Post by phantom on Mar 31, 2010 2:17:18 GMT -5
Hi, my name is Erik and this is my first character. I found this site through an ad somewhere… I’ve been lurking around this site for a while before actually joining so I can’t remember where it was!. Something you should know about me is that I am a really busy person but I’m very committed to RPing and I will be able to reply nearly every day[/ b].
Canon: The Phantom of the Opera
Custom Title: Angel of Music
PHYSICAL
Age: 27
Gender: male
Appearance: Appearance is something with which Erik concerns himself more than nearly any other man in his right mind should (except, of course, for “Raoul”, who he reviles as a slave of fashion). And really, who can blame him? For someone so disfigured and so obsessed with being beautiful – and for someone who spent most of his life hiding out with nothing else to do – Erik has become quite good at masking his disfigurement (literally and figuratively). He spends a great deal of time applying make-up, but when he is alone (which is pretty much all of the time) and in the darkness of his home, he wears a white mask that fits to his face.
Height: 6 feet, 1 inch
Body: Only about half of his face is disfigured; other than that, if he would ever think to look past his partial disfigurement to the other parts of him, Erik has an ideal figure. He is broad-chested, broad-shouldered, and well-muscled. This physique is partially due from traipsing around backstage in the ropes, and partially from rowing around in the catacombs under the opera. He is tall and dark, and the half of his face which is not disfigured is actually very handsome. But he is so focused on his disfigurement that nothing else really matters to him.
Other distinguishing features: If you were to see him without any make-up on, obviously a distinguishing feature would be the fact that his face is grossly disfigured.
Wardrobe: For the fact that he doesn’t spend much time outside, Erik dresses remarkably well. In fact, impeccably. Perhaps it is an attempt to make up for his face. He refuses to wear brand-name clothing and prefers a white collared shirt and black coat and pants. The most significant and recognizable piece of his wardrobe would, obviously, be the mask.[/ul]
Play By: Gerard Butler
PERSONALITY
General personality: To be frank, he doesn’t really have one – at least, not one which a normal person would consider a personality. Erik has lived his life shrouded in darkness, and his personality reflects that. He constantly thinks dark thoughts. He reflects on death and what it will mean, and never forgets about how ugly he is. He finds respite from his ugliness only in the darkness, where no one will know him, and the only person who can truly see him – the only person who will join him in the darkness – will not care how he looks. Or at least this is what he likes to think, but he knows that in reality it is too much for anyone, even his angel Christine, to bear his horrible face. His past has made him a bitter, angry man, who wants to take vengeance in the world and is unable to place his blame on a single victim so instead has many. It is true that he would rather be feared than loved when it comes to the majority of the members of the opera house, the same is not true of Christine Daae. Well, he kind of wants her to fear him, but more importantly, he believes that “fear can turn to love”.
Despite all of the bad things he has done, and all of the bad things he has thought of doing, Erik is not an entirely bad person. He cannot be excused for doing bad things just because he had a bad childhood. However, perhaps he can at least be pitied. He would desire to be pitied. But he would like for Christine to know that he loves her, and that he is worthy of her love in return. At first he went about showing her this in entirely the wrong way – stalking her outright, pretending to be her father’s ghost, kidnapping her (on multiple occasions), threatening to kill her fiancé, and actually killing a few other people. But since none of these things worked, he thinks he will try a different method. Erik is nothing if not determined – determined to win Christine’s heart.
Quotes, frequently used expressions: “Fear can turn to love”, “I am your angel of music”, “We’re past the point of no return”, “Love me, that’s all I ask of you”
Likes:
Dislikes:
Strengths:
Weaknesses:
Erik “The Phantom” Meursault
Middle Class (he received a sizeable amount of money from the “payments” he received at the Opera Populaire)
Middle Class (he received a sizeable amount of money from the “payments” he received at the Opera Populaire)
Canon: The Phantom of the Opera
Custom Title: Angel of Music
PHYSICAL
Age: 27
Gender: male
Appearance: Appearance is something with which Erik concerns himself more than nearly any other man in his right mind should (except, of course, for “Raoul”, who he reviles as a slave of fashion). And really, who can blame him? For someone so disfigured and so obsessed with being beautiful – and for someone who spent most of his life hiding out with nothing else to do – Erik has become quite good at masking his disfigurement (literally and figuratively). He spends a great deal of time applying make-up, but when he is alone (which is pretty much all of the time) and in the darkness of his home, he wears a white mask that fits to his face.
