#who am i but yours? | valjean

[lesmiserablol]

i love jean valjean so much i could drown in my own tears

#he’s so….. #how was i to know at last that happiness could come so fast trusting me the way you do i’m so afraid of failing you #your child will want for nothing #none shall ever harm cosette as long as i am living #she’s the best of my life #it’s the story of those who loved you #there’s a castle just waiting for you #if i die let me die let him live bring him home bring him home bring him home #you are free and there are no conditions no bargains or petitions there’s nothing that i blame you for #okay also #when he gives her the doll….. #when little cosette hugs him and he freezes because this is new to him but then he hugs her so so tightly #when she hugs him right after everyday and he still pauses before hugging her because he still can’t believe she’s real and she loves him #and he loves her so much #he fucking. he’s fine with dying. if he dies whatever let him die. but marius?? let him live #because he’s had so much time to love and care for cosette #and now she’s in love and all he has ever wanted is her happiness. he would die for her happiness. he’s begging god to take him if he must #but spare marius. and then they’re both spared. so valjean carries him. just so fueled with the love he has for his daughter #takes him all the way home. doesn’t even take credit for it #the only reward for anything he’s ever wanted is cosette’s happiness #i’m so. guys i love valjean so much. i love everyone in les mis but he’s been my number one guy since day one and it’s staying that way #oh my god #les mis

[kuuyandere]

Have you ever said something hurtful to your (once) beloved? Or the other way around?

How do I forgive someone who hurt me? I'm scared to forgive, but I like this person so much. I accept that he's flawed, but I hate that he hurt me. Do I even forgive?

-🎧💜

I probably have said something hurtful before and did not realise it. I was/am generally doting to the darling to a fault and only got legitimately upset when she put herself in danger, but I don't recall any specific time where I seriously insulted or hurt her verbally. The other way around, yes.

Forgiveness is difficult and incredibly messy continuous process. It is entirely your decision whether or not the action or person is forgivable and if the good outweighs the damage done. I am hoping that he genuinely apologised and attempted to reconcile though.

#your yandere #aidoneus asks #🎧💜 anon #I have been told that I am overly forgiving towards the people who hurt me (à la Jean Valjean and his self-imposed martyrdom) #But that is because I can understand their motivations and lack the emotional permanence/long term memory to hold grudges #I do not recommend that

[tex-treasure-chamber]

Light of my life.

#tex moods #who am i but yours? • valjean #OUGJHDHD i chose the moon bc it symbolizes transformation and rebirth 🥺 #lmao it's giving vampire au dkfjfkt

[multimuse-rp-archived]

tag drop 15/?

#✽ (018.) i am the mastermind; intelligent by design (sergio) #✽ (031.) you can hate me; underestimate me; what you do doesn’t phase me (aelswith) #✽ (077.) he told me that i had a soul; how does he know what spirit comes to move my life (j. valjean) #✽ (118.) i wasn’t meant to get into this; it’s just the roll of the dice (mugman) #✽ (123.) someday soon your whole life’s gonna change; you’ll miss the magic of these good old days (buddy) #✽ (131.) i want someone to love me; i need someone who needs me (helsinki) #✽ (132.) the world’s biggest idiot (arturo)

[secretmellowblog]

When I say "Victor Hugo's depiction of Jean Valjean's grief over losing Cosette is a reflection of Hugo's own grief at the death of his daughter" I'm not just theorizing-- some lines from Les Mis are basically just ripped word-for-word from Hugo's poems about the death of his daughter. Here are a few of them. Leopoldine drowned horribly with her husband only a few months after they were married; she was only nineteen. Jean Valjean's paralyzing fear of Cosette's marriage, his misguided useless rage at her husband, and his violent grief over losing her and never being able to see her again, is heavily influenced by Hugo's own grief. I have trouble finding good English translations of some of Hugo’s Leopoldine poems online, and would appreciate better links to English translations if anyone has them. But In A Villequier, one of Hugo's poems addressing God with furious grief over the death of Leopoldine, he writes:

Consider again how I have, since dawn, Worked, fought, thought, walked, struggled, Explaining Nature to Man who knew nothing of it, Lighting everything with your clarity; That, facing hate and anger, I have done my task here below, That I could not expect this wage, That I could not Foresee that you too, on my yielding head, Would let fall heavily your triumphant arm, And that you who saw how little joy I have, Would take my child away so quickly!

Which is almost word for word just Jean Valjean's:

I have left my blood on every stone, on every bramble, on every mile-post, along every wall, I have been gentle, though others have been hard to me, and kind, although others have been malicious, I have become an honest man once more, in spite of everything, I have repented of the evil that I have done and have forgiven the evil that has been done to me, and at the moment when I receive my recompense, at the moment when it is all over, at the moment when I am just touching the goal, at the moment when I have what I desire, it is well, it is good, I have paid, I have earned it, all this is to take flight, all this will vanish, and I shall lose Cosette, and I shall lose my life, my joy, my soul....

And this from the same poem:

I keep seeing that moment in my life when I saw her open her wings and fly off! I will see that instant until I die, the instant, no tears needed! where I cried: the child I had a minute ago— What? I don’t have her any more?

Is a similar sentiment to this angelic description of Cosette “taking flight” away from Jean Valjean:

Cosette, as she took her flight, winged and transfigured, left behind her on the earth her hideous and empty chrysalis, Jean Valjean.

And the moment when Jean Valjean realizes she’s in love with Marius, and has been “lost” to him without him realizing it:

The unprecedented and heart-rending thing about it was that he had fallen without perceiving it. All the light of his life had departed, while he still fancied that he beheld the sun.

