#but enjolras is such a good character on its own grantaire to me is just his token alcoholic simp that he kinda cares about | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

therenlover · 3 years

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Therenlover’s Official Fanfic Glossary!

Hey hey hey! This is the place where you can find all my up-to-date fanfics linked nicely, read about what projects I have upcoming, and learn what requests I’m taking at the moment! Cheers!

This post is massive so, for the sake of your dash, everything is under the cut

A NOTE ABOUT REQUESTS!

I will do my best to fulfill any requests I get while my ask box/requests are open! That being said, I cannot promise every request will get done, and that if they do, they’ll be done in a timely manner. I’m currently working on a long-form project that needs a lot of time and energy to come out consistently, so unless I’m doing a writing event most of my writing juice will be focused on that. That being said, if you want something ask! The worst I can possibly do is direct you towards someone else who might be able to write what you want if I cant.

If I choose not to do your request based on personal preference (it makes me uncomfy/I don’t write for the character at that time/I don’t feel I can write what you want/etc.) I will do my best to contact you and let you know! That being said, if you think your ask got buried/forgotten, feel free to message me again and let me know, but please tell me when you message me if I should be looking for a prior request.

Characters/Fandoms I will write for currently

💙 = I’m Currently Super Inspired To Write For This Character

Marvel/X-Men

Bucky Barnes

Loki

Peter Maximoff 💙

Pietro Maximoff

Helmut Zemo 💙

Hank McCoy

Ralph Bohner 💙

Vision

American Horror Story

Tate Langdon

Kit Walker 💙

Kyle Spencer (Pre- and Post- Death)

Jimmy Darling 💙

James Patrick March 💙

Kai Anderson

Fallout 4

Nick Valentine

Hancock

Star Wars

Poe Dameron

Armitage Hux 💙

Kylo Ren/Ben Solo

Finn

Han Solo

Assorted/Random

Diarmuid Ua Duibhne - FGO

Cu Chulainn/Cu Alter - FGO

Warren Lipka - American Animals 💙

Enjolras - Les Miserables

Grantaire - Les Miserables

Gabriel - Supernatural

Imagines - REQUESTS CLOSED

Songs From Musicals Y/N Would Sing To The Evans

Characters: Tate Langdon, Kit Walker, Kyle Spencer, Jimmy Darling, James Patrick March, Kai Anderson, Peter Maximoff

Rating: T

How The Evans (+ Quicksilver) Would React To Yoplait’s New Gushers Yogurt

Characters: Tate Langdon, Kit Walker, Kyle Spencer, Jimmy Darling, James Patrick March, Rory Monahan, Kai Anderson, Peter Maximoff

Rating: T

Would The Danny Bunch Survive A Holiday With My Family?

Characters: Laszlo Kreizler, Alex Kerner, Niki Lauda, Andrea Marowski, Ernst Schmidt, Helmut Zemo

Rating: T

Headcanons - REQUESTS CLOSED

Modern! AU Armitage Hux Boyfriend Headcanons

Zemo With A Well Dress S/O Headcanons

Zemo Getting Jealous Headcanons

Oneshots - REQUESTS CLOSED

Marvel/X-Men

Helmut Zemo

One Last Night In Madripoor

Synopsis: Baron Helmut Zemo is a lonely, wanted man looking for some fun, you’re a piss-poor bounty hunter in search of a connection before leaving your life of crime behind, and fate has brought you together at a party the likes of which has never been seen before. You only have one night left in Madripoor, so why not take a chance?

Rating: 18+

Word Count: 4200~

Still Some Catching Up To Do

Synopsis: As a member of the criminal underworld, people walk out of your life all the time. Some are killed, others kill themselves, most get caught and only a couple get out of the life unscathed, disappearing into the world never to be seen again. Very few walk back in. So when your supposedly incarcerated ex-lover, the Winter Soldier, and the Falcon waltzed through your door and made you murder your boss, needless to say, you were surprised and more than a little bit pissed.

Rating: 16+

Word Count: 6800~

Nine Years Starved

Synopsis: It had been a little over nine years since Helmut Zemo lost his family, his country, and his sanity. Nine years since his last kiss. Nine years since he felt like a human man. Finally, he was ready to start over again, but first, he had to pay his penance back where it all began; Novi Grad. That’s when, by the grace of the fates, he met you.

Rating: G

Word Count: 7000~

Daddy Dearest

Synopsis: Not everyone gets lucky enough to go from being a broke college student in New York to being the sugar baby to literal royalty, but not everyone is you. Most people would be worried about messing things up or losing him to someone else, but you knew he would never find another baby just like you. Besides, you knew exactly what to do to keep him wrapped around your little finger. He may have been the daddy, but you pulled the reins.

Rating: 18+

Word Count: 8000~

In Fleeting Touches & Airy Sighs

Part One Part Two Part Three Part Four

Synopsis: As a wanted man, Helmut Zemo spends most of his time jumping from place to place in the hopes of avoiding a trip back to prison. Unfortunately, that means he can’t always be home in your arms. When he is, though, in the rare moments of calm, you’re reminded of just how worth it it’s been to wait, even if that wait was only shortened by the arrival of your enemies.

Rating: 18+

Word Count: 35,700~

Two Bodies In The Rain

Synopsis: It was raining the day you finally had to admit your feelings to Helmut. You hated to tell him the way you did, under the grey skies as your blood pooled below you, but at least you knew, in the end, he had seen the real you, even just once. That was enough.

Rating: T

Word Count: 5600~

Rest

Synopsis: Living life on the lam with your escaped super-villain lover means things rarely slow down enough for a real rest. When the exhaustion starts to take its toll on you, though, he knows exactly what to do to ease the pain. He may not be a good man, but he’s a good husband when it counts.

Rating: T

Word Count: 3200~

American Horror Story

Jimmy Darling

Red Nights In Jupiter

Synopsis: At the end of another long day, you fall into bed with Jimmy Darling. The men you served throughout the day don’t matter then, nor do the coins in the mason jar by the door, or the women scheduled to attend Jimmy’s next Tupperware party. No, in that quiet darkness it’s just you and the man you love, bone-tired and happy to be home. Who could ask for more?

Rating: 16+

Word Count: 3000~

James Patrick March

Heartsick

Synopsis: When you fall ill, James is given a forceful awakening about how he’s been neglecting your needs and what he must do to prevent harm from befalling you again.

Rating: 16+

Word Count: 3700~

In Sickness And In Health

Synopsis: Normally people don’t have their wedding and funeral on the same day, but you and James don’t quite have a normal relationship, do you? Besides, you wouldn’t wanna go any other way.

Rating: 18+

Word Count: 5500~

Fallout 4

Currently Empty

Star Wars

Currently Empty

Assorted/Random

Currently Empty

Long Form Works/Series

Young Artist!Zemo AU

Chapter One: The Boy With The Easel

Synopsis: About a month into your first semester at Novi Grad’s top university, you finally meet the strange young man that you’ve taken to calling “easel boy” in the back of a bookshop. From a distance, he always seemed cold and aloof. As you get to know him, though, you realize things aren’t always what they seem.

Rating: T

Word Count: 7000~

Till Forever Falls Apart (A Peter Maximoff/Reader Series)

Chapter One: Welcome Home

Synopsis: As if getting thrown through the multiverse, trapped in an attic (albeit a cool one), mind-controlled to manipulate his grieving sister, and subsequently dragged out of Westview “for his own safety” by the FBI wasn’t enough, Peter Maximoff has now been shipped off to New York to live with a glorified baby sitter like some tragic orphan in a comic book until they find a way to get him back home. Things are not always as they seem, though, and this change might just be for the better.

Rating: T

Word Count: 2400~

Chapter Two: The Doctor Is In

Synopsis: Peter’s first few days in his new home are mostly uneventful, so he decides it’s the perfect time to dust off his running goggles and steal some shit. The building with the massive circular stained glass window seems like a great place to start! People with buildings that lavish are usually rich and weak, so what could possibly go wrong?

Rating: T

Word Count: 2800~

Chapter Three: It’s Always Been You

Synopsis: After a month of adapting to his new universe, Peter Maximoff can confidently say that he likes his new life more than his old one. Sure, he misses home sometimes, but he’s been far too busy flirting with his new roommate to spend time crying over the things he’s lost. Everything is smooth sailing until a strange journal in his roommate’s study leaves him with more questions than he knows what to do with. Now he’s on a mission to discover who he’s really living with before she has the chance to turn against him.

Rating: T

Word Count: 8600~

Chapter Four: Before You Go

Synopsis: Peter, after days of contemplation, has realized that part of him loves Y/N no matter what she is or what she’s been through. Unfortunately, he can’t find her anywhere. When she finally returns home with the intention of leaving again, Peter realizes it’s his last chance to tell her how he really feels. Will he succeed, or will he fail to be fast enough once again?

Rating: T

Word Count: 4000~

Chapter Four And A Half: Gimme Swayze

Synopsis: Now that the issue of Y/N leaving is out of the way, and Peter has finally kissed her, he falls into the motions of learning how to love someone for the first time. It’s easier than he thought it would be.

Rating: T

Word Count; 2600~

Cakes For The Evans: A Blogging And Baking Adventure!

Kai Anderson’s Disaster Cake

Hey you! If you’ve made it this far down the list, thanks for supporting me as an author! I’ll be linking my AO3 here. I post everything there shortly before I post it here, and there are some older fics there you might enjoy along the way! It’s also easier to drop comments over there and I keep them open for non-members, so give me a shout if you liked what I wrote!

I love you all, you make me so happy, and without you support I would never be motivated to write! Cheers!

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ficsex · 3 years

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do you have any tips on writing dirty talk? apologies if youve answered smth like this before; absolutely love this blog btw sex ed is a huge interest of mine :b

Dirty talk is pretty much just some solid communication, but turning the bashfulness down and the explicit verbosity up.

It falls into a handful of categories:

what the speaker wants to experience - “can you touch me here?” “will you use your fingers?” “harder, please!”

what the speaker wants to do - “can I suck your cock?” “please let me come in you” “I’m going to fuck you deeper now” “can I eat you out?”

physical sensations your character is enjoying - “your fingers feel incredible” “oh my god, your tongue” “I love being full of your cock” “your skin feels so good”

observations connected to sex - “you’re so wet” “you’re so hard” “I love how big you are” “I love that I can pin you so easily”

compliments for physical features - “your tits are incredible” “your cock is beautiful” “your skin is so soft” “mm, your chest hair is really sexy”

Any one of these on its own is dirty talk!

Jon dropped to his knees and looked up at Martin through his lashes. “Please,” he said, his mouth dry. “Let me taste you.”

Asami nuzzled into Korra’s side, her brown skin drying but still salty. “You’re so gorgeous,” she murmured, lips caressing Korra’s skin. “I love getting to touch you.”

“I’m going to fuck you,” Dean said, his voice rough. Cas shivered, and he wasn’t sure why.

“Marius,” she whispered. “Can - can I...” Cosette blushed, but she forced the words out of her mouth anyway. “Can I touch your, um. Can I touch you here?” She let her hands hover over the zipper of his trousers.

Silver grinned, a glint in his eye. “Do I get to taste your cock, or are you just going to leave me like this?” Flint grunted in response, but his belt hit the floor just seconds later.

"Your tits are incredible,” Darcy crowed once Natasha’s shirt came off. She barely held herself back from faceplanting in the purple lace of Nat’s bra. “And I would know incredible tits.”

And now you can even string together a few of these, if your characters are getting real freaky.

“Oh my god, you’re so hard,” Tim said, with visible satisfaction, his mouth hovering inches from Sasha’s thighs. “Can I suck your cock? I need it, Sash. You feel so good, let me get my mouth on you.”

“Don’t move,” Enjolras said, and Graintaire froze. “I’m going to fuck you now. I’m going to fuck you into the mattress until I’m done, and if you don’t come before I do, you don’t come at all.” Grantaire whimpered.

Think about your characters!

Are they chatty? Are they shy? Will they keep up a running commentary, or just use their words when they’re forced? What language will they use for different body parts? Can they ask for what they want? Are they filthy, or romantic, or both?