Height: 6 feet, 1 inch
Body: Only about half of his face is disfigured; other than that, if he would ever think to look past his partial disfigurement to the other parts of him, Erik has an ideal figure. He is broad-chested, broad-shouldered, and well-muscled. This physique is partially due from traipsing around backstage in the ropes, and partially from rowing around in the catacombs under the opera. He is tall and dark, and the half of his face which is not disfigured is actually very handsome. But he is so focused on his disfigurement that nothing else really matters to him.
Other distinguishing features: If you were to see him without any make-up on, obviously a distinguishing feature would be the fact that his face is grossly disfigured.
Wardrobe: For the fact that he doesn’t spend much time outside, Erik dresses remarkably well. In fact, impeccably. Perhaps it is an attempt to make up for his face. He refuses to wear brand-name clothing and prefers a white collared shirt and black coat and pants. The most significant and recognizable piece of his wardrobe would, obviously, be the mask.[/ul]
Play By: Gerard Butler
PERSONALITY
General personality: To be frank, he doesn’t really have one – at least, not one which a normal person would consider a personality. Erik has lived his life shrouded in darkness, and his personality reflects that. He constantly thinks dark thoughts. He reflects on death and what it will mean, and never forgets about how ugly he is. He finds respite from his ugliness only in the darkness, where no one will know him, and the only person who can truly see him – the only person who will join him in the darkness – will not care how he looks. Or at least this is what he likes to think, but he knows that in reality it is too much for anyone, even his angel Christine, to bear his horrible face. His past has made him a bitter, angry man, who wants to take vengeance in the world and is unable to place his blame on a single victim so instead has many. It is true that he would rather be feared than loved when it comes to the majority of the members of the opera house, the same is not true of Christine Daae. Well, he kind of wants her to fear him, but more importantly, he believes that “fear can turn to love”.
Despite all of the bad things he has done, and all of the bad things he has thought of doing, Erik is not an entirely bad person. He cannot be excused for doing bad things just because he had a bad childhood. However, perhaps he can at least be pitied. He would desire to be pitied. But he would like for Christine to know that he loves her, and that he is worthy of her love in return. At first he went about showing her this in entirely the wrong way – stalking her outright, pretending to be her father’s ghost, kidnapping her (on multiple occasions), threatening to kill her fiancé, and actually killing a few other people. But since none of these things worked, he thinks he will try a different method. Erik is nothing if not determined – determined to win Christine’s heart.
Quotes, frequently used expressions: “Fear can turn to love”, “I am your angel of music”, “We’re past the point of no return”, “Love me, that’s all I ask of you”
Likes:
- singing
- darkness
- Christine
Dislikes:
- “Raoul”
- light
- not getting his way
Strengths:
- He can be quite convincing, even manipulative, and was able to practically hypnotize Christine with his voice.
- He is quite intelligent, and always seems to be a step ahead of his opponents – namely, “Raoul”, and the bumbling managers of the Opera Populaire.
- He will do absolutely anything for the person he loves (that would be Christine, in case you’ve been living under a rock, or an opera house perhaps, one other than the one he’s under, and didn’t know.)
Weaknesses:
- A dangerous – even deadly – temper
- An odd mix of self-consciousness and self-righteousness which (he claims) justifies his actions based on the fact that he was hurt in the past – contrary to what Christine says
- An obsession with Christine which controls everything he does and renders him incapable of forgetting her
BACKGROUND
Family: none. “Madame Giry” is still in Paris, and he could not quite call her family. It is Christine he seeks – she is all he will ever need.
Education: Limited. He is self-taught, mainly in music and architecture.