This from the poem Demain dès l'aube, where Victor Hugo describes visiting Leopoldine's grave:

I will walk with my eyes fixed on my thoughts, Without seeing anything outside, without hearing any noise, Alone, unknown, back bent, hands crossed, Sad, and the day for me will be like night.

And Jean Valjean walking to Cosette's house, but never able to enter or speak to her:

There [Jean Valjean] walked at a slow pace, with his head strained forward, seeing nothing, hearing nothing, his eye immovably fixed on a point which seemed to be a star to him

This bit where Hugo talks about his faith weakening/cursing God in vain after Leopoldine’s death:

Consider how one doubts, O God! when one suffers, how the eye that weeps too much is blinded, how a being plunged by grief into the blackest pit, seeing you no more, cannot contemplate you.

Is similar to Jean Valjean’s spirtual self weakening and his consience “taking flight” at the idea of losing Cosette:

Any one who had beheld his spiritual self would have been obliged to concede that it weakened at that moment. (...) Grief, when it attains this shape, is a headlong flight of all the forces of the conscience. These are fatal crises. Few among us emerge from them still like ourselves and firm in duty.

Victor Hugo agonizing over his dreams of growing old with his daughter in A Villequier:

You make loneliness return always around all his footsteps.(...) As soon as he owns something, fate takes it away. Nothing is given to him, in his speedy days, for him to make a home and say: Here is my house, my field and my loved ones!

Jean Valjean:

“As one family! No. I belong to no family. I do not belong to yours. I do not belong to any family of men. In houses where people are among themselves, I am superfluous. There are families, but there is nothing of the sort for me. I am an unlucky wretch; I am left outside.

Victor Hugo's poetry in A Villequier again:

in the midst of cares, hardships, miseries, and of the shadow our fate casts over us, how a child appears, a dear sacred head, a small joyful creature, so beautiful one thinks a door to heaven has opened when it arrives; when for sixteen years one has watched this other self grow in loveable grace and sweet reason, when one has realized that this child one loves makes daylight in our soul and in our home,

Jean Valjean:

this man, who had passed through all manner of distresses, who was still all bleeding from the bruises of fate, (...) merely asked of Providence, of man, of the law, of society, of nature, of the world, one thing, that Cosette might love him! That Cosette might continue to love him! That God would not prevent the heart of the child from coming to him, and from remaining with him! Beloved by Cosette, he felt that he was healed, rested, appeased, loaded with benefits, recompensed, crowned. Beloved by Cosette, it was well with him! He asked nothing more! Had any one said to him: “Do you want anything better?” he would have answered: “No.” God might have said to him: “Do you desire heaven?” and he would have replied: “I should lose by it.”

Victor Hugo begging God to talk to his daughter again:

Let me lean over this cold stone and say to my child: Do you feel that I am here? Let me speak to her, bent over her remains, in the evening when all is still, as if, reopening her celestial eyes in her night, this angel could hear me!

Jean Valjean thanking God for letting him speak to Cosette one more time:

The good God says: “‘You fancy that you are about to be abandoned, stupid! No. No, things will not go so. Come, there is a good man yonder who is in need of an angel.’

I think the ending of Les Mis never made complete sense to me until I realized that Jean Valjean isn't grieving like a parent who has watched their child grow up; he is grieving like a parent who has just watched their child die.

#lm 5.9.1 #les mis #les mis letters #i was originally going to make a joke like #men will literally spend 30 years writing les miserables instead of going to therapy #but also reading Hugo's Leopoldine poems even when the translations might be imperfect is just. agh. :_; #and also has radically shifted my entire perspective on the novel and Jean Valjean

[pilferingapples]

OK my random question for you to think over is— If you could schedule some bonding time between Jean Valjean and any one of Les Amis, which Ami would you choose? Who would he click with/who would help him out the most/who would be the best most helpful Buddy for him to have ??? Or would you need to pick multiple Amis?

(This may or may not be related to a future fic idea I have planned. I have asked myself this question but currently do not know the answer, so I am curious about your thoughts! You always have great Les Amis takes)

OK before I get into this, I want to be clear that I think Cosette does an AMAZING job with Valjean's emotional Everything, but (a) she's a kid (b) she's HIS kid (c) no one person, no matter how close or important, can ever supply all of another person's emotional needs, even if they're a lot less traumatized than Valjean to start (d) a major problem with Valjean is Social Isolation, which only people Besides Cosette can alleviate (e) that is just the start of the issues that Cosette can't and should never have to handle alone! So no consideration of adding Other Friends to Valjean's life should be taken as an insult from me to Cosette (and I know you wouldn't , but people get weird). Cosette is a star.

Also: I am in all of this assuming a setting/ series of events leading to Acquaintance that does right by both parties ; importantly, that means Valjean is sure, somehow, that none of these men are romantically interested in or romantically interesting to Cosette. Maybe it's post- marriage, maybe it's an AU, maybe Whatever. Valjean's not doing his Lion With a Dog routine about it.

OK THAT SAID, let's Consider:

Enjolras: if they met outside a barricade, I can see them getting along very well! Unfortunately, that's because without pressing political action or conversation be thrown at them, I can imagine them both just sitting quietly and reading or being lost in their thoughts for as long as they're hanging out. Even GIVEN a political topic, like..Valjean is not gonna argue with anything Enjolras says and Enjolras is already gonna say it and they are just...gonna continue to Agree and then go back to Quiet Reading Time. Parallel Play For The Cats. Valjean will think Enjolras is a pleasant young man, Enjolras will think Valjean is a restful older gentleman, they will go to the library at the same time every Wednesday and nod hello and read in chairs near each other and never talk. Probably exactly the kind of interaction Valjean wants, and not at all what he needs to get out of his routine.