All of those questions will inform who talks, and when, and what they say!

#fic sex #dirty talk #good luck!#Anonymous

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fremedon · 3 years

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Brickclub 3.4.1, Almost Historic, 3/?

Where do you even start with Combeferre?

(ETA halfway through this post: Anywhere, because trying to reduce this to a linear structure is futile; this wants to be a huge stringboard. No one in the Amis except possibly Courfeyrac is neurotypical, but Combeferre is the biggest “nine footnotes and four parentheticals in every paragraph” ADHD mood.)

I’m going to start by grumbling at Donougher for calling him “quixotic” instead of “chimeric.” “Chimeric”--I’m indebted to @everyonewasabird for the insight--is key to Combeferre’s personality. It doesn’t just mean unusual or fanciful--Hugo is also using it very literally: Combeferre is, philosophically, a chimera; he’s composed of parts that don’t fit together. (In a way that is endemic to the time, as the paragraph earlier this chapter on democratic bonapartism reminded us.)

Combeferre abhors violence; Combeferre believes, with all his heart, that revolutionary change is necessary. He’s never going to reconcile those beliefs; once he comes to believe that revolution cannot be left to happen on its own--or that the violence of tyranny that doing so would permit outweighs the violence of revolution--progress in any direction is always going to contradict one of his deeply held convictions. But stagnation is worse--he can’t pull a Grantaire and just retreat into magical thinking and pretend things will work out.

(I’ve been talking on Discord about Combeferre and Grantaire as shadows or mirrors of each other. Grantaire is set up by his intro as Enjolras’s obverse and opposite, but it’s Combeferre who actually “completes and corrects” him. They are the two characters who voice the strongest objections to revolutionary violence in and of itself; and as much of a mess as Combeferre is at the barricade, I think a Grantaire who actually persuaded himself to pick up a gun would be even more of one.)

Which is not to say he’s unwilling to entertain some magical thinking, even outside the framework of “affirmed nothing, not even miracles; denied nothing, not even ghosts.” While his dreams of railways, anaesthesia, etc., are all things he would have seen, and fairly soon, if he’d lived, I think our distance from the fever-dreams mentioned a little earlier, the ones that didn’t come true, makes his hopes seem more sensible than they should--that section doesn’t come around to the accurate predictions until it’s mentioned the mesmerism of Puységur and Deleuze and the utopian socialism of Fourier and Saint-Simon--utopian both in the senses of “what if we actually fed and housed everyone?” and of “after the revolution the seas will turn to lemonade (really) and Nature will spontaneously evolve an Anti-giraffe and it will be my friend.” Of Enjolras and Combeferre, Enjolras is the hard-headed realist. He’s working for well-defined political goals via extremely prosaic means. (Guns, and a heap of rocks.) Combeferre is the wild-eyed idealist, and he completes and corrects Enjolras by pushing him to wilder idealism.

(As an aside, that inclusion of “the suppression of pain in surgical operations” is so important for understanding Combeferre. He’s a surgeon, or a surgeon-in-training, in a time when surgery is violent to the point of torture. He does understand that some pain and decay cannot be allowed to continue unchecked, even when the alternative is, in the moment, even more painful. He groks the costs of inaction at a fundamental level.)

All of which is to say--while she can fight me over “chimeric,” I do like what Donougher does with “the good must be innocent”:

“Combeferre would have gone down on his knees and joined his hands in prayer that the future might arrive in all its blamelessness and nothing disturb the immense and virtuous development of nations. Good must be innocent, he kept repeating.”

I don’t read that as an statement of fact or belief about the world, but as a fervent wish--and probably one he knows can’t be true in the way he wants it to be. The good should be innocent--but it can’t be, right now, and he’s going to spend the rest of the next two books / his life grappling with that.

#brickclub #lm 3.4.1 #combeferre

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shitpostingfromthebarricade · 3 years

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Isn’t that very ungenerous reading of grantaire? I know he’s the worst amis out there (not counting Marius), but he still made the choice to be there about to be counted as a part of the inner circle. To me, he’s more of a drunk friend rambling on the side as opposed to an active antagonist. He focuses on his personal love and liberty, but the basis is still there. If he’s that much of a garbage person wouldn’t a) the amis just kick him out or b)he go off and be literally anywhere else?

RIGHT, so, I was anticipating this ask.

I definitely don’t read him as an active antagonist, and I’m not sure anyone would. The point is, before his transformation in OFPD, he’s a net zero: he shows up, he rambles about his own thing without contributing to the conversation at all (not even to argue or debate: straight-up Zero Interaction with the subject matter), sometimes sexually harasses a waitress, and Leaves. We have an actual in-text example, even, of him offering to do something outside of the liminal space of a meeting ... and not doing it. That isn’t to say that he doesn’t wish that it were true, as Hugo says: Grantaire admires the ideal. He just doesn’t see himself as part of that narrative until he invites himself to be in OFPD,

which is the point.

Grantaire is symbolic of this complacent upper-middle class who sees the problems of the world but decides without even trying that it’s not their problem! Grantaire’s death and the significance of him offering to die by Enjolras’s side isn’t “I’ve loved him the whole time and have known better and been enlightened the entire time and want to make sure this naïve idealist doesn’t die alone,” because nothing about that matches the narrative or characters that Hugo has spent so much time setting up: the significance of Grantaire dying at Enjolras’s side is that the upper-middle class have finally invited themselves to the table, with no expectations of being accepted or it making a difference, and against all of their expectations and preconceived notions they were accepted. Grantaire was finally ready to be at that table, had finally gone through the emotional development he needed to go through to be ready, and when he was, The Revolution was ready for him, even if he was late. The efforts were still accepted, and they still mattered.

But until then? He wasn’t doing anything. Grantaire’s character is significant and named and existent because of that moment, that change, and its significance.

And you bring up a really good question: why didn’t the amis just kick him out? I mean, we can observe how Laigle, Courfeyrac, and (most famously) Enjolras have all literally told him to shut up during his rants because they’re so off-base, offensive, and, at times, undermining their efforts (not to mention Grantaire’s canon propensity toward inviting himself to places that he was not invited ie bini’s oysters at the Corinthe aka How Grantaire was Accidentally at the Barricades), but we also see examples throughout the bricc of the amis putting up with some rather off-color behavior from one another. What does this mean? Is it another juxtaposition regarding the relative harmlessness of some assholery versus others? (Because while Grantaire’s sexism is pretty gross, it’s far from Tholomyès levels of bad.) Does Vicky simply find this sexism acceptable or not even to be an issue? (We have to remember that the author is inherently flawed and was known far and wide for his own promiscuous behavior.) Perhaps Hugo even intentionally seeks to have this example of pre-redemption behavior available for us to compare against what Grantaire could be, a Before picture as compared to the much more respectful Joly/Courfeyrac/Bahorel’s behavior toward women (however we may interpret their behavior in 2021 outside of its native period French culture).

In any case, Vicky says repeatedly, in every description and metaphor and symbol, that Grantaire as he is prior to OFPD is not who we should aspire to be if we want to be a responsible citizen of the world, and it is only through his actions in OFPD that he is redeemed. Grantaire is a valuable character who represents a valuable message! But glorifying who he is and how he behaves prior to that realization, in my opinion, is entirely missing the point of his story arc and why he is significant enough to be mentioned.

To answer your original question: I cannot say how generous or not my reading is, only that it is how I perceive Vicky to have wanted us to read Grantaire.

#baseball bat meets hornet nest #I do love Grantaire's character arc!#but I would love to see more of a focus on that dichotomy of who he was vs who he becomes and the significance #because that before v after is so much deeper than mere skepticism or doubt #he has totally decided that it's not his problem #and then he changes!#and I think recognition of the gaining of that self-awareness is so much cooler than just painting him as misunderstood and calling it a da #much more dynamic and three-dimensional and INTERESTING #les mis #les amis #grantaire #the original trash gremlin #answers and shitposts

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ellasadventuresinfandoms · 3 years

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Okay, back in May @isolatedphenomenon asked me if I had an les mis fic recs and I went "oh boy do I !" and then promptly fucked off and disappeared from tumblr for like 6 months...

Anyway on the off chance people are interested, here is my vastly too long list of my favourite les mis fanfic (that I'm almost 100% sure I'll have accidentally missed some of my favourites off of...)

The vast majority of these are main pairing Enjolras/Grantaire, so I've put those first, divided into multi-chaptered and then one-shots. Below that will be other pairings!

Multi-chaptered

• Witch Boy Series : magic AU, starting with Grantaire solving Enjolras' curse - this is just Incredible world building which gets better as it goes on - my favourite is the Babet interlude

• World Ain't Ready : you know how fandoms tend to have a fic that is just associated with it ? in my experience, for les mis this is it - and well deserved ! High school, fake dating AU with some of the most engaging writing

• BE : Enjolras is dragged back into theatre production, helping Eponine put on a production of Hamlet - really love the characterisation in this, and this is really one of those modern AUs that actually feels like real life - really good writing

• After the End : the definitive apocalypse AU in my eyes - les amis are an underground resistance to the dystopian government - really wonderful characterisation of Grantaire and the amis

• You never have to wonder; you never have to ask. : I tend to find fic by scrolling through bookmarks of a pairing, which means I often see repeats; this is a fic that if I see I just re-read cause I know I'll enjoy it - the amis sparked a failed rebellion, and now 18 months later Grantaire ends up staying at Enjolras' after returning to Paris for Marius and Cosette's wedding

• Your Heart on Your Skin : Soulmate AU with flower tattoos marking important emotions and events - wonderful concept and world building

• Impatient to Be Free : Daughters of Bilitis AU - if that doesn't make you excited I don't know what else to say to convince you (aside from saying the author is a simply wonderful writer)

• You Dance Dreams : Okay. Not to be over dramatic, but this fic did genuinely qualitatively change my life, in that it was the first thing that got me looking up contemporary ballet and now that's like one of my favourite things and big hobby So. Also its really great writing; music/creative arts school les amis with Grantaire choreohraphing the ballet for Combeferre's opera, with a heavy emphasis on Grantaire realising he really never actually got over Enjolras

• philia : this one is an absolute classic to me, but not given nearly enough recognition - one of the more realistic college AUs ever written, and the writing of Grantaire is so good because it hits the perfect balance of sympathy and annoyance about his behaviour (that's a genuine compliment)

• Coffee Hooligans : fucking tragedy this never got properly finished, Enjolras leads the amis as social justice vigilantes and tries to hide the criminal bits of his life from R

• Fighting the Hurricane : Pacific Rim AU that's less an AU and more just placing the les mis characters in the Pacific Rim universe. Really good and riveting read, also super interesting depiction of Grantaire

• Weaving Olden Dances : Fairy AU - Grantaire "claims" Enjolras to prevent his execution - really good writing, love Grantaires characterisation

• Paris Burning : canon era (sort of) where cities have a physical being - Grantaire is Paris and becomes entangled in Enjolras' revolution - oh the world building is truly *chefs kiss*

• Euphoria is You For Me : Enjolras and Grantaire keep meet cuting in a wonderfully written Brooklyn - feels like a love letter to Brooklyn at times, and I really like the characterisation of Grantaire

• so please just fall in love with me this christmas : Enjolras works for the environmental company Grantaire volunteers at, and keeps getting secret gifts at Christmas - I sound a little like a broken record but the Grantaire characterisation is very good

• You Are the Moon : Wild West esque Space AU - Grantaire has to call on the amis to help rescue Valjean and Cosette, despite Grantaire leaving the amis 6 months before. On re-reading the Enjolras characterisation feels a little rushed, but overall fantastic story telling and the Grantaire arc is a Delight

• Pandemos : Enjolras is aphrodite, and seeks peace from all his suitors in R/Hephestus' cave

• Pining for You : Hallmark christmas romance - Grantaire returns home to work on his father's tree farm, and Enjolras is the lawyer helping prevent the farm being sold - cute as shit imo

