#except fantine ig

[clarisinne]

i've been reading the brick i'm like halfway through and i must say they're not that miserable so far

[cloud-makers-make-pollution]

we're moots lol

okay this is gonna be a lot cuz he's like the main character or whatever

he was born uhh somewhere and he had a sister with a kid but their parents died so he and his sister had to take care of the kid. jean was a tree pruner but it wasn't enough so blud was like "screw it" and tried to steal some bread but was (of course caught and sentenced to 5 years for violent robbery but he was like "hell nah" and tried to escape like three times so he ended up with 19 years total and now the police (cough cough javert) hate him

so anywhizzle he does his 19 years and javerts like "ugh ig we have to let you go on parole or whatever" so jean valjean is like "yippee" and he's like wandering around tryna find a place to stay but ppl are like "nah ur a convict im not fuckin w dat" so now he doesn't have a place to stay but some dudes like "go ask the bishop he's really kind (WHICH THERE IS AN ENTIRE FUCKING SECTION ABOUT IN THE BEGINNING OF THE BOOK)" so jean 👖 goes to talk to the bishop and the bishops like "yeah come stay with us" but the two nuns in there are like "ew he's a convict he's gonna rob us" but the bishop dgaf so 👖 stays the night but he wakes up at midnight-ish and is like paralyzed with the decision of whether or not to rob the bishop cuz bro's got a lotta silver so...

spoiler alert

he robs him

so 👖 is like running around at 3 in the frickin morning and the police catch him and take him to the bishop like "sir this dude just robbed u" and the bishops like "yeah ik also here take the candlesticks and become a better person" so the police let him go and 👖 is like "omg he just like gave me all this free silver and he also said that i need to become a good guy" so 👖 breaks parole (omg lawbreaker 😨) and goes back to his hometown (which is also where fantine lives lol haha coinkydink hahaha) and he sells all the silver (except the candlesticks those are like a reminder of the scene with the bishop) and gets an alias which was like "pere madeleine" or smth idk and we don't see much of him cuz victor chooses to tell us about fantine

when we come back tho, "pere madeleine" has become "monsieur le maire" and he's the mayor of the town and owner of the factory where fantine works. as the mayor he's like a really good guy and he brings the town prosperity!! yippee!! and all the ppl love him but they're kinda sus of him like "who's this dude and why's he so nice" cuz they're a little paranoid ig but anywhizzle he's walking around or smth and he sees fantine being assaulted and stuff and javert taking her in and he's like "hell nah not on my watch" so he heroically bursts in and is like "she did nothing wrong let her go" and he and javert go thru their old man yaoi but fantine is eventually released. javert is NOT happy bout it tho

one day, javert comes into the mayor's office and he's like "bro i messed up i thought u were a former prisoner who broke parole lmaooo anyways we caught the guy and his name is jean valjean (DRAMATIC GASP) and we're holding his court soon anyways have a nice day lolol" but the mayor (COUGH COUGH JEAN VALJEAN) is having this identity crisis about whether or not to go fess up and free the guy but he ends up doing it and there's a buncha detailed chapters about his trek to the town where the court is being held but we don't care abt that

so he shows up and everyone's like "oh that's the mayor or smth ig" they drc and he sits in on this random guy's court session and there's a buncha evidence about how this guys is actually jean valjean but the ACTUAL jean valjean is like "NUH UH BITCH ITS ME" and everyone's like "GASP!??!!??!" and so javert is pissed and tries to get him arrested but 👖 escapes cuz he's gotta get fantines child to her and that's about where i am in the book lol

i hope you enjoyed my rambling about jean valjean and sorry for the long read lol

– ⚜️

this may be even more beautiful that the fantine one

“anywhizzle”

new word alert motherfuckers this is awesome

I feel like maybe you should rewrite the brick once you’ve finished it just your version and see how well it does because damn this shit it great

also

… @k-is-for-potassium ?

is this you??