Combeferre: a very strong option!! assuming they've gotten talking about Nearly Anything, Combeferre can find the Fun Conversational Trivia in any subject. I bet Valjean would LOVE to hear about how steam engines work and the latest discoveries about bees or rubber or tinctures of opium. Valjean might be willing to tell him Cool Gardening and Metallurgy Knowledge and Combeferre would LISTEN. Combeferre is sharp and cutting about Interests and Ideas, but shows no signs of being someone who wants to get more emotional or personal with people than they're already setting up. This could be a great Hobby Buddy friendship and that's something Valjean really needs! Potential Issues: if they DO run into the sort of conversation where they're debating ideas, Combeferre does not seem to have an Easy Mode. IDK how much Valjean would be willing to enter Debate Thunderdome about politics or social issues; I worry greatly that he would shut down in Automatic Defense System Mode. But if they can work around that, Combeferre could be so good for getting him interested in the outside world!

Prouvaire: Much as above for Combeferre, except Prouvaire is already something of a gardener, DOES have a Gentle mode for debates, AND is goth, which would surely speak to Valjean's " some alive people like to be in coffins too" soul. Also lbr we know Prouvaire is on the 420 Crew in any era and it might do Valjean some real good to get baked once in a while. Strong potential here.

Feuilly: HE'S LIKE THE SON VALJEAN MIGHT HAVE KNOWN, or the grandson really-- as I recall, we've done the math and figured out that Feuilly really might be in the right age range to be one of Valjean's nibling's kids. I don't know how much Valjean has ever considered international politics but I bet he would deeply resonate with the plight of refugees and the displaced, which after all is a lot of the real issue. And maybe from there they can even get into how this is all systemic and Valjean might start to understand how he's not Uniquely Horrible if these injustices happen to so many people!!! A Little !!! Possibly!! Either way,they can get earnest and emotional over just wanting everyone else to have a better deal than they got. Go Team Lower Class Orphans Too Good For This World !

Courfeyrac: listen Courfeyrac's a delight and all but..he's just very bourgeois student. He is. Even assuming we're in the best situation where he and Valjean are talking politics and social issues enough for Valjean to NOT just mentally write him off as Standard Student Guy, I suspect Courfeyrac's many charms are just the wrong ones here. I'm not saying they can't get along, I think Courfeyrac can probably get alone with nearly anyone,but this is gonna be one of the harder options for any real connection.

Bahorel: you know I was all ready to go on a big ramble about how this could go multiple ways until I remembered the ONE THING, THE ONLY THING that gets Valjean to really open up and talk about his past is watching a younger man make horrible life choices that could get him arrested, never mind about trying to get Valjean to open up, Valjean is gonna trauma-dump on Bahorel so hard in the first fifteen minutes of them actually hanging out. And unlike Montparnasse, Bahorel pays attention and gives a damn about other people, and he is SO ready to get into how the legal system is pure evil and screws everyone over. Hating the legal system is a major component of his personality! I had honestly not really realized it until making this post but wow this will, eventually, be So Good for Valjean's mental health. (I am perhaps being a little silly here but I do think, on consideration, that Bahorel's over the top Everything would be on balance kinda reassuring for Valjean; plus there IS the goth factor XD Bonus points if it's a Better Post-Barricades setting where Bahorel's taken in Gavroche and they can bond over Unexpected Child Acquisition)

Legle: For Legle, see Courfeyrac, I'm afraid. You KNOW I love Bossuet so very much but he speaks 90 percent in too-smart-by-half puns and references and his entire social presentation depends on knowing how to parlay a bourgeois social skillset into Endless Crash Space. He's super weird and an incredibly good guy For Real but I don't know if Valjean would put enough effort in to realize that! Like with Courfeyrac, I feel like this would just be a Polite Acquaintaceship. Open to being convinced otherwise though!

Joly: ..ok I know Joly is also Student Guy as heck, but he's also direct and enthusiastic and overtly sweet in a way that Courfeyrac and Legle aren't. I can see Valjean enjoying his company somewhat the way he enjoys Cosette's actually-- here's someone who will be cheerful and chattery about things that he, Valjean, does not really know or care about. I still don't know if they'd connect on any deeper level but I could buy Valjean actively noticing and enjoying Joly's company.

Grantaire: HAAAAAHahahahhahaAAAAAHHHAHAHAHAHAH *runs out of breath* HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAAAAAA hahahaha nooooo. No. Nooooooooo. Grantaire talking to Valjean would go about like Grantaire talking to Javert in the I Mis Miniseries. Grantaire will talk! You cannot stop him unless you are named Enjolras! Valjean will nooooot care.

...Writing this up has made me reflect on what I think Valjean really needs out of a potential friend and it's - someone to do the talking - shared interests, or new interests they can be enthusiastic about while he nods ahead - a willingness/ ability to get HIM to talk at least sometimes ?? maybe?? - shared goth vibes or at least the ability to understand that sometimes u__u you just gotta be in a coffin now u__u - ABSOLUTELY MANDATORY overt disdain for The Rules this is why Fauchelevent was SO good for him but I think he also needs someone who is not in life debt to him! he needs to know he can socialize with Kind New People and Not Explode!!

....and this is a long post so I'm gonna save more Valjean rant :D I am pretty sure you and I will discuss later anyway!! Thank you for the random question!

