#I want to say things like he thought valjean was...
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Why is Javert so funny?
I think I have a new favorite wild coincidence from this book:
āHe no longer thought of Jean Valjean,āthe wolf of to-day causes these dogs who are always on the chase to forget the wolf of yesterday,āwhen, in December, 1823, he read a newspaper, he who never read newspapers; but Javert, a monarchical man, had a desire to know the particulars of the triumphal entry of the āPrince Generalissimoā into Bayonne. Just as he was finishing the article, which interested him; a name, the name of Jean Valjean, attracted his attention at the bottom of a page. The paper announced that the convict Jean Valjean was dead, and published the fact in such formal terms that Javert did not doubt it. He confined himself to the remark, āThatās a good entry.ā Then he threw aside the paper, and thought no more about it.ā
Of all the days Javert, who hates reading, could have read a newspaper, he specifically reads on the day ValjeanĀ ādies.ā And he believes it has to be true because itās saidĀ āformally.ā And he feels the need to comment to himself about it. The mental image is just so funny.
I do think this chapter serves not only to update us on Javertās side of the chase, but to remind us that heās the best police officer weāre going to see. We last saw Javert when he checked in on Sister Simplice in his search for Valjean, but right before that, heād killed Fantine with his presence and his cruelty. Weāre well-positioned to hate him, and weāre definitely not supposed to be rooting for him. At the same time, Hugo makes sure to remind us that Javert isĀ āmoralā in his own way. For instance,Ā as an officer in Paris, āJavert rendered himself useful in divers and, though the word may seem strange for such services, honorable manners;ā police work isnātĀ āhonorable,ā but Javert comes as close to making it so as is possible through his integrity. He even gets back on Valjeanās trail through a duty that seems much more sympathetic than chasing ex-convicts: searching for anĀ āabductedā child. We know that Cosette wasnātĀ āabductedā and that Valjean is an infinitely better caretaker than the ThĆ©nardiers, but the police donāt. Javert may suspect that Valjean was involved with this, but ultimately, heās there because heās been called on to check on aĀ ākidnappedā child, and if Cosette had actually been kidnapped, itād be very easy to think positively of his work.Ā
Heās also so cautious while pursuing Valjean, partly for selfish and/or career-related reasons (heās secretive, he likes drama, and he wants the credit for capturing such aĀ ādangerousā man), but because of hisĀ āconscienceā as well. He doesnāt even pick up the chase until heās certain that this man is a criminal of some sort, either Jean Valjean or someone well-connected. We still despise him for what heās done, but weāre also made to recognize his integrity (and perhaps to contrast him with the implied bluster of other police officers, who brag about theirĀ ācapturesā even before they catch anyone, whereas Javert is quiet about his work and only wants to be praised when he feels heās earned it. He seems humble and modest in comparison).Ā
At the same time, we canāt forget the situation Valjean is in. Javert fears catching him too quickly for this reason:
āThe reader can imagine the effect which this brief paragraph, reproduced by twenty newspapers, would have caused in Paris: āYesterday, an aged grandfather, with white hair, a respectable and well-to-do gentleman, who was walking with his grandchild, aged eight, was arrested and conducted to the agency of the Prefecture as an escaped convict!āā
Javert worries about this manāsĀ ārespectability,ā but with the exception of that line, basically everything else is true. Valjean wasĀ almost arrested while walking with the child he cares for, without having done anything immediate to warrant the attention of the police. This arbitrary and unjust division based onĀ ārespectability,ā then, is what makes all of Javertās actions absurd and cruel. The best of the police force still punishes people based not on their morals or their actions, but on generalized perceptions of their identity.Ā
#les mis letters#lm 2.5.10#javert#writing about javert is so hard because I have to be so careful not to say think#I want to say things like he thought valjean was...#but that would be so out of character#it's a challenge
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Are all the themes in āin other landsā supposed to be a commentary on something? Or do you just like writing sex scenes between minors, age gaps, and reverse misogyny?
Genuine question.
Ohhh, my dear anon, I don't believe this is a genuine question.
But it does bring up something I've been meaning to talk about. So I'll take the bait.
Firstly. Yes, my work contains a commentary on the world around us. I wonder what I could be doing with the child soldiers being sexually active in their teens (people hook up right after battles), and the age gap relationship ending in the younger one being too mature for the elder. What could I possibly have been attempting when I said 'how absurd gender roles are, when projected onto people we haven't been accustomed by our own society to see that way'? I wasn't being subtle, that's for sure.
Secondly. Yes I do enjoy writing! I think I should, it's my life's work. Am I titillated by my own writing, no - though I think it's fine to be. The sex scenes of In Other Lands aren't especially titillating, to be honest. It is interesting to me how often people sneer at women for writing romance and sex scenes, having 'book boyfriends,' insinuating women writers fancy their own characters. Women having too much immoral fun! Whereas men clearly write about sex for high literary purposes.
ā¦ I have to say from my experience of women and men's writing, I haven't found that to be true.
Iām not in this to have an internet argument. Mostly people use bad faith takes to poke at others from the other side of a screen for kicks. But I do know some truly internalise the attitude that writing certain things is wrong, that anyone who makes mistakes must be shunned as impure, and that is a deeply Victorian and restrictive attitude that guarantees unhappiness.
I've become increasingly troubled by the very binary and extreme ways of thinking I see arising on the internet. They come naturally from people being in echo chambers, becoming hostile to differing opinions, and the age-old conundrum of wanting to be good, fearing you aren't, and making the futile effort to be free of sin. It makes me think of Tennyson, who when travelling through Ireland at the time of the Great Famine, said nobody should talk about the 'Irish distress' to him and insisted the window shades of his carriage be shut as he went from castle to castle. So he wouldn't see the bodies. But that didn't make the bodies cease to be.
In Les Mis, Victor Hugo explores why someone might steal, what that means about them and their circumstances, and who they might be - and explores why someone else is made terribly unhappy, and endangers others, through their own too rigid adherence to judgement and condemnation without pity. The story understands both Jean Valjean the thief and Javert the policeman. Javertās way of thinking is the one that inevitably leads to tragedy.
Depiction isn't endorsement. Depiction is discussion.
Many of my loved ones have had widely varying relationships to and experience of sex (including 'none'). They've felt all different types of ways about it. If writing about them is not permissible, I close them out. I'd much rather a dialogue be open than closed.
I do understand the urge to write what seems right to others. I've been brain-poisoned that way myself. I used to worry so much about my female characters doing the wrong things, because then they'd be justly hated! Then I noted which of my writer friends had people love their female characters the most - and it was the one who wrote their female characters as screwing up massively, making rash and sometimes wrong decisions. Who wrote them as people. Because that's what people do. That's what feels true to readers.
I want my characters to feel true to readers. I want my characters to react in messy ways to imperfect situations. I love fantasy, I love wild action and I love deep thought, and I want to engage. That's what In Other Lands is about. That's even more what Long Live Evil is about. That sexy lady who sashays in to have sexy sex with the hero - what is her deal? Someone who tricks and lies to others - why are they doing that, how did they get so skilled at it? What makes one person cruelly judgemental, and another ignore all boundaries? What makes Carmen Maria Machado describe āfictional queer villainsā as āby far the most interesting charactersā? What irritates people about women having a great time? What attracts us to power, to fiction, and to transgression?
I donāt know the answers to all those questions, but I know I want to explore them. And I know one more thing.
If the moral thing to do is shut people out and shut people up? Count me among the villains.
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Y'know I love Comedically Ineffectual Javert but I feel like. Mayhaps. Not enough emphasis is put on how he is actually dangerous to people on the barricade.
He's a government spy -- "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."
He knows everyone who was there, and a good amount of who did what, who's the leader, etc. He recognizes Marius after the sewers . He took names. He could have given evidence against everyone on the barricades.
Including the five men who escaped.
Including anyone who survived the massacre.
Including the women who worked at the Corinth, who did in fact help set up and prepare the barricade for the fight.
