#both valvert shippers... | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

lonelyroommp3 · 2 months ago

Note

i do want you to elaborate on eposette and how you would write the exr dynamic if you had to

omg okay i've been sitting on this ask for days trying to muster up the urge to be a cunt. my big issue with eposette is that it always has a bit of an "eat your vegetables" vibe to me - not necessarily in the ship itself, because i think it has good and interesting bones as a dynamic even though i personally am not interested in it at all as a shipper - but certainly in how people approach it. i'm always left with the overwhelming impression that because the les mis fandom is soooo heavily focused on men people become self aware about this - which is a good thing - and then rapidly overcompensate by fixating on a female character (e.g. musichetta got a load of this in 2014) or a femslash ship (this is always eposette, because they are the only two female characters the fandom can, for $1, name who isn't already breaking boundaries for feminism by being in - checks notes - a throuple with two guys).

and then the ship is frequently not done especially well because, yknow, fanonbrain knows no gender and just because you're progressive enough to include women in your fanworks doesn't mean you're immune to ooc writing, reducing them to stereotypes, or making them the hypercompetent foils to the men who it's really abundantly clear are still your main focus. BUT there's now the added side effect that caring about this ship becomes fandom shorthand for "caring about women, full stop" and DISLIKING this ship for any reason practically makes you a violent misogynist. i was seeing so fucking much of this in the shipping showdown - like "oh they've got to win because they're lesbians", "misogyny website" when they were getting beaten by an m/m ship, etc. and it was so tiring

however, i will say to the credit of the shippers that introducing the stealing mechanism within the tournament did lead to some fanworks that made me think oh thank god, there ARE some clever and talented people out there who actually care about this ship because they like these two characters and have put genuine thought and care into portraying their relationship, and as much as i'm personally pressed about eposette stealing the quarter finals from valvert i am also extremely relieved and mildly humbled in my bitchiness that they eventually made it to the final on genuine fannish merit and not from people just clicking the lesbian button for the sake of it, because i really thought that was what was going to happen lol

anyway onto e/r and what i personally would prefer to read, i just want stuff that actually reflects their canon relationship. like i think especially in modern aus, where everything becomes a bit more grounded and relatable, the quasi-religious nature of grantaire's devotion gets easily downplayed into "he just has a really big crush" and to me that's boring. i also want to see more fanworks really leaning into the stakes of the whole thing - "they died holding hands" is an e/r mantra so frequently repeated that i think it's almost lost its meaning because oh my god sometimes i'll read the book or watch an adaptation and go hey what the fuck. they literally DIED HOLDING HANDS. and again for me i feel like very few modern au fics in particular reach that level of catharsis when they finally get together. in all honesty i am not a fan of fics where enjolras is actively pining for grantaire in return except in VERY specific circumstances that i will go into shortly, i just really really really love that of;pd gets to be The moment where they finally share a moment of mutual respect and love and it literally only lasts about 30 seconds start to finish because then they both DIE. that's ROMANCE and it's that level of tragedy that makes the ship so compelling to me and which i feel like very few fanworks successfully replicate. and whatever i guess a lot of people saw that death scene and thought "god i wish i could exist in a world where they just fell in love normally and were happy" and fair play to them but it doesn't interest me in the slightest

(back when i was like 15 i had this massive sweeping concept for a reincarnation AU fic that was mainly centred around enjoltaire and a big part of the overarching conflict was like. on the one hand you have an enjolras who has not only suddenly remembered this absolutely horrific trauma he went through, but he's also suddenly developed this enormous new level of respect - and, frankly, love, although how quickly he identifies that feeling for what it is is up in the air - for grantaire that he would never ever have thought possible in his past life. but on the other hand grantaire, because one dying moment of heroism is not quite enough to rewire years of unhealthy practices, largely copes with his trauma by falling back into his old patterns of drinking and being a dick PLUS there's this weirdness with the enjolras dynamic because this new, traumatised enjolras isn't the beacon of idealism and hope grantaire pinned himself to in the past. and i think to answer your question if i had to write an e/r fic THAT would probably still be the approach i was drawn to)

17 notes · View notes

lenievi · 9 months ago

Text

something I've been thinking about for a while in regards to Valjean/Javert as a ship

Often, when you have a ship, the dynamic is pretty clear, but with Valjean/Javert, because of different "eras" they interact in, that dynamic actually changes and you have several of them and they can be very different from each other

the most popular one is obviously the post-Seine one - it's soft and healing and domestic. It's very much fanon based because it's a fix-it, and when you ask a valvert shipper why they ship them, you often get a variation of "soft old men learning to love"

then you have valvert in Toulon - which is also very much made up fanon, because there's nothing in the book. You can have a younger man x older man dynamic where the younger man has more power. You can have Valjean who resents the world and is angry and reacts based on his instinct. Valjean in his 30s is a very different man from Valjean at 60. When you base it on the musical, you can have Javert at 35 be in Toulon. And the late years in Toulon again brings forward a different valvert dynamic very different from the "soft old men".

If the Toulon dynamic is full of messed up things, non-con, torture, violence that is all very much compatible with valvert as a ship. The age gap can also play a bigger role in this early Toulon period. In later periods, it literally doesn't matter.

Another period is the Montreuil-sur-Mer period when Valjean is called Madeleine and is the mayor of the town. Valvert in this period is about pretending, about being someone you are not. Both Madeleine and Javert have to pretend, both need to choose their words carefully. In the book, Javert knows there's something wrong with the mayor, he is almost certain that he is "Jean Valjean", but as long as he doesn't have any proof, he needs to be respectful because that man is the mayor, is the authority. This period is good for cat and mouse chase, even though it's rarely written like that. The characters, if we stayed as close to canon as possible, would not be sincere when interacting with each other. And this type of valvert dynamic is extremely compelling and working out how the two could work during this era, what would it take for Javert to change and derail, how would Valjean react can be a lot of fun. But it's still very very different from the post-Seine dynamic. Because Valjean is still a different character (he changes after he meets Cosette).

The issue with M-s-M is that a lot of people base it on "When Jean can become Champ" chapter, but that is not how Javert would normally act with Madeleine (since he pretty much avoided him after Madeleine became the mayor lol). That's him making serious amends and making explanations because he believes he's failed, that he's been so wrong for almost five years.

The Fauchelevent's cart scene is better. That's how Javert wanted to act, but the moment Madeleine became the mayor (he wasn't the mayor when the cart incident happened), Javert could not because that would be insubordinate.

The M-s-M dynamic is honestly so interesting.

