#thank you so much Pilf<3

[kcrabb88]

I wanted to let you know I finished By Orion's Star! It took me. So long. Because for months I could hardly focus on reading anything, couldn't remember much in the way of plots or characters --I started and forgot so many books! So many shows! But almost every day I would go out in the yard to let the cats play a while, and I would manage to read a few lines of Orion's Star, all the way through the end. When I didn't have the energy to want anything else, I wanted to see where you taking these characters. I'm doing better now--at least I'm reading again! But it was the *only* book I was able to read at the worst of things, and I thought you'd like to know <3

PILF <3 <3 <3

Friend, you have made my whole week with this message. Thank you so so much! This is like, truly the most important thing to me with anything I write--that it'll be with someone when they're going through a time. I'm so glad it could be with you.

I'm glad you're doing better, and thank you for sharing this with me <3

[pilferingapples]

Hey, Pilf! You probably don't remember this, as it was almost ten years ago, but as I was entering fandom, and beginning to participate by publishing my illustrations. I made fanart of the 2012 Les Mis movie and you were one of, like, 17 people who reblogged it. I still store in my heart the kind words you said in the tags about how I used brush textures. I was 14, then, and it mattered to me a great deal more than I can say. From little me and now me, thank you! so so much! For your kindness and for your presence in the fandom, you made my experience a very positive one. It warms my heart you are still doing what you do ♡ Thank you

!!!

Since you're on anon, I can't know who you are, but thank you so much for sending this message! I often wonder about the people who've come and gone from the fandom from years past. Those years when we were a big fandom were wild but a lot of fun for me, and I'm so glad they're a fond memory for you too! Thank you so much for sending this note, it really made my night <3<3

[inquisitorius-sin-bin]

fuck/marry/kill, but with your least three fave sith :)

Thanks for the ask! This was mostly tough because I had to pick 3 LEAST favorite Sith and I generally have pretty high opinions about them or don't know enough about them to give an entertaining answer. So we'll line up the finalists now:

Darth Maul: Sorry Maul nothing against you in particular but damn you did kill a bunch of Inquisitors and I'm going to have to dock you big time for that. Verdict: Kill. We know he'll just come back anyways.

Darth Bane: The rule of two is stupid af motherfucker. How about learning subdivision of power or conflict resolution instead? Cool suit of armor but I don't think this marriage is going anywhere. Verdict: Fuck.

Darth Desolous: he's a Pau'an but other than that not much bite to back up the bark, he's literally just a training simulator for Starkiller. Truly not notable in any regard whatsoever. Again though, he's a Pau'an, and I've never met a Pau'an who isn't a PILF. We've already fucked Bane, so Verdict: Marry.

[aflamethatneverdies]

(I had to Disgruntle a cat away from the keyboard to ask XD, but: Bahorel , Prouvaire, and let's go with Madi?:D

Hee thank you! Also hi Catte!! I'll make separate posts for each, since this is already quite long.

Bahorel

Headcanon:

Tried non-violent protest at Lallemand's funeral, found the state violence and the complicity of his law professors/prosecution horrifying and takes delight in riots and revolutions because of that, non-violence doesn't work. Has lost friends/relatives to state violence and/or poverty which is itself a kind of violence.

That is why his parents also respect his doing nothing except revolution. They may have had instances/reminders of state violence that hit close to home. They may have lost a son, or a niece or nephew because child mortality in those days was high and they were peasants and could not afford better treatments at a point of time in their lives even if they are rich/well off now and have abundant money to spend.  Although there's definitely a thing where even if they have money, they and also Bahore will not be able to be accepted by/belong to the rich classes and they don't want to. Bahorel takes pride in their being peasants. He never forgets his roots.

2) Has been greatly influenced by the women in his life, so I always assume that he has at least one or two older sisters who were involved in his upbringing and in helping with the farm and he was close to them and also really listens to and admires his mistress sincerely, who is very independent and who smokes, shoots a pistol and rides a horse, or someone like Delphine Gay Girardin.

