#Georges Pontmercy

[lilyslark]

crying thinking about the parallels between marius and cosette’s parental figures and the vicious cycle of trauma and how they give and receive love without always knowing how to.

- fantine parting from cosette for her daughter’s own good, only to unintentionally leave her in an abusive household / colonel pontmercy parting from marius for his son’s own good, only to unintentionally leave him with an emotionally abusive grandfather

- gillenormand separating marius from his father without marius knowing, leading to resentment on marius’s end / marius separating cosette and valjean without cosette knowing, leading to resentment on cosette’s end

- colonel pontmercy hiding in the church just to catch a glimpse of his son / valjean taking walks into cosette’s new neighborhood just to watch his daughter’s house

- marius never getting the chance to see colonel pontmercy before he dies, but his father leaving him an explanatory note / cosette never getting the chance to see fantine before she dies, but valjean leaving her an explanatory note about her family before he dies

[torn-coattail]

HAPPY BARRICADE DAY

please enjoy my first ever full animatic!! this song has always been so les mis-coded to me. please understand I have been daydreaming about making this animatic for literal years. it's, ah, a bit messier than I'd intended since I did Not practice effective time management and didn't start until june 1, but I'm SO GLAD I finished it!

hope you like it :D

[alicedrawslesmis]

Barricade Day Advent Calendar

Day 24: Col. Pontmercy

[most-unhinged-les-mis-moment]

Round One: A1: Poll Two

Marius is Javert's Doctor can be found in: Sefiller (1967)

Napoleon and Georges Pontmercy have the same spit can be found in the Brick: 3.3.2

PROPOGANDA:

[fillsta]

LES MIS CHARACTERS THAT DESERVE MORE ATTENTION

Monsieur Mabeuf

I CANNOT stress this enough, I LOVE him. He's just this nice old man that likes plants and books, what MORE do you want??

Azelma

I don't care if Victor Hugo didn't care enough to give her a storyline like her sister, I CARE and so should YOU

Madame Houcheloup

I think she deserves it, with all that shit she went through plus auntie figure for les amis

Dahlia, Favourite and Zéphine

I just feel like we completely forgot about them as a whole after Tholomyes happened but they have SO much potential + Fantine deserves to have girlfriends

Georges Pontmercy

Yeah, yeah, he's supposed to be dead but so are Les Amis and we all sure don't seem to mind that. I know we love the whole 'Marius doesn't have a dad now' thing because you know, angst, but come on!

Patron-Minette

Montparnasse gets attention, why shouldn't the other silly criminals get some too?

Petit-Gervais

He is Feuilly, I'm sorry, if you don't believe me, you're wrong, take a look at my research

Bonus: That one feminine guy Eponine swapped clothes with before she went down to the barricades

I know, far fetched, but we can do SO MUCH with this

[pontmercysamis]

i think i’ve seen almost every les mis character headcanoned as poc (and wonderfully so) but you know what major character i’ve rarely (if never) seen headcanoned as poc?

Marius

i would love to see more poc marius headcanons!!!

sorry if this isn’t well organized, but especially in a modern au, Marius’ narrative fits so well with mixed kid experiences, gillenormand could easily be like a supremacist who doesn’t like georges for being poc, and marius’ whole napoleon era could be retconned to trying to reconnect to your culture when you were not raised in it? there’s so much room for thought here :))

[oldbookist]

[eleancrvances]

I.VIII.IV. fantine's death

III.III.IV. colonel pontmercy's death

[pureanonofficial]

LES MIS LETTERS IN ADAPTATION - End of the Brigand, LM 3.3.4 (Les Miserables 1925)