[not-a-christmas-tree]

i watched the dallas theater company les mis and here are my observations part TWO

i recently watched a modern adaptation of les mis from 2014! i took hella notes bc les mis being set in modern day has a LOT MORE than you would think! i just posted my act one notes, so here are the ones from act two. enjoy! :D

ACT TWO

(Building The Barricade)

oh javert,,,you and your red beret-scarf combo

everyone shakes hands the same way?? they all like. half bro hug. young people ig 🤷‍♀️ 

oh on my own is gonna hurt me huh

éponine has her hands up when she goes to take the letter to cosette that’s an interesting take

jvj looks so done lmao “really bruh just give me the letter i’ll give it to cosette it’s FINE”

omg first time i’ve ever seen éponine not take the money after the letter!! that actually makes so much sense bc she doesn’t take marius’ money when he asks her to find cosette’s house either. that,,,yes that’s good

the modern era begs the question... why didn’t marius just ask for cosette’s number?? i’d assume it’s just a thing that jvj doesn’t allow her to have a phone bc The Cops, but. maybe marius and cosette are the straight version of cottagecore lesbians they just write letters for ~The Aesthetic~

(On My Own)

i was right on my own was gonna hurt me

first time i’ve ever seen an éponine disguise where she actually passes as a boy lmao 

FINALLY A VERSION OF OMO WHERE ITS NOT JUST FORLORN SELF-CARESSING THANK YOU

surprisingly i have less notes here that’s fun i thought i’d have more

(Javert at the Barricades)

WOAHHHHH THEY DID NOT SKIMP ON BARRICADE SET PIECES THAT SHIT IS COOOOOL

oh the barricade scenes are already hitting too hard 

cops are in riot gear cops. are in. riot gear.

oh the javert spy thing that also hits funny because obviously

gavroche is armed with a bat i love you son

FULL VERSION OF LITTLE PEOPLE AT THE BARRICADE AYEEEEE

(A Little Fall Of Rain)

wait hold on why is marius not,,,singing to éponine on “why have you come back here?” he’s like. scolding someone,,, huh??

oh enj goes to help marius with ép!! and he calls over who i assume would be joly i STAN

MARIUS CRIES AFTER ÉP DIES KILL MEEEE

(The First Attack)

i like how jvj does the second confrontation here. he looks less angry and more like,,,compassionate and that MAKES SENSE bc yk. he’s telling javert he’s wrong but he’s not doing it out of spite he’s doing it bc this guy NEEDS to know what he does as a cop and realize that being a cop isn’t just enforcing rules, and it never was just that. 

i do love the exasperated “gO” from jvj that’s kinda great ngl

(Drink With Me)

i’m very sad that there won’t be any exr from these boys

v e r y sad here

i do see grantaire looking PRETTY sad though

bold of y’all to assume that the modern day amis would all be straight

okay i can tell that grantaire really is going hard on the Existential Singing like,,,sure he’s just standing there but like. damn bro

SO THERE A R E LADIES ON THE BARRICADE WHY TF ARENT THEY FIGHTING

BETTER SEE SOME CHANGE THERE

i just realized that the cockades are buttons that is the BEST

(Bring Him Home)

jvj actually looks kinda happy in BHH and tbh i kinda like it?? it’s only on the “he’s like the son i might have known” line but i like it

oh those vowels oh boy they TALL

(The Final Battle)

enjolras is for some reason, still angry...why...why bro....

the staging for gavroche’s death is INTERESTING bc he’s reaching up at the sniper on the tower. hm. i dont hate it

OH SOMEONE ON THE BARRICADE IS RECORDING I THINK!!! GOOD ADDITION!!

i can’t imagine how many blood packs they went through 

oh enjolras’s death okay so. he’s in a like. No Man’s Land almost, and the riot cops come in after him. it’s an interesting take because it almost mirrors the scene in the book, except obvs grantaire isn’t here. they also have an added scene after he dies where cops are checking out and using radios that is. that is EERIE.

jvj walks over to enjolras’s body 🥺

HE ALSO FUCKIN S C R E A M S WHEN HE SEES MARIUS ON THE GROUND GODDAMN MAN O U C H

thenardier steals combeferre’s glasses wow thanks for that added pain

thenardier and jvj have a mini fight oh that’s kinda cool hm

(Javert’s Soliliquy)

javert opens his soliloquy with some SPICY SADNESS OH B O Y he sounds broken already!! start strong!!

emotions go broken - anger - confusion? - mAJOR confusion - hopelessness 

javert can FLY! no legit he’s on ropes

(Turning)

turning is. turning is almost a funeral. 

