#i just want to tell javert...one thing is not like every other thing

[aromantic-enjolras]

Vampire Amis headcanons

I was brainrotting with @shamedumpster about vampires, and we wanted to bring you our results.

Jehan wears waistcoats and ruffle shirts and neckerchiefs, and he consistently lights his house with candelabra. No, he’s not an elder vampire: he was turned in 2008. He just likes the aesthetics.

Joly worked at a hospital before he was turned, and he keeps doing it after. He just works exclusively night shifts. The nurses are very impressed with his ability to find veins even on the most difficult patients.

Bossuet chipped his fangs on the first time he went out after he got turned. Now he can’t properly bite into someone without making a mess of things. Joly steals blood from the hospital from time to time, but it’s not enough to sustain him, so they share everything... even victims. Joly will bite them for him and then Bossuet licks at the wound. They sometimes do the “is it tasty?” “why don’t you come and see?” filrty dialog while Grantaire fake gags.

If he has the chance, Joly steals blood from drunk people and shares it with Grantaire and Bossuet. It gives them the closest to an alcohol kick they’ve managed since getting turned.

The Amis are a vigilante group. They need blood, so they get it from neo-nazis and cops. Mostly neo-nazis, because it’s easy to get past the radar than cops, sadly...

After one point the local groups start wondering what’s happening to their members, and a vampire scare gets around. They start wearing crosses, and learning prayers. Bahorel revels on smiling toothily to them and going “god is dead, bitch” before biting them.

Enjolras’ Presence is very, very strong. If he wants to make a human do something, he can just tell them to do it and they will. Walking around all bloody after feeding? No problem, just tell everyone around you to forget. Getting arrested for killing someone? Just tell every cop in the building to rethink their life choices. He swears he didn’t expect Javert to kill himself, really!!

Éponine is human. She’s the human provider for the vampires, doing daylight reconnaissance and other, less legal things they might need her to do. She has means, she will get anything done... for a price. She knows these men have money, and she’s not above making them pay.

On the other end, Marius is Courfeyrac’s human roommate. He has been living with Courfeyrac for years. He has no idea his roomie and his friends are all vampires, he’s convinced they are a support group for agoraphobics with sun allergies. No, they are not subtle around him. He’s just dense.

It is very useful, however, because he’s a law student, and he’s convinced all of Courf’s friends have some kind of social anxiety, so he is very willing to do their daytime paperwork for them. He has signed papers saying he can handle the legal affairs of the entire Amis.

One time Grantaire jokes that Courf is so cold because “he’s dead inside” and Marius pouts for a week. He’s also very confused that a guy as fashion-conscious as Courf doesn’t own any mirrors, and when Courfeyrac tells him he can’t look at himself in a mirror  he decides he has self-image issues and starts complimenting him a lot. Courfeyrac is very confused.

At the end, it’s Cosette who figures it out. When she accuses the Amis, everyone is like “duh”, and Marius can feel his jaw drop.

Hope you enjoyed this!

[cirrem]

Read "Les Miserables" for my "intro to humanities" class and it was really good so I'm going to dump about it here. it was an abridged version, so i may have missed some things. I may be incomprehensible towards the end. SUPER MAJOR SPOILERS

also trigger warnings for death, suicide, and christianity if you care about that.

first off, Jean Valjean is one of my new favorite characters in fiction. he's screwed up but in a way that makes him a better person.

The romance between Marius and Cosette was my least favorite part of the book. it dragged on, but then you look back and they only had 2 conversations before getting married but it talked about the romance for soooooooo long. I'm not Victor Hugo, but I would have definitally trimmed that down and introduced a multi-month time skip between the resolution of the barricade and the marriage.

Eponine is really stupid, and her death was completely avoidable. First: there are plenty of fish in the sea, you could have moved on so many different times. Second: don't bring the man your in love with to a death trap so you can die together, especially if he doesn't love you, and especially if you tragically sacrifice your life to save his and he ends up not dying.

If you don't like religious discussions I suggest stop reading here because I'm going to talk about the religious themes and the suicide and I know some people on tumblr will get upset if I don't preface it

Javert is a coward. He owes Jean Valjean his life, he knows that Jean is not a bad person, and he pays the debt, letting him run free. What makes him a coward is how after this impulsive decision, where he let him free only to settle his debt, he decides "if my worldview is wrong instead of changing and growing I should just kill myself" and does so.

I know he's supposed to be like "the overabusive law system" or whatever, but killing yourself because the guy who is being sent to jail for life, (because of the heinous crimes of: escaping jail, not telling people he was in jail, and stealing 1 loaf of bread to feed his sisters children) may not actually be an irredeemably horrible monster incapable of change, growth, or being someone who you shouldn't send to jail is incredibly dumb.

Now heres where religion comes in: I think Victor Hugo is intentionally contrasting the laws of man with the laws of God (in the bible, new testament). (Specifically, the beatitudes and life/teachings of Christ. For those unaware, I can give a very oversimplified summery: Be kind and merciful to others, even if they suck or you dont like them or they hate you or you hate them. (if you want to at this point bring up modern or historical actions of those claiming to follow or speak for christ when that contradict this, please move on. I am aware that people call themselves christians without following his words))

to summerize my thoughts: javert represents the "laws of man" which are fallible, and not actually just. Specifically, there is 1) only punishment for the wicked, no blessings to the righteous 2) no allowance for change as a person in judgement, once wicked always wicked. Compare this to every time a religious person does something in the book: the bishop takes mercy on valjean, and sends him away with more gifts, valjean becomes religeous, forgives javert for suspecting him, saves the life of someone who hates him, later, valjean sacrifices his life, revealing himself to secretly be a convict to save a stranger from lifetime slavery, a nun lies to protect valjean (the narrative states she never had before, she did something at cost of her own standards to save his life), valjean finds and saves cosette from the theadears and they take refuge in a nunnery, and get in only because of the man whose life he saved earlier. Finally, Valjean has the chance to kill Javert, in the revolution (Javert is tied up, and Valjean has a gun) but valjean sets him free. The book is really emphasizing the importance of mercy, even when it comes at a cost to yourself, and it would be easier to punish those you dislike. Every time someone is merciful, it turns out fine, even benificial in the long run. (and specifically the mercy as outlined by christ, as everyone that acts mercifully is explicitly religious, and it follows what he taught pretty closely imo).

Gods law of mercy, allowing and helping people to change for the better, even if they don't deserve it, is constantly shown to be superior to and more benificial to society than the harshness of man's legal system, which treats a criminal as always a criminal, and never gives to those in need.

Except, hear me out: this isn't about legal systems at all, this is about how we treat ourselves and those we care about.

We need to have mercy, both on others around us, and on ourselves. Valjean revealed the worst of his past to marius, but he wasn't that person anymore. Marius had to learn that Valjean saved his life from Thernadair! What! He is wastes away and DIES because of his shame of who he was, and his insistence that he is still as guilty as he was then. He had mercy, even for those that would chase him down, toss him into chains, and force him to work until his death, but he had none for himself, and he suffered for it. However, because of how he was kind, he was able to save and touch many lives, and drastically improved the lives of those around him.

Compare this to Javert, who rather than be kind to anyone, or himself, threw himself into the sea, never improved anyones life, and would have been killed if Valjean didn't offer to kill him (then not kill him). I know who I'll rather be, and I think thats kind of the point of the book.

anyways, if I have to write an essay on this book I think I'll be fine.

valjean and the bishop are both incredibly based characters. Eponine was more interesting than Marius and Cosette combined.

[carphoegras]

I don’t ship most of these myself , but your rant/ramble posts on Les Mis ships are funny so I genuinely wanted your opinion on these 👁

1. Enjoltaire

2. Valvert

3. Enjonine

4. Marisette (or whatever Marius x Cosette was called)

5. Javonine (Javert and…Eponine 😭)

6. Marionine (A name a just guessed for Marius x Eponine because I wasn’t bothered to look it up)

7. and uhhh.. Granjonine (I think that was the name)

well hello darling! i live to entertain lol lets get into it i might have to put this under a cut because i think its obvious i have a rambling issue

Enjoltaire : a classic for good reason. they seemed really base level to me at first because i watched the movie first, but once i read the brick and really saw their dynamic i fell for them HARD. for me the beauty of this pairing is really rooted in the substance of their individual characters as opposed to like a romantic relationship. idk its so difficult for me to verbalize why i love them so much i think i just love the idea of finding common ground despite difficulties. enjolras and grantaire mirror each other in such a beautiful way that i feel the musical/movie couldn't really capture without demoting it to a puppy love grantaire/mean enjolras dynamic idk i have such an issue with some portrayals of them because i feel like they create a victim/abuser situation where there wasn't one but that's like a whole post within itself anyway i feel like im getting incoherent i love exr with every fiber of my fucking being just read the brick if you don't get it ok the movie and musical just dont do it justice and for the love of god avoid the fics written in 2012/2013 after the movie hype its all wRONGGGG (i love you george blagden but you created a twink grantaire movement) (they pull each others pigtails okay its a mutual obsession) (enjolras why don't you just ignore him baby? glutton for punishment my dear we all know if you hated him you wouldn't let him hang around) (anyway) i should make a seperate post about my exr feelings bc i could talk ab them for hours

2. Valvert: okay this is where i feel like i can be unpopular with the fandom. i fucking hate this ship. like physically, spiritually, all that. its one of those that i kinda lose respect for the person bc its literally a cop/prisoner thing. its not enemies to lovers. its not a hate love thing. javert's a fucking cop. valjean is his victim. the whole idea of people romanticizing this makes me feel so insanely icky and i think the point of the story has just gone RIGHT over some folks' heads please take a step back and think about it. neolib behavior sorry not sorry

3. Enjonine: enjolras is gay. just like, straight up in the brick enjolras is a gay man. this ship is spawned from straight girls who saw aaron tveit and use eponine as their not like other girls posterchild. just a whole bunch of hetero nonsense. same behavior as the joseph quinn enj x reader bs. honey thats a homosexual man and can we please stop reducing eponine to needing a boyfriend she needs a stable home and a goddamn therapist fucking hell

4. Marisette: okay. i LOVE THEM. i'm a cosette stan myself, and i'm a huge fan of a gooey love at first sight situation. they contrast my love for exr in the sense that they're a very easy love. their parts in the book literally make me SWOOOOOON i can put aside my beef with marius as a combeferre kin to appreciate how sweet they are

5. Javonine??: im sorry wh aht. did the snape x hermione shippers leak into the lm fandom or am i being fucking punked im not discussing this its obvious why this is wrong please tell me its obvious y'all are NASTY

6. Marionine: eh. eh. i mean, like i said with enjonine eponine's problems are not gonna be solved with a dude. i'm really not opposed to them, persay, its just that eponine's love for marius is so incredibly dependent and rooted more in her personal trauma than actual love, so i feel a little weird with them sometimes. sometimes it just gives anti cosette vibes (cough cough bc of the bullshit love triangle angle that the musical markets cough cough) so i tread very carefully with them

7. Granjonine: again what in the damn hell. i'm not dignifying this shit they could be besties but for the love of god george blagden did a number on the straight girls. STOP PROJECTING ONTO EPONINE IM GONNA LOSE MY FUCKING MIND LEAVE HER ALONE

thanks for the ask lovely, i do love rambling even though these ships are baffling lmaoooo

[everyonewasabird]

Brickclub 5.7.1 “The Seventh Circle and the Eighth Heaven” Part two

It’s bizarre to hear Marius talk as much as he does when he first walks in, especially about a subject that isn’t, say, Napoleon. Before Valjean speaks, he talks at length about the perfect setup Valjean will have in the house, and honestly he sounds a lot more like Cosette than he sounds like himself.

Clearly, Hugo wants to present Valjean with a vision of paradise before Valjean himself dashes it. Which Valjean immediately does.

It’s wild that neither Valjean nor apparently the text itself understands that the greatest danger to Cosette isn’t the state or public opinion--it’s Marius. Valjean knew perfectly well yesterday that any irregularities in her background might end the marriage preparations. Does he and/or the book really think that fiances are fickle but no husband will ever penalize his wife for having a background that wasn’t what he thought when he married her? (I really should read Wide Sargasso Sea some time; but also, that thought makes me think about how I wish there were more published Les Mis tie-ins, including some literary reimaginings like that. Good political takes only, please.)

Why does the fact that Cosette is now left entirely at Marius’s mercy--and the fact that we KNOW CANONICALLY that Marius will mistreat her when she’s at his mercy--never enter into any of the themes of this story? Does Hugo really just believe nothing bad can happen to a wealthy, married bourgeois woman? She’s escaped Fantine’s fate, so no other bad thing can happen to her??

Mellow was pointing out on Discord how much Valjean takes on aspects of Javert in this chapter, and it’s true: Valjean describes how he’s on the outside of society looking in, how he’s never had a family and can never have one, and then he grabs his own collar as if arresting himself (while talking about his “implacable duty”) because Javert is no longer there to do it.