#long post #this took a while sorry #please come tell me more about your fic :D #Valjean talk #Amis Talk

[warrioreowynofrohan]

Les Misérables 5.4 - Javert Off the Track

I have to say again how well I think the musical expresses the core of this chapter despite having far fewer lines to work with.

Book: Give up Jean Valjean, that was wrong; leave Jean Valjean free, that was wrong. In the first case, the man of authority would fall lower than the man of the galley; in the second, a convict rose higher than the law and set his foot upon it.

Musical: Damned if I live in the debt of a thief! Damned if I yield at the end of the chase!

Book: Javert felt that something horrible was penetrating his soul, admiration for a convict. Respect for a galley-slave, can that be possible? He shuddered at it, yet could not shake it off. It was useless to struggle, he was reduced to confess before his own inner tribunal the sublimity of this wretch. That was hateful.

Musical: How can I now allow this man / To hold dominion over me

Book: “This convict, this desperate man, whom I have pursued even to persecution, and who had me beneath his feet and could have avenged himself, and who ought to have done so as well for his revenge as for his security, in granting me my life, in sparing me, what has he done? His duty? No. Something more.

Musical: This desperate man who I have hunted / He gave me his life, he gave me freedom / I should have perished by his hand / It was his right

Book: But also why had he permitted this man to let him live? He had, in that barricade, the right to be killed. He should have availed himself of that right. To have called the other insurgents to hus aid against Jean Valjean, to have secured a shot by force, that would have been better. His supreme anguish was the loss of all certainty.

Musical: It was my right to die as well / Instead I live, but live in hell!

Book: acts of violence committed by pity upon austerity, respect of person, no more final condemnation, no more damnation, the possibility of a tear in the eye of the law, a mysterious justice according to God going counter to justice according to men. [Note: this is one area where I think the musical errs with Javert - it roots his inflexibility in a (rather Calvinist, for a majority Catholic nation) view of Christianity. That is not the case in the book, where Javert’s religion is the law, the state, order, and in the end that worldview breaks upon the rocks of Christianity.]

Musical: Shall his sins be forgiven? Shall his crimes be reprieved?

Book: He saw before him two roads, both equally straight; but he saw two; and that terrified him - him, who had never in his life known but one straight line.

Musical: And must I now begin to doubt? / Who never doubted all those years

Book: To be granite, and to doubt! to be the statue of penalty cast in a single piece in the mould of the law, and to suddenly percieve that you have under your breast of bronze something preposterous and disobedient which almost resembles a heart!

Musical: My heart is stone and yet it trembles!

Book: To have the unknown over his head, he was not accustomed to that…Now Javert was thrown over backward, and he was abruptly startled by this monstrous apparaition: a gulf on high…

The darkness was complete…A ceiling of cloud concealed the stars. The sky was only an ominous depth

Musical: The world I have known is lost in shadow!…I am reaching, but I fall / And the stars are black and cold / As I stare into the void / Of a world that cannot hold

Book: But how to manage to send in his resignation to God?…

Unnatural state, if ever there was one. There were only two ways to get out of it. One, to go resolutely to Jean Valjean, and to return the man if the galleys to the dungeon. The other –

Musical: I’ll escape now from that world / From the world of Jean Valjean

Book: Could that be endurable? No.

Musical: There is nowhere I can turn / There is no way to go on!

#les mis #les miserables #les mis letters #javert #brickclub

[breadvidence]

Toggling between I.V.V and III.VIII.XXI trying to square this character with himself—how do you start with "stoical, serious, austere", a man whose "laugh was rare and terrible", and pass through "you’ve got a beard like a man, mother, but I have claws like a woman"? Lemme say, I was far more blithe about this before I had to decide how many cock jokes he might conceivably tell in a 20k span. Meta flavored by authorial navel-gazing ahead. For a somewhat unnecessary context, I'm working on a modern AU that depends on the musical but is beholden to the Brick.

First: my favorite thing about fandom is watching people hare off in wildly different directions, and while there are interpretations of this character I'd flat disagree with (the conservative ones that think he's in the right, mainly), there's many many more I'd thumbs-up gleefully even as they contradict my own reading. Shit, I will go so far as accepting your Javert who is based on the premise that Jean Valjean in I.VI.II (1) means his compliments and (2) is making a good character assessment. I might someday write a second thing that has a wildly different version of the character in it—why not? This is a sandbox, you can dig more than one hole.

Anyway, I've come to a few different conclusions.

The comedic one: When "Jean Valjean stepped up to this bed, in a twinkling wrenched off the head-piece, which was already in a dilapidated condition, an easy matter to muscles like his, grasped the principal rod like a bludgeon, and glanced at Javert" (I.VIII.IV), all of the emotional stressors and situational whiplash of the past few weeks catch up to Javert, the flexing is too much, he has a small frontal lobe aneurysm, it is nonetheless large enough to impact his inhibitions, his inner cunt is released. The "stoical, serious, austere" man described in I.V.V becomes the one who plays—plays!—cat-and-mouse with Jean Valjean during the first Gorbeau encounter and later runs his mouth at all and sundry. The contrast between the descriptions in I.V.V and subsequent on-the-page behavior is a deliberate character development and entirely the fault of Jean Valjean.