In fact, we don't know that he didn't --we can assume that he had too short an audience with the prefect to give over any detailed info, or that he chose to withhold some things in his Valjean-induced confusion, or even that they threw out his info after his suicide. But it's also possible that five men who thought they'd escaped were rounded up and arrested that week, or that two waitresses were seized as insurgents, or captives were hit with some very specific charges. As Hugo examines in detail in Ninety Three, and hints at even in Les Mis, sometimes showing mercy to one person means condemning many others.
(This , combined with the then-current attitude towards spies --basically that they were the scummiest of scum, execute immediately-- all makes me wonder not why Enjolras wanted him killed, but why he insisted on letting Javert live so long. Especially after Prouvaire's death, when it's safe to say the idea of any potential hostage negotiation is nixed-- what is the point? They aren't really intent on saving a bullet, given Valjean has the go-ahead to shoot him. And after Five Less One More, there's no chance that, say, they'll win and get to let him go as being actually harmless to them with the new political situation. There's no real explanation given in canon so it's an interesting question!)
At any rate: whether Javert did or didn't actually deliver his info, Enjolras and the other barricade fighters choosing to execute him is a practical move totally in keeping realistic military behavior (and Hugo is trying to establish them as behaving like Honorable Military Men ! Which is a whole other topic ...) . Javert is dangerous to the barricade fighters , as his job is to be dangerous-- and despite how he comes off sometimes (and in some adaptations), Javert is actually very very good at his job.
#heck it. maintagging#javert talk#les mis#he is super not my favorite character but credit where due#he's the best possible cop#and that means he is actually Trouble
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One fascinating thing about the way Hugo writes Jean Valjean's inner conflict is that we're almost never actually in his POV when he makes his final decisions. We spend chapters and chapters exploring Jean Valjean's thought processes as he agonizes over difficult moral choices, but in the final crucial moment, when he actually makes his choice, Hugo "cuts us off" from his internal monologue. We view what his final choice looks like from the outside, from the perspective of other characters. This is especially significant because Jean Valjean, from the outside, is often pretty unreadable. He is uncannily calm, tranquil, and polite. He's opaque. There's a moment where he's described as a "whirlwind within, calm without;" Jean Valjean uses excessively polite behavior as a defense mechanism, "picking up his calm the way a warrior would pick up his buckler." The most obvious example of this is the Champmathieu trial, where Jean Valjean agonizes over whether to turn himself in. We spend chapter after chapter inside of his POV, exploring his terror and inner conflict as he weighs his options and invents a thousand excuses for himself-- we explore his trauma-fueled reactions to the concept of returning to prison in painful, agonizing detail, from his horrific memories of prison to his surreal nightmares about being buried alive. The tension builds as chapters fly by and he still hasn't made his final decision, as he hopes some unforseen accident will prevent him from making it to the trial and he won't have to make the decision after all-- But in the final moment, when Jean Valjean *actually* makes the final choice...we're not in his point of view. Instead, it's told "from the point of view" of the courtroom, and Jean Valjean's strange heartbreaking serenity is described solely from the outside. At the moment where we most want to hear what Valjean is thinking, we're abruptly cut off from his inner monologue. This becomes even more tragic when the "adrenaline rush" of the courtroom fades away and we witness the aftermath of the trial. When Jean Valjean returns to Fantine, we see him from the point of view of Simplice and other characters. He's described as behaving "mechanically" as if in shock. From the outside he appears eerily uncannily "tranquil" and completely opaque. It is impossible to tell what he is feeling or thinking. Jean Valjean responds to Javert's violence toward Fantine with an icy, eerily tranquil restrained fury: threatening him with a leaden bar, saying "I advise you not to disturb me at this moment"-- but you can feel behind that restraint the weight of all the grief/anger from the previous chapters, which he's incapable of letting himself express openly. He has made this horrible nightmarish sacrifice that he's been agonizing over for thousands of words, he's facing unimaginable violence and grief--- and in the moments where we most want to hear how he's reacting to this, "the line goes dead." We're brutally cut off from his mental state and left to imagine what he might be feeling.
After a few moments of this meditation (Jean Valjean) bent towards Fantine, and spoke to her in a low voice. What did he say to her? What could this man, who was reproved, say to that woman, who was dead? What words were those? No one on earth heard them.
#les mis#les mis letters#we were talking about this in the Letters discord server#and im losin my mind over it a little#I think this also happens with stealing the candlesticks#?#and with saving Marius#also the way his relationship with Javert ends#we don't see *why* he decides to rescue him at the barricades from his own pov#and thats significant
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Javert is as tragic as the title of the book suggests, a miserable.
He may even be the main antagonist, in the sense of opposing the centric character (Jean Valjean), but he is certainly not a villain.
He is obsessed with fulfilling his duty and in a tireless pursuit of justice. He does not believe in Jean Valjean's redemption and his obsession with persecuting him is related to his rigid worldview based on his personal experience and inflexible principles, related to his past, where he was born into a dysfunctional family. He firmly believes in the idea that a bad person is bad forever. He sees his role as Inspector as a fight against crime and injustice.
He doesn't pursue Jean Valjean because he's a villain, he pursues him because he believes Jean is a criminal, who violated his parole, and therefore deserves to be sent back to the prison system.
He was just a man who believed he was doing the right thing, following the law. He believed that people chose to be miserable and that they got what they deserved for choosing to be "vagabonds." He looked at himself and took pleasure in thinking; I came from a dysfunctional home and I still do what is right, so if others don't do it, it's because they don't want to and will never change.
But then he finds himself at a crossroads after Jean Valjean spares his life: "the law says I must arrest this man. But my conscience says I owe him a life debt."
For the first time he contemplates that "law" and "justice" do not always go together. It would be "legal under the law" to arrest Jean, but it would not be "morally just". It's a conflict between legality versus morality.
So poor Javert still faces the deconstruction of his beliefs: āhe thought that good and evil were very different things and that an ex-convict could only be bad while a police officer could only be goodā, when he realizes that reality not obeys that extreme and that a prisoner can be good (or that it is possible to change and become good), just as a law enforcement officer can become corrupt.
Faced with so many things that he firmly believed falling apart, showing erroneous beliefs of live, he chooses to kill himself rather than live with such unrest. So, basically he commits suicide because he was saved by Jean Valjean, and he couldn't stand that fact.
It really must have been scary to discover that he has spent his life following beliefs that suddenly deteriorate in front of him. It's sad that in the face of this "scare" he chose to kill himself.
The character promotes a very pertinent reflection, and leads us to reconsider the way we look at people who are typically stigmatized by society. Victor Hugo is never trying to say that bad people are good deep down, nothing like that; After all, there is the character Mr. ThƩnardier to prove this. What he is saying is that we cannot make it an absolute rule that all people who commit crimes were and will be bad forever. Because by establishing that they are, a stigma is created that can be unfair for those who, like Jean, tried to change their lives.
It is also necessary to remember that at no point does Hugo say that Jean Valjen was right in stealing the bread, but rather that the penalty imposed on him was disproportionate to the crime committed. In the end, we read that Javert kills himself because he cannot bear the idea that Jean, an ex-prisoner, can go from darkness to light. While he, by following the law, committed an injustice.
He thinks that Jean, even though he was a former prisoner, managed to go to a place above him morally, while he, who was such an inflexible agent of the law, saw himself as someone tough who didn't understand the factor of redemption as an element capable of rescue the soul of someone who once made a mistake.
Honestly, I like the character and understand the powerful reflection he brings to us. But at the same time, I'm sad that he killed himself. He could have chosen other paths, but ultimately he was so desolate that he saw no other options.