It really is a pretty bad sign for the wisdom and trueness of this argument.

I don’t know where to start with what he’s actually saying, so, bullet points:

- There’s an emotional core that makes sense here: he hates the idea of lying about who he is to people close to him forever, and I get that! I really, really hate that he only thought of this when Marius showed up, and that disclosure to Cosette was never something he considered--or could consider.

- Hugo is writing marginalization the way Hugo nearly always writes marginalization, where the marginalized can only see himself from the mainstream bourgeois pov, not from any pov arising from the community he belongs to. Valjean regards his existence as a pestilence that might infect the good, innocent bourgeois characters he comes near--which is a wildly bourgeois way of thinking about a convict. You see similar things with Grantaire and queerness, with Javert and class, and with Eponine and class--it would make sense if former convicts felt pretty fucking different about not mentioning that they’re former convicts than the bourgeoisie felt about them not mentioning it. Things aren’t generally this shocking and appalling--even if they’re ongoingly traumatic--if they’re just the history of your life.

At the same time, it makes sense, given the way Valjean has crushed his former anger and renounced his former self and melded his views with the bourgeoisie, that he doesn’t have any kind of class consciousness or marginalized solidarity he can see himself from, so he’s internalized the wider society’s hatred. But I don’t love the way almost every marginalized character in this book has somehow also done exactly that.

- The fact that Valjean can only perceive God from somewhere that feels like hell is pretty telling, and pretty awful. He really doesn’t know what goodness might feel like or be without suffering. He says, “for me to respect myself, I have to be despised by others,” and it really just sounds like he’s internalized the worst things society wanted him to internalize. The “seventh circle” being for suicides does fit horribly well here.

- As soon as Valjean references a concrete threat posed by his identity (the police might arrest him), Marius offers a concrete solution (pardon), and Valjean quickly backtracks to keep from letting this conversation be about solvable problems. Like: there’s a version of this scene where he’s tired of lying so he comes clean and lets Marius and Cosette respond about whether they still want him around. He is actively refusing that option. He’s not here to choose honesty, he’s here to choose death.

Assorted other observations:

“He gulped in air painfully and then tossed out these final words: “Once upon a time I stole a loaf of bread to live; today, to live, I will not steal a name.”

“To live!” Marius broke in. “You don’t need that name to live?”

“Ah, I know what I’m saying,” answered Jean Valjean, nodding slowly several times.”

This is so stark, and so heartbreaking. Valjean hasn’t learned the lesson of this book--or remembered the thing he knew at the start of this book--that stealing something you need to survive is morally justifiable, and it’s society that was in the wrong for withholding it. Never mind the verbal trickery by which he’s made taking Fauchelevent’s name “theft” when he admitted a page ago that it was freely given--if it was theft, theft to live is justified.

But he’s fully swallowed the same carceral logic Javert did: if the state can imprison you for something, you are a bad person for doing that thing.

Honestly, it feels pretty clear to me that the book is coming out strongly against this choice Valjean is making.

And then, Cosette comes in and Marius tries to send her away because they’re talking about things that are none of her business--that is, the use that’s going to be made of her money. Reminder that Cosette has been handling the house finances since before Marius found out what rent was. Fuck Napoleon and his fucking marriage laws.

And she seems to be desperately ingratiating herself and trying to smooth over something weird here that she can’t identify, and STILL this book doesn’t seem to quite understand that the biggest danger to her is how Marius chooses to treat her.

And yet--

(Cosette speaking to Valjean):

“You can see very well that I’m extremely unhappy at home. My husband beats me. So come here, give me a kiss immediately.”

COSETTE knows that that’s a thing that can happen, even if she’s obviously joking here. (What a joke, fucking hell. But we know Gillenormand has been making this kind of “joke” already.) Cosette is perfectly capable of realizing “I am not automatically safe just because I’m married; I still need the father I love and trust and have depended on for years,” and she’s saying so.

Not that anybody is going to listen.

Valjean argues himself into being exiled from Cosette, and then a moment later he reverts fully to the voice that all the most desperate misérables speak in. He sounds exactly like Fantine begging Javert to let her go when he begs to be allowed to see Cosette a little. Marius assents.

By the end of the chapter, they’ve been restored to the roles of the bourgeois and the misérable, and maybe it’s that even more than the facts of is past that was the “truth” Valjean wanted to convey. I’m left with the feeling that the “lie” he wanted rectified was the same one that so affronted Javert when he found out Madeleine was really Valjean:

Valjean is operating fully within the conviction that what a misérable deserves is to be put in his place.

[centrifuge-politics]

Brick Club 5.4.1

Late late late! I would say something about this compelling illustration but it feels in bad taste. This maybe goes without saying, but TW for suicide and suicidal thoughts. I don’t talk in detail about that aspect, but it very much is the lens this chapter is presented through.

To start off with a mild observation, I don’t particularly picture the Seine as a rapidly flowing river, so I’m wondering what the geography of this area must have been like to create deadly rapids in the Seine.

“There had been a new thing, a revolution, a catastrophe in the depths of his being.” I just watched Hello Future Me’s very good video on redemption arcs and Javert is absolutely primed for the start of a redemption arc that we are tragically deprived of. (The video also just provides really good frameworks for thinking about contextual character growth from any starting point). In the video, Future Me identifies three interconnected aspects of a character’s being that, when altered, create the tension that drives a character to change. These are stakes, views of self, and views of the world. For Javert, these have been in harmony thus far; he must maintain order, he is irreproachable in his duty, and people will always act according to their roles, respectively. But one of these points changes when Valjean spares him; his view of the world is challenged. As a result, his view of himself is no longer compatible with how he sees the world. If this had happened halfway through the book we would possibly see all of these aspects change one after the other as Javert struggled with the new tension between these factors and subsequently changed as a character. But, alas.

Javert has blown past rigid morals and entered into complete prescriptive essentialism. “One thing had astonished him, that Jean Valjean had spared him,” not even because Valjean is ‘bad’ and therefore does ‘bad’ actions, but that taking revenge against Javert would have been justified and even right in Javert’s eyes. It’s a startling view into Javert’s thought process, that every person is so inherently defined by their social positions that they their actions should be 100% predictable at all times, like rational choice theory on steroids.

However, there’s also a really interesting individual element that complicates things. Javert has a personal sense of honor that he has seemingly developed entirely based on his assumptions about society which dictates his response to this situation. It’s like he’s a computer program that hasn’t coded for any exceptions and assumes that every other person is the very same. It has such a twisted Hegelian flair, “the rational alone is real.”

“One of his causes of anxiety was, that he was compelled to think.” Honestly, it’s likely Javert would have never been able to comprehend that he even had an individual sense of honor had it not, at this moment, diverged from the one straight line he’s been following his whole life. There’s suddenly a divide between societal regulations and individual morals that he didn’t even know existed. Of course, the purely rational course of action is to turn Valjean in; a good act doesn’t absolve you of past crimes (legally speaking, because only state sanctioned penalty can exonerate a violation against state law). But Javert has made the mistake of making this personal, he’s no longer objective! Or he never was and is only just now realizing it. Instead, he’s suddenly developing subject/object awareness. Mmm, yes, Hegel. “He had, he, Javert, thought good to decide, against all the regulations of the police, against the whole social and judicial organisation, against the entire code, in favour of a release; that had pleased him; he had substituted his own affairs for the public affairs; could this be characterised?” Yes, sometimes we aren’t mindless cogs in the machine. Imagine if the world were actually imperfect and imprecise. “Terrible situation! to be moved…to be obliged to acknowledge this: infallibility is not infallible.”

The most surprising thing about this crisis is that it took this long for Javert to have it. I would have thought his continual dealings with corrupt individuals with the police would have triggered this crossroads ages ago. In the musical, this maybe works better because Valjean is Javert’s personal obsession. In the book, he’s really just a particular felon that Javert happens to run into every decade or so. He’s not hunting Valjean, he’s not even overly fixated on him until the moment when Valjean does him, personally, an unexpected good turn by not killing Javert as expected. Ignoring the fact that, by everything Javert knows, Valjean has never ever been a violent criminal and his worst crime is breaking parole, this is merely the ‘good’ reversal of the corrupt cop.

Below the cut, more discussion about Javert and rationality.

It’s also notable that this is not a moral awakening, it’s entirely a dilemma of moral logic. “Javert’s ideal was not to be humane, not to be great, not to be sublime; it was to be irreproachable.” And also, something not identical but similar to this has happened to him before! “But how manage to send in his resignation to God?” What a fascinating way of thinking about this. Javert’s mindset truly exemplifies the concept of anomic suicide—which I’ve often linked Marius to as well—which, to review, is characterized by an intense disillusionment and disappointment due to an abrupt shift in circumstances. In Javert’s case, the norms and values he has predicated his entire life on have been violently contested. He no longer feels able to fit into the societal niche he filled, he can’t be a police officer, he can’t be an agent of order, he can’t be a just man. Unlike Marius, Javert’s dilemma has very little to do with emotion and interpersonal conflict and everything to do with established rules and logic.

Javert is an interesting study of how macro structures perpetuate in micro cases, because it’s clear that he’s internalized the strictures of society into a personal ethic, but without any of the context that those strictures were created within. Society says ‘justice’ but what they actually mean is ‘rule of law.’ If Javert simply followed the letter of the law, he could turn Valjean in without reservation, but Javert genuinely believes in the spirit of the law and, well, the two are simply inherently incompatible in a corrupt system. Not to say Javert is a secret advocate of social justice, he definitely still has some screwed up ideas about the worth of poor people and oppressed ethnic groups and, I’m sure, women that definitely influence his idea of what is punishable. But his priorities show in what is functionally his last will and testament. He doesn’t show anything that could be called compassion or empathy for the prisoners he mentions—remember, he isn’t humane—but many of his observations would be a benefit to the prison population and restrictive for the guards. He’s a creature motivated by impartial reason and just exchange built on a questionable moral foundation.

So much of the imagery on the last page is adapted really beautifully in ‘Javert’s Suicide’ and this scene recalls Valjean’s initial epiphany years ago in Digne just as Javert’s melody is reprised from ‘Valjean’s Soliloquy,’ “Immensity seemed open there. What was beneath was not water, it was chasm. The wall of the quai, abrupt, confused, mingled with vapour, suddenly lost to sight, seemed like an escarpment of the infinite…the swollen river guessed at rather than perceived, the tragical whispering of the flood, the dismal vastness of the arches of the bridge, the imaginable fall into that gloomy void, all that shadow full of horror.” Javert, in the end, chose the unknown of death over the unknown of life which, in my opinion, if the core tragedy of his character.

[briannawhiteme]

I recently watched the 25th Anniversary Concert version and film version of Les Miserables and have been listening to the Complete 3-disk Philharmonic Recording that I bought at a thrift store for $1.

Les Mis shocked me when I first watched it that the story doesn't fit a classic tragedy. The "breeding pair" (as my college Shakespeare/Renaissance Literature prof called them) survive and are paired together to be fruitful and multiply.

While I was listening to the soundtrack on my way home yesterday and again today (as one does), it hit me that there's a secondary reason it's not a tragedy. All of the main characters achieve their goals. Please keep in mind that I'm going based on the musical, as I have not read the novel or watched any of the other.

Jean Valjean

Valjean has two goals in the narrative.

1. He wants to be free.

2. He wants to make up for his transgressions by fulfilling his promise to Fantine of taking care of Cosette and ensuring that she "will want for nothing."

By the end of the musical, Valjean dies a free man no longer on the run from Javert. His adopted daughter, Cosette, is happily married to Maria's, a rich, moral, young man who adores her and will make sure she is taken care, and she and her husband love and respect him, even after hearing his backstory.

Cosette

Cosette takes after her father and also has two goals.

1. She wants to know the truth about her father's and her own pasts.

2. She wants to no longer be lonely.

By the end of the musical, her father shares with her their backstories, and she is no longer lonely after marrying Marius who adores her and wants to spend the rest of their days together.

Fantine

Fantine wants:

1. Cosette, her daughter, to be taken care of

Even her own death is foreshadowed, she begs God to kill her if that means that Cosette, who she was told is ill, survives. The deal is taken. She dies, but her death is what makes Valjean feel guilty, forcing him to find and adopt Cosette. She also sings that she will see Cosette when she wakes, and at the end of the musical, as Valjean dies, Fantine returns from the dead, seeing her daughter again as she leads Valjean to Heaven.

Javert

Despite how often he talks about capturing Valjean, in his big song Stars, he doesn't mention Valjean once. Javert's goal is:

1. To be like the stars and fulfill his purpose in the universe.

While it's on a meta-level, he does so. Javert is consistently the reason the narrative moves forward and when he no longer is able to fulfill his purpose, he "falls" as he describes the stars doing when they are no longer able to fulfill their purpose.