Heartcanon: Comes across as extremely ridiculous/over the top, but has a deep sincerity about it. For instance he wears scarlet waistcoats with the specific intent to appall the bourgeoisie. Ever since that article which talked about how Petit Cenacle fashion was subversive confirmed my ideas, he absolutely uses fashion in a subversive manner and to make a statement, along with Prouvaire. He manages to turn everything he wears into something that looks extremely good on him and also makes him look hot.

Has also been arrested multiple times just for walking the streets wearing something scandalous, sporting an illegal tan, annoying neighbours with musical instruments he did not know how to play, naked orgies and generally for just existing as a loud Republican and Romantic who cannot tone down anything about himself and why should he? He has always been Eccentric in that way (and I use that term in the way it was known at that time, with bourgeois society frowning on originality and eccentricity), which is why Prouvaire (and his specific brand of weird) and him get along so very well.

Also really while he may not be a poet like Prouvaire, is really interested in words and maybe has written some minor things of his own, which he is not interested in publishing because censorship laws under Charles X weren't great, maybe he has helped other people publish things via contacts/newspaper links. At least I don't think he is a terrible writer. And he is very much someone who is a thoughtful reader and read a lot as a child as a form of rebellion at school given texts- although that may have been only a handful of books available to them at the time as a peasant family with many kids.

He is associated with using 'words which break everything' and also writing ballads and caricatures of professors in his law class when he could be bothered to attend them, that to me, speaks of someone skilled with words and since he has been in Paris 1820 onwards has probably written or talked about things in some capacity, maybe even was a leader of an even tinier splinter group which joined to form les amis.

He's so much associated with disruptions/challenge to norms of society/grotesque every time he appears/does something and I love that, so much.

Gutcanon: He knows English and French yet will always switch to his native dialect when dealing with authority figures/criticisms by Academie if he ever came across them (because he knows Dumas and Hugo and all the French Romantic writers), to simply thumb his nose at the idea that French should be the main language of France.

Alternatively, he serves as a point of introduction reference to other political workers from the Midi not just because of his nature of finding and talking to people and his flaneuring qualities but also because he takes an interest in their dialects and may know a little bit how to converse in different dialects and so they feel more at ease sharing their thoughts after being new to Paris. Not every worker would have had the opportunity to learn French if they didn't get a chance to finish school, some, whose biographies have survived, were self taught like Feuilly.

Junkcanon: Has very much participated in Romantic naked orgies and lived as a polycule/throuple/with multiple partners including some of his friends, which causes the police to assume that him and all his friends are all very queer, which is not wrong. Is not shy discussing these things/has a sense of humour which leads to dirty jokes.

Spleencanon: Bahorel turns into an immortal werewolf instead of being killed at the barricades and is being referenced by the survivors/revolutionaries in 1848 along with Feuilly's Vivent les peuples and then in 1871 and later.

Or Everyone lives AU where Bahorel practically adopts Gavroche as his younger brother and looks after him, and teaches him new things, and his siblings also hang out with them and the Thenardier kids are all warm and happy.

[artsyfangirl]

Mama!Y/n facts

Y/n has 3 tattleBabies. Yellow - Lemon, Purple - Leo, Blue - Clyde

Babies say Y/n is the ”BEST PARENT EVER!!!”

Y/n hums. a lot,

Y/n makes their own and their babies clothes <3

Babies don’t wear shoes and Y/n wears mostly mary janes or no shoes also

Leo is fucking feral. and by feral i mean, Pounces on you and fucking tries to attack you.

y/n has a nest full of plastic eggs and snacks

Y/n perfers not to attack trasspassers. They don’t wanna make a bad example :(

I was actually about to say that Leo looks like a little shit before I read what you said about him being feral. Looks like we’re on the same page.

And yeah, with kids like THOSE? You HAVE to set a good example. Not like it’s gonna stop Leo from jumping the poor bastards…

And the bois simp so hard. Literally MILF/DILF/PILF. They are ON THEIR KNEES. PLEASE. JUST ONE CHANCE. Oh god, Eric wouldn’t be able to function around Mama!Y/N. He wouldn’t. Like me with a few of my fictional crushes (AKA Time, Malon, Twilight, Rosemary, Jack, Michael, etc.)