• Once We're Kings : Fantasy AU - a country hosts a ball to marry Prince Enjolras and the rival country sends Grantaire as a fuck you - one of the best ways of doing Enjolras as a prince in a fantasy and just really nicely written

• Never Bitter and All Delicious : Fairy Godmother AU - yes really, yes its genuinely a very good read

• On One Condition : Fantasy AU - Enjolras is a bored knight who finally goes to check out the local dragon, which turns out to be Grantaire - I really like how they capture Enjolras' stubborn nature and it's such a well written soft growth of love between them

• That's How Easy Love Can Be : Les Amis work at a primary school; and its secret santa time! very fun portrayal of Enjolras

• The Lark and Her Lieutenants : re write of canon where Cosette is the leader of the revolution - just *chefs kiss*

• If You Tickle Us, Do We Not Laugh : Grantaire is Enjolras' secret android - really good at writing a relationship that's incredibly loving but just keeps being antagonistic and coming off wrong

One Shots

• True Colours : AU where you leave colours on the people important to you - Enjolras and Grantaire falling for each other is so soft and gently written its lovely, this is genuinely one of my favourites

• Keep It Kind, Keep It Good, Keep It Right : this one is so good to me, because it builds off my pet hatred of everyone assuming Enjolras doesn't care about (or at least actively show he cares about) his friends

• blooming : very soft post-dystopian utopia that has just a really wonderful sense of hope and light to me

• and the wall leaned away (or: The Pros and Cons of Tilling) : perfectly realised characterizations of the amis, Grantaire needs a date to her final year art exhibition - deals with anxiety over protest in a way that actually hits for me

• not just one of the crowd : R helps run a leftist bakery and bike repair shop - very cute characterisation, and I think more les mis fanfic should link to anarchist essays

• Lovesickness : Enjolras is an idiot and thinks he's sick rather than having a crush - the writing of Joly and Combeferre in this is some of my favourite depictions of these two

• If there's a rocket, tie me to it : absolutely heartbreaking sci-fi AU about the amis as doomed mecha pilots

• Where I Fall is Where I Land : Enjolras is a Roman commander as Rome's power is leaving England, and then meets the pict Grantaire (+ fun soulmark stuff !)

• You Started Foreign to Me : Enjolras moves to america and R is the overnight grocery clerk who helps her learn Spanish - cute fluffy lesbians with a wonderfully written driven Enjolras

• Love Is Touching Souls : very cute soulmate AU - and one I really love for really truly considering the implications of soul marks and creating historical lore around it

• Ten Years : R is a musician, and it non-linearly charts his relationship to Enj from high school to 10 years later

• put up with me then I'll make you see : Grantaire lives above Enjolras, and its christmas - I find it to have a very fun interpretation of pining Enjolras

• A Cat Called Trash Can : this was one of the first les mis fics I ever read (yes I know it says it was published in 2020, but I think it has to be a re-upload or something?) and it does still have a special place in my heart - Grantaire rescues a cat, but Enjolras is the only one with an apartment free to look after it

• Still I'm Begging to Be Free : inception AU where les amis have to rescue a sleeping R from his own brain

•I'm in it for You : cw: illness, cancer - R has cancer and is being a martyr about telling his friends so Enjolras drives him back from chemo

• walls come tumbling down : sky high au - a very good high school AU with the perfect level of campy superhero powers

• This brave new world's not like yesterday : Enjolras needs a job, so ends up working in a bowling alley with Grantaire and bonding

Enjolras/Grantaire/Combeferre

• In Defiance of All Geometry : les amis are a student co-op house, Enjolras and Combeferre are pining friends and Grantaire is the newbie

• Still the Same : this is very good writing and very compelling - if you can get over the (imo) plot hole of Enjolras working for the FBI. R was an art thief Enj put away and is briefly helping the FBI out, and Combeferre is Enjolras' husband

• To Kingdom Come : cw: war and PTSD from that, Enjolras and Combeferre are part of a group of refugees that have crossed into a more fantasy land, and Grantaire is a lone traveller from that land that attempts to help - that was a shit summary of this very emotional, wonderfully written fic about war and love in all forms

• Gonna need (a spark to ignite) : I always love a twist on a classic trope, and this is a very fun take on the soulmate AU - Enjolras loses feeling in his soul mark as a child, falls in love with Grantaire and then his soulmate, Combeferre, turns up

Eponine/Cosette

• Pretty Girls Don't Know the Things That I Know : simply stunning writing - perfect example of soft writing about a harsh world

• she knows her way around : Eponine and Cosette bond, ostensibly so Eponine can find out about her for Marius, and their interactions are so playful and realistic, its wonderful

• always find me floating on oceans : Cosette stows away on Eponine's pirate ship - I do always have a soft spot for eposette fics (not just cause I ship it) because they truly characterise Cosette in a really considered and interesting way

• There's No Making Love : I'm putting this under eposette even though there is some significant enjolras/grantaire content, because the Cosette characterisation is so fun and cute

• round and round again : this fic really beautifully translates Cosette's bad childhood and then isolated teenage years, and the impact that would have on her as an adult into a modern AU

• Underwater Thunderheards : this is based off the book The Scorpio Races, and is just a really nice short fic about longing

• How To Change The World Without Taking Power : Marius has a crush on Cosette and she's tried being polite and subtle in turning him down, so just ends up fake dating Eponine instead

• blood red fruit and poison's kiss : Snow White AU - Cosette as Snow White

• The Winters Cannot Fade Her : Snow White Au 2.0 - Eponine as Snow White - this was written as a pair to the one above which is just so cute to me

• marriage à la mode : Cosette and Eponine run a bridal shop together and it's very cute !

• Temporary Hold : I personally find this a really fun and very unique take on Cosette - with exams coming up she decides she needs to get laid on the reg and so hits up Eponine to act as if they're already long term girlfriends

Combeferre/Courfeyrac

• better than you had it : fake dating but kick it up an emotional notch - Courf and Ferre pretend to still be together after breaking up for a family event

• take flight, come near : nice and cute low fantasy, where Combeferre runs a dragon sanctuary and Courf finds an injured dragon

Rare Pairs

• The Future's Owned by You and Me : cute Enjolras/Feuilly with actual radical politics and real life organising difficulties and wins

• First Dates and Other Dangers : Combeferre and Grantaire agree to go on a blind date and it's awkward until it isn't - just cute !

• after midnight : Combeferre has insomnia and meets Grantaire in various all night fast food chains

• as you are : Bahorel and Jehan getting ready together

• Almost Romantic : Jehan works at a museum, and takes Combeferre on a little tour

• Understudy : Jehan/Combeferre, with Combeferre's insecurities regarding being seen as second best to Enjolras

• Here There Be Dragons : Courf/Enj/Ferre - Courf and Enj are superheroes and Ferre is the doctor that patches them up

• To Let it Occur (Laisser Faire la Nature) : Feuilly has a stupidly long stopover in Paris and meets Enjolras

• rule of three : Courf/Enj/Ferre as spies and loving boyfriends

• Good Rhetoric : snapshots of cute cuddly courf/enj/ferre

• subluxate, dislocate, replace : found family and chronic illness with Joly/Bossuet/Musichetta

• Strike stone, strike home (like lightning) : so this fic took one minor piece of lore about Tolkien's dwarves and made a beautiful j/b/m fic from it

• Almost Inevitable : Bahorel/Feuilly friends-with-benefits

• god only knows (what I'd be without you) : Bahorel/Feuilly with a closeted Feuilly and a beautiful Feuilly and Eponine friendship

#les miserables #fanfic rec #les mis #les miserables fanfic #les miserables fanfic rec

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kjack89 · 3 years

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Determination of Death (pt. 1/2)

Extremely self-indulgent, and the kind of angst I haven’t written in a long while. Because I was having a bad week and figured, hey, why not make it worse :)

I split it in two because it was getting long; second part should be posted sometime later this week.

Former E/R, modern AU. CW: car accident, major injuries, discussion of end of life care, referenced major character death. Y’know. The good stuff.

Joly sighed, staring longingly up at the clock in the emergency room as if he could somehow force it to jump ahead four hours to the end of his shift. Not that he would ever voice the thought out loud, since doing so was the surest way to jinx it, but it had been a quiet night, and this was his last scheduled overnight shift in the E/R for at least a few weeks.

He tapped his pen against the counter, idly wondering if he could maybe sneak out a few minutes early and surprise Bossuet with breakfast in bed. Suddenly, another doctor ran past, donning a trauma gown, and Joly immediately straightened. “What do we got?” he asked urgently.

“MVC,” the other doctor called over her shoulder, using the acronym to indicate a car crash. “Multiple victims incoming.”

So much for a quiet night.

Joly grabbed a trauma gown and followed her out into the ambulance bay to meet the ambulance that screeched to a halt, its lights blaring. “Unrestrained driver,” one of the paramedics reported. “Lost control of the vehicle and crashed head first into oncoming traffic. Nonresponsive at the scene, and we’re gonna need a tox screen – we think she might have been drinking.”

“I got this one,” his colleague told him. “Go deal with the second ambulance.”

Joly nodded and jogged over to the second ambulance. “What do we—” he started as the paramedic shoved a clipboard at him, but his question died in his throat as he saw who was strapped down on the gurney.

It was Enjolras.

The paramedic was telling him something but it was as if Joly had gone temporarily deaf as he stared down at Enjolras, barely recognizable from the injuries he had sustained. Joly catalogued all the injuries he could see with a sort of vague detachment as if he was seeing them on someone other than one of his closest friends, the man he had vowed to walk through fire for.

Penetrating head trauma. Multiple facial lacerations. Chest and pelvis crush injuries. Open tibia fracture. Almost guaranteed massive internal injuries.

It was a miracle Enjolras was still alive, and Joly’s hands started shaking so badly that he dropped the clipboard the paramedic had handed him. “Dr. Joly?” someone was asking, and Joly just shook his head violently and turned away to empty his stomach on the pavement of the ambulance bay.

Christ, he hadn’t puked at the hospital since he was an intern.

He wiped his mouth with the back of his still-shaking hand and straightened to find his colleague gripping his arm and staring at him with clear concern in her eyes. “I’m sorry,” Joly whispered. “I just...he’s a friend.”

Understanding crossed her expression, and she nodded. “Ok,” she told him, her voice calm, soothing. It was the voice they used for hysterical family members, and Joly hated her a little bit for using it on him. “Get in touch with his emergency contact, get them to the hospital. You can brief them when they get here, ok?”

“I want to help—” Joly started, but she shook her head before he could even finish his sentence.

“You’re not a doctor right now. You’re a loved one.” She hesitated for just a moment before adding, with genuine sympathy, “I’m so sorry.”

He hated her even more for that.

Then she was gone, she and the paramedics whisking Enjolras inside to do what they could – if there was even anything that they would be able to do.

And Joly had nothing left to do but to call Combeferre and tell him the worst news he had ever had to deliver.

----------

It was now four hours past when Joly had been supposed to get off of work, and there was no indication that he would get to go home anytime soon. All of Les Amis had trickled in during the night and were now all camped out in the waiting room, eager for whatever news Joly could tell them.

But unfortunately, he had nothing that he could tell.

He pulled his scrub cap off as he slowly made his way over to where they were all waiting, trying to school his expression to something less grim, but judging by the way Courfeyrac’s smile slid off his face as soon as he saw him, he hadn’t succeeded. “How is he?” Combeferre asked, scrambling to his feet.

Joly swallowed. “He’s alive,” he said shortly. “That’s all that I can tell you right now.”

Combeferre and Courfeyrac exchanged glances. “What the hell are you talking about?” Courfeyrac asked, uncharacteristically blunt. “What do you mean, that’s all you can tell us?”

“I mean that I am required to tell Enjolras’s family first before I can share any details.”

Combeferre’s expression was ashen but Courfeyrac’s eyes flashed. “We are his family,” he started hotly, but Combeferre shook his head and squeezed Courfeyrac’s arm.

“Pontmercy,” he said, a little hoarsely. “We need to call Marius. He’s everyone’s power of attorney, remember? He can authorize them to share medical details with us.”

