I adore Erik with a passion bordering on rabid. But the nature of the two pairings is that they are foils to each other. ErikxChristine wouldn't seem so obsessive, nor RaoulxChristine so sweet without the other. I might ship ExC, but RxC is just so much more canon. Though, my respect for the pairing might come from years and years in other fandoms like Yami no Matsuei or Final Fantasy where the cuter, more canon pairings are backed by the rabid fans, and us fans of darker pairings are the vast minority. (Poto was such a culture shock in that way! xD I've always shipped the darker, more obsessive, love/hate pairings.)

RaoulxChristine is cute. It is cute like little lop-eared bunnies are cute. I do think of Raoul as being something of an annoying prettyboy, but he's innocent and well-meaning for the most part. One thing often neglected to be mentioned (by both sides), however, is Raoul's obsession with Erik in the end. I personally refer to it as the scene where you can see testosterone corroding his braincells, aka the cat-shooting scene of the book, or Notes II/We Have All Been Blind in the musical. He does have balls, one must admit. Though I still persist in considering him to be a fop. Not in a bad way, just... a foppish way. ^^;;

Christine's leading them on... I think it's because she's so confused. I think she doesn't understand her own feelings. A lot of girls nowadays do the same.