#I was le nerd

[professor-mystic]

You know... I've never actually done the gym challenge

any of them

[tjjamess]

To YOU he’s just a 192 year old dead revolutionary medical student who represented the logic of the revolution who lived much more normal than his counterpart, who was more human than man, the homo to vir, who liked the word citizen but preferred the word man and would gladly say hombre, who read everything, did theatres, followed lectures, explained the functions of artery’s, followed science, deciphered hieroglyphics, broke stones to look inside them, drew silk moths from memory, corrected the dictionary, both asserted and denied nothing, daydreamed, who was involved in issues of education, wanted society to raise intellectual and moral standards, believed that the narrowness of teachings and the scholastic prejudice would turn collages into artificial oyster farms, who was well-read, a purist, precise, polytechnical, hardworking, imaginative, who dreamed of trains and better surgical operations and fixing cameras and electric telegraphs and steering hot air balloons, who was the guide to the leader, who was not incapable of fighting but would rather be gentle, who wanted neither halt nor haste, who would rather let progress take its course rather than worship and incite revolutionary adventures, coolheaded but pure, methodical but irreproachable, phlegmatic but imperturbable, and who believed ‘good must be innocent’

To ME he’s everything

[i-dreamed-i-had-a-son]

Another Les Mis musical connection that's making me feral: Jean Valjean uses the same melody with which he sings to Cosette, "Believe me, / Were it within my power, / I'd fill each passing hour-- / How quiet it must be, I can see, / With only me for company"...

When he sings "You are free, / And there are no conditions. / No bargains or petitions! / There's nothing that I blame you for. / You've done your duty--nothing more" to Javert.

In my journey to map out the various leitmotifs in the show, this one really flung me for a loop because what does it meannnn?? This is the only time we hear the melody in the show, and it's applied in two very different circumstances, where the relationship Valjean has to the characters involved could not be more opposite. What connects them?? But I think I have it.

It's a reluctant release. Not of the people, but of his own desires regarding them. Let me explain.

Valjean very distinctly wants things from both Cosette and Javert, which he sings about on the rising part of the melody. With Cosette, he wants to be the center of her life: "Were it within my power, I'd fill each passing hour;" on the other hand, he desperately wants Javert to leave him alone. When he has Javert at his mercy, he absolutely does want to trade lives, which is why he sings it on the rising part: "And there are no conditions, no bargains or petitions." He does want these things--but he's letting them go.

And that's where the falling part of the melody comes in. In both situations, Valjean knows he can't have what he wants. So he gives up that desire. He accepts that Cosette wants someone else, and doesn't blame her for it ("How quiet it must be, I can see, with only me for company,"), the same way he accepts the situation between him and Javert ("There's nothing that I blame you for. You've done your duty, nothing more."). That's why immediately afterwards, he tells Javert his address, and why shortly after that, he prays that Marius be brought home to Cosette.

Cosette is his biggest security, and Javert is the biggest threat to his security. But in this little melody, he sets them free (Cosette metaphorically, and Javert literally). He acknowledges what he wants, and accepts that he can't have it, even though it hurts.

And if that ain't the most Jean Valjean thing, I don't know what is.

[sirgawainofgalifrey]

The REAL reason Les Mis is a great book is because it has the duality of you being able to randomly open it to any page and find the most beautiful-soul-crushing-poetic-timeless-eye-opening sentence ever

but also Victor Hugo consciously chose to make every single character is the lamest most socially inept mess and awkward crazy dork you've ever seen and it's great.

[demigodwitchdw]

When Wolverine shows up again, I want him to have an identity crisis about his hero identity, resulting in him singing a song about it, ending with "Who am I? Who am I? I'm Wolverine!"

Deadpool, is, of course, waving a torn up Canadian flag in the corner

[make-friends-with-the-rats]

The Jacobs Family is Jewish full stop.

This is not a headcanon.

Bob Tzudiker and Noni White, the authors of the original newsies script Hard Promises, were very intentional in the naming of their characters. Many, if not all, of the newsie characters they created were named after or inspired by real newsboys from the 1899 strike. The entire project was heavily researched.

"I am a history buff and I also don’t trust secondary sources. After we decided to work on it (Newsies); it came from a single small paragraph in the New York Times we then started checking primary sources." -Noni White [source]

So when the Jacobs family was created, you better believe that their names were meant to be read as Jewish.

The Jacobs surname is Jewish.

"The Hebrew Yaakov and the Biblical Jacob are the sources for the surname Jacobs and its variants.  The Jewish surnames from Yaakov include Yakov, Jacob, Jacoby and Jacobowitz, as well as Jacobs."[source]

David, Sarah, and Esther are likewise all names that are Hebrew in origin. They are also the names of important figures in the Bible or Tanakh.