#les miserables#the brick#les mis#javert#jean valjean#victor hugo#literature#inspector javert#valvert#reflection#moral vs legal#There are things that are legal but not morally correct#and there are things that are illegal but are morally correct
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ohhhhhmy god oh my god guyssjsjaidbwisjsis IT HAPPENED I SAW IT AND IT WAS AMAZING
Notes:
Act I
I NEED TO MARRY ALFIE BOE SOOOOO BAD BRUH YOU DONT EVEN GET IT
Alfieās so short I forgot about that lmao heās so baby
I do really really really love Michael but I can already tell that Javert is not exactly his thing. Heās too whimsical- too Marius. Super glad he gets to do something with Alfie tho <333
Jeremy (I think) rocked the bishop omgggggg
I WAS NOT EXPECTING KATIE HALL TO BE HERE CHAT- soprano Fantine is such a foreign concept to me but she was gorgeousĀ
THANK YOU BOEBALL VALVERT FOR BEING THERE FOR ME I LOVE MY BOYFRIEND AND HIS BOYFRIEND
THENARDIERS ARE SO FUNNY Iāve never seen funnier thenardiers. He called Cosette Baguette when Valjean took her away
Also at the beginning of the bargain when Alfie started singing Madame T went āoh heās got a lovely voice thoā
COSETTE NEW PINK DRESS IS SO PRETTY!!!!! It matches Mariusā bow :))))
Ok both Eponine and Cosette were mixed bags for me- I liked them most of the time, but there were a couple times their voices felt a bitā¦ nasally?Ā They were both very pretty tho :)
James D Gish is beautiful. My dad says heās the second coming of Ramin Karimloo and im inclined to agree
Gavroche is king shit as per usual
They had stars in stars omggg. ALSOOO at the end the lights make it look like he has wings. Probably unintentional but heās soooooo fallen angelcoreĀ
As much as Michael doesnāt fit Javert, his Stars really is amazing
WE GOT ENJOLTAIRE CRUMBS ššš The entire pause between ABC Cafe and Red & Black they were just looking at each other forever
As much as I do love enjoltaire, im an even bigger fan of Gavroche and Grantaireās dynamic. It was the main thing I noticed about Rās character (even with Kyle Adams playing him) and Iām so happy that itās in other productions
No Javert barricade outfit in one day more :(
Three flags??? In this economy????
Act II
Okay I did genuinely forget about the barricade outfit but it did come back! Itās different from the Staged Concert, more greenish-black and I think he has his hair down- thereās at least some strands loose on the front
OKAYYYY IM REALLY SURE TGAT BEFORE R STARTED HIS SOLO IN DRINK WITH ME HE WENT AND HELD ENJāS HAND FOR A BIT- and after he sang and Enj left Gavroche ran over and gave him a hug it was so sweet
Alfie Boe Bring Him Home is still my favoritest thing in the entire world. I owe him my life im so serious he was my top artist for a reason
Enjolras did the Aaron Tveit āuntil the earth is freeā opt up it was amazing
They cut Gavrocheās individual death scene which was either for better or for worse because thatās the one that always gets me crying, so I just teared up at the end
When Javert let valjean and Marius go from the sewers he turned around as if he was gonna follow them, paused, screamed, and put his head and his hand
Dude michael ball does the best suicide scene heās so unhinged and skdjaidhaisjsj
EMPTY CHAIRS BRO. At āphantom facesā the Amis all stood up in their places in their seats, with Enj, R, and Gavroche on the center balcony right by the conductor. Also at this point he begins to scream with anger at his survival. Iāve never thought about angry Empty Chairs, but it works so well and I need to see it more
Valjean in AHFoL Reprise made me so sad bro. Insert my post about him and Donna Sheridan but add that theyāre so attached to their daughter (Amanda Seyfried) and kinda donāt want to let her go to get married
The audience clapped along to Beggars at the Feast. Donāt know if we were allowed to, but we did anyways
When Marius tells Cosette her father is a saint Valjean just shakes his head no oh my god šš
HE DID THE NICK CARTELL NOSE BOOP WITH COSETTE
THE BISHOP COMES UP BEHIND VALJEAN WHEN HE DIES AND VALJEAN GIVES HIM THE BIGGEST HUG EVER OMFGGGGGG
During bows when Michael came up to bow with Alfie they had to switch sides so that Michael could be on the left and Alfie could be on the right. Order has been restored to the world
In summary: Amazing show god I love Les Mis!!!!! Alfie Boe is the only one who can save me <3333
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Last week i saw Les Miserables (the Arena Tour) for the first time in my life, so here's my thoughts about it (actually it's just me praising every performer of this production, but they deserve it) (oh and also, sorry for my bad english, it's not my first language).
Okay. First of all: Jean Valjean. I didn't get to see Killian Donnelly as Jean Valjean and I'm a little bit sad about it because I really hoped to see him once in my life (especially as Jean Valjean) BUT MY GOD DANIEL KOEK THE MAN THAT YOU ARE. THE TALENT. HE HAS A FLAWLESS VOCAL TECHNIQUE. I actually feel so lucky to have witnessed his talent. I encourage you to go on youtube and listen to him singing who am i or bring him home or anything, you won't be disappointed.Ā
Javert. My beloved Bradley Jaden. I couldn't be happier to have finally seen and heard him live, his voice and his acting are out of this world. I love his Javert with all my heart, he is so stiff at the beginning but as the story goes on he becomes so feral, almost animalistic. I love him. Again, go listen to his version of stars, itās incredible. And the suicide soliloquy!! MY GOD!! i can't even describe it, he is so angry and desperate, so feral. Oh Bradley Jaden, the things you do to me.
Channah Ewitt as Fantine is fenomenal. So delicate but also so powerful in her vocals and her acting. Finally hearing I dreamed a dream live has been such an emotion for me and i'm so happy Channah has been "my first" Fantine live.
Cosette. Beatrice Penny-TourĆØ. My God. Like a month ago I saw a video of her singing a heart full of love from one of the very first shows they did and I fell in love with her voice (and I listened like 30 seconds of her singing), so you can imagine that I was so excited to listen to her live. But nothing could prepare me for the transcendent experience that is listening to her live: she makes every note seem effortless and the way she embodies Cosette is incredible. She is exactly how I imagine Cosette.
Jac Yarrow is a fantastic Marius, so in love, so cute, so sweet. His voice is so beautiful. Obv he made me cry during Empty chairs at empty tables.
Nathania Ong as Eponine in something out of this world. I'm still in awe of her performance. She reminded me again why Eponine has always been one of my favourite characters. Her On my own is powerful and emotional, and of course she made me cry like a child during A little fall of rain.
The Thenardiers are SO FUNNY. Even though the concert version doesn't let them move as much as they do on the "staged" production, they made the scene look so dynamicĀ that at some point I felt like I was dancing and cheering on stage with them.
As it happened with Killian as Valjean, I unfortunately didn't get to see James D. Gish as Enjolras. I heard him sing the part in some videos and i really wanted to listen him live (his voice is so powerful i'm sure it will resonate in my bones ahah), BUT AGAIN WHAT A PRIVILEGE IT WAS TO LISTEN AND SEE ANDREW MAXWELL AS ENJOLRAS. His voice is so beautiful and he embodied Enj so well I'm afraid I fell in love. Also his voice is more similar to how I imagine Enjolrasā voice would be like so again I couldn't be happier to have witnessed his talent. (also, in the les mis website it says that this is his professional debut so again CHEERS TO THE FENOMENAL SCOTTISH KING THAT ANDREW MAXWELL IS!!!)
What can I say about Raymond Walsh as Grantaire? He is perfect for the role. He made me laugh in ABC cafĆØ and he made me cry in Drink With me. I feel so lucky to have finally seen him perform in this role live.
My endless love for Enjoltaire made me follow them during their scenes. During ABC cafĆØ they bicker a lot (I giggled a lot). In drink with me Grantaire sings his entire part towards the audience and Enjolras tries to stop him but someone stop him before he can reach Grantaire. R doesn't look at E, if not for a brief moment, and when he finish his last line he just starts walking to his spot but Gavroche stops him with a hug (Granaire and Gavroche dynamic is so dear to me and i'm so happy that it is maintained in this production). Then they go sitting and Enjolras follows them and OH MY GOD while Enjolras starts to step on the stairs he stops and looks at Grantaire for a very long moment, while Grantaire looks in front of himself. It felt like Enjolras wanted to say something to Graintaire but then he changed his mind and went to sit on his spot (my heart was bleeding for them, I love these two so much) (maybe I will draw this exact moment so you can understand better).