More seriously—yes, it's character development, logically because of the events in Montreuil-sur-Mer. We do not see Javert "play" with Fantine in I.V.XIII in the way he "plays" with PM in III.VIII.XXI, and while I would argue that some of his rambling in I.VI.II hints at his shitty sense of humor, there's no overt witticisms; he laughs in I.VIII.IV but absolutely not from humor. Based purely on his Tome I behavior, sure, austere and serious. Related: M-sur-M really should fuck this man up: regardless of it being set to rights, for years a figure of authority was perverse, and he himself operated as a lower functionary of that perverse authority. You could argue that Jean Valjean didn't "count" as a mayor because he was a convict, but going down that road you can end up at an almost normal psyche (one where bad authorities exist), which is undoubtedly unacceptable in interpreting Javert, so. While he's ecstatic in the moment of revelation and arrest, in the longterm—what's the impact? Bitterness and instability expressed as humor, maybe, in the way you dredge comedy out of cognitive dissonance? I can see why correctly identifying a criminal would make any other cop more confident, and how (cruel)playfulness/humor could stem from that, but I can't help but think it's a bad sign psychologically in Javert's case.

Victor Hugo looked us in the collective eye and said, "I am going to describe this character abstractly one way and then have his concrete actions be contradictory simply to fuck with you."

I'm perceiving a contradiction where there isn't one. The style of his humor—which is very dry, even morbid—and of his play—fucking with helpless people—are not in and of themselves unserious. And if I'm not mistaken, the last time we see him laugh is in I.VIII.IV (oddly the other time is in I.VI.II, but it's lugubrious/sad bitch behavior). I'm not thoroughly convinced, but I'm not thoroughly convinced of the character development theory either.

An alternative completely different from the above that I have failed to think of, but which someone will helpfully put in the tags?

(My current plan for the project semi-affectionately titled DAMMIT is to 🙈 at I.V.V in preference of III.VIII.XXI—which is not my greatest yeehaw of a characterization choice, anyway (for DAMMIT, as I don't generally, I'm digging in my heels that when Hugo talks about honesty and Javert it is always with the understanding that it is a spy's honesty, self-contradictory and self-deceptive—a decision not unrelated to choosing to go the promiscuous/closeted route for his gayness, which is itself not unrelated to the fact that promiscuous/closeted plays best into contradiction as a central character trait... and is also the funniest option, banter-wise).)

#les misérables #the brick #meta #javert #fanfic (mine)

[alenaphale]

so guys a little while ago i came up with a les mis artistic au that I think would be interesting for you to acknowledge! so basically the idea of it is this:

everything takes place in modern france. les amis + cosette + eponine (basically the youngsters mentioned in the second volume (maybe even montparnasse)) are studying in the académie des beaux-arts on two different faculties, visual arts and music. i am yet to figure out who studies what, but some things are already obvious to me, so I would like to share some of them with you

• first of all the dean of the faculty of visual arts is valjean, the dean of the one of music — javert. their approaches to what is art and how one should give a proper education on it are quite different — opposite, even, because where valjean strives for freedom in self-expression and his students’ own unique understanding, javert is equally devoted to precision (which is, for every performer who I have a misfortune to be myself, is as beneficial as it is painful, sometimes even destructive to the very purpose of performing music)

of course it would be silly to expect such a confrontation would not affect their students.

• so, very vaguely: enjolras, combeferre, courfeyrac (because i couldn’t force myself to separate the great trio of The leader, The guide and The centre™), jehan, marius and cosette are all in the orchestra.

- enjolras is a conductor, of course

- combeferre is the first violin. sometimes when enjolras by some miracle is not present at the rehearsal, he fulfills his duties — and, believe me, his tolerating attitude really is a blessing to the musicians

- courfeyrac is either a timpanist or a pianist-accompaniator (both options make perfect sense in my mind and I cannot decide)

- jehan is a harpist (feel free to make your own suggestions, but I tried to express his passion for middle ages, romantism and his poetical nature with this choice)

- marius is a violinist because I thought it would be hilarious for him to play soppy melodies whenever he’s pining on cosette

- cosette herself is a cellist. at first, i was going to make her an opera singer (soprano), then i was contemplating on her being a violinist as well, but then I thought — goddamn it, i love women who play cello, and it would reflect her character so well (which i of course am planning to develop a bit from what monsieur hugo provided us with), and I just don’t want to see her as something high-pitched! the solemn and a bit sorrowful, yet so noble and beautiful timbre of cello seems to suit her image in my mind.

• as for the artists, here we have OBVIOUSLY my man grantaire, eponine, joly + bossuet, feuilly and bahorel. most of them are painters, with few exceptions: for example, joly is a sculptor in my mind, and feuilly does decorative art (also I am sorry he is also a student here and joly is not a medic it is all only for the sake of the composition)

i don’t want to make this post too long so I shall continue in the next ones! i hope this idea is entertaining enough for you my fellow readers. also i think it is pretty obvious that i have little to no knowledge at all about visual arts so please be free to comment your own thoughts

(also i am new to the fandom (although I’ve been into les mis for quite some time now) and I would really appreciate any sort of communication) :)

#les mis #les mis au #les amis de l'abc #les miserables #i don’t know what tags to use #les mis fandom #i just want to make friends #and also i am a musician who is non-practising at the moment so yes i am overcompensating

[bee-serious]

my favorite lines from the ravens and foxes standoff at the banquet in the raven king-

"i was being polite. you haven't seen me antagonistic yet."

"jean. hey, jean. jean valjean. hey. hey. hello."

"i'm andrew. we haven't met yet." "for which i am grateful."

"we would make a drinking game of it but we don't want to die of alcohol poisoning." "yeah, that'd be a shame."

"here's a tip for you, okay? you can't cut down someone who's already in the gutter. you just waste your time and mine."

"kevin and i talk about your intricate and endless daddy issues all the time."

"pity only gets you so many concessions and you used up yours about six insults ago. so please, please just shut the fuck up and leave us alone."

