#Cosette's Wedding Night

[lesmisscraper]

Happy Anniversary and Good Night!

Clips from <Il cuore di Cosette>.

[lesmisscraper]

It looks like I just did!(Due to Time Zone it's already 17th morning.)

So no one is commemorating 16 February in the les mis fandom hmm? Or did I miss it

[pyromaniacbibliophile]

Bricktober day 3- JBM

Musichetta finding out about the barricade

____________________

Morning arrives, bathing Paris in red light. Musichetta stirs alone again. She hasn’t seen her boys for a day or two. Normally she wouldn’t worry, Bossuet in particular is always and forever going off for walks and finding himself halfway across France. However there’s something different about today. 

She gets dressed and walks out onto the street where a hawker is selling newspapers. She glances over and stops dead. 

‘Students Dead In Barricade’ The headline proclaims. All the air flies out of her lungs. She rushes over and snatches a newspaper. The hawker goes to protest but takes a look at her and decides against it. 

“The student revolutionary group known as Les Amis De L’ABC died last night at their barricade. They were protesting at Rue Saint-Martin. Many soldiers-” She doesn’t read any more before she runs. 

She knows she gets many glances but she doesn’t care, focused on getting there. 

Her footsteps echo through Boulevard de Bonne Nouvelle as she turns a corner and skids to a halt. 

Behind a half-blown up barricade made of chairs, tables, signs, barrels and many more things lie bodies.  

This can’t be real, surely. Surely this isn’t Enjolras and Grantaire lying together, stained with blood. Surely this isn’t the body of little Gavroche. Surely that can’t be Monsieur Mabeuf. Surely she’s hallucinating. Or dreaming. Or maybe they’re all asleep. 

Her breathing picks up as she steps over Courfreyac’s corpse and sinks to her knees. 

Her boys. Her beautiful boys. 

Bossuet is curled around Joly as if trying to protect him. Both of them stare sightlessly through glassy eyes, gunshot holes straight through their shirts. 

No. No. No. This can’t be happening. They would have told her.

They had been evasive the past week or two. Joly was almost never away from her- overly affectionate in a way that was so unlike him. Bossuet had been pulling away slowly, distant and restraining himself. She had worried. She had planned to ask about it-

God. 

She collapses in a heap next to them. She doesn’t cry. She can’t. 

“Batards.” She mutters quietly. 

If anyone had passed by then, they would have thought there to be three dead bodies where there were only two. 

Hours pass. She is shivering now, but she doesn’t leave. Why did they do it? Why didn’t they tell her? 

Footsteps make her sit up sharply. She thinks she must be asleep, for Marius is walking stiltedly through the maze of bodies, tears running down his cheeks. 

“Marius?” She calls, her voice cracking. She gets to her feet. 

“Musichetta?” 

She starts crying then, loud sobs wracking her with grief. How is he alive? How is he alive when her boys are dead? 

“They’re dead. They’re all dead. Joly, Bossuet-” She dissolves into tears again.

Marius hugs her awkwardly. She guesses he’s injured from the way he holds himself. 

It takes her a second to realise he’s whispering something. 

“It should have been me. I should have- I should be here with them. I don’t deserve this life.” 

“No. No, they would not have wanted that. If anyone, it should have been me. They would be glad someone survived. They knew the risks.” 

He clearly doesn’t know what to say to that. After a pause, he lets go of her. 

“‘Chetta, you are freezing. Come with me, I am staying with my love’s father. There will be space for you.”

“I can’t leave them, Marius.” 

“Would they want you to catch hypothermia here? Come. We will make sure they are buried properly.”

She leaves with Marius, but after Joly and Bossuet’s funeral and Marius and Cosette’s wedding, she goes to Italy. Paris held too many memories. 

She never loved another like she had loved her boys. 

When she dies, she is buried next to them in Paris. 

_________________________________

@lesmis-prompts

[foxy-llama-mama]

for anyone wondering, i saw the les mis us tour last night in DC and it. was. CRAZY. i’ve seen the tour a few times in my life and i noticed some new things so here we go:

~~ spoilers ~~

- petit gervais was actually shown in the prologue when JVJ gets out of jail, he has some line like “but monsieur!” before being shooed away

- batambois actually hits fantine with his cane, knocks her down, and kicks her multiple times before she reaches up and scratches his face (i feel like i usually see him grab her arm or something instead of actually hitting her?)

- the other lovely ladies whores are all freaking out and trying to protect fantine from batambois and the pimp men people are actively holding them back and letting him hit her

- JVJ and javert have the gayest little moment of holding a handshake before “forgive me sir i would not dare” for a solid 30 seconds

- fantine shoots up and hugs JVJ in the line before she dies and stays there until he lays her dead body back down

- mme. thenardier was just so wonderful. i loved her

- gavroche has this entire moment with javert after the robbery, yelling “yeah! clear the streets! that means you too!” (said to a cop), and when the only two people left on stage are him and javert, he completely squares up to him and then salutes and it’s a really sweet moment. it also makes little people so much more impactful because they actually recognize each other then

- enjolras has a visceral reaction to eponine and marius speaking and he hasn’t even met cosette yet. enj turns to speak to marius and sees him talking to ep and throws his hands up in the air like, SO frustrated because MARIUS THE REVOLUTION IS COMING.

- red and black is BEAUTIFUL. the entire ensemble respects enjolras so much and it’s very obvious. “marius, you’re late” is not sung and so deadpan and so enjolras.

- R gives gav his bottle after javert’s arrival and it’s really funny

- grantaire does not take his eyes off of enjolras until drink with me. at all.

-when eponine dies, gavroche turns suddenly and sees her dying and grantaire SHOOTS up and grabs him and sits in the corner with him. it’s beautiful

- R does not touch a gun at all for the entire show. whenever anyone starts shooting, he hides behind the barricade or he grabs javert in custody but he never fights at all

- when gav dies, R throws a goddamn fit and does not leave his body until enjolras is about to be shot.

