#She is my favorite Fantine I think

[pureanonofficial]

LES MIS LETTERS IN ADAPTATION - Result of the Success, LM 1.5.10 (Les Miserables 1967)

“A hundred francs,” thought Fantine. “But in what trade can one earn a hundred sous a day?”

“Come!” said she, “let us sell what is left.”

The unfortunate girl became a woman of the town.

[ineffable-gallimaufry]

in depth analysis of why i didn't like les misérables (1998) under cut. because. i have actually coherent thoughts tbh but also. well it's a lot

section one: a thing that people didn't like (maybe) that i liked but it also leads into an actual issue i had

so, little lead in to this! so you know where valjean is stealing the silverware? happens every time? and then how they switched it up so the bishop walks in and then valjean fucking punches him in the face for no reason? yeah. so i don't have a problem with that. controversial take but yeah. lemme get into that... with... how jean valjean is introduced in the book!

so, there's three scenes we see of jean valjean before we go into his madeline era which show two sides of him namely that he is both a man made cruel by the prison system and a man rejected by society. what we get of jean valjean in the scene where he steals the silver is a first glimpse of the violence and desperation he is living in. mostly we see it in the scene with petit gervais but i digress. my point is, jean valjean in this part of the book is NOT the same as he is when we next see him in m-sur-m. so, what he can be is desperate. when he punches the bishop, that is because he is desperate to steal the silver so he can survive. that makes sense. also, it makes the bishop even better since he's willing to forgive jean valjean even AFTER that.

so. that's not the problem though. the problem is, this is jean valjean from the past! looping back around to petit gervais, this is where he actually gets better. when he meets the bishop, that's when he gets the means to get where he gets, and he is able to have someone believe he can be better. after petit gervais, jean valjean realizes he fucked up! he sees himself as a monster! and then THAT'S where he commits to bettering himself. (pleaseee adapt petit gervais into more things pretty please) but where '98 fucks up is that they don't have valjean grow! he doesn't get better! he's still the same guy! what the hell! he was supposed to improve and grow! and because he doesn't do that, this leads to quite a few problems later on. but that's other points.

section two: the police shit. aka beauvais

you betcha i have a problem with a random character who's name i couldn't even remember!! captain beauvais, in case you forgot, is the captain in m-sur-m and he's more sympathetic to jvj, he lets himself get knocked out after fantine dies (i will get back to the scene i promise) he's not in the book! and he's one of my biggest problems, that being how this movie handles the idea of the police!

here's how the book sees it. javert is a character who is clearly not in the right, but it is made explicitly clear that is BECAUSE he is doing his job. now i don't know if that's what victor hugo intended but the way i've been reading it is that javert is a good cop which makes him a bad person, or rephrased, it's because he is a cog in a fundamentally abusive system that he's our antagonist, not because he's uniquely malicious

in fact, this is basically stated outright in the chapter "Javert Satisfied", through the quotes "Javert, though frightful, had nothing ignoble about him," and "Without himself suspecting the fact, Javert in his formidable happiness was to be pitied, as is every ignorant man who triumphs," we see here that javert is not supposed to be malicious! what he is, evidently, is ignorant!! and where does he get that ignorance?

"Javert had been born in prison, of a fortune-teller, whose husband was in the galleys. As he grew up, he thought that he was outside the pale of society, and he despaired of ever re-entering it. He observed that society unpardoningly excludes two classes of men,—those who attack it and those who guard it; he had no choice except between these two classes; at the same time, he was conscious of an indescribable foundation of rigidity, regularity, and probity, complicated with an inexpressible hatred for the race of bohemians whence he was sprung. He entered the police; he succeeded there."

read that quote again! he was born in a prison (and yes i will get into the prison shit) and that's where the problem is. this upbringing leads him to believe that his only redemption is through policing, leading him to not question the methods and stuff! javert isn't good BUT the reason he isn't good is explicitly connected to the way the police system is broken!

and that leads us to ... captain beauvais! or rather what he represents, the idea that the system isn't the problem, javert is! this movie goes out of its way to portray javert as being particularly bad, something that goes counter to the fact that he is supposed to be an example of how no matter how noble someone believes themselves to be, policing is a fundamentally broken system that merely suppresses those seen as outside the pale of society, rather than treating people as people! the point is that javert is a part of the very same system that threw jean valjean in jail for stealing when he was hungry!

remember how victor hugo said, "So long as there shall exist, by virtue of law and custom, decrees of damnation pronounced by society, artificially creating hells amid the civilization of earth, and adding the element of human fate to divine destiny; so long as the three great problems of the century—the degradation of man through pauperism, the corruption of woman through hunger, the crippling of children through lack of light—are unsolved; so long as social asphyxia is possible in any part of the world;—in other words, and with a still wider significance, so long as ignorance and poverty exist on earth, books of the nature of Les Misérables cannot fail to be of use. "??? remember that???

javert is made out as particularly bad in '98! when they're chasing valjean, he is the one that specifically pushes them so hard the cart crashes! and beauvais is the main problem here because they insert him in as a sympathetic character from the police to juxtapose against javert, making it so that there's no longer an angle that is critical of the systems that are the problem! aka, the whole fucking point!! arghhhh!!!

section three: why tf did jvj beat up javert???

see. okay. while i do think javert deserved it for being a super extra huge asshole in this. and i think he was probably into it, that's not my point. it's not about javert!! it's about jean valjean. let's look at the book again.

so, this is in "authority reasserts its rights" btw. fantine dies, jean valjean threatens javert, talks to fantine and says ... well they don't say, but he gets his closure. and then what he does is, he turns to javert and he says "Now, I am at your disposal." he notably does NOT beat him up. he submits himself to the law! and that's really interesting! because that has implications!

see, because this isn't just a one time thing! jean valjean tries to break out of jail four times and this turns his five years into nineteen, the nineteen years that break him. when he is offered the opportunity to sleep in a bed, all he can remember is how he hasn't slept in a bed for NINETEEN YEARS! this greatly impacts his character going on and they aren't acknowledging it! when he escapes the first time, it's said that, "He wandered for two days in the fields at liberty, if being at liberty is to be hunted, to turn the head every instant, to quake at the slightest noise, to be afraid of everything," and then, when he is put at liberty finally, he is still afraid of conflict on the same level! victor hugo specifically says "Jean Valjean had entered the galleys sobbing and shuddering; he emerged impassive. He had entered in despair; he emerged gloomy." see, he emerges prison with two options, his violent impulses and the passive acceptance of what happens to him, BOTH bad! but as we see in part one, this violence is something that he grows out of! and this leaves one last maladaptive problem, his avoidant tendencies! this is what his response is, avoiding that violence and submitting to authority!

