Raoul De Chagny - Tumblr Posts
New Comic Page is Online
Oh Crap, I hate this sharing button. Nothing work. But yeah here is Page 11 :-)
hohohoho what is that? a bonus chapter??? yes… yes it is :-D merry christmas greetings from the whole gang :D
Bonus: You should see me in a Crown English Deutsch
the last day of 2023 has begun in germany. ok ok, it's almost noon, i overslept. it's sunday, i'm allowed to oversleep okay? damn punk! here's a little short story. You can put it in chapter 34 :-)
Ao3 - What kind of Man
Fanfiktion.de - Was für ein Mann
Hi friends. I'm currently editing the fan fiction parallel to the comic. I'm currently trying to concentrate on the english language. It annoys the hell out of me. My school english is terribly rusty, and as a teenager I didn't gave a shit about grammar. And to procrastinate a bit and to give a sign of life from me again, I'm going to babble a bit here. !!!!! Attention spoiler!!!!!! I'm reviewing almost the entire Fanfic here. But I've been asked a few times. You still have the option to cancel here. :-) Okay so, the main diagnoses are AuDHD, PTSD, Social Anxiety and Depression (which occasionally triggers an eating disorder)
However, I have to say explicitly about the eating disorder that it is linked to his feelings and also has a certain AuDHD component. Sometimes it happens that you simply forget to eat because other things seem more important to your brain. And sometimes you're so stressed or depressed that you can't eat. He would really like to, because he actually likes to eat. If it's food that he can eat. Taste and consistency are sometimes not so easy to manage here. That's why Nadir always gets the same dishes from the same snack bar. Per se, Erik doesn't know exactly what he has. As mentioned in the fanfic, he is often told his diagnosis. But he keeps forgetting because he doesn't really care. All he knows is that he doesn't fit in.
In the comic, for example, it also becomes clear that he sometimes has problems being touched and sometimes not. This is also due to the experiences he had as a child. His first caregiver often rejected him. So he finds it difficult to accept Valerie's friendly nature at first. By contrast, he has almost completely blocked out his stepfather. As a result, he follows Gustave without saying a word, but also allows himself to be touched because he unconsciously allows himself to be subjugated.
Erik and Raoul have a strange relationship. First Erik keeps forgetting Raoul's name because it's not important enough, then they tease each other and Erik doesn't really get it. He has no idea what this rivalry is all about, he just reacts to it. Then they beat each other up and make up. He doesn't like him, but that's more because Raoul is a kind of interference field. The connection between Erik and Christine is broken every time Raoul appears on the radar. However, Erik can't categorize this either and only reacts to it. Erik's specialty is music. He is particularly fond of stringed instruments. This is not just a hyper-fixation, it is his absolute specialty. He communicates through music. Music is his language for expressing emotions. Here in particular, I tried to link the emotions via the music lyrics or in the Spotify playlist. Sometimes it's very obvious, like in Chapter 13 - where he covers Everlong by the Foo Fighters. Then it's more subtle, when he just plays and the sounds adapt to his mood. In chapter 15, he talks to Christine about Raoul and how long he's staying away, where he strikes a low chord. He tries to ask it casually, but the situation actually worries him.
Erik's talent for languages and the pronunciation thing. Erik learns languages out of sheer boredom. He started with Farsi because he's a nosy little fucker whom Nadir likes to eavesdrop on. He only learned Swedish to impress Christine. He googled her surname. He had learned Italian for Jago, though Jago came from a Spanish family. Well, with ADHD you tend to mix up languages... Erik's pronunciation is usually very clear. He tries to speak clearly and loudly, due in part as a result of the mask. Also with the fact that music is his real language. As a teenager, he went to a speech therapist for years to overcome his stuttering and lisp. He is missing a tooth, which leaves plenty of room for slurred sibilant sounds. But he has learned to compensate it. If he is not emotionally balanced, the old habits still come out.
Erik is left-handed. I couldn't find anything in the books (Leroux and Kay), or I missed it. Well, my Erik is left-handed. Originally, at the very beginning of this story, his hands were supposed to be a testament to the abuse as well. Fingernails were missing, they were taped, and a fingertip was missing. This symbol became Erik's left-handedness, a short little finger and his skinpicking-coping mechanism (which I purposely didn't discuss in detail so as not to trigger myself :'D Fun fact: There were phases in my life when my hands looked like his...). However, he is "both" handed. He learned to use many instruments like a right-handed, because of the little finger problem. Kurt Cobain was left-handed, he has the guitar on the other side, for example. But not Erik. But his handwriting, as in the original, is just awful. He simply didn't learn it properly and was confused in elementary school about which hand to use.