"The name Mayer is a Jewish Ashkenazic name that was originally derived from the Yiddish male given name Meyer. This personal name was in turn derived from the Hebrew name Meir, which means enlightener." [source]

I could not find anything for Les, likely because 'Les' is a shorted version of his real name.

The Jacobs family is further confirmed to be Jewish in the Newsies novelization:

page 11 of the Newsies novel by Jonathan Fast

The original Hard Promises script adds further confirmation. In the original scene where David buys his papers, Weasel calls David a Jewish racial slur. Later on, as David, Jack, and Les go back to the Jacobses, the script indicates that the Jacobs family lives off of Baker Street (possibly misspelt Baxter Street) in "Jewtown":

Hard Promises (Original Newsies Story)

Additionally, David Moscow (1992 David Jacobs) has a Jewish father [source] and both of Ben Fankhauser's (OBC Davey) parents are Jewish. [source]

The Jacobs family is and always has been Jewish.

On a related note, Esther Jacobs is confirmed to be Polish. This makes the Jacobs children canonically at least half-polish.

Hard Promises (Original Newsies Story)

In researching this, I also found that, In addition to the name Mayer being an Ashkenazic Jewish name, the surname Jacobs "was often given to Jewish people as a surname in Ashkenazi Jewish communities." [source]

Therefore, I think it's safe to say that Mayer Jacobs (and the Jacobs family by extension) is Ashkenazi Jewish in heritage.

Mayer being Ashkenazi Jewish also makes it likely that he too is Polish, as a vast majority of Ashkenazi Jews immigrated to Poland from Germany in the Medieval period. [source]

This would then make the Jacobs some of 2.5 million Ashkenazi Jews who came to the United States from from the Russian Empire (which at the time included Poland), the Kingdom of Romania, and Austria-Hungary between 1880 and 1924 and took up residence on the Lower East Side in Manhattan. [source]

The Jacobs are Jewish.

(If there was ever any doubt.)

___

inspired by this post

[crow-collective]

Being a whore for symbolism the idea that “the cynic and the idealist will be the last to die, and when they do, at the same time, they will be holding hands" (les amis/les mis) makes me want to throw up. The idealist (Enjolras) convinced that he has just killed a group of boys for nothing. The people did not rise and he has failed. Yet the cynic (Grantaire) who had never believed that the revolution would succeed followed the idealist into death anyways. The cynic shows the idealist that he did not fail. The cynic is the idealists hope. The cynic knows they are doomed from the start but he follows the idealist not because he known they will win but they believe it is worth it. The cynics life is worth the idealist dream. They (Enjolras and Grantaire) die united, holding hands because they did not lose. The cynic showed the idealist that the fight was not in vain. He (the cynic) believes and so will others. The idealist showed the cynic that although they were doomed they did not lose. They die with hope, power, and a smile. They die together because without the other they would be nothing. Together they are everything. They are the revolution.

(not proofread at all)

[charbroiledchicken]

arcane season 2 introduction analysis incoming:

does anyone else find it really cool, but also very nerve-wracking, that the season 2 arcane introduction is referencing a bunch of well known tragic plays/musicals? we all know riot/fortiche isn’t one to put unnecessary details in, every single thing is either symbolic, a parallel or foreshadowing - especially in the introductions. so, could these chosen plays/performances foreshadow how the rest of the story could go?

i know that the caitlyn/macbeth poster parallels have been circulating a lot recently, and i think it provides a really good idea into how caitlyn’s arc might go. 

the events of act one positioned caitlyn in a perfect place to follow the storyline of macbeth. her current state (losing her mother, the trauma from jinx, etc) has made her predisposed to violence, much like macbeth. we can clearly see that in the caitvi betrayal scene, when she hits vi in the gut with a rifle, as well as in the fight before that, where she has no qualms with potentially killing innocents for the ‘greater good’. she was also thrust into a position of high power where she will be easily manipulated by ambessa. 

similar to this, macbeth is a story of a man thrust into a high position of power and unable to keep the blood off his hands, and he and his wife eventually go mad because of it. I think ambessa fits the role of lady macbeth here, and she has the potential to goad caitlyn (macbeth) into violent acts and atrocities while keeping the blood and blame off her hands. through caitlyn, ambessa now has significant influence and power over piltover and the fight with zaun. how will caitlyn, who is barely more than a pawn now, cope with this? macbeth slowly went insane in his attempt to maintain power - i fear for how caitlyn will fare. 

macbeth is a tragedy, by the way. 