- when enj dies, he climbs up the barricade and is backlit and R is sitting at the bottom of the barricade reaching upwards, and when enj is shot, he falls backwards off of the barricade and out of sight. when this happens, R climbs the barricade with no gun, just enough so his head is exposed, and gets shot and slides down the barricade. it’s very “no one loves the light like a blind man”

- when javert is picking through the bodies looking for JVJ, another officer is wheeling a cart for dead bodies, and it ONLY has enjolras in it, hanging upside down just like aaronjolras in the window. javert heaves gav’s body on top of his and wheels them both off. (i heard multiple audible gasps during this, assumedly from the other enjolras girlies like myself)

- enj and R are beside each other for empty chairs until they cross and they’re directly facing each other instead

-during the wedding song, the line “this one’s a queer, but what can you do” is changed to “this one’s a queer, i might try it too” before thenardier waltzes with a male ensemble member for like 4 bars before finishing the song

- there is a lot of rich people laughing as a bit and thenardier cues to the conductor and counts them off like 3 separate times

- the finale is beautiful as always, JVJ and the dead bishop hug before everyone just lines up in formation (R and enj are both holding one of gav’s hands on either side)

- in conclusion: i cried

If anyone else has seen the tour and would like to add little things they noticed, please do in the tags!!

[black-rabbit-razumikhin]

Raz Reads Les Mis (XLIII)

Jean Valjean - The White Night

Marius and Cosette get married and it's all whimsy and light and beauty

It's raining a little, but that hardly matters

They get married at Gillenormand's house, on the same day as Mardi Gras

So the family is having their private celebration while all of Paris is celebrating as well

Valjean hurts his hand so can't sign the contract for Cosette

I can't help but think he did that on purpose

The carriage procession is noticed by a disguised Thenardier and his daughter

He thinks he recognizes Valjean, but it's too far to see for sure

Due to his hurt hand, Valjean also doesn't walk Cosette down the aisle

But he does laugh when she asks him to laugh

And that's the last the group sees of Valjean in the celebration

Valjean has gone to his inseparable

The small parcel that has the clothes Cosette wore when he first took her in

He lays them out on the bed

And breaks down in tears

He's happy that Cosette is happy, but now he doesn't know what to do with himself

He's fulfilled his purpose of keeping Cosette safe, there's nothing left for it

This was so bittersweet to read, and the shift from the emotions of Marius and Cosette to Valjean was so well done so as to feel equally the strength of each. I just wish Marius's friends could have been at his wedding. And I hope Valjean can see that he still has a place in Cosette's life. The only reason she's here now is because of all he's done for her.

[annachum]

Maybe both! 🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩

I’m trying to figure out how modern au marius and cosette would get together for my fic

[pilferingapples]

started re-watching LM 2K with some friends who also make terrible life choices

went in honestly thinking , Hey! maybe I am forgetting things! Maybe it's not as bad as I remember it being!

well 1.5 hours into this 8 hour fever dream and I can say. I was forgetting things all right! quite a lot of things! but whoo boy I owe Past Me an apology, this is bad and every new Thing I Had Blocked Out Of My Mind makes it worse

Thoughts, While I Have Them:

why does it start literally on fire

I'll give John Malkovert this: he does seem disturbingly horny for the idea of inherent traits and inborn social hierarchy. Beeblevert didn't really seem to know what to do with his phrenology displays; Malkovert whispers to them lovingly at night and probably licks them. This guy feels about eugenics like Grantaire feels about Enjolras. This guy is messed up.

( ...filmmakers know that when they've got someone with lots of human skull measurements and phrenology and Types of Human displays, they're saying that character is into eugenics, right? I'm not saying it's a bad move, it can be very accurate and telling ,but like. They get what that's doing there, right? RIGHT???)

The dialogue...is bad.... it's so bad...

"yellow is the color of happiness"

this timeline is a shambles. Fantine doesn't have Cosette until after Tholomyes is gone, and then apparently holds out for YEARS in Paris, since Cosette is if anything a little older than her book age when Fantine meets the Ts; meanwhile Valjean doesn't get out of prison until AFTER Fantine has moved to M-sur-M. Which of course means there's no factory for her to work at!

...but then after Valjean (very intentionally) steals from Petit Gervais, we cut to Fantine working in the factory. The Nettle Cloth factory . Which means Fantine was doing SOMETHING before Valjean showed up to Disrupt the industry with his Tech Breakthrough but like. What. If she was doing something else then why doesn't she go do that some more after she's fired? Because she very much doesn't, she goes right to attempting sex work...badly

like trying it with Javert first Badly

and then he threatens to arrest her but doesn't?? who is this man, what kind of Javert is he ffs . Letting a Poor go unarrested? Seriously this doesn't even scan with his characterization in this series

Instead he starts stalking Fantine and giving her Helpful Hints. He comes in right after she has a client?? and tells her to go to the circus??

She goes and finds the dentist and tries to get him to pull TEN of her teeth bc for no reason he's giving 4 francs a tooth instead of 20 for the fronts. The dentist is the only character in this show with sense and says NO THAT'S TOO MANY TEETH, and he just cuts her hair instead And listen we've got another Fantine with Mostly Straight Brown Hair , it's not even that long, and I'm sorry but there's NO WAY that's worth more than teeth, why do adaptations keep doing this

also why do they keep making Fantine so passive, so dependent on people telling her what to do? She makes bad choices sometimes--often even!-- but she Makes Decisions and fast, she goes all in without any pushing, that is a defining part of Fantine's character! but everything she does here gotta be because someone told her she Should

another one where Javert inexplicably goes to M sur M to see Cosette. Why? What possible reason for this?? he almost seems like he has a weird crush on Fantine rather than JVJ but that's. That's incoherent, for this character. even in this series!!

I've written so much and haven't even gotten to Valjean officiating a wedding for, apparently, a famous former sex worker in the town ? this is mentioned once and I don't think it'll ever be relevant again

1.5 hours in, Points For: a very cute little donkey, Petit Gervais having his Marmot, some very nice architecture, Baptistine existing

Unpoints for: everyone's bafflingly inconsistent characterization, the absolute mess of a timeline, Myriel still living in the palace but letting homeless people sleep on the floor?? , lots of very pointless Walking Around Time , Thenardier Sex , why do directors think I want to see them get it on, Please Stop

[hyperfixationstation1]

Saw Les Mis on West End Yesterday!!!

(Ignore how few people are in the photo. It was a full house I was just really early)

Starting with this I loved!!

- Stewart Clarke as Javert was perfect. He was perfectly austere and desperate, and he had such a powerful baritone voice that left so many in the audience dumbfounded during “Stars.” His suicide was staged in kinda a goofy way (but I’ll be honest it’s… always a little goofy)

- Though I don’t love how the musical treats the Thenardiers, both Emily Olive Boyd and Luke Kempner did a great job and were very funny.

