Title: Like Everybody Else (10/12)
Fandom: Phantom of the Opera (Leroux)
Rating: Mature (sexual content)
Summary: A sequel to the events of the novel, Christine returns to Erik to live as his wife. But the promises Erik made are difficult to keep, and a kiss is not enough.
Notes: Thanks to stefanie_bean for her editing help and lettered for her support and inspiration. Also available at AO3.
( Chapter Ten )

Title: Like Everybody Else (9/12)
Fandom: Phantom of the Opera (Leroux)
Rating: Mature (sexual content)
Summary: A sequel to the events of the novel, Christine returns to Erik to live as his wife. But the promises Erik made are difficult to keep, and a kiss is not enough.
Notes: Thanks to stefanie_bean for her editing help and lettered for her support and inspiration. Also available at AO3.
( Chapter Nine )

Title: Like Everybody Else (8/12)
Fandom: Phantom of the Opera (Leroux)
Rating: Mature (sexual content)
Summary: A sequel to the events of the novel, Christine returns to Erik to live as his wife. But the promises Erik made are difficult to keep, and a kiss is not enough.
Notes: Thanks to stefanie_bean for her editing help and lettered for her support and inspiration. Also available at the AO3 and The Fifth Cellar.

( Chapter Eight )

Title: Like Everybody Else (7/11)
Fandom: Phantom of the Opera (Leroux)
Rating: Mature (sexual content)
Summary: A sequel to the events of the novel, Christine returns to Erik to live as his wife. But the promises Erik made are difficult to keep, and a kiss is not enough.
Warnings: The sex in this chapter contains elements of force and dubious/non-consent.
Notes: Thanks to stefanie_bean for her editing help and lettered for her support and inspiration. Also available at the AO3 and The Fifth Cellar.

( Chapter Seven )

Title: Like Everybody Else (6/11)
Fandom: Phantom of the Opera (Leroux)
Rating: Mature (sexual content)
Summary: A sequel to the events of the novel, Christine returns to Erik to live as his wife. But the promises Erik made are difficult to keep, and a kiss is not enough.
Warnings: The sex in this chapter contains elements of force and dubious/non-consent.
Notes: Thanks to stefanie_bean for her editing help and lettered for her support and inspiration. Also available at the AO3 and The Fifth Cellar.

( Chapter Six )

Title: Like Everybody Else (5/11)
Fandom: Phantom of the Opera (Leroux)
Rating: Mature (sexual content)
Summary: A sequel to the events of the novel, Christine returns to Erik to live as his wife. But the promises Erik made are difficult to keep, and a kiss is not enough.
Notes: Thanks to stefanie_bean for her editing help and lettered for her support and inspiration. Also available at the AO3 and The Fifth Cellar.

( Chapter Five )

Title: Like Everybody Else (4/11)
Fandom: Phantom of the Opera (Leroux)
Rating: Mature (sexual content)
Summary: A sequel to the events of the novel, Christine returns to Erik to live as his wife. But the promises Erik made are difficult to keep, and a kiss is not enough.
Notes: Thanks to stefanie_bean for her editing help and lettered for her support and inspiration. Also available at the AO3 and The Fifth Cellar.

( Chapter Four )

Title: Like Everybody Else (3/11)
Fandom: Phantom of the Opera (Leroux, Kay)
Rating: Mature (sexual content)
Summary: A sequel to the events of the novel, Christine returns to Erik to live as his wife. But the promises Erik made are difficult to keep, and a kiss is not enough.
Notes: Thanks to stefanie_bean for her editing help and lettered for her support and inspiration. Also available at the AO3 and The Fifth Cellar.

( Chapter Three )

Title: Like Everybody Else (2/11)
Fandom: Phantom of the Opera (Leroux, Kay)
Rating: Mature (sexual content)
Summary: A sequel to the events of the novel, Christine returns to Erik to live as his wife. But the promises Erik made are difficult to keep, and a kiss is not enough.
Notes: Thanks to stefanie_bean for her editing help and lettered for her support and inspiration. Also available at the AO3 and The Fifth Cellar.

( Chapter Two )

Title: Like Everybody Else (1/11)
Fandom: Phantom of the Opera (Leroux, Kay)
Rating: Mature
Words: ~46,000
Summary: A sequel to the events of the novel, Christine returns to Erik to live as his wife. But the promises Erik made are difficult to keep, and a kiss is not enough.
Notes: Thanks to stefanie_bean for her editing help and lettered for her support and inspiration. Also available at the AO3 and The Fifth Cellar.

( Author's note )


I’m not really a bad man. Love me and you’ll see! To be good, all I ever needed was to be loved. If you loved me, I’d be as gentle as a lamb and you could do whatever you pleased with me.


( Chapter 1 )

For anyone interested, but who hasn't been following masked_ball (which you should go check out if you're interested in good Phantom fic/art, because I approve of every one of the entries), I've written fic!