Marius

Marius is interesting when he sings because he never truly states a want other than being with Cosette. He makes requests of other characters and describes how he feels in the moment, but he doesn't truly show unhappiness with his situation. If I had to say what his goal is, then I'd say he wants to belong, to be a part of something. He first has this belonging from being one of the barricade boys, but by the end, he has found the sense of belonging he wants from being with Cosette.

Eponine

Eponine wants:

1. Marius to love her, to be beside her, to show her that he cares for her.

In A Little Fall of Rain, Eponine gets the one thing she's always wanted. Marius is not thinking about the Revolution, or pining for Cosette, or calling her a tease. Marius holds her and tells her he cares about her as she dies in his arms. Then he goes into battle the next day with her name on his lips.

Gavroche

Gavroche is a literal child and also the smartest, most competent character in the musical. I won't hear arguments on this fact.

He wants:

1. To be a part of the revolution and show his worth to the barricade boys.

He does, repeatedly. He's the one who tells them that General LeMarque is dead, that they can't trust the Thenardiers, and that Javert is a spy.

As he tells Javert after outing him as a spy and police inspector:

"And little people know

When little people fight

We may look easy pickings

But we've got some bite"

Gavroche is not just some little kid or Dickensian orphan waif that lets the world push him around. He bares his teeth and fights back until he dies in battle.

The Thenardiers

The Thenardiers want:

1. Cash

2. No repercussions for their actions

They get what they want. They get paid by Fantine for 'caring' for Cosette; they get paid by Valjean so that he can take Cosette away; and they get paid by Marius to go away when they show up at his and Cosette's wedding. They are never punished by the narrative in a way that matters to them. They are never arrested, and they never lose their meager wealth. They are bolder and more well off every time the audience sees them.

In their own words:

"Clear away the barricades, and we're still there! / We know where the wind is blowing / Money is the stuff we smell"

This line is especially hard to stomach because Eponine, their own daughter, was killed at the barricade (and Gavroche, a child, who is their son in the novel).

In the game of life, despite being horrible people, the Thenardiers, the "beggars at the feast," win again and again.

The Barracade Boys

As a collective, they want:

1. Their "little lives" to mean something. They want to take a stand and have an impact on the world.

They do. The revolution lead by the Barracade Boys changes the futures of every other character in the play, and, on a meta-level, we know that modern day, democratic France was created by the actions of revolutionaries like them. Yes, they die, but they all repeat several times that they do not mind dying in battle.

[transrevolutions]

I realized something interesting today.

Almost every major character in Les Mis is an archetype, an allegory for something else.

Of course, the most obvious example of this is Javert. He ‘is’ the law, the relentless, unforgiving, unyielding law. He personifies the almost inhuman side of the law, the one which condemns people to worse fates than the crimes they committed just because a document tells them to. He is the epitome of a cop.

Then there’s Jean Valjean, who’s the archetype of lawless morality. He does his best to do what’s right, even if it means breaking the set-in-stone laws that Javert adheres his moral code to. Jean Valjean is a paragon, a man who chooses, each day since his release, to do the morally right thing, or at least he does his best to do the morally right thing.

Thenardier is the embodiment of capitalist greed and selfishness. Much the way Javert is the dark parallel to Valjean’s good side, he’s more-or-less the dark parallel to Valjean’s bad side the only-living-for-survival, criminal, bitter side. He’s a con man, a swindler, and he is abusive and dishonest- everything Valjean could be but chooses not to. He’s also very much a product of the system he attempts to manipulate.

Fantine is the victim, the mother, the naïve and innocent one, who is the one the world has done unfairly dirty. Forced to grow up too fast, abandoned by her lover, and forced to give up her own daughter to survive, Fantine is rightfully angry but also genuinely soft-hearted and kind. Then she dies early on, of course, fully cementing her as the foremost victim of the story, as well as the catalyst for the remaining segments of the book.

Cosette, however, is the example of peacetime, of hope, and of simple joy. She’s a little bit naïve as well, and although she grew up as one of the ‘miserables’, by luck and by fate she has risen above her beginnings- perhaps the opposite of Fantine in that way, who started so high and fell so low. She is everything peaceful, good, and pure in the world.

Marius is foolish youth and young love. He’s the epitome of the awkward teen (young adult? Same thing). He is confused, grew up sheltered, and lacks strong moral convictions at first due to this. Gillenormand (who isn’t important enough to get his own segment but is the representative for conservativism) is partially the cause of this. He’s also strongly emotional- he follows his heart, not his head. Which explains how immediately and obsessively he is attracted to Cosette, because Marius, like many young folks, never does things halfway.

Enjolras represents the fight, but the positive fight. He’s basically the ‘hero’ in every children’s book, with a one-track mind and a perceived duty to fulfill. He’s untouchable much in the way that Cosette almost is, because he also represents the ‘good’ in the world, but rather than the already-there good (Cosette), he embodies the fight for good, and the hard-won good. 

Grantaire is literally skeptical philosophy and nihilism condensed into a person. He’s the opposite of Enjolras in that Enjolras believes to the point of self-destruction and Grantaire disbelieves to the point of self-destruction. He’s in love with Enjolras because Enjolras completes him (and in their last scene together, Enjolras realizes somewhat that Grantaire completes him as well). He’s also a metaphor for the people of Paris, who sleep but eventually, someday, rise up. He’s not especially likeable, he’s extraordinarily irritating, but he’s there, and he’s important all the same.

Gavroche is freedom. He’s also childhood, and the two are often one and the same. He does what he wants to, has free reign of the streets, and takes absolutely zero shit from anyone (you go little dude). He’s also an example of how the good in human nature prevails even through difficult and hard times- Gavroche is that little kid in everyone who just wants to run around and be free. He’s also a little snark, even to people like cops who could hurt him for it. Life lesson- be like Gavroche.

Now there’s one exception to this unstated ‘rule’- that each major character represents a quality- is an ideal rather than simply a person. That exception is Eponine.

Which is really interesting, in a lot of ways. Eponine is hard to pin down. Eponine is somewhat morally grey- she does hide Cosette’s letter and bully her as a child- but she is also kind in her own way, and will do anything for who she cares about. She’s a little awkward- not Marius-level awkward, but insecure and unsure of herself. She’s lonely in a world of strangers, but she finds a little joy in her friendships. She’s described as ragged but beautiful, which is an interesting use of antithesis by Hugo.

Eponine is tough, hardened, and sharpened by years of abuse and life on the streets. She’s also soft-around-the-edges and has moments of genuine, almost childlike innocence, like when she’s so happy to learn how to read. Eponine’s motives are equal parts selfless and selfish, hard and soft. 

So as far as I can tell, Eponine is a paragon of humanity. She’s the humanest of humans, not an ideal nor a vice, but a complex, easily-forgotten, beautiful, ugly, beloved, unloved human. That’s what makes her so different from the others- she’s the prism amid all the colors. And then she dies too, and in time is almost forgotten, just as so many humans are. 

But she’s vital- her little actions, like finding Cosette, saving Marius’s life, stopping the robbery at Rue Plumet- had impacts. Though few of the characters recognized it, without Eponine, the story would’ve ended very, very differently.

[secretmellowblog]

WHAT DO YOU M E A N VALJEAN’S FURSONA IS CANONICALLY A CAT

I mean what I said!!!!!! It’s canon and I have proof!!! (Although this is just my personal Hot Take and @lawisnotmocked is tumblr’s resident Les Mis animal symbolism expert)

Javert’s fursona is canonically a dog-- we all know this, everyone knows this. Hugo literally tells us he is the “dog son of a wolf” and reiterates that on every page. There is no argument there. But I argue that Valjean is a cat, it’s just more subtle.

The first animal he’s compared to by a peasant in Digne is a “Tso-Maraude,” or marauding feral cat. When he steals the bishop’s silver he’s describing as creeping into the room as furtively as a cat, and then leaping away like a tiger.

In Javert’s introduction he’s described as realizing that Madeleine is Valjean because he is a Dog and can feel that Madeleine is a Cat:

A sort of incorruptible and imperturbable instinct kept (Javert) on the alert and uneasy. It seems, in fact, as though there existed in certain men a veritable bestial instinct (......) (that) secretly warns the man-dog of the presence of the man-cat.....

Javert canonically starts to suspect that Madeleine is Valjean because “I’m sensing ..........his fursona is the opposite of mine!”

Imagine Javert walking up to the prefecture like “Here’s my evidence against Madeleine: My fursona is a dog. And my dog senses are picking up that Madeleine’s fursona is a cat! And Valjean was also a cat!”  And the prefecture’s like “what” but Javert is actually Right. Modern AU where Javert suspects Madeleine after he posts a fursona on his instagram and Javert’s like ”only one man would have a fursona like that” And everyone thinks he’s crazy but he’s Right)

Valjean is compared to a wide variety of animals throughout the book-- owls, bears, etc-- but rereading the book I feel like cats/wildcats are the most important one. When he’s stealing the silver, he’s described as being “stealthy as a cat.”  When Javert collars him he’s described as being like a “lion.” etc etc.

In the arai Manga (where every character has fursonas) Valjean’s fursona is a lion. In special moments where the other characters are seeing into his soul, his soul appears as a magnificent white lion. Here’s Cosette meeting Valjean for the first time:

(KITTY)

@pilferingapples has done a longer post on the meaning of Cat Imagery in Les Mis (which I can’t find at the moment) but cats are generally used to represent sympathetic characters, while dog imagery tends to be used on Disasters like Javert.

But the biggest thing for me is that Valjean.....acts like a cat????????

He really does act like a cat.

I can’t stress how much Valjean acts like a cat.

The most obviously cat-like thing about Valjean is how he’s always Climbing Around Paris. Just  hopping around, stealthy and cat-like. He’s always doing rad stunts at 3am. He’s doing “reverse cat burglaries,” where he breaks into people’s houses to leave them money. He’s doing parkour and climbing around weird places, clambering on the hulls of boats and scuttling through the sewers. Climbing up a sheer convent wall like it’s nothing.

The duality of Valjean’s character is that he’s quiet, gentle, shy, thoughtful, peaceful, solitary, and soft...........until it’s 3am and time to do some RAD STUNTS!!!!!!

It’s very cat-like!! It really is. The way Valjean is just, this quiet gentle creature who does wild parkour stunts.

Valjean climbing into the convent and getting Stuck because he doesn’t know how to climb back out===has the exact same energy as a cat climbing up a tree and then getting Stuck because it doesn’t how to climb back down.

Valjean is also an escape artist who doesn’t like being confined in spaces and will do ridiculous magical stunts to get out of it. Honestly, that reminds me of how my cat always seems to find elaborate ways to escape the house. If a cat wants to go outside, they will GET outside. (Even if they have to bury themselves alive in a coffin in a truly wacky coffin heist!)

He also has a lot of very cat-like habits and behaviors, especially in the way he interacts with people. Like- he’s very solitary and doesn’t like being around crowds. His favorite hobby is pacing the streets of his neighborhoods alone. He tends to wander from place to place, from one home to the next, like a stray cat. He shies away from people--- unless it’s the One or Two People He Knows, at which point he becomes Extremely Clingy. And his way of socializing with Cosette is often like..... “we’re in the same room together, but we’re both doing our own separate things. :D”

And also like..........in every town he’s in, Valjean gets treated like the neighborhood’s friendly stray cat. Because Valjean’s favorite hobby is to walk around the neighborhood, people start recognizing him- and because he’s shy/reclusive they always end up giving him cute little nicknames, the way you nickname a stray cat. Like when Valjean goes to the Luxembourg gardens all the time, the students nickname him “Monsieur LeBlanc” because of his white hair. In Paris with 8-year old Cosette he gets nicknamed The Beggar Who Gives Alms, in Montreuil-Sur-Mer he gets nicknamed Father Madeleine. (In M-sur-M kids also used to follow after him because he’s nice to children/gives them gifts-- which reminds me of the way kids will excitedly follow around a friendly stray cat hoping it will let them pet him.)

But yeah the villagers always seem to talk about Valjean like a stray cat. “Oh that’s Monsieur LeBlanc/Father Madeleine/The Beggar Who Gives Alms! He just showed up one day, and likes to walk around the neighborhood! :3 We don’t know where he came from, but he’s just the sweetest thing!!”

[neroushalvaus]

Hawkeye or Mulcahy of MASH fame (which ever is easier for u), and/or Jean Valjean and Javert of silver-stealing/canal-jumping fame (maybe??? idk i haven't read the brick). oh and maybe Persephone from Hadestown if you feel like it

Ohhhh so many thank you ❤❤

I am going to try do these all but just a reminder that my knowledge about MASH is still super limited!! But I'll try.

Why I would NOT date...

*

Hawkeye

- I would have hard time keeping up with him. I am also fairly certain he is already in love with Trapper, so.

*

Father Mulcahy

- Ohhh this is a hard one because I think we'd be a very nice couple who gifts jars of pickles for our friends and neighbours. But I think that we would never date because if we had a crush on each other, neither of us would have the courage to admit it and we'd mutually pine for eternity.