My Erik is bisexual. But how can that be if he's never had a relationship apart from Christine nodnodnod Well, he's not making a big deal out of it. But he had a crush on a young punk from his "clique" in his teens. No, not Azzi and not Jago. Of course, nothing came of it because he was even more socially maladjusted back then, than in Christine's day. Nevertheless, he feels attracted to both sexes.
Erik and friendships. Oh, boy, that's such a thing. At some point in therapy, the therapist nails him down to the fact that he is very much "capable of relationships" because he obviously has friends of several years' standing. Sometimes we forget that. That we are capable, even if there is perhaps one constant person left among all the arguments and conflicts. And maybe it's also the case that we say "Nope, I don't have any friends" out of self-protection, simply to make it easier to cope with a possible loss. The concept of friendship is a mystery to Erik. He doesn't understand that he and Jago have been friends for a long time. It's clear to Jago, and to Nadir as well. In the late chapters, Jago also makes an appearance. The reason that Erik doesn't reject him is that Jago accepts the boy directly for who he is. He lets him be who he is. He doesn't force him. Through the subculture - punk - he gives him a place outside his room where he is accepted.
Speaking of Nadir. Why is a trained care worker sometimes so incredibly stupid, with Erik? Because he's only human. Nadir loves Erik as if he were his son. But at the same time, he sees the bias, the difficulty of communication and the constant lack of connection. This frustrates him. It disappoints him. He feels almost constantly helpless. But he has chosen Erik. This decision binds him for life. Nadir knows exactly what motivates Erik. But he always wants to challenge him. To take him one step further. To show him some normality - which begs the question, what is normal? He wants to show him what's going on in society. To prepare him step by step. Sometimes in a clumsy way. But he doesn't mean any harm. And Erik knows that too.
Erik and his mother. Oh boy, I'm still gnawing on that a bit, my brain is still spinning little stories about both of them. I didn't let her take up so much space on purpose, but I still wrote an entire chapter to her. His mother was damn young when this contraceptive accident with Charles (Erik's father) happened. One thing leads to another, Charles dies, she is alone. She comes from a dysfunctional family herself. She grieves during the pregnancy and after the birth. She loves her son. Don't get me wrong. She really loved him. But it still wasn't enough. What she did wasn't right. It wasn't enough. She didn't respond to his needs or his desire for attachment and security. She locked him away and didn't validate his emotions (which he couldn't categorize either). Because she couldn't. Because she was so busy with herself and her small, sad world. This insecure-ambivalent attachment still triggers massive problems and anxiety in Erik today. And sometimes her hand slipped. Due to excessive demands. Which is still no excuse. Never.
Erik and his stepfather. Ahhhh I'd like to leave that out. I was thinking about creating a kind of comeback. How the stepfather starts stalking Erik after his release and kidnaps Reza and crazy shit like that. But nope. That's too much for me. His stepfather was a violent asshole. An alcoholic and a narcissist. Unemployed. He often beat Erik up when he had a meltdown, or didn't do his homework, or had to go home early from school, or just because he breathed too loudly. His stepfather gave him the missing little finger, the burn scars, the missing nose and the silver stripes on his back. I dislike this person so much that he has neither a name nor a face. And it stays that way.
Erik, the night owl. At the beginning of the story, you keep reading that he sleeps a lot, that he goes to bed early and that he can get up early (to buy Christine's present). He's just pretending. He can indeed sleep anywhere. Whether on the couch, a mattress or the floor. But he doesn't sleep for long. In bad phases, he hardly sleeps at all. In good phases, he sometimes manages 3 hours at a time. He may appear calm on the outside, but on the inside he is restless and under constant pressure. Disordered thoughts, the urge to create and the fear of nightmares keeps him awake. And yes, the nightmare I described is the tip of the iceberg. Erik dreams a lot and is always restless. He only experiences a state similar to sleep paralysis during bad triggers or depressive phases.
Finally: Sasha. Sasha is a Shepard-Spaniel mix. She is not a therapy dog. But she is Erik's anchor. She is smart, eager to learn and affectionate. There was also a Sasha in Kay's book. Erik learned to walk with the dog there and was able to experience affection through her. Sasha, in my story, keeps Erik in this world. She is his constant. His connection to the outside world. She supports him when he's not feeling well. She is always by his side. He even takes her with him to the hospital. He smuggles her everywhere he goes. Even if it sometimes seems as if Erik is annoyed by her when she jumps up at Christine or doesn't want to get on the streetcar or goes crazy with big dogs. He loves her to death. He would do anything for her.
Thanks for reading. :-D The text was longer than expected... Any questions?