Courfeyrac quickly dug his cellphone out his jeans pocket, dialing Marius’s number from memory. “Come on, come on,” he muttered urgently as he waited for Marius to pick up. “Come on, damnit.”

A pile of coats that had been tossed onto a chair suddenly seemed to stand up of its own accord, and Marius emerged from under them, blinking owlishly as he clearly had just woken up. “Sorry, m’here,” he said between a yawn, and Courfeyrac looked like he was torn between wanting to hug him or throttle him.

Combeferre didn’t let him do either. “You’re Enjolras’s power of attorney, right?” he said in clipped tones.

Marius ran a hand over his face and blinked once more before nodding. “Yes,” he said.

“Then tell Joly that he can share medical details about Enjolras with all of us.”

Marius winced. “Ah,” he said. “Um, there’s a bit of a problem with that. I’m Enjolras’s power of attorney for certain things, mainly related to his estate and his trust fund, but I’m not designated as Enjolras’s medical proxy.”

Courfeyrac looked between Marius and Combeferre, his eyes wide. “What does mean?” he asked, a little faintly. “Who would make the decisions if Enjolras didn’t designate a medical proxy?”

“Well, generally speaking, the closest blood relative would—”

“His parents?” Courfeyrac interrupted, horrified. “He hates his parents!”

Marius shook his head. “No, I’m sorry,” he said quickly. “The problem isn’t that Enjolras didn’t designate a medical proxy, so we don’t have to worry about that.” He winced again. “The, uh, the problem is that he did. And the designation is still legally binding.”

“Who?” Combeferre asked, his brow furrowed.

Marius just gave him a look. “You know who.”

Realization crossed Combeferre’s face, followed by something like rage. “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.”

----------

Grantaire had been, up until that moment at least, thoroughly enjoying his evening. He had been hit on not once but twice at the bar, and had decided to take the second one, a thin, blond man (because Grantaire had always had a type, damn it), home for the night. They were right in the middle of making out like teenages on Grantaire’s couch when his phone rang.

Grantaire groaned and pulled away to reach for his cell, but the blond – Shane? Brendan? something? – pushed him back against the couch. “Ignore it,” he whispered before sucking on Grantaire’s earlobe.

He was only too happy to comply, but unfortunately, his phone had other ideas, ringing repeatedly until the best makeout session in the world wouldn’t have been able to hold his attention. “Let me just get rid of whomever this is,” he said, holding the man on his lap in place with one arm while reaching for his phone with the other. “Someone better be dying,” he said in lieu of a greeting, followed by a very confused, “Pontmercy?”

His brow furrowed as he listened to Marius, and he abruptly pushed the man off his lap, standing up and looking wildly around his apartment. “Yeah, ok,” he said. “Yeah, I’ll be there as soon as I can.” He hung up and threw his phone down on his couch. “You need to go,” he told the guy he’d brought him, unusually brusque. “I have to get to the hospital.”

“Oh no, is everyone alright?” the guy asked, reaching out for him, but Grantaire brushed him aside, grabbing his shirt from where he had tossed it earlier.

“No,” he said shortly. “It’s my husband. He was in a car accident.”

“You’re married?” the guy asked, sounding almost offended by the thought.

Grantaire closed his eyes for a brief moment, wondering how he had got himself in the position of needing to explain this to a one-night stand. “No, I mean my ex-husband,” he said with a sigh.

“You’re divorced?” the guy asked, sounding even more disgusted by that.

“You know what, I don’t really have time to debate this with you, so while I’m sure you would have been a great lay—” Sudden pounding on Grantaire’s door cut him off and he groaned. “Great,” he sighed, hurrying over to open his door.

He was only a little surprised to see Combeferre standing there. “What are you doing here?”

“You weren’t answering Marius’s phonecall,” Combeferre said shortly.

Grantaire rolled his eyes. “Yeah, well, I did, and I’m getting ready to go to the hospital, so you can just—”

Before he could finish telling Combeferre exactly where he could go, the guy he’d brought home snuck past him, pausing to kiss his cheek and tell him breathlessly, “Call me when you’re back from dealing with your ex.”

Combeferre watched him leave, his expression stony. “Nice,” he told Grantaire, who rolled his eyes again.

“You have no right to judge me,” he snapped. “Enjolras and I have been divorced for longer than we were married, so I’m allowed to do whatever and whomever the fuck I want.”

“Yeah, well, about that,” Combeferre started, and Grantaire frowned.

“What?”

----------

“What?” Grantaire said, his voice cracking. “What the hell are you talking about?”

Marius quailed slightly under his glare. “Well, see, the thing about it is—”

“Enjolras and I got divorced!” Grantaire interrupted loudly. “I signed the damned paper!”

“You did,” Marius told him. “But Enjolras didn’t.” Grantaire’s mouth opened but no sound came out, and Marius continued, “He didn’t sign them, and he didn’t file them, so legally, you two are still married. And legally, you’re still his next of kin.”

Grantaire shook his head, but he still couldn’t seem to manage any words, and Marius reached out to grasp his shoulder. “We can talk through this more later but for now, Joly needs to talk to you.”

Without waiting for Grantaire to reply, Marius spun him around to face Joly, who looked exhausted. “C’mon,” Joly muttered, glancing at all their friends, who were staring expectantly at them. “Let’s talk over here.”

He jerked his head towards a meeting room off of the waiting room, and Grantaire numbly followed. Joly pulled the door open and stepped back to let Grantaire walk in first before following him in, closing the door after them. “So,” Joly started, but Grantaire shook his head.

“No, before you start, I just want to say…” He trailed off, then took a deep breath. “Despite the circumstances, it is really good to see you. I know Enjolras got you and Bossuet in the divorce, but—”

Joly let out what might have been a wordless sob, surging forward to wrap Grantaire in a fierce hug. Grantaire froze before slowly patting Joly on the back. Then, abruptly, his hand froze. “Wait,” he said, his chest tight. “This isn’t a good hug, is it.”

He didn’t say it like a question but Joly still shook his head as he pulled back, his eyes wet and red. “No,” he said hoarsely. “No, it’s not a good thing. It’s—” He broke off and shook his head, his tone turning professional. “It’s not good, R. Enjolras suffered severe internal injuries, but those—”

Again he broke off, but this time, he didn’t seem able to start again. Grantaire swallowed and nudged him gently. “But those?” he prompted softly.

Joly shook his head once as if to clear it. “The internal injuries were severe but probably not fatal,” he said tonelessly. “But he suffered massive head trauma. Part of his skull was broken in the crash and his brain swelled drastically, and likely irrevocably.”

Grantaire reached out wordlessly to grasp the back of a chair, his entire body shaking uncontrollably. “Oh,” he managed finally as he stared unseeingly at the wall in front of him.

Joly quickly wiped a tear off his cheek and cleared his throat. “I know that this isn’t what you expected to be dealing with, but as Enjolras’s next of kin, you have some decisions to make.”

“He’s an organ donor,” Grantaire said hollowly. “I don’t– I don’t know if, in his condition, any of his organs are—” His voice cracked. “—are viable, but if any of them are, he would want to donate that.”

“His heart, his lungs, maybe a kidney and part of his liver,” Joly said, giving Grantaire a watery smile. “He could probably donate those.”

Grantaire jerked a nod. “So then do it,” he said, more harshly than he intended.

Joly’s smile disappeared. “Unfortunately, it’s not that simple,” he said. “It’s...I mean, it’s complicated.”

Grantaire couldn’t stop the laugh that bubbled up from his chest. “No shit, Sherlock.”

“No, I don’t just mean because of you and him,” Joly said impatiently. “I mean, it’s complicated medically.”

Grantaire blinked. “How so?”

Joly wet his lips. “In order to donate organs, a patient must meet one of two conditions. The easiest one is brain death. But unfortunately, we don’t know if Enjolras is brain dead yet.”

“How do you not know that?” Grantaire demanded. “Aren’t there tests?”

“Yes, and we’ve run all of them, but the tests revealed limited functioning. It could just have been an artifact of previous brain activity, so we’ll run the test again in a few hours.” Joly took a deep breath. “But if the repeat tests should even just the slightest amount of functioning, we legally can’t declare him brain dead.”

Grantaire shook his head slowly. “Ok, so what does that mean?”

“It means that him signing up to be an organ donor won’t be enough.” Joly met his eyes. “It means we would need your consent to withdraw life-sustaining measures and allow cardiac death if you wanted to donate his organs.”

Grantaire’s eyelids fluttered closed, and a muscle worked in his jaw for a long moment before he finally managed, his voice sharp, “Fine, whatever, I consent.” He opened his eyes to stare fiercely at Joly as if daring him to say anything. “Do you need me to sign something, or—?”

Joly just shook his head. “Again, it’s unfortunately not that simple.”

“Why not?” Grantaire asked tiredly, feeling older than he ever had before.

“Because no matter how small a chance it is, if he isn’t brain dead, then there is still a chance—”

“That he could wake up,” Grantaire finished with sudden realization, and he hated himself for the way his heart leapt in his chest, hated that after all this time, the only person in the damn world who could still make him feel something like hope was Enjolras.

Joly nodded. “Yes,” he said. “He could live in a comatose state for...well, technically indefinitely. And there have been cases where someone has woken up after a month, or six months, or a year, or—”

“But what are the chances of that actually happening here?” Grantaire asked, harsher than he intended, trying desperately to quash the hope he could still feel rising in his chest, that there might still be time left with Enjolras, time to at least say goodbye and tell him he was sorry, time to tell him he still – that he never stopped—

“In my medical opinion…” Joly hesitated. “Not high. The trauma that his brain has suffered...and even if he woke up, I don’t think he would be Enjolras anymore.”

Joly’s words hit Grantaire like a punch to the gut, and he sagged, still gripping the chair with all his strength to keep himself upright. “So then that’s that,” he said, his voice trembling, just slightly.

Joly just nodded once. “Like I said,” he said quietly, “you have a choice to make. Not even just in regards to donating his organs, but in regards to if you think he would want to live like this.”

A laugh burst unbidden in Grantaire’s throat, an almost hysterical sound, because that had been one of the last things Enjolras had said to him before telling him he wanted a divorce – “I just can’t live like this anymore,” Enjolras had said, sounding tired, and sad, and more defeated than Grantaire could possibly bear. “And I don’t think you can either. Or maybe you can, but that doesn’t mean we should.”

So Grantaire had signed the papers to dissolve his marriage to the only man he had ever loved and moved out, leaving Enjolras, and Les Amis, and his entire life behind. He had thought that chapter was over, but now—

He realized a moment too late that Joly had asked him something and was waiting for his answer, and shook his head once to clear it. “Sorry, what?” he asked.

“Do you want to see him?” Joly repeated.

Again, the words were like a dagger in him. “Until about three hours ago, my answer to that question would have unequivocally been yes,” Grantaire said, his voice low. “But now, like this…” He shook his head again. “But I have to, though, don’t I?”

He meant it more rhetorically than anything, but Joly shook his head, sympathy clear in his expression. “You don’t have to,” he told Grantaire. “Not if you don’t want to.”

“I should though,” Grantaire said with a sigh, scrubbing a hand across his face. “I can’t make this decision without seeing him – without it being real.”

He couldn’t, because no matter how things ended between them, he would never be able to picture Enjolras as anything other than alive, and perfect, and the thought of making a decision about ending his life when that was how he envisioned Enjolras still was frankly laughable. Absurd. Like the world’s sickest joke.

So he needed to see him. No matter how much it would break what was left of him in the process.

“Ok,” Joly said softly. “Then I’ll take you back to him.”

#enjolras x grantaire #exr #enjoltaire #grantaire #enjolras #joly #combeferre #courfeyrac #marius pontmercy #fanfiction #part 1 of 2 #les miserables #former relationship #car accident cw #major injury cw #end of life care cw #major character death cw #angst #all the angst

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theburialofstrawberries · 3 years

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Do you have any fic recs... you seem like a good connoisseur of like, that particular brand of thought-provoking gorgeous writing style holy crap I can’t believe someone wrote this intricate, delicate piece of fiction for free stuff. I don’t even care if it’s like about Pixar Cars I trust your taste fully on this. Asking for a friend.

