#this is THEE dynamic

[fighting-naturalist]

[secretmellowblog]

@breadvidence recently wrote a great bit of Les Mis meta where they pointed out how Jean Valjean’s “compliments” to Javert in Montreuil-sur-Mer really are just..... conciliatory flattery, and don't reflect his real feelings about Javert at all. And that's a great point, and something I wish more people explored! Lines like "you are a good man and I esteem you" aren't Jean Valjean's earnest feelings towards Javert. Instead they’re examples of the way Jean Valjean often retreats into excessive deferential politeness to authority as a survival strategy. As I mentioned in another recent post— Jean Valjean is a genuinely kind person, but he’s also someone who often has literally no choice but to act overly polite to authorities/the police, because if he’s not polite enough they might start to find him suspicious. If he doesn't lick their boots enough, they might start investigating him. He's instinctively deferential out of fear of violence. He's flattering out of fear. He's polite "at gunpoint." He's polite to cops the way you're polite to an armed police officer who pulls you over.

And Jean Valjean's polite tranquil behavior towards Javert during Javert's "resignation"— saying things like “you are a good man and I esteem you, I want you to keep your job” and etc etc— is later explicitly confirmed to be at least somewhat of a calculated tactical decision Jean Valjean made out of terror:

He was carried away, at first, by the instinct of self-preservation; he rallied all his ideas in haste, stifled his emotions, took into consideration Javert’s presence, that great danger, postponed all decision with the firmness of terror, shook off thought as to what he had to do, and resumed his calmness as a warrior picks up his buckler.

I love the phrase "he resumed his calmness as a warrior picks up his buckler"-- it's such a great way of summarizing how Jean Valjean's ability to have polite conversations even when he's breaking down internally has been such a useful defense mechanism for him. I also love the contrast between the excessively polite way Jean Valjean talks to Javert when he’s acting out of terror/self-preservation….vs the more honest way he talks about Javert when he’s alone during Tempest in a Skull:

“That Javert, who has been annoying me so long; that terrible instinct which seemed to have divined me, which had divined me—good God! and which followed me everywhere; that frightful hunting-dog, always making a point at me, is thrown off the scent, engaged elsewhere, absolutely turned from the trail: henceforth he is satisfied; he will leave me in peace; he has his Jean Valjean. Who knows? it is even probable that he will wish to leave town! And all this has been brought about without any aid from me, and I count for nothing in it!”

It's just extremely funny. The contrast between “you are a good man and I esteem you” vs “that Javert, who has been annoying me so long” <3 The contrast between “you are an honest man” vs “that frightful hunting dog” <3 The contrast between “I want you to keep your job” vs Jean Valjean fantasizing enthusiastically about how hopefully Javert will leave town and never ever annoy him again. <3

It makes the “Punish Me, Monsieur le Maire” stuff even funnier. Jean Valjean is dissociating out of panic and saying whatever polite platitudes he thinks will flatter Javert....but those polite platitudes keep making Javert spiral further into long-winded deranged rants about how he dESPISES this kindness and it enRAGES him, as Jean Valjean just sits there very politely & quietly losing his mind. It’s peak comedy really.

I feel like Jean Valjean’s deeply weird thing with Javert often gets flattened in different directions, when people interpret it. Either Jean Valjean is an all-forgiving all-loving angel who thinks Javert did nothing wrong, and all of his flattery is sincere expressions of admiration—- or Jean Valjean is (like in the BBC version) the kind of violent pitiless person who would angrily order Javert to kill himself. It's rare for writers to get anything resembling the hilariously baffling ambiguous Weirdness of his relationship with Javert in the book. I think it's because adaptations often don't grasp the idea that a genuinely kind compassionate character can also (underneath it all) still be deeply tormented, broken, and angry-- and that their anger doesn't mean they're any less kind, or any less capable of pity and mercy.

[orpheuslament]

keep forgetting s3 will graham actually paid what was probably hundreds of dollars per session to show up at bedelia's place & try to antagonise her only to get (rightfully) called an evil pathetic faggot in return

[a-compass-without-a-needle]

This is what happened after 3.1 isn't it?

[golden-snackoos]

evil yet silly

[hallbrand]

THE RINGS OF POWERS LADIES APPRECIATION ↳ Day 2 —  Favorite dynamic: Galadriel and Míriel

I know what it is to be the only one, the only one who sees, the only one who knows. Perhaps neither of use have to bear that burden alone any longer.

[all-or-nothing-baby]

oh man i CANNOT get enough of closed-off shut-down loners finally—finally—allowing themselves to break down and become all soft and gooey and needy and whiney when getting lovingly railed into next week by the very person they've been locking horns with

[hak]

​soowon is a good antagonist bc his entire ethos when first introduced and you don’t know him is “I am ruthless and clever and will betray absolutely anyone even my closest beloved friends and I am made of steel. Hear me roar” and it is still true even when you DO get to know him. however Allegedly Discarded From Soo-Won’s Mind Palace (ADFSMP) hak does something stupid like join the sky tribe army to do laundry and get lost in a flood and be susceptible to bodily harm at all times. and ADFSMP yona does her hardest to run straight out to trouble and says things like “meet my eyes when we talk!” and be susceptible to bodily harm at all times. and then Allegedly Free From Obstacles of the Mind (AFFOM) soowon breaks character and gets like this

[the-promise-has-been-made]

Thinking about Solas and Lavellan post Veilguard, alone together in fade prison? hell? Black City? and like yeah we're all giggling because obviously they're fucking. Obviously. A lot. But... there is also ten years of grief and pain between them? Like, Lavellan lost a hand. She mourned a relationship, a love, depending on how you HC it's her first, greatest, only love. Solas had to leave her behind. He nearly breaks every time she's brought up, by his own admission he very nearly gave everything up to be with her. Also, he's done some HORRIBLE stuff. There is A LOT unsaid between them, and not all of it is sunshine and roses. Like once the whiplash from the end of the game wears off, once the wounds are healed, once the honeymoon phase is over, there's going to be some HARD talks to be had. And the only thing that can get them through these talks is to remember that there is no fate greater than their love. Like OOFF there is a lot to unpack with these two and where their relationship will go from here.

[dysfunctionalcreature]

it will forever be tragic to me that Eiffel and Hera physically can't go on a quirky roadtrip together, and scream-sing Drops Of Jupiter by Train while driving along the Grand Canyon.... like they really deserve that 🥺 it would fix them both

[so-very-small]

hey. you. put your tiny OC in a fancy birdcage. with a giant looming over them perhaps. do it it’s good for them it’s like enrichment

[danthropologie]

via

[sichore]

if MC has reached their limit and is screeching MCDONALD'S MCDONALD'S then Sylus is right beside them echoing their sentiments in the backseat while Zayne's driving, about to order a single black coffee for himself and leaving.

[aliusfrater]

people referring to sam's change in opinion regarding flagstaff, stanford, ruby, or any other instances that which dean considers betrayal as his 'growing up' or anything adjacent to maturity never gets old wrt identifying them as uncritically adopted patriarchal perspectives of sam's personhood in favour of pondering sam's arcs as portrayed as portrayed to the audience. be critical of dean's perspective and MORE IMPORTANTLY!!! sam's adoption of it. i am genuinely begging you

[xiayizhouglazer]

cuteness aggression is so important to me

[deadbaguette]

I love polyships… they all kiss kiss fall in love and are happy forever lalalala