And now, we have a short instance of usually unexplored period for valvert. It's the time between Arras and Valjean's arrest (which can be prolonged to the chase in Paris a year later). This Javert is vindictive, mean, cruel. He's drunk on "Valjean is here and he is in my grasp" (literally; he grasps Valjean's collar). He refuses to listen, he's driven by his blind righteousness that only wants to arrest Valjean and doesn't care about anybody else. If one should write a post Arras valvert, it would take even more work to make Javert change than during the M-s-M era proper, because Javert is the fierce archangel that won't be satisfied until he can see Valjean behind the bars. Valjean, stripped of his title, is suddenly the one who doesn't have any power (and you can play around with that in fanfics and create interesting things).

One can prefer a version of valvert over others, but it's so weird to pretend that there is only "one true valvert" when the dynamics are very complex and change as the years go by.

#valvert

31 notes · View notes

gavroche-le-moineau · 2 years ago

Text

Translation notes for LM 5.1.19: Jean Valjean Takes His Revenge

First, I just wanted to highlight two skipped sentences in the Hapgood translation, at the point where we see Éponine. The section in French reads:

“Quand ils eurent enjambé ce barrage, ils se trouvèrent seuls dans la ruelle. Personne ne les voyait plus. Le coude des maisons les cachait aux insurgés. Les cadavres retirés de la barricade faisaient un monceau terrible à quelques pas. On distinguait dans le tas des morts une face livide,...”

The sentences in bold are omitted from the Hapgood translation:

“When they had crossed this barrier, they found themselves alone in the lane. No one saw them. [missing sentences] Among the heap they could distinguish a livid face,...”

With the missing sentences it would read something like:

"When they had crossed this barrier, they found themselves alone in the lane. No one could see them anymore. The bend in the houses hid them from the insurgents. The dead bodies pulled away from the barricade made a terrible heap a few feet away. Among the pile, a pale face could be distinguished..."

Second, I wanted to talk about the famous line, “You annoy me. Kill me, rather.” / “Vous m’ennuyez. Tuez-moi plutôt.”

As a non-native French speaker, the verb "ennuyer" has always given me a bit of trouble in interpretation due to its wide range of translations into English. I would love any input from someone who has a more intuitive grasp of French about what they feel this word expresses in different contexts!

The verb comes from "ennui," a feeling of weariness or dissatisfaction. In French to English dictionaries, you will commonly see the translation as both "to bore" and "to annoy" (along with verbs like "to bother, concern, trouble, worry"). A fun fact for any valvert shippers out there is that in Hugo's time it was also used to mean "to feel nostalgia for" or "to feel annoyed by the absence of something" though it should definitely be noted that the construction of the phrase would have to be different for it to have this meaning (Je m'ennuie de vous). Nevertheless, these are all sentiments that float around the context of this particular word, making it, for me anyway, somewhat difficult to translate.

#les mis letters #lm 5.1.19 #les mis language #jean valjean #javert #mytranslation #translation #french

43 notes · View notes

lesmiserables-confessions · 2 months ago

Note

all the enjoltaire and valvert shippers having arguments over which ship is better… they’re both wrong. the best and only ship that matters is M. Thenardier/Mme. Thenardier. 🔥

#les mis confessions #ships

5 notes · View notes

ferociousconscience · 2 years ago

Note

Hi! Hope its ok to ask, and sorry if its already been answered before: Do you have fav Les Mis adaption? Or a few?

Thank you for asking me!! I've not watched all of them, considering how many there are floating around out there and how many are sadly lost, but. I have spent this year hunting down and watching every adaptation I could. A special thanks to @ueinra for a lot of help in that regard. I recently made a Letterboxd account and a List just for Les Mis. I've plans to go through and review them properly, (Currently I only have Shoujo Cosette reviewed!) but I'd be happy to try to coalesce my thoughts on my absolute favorite for you, that being the four-part silent* Les Miserables (1925) under this read-more! Hiyah!

It's... Hard to grasp my feelings on LM1925, considering how special it is to me. These films really made me love the idea of cinema again. I had never seen a silent movie before, and frankly I thought they were one of those things that were a bit out of reach for me, but wow I am so so happy I watched LM1925. Not only is it a fantastic adaptation of LM, it's also just a fantastic set of movies (miniseries??) in general. The casting, the acting, the sets, the locations, the attention to detail, the quality of the visuals (which often are just frankly stunningly beautiful), the pacing, the atmosphere. Everything just works and is faithful to the feeling of reading the novel. (I will say I watched it without the accompany music at first, but have since gone back and listened to it overtop on a rewatch, and wow what a cool oddity it is. The Sims 1 soundtrack but with a surreal and often nightmarish twist.) I adore Gabriel Gabrio as Valjean. He really captures the idea that Valjean can both be noble, kind, and fearsome all in one. And Jean Toulout as scrunkly and lively Javert...!! I truly love him. I think them and Sandra Milovanoff as Fantine (less so as her playing Cosette, too, wish they would have cast another person) give absolutely amazing performances. This is also a great adaptation for the Gorbeau part of the book, ESPECIALLY Suzanne Nivette as Eponine, wow! What an Eponine! Probably my favorite Eponine. Same with Thenardier, both the Eponine and Thenardier in this one are tied with LM1972 for me. I also just like the... what I'll call "Theater Acting" performances I've seen in this and in the other early films I've watched since. The thick makeup. The funny expressions. The dramatic poses. All this would be considered overacting in the modern day, but to me it just feels alive. It reminds me of a lot of animations, I suppose, and that delights me. I also love love love that they didn't attempt to make big changes to the material at hand (Hell, they even touch on Waterloo in a way I thought was cool!). LM1925 and Shoujo Cosette made me realise that the longer a Les Mis adaptation is, typically the better it is to me. (with. One exception off the top of my head...) I think by the time I had watched all the other adaptations of both the novel and the musical, I had grown fatigued over the different ways films would try to condense things into 2 hours, and leave a lot on the cutting room floor (even if that usually means they focus more on the J vs JVJ aspect that I always have a weakness for), or when they try to cram everything into said 2 hours and turns it into a pacing nightmare. LM1925 avoids all that!

I feel I'm rambling on, so I'll rapid fire some stuff off. I love that they filmed in the actual msurm. I love that they kept things really grungy when the film calls for it. I love the scenes of the barricade, especially the scenes with the national guards spilling in. I love the subtle changes to the valvert side of things, it's truly one of the better adaptations for the shippers. I need to get on making some gifsets. If you love Les Mis, or just film in general, I think you owe it to yourself to watch LM1925. It's free! It's on the Internet Archive! There are download buttons or you can stream it! Please do! And tell me your thoughts on it!

