Phantom of the Opera Recs

[bethbethbeth]

Please note that some of these story recommendations were made before I reconsidered my warnings policy (i.e., before I decided to include warnings). Generally speaking, there's little of a dark or violent nature to warn for in these stories, but caveat lector.

Special Note about Phantom Recs: For a long time, I was wary of reccing anything in this ff.net-based fandom. Most of the stories I was reading would have benefited from at least a little more proofreading, and more importantly, the majority of my favorite fics seemed...a little over-wrought and melodramatic. But then I realized that the same could be said for the [over-wrought and melodramatic] canon(s)! And so...recs!

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Antiquarianne: "A Stroll on Sunday" (Erik/OFC. "A snap decision to take a walk on Sunday has unforeseeable consequences for Erik. Leroux-based" A very interesting and modern original character, despite the story being set in the book canon era.)

Aquandrian: "Angel, there's no sense" (POTO. Christine/Raoul, Christine/Erik. Post-canon. NC-17. "Her body is not her own. He will put his hands on her, into her, and draw out her secrets. She will earn the sin." Not my usual thing, since in many ways, it's almost entirely a pwp, but despite that, I really liked this. Very interesting and such a departure from the kind of story that's typically found in this fandom.)

bwayphantomrose: "Mingled Tears: Tales of a Living Wife" (Erik/Christine. "Leroux-based. Christine realizes what it's really like to be Erik's wife. Slowly, she learns that in order to unlock his heart, she must first unlock hers. Her perspective as his living bride. " Overwrought and yet, kind of wonderful. Erik is forceful and childish and brilliant and mad - just like in the book...and yet, for the slimmest possibility of winning Christine's love, he tries to change. There's a strongly creepy undercurrent of...what? DubCon? Stockholm Syndrome? Something that makes the very idea of this relationship being romantic troubling - yet romantic it is.)

Broken Vow: "Peaches" (Erik/Christine. Modern Day AU. "There is a new girl in Erik's life, and Christine only has herself to blame." An established relationship story and kid!fic, to boot...just so you know. In other words, you really need to be in a "domesticity" mood, which I absolutely was when I read this. By the way, the least AU element here is Erik's inherent desire to control those around him, which absolutely includes his wife and child, yet Erik is often...unsuccessful at controlling anything, which is just as it should be.)

Broken Vow: "The Rising Sun" (Christine/Raoul, Erik/Christine. "Erik's time in Persia takes an unexpected turn when the woman he is destined to love enters at the darkest period of his life." An odd, albeit interesting fusion of Leroux and Kay, narrated from multiple character p.o.v.'s, with Christine and Raoul married as the story begins - and Erik settled as an architect - and sometime torturer - in Persia. Warning for the death of Raoul, in a somewhat contrived - and yet, at the same time, a totally believable way . )

carolroi: "Stronger" (Erik/Christine. An engaging "what if" that branches away from canon following Christine's visit to the graveyard, although with a far more clear-sighted Erik and mature Christine than canon would lead you to expect.)

Celestel: "The Greenwood Tree" (Erik/Christine. "It wouldn't be for very long," I heard him say softly. "Six months perhaps and you would be a young widow..." What if Christine had agreed to become Erik's bride for the remainder of his life?" A retelling of Kay's Phantom, although with a twist. Best read when you're in the mood to feel weepy.)

drjekyllmshyde (formerly intelligentwolf on LJ): "Ashes and Wine" (Erik/OFC. "When a large estate is purchased by a mysterious masked gentleman, Cecile Lallier finds her life suddenly turned on end. Sequel to Strangeness and Charm (see below)." An engaging story of friendship and love. This isn't Erik/Christine, but Christine - and the Daroga - are both treated well in the narrative.)

drjekyllmshyde (formerly intelligentwolf on LJ): "Strangeness and Charm" (Erik, OCs "A young woman and her husband move into a small village not far from Rouen, where a widow and her masked child live in recluse. Can she repair the damage the woman has done to her son before it's too late?" Well written and emotionally true backstory for Child!Erik.)