The poor boy couldn’t do anything. And the little ones are lookin’ at ‘im like, ‘We know’ with Leo being all like, ‘don’t you dare do a thing, you little shit’.

JJ would… oh he’d be head over heels, more obviously than most of the others cus of the whole ‘silent movie’ thing. Poor guy.

YANCY WOULD BE JUST- OH MY GOD. HE JUST- I CAN’T, THERE ARE NO WORDS.

Damien is fucking SWEATING. Is it hot in here? YES HE KNOWS HE’S IN A SNOWY WASTELAND SHUT UP. LEAVE THE POOR MAN ALONE.

Celine is also awestruck. She immediately decides to team up with Y/N. Power couple of the century. And yes, she’s fully aware of her brother having a crisis over there, he’ll be thanking her later for setting them up with Y/N.

Actor can’t. Fucking. SPEAK! Which is kind of important when you’re an actor, at least, one from his era. Be careful, Y/N, and keep the tykes away too, his handle on his powers isn’t the best right now, to say the least.

The Host is mumbling so much no one can tell what’s going on over there. He’s ascended to Izuku Midoriya levels of muttering. And yes, he’s muttering, not speaking, cus he doesn’t want to freak Y/N out or draw attention to himself.

Wil literally just sticks to Y/N like glue, ignoring the jealous glares of the other Egos and the glares from Leo. He literally is the only Ego that can weasel his way into the heart of any Y/N. He is immune to the boundaries that the others face. So take that, Dark!

Dark, speaking of, is uh- well, he’s in conflict alright. One of his aberrations (as I’ll call them for now) is all over the place, and the other is just… chill. Kinda. Not hiding the fluster very well. Poor guy.

He’s so used to being the composed one but now, since SOMEONE (coUgH Damien coUgH) can’t handle himself (Dark’s redirecting the blame, yes it is partially Dame’s fault for not being able to compose himself but also Dark’s fault for being insanely flustered himself), now he’s a mess.

AND EVERYONE CAN SEE. EVEN THAT LITTLE SHIT THAT’S BEEN GLARING AT EVERYONE SINCE THEY ARRIVED. Though… he will admit, the brat has been glaring at Mark rather nastily (the most nastily out of all of them) this whole time, so maybe he’s not as bad as Dark thinks.

Celine responds in ‘headspace’, ‘nope, he’s just a little shit who wrecks everything and sees Mark as the biggest competitor’. Well, there goes that hope.

Anti is metaphorically slipping on everything. Like he’s stepped on a banana peel in a cartoon. He tries to be all intimidating, but then it just. Fails. Utterly. He’s getting so frustrated, he starts glitching out a bit more than usual.

Marvin is more thankful than EVER that he has his mask. Cus it’s sure comin’ in handy. Other than that, I think he’s probably fine. Slips up a bit sure, but mostly fine.

Jackie is also glad to have a mask. For some reason Leo keeps glaring at him the most, not sure why. Perhaps it’s the brat’s inner ‘law abider’ radar.

Schneep is just- so tired. Can someone please escort him out? He can’t deal with this right now. He’s too mentally and emotionally exhausted.

Chase is more sympathetic, but is also really flustered. He gets along well with the kids though, even Leo, strangely enough.

Also, Wil is obsessed with the fact that Y/N makes their and their children’s clothes by hand. JJ finds it charming too. And this discovery just makes Damien’s situation even worse.

The man is so flustered that if you saw him, you would swear that his body heat was melting the snow around him. Celine just looks at her brother and’s just like, ‘yup, this is my brother, everyone, this right here. This useless (affectionately) man. Can’t even get a S/O. Pathetic (affectionately)’.