Then let's praise the backbone of the show, THE ENSEMBLE. Fenomenal, outstanding performers. Sometimes I would get too much caught in their background scenes that I would lose track of the main scene. One thing that made me emotional is that the performers how plays the barricade boys don't have the time to go change their costumes after their death (they actually stay on stage all the time), so during the Marius and Cosette's wedding you can see the barricade boys singing and cheering for Marius on the background (i cried a lot). They also do a little silly dance when the Thenardiers do their part (I giggled a lot).
One last thing (I promise), let's make a round of applause for the lighting and sets designers (and all those who work in the technical department), they did an amazing job. A huge part of the scenography is made by the lighting trusses that move up and down and for me this is such a clever and brilliant idea (like "the scenography on the floor can't be moved or changed? Let's create something IN THE AIR!"). Oh, and also a round of applause for the orchestra, 25 musicians who sound like 60, so much love and respect for them.
Bravo to everyone!!
I'm sorry that this post is so long, but I have been waiting to see Les Miserables live since I first saw the movie (so since 2013/14), so I really needed to write down what I saw and share it with someone, like a proof that i saw it for real and it's not just a dream.
#oh and#FUN FACT:#before the show i was at the grocery store right next to the theatre to buy my dinner and GUESS WHAT i met so of the performers#i panicked and screamed internally#but i didn't want to bother them so i really quickly bought my focaccia and ran away#les mis#les miserables#les miserables arena tour
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Time to finally relay my thoughts on the Les Mis I saw August 3rd, 2024.
Keep in mind, I went into this as someone who wanted to get my mother and brother to like this story. Also, Iāve seen a million and one recordings, so I know the show pretty well already and am aware of my preferences concerning it.
Act 1
Intro was so good. I like the boat format for the prisoners. It gives the actors something to do and is good and clear tonally.
This Javert did not make a strong first impression. He seemed extremely muted idk.
So Iām not a Nick Cartell fan. Iām sorry. I just donāt like him that much. I might be able to explain why at some point.
The lighting was amazing in these opening scenes.
The bishop had such a nice voice. I always love the bishop.
Valjean went nuts with the ātook my fliiiiiiiiightā
Oh I forgot to mention that all of the house lights hadnāt turned off yet. It was a little weird. They eventually got turned off either before or after Valjeanās Soliloquy.
Speaking of the Soliloquy, Iāve heard a recording of this actor singing this song before and it definitely sounds better in person. Better, but still not my favorite. Nick Cartell has a tendency to stray from the melody for acting purposes in a way that Iām not a fan of.
Also, this version had Petit Gervais. It was weird. And distracting. And disjointed. I didnāt like it.
I love a good ensemble number, so at the end of the day was great. Also, the transition from the crowd to the factory was so smooth.
I remember the foreman I think had a line that changed from the original that I was kinda confused about. Overall, I think this was a thing with both at the end of the day and lovely ladies. Like there were a handful of words that were switched and I didnāt understand why.
This Fantine was quite good. Like Iām glad this was the Fantine that I saw with my mom and brother. Solid performance.
This Bamatabois was odd. I think he was too much of a caricature.
Once again, Javert is quite subdued. Intimidating, sure. But not all that interesting otherwise. No swagger.
The staging of Fantineās Arrest felt just a little busy, but thatās really a nitpick.
When did they cut part of Faucheleventās line in Runaway Cart?
So I really listen for how an actors says the line āforgive me sir I would not dare.ā This was fine. Nothing special.
I will say that I liked Nick Cartellās version of Who Am I.
Fantineās death was so sad. I prefer versions like this where they donāt have her get out of bed. Itās simpler and it gets across her weakened state a little better, I think.
Confrontation was amazing. This Javert was really starting to prove himself here. Itās like the actor just started having fun with it.
This little Cosette was absolutely adorable. Iām not usually a fan of Castle On A Cloud, but this was great.
This production had a good Thenardier couple. Their comedic timing was great. This is not to discredit the amazing job that they did, but Iām not a huge fan of the Thenardiers. My family liked them a lot though, so they were definitely very funny.
So Look Down was a success because my family immediately liked Gavroche. As they should. My brother said that that the Look Down melody was one of his favorites.
Now I think itās good to mention that this version didnāt have the time skip projections. Like those things that tell you what year it is. None to be seen. It confused my family. I was cool with explaining it though.
My brother found Marius annoying. +1 sibling point. We can make fun of Marius now. (to be clear, the actor was very good)
This Eponine was pretty cool, but my mom pointed something out that I think is worth mentioning. Sheās not lit very well. My eyesight is shit, so Iām trusting my mom when she said that it was impossible to see the actorās face.
This Cosette is so adorable. Like everything about her so sweet. In love with her.
This scene had an interesting set design that I donāt know if Iāve seen before. It looked a little more slanted than usual. It was cool though.
The beginning of Javertās Intervention got a laugh, so that was good. He really leaned into the drama more than before.
During Javertās Intervention, I tend to find Thenardierās part a little overwrought and distracting. Unfortunately, this was one of those cases. My brother liked it though.
Javert kinda went back to being subdued for Stars. Actually no. He brought some energy for āand so it must BEā
Les Amis in this production were fantastic. My mom really liked Red and Black apparently.
This Enjolras had a weird fluttery vibrato that Iām kinda obsessed with.
Kyle Adamsā performance as Grantaire was magical. I donāt know if I can point out specific moments, but it was fantastic.
I am once again in love with Cosette.
Neither my mother nor brother were fans of the romance aspect of the story. I donāt blame them.
That said, the harmony at the end of heart full of love was angelic.
One Day More is always a showstopper. No notes.
Actually, I will mention that Javert hasnāt changed costumes yet. We donāt get to see his disguise til the second act. I kinda like that because, if you donāt recognize him immediately at the barricade, it makes the reveal later kinda fun to watch.
Oops turns out Iāll have to post this in two parts
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LM 5.9.5
@secretmellowblog keeps prompting folks to post their thoughts from the Discord on Tumblr, which I am not doing right now, but I am mimicking what I normally do on Discord, which is comment on particular lines as I read through the chapterāI'll see if I can maintain something like this through the 2025 cycle by copying over what I jabber about on the server. Quotes from the Hapgood, per the usual.
"'It is thou! thou art here! Thou dost pardon me then!'" ā important insight for the conversation around whether Valjean's behavior in retreating from Cosette is all conciliation and resignation to Marius' authority or not. I want to believe what Valjean believes to be pardoned is his abandonment of his daughter, but combing back and forth over the sceneāperhaps there's a hint in his acknowledgment that he's wounded her, Oh my Cosette, it is not my fault, indeed, that I have not seen thee all this time, it cut me to the heartābut he denies wrongdoing in the same breath, soāno, I think not. A pardon at last for what he has been expiating all these years with his mimicry of the nuns, I think, and I'd have to mull it over to come up with a succinct way to say what that is. Which is to say: as with his submission to the court at Arras, he agrees he committed the crime he has been charged with, there by the justice system and here by Marius standing in for the same.
"Cosette tore off her shawl and tossed her hat on the bed. 'It embarrasses me,' she said." -- Re-exerting her right to intimacy, to family. Crying.
My love of the One reckons without the good God speech comes with howling that it is addressed to Mariusāas someone who loves Les Mis for the misery I am on fucking board for what this says about the dynamic between the men, and as someone invested in Cosette as a character I want the good God to bitchslap her papa and husband both for treating her as an child-icon-nonhuman in this moment.
But how much am I invested in the fact that Valjean was given one last moment to accuse God? Even if he pivots when he is granted grace in the form of Cosette, I think of "he had returned to prison, this time for having done right; he had quaffed fresh bitterness; disgust and lassitude were overpowering him" (2.4.3), of "[In Toulon] he condemned society, and felt that he was becoming wicked; he there condemned Providence, and was conscious that he was becoming impious." (1.2.7), that we never forget that this man defined by his gentleness can nonetheless by torment be rendered dangerousāin this case, to himself, I believeāand, bitterly but with love of the novel, I think there's a way in which he never completely escapes the "unhealthy perceptions of an incomplete nature and a crushed intelligence" (1.2.7), for all his intelligence and growth.
"I gave myself reasons: āThey do not want you, keep in your own course, one has not the right to cling eternally." -- these aren't the reasons he gave for his confession or for his choice not to live at the Rue des Filles-du-Calvaire; I really don't think he planned to abandon Cosette entirely. Just, y'know, mostly.