and that's our problem from part one again. he hasn't grown. if jean valjean, at this point, reacts with violence, he hasn't grown! like, and we can see this tendency again and again! when jvj sees the chain gang in... well, "the chain gang" they say, "Jean Valjean’s eyes had assumed a frightful expression. They were no longer eyes; they were those deep and glassy objects which replace the glance in the case of certain wretched men, which seem unconscious of reality, and in which flames the reflection of terrors and of catastrophes. He was not looking at a spectacle, he was seeing a vision. He tried to rise, to flee, to make his escape; he could not move his feet." he is trying to run! when he is confronted with the horror of his past, he wants to run instead of confronting the problem head on! when javert shows up after jvj and cosette arrive in paris, when jean valjean sees javert, it is said, "He recoiled, terrified, petrified, daring neither to breathe, to speak, to remain, nor to flee, staring at the beggar who had dropped his head, which was enveloped in a rag, and no longer appeared to know that he was there," and even when he has javert completely at his mercy, he says, "I do not think that I shall escape from this place. But if, by chance, I do, I live, under the name of Fauchelevent, in the Rue de l’Homme Armé, No. 7."

what does this all mean? jean valjean WOULD NOT beat up javert. that's just a complete failure to understand that during and after his madeline era, he is non-confrontational! i mean, when i said avoidant, that was honestly a misnomer. he doesn't even run. what he does is submit himself to the law. time and time again. when he frees javert, he offers himself up. when he sees anything that threatens him, he freezes! and that's why in this scene, it makes the most sense for him to immediately submit to javert, and the law! whoever wrote this movie SUPER fucked up with jean valjean! and speaking of fucking up with jean valjean...

section four: how the fuck did they screw up cosette so bad‽

do i really need to go into this. over protective mother jean valjean is how he do be, and he does hate marius because he has a weird fucking relationship with cosette but like. let's not get into his weird complexes. because here's the main thing:

HE WOULD NOT FUCKING SLAP COSETTE

let me back this up. "two misfortunes make one piece of good fortune" specifically gives us of valjean, "It sometimes happened that Jean Valjean clasped her tiny red hand, all cracked with chilblains, and kissed it. The poor child, who was used to being beaten, did not know the meaning of this, and ran away in confusion." this is important, because it shows that valjean is explicitly counter to the thénardiers in his parenting! where the thénardiers beat cosette and shit, jean valjean DOES NOT. he is supposed to be gentle. he's not "figuring out what he's doing and super fucking up" he literally helped his sister raise her kids! and he forgot what that was but upon starting to raise cosette, he comes back to this! he loves her so much you guys! and let me bring you another quote, victor hugo tells us of valjean and cosette, "He protected her, and she strengthened him," HE PROTECTED HER! that's the whole g*ddamn point! he's an overprotective mom, he's scared to have his daughter leave him alone again, and he loves her so much he wouldn't become that horrible! and he doesn't!

jean valjean would never hurt cosette, and if you wanted to go in that direction, make that actually hold weight! make him realize that he's hurting cosette by clinging onto her so hard! make him realize that he's in the wrong, and make him more self sacrificial because he feels extremely bad about doing that! i mean, obviously... i don't think it works. but my point is, if you do it, give it weight. make it matter! they didn't do that and they fucked up their relationship in the process. bad movie. don't do that.

section five: uhhh wtf was up with marius

i don't actually have in depth analysis of this. i am done with my in depth thoughts. they just entirely fucked up les amis de l'abc. idk what to say. horrible job. i'm gonna call it a day tbh. it's late. i don't have any like actually interesting things to comment on. hope you enjoy if you did read this since... it's my analysis and i wrote it up and all that

[midnightbears]

✿ tell 'em how the crowds went wild! tell 'em how i hope they shine!

⎯ in which you look back on how grateful you are for the opportunity bestowed upon you. aka: you joined the opla's cast!

#STARRING. iñaki godoy, mackenyu, jacob romero, taz skylar, emily rudd ft. fem!reader [elle fanning 4 faceclaim but u can imagine y/n anyway u wish!].

#TAGS. sfw, kind of context, a bit of smau but its tiny. mentions of covid just in case it's triggering?

#NOTE. pardon my rusty writing but i really wanted to get this out!!! i added an oc from one piece for the sake of the story but she's barely mentioned so uuuh yuh! timeline may be wrong but i work with what i'm given please bear with me. let me know if you would like more fics of this y/n??? ALSO IGNORE THE WATERMARKS ON THE PHOTOS I NEEDED TO MAKE THEM NEATER

© midnightbears on tumblr, apr 2024. please do not repost to another platform, plagiarize, translate, use for AI-related purposes or claim as your own.

In the past, if someone were to come up to you and tell you that you’d be a part of the One Piece Live Action main cast in the future, you would’ve probably laughed in their faces despite your wishful thinking.

At that time, you were content with your work, doing short theatre plays with companies or gaining minor roles in musicals. Everything changed when you landed the role for the one-woman show Fleabag for a limited time on London’s West End after the leading actress underwent emergency surgery for an appendectomy. You only acted as the sex-obsessed mess of a woman for about three weeks, but it was enough time for people to notice you, to really see you.

You believed your career had reached its pinnacle when you were cast as Katherine Howard in Six: The Musical in London. Your name had become somehow well-known in the musical theatre world, and you had a small but dedicated fan base who liked uploading edits of you being a dork during the Megasix on YouTube and TikTok. 

Months later, you were bound to play as Fantine for Les Miserables when COVID abruptly struck, and you were dismayed that your job was ripped from you so abruptly. Your best friend, the sweetest person on earth, insisted on you moving in with her in fear that you’d be evicted from your apartment.

Months passed, and you eventually found a small way to help your friend pay rent by offering singing and acting lessons online to musical-aspiring teenagers. Since you had gained many followers from your earlier work on social media, it didn’t surprise you when the classes became sold out.

Your friend also convinced you to create a YouTube channel for you to upload videos of yourself (sometimes joined by her) where you watched and commented shitty movies, followed DIY tutorials just for the fun of it, performed covers of your favorite songs, and just generally vlogged your life (along with reactions to Taylor Swift’s (From The Vault) songs).

At first, you thought it was pretty stupid, but you were delightfully proved wrong when your videos harbored over 200k-300k views on a bad day, so you found no reason to stop as COVID-19 continued, growing to gain a little over five hundred thousand followers. Your reactions were often used for TikTok audios or clips, so you found your popularity growing and evolving during that year.

You believed yourself to be a general, simple woman. People liked you because you were elegant and levelheaded, although you could sometimes be chaotic. You also had a subtle sense of humor that many found charming. But mostly, you grew a steady fan base because your videos and presence comforted countless young adults and teenagers.

You were an optimist and a reassuring one, so during the times when COVID was so prominent, people sought refuge from the monstrosities of the world in your videos, where you seemed to connect with them even though you were on the other side of the screen.

However, everything changed somewhere in 2020-2021. That evening, your best friend got home from work with excitement practically oozing out of her every pore. You and your best friend were avid anime watchers and manga readers, so you couldn’t help the face you made when she told you that One Piece was getting a live-action.

Although you were skeptical, your friend practically insisted you send an audition tape. You grimaced at that. It was well-known that live anime actions were almost always corny and cringeworthy compared to the original work, and people never liked them. You had learned that much from Death Note and a couple of others. However, your best friend convinced you with this argument:

“If it’s that bad, then at least you’ll gain more followers out of the memes that people will make, and if it’s good, you’ll still get famous anyway!”

