thalia_seawood | Phantom of the Opera and the possibility of Erik/Nadir

After disappearing for several months again, I'll try to comment more regulary in my LJ from now on. (Keyword is "try" here. :-))

In case someone missed me and wants to know what I've been up to, here's a brief summary:
Last year in September one of my collegues went on maternity leave and I took over her responsibilities in addition to my own. Due to good fortune and hard work, the project I took over became really Big. (Yup, capital letter "Big".)
On the one hand, it was (and still is) absolutely great to be involved in a project like this. On the other hand, it also meant working over-time a lot. Even if I didn't stay longer, I just felt to worn out to actually update this journal. Surfing the net reading stories is one thing, but actually taking the time to write something... that takes a lot more energy and I just hadn't much left.
Oh well, work-life looks a bit more relaxed now or I've just improved my organizational skills. So hopefully I'll have more time for this sadly neglected journal.

And now to something completely different:
I've decided to start posting my views on slash pairings for which hardly any fanfiction exists - perhaps reading my mini-essays will inspire someone to take them up after all.
Today's topic inspired by

andromakhe 's comment in my LJ is the rare pairing Erik/Nadir.

The pairing is based on the book "Phantom" by Susan Kay and to a lesser extent on Gaston Leroux's "Phantom of the
Opera". The official pairings of these books are, of course, Raoul/Christine and Erik/Christine. So why am I routing for Erik/Nadir?

Before I go on, some background info for those who have no idea what I'm talking about (and are interested anyway).
Erik a.k.a. Phantom of the Opera has a strange bond to a Persian policeman. This man is in Gaston Leroux's version referred to as "the Persian" or by his professional title "daroga". Susan Kay based a novel on Leroux's book: Where Leroux only writes about Erik's final years and gives a brief summary of his life only in the epilogue, Kay gives us her version of Erik's entire life inspired by Leroux's epilogue. In her version, the Persian/the daroga receives the name Nadir. He also plays quite a significant part in her novel; one of the eight parts of the book is told from his point of view. Of course, Nadir also shows up in the later parts of the novel when Erik has become the Phantom of the Opera - this time we see him from Erik's point of view and later on from Raoul's POV.

Back to the question: Why Erik/Nadir opposed to the popular and obvious Erik/Christine?

When I first discovered the story of "Phantom of the Opera" in its various versions (books, musicals, films), I remember that I was all for Erik/Christine.
I think that most girls will go for that pairing: There's Christine, a young woman who's still quite childlike in many ways. There's the dangerous man of mystery with a beautiful voice who takes an interest in her - and desperately needs to be saved by her love.
Most young girls will identify with Christine - up to the point where she decides to go off with Raoul after all. At this point, they will say: "How could she! Erik needed her! We have to do something to make things right!!". And, behold, there will be fanfiction: Depending on the young girl it will either feature Christine returning to Erik after recognizing the error of her choice or Mary Sue will enter the stage (a talented American opera singer, a blind street girl, a limping ballet dancer, etc.) and Erik will understand that this woman is his true True Love.

Well, I think I've grown up since then. (When I recently watched the new movie "Phantom of the Opera" I found myself thinking that Christine was much better of with Raoul. He's so refreshingly normal. Yes, what I once called "boring", I now call "normal" and "emotionally stable"! Raoul also doesn't live in a souterrain flat.)

The problem I nowadays have with Erik/Christine is that it's not a very healthy relationship. As I've mentioned before many versions of POTO exist and each version portrays the relationship at least slightly differently:
Most versions agree, however, on the following:
- Christine is considerably younger than Erik. Not only this, she's also still behaving in a very childlike way. She's a dreamer who believes that her father sent her an angel to teach her the art of music.
- Erik takes advantage of Christine's naivete. Yes, he's in love with her and sees no other way on how to approach her than to pretend to be the Angel of Music. I remember finding that romantic when I was a girl, now I find it disturbing. (Oh yes, life has hardened me! :-))

As a result, their relationship is most of the time very imbalanced. At times, I even get the impression, that Erik uses Christine to have someone who is in awe of him while Christine uses Erik in order to stay young, helpless and impressionable. ("I can't have a will of my own when someone with such a beautiful voice talks to me, can I?")
I realize that this unhealthy dynamic shifts when Christine kissed Erik of her own free will. But even at this point, I can't see them together in a relationship of equals.

Now, my personal preference is a relationship between partners of equal strength and this is something reflected by my real life choices as well as by the (slash) pairings I support. (E.g. I'll always prefer Sparrow/Norrington to Sparrow/Will.)

In Susan Kay's "Phantom", I see Nadir as someone who can hold his own against Erik. In Kay's novel, there are only two people who can do that: one is the stone mason Giovanni, the other is Nadir.

Some examples:
- Most people are wary of getting to close to Erik or touching him. Nadir is different: He's wary all right, but he's not cowed. In one scene, Erik wants to leave without Nadir and Nadir just holds onto his sleeve.
- Nadir stands up to Erik several times: Erik steals, Nadir loudly disapproves. Erik gets involved in an assassination, Nadir visits him to confront him. And he does all of this, even though he knows Erik is dangerous.
- In Kay's version, Erik can influence people by using his voice. Nadir is the only one who can withstand this influence - he manages to resist Erik's voice on two occasions.

Kay's Nadir is my favorite character in her novel:
He's a polite and honest person who looks behind the surface of things. He has a strong will and can be quite stubborn. He definitely becomes Erik's moral compass, his conscience over the course of the novel. When he loves, he loves deeply. Behind his stern surface, he actually has a sense of humor.