#fc consternation tag #thank you againnnnnn!!

11 notes · View notes

jedijolras · 3 years ago

Text

the highlight of me seeing les mis west end with my sister and my mum is that they’re both huge valvert shippers despite having extremely different approaches and experiences with the material

#united for and with gay people #can i tag this as #valvert ?

3 notes · View notes

meta-squash · 4 years ago

Text

Brick Club 1.8.3 “Javert Satisfied”

I know this is technically a “good thing” since otherwise Valjean’s testimony would be for nought, but everyone except the prosecuting attorney agrees that Valjean is the real Valjean. I guess some part of me would expect for everyone to still think that Madeleine had gone crazy, or to somehow still be affected by the respect and veneration for Madeleine as mayor. But that’s not the case, and pretty much everyone believes that Madeleine really is Valjean.

Quick note that the lawyers also try to pull in all sorts of nitpicky bullshit to try and get Champmathieu indicted anyway, which courts still do today.

“This sentence, containing a great many ‘of’s, is the prosecuting attorney’s, written by his own hand, on the minutes of his report to the attorney general.” Maybe I’m wrong, but I feel like the comment on all the “of’s” goes hand in hand with the earlier critique of the provincial language of the courts.

“...although the judge was a kind man and quite intelligent, he was at the same time a strong, almost zealous royalist, and had been shocked when the mayor of Montreuil-sur-Mer, in speaking of the landing at Cannes, had said “the Emperor” instead of “Buonaparte.” A supposedly impartial person whose impartiality is a requirement for him to do his job well, actually be affected by his personal opinions and biases. I mean, that hasn’t changed in 150 years, that’s for sure. *cough Amy Coney Barrett cough* But it’s such a tiny little thing. Would the order of arrest be granted so quickly if the judge hadn’t caught that little honorific slip-up? It’s also just an example of the kind of knife-edge that things like someone’s life sits upon when in the hands of the courts. This is probably not the first case where a tiny, unrelated detail like that weighted the balance between life and death or freedom and prison for someone in this court.

Okay I don’t know anything about couriers and letter-sending and doing things quickly. If this is an official letter sent by courier, would that be one person riding horseback, without a carriage? Surely that would be faster than a horse pulling a vehicle? Especially since the deliberation went on for a little while after Valjean left the courthouse, and then the judge went in with the prosecutor, and then the letter was written and sent, but it got to Javert in M-sur-M soon enough that Valjean only had time to send his letter to Lafitte and briefly see Fantine. I’m just trying to figure out the timing of all of this.

“The buckle of his leather collar, instead of being at the back of his neck, was under his left ear. This denoted extraordinary agitation...For his collar buckle to be awry, he must have just had one of those shocks that could be called inner earthquakes.” I know the descriptions of Javert a few paragraphs later as being overjoyed means that this “agitation” is most likely shocked excitement, but I don’t know, something about this description is so weird to me. It’s the “inner earthquake” line, I think. That feels a lot more “negative” than excitement. Javert’s entire world has been shaken by this information. Perhaps it’s because this is so big. Really, it gets treated with such flippancy within the narrative, but a respected, well-known, charitable member of society in a mayoral position ends up being a wanted convict, and Javert was not only right about it, but right about it twice. That’s big for Javert himself, but it’s also big in general because it’s probably the first time Javert has ever uncovered something like this and been right about it and then told he was wrong and then proven right again. Plus the fact that he was hiding his convict identity the whole time while being a high-ranking, well-loved, leader of the community. Like, a “criminal” government official isn’t just corrupt in the usual way, he was fully a convict the whole time with a hidden identity and everything. It must be mind-blowing for him. And it’s interesting, Valjean is the only one who’s able to deliver multiple earthquake-status blows to Javert’s world throughout the book. (Valvert shippers, I’m starting to understand your perspective a lot more in this read-through than my last two.)

“...Javert turned the knob, pushed the door open as gently as a nurse or a police spy...” What an odd comparison to make. Nurse or police spy? Those are two incredibly disparate professions with totally disparate morals. Nurse implies a calm gentleness, a gentleness that is maybe nurturing or healing or at least positive in some sense. Police spy implies a much more cautious gentleness, one whose purpose is sneaky and definitely not positive towards those behind the door. How is Javert both a nurse and a spy? Unless he’s Harold Shipman, I’m not sure what to make of the connection to the nursing profession.

“Properly speaking, he did not enter. He remained standing in the half-open doorway, his hat on his head, his left hand in his overcoat, which was buttoned to his chin. In the bend of his elbow could be seen the leaden head of his enormous cane, which disappeared behind him.” Okay So this paragraph in context with the chapters before and after it are really interesting. He doesn’t enter the room at first, just stands in the doorway. He only enters the room after both Fantine and Valjean have noticed him. I’m sure there’s a good horror movie example out there, but it’s like he’s not allowed to enter until he’s noticed. Like he’s not allowed to exist for others until they see him. Does that even make sense?

“There is no human feeling that can ever be so appalling as joy. It was the face of the devil who has just regained his victim.” Man, I like the Hapgood translation of that second sentence so much better: “It was the visage of a demon who has just found his damned soul.” Like, it’s not Javert who has singularly persecuted Valjean (I mean it is, but not really), Valjean isn’t Javert’s victim. Valjean is persecuted by society, Javert is just there to collect someone already marked. He’s not the only one doing the marking. So I like the symbolism of a demon collecting a damned soul.

“Javert’s satisfaction radiated from his commanding attitude. The deformity of triumph spread across his narrow forehead. It was the full quotient of horror that only a gratified face can display.” I love this chapter for its bizarre contrast of ugliness and grandeur. Everything Javert does in this chapter is this gross, twisted version of divine justice. His joy, which should be a beautiful and pure emotion, is perverted by its circumstance. And the description of how scary a satisfied face can be is so good because it’s so viscerally descriptive. You see that exact face on every video of a cop being a racist, condescending, sanctimonious, power-hungry cunt to people on the street. That face of “I’m better than you and I have power over you and there’s nothing you can do about it so ha ha I win.” It’s more evil than antagonists who know they’re evil because Javert fully thinks that his actions and thoughts are right. And Hugo points it out here. Triumph and glee for the wrong reasons doesn’t make a person beautiful, it deforms them.

I actually love the description of how joyful Javert is because it’s clear that this is personal for him. When he arrested Fantine and sat down at his desk to write out her sentence as a one man judge-jury-executioner, he wasn’t gleeful like this. He wasn’t sad about it, he just was. He was doing a duty and Hugo even says that he was very thoughtful about it and spent time cataloguing what he saw in order to decide what to do. This isn’t the same type of detached judgement and condemnation. This is fully personal glee at being able to be vindicated.