Eventually, you sent a video of you performing one of the lengthy monologues from Fleabag to your agency and simply hoped for the best. Your friend was practically rooting for you to get the role of Anastasia, one of the first integrants of the Straw Hat crew, joining before Sanji and after Usopp. You adored her as she greatly reminded you of your late mother, although you would be happy with any role.

Somewhere in November 2021, you remember a lot of screaming and crying. When you try to look back on it, all you remember is the happiness you felt when you received confirmation of the role of Anastasia. You were practically over the moon, and you and your friend celebrated inside your small apartment. You were entirely alone, just two drunk girls dancing and cheering, until one of the neighbors knocked on the ceiling with a broom.

liked by inakigo, emilyrudd and 574,949 others

yourusername actually lost for words and filled to the brim with gratitude...... i cannot express how excited i am to play my girl anastasia and bring her to life. from the bottom of my heart, thank you to everyone who has supported me. your faith in me means everything. congrats to iñaki, emily, jacob, mackenyu and taz, thank you to onepiecenetflix, thank you to my best friend for convincing me to audition for the role, and thank you, oda sensei, for putting anastasia's heart in my hands. love u all <3

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November 10, 2021

y/nsfanclub.02, AAAAAAAA SO EXCITED FOR THIS I ACTUALLY CANT BELIEVE IT

⤷ starl6ighwnb, LIKE FR IM GNAWING AT THE BARS OF MY ENCLOSURE THIS IS INSANE

user8392y3r927y, HELLO YOUR GRACE ANASTASIA

inakigo, Congrats!!!!!!!!

taz_skylar, 🔥🔥🔥

The One Piece fan base dearly loved the character of Anastasia, a well-mannered, bubbly, upbeat, fashion-loving duchess who always spoke in a Transatlantic accent but also had a quick wit and a bit of a sweet tooth. Anastasia’s dream was to become the most dangerous pirate to ever grace the seas and prove everyone who doubted her wrong.

Of course, with a big character came a big responsibility.

Sometimes, insecurity nearly got the better of you. You had to fill huge shoes, and there were many people to convince and impress. However, your love for this project was bigger than the gnawing uncertainty on the back of your neck, so you continued strongly until the end of Season One, finding comfort in your cast mates and the countless people who counted on you and, most importantly, believed in you.

Oda handpicked you, and that argument alone was enough to shoot any insecurities away.

Well, needless to say, people loved you!

Critics acclaimed your portrayal of the character, as well as the commendable chemistry you shared with the rest of the cast. The fans found it incredibly funny that your character was the complete opposite of how you actually acted in real life, and you often found yourself blissfully immersed in the fan base's love and praise.

Your channel and social media suddenly grew tenfold. Although you had stopped uploading videos every week due to the recording of season one, your followers were more than happy to wait for your return, and as one would expect, they were thrilled to have you back once you did upload a vlog explaining everything.

Over the course of the six months, you had been recording from time to time for a YouTube video in the set. Previously, you had asked the producers for permission to record some behind-the-scenes for your channel and your usual interactions with the rest of the cast with your personal Sony camera, as you felt it would be a nice way to bring the fans and the cast closer.

The producers gave the okay on the condition that you would wait until the first season aired on Netflix. You happily agreed and carefully began recording some scenes of your dressers and hairdressers as they prepared you, a few shots of your instructor showing you how you were supposed to use the guns that Anastasia employed... simple things.

Back in the day, you were still getting acquainted with the other cast members, and you didn't want to seem rude by forcibly making them appear on your videos, so you waited for a few weeks until you could properly call yourself companions. Then, you invited them to appear in the videos.

Iñaki, Taz, and Jacob liked to take advantage of the little free time they had between scenes they didn't appear in to innocently steal your camera and use it to their heart's content. One day, you got home only to find the memory card was completely full. It was an extensive video of them walking around the set, with Taz recording while Kiki and Jacob pointed out random stuff to the people who lived inside your camera, as Jacob liked to call them.

Mackenyu, being more reserved and introverted, mostly liked to act as a cameraman for you as you showed the props you used and other things, often making comments or turning the camera around whenever you referred to something.

Meanwhile, Emily had a natural knack for being in front of the camera. Whenever you asked her to join in, she effortlessly slipped into the co-host role, bantering with you and adding her own insights into the behind-the-scenes world of the show.

With the first season out of the way, you took the time to carefully pick what videos you wanted to use in the final tape, and it took you a little over a month and a half to properly edit it and turn it into a wonderful thirty-minute-long behind-the-scenes. You even sent it to the producers and your co-stars in case there was a scene they wanted deleted. Fortunately, they all gave you the okay.

You teased the video a bit on your Instagram before uploading it a few days later, and the support it received was out of this world. It gained over two million views and hundreds of thousands of likes.

You were kind of expecting this. While some BTS had already been uploaded on YouTube, yours was different because you were showing it from your perspective. The fans loved every second of it, and even started asking for a second or third part. You even saw new videos on YouTube of recompilations from your video with the titles being silly things like The One Piece Cast Being Chaotic for Seven Minutes.

At that moment, your life felt so full. You were getting contacted by industries who wanted you to appear on their videos and their stages, thousands of fans who loved you, and a feeling so peculiar that this would be eternal.

liked by taz_skylar, morganlogoff and 1,523,199 others

yourusername missing my wig and my gang hours ☹️

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November 10, 2023

morganlogoff, love love love you💗💗💗

curlikaqy, NO ONE KNOWS I'M YOUR BIGGEST FAN

emilyrudd, GIRL I WANT TO SEE YOU COME BACK TO AMERICA

bookofjacob, missing your camera hours💔

[wanderinghedgehog]

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, I’ve 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 I’m not a Nick Cartell fan. I’m sorry. I just don’t 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 “took my fliiiiiiiiight”

Oh I forgot to mention that all of the house lights hadn’t turned off yet. It was a little weird. They eventually got turned off either before or after Valjean’s Soliloquy.

Speaking of the Soliloquy, I’ve 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 I’m not a fan of.

Also, this version had Petit Gervais. It was weird. And distracting. And disjointed. I didn’t 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 didn’t understand why.

This Fantine was quite good. Like I’m 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 Fantine’s Arrest felt just a little busy, but that’s really a nitpick.

When did they cut part of Fauchelevent’s line in Runaway Cart?

So I really listen for how an actors says the line “forgive me sir I would not dare.” This was fine. Nothing special.

I will say that I liked Nick Cartell’s version of Who Am I.

Fantine’s death was so sad. I prefer versions like this where they don’t have her get out of bed. It’s 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. It’s like the actor just started having fun with it.

This little Cosette was absolutely adorable. I’m 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 I’m 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 it’s good to mention that this version didn’t 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. She’s not lit very well. My eyesight is shit, so I’m trusting my mom when she said that it was impossible to see the actor’s 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 don’t know if I’ve seen before. It looked a little more slanted than usual. It was cool though.

The beginning of Javert’s Intervention got a laugh, so that was good. He really leaned into the drama more than before.