Flourish: Madame O.G. (21372 words)
Chapters: 11/11
Fandom: Phantom of the Opera
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Erik/Christine Daaé
Characters: Christine Daaé, Erik (Phantom of the Opera)
Additional Tags: Romance, Fix-It, Alternate Universe
Summary:

Change just one of Christine's actions, and the story turns out quite differently, as the Phantom learns to be human once more and his Angel discovers that love is not always like the storybooks.

ghostwritten2: "A Mirror in the Palm of Your Hand" (The Persian/Erik. Leroux based. The story takes place after both Erik and the Persian are established in Paris, but before Erik has met Christine. Alternate site here A tale of...hungers.)

hikari_no_tsubasa:"Fatherhood" (Erik/Christine. "Erik's thoughts on becoming a father." Love, yet this has anything but a happy ending, which is very rare in the E/C side of this fandom. Warning for DEATH )

inkblottales: "The Chain Unbroken" (Erik/Christine. "{post-canon, Erik is the architect of his own destiny - or so he thinks. Will Christine breach his defenses? Will the enemies who wish to destroy him succeed?" Set in England, with some interesting original characters. Not the most canon-based of stories, but engaging.Warning for what looks to be the death of one of the main characters...but isn't.

isabeau: "Blood, Flesh, Bone" ( Kay version. Nadir Khan would kill anyone who hurt his son, but Erik would never hurt Reza...unless he was asked. A haunting tale of actions untaken and words unsaid.)

Kadorienne (mosellegreen on LJ/DW/IJ): "All I Ask of You" (Erik/...Others. "The Phantom lives... and loves." Wonderfully meta, with a lovely - if bittersweet - fairy tale quality.)

michellemybelle25 (author's website here): "Let It Bleed" (Erik/Christine...sort of. "An aggressive outburst and its consequences." Following Christine's conversation with Raoul on the roof of the opera house, she returns, rather unwillingly, to the Phantom's lair. Erik is both sympathetic and not-at-all sympathetic, and Christine...would probably do better if she were very far away from Paris.)

michellemybelle25: "A Twist in My Story" (Erik/Christine. "Christine has to learn how to accept Erik in her life as a man and not an angel." Set after the initial unmasking, this story gives Christine a slightly longer time with the Phantom. The author notes that this "version of Christine in this story is a little stronger, a little angrier at what she's endured" and the result is a story that offers no easy 'happily ever after.')

michellemybelle25: "Untouchable" (Erik/Christine. "A love story for a phantom." Suffers a bit from tell-not-show syndrome, but I like the greater-than-average depth and budding maturity given to Christine in this story, and the way in which she finds the means to start taking control over her own life.)

MlleBree: Monster (4789 words)
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Phantom of the Opera - Lloyd Webber, Le Fantôme de l'Opéra | Phantom of the Opera - Gaston Leroux, Le Fantôme de l'Opéra | Phantom of the Opera & Related Fandoms
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Christine Daaé/Erik | Phantom of the Opera
Additional Tags: Family Fluff, Family Dynamics
Summary:

There was no way to mash the word into her definition without mangling the entire thing. Pregnant. Even the word was gross and uncivilized. There was no beauty in its vowels - not when he spoke it. Not when he spelled it in his mind and mulled over its definition.

my_daroga (also my_daroga on LJ and DW): "West of the Moon " (Raoul, Erik. "Raoul and Erik are not the men they once were. But the same woman still ties them together." A meeting between the two men, after Christine has gone. Smart, insightful, and touching - in the way of fairy tales.)

Opera Cloak: "The Locket (Christine/Erik. "After a terrible nightmare, Erik receives a special gift from Christine." Utterly creepy. It's funny and horrific and not at all how I want to imagine Erik, but scarily enough it's probably the most canonically accurate portrayal I've read)

Owlet (The): "The Redemption of Angels" (Erik/Christine. "Nothing ever happens as you plan it, and sometimes what the heart wants is surprising." Post-canon, Nicely paced story, in which Christine and Erik each get a chance to grow up - emotionally and otherwise - before finally coming together.)

poetzproblem: "An Elysian Piece" (Erik/Christine. "For tonight I am Hades. And you will be my Persephone...at least until the music ends. A journey out of darkness." Most of the action takes place some years after the final events of the book, although...honestly, there's a great deal of this story that has only the most tenuous connection to any of the source characterizations - and this caveat applies equally to "Too Long In Winter" and "Moments in Elysium", both of which are sequels to "An Elysian Piece. However, I found I cared about the characters [note: for those who care, this includes an utterly decent Raoul] and the almost possible "what if" sensibility of the story kept me engaged for over a 100,000 words. )

Quiet2885: "When All Is Lost" (Erik/Christine. Modern AU. "Will a deformed man's desire for revenge destroy the future of a young couple? Or were all three fated to begin this dark journey and face the evils of the past? A story of the struggle between hatred and love, vengeance and redemption." Recognizable characters in a quite different contemporary setting, which...honestly, putting Erik in the modern age makes a lot of his actions even less excusable than they are in canon, to the point where you have to wonder just what Christine could possibly be thinking to be interested in him. And yet! )

Quiet2885: "Amongst the Living" (Erik/Christine. Modern AU and a sequel to "When All Is Lost." "Now that the battle is over, lives must slowly be reclaimed." Domesticity, love, and angst...my favorite trio.)