- The ensemble killed it. EVERY. SINGLE. TIME.

- The costumes were a lot more period accurate than I expected. Adored the wedding costumes and the period accurate hair.

- I actually really liked Djavan van de Fliert as Enjolras. He plays him very young and very enthusiastic, leaning a lot into the boyish aspect. I was surprised to find I liked it quite a bit.

- Enjoltaire could not keep their hands off each other like damn get a room

— also those two were PARENTING Gavorche

Things I didn’t mind at all!

- Harry Lake stepped in for Marius last night. I’m usually harsher to Marius than any other character. But he was boyish and I was like “yeah okay goofy man 🙄” and he did genuinely play him like a clueless boy trying his best, which was very endearing. And he and Amena El-Kindy were amazing in A Little Fall of Rain.

- Amena El-Kindy as Eponine was very good technically. And I liked it, but I prefer more depressed and resigned Eponines and it was very desperate and frantic, which isn’t wrong, just not what I prefer.

- Tom Hext as Grantaire. He did great! but again he played his part in Drink With Me as more angry than depressed, which I didn’t prefer.

Things I didn’t like (but knew I wasn’t gonna like):

- Lovely Ladies.

- No Azelma and they don’t acknowledge Eponine and Gavorche as siblings.

- Patron Minette as Thenardier’s Gang. Also why was Babet better dressed than Montparnasse? (Did like that Montparnasse was played to acknowledge or care about Eponine in a throwaway line. That was nice.)

- Love Brujon. I don’t know why he has there though.

- Could not keep track of Les Amis.

- How the musical treats Cosette as helpless when she’s perfectly capable. Lulu Mae Pears did a great job but like… I can’t stand that.

Things I didn’t like (and expected to like)

- I didn’t like Peter Jöback as Jean Valjean. I’m sorry I don’t really know how to explain it, I just didn’t.

- I was expecting a moving set. THANK YOU TO THE TECH, but there was no spinning barricade 😔.

Anyway, I overall had a lot of fun seeing it!!! And met some of the crew after and it was cool!

[expired-applejuice]

Part 5 of incorrect quotes

Bahorel: Guys, there's a monster under my bed and it's really ugly.

Grantaire, on the bottom bunk: Honestly, fuck you.

-

Cosette: i made a Marshmallow Inspector Javert.

Cosette: see? his arms are crossed because he's mad at Marshmallow Valjean for escaping him.

Cosette: you like it?

Javert:

Javert: *choked up* it's fine.

-

Courfeyrac: Once again, Courfeyrac and Combeferre save the day.

Enjolras: You didn't do anything It was all Combeferre.

Courfeyrac: We're a package deal. Everybody knows that.

-

Grantaire: Hello, fellow idiots

Enjolras: Hello, Grantaire

Grantaire: No, no, not you, you're not an idiot

Enjolras: You underestimate me

-

*Combeferre is cooking*

Grantaire: Any chance that's for me?

Combeferre: It's for Courfeyrac. I'm planning on making some bad choices tonight, and I need him on my side.

Enjolras: I never realized the forethought that went into being a disappointment

-

Enjolras: Feuilly isn't answering his phone

Bahorel: I'll call

Combeferre: Enjolras and I have both tried six times each, what makes you thi-

Feuilly: Hello?

-

Javert: God, give me patience.

Valjean: I think you mean "give me strength".

Javert: No, You better hope God doesn't give me strength because if he did, you'd be dead.

-

Joly: Hey, Bossuet? What does IDK, ILY, and TTYL mean?

Bossuet: i don't know, I love you, talk to you later.

Joly: Oh, okay, I'll just ask Musichetta. I love you too.

Bossuet:

-

Jehan: You have to apologize.

Montparnasse: Fine, but this might make me a better and more likable person and that is not the man you fell in love with!

-

Someone may have done this

*playing truth or dare*

Eponine: Okay, truth or dare?

Grantaire: Dare.

Eponine: Kiss the next person who arrives.

Grantaire: Gross, I'm not kissing any of you. None of you are my type.

*Enjolras walks in*

Grantaire:

Grantaire, using breath stray and putting on chapstick: Well, a dare's a dare.

-

Courfeyrac: You know my motto: carpe diem, carpe noctem, carpe coles.

Marius: Seize the day, seize the night, what's the last one?

Courfeyrac: Seize the dick.

-

Grantaire: mean, sure, I have my bad days. But then I remember what a cute smile Apollo has.

-

Combeferre: *seductively takes off glasses*

Combeferre: Wow...

Courfeyrac, blushing: Haha... what?

Combeferre: You're really fucking blurry.

-

Bossuet: Hey, babe.

Joly: Hmm?

Bossuet: I need your help with a math problem.

Joly: Oh, sure! What do you need?

Bossuet: How do you simplify 2i<6u?

Joly: i<3u

Bossuet: Awww, i<3u too!

Joly:

-

Enjolras, texting Bossuet: Send dudes

Bossuet: You mean-

Bossuet: You mean send nudes??!

Enjolras: No, we crashed the funeral and I'm bleeding. Send Grantaire

Grantaire: *already ran out the door*

-

Combeferre: I know every song to ever exist, doesn't matter when it was made.

Enjolras: Oh, yeah?

Grantaire: Finish this; I don't cook, I don't clean-

Combeferre: but let me tell you how got this ring,

Combeferre, Grantaire, and Courfeyrac, who came out of no were: GOBBLE ME, SWALLOW ME, DRIP DOWN THE SIDE OF ME-

-

*undercover*

Eponine: You don't think can fight because I'm a girl.

Marius: 'Ponie I don't think you can fight because you're in a wedding dress. To be fair, don't think Bahorel could fight in that either.

Bahorel: No, but I'd make a bomb ass wife.

-

Valjean: You're pouting.

Javert: I'm not pouting, I'm brooding.

Valjean: That's how pretty men pout.

-

Valjean, picking up his phone: Javert? I'm kind of busy right now-

Javert: Do you think drinking thirty-six cans of Redbull consecutively would heighten my senses or would I just die?

Valjean:

Valjean: I'm on my way.

-

Eponine: Bitches be like "I'm baby" but have childhood trauma and were neglected.

Eponine: Like what do you know about being baby? You were forced to grow up from an early age.

Eponine:

Everyone else:

Eponine: It's me. I'm bitches.

