Riveting story as always, Quiet2885! E/C forever! It was amazing how you turned the cold manipulator into a human being.

Having read most of your stories on , I admire your one-of-a-kind writing style. You don't clutter up your love scenes with graphic detail. Your love stories are breathtaking, yet gritty as real life. I like that you refer to Erik in the third person as "him" or "he", italicized. In this way you set Erik apart, acknowledge him as unique and extraordinary.

Thanks for the link in your profile to Biskuit's artwork. Her pictures of your Erik are so sweet (!) They are what I visualize now when I read your POTO stories. One more picture may be needed: Erik playing the violin and Christine singing outdoors at dusk or under the stars (from Amongst The Living). Would Biskuit be willing to create such a picture, I wonder?

Quiet2885, I hope you'll leave a note on your profile in the event you have something published. If all these reviews are any indication, your books should sell like hotcakes! :-) Please, never stop writing.

Brilliant. This story is perfection, and is hands down my favorite. Every chapter is strong and each character so lovingly well written. This story shows quite well the complexities within humankind and I have loved every word of it. A remarkable journey indeed. Thank you for writing this.

Amazing story!can't wait for your next one
o/

I ADORED it. I have greatly admired all your stories and this is right up there with the best of them. The characters, with their particular flaws and foibles, were realistically drawn. Christine's development in particular was simply spot on. I loved her ultimate insights into her own fragile state of mind and wisdom in not immediately seeking a forever commitment from Eric, albeit while hiding his hat.
In the fervent hope that there is more where this came from-and soon-I remain sincerely a big fan.

I so love your PotO taless. They are the epitome of my ideal story: rocky roads for both Erik and Christine to travel before reaching a happy (for the most part ;D) E/C conclusion, and this one is no exception. I love the glimpses into Erik's life, and was quite glad (and surprised) that he was NOT the one to end Raoul's suffering, his relationship with Nadir, and how you portrayed the personalities of the various characters. And Erik's marriage proposal. LOL! How "romantic." XD

I do hope that Christine's musical career was eventually successful enough for Erik to make good on his promise to give a million dollars to Mrs. Giry.

;D

Sorry to not only have taken so long to review this (I'm very behind on my reading, as you can tell), but also only leaving one to cover the last several chapters. You can thank sheer laziness for the latter. It make take a while to get to get to them (especially since my reading always seem to be about a month behind what's being posted), but I will never abandon a PotO story of yours.

Thank you SO much for sharing this. I really, REALLY (:D) look forward to your future endeavors.

Barb

Incredible story I'm sorry I didn't read it sooner.

I had to wait until this was completed to read because you are so, so good at angst that I think going chapter by chapter would've killed me.

Anyway, as usual, this story is outstanding. I love your take on Erik's character in this story, so very different than others. He's got a sense of humor that even non-sociopaths can appreciate.

I also like the way that both Erik and Christine are pretty screwed up in this story. Christine calls Erik "ugly", which is pretty below the belt... until you consider all the nasty things he's called (or said to) her. They know each others "hot buttons" and in moments of extreme weakness, they're not too noble to go there. This is weird... but I guess I think it equalizes them. Usually Erik is the mentally unstable one but also the one with all the control in the relationship (he can push her away if he so desires but she couldn't just walk out according to her own wishes). Christine is left to... basically just manage him and keep the peace. But here... they're both broken and needy and insecure. They fight. They both push and pull at each other. And yet somehow, at the end of the day, they make it back to each other. That's so very perfect.

I think the best, yet most painful, thing about this story was that there was no clear villain. Just a bunch of people with their own agendas. You want to hate Theresa... but in the end she's just another broken person, using others to make herself feel better. No different than the rest. It was depressing yet sort of poetic.

I also thought the part about Christine hiding Erik's hat was pretty endearing. When my little sister was about four, she had this irrational fear that my grandma (when she came to visit) would leave at night without saying goodbye. So she would get into her suitcase and steal all her underclothes and hide them under her bed, figuring (and rightfully so) that grandma wouldn't leave the house without them. It was cute and bizarre and it was the very first memory that popped into my mind when I read that section.

You're so talented. I love reading everything you ever put out there. Thanks for sharing this.

-g-

Beautiful. I never really thought it would end like that, but it was so, so perfect. Thank you for this gem, and I honestly would love to read more from you! Please continue when you can!

I remain your faithful reader,
StakeMeSpike04

What a perfect ending for two incredibly imperfect people!