During Javert’s Intervention, I tend to find Thenardier’s 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 “and so it must BE”

Les Amis in this production were fantastic. My mom really liked Red and Black apparently.

This Enjolras had a weird fluttery vibrato that I’m kinda obsessed with.

Kyle Adams’ performance as Grantaire was magical. I don’t 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 don’t 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 hasn’t changed costumes yet. We don’t get to see his disguise til the second act. I kinda like that because, if you don’t recognize him immediately at the barricade, it makes the reveal later kinda fun to watch.

Oops turns out I’ll have to post this in two parts

[aaronstveit]

in the interest of tiding us over till tomorrow's chapter drops, what are your favourite parts of deep end so far (whether it's favourite to write, to reread, or in general)? ^_^

omg thank you sm for asking <3333

grantaire POVs are generally my favorites to write, especially in deep end! because it's enjolras' story i limited myself to 5 grantaire POVs but i really do enjoy them a lot. his style of narration just comes a lot more naturally to me, and i find his brand of unreliable narrator to be very fun!

as for specific scenes:

grantaire and enjolras' conversation while walking back to enjolras' apartment in chapter 4, where grantaire keeps listing words he thinks describe enjolras in an effort to keep enjolras from saying nice things to him

in chapter 7 when enjolras shows up at grantaire's apartment and grantaire is just really hung up on the fact that he didn't put pants on before answering the door

in chapter 8, when enjolras shows up at combeferre's apartment soaking wet and Going Through It

in chapter 9, when marius asks cosette if she would rather be called Euphrasie <3

grantaire's monologue about his sister in chapter 11

enjolras and grantaire listing all the horrible things they've said to each other over the years in chapter 14

the beginning sequence of chapter 15, when nobody knows where enjolras is and grantaire is freaking out

the discussion in chapter 17 about enjolras' doomed grantaire dreams, and the orpheus & eurydice bit

pretty much all of chapter 18, but especially the part where enjolras sees the little boy on the train and cries about it

the triumvirate conversation in chapter 19

and my very very favorite part of the entire fic, the part that everything comes back to for me: when grantaire runs to get the chrysanthemums for fantine's grave in chapter 3. i love the chrysanthemum scene so, so dearly. on the surface it seems to be a fairly straightforward scene but to me there is just... so much happening there.

chapter 20 will contain my second-favorite scene in the entire fic, which i'm very excited to share <3 thank you so much for asking!!

[ferociousconscience]

Fantine: 2, 3, 7, and 8.

All for Fantine!

2. Favorite canon thing about this character?

I love that even after her death, she lingers on in the story as a always-present but rarely-ever-seen ghost, especially in Cosette and Valjean's life. It's very haunting and very touch, in a way. Hugo has really good writing when it comes to death and rebirth, and Fantine's story does exemplify that.

3. Least favorite canon thing about this character?

I mean, I feel the natural answer to this is what happens to her. It's tragic to watch happen, to see her sink into poverty when she's trying to make a better life for herself, and how badly the Thenardiers milk her for all she has. It's deeply sad to think of how badly fate has thrown her around and takes advantage of her not knowing any better. She makes a lot of mistakes, as Hugo himself points out, but. Still. It's not fun to watch her metaphorically fall down the stairs and hit every step along the way.

7. What's something the fandom does when it comes to this character that you like?

I do genuinely think the fandom handles her prostitution with a lot of respect for her and I appreciate it. It's very clearly something she doesn't like doing, (and given her own choice wouldn't do it at all), and the fandom seems universally careful about it. However…

8. What's something the fandom does when it comes to this character that you despise?

Again, despise is a really strong word. It's less so much what I despise and what I personally find I don't agree with in terms of character analysis. Everyone's going to have their own view of a certain character and I can't despise that, especially not of my fellows who love the same book as me.

With that out of the way, I do have to say that I don't like that the fandom erases Fantine's sassy side, her snark. I think a lot of people associate it with her prostitution and therefore try to avoid it, at the cost of a big chunk of her characterization. Without her sort of blind and trusting spunk, I feel like she gets reduced to a generic "mother" character a lot, which I feel is a disservice to her. This is also a consequence of the musical smoothing down everyone's characters, but that's another conversation entirely…

[justgayrevolutionnaries]

Hello guys guess what I (finally) saw Les Mis on the west end today so I need somewhere to rant about it bear with me here

(under the cut because 1- spoilers and 2- I have no idea how long this is going to be)

First of all just a small disclaimer : I am not in any part of this trying to be like "A was better than B in this role " or whatever it's just me being happy I got to see this show :)

Just hearing the opening live for the first time was amazing. Same goes for the whole show obv but this opening is the best

Also I did not know there were changing backgrounds this was so cool I really liked them

And the whole stage was super impressive I didn't expect everything to be that big it was amazing

Valjean was so good ??? I really liked his acting and his voice is actually incredible. Especially for Bring him home, I think it was one of my favorite versions of this song he has a really intense voice

Javert was incredible as well- I believe it was Stewart Clarke ? Point is he was a very good Javert I love him in this role

Anyway both of them have amazing voices so the Confrontation was very intense (or maybe it's just because it was the first time I saw it live ig)

Moving on but um. Lucie jones ??? Fantine ??? Like ma'am. Please. Your voice.

Literally I dreamed a dream ? So good. Made me tear up. If I am being honest I never cared for this song a lot but I can't even begin to explain how much I loved it here

Anyway she was definitely one of my favorite highlights of the show like yes queen

Also the factory scene was pretty great because I could finally know what was being said in the background- shoutout to whoever says "you bitch" to Fantine because I was not ready for that and the delivery was perfect

MADAME THÉNARDIER WAS AMAZING THANK YOU

Just- her mocking Cosette and her husband, the way she screams "COSETTE" when Thénardier messes up the name... Everything about her was so enjoyable I loved her

+ gotta love Thenardier just for the way he was sleeping and his head shot up when Valjean mentionned money for the first time

Also for being so funny in that moment after look down when Javert just comes to arrest them and he does his whole "may I go" act and then goes back to the policeman previously holding him and places the baton back on his neck I loved that for him

Anyway moving on to my favorite characters ever- tho actually I wasn't expecting to enjoy the beginning of the show that much but hey I did

Okay so Marius right ? If I'm being honest I had doubts about him, mostly because Ropert tripolino looked so much like a grantaire to me so I had a hard time picturing him as Marius but he was great

Very good at playing the part of the lovedstruck dumbass. Which is all it takes for me to like a Marius actually

No but also I loved his voice, maybe a bit shaky but it didn't strike me and I think it fit marius's character well so + it mixes really well with those of both Cosette and Eponine so that was cool, tho sometimes he was a bit drowned out by both of their voices but still.

The Gavroche actor was incredibly cute and funny I loved him so much- his mimicking javert was everything he is the best and must be protected at all cost

I'm doing this in no specific order so might come back to other things but I have said it before and will say it again... I don't like that little dance in one day more. It just kind of kills the vibe in my opinion because I find the dance rather funny but yeah

Anyway just because I have been dying to talk about him and he's all I've been thinking about for the past hours- shoutout to whoever was playing Grantaire. Like really. It was a cover so not sure who it was since I failed to look at the cast list (I wanna say ollie wray but I might be wrong) but oh my god. Sir. He ate it.