Gavroche, sighing: We know.

-

Feuilly: Y'all ever get so tired you see spiders?

Grantaire: Me when I take seventeen Benadryl and start seeing the Hat Man.

Jehan: THE WHAT?

Grantaire: Oh, so this is suddenly not a safe space?

-

Courfeyrac: Relationships should be 50/50; Combeferre cooks dinner while I sit on the counter looking pretty.

-

Bahorel: Not everyone likes you, Montparnasse. You aren't Feuilly.

Montparnasse: Not everyone likes Feuilly??

Enjolras, coming out of no where: Who?

Montparnasse:

Bahorel, cracking his knuckles: we need names, Montparnasse.

-

Musichetta: Can you two cut me some slack? I'm sort of in love.

Joly: I'm sorry, but that's really not our problem.

Musichetta: I'm in love with you both.

Bossuet, blushing: Oh... that brings us into the loop a little.

-

Combeferre: I fell-

Courfeyrac: From heaven?

Combeferre: No, I literally fell-

Courfeyrac: In love with me the moment you saw me

Combeferre: MY ARM IS BROKEN, COURFEYRAC

Courfeyrac: Ok, but am I pretty? Be honest.

-

*Combeferre and Grantaire in a casino*

Combeferre: Grantaire, we're about to get kicked out-

Grantaire: Shush!

Combeferre: We gotta-

Grantaire: Shut up!

Combeferre: R-

Grantaire: Shh! Shush, shush, shush! Do you hear that?

Combeferre: Wha- are you drunk?

Grantaire: Yes, but listen!

Combeferre:

Grantaire:

Grantaire: It's the sound of me not giving a fuck.

-

Javert: We all have our demons.

Javert, pointing at Les Amis: These ones are mine.

-

Valjean, helping Marius stand after being wounded: You need to be careful, you're loosing a lot of blood-

Marius, loopy: I'm not "loosing" it, I know exactly where it is!

*Marius points to the puddle of his blood on the floor.*

Valjean: Oh, dear Lord, I should just leave you.

-

Enjolras, making his third cup of coffee: Why are my hands so shaky?

Combeferre, on his fifth: Your skeleton is ready to hatch.

-

Montparnasse, to Feuilly: What's the first thing you notice when someone approaches you?

Bahorel, holding Feuilly's hand: The audacity.

-

Combeferre: Did you know-

Bahorel: That somethings are better left unsaid?

Combeferre: Nice try.

-

Eponine: Do you have any idea how dangerous I'd be if I had zero self doubt?

-

Jehan: If I were a drink, I'd be cherry vanilla coke. If you were a drink, what would you be?

Grantaire: Bleach.

Bahorel: Blood

Montparnasse: arsenic

Feuilly: Alright, calm down edgelords.

-

Grantaire: Dad didn't raise a quitter!

Joly: I thought your dad left?

Grantaire: Which is why I'm quitting.

-

Grantaire to Combeferre: Do you think I'm ugly?

Combeferre: It's not about looks, R. What's valuable is on the inside.

Grantaire, touched: Aww...

Combeferre: For example, someone's heart.

Grantaire: You're a good friend, Combeferre -

Combeferre: It can be priced at over one million US dollars, you know.

Grantaire:

-

Grantaire: Ok, here's my wishlist.

Musichetta: This is surprisingly reasonable.

Joly: We could probably get all this by Christmas.

Enjolras: Oh, so no one's gonna ask why I'm on the list?

Grantaire: That's more of a hope.

Enjolras: I still don't get why I'm on the list?

Bossuet, to Grantaire: Are you sure you don't want someone else?

Grantaire: Nope, I want him.

Enjolras: CAN SOMEONE PLEASE EXPLAIN WHY I'M OM THE LIST?!

-

*playing Would You Rather?*

Eponine: Ok, R. Would you rather die or-

Grantaire: Die.

Cosette: She hasn't even-

Grantaire: Die.

Marius: Grantaire, we talked about this...

-

Enjolras: I was born for politics.

Enjolras: have great hair and I'm great at lying.

-

Bahorel: I've thought about taking swim classes for adults, but honestly that's sadder than just drowning.

-

Combeferre, to Grantaire: I need 45 minutes away from you, and then we can be best friends again.

-

Montparnasse: *raises eyebrows *

Jehan: Put those back down

[ratethisalbum]

#1) Les Miserables (The Complete Symphonic Recording)

Composed by Claude-Michel Schonberg and Alain Boublil

Suggested by: Anonymous

-

Spotify ~ Youtube

(Remember to listen first, then rate!)

-

Tracklist:

1 Prologue 2 Valjean's Soliloquy (What Have I Done?) 3 At The End of the Day 4 I Dreamed a Dream 5 Lovely Ladies 6 Fantine's Arrest 7 The Runaway Cart 8 Who Am I?/ The Trial 9 Fantine's Death 10 The Confrontation 11 Castle on a Cloud 12 Master of the House 13 The Bargain/ The Waltz of Treachery 14 Look Down 15 The Robbery/ Javert's Intervention (Another Brawl) 16 Stars 17 Eponine's Errand 18 The ABC Cafe/ Red and Black 19 Do You Hear the People Sing? 20 Rue Plumet/ In My Life 21 A Heart Full of Love 22 Attack on the Rue Plumet 23 One Day More! 24 At The Barricade (Upon These Stones) 25 On My Own 26 Building the Barricade 27 Javert's Arrival 28 Little People 29 A Little Fall of Rain 30 Night of Anguish 31 First Attack 32 Drink With Me 33 Bring Him Home 34 Dawn of Anguish 35 The Second Attack (Death of Gavroche) 36 The Final Battle 37 The Sewers/ Dog Eats Dog 38 Javert's Suicide 39 Turning 40 Empty Chairs at Empty Tables 41 Every Day (Marius and Cosette) 42 Valjean's Confession 43 The Wedding Chorale/ Beggars at the Feast 44 Epilogue (Finale)

[oldbookist]

other than that cosette how was your wedding night

[lesmisscraper]

Am I the only one wondering what happened during Mr. Hugo paused his pen?

Well, I admit that Mr. Hugo wrote about their wedding night 'in his old fashioned way', Marius is not the guy that would do those things to Cosette.(See their night date scene!) We only see Cosette was with her sweet face, her hair was in charming disorder, her eyelids were still swollen with sleep after that night. I think this means Cosette was very satisfied, so their wedding night was happier than the average couples at that time. It may rude to them, but I really want what happened on that night. To see how it's different from how Mr. Hugo mentioned.

