The thing about discovering the truth is that it brings him down to the level of that world completely - he is given a specific identity and his character is solid, strange and unpredictable as it may be. One effect I have striven for and would like to be one of the most powerful is that she is representative of us without that man. She experiences him, maybe in a few ways we never can, but never truly understands him. He can come out from that darkness and just as easily return, and it makes every darkness have that possibility. This is definitely a story, kind of like a ghost story, where I want people to be haunted by possibility, aware of the dark, looking over their shoulder, as Lily was as a kid. By not grounding him, we can find him in so many places in our own lives.

I think one of the best things, in life and fiction, is mystery. It's practically the only form of magic we actually have, and I think it's why I enjoy writing and reading Phantom stories. I don't ever want to let go of that, because I think some experiences would keep their magic, and a message can still be very evident.

When I imagine him, I see it all in his eyes. They pretty much never stop looking scary, and if he chooses to stare at you, it does often feel like he's tunneling inside, for something. It's true with certain kinds of phantoms, it'd be very foolish to rely on their words. They may respond every time you ask them a question and make sure they're not actually lying, but that doesn't mean they've told the truth either...

Once they were in the restaurant, I did realize it was a little like Charles' picnic, without them being... surrounded in stuffed birds of course. When she asks him to and he takes off his mask, I kind of liken the outcome to the possibilities of my Erik being completely honest about who he is... It's too much of a risk if he wants to keep her. He would like the relationship without the exposure but everyone wants to unmask him literally and figuratively... Phantoms are powerful, intelligent, wonderful... but they all come out from the darkness to try taking Christine and end up face-to-face with the rest of the world. World vs. one man... :< Not a very fair match.

I do think both of them are sort of in character-purgatory.

It's not that Lily doesn't have some physical/sexual desires, it's just a couple of reasons... One is that she has a long denial stage. She has never been vulnerable to anyone before, let alone someone that plays ping-pong with her feelings so often. Reason two is just that she and I are extremely inhibited. When I write the scenes I see him looming over me with his black eyes, and I'm shorter than Lily!, so it's like... I know him and I want to touch him a little but it's... scary for some reason. I'd rather he initiated it.