Boy do I totally have exactly what you asked for. Below are recs largely from fandoms where I have had either zero or minimal engagement with the source material but whose authors I’d trust with my life. In no particular order:

1. In the spirit of your Pixar Cars joke, this Transformers fic by the peerless astolat that will leave you stunned the robot cars didn’t bone when they are so clearly in love. If you like that one you should read the Victory Condition, same fandom and author; someone correctly commented that its the next Great American Novel and only we on this site will ever know

2. One of my absolute favourite written works ever which I will never stop recommending is The Book of Secrets by Are; Downton Abbey, prickly gay evil butler with a heart of gold, vain handsome footman undergoing a deep crisis of identity. Are introduces psychological complexity and richness to the fairly bland Jimmy character, and as tumblr user maiden once remarked, making good fanfiction for bad tv shows IS the noblest of women’s works, this generation’s Bayeux tapestry. If you like that you should definitely read Hauntsverse (the Enchanted Life of Thomas Barrow has the kind of pacing & action & thematically + narratively satisfying conclusion in its last third that Christopher Nolan dreams of)

3. Also still really like this Rave footballer RPF fic of Christiano Ronaldo and Kaka where Ronaldo is a half-demon and Kaka is a priest. Love a good crisis of faith story. I do not follow football and have no dog in the RPF discourse war but Rave is just a lush brilliant humorous writer

4. User Fahye literally held the real estate deeds to my ass for the longest time, they’re prolific and have done some excellent work in the Untamed and Yuri on Ice fandoms in particular, but two niche works that deserve to be mentioned: Single Use Weapon, a fealty fic set in a tiny modern day kingdom. Monarch is in love with the childhood friend turned mercenary who must protect his king. And then this enjolras / grantaire fic that I’ve probably outgrown since I don’t have the tolerance for prolonged angst anymore, but when I did, this was the one I kept returning to

5. Syllic sent me down an entire Merlin/Arthur phase with Three Tasks (if you like this you should check out the rest of their works + astolat’s entire Merlin body of work, Crown of the Summer Court is widely regarded as one of the best fanworks ever ever ever)

6. Some anon very long ago recommended An Ever Fixed Mark, which is a soulmates AU of Pride and Prejudice. The author AMarguerite does some beautiful well-researched world-building here and completely transports you to the regency era, I learned all about the Ton. But importantly this series is juicy and funny and full of heart. It’s also choose your own adventure -- what if Lizzie had ended up with Colonel Fitzwilliam? Or the literal actual Duke of Wellington? Staunch supporters of Mr. Darcy may rest easy seeing as there is a 100K+ story dedicated to Darcy/Lizzie but there’s also two separate what-ifs; the one where Lizzie shacks up with the Duke of Wellington is, for my money, the best

7. Passion & Profession starring Marcus Aquila of The Eagle (2011) and YES Jamie Bell EXCEPT as St John Rivers from Jane Eyre. Follows St John’s adventures after he sets for Calcutta -- and lives, because he has his big gay awakening with a buff handsome crippled soldier. Beautiful story, St John is a drama queen, really liked the portrayal of British Raj era West Bengal here. As I said, I love a good crisis of faith fic, and the conversation St John has with a cheerful gay reverend near the climax of the fic is one of the favourite back and forths on religion and gay love ever

8. This fix-it Snowpiercer fic where Yona and Timmy survive and find an underground society....sci-fi levels of intricate and bold world-building

9. Another fix-it because I’ve recently been obsessed with Avatar where Neytiri is the one chosen by the elder tree to become Toruk Makto and save her people; same author has written a 34K slow burn between Trudy and Grace that I’m dying to read

10. Some original works that have recently been on my mind:

For King & Country, I’m following Part 2 of this masterful series with bated breath; insecure mage hates his handsomer more charismatic more talented rival, unaware said rival has been in love with him for aaages.

This weird short lovely thing where a thief rides across a desert nearly dies and is saved by the mute solar deity whose temple he is about to rob. Love an unexpected story that makes me re-read looking for clues and subtext and details I may have missed

This horror fic about how a group of people on an online forum for analyzing a Tolkein-like children’s series meet up IRL to discuss the author’s alleged descent into madness and unlock the mystery behind his last seemingly nonsensical book. As you say I cannot believe people write this stuff for free

Hollycomb is a legend and my heart pangs with every re-read of this paranormal coming of age fic....wistful & lovely

And my bookmarks for further reference. If you end up reading anything from this list let me know!!!!!

#fic rec #writing #Anonymous

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miserablesme · 3 years

Text

The Les Miserables Changelog Part 6: 1987-1997 West End variations

Hello, everyone! This is the latest edition in my attempt to chronicle all of the musical and lyrical changes which the show Les Miserables has undergone over the years. This time, we're going through the production-specific differences between the official 1987-1997 libretto and the West End productions of the era.

Compared to American productions, the West End production was NOT afraid to improvise a little relative to what the books said. It was simultaneously willing to hold on to things the official libretto abandoned, and to add in details not done elsewhere. (Incidentally this reportedly was true with the staging as well as the lyrics, though this blog is focused on the latter.)

It’s worth noting that the show went through many iterations throughout the decade. For the sake of coherence I’m separating this post into each variant.

Oh, and because this entails many different versions of the musical, and most of these lyrical changes can be seen and discussed in other posts of my blog, this post will be significantly less thorough than most of mine regarding my thoughts on the changes. With all that cleared up, let us begin!

Circa 1987-1988 variant

During “On Parole”, the official lyrics of the innkeepers have since 1987 been:

My rooms are full

And I’ve no supper to spare

I’d like to help a stranger

All we want is to be fair

The West End production maintained the original version instead:

My rooms are full

And I’ve no supper to spare

I’d like to help you really

All I want is to be fair

"At the End of the Day" reverses a line. Officially Valjean usually sings:

What is this fighting all about?

Will someone tear these two apart?

Instead, the West End show has him ask:

Will someone tear these two apart?

What is this fighting all about?

The 1987 libretto had these (solo) lyrics to “The Runaway Cart”:

Don’t go near him, Monsieur Mayor

The load is as heavy as hell

The old man is a goner for sure

It will kill you as well

The West End version used the original ensemble sequence instead:

(INDIVIDUAL)

Don’t go near him, Monsieur Mayor

There’s nothing at all you can do

(ENSEMBLE)

The old man is a goner for sure

Leave him alone

“Who Am I?” still used the original “This innocent who bears my face” instead of “who wears my face”. It also still featured Valjean’s “You know where to find me!” declaration officially written out of the libretto.

Prior to "Master of the House", a customer still declares "Hell, what a wine" instead of the revised "God, what a wine".

In the “Waltz of Treachery”, Thenardier still asks “Have we done for your child what is best?” instead of the official post-Broadway line which changes “your child” to “her child”. Additionally, Valjean still sings "a friendlier sky" instead of "some friendlier sky".

Then, at the end of the number, at least some performances use a slightly different line from the norm. Usually Little Cosette asks:

Will there be children

And castles to see?

However, this era of the West End production used a version later borrowed by the Official Symphonic Soundtrack as well as the 1992 UK tour:

Will there be castles

And children to see?

I can’t help but wonder what this edit was supposed to accomplish. Is it supposed to show that Cosette is optimistic and innocent enough to prioritize castles over making friends?

The opening of "Look Down" interestingly used a middle ground between Gavroche's original and rewritten lines. Originally he declares:

This is my school, my high society

From St. Denis to St Michel

We live on crumbs of humble piety

Tough on the teeth, but what the hell?

If you're poor, if you're free

Follow me, follow me!

Officially in the 1987 libretto, he instead proclaims:

This is my school, my high society

Here in the slums of St Michel

We live on crumbs of humble piety

Tough on the teeth, but what the hell?

Think you're poor? Think you're free?

Follow me, follow me!

However, the West End production at the time has him sing:

This is my school, my high society

Here in the slums of St Michel

We live on crumbs of humble piety

Tough on the teeth, but what the hell?

If you're poor, if you're free

Follow me, follow me!

The revised opener combined with the original closing part! A fascinating combination in my book.

As in the original version, the Beggar Woman cries "You give 'em all the pox" instead of just "Give 'em all the pox".

The 1987 libretto featured the following exchange as an ensemble piece:

When's it gonna end?

When're we gonna live?

Something's gotta happen now or

Something's gotta give

However, the West End production used the original solo lines:

When's it gonna end?

When're we gonna live?

Something's gotta happen, dearie

Something's gotta give

Fortunately, the generic students' lines have been replaced with Marius and Enjolras as usual. However, the beggars' lines in between their dialogue is in its original form. Instead of the revised lines:

(BEGGARS)

See our children fed

Help us in our shame

Something for a crust of bread in Holy Jesus' name

(SOLO BEGGAR)

In the Lord's holy name

(BEGGARS)

In His name, in His name, in His name

The original ones are used:

(BEGGARS)

Something for a meal

Something for a doss

Something in the name of Him who died upon the cross

On the cross, come across

On the cross, come across, come across

"The Robbery" has mostly been adapted into its revised Broadway form, with one small difference. Instead of the following revised part of Thenardier's dialogue:

Save a life, spare a sou

God rewards all the good that you do

He instead sings the following:

Save a life, spare a sou

God will see all the good that you do

This is presumably a relic of the number's pre-Broadway form, in which Thenardier's plea includes the line:

How d'you do? Spare a sou

God will see all the good that you do

I kind of like this unique variant actually. It strikes me as a little more authentic regarding what an actual religious person would say. My experience is that the omniscience of God seems to be a higher priority in most devout Christians' minds than the ways he will reward them. Of course, Thenardier is just putting on an act and he himself prioritizes nothing before reward, so perhaps the standard lines make more sense.

For some inexplicable reason, Javert's "Why on earth did he run?" later in "The Robbery" is instead sung as "Why the hell did he run?" This feels extremely out-of-character; Javert is usually not one to use Biblical terms casually.

"Stars" mostly takes on its usual post-Broadway form, with one difference. Instead of singing:

He knows his way in the dark

But mine is the way of the Lord

And those who follow the path of the righteous shall have their reward

He removes the final conjunction, making the lyric:

He knows his way in the dark

But mine is the way of the Lord

Those who follow the path of the righteous shall have their reward

Ironically, I find the original "but" a little awkward while thinking the "and" is better when present! Not a huge deal though.

Enjolras' name continues not to be stated during the instrumentals before "Red and Black".

During "Red and Black", Grantaire still sings "We talk of battles to be won" instead of the slightly revised "You talk of battles to be won".

"The Attack on Rue Plumet" uses the slightly different original "to watch a cat and his father" line instead of the official "to see a cat and his father".

Then, at the climax of the number, instead of the revised sequence of lines:

You wait my girl, you'll rue this night

I'll make you scream, you'll scream alright!

Leave her to me, don't wait around

Make for the sewers, go underground

The original sequence was used:

Make for the sewers, don't wait around

Leave her to me, go underground

You wait my girl, you'll rue this night

I'll make you scream, you'll scream alright!

During "One Day More", Javert sings the original "One day more to revolution" instead of "One more day to revolution" as is standard.

In the opener to Act Two, Grantaire sings the pre-Broadway "Some will bark, some will bite" from the pre-Broadway show instead of the revised "Dogs will bark, fleas will bite".

After "Little People", Grantaire similarly keeps his original "Better far to die a schoolboy than a p'liceman and a spy instead of the post-Broadway "What's the difference? Die a schoolboy, die a p'liceman, die a spy".