“At that moment Javert was in heaven. Without a clear notion of his own feelings, yet with a confused intuition of his need and his success, he, Javert, personified justice, light, and truth, in their celestial function as destroyers of evil. He was surrounded and supported by infinite depths of authority, reason, precedent, legal conscience, the vengeance of the law, all the stars in the firmament; he protected order, he hurled forth the thunder of the law, he avenged society, he lent aid to the absolute; he stood erect in a halo of glory; there was in his victory a trace of defiance and combat; standing haughty and resplendent, he displayed in full glory the superhuman beastiality of a ferocious archangel; the fearful shadow of the deed he was accomplishing, making visible in his clenched fist the uncertain flashes of the social sword; happy and indignant, he had gnashed his heel on crime, vice, rebellion, perdition, and hell, he was radiant, exterminating, smiling; there was an incontestable grandeur in this monstrous St. Michael.”

I have multiple things to say about this passage so I think I’m going to break it all down into different paragraphs because there’s A Lot of different things in my brain.

First of all this is an echo--this time righteous and vindicated--of Javert’s feelings from 1.5.13. Madeleine lets Fantine go and Javert has this thought: “Or, in view of the enormities he had witnessed over the last two hours, was he saying to himself that he had to resort to extreme measures, that the lesser had to make itself greater, for the detective to turn into a magistrates, the policeman become a judge, and that in this shocking turnabout, order, law, morality, government, society itself, were personified in him, Javert?” In 1.5.13, Madeleine’s authority overruled him, protected Fantine and humiliated Javert. In 1.5.13, he is forced to accept defeat. Now, he has all of the authority, all of law and reason and justice behind him because Madeleine no longer has that same power. Javert is again the personification of justice, law, society itself, but there is not Divine Authority to stand up for Valjean as there was for Fantine. Javert is vindicated here for his earlier humiliation, with all levels authority backing him up this time.

“Without a clear notion of his own feelings, yet with a confused intuition of his need and his success, he, Javert, personified justice, light, and truth, in their celestial function as destroyers of evil.” Okay hold on wait. In 1.5.13, Javert has a moment of nearly breaking the fourth wall, nearly deciding that he needs to become a Symbol in order to restore the balance of authority and justice that he feels Madeleine has knocked askew. He is very much aware of his potential to personify Law and Justice etc. But here Hugo says that he does all of this with “confused intuition” and without a clear idea of how he feels. Interesting that when he is conscious of being able to become a symbol, he is prevented from doing so, but when he actually becomes a symbol, he’s unaware of it. Also, here’s another moment of Javert clearly Feeling Something but not fully understanding it, again a thing that only Valjean seems to provoke in him. (Oop more Valvert fodder.)

I don’t really know what to make of the superiority complex that Hugo describes here. Obviously Javert thinks that he is righteous and that he is doing a Great And Grand thing and that he is avenging society by ridding it of the scourge of the evil deceiver convict Jean Valjean. But the way Javert’s righteousness is describes feels like almost more of a “nanny-nanny-boo-boo” feeling. Is your righteousness truly righteous if you’re feeling personal satisfaction and personal superiority about it?

Javert is literally the Angel Of Death here! I know in my last post I talked about Javert as the grim reaper entering the room. His comparison to St Michael confirms this. Michael is a seraph, which are winged celestial beings with a fiery passion for doing God's good work (which is interesting to me considering how much Valjean’s symbolism is associated with fire). In Roman Catholicism Michael is the Angel Of Death who descends and gives the person the chance to redeem themselves before dying. He is also the one who will weigh people’s merits on Judgement Day. Except! Javert is Michael without mercy or patience! He judges without allowing a chance for redemption. We saw this in 1.5.13 when he sat down and wrote out Fantine’s sentence while she simultaneously explained her situation and begged for mercy. We see it now. Javert as St Michael is “monstrous,” he is the St Michael that defeated Satan, not the healing protector Michael. We even have the sword imagery. Michael used the sword to best Satan in battle; except this time the sword is “social” and to Javert at this moment, Valjean is the personification of Crime-As-Satan.

(Side note: something I love about Javert is that he as a human being isn’t really portrayed as an avidly religious person, at least not in the ways that Valjean or the bishop are portrayed as religious people. But his symbolism sure is religious. I think that’s one of the drastic differences between book Javert and stage Javert. Stage Javert is portrayed as a religious person but his symbolism is more human.)

“Probity, sincerity, candor, conviction, the idea of duty, are things that, when in error, can turn hideous, but--even though hideous--remain great: their majesty, peculiar to the human conscience, persists in horror. They are virtues with a single vice--error.” Hugo’s thought about duty done in error is so interesting. He says something similar when talking about Problem of the monastery: “To mistake a grave error for a duty has a grandeur of its own.” For Hugo, the fact of having such strong conviction alone is a grand thing. Having conviction, having a sense of duty is always a good thing--the error is not in the sense of duty itself but in what that allegiance might be to. The virtues of duty or honesty or conviction are by themselves inherently good, but they can be misused and misinterpreted and made wrong.

(Side note: This is actually a really interesting thought re: Grantaire! Hugo holds not just having beliefs but having faith in and conviction about your beliefs in such high regard. Which makes Grantaire, who is conviction-less and faithless, in the midst of all these people who are so loyal and committed to their beliefs and ideals, not a mild contrast but a massive one.)

“Without suspecting it, Javert, in his dreadful happiness, was pitiful, like every ignorant man in triumph. Nothing could be more poignant and terrible than this face, which revealed what might be called the evil of good.” God I love this line. “The evil of good” is a concept that really, really, really needs to be common usage. I feel like this line specifically really needs some in depth analysis but also I don’t really know what to say about it except that it’s just so true. Regarding Javert being “pitiful” in his happiness, this kind of reminds me of Mme Victurnien? Both think they’re doing a “good thing” and their deeds ruin lives; their triumph and feelings of righteousness are pitiful for this reason. Again, it’s the equivalent of a “ha ha I win” bully moment, but with much worse consequences. Man, I feel like this chunk needs more analysis than this but I don’t know what to give it.

