This. This is good. The rivalry mixed with obsessed attraction. You're not sure here I'd Raoul hate his enemy smell or hate the fact that he's enjoying the smell. In this piece, we already see the abyss that is forming between Christine and Raoul because of that obsessive smell. And I love the ending.

Wow, this is some messed up fic. Raoul's so obsessed with Erik at this point, half disgusted and half attracted. I don't think burning the dress is going to help that much.

"... That is just love...of the most exquisite kind, the kind

which people do not admit even to themselves. The kind that gives you a thrill..." So, Raoul wasn't talking about Christine after all. :)

Wow, you described Raoul's thoughts, feelings, and sensations so clearly that it's as if I entered his mind and (cold-shower craving) body. I shall never look at the swordfight scene the same way again.

You just gave E/R slash fics a better name. Good job!

Wow, definitely my favourite Phantom fic. Beautifully written.

Perfect, and in such a difficult tense to write too! Great job. Poor Raoul ;]

excellent! I never really thought about what Raoul would do and think while waiting for Christine during that scene, but this would be very logic.

And good you didn't make Raoul a whiny crying dum fop, as most people do. Although I really don't like Raoul, I've never thought of him as a pampered spoiled boy, but more as.. well, more as something like this. Annoyed, jealous, very young and full of life, doesn't understand his upponent or what Christine sees in him, but is at the same time very curious.

But I've allways imagined Erik smelling like candlewax and candlesmoke, dungeons, wet earth and leather. And maybe rats. Leroux wrote detailed about Eriks smell, so I allways gave that a great deal of thought. A boar and a male dear... hm, dunno... I couldn't place it.

Wow, that was really good. I really enjoyed the whole attraction/repulsion thing going on in Raoul's head, I find that those type of circumstances are more interesting, personally, to explore than just saccharine 'true love' stuff...

But yeah, I really liked all of it! My favourite thing is how you convey Raoul to be withdrawn, but also feeling powerful emotions (I don't know how to phrase it right... but like a dichotomy, you know?) Like he's not being all pathetic, or yelling inside his head, he's more stoic, and I think that's really cool.

Again, I really enjoyed this,

Beautifully poetic, in a dark and visceral sort of way. Raoul's thoughts aren't slashy per se, but there's a subtle, miasmic element of it drifting through, mixed with his overpowering disgust and hatred. It's all about the Phantom's power, in the end. His power, both hypnotic and intrinsically sexual, is the source of both enragement and desire in differing degrees for all who know him.

All in all, a rather fantastic oneshot.

Fond regards,

~Echo

That was amazing! I can practically SMELL Erik. (-thinks- That not all bad... :D )

This is an exellent phic... I never quite understood the E/R attraction, although I supposed it was passible. But this epitomises the E/R... It makes it entirely beleivable.

Thankyou for a wonderful phic.

You were right! Shameless pimpage, indeed. This is wonderful. Very understated, no actual physical slash. It's all in the mind, which I think is where lots of real-life incidents of this nature occur. You capture attraction/repulsion well, as in, Raoul is not conscious of the attraction although his repulsion is based on it. Very well done.

I love stories with this type of rawness. There's nothing pretty or dressed up about it: Rhaoul was traumatized by his experiences with the Phantom, simple as that. There would be a powerful temptation to gloss over the harsher feelings between the characters. For example, Rhaoul hates the Phantom for everything he did. But you also made him bitter towards Christine. Entirely understandable.

But again, most authors just live on two extremes when writing their relationship. Either Rhaoul is as faithful as they come with no complaints leaving his lips about his (most likely) wife, or he's a cheating / abusive/ alchohal guzzling bastard who lives up to every extreme feminists' idea of what all men are 'really like'. What these two extremes behaviors in FANRHAOUL! have in common is that I think that Rhaoul's actual personality is too complex for fan fic authors to write. Another may be that the Cheating!Rhaoul may be just another way to shift fan opinion of the character negetively. Dirty, and sadly effective.

You pay attention to the more negetive aspects of the character, but you don't bash them. You make them more realistic. You can really recognize these characters as themselves when reading this.

*shivers* This is beautiful...

You know, your writing reminds me of Suzy Mckee Charnas. (And that's a very good thing.) There's the same element of monstrousness in erotica. Not mincing about with sex, but allowing it to be scary and raw. I like. You obviously have serious knowledge of the time period, which gives your writing a simple authenticity that too much fiction doesn't have.

*Applauding like mad*

Where do I begin? The most in-character slash ever? The ending? The descriptions? The perfect detail?

I could write praises longer than the story, but suffice it to say:

"Brava

Brava

Bravissima"

hi, it's aNgElOfDoOm from following the link you posted on the E/N topic. I usually don;t go in for E/R, but this fic is amazingly written! I love all the detail. This is wonderful!

This is brilliant! So dark and stank...Your writing is amazing...this one is going on my favorites list!