[psalm22-6]

Laura Kalpakian’s Cosette (1995)

All I really knew about this book before reading it was the "This is a nipple line" (and if you don't know what that is, we will get there) so my expectations were not high. But I will say I enjoyed it, not as a sequel to Les Misérables but as a wild ride from start to finish. And thank you to @cepholliepod​ for getting it for me. Now, if you are up for it, see below the cut for a detailed plot summary!

The book starts by rehashing the last two volumes of Les Miserables and inserting the author’s original characters such as Eugène Verdier, a printer who escapes from the barricades by wearing a National Guardsmen's uniform and Victor Pajol, Verdier's apprentice. We are made to think that Pajol dies on the barricades but he is actually in jail for years (make note of that). While in jail he is visited by Achille Clerons. Clerons had also been at the barricades. In fact he was the fifth man who left the barricades, the man wearing Jean Valjean's National Guard uniform. Pajol learns that Clerons was actually a spy in league with Javert and who is still looking to track down Verdier and Marius. Right away you start to get a feel for the author’s interesting word choice, such as when Eponine dies "with a raucous gurgle that sounded as if the life were being brutally sucked, not merely drained from her body." Or when Javert tells Enjolras "One day more and you'll piss blood. I'll meet you in hell." (Sometimes a line like “one day more” just smacks of the musical.) I personally really enjoyed the part when the sergeant guy tells the insurgents “no one is coming to help you to fight!" and Marius asks the insurgents if they remember Cambronne’s response to the English at Waterloo and so Enjolras yells “merde.” The other purpose of starting this book prior to the conclusion of Les Misérables is to insert some sex appeal. We learn from the very first page that Cosette doesn’t want to go into “celibate exile,” she wants to have sex asap and she is willing to do it before getting married and she writes as much in her letter to Marius. As we know, they do get married and that leads us to the infamous wedding night scene. Suggestive cream-colored wax is flowing from the candles by their bed. Cosette asks Marius to teach her anatomy and Marius begins with “This is a nipple.” Yes, “this is a nipple” is real but the context makes it worse, which is that he named the nipple "much as an old explorer might name some new land, some heretofore unseen country." Okay, so he is colonizing her body? Sex, love, and colonization are a running theme throughout the book. See for example:  "They made voyages of discovery on the great galleon of their bed." Marius and Cosette constantly refer to their relationship as its own country which is threatened by the world. Besides Marius and Cosette fucking (which they do at every opportunity throughout the book), there are also a lot of dogs copulating in this book. Dogs get mentioned a surprising amount and when they do, they are always going at it.

Fun fact: we learn that Jean Valjean’s true passion all those years in the convent was the cultivation of a rose the color of Cosette’s eyes, which are blue. Which he eventually achieved. Later we learn that when Haussmann tore down the convent, Jacques Offenbach saved the blue rose and it became wildly popular during the Second Empire. Then, after Jean Valjean dies, Marius starts a radical newspaper called La Lumière at Cosette's suggestion and with Cosette's dowry money. Marius is committed vaguely to the ideals outlined in the preface of Les Mis and is arrested 67 times. When Marius is in prison, they will bribe the guard to let Cosette in so that they can fuck (and so that Cosette can smuggle out Marius’s writing, which she finds very erotic.) Verdier works for the paper and so does Clerons (his spying is the reason for Marius’s many arrests). Pajol eventually finds Marius and Clerons’s cover is blown. Theodule also works for the paper, but he is called Cousin Theo and he is dumb and only works there because Marius takes pity on him. Everyone agrees he has no talent. Marius and Cosette both write for La Lumière but Cosette's main conflict for the first half of the book is that she loves her husband more than she loves politics but she isn't sure if he feels the same. Cosette is shown to not really understand the plight of the poor and really seems to just follow her husband's political opinions. She is very insecure and begs Marius never to leave her. They have two children. Jean-Luc Pontmercy is their first, named after Jean Valjean and Luc-Esprit Gillnormand although I think we all can agree that he should have been named Jean George instead. He is simply a terrible child who grows up to be a terrible man. We don't really learn if this is because Cosette and Marius made some mistake raising him; he just seems inherently bad. The one person who really likes him is Aunt Gillenormand but for some reason, she is named Aunt Adelaide. She forgets about Theodule and devotes herself to Jean-Luc even though he is terrible. He sleeps with grisettes and passes notes in class (the contents of the notes seem to be important but they never are). Jean-Luc falls in love with an aspiring actress named Nicolette Lauriot. He wants to marry her but he has no money or parental support Marius and Cosette’s second child is Fantine Pontmercy.  She seems to be inherently good, although she is a bit of a brat at first and mostly mopes around complaining that girls can't do anything. Cosette told Marius that "Fantine" was the name of a childhood friend because she was afraid to tell him that her mother was a prostitute named Fantine. When Marius eventually finds out the truth about the origin of their daughter's name years later, he isn't even mad and agrees with Cosette that she was right to hide it from him. Cosette also sort of adopts a gamin named Gabriel Lascaux. She saves him when he is caught stealing bread and gives him a job at La Lumière. We learn that his mother is a registered fille publique and his father is a convict. It kind of seems like the identity of his father might be important since it keeps coming up but it never is. Fantine and Gabriel fall in love despite their differences in upbringing.

Gabriel’s maternal grandmother is The Countess Crasseux aka the Changer aka Dahlia Drion and yes, she is OG Fantine's friend Dahlia. She makes a business in the underworld supplying people with fancy clothes and disguises. She initially doesn't like Cosette's influence on Gabriel but she eventually realizes that Cosette isn't just a stuffy bourgeois woman, that she is Fantine's daughter, and the two become friends.

(Side note: In December of 1832 the mômes were adopted by Dahlia and they work for her. They are known as the Jondrettes. They are selectively mute and only communicate with each other.)