Engineer is the most shameless simp of them all. Even Yancy can’t hold a candle to this man. This man is truly SHAMELESS. Just please, please. Remember, this guy is a Mark, after all. Of course he shares the love of big people. (Ahem, remember Mark’s reactions to Lady Dimitrescu, everyone)

He would do anything. Please.

[minkmousesworld]

Hello hello !!

‘honeypie anon’ sounds very cute indeed, and I’d love to have it as my name! Thank you for choosing it <3 <3

Also, I saw your side blog profile pic- is that Almond Cookie I see owo ? Do you play Cookie Run? If so, who is your favorite cookie (if you have one)! Mine is Lilac Cookie because he’s the so very pretty-

- honeypie anon

Hello, my pretty honeypie <333

I just recently started playing, so I'm not sure how long this will be my fixation, but I'm absolutely fascinated by all the characters, they are so sweet and delicious;;; I'm not a cookie lover, but I'll make exceptions </3

Lilac looks so beautiful, I- I really love his appearance so much;;; pppretty;;; cookie;;;

Latte cookie! She's so cute and supportive, and I love her lines;;; kinda "childish, but very sweet older sister" vibes <3

and, of course, low-key obsession with Almong Cookie;;;

Maybe it's because of my weakness for "pilf types", but there is something attractive about characters who look mature and pretty, even if they are cookies </3

I actually play Genshin Impact less often, because there are no my "types" there, and you can't even imagine how confused I am that a cookie game is better suited to my preferences HAAAA </333

[lemeute]

*drops a package of candy hearts and a little cartoon card in your cardboard mailbox* You're a wonderful human being and truly one of the people who gives me hope for the future! I'm so proud to be your friend and I hope you have a great 14th! <3

PILF ilu so so so much and thank you for coming by my cardboard mailbox! getting to be one of the people that gives you hope for the future is??? really energizing and also

idk it’s a thing I cannot words about despite the fact that you’ve said it before

but I never get over you saying it so thank you <3 I’m also proud to be your frienddddddd

[kcrabb88]

Happy Birthday! and manyyyy mooooore, I say with sincerity, because you are a joy and there is never enough of that :D May this truly be the start of a new and better year! (And I hope your cookie cake is excellent!)

Thank you so much, Pilf! <3 The cookie cake is truly delicious and was delivered to me by an excited teenager who I feel strongly was on his way to a protest. I told him to stay safe and he threw up a peace sign and said “you know it” which was delightful. 

Here’s to hoping to a better half of this strange year. 

[pilferingapples]

I've been following you since 2013ish (early days of the Les Mis film adaptation) and despite the fact that I haven't been active in the Les Mis fandom in years I can't imagine unfollowing lol. I love remembering that the fandom exists and has a lot of fun stuff going on, and estimable Pilf has just the most immaculate vibes. 10/10 will keep on the dash forever. That is all <3

Oh no this is so sweet ?!? Thank you so much! I love it that you're keeping tabs on the fandom (which really has held on amazingly well, I love that for us) !

[pumpkinpaix]

Hey! IDK if you already bought your stamps, but if not, you should know the USPS website has ton of stamps and mailing materials you can get delivered! No awful phone call required!:D

AAHH you can order them online OKAY I will do that instead. thank you so much pilf i love you ;A;

I don’t mind doing a phone call to buy things; I was mostly scared of calling senators or something ahahaha but I figured out a different thing

publishing this in case someone else didn’t know about ordering stamps! :D

[amour-de-tous]