West of the Moon
Fandom: Gaston Leroux's The Phantom of the Opera
Characters: Erik, Raoul, Persian
Rating: Teen/PG
Summary: Raoul and Erik are not the men they once were. But the same woman still ties them together.

I was very uncertain about it at first--it was written in response to a prompt by tkp, and I labored over it to the point where I got too close to see if it made any sense (though most of the labor was in my own head). I'm overjoyed that she liked it, and it's inspired me to pick up a few unfinished projects I dropped along the way.

Same thing on fanfiction.net, if that's the way you swing.

Title: The Conjurer's Trick
Fandom: The Phantom of the Opera
Pairing: Erik/Persian
Rating: Adult (explicit slash). Don't read if you shouldn't.
Summary: For the Persian, the siren's song reaches back all the way to the Rosy Hours of Mazenderan.
( Rumor swirls around him )

Read/review on The Fifth Cellar

metalmyersjason's prompt: Erik/Carlotta pairing taking place in a theater in San Francisco in the early seventies

"What are you doing here?" The voice dripped venom—or was it acid, what the kids were doing now? Either way, it was a voice she'd hoped never to hear again. She rolled her eyes and her head to look over at the speaker. It was dark, here in the flies, but she could make out a dark outline and those unmistakable gleaming eyes.

"I might ask the same of you," she said tartly, and self-consciously smoothed the front of her much-outdated skirt. She just couldn't seem to adapt. Well, to the clothing styles, anyway.

His pale fiery eyes narrowed. "Erik is here to listen," he said, "and you're in his spot."

"Your spot?" she echoed. "I was not aware that the Fillmore was offering season tickets to backstage."

"You know what I mean!" he growled. He gestured down to where roadies were stacking Marshalls and adjusting cymbals and racking guitars. He noted with a pleasure he felt every time that Hendrix's old Strat was there. If only he could still play. Being a ghost, a real ghost, had its advantages—like constant access to the best music—but it came with some drawbacks, too.

Such as running into people he'd much rather not. Carlotta was still glaring at him. Had she lost weight?

"No, I do not!" she was insisting. "I was here first."

"You ought to have read the papers more closely," he sneered. "The Monkees broke up a year ago."

She looked away. Really, he was insufferable, and it made no sense at all for them to end up here, in the same theater, after all this time. "I am herrre to leesten to the music!" She hated how the accent came out when she was irritated. "And I warn you, if you try any of your tricks tonight, you will have me to answer to!"

Erik shut his mouth quickly and stared at her. She thought she could almost read disbelief on that blank face. "Erik would not dream of it," he growled. "You commit blasphemy to suggest it."

She rolled her eyes again. "Oh, please. We are both far too old for such drama. And we are incorporeal, so there is enough room for all. We don't need to be enemies anymore, do we? Since I am not on the stage?"

They both looked down. Flo and Eddie—or was it Eddie and Flo?—were arguing about harmonies or something, and the proper sequence of events when violating a donkey. The crowed had filled up the auditorium, and the lights dimmed. With a last look at Carlotta, Erik set about ignoring her and enjoying the concert. There was, in reality, nothing he could do. The crowed roared as the main attraction came out and slung his guitar around his neck. The most incredible noise wafted up from below, as full of device and technique and passion as any opera.

But Carlotta could still here Erik when he muttered, "Erik cannot believe you're here for Zappa, too."

[Stef--you'll have to tell me if we are still friends, after this.]

stefanie_bean's prompt: Gerik and Christine pushing the pram on a walk through the park.

He hadn't quite remembered the feeling of the sun on his face. Oh, he'd thought about it, thought he could recall the sensation, the sense-defying smell of it, but he'd been wrong. But one of the joys of knowing he was wrong was that to know that, he had to experience it.

Which was what he was doing. He'd promised her he'd be her husband, her man, in every sense of the word. They went walking on Sundays; they dined, though mostly privately, at nice restaurants; they even slept in the same bed. Like sunlight, it was everything he'd dreamed of but somehow different. Richer. Everything about her enchanted him. He insisted on pushing the pram, because it left her free to punctuate whatever silly tale she was telling with those delicate hands, and lean over to smell roses, and to take his arm every so often, like a real wife.

He didn't even mind, really, that the eyes which gazed up at him from the pram weren't his. Neither was the nose, or the toes, or (thank heaven) the face. He did not begrudge Christine her baby. He'd railed about it at first, of course, but in the end her happiness was more important. It was a little extra mess, another mouth to feed, but Christine's eyes lit up so when she cooed at it, as she did now, trailing along the side of the pram. And in truth, Erik had become somewhat attached, even if he had tried, and failed, to give her the motherhood she so wanted.

He reached down into the pram to lift the delicate creature out. Their eyes met, and Erik knew it was as much his as hers, and that fate had merely set a different course for them.

"Come on then, Duchess," he said, and smiled at the feeling of her tongue on his hand. Dog ownership was a new responsibility, but he felt up to it.