The Second Attack retains a lot of pre-Broadway lines. Instead of this post-Broadway opening:

(ENJOLRAS)

How do we stand? Feuilly make your report

(FEUILLY)

We've guns enough but ammunition short

(MARIUS)

I will go into the street

There are bodies all around

Ammunition to be had

Lots of bullets to be found

The original one is used:

(ENJOLRAS)

How do we stand? Feuilly make your report

(FEUILLY)

We've guns enough but bullets running short

(MARIUS)

Let me go into the street

There are bodies all around

Ammunition to be had

Lots of bullets to be found

Then, instead of this post-Broadway sequence:

(ENJOLRAS)

I can't let you go, it's too much of a chance

(MARIUS)

And the same is true for any man here

(VALJEAN)

Let me go, he's no more than a boy

I am old, I have nothing to fear

The pre-Broadway one is used:

(ENJOLRAS)

I can't let you go, it's too much of a chance

(MARIUS)

And the same can be said for any man here

(VALJEAN)

Let me go in his place, he's no more than a boy

I am old and alone and have nothing to fear

The remainder of the scene is performed in its usual post-Broadway form.

The "Final Battle" number uses the more hectic original pace as opposed to the less wordy post-Broadway lyrics. Instead of these current lyrics:

(ENJOLRAS)

Let us die facing our foes

Make them bleed while they can

(COMBEFERRE)

Make them pay through the nose

(COURFEYRAC)

Make them pay for every man

A slight variation on the original lyrics is used:

(ENJOLRAS)

Come on my friends, though we stand here alone

Let us go to our deaths with our face to the foes

(COMBEFERRE)

Let 'em pay for each death with a death of their own

(COURFEYRAC)

If they get me, by God, they will pay through the nose

Notice how the line now uses "the foes" instead of the original "our foes". Everything else is consistent with the original sequence, though.

"Dog Eats Dog" is mostly the same as its post-Broadway revision. However, Thenardier still sings "Here's a little toy" instead of the revised "Here's another toy".

Additionally, after the number Thenardier still doesn't shout Valjean's name.

From this point onwards, the musical takes its standard post-Broadway form.

Circa 1988-1989 variant

This version is almost identical to the last, with a couple exceptions. During "Who Am I?" Valjean now sings the official "wears my face" line as opposed to the original "bears my face" lyric.

The post-"Waltz of Treachery" scene is now performed in its standard "children and castles" format instead of the "castles and children" variant.

"Stars" now borrows a line from its Australian version. Instead of "And so it has been, and so it is written", Javert now sings "And so it must be, for so it is written". Interestingly, though, the rest of the number is the same as it was in the 1987-1988 version of the West End show.

In "One Day More", Javert finally sings the post-Broadway "One more day to revolution" instead of "One day more to revolution".

Thenardier now shouts Valjean's name following "Dog Eats Dog", as was already the case in other productions.

Circa 1989-1991 variant

This version of the show is mostly a mix of the 1987-1989 variants as well as the official post-Broadway libretto, with a few unique variations added in. The innkeeper scene retains its pre-Broadway form, and "At the End of the Day" retains its swapped-lines variants.

"The Runaway Cart" now uses its standard post-Broadway lyrics. However, the lines "The load is as heavy as hell" and "It will kill you as well" are performed as ensemble pieces instead of the scripted solo lines.

"Who Am I?" retains Valjean's "You know where to find me" line... usually. I also have one 1989 recording where Peter Karrie uses the Australian "You will find me at the hospital St. John" line... yet Karrie himself can also be heard stating the usual line in other performances. Very odd...

The "Hell, what a line" original lyric is still sing during the preamble to "Master of the House".

Thenardier still sings "your child" instead of "her child" during the "Waltz of Treachery".

Gavroche's opening to "Look Down", the Beggar Woman's "Give 'em all the pox", and the beggars' "See our children fed" lyrics have all finally been adapted into their official post-Broadway selves. However, the "When's it gonna end" sequence retains its pre-Broadway form.

"The Robbery" maintains the unique "God will see all the good that you do" variation. However, Javert's "Why the hell did he run?" has fortunately been reverted to "Why on earth did he run?"

"Stars" has now fully adapted into its Australian format. Instead of the original "Fallen from grace, fallen from grace" Javert now sings "Fallen from God, fallen from grace". The "but" has also been removed from "Mine is the way of the Lord".

"Red and Black" now uses the official "you talk of battles" line. However, Enjolras' name still isn't declared during its opening instrumentals.

"The Attack on Rue Plumet" retains all of its pre-Broadway variations.

In "One Day More", Javert now sings "I will join these little schoolboys" instead of "We'll be ready for these schoolboys".

The opening barricade scene in Act Two has now switched to the official post-Broadway "Dogs will bark, fleas will bite" lyrics.

Grantaire's post-"Little People" line now takes its post-Broadway "What's the difference?" format.

The "Second Attack", the "Final Battle", and "Dog Eats Dog" are all performed identically to the 1987-1989 West End versions.

Circa 1991-1992 variant

This is very close to the 1989-1991 version, with a few differences. The "Waltz of Treachery" finally has Thenardier say "her child" instead of "your child".

The "Final Battle" now uses the official post-Broadway lyrics.

"Dog Eats Dog" finally uses the official "Here's another toy" line instead of "Here's a little toy".

Moreover, the Epilogue now uses the Australian "I'll lead you to salvation" lines instead of the original (and still official at that point) "And lead me to salvation".

Circa 1992-1993 variant

This variant is similarly very close to the 1991-1992 one, with the following exceptions. "At the End of the Day" finally uses its official lyrics.

Valjean no longer declares "You know where to find me!" after "Who Am I?"

Then, "A Little Fall of Rain" takes a cue from the 1992 UK tour. It now opens with the same annoying interlude as opposed to the usual opening music.

Later, in another acknowledgement of the UK tour, after "Night of Anguish" instrumentals of "A Little Fall of Rain" as opposed to "Drink with Me" play.

Gavroche's death scene now uses the "ammunition short" and "I will go into the street" lines instead of the original ones. However, the rest of the number is still in its pre-Broadway state.

Circa 1993-1994 variant

This version borrows elements from the 1992 UK tour while still keeping a lot of features of previous West End versions.

The innkeeper scene still takes its pre-Broadway form.

"Fantine's Arrest" has put in Fantine's slightly awkward "I won't have you" line from the UK tour in place of her usual "No, not at all". Some performances also switch Bamatabois' original lyrics:

You've got some nerve, you little whore

You've got some gall!

It's the same with a tart as it is with a grocer

The customer sees what he gets in advance

It's not for the whore to say "yes sir" or "no sir"

It's not for the harlot to pick or to choose

Or to lead me a dance

Into his UK tour lines:

You've got some sauce, you ugly slut

You've got some gall!

What's become of the world when a whore from the gutter

Can suddenly get such ideas in her head?

Your job is to lie on your back for your betters

This hideous harlot believes she can choose

Who she takes to her bed

However, this didn't seem to be the standard at this point. Many performances still used the original lyrics.

"The Runaway Cart" has been entirely redone so that it takes its UK tour format. Instead of these original opening remarks:

Look at that

It's Monsieur Fauchelevent

Don't approach

Don't go near

At the risk of your life

He is caught by the wheel

Oh the pitiful man

Stay away

Turn away

There is nothing to do

The UK tour ones are used:

Look at that

Stay away

You'll be crushed by the cart

Don't approach

Don't go near

It'll fall on you too

Oh my god, who is that?

It's Monsieur Fauchelevent

He is caught by the wheel

Oh the pitiful man

There is nothing to do

As in the past in the West End, the solo lines in the "Don't go near him..." sequence become ensemble ones.

Finally, Fauchelevent's original "You come from God, you are a saint" takes its UK tour "You saved my life, you come from God" form.

"Look Down" still uses the pre-Broadway "When's it gonna end..." sequence.

In "The Robbery", Thenardier also still claims "God will see..." instead of "God rewards...".

As with past variations in the West End, "Stars" takes its Australian/UK tour form.

Interestingly, despite all the UK tour adaptations which were being added to the West End show, the opening sting prior to "Red and Black" is not heard (despite the fact that during this era, it was being added to more or less every other replica production worldwide!)

Additionally, Enjolras' name still doesn't appear during the number's opening instrumentals.

However, Enjolras' line:

To rally the people

To call them to arms

To bring them in line

Is replaced with the UK tour version:

To rally the people

To fire their blood

And the bring them in line

Also, the rewritten lyrics to "Lamarque is Dead" do appear.

The pre-Broadway lyrics in "The Attack on Rue Plumet" are still present.

Javert continues to sing "I will join these little schoolboys" in "One Day More".

As was the case in the last edit, "A Little Fall of Rain" and "Night of Anguish" use the musical variants introduced in the UK tour.

Gavroche's death scene is finally in its official post-Broadway form 100% of the way through. After this point in the show, everything is identical to the 1991-1993 show.

Circa 1994-1995 variant

This is almost identical to the 1993-1994 version of the show. The one difference I'm aware of: Thenardier finally sings "God rewards..." instead of "God will see..." in "The Robbery".

Circa 1995-1996 variant

A few differences are present here relative to the 1994-1995 version. First off, "Lovely Ladies" takes a cue from the UK tour. Instead of this group scene:

(SAILORS - simultaneously with prostitutes' lines)

Lovely lady, fastest on the street

Wasn't there three minutes

She was back up on her feet

Lovely lady, what you waiting for

Doesn't take a lot of savvy just to be a whore

Come on lady, what's a lady for?

(PROSTITUTES - simultaneously with sailors' lines)

Lovely ladies, lovely little girls

Lovely ladies, lovely little ladies

Lovely girlies, lovely little girls

We are lovely, lovely girls

Lovely ladies, what's a lady for?

There's this exchange between a prostitute and a pimp:

(PROSTITUTE)

God I'm weary, sick enough to drop

Belly burns like fire

Will the bleeding ever stop?

(PIMP)

Cheer up dearie, show a happy face

Plenty more like you here

If you can't keep up the pace

(PROSTITUTE)

Only joking, dearie knows her place

Note that this is NOT identical to the UK tour version. The prostitute sings "will the bleeding ever stop" instead of "never stop", and the pimp refers to "you here" instead of "you, dear".

"Fantine's Arrest" now has solidified the UK tour lyrics as the default ones; the original lyrics seem to no longer be used in the UK.

In the "Waltz of Treachery", Thenardier no longer just sings "Let's not haggle for darling Cosette". No he refers to "darling Colette", with Mme. Thenardier quickly saying (not singing) her actual name and Thenardier singing it in response. I'm not the biggest fan of this joke myself. It makes Thenardier look like nothing more than a big idiot, when I think there should be a degree of cunning to his character.

The student finally shouts Enjolras' name during the opening instrumentals to "Red and Black" now.

Fortunately, the little opening overture before “A Little Fall of Rain” has once again been removed. Everything else is the same as the last version (and yes, that includes the original pre-Broadway lines that haven't yet been converted to their rewritten forms!)

Circa 1997 variant

This version is almost identical to the last one. However, Javert is back to singing "We'll be ready for these schoolboys" instead of "I will join these little schoolboys" in "One Day More".

An interesting change also occurs during the "Final Battle". Though the lines are the same, Enjolras now sings the final word, "free", instead of shouting it.

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…

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pilferingapples · 3 years

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Reverse Unpopular Opinion meme: BBC les mis

oooof I know this puts me at odds with a lot of my saltmates on this but: the Barricade Sequence was Good Actually?

I don’t mean it was the Best Ever adaptation of the book’s barricade sequence (although,sorry, it is the best version of that in an English-language non-musical adaptation as far as I can tell, and I have seen A Few). But it’s not really trying to be that--no adaptation with only three of the nine people who are supposed to anchor the scene can really go for the full Chanvrerie epic--it’s trying to be a different thing,and I think it does a pretty good job of what it sets out to do.

Rambling!

At a guess from having watched it all way too many times, and based on Davies’ comments in interviews, I think the BBC approach was to try to make LM “realistic”.

Now, I think this is a common approach in more recent adaptations, and I think it is, in general, a huge mistake in adapting LM. The novel’s not realistic, at all-- it’s Romantic, capital R , with visions and implied ghosts and explicit divine intervention and emotions that are meant to be clear from mental equivalent of the cheap seats in the back of the theater. It’s got Love at First sight, fer cryin’ out loud! I’ve seen several adaptations try to calm it down and make it realistic and it just does not work, the story fights realism on a fundamental, structural level.