*

Jean Valjean

- We would not date because if I was to ask him out on a date, he would moan about not deserving good things in this life and then he'd retire to his Shame Hut to eat stale bread.

*

Javert

- I already said I wouldn't date another character because they are too tough on crime, imagine me turning around and dating the official tough on crime icon.... Anyway, our values would be too different, also he would want nothing to do with a harlot like me. But even if this was an au version of Javert where he doesn't jump of a bridge when he learns about shades of gray, I would not date him because I actually like to have fun every once in a while and you can not have fun with someone whose idea of a good time includes reading even though you hate reading and enjoying a pinch of snuff.

*

Persephone

- Ohhhh my god(des heh heh) she would eat me alive. Well. Maybe I would like to date her, but I would be constantly worried because she is so outgoing and I would be worried something happened to her. So I would not date her because of that.

*

Send me a character and I will tell you why I would NOT date them

[captainmera]

I know my messages don't reach you where you are.

But it still hurts to miss you.

Youre not there, on the other side of the screen, anymore.

And I feel terrible, my memories of you are blurry now. I remember bits, like you were never real to begin with. But you were real once, so real. At least my feelings were real. And maybe that's the only thing that matters in memories.

I wish I had more things of yours. More than text and stupid movies we streamed. 1... 2... 3... PLAY! Remember when we went thru all the seasons of ghost adventures? ...thanks for humouring me with that.

I wish I had something of yours so I could find comfort in that; at least once upon a time, you were really here on earth with me. And you mattered to me.

Where did you go?

I dont want the last thing you told me to be "happy birthday!" Why did you let that be the last thing you said?

I know my messages doesn't reach you anymore.

Ghosted gets a whole new meaning now, doesn't it?

Yeah...

You are just ghosts now. But you won't even answer my scrying calls. I'm not afraid of finding shadows behind me in the mirror, I would like to see you one last time. One last talk. Just to ask if it all mattered to you too.

Did it?

Or maybe you're not dead at all.

Are you?

Where are you...?

What happened?

Was it me? Did I do something?

No, that's not the kind of people you were. You would have told me to my face. You would have explained it to me if you had the chance, I know you would have!

If you could have...

And that's the thing, isnt it?

You would have told me.

But you didn't. So... you.. Must be gone?

Are you gone?

There's no closure to this I know. I'm just running in circles hoping an answer will present itself of what happened to you. To all three of you. Someone must still be alive, right?

You wouldn't just..

Leave.

Not without telling me.

Weren't I invited to the wedding? Weren't we all going to wear sneakers in different colours and she was going to wear a sleeved dress and you were going to have a navy blue suit and you were going to make the cake. And I were going to bring a basket full of love.

You would have told me.

If you had a daughter you wanted her to have my middle name. And you always wanted a sailormoon wedding. And you wanted me to see you sing live someday.

You didn't make me feel that loved on pretend. I refuse to believe you did that for jokes, for years.

Did something bad happen...?

I have tried to find you.

Tried to look in every newspaper, tried to find out, tried to reach out- I did try!

It's been three years.

Was it corona? Did you all die from it? All three of you? Or did one of you die and the other two didn't have heart to tell me and just thought this was better??

I'm... just..

So sad.

Y'know?

I think of you all the time and I can't, like, move sometimes. I can't move. I can't think and I can't make any sense of it. It is crippling.

And people say online friends aren't like real friends, haha.

Hah..

...

I just want to know what happened.

But this message won't reach you either, will it?

Kitten, PauPau, Cupcake.

I love you.

I still do.

Wherever you are, if you're alive out there still, I hope youre doing ok. I really hope you're okay. I much rather you be alive somewhere forgetting about me than dead and it's me who is forgetting.

I hope you had the wedding and I hope your pets are alright, I hope youre all bundled up together all happy-like in a house where kitten painted every wall and paupau draws his buildings and Cupcake bakes their cookies.

I bet there's an outdoor shower, she always wanted one. I hope paupau gives in on getting a chicken, you did agree on the dog after all. Haha, Doge. Who names their dog Doge? Haha! Javert the cat.

Was France alright in the summer? Do you still have farmers dumping free produce on your doorstep? Does Jean still work with Paupau? Or maybe they finally started their own architect business.. I always did think paupau was too good for that place.

Hey Kitten how's your class? Are the kids sweet? Did you use those art games I suggested? I hope you get to write your book. I want to read it. I want it signed and I will read it until it breaks in the seams. I want to hear you read it, I wish we could have that DnD session someday. Doesn't feel right to try it now. It.. I looked forward to it with you.

I hope youre ok Cupcake. I hope Darrell could keep the bakery and I hope Ame is doing well. What is she like, 15 now? Haha remember when you and me were conspiring over documentaries? Or all the barbie movies. Oh I miss Ostelkanny, I wonder what else you've thought up for that world, yknow? Tell me more about their gods, tell me more about Faina. You never told me how their story ends!

You never told me how it ends.

Is this how it ends..?

Not.. 10 years of friendship.. it can't just end with "happy birthday!" And then just....

Void.

It's.. too quiet here without you.

And silence hurts.

I miss you.

I love you.

Wherever you are, I love you.

I know this is futile.. My messages don't reach you anymore.

But still I cycle through hoping and grieving.

I just don't know.

I just want closure.

I cant close the book. I dont like this ending.

I want a different ending.

Is there one...?

Is there?

....

Please be okay. You promised to take care. ;-;

[miserablesme]

The Les Miserables Changelog Part 1: Barbican Previews

Hello everyone! I'm starting out a blog which will look at my favorite musical, Les Miserables, and will discuss the various changes it has gone through over time (musically and lyrically). As it turns out, a LOT of edits have been made over the years so this will doubtless be a series with several parts.

This first part may well be the most difficult and will almost certainly be the most incomplete, as previews can be a time of extensive editing and experimentation. At least for the first few weeks or so, it's perfectly possible any one day of previews will be slightly different than any other day. However, I only have access to two audios from the Barbican Theatre previews of Les Miserables, meaning it's likely that lyrical variants exist which I have no way of hearing.

I am aware of the existence of a third audio which is fairly early in the run of previews, as the tape's master has told me that Gavroche's death scene is in its original form (I'll clarify that later). However, that tape has never been traded, and has sadly only been listened to by its master. I am also aware of a video proshot of the Barbican era that exists in the Royal Shakespeare Company library, but currently have no access to it. I plan to inquire about whether I can look at it sometime (though I'm not sure a blog like this is "official" enough to warrant it for research purposes). As such, this comparison only entails the two widely circulated audios from the Barbican run.

Now that we've gotten that cleared up, let's get started!

First, let's look at the opening "Work Song". In the earlier recording I have (let's call it R1), the beginning music (the same tune used, for instance, at the opening of "At the End of the Day" and "One Day More" and for Marius and Cosette's meeting in "The Robbery") stops. Then, a few moments later, the more familiar opening that leads directly into the prologue begins. By the time of the later recording I have (let's call it R2), the scores have been combined so that the first tune directly transitions into the second one.

Meanwhile, in R1 there is a sequence of lines that goes as follows:

I've done no wrong

Sweet Jesus, hear my prayer

Look down, look down

Sweet Jesus doesn't care

I killed a man

He tried to steal my wife

Look down, look down

She wasn't worth your life

I know she'll wait

I know that she'll be true

Look down, look down

She's long forgotten you

Most fans of the musical recognize the middle sequence of lines ("I killed a man" through "She wasn't worth your life") as no longer being lines in the show (for good reason, as we'll get into in a later edition of this blog). However, R2 keeps the lines. Instead, it deletes the third sequence ("I know she'll wait" through "She's long forgotten you"). I have no idea if this lasted only a few performances or made it all the way to the end of the Barbican run, or somewhere in between.

During "On Parole", specifically after Valjean is underpaid for his labor and sings about his frustration, R1 uses a variation of the "Work Song" theme which, to my recollection, is heard nowhere else in the musical. It can be heard here. By R2, it was switched to an in-tune version of the number with a unique opening. The musical retains that version to this day, but in case you can't recall it you can hear it here.

Minus an unintentional line flub in "At the End of the Day" in R2, the two Barbican recordings seem to use the same libretto and score from this point until "The Runaway Cart". At this point, R1 has a rather extensive scene leading up to Valjean saving Fauchelevent, which goes approximately as follows (the dialog is difficult to make out):

(VALJEAN)

Is there anyone here who will rescue the man?

Who will help me to shoulder the weight of the cart?

I will pay any man thirty louis d’or more

I will do it myself if there’s no one who will

We can’t let him die like that down in the street

Can you all watch him die and do nothing at all?

(FAUCHELEVENT)

Don’t approach me, Monsieur Mayor

The cart’s not gonna be holding

Not my poor mother would care if I should die

(TOWNSPEOPLE)

Don't go near him, Monsieur Mayor

There's nothing at all you can do

The old man's a goner for sure

Leave him alone

Most of that dialog is deleted in R2, so that it goes directly from "Who will help me to shoulder the weight of the cart" to "Don't go near him, Monsieur Mayor". I really like the idea of the original version; it seems reasonable that Valjean, having become a more trusted man, would expect the townspeople to help him. It's more meaningful that Valjean is good enough to do what's right when there's more time to establish that no one else is. Having said that, the original version did take quite a while and didn't really contain any relevant information that wasn't in the final version. I think the cut version as heard in R2 is a good compromise and retains the general mood and pacing to make Valjean's ultimate action satisfying (something that can't be said of later cuts, as will be discussed in a future edition of this blog).

Additionally, at the end of the number Javert refers to "the mark upon his skin" in R1 and "the brand upon his skin in R2 (as well as literally every subsequent performance since then to my knowledge). I have no idea if the "mark" line was a minor flub or was actually the original lyric.

"Who Am I?" is an interesting one. The musical content is identical in R1 and R2, but in R1 after his high note, Valjean shouts "You know where to find me!" with emotion so dramatic it sits right on the border between awesome and campy. By contrast, Valjean is totally silent after his high note in R2. Neither version would see its final day just yet, although the latter certainly has become more traditional over time. More on that in future editions.

From this point until "Master of the House" everything is the same between the two recordings. Roger Allam even comes in slightly late in both "Confrontation" scenes (making his line "-jean, at last...")! However, in the opening to "Master of the House" the following lines occur in R1:

(THENARDIER)

My band of soaks, my den of dissolutes

My dirty jokes, my always pissed as newts

My sons of whores

Spend their lives in my inn

Homing pigeons flying in

They fly through my doors

And their money's good as yours

(CUSTOMERS)

Ain't got a clue what he put into his stew

Must've scraped it off the street

Hell, what a wine

Châteauneuf de Turpentine

Must've pressed it with his feet

Landlord over here

Where's the bloody man

One more for the road

One more slug of gin

Just one more or my old man is gonna do me in

All of those lines would be scrapped in R2. Personally I prefer this shortened variant than the one that would occur much later. Sure, some fun moments get lost, but nothing that actually adds any substance or characterization to the musical (unlike the later cut, which I'll discuss in a later edition of this blog). Some have speculated that this is simply lost dialog due to a tape flip of degrading, given that future performances would retain those lines. However, there is firsthand confirmation that the cuts were in fact part of the performance. To quote Trevor Nunn on page 87 of 1990's The Complete Book of Les Miserables (a page which elaborates that "the cost of overtime incurred after three hours could be crippling at a time when Les Miserables was still trying to find an audience"):

"Cameron wanted major cuts, which would have reduced its length to two and a half hours. I resisted, refusing to discuss things on those terms... Some of the other proposed cuts - like the removal of the "Master of the House" scene-setting preamble - were tried out in previews and then restored as the scenes would not work without them."

From a historical perspective that quote is invaluable. As will be brought up in a later blog post (notice a pattern today?) the musical would in fact be cut much later to avoid overtime charges. When people like myself have expressed the opinion that these cuts come at the expense of artistic integrity, I've seen others defend them by claiming that the overtime costs never were relevant to Cameron and the gang until Broadway sales began to go down, and that if they were taken into account the musical may well be in its shortened form from the beginning. However, this quote proves that argument to be false. Right from day one, the crew was aware that retaining a >3 hour runtime would come with severe financial costs, but this was deemed a worthy sacrifice in order to tell the story they wanted told. Indeed, it sounds like Cameron Mackintosh was waiting quite some time to enact his infamous cuts! (Cameron Mackintosh valuing profit above art?! Crazy, right??)

But I digress. Going back to the musical, the "Waltz of Treachery" number is mostly the same. However, after Valjean's "It won't take you too long to forget" line, R1 has over a minute of wordless vamping which leads right into the rather awkwardly-placed "Stars" song. By contrast, in R2 this vamping (which is still a minute long, mind you) leads into a humming duet between Little Cosette and Valjean, similar to the duet right before the number. A nice little bookend that makes the scene feel all the more resolved. (Much later this duet reprise would ironically be scrapped again, though!) The remaining segment of R1's vamping now plays after this sequence in R2.