"Dost thou know, Cosette, thy husband is very handsome?" -- aaand he's still doing that fucked-up thing where he believes Marius is the only acceptable topic of conversation with her. Goddamn.
"And Cosette began again: 'How wicked of you to have left us like that!" -- ;-; she tries again and again to assert her right to love, and here she is, shut out by Valjean again for not speaking what he expects.
"It is your own fault, too. You save peopleās lives, and you conceal it from them! You do more, under the pretext of unmasking yourself, you calumniate yourself. It is frightful." -- Marius has insight into the true harm done by Valjean: and it has nothing to do with (failures of) justice and social shame, but with failures of love, of trust, of connection. A pitiful wrong. I'm reminded of Cosette's if I did not know how good you are, I should be afraid of you.
"You form a part of ourselves. You are her father, and mine." -- Broken clocks are right twice a day and so forth. Marius refutes the fault in thought that Valjean and Javert share: that such a thing exists as being outside of society and the human family.
"'To-morrow,' said Jean Valjean, 'I shall not be here, but I shall not be with you.'" -- OK do love when he's a sassy bitch tho.
"If you only knew, father, I have had a sorrow, there was a robin redbreast which had made her nest in a hole in the wall, and a horrible cat ate her." -- Cosette has changed tactics to the sort of speech that has won her attention in the past: pleasant, prattling, clever. This story of the robin, though. Do you know how the robin got its red breast? From plucking the thorns from Christ's brow; a little comfort in dying; this little bird who looks in at Cosette's windowāI'm chewing on it, how it might symbolize those visits Valjean was making, some ill-defined in-between glass-separated contact for them. And what are cats a stand-in for? The bourgeoise, among others, in their latent state. But now nobody cries anymoreāin any case, you only cry over the dead bird for so long, and Cosette represents the future.
"Oh! yes, forbid me to die. Who knows? Perhaps I shall obey. I was on the verge of dying when you came. That stopped me, it seemed to me that I was born again." -- someone give this man some soup, he loves to symbolically die but I think this time he's going a little too far, and it looks like he's game to try keeping on, eh?
"Even if you were to take possession of me, Monsieur Pontmercy, would that make me other than I am?" -- gay
"No, God has thought like you and myself, and he does not change his mind; it is useful for me to go. Death is a good arrangement. God knows better than we what we need.Ā " -- Sir may I point out that you are presuming divine will in the same sentence as saying one shouldn't presume divine will. Goddamn. One of those examples, I think, of a character speaking against the spirit of the book, as a symbol of what's still broken in the world.
"Thou wilt weep for me a little, wilt thou not? Not too much. I do not wish thee to have any real griefs." -- And that's all he ever takes for himself without seeing it as meant for her, as well: a little weeping. I knew well that thou still felt friendly towards thy poor old man. In this speech he's finally speaking to her at length, acknowledging her feelings, their history together, and he touches briefly on a little shadow of his own worth, I think, in reflection of that.
"I had still other things to say, but never mind" -- Wow if only this death were somehow avoidable and you had more time to impart wisdom and love on your children.
"His white face looked up to heaven, he allowed Cosette and Marius to cover his hands with kisses." -- dead, with God, he allows them finally to demonstrate their connection to him, and can't resist it.
"The night was starless and extremely dark. No doubt, in the gloom, some immense angel stood erect with wings outspread, awaiting that soul." -- F
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There's just so many things I want to say about the 1903 Su Manshu's translation of Les MisƩrables
It is a unique AU adaptation fanfic translation
I will put some kind of a list of observations that is sorted out, since right now all the information is falling out of my brain like a waterfall at the moment. There's just so many things one person can keep in about this liquid of an information.
If the translation is so different from the original, do we categorise it as a translation or an adaptation? I mean like, e.g. Jean Valjean tries to kill, then successfully robs the writer's political and religious mouthpiece Hero after he releases Jean Valjean from prison, etc.
The whole thing is so wild that "one of the main characters try to assassinate Napoleon but fails and thus dies from suicide" fact is mentioned in the footnote in the paper I'm reading; as if it's the least of our problems, because there's just so much going on.
Su was multilingual, but probably not in French. Instead, he translated from Charles E. Wilbour. And due to it being published in volumes, and it being hard to get by because how fast it sold, he only have access to volume one, apparently.
Even then, he minused Book 1 because it was too praise-y of Christianity via Bishop Myriel.
Oh, did I not mention? He hates Christianity, and he definitely hates the Bishop. That's why he deleted Book 1: it had too many nice things to say about the greedy and hypocritical Bishop.
ćWhen in the English text Valjean asks whether the Bishop would like payment for his stay, the response is:
āNo,ā said the bishop; ākeep your money. How much have you? You said one hundred and nine francs, I think.ā (Wilbour, p. 48)
But Su translates:
åäø»ęęę„åæēéļ¼āäøē¶ļ¼äøē¶ļ¼äøå®č¦ē®é„é±ēćä½ å
±ęå¤å°é±å¢ļ¼ä½ ę¾čÆ“ä½ ęäøē¾é¶ä¹äøŖé¶č§åćā (Su, p. 58)
Bishop Myriel answered in a hurry as expected, āYes, yes, of course. You have to pay for your meal. How much money do you have in total? You told me you have one hundred and nine silver coins.āć
(Li Li, Su Manshuās Adaptation of Les MisĆ©rables: The Manipulation of a Bridging Text in an Activist Translation. Translation and Literature. 2022)
Li Li suggests it might've also been because Su wasn't as fluent in English as we thought as well, since there are some misunderstandings of meaning (that bears no political or religious sway) in his translation.
On the topic of translation, there is also an excerpt I would like to share.
Su was writing during the nearing end of Qing Dynasty, and he was against the said Dynasty and thus was a revolutionist. If people were too critical and loud about their thoughts on the governing body and Confucianism, then the ruling class would've prosecuted him.
And thus, he had to cover his tracks and make sure he wasn't caught saying anything incriminating. He did this with his self-insert Ming Nande, and he did it with other contexts such as here:
[Quote:]
ćIn this moment Nande knew it was the girl that he was worrying about. Then he affectionately held up her slim waist and kissed her several times (This is a western custom, please don't be surprised!)."
čæę¶ļ¼ē·å¾·ęē„éęÆä»åæéęę¦č®°ēē¾äŗŗļ¼ę„åæäŗ²äŗ²ēēå°ļæ½ļæ½ęäøęęä½é£ē¾äŗŗēē»č
°ļ¼čæäŗ²äŗå äøŖå“ļ¼čæęÆč„æäæļ¼ēå®å«č¦č§ēļ¼ć
(Translation by Li Li, 2022)
I will definitely talk about this more at a later date because I have to go to Scotland, so I'm probably going to be travel-stressing xD
Even though I can't share the PDF of the essay paper that I have, I do have the link to a publicly shared webpage by the same author with her summarised thoughts on this translation, so please take a look if you're interested!
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Status update:
Still a cool person who writes amazingly!!!!!!!
thank u, anon. I don't feel very cool lately with personal stuff that makes me an exhausted lady, but- i have a bit of the writing you think is amazing. i hope you enjoy it. ā„ļø
---
He was going to die. There was no other way to say it: Zenkichi Hasegawa- or more aptly, Wolf- was going to fucking die in the Metaverse without even knowing how he ended up here in the first place. The kids were back in the real world, frantically working to find a way in, and he was surrounded by Shadows on all sides. A wave of creatures came for him, and the only logical thing he could think of doing was running.
So he did.
He ran, zweihander in hand and blood trickling from his open wounds he had endured from the constant swath of enemies. If Oracle was down here with him, sheād be screaming for someone to heal him. Wolf closed his eyes, trying to focus his thoughts and calm himself; even so, panic ripped through any semblance of logic, and in such panic, a familiar burst of energy came to life. It ticked away at his life force, yet carried him away faster as he leapt forward and scanned the fork in the road frantically; it was left or right.