I am Pretending I was tagged by @pilferingapples because she said “anyone else who does want to” and I have decided I Want To, aha. (hi Pilf, I miss you, I have messages from you in my inbox, I DO intend to respond to them!! And they made me smile a lot when I received them so thank you) 1. how has your day been? My day has Been A Day, oh boy, let me tell y’all. It started out with being unable to submit SSA papers online like I should be able to and, uh, being told to “take them into the office”. Uh. All the offices are closed, so that’s...fun. 2. what was the last thing that made you smile? My 4 year old niece shouting “but I NEED to go to Kohls” for ??? no particular reason while I was on the phone with my sis. Like...child. You are four. What could you need Kohls for, in the midst of this pandemic?? This child kills me, I love her so much. 3. what’s keeping you entertained these days? Rewatching The Witcher, this time with @swelldame​. Reading fic. Not...reading any books I want to read because the Brain Fog is real, yo. Baking! I’m winning at quarantine baking. Latest: Depression-era eggless spice cake with cream cheese buttercream frosting, and chocolate chip oatmeal banana cookies (because The Bananas Were Going). Next up: Passion cake for Palm Sunday! 4. if you are in some kind of quarantine/self isolation, is there anything you’d like to achieve in this time? I live the quarantine life any and all days I can get away with, on a regular basis, and definitely through a regular old flu season, anyway. But, yeaaaaah. I am in the high risk category and have been advised by my doctor to leave the house Under No Circumstances, even for my new-patient visit with my new rheumatologist, next week. lol, great. The only thing I really want to achieve is Not Running Out Of Milk (I recognize this is...low on the general priority list, but some people self-medicate with Substances. I self-medicate with my evening glass of milk lol). Also to start sewing again, maybe! I think it is maybe a hobby I can achieve with the limited hand functionality I have, so??? Hopefully. We shall see! I managed to sew a hem! On Easter curtains for the kitchen! Also, maybe read a book? I really miss reading books. :\ 5. post a selfie! (if you’re comfortable with that). APPARENTLY my most recent selfie is this one of me, where I’m making a Dope Face to send to a friend. lol Sitting in my medically necessary recliner. Wearing my blue light glasses. In my Daytime Jammies. lol

Tagging....idk, man. I am so Off Of Tumblr for the last like seventy years that I...don’t even know who is active anymore. lol @swelldame @bobcatmoran @kingedmundsroyalmurder​ @cheesethesecond​ I GUESS. And anyone who wants to! And feel no pressure or obligation, my lovelies. 

[aflamethatneverdies]

Pilf also asked for Prouvaire, Thank you @pilferingapples <3

Sorry this is so late.

Headcanon: He's not always nice, he has sharp edges and a good sense of humour, imo and may not always give the good advice that you need but it will be something profound. He will have days where he is melancholy for a while and feeling off-kilter, and then some days later he is excitedly talking about the possibility of going to Olympus. His friends have embraced how weird/eccentric he (and Bahorel) are and they just run with it. They do find him if he gets lost walking around the city which has happened because he was distracted contemplating wildflowers and then something else and now he is in an unfamiliar neighbourhood.

Heartcanon Enjoys hearing Joly talk about morbid anatomical details and owns a skull himself, which he will give a long elaborate story about. Has been a student of many things (law, medicine) but never finished more than a year or so of either, likes exploring ideas and questioning them and his badly dressed comes from being at odds with bourgeois society and their fashion rules and focus on conformity.

2) His lodgings at one time were cluttered with his things, because he likes collecting objects and trinkets and sentimental things, but because he has had to move a few times, now he has less things but still keeps a lot of objects for purely sentimental reasons because they bring him happiness or remind him of a dear friend or a former pet/plant. Bahorel makes sure to save some of Prouvaire's stuff when they move because it makes Prouvaire so happy, this is why Bahorel keeps very little of his belongings/buys very few, he knows they will have to move (darned landlords having no appreciation for art on walls or off key music or naked weed parties) and he would rather save Prouvaire's things which are also things he cherishes.

Also cries freely about poetry and art at 1 am hanging out on the ledge of a gothic building. In that vein would be always ready to have an adventure, and write about it later, where he mixes fantasy with it and who knows what is true and in the grand scheme of things, does it really matter. In that vein, I also headcanon that Prouvaire talks about meeting Bahorel in a very dramatic manner that may or may not be entirely true but it is a personal joke for them.

Gutcanon Has rich aunt/uncle from whom he inherited wealth. His dad is maybe not supportive of him being a poet instead of doing something respectable like being a lawyer or doctor.