Minus some unintentional missed lines at the beginning of "Stars" in R1, the recordings seem to follow the same libretto right up until "One Day More". Here, R1 uses the following lines:

(EPONINE)

One more day with him not caring

(MARIUS and COSETTE)

Was there ever love so true?

(EPONINE)

What a life I might have known

(MARIUS and COSETTE)

I was born to be with you

However, by R2 this scene is in its current form:

(EPONINE)

One more day with him not caring

(MARIUS and COSETTE)

I was born to be with you

(EPONINE)

What a life I might have known

(MARIUS and COSETTE)

And I swear I will be true

And that closes act one! Going on to the second act, the opening barricade scene has a few changes. First off, following the opening notes, R1 features a rather odd tune bearing resemblance to "Do You Hear the People Sing" (which can be heard here) before transitioning to a more true-to-form instrumental reprise of "Do You Hear the People Sing?" By contrast, R2 goes straight from the opening notes to the true-to-form reprise.

Next, Enjolras proclaims "Have faith in yourself and do not be afraid" in R1, while in R2 he instead states "Every man to his duty and don't be afraid". It's unknown if this was an intentional libretto change or if it simply reflects a flub during R1. A later sequence uses the "Have faith in yourself" line, meaning he may have just sung the wrong line for that particular scene.

Finally, R1 includes the following sequence (at least I think this is how it goes, since the lyrics are a little hard to hear):

(PROUVAIRE)

And the people will fight

(GRANTAIRE)

And join with you

Who gives a speech in the square

Fortunately, R2 uses a much less clunky (though still somewhat so) sequence:

(PROUVAIRE)

And the people will fight

(GRANTAIRE)

And so they might

Some will bark, some will bite

This isn't quite its current form ("dogs" and "fleas" will soon respectively replace the two usages of "some"), but it's pretty darn close.

I've heard that the very first Barbican preview(s?) didn't have a finalized opening to "On My Own". Sadly there is no known audio record of this, so I cannot comment on what exactly it began as. As such, the next major change takes place during Gavroche's death scene. This honestly is probably the biggest of all the changes between the two recordings. R1 uses the following death scene (in the tune of "Look Down" right up until the "So never kick a dog" verse, which is in the tune of "Little People"):

How do you do, my name’s Gavroche

These are my people, here’s my patch

Not much to look at, nothing posh

Nothing that you’d call up to scratch

Some fool, I bet, whose brains are made of fat

Picks up a gun and shoots me down

Nobody told him who he’s shooting at

He doesn’t know who runs this town

Life’s like that

There’s some folk

Missed the joke

That’s three, that’s three

That one has done for me

Too fast, too fast

They’ve got Gavroche at last

So never kick a dog

Because he’s just a pup

You better run for cover when the pup grows...

By contrast, R2 uses a much shorter variant which is set entirely to the tune of "Little People":

And little people know

When little people fight

We may look easy picking but we've got some bite

So never kick a dog

Because he's just a pup

You'd better run for cover when the pup grows up

And we'll fight like twenty armies and we won't give...

This is much closer to its current form, although the last two lines are inverted (we'll get to that in a later edition).

We now fast-forward to "Dog Eats Dog", which while recognizable is very different from the number we know today. The chorus of R1 claims that "It's a dirty great sewer that's crawling with rats", which R2 changes it to "stinking great sewer" instead. I'd definitely say the revised lyric better captures Thenardier's and the sewer's grossness.

Additionally, regarding Marius' ring, Thenardier originally exclaims that he "didn't mean to waste it, that would really be a crime". By R2, the line changes to "wouldn't want to waste it", which I'd say makes a lot more sense.

"Javert's Suicide" has changed a lot. R1 features the following remarks following "Vengeance was his and he gave me back my life":

Damned if I live in this caper of grace

Damned if I live in the debt of Valjean

I'll spit his pity right back in his face

Is this the law or has sanity gone?

(I'm a little unsure as to how accurate the final line is.)

By R2, the lines have been replaced with the current ones:

Damned if I live in the debt of a thief

Damned if I yield at the end of the chase

I am the law and the law is not mocked

I'll spit his pity right back in his face

In R1, the "Where's the new world, now the fighting's done" line is absent, and there is nothing but instrumentals in the segment where it is usually sung. By contrast, it is sung as usual in R2. My guess is that an actress simply forgot her line in R1 and it was always supposed to be there, though I can't say for sure.

The final change occurs at the wedding scene. The singing which opens the number is repeated in R1. By contrast, R2 has it sung once and then done with, as it currently is (and as it should be in my opinion, since the music isn't particularly pretty and contributes nothing to the plot).

Later in the same scene, R1 includes approximately this exchange (again, it's quite hard to make out the exact lyrics):

(THENARDIER)

I was there

Never fear

Even got me this fine souvenir

He was there

Her old dad

*indecipherable* and fleecing this lad

Robbed the dead

That's his way

(MME. THENARDIER)

That's worth five hundred any old day

(MARIUS)

I know this...

By R2, everything between "He was there" and "Any old day" were removed, which makes sense given that they essentially just rehash what was already said.

Finally, there's a subtle difference in the epilogue, specifically during the "Do You Hear the People Sing?" reprise. In R1, the ensemble sings "They will live again in glory in the garden of the Lord". R2 replaces the word "glory" with "freedom", and that word remains the one used to this day. I suppose "freedom" is more appropriate for the context of peace and prosperity. To many, I'd guess that "glory" conjures imagery of knights, battles, and the like; just the kind of violence that the characters wish to move away from! I have no idea if this was why the writers changed the lyric, but it's my hypothesis.

Towards the end of the show, the chorus in R1 sings "Even the darkest moon will end and the sun will rise". By R2, this is changed to "the darkest night". Makes more sense to me, since moons aren't known for being particularly dark!

And that just about sums this part up! If I missed anything feel free to let me know, as my goal is to create a changelog as thorough and complete as possible. I plan on making more parts in the near future covering all the changes that have been made in the show up until this day (discounting concerts). Any feedback and constructive criticism is very much appreciated.

As a side note, both for this project and my own enjoyment, I want as complete a collection of Les Miserables audios as possible. I already have most of what's commonly circulated, but if you have any audios or videos you know are rare, I'd love it if you DMed me!

Until the turntable puts me at the forefront again, good-bye...

[oneboxofmatches]

All You Need to Know About Matchups!

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE WAITLIST

Hi y'all!

This account is solely for matchups for several different fandoms. That means requests for imagines, oneshots, headcanons, etc. will NOT be taken.

Here are some basic things to know about requesting a matchup!

Unless otherwise specified for a certain fandom, a request yields one romantic pairing AND one friendship pairing as well as information on why I think you work well with the individuals I choose. Of course, if you only wish to receive either just the romantic matchup or just the friendship matchup, just let me know!

You can request matchups for several different fandoms at once! For each fandom you request, I will match you up with one romantic partner and one friend unless you request differently.

You can ask to exclude any character(s)!

Where can I request a matchup?

Requests can be made in the MATCHUP REQUESTS/ASK ME ANYTHING tab.

What do I need to include in my request?

Required

Fandom(s)

Your gender and/or pronouns

Your sexual orientation and/or preferences

Description of personality

Optional (but definitely helps me out!)

Description of appearance

Hobbies

Personality alignment (Myers-Briggs, Enneagram, Hogwarts House, etc.)

What you would look for in a partner and/or friend

Any other information you think would be helpful – the more you provide, the more I can work with!

Now with that out of the way, onto the fandoms!

Listed directly below is a shortlist of all the fandoms I take requests for as well as some extra information as needed.

Disclaimers

If a title is in italics, it means that while I feel comfortable providing matchups for this show, I have not watched every season. If a character drastically changes after a certain point, I may not be aware. The last season I watched of these shows will be included in parentheses.

All movies/shows based on novels will most likely focus on the on-screen adaptations of characters.

SHOWS

The 100 (6)

Good Omens

The Good Place (3)

Lucifer (4)

On My Block

Parks and Recreation (4)

Prodigal Son (1)

Sherlock

Space Force

Supernatural (14)

The Walking Dead (8)

MOVIES

Clueless

The Greatest Showman

Harry Potter -- Unless specified in request, will entail 2 sets of matchups as a student (Golden Trio and Marauders eras respectively)

The Hunger Games

Marvel Cinematic Universe -- Unless age is specified, underage characters will NOT be available for romantic matchups

BROADWAY

Anastasia

Beetlejuice

Carrie (2012 Off-Broadway)

Hadestown

Hamilton

Les Misérables

The Phantom of the Opera

Six

VIDEO GAMES

Detroit: Become Human

Red Dead Redemption 2

What’s below the cut?

A masterlist of characters in each fandom that will be considered for each request (unless marked with an asterisk (*), all characters are assumed to be available for both romantic AND friendly matchups while names marked with an asterisk are only available for friendly matchups). Listed alphabetically by first name.

Don’t be afraid to tell me about a typo!

Any questions? Just want to talk? You can also use the  MATCHUP REQUESTS/ASK ME ANYTHING tab to get ahold of me!

SHOWS

Bellamy Blake

Clarke Griffin

Echo

Finn Collins

Harper McIntyre

Jasper Jordan

Johnathan “John” Murphy

Jordan Green

Lexa

Lincoln

Marcus Kane

Monty Green

Octavia Blake

Raven Reyes

Roan

Wells Jaha

Aziraphale

Anathema Device

Crowley

Newton Pulsifer

Mme. Tracy*

Witchfinder Sgt. Shadwell*

Chidi Anagonye

Eleanor Shellstrop

Jason Mendoza

Michael*

Tahani Al-Jamil

Amenadiel

Det. Chloe Decker

Det. Daniel “Dan” Espinoza

Ella Lopez

Eve

Dr. Linda Martin*

Lucifer Morningstar

Mazikeen “Maze”

Cesar Diaz

Jamal Turner

Jasmine Flores

Monsé Finnie

Oscar “Spooky” Diaz

Ruben “Ruby” Martinez Jr.