The second part of several for drabbles about the Persian for stories_100. The object is to write one 100-word story about each prompt. I'm just putting these here, once again, to keep my stuff in one place.

Title: Call to Prayer
Character: The Persian
Prompt: 011. Faith
Word Count: 100
Rating: G
Summary: The Persian has faith, but not in the abstract.
( Read more... )

Title: Game
Characters/pairing: The Persian.
Prompt: 015. Sorrow
Word Count: 100
Rating: G
Summary: The Persian contemplates Erik during his confession.
Author's Notes: Again, shippers and non, this can be interpreted any way you like.
( Read more... )

Title: Sides
Character: The Persian
Prompt: 022. Enemies
Word Count: 100
Rating: G
Summary: He knows what side he is on. Both.
( Read more... )

Title: Daroga
Characters/pairing: The Persian
Prompt: 025. Strangers
Word Count: 100
Rating: G
Summary: What's in a name?
( Read more... )

Title: City of Lights
Character: The Persian
Prompt: 048. Run
Word Count: 100
Rating: G
Summary: The Persian comes to a decision about Paris. This and the next two occur one after the other.
( Read more... )

Title: Respite
Character: The Persian
Prompt: 049. Hide
Word Count: 100
Rating: G
Summary: He is not broken; merely bowed.
( Read more... )

Title: Angel of Death
Characters/pairing: The Persian
Prompt: 055. Spirit
Word Count: 100
Rating: G
Summary: The Persian visits Apollo's Lyre after that night.
( Read more... )

Title: The Edge
Characters/pairing: The Persian
Prompt: 060. Drink
Word Count: 100
Rating: G
Summary: Even he has his weaknesses.
( Read more... )

Title: Market Day
Character: The Persian
Prompt: 066. Rain
Word Count: 100
Rating: G
Summary: Commitments are made, and the scene is set. No, there's no Erik, but a little background never hurt anyone.
( Read more... )

Title: Immunity
Characters/pairing: The Persian
Prompt: 069. Thunder
Word Count: 100
Rating: G
Summary: Discoveries have their own price. And questions always lead to more.
( Read more... )

Title: Al Shira
Character: The Persian
Prompt: 072. Fixed
Word Count: 100
Rating: G
Summary: The Persian looks up and back.
( Read more... )

Title: Duet
Characters/pairing: The Persian
Prompt: 079. Truth
Word Count: 100
Rating: G
Summary: The Persian and Erik dispute the Persian's motives.
Author's note: As with many of these drabbles, it is less important *what* exactly Erik is insinuating the Persian wants and more about the Persian hiding some ulterior motive from even himself.
( Read more... )

Title: Infidel
Fandom: Phantom of the Opera (Leroux)
Rating: R
Summary: Who watches the watchers? The Persian learns something about his quarry, and himself.

[Also on fanfiction.net, if you wish to review/favorite.]
( Read more... )

ghostwritten2 made me do it.
( to keep track )

Fandom: Phantom of the Opera
Pairing: Philippe/Sorelli
For: stefanie_bean

“You should bring your brother to the Opera," she said, her voice as languorously supple as her willowy body. “It’s not like a de Chagny to deny a pretty woman the pleasure of his… company.”

“Hmm. You’d have to fit him into your schedule. I’m surprised they don’t charge you rent, all the… entertaining you do here.”

But he knew she didn’t.

She laughed. “I am surprised you should notice, with all the entertainment you require. One night your conquests will leave you far too tired, and you will leave me waiting here by myself.”

But she knew he wouldn’t.

Title: Abiguities
Source: Phantom of the Opera, 1943 version
Character/Pairing: Erique Claudin
Rating: G
For: chatastic

He seemed to have become something from one of the operas he’d ignored from the pit for so long, in favor of music which spoke without words, without faces, without the need for that obscuring layer between the player and the played.

Now when he cradled the violin to his cheek, it resounded with the hollow impact of ceramic. He removed his gloves to play, but the strings cut into acid-gouged fingers until a thin layer of red caused his already failing technique to slip entirely.

Father/lover. Teacher/husband.

Not that it mattered. She would never see him as either, now.

Or, More Fevered Mutterings

Title: Shades
Author: l_aurens
Summary: The opera ghost really existed. But he was hardly an isolated phenomenon.

Rumors abound, of course. They always do, in a place like this. After all, a building need not be old to collect spirits. There are mysteries aplenty in the Palais Garnier. If poor, unfortunate Erik is the only one whose name we know, well, he is also the only ghost who demands a salary. For a man who fights to hide himself from the world, he is certainly quite vocal about it. And so the stories are ascribed to him. The whispers always taste better when uttered with small, girlish cries of “the ghost!” Hearts bound, slippered feet skitter across polished floors and the desired effect is achieved. They do not know that the shadows lurk all around them, too many to hold only one mortal responsible.
( a man waits in the lee of a doorway )