"dan, i said please. i tried to be nice"

#aftg #all for the game #neil josten #the foxhole court #the kings men #the raven king #andrew minyard #jean moreau #riko moriyama #dan wilds

[syrupsyche]

In the previous chapter, we focused on Marius and his reflection on Valjean. Now, we see Cosette's reaction to Valjean as well. However, she doesn't have any context as to what is happening; all she sees is her father acting even weirder than normal and treating her like a stranger.

Now more than ever, we see that Cosette has always been treated like some precious, fragile artefact, being passed along from person to person. From her mother to the Thénardiers to her father and to Marius; in her perspective, it feels as though everyone who has ever loved her has abandoned her. I won't be surprised if after canon, Cosette begins to freak out on Marius not just for his part in alienating Valjean but also whether or not he'd be the next to leave her. Poor Cosette!

And as per Hugo's writing, her conversation with Valjean here parallels her past conversations with him back when it was just the two of them. Back then, Cosette was able to force Valjean into taking care of himself because in his eyes, she was still under his care and Cosette knows this. And so she uses this against him:

4.3.4:

“Father, I am very cold in your rooms; why don’t you have a carpet here and a stove?”

[...] “Because you are a woman and a child.”

“Bah! must men be cold and feel uncomfortable?”

“Certain men.”

“That is good, I shall come here so often that you will be obliged to have a fire.”

—

“Father, why do you eat horrible bread like that?”

“Because, my daughter.”

“Well, if you eat it, I will eat it too.”

It is no surprise, then, that when these circumstances change – when Cosette no longer has power over Valjean – he goes back to a cold, dark room, and eats nothing. Cosette's previous strategy of "threatening herself" cannot work anymore because Valjean does not see himself as responsible for Cosette's wellbeing anymore. And Cosette is not given any reason for this! She doesn't know why her father doesn't think of himself as her father anymore and of course, wonders if its because of her:

“Are you angry with me because I am happy?”

Poor Cosette. No one ever wants to tell her anything while everything and everyone around her is changing rapidly; I too would start to think whether I'm the problem around here. They may love her dearly but god damn are they leaving her with a slew of abandonment issues and self-doubt. She deserves so much better.

#im a cosette defender first and human second #les mis #les mis letters #lm 5.8.1 #cosette #cosette fauchelevent #valjean #syrup ramble #syrup talks about lit

[otdiaftg]

"Jean," Andrew says. "Hey, Jean. Jean Valjean. Hey. Hey. Hello." Jean huffs a little in annoyance but looks at Andrew. Andrew holds out his hand and Jean is foolish enough to take it. Andrew's knuckles turn white as he crushes Jean's hand. Jean can't hide all of a flinch, and the smooth look on his face gives way to an irritated scowl. Andrew only smiles wider at the sight of it. "I'm Andrew. We haven't met yet." "For which I am grateful," Jean said. "The Foxes as a whole are an embarrassment to Class I Exy, but your very existence is unforgivable. A goalkeeper who doesn't care if he is scored on has no right to touch a racquet. You should have stayed on the sidelines like the publicity stunt you are."

Day: Saturday, September 9th Time: 5:32 PM EST

#aftg #all for the game #neil josten #trk #the raven king #the foxhole court #andrew minyard #palmetto state university #psu foxes #andreil #on this day in aftg #otdiaftg #palmetto state foxes #otdi all for the game #nora sakavic #the foxes #on this day in all for the game #kevin day #nicky hemmick #aaron minyard #coach wymack #betsy dobson #abby winfield #matt boyd #dan wilds #renee walker #allison reynolds

[tex-treasure-chamber]

Who Am I But Yours?

A brief study of my favorites of Monsieur Valjean's different outfits

#who am i but yours? • valjean #one for the treasure chamber #BRBRBRJRIDR he's so ✨💚✨💚💚✨💚

[thegettingbyp2]

Go. New follower here.

Are you still taking Aaron Tveit requests? I have one. The reader was and actress in the harry Potter movies (small cameos) and she loves musicals. She got lucky getting the role of Eponine and immediately clicks with Aaron. They really like each other and between takes, they're caught making out hot and heavy ☺️☺️☺️☺️. After work, they're watching moulin rouge in his hotel room that leads to something more.

Sorry for a long one, but I can not get it out of my head. Thank you.

Since the Day We Met

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The moment you stepped on set, you knew that you were walking into something incredible. It had been your dream to be an actress and so far you’d manage to bag a couple small roles in the Harry Potter films but that was it until you decided to go for it an audition for the new film adaptation of Les Misérables, not expecting anything to come from it. So, when you got a call that told you you’d bagged the role of Eponine, you were over the moon.

As excited as you were about getting the role, you couldn’t help but me a bit more excited about the fact you were going to be meeting and working with Aaron Tveit. Aaron had been your big Broadway crush for as long as you could remember and you never thought that you’d get the chance to meet him, let alone work with him.

You’d never forget the first time you met him. You were heading to the set from your trailer for the first day of filming on the barricade and you were so excited that you were practically running to set, almost running right into Aaron. The coffee you were holding leaving your hand and crashing to the floor. The two of you were quick to jump back to avoid getting coffee on your costume and you both looked at each other for a couple of seconds before bursting out into laughter.

‘That was close,’ he said as your laughter subsided before he took a step closer to you and held out his hand. ‘I’m Aaron, by the way.’

‘I know,’ you replied automatically, visibly cringing at yourself before taking his hand and shaking it gently. ‘I mean, I’m (Y/N).’

‘Let me guess,’ he said, looking at your costume, ‘Valjean?’

‘How did you know?’ you played along, laughing as you spun around.