Met Hugo at some point, because otherwise how did Hugo get a hold of Prouvaire's poem at the barricade which is really referencing Hugo and Adele instead of being about Prouvaire. Serious headcanon, I do think he met Hugo, just because he and Bahorel would have gone to Hernani every single day.

Junkcanon It's canon that he is in love with love. He cares about individual people and falls in love with 2 or 3 each week/month (maybe an actress he's seen several times or one of his friends etc) and loves them so intensely that they barely know much about it, and then next week/month he falls in love with someone else. Also he and Bahorel are together but also maybe not, but also really it's Romantic friendship so both things are true at the same time.

Spleencanon All my spleencanons are, just, they all survive, so Prouvaire turned into a bird before they shot him and flew away and met with immortal werewolf Bahorel.

[aflamethatneverdies]

Hi! I love space pirates found family a whole lot.

[aflamethatneverdies]

Did I send you Senses questions? if not, Sight and Sound, for Prouvaire, and Touch, for Enjolras?:D

Thanks, Pilf

Sight

What’s their favorite color?

I am inclined to say maybe shades of blue/green or the reds/oranges of sunsets/sunrises or even the colours of the flowers/butterflies he admires but primarily black because it is the colour of melancholy, death and night and therefore Gothic and Romantic. He does enjoy roaming and gazing at the night sky on his many adventures in Paris. 

Do they have any art on their bedroom walls?

Yes, so much yes. I mostly make him share rooms with either Bahorel or any other amis, depending on what works. If he’s sharing rooms with Bahorel, their rooms have so much art. Some done by their friends, some Prouvaire and Bahorel started themselves. Feuilly also once painted a mural probably making fun of Charles X or Louis Philippe on their walls or a revolutionary slogan/art and they helped him. The art is varied too, some of it is suggestive of Revolution, such as Delacroix’s paintings, others just because it is amusing or funny or looked cool and they just ran with it.   

(If applicable) What would their fashion sense be like if they weren’t limited by money, uniform regulations, animation budget, etc.?

Prouvaire is canonically rich and is specifically the one we’re told with ‘bad’ sense of dress. It varies from him being heavily into 15th-16th century fashion, he collects medieval doublets and feathered hats, or that dress with really long sleeves . He may also have dressed up as Gringoire after reading NDdP. I think he enjoys cosplaying his favourite Romantic books and Shakespeare or occasionally ‘Oriental’ dress- whatever his idea of that is, or just wearing all black sometimes.  

Sound

What’s their taste in music?

It is largely inspired by the operas and classical music concerts he has seen, including, like Combeerre, Revolutionary ones, but I also headcanon him as playing the different instruments such as the flute or the lyre or the lute, not particularly well. He plays them with feeling though, and other people in proximity have to suffer for art’s sake. 

(If applicable) What would their taste in music be in a here-and-now AU?

Lots of folk, classical, indie and ballads. Songs with a focus on death and/dramatics, melancholy, some musicals (which he and Bahorel cry over) and revolutionary music too. Also Florence and the Machine and Vienna Teng (because I like her, everyone listens to Vienna Teng in Modern AU. :P)  

Can they sing? Do they sing? (Two different questions!)

Can they sing?

I think so. He sings with feeling and passion so even if his voice is not trained, it sounds good but when he feels self conscious and shy then his voice goes  quiet and out of tune.

Do they sing?

They all sing, all the time, especially if the Republican songs will annoy the bourgeoisie and/or Royalists and even if it will get you arrested for singing on the streets. Also since he hangs out with Bahorel, they sometimes sing for the sake of annoying the bourgeoisie or during parties. 

Can/do they play any instruments?

He can play several musical instruments: the flute, the lyre, the harp, the lute. Is he particularly good, no. But he plays with feeling, even if he doesn’t follow the exact notes sometimes and is getting better. 

Dance?

Oh yes. He likes dancing. Though once again, Bahorel and him are trying to dance something of their own creation. The closest analogy I can give is how everyone was dancing their own thing in La Bataille d’Hernani, it didn’t even make sense but it was a lot of fun. This is 100% how he dances especially around friends. 