āDammitā¦ whatās taking them so longā¦?!ā
Where were those kids? He was almost praying to hear that stupid nickname sail over the oncoming hoard of Shadows from Sakamoto, gritting his teeth.
Left it was.
Wolf hissed and ran down the corridor, finding the floor plan littered with corners every six yards. Take a sharp turn, go another several feet, and another turn. One of the corners was a dead end. He turned around and held his blade tightly before swinging at the few Shadows that had kept on his tail; a red burst of energy flew forward, Wolf ignoring the blood dripping from his mask and down his face as he rushed through the split path of Shadows.
āWhere are those damn kidsā¦?!ā
Just as he spoke, it was as if his body could answer with one grim statement: they are not coming for you.
Wolf tripped over himself, rolling over himself and skidding on the concrete before he crashed into the wall with a dust cloud hanging over the space. He coughed harshly, squinting in the haze before seeing the group of Shadows beginning to advance.
Dead end.
Wolf grabbed his blade; he pushed himself to a sitting position, eyes wide behind the mask as he pulled up the blade defensively. Cornered, so very much like a wounded animal that stared down at the ones about to eat him alive. The barest rumble was felt in the back of his head- Valjean, undoubtedly. And yet, Wolf knew.
He already knew he was going to die.
There was not a chance in Hell that Living Dead was going to be able to activate again in time. He was going to die. Die.
He had given it everything he had, and even with his newfound strength and vigor, Wolf was wounded beyond repair. He wasnāt going to make it out.
Even with Fury still on and running, he had tried to give it all he had.
Fuck.
How useless was he really? How often had he tried to hide the bloodlust, the need to rip and tear through the Shadows to feel something again in his life? How scared was he to tell those kids of his that he was happy the Metaverse was back, only for it to leave him to die? How many times had he (successfully) hid away that the smell of the blood made his own race? How badly did he want to fight? How much did he want to let loose, but was afraid to be cast aside? Seen as the monster he really was?
Even with his blade on the ground, Wolf could feel his eyes fluttering shut. He couldnāt get up. He couldnāt stand up, the Shadows moving closer and their sick squelches on the floor the sound of them moving through a pool of his blood.
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Just something short I wrote for "I canāt believe you were that stupid" Saturday prompt over at 30+ fanfic discord.
Might potentially take place in the same 'verse as this and this snippet. Just weeks later and after Cosette gets married.
warning: mentioned canon Valjean's self-harm. first draft.
Jean Valjean/Javert
It's kind of (my idea of) fluffy ā for the two of them.
---
Valjean rolled up his sleeves. Before he could take the sickle, Javert caught his elbow in a firm but gentle grip.
āI canāt believe you were that stupid,ā Javert said, carefully tracing the burn scar on Valjeanās forearm with his fingers.
It had been a week since Javert learnt about its origin, but except for a few furtive looks at Valjeanās forearm, he hadnāt mentioned it again. Valjean would prefer if he'd forgotten. The notion of Javert caringācaring about him and his well-beingāwas still strange. Strange and yetā¦ not entirely unpleasant.
Valjean shrugged. āWhat does one more scar matter?ā
Javert dug his fingers into Valjeanās flesh and raised his head, his other hand falling. His throat worked. Valjean could see that there were things Javert wanted to say, but he seemed to swallow them and stayed silent.
Valjean sighed. āI told you they had been threatening Cosette. I couldnāt have them bother us again.ā
āI know.ā Javertās grip softened; his thumb caressedāfor there was no other word than thatāthe skin around the tender scar, sending shivers down Valjeanās spine, and as he had done for weeks, Valjean ignored the sensation.
āI knew I could handle it,ā he said instead. Even after twelve years, he could still remember the searing pain caused by the stolen coin he had taken from the fireplace in his house in Montreuil and clutched hard in his palm. That one, heād deserved; the other one, heād done for Cosette. Heād never regret it, for she had cared for him when heād returned home. Washed his wound, sat with him, loved him. He would treasure that memory forever now when she was married and not by his side anymore.
āIt was still foolish of you,ā Javert said, letting his hand fall.
An odd sense of disappointment washed over Valjean at the loss of Javertās touch, and he quickly grabbed the sickle. The garden had been overgrown and needed a lot of work.
But he didnāt move.
When Javert had looked at him with eyes that seemed to try to penetrate his mind and read his thoughts in Montreuil, Valjean hadnāt been able to break their eye contact for fear of looking weak and guilty. Now, he didnāt want to look away and instead, it was Javert who often couldnāt maintain the contact for long.
Javert ran his fingers over the workbench and removed some of the soil that had been forgotten. āYet, you continue to astonish me. Youāve always done things that haven't benefited or harmed you. Evenāā Javert stopped himself. āNo matter.ā
Despite the time that had passed, it was still bizarre hearing Javert, who had never stopped to consider someone elseās reasons or circumstances in the past, who had only assumed that everything Valjean did had been to gain something, speak like that.
āI only did what I had to do. You must know what it feels like now; you let me go.ā
Javert frowned. āThat was different.ā
āWas it?ā Valjean remembered Javertās shaking shoulders and sobs as he clutched the fireplace mantel in the drawing room on rue de lāHomme-ArmĆ©. He remembered what had come after, Javertās despair and desperation as he clung to Valjean in a strange imitation of an embrace.
āYes,ā Javert said, and he sounded almost sure. āI didnāt let you go.ā
No, he didnāt. That Javert was here in Digne with him, was proof enough. āNo, you didnāt,ā Valjean agreed and nodded at the wall above the workbench. āTake the other sickle and let me teach you how to use it. If you are to stay, you can be useful.ā
#my writing#valvert#jean valjean#javert#les miserables bbc#les miserables#instead of continuing the main fic this happened#tbh I thought the prompt would be really good for mccoy and kirk but i guess javert/valjean brainrot is too strong atm#i'm still not sure about the characaterisation but i'll figure it out... one day#javert quit the police and is calmer yes#might not make much sense because there is assumed development but anyway#I had some difficulties writing these past few days so I'm happy I wrote something that pleases me#not book compliant obviously#it's exactly 600 words lol
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need to gush about stewart clarkeās javert among other things from our multiple showings of lm these last couple of weeks
clarke is honestly up there for me with terrence mann in terms of my fav javertsā¦.. he honestly kind of looked like him with his dead eyed stare and eyeliner. serving corpse
he was sooooo robotic during every fucking scene he was in apart from the finale but still had this soft emotion during stars. dude had literally no thoughts behind those eyes just staring off into middle distance while fantine is weeping. had 0 reaction to gavroche, thenardier, literally anyone.
single notable reaction pre-alleyway scene was clarke seeing valjean walk into the barricade and just. staring at him. like the entire time while gunfire is going on man is barely ducking or reacting heās just staring at this dude. impeccable. made funnier by grantaire sitting between them
related sidenote was that i LOVED this grantaire. not someone i typically focus on while watching but tom hext is so so fun, loved his energy and thousand yard stares in equal measure. also fat grantaire based. iām shocked people donāt go on and on about this dude bc he was also so fun to watch in the ensemble
katie hall was absolutely the best fantine iāve seen, cried both times. she plays it nice and angry at times with the appropriate amount of acting. wonderful voice. same of the eponine, wonderful talents and spot on casting
i will relegate this to a brief note bc i donāt want to complain endlessly about it but mannnnn this valjean suckeddd. played it way way too angry (did not help that his eyebrows ((naturally??)) are super arched. super arai manga jvj vibes but irl). great voice but no good acting choices or really any at all. i got the distinct impression all this dude knew about the character was the show itself and didnāt really āgetā valjean. left me extremely unemotional even in the last bits which is wild
side note to that: i did cry at the beginning of the finale but only bc i remembered nick cartellās performance and was thinking about that instead. for those unfamiliar he walks with a prisonerās limp which drives me fucking insane
side side note: the only good thing this valjean did was pause while reading mariusā letter at the word āloveā in like an incredulous way. then at the end he crunched the letter up into a ball. extremely in character for the brick and could bring a more interesting depth that the musical lacks but terrible and aggro for no reason in the context of this performance
okay back to javert. his suicide? insane. wonderful acting choices playing it pretty tormented until near the end he was cracking his voice HARD which was just so painful every time. not overly angry at all. also particular more to our first time seeing himāthis man was absolutely dribbling spit during some sections. like hanging from his mouth like a dog. you truly cannot do it better than this. it really made the best of what i would call a flawed but potentially good adaptation of javert derailed in a way where iām sure mr clarke Gets javert and reads derailed like his character bible
i liked the way clarke ran around and writhed around on the ground. dedication.