#les miserables #les miserables meta #brickclub #lm 1.8.3 #les mis #les mis meta

11 notes · View notes

morethanonepage · 4 years ago

Note

everything divisible by 3

3. What do you think makes your writing stand out from other works?

hmmm i’m not sure what stands out most for other people but when i read my own fic, the thing i find most genuinely funny is when i slip and throw in some vocab or sentence construction that’s obviously from ~my day job. my absolute favorite example of this is from a sex scene:

(a million years ago, in college, i took a lit class that was like, literature for STEM majors or w/e, looking at books from a more scientific perspective, and we read dr jekyll and mr. hyde and did a whole thing about how Robert Louis Stevenson had studied engineering so a lot of his work has elements of like -- the conservation of matter & the forces required to do something, etc, etc. so i’ve always been a little charmed by the idea that as a ~writer~ certain other aspects of my background show up sometimes, entirely by accident.)

6. What element of writing do you find comes easily?

Coming up with plots that i then never write.

But yeah in general I’m good at like, plotting out an AU (or even an in-world) fic that could be interesting, and posting about it vaguely, and then doing absolutely nothing with it.

When it comes to things I actually DO write -- idk nothing comes easily but sex scenes are actually much easier (if more embarrassing) for me to actually get on paper (as it were) than almost anything else.

9. Which character(s) do you find most difficult to write?

i have trouble writing characters i just don’t like very much but feel like i have to include for some reason -- like rey is never my favorite character in a star wars fic but as i talked about recently, she’s so important to finn that it feels OOC to write finn and not have her around in some capacity. but i have a hard time getting a read on her/her voice so i uh. sometimes cheat and just have her off stage for most of the fic.

12. Tell us about a WIP you’re excited about.

I’m excited to have the massive oft-abandoned finnpoe AU done with! I call it the The West Wing/Bunheads mashup that -- literally no one would ever think of, why does it exist? who knows. But it features some political snarking and some explorations of race and sexuality and rose is really fun in it (imo) and there’s some good leia & poe vibes that aren’t them being like, replacement family for each other (since they still have actual families of their own). and i’m still working through it but there’s also an element of dealing with an issue that i’m still not over, i.e., the fact that leia is so relentlessly and obviously pushing poe into a leadership position when it really doesn’t seem to be what poe wants.

I’m also vaguely excited for some random johnchas stuff that I keep planning to write based on chastantine anons i’ve gotten -- I really hope those folks are still around and haven’t been scared off by how -- slow I am at writing anything.

15. What’s the weirdest fandom you’ve ever written for?

Les Mis lmfao. Like Les Mis fandom is so fucking wild on every front -- so, so wanky -- and i felt like a total outsider the whole time i was in it. there’s some good valvert stuff but for the most part, man, i’m glad to be out of it.

18. Wildest fic you’ve ever written?

Oooh tie between the John Constantine/Jake Peralta things (WHY) and the John/Chas/Trenchcoat fic, bc also, WHY.

21. Favorite pairing to write for? (platonic or romantic!)

Shamefully, it’s still John & Chas. Like I can’t even really say why -- the show is so long ago, none of the new stuff John is in really deals with it, but I just -- i’m love them, your honor!!!

they just idk hit the exact right vibe that i like, to wit:

1) Friends to lovers

2) Foundational angst

3) Inability to speak of Feelings on both sides (so I don’t have to do the exhausting “Pls talk to me!!!”/”No I SHAN’T” fights)

4) Size difference

5) Unabashed physicality (which ties into...

6) The fact that they don’t talk but have a lot of FEELINGS and at least one of them is really into sex means they theoretically would eff a lot but not talk about it and idk i just enjoy that

24. One-shots or multi-chaptered works?

One shots. I find chaptered works so stressful -- I try to NEVER post anything multichapter without having completed the whole thing (every single time I’ve tried to post something that’s still a WIP, with the assumption that ‘well i know where this is going it’ll be easy enough to get the next chapter up within the week’ i have NEVER succeeded in finishing).

But since I don’t start posting till i’m done, it’s hard to get the motivation to finish, bc I’m not getting the necessary praise and attention that I really bank on to have the motivation to keep going.

And even when I DO finish, the new stress becomes -- how often should i post chapters? how often should i read & respond to comments? if the comments seem to suggest readers believe something is going on that’s NOT what’s going on, should I tell them? Or should I change the fic according to those comments? Or should I not read ANY comments till it’s done?

Or -- and this is usually how exhausted i am with the whole process -- should I just post the whole 60,000 word fic at once, and leave it at that?

One shots are the best. NONE of those stressors. A nice, solid, 10k word one shot that has some smut and some plot and some angst and some fluff is -- the ideal.

27. What’s the nicest comment you’ve ever received?

Someone once said that john/chas shippers were lucky to have me in the fandom and i just about cried.

also:

In general I just get such lovely comments -- someone once said one of my john/chas fics felt like “something that would’ve happened on the show” (god bless them, bc it did not, but isn’t it pretty to think so), and one time someone was surprised at how few kudos a finnpoe fic of mine had bc they’d liked it so much. that sort of thing always makes my day.

30. Tooth-rotting fluff or merciless angst?

i’m all about the (un)happy medium -- a bittersweet moment of fluff that acknowledges the inherent/unavoidable angst of existence. but i don’t like to write characters actively suffering in very -- in your face ways. i like inner turmoil that is repressed/ignored and is always just about to be unleashed (but usually isn’t).

33. Is there anything you wish your audience knew about your writing or writing process?

i mean i feel bad for always complaining about how hard writing is for me -- like, the privilege of being able to write at all is very real, so for me to bitch that it requires effort seems a bit douchey. but writing is genuinely very rough going for me, partly because i’m always kind of embarrassed about it, partly bc given how hard i am on other people’s writing, i’m in some ways EVEN HARDER on my own. but for all that whining i do -- get genuine joy out of completing a fic, and having it be enjoyed by others. i really am so glad to bring -- any kind of moment of happiness (or, if the fic calls for it, sadness or melancholy) to others.