Everything about him was so great- I'll come back to him later just to pretend I'm keeping an order here (spoiler : I am not) but his part in Red and Black was incredibly funny it was just grantaire messing around and annoying Enjolras and I love that for him

Talking about Enjolras he was really good actually. I always have a moment of confusion when I see a brunette Enjolras just because I am not used to it but once I could actually focus on him he was very enjoyable

HAVE I TALKED ABOUT EPONINE YET BECAUSE I WANT TO TALK ABOUT EPONINE

She is. Really bitter I want to say. Like my brain isn't braining rn so I don't have words but she was rather sarcastic in a sad way. If that even makes sense. Anyway this attitude was great I loved everything about her

The whole part with Marius asking her for Cosette's adress just showed this and I really liked their dynamic it was exactly how I always imagined them to interact. Like Eponine obviously not being excited by this and Marius just blatantly missing every single cue

Point is I loved both of them

Okay just before I move on to the barricade's part which is all I wanna talk about, I am in love with this Cosette. That's it that's the post but lulu-mae has a beautiful voice, which again mixes really well with that of marius

Oh and also Marius trying to find a way to climb over the fence will never not be funny he's such an idiot I love him

Cue Eponine basically having to protect him while dealing with her own existential crisis- queen

ANYWAY

Actually moving on because this is getting long and I suck at ordering those notes but still

Firstly. Eponine singing On my own. I am actually not okay. She has such an amazing voice oml ??? 10/10 song I love her so much she made me tear up it was the best thing ever

So the barricade scenes

This is actually mostly me ranting about Grantaire and Gavroche because I literally missed a solid part of the barricade moment due to focusing on them

In my defense they were incredibly cute okay ? It's just the way Grantaire looks out for Gavroche and cares for him

And I love them so much I swear

Just two things before I just go on a full rant about them

1- A little fall of rain ?? Just Nathania Ong slaying all over again this was the saddest thing I heard her voice is just the best here

On the over hand this was one of the moment when Roberts voice seemed very much drowned out by hers but. She still carried the song. So it was very cool.

2- drink with me was so sad as well. Mostly because of grantaire. Again. Also I think it's always sad but seeing it live just made it worse- anyway it's just the way grantaire comes to feuilly's face to sing his verse. The way enjolras hugs him very tight when he's done. The way grantaire just pushes him away angrily and goes to stand in a corner. I am actually not okay about this

Also when Grantaire goes stand in a corner Gavroche comes to hug him from behind and he turns around to hug him back and that's basically where I lost it. Everyone was hugging all around but I was just looking at them because they were so cute okay bye

Sidenote but I still don't understand why the musical made Courfeyrac so angry and agressive- like the whole thing with Javert is kinda weird to me ? "Kill the bastard" is a good moment still just his cheering thing or whatever when valjean comes back- I am sorry but Courfeyrac would not do that like ever

Okay I already talked about bring him home and it slayed so yup

And anyway after this point I basically stopped looking at the barricade because I was just watching grantaire and gav so bear with me

During the attack grantaire just seats on a bench and does absolutely nothing. Just stares hopelessly into the void.

But after that there is the whole thing with ammunition and Gavroche volunteering

And okay first of all I really liked how everyone just zooms toward the barricade like Gavroche no- except then Gavroche is on the other side of the barricade right ? And nobody is moving. And you just have grantaire who gets up and starts walking slowly toward the barricade and it's absolutely agonizing

And after that Gavroche throws some ammunition to the guys and there is a short moment of victory- and then he gets shot and everything goes down from there

Enjolras gives his body to grantaire who is just below saying nothing. And it's utterly devastating.

Anyway after that Grantaire just kneels in a corner next to Gavroche's body

But when Marius gets shot him and Enjolras hug over marius's body and that was so sad

When Enjolras gets shot Grantaire just rushes on top of the barricade and starts screaming at the soldiers. And gets shot as well. And I did not know this happened I did not know Grantaire died after Enjolras I was not ready for this moment it destroyed me in so many ways

Anyway after that I basically zoned out because of what had just happened but what I can say is uh

I still don't like how javert's suicide is staged like it just looked to me like he was running backwards and the background was moving so. Yeah

Empty chairs at empty tables was- not the best. I liked the actor for all other moments but I just felt like his voice was kind of weak in this song ? It just didn't move me the way it usually does idk

Tho I still like how the women just laid candles down on the floor and then les amis arrive and pick them up

The Thénardier slaying again at the wedding <33

"I should have married your sister" always a highlight of the show actually

THE FINALE WAS SO GOOD

Lucie Jones again like love the voice love everything thank you queen

And just that moments when everything stops before the final "tomorrow comes" yeah that was that

Okay that's it that's the post if you read it down to here you're crazy and I love you

But still big shoutout to Fantine Eponine and Grantaire because those three really were the best parts of the show for me

[psalm22-6]

Did you know that the "V" in "Eugene V. Debs" stands for Victor? Yes, the parents of political activist Eugene Debs named him after Eugene Sue and Victor Hugo. Les Miserables was apparently his father's bible and it became Eugene's favorite book, which he read over and over again.

The character of Fantine (whom he calls "the greatest character in fiction") inspired him to write the following article, "Fantine In Our Day," in 1916. It was originally published in the International Socialist Review (I came across it in the Brisbane Worker.) In it, Debs examines sex work through the framework of worker's rights and the exploitative nature of labor under capitalism. Some of his arguments are rooted in misogyny, to be sure, but I was surprised by how much the article holds up (in my opinion) and in any case, it's an interesting historical document.

Read it yourself beneath the cut.

Fantine in Our Day by Eugene V Debs The reader of "Les Miserables" can never forget the ill-starred Fantine, the mournful heroine of Hugo's immortal classic. The very name of Fantine, the gay, guileless, trusting girl, the innocent, betrayed, self-immolating young mother, the despoiled, bedraggled, haunted and holy martyr to motherhood, to the infinite love of her child touches to tears and haunts the memory like a melancholy dream.

Jean Valjean, noblest of heroes, was possible only because of Fantine, sublimest of martyrs.

Fantine—child of poverty and starvation—the ruined girl, the abandoned mother, the hounded prostitute, remained to the very hour of her tragic death chaste as a virgin, spotless as a saint in the holy sanctuary of her own pure and undefiled soul. It was of such as Fantine that Heine wrote: "I have seen women on whose cheeks red vice was painted and in whose hearts dwelt heavenly purity."

The brief, bitter, blasted life of Fantine epitomizes the ghastly story of the persecuted, perishing Fantines of modern society in every land in Christendom. Everywhere they are branded as "prostitutes" and shunned as lepers. Never was the woman born who could sink low enough even in the upper class to be called a "prostitute," and the man who calls a woman by that hideous epithet bears it upon his own forehead.