And the barricades are , very intentionally, the Grand Mythic scene*, directly meant to be Epic, full of grand idealism and the sense of gods and giants and impossible feats. It really really doesn’t work as Realism.

And yet!! somehow! this is the one bit that imo really works, on its own terms!

I think it may be because combat is one of the few places that modern-approach directors will actually accept a degree of heightened reality; the weirdness of combat and emergency situations is well known enough to make that a “realistic” approach. So even though this adaptation was never going to give us Enjolras standing unmarked at the end of combat, or the full force of the Quel Horizon speech, or Prouvaire’s final prophetic cry of defiance or “your friends have just shot you” --we still get a setting-fitting version of Five Less One More, and of OFPD, and some really sincere and emotionally raw moments between characters , and even Enjolras talking about love at the top of the barricade.

The series even goes on the side of a bit of idealism itself, really -- Le Cabuc is cut out, the non-student fighters are given more agency and sense of self-organization than Hugo really hands them, and Hugo’s focus on the costs to surrounding residents of having a barricade spring up in a neighborhood are pretty well minimized. And then there’s the whole thing with Not!Feuilly Despiat which, geez, that is so good and so idealistic and Mythic and on-theme for the story even on a novel level, that’s a whole extra post but geez-- Anyway,for some reason, this is the point where the show decided to play gentle with the take on the characters and imo it works!

Also: while we’ve only got three named Amis, and Not!Feuilly Despiat , and all four of them get their own solid arcs here . Courfeyrac goes from an uncertain, inexperienced fighter who seems to fear he’s only been playing with revolution to finding an absolutely hardcore level of commitment and an absolutely heroic final scene, Grantaire gets his whole conversion arc, Enjolras visibly moves from immediate pragmatic focus to a longer, wider view that’s more explicitly about love for people and faith in the ones who’ll come next-- it’s all there, it all works. It’s not Hugo’s barricade, of course it’s not, but what it is works on its own terms.

(and seriously I gotta write about the Despiat thing some other time)

* I’m talking about Mythic here in that very specific Hugolian/preface to Cromwell sense; it’s not about other scenes not being Fantastic and Iconic but about some Hugo-specific takes on what being Mythic and Epic means

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iwishiwaschaotic · 4 years

Text

ok hear me out (yes this is in fact more enjoltaire)

its headcanon time babey

so y’all know how Hadley Fraser’s character in Les Miserables 2012 was a childhood friend of Enjolras?

What if they were like... “friends”

What I’m suggesting is that Hadley’s character (we’ll name him later) was Enjolras’ first love. And Enjolras was positively enamored. He thought they were soulmates. He knew they both wanted to change the world for the better--what he didn’t know was how different they planned on going about that. After all, they discussed dreams of helping others, but not so much the specific politics. (They also both came from bourgie fams.)

The pain he felt, when the gentle sweetheart he had spent his teen years beside left him... to enforce the cruel laws of the man who called himself king... it was agonizing. That is when Enjolras decides who he is. He is no longer a child, he is a man who will fight for his beliefs, for France, for freedom, and liberty, because none of that could ever betray him. So yes, his belief in romance dies, but his belief an everything else can only grow. His fight for justice is much bigger than his own life. This is what he tells himself, over and over, to drown out the heartbreak.

who cares about your lonely soul

we strive towards a larger goal

our little lives don’t count at all

And deep down, it still aches a little. For Enjolras had loved that boy, or who he thought he was. The love has long since died, but the hurt stays. He remembers.

That is how he knows what it is he’s feeling--deep down in the part of his heart he had locked away-- when he meets Grantaire. It’s like a forbidden flower that he could have sworn he uprooted sprouts a bud.

Enjolras is furious at himself, for the things he is feeling. And maybe at Grantaire too, though it is unjust. Because he should know better, than to think of Grantaire the way he does. It makes no sense, it is even more obvious than last time that anything between them could only end in disappointment. That is what he tells himself, even as the flower in his chest blossoms, becoming more powerful than what he had felt for anyone or anything before, ever. (that statement holds quite a lot of meaning, as Enjolras tended to experience extremely intense feelings in general.)

Grantaire isn’t like anyone Enjolras has ever met before. His flaws are right there, on the surface, for anyone to see. It adds to the beauty of him, somehow. He is admirable, and charming, and talented, though he tries to hide it all. And Grantaire claims to believe in nothing, so logically it would be extremely easy to live however, unaware of his actions and their effects-- he doesn’t want to be a moral person at all. But he continues to be kind, because he cannot ignore his innate goodness. And Enjolras loves him. Enjolras loves him for his [many] talents and abilities, and his wonderful mind, and his stupid jokes, and how loving he is. And his flaws, too. Enjolras loves Grantaire, all of him. And Enjolras would risk it too, even if deep down in his gut he knows their relationship will go awry. He would take the risk, for a chance to be with Grantaire, if it was just his heart on the line. But it’s not.

who cares about your lonely soul

we strive towards a larger goal

our little lives don’t count at all

Enjolras cannot afford to feel any of the things he’s feeling, even if they are stronger that anything else he has experienced. He cannot afford to allow himself to hope, to believe, in Grantaire. So he forces himself to expect to be let down.

As he stares down the barrel of a gun, into the eyes of the boy he once thought he loved, Enjolras thinks Grantaire is right, the gods have a truly cruel and twisted sense of humor.

But then Grantaire is there. Grantaire is beside him, right where Enjolras thought he would never be. Enjolras has never been more overjoyed to be wrong. And he would let himself be buried in his regrets, only he is going to be buried soon anyway. So instead, he allows himself to revel in Grantaire’s presence. The emotions he knew he harbored all along wash over him at long last. For a moment, his love for Grantaire is all he feels, vivid and unabashed. That is all.

#haha this is waaaaay longer than I meant for it to be #oh well #enjoltaire #enjolras #grantaire #les miserables #les mis #hadley fraser #enjoltaire fic #headconon #les mis headcanon #iwishiwaschaotic fanfic

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iron-sides · 3 years

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😐⏰💭🧠📚💖🌝

beeloved i had to make a neumonic device to remember which emojis i was gonna send you for the ask game

ayoooo >:] beloved. uij4hrefdk

😐 What embarrasses you most about your own writing?

-> hmmm bad characterization and absurdist ideas uirjefkd and never finishing projects oof

⏰ Do you spend more time reading fic, writing fic, or do you do both equally?

-> oh reading 100% have you MET me. have you met me?? i read so much fanfiction. too much fanfiction. i put it on my fucking kindle so i can read it during school BELOVED.

💭 What is a headcanon you have about your own work?

-> uhhhh we Just had a verbal discussion on call abt what this question means but a fun tidbit about my tell me the name of god au is that i am in fact going to keep fundy's canon birth. the whole lizard limb separation thing is canon to tel me the name of god au.

🧠 What’s an idea you have that you can’t quite call a WIP yet?

-> other than tell me the name of god au uhhh i had an og work from 8th grade im still very enamored with that i miiight pick back up if i ever find the notebook i was using for it ijgefuirejfkd :> it was like. okay so my homeroom teacher in 8th grade called my class pagan babies and so my friend and i were like "ayo what about a girls-gays-and-theys biker gang that went around like. helping people out and healing from their trauma an what if they were witches" and i wont go into further detail bc that would be an infodump but !!!! i still love those characters and i want to elaborate more on them and their world i just. mmmmm got nothin uirgefk and it was originally a cooperation so id feel weird doing it without my friend u know?

📚 Do you read your own fic?

-> every time im sick or Feel Bad actually i write fanfiction to Comfort Myself and to see myself represented over like ruijefkd any other reason ijefd

💖 What do you like most about your own writing?

-> mmm i dont show it off much but i think im very good at like. description? of emotions and scenery n such but not actions igjrfkd so it always feels kinda awkward when i try to put like really nice metaphors in the rain for how my pov character feels when its immediately preceded by "they sat at the window." but like iughktref yeah :] i like long metaphors using nature, etc, for deep emotion n i think im p good at it. i also like my like. idk i call it my "myth-telling voice"? its both an verbal thing like when im retelling a myth to my little cousins but also i think it shows a bit more. refined-ly? in my creation myth so. iurjehkfd i like that voice :]

🌝 Who is one character you haven’t yet written for that you would like to?

ikjd i reeeally wanna write gavroche from les mis. i just. he. yeah <3 idk if u were around for any les mis hyperfixations but believe u me. gavroche <333. i dont have like, ideas for him? but he just runs about sassing enjolras and stealing from the bourgeoisie and i love him so much. also i wanna write for grantaire bc i know exactly what i wanna write and i have since ninth grade and i just !! les mis hyperfixation come back :( let me write exr angst :(

#asks #cursies creator #ask game #also i wanna be clear we were on vc the whole time i was typing this #were still on vc igrjfk #and i wont let them know what im saying until i post ifked #(clarified bc i mentioned a verbal discussion somewhere i think tgrkf)

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kralmajales · 3 years

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i know it's not 2013 anymore but i am genuinely so curious about your les mis classpects

Ahh thank u for asking !! It’s okay we can pretend it’s 2013 for as long as it takes u to read this! Hopefully this makes sense it’s like 3AM and I’m writing this on mobile so sorry for weird formatting.

Alright so I haven’t figured everyone out yet but I AM pretty sure about Valjean, Javert, Enjolras, and Grantaire. I do have a lot to say abt all of them though so this will be long, sorry. Also I haven’t read Les Mis since 2012 so this is like. From memory .

Something I didn’t do on purpose but ended up happening and made me happy is that I believe Valjean & Javert as well as Enjolras & Grantaire are on the same aspect continuums- Heart & Mind and Rage & Hope respectively.

Let’s start with our main men- Valjean and Javert. Heart and Mind are all about meaning- personal and impersonal. Heart focuses on the self, the soul, passion, and personal subjective meaning. Mind on the other hand, focuses on logic, choice, and impersonal objective meaning. The Mind player says “My opinion doesn’t matter, what matters is making sure the correct decision is made to satisfy what the Objective Meaning of our story is” while the Heart Player says “But as individuals, our subjective interpretations is really all that matters. We only Know ourselves I know that THIS is what it means to ME.”

Javert’s story is about the Mind Themes. To him there is The Law and there is The Criminal. There is no room for interpretation- what’s right is right and what’s wrong is wrong. (Speaking of the law and Mind however.... I wonder what Terezi would think of Javert with her whole Criminals Deserve to Die thing she had going for a bit there...)

Javert’s Class is the Witch. Witches are magical, but unlike the inherent magic of the maid or the sylph, witches and heirs have a magic more akin to alchemy than anything else. The Witch Changes their aspect to make it more useful. Javert takes Mind and changes it into something that works for him. But like every witch we encounter in Homestuck, he doesn’t benefit from it. None of the Homestuck witches really have a good time by the end of their journey, and neither does Javert. After spending the story actively changing the ideas of logic, choice, and objective meaning into a structure of its own, he ends up getting trapped by it and driven to suicide by his inability to get out of his self made cage of Mind.

Valjean’s story is ALLLL about Heart, babey! He has multiple identities over the course of the story, and really his story is about love (which while not necessarily a Heart theme ... it totally is.) His story is about figuring out what’s important to him and how his identity changes to reflect what brings meaning to his life.

As for Class? I believe he’s a Knight! A knight’s story starts low, where they’re having a hard time with their aspect and life in general, and they’re very insecure. Then as they grow and learn to use their aspect, they manage to achieve personal growth on the way (which sadly can’t be said for many classes.... knights have very satisfying arcs.) Valjean starts off with his Self, his Identity taken from him as punishment for doing what he believed was the right thing to do even if society at large would disagree... his name and autonomy were taken away as he was forced to work while imprisoned. Then after he left, he went through multiple identities, each reflecting where he was at the time and what was important to him then. By the end of his story, Marius and Cosette understand what kind of person he really is (a GOOD person who saved Marius’ life) and they have a final reunion with Valjean, who happily dies with his loved ones, knowing he is understood. He has mastered his aspect of self and subjective meaning, and he completes his arc.