i haven’t properly analysed the rest, but i think it’s interesting to know that the shot of jinx holding the flag is a reference to les mis (also a tragedy, as SPOILER ALERT all the characters die in their fight for freedom and fairness). the line is literally 'oh the misery'. if jinx rallies zaun to fight against piltover, is she leading them into a massacre?  

les mis is a tragedy. 

the shots of mel and ambessa lounging on the couch is a reference to julius caesar. it is a play of betrayal and caesar is betrayed by one of their companions. et tu, brute? brutus joins a conspiracy to assassinate caesar and prevent him from becoming a tyrant. does ambessa become a tyrant/bloodthirsty leader with her newfound power? will mel join the black rose and betray her mother in order to stop piltover’s destruction?

julius caesar is a tragedy.

one last thing. in all of these works, the main character of the story dies by the end.

so, safe to say, i am very nervous about what the introduction is foreshadowing. i have a feeling an important character is going to die.

arcane will be a tragedy. 

(viktor and the mask is also a reference to phantom of the opera but, as much as i love that musical, i haven’t analysed his shots yet so i haven’t included it)

[zivazivc]

Sorry if this has already been asked before but why did the band break up? And did they break up on decent terms? Do they still talk to each other sometime?

It has been asked before, I just never answered jshfbdjcbh I'm still piecing everything together and stuff is changing or getting tweaked all the time, so I'm always super hesitant about answering these types of questions, afraid that people will take whatever I say as the final answer. So basically what I'm going to answer now will already contradict what I told some people already. And maybe in the future the story might go a little differently too (although I'm pretty satisfied with the current events)

Uhhh, get ready for a long info dump. I didn't expect I'd write this much...

Floyd basically stayed with the band for 8 years (from 14 till 22) and got pretty messed up in the process. The rest of the guys are all quite older than him so I guess I could say they were more responsible, or at least had a better understanding of their own limits (also they grew up in this kind of environment or grew up aware of it, while Floyd was oblivious and naive about all of it) and while they do get drunk and do drugs often, none of them are really dependent on them. They are also pretty good judges of character and know how to avoid trouble. Floyd on the other hand drove in with no breaks and constantly got himself in trouble that the rest (mostly Les) had to drag him out of. He also developed bipolar during this time (in my story Floyd constantly fluctuates between being saturated and being desaturated because of this) and his manic and depressive episodes started getting out of hand after his teenage years. (None of them are aware it's a mental disorder that's making him act so out of character.)

Floyd was becoming miserable because of this and all of his problems pilling up, and started blaming Les for the way he was. Les never argued this which only fueled Floyd to blame him more. In the end he was getting so frustrated and irritable that Floyd constantly tried starting arguments with him, even putting him down and getting aggressive at times because Les gets very unresponsive and closed off during personal conversations (guy is a giant onion of suppressed trauma that Floyd is hellbent on peeling open).

Eventually there was one fight too many, terrible things were said, some objects flew through the air, and Floyd walked out (or Hed kicked him out, I haven't decided yet) with the promise of going home and never seeing them again.

So, yeah, it was very messy and Floyd was the primary asshole, even though he's not really to blame either...

But Floyd didn't make it home (was too scared to sneak through Bergen Town to get to the tree (i don't think i can judge him for that either)) and he just returned to the reckless lifestyle, this time without anyone being there to keep him safe. So if he was messed up before, this is the time period where he got absolutely fucked up. This is also when he got heavily addicted to sour worms. And when he chronically slept around (half the time just to get offered free worms or have somewhere to sleep, other times because he was having manic episodes and was feeling hypersexual). (This is also potentially the period when he had the two eggs with that techno troll, but I'm still thinking if I want that to be canon to the story or not.) During this time he also grew to become very anxious and his self-confidence went to shit when he was being himself.

Then after about three years of that, he bumped into Les at some party. He wanted to dodge him out of shame but Les grabbed his arm and manhandled him outside to talk. Floyd felt like shit about the way they had split up and tried apologizing for all the stuff he had said and done to Les, but Les wasn't having any of that because he wasn't angry at Floyd, he was just worried about him. Les is also insanely empathetic like Floyd, and he knew that Floyd never really meant any of it, and that he was just looking for an outlet when he was hurting. Also he does think he is to blame for the way Floyd ended up.

Les wanted to know why he didn't go home like he had said (because that was the only reason Les had even let him walk out in the first place). A few exchanged words later and Floyd broke down telling him all the awful things he'd done, and Les promised to help him, feeling insanely guilty. Floyd wondered if he was allowed back in the band but Les made it clear that the band wasn't good for him and that he was never taking him back. Instead Les helped him go though rehab. I don't think trolls have those institutions (or at least not many are aware of them or how they work (I'm sorry but I refuse to believe the Trolls world has internet and cellphones, Mountrageons can keep that for themselves lol)), so it was more or less just Les finding Floyd a job and his own place to stay in the middle of bumfuck nowhere where he had no option but to detox, and constantly checking up on him to make sure he was doing okay. During this time they grew pretty close again. Or maybe the better term would be that Les slowly started putting his walls down again.