Why are the Fantines of our day charged with having "gone wrong" and with being "fallen women"? Not one in all the numberless ranks of these sisters of ours who are so despised by the soulless society of which they are the offspring has "gone" wrong and not one has "fallen" to her present debased and unhappy state. If there is on earth a woman who has "fallen" in the sense usually applied to women who mortgage their honor in the battle for bread I have yet to see or hear of her.

There are certain powerful social forces which in the present order of things make for what is known as "prostitution," but it is to be noted that there are no "prostitutes" in the upper classes of society. The women in the higher strata may be sexually as unchaste as they will, they are never "prostitutes." The well-to-do woman, not driven by these forces to sell her body to feed her child, may yet fall into the grossest sexual immorality through sheer idleness and ennui, but she has got "gone wrong"—no one thinks of her as a "fallen women," or dreams of branding her as a "prostitute," and unless she is flagrantly indiscreet in the distribution of her favors her social standing is not materially affected by her moral lapses.

But let a poor shop-girl, a seamstress or domestic servant—in a word, a working girl—commit some slight indiscretion, and that hour her doom is sealed, and she might as well present herself at once to the public authorities and have the scarlet letter seared into her forehead with a branding iron. She may be pure and innocent as a child but the "benefit of the doubt" never fails to condemn her. She has "gone wrong," is now a "fallen woman," and the word "prostitute," coined exclusively for her, now designates the low estate which is to be her lot the rest of her life.

A rich woman may sink as low as she can—and a woman can sink very low in the moral and spiritual scale without necessarily indulging her carnal appetites—she is never a "prostitute." She does not sell herself from necessity but indulges herself from desire and therefore is not a "prostitute."

"Prostitution" as generally understood has economic as well as moral and sexual significance and application. "Prostitution" is confined to the "lower class" and hears a direct and intimate relation to the exploitation of the "upper class."

The Fantines of modern society, the "prostitutes", of the present day are wholly of the working class; the segregated area is populated entirely by these unfortunate sisters of ours, and the blasted life and crucified soul of every mother's daughter of them pleads in mute agony for the overthrow of the brutal, blighting, bartering system which has robbed them of their womanhood, shorn them of every virtue, reduced them to the degraded level of merchandise and finally turned them into sirens of retribution to avenge their dishonour and shame.

As these lines are being written the report of the Vice Commission of the State of Maryland appears in the press dispatches to inform the public that investigation of vice recently concluded in the great cities of that state discloses the fact—not at all new or startling to some of us at least—that many of the girls who "go" wrong and recruit the ranks of the "fallen" women have been seduced and ruined by their employers; bosses, and other stripes of "superior" of one kind or another, AS A CONDITION OF THEIR EMPLOYMENT. Countless others, cheated of their childhood, pursued from birth by poverty, were doomed before their baby-eyes opened upon a world in which it is a crime to be born, a crime punishable by cruel torture, by starvation of body and soul, and by being cast for life into a den of filth to glut the lust of its beastly keepers.

The innumerable Fantines of our day, found lurking like scarlet spectres in the shadows wherever capitalism easts its withering blight of exploitation, are typified in the child of the garret described by Hugo, the child of slum and street: "There was in her whole person the stupor of a life ended but never commenced." It is these deflowered daughters of poverty, robbed and degraded, that are forever "dropping fragments of their life upon the public highway."

The story, inexpressibly pathetic, is a commonplace. It has been repeated a thousand times in every tongue. Here it is again as told by a writer of today: "She has been fatherless. She has gone hungry. She has known bitter cold, shame, rags, scorn, neglect, want in all forms. She has needed dolls, flowers, play, songs, brightness, sympathy, care, love and has been given the stone of hard |abor instead. Of all the blessings to to which childhood is entitled this child has been robbed. In the brief life of this child there is pathos, endurance, long-deferred hope, experience that scars, denial, self-pity, hunger of the spirit, STARVATION OF A CHILD'S SOUL FOR LOVE, HOME, HOPE, HELP.

Fantine is the greatest character in fiction and the highest type of social martyrdom. The face of Fantine, in which we behold "the horror of the old in the countenance of a child," is the mirror which reflects society's sin and shame.

The Fantines have been raped of their virtue, robbed of their womanhood, dishonored, branded, excluded; the ignorance of childhood is with them still, but not its innocence; they have been shamelessly prostituted, but they are not prostitutes. They are girls, women who have walked the path of thorn and briers with bare agony and bleeding feet; who know the way of agony and tears, and who move in melancholy procession as capitalist society's offering to nameless and dishonored graves.

The very flower of womanhood is crushed in capitalism's mills of prostitution. The girls who yield are the tender, trusting, loving ones, the sympathetic and unsuspecting, who would make the truest of wives and the noblest of mothers. It is not the hard, cold, selfish and suspicious natures that surrender to the insidious forces of prostitution, but the very opposite and thus is the motherhood of the race dwarfed and deformed and denied its expression.

The system which condemns men to slavery, women to prostitution, children to poverty and ignorance, and all to hopeless, barren, joyless lives must be uprooted and destroyed before men may know the meaning of morality, walk the highlands of humanity, and breathe the vitalizing air of freedom and fellowship.

[clairelsonao3]

Top 10 Character Essence

It's tag game time again!

@tabswrites and @hollyannewrites challenged (and I do mean challenged) me to name my top ten characters "decided by their essence or meaning to you."

  A challenge to give your Top 10 favourite characters, based on their ESSENCE. They have to be favourite characters that also have a deeper literary value, where you enjoy their specific role in the story, and this means that the list also should exclude characters that would normally count as favourites if for purely nostalgic reasons. They can be from film, tv, or written media, anything.

Thank you! I hope I fulfilled the challenge the way it was meant to be fulfilled!

Although TBH, I can't believe I'm even attempting to tackle this. I have to choose only 10? I think it goes without saying this list is not exhaustive, nor does it represent all of my favorite books/movies/media. I really did try to capture the question by focusing on "essence and meaning" (including how they've influenced my own writing and not just "random characters I like." I also have to attempt not to write an essay for each because we don't want to be here all night.

Charlotte Doyle (The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi) Rich girl in the early 1800s gets on a ship with a mutinous crew and an evil captain, joins the crew, defeats the captain using only her wits, miraculously makes it home, AND THEN DECIDES TO GO BACK TO SEA AND BECOME A SAILOR. I read this all in one sitting one night when I was about 15 (after avoiding it because I thought it looked boring) and then literally decided to reshape my entire life based on it (I'm not kidding). Yes, I actually took up sailing. Also, there's a hot sailor that she obviously has chemistry with but it's left unresolved, and no one has ever written a future fic about it to my knowledge, and that's a CRIME. So yeah, step right up.

John Bender (The Breakfast Club) He's not just the original '80s bad boy with a Dark and Troubled Past, but what most people forget about him is that he's also hilarious. It's a rare combination. Honorary mention to his love interest, Claire, and not just because of her name.