NOW! Onto Enjolras and Grantaire. These two are particularly interesting because they have pretty warped perceptions of who the other one is. But let’s discuss!

Rage and Hope are kind of tricky to explain as a continuum but basically it’s about .. what is there. Rage is about Truth and Hope is about Belief. Rage is what demolishes unnecessary structures as Hope builds them up.

Enjolras is SUCH a Rage player, even though I’ve seen people argue he’s a Light or even Hope player. But that’s just not the case. Rage is The Tower card in tarot. It says “This is a societal falsehood and MUST be torn down.” It’s revolutionary, and Enjolras is nothing if not a revolutionary.

As for class? He’s a Maid! There’s a joke Aradia (one of my favorite characters! She’s a maid of time, for those reading and aren’t familiar with homestuck) makes where she says she’s MADE of Time. Which I think is a brilliant way of conceptializing the maid class. They are magic, as I said before, but they’re not alchemists or magicians... they (and the sylphs!) are magical creatures. Their aspects come so naturally to them it’s like they’re made of it. They are creators and they are used to help spread their aspect to other people. This is 100% what Enjolras is with Rage’s revolutionary spirit.

Now onto perhaps my most controversial take. Grantaire is a Hope player and you CANNOT convince me otherwise. Sure, he may come off as perhaps a Doom player, but at the end of the day his story is about Hope. It’s about Belief. Your aspect isn’t always something you have a good relationship with. Grantaire is a man who “doesn’t believe in anything” and is a known cynic. It all comes down to belief with him, and his lack of it, until suddenly he Does believe in something (Enjolras!)

His class? BARD! Bards are passive destroyers, and like their active counterpart the prince, may come off as more inclined to the other side of the continuum (in this case Rage, so for Grantaire it’s “Truth”) (side note- as I’m writing this I just realized that Grantaire and Enjolras are not only opposing aspects, but opposite in classes as well- the active creator and the passive destroyer! Love that!) but in the end they end up being taken over by their aspect in some way and embracing it (at their own expense.) Grantaire died because he decided to finally embrace his aspect and Hope. He let himself Believe and he died for it but it was a very real change right before that happened. Also! Bards are typically kind of fun in a weird uncomfortable way and I think Grantaire is DEFINITELY fun in a kind of weird uncomfortable way. He may be depressed, but he can also be hilarious.

Thank u for reading all of that! I have some more ideas for some aspects for some characters but I’m not entirely sure for most of them, and also I always figure out aspect before class so I’m even less sure on that front! If u have any ideas pls lmk !! Anyway it’s 3:45 AM I’m gonna go to bed now!! Thank u again for the ask!

tl;dr: Valjean is a Knight of Heart, Javert is a Witch of Mind, Enjolras is a Maid of Rage, and Grantaire is a Bard of Hope!

#greatcomets #q and a #homestuck #Les mis #I had so much fun with this as u can probably tell !! thank u again

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everyonewasabird · 4 years

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@fremedon I’m going to move the conversation about Grantaire’s revolution rant to it’s own post! Hope that’s okay.

(beware, this got LONG, oh my god)

@fremedon said:

Coming back to Grantaire and “Preliminary Gaieties,” I’m thinking about that speech again in light of this post.

All the metaphors about God throwing a revolution to cover his bankruptcy are in service of a point that Grantaire also states in (for him) remarkably plain language–that as much as he would like for progress to occur smoothly and automatically, it doesn’t:

“What the rest of you call progress advances by means of two motors, men and events. But, sad to say, from time to time, the exceptional becomes necessary. The ordinary troupe suffices neither for event, nor for men: among men geniuses are required, among events, revolutions.”

He spends three pages circling back to the idea of revolution, and every time he lands on the same point–that it’s not only inevitable, but necessary; that the universe is badly made and God is unable to set it right without human action, which means revolution.

And then there’s this passage, which is kind of key to the whole thing (switching from Hapgood to FMA):

“Oh! By all saints of Olympus and all the gods of Paradise, I was not made to be a Parisian, that is to say, to richochet forever, like a shuttlecock between two rackets, from the company of loafers to the company of rioters!”

He introduces a list of loafers–the group he says he was born to be part of–ending with “a petty Germanic prince, furnishing the half of a foot-soldier to the Germanic confederation, and occupying his leisure with drying his breeches on his hedge, that is to say, his frontier.” This list balances Floreal’s banker, from the start of the speech–another idler in this vein, whose conquest of the grisette is explicitly equated with Brennus’s sack of Rome.

Grantaire wants to be idle; he wants to enjoy the appearances that God is trying so hard to keep up, but he’s seen through them; he understands that even the illusion of smooth social functioning that revolution and riot disrupts is still violent at every level, from the sack of cities to the defense of micro-states to Floreal’s poverty. He gets it, he sees the violence inherent in the system and he understands that any action to change will, under the circumstances, necessarily also be violent.

Philosophically and politically, he pretty much agrees with the Amis about how the world is and what it would take to change it.

And then he finally says the thing it’s taken him three pages and a bottle of wine to say, and that no one in the book has really said outright yet:

“And it appears that they are going to fight, all those imbeciles, and to break each other’s profiles and to massacre each other in the heart of summer, in the month of June, when they might go off with a creature on their arm, to breathe the immense heaps of new-mown hay in the meadows!”

They all know that just their political association, let alone the kind of organizing they’re doing, could on its own get themselves killed. They’ve been part of a network amassing weapons with the full intention of taking to the streets with them. They all know that if–when–it does come to insurrection, their lives will all be on the line.

No one talks about it. No one, before this point, ever acknowledges it out loud.

And when Grantaire finally does–in front of Joly and Bossuet! Who watched the funeral cortege go by and decided to have brunch instead! Who are very much on the side of Yes Do Notice the Flowers and the Spring!–what’s the response?

“Speaking of revolution,” said Joly, “it appears that Marius is decidedly amorous.”

“Does anyone know who it is?”

“No.”

THEY ARE SO DESPERATE TO CHANGE THE SUBJECT. THAT THEY RESORT TO GOSSIP. ABOUT MARIUS.

They don’t even HAVE any gossip about Marius! “SPEAKING OF REVOLUTION… … … OH HEY COURFEYRAC’S ROOMMATE HAS A CRUSH. On someone. Allegedly.” This is not even the “How about that local sports team” of subject changes. This is just flat refusal to engage with anything Grantaire has said.

In my headcanon, about 80% of Grantaire’s position as Resident Skeptic* comes down to this: that he sees as clearly as any of them do that their ideals, if taken to their logical conclusion lead to violent revolution, and that the chances of that revolution accomplishing anything significant are slim compared to the chances of their all getting killed. And that aside from Enjolras, most of them deal with this through flat-out denial.

Grantaire’s a depressive. He is Very Bad at denying unpleasant truths. He is self-medicating very hard just to be able to ignore enough of the world’s unpleasantness to get up in the morning. He works really, really, hard to see the flowers and the spring and enough of a bright side to go on with this life that they are all so willing to throw away on such a slim hope.

He really can’t get on board with just…hoping that the suicidally rash inevitable endgame will work out for the best. But the only one of them who appears to have any other coping mechanism is Enjolras, who conceives of himself as an instrument of war trying to make himself obsolete–whose metric of success is self-annihilation. Which I think Grantaire understands very well and wishes he didn’t.

*The other 20% is tied up with his objectification of Enjolras. In the very literal, “what a fine statue,” “Je crois à toi” sense. Enjolras is an abstract concept? Grantaire’s a skeptic; Enjolras is a god? Grantaire’s an atheist; Enjolras is a statue? Grantaire’s an art school dropout. If he can make Enjolras something other than a person, then he doesn’t have to take him seriously; he doesn’t have to worry about letting him down.

everyonewasabird:

Ooh, you and I are reading a LOT of things differently! Interesting!

So I don’t think I disagree about what Grantaire is saying but about how it lands: he’s wrong. He sees the problems of the world--and in his bitterness invents extra problems, like women marrying bankers, which is not an actual problem, Grantaire--and despair makes him think nothing can be changed. And Joly and Bossuet know he’s wrong.

On the “new mown hay” line--firstly, oh my god, Hapgood’s translatation of that is a travesty. That passage is gorgeous.

Here’s Wilbour:

“And it appears that they are going to fight, all these idiots, to get their heads broken, to massacre one another, in midsummer, in the month of June, when they might go off with some creature under their arm, to scent in the fields the huge cup of tea of the new mown hay! Really they are too silly.”

...God, it’s so beautiful. Anyway.

It’s worth noting that this passage is not like the rest of the speech. Grantaire was being racist and sexist and gross like a sentence ago, and he undercuts his own eloquence with “Really they are too silly” a sentence after. I think the magic in his spark of sincerely expressed fear and regret here is real! And I think Hugo and the brick feel that regret and that loss. But I don’t think Hugo and the brick agree that therefore it would be better to just not have the revolution.

About Grantaire you said:

He works really, really, hard to see the flowers and the spring and enough of a bright side to go on with this life

I don’t agree. I think Grantaire is trudging on with a life that fills him with horror and which he barely tolerates, and the one good thing he has are the people he surrounds himself with who actually do pay attention to flowers and spring and the bright side--like Joly and Bossuet, who keep making jokes for exactly this purpose. Like the joke about Marius and revolution!

It’s not that Bossuet and Joly value their lives less or are paying less attention to the cost of the fight than Grantaire is--it’s that they value the world more. They love their lives--hence their last, joyous brunch instead of the boring, rainy parade--and they love the world, and they believe enough in hope for the world that they will willingly and joyfully give those lives to fix it. That’s not the same thing!

I don’t read “speaking of a revolution, Marius is amorous” as avoidance at all--handling catastrophe with good humor is Joly and Bossuet’s whole thing. Grantaire is spiraling into despair that Bossuet and Joly don’t share, since they’ve committed to this fight and made their peace with it. So they redirect Grantaire’s collapsing despair spiral with the joke that Marius--whom they must think of as a massive prude, given, well, them--suddenly caring about romance constitutes a revolution on par with the one they’re planning. Honestly, I thought it was pretty funny!

I don’t think anyone is facing the revolution with denial--I’m not following where that idea comes from. It seems to me the Amis are brave and selfless and committed and good, and they see revolution as worth doing, and if they die in the effort, they see that as worth it. I think everyone but Grantaire is fully on board with that.

A LOT of my feeling that the text of the brick is adamantly pro-revolution comes from this post from pilferingapples, ostensibly about the Waterloo digression. This post seriously upended how I think of the revolution plot of the brick versus its weird bourgeois ending--honestly, it completely changed how I think about this book and just...books in general. I can’t overstate what that bit of meta did to me.

On Enjolras... oh wow, we’re seeing very different characters!

You say:

Enjolras, who conceives of himself as an instrument of war trying to make himself obsolete–whose metric of success is self-annihilation.

I definitely see the instrument of war thing! And I think he always saw the (possibility? probability? certainty?) that the world he fought for would not include him. But I don’t think his metric of success is self-annihilation. That might be Valjean’s, but I don’t think it’s his. I think Enjolras’s metric of success is the world being saved.

I think of Enjolras as the great moral victor of the story. Inasmuch as he has flaws, they’re about being too absolute and sublime, to the exclusion of all else. That’s not a damning flaw, and in embracing Grantaire he transcends it. Far from tending towards self-annihilation, he seems to me a character of nigh-superhuman resilience, too full of love for his friends and humanity and faith in a better world ever to break, under any circumstances. I don’t think his willingness to die is abnegation--I think it’s genuine love for the world and faith that even in defeat, he and his friends have moved humanity closer to a better future.

(I hope that wasn’t too combative! I’m happy to argue further! :D)

#meta #long meta #enjolras #grantaire #joly #bossuet #oysters #feel like a weird choice to me if you're picking your last brunch on earth but sure #'huge cup of tea of the new-mown hay' hapgood how could you

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