one day I'll try my hand at it. I enjoy both the "traditional" (read: canon) universe for POTO, as well as historical "AU" universes. I try to be as accurate as I can be with the historical settings of my work, I sincerely doubt that. but sadly, I do not always have the opportunity to do research. If you have time to write fanfic, how do you not have time to do research? Basically, I am asking you to please be kind, should I make a historical error. Because it's not like anyone actually CARES about historical accuracy.Feedback
I love feedback! I love hearing what readers think of my stories, so please, leave a comment if you can! However, if your sole purpose is to flame me, be big about it and email me personally. The most immature act is flaming someone where everyone else can see it, so please, if you have an issue with my writing, email me and I will be more than happy to discuss it with you. I don't know about that. I recall Cookies saying you threw a fit about her giving you constructive criticism. Then there was that anonymous flamer who may or may not have actually been you...Well, thanks for reading! I hope you enjoy my work! I didn't.
~Lady Rosesong
no subject
It is?
She seriously wrote a story called "Erik, the Date Phantom"?
*looks at profile*
Yes, apparently she did...
Well, at least she's up-front about what she intends to do to the characters. I don't quite see the point of announcements about how you're going to ignore the canon versions of characters and write them the way you would have preferred to see them (i.e. Erik as standard-issue Wronged Romantic Lead, rather than blackmailer and threateningly intense heavy-breather who tries to brainwash Christine... and that's before we get to cold-blooded murder for his own convenience).
"He will always be handsome, he will always be wealthy" -- because those are the two most central aspects of Raoul's characterisation? *rolls eyes*
(I'm not sure 'handsome' is even mentioned anywhere in any version of canon, though we can assume he's better-looking by default than the Phantom...)
"he will always inspire some feeling of jealousy for Erik" -- because Erik is jealous of Christine's feelings for Raoul. If Christine didn't care for Raoul, Erik wouldn't waste a moment's thought on him in any version... or about as much as he does on Buquet, anyway :-(
"Beware fans of Carlotta: she normally plays a villainous role" -- are there any fans of Carlotta whom she seriously worries about alienating? :-(
And why not --you know-- just write the character as she is in canon, rather than discarding that and appropriating her for the role of generic villain?
"she is my answer to the Erik/Christine/Raoul triangle" -- again, at least she's explicit about what she's doing. Lots of fan writers simply dump Raoul off on Meg because she's available, young and female, and it gets him out of Erik's way...
Probably not -- going on the evidence of her fiction, at least, Lady Rosesong is a lot more literate than the anonymous defender. She wouldn't write "Your not funny, you are just a bitch with a big atitude problem"; when she makes mistakes, they're not at that level of incompetence.
And
(Incidentally, was it you who left a non-signed-in review on Shall We Dance? The anonymous style sounded a little familiar...)
no subject
It happened once or twice on Phanwank and the mods told everyone not to do it again.
She seriously wrote a story called "Erik, the Date Phantom"?
*looks at profile*
Yes, apparently she did...
*nods* Bandersnatch42 and Phoenixflame7 sporked the first few chapters. There was also Phantom's Beauty, a BatB/PotO crossover that Skeletonhorse was sporking, but it was deleted. The sporkings are all under her tags on Phanwank.
I don't quite see the point of announcements about how you're going to ignore the canon versions of characters and write them the way you would have preferred to see them (i.e. Erik as standard-issue Wronged Romantic Lead, rather than blackmailer and threateningly intense heavy-breather who tries to brainwash Christine... and that's before we get to cold-blooded murder for his own convenience).
It makes you wonder why she's writing Phantom fanfiction if she can't bother trying to keep anyone in-character.
If Christine didn't care for Raoul, Erik wouldn't waste a moment's thought on him in any version... or about as much as he does on Buquet, anyway :-(
You expect her to realize that?
And why not --you know-- just write the character as she is in canon, rather than discarding that and appropriating her for the role of generic villain?
You said it yourself--every badfic needs a villain. And canon characterizations are for suckers.
Again, why is she writing Phantom fanfiction at all?
I don't blame Cookies. Having read ToD in its anachronistic, dull, OOC, overwritten, and plot-less entirety and sporked two chapters of it myself, I can say that you need to insert innuendo in order to avoid boring yourself and your audience to death. If you want to prove me wrong by sporking a chapter, go right ahead. That fic needs it.
(Incidentally, was it you who left a non-signed-in review on Shall We Dance? The anonymous style sounded a little familiar...)
It was not. Sorry.
no subject
That's sort of the heart of the matter.
Having looked at the sporkings of Chapters One and Two of "Erik, the Date Phantom" on
"retelling-style fanfic that could easily be original fic, if not for the author's ass-headed insistance on having a select few bits of canon".