Fantine (Les Miserables by Victor Hugo) - Mostly the book version of her, though she obviously has a showstopping number in the musical as well. She was the sad, angsty character I needed during the most sad, angsty period of my life. She was a poor, lonely urchin who found fleeting love and happiness in the spring, got abandoned and pregnant in the winter -- and it only got worse from there. Also, apropos of nothing, at one point, I wrote a short story featuring a dog by the same name -- who, um, died.

The Artful Dodger/Dodger (Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens/Oliver & Company) - I'm including both the human version and the dog version of this character because I love them both (though I actually prefer the Disney movie, lol). They're both thieves with devil-may-care attitudes, with soft spots for those more vulnerable than themselves. Plus, the dog version is Billy Joel, wears sunglasses, and plays piano with his tail, which -- I don't care what anyone says -- will never not be cool.

Satine (Moulin Rouge) - She was the beautiful, sparkling, singing, dancing tragic sex goddess I so badly wanted to be. So much so that as recently as five years ago when I reluctantly dressed up for a Halloween party, I chose her silver-dress-and-top-hat ensemble.

Rick Blaine (Casablanca) The most endlessly quotable character from one of the most endlessly quotable and romantic movies of all time. He sticks his neck out for no one. Except, oops, wait, he does. The OG Hollywood antihero with a Dark and Troubled -- whatever, you know the drill. Plus, he's also my dad's favorite character in his favorite movie (and I discovered it because of him), and so this pick has sentimental meaning for me.

Leah Price (The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver) - When we read this book in high school, she was the least popular character, probably due to her unwavering love and support for her dad, even though he was a singular-focused religious zealot who destroyed his entire family by dragging them into the African jungle in an ill-thought-out missionary trip. And then she married a guy with some of the same qualities (but he was better, thankfully). But for whatever weird reason, I related to her most. Anyway, for class, I wrote and tried to perform a monologue where I played her but forgot 90 percent of my lines. Oh well.

Mary Lennox (The Secret Garden by France Hodgson Burnett, I found the movie version fairly meh) There were a lot of spunky, iconic childhood book heroines to choose from, but she was Mary, Mary Quite Contrary, and so I choose her. (I got told to "smile" a lot as a kid). Also, as I mentioned in a previous post, I was a Mary/Dickon shipper before I even knew what shipping meant.

Neal Caffrey (White Collar) - Does anyone remember this show? I have no attention span for TV, and this is probably the last scripted show I remember watching every episode of during its original run, which is saying something. Everything I know about being a con artist (in fiction, lol) I learned from this charming, charismatic art-forger-turned-FBI-consultant. I think he also has the honor of being the subject of the first actual fanfic I ever wrote.

Iris Chase Griffin (The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood) I also had to pick one character of my favorite author, so Iris gets the crown. She starts off the story as an old lady looking back to when she was forced to marry some rich asshole instead of the science fiction writer (with a past that was -- wait for it -- Dark and Troubled) who BOTH she and her sister loved, and meanwhile, her sister became a writer and when she died it was discovered that -- oh, just read the goddamn book, I won't spoil it for you here.

Honorable mentions, in no particular order:

Violet Westing (The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin)

Jack Kelly (Newsies the movie, NOT the stage musical)

Turonga Leela (Futurama)

Vicky Austin (The Austins by Madeleine L'Engle)

Jack Dawson and Rose Dewitt-Bukater (Titanic) I can't decide between them, so they're getting an HM.

Palaestrio and Milphidippa (Miles Gloriosus by Plautus) Same as above.

Michael Furey (The Dead by James Joyce) Who is, in fact, dead throughout the story -- but being alive wasn't one of the requirements.

I wish I could include a Star Wars character, but could never decide, so let's say, oh, all of them, except that one you hate.

In case the following people want to do what I did and spend several WEEKS on this fascinating but life-ruining (in a good way) tag game: @mysticstarlightduck @enne-uni @kixngiggles @obviousknife + OPEN TAG because you don't even have to be a writer for this one, so I'd be interested in hearing from anybody who wants to chime in!

[princesssarisa]

Character ask: Violetta (La Traviata)

Favorite thing about them: Her selfless nobility of spirit, her unconditional love, and her character arc as she initially seems like a sparkling, cynical party girl, but then reveals her inner vulnerability and her true capacity for feeling and for goodness. On a meta level, there's also the fact that she's a fully humanized, sympathetic sex worker heroine, whose story shames bourgeois morality for its prejudice against the likes of her.

Least favorite thing about them: That she has to suffer so much.

Three things I have in common with them:

*I'm emotionally sensitive.

*I sometimes feel afraid to love and be loved because I'm afraid of being hurt.

*I like camellias (they're always in bloom at my birthday).

Three things I don’t have in common with them:

*I'm not a sex worker.

*I have family still living.

*I don't have tuberculosis.

Favorite line: The full text of "Ah, fors'é lui... Sempre libera."

brOTP: Her maid Annina, Dr. Grenvil, to an extent Flora Bervoix (though that seems to be a shallower friendship), and by the end, Giorgio Germont.

In crossover-land, I might like her to befriend some other "fallen woman" characters who have things in common with her, like Mimí in La Bohéme, both Fantine and Éponine in Les Misérables, or Satine in Moulin Rouge! (although meeting her would be more-or-less like looking in a mirror).

OTP: For what makes her happy, I'll say Alfredo. But it's hard to fully ship her with him after the money scene, much like in Much Ado About Nothing it's hard to ship Hero and Claudio after the wedding scene. Above all, I ship her with health, self-esteem, and happiness.

nOTP: Giorgio Germont or Baron Douphol.

Random Headcanon: Her backstory is the same as that of her real-life inspiration, Marie Duplessis. She was born to a poor family in Normandy; her mother either died or left when she was a child, and her father was an abusive alcoholic who sold her to "benefactors" as soon as she hit puberty. She travelled to Paris at age fifteen and worked as a seamstress at first, but then her beauty was "discovered" by wealthy men, and at age sixteen she became a courtesan. All of this shaped her into the person we meet in Act I, who doesn't dare to love and thinks a life of shallow pleasures is all that's left for her.

Unpopular Opinion: I don't see her as much older than Alfredo, or as nearing the end of her glory days as a courtesan due to age rather than just her illness. The libretto repeatedly describes her as "young," and Marie Duplessis was only twenty-three when she died and was the same age as Alexandre Dumas fils. Part of the real tragedy of her life was that she became a "fallen woman" before she was really a woman at all – why shouldn't the same be true for Violetta? Of course the role should ideally be sung by a soprano at least thirty, since few younger singers can meet the vocal demands, but the same is true for teenage heroines like Gilda in Rigoletto or Madame Butterfly! It says nothing about the character's age.

Song I associate with them:

"Ah, fors'é lui... Sempre libera"

"Addio del passato"

Favorite picture of them:

Maria Callas

Anna Moffo

Teresa Stratas

Aylin Perez

Nadine Sierra

Irina Lungu

Lauren Fagen

[vickyvicarious]

I am waiting for the new voicemail from my friend Jonathan while reading Les Miserables what's your impression and favorite characters so far?

I'm so sorry, this ask came in May 23... But hey, at least events have swung back around to the point when we are waiting for another Jonathan voicemail! (and wondering... will we ever hear from our good friend again, or did he not survive the climb/vampires/wolves/etc.?) So, at least it's still kinda topical!