Enjolras

Touch

How are they with cuddling/holding hands?

He is a tactile person, imo. He like holding hands with people he knows well. He will cuddle with people he knows really really well though which includes his immediate circle of friends, but during speeches/talks, he often finds himself putting a hand on the shoulder of an acquaintance or a new friend, because that is how he likes to communicate and show confidence in other people. His non-verbal communication says a lot more than his words.  

Do they like to be hugged?

With his friends yes, absolutely. He likes hugs and shoulder pats and other displays of affection with the people he spends the most time with. He’ll probably hug Combeferre or Courfeyrac or Feuilly or any of his other friends quite often. He does appreciate his friends a lot and tells them too, probably followed by a hug.  

Do they fidget?

He doesn’t. I imagine him staying quite calm, often forgetting his immediate surroundings, if he is concentrating on a particularly important problem or question of logistics or figuring out how to write a pamphlet. He can also stay that way for long hours and Combeferre or someone else will put a hand on his shoulder and he will come back to the present.   

[aflamethatneverdies]

tag 10 people you want to know better

thank you @sainteverge for tagging me.

relationship status: committed to the Romantic Ideal?:P

favourite colour: bright colours-- yellow mainly, but all the bright colours.

favourite food: oh just food in general is my favourite thing. I've been making kimchi based things recently and doing a deep dive into Korean food, both food videos and actual recipes. But food from anywhere is my favourite thing. Also rediscovered Khao-suey, a Burmese dish I really loved from my high school days where I would get it all the time for lunch, and I'm in love.

song stuck in your head: When I go, by Dave Carter and Tracy Grammar and it is 110% Pilf's fault. But I like it for the vibes I get for the Bahorel fic I have been working on sporadically, which will may be be done someday?

last thing you googled: Foraminifera (they're really pretty, and I was curious about their calcium shells. I'm studying them for an important exam right now)

time: 3 pm

dream trip: honestly a literal dream trip would be good since I'm constantly sleep deprived these days (remember kids, just don't study, skip classes-- like sure yeah you can get into good colleges by studying maybe, but at what cost :P), this is a joak, but also there is so much to study and I am no where close to being done despite taking classes and trying to review some material and my exam is in less than a month, someone help. I also have work and a thousand other things I'm desperately trying to find time to do and keep up with. Yeah, a dream trip would really be the best thing right now. I need all the sleep, all of it.

tagging, @pilferingapples @bewareofitalics @midautumnnightdream @thiswaitingheart @thevagueambition uh anyone else if you want to do it?

[pilferingapples]

Pilf, I really want to hear your thoughts about Les Amis being the heroes of the novel compared to Marius who is not. I know you talked about it a bit and I do have some ideas about it myself. Les Amis for me feel aspirational heroes too even if they don't have a lot of page time but I would very much like a post talking about it someday. Thank you!!! :D

How can I deny you a Commentary Request, especially this one ?

First Part:  “Heroes” Aren’t Just “The Good Guys”

Let’s start with introductions: 

Les amis de l'A B C étaient peu nombreux. C'était une société secrète à l'état d'embryon; nous dirions presque une coterie, si les coteries aboutissaient à des héros. -3.4.1

or in English

The Amis de l’ABC were few. They were a secret society in embryo; we might almost call them a coterie, if coteries created heroes. -3.4.1

So right from the start,  we’re explicitly told that their group is made of/ will end in making heroes; so much so that it changes the very nature of the group and takes it away from other more trivial classifications. 

Nice word association, some may say, but so what? 

Let’s go back to Waterloo, or at least the Waterloo in Les Mis–the barricade calls back to Waterloo a lot, and for good reason. 

I think it’s safe to say there is A Lot Going On At Waterloo, but one of the major things going on thematically is a changing of Eras. Napoleon is Over; Cambronne is In. God, per Hugo, is moving the world into a new act.  

To totally get what that means coming from Hugo, we have to go back right out of Les Mis; back to 1827, to Cromwell, Hugo’s unproduceable play, and its Movement Manifesto of a Preface. 