Hed needed a while to warm up to Floyd again. He's almost as protective of Les as Les is of him, and he resented Floyd for the way he had treated him.

Flea is pretty phlegmatic when it comes to any sort of arguing or drama. He was casual about seeing Floyd again, they were never super close anyway.

And Liv, she left the band when she and Hed broke up (haven't decided if that happened before or after Floyd left), so Floyd didn't get to see her again after bumping into Les at the party. And I haven't thought yet if they'd ever meet again somewhere later in life. But if they did, I think they'd both be happy to see each other.

Anyway...

Floyd managed to detox and successfully kept the job for about a year, but then he became manic again and messed it all up. After that he returned to his nomadic lifestyle, but he never fell as hard as those three years again. In my story Floyd's life is a constant cycle of getting his life together and fucking it up and booking to the next place. And he and Les are trapped in a never-ending cat and mouse game where they're both trying to fix each other.

So, uh, Les and Floyd are still very close and see each other somewhat often...

(sometimes monthly, sometimes yearly)

Yeah...

I am so fucking obsessed with them I'm gonna hurl. Please take this song before I combust:

[starred-demation]

Behold, ze power of ze cockroach!

[latimeria-fell-from-heaven]

oh ym god he's such a boyfailure,,

[tinkerbitch69]

Is it wrong of me to feel just a liiiiiiitle salty about the fact that the x men are everyone’s favourite superheroes again but everyone’s decided to experience collective amnesia about the public perception of the x men in the 2010s during which I stuck with them as my favourite marvel heroes?

Even through the times marvel editorial actively tried to kill off their popularity plus being the only person I knew who got super hyped for dofp/apocalypse/dark phoenix while everyone else was hyped for the latest avengers film. (Also having to eat a big slice of humble pie when dark phoenix turned out to be total shit) Like I know this is incredibly minor and petty and unimportant but still stings a little you know?

[demon4dilfs]

consider this a companion post to my first submission to @valvertweek. after my first post i thought it would be fun to make a playlist. i think i have a good balance of songs with dog/wolf motifs, and also songs about darkness/twilight/night.

for those on mobile (and because i want to share my favorite lyrics) the songs are:

i'm your man - mitski | you're an angel, i'm a dog, or you're a dog and i'm your man

bark like a god - sloppy jane | pray in the name of our fathers and their halos of retriever gold, down boy, down

i wanna be your dog - the stooges | and now i'm ready to feel your hand, and lose my heart on the burning sand. and now i wanna be your dog

little dark age - mgmt | if you get out of bed, come find us heading for the bridge. bring a stone, all the rage, my little dark age

bitches brew - crosses | as you dance against the breathing wall, my claws are out i want to feel it all

dogs - pink floyd | who was born in a house full of pain? who was trained not to spit in the fan? who was told what to do by the man? who broken by trained personnel? who was fitted with collar and chain?

in this twilight - nine inch nails | as the time is running out, let me take away your doubt. we can find a better place in this twilight

mutt - sophie meiers | anything that you want, i will beg like a dog. anything that you want, i am chained like a mutt

de selby (part 2) - hozier | i wanna run so far, i'd beat the morning. before the dawn has come, i'd block the sun if you want it done

hunted down - soundgarden | your narrow escape has wiped the smile right from your face. those starved dogs howling run to hunt you down

oblivion - grimes | i will wait forever, always looking straight. thinking, counting all the hours you wait. see you on a dark night

end of the night - the doors | some are born to sweet delight, some are born to the endless night. end of the night, end of the night

wolf (boy harsher remix) - yeah yeah yeahs & boy harsher | i'm hunted like a wolf, i feed, i feed like a wolf. i'm lost and i'm lonely, i hunger for you only

sleepless - king crimson | in the dream, i fall into the sleepless sea, with a swell of panic and pain. my veins are aching for the distant reef, in the crush of emotional waves

an orphan of fortune - mgmt | lay by me, and we'll erode as gently as we can into twilight

and here's the cover image i made bc i lowkey based this off 98 valvert

[i-dreamed-i-had-a-son]

jon val jon or something

[dragonlordofmiddleearth]

Girl what did Arthur do in the legends

He got Morgana pregnant with baby Mordred

[wakeupandsmellthecarcass]

Les Paul's are so beautiful! A dude from my guitar class brought his Les Paul to class one time and I wanted to touch it so badly. I really had to fight with myself to not do it.

(It looked like the one Chris has in this photo)