Now, that's all well and good, but a pairing only works if the characters are attracted to one another.

Nadir's side:
- In the part of Kay's novel that's written from Nadir's point of view, we learn that he is attracted to women. He also never openly states that he's attracted to Erik. Thank heavens, there's subtext! :-) Here's one quote from Nadir about Erik:
"A powerful sexuality informed his every gesture. Curbed and leashed, expressed in the enormous sensuality of his hands, this sexuality gripped every audience and made him a uniquely compelling performer."
All in all, the reader gets the impression that Nadir is very aware of Erik and even might be attracted to him. Slash pairings have been based on weaker foundations in the past!
- Nadir rescues Erik's life twice. One time, he risks his own life and reputation to do so. People generally don't do this for someone they don't care for.
- Nadir sees the crimes Erik commits and still believes that he has the potential to be a good person. He retains this belief even when Erik has lost this belief in himself.
- Nadir's smart enough to keep up with Erik. He's also open-minded (even though he doesn't always admit that openly) and seems to enjoy to learn new things. In Susan Kay's novel, we're told that Erik taught Nadir French; later on, Raoul observes that Nadir's French is grammatically very good even though he has a strong accent. We're also told that Nadir likes to visit the opera regulary, because through Erik he came to appreciate classical music. In Persia, Erik builts a beautiful palace for the shah of Persia; Nadir is the only one apart from the supervisor of the building site who sees the building plans, because Erik shows them to him. I think that's not only a sign of trust, but also shows that Erik sees Nadir is someone who's interested in what he's doing and smart enough to understand it at least partially.

Erik's side:
It's a delight that Kay's novel contains a quote that suggests that Erik would not say no if Nadir would offer more than friendship.
The quote stems from the later part of the novel: Erik and Nadir have met again in Paris. Erik has already become the Opera Ghost, he hasn't yet met Christine, however. Due to his insecurity, he consults his tarot cards. He draws eath and The Lovers. (People ALWAYS do in novels and movies, so why should Kay's novel be different. :-)) Erik thinks about these cards and how they could be connected to Nadir:

"And so, even as I walked with Nadir, talked with him, rejoiced in the warmth of communicating directly once more with a human sould, there was a part of me that looked at him with wary suspicion and wondered what part fate assigned him in this new unrehearsed opera.
Not the lover, that was for certain. I'd seen enough girls leaving his apartments in Persia to be reassured that all his instincts were purely heterosexual.
Death, then...
Oh God, surely not his! I could think of no conceivable situation in which I would be prepared to do him harm--nothing in this world that would make me commit such an unthinkable horror."

It's rather telling that Erik doesn't state here: "Not the lover. I would never be interested in him this way." Instead he thinks that Nadir can never be interested in him.
Another point that intrigues me is the reason Erik gives to himself for Nadir not becoming his lover, i.e. Nadir being heterosexual. Considering Erik's deformed face, he could have made an allusion to this as well. It appears as if Erik trusts Nadir to look beyond his face. (In Kay's novel, Nadir sees Erik's face several times and only is shocked the first time.)
The reflection about the Death card in the quote additionally shows that Erik does care for Nadir deeply. Non-slashers can, of course, interpret this in an only friendship way -- but slashers should see beyond this interpretation. It's more fun!! :-)

Possible scenarios for Erik/Nadir:
- Erik nurses Nadir back to health when Nadir is suffering from an inflammation of the lungs. Later on, Nadir takes care of Erik when he's poisoned. - I think both scenes from the Kay novel could be used as a jumping board for stories, especially the second one.

- It would be possible to write a huge AU novel about Nadir leaving Persia together with Erik.
In Kay's novel, by the end of Erik's stay in Persia Nadir has no one left in Persia he really cares for plus we have seen that he has become disgusted by the rulers he is supposed to serve. So I never understood why Nadir stays in Persia at this point of the story when going away with Erik would be much less risky for him.
I'd love to see them traveling together. Erik would be able to show Nadir so many new things.
And what if Nadir were to meet Erik's mother...

- Another AU: In Kay's novel, Nadir is sent to prison for not preventing Erik's escape. What if Erik learned about this and tried to rescue his friend.

- And another AU: What if Erik didn't die when Christine went away, but instead Nadir could convince him to start living again. I could see these two going to live in a house on the countryside. The slash could follow when they are already living together. :-)

- Or: What if Erik and Nadir met one another during the building stage of the opera? I can easily see Nadir as a mediator between Erik and his workcrew. I also don't think Erik would go underground with Nadir present.

Conclusion:
I hope more people will write Erik/Nadir in the future. There are really a lot of scenarios one could explore.
I've been looking for fanfiction for this pairing for about 10 years now. About twice a year, I'll google for it. After years of finding nothing, I recently discovered an ongoing discussion about slash for POTO that mentioned Erik/Nadir.
I've also discovered one incomplete story.

The big problems for the success of the pairing are:
- POTO mostly appeals to a younger audience who will mostly enjoy Erik/Christine.
- The possibility of Erik/Nadir will rarely get noted as the Persian/daroga/Nadir doesn't appear in most versions of POTO. In Leroux's novel, he isn't all that outstanding. In the musical by Maurice Yeston the Persian's relationship to Erik is not very friendly -- and anyway, who knows this musical? Everyone knows Webber's (superior) version.
- So this leaves Susan Kay's novel. And her novel has apparently been out of print for several years. I've seen that it's possible to get it secondhand -- if one is willing to pay 75 $ for it.

Well, hope is the last thing to die. Which means I'll continue to google for Erik/Nadir on a half-yearly basis. :-)

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