Next comes 1848 and February Revolution, and the characters discuss liberté, égalité, fraternité  so much that you would think it was the only issue in French politics (and a vague one at that.) Marius and Cosette are disillusioned by the brutal suppression of the June Day uprisings. Cosette is frightened when she sees Marius running to the barricades with a look in his eye that she only ever sees when they have sex and this makes her more insecure. Marius and Gabriel are arrested for demonstrating and Cosette appeals to Thiers to get them out. Yes Adolphe Thiers, future president of France, is a character in the story. Cosette must promise that La Lumière will support Thiers in the upcoming presidential elections but for some reason that literally never is relevant again. (Side note: My favorite chapter in the book was an aside which described the paintings done of the Pontmercy family in this period by an artist employed by La Lumière, and which included where you could view those paintings today (as if they were real). There were also some fun epistolary chapters.) Anyways, in the election La Lumière supports Louis-Napoleon for president, which brings us to our next character. Napoleon III: Yes he is a character too. He reads La Lumière and personally comes to Marius and Cosette's house to ask for their support. Oh and also he HAS A CHILD WITH AZELMA THENARDIER. Yeah, while he was in exile in America he met Azelma and they had a child together, named Eponine-Hortense (Hortense was the name of Louis-Napoleon's mother). Azelma was not successful in America, though she did own one slave. Then it is 1851 and Napoleon III stages his coup d’etat. When Azelma reads that the father of her oldest child has become Emperor, she returns to France with her husband and children. Because Napoleon III acknowledges that Eponine-Hortense is his, Azelma becomes rich and influential. She is known as the Countess Troussebois. Meanwhile, the police are looking for Marius and Cosette to arrest them because of their political activities. They have a deus es machina opportunity to escape to England but Marius won't go. So Cosette learns that he does value his political ideals over their relationship but there's really no fallout or conclusion from this, she just decides that if he is going to the barricades, she will go with him. Remember how they always said that their love was it’s own country?? Cosette concludes that Marius is equally devoted to that country as he is to France but that she is only native to the country of Love and for that reason she follows him to the barricades. Also Jean-Luc betrays his parents to the police, Marius tries to convince the army not to participate in the coup, and Marius is killed. Actually, Marius is not killed. He is actually in prison, like Pajol was earlier. But Cosette doesn't know this and she lives disguised as a beggar for years. Here we spend a lot of time with "les misérables" and they all have nicknames, such as les Genoux, Toutes-Nations, the Ark, and the Captain. (Side note that Kalpakian seems to like unconventional names quite a bit, as she named her own son Bear.) 

We see how and where les misérables live (especially with the Haussmannization of Paris), and only when Cosette lives among them, lives like Jean Valjean and Fantine lived, in dire poverty, do Cosette's politics develop. She writes anti-Napoleon III political pamphlets (The Toad Napoleon and Bonapoleon) and publishes them with the help of Pajol (Verdier was killed alongside Marius but for real). One of the main themes of the book is that you can’t change who you are on the inside (there is this story to that effect called “The Costly Omlette” which is mentioned many times). Cosette is given many, many nicknames, such as the Plumed Lark, la Mauviette, the Vegetable, the Oyster, Foundling, and Mea Culpa but Cosette’s most important journey is that she learns to connect to her childhood identity as “the Lark” and her legacy as the child of Jean Valjean and Fantine but that is a generous interpretation. 

Eventually, Cosette learns that Marius is alive and she and Gabriel break him out of prison by dressing Marius as a woman. Cosette and Marius are close to starving to death because unfortunately, Clerons is still chasing after them. However, they are saved by the help of Nicolette. Remember Nicolette? She became the most successful actress of the Second Empire. She wouldn’t marry Jean-Luc though, and she said to him: “I am not some small savage country to be conquered by one man…I don’t want to be colonized…You want to colonize me.” Maybe if Cosette and Marius represented the future of France at the end of Les Mis, Nicolette is here to spread an anti-colonization message...no I think that’s too much of a stretch. 

Anyways, Jean-Luc marries Eponine-Hortense for her money (Azelma arranged the marriage because she knew she could control him and therefore her daughter and because she wanted revenge on Cosette). Jean-Luc and Eponine-Hortense have a child named Louise. She is named after her godfather, Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte. Azelma brags to Nicolette about her scheme, revealing her shared childhood with Cosette like an evil villain, and Nicolette sympathized with Cosette because she also came from poverty. Therefore she gets Cosette a job in the theater (where Cosette is able to hide Pajol in the basement a la Phantom) and hides Marius at her house. Also Nicolette is pregnant with Jean-Luc’s child.

Meanwhile, slight tangent, Clerons is also looking for Gabriel. Fantine, who had been living in exile for years comes back and lives with her brother because she wants to find Gabriel also. Jean-Luc is furious about their relationship. However, he tells her that she and Gabriel can bop in the basement. Weird but Fantine wants to fuck SO badly that she goes for it. She lets up the room (Jean Valjean’s candlesticks are there) and invites Gabriel over but it’s a trap! Clerons barges in before they can get down to business. Fantine hides Gabriel under her giant skirt and when Clerons finally leaves, Gabriel goes to town down there and Fantine utters “moist cries of freedom.”

Back to the plot. Nicolette is in a hit play and Napoelon III wants to have sex with her. She does it, just to get the scoop on what sex with the Emperor is like and she, Marius, and Pajol think that Cosette should write a pamphlet about the Imperial member. Despite her reservations, Cosette writes a pamphlet called Tadpoleon. Although the pamphlet is very funny, it has no political impact and, worse still, Clerons goes through Napoleon III’s sex calendar and connects the dots between the pamphlet and Nicolette and Nicolette to the the author of the pamphlets (who he knows to be Cosette because she used the alias "La Lumière.”)

Knowing that his mother and former lover are about to be captured, Jean-Luc goes to the theater. In the middle of the act, Napoleon III’s soldiers storm backstage. Nicolette and Cosette hide in the dressing room. Jean-Luc is there. They tell him that they hate him. Clerons bursts in. Nicolette lights a fire. Pajol pops out of his hiding place and sacrifices himself so that Nicolette and Cosette can get away. The theater burns down while the rich people in the audience applaud, thinking it is part of the show.

Then there’s an epilogue (because of course there is). Cosette and Marius own an inn. They are raising Nicolette’s daughter while she performs in England. Fantine and Gabriel have a child have a child together. Jean-Luc shows up. He wants to be forgiven. Marius says that he can forgive because Jean Valjean forgave (although the things Jean-Luc did were way worse than anything that Marius did tbh). Cosette doesn’t forgive him (yet). The End.

Now simply, with no context, I will share some of my favorite lines:

“All young men are hard.”

“Go shit yourself, bourgeois pig.”

“Sucking your short cock? Merci, no.” (The character always say merci no, merci yes.)