The Preface  was a rallying cry for a specific moment in time, arguing for the right of the New Art (Romantic art, that is, to exist); boiled down, its major argument is really just that societies change and art changes, and must be allowed to change, to fit the society it lives in. Hard to argue with that!  

But this is Hugo and One Thematic Point is never enough!– So what the Preface is (also) really About is Hugo’s whole theory of Civilization Progressing Through Eras (a deeply problematic and loaded concept I know, I know, believe me,  but it’s important to understanding Hugo!) . 

To hugely summarize: Hugo’s Theory of Eras (in Civilization and thus in Art) breaks everything down into the Ancient (Lyric) the Classic (Epic, and especially Epic Tragedies) , and the new era (which, to Hugo, is among other things the Christian era, but which is of course especially  the Romantic age), the Age of Drama (and especially ROMANTICIST Drama, of course!). Cromwell  and its preface were very early work from Hugo, and he developed the ideas there a lot over the decades, of course– but he never renounced them.  

And one of the Big Ideas in Les Mis , which is most explicitly apparent in the Waterloo section but shows up again and again, is this idea of society moving forward– moving from the Epic era of Great Men and Heroes and Myth and Tragedy to the era of humanity, the people (…and Romanticist Drama). 

The Epic Era (per Hugo, always, please take that as a given from here on in) is the era of Great Men, of Heroes and gods and monsters, of grand physical action, and:

…it is in the ancient tragedy, above all, that the epic breaks out at every turn…. Its characters are still heroes, demigods, gods; its themes are visions, oracles, fatality; its scenes are battles, funeral rites, catalogues.

The Era of Drama is about metaphysical action; it’s about the dance and strain between the grotesque and the sublime. And its Big Mood is Melancholy– “a new sentiment, unknown to the ancients and marvellously developed among moderns, a sentiment which is more than gravity and less than sadness” (Preface,  of course).  

So when Hugo says the Amis are heroes , this is what he’s talking about– they’re like characters out of the Epic age.   They’re larger than life, “pontifical and warlike” (yes, Hugo describes the Epic that way too) , Iconic, Great- and implicitly linked to the past. Not all the way back to the Classical Era, maybe, but to the French Revolution and the Republic.  

And, of course, they will find their ultimate expression in Tragedy. 

Au point de ce drame où nous sommes parvenus, il n'est pas inutile peut-être de diriger un rayon de clarté sur ces jeunes têtes avant que le lecteur les voie s'enfoncer dans l'ombre d'une aventure tragique.–LM 3.4.1

At the point of this drama in which we have arrived, it is perhaps not useless to direct a ray of light on these young heads before the reader sees them sink into the shadow of a tragic adventure .-LM 3.4.1

Skip ahead to the end, to their  end: Chapter 5.1.21, Les Héros/ The Heroes.  To the end we’ve known was coming since the beginning, because this is how Epic Tragedy goes.

This chapter is pure battle, and is absolutely overflowing with references to Heroic Epics. Titans, gods, Greek-style Heroes of old. We’ve got Troy, we’ve got Ajax, we’ve got gods and mythic legends being invoked all over the place. And Hugo, again explicitly,  says that all these epic heroic struggles are no grander -maybe even less  grand–than these students and workers fighting and dying on the barricade. 

Here is the end the first chapter promised, that prevents them being classed as a coterie. They end as Heroes. And when they die– when the Amis, who have held the center, are gone– the battle changes from Heroic to Monstrous in the next chapter.  The Heroes are gone, the Heroic Age dead, the grandeur of the epic is over and only the horror  of battle– which Hugo was genuinely familiar with!– remains.  The Amis have passed out of the Drama of this modern novel through the Tragedy of the Epic.  

But this isn’t the end of the story. The Epic Age of Heroes is over.  But this is not Waterloo; these Heroes did not die because of arrogance, or because they were fighting to hold back the change of eras.  They died so that a new age would come– and the Republic is the ideal of the new  age. 

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part 2 over here!