![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
betweensunandmoon) wrote2018-01-28 03:51 pm
Lady Rosesong's profile
The profile is here.
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
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)