#writing meme #jessicamiriamdrew

6 notes · View notes

theater-fan24601 · 4 years ago

Note

hi, valvert shipper here! sorry this ask is so long but I figured I might as well give a longer explanation of the reasons I ship them since you asked. I've always found them more interesting than the amis, maybe because I'm a little bit older? I don't ship them in situations where there's a gross power imbalance, like in prison, because that's really squicky for me and a huge no.

playing with the dynamic in montreuil-sur-mer can be a lot of fun, because it's like a game of cat and mouse where both of them are trying to manipulate the other into dropping their guard. (the original broadway cast did my favourite take on this - the valjean is very gentle but as madeleine he's a huge force of personality who absolutely doesn't tolerate disrespect (because he can't afford to), while the javert is kind of a bitch who keeps provoking him and pushing him because he doesn't know if he should respect this mayor any more. it's not exactly brick canon but it's great.) then it all blows up spectacularly at the confrontation for maximum angst potential! (plus there's the inherent comedy of javert becoming convinced that the mayor is jean valjean only after seeing him flexing his huge muscles. you good bro? you good???)

and now for the reason most people ship them: the potential of an au where they both survive the ending and fall in love, saving each other. in canon they essentially both commit suicide out of despair - javert because he can't bear to live in a world where mercy comes before order, and valjean because he purposely cut himself off from cosette and died of loneliness, convinced that his past was too shameful to ever overcome. a key part of valjean's plot, as taught by the bishop, is that everyone is deserving of forgiveness and a second chance, and that nobody is inherently evil. valjean was unfortunately not able to internalise this, and was never fully able to shake off the trauma of prison and see himself as fully human (this is explored more in the brick). as for javert - why not play that concept of forgiveness out to its conclusion, and create a fix-it au where he's given a chance to start again with his new moral compass, finally free from the judicial system that he's been trapped in since birth? he's done terrible things but he's as much a misérable and a tragic victim of society as anyone else.

well written fics will admit he's been a horrible person and tackle that (I can't stand when people write him as an uwu sadboi who did nothing wrong! let him be a bastard!), but that doesn't mean he doesn't deserve a second chance like everyone else. valjean's guilt is also a complex thing to work through, but the knowledge that javert of all people has forgiven him could be the start of him beginning to heal. it's complex, bc they're complex characters with literal decades of shared history! but that just means there's that much more to their relationship to explore, and everyone who ships them will have their own take.

in conclusion: they're narrative foils to each other, to the point where their soliloquy songs at the start and end of the musical have the exact same melody. for me, there's something wonderful about these two very fragile, weary men, who lose all hope and end their own lives in canon, putting their pasts behind them and finally allowing themselves to be loved. it's why any enemies to lovers ship is popular - knowing that someone has seen you at your very worst, but finding that they love you anyway. I can understand why it mightn't be for everyone, but hopefully you now get a sense of why people find it an appealing ship!

thank you!

1 note · View note

cometomecosette · 4 months ago

Text

Standout moments from "Les Mis" recordings, 1991-'92

Once again, this project of mine is inspired by the Wicked Punctum Project by @professorspork. In chronological order, I'm listening to every Les Misérables cast recording or complete audio bootleg and watching every complete filmed performance I can find, and choosing the moment in each one that stands out the most to me.

These two years' worth of performances are slightly dominated by Fantine and Grantaire moments.

1991 Paris Cast Recording

Robert Marien (Jean Valjean), Patrick Rocca (Javert), Louise Pitre (Fantine), Laurent Gendron (Thénardier), Marie-France Roussel (Mme. Thénardier), Stéphanie Martin (Éponine), Jérôme Pradon (Marius), Julien Combey (Enjolras), Marie Zamora (Cosette)

Renaud Marx's solo as Grantaire in "Drink with Me."

It feels a little strange not to cite a moment from one of this recording’s excellent lead singers, like Robert Marien, Louise Pitre, or Jérôme Pradon. But the individual moment that stands out the most is Grantaire’s “Drink with Me” solo. Renaud Marx (a.k.a. the French voice of Shang in Mulan, Bear in Bear in the Big Blue House, Kenneth Branagh as Gilderoy Lockhart, and other Hollywood actors in various movies) sounds more drunk, world-weary and angry in this moment than any other Grantaire I’ve heard so far. Without overdoing it, he fairly snarls about half his words, and the effect is enhanced by the fact that the French lyrics are more bluntly cynical and drunken than the English. (The equivalent of “Will the world remember you when you fall? Could it be your death means nothing at all?” translates as “Life is so short and worth nothing. I burn it in the fire of a good glass of wine.”) Both those lyrics and Marx’s delivery of them captures the spirit of Grantaire’s joking yet bitterly cynical ramblings from the novel, much better than the musical typically does. Leave it to the French to capture that spirit!

Honorable Mention:

*Not an acting or singing choice, but an unintentionally funny lyric in "Stars": the French text that corresponds to "I never shall yield till we come face to face" roughly translates as "I shall not weaken till he is on his knees before me." A little treat for Valvert shippers.

Original Amsterdam Cast Recording

Henk Poort (Jean Valjean), Ernst Daniel Smid (Javert), Pia Douwes (Fantine), Paul de Leeuw (Thénardier), Simone Kleinsma (Mme. Thénardier), Vera Mann (Éponine), Danny de Munk (Marius), Bill Van Dijk (Enjolras), Joke de Kruijf (Cosette)

Peter de Smet’s “It’s better than an opera!”

This cast recording is generally middle-of-the-road compared to others, but it does have its charms, and one that’s small yet memorable is Grantaire’s “It’s better than an opera!” (Or rather its Dutch equivalent.) Peter de Smet slightly embellishes the word “op-e-ra” and sings it in a rich, “operatic” voice. In the scheme of things, it’s a minor moment, but it’s funny and cute. I’ve never heard another Grantaire sing that word in quite the same way, even though in hindsight it seems like an obvious vocal choice. I suppose it works because Peter de Smet has a rich, dark baritone voice to begin with, which can sound genuinely operatic at times. (He understudied Javert in this production, and a bootleg exists with him in the role: his rendition of “Stars” has been uploaded onto YouTube.) Obviously, not all other Grantaires share that vocal quality, and if they don’t have it, then they can’t play it for momentary laughs in the same way.

1991 US 1st National Tour proshot video

Gary Morris (Jean Valjean), Richard Kinsey (Javert), Susan Gilmour (Fantine), Drew Eshelman (Thénardier), Rosalyn Rahn (Mme. Thénardier), Susan Tilson (Éponine), Peter Gunther (Marius), Pete Herber (Enjolras), Gretchen Kinglsey (u/s Cosette)

Gary Morris's grief for Fantine.

This high-quality proshot is a truly outstanding glimpse into the early years of Les Mis in America. For me, it’s especially exciting to see Gary Morris’s Valjean after years of hearing him on the Complete Symphonic Recording: despite my mixed feelings about his singing, I now realize how passionate and engaging his acting performance was. In this performance, the moment that stands out the most for me is his abject anguish when Fantine dies. Most Valjeans I’ve seen have just solemnly bowed their heads over her body, but Morris breaks down completely, sobbing silently into her chest. His grief continues through “Confrontation,” where his voice breaks on “And this I swear to you tonight…” and into “The Bargain,” where his loud, sharp delivery of “Now her mother is with God” (which has always surprised me on the Complete Symphonic Recording, since most Valjeans sing it softly and gently) conveys how raw his emotion still is about her passing. I’ve never seen a Valjean do this before.