OH THEYRE N U N S !

nuns are visiting the barricade 🥺 

OH DAMN “what’s the use of praying if there’s nobody who hears?” THAT CERTAINLY HAS WEIGHT NOW THAT THEY ARE N U N S

it has just occurred to me that people have been dead on the floor for like. a solid five minutes 

(Empty Chairs At Empty Tables)

“now my friends. are dead. and gone” he pauses like he’s realizing it just then oh OUCHIE

wait is marius,,,at the barricades? is he legit singing to his friends dead bodies? oh shit oh NO

OH N O OH NONONO THIS IS WORSE

THE BARRICADE BOYS RISE UP FROM THE FLOOR OH N O OUCH OUCH

they group up and salute him and wALK OFF NO OWWWW

*cosette and marius kiss* jvj: *COUGH COUGH*

marius and valjean’s lil conversation is interesting in the way valjean seems to ask marius “who am i?” rather than ask himself. he phrases it in a way that makes me think he’s like. quizzing marius lmao 

(The Wedding)

omg i think baby cosette and éponine are flower girls 🥺🥺

“go away thenardier” *madame mouths ‘dammit!’*

thenardier your boat shoes hurt me

madame: “get up! get up!” thenardier: “stop—STOP IT!” 

TWO GUYS ARE DANCING TOGETHER AND WAVE AT THENARDIER ON “this ones a queer, but what can you do”

yeah i think i found my new favorite thenardiers thank you dallas theater company

fantine sits on the bench when cosette comes by, cosette sits on bench next to her, and fantine tries to touch her but can’t 🥺

jvj just gave a hand-over-heart head nod to cosette but fantine gave it back i,,,ouch

ENJOLRAS AND GAVROCHE ARE WITH FANTINE AND ÉPONINE FOR JVJ’S DEATH

the chain gang is in the epilogue i repeat the cHAIN GANG IS IN THE EPILOGUE

the orchestra rests on the last “say do you hear the distant drums” and that was the coolest thing i’ve ever heard

that final harmony is MONEYYYY and i want to cry

OVERALL NOTES:

this javert has the most interesting interpretation because up until his FINAL SCENE he is the stone cold police officer, and he plays it SO WELL. like i have never been truly angry at a javert up until this guy, and whether that was because it was modern and resonates A LOT in 2020 or he just looks like a cop i want to punch, I DON’T KNOW but he plays it SO WELL and i love it so much!!

these thenardiers are the fucking BEST NGL they are the perfect mix of funny and cruel. madame t is also funny as HELL and i wish i had her talent lmao

i said it before but the police costumes in this show are. woosh. kudos to the costumer i took one look at those guys and was like “haha, no!.” vaguely related to that, i think this was the first time i nearly cried at Look Down like. the first song at the show, simply because of the convict getting the SHIT beat out of him on the floor. that hurt me and i hate that it is completely accurate to what happens in prisons today.

lovely ladies was,,,a LOT and tbh, i feel like it didn’t need to be. obviously it does show how horrible it is for sex workers, but that is why the music is there. the music and lyrics is there to tell what you don’t show visually. (though i do love the male prostitute lmao he took no shit)

i also said this before but the fact that there wasn’t bigger of a relationship between enjolras and grantaire kind of annoys me simply because they are revolutionaries in the present day. you can’t tell me that ALL OF THEM WERE STRAIGHT. with how many people i know now that identify under the queer and trans umbrella, and also how queer they are (to me) in the brick, the absence of any exr in a modern interpretation hurts a little.

in conclusion, this show was fucking FANTASTIC and even though i’m six years late, it still resonates hard given the time we live in today. i think i nearly screamed when i saw the cops in riot gear on the barricade because that is LITERALLY HAPPENING RIGHT NOW. this just reminds me how timeless the story of les mis is because you had to change LITERALLY NOTHING from the story to make it make sense in the modern age, and that is really the lesson you should learn from les mis; these things happen everywhere, and they need to be fixed. 

thank you for listening to my rambling, i am sure i forgot something because there was just so damn much but i hope you enjoyed otherwise! not-a christmas-tree out! :)

[ethospathoslogan]

okay so, by now, i feel like we all know that i like making obscure literature AUs for the sides

so, hey, lets delve into some 19th century french literature bc we all know that yesterday was barricade day, yes? june 5th, 1832, the day of the june rebellion where there was a rebellion in the streets of paris against the government that wasn’t successful (basically everyone died) that victor hugo immortalized ig in les miserables? right, we all know this? right? right? probably not bc who has time for a 1,200 page novel (i didn’t but i forced myself to have time) but still!!!