‘I guess you just really look the part,’ he teased. ‘You heading to set?’ he asked, nodding his head in the direction of the set.

‘I am,’ you said and you both started walking together, getting to know each other as you went.

---

Ever since that first meeting, you and Aaron became virtually inseparable, always meeting outside one of your trailers to head to set and spending all of your breaks together. You’d managed to keep everything friendly until the day you were filming Eponines death and the fall of the barricade. At first you put it down to it being a highly emotional day because of the content of the scenes but for some reason, you couldn’t help but start looking at him a different way. You weren’t sure if it was the way he looked with wet hair after filming A Little Fall of Rain, but you wanted him.

You had a break in between scenes while the water was cleared from the set and you found yourself tucked into the barricade, balancing on one of the beams, content to just sit and listen to the sound of people talking around you.

‘Who are you hiding from?’ Aaron asked as he walked over to you, hair dry again and coming to lean on a beam opposite you.

‘Just enjoying the quiet before we start filming again,’ you replied, closing your eyes and leaning your head back, a soft smile on your lips.

‘Mind if I join?’

‘Thought you already had,’ you teased, grinning up at him. Aaron chuckled lightly sat down next to you, your arms brushing against each other.

‘You did a great job in the scene earlier,’ he said quietly, looking at you.

‘Thanks,’ you replied, all of a sudden feeling shy around him.

‘You know, the day we met, it felt like I’d known you for ages,’ he said, speaking quietly and leaning his head down so no one else would hear.

‘I know what you mean,’ you replied.

Aaron just looked at you for a couple of seconds and only when you opened your mouth to say something did he lean in and press his lips against yours. You gasped against his lips, allowing his tongue to swipe across yours and you felt yourself surrender to the kiss, your arms coming up to wrap around his neck as his hands settled on your waist, pulling you into him. It felt as if you couldn’t get any close enough to each other as your lips refused to part.

Only when you heard the sound of a throat being cleared did the two of you spring apart, heads turning to where the sound came from only to see Eddie standing in front of you both, grinning from ear to ear.

‘Don’t mind me,’ Eddie said, turning back around. ‘We were all wondering how long it would take before something happened between you two.’

The second he was gone, you and Aaron looked at each other before bursting into fits of giggles and you buried your head in his chest to try to muffle the sound. Aaron put both of his hands on your cheeks and tilted your head up to look at him before pressing your lips together once more. ‘Why don’t you come to my hotel room tonight when we finish up here? We can stick a film on or something?’ he spoke against your lips.

Not wanting to break the kiss, you smiled against his lips and nodded.

---

Later that evening, you found yourself and Aaron curled up on the bed with Moulin Rouge playing in the background, but neither of you could say what had just happened, too wrapped up in each other, both emotionally and physically. He was hovering over you as you were spread out on the bed, your fingers tangled in his hair as his lips fused to your neck.

‘Been wanting to do this since the day I met you,’ he mumbled into your skin before looking up at you, brushing a strand of hair out of your face.

‘I mean, I thought you were alright when we met but - ah!’ you were cut off when Aaron grabbed your thigh, lifting it to rest across his hip and ground his hips against yours.

‘You were saying?’ he asked, smug.

‘Nothing,’ you replied quickly, wrapping both of your legs around his waist and using your grip on him to pull your body up until you were chest to chest, one of his hands coming down to rest on your back, keeping you in place.

‘That’s what I thought,’ he replied, leaning back down to kiss you.

You both moaned softly into the kiss as you let your hand rest on his bare chest, tilting your head to deepen the kiss. Your hand slid down his chest to the waistband of his boxers, dipping your fingers underneath and earning a sharp intake of breath from Aaron. ‘And what do you think you’re doing?’ he asked, his lips twisting up into a smile as your eyes fluttered shut when you felt his breath fan across your face.

‘Something I’ve wanted to do since the day I met you,’ you replied, pushing him off of you and climbing over him to straddle him. Your fingers hooked in his boxers and slowly pulled them down his legs, his cock standing up straight as you wrapped your fingers around him.

#aaron tveit #aaron tveit x reader #aaron tveit smut #aaron tveit imagine

[cliozaur]

Hugo does exactly what he did in the chapter about Cosette’s "virginal room"—he initially claims he won't discuss it, citing, "There are things which one must not attempt to depict," and then proceeds to delve into all possible details.

After almost two months of reading about the barricade, suddenly four months have passed in just one chapter. Does this mean we're expected to forget about the barricade and the cause Les Amis stood for? There isn't a single reminder of the principles Marius’ friends died for. Instead, we're in a romantic fairytale where wealthy relatives solve all your problems. I am glad for Cosette that she doesn’t have to work (especially considering that all female labour was hard and unfairly paid for) and can continue her comfortable bourgeois life. And I like how Jean Valjean found an ideal moment to announce that “Mademoiselle Euphrasie Fauchelevent” (aka Cosette) is a rich bride, and thus defended her honour and dignity. But what does it all mean for Marius? Will he just return to his idle dreaming? Was it all for nothing?

And I do not understand why Hugo decided to bring up the topic of Marius’ “intimate friend,” Courfeyrac, letting Gillenormand ask what has happened to him. And why is it “good” that he is dead? I fail to grasp the function of this sad reminder.

An uncomfortable parallel strikes me between Cosette’s murmuring with Marius and Gillenormand’s rambling. They are the only two characters who talk so extensively in this chapter. Even though their styles of expression differ, and while Cosette says many things that might seem cute – that similarity is right there!