Andrew “Andy” Dwyer

Ann Perkins

April Ludgate

Benjamin “Ben” Wyatt

Christopher “Chris” Traeger

Donna Meagle*

Gerald “Jerry” Gergich*

Jean-Ralphio Saperstein*

Leslie Knope

Ronald “Ron” Swanson*

Ainsley Whitly

Det. Dani Powell

Edrisa Tanaka

Lt. Gil Arroyo

Det. James “JT” Tarmel

Jessica Whitly

Malcolm Bright

DI Greg Lestrade

Mrs. Hudson*

James “Jim” Moriarty

Dr. John Watson

Mary Morstan*

Molly Hooper

Mycroft Holmes

Sherlock Holmes

Dr. Adrian Mallory*

Capt. Angela Ali

Brig. Gen. Bradley Gregory*

Dr. Chan Kaifang

Duncan Tabner

Erin Naird

F. Tony Scarapiducci

Kelly King

Maggie Naird*

Gen. Mark Naird*

Abbie “Bela” Talbot*

Adam Milligan

Alex Jones

Balthazar

Benjamin “Benny” Lafitte

Castiel

Charlene “Charlie” Bradbury

Claire Novak

Crowley

Dean Winchester

Sheriff Donna Hanscum

Eileen Leahy

Ellen Harvelle*

Gabriel

Garth Fitzgerald IV

Jack Kline

Jessica “Jess” Moore*

Joanna “Jo” Harvelle

Sheriff Jody Mills*

John Winchester

Kaia Nieves

Kevin Tran

Lucifer

Meg Masters

Michael “Mick” Davies

Patience Turner

Robert “Bobby” Singer*

Rowena MacLeod

Rufus Turner*

Samuel “Sam” Winchester

Aaron

Abraham Ford

Andrea*

Beth Greene

Carl Grimes*

Carol Peletier*

Dale Horvath*

Daryl Dixon

Dwight

Enid*

Eugene Porter*

King Ezekiel*

Father Gabriel Stokes

Glenn Rhee

Hershel Greene*

Maggie Greene

Michonne

Morgan Jones*

Negan Smith

Paul “Jesus” Rovia

Rick Grimes

Rosita Espinosa

Sasha Williams

Tara Chambler

Tyreese Williams

MOVIES

Cher Horowitz

Dionne Davenport

Josh Lucas

Tai Frasier

Travis Birkenstock

Anne Wheeler

Charity Barnum

Jenny Lind

Lettie Lutz*

Phillip Carlyle

Phineas “P.T.” Barnum

W.D. Wheeler

Alastor “Mad-Eye” Moody*

Albus Dumbledore*

Arthur Weasley*

Cedric Diggory

Cho Chang

Draco Malfoy

Fleur Delacour

Fred Weasley

George Weasley

Ginevra “Ginny” Weasley

Harry Potter

Hermione Granger

James Potter

Lily Evans

Luna Lovegood

Minerva McGonagall*

Molly Weasley*

Neville Longbottom

Nymphadora Tonks*

Oliver Wood

Remus Lupin

Ronald “Ron” Weasley

Rubeus Hagrid*

Severus Snape

Sirius Black

Viktor Krum

Cinna

Effie Trinket*

Finnick Odair

Gale Hawthorne

Haymitch Abernathy*

Johanna Mason

Katniss Everdeen

Peeta Mellark

Anthony “Tony” Stark -- Iron Man

Dr. Bruce Banner -- Hulk

Carol Danvers -- Captain Marvel

Dr. Christine Palmer*

Clint Barton -- Hawkeye

Drax the Destroyer*

Edward “Ned” Leeds

Gamora

Groot*

Harold “Happy” Hogan*

Dr. Henry “Hank” Pym*\

Hope van Dyne -- Wasp

Sgt. James “Bucky” Barnes -- Winter Soldier

Col. James “Rhodey” Rhodes -- War Machine

Loki Laufeyson

Luis*

Mantis*

Dr. Margaret “Peggy” Carter*

Cdr. Maria Hill*

May Parker*

Lord M’Baku

Michelle “MJ” Jones

Nakia

Natasha Romanoff -- Black Widow

Nebula*

Col. Nicholas “Nick” Fury*

Okoye

Peter Parker -- Spider-Man

Peter Quill -- Star-Lord

Agt. Phillip “Phil” Coulson*

Pietro Maximoff -- Quicksilver

Rocket*

Samuel “Sam” Wilson -- Falcon

Scott Lang -- Ant-Man

Shuri

Dr. Stephen Strange

Steven “Steve” Rogers -- Captain America

King T’Challa -- Black Panther

Thor Odinson

Valkyrie

Virginia “Pepper” Potts

Vision

Wanda Maximoff -- Scarlet Witch

W’Kabi

Wong*

Yelena Belova

Yondu Udonta*

BROADWAY

Grand Duchess Anastasia Romanov

Dimitri Sudayev

Gleb Vaganov

Countess Lily Malevsky-Malevitch*

Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna*

Vladimir “Vlad” Popov*

Adam Maitland

Barbara Maitland

Beetlejuice*

Delia Schlimmer

Lydia Deetz*

Carrie White

Christine “Chris” Hargensen

Susan “Sue” Snell

Thomas “Tommy” Ross

Eurydice

Hades

Hermes*

Orpheus

Persephone

Aaron Burr

Alexander Hamilton

Angelica Schuyler

Elizabeth “Eliza” Schuyler

George Washington

Hercules Mulligan

James Madison

John Laurens

Margarita “Peggy” Schuyler

Maria Reynolds

Marquis de Lafayette

Philip Hamilton

Thomas Jefferson

Cosette

Enjolras

Éponine Thénardier

Fantine

Insp. Javert

Jean Valjean

Marius Pontmercy

Carlotta Giudicelli*

Christine Daaé

Erik “The Phantom”

Mme. Giry*

Meg Giry

Raoul de Chagny

Anna of Cleves

Anne Boleyn

Catherine of Aragon

Catherine Parr

Jane Seymour

Katherine Howard

VIDEO GAMES

Carl Manfred*

Chloe

Det. Chris Miller*

Connor

Elijah Kamski

Lt. Hank Anderson*

Capt. Jeffrey Fowler*

Josh

Kara

Leo Manfred

Lucy*

Luther

Markus

North

Rose Chapman*

Simon

Abigail Roberts

Arthur Morgan

Beau Gray*

Charles Smith

Daniël “Dutch” Van der Linde

Eagle Flies

Hosea Matthews*

Javier Escuella

Johnathan “John” Marston Sr.

Josiah Trelawny

Karen Jones

Kieran Duffy

Leonard “Lenny” Summers

Marion “Bill” Williamson

Mary-Beth Gaskill

Micah Bell

Molly O’Shea

Penelope Braithwaite*

Rev. Orville Swanson*

Sadie Adler

Sean MacGuire

Simon Pearson*

Tilly Jackson

[the-golden-ghost]

Hey!! I notice from your reblogs that you’re a fan of Lupin III—I’ve been meaning to get into that, but I’m not sure where to start. I know there’s a manga that dates back a long time and several different series of the anime and a lot of other merch… Where would you recommend I start? And is there anything you can tell me about the franchise as a newcomer?? Thanks so much!

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA welcome to the fandom, it's always exciting getting asks like this!

So, a Very Brief Synopsis of Lupin III to start with:

It follows the adventures of the titular Lupin III, a world-renowned thief, and his gang as they go on adventures, skirt the law, and try to steal every treasure known to man. It's a very character-driven show and it also follows the rule of Status Quo Is God so once you have a base idea of who everyone is you can almost watch anything and understand it. Here they all are:

Lupin III: Grandson of Arsène Lupin, a character created by Maurice Leblanc. He's kind of a parody of the "gentleman thief" trope in that rather than being Suave and Brilliant he's kind of a clown and a moron, and rather than being romantic and gentlemanly he's generally kind of horndog and a womanizer. Depictions vary, sometimes he is honestly a bit more morally upright and gentlemanly, other times he's very much not. Can best be summarized as "bastard monkey man who you will hate but also love"

Daisuke Jigen: Lupin's right-hand man. The World's Best Gunslinger and a (barely) functioning alcoholic. Parody of the "lone cowboy/jaded noir protagonist" trope. Despite seeming like the Dark and Brooding one of the group he clowns around with Lupin constantly, would die to protect any of his friends and is the MOST loyal motherfucker there is.

Goemon Ishikawa XIII: Descendant of a samurai of legend (who might have actually been a real guy??? I'm not up on my Japanese folklore) Goemon is the youngest of the team and Lupin's left-hand man. He's not around as often as Jigen since he's got his own life going on, but he's nevertheless important. He's a play on the traditional Samurai Protagonist in that he's supposed to be honorable, brave, humble, loyal, and self-sacrificing. He tries to be all these things but he actually fucking sucks at it and is kind of an arrogant asshole who sticks around for the thrill of Looking Cool And Stealing Shit. He IS cool though. Basically he seems to be the Innocent and Morally Upright one on the surface. He's not. In very early installments (Part 1 pretty much, and a couple of specials) he was actually a bad guy sent to assassinate Lupin. He ended up joining the team instead, though, but occasionally it's referenced.

Fujiko Mine: THE femme fatale of all time, she's Lupin's longtime girlfriend and also his most deadly rival. Her trope is actually played straight for the most part, mostly due to the show (especially in the older installments) being pretty sexist and not writing her all that well, but she's nevertheless the smartest of the group and most successful at what she does. Sometimes she's on Lupin's team, sometimes she's their enemy, 90% of the time she backstabs them and tries to murder them. It's all in good fun, though.

Koichi Zenigata: Basically he's just Inspector Javert in the modern day. He's a cop who wants to arrest Lupin and ONLY wants Lupin. His personality ranges from "hard-boiled cop with no outstanding traits" to "bumbling moron who actually has a good heart" depending on the installment but the main things you need to know about him are what I mentioned up there.

Now you can watch everything!

Good Starting Points:

Part 1: The Show That Started It All. I've heard this one takes a few episodes to get into but once it does it's marvelous. Well-written and generally well-animated, with some of the best character designs. It kinda sets the tone of the show and is largely considered Required Viewing even if you don't start here.

Part 2: The "Classic" Series. I will warn that this one has over 150 episodes, but they're all standalone so you can skip around at all. Also not contingent on Part 1 in any way. MUCH sillier in tone than Part 1 and it gets WEIRD at times but god is it funny and the characters are fantastic. I also highly recommend the dub for this one, if you can find it.

Lupin III: The First: This is the CGI movie! It came out a few years ago and it's BRILLIANT, animation-wise. Just beautiful. The plot is a little generic but it's in my opinion a great entry point for that very reason; it doesn't require a lot of thinking or any prior knowledge, you can just Vibe. My one critique is that it's very Lupin-focused and the other characters don't get a lot of screentime, but I'd still count this one as my #1 suggestion in terms of entry points.

The Castle of Cagliostro: The Iconic Miyazaki Movie and one of THE films of all time. This one is also a brilliant entry point; it's beautiful, it's rich, it's deep, it's a hell of a movie. The only thing is I almost feel that you get a better sense of the movie itself if you want it after familiarizing yourself with the franchise. But don't get me wrong - DEFINITELY works as an entry point and will make you love the titular Lupin, so there's that. (Also required viewing whether you watch it first or not)

Other Series:

Part 3: Goofball Series made in the 80s. Standalone. Very silly and fun. Possibly sillier than Part 2 even? The animation is wild and unique. Not super popular (I haven't seen it) but looks like a good time.

Part 4: Modern series. Darker and more serious in tone than any of the prior installments. This one could also work as an entry point I guess, but the vibes are pretty different. It's also not really standalone in the sense that you need to watch the episodes in order and I guess can't skip around?

Part 5: Another modern series, plays off of Part 4 so not watchable unless you've seen that. And from what I've heard, not worth watching. Apparently the writing is fairly subpar and they kept the dark n' serious tone but didn't DO anything with it. They also tried to make a timeline out of a series that shouldn't have a timeline, and apparently handled some really serious topics that they should not have tried to handle. I haven't seen this one admittedly but I've heard enough to warn me away from it.

Part 6: This one's currently airing. It's... a murder mystery, still dark, still not standalone. You'd need to watch 4 and 5 to watch this one. I don't know yet if it's good or not. Seems better than Part 5 but not as good as any of the others.

There's also about twenty billion OVAs and specials. I won't list them all but they range in tone from "literally what the fuck was that" to "that was kinda odd but wild and fun" to "this was outstanding and I'd gladly watch a million things just like it"

(Most of them fall in the first and second categories)

Finally, not to put you off, but I will warn that as a long-running franchise it's sadly not uncommon to see Outdated Bad Shit pop up. Like there's a fair share of sexism, racism, homophobia, etc. It sucks, and you can definitely avoid the more wildly offensive installments by finding a viewer guide, but yeah, I do need to put that out there so you're prepared. It's... a show from the early 70s, and it shows it sometimes. The more modern installments tend to be better (about that, at least) but it's something to keep in mind.

I'd also suggest looking up plot synopses or a viewer guide before watching the films and specials since some of those can get VERY dark, thematically and content-wise. Most are not. The average rating for the show is PG-13 I'd say, but there's a handful of Rogue Dark Specials that if you're not prepared might be a little surprising.

(For example, do NOT start the series with a movie called Goemon's Bloodspray. I've heard of people doing that and as the name suggests, There's Gore In There!)

(But yeah. MOST are not at all like that. But... read plot synopses anyway ^^; )

That's all I got! I hope you have fun if you decide to jump in and join us! It's a wild series all around, but it's a lot of fun too! :D

[captainenjolras]

Prompt:

Chabouillet getting really protective of Javert when he and Valjean started dating. Like maybe interrogating Valjean and such

Also love your fics they're so darn cute

Aww, thank you! I’ve been waiting to write something involving Javert and Chabouillet’s relationship!

Valjean meeting Chabouillet would either go down great or like the dinner scene from Shrek 2

⚠️TW: mentions of abuse, drunkness and suic*de⚠️

Fight Fire With Fire

It’s not that he wasn’t happy for him, he was just…less than thrilled.

Chabouillet had known Javert for years; since the boy was fifteen. He had found him running in the streets. Since that day, he’d taken him under his wing; he was the one who had given him shelter from a less than terrible home life, the one who had suggested making him a guard at the age of 17, the one who always looked out for him no matter where he was stationed.

He was also the one who had to listen to the boy’s rants about Madeline.

Never had he seen Javert so…distracted. So ditzy. Usually, he was a stern and hard working man; but upon being in Madeline’s presence, he was an absolute dork. He was the one who watched as the young Inspector fumbled over files hours after the interactions; and after the truth was revealed about the Mayor, he was the one who allowed a very drunk, upset and tearful Javert sleep in his spare room.

Maybe that’s why he was so tense about this situation; the whole Madeline incident had felt like a punch to the gut for Javert. Sure, Chabouillet was disappointed as well, but what made him more conflicted was the younger’s emotional distress over the whole thing.

But the past was in the past, and all that mattered was the present. Right?

“Le patron!”

“Javert, mon garçon!”

The Inspector came bounding at Chabouillet, wrapping him in a tight hug. Well! This was new! Once they broke apart, the Chief laid his eyes upon the other man. Valjean.

The man had a shy smile on his face as the oldest of the three surveyed him. He was quite tall, very muscular, had a head of curly hair and neat facial hair, was dressed quite well…

“Hello, Monsieur Chabouillet,” greeted Valjean, hand extended as if to shake the oldest’s own. Chabouillet simply nodded instead.

“Monsieur Valjean.”

The eye contact they held was less than comfortable for both parties, although Javert didn’t seem to notice. He stood in between them both, teeth bared in a wide smile. The height and size difference of the couple was as if a cat had just dragged home a bear.

After what felt like an eternity of awkward silence for the older two, Chabouillet eventually spoke up.

“Well, come inside!”