By the dim light of the candle, a large tear could be distinguished on the pale and prostrate colonel’s cheek, where it had trickled from his dead eye. The eye was extinguished, but the tear was not yet dry. That tear was his son’s delay. Marius gazed upon that man whom he beheld for the first time, on that venerable and manly face, on those open eyes which saw not, on those white locks, those robust limbs, on which, here and there, brown lines, marking sword-thrusts, and a sort of red stars, which indicated bullet-holes, were visible. He contemplated that gigantic sear which stamped heroism on that countenance upon which God had imprinted goodness. He reflected that this man was his father, and that this man was dead, and a chill ran over him. The sorrow which he felt was the sorrow which he would have felt in the presence of any other man whom he had chanced to behold stretched out in death. Anguish, poignant anguish, was in that chamber. The servant-woman was lamenting in a corner, the curé was praying, and his sobs were audible, the doctor was wiping his eyes; the corpse itself was weeping. The doctor, the priest, and the woman gazed at Marius in the midst of their affliction without uttering a word; he was the stranger there. Marius, who was far too little affected, felt ashamed and embarrassed at his own attitude; he held his hat in his hand; and he dropped it on the floor, in order to produce the impression that grief had deprived him of the strength to hold it. At the same time, he experienced remorse, and he despised himself for behaving in this manner. But was it his fault? He did not love his father? Why should he!

[dolphin1812]

@eleancrvances has pointed out the heartbreaking similarities between Georges Pontmercy’s death and Fantine’s, with his last cry reflecting his wish to see his child and him dying as he lost hope. The tear is really devastating. Marius’ reaction, though, is interesting to contrast with Cosette’s. Age is certainly part of it. Cosette’s mother died when she was young, whereas Marius was almost an adult; neither one of them really knew their parents, but Marius’ awkwardness here and his attempt to adhere to some social norm for grief reflects his comparative awareness of these standards as an almost-adult, whereas Cosette simply repeated the fact of her mother’s death to a doll in distress. That being said, what these parents represent to each character is distinct. For one thing, Georges Pontmercy’s death is very physical to Marius in a way that Fantine’s wasn’t to Cosette. Fantine’s death was gruesome, but Cosette wasn’t there. She doesn’t even remember her mother:

“"Then you have not a mother?"

"I do not know," the child answered.

Before the man had time to speak, she continued,—

"I do not think so; other girls have one, but I have not."

And after a silence, she added,—"I believe that I never had one.”“ (LM 2.3.7)

At the same time, the idea of a mother means more to Cosette than it does to Marius. Although Mme Thénardier suggests that Cosette’s mother abandoned her, we don’t see Cosette repeat this idea, focusing instead on her mother being dead (or nonexistent, as seen in the earlier exchange with Jean Valjean above). She seems to believe that she suffers because she has no mother, not because her mother doesn’t love her. Marius explicitly feels abandoned by his father, though, making the relationship between them tense in a way Cosette and Fantine’s isn’t. 

To be fair, Cosette may not have complained of abandonment because of the narrative place in which we learn about her perspective on her mother: when Valjean finds her and adopts her. Hugo stresses that both her and Valjean were searching for someone to love, and that when they found each other, they were both able to express this wish and finally rejoice in caring for someone. Consequently, their love takes precedence over Cosette’s grief and/or confusion. Marius, on the other hand, is still on his own and doesn’t really love anyone. He didn’t love his father because he felt he abandoned him, but he also doesn’t love Gillenormand. Whereas Cosette’s story then was at a place of hope, Marius’ is one of resentment and isolation, allowing us to sit with that feeling of abandonment.

That lack of love is sad given that we know Georges Pontmercy did love his son, but it also allows Marius to figure out that something’s off. The scene he steps into is full of grief:

“Anguish, poignant anguish, was in that chamber. The servant-woman was lamenting in a corner, the curé was praying, and his sobs were audible, the doctor was wiping his eyes; the corpse itself was weeping.”

The dead can weep, but Marius can’t. It’s understandable that he isn’t exactly sad, of course, but it’s notable that Marius sees his father as an ordinary person who failed him here (he’s sad to see a corpse in general), not as the “brigand” his grandfather paints him as. This isn’t to say that Marius has changed his political views (he doesn’t really mourn him afterward), but this scene of death and grief humanizes his father to an extent, allowing Marius to process his lack of grief and his moment of guilt for that. 