goes without saying but i imagine clarkeās performance would be even better if he were paired with a more competent valjean. but what can you do š
baffled that they took away javertās costume change during one day more. i have to assume someone thought people were too stupid to realize itās javert in his little baker boy cap. a loss to us all
why did gavroche have the coconut head haircut
claire made me see this godforsaken show three times. i donāt even want to talk about the understudy javert we had to sit through i want to simply forget
he (they hate each other so much)
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this is an invitation to infodump. i would LOVE to hear the thoughts you have on beggars at the feast, should you want to talk about them
AUGH ok ok let's see how well I can articulate...anything
OK so first: In the Letters server lately we've been talking a bit about how , in the book, Thenardier is WAY more the Human Nemesis than Javert is. He shows up earlier than Javert does; he's able to be a threat in ways Javert can't be, and to people Javert can't and wouldn't even try to touch ; he shares a TON of paralleling symbolism and class-blurring roles with JVJ; he's the last Personal Threat remaining in the novel, and the last thing we hear about him is that he's not only thriving , he's committing worse atrocities on a grander scale than anything we saw in the book, and getting nothing but social approval for it.
Thenardier is a nightmare, and he's triumphant, and as such he's a condemnation of society in an equal and opposing way to Jean Valjean. Valjean's story (and Fantine's , and the Thenardier siblings' ,. and the Amis , etc) says "look what we're destroying, look at the actions we punish". Thenardier's ultimate triumph as a literal slave trader flips it around and says "look what we support, look at what we endorse, look at what we elevate and approve." (now within the book I could take this farther , I could point out that the only thing within the novel that breaks any of the miserables free of their oppression to any degree is crime of some kind, be it revolution or theft or Being an Accomplice or exploitation, and the only thing that costs the (relatively) privileged their security and power is to truly ally with the miserables, but !! I'm talking about the musical)
In the musical Thenardier is softened a lot. Like... a LOT. The Thenardiers' exploitation of Fantine is barely mentioned ; their violent abuse of Cosette is turned into a joke; their abuse of Eponine is minimized (and their other kids are either Not Appearing in this Play or not obviously connected to them) ; and that final doomstrike epilogue, Thenardier becoming a slave trader, is gone. He's no longer the primary and most dangerous human antagonist; as in many other adaptations, that's now Javert.
So there's a different arc but it's there : From Master of the House and the Robbery , when he largely comes across as a gross but funny Comic Villain ; to the Attack on the Rue Plumet, where we finally see a bit of danger to him; to Dog Eats Dog, where he is really just acting on the same philosophy we saw in MotH but now doing something most people have a more immediate revulsion to, and the mask is really off; to , finally, Beggars at the Feast. If Beggars at the Feast is done RIGHT, This is Where The Villains Win.
They've gotten knocked around, sure, but they've also just gotten a ton of money, and, if done right, they are either blending in with the society party or, in the best staging * , they end up leading the dance. It's Master of the House all over again, only this time we're not being invited to laugh along with Thenardier's "band of soaks" ; this isn't the dregs of society, an easily stigmatized lower-class punchline.
This is Society, capital S Society, and they're just as ready to go along with him-- MORE ready to go along with him, even, because at least some of his inn customers usually get to be affronted and argue a little, but arguing with him risks some Unpleasantness, and isn't everything in Society so pleasant? Isn't it nice here, at the party? Let's not argue with the openly hateful people singing about how they want to destroy us all; look, they're dancing and singing! Let's just follow their lead. Won't that be nice.
And without getting into modern politics just because it's ALWAYS so current and I could never update the references frantically enough, I'll say that this is where Stage!Thenardier most echoes those Book!Thenardier Napoleon III vibes. Hugo knew what this dance looked like. He fell for it at one point.
(and hey, maybe it even raises some unease in audience members who laughed at MoTH and the child abuse and the Robbery without thinking about it-- maybe some people realize Oh Shit, We Fell For It Too. Not necessarily, but maybe?? ) And so it's fitting that it's this scene that has IMO a very clear sense of the book's incredibly specific political message ("Parisians, France, Please Overthrow Napoleon III, Probably With Barricades" ) , albeit in reverse. The Thenardiers gloat "Clear away the barricades and we're still here!" -- to them, a brag on how they endure all the changes around them.
But also implying: don't clear away the damn barricades. If you don't want the Thenardiers to run the show , help shore up that furniture wall and fight (for a modern international audience, this is probably going to be Not AS Specifically Involving Barricades).
So yeah. I'm not gonna say it's the most important song in the whole show , but it's important in ways I rarely see critics or commenters notice.
...Or it's just a funny musical reprise and you can have the Thenardiers be immediately thrown out of the wedding as frauds bc hahaha the poors thought they could play with their betters, good thing we're all so much smarter and cooler than that in the upper crust. That's fine too.
yes I have opinions; also I'm Correct
#Beggars at the Feast#Thenardier talk#the Thenardiers are fascinating characters#so full of commentary all the time#long post#even with the cut#what's the meta for
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@breadvidence recently wrote a great bit of Les Mis meta where they pointed out how Jean Valjeanās ācomplimentsā to Javert in Montreuil-sur-Mer really are just..... conciliatory flattery, and don't reflect his real feelings about Javert at all. And that's a great point, and something I wish more people explored! Lines like "you are a good man and I esteem you" aren't Jean Valjean's earnest feelings towards Javert. Instead theyāre examples of the way Jean Valjean often retreats into excessive deferential politeness to authority as a survival strategy. As I mentioned in another recent postā Jean Valjean is a genuinely kind person, but heās also someone who often has literally no choice but to act overly polite to authorities/the police, because if heās not polite enough they might start to find him suspicious. If he doesn't lick their boots enough, they might start investigating him. He's instinctively deferential out of fear of violence. He's flattering out of fear. He's polite "at gunpoint." He's polite to cops the way you're polite to an armed police officer who pulls you over.
And Jean Valjean's polite tranquil behavior towards Javert during Javert's "resignation"ā saying things like āyou are a good man and I esteem you, I want you to keep your jobā and etc etcā is later explicitly confirmed to be at least somewhat of a calculated tactical decision Jean Valjean made out of terror:
He was carried away, at first, by the instinct of self-preservation; he rallied all his ideas in haste, stifled his emotions, took into consideration Javertās presence, that great danger, postponed all decision with the firmness of terror, shook off thought as to what he had to do, and resumed his calmness as a warrior picks up his buckler.
I love the phrase "he resumed his calmness as a warrior picks up his buckler"-- it's such a great way of summarizing how Jean Valjean's ability to have polite conversations even when he's breaking down internally has been such a useful defense mechanism for him. I also love the contrast between the excessively polite way Jean Valjean talks to Javert when heās acting out of terror/self-preservationā¦.vs the more honest way he talks about Javert when heās alone during Tempest in a Skull:
āThat Javert, who has been annoying me so long; that terrible instinct which seemed to have divined me, which had divined meāgood God! and which followed me everywhere; that frightful hunting-dog, always making a point at me, is thrown off the scent, engaged elsewhere, absolutely turned from the trail: henceforth he is satisfied; he will leave me in peace; he has his Jean Valjean. Who knows? it is even probable that he will wish to leave town! And all this has been brought about without any aid from me, and I count for nothing in it!ā
It's just extremely funny. The contrast between āyou are a good man and I esteem youā vs āthat Javert, who has been annoying me so longā <3 The contrast between āyou are an honest manā vs āthat frightful hunting dogā <3 The contrast between āI want you to keep your jobā vs Jean Valjean fantasizing enthusiastically about how hopefully Javert will leave town and never ever annoy him again. <3
It makes the āPunish Me, Monsieur le Maireā stuff even funnier. Jean Valjean is dissociating out of panic and saying whatever polite platitudes he thinks will flatter Javert....but those polite platitudes keep making Javert spiral further into long-winded deranged rants about how he dESPISES this kindness and it enRAGES him, as Jean Valjean just sits there very politely & quietly losing his mind. Itās peak comedy really.