Valjean followed gingerly behind Javert, who entered the house as if it was his own. Jean remembered that in a way, it was. The man had practically adopted the Inspector. Did that mean this was their equivalent to “meeting the parents?”

That was exactly what this was going to be, wasn’t it?

“Make yourselves at home,” spoke Chabouillet, acknowledging the coat rack by the door.

——————————————————————————

The entire night, Chabouillet studied Javert and Valjean’s interactions. The two acted like lovesick teenagers, although he did notice Valjean eyeing him mistrustfully. He returned the favor. At one point, Jean had wrapped his arm around Javert’s waist. That was Chabouillet’s breaking point.

“Javert,” he interrupted, “I’m very sorry to ask you this right now, but there’s a case file upstairs that I forgot to give to you yesterday! Would you mind just going over it?”

For once, Javert seemed annoyed at having to work. What on earth? However, he agreed and went up to the study room. Once he was a good distance away, Chabouillet turned to Valjean. He looked him up and down, lips pressed in a thin line.

“Nice to finally me-“

“Talk to me, Jean.”

Chabouillet beckoned Valjean to follow him to the dining room. Once they were seated, he spoke again.

“What are your intentions?”

“I’m sorry?”

“What are your…intentions…with Javert?”

Oh, he could tell so much jokes right now.

He chose not to.

“If I have the correct understanding, then my intentions are to make him happy.”

Once again, Chabouillet stared deep into his soul. Well, this was terrifying.

“What do you do for a living, Jean?”

“W-well my good friend owns a shop that I co-own.”

“…How often do you see Javert?”

“We live together, Monsieur.”

“Well what do you two do on your spare time?”

“All sorts of things; we go on walks, read together, garden, watch TV- stuff we did before we were together! We just…do it together now.”

“And what about dates?”

“I’m sorry?”

“Where do you take him on dates?”

“I mean, usually we prefer to stay home; but otherwise we go out for dinner or stargazing- we actually went to this planetarium last week with a huge star dome-“

“Do you listen to him?”

“…I’m not sure I quite understand that-“

“Do you listen to him; does he talk to you? About work? Problems? Feelings?”

“Oh! Yes, actually!”

“Yes to what?”

“Er, all of the above?”

Valjean laughed nervously, face redder than the table cloth he tapped at anxiously.

“…Back to my original question,” grumbled Chabouillet, sitting up straighter than he already was, “what are your intentions with Javert?”

“I-I thought I answered that-“

“Not in the way I wanted you to. What are your plans for the future involving your…relationship; is this some sort of fling? Just casual dating? Serious? What, what is it?”

“I mean, I’d say it’s pretty serious.”

“You’d say it’s pretty serious…do you plan on marrying him?”

At that, Valjean began to choke on nothing. His eyes went wide and jaw dropped.

“I-I’m sorry?”

“Do you plan on marrying him, boy.”

“…I don’t know how you want me to answer that-“

“The way you would if anyone else asked!”

“Yes!”

The moment he said those words, Jean slammed his hand over his mouth. Both men peaked out of the room, hoping that Javert wasn’t anywhere near. Thankfully, he wasn’t.

“Yes,” whispered Jean, eyes refusing to meet the Chiefs, “I…I do plan on marrying him…if he wants to, that is.”

“What is that supposed to mean? You’ve never spoken about marriage?!”

“No, no we have- it’s just- we’ll I haven’t quite asked him yet. You know…asked him.”

Oh? Oh. Oooh, ok. He understood now.

Well now he had more of a right to threaten him over screwing this up.

“…I don’t know you, Jean. How am I supposed to know that you’re the right match for Javert?”

“Excuse me?”

“I mean- I just met the real you, not Madeline. Do you have any clue how much that whole stunt upset Javert? He loved you. Not just- not admiration love, he loved you; and then you go and pull that- god, I was so mad! If I could’ve gone out and found you myself I would have- and don’t think I won’t do the same now if you ever hurt him!”

“I don’t know how much clearer I could have made it,” started the younger, eyebrows furrowed in frustration, “but I don’t plan on hurting him or letting anyone hurt else hurt him. I…understand you’re skeptic of me, but please…he means the world to me.”

“And how do I know you’re not lying to me? Was it you that saved him from his abusive household? Was it you who took him in, put a roof over his head and clothes on his back? Was it me or you who made him hysterical sob after lying about who they really were?”

“Was it you or me who risked their freedom to make sure he was safe,” growled Valjean, standing now. “Is it your shoulder or my shoulder that he cries into every time he’s had enough? Was it you that sobbed for days because maybe, just maybe, you loved him back to; but you could never tell him! Was it you or me that pulled him out of the damn Seine in the middle of the fucking night-“

“Enough!”

Chabouillet slammed his palm to the table. Valjean, who had just been fuming, was now sitting down again, fear in his eyes.

“Enough, please…I can’t- don’t bring that up.”

The older of the two quietly sunk back down to his seat, mind racing. Perhaps they both went to far.

“…How does he like his coffee?”

Oh…that’s not what Valjean was expecting.

“…With so much sugar it’s a little scary.”

At that, both of them couldn’t help but laugh a bit. Once it died down, Chabouillet looked over at him.

“When he found out you were in the city, he wasn’t very happy. I’ll admit, I thought he was overreacting a bit. Then…after the protests…I don’t know, something seemed to change. When I heard it was you that saved him, I nearly didn’t believe it.”

A tear had fallen down his cheek, but the Chief didn’t seem to care.

“…Thank you,” he started again, “for saving him. He’s…like a son to me.”

“…I can tell from the way you care about him…Please, Monsieur, I apologize if my behavior was a bit rash; my only intentions with Javert are to make him happy. I hope you’d let me.”

Chabouillet went to open his mouth, but just as he did, Javert strutted into the room.

“One of your leads has been dead for years, Le patron. Are you sure she was the person in suspect?”

He really had no clue of the entire conversation that just went down.

——————————————————————————

The rest of the night went smoothly; the three of them swapped stories and debates over dinner. Around 9:00, Javert suggested they should head home.

As they were leaving, Chabouillet pulled Valjean aside.

“Monsieur,” started the younger, “I’d like to thank you-“

“It’s- it’s quite alright…You have my permission. And…my blessing.”

It took a moment for Jean to register what he was saying, but once it did, he wrapped the man in a tight embrace.

“Oh, thank you! Thank you- I shouldn’t be hugging you, should I?”

He pulled away, the same anxious smile on his face that was there moments ago.

“It’s…alright. Maybe not- I’d prefer to see how things play out in the future.”

“Understandable.”

“Valjean?”

“Yes?”

“Thank you for making him happy…truly happy.”

“…Thank you for making him the man he is today.”

For once, they both shared a less than awkward smile.

“Treat him well.”

“I will.”

Valjean turned to leave, only for Chabouillet to turn him around once again.

“Just know, that if you ever, and I mean EVER, hurt him, I won’t hesitate to find you and make your life a living nightmare.”

“…There’s the Chabouillet I know. Don’t worry, that won’t be necessary.”

“It’s a warning.”

“That won’t need to be enforced.”

“Valjean-“

“I know, I know; you’re just making sure I understand. I do, believe me. I have absolutely no plan on hurting him, or letting anything hurt him for that matter.”

“…Good man. Go, he’s probably wondering where you are.”

“Probably- thank you for dinner, Monsieur.”

“Anytime. Farewell, Valjean.”

“Farewell, Monsieur.”

Chabouillet watched as Jean made his way to the car, kissing Javert on the cheek once he was inside. He made sure they drove off safely before closing the door and turning in for the night.

——————————————————————————

It was good to know that the Chief didn’t think him unfit for Javert, although that was the last thought he had at the moment. Looking down, Valjean couldn’t help but smile at the sleeping man he held in his arms. Javert wore one of Jean’s own t-shirts, and had his cheek smudged against the older’s chest. God, he was beautiful.

Jean glanced over at the ring he held in the hand that wasn’t cradling Javert’s back. Soon, he hoped.

Soon.

[emiefaunwrites]

Since Taka being in Les Misrables as Javert has been briefly mentioned, my brain went back into musical theater mode haha! I have been thinking, what if Taka had helped one of the stage hands into being comfortable and confident enough to perform on stage in one of their upcoming plays? Perhaps either Peko or Kirumi would be the stage hand that he helps (I kinda hc them both as Taka’s best friends other than Mondo, Chi, Hiro, Hina, and Sakura, but if you don’t want to use Peko or Kirumi, that’s okay)! They could be like a closeted theater nerd that’s always wanted to perform on stage but felt like they weren’t good enough, until they see Taka perform on stage and decide to ask him for advice and practice an audition with him. They could even impress their crush with this. Like I said, you can use whatever character you want as the person Taka helps, Peko and Kirumi just happened to pop into my head lol! If you don’t like that idea, there’s also this;

Leon and Kaede performing together

Heyyyy!

Ooooh I like it! And I've comtemplating who to use for this. I thought it would have been perfect to find some for Mondo (I JUST CAN'T FIND ANYONE I LIKE FOR HIM WAHHHH) but that failed haha.

So I went back to your original two and was like...who can I pair them up with. Normally I associate Peko with Fuyuhiko but in my AU he's with Kazuichi. Then I thought maybe Kaede for Kirumi but I like Rantaro with Kaede.

And then I found. A ship I quite like. So yes, I'll be using Kirumi. But she will be the crushee, if you will.

Phew. That was a ramble! Thank you for the ask! I hope you enjoy!!

************************

• Death Note - The Musical is not the only show that Taka performs in.

• Since he joined up at the beginning of his second year, and the group perform a show every term, he gets to be in a few more.

• Somehow he always lands with a major role, even when he insists someone else should take the male lead.

• And he's gathered quite a following (much to Leon's conflicting delight and jealousy).

• But there's one person in particular that stands out for Taka.

• Maki Harukawa.

• Since being forced by her friends (Kaito mostly) to join a club, she decided it would be easy work being a stagehand.

• She doesn't have to speak to anyone really - just make sure things are where they're meant to be at the right time.

• She can definitely do that.

• She too started the same time that Taka did and was looking around backstage with a club member during auditions.

• And there was something about his performance that had her dazed.

• He isn't the greatest singer in the world - there's plenty of Ultimates out there with that title.

• But his conviction and his passion stirred something in her that made her want to hear him again.

• So even though a cruddy role backstage was all she had, she was allowed to sit and watch him perform every night and see him transform from the awkward, uptight boy everyone knows him as into something beautiful.

• And she can see, out in the audience, all the girls (and guys) out there swooning over him, hearts in their eyes every time he opens his mouth.

• Of course, Maki doesn't want EVERYONE's eyes on her. That'd be too tiring.

• But she does want someone's eyes.

• Kirumi Tojo - the only other girl in her class that seems to be on her wavelength.

• They interact in class, but outside of that they spend no time together.

• Maki is always dragged by Kaito and Kokichi (with Shuichi being dragged along too) and Kirumi is always at committee meetings.

• But Maki thinks she's amazing - so mature and so beautiful...

• And for a moment, she imagines being on that stage alongside Taka, performing her heart out and seeing the hearts in Kirumi's eyes...

• No. Ridiculous. HER? On STAGE? No. No no no.

• Taka forgets something backstage one afternoon and has to head back in.

• But as he gets to the door, he can hear someone singing. A voice he's not heard before.

• And peeking in, he can see Maki on stage.

• Wow, she has a lovely voice!

• Barging in (and terrifying the girl) he tells her how amazing she is and that she should consider a role in the next performance.

• He's met with coldness and a glare that most people are afraid of - but he carries on anyway.

• 'I'd love to sing alongside you!'

• Ah. Just for a second that image flashes in Maki's mind - and Taka's better at reading expressions now so picks up on it.

• Not that she's going to admit it! No! No way...

• The auditorium door opens and Taka sees a gooey look on Maki's face for a second before she composes herself and turns away.

• Looking behind him, he sees Kirumi there in the doorway, obviously waiting for him so they can go to their committee together.

• Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

• An idea pops into Taka's head and with a big grin, he calls back to Kirumi.

• 'Ah, Miss Tojo! You know Miss Harukawa, don't you?'

• WHAT IS HE DOING?!?! Maki stops dead, absolutely mortified.

• 'Of course. She and I are classmates.'

• 'Wonderful! Did you know that she will be performing with me in our next show?'

• WHAAAAAAT?!?!??!?!!

• 'Oh! No, I didn't realise she had an interest in theatre.'

• 'She called me here to help her for the upcoming auditions. I'm sure she'll get the part! It would be wonderful if you could come support her.'

• Maki finds her body turning slowly to face the both of them, seeing that Kirumi has come further inside to stand by the stage.

• And she's got a smile on her face and a fond expression.

• 'It would be my pleasure.'

• Well. She can't back out now. And Taka's grin says just as much.

• He insists that to the club that she have a role opposite him and personally helps her rehearse.

• And as the time goes on, she starts to relax - until the moments before the show.

• She's FREAKING OUT and no one can help...

• Until Taka rests his hands on her shoulders and says:

• 'Focus on me. No one else. Just focus on me.'