Still, understanding Marius’ feelings doesn’t remove the pain of seeing Georges Pontmercy die in despair and then have every trace of his life erased. His garden isn’t just overgrown with weeds; everything in it dies, a final reminder of his isolation.

[lesmiserablesabridged]

The Terrible Thenardiers: What Really Happened on the Battlefield

Narrator: In...

Thenardier: Hold on, this is my backstory to tell!

Napoleon: No, it's mine!

Thenardier: Mine.

Napoleon: Mine! Anyhow, what do you have for me, Lafayette?

Lafayette: Um...Vive le Republique!

Napoleon: Precisely. Now bring in the Colonel. I need his loyal ass right here!

Georges: You called for me?

Napoleon: Yes, I need you to show the Austrians who is boss!

Georges: I'll try my best.

Napoleon: Right. You'll find some expendable soldiers outside. Now go.

Georges: I'll start right away!

Napoleon: Now I heard these boots will make me taller...can't hurt to try them on.

Thenardier: If you thought this was about Napoleon, you are mistaken! Brace yourselves, for it is...

Georges: Exposition time! My name is Colonel Georges, and my loins made a human being who would be relentlessly mocked. By everyone.

Thenardier: And I am Thenardier, first name unknown. Come to think of it, that seems to be a trend.

Georges: Right, here we are. On the battlefield. Now we just need to win in the name of Napoleon...Oh...I've been shot...

Thenardier: Stealing money from dead soldiers is profitable! Oh, this one is alive...crap...he'll get me arrested...

Georges: Thank you, kind Sir, for saving my life. Are you a Sergeant?

Thenardier: I am. I am.

Georges: Thank you for saving my life. I won't forget. Should we meet again, I will be sure to help you.

Thenardier: Man, that guy sure was gullible. I wonder what happened to him.

Narrator: Let's find out.

Georges: Oh, look, I got married! My wife is pretty.

His unnamed wife: I popped out a baby. It's a boy. I shall name him Marius!

Georges: A pretty name.

His unnamed wife: And now I die.

Georges: I need someone to raise my child because I cannot do it myself!

Fantine: Omg, you are like me!

Both: And our children get married! *they finger-gun one another*

Gillenormand: I'll take him! I need someone to lavish all of my grandfatherly love onto! Also, you're forbidden from seeing him again, ever!

Thenardier: There are no coincidences in this narrative. *chugs a glass of milk, but it's actually brandy disguised as milk* I love drinking. I turned my passion into profit by opening an inn! Oh, and I too have a wife and five kids, who are all important, though some more than the others.

Narrator: Well, by the end, you'll only have one.

Thenardier: Well, by the end, your boys will all die and I will win!

Narrator: NOOOOOOO...!

Thenardier: Children roll call! Eponine!

Eponine: I am cute and I have morals. I die at the barricade.

Thenardier: Azelma!

Azelma: I end up in Americas where I abuse the native folk.

Thenardier: Gavroche!

Gavroche: I am likeable. I also die at the barricade.

Thenardier: And the other two, whoever they were.

Madame Thenardier: I could have married a bourgeoisie. Instead, I got this guy.

Narrator: Yeah, well...at least yours isn't dead! Speaking of which, come here, boys! You all get a hug!

Les Amis: Gladly. *They come over and are given a hug, each*

[aphvanity]

so funny that victor hugo spends the first half of a chapter talking about all the incredible shit georges pontmercy did. “am i permitted to wear my scar” badassery. and then he reintroduced marius and is like “yeah this sad little shit. writes once a year. sad as hell” and i’m supposed to give a shit abt him

[the-lark-not-the-dove]

thinking about marius falling out of a tree like george mcfly. help. it would be so funny.

[henry-the-queer-artist]

this spiraled in my head the entire second half of the BTTF musical (which is my BABY I love it sm) for literally no reason

[pedroam-bang]

Les Miserables (2012)

[fillsta]

Les mis modern au where Fantine and Georges Pontmercy go to the same therapist