tw for one death mention at the end bc this is an au abt a book called “the miserables”. it’s gotta be at least somewhat kinda sad at one point.

for patton, i’m torn between fantine and cosette. bc, on the one hand, fantine is a mother that did anything to ensure that her child would be safe. she was left by this guy tholomyes (*shouts from the back* ASSHOLE) and she had a daughter named euphrasie (that’s cosette) and she had to give her daughter to the thenardiers (*shouts from the back* ALSO ASSHOLES AND TERRIBLE PEOPLE) and pay them to take care of her. except they kept lying to fantine and telling her that cosette was sick and they needed more money, but really they were just neglecting cosette and using the money for themselves. but fantine still did everything she could to make sure that her daughter was okay. so like, maternal/paternal love.

but then also patton as cosette??? patton as a character who has gone through so much hardship and has faced so many terrible experiences and people, and still turns out happy??? like it has been years since i read les mis but i’m pretty sure a quote related to cosette was something like, “laughter is the sun that wipes out winter from the human face.” like!!! pls give me patton as a character who is the literal embodiment of sunshine and happiness, even after one has gone through everything possible. please. i love cosette. (fun fact: amanda seyfried as cosette ended up being low key integral to my gay awakening)

and then logan as combeferre. combeferre was a part of les amis de l’abc and is considered one-third of the main “triumvirate”. in the triumvirate, while enjolras is the chief and courfeyrac is the centre, combeferre is the guide. so basically he’s the voice of reason of les amis,,,, some might even say,,,,,,,, the logical thinking one. he’s also incredibly smart. like. he studies medicine and philosophy and destroyed marius pontmercy’s, like, three page essay with three words: “to be free.” does that sounds like logan??? i think tf so. also in fanfics he is always the voice of reason like enjolras and courfeyrac are always like “HEY WE’RE GONNA DO THIS THING AND WE’RE GONNA DO IT NOW” and combeferre is like “CAN YOU TWO PLEASE SLOW DOWN FOR ONCE IN YOUR LIFE” which is, lbr, very logan.

and then virgil is grantaire. grantaire is another member of les amis and he is the honorary cynic of the group. he believes the cause that they are fighting for is worthless and that it’s all going to end in shambles. and everyone is like “grantaire, you’re wrong” (*awkward cough*). and one day, enjolras is like, “do you even believe in anything?” bc if grantaire doesn’t believe in their cause, so what is he even doing there? and grantaire is like, “i believe in you.” also grantaire is an artist and he said something abt his dad being disappointed in him bc he can’t do math or something. also at one point, he’s like, “who plucked the stars from the night sky and put them in the candles?” but really he’s just complaining about the tavern being too bright. that’s some virgil level edginess. also, i think grantaire’s cynicism and virgil’s attitude go hand in hand. also this is leading into my final point:

so now, at this point, bc we all obviously have read old french literature and this is totally not some niche interest, you’re all like, “jordyn, roman is courfeyrac, right? romantic, charming, potential to be an asshole, the centre of the group? that basically spells out roman!!!” right? right? WRONG. roman is enjolras and i’m gonna tell you why. roman is romantic and charming, yes, i’m not denying that!!! he could be courfeyrac, but i personally think his drive and passion, and possibly even his stubbornness and his martyrdom, is what makes him enjolras. enjolras, as stated previously, is the chief of les amis. he’s their leader. often in fandom, he’s called a��“leader in red”. every stage adaptation of les mis has him wearing his iconic red jacket. 

also one of the lines that describes enjolras, which is probably one of my favorite, is “a charming young man who was capable of being terrible”. something abt that also seems very roman to me bc, yes, while i love roman and he is great, we have seen him be harsh to the other sides. and while enjolras was typically a lot more harsher than i would give to roman, i think the two go hand in hand. also, enjolras was so passionate, he was nearly blinded by it. he believed in their cause so much they he believed they were either going to succeed or he was going to die trying. there really was no middle ground. also, most of enjolras and grantaire’s interactions were them arguing (hmmm sound familiar???). enjolras couldn’t stand grantaire’s attitude, and grantaire couldn’t see why enjolras would fight for something if it was only going to most likely kill him. enjolras had endless drive and passion and knew that their cause could be their demise, but he still fought until the very end for it when he and grantaire died together and i cried for like an hour

so this got extremely long and i have no shame omfg