Sandrine Shaw (sandrine on LJ): "L'Infants de l'Orage" (Erik, Madame Giry. "Wounded and on the run, Erik turns to the only refuge he knows." Post-canon. Gen, but perhaps not only gen? Madame Giry is given an excellent balance of reactions to Erik's presence in her home)

sinemoras09: Your Bedtime Lullaby (3942 words)
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Le Fantôme de l'Opéra | Phantom of the Opera & Related Fandoms
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Christine Daaé/Erik
Characters: Christine Daaé, Erik (Phantom of the Opera)
Additional Tags: Fluff, Cuddling & Snuggling, Happy Sex, Mutual Masturbation, Morning Kisses
Summary:

The whole of it, he had to admit, was rather embarrassing. (Erik falls asleep in Christine's bed. Fluff. Erik/Christine, AU)

Soignante: "Binary" (Erik/Christine. Modern Era AU. "What better mask than the faceless world of the Internet? It's a mask that cannot be ripped away on impulse." Very AU, since not only is there a contemporary setting, but Erik is about the least likely person to ever murder anybody that I could imagine. His physical ugliness - and associated reclusiveness - is still front and center, however, and the musical connection between Christine and Erik remains at the very heart of the story. )

Soignante: "The Greenwood Tree" (Erik/Christine. Modern Era AU. "Sweet and slow, from Erik's point of view." Christine - a cleaning woman at the opera when this story opens - is no child. She's loving, but not a doormat - very assertive, actually, particularly when it comes to Erik's propensity to hide away.)

Wandering Child (ashtonecks on LJ): "Demons" (Erik/Christine. Set some years after the end of POTO, under the shadows of the Commune. An engaging, plot-driven romance, with all characters treated fairly, something which tends to be a bit hard to find in this fandom.)

wheel_of_fish: Out of the Woods (40247 words)
Chapters: 13/13
Fandom: Le Fantôme de l'Opéra | Phantom of the Opera & Related Fandoms
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Christine Daaé/Erik | Phantom of the Opera
Characters: Christine Daaé, Erik | Phantom of the Opera, The Persian (Phantom of the Opera)
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, Fluff, Romance, cabin in the woods, Chickens
Summary:

When a canoeing mishap leaves Christine stranded, she's forced into the wilderness for help—only to find a haunting stranger who does not want to be found.

wzlwmn: "Rosy Hours" (Erik/Christine. "Lerouxesque Erik despairs after Christine leaves with Raoul. Four months later she turns up on his doorstep!" A very long guilty pleasure, funny and disturbing in turn. The characterizations are...let's just say "creative?" - but the story's still very engaging. Warning for infidelity, along with the usual "Phantom" warnings. Great interactions between Erik and The Persian.)

zoicite: "Death and the Lovers" (Kay's Phantom. Erik/Nadir (the Persian) "“You can’t shut me out forever,” Nadir insisted. / Erik shrugged. “I can try.”" The story - told from Nadir's pov - spans years, but its focus is that near-final moment for Erik, Christine, and Raoul beneath the Opera House...and what follows for Erik and Nadir. Perfectly voiced, believable, and yes, there's anger and madness, but also a [bitter]sweet sensibility and love. Very well done.)

Comments

[dessieoctavia]

I've bookmarked these so I can read them. :-) If you don't mind, here's a couple of recs in return:

Jeeves and the Opera Ghost
Of course Jeeves can get it all sorted out by intermission.

All I Ask Of You
The Phantom's love life after Christine.

[bethbethbeth]

Excellent...I look forward to reading these!

[amethyst_rei]

I can't even express how amazing this post is. Thanks so much!

Also, I recently discovered Writetothedeath's Il Mio Amore Scuro, which is a modern-y re-adaption (Christine/Erik). I've yet to finish it, but it's interesting so far and decently written.

[bethbethbeth]

Thanks so much! (and thanks for the rec...I'll read it soon)