“You will hang by your cock in hell.”

“Cosette teased Marius that he loved the sea because it was as gothic and unpredictable as he was.”

“Those with penises were for Bonaparte.” 

“The turnip seller grasped two of her wares high overhead and waved them about, crying out lyrical comparisons between the size of her turnips and the balls of the men who ate them. A juggler’s balls spun high in the air, and given the thin, flappy garment he wore, no doubt his other balls contracted with the cold.”

Clerons: “Everyone knows the pen is truly, well, the ‘male member.’” Cosette: “That explains why it grows in women’s hands.”

“I need the Priest. I am the Monkey.”

“He could, as they say, strike the pose.”

“Jean Valjean had gone through the sewers to save Marius; what did Cosette care if she had to beg Adolphe Thiers?”

“The gulls’ cries drowned out the sounds of Marius and Cosette making love…Marius [was] careful to bring Cosette to that high clear peak, that vanishing pinnacle, moments before he went there himself.” (Good for him.) 

“Louis-Napoleon sat down gingerly, the caution of a man who suffered pain in his testicles.” 

Maybe I’m a bit immature me but you have to admit, that’s a lot of balls being referenced. 

[artzychic27]

Mirrorverse Crossover- Nathaniel

TRIPLE FEATURE! @msweebyness @imsparky2002

It was... Eerily calm when the young prince walked into the room. The first thing he expected from his mad counterpart was... Well... Madness. But, he sat poised and perfect as one would expect of a King, and not a sign of madness along his prim features like back in the other room. Maybe it was just an act. The outfit, although, was the only chaotic thing about him. While not to his tastes, Prince Nathaniel supposed that was just the style in his kingdom, so, he didn't judge. Although, he would ask where he got that rose brooch.

"It's quite refreshing to know I'm still of noble blood even as a... Hero." the King of Hearts said that last word as if it were poison on his tongue.

"Oh..." Prince Nathaniel's eyes darted around awkwardly. That was a... Strange sentence to start things off with. "I suppose. So, what's Wonderland like?"

The King of Heart's demeanor quickly changed with that question. His smile became wide as his eyes gleamed. "Oh! Where to begin?!" He leans forward, chin resting in his hand while his elbows were propped up on the table. "One of the greatest kingdoms in existence, mind you! When it's not being plagued by that meddlesome Cheshire Cat or that horrid boy it is simply refreshing!"

The prince nervously tugged on his collar. Maybe it was just the lighting, but he was sure he saw this guy's pupils become smaller.

The other redhead continues, "And where would a perfect kingdom be without law and order?"

Oh... That's unexpected. In a place like Wonderland, Prince Nathaniel expected no sense of order. So, curiosity peaked, he asks, "What sort of rules, exactly?" And cue the floodgates opening.

"All roses except red are outlawed, unless in the case of a wedding, then they may be white; there must always be a tea party on the fifth day of every month; never eat a tart without MY permission; the only tea you may drink at 4:00pm is jasmine tea; flamingo caretakers are to don pink attire; when a hedgehog sneezes, you must say bless you; croquet is only allowed to be played after 12:30pm; if you eat a stake on the night of a full moon, you must play the violin for a cat until it falls asleep; when it is MY birthday, gifts are mandatory and must be bigger than the palm of MY hand; anyone who comes in second in a croquet tournament must serve ME tea the next day; on an unbirthday, spread jam on a woken-up dormouse's nose; never. Ever. Paint banned roses RED!"

That last rule seemed to spark something inside of him, causing the King to mutter what the Prince believed to be profanities, but it sounded more like... He was reciting some sort of poem?

"Who dares to taint with vulgar paint, the royal flower bed? For painting my roses red, someone will lose their head. It serves them right, they planted white, and roses should be RED!"

Prince Nathaniel slowly began to back away when the poem began to sound more like a deranged one-way conversation. The King of Hearts would change the pitch of his voice with some sentences and go back to his usual pitch the next.

"Your majesty, it was his fault. Not me, your grace. 'Twas the Ace! You? No! Two! The Deuce, you say? Not me! The trey! ENOUGH!"

A squeak of fear escaped past the Prince's lips as he slowly turned toward the bubble and mouthed, "Get me out of here."

🌹♥️

"Okay, that boy is off his nut!" Aladdix exclaimed. "Someone get Nath out of there!" Her tiger-hybrid counterpart only scoffed.

"Please, this is him on a nice day. Now, if you wanna see full-on Mad King of Wonderland, let him see you painting roses red or telling Marc he's not the fairest." The Poison King preened a bit at the reminder of his boyfriend's devotion while the other Marc inadvertently created a small blizzard cloud to match his worry the longer his boyfriend was still in the room with that- and he doesn't use this word loosely- deranged lunatic.

Cosette Bellwether snickered behind their hand and pointed to the bubble. "Hey, I think it's about to get better. How much you wanna bet Princey asks about his parents?"

While Minister O'Connor murmured something along the lines of how gambling is sinful, Doctor Cabello holds up a small mint-green pouch. "This lovely pouch of pixie dust."

Simon Pan sputtered for a moment and felt his pockets, unable to find his emergency stash. "HEY!" Lacey Bell's wings fluttered with anger. Do these people not realize how much goes into making pixie dust?!

🌹♥️

"S-so!" Prince Nathaniel managed to say while wiping the sweat off of his brow. The Mad King was still in his own world and now he's brought a dagger out from his jacket pocket and is frantically waving it around! "How did you become King so early?!"

And much to his and the other heroes' relief, the King's ramblings ceased. He slowly placed the dagger back into his pocket and sat back down as he readjusted his crown which was skewed at an off angle. When Prince Nathaniel thought that was the end of it, he pulled an adorable little black and white hedgehog out of his crown and began to pet it.

"It's a darling story, you'll love it." For the first time since he walked into the room, Prince Nathaniel was finally able to relax. Hell, he felt like he could sleep, but he'll try to keep his eyes open. "My parents, such lovely rulers, they... They informed me I could not wed my boyfriend when we were of age. They even forbade me from dating or even seeing him! They went on about his reputation, but I cared for none of it. He is simply the sweetest person I know."

Is he talking about the same guy who tried to give Snow Myléne a poisoned apple earlier?... Whatever, he's calm now.