Occupation: He doesn’t really have a job. In the past he earned a considerable amount of money from working as an architect, and also from the managers of the Opera house, who he bribed into paying him twenty thousand francs a month in order to keep him from murdering their dancers and patrons.
Worst past experience: Losing Christine to that buffoon, “Raoul”… every waking moment of his life without her.
Best past experience: Kissing Christine… being given Christine’s ring… singing with Christine… pretty much every moment with Christine was his best moment, though kissing her is probably at the top of his list.
Image: Everyone who thinks they know Erik (that would be “Raoul”, the managers, “Madame Giry”, etc.) know him only as The Phantom, and they hate him. Anyone who really knows Erik (that would be Christine) know him as Erik, and she may hate him a little bit too, for what he has done to her, but deep down, Erik hopes that she loves him. She is the only person who could.
History:
Erik was born with a facial disfigurement. No one knows why, and he never bothered asking for an explanation from anyone. His mother certainly didn’t give him one. His mother didn’t give him anything, except for his name and his very life, and a tortured childhood. He was abandoned from birth, never to know anything of his mother or father. The only thing his mother did for him, without even knowing it, was to give him the gift of music. She was too merciful to the good people of Paris’ orphanages to leave him there, and rather left him by the side of a little river underneath Paris’ premiere opera house, intending for him to die quietly there down, either from starvation or perhaps by drowning if he happened to roll into the river. However, the infant’s cries were heard by “Madame Giry”, who raised the infant. He was kept forever in the shadows, because Madame Giry knew that if anyone found out about the boy, they would want to know who he was, perform tests on him, and do horrible things to him. Besides, he helped her around the opera house. He hardly ever spoke to her; she rarely got the chance to hear his voice. But the first time she heard it – really heard it – he was singing.
He had been listening, she knew, to the chorus. She had discouraged him so many times from doing this, and had always told him to stay away from them. But there was rebellion in the boy’s blood, and he had not listened to Madame Giry. Rather he had listened to the chorus. Also in his blood, apparently, was a gift from music. Even as a child he had a perfect voice – the voice of an angel. She wished she could share his gift with the world, but alas, he had to be kept secret. As he grew older, however, it was realized that Erik could not be “kept” to do anything by anyone. He ran away, ironically to the very place where his life had started, under the opera house. Using what he had learned about song and what he had learned about architecture from exploring behind the scenes at the opera house along its stage, he constructed himself a home there, and contended himself with this life. He became more clever, and realized that he could make money off of the foolish manager of the opera house, who exchanged francs with him in order to keep him from mucking up the operas in various ways.
When, at first, the manager had not paid him heed, Erik had provided warnings. First there had been upset scenery. Then there had been a dead body. Soon enough, the manager learned his lesson, and Erik got his money. Lots of money. What he would do with all of it, he had no idea. It wasn’t like he needed to pay for room or board. He just liked the feeling of power it gave him. If “Madame Giry” knew anything of this opera ghost, she did not share her knowledge with anyone, whether it was because she was protecting herself or protecting Erik. Erik lived on his power, thrived on it. But soon enough something came along which had power over him: young Christine Daae. From the first moment he heard her voice, he loved her; he obsessed over her, desired to possess her, and was haunted every moment by his unadulterated love. He listened to her in order to learn things about her, and soon enough, she was listening to him. He had sung to her, once, and she had asked if he was her angel of music. He had said yes, and promised to tutor her in her singing. They had a relationship – a bit of an odd one, it was true, but the Phantom was pleased. Pleased, not satisfied.
He wanted more from Christine. So one night, after her debut performance at the opera house in a lead role, he took her down to his lair with him. She was returned safely the next day but while the Phantom’s obsession with her grew, so did his jealousy, as he came to realize that another man was pursuing her – the reason he had tried to keep her in the first place, though she had to be dismissed when she had seen his face. He continued to witness, with hatred, the relationship between Christine and “Raoul” develop. He finally reached his breaking point and had both of them in the palm of his hand, threatening to kill Christine’s fiancé, almost about to do it. Then she kissed him. It was a kiss which he would remember forever, so shocking and pure and unforgettable that he was forced to let her go. As much as he loved her, he knew that he must let her go, so that she might be happy. She would not be happy living under the Opera house. No – Christine Daae belonged in the world, so that she might sing for the rest of it, even though Erik wanted her all to himself.