I appreciate how much realism you bring to your story and your characters. You have never tried to feed us a spoonful of happily-ever-after, but have always kept in mind the twisted realities of your Eriks and sometime (especially in this instance) your Christines. You do a wonderful job of showing just how fragile and unstable Christine’s mind is in the first section of this chapter. Anxiety, paranoia, irrationality... even cruelty is all there. What a clever scenario to have Christine so worked up over Erik’s need to leave her for a short time that she insults him by actually calling him ugly! *Shock* *Gasp* *The Horror!* You just don’t see that in many Phan fictions! Yet, still with every instance of crazy, it seems that these two just keep getting closer and learning how to deal with the quirks of each others’ personalities. I like that Erik is just crazy enough to help understand Christine’s mental health issues. It’s true… no one else is going to put up with either of them!

While not the most romantic of marriage proposals, I think it was perfect for Nacho!Erik and this Christine. Reminding her that he could care less about her inability to clean house as long as she sang and was faithful to him was very sweet in its own way. It was also a nice way to work in Leroux’s “plain gold band” and help Erik keep what sanity he had left. It’s lovely to think of the two of them travelling, enjoying their romance, and finding solace in each other… just as both dreamed all along… even when Raoul was in the way. They both seem as happy as these two can be… though, I don’t blame Erik for being worried when Christine hangs out on balconies... that girl is kinda nuts!

I also respect the way you used the ghosts of Christine’s father and her dead husband in this chapter. You keep them always in the background, yet unthreatening. They dance at the edges of Christine’s vision just enough to make her fear her past and need the present she’s living. And Erik giving them a stern talking-to just proved that maybe these two really are made for each other.

And in the end, there is no need for anyone to be a martyr, because we all simply do our best! Thank you again for giving us an excellent tale to enjoy and a very intriguing Erik to add to our collection!

-Jax

This was a great story. I am very glad I found it...it has absolutely eaten up my entire day :D The characters were great and your writing style reminds me a lot of another fanfic author I have read a lot of (she used to take up my days off too). I cannot wait to read something else of yours. It was great to see the characters in an AU as I often don't read them...but I thoroughly enjoyed it. :D

I like the Nurse Ratchet bit. Very good writing skills you have.

Sorry to see this end. I am glad they got married and are happy. Looking forward to your next story.

After all the angst. After all the pain. After all the emotional upheaveals. It seems to come down to one simple thing:
That we simply do our best.
Two very dysfunctional people come together and find that they belong to one another.

In the end it surprised me how very messed up Christine was. For his part, Erik became the voice of sanity that kept her tethered to being rational. Ironic. Perhaps Christine was always needing an anchor and couldn't function without one in her life.

The story in its entirety was compelling and like a pesky pnat. It rubbed in ways that left my mind unsettled. I would look for meanings where perhaps there weren't any to be found. As a completed effort, the story becomes what cannot be seen until the reader sees the final sentence; human weakness, heartbreak, struggle, and finally a valor that supercedes the dismal failure of some of the characters who valued status above human suffering. Nobody but Erik recognized Christine's fragility - not even Raoul saw who his wife really was. In the end Christine is able to triumph - even in a small way - because Erik's strength brought her out of the squalor that her mind was mired in after Raoul's accident.

This was wonderfully told and caps what is a fine body of POTO storytelling. I've enjoyed each story that the Quiet2885 has rendered from her fantastically creative mind. Her POTO stories are darkly-consistent and she has never wavered in her vision of an AU Erik and Christine. She has never given us fluff but hard-hitting emotional drama and thought provoking angst. It's all about quality in her stories.

Thank you Quiet-One.

Sigh..fin. A wonderful, sad, emotional and satisfying story-thank you for finishing it and for Erik and Christine's "best"!

Hey, I'm enjoying the HECK outta this story, just like I figured I would considering its author! I was so glad to see a new story from you (I hadn't been checking for new stories much until the past month or so). :-) This is definitely going on my favorites list!

I favorited "When All is Lost" a long time ago, and it still remains one of my all-time favorite E/C stories.

Especially amazing for me is the fact that it's modern-day when I usually prefer the standard late 19th-century time setting - but then your writing is amazing, tool I just love how you're able to take our favorite characters, put them in modern times, but still keep them true to character!

Plus it should go without saying how excellent your technical writing skills are, both grammatically and creatively - but it won't go without saying, so there. ;-)

Anyway, just wanted to give you my kudos and my thanks! Please keep up the good work and I'm off to see where BOTH of our poor, self-inflicted 'Martyrs' go from here!

Hugs,
Missy