I feel like Jean Valjeanās deeply weird thing with Javert often gets flattened in different directions, when people interpret it. Either Jean Valjean is an all-forgiving all-loving angel who thinks Javert did nothing wrong, and all of his flattery is sincere expressions of admirationā- or Jean Valjean is (like in the BBC version) the kind of violent pitiless person who would angrily order Javert to kill himself. It's rare for writers to get anything resembling the hilariously baffling ambiguous Weirdness of his relationship with Javert in the book. I think it's because adaptations often don't grasp the idea that a genuinely kind compassionate character can also (underneath it all) still be deeply tormented, broken, and angry-- and that their anger doesn't mean they're any less kind, or any less capable of pity and mercy.
#is this coherent?#who knows#les mis#jean valjean#people might take this as me being anti valvert or whatever. but it is the opposite. it is a valvert post#this is Thee dynamic#the comedic potential#the hijinks that could ensue#also a tangentially related thing:#I think the thing that often puts me off a lot of valvert fics#is that I think most writers believe 'jean valjean being excessively kind to javert' would be a sign their relationship had *improved*#whereas to me its like#almost the opposite in a way?#I think maybe you would know Jean Valjean actually had a healthier dynamic with Javert#if he was comfortable enough to be angry with him or upset with him#without needing to be afraid that he'd suffer consequences for not being excessively respectful/deferential/ polite#and thats my hot take#like comment and subscribe! -dabs#read 'Annoyances' by secretmellowblog on Ao3
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Bricktober day 7 (with half an hour to spare)- Chains
@lesmis-prompts
Did i create a soulmate AU out of nowhere and finish it at 23:30? Yes. Yes I did.
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In this world there are soulmates. How it works is thus: from the second you meet your soulmate till the second you kiss them, you have a feeling like chains are wrapping around your neck. Simple enough to realise, you would think, and in most cases the answer is yes. Not, however, in this one.Ā
Javert met his soulmate when he was transferred to Toulon. His superior officer led him around the yard, telling him things about various prisoners. All was well until he called across to one of them. ā24601!ā The prisoner in question walked over, defiance tucked in his eyes like a secret. ā24601, this is the new officer, Javert. I trust there will be no problems?āĀ
āNone at allā¦ Sir. Can I go now?āĀ
The prisoner was dismissed and the officerās attention was back on Javert.Ā
āAre you alright, Monsieur?āĀ
No. No, Javert was not at all alright. He had the distinct feeling of being practically strangled by chains. No. His soulmate could not be a convict. It must have been a fluke. An anomaly. His soulmate could not be that- that criminal!
Valjean, already bound with physical chains, didnāt notice the addition of soulmate ones. Prison collars were tight and left no room for feeling.Ā
When Valjean was released, he didnāt even notice the collar being removed. In hindsight, that should have been the first clue. Yet twenty years of imprisonment affected him and why shouldnāt the feeling of the chains remain?Ā
In M-sur-M, he finally realised that he had met his soulmate. By this point he was the mayor, he had met many, many people and to tell the truth he had little care to find his. After all, that would either be one more person to lie to or one more person to keep safe.Ā
He had other things to worry about; his factory was growing and his town improving; he saw Javert near-daily, every time his heart was in his throat, yet somehow the inspector never realised.Ā
Life carried on as usual- that is, until he was nearly caught by Javert. He had been expecting it, to be fair, yet now he had a child to find. He overpowered the other man and ran, never noticing his chains tightening around his throat.Ā
Javert noticed, of course he did. Heās spent years thinking about his chain and his soulmate, trying to deny it. It never worked, in his heart he knew it to be true; Valjean was his soulmate.Ā
The inspectorās blood boiled as he realised that Valjean had escaped once again. He would not let this stand for much longer, he would find 24601 even if he had to search all of France!Ā
He purposely didnāt think about the manās hands on him, how the chain around his neck loosened for a second then tightened when he was flung to the floor, Valjean running out the door.Ā
Years later and he is returned to Paris. There is more to do here, arrests to be made daily. He still tries both to find and to forget about Valjean, neither works. Well, not until he comes upon Thenardier harassing a gentleman, a gentleman who turns out to most likely be Valjean. He is a bloodhound fresh on the scent, he searches every alley, every street, every shop.Ā
Does he want him or does he want to capture him?
Valjean has barely thought about Javert or his soulmate for a long while, focused on keeping Cosette safe and happy.
He only really remembers that he has a soulmate somewhere when Cosette is laughing and talking at lightning speeds, saying that she met him, he spoke to her, it must have been him for he clutched at his throat and she felt chains around her wrist.Ā
If he had been more focused he would have pointed out that your soulmateās chains are on your neck unless you have more than one, and she would have told him that there had been chains on her neck for nearly as long as she can remember, since she was left at the Thenardiersā.Ā
However he doesnāt, too distracted by thoughts of Javert. Decided, he tells Cosette that they must move to England. They will leave in a few days.Ā
Javert has to halt his relentless searching as news spreads of a barricade being made near the Musain. At the day of Lamarqueās funeral it will rise. He decides that he should be there, fool them into thinking he is on their side.Ā
He is found out, damn that gamin Gavroche! Tied up, he waits in the cafe, watching the students move around. Either one of them will shoot him or he will be used as a hostage. Neither concerns him, he doubts they have the spine to shoot him in cold blood and at least hostages must be kept safe.Ā
A boy climbs over, bleeding. He is revealed to be a girl, a girl in love with the feeble Pontmercy at that. She dies in his arms. How.. tragic.
Then Valjean is there. He is afraid then. Revolutionary students are one thing, a man with every right and desire to kill him is another. Never mind that he is his soulmate, he doubts the criminal is aware of that at this point.Ā
It doesnāt take too long to come to terms with his death. He has wanted to die on many occasions, to tell it truly, but always evaded it. Valjean has every right to kill him, none would fault him for it.Ā
He has readily accepted his imminent demise. He has no problems with it, although he cannot resist spitting hateful words at the man. The man who then lets him go.Ā
He is struck dumb.Ā
This convict, this criminal, his god-forsaken soulmate who has every right to kill him, who should want his death fervently; Javert is the only person who has hounded his footsteps through his life, moreover the only who knows his current identity as Fauchelevent thanks to the lovesick mutterings of Pontmercy. His death would free Valjean. Then why-Ā
He refuses to believe Valjean is a good man, despite the nagging voice in his head reminding him how M-sur-M thrived under his mayorship, how many gamins, prostitutes and beggars were given his money, how many people he helpedā¦Ā
What is there for him to do? He cannot arrest the man, regardless of the address he was given. He cannot return to the police station, he could not. Not now he owes this thief his very life.Ā
He agonises for hours before his decision is made clear to him. Soulmate or not, he will not let another have his life. Therefore he must take it himself. The solution is simple.Ā
He leaves and begins to walk to the river Seine. No-one will miss him.Ā
Valjean has barely got Marius to the doctor when his soulmate chain pulls sharply, cutting away all of his breath. With little idea what to do he lets it lead him through the streets of Paris.Ā
He arrives at the bridge over the Seine. He looks around, curious, then notices the figure standing on the parapet.Ā
A figure he knows very well.Ā
Everything clicks into place. His soulmate chain must have been formed that day in Toulon. That explains why he never noticed it. Javert, his soulmate? The idea is not as ludicrous as he first thought. After all, who else knows his true identity, who else has followed him throughout his life, who else has been the one constant presence when everything constantly changesā¦Ā
He looks up and sees Javert fall. All thoughts leave his mind as he pulls off his greatcoat and jacket and dives into the icy depths of the river.Ā
The river which no man has ever escaped alive, but if anyone could do it it would be Jean Valjean.Ā
#Be warned#the tense jumps around a bit#javert#jean valjean#valvert#soulmates#les mis#soulmate au#lesmisoctober24#les miserables#bricktober#elle writes
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