#les mis letters #lm 5.5.4 #les miserables #cosette #jean valjean #marius pontmercy #courfeyrac #gillenormand #les amis de l'abc

[secretmellowblog]

What are your favourite pathetic Javert moments? I read your post, and now I'm curious

(CONTEXT: a while back I made a post where I jokingly promised to list my top ten pathetic Javert moments. It is finally that time. Thank you anon and @revolutionaeternam.)

I had trouble writing this post because there are way too many moments in the Brick where Javert is a horribly pathetic creature.  So here are the Top Eleven Pathetic Javert Moments I Am Currently Thinking About:  #11:

“This man was at the barricade,” said he in a low voice and as though speaking to himself. “He is the one they called Marius.” A spy of the first quality, who had observed everything, listened to everything, and taken in everything, even when he thought that he was to die; who had played the spy even in his agony, and who, with his elbows leaning on the first step of the sepulchre, had taken notes.

This line really encapsulates the tragic pathetic side of Javert for me. His entire existence is built on mindless groveling and performing useless tasks in the service of an authority that does not respect him and never will. He is the kind of person who will waste his last hours alive pointlessly ‘taking notes’ no one will read simply because it is what he has been ordered to do, and he cannot disobey orders.

#10. The entire “Punish me, Monsieur Le Maire” scene. No explanation needed. 

#9. Every moment when Javert expresses vehement hatred for some random inoffensive thing that no reasonable person would ever hate. (Ex. Thinking, kindness, facts, books, stoves, etc.) 

#8: Javert recognizing Eponine's body right before his execution,  and saying “It strikes me that I know that girl.” The Javert/Eponine parallels, and that way Javert-Eponine are the failed  “shadows” of Valjean-Cosette....

#7. Every time Javert is compared to a dog. It’s always easier to feel sorry for a furry. 

#6. The moment when the National Guard has an opportunity to trade Jehan’s life for Javert’s --and doesn't. (And Enjolras telling Javert that "your friends have just shot you.") Like?  The way Javert is serving a society that does not value his life; the way the National Guard could have easily rescued him, but didn’t know or care that he had been captured! And the fact that "your friends have just shot you" is immediately followed by Eponine, Javert’s narrative foil, dying of a bullet wound as she begs for attention from a man who doesn't even recognize her...the way both Javert and Eponine made themselves the “guard dogs” of someone/something that barely remembers they exist...  

#5. All of Javert’s behavior at the barricade in general, and the way it parallels Jean Valjean's behavior. It’s fascinating how Javert acts so similar to the way Jean Valjean acted while captured by Thenardier — they both ‘do not utter a single cry,’ and remain utterly calm even when tied to a post awaiting death. They are superficially polite, save for a few passive-aggressive insults. It’s one of the few moments where you see “oh yeah, Javert was born in a prison, and like Jean Valjean he’s learned how to 'properly' behave in situations where he's trapped and has no autonomy, to the point where it’s second nature for him.” Fanfic writers often portray the barricade as uniquely traumatizing for Javert, but the sad thing is that Javert is pretty “eh this is just Tuesday for me” about it until Jean Valjean saves his life.

#4. Javert’s inability to lie at the barricades. He cannot lie to save his life. At the barricade they ask him who he is and he responds “my name’s Javert and I’m a cop.” Who made this man a spy???? Why did they did they send HIM on the spying mission???

#3. Javert IS SO BAD at lying I'm putting it on this list twice. 2012 Les Mis Fandom often liked to make Javert a ~closed book who secretly has a soft heart and hidden depths~ but to me…, one of the most pathetic things about Javert is that what you see is what you get. He is physically incapable of pretending to believe things he does not believe or feel things he does not feel. He’s described as someone whose eyes are so clear you can see the very depths of his conscience in them. Javert can be stoic and level-headed while dealing with severe emotions, but he cannot lie, and the one time he attempts to lie (“I will wait for you here”) he’s so bad at it that even a very distracted Jean Valjean notices something is off. And idk, to me it seems like there can be a really painful vulnerability to that.

#2. “You annoy me. Kill me rather.” ICONIC. And the tu/vous switch that happens here, where Javert is trying to act harsh toward Valjean but is incapable of concealing the fact that he’s developed a new terrifying respect for him!! Because he is a terrible liar! Something is wrong with him. <3 The entire 'execution' scene is a beautiful farce.

#1. This is cheating but: everything involving Javert's final confrontation with Jean Valjean after the barricades, including all of Derailed. These brief chapters are the only time when we see how a doubt-ridden post-barricades Javert interacts with other people, especially Jean Valjean, and it’s all deeply pitiable. His characterization in these chapters is fascinating, and is almost never captured in any adaptations. He isn’t shouting at Valjean or violently threatening him with death; for the first time he’s lost, wandering, and uncertain, speaking "as if in a dream" and passively allowing Jean Valjean to decide where they go and what they do. It's Javert at his most wet and pathetic. Javert sees Jean Valjean and is torn between feeling like quote "the wolf which regains its grip on its prey and the dog that finds its master again...." and he deals with that by Bluescreening. I have this theory that Javert is at his most 'likable' when he has the least power. When Javert has power, he is terrifying. But when he's powerless, when he’s been “declawed," when he's incapable of doing harm, he's just this strange pitiable Creature.  And these last chapters are peak Declawed Javert.

#les mis #javert #javert doesn't have 'good qualities' just a lot of pathetic ones really #people think i hate javert but i dont.......... #ive been called a 'javert hater' but i am not #i love Brick Javert for the horrible cruel Creature he is #i don't need him to be a 'handsome charismatic antihero' #he can just be a hideous wolfdog cube #he did learn ACAB in the end and that counts for something #idk if this is post is coherent XD