• So she does and the performance is yet another hit.

• And as they're taking a bow and Maki searches the audience (casually ignoring her idiot friends whooping) and finds exactly who she's looking for.

• And she finally sees the hearts in her eyes. Just for Maki.

[barricadebops]

As I'm about 99.9% positive you would agree, I will never understand why people say that Enjolras isn't a good friend or wouldn't be a good boyfriend. Like I get that the revolution and his work was important to him (I personally believe that he would balance his friends and work to the best of his ability), but you cannot tell me that he wouldn't drop everything, including his work, at a moment's notice if a friend needed him. This is something that I believe wholeheartedly, and someone would have to pry this head canon/belief/whatever you want to call it out of my cold dead fingers.

Yes, I of course agree with this 100%. I really don't understand why people would say that either, it is just not him! The thing about Enjolras is that he cares so much, enough to the point where it was what got him killed. Some may argue that he cares more for his cause than for people, and I would say that is because they are viewing the cause and people as two different concepts, when, in reality, they are actually one and the same! Because Enjolras' cause is the people and that includes all people—the common man Feuilly, his (probably previously) wealthy friend Combeferre, and even the man who on several occasions has let him down, disappointed him, and given him all the reason not to trust him, Grantaire. If his cause is the people, how could he ever feel cold towards the people who matter most to him?

I think the idea a vast amount of people have that Enjolras doesn't love comes from the fact that canonically Enjolras does not experience romantic love, and frankly, this sort of thinking is rather dangerous, because it erases the fact that love comes in so many more forms than just romance. Enjolras is filled with an incredible amount of love—love for his friends, love for the people around him, and love for the future, and every one of those aspects links back to the love he feels for those who surround him. It is the love for the people he would encounter everyday while walking on the streets, it is the love for the people he would meet when he would go to buy his bread, it is the love for the friends who would look to him as their beloved friend and leader—it is his love for these people that he launches an entire rebellion— and subsequently dies for it, too. His ideals are defined by the motto of France—liberty, equality, and fraternity—but these ideals are driven by his greatest ideal of all, the one he hold key above others: love, and he makes his value of the ideal abundantly evident in his speech following the execution of Le Cabuc when he says:

"This is a bad moment to mention the word 'love.' I mention it anyway, and I glorify it. Love, the future belongs to you... In the future there will be no killing, the earth will be radiant, the human race will love." (5.12.8.)

From this, it is quite clear that Enjolras does not just experience love, but feels one of the highest and most greatest forms of it, so the characterization that he knows not of the feeling of love is quite unfounded.

He absolutely does love his friends to death. The one time we see him ready to forsake his ideals is when rather than keep the valuable spy Javert, who holds information about the rebels at the barricades, he is willing to hold an exchange so that they may bring back Jehan Prouvaire.

"'Yes,' replied Enjolras. 'But not as much as by Jean Prouvaire's life.'" (5.14.5)

He also sees so much good in his friends, he believes in them wholeheartedly, and for Enjolras, his belief is his expression of love.

"He composed, in his own mind, with Combeferre’s philosophical and penetrating eloquence, Feuilly’s cosmopolitan enthusiasm, Courfeyrac’s dash, Bahorel’s smile, Jean Prouvaire’s melancholy, Joly’s science, Bossuet’s sarcasms, a sort of electric spark which took fire nearly everywhere at once." (5.1.6.)

I've always loved this passage because it allows us to glimpse into Enjolras' mind and see how he truly thinks of his friends, and the way he sees them is incredibly sweet. He sees these people as his brothers who are capable of amazing feats, who are just as passionate as he is, and will be the ones to help him fight for the future. The love he holds for them is incredible, and though we get to see inside of Enjolras' head so little, this passage here is quite enough to inform the reader of just how much Enjolras draws joy from his friends.

In terms of the canonicity of the brick, I have always seen Enjolras' final moment as him realizing and accepting Grantaire's love for him (I would also argue that this moment is also when Grantaire himself, having not known exactly what it was he felt for Enjolras, also realized what exactly he felt for him), but dying with him only as a friend, but the fact that he smiles, and that it is him who extends his hand towards Grantaire says a lot about how strong his platonic love for his friends is. And of course, once again it is not just for his friends; far too many people see Enjolras as a man willing to sacrifice whoever and whatever in order to accomplish his goals, but his words once he discovers that Paris has abandoned their barricade say otherwise. When the rebels stubbornly insist that they all remain, no doubt fantasizing of dying "heroic martyr deaths," rather than encourage them, he instead essentially chides them by reminding them that:

"Vain-glory is wasteful[,]" (5.1.14)

so to paint him as merciless holds no merit. I feel as if this image comes from the quote:

"Enjolras was a charming young man capable of being terrible." (4.4.1.)

While yes, it is very capable for Enjolras to turn ruthless, the key word in that sentence is capable. The word that preceeds it, the one that follows after the definite word was, is the word charming, and the fact that charming is put before terrible holds great significance. Enjolras' first instinct, what comes to him naturally, is to do good, to be good, to be charming. He can be terrible, yes, but he must put his mind into doing so, whereas being a good person comes to him without thinking. Many tend to ignore the first part of the sentence in favour of the second, and they twist it to mean that his first instinct is to do bad instead of good, which really does not define his character at all.

Perhaps the biggest contributor to the misinterpretation of Enjolras' character is the way people have read his dynamic with Grantaire, and the way the lines between canon and fanon Grantaire have been so thoroughly blurred that it has ended up distorting Enjolras' image while erasing major parts of Grantaire's character that makes him the character and to a greater extent, metaphorical representation he is. I will not lie; I write fanfiction, and the version of Grantaire that I write into my stories is most definitely his fanon image; in other words, he is a vastly improved version. But it is incredibly important to acknowledge the way the two concepts deviate from each other, or you'll end up with a situation in which the character you have in mind isn't really the original character itself. It's okay for people to have different perceptions! Everyone understand literature differently, and that's the beauty of the arts! I think it's totally cool that everyone believes in characters in different ways! But for me, it really bothers me the way the fandom tends to paint Grantaire as a saint while portraying Enjolras as a character who always seems to know less than Grantaire, always is on a lower platform than Grantaire, and is always harsh and unjust towards Grantaire, because it simply is not true. A lot about Grantaire is ignored in terms of the canonicity of the brick. For example, it is true that Grantaire is, in fact, ugly, and he's described that way for a specific element of the narrative that Victor Hugo is writing in (@lilys-hazel-eyes is writing a great analysis on morality represented by beauty, which is exactly the point here—you should definitely go check it out!) In the brick, Victor Hugo describes Grantaire's cynicsm to be the "dry-rot of intellect" (4.4.1.) Hugo's stance on nihilism and cynicism is made quite evident in the way he portrays Grantaire, a character meant to represent the physical manifestation of cynicism (some say that he's the physical embodiment of Paris itself and I think that's a really neat reading on that!)

"A rover, a gambler, a libertine, often drunk... Grantaire, with insidious doubt creeping through him, loved to watch faith soar in Enjolras... his soft, yielding, disclocated, sickly, shapeless ideas..." (4.4.1.)

From these descriptions, it is quite clear what sort of opinion Victor Hugo holds of cynics, which is why Grantaire's characterization is so deliberate. He is trying to make a commentary here about the harm those who do not hold passion or belief can do, to both themselves and society. It is why Grantaire's redeeming moment is the one in which he finally comes to accept the hope of the revolution and proves through action his belief in Enjolras.

In terms of what is presented in the brick, Grantaire does not exactly have much to really defend him. Often drunk, he expends his energy into drunk rambles rather than meaningful meeting contributions, (though admittedly, he does say some rather valid and eloquent things within his rambles—the quote "Take away 'Cotton is King,' what remains of America?" [4.4.4] comes to mind) he deliberately pokes and bothers people as seen when he calls Enjolras "heartless," (5.1.6) and when given a task, does not hold up his end of the deal and ger it done despite having asked for it in the first place. Enjolras' doubt in him is actually entirely understandable; after all, what has Grantaire really done to prove himself trustworthy and reliable? When Enjolras asks if "[he is] good for anything" (5.1.6) the question is, likely in his eyes, genuine rather than insulting. And even when he has every reason not to, Enjolras still puts his faith into Grantaire to get something of extreme importance done for him, which I do think says a lot about Enjolras' willingness to believe in the best in people.

Victor Hugo ends the chapter right before we can see Enjolras' reaction to Grantaire's failure, and while this part, I will say, is up for interpretation, personally I have always extrapolated that the most emotion this would draw from him is disappointment—though it is disappointment that he definitely thinks he should have seen coming, rather than imagining him as getting insanely mad at Grantaire.

Their next interaction is during the rebellion itself, during which Enjolras is put under quite a bit of stress and Grantaire's behaviour really is not helping matters, so him snapping is actually very believable, if a little harsh.

The Enjolras seen in fanon, derived from these interactions, always seems so harsh, so rash when he speaks to Grantaire and therefore is characterized as rash and reckless in general, and generally seems to not understand emotion very well, which is very unlike him. Rather than harsh, I would say that with the exception of course of the rebellion at the barricade and the lead up to that time, Enjolras actually seems to be quite calm.

"All held their peace, and Enjolras bowed his head." (4.4.5.)

Rather than instantly explode at Marius for his rather awful beliefs of Napoleon, instead, Enjolras keeps calm and silent, which demonstrates what an incredible depth of patience he has. And as for Enjolras not understanding emotion, when it comes to fanworks, I'm generally tolerant of people holding different perceptions for different characters, but of all perceptions, this one is one I cannot begin to comprehend, and this is one that I will say that to say he knows not of emotion is to have wrongly read his character.

"And a tear trickled slowly down Enjolras' marble cheek." (5.1.8.)

I simply cannot allow myself to believe that the man who cried at the prospect of having to shoot the artillerman, who calls him his "brother," who is no doubt thinking that had circumstances been different, the action he would be taking would not be necessary—I do not believe this is a man who would not understand feelings and emotions.

The Grantaire in the book who has "the dry rot of intellect," (4.4.1) only ever makes unnecessary rants during meetings, and is very much untrustworthy, is a far outcry from the Grantaire who bases his cyncism on being what he would say is being "well informed," often makes valid points in meetings, and proves himself reliable. Similarly, the Enjolras that is thoughful, as he proves himself to be in his "Outlook from the Top of the Barricade" speech, still chooses to believe in the best in others despite being given every reason not to, and is actually quite patient, is very different from his rash and reckless, short tempered, seems-to-hate-Grantaire, fanon counterpart.

Of course, if you take characters who are shaped by their surroundings and circumstances in the nineteenth century and adapt them to fit the scene of the twenty-first century, it's obvious things are going to change! However, I think it's important to keep these key traits in mind when doing so, and more often than not, it is these key traits that end up getting mangled. When one sticks to these traits, it's easy to say Enjolras would be a wondeful friend/boyfriend (if you see him as having one.) Enjolras' whole deal is loving and caring immensely, and to put his absolute one hundred percent effort into everything he does, and that includes into his friendships and relationships.

Once again, I'm not bashing on the fandom here, I'm part of it. I'll repeat again, I too write with the fanon image of Grantaire in my head. Everyone takes away different things from literature, and that's fine! This is simply how I have interpreted it.

One more note on Enjolras.

Les Amis de l'ABC absolutely love Enjolras. The way Enjolras' character has been misinterpreted has ended up having an effect on the way the Amis are looked at as well. The Amis are all so passionate about the revolution, they attend meetings because they truly do believe in the change they can create in their world, so I'll never truly understand the characterization of the Amis as laughing at Enjolras' devotion to the cause, or finding his passion for it stupid or bothersome. Victor Hugo himself describes just how passionate of a group they are:

"All these young men who differed so greatly, and who, on the whole can only be discussed seriously, held the same religion: Progress... The most giddy of them became solemn when they pronounced that date: '89... the pure blood of principle ran in their veins. They attached themselves, without immediate shades, to incorruptible right and absolute duty." (4.4.1.)

Everyone here, with the exception of Grantaire, is here because they believe wholeheartedly in the revolution. This is not something Enjolras forced upon them, this is not something they groan when thinking about, it is something they all believe in so passionately. It is not something they make fun of him for.

"Affiliated and initiated, they sketched out the ideal underground." (4.4.1.)

They are all here by choice, by will, and by the values they hold close to their heart, and so to say Enjolras is someone who constantly whines about his cause and the others think he needs to lighten up is both an insult to him and the rest. Furthermore, the Amis really love Enjolras, and not just as their leader, but as a beloved friend, and as strongly as I believe Enjolras would drop all of his work to help any of the Amis when they are in need, I believe the Amis would do the same for him. The unity of Les Amis de l'ABC says a lot about the kind of charismatic leader Enjolras is, and his friends most definitely adore him.

So yeah, anon, I 100% agree, and rest assured, if they try and take this canon fact away, they'll have to pry it from both our sets of our cold dead fingers.