Honorable Mentions:

*Susan Gilmour’s Fantine at the end of “Lovely Ladies.” Most other actresses play “Come on, captain…” as if there’s been a time skip of several weeks or months since Fantine first turned to the streets, and she’s now somewhat hardened. But Susan plays it as if it’s literally her first time soliciting a customer, and she seems pitifully frightened and on the verge of tears as the pimp pushes her toward the man.

*In "The Runaway Cart," after "There is nothing to do!" some women in the crowd audibly sob over Fauchlevant's "inevitable" death. They're too scared to try to rescue him, but they do care.

*Lee Marino's Young Cosette struggling with the weight of the stools she lifts down from the tables before "Castle on a Cloud."

*Drew Eshelman’s Thénardier sniffing the air before he turns to greet the new traveler on “Welcome, M’sieur…” at the beginning of “Master of the House.” As if he’s so animalistically greedy that he can smell new customers… or possibly their money, which would bring more literal meaning than usual to “I smell profit here!” and “Money is the stuff we smell!”

*In "The Robbery," Morris's Valjean successfully hurls the gang members away from him before Javert arrives. He may be old at this point, but he's still strong!

*In “Attack on Rue Plumet,” Daniel Guzman’s Montparnasse tries to kiss Éponine on the lips after his solo verse, and when she pushes him away, he blows her a kiss anyway.

*Later in “Attack on Rue Plumet,” Susan Tilson’s Éponine knees Thénardier in the nether regions! In return she gets a punch and a slap from him, but still, good for her!

*At the beginning of "The Final Battle," Pete Herber's Enjolras clutches his head in his hands and lets out an anguished scream. He's not the only Enjolras to have a meltdown at this point, and it's debatable whether Enjolras should have a meltdown at any point, but he does it effectively.

*Richard Kinsey’s Javert sobbing on “And the stars are black and cold…” Apart from David Oyelowo in the BBC miniseries, which of course isn’t the musical, I’ve never seen another Javert cry during his suicide scene!

1991 London video bootleg

Stig Rossen (Jean Valjean), Paul Leonard (Javert), Jenna Russell (Fantine), Martyn Ellis (Thénardier), Sue Kelvin (Mme. Thénardier), Meredith Braun (Éponine), Darryl Knock (Marius), Mike Sterling (u/s Enjolras), Sarah Jane Hassell (Cosette)

Enjolras and Grantaire’s unhappy interaction in “Drink with Me.”

So far this is the first filmed performance to have any significant interaction between Enjolras and Grantaire after Grantaire’s “Drink with Me” solo. After Grantaire (whose actor is uncredited, though according to Ovrtur.com it was probably Andrew Hesker) sings an especially belligerent solo that ends with him standing in front of Enjolras, he bitterly laughs in Enjolras’s face, then offers him his wine bottle. But Mike Sterling’s Enjolras pointedly drinks from Feuilly’s jug instead – “the wine of friendship,” not the wine of cynicism. Then he stands and stares at Grantaire for several moments, and vice-versa. I only wish the video quality weren’t abysmal, so I could see their expressions. But finally, Grantaire sits down in despair. Enjolras seems to soften, approaches him, and puts his hand on his shoulder, but Grantaire angrily pushes it away. Not a pleasant moment on either side, but poignant. Especially because it’s their last interaction. They don’t get to reconcile in “The Final Battle”: Grantaire sits lost in a stupor until suddenly he sees Enjolras die, then screams a heartbreaking “NOOOO!!” and dashes up the barricade to his own fate.

Honorable Mentions:

*The desperation of Jenna Russell’s Fantine as Javert rejects her pleas in “Fantine’s Arrest.” She sobs audibly, clinging to Javert’s boots until he pulls away and causes her to fall, then wails “Coseeette!!” as the two constables seize her.

*The first meeting of Darryl Knock’s Marius and Sarah Jane Hassell’s Cosette in “The Robbery.” They both fall down when he crashes into her, which is funny and cute. But I also like what Sarah Jane does afterwards. In most performances I’ve seen, Valjean comes over and hustles Cosette away from Marius, establishing him as a protective and possessive father; that’s all well and good. But here, Cosette is the one who shyly breaks eye contact with Marius and goes to find Valjean. A believable choice for a sheltered young girl who’s never felt romantic love or attraction before. Yet she can’t resist stealing backward glances at Marius throughout the next few moments until the gang attacks.

1992 Scheveningen video bootleg

Henk Poort (Jean Valjean), Ernst Daniel Smid (Javert), Pia Douwes (Fantine), Door Van Boeckel (Thénardier), Irene Kuiper (Mme. Thénardier), Marika Lansen (Éponine), Danny de Munk (Marius), Bill Van Dijk (Enjolras), Joke de Kruijf (Cosette)

Enjolras consoling Grantaire during “Drink with Me.”

This is the original Dutch production, with most of the same cast as the Amsterdam Cast Recording, although by this time the show had transferred to Scheveningen. It’s also the second performance in my watch-through where “Drink with Me” has significant Enjolras/Grantaire interaction after Grantaire’s solo… and it’s the first where that interaction is tender. Granted, it doesn’t start out that way. Like their London counterparts, at first Peter de Smet’s Grantaire offers his bottle to Enjolras, but Bill Van Dijk’s Enjolras rejects it and drinks from Feuilly’s jug instead. (I think that must have been direction at the time, since it was also done in London and Madrid.) But afterwards, Grantaire crumbles in complete despair, gulping from his bottle and burying his head in his arms, and Enjolras seems to regret his harshness as he looks at him. Finally, Enjolras crouches down, puts a consoling arm around Grantaire, and pats his back. It’s not quite a hug, but it’s most definitely a warm, tender moment.

Honorable Mentions:

*In “At the End of the Day,” after the Foreman reads Fantine’s letter, instead of either keeping it or just disdainfully handing it back to her, he rips the letter up, then hands her back the pieces.

*Pia Douwes’ Fantine goes completely feral in “Fantine’s Arrest.” After she scratches Bamatabois, two other ladies try to hold her back, but she fights to break free from them and lunge at Bamatabois again, until he comes back over and knocks her to the ground with his stick.

*So far, Henk Poort's Jean Valjean is second only to Gary Morris's in his mourning at Fantine's death. After folding her hands on her chest, he kisses her forehead, and then lays his head against her hands in grief.

*Henk Poort is also the first Valjean in my chronological watch-through to boop Cosette’s nose. He does it to little Cosette on “…to take Cosette away,” and to her older self in his death scene, on “…I will try.” I don’t know if he was the first Valjean in the world to do it, but he’s the first one I’ve seen do it so far, and he certainly won’t be the last!