For what felt like an eternity, he tried to live in Paris, under the opera house he had left in ruins – by burning it, and by robbing it of its lead singer when he sent her away out of fear. He had instructed her never to tell anyone where she was going, but eventually he found out that she had gone to America – with that cursed fiancé of hers. Unable to live anymore without her, the Phantom, who hardly ever left the Opera house, and certainly had never left Paris, set out for New York City to find her.
THE SAMPLE
In Character Sample: As he shuffled down the narrow aisle way of the airplane, Erik kept his head down to avoid the stares which he knew would be directed at him. He had never before gone on an airplane or been in airport, or really been in any place as crowded as this one. It was going to be a very long flight, and not just because it was going to be from Paris to New York, or because he was secretly afraid of flying. It was because he knew that everyone’s eyes would be on him the whole flight. It was odd, he supposed, that he was afraid of heights – he had dealt with him his whole life on the stage. Not like this, it was true. The stage could be trusted. After all, he had helped build it with his own hands. The ropes which controlled it could be manipulated easily with his hands, and even if he fell, it was not a long way down. Architecture and music together in perfect harmony – those things were his forte. This, however, was much higher up, much less trustworthy, completely out of his control. And he hated it.
But it was all for Christine, and that would make it worth it. He had not actually considered what a hell it was going to be, trying to find a girl in a foreign country, in what he had heard was a very large city. He knew now that Paris was also quite a large city, but he had never considered its size, because most of the city had gone unexplored for him – he had remained forever in the depths of the opera house. Until now, anyway. Now, he was out of Paris, out of France, out of Europe – or he would be by tomorrow. All of his nerves would be over by then. He hated the fact that he, Erik, the Phantom, so powerful, so unstoppable, had been tamed by this, the multitude of people. Perhaps they weren’t really staring at him, and he was only imagining it. But after what had happened when he was going through security – that seemed to him like a rather odd name for it, because he hadn’t felt secure at all! – when he had been patted down and felt up as if he were some kind of doll, not a human being, and looked at like he had done something wrong, well, he had a right to be self-conscious. He felt like people hadn’t stopped staring at him since then.
Perhaps he was just being paranoid. After all, he had taken great pains to apply his make-up this morning. He only hoped it would last for the duration of the flight, since he had been told that no liquids could be taken aboard the plane in his carry-on luggage, and he’d had to put the majority of it into the suitcase which was going into the plane’s cargo hold, out of his reach. However, as Erik settled into his seat, and someone else sat next to him, he felt himself growing increasingly uncomfortable. Heat rose up his neck and he moved to loosen his collar slightly. His eyes darted, as subtly as possible, to look at the person who was seated next to him. It was a teenage girl, blonde and wearing a very revealing shirt. He turned away in disdain – she looked nothing like Christine, and she never would, no matter how hard she tried, no matter how much makeup she put on. This particular thought worried him. Would he ever be good enough for Christine? Was this makeup just a façade? Who was he, really, underneath? As he thought of Christine, he began to sweat. His gaze darted to the girl again when he heard a small clicking sound, and he looked over to get a glance at himself in the small compact mirror she was using to apply makeup.
He gasped when he saw the mirror – the hated mirror! His reflection looked distorted, somehow, and it wasn’t because of the angle that he was looking at the mirror. He realized that it was because he had begun to sweat, and his makeup was running. Desperately, he reached over and began fumbling in his carry-on bag for his mask, hoping he could reach it before the girl noticed his face and began to shriek in fright. In relief, he placed it over his face, the cold hard plastic molding comfortingly to his face. Finally, something familiar in this situation, this strange situation in which everything was new and strange to him. Stupid airplane, stupid people. He hated all of it. But he loved Christine. He had to keep reminding himself of why he was doing all of this. He was aware that if the girl saw his mask, she would probably ask him a question about it, but he would pretend he was asleep, and she would probably not bother him. So he closed his eyes, and let the comforting darkness envelop him.
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