It's not particularly bad writing, though there's the occasional eyebrow-raiser ("over the rim of her chair"?); it just has virtually nothing to do with the source material it's supposed to be fan-fiction of. She's cloning the clichés of other genres and sticking "Phantom" character names into them.
Raoul's handsomeness
Despite his handsome face and figure, Christine continued to back away from the man, and eye him warily. He was tall and broad, although no where near as gigantic as the Black Knight. In fact, he was the complete opposite of Sir Erik—his hair was long and blonde, his eyes a warm shade of brown with flecks of green, and his face…well, it was perfect. High cheekbones, a sculpted chin, a chiseled nose, with lips that folded into a perfect smile, revealing elegantly white teeth. What was that story that Carlotta loved to sigh about? Adonis…yes, this man looked, as Christine imagined, how Adonis would look.
Want to know the best part? She never describes anyone else in such flattering terms, not even Erik, her ostensible male lead.
Here's Raoul's introduction in Chapter 4 of Erik, the Date Phantom (bear in mind that Raoul is supposed to be a bad guy in this fic):
"Um…e-e-excuse me?"
Christine's head shot up at the sound of a man's voice. It was coming from just over her shoulder, and she quickly turned around to see who was talking her, and felt her breath escape her as she gazed up at perhaps, the most handsome man in the whole wide world…
He was tall, with an athletic build, and was wearing a very expensive, but very stylish business suit. He had dark blonde hair, and the warmest pair of brown eyes that Christine had ever seen in her life. They reminded her of two steaming cups of warm mocha coffee, and there seemed to be this sparkle within them when he smiled. His smile was perfect; his teeth were clean and white, and his lips looked as if a sculptor had chiseled them from the finest marble. He was the first guy, in a long time, that had caused Christine to do a double-take.
"Hi," the man murmured, a slight blush rising to his cheeks. "Um…I know this is going to sound awkward, and I apologize for that, but…I um…I was wondering if you could help me?"
Christine realized just then that her mouth was hanging open, and she immediately closed it and swallowed the surprised lump in her throat. He looked like he belonged on the cover of a romance novel! If his hair was longer, he could certainly give Fabio a run for his money…
Here's her description of Raoul from Chapter 3 of Phantom's Beauty (in which Raoul has been shoved into the role of Gaston):
He was a tall man, slim but muscular as was the fashion at the time. He was elegantly dressed in a gray suit with a high collar, his black shoes polished and glistening, his white tie tucked into his slightly ruffled tunic. A top hat made of black satin crowned his golden blonde mane which feathered just slightly off his neck; he tipped it to the ladies who were admiring his emergence. He stepped down from the carriage steps, muttering words to his coachman while he placed his gray linen gloves over his long tapered fingers. He lifted his eyes to the Opera House and smiled; his face was clean shaven, his posture straight, his teeth white, his eyes a sparkling green. And when he began to walk up those steps, there seemed to be this air of power that followed him with every step and tap of his ebony cane. He was like Apollo, dazzling at first sight, and forever burning an image within your mind’s eye after he had disappeared from view.
Lady Rosesong must be a deeply closeted Raoul fangirl. I can't think of any other explanation.
Re: Raoul's handsomeness
Now that paragraph is definitely sporkable!
(Seriously? He had *steaming* eyes and marble-coloured lips?)
Also, who wears *linen* gloves?
She never describes anyone else in such flattering terms, not even Erik, her ostensible male lead.
It is a bit difficult to justify describing the Phantom as dazzlingly beautiful, give that his ugliness is supposed to be his defining characteristic (not that this stops most badfic authors sighing over his manly body and his soulful eyes...)
To be honest, I think she's just living up to her advertising; she has decreed that Raoul Will Be Handsome, and therefore handsome (to an implausible degree) he shall be... It's just a bit surreal when nobody in canon ever goes round cooing and sighing over Raoul's appearance, or indeed commenting on it at all (maybe Meg in an added scene for the movie?)
I quite deliberately chose to write a Raoul and Christine who are not especially physically prepossessing for the purposes of "Blue Remembered Hills", in order to demonstrate that this isn't in any way a significant part of their characterisation; people have a tendency to equate good looks either with shallowness (everybody loves Christine because she's so pretty) or with automatic virtue (she's so pretty, just like a real angel), but Raoul in the novel simply finds Christine's beauty an embarrassing barrier to approaching a girl to whom he is attracted for other reasons...
Re: Raoul's handsomeness
Still, comparing him to Greek gods seems a bit extreme, don't you think? Especially when considering that the author doesn't seem to like Raoul as a character very much.
Re: Raoul's handsomeness
I don't see 'closet fangirl' in there; I just see 'Raoul is way-over-the-top handsome -- that's how we know he's Raoul' (given the total lack of canon characterisation, etc. :-p)