"I was just so furious every time they tried to set me up with some other suitor! I didn't want them! I just wanted MY Poison King!" Hearing the hedgehog let out a high-pitched shrill when he petted it just a little too rough, he brought the poor thing up to his face for a string of apologies.

... Okay, the story's getting a little uncomfortable now.

"One night, I guess you could say I... I snapped a bit." He laughed it off as if it were a joke, but his counterpart's expression remained haunted. "I heard my parents conversing, speaking of an arranged marriage to get me on THEIR track. To straighten me out. So, later, when they were asleep, I snuck into their room-" He cut himself off with a giggle escaping from his lips.

'Yep! He's a lunatic!'

The Mad King continued, his smile never leaving his face, "Then I grabbed the family sword off of the fire mantle, and I chopped their heads off ONE BY ONE!" With that, he throws his head off with a full-on maniacal laugh that put the other villains' signature evil laughs to shame in Prince Nathaniel's opinion. With a stabbing motion, he screamed, "MOMMY! DADDY!" and laughed some more.

Having enough, Prince Nathaniel shot up from his seat and hurried to the door, only to find that it was locked. "FOR THE SAKE OF ALL THAT IS GOOD, GET ME OUT OF HERE!"

🌹♥️

"Aaw," the Poison King cooed while Simon Pan and Lacey Bell chased Cosette Bellwether and Doctor Cabello around the room. "He's going to sleep so well tonight."

"Okay! Who locked the damn door?!" Fairy GodBro thundered, looking directly at the villains. "Huh?! This isn't funny!"

Queen Rose Candy and Juleficent snicker to themselves. The dark fae's hand glowed with magic as she was keeping the door locked so the Prince would be forced to be in a room alone with the Mad King.

Noticing this, MarcElsa seethes, causing ice stalagmites to spurt from the ground before he stormed out of the room and created an exact key to the door out of ice. The very second he unlocked it, his boyfriend came barrelling out, looking horribly pale as the deranged version of him continued to cackle.

"Rose Petal, are you alright?" He gently cups his face.

"T-t-take m-me ba-b-back t-to my do- my dorm," he stammered out and made his grip on the other Prince tighter. "He ki- he killed them-"

"It's okay," the noirette whispers and pulls his boyfriend into his arms, adjusting him so his face was in the crook of his neck. "He won't bother you anymore." As he suspected, the redhead fell right asleep once he came into contact with his frosty skin. He always did fall asleep quicker in the cold.

As the Ice Prince made his way down the hall, the King of Hearts walked out of the room where he was met with the Poison King, whom he immediately embraced. "Can you believe the nerve of him? Walking out in the middle of a conversation!" He huffs out while his boyfriend kisses every inch of his face with his poison-stained lips.

"My Wild Card, not everyone was brought up as well as you were," he says smoothly and brings his hand up to his lips.

[pyromaniacbibliophile]

bricktober day 31! Party

@lesmis-prompts

Well October went quick... Done every prompt except one, better than I thought I'd do! I'd love to do this again next year

----------

"Look, Ep, what else were you expecting?" Azelma asked, looking around the room in entertainment.

Eponine thought about that for a second, before shrugging. "Probably this, to be fair."

The triple wedding of the decade, barred to all paparazzi save Théo and Henrí Thenardier, the youngest of the Thenardier siblings, was always going to be chaos. After all, it was only family and friends invited, and with their family and friends.....

At first it had only been one wedding. Marius, Eponine, and Cosette. Nice and simple. Sure, there might have been some outside interest, a member of famous once-revolutionary political group Les Amis marrying the daughter of crime boss Thenardier and the daughter of the loved ex-mayor and well known philanthropist Valjean. But it wouldn't have been half as bad as the current affair.

See, after about two weeks of exceedingly complicated wedding plans, Eponine had had enough. Like hell was she going to suffer alone when she could drag someone else along with her. That unlucky someone happened to be Grantaire. Seeing as he had proposed to Enjolras a few weeks after Marius had to his girlfriends, he was perfect.

With a little aid from Gavroche, she managed to convince him into agreeing to a double wedding. So then there was not only the above, but soon to be Senator Enjolras and popular artist and lead singer-songwriter of capitalR Grantaire. That would have been bad enough really, but then Cosette got involved.

Of course, her father and Chief Inspector Javert had been dancing around each other for years. Technically they had only been dating for 9 months, but Cosette knew (from conversations she probably shouldn't have overheard) that it really had been longer. So she might have tricked them into getting engaged. And then agreeing to get married with her.

Even then, you could discount all the public interest and still have the utter chaos that came from the friends and family.

Namely, the other three members of capitalR, backup singer and drummer Musichetta, and her boyfriends Joly, the guitarist, and Bossuet, the pianist.

Azelma, Gavroche, Théo, and Henrí Thenardier, the other four of the Thenardier Siblings. The name Thenardier is, of course, synonymous with chaos.

Feuilly, Bahorel, and current posse of street kids from their gym.

Combeferre and Courfeyrac, typically with notes on the 'precise loopholes in the criminal law concerning arson and vandalism', matches, and spray paint.

Jehan, trailing flowers and poetry, hair five different colours every time.

Montparnasse and Claquesous, not completely law-abiding but good enough not to get caught.

All presided over by, of course, the elderly Bishop of Digne.

Eponine and Azelma looked around the room, noting the drunk and newly-wedded Enjolras standing on a table, Grantaire, in a similar condition, looking at him like he was a god.

Javert and Valjean stealthily leaving by the back door, eager to avoid the goodbyes and get straight to honeymoon.

Montparnasse and Gavroche sitting at a table, deep in conversation-

"I think I'd better intervene.." Eponine began, already heading over. Azelma pulled her back.

"Ep, it's your wedding night. Go find your spouses. I'll take our brother."

It took little convincing. Azelma watched her go and smiled. She wouldn't like to do it again, say, but this was a hell of a party.

Jehan walked up to her and handed her a string of flowers. She wrapped it around her shoulders contentedly.

Gavroche was carefully leaving with Claquesous now. She thought about it but shrugged.

"You going to do something about them, Az?" Jehan asked.

"Nah, let them be. They'll wind up in jail anyway, they always do."

"True, but now there's no Javert or Valjean to get them out."

Azelma paused. __ it. "Ah, damn it. GAV! DON'T YOU DARE!"

[randomestfandoms-ocs]

👰‍♀️ (i think this is right?) Cosette, specific to Raphael? 👀🥺

bonus: wedding night 👀