*In “Look Down,” at the side of the stage during the final chorus, Marika Lansen's Éponine has what looks like a vicious argument with her parents, in which Thénardier grabs her menacingly only for her to push him away.

*Joke de Kruijf’s Cosette leaps to her feet in shock when Marius appears in the garden in “A Heart Full of Love,” flailing her arms. For the most part her Cosette is a very proper, reserved, and graceful lady, but every now and then she shows hints of an excited and passionate young girl beneath that façade, and nowhere more so than in this moment of physical comedy.

*As Valjean is opening the sewer grate, Danny de Munk’s Marius languidly rolls over before fully losing consciousness again, making it absolutely clear to the audience that he’s alive.

Original Prague Cast Recording

Jan Jezek (Jean Valjean), Marcel Kucera (Javert), Helena Vondráčková (Fantine), Jiří Korn (Thénardier), Petra Janů (Mme. Thénardier), Lucie Bílá (Éponine), Pavel Polák (Marius), Tomáš Trapl (Enjolras), Katerina Krejcová (Cosette)

Lucie Bílá’s interjections in “A Heart Full of Love.”

It wasn’t easy to find a specific standout moment in this recording, since again, it’s just a highlights recording, and I can’t comment much on the singers’ delivery of their lines because I don’t understand a word of Czech. But I finally settled on Éponine’s interjections in “A Heart Full of Love,” as sung by the famous Czech pop singer Lucie Bílá, who took on the role in this production. Despite the language barrier, the emotion of those lines comes across clearly, and she doesn’t opt for the gentle, wistful sadness that many Éponines do at this point. The pain in her voice is raw. It contrasts perfectly with Marius and Cosette’s innocent happiness, and since these lines serve as her first on this recording, they serve as the perfect introduction to Éponine’s unrequited love.

Original Madrid Cast Recording

Pedro Ruy-Blas (Jean Valjean), Miguel del Arco (Javert), Gema Castaño (Fantine), Joan Crosas (Thénardier), Connie Philip (Mme. Thénardier), Margarita Marban (Éponine), Carlos Marin (Marius), Enrique R. del Portal (Enjolras), Luisa Torres (Cosette)

Angela Muro as the Factory Woman.

This is only a 17-track highlights recording, but like the similarly short Stockholm Cast Recording, it still has its standout moments. For me, the one that stands out the most is the Factory Girl’s (Spanish equivalent of) “And what have we here, little innocent sister?” in “At the End of the Day.” The lines are transposed down and Angela Muro sings them with a deep, slightly raspy alto voice, not the high, thin voice that other productions give the character. She sounds worldly, mature, and jaded… like a married woman having an affair with the Foreman on the side, just as Fantine implies she is. This is reinforced by the cast list, which credits her as "Mujer de la Fabrica," Factory Woman, rather than directly translating the English version and calling her "Chica de la Fabrica." And when Gema Castaño’s Fantine sings “Give that letter to me…”, higher and lighter-voiced rather than the opposite, she sounds younger and more vulnerable than her nemesis. Not that I’m opposed to a Factory Girl with a high and youthfully catty voice, or a deeper, more motherly voice for Fantine, but this different approach is effective.

1992 Madrid video bootleg

Pedro Pomares (u/s Jean Valjean), Miguel del Arco (Javert), Gema Castaño (Fantine), Paco Lahoz (u/s Thénardier), Connie Philip (Mme. Thénardier), Kirby Navarro (u/s Éponine), Carlos Marin (Marius), Enrique R. del Portal (Enjolras), Luisa Torres (Cosette)

Gema Castaño’s terror in the hair-sale segment of “Lovely Ladies."

As in the cast recording, the standout moment highlights the youthful vulnerability of Fantine. Gema Castaño was the youngest actress to have played Fantine at the time (only nineteen, if I’m not mistaken) and her Fantine is heartbreakingly girlish and overwhelmed. In “Lovely Ladies,” when the Crone aggressively comes after her, fondles her hair, and insists on buying it, she’s truly terrified. She runs frantically away, then stumbles and falls to her knees, trying in vain to shield herself from the crazy woman, and finally she half-shrieks the most desperate, raw, panicked “Don’t touch me! Leave me alone!” (or rather its Spanish equivalent). With other Fantines, that brief resistance to selling her hair can seem like a moment of vanity. But in this case, we can’t help but feel for such a frightened young woman being harassed by a stranger. And when she finally yields to the harassment and sacrifices her hair for Cosette, it’s heartbreaking.

Honorable Mentions:

*Pedro Pomares’ Valjean taking off his prison cap on “Yes, it means I’m free.” In other performances I’ve seen, either the guards remove Valjean’s cap when they bring him to Javert, or else he has no cap, setting him apart from the other convicts from the start. But here, he takes off the cap himself as an assertion of his new freedom.

**Jordi Fusalba I Carreras is the first Grantaire in this chronological watch-through to use a prop – the wine bottle – for an erection gag on “…Don Juan!” He certainly won’t be the last!

*Another detail from Jordi's Grantaire – he hugs Éponine at the end of "Do You Hear the People Sing?" Éponine finds him staggering drunk behind the other students and mimes asking him where Marius is (a staging choice I always love when I see it, for “recognition of the self in the other” reasons), and he gives her a quick hug before going to get him! Now, I’m not sure if the wine has just made him effusive enough to hug any girl, or if it implies that this version of Grantaire is acquainted with Éponine (through either Marius or Gavroche, I assume) and fond of her. I’d like to think the latter, for its fanfic potential.

*Miguel del Arco’s soft, sinister “Valjean take care, I’m warning you” (or rather its Spanish equivalent). I’m used to hearing Javert break into vicious rage on that line, as if this is where his mind starts to crack. But this Javert is still in control of himself: he still thinks he knows what Valjean is doing (trying to make a deal with him) and warns him against it with quiet calm.

*In “Drink with Me,” Feuilly, Prouvaire and Joly share a three-way handshake on “…and here’s to you.” Just a simple and heartwarming friendship moment between them.

*Luisa Torres’s Cosette at her wedding. She’s no favorite Cosette of mine – her voice is slightly sour and plain – but she acts the role well. At the wedding, she doesn’t just go through the standard motions of “kneel, kiss, dance,” but pantomimes a blissful conversation with Marius, in which she looks aglow with joy and seems to be chattering a mile a minute. It’s especially striking because she was such a shy, modest young girl in Act I; as a bride, she blossoms.

16 notes · View notes