I did a thing...
It is done! Since yesterday Chapter 02 is finished uploaded!
If you are interested in a Phantom of the Opera Modern Punk AU, just click the link for Chapter 01.
Chapter 01 - just start here if you are new https://tapas.io/episode/3067743
So? You already know the Comic? Did you read the last episode of Chapter 02? https://tapas.io/episode/3070422
And big sorry that I am not as much online here. Work and family stuff is hitting me hard in the last days.
Chapter 3 has been published!!! A bit early but I completed chapter 5 quicker than I thought 😭
Read it!
Love it!
Read it again!
I’m answering questions in a separate post cause there is a lot of reblogs and comments on the other 😭
10: Why did you choose this pairing for this particular story?
Asked by @blackforrestpunk
I’m going to be answering about Roses and Wolfsbane for these questions unless someone asks otherwise! It will contain spoilers btw!
So the pairing I chose for this story is Rerik which traces back to the source material that inspired me to write, which was fanart of a vampire Erik and vampire hunter Raoul au she made up! It’s since been archived unfortunately 😪
I love their dynamic and it gives me a lot of creative freedom to write banter and complex feelings! In this particular story Raoul and Erik were the perfect two to convey a story of hatred, jealousy, longing, understanding, and acceptance :)
Erik: ARE YOU-
Meg: Fucking.
Erik: KIDDING ME?! YOU-
Meg: Fucking.
Erik: IDIOT!
Raoul: …what was that?
Meg: Christine banned Erik from swearing, so I’m helping him out.
But.... But!!! Buuuuuuuuuuut!!!
Uhm. Point taken?
The mischaracterization of Raoul is a curse upon the phandom
Little Lotte let her mind wander…🐟💕
Oh hey! I accidentally did Mermay of sorts. It started off as a joke BUT y’all on instagram are a bunch of enablers >:}
(Also it was good practice for getting back into drawing these nerds.)
@ thedrawingduke on Twitter + Instagram + etc
Just watched phantom for the first time, and honestly? Neither the phantom nor raoul did it for me. I think christine and meg would have been a great pairing
From design to costume: Raoul de Chagny’s watch fob in the US
Jordan Donica, Broadway
Rodney Ingram, Broadway
Jeremy Hays, Broadway
Tim Martin Gleason, Broadway
Maria Bjørnson’s design (detail)
Ryan Silverman, Las Vegas
John Riddle, Broadway
Jay Armstrong Johnson, Broadway
Andrew Ragone, Las Vegas
Christine, that's all I ask of you.
What we were told had happened:
‘Raoul enters in a state of uncontrollable rage. He concludes that this Spirit of Music must be Christine’s lover, a musician, and that Christine has deceived Raoul, proving that she is neither pure nor honest. He insults Christine but, by the time he reaches his house, he falls on his bed sobbing. To calm his brother down, Count Philippe tells Raoul tha-’
What really happened (I asked Leroux xxx):
The phantom of the opera
But a HORROR film.
Have you ever drawn Raoul?? I haven’t seen him drawn by you yet and was simply curious :)
I have! He's not a character I draw often, and I couldn't scrounge up any old art of him(which is why this reply has taken so long), so, I did a few experimental sketches. I'm also trying to get back into the swing of animation, but, we'll see.
Take your pick. 🤷♂️ They're all pretty crummy.
I hope you have a fantastic day, whoever you are. 💛
I guess I have to draw him too sometimes.
10 of my favorite Hadley Fraser as Raoul moments (gif edition).
No doubt Hadley is, and will probably remain, one of the most popular Raoul’s. Personally, I think his Raoul could sometimes be a bit emotionless or on the more aggressive side, though I don’t entirely blame him. Besides the fact that he was going off of what he was being directed to do, he had also never been in the show before and had only a short time to get acquainted with the part. But I think he also had some wonderful moments that make up for it. So here are some of my favorites!
Being so proud of Christine and excited to see her again,
I have always interpreted this as him not just being happy to see her, but also happy that she remembers him too!
Visibly being more serious/concerned/sympathetic when Christine mentions that her father has passed and coming down to her level to comfort her.
Him being adorably confused as to why Christine is asking him to love her when he already is!
Just cause I love Hadley’s smile.
Bringing her hands to his chest and closing his eyes because that’s just how much he loves Christine and needs her to love him in return.
I love how he holds Christine’s head. And of course the kiss. Cuteness overload.
More of his smile. And also how happy and relieved he is to find Christine after looking all over for her.
Christine is his number one priority.
This part has always stuck with me all these years. He looks so defeated and disappointed thinking Christine chose the Phantom.