I read Les Mis once before, back when I was twelve or thirteen, I'd say? So I'm going into this with a basic idea of the plot, but most of it has been fun re-discovering and I'm really only remembering moments as we get to them at best. I think one thing I'm noticing especially is how well Hugo writes this certain type of punchy line. I keep noticing it. He builds up a longer scene, paragraphs or sometimes even into chapters long, and then crystallizes an idea with a very short sentence that carries a strong emotional weight to it. Often this undercuts whatever was being said before, or at least provides a new perspective that changes how you view it. I could try and dig up a couple examples, but I'm sure you know what I mean, it has been happening a lot!

As far as the actual story goes, it's once again really engaging and interesting, but so far at least in a way where I don't typically feel a huge need or ability to verbalize my interpretations so much? I've really been enjoying reading others but I just haven't done too much myself. Part of that is because I'm so hazy on a lot of the story while others aren't and part is most of my meta brain being caught up in Dracula at the moment and part is probably even it coming in daily without any breaks but also I'm just... I dunno, enjoying the ride more quietly I guess.

That said, I absolutely love Jean Valjean, and Fantine, and while I don't feel like I really know teenage Cosette yet I want to make sure she's safe and have so much love for her as a child that it carries over. I noticed a lot more details about Javert that really inform his character and actions (his own criminal family background, the layers of power in his relationship with Valjean when he was mayor and after, etc.) that I definitely missed age 12, which make him way more interesting to me. In contrast Marius is honestly not super interesting to me? I definitely felt awful for him learning about his father (and for his father of course) but so far it's probably the least emotionally engaging part of the book for me. I guess Waterloo was at times a little more of a slog since there weren't characters in the vast majority of that section who we knew personally, but otherwise, eh. So far all the younger characters haven't fully made their impact, to be honest.

[thegreatgaygay]

Roxy's IRL Friends and Their Les Mis Experiences

right so the context is that i have been hyperfixated on les mis for two months and am insufferable and talk about it all the time with my friends, including my really specific in-jokes with myself (javert's 46 upsetting hats that he makes himself, javer'ts hat being huge/trying to eat him, a lot of hat related stuff actually, at this point it's just to make myself laugh), all the seperate canons i maintain (1-2rp canons, 3-5 fic canons, the one where javert personally knows and really hates shadow the hedgehog) and weird fandom bullshit (the one time i saw a piece of fan art that just absolutely snatched montparnasse's waist. good art btw. but just. he was so snatched and it stuck with me). and they just put up with it. so here's the post.

i have this one friend and she saw les mis on the west end in 2017 and remembers almost none of it but the things she DOES remember include: "two different blonde ladies" and at first i was like there are only three women in this show so it narrows it down but it took some prying to discover that these were, in fact, fantine and cosette.

master of the house is only song she recalls. the only song. out of all of the songs. (it objectively slaps but yall know how i feel about stars and she does too, she's read my stars essay). she said that "those guys [the thenardiers] got another song later on for no reason" which like is technically true i guess.

also, according her, "a guy died on a barricade". yes bestie many guys died on a barricade that's like half the fucking story

and she also got a nosebleed halfway through and spend half the show with her head tilted up so she wouldn't bleed everywhere so she didn't see anything. after she told me about this i explained the full plot of Les Miserables (1978) to her because i a, autistic.

but that's it that's all she remembers from the musical. she also insisted on pronouncing javert JAV-ERT for a month just to piss me off. including while i was dressed as him for halloween. i also have a running joke of people mis pronouncing his name but it used to specifically really get to me for some reason. but like i said my friends put up with so much bullshit from me and i get to hear about fallout 4 and sonic in return, neurodivergent people are so powerful.

my OTHER friend knows the plot of les mis and the songs well enough to torment me still further. he has invented a character named Maurice who does not exist at all ever and he brings Maurice up everytime I bring up les mis at the dinner table (which is often, some would say every single day with few excpetions). he says that his "favorite part of les mis is when maurice goes in the sewer and says 'it's mauricin' time' then her maurices all over the sewer" because we decided that's where maurice lives. i hate my friends so much. love those guys.

my OTHER OTHER friend who i know irl and talk to online said to me recently that they "forgot javert wasn't a real guy" which is hilarious and also reminds me that this person has never listened to les mis or consumed any les mis related media and must have such a fucked up idea of the plot at this point oh my god. they have seen all my memes and all my weird fic stuff but just...they do not know the plot. i wonder what they think happens in les mis???????????

and furthermore, some of my friends and i have discovered that like five of us all have special interests/hyperfixations set in France or that are France related in some way, so i have made a handy graph to hekp us keep track. it's not perfect but i love graphs so much. this is what i get for meeting every single one of my friends at the special move-in day for disability services or at special ed high school. only one of us is straight and only one of us is neurotypical, but it's the same guy and we like him anyways. here's the graph, with names removed but anyways the point is i love my friends but we're all terrible autism people. i'm The Crusades, FORMERLY Hamilton and Les Miserables, if you couldn't guess.

[ineffable-gallimaufry]

characters in les mis (musical) ranked on how good their introductions were:

jean valjean: 9/10 he actually says his name and like . conveniently gives us his backstory while talking to javert which was nice

javert: 10/10 literally says his name and then says "do not forget my name" so forcefully i managed to not forget his name immediately so that was good

the bishop: 5/10 solid but not enough context. could've used a whole five minute song about only him beforehand tbh (kidding i swear)

fantine: 9/10 she does have people say her name which is good, she doesn't say it directly but like she does fill in her situation well. also i would feel bad for giving her a low score since her intro is literally her having a horrible time

bamatabois: 3/10 he never says his name and he's a huge asshole . only gets a three because it conveyed his character well + javert was there. but he also gets a three because i hate him

fauchelevent: 10/10 because. it's the runaway cart man . best song in les mis. also they do say his name so it works

cosette: 10/10 her name is said over and over again before she's even onstage + her introduction really shows the bleakness of the situation she lives in with the thénardiers

mme thénardier: 8/10 she doesn't say her name but it is a good introduction nonetheless . 8/10 instead of 9/10 because it isn't like. my favorite favorite but it is good

eponine: 6/10 controversial but sorry. i feel like they introduce us to eponine as kind of a brat (with her name which is nice) and even maybe as helping her mother directly to hurt cosette whereas we don't get a good enough reintroduction to her character in act two that gives us a better idea of her character as someone who's arguably just as hurt by the thénardiers as cosette. it's still okay though

m thénardier: 10/10 they say his name and then immediately he gets master of the house? it's a good introduction to the fact he's a big old thief and it's also kind of a bop. no notes

gavroche: 10/10 his name is in his first line. and it gives you a very good impression of him. i don't have any notes alright . i mean they kinda give the impression he's not related to thénardier but i can't fault them for not including that since it's not a HUGE plot point

enjolras: 2/10 i genuinely do not think anyone ever adresses this guy by name. i only remembered he was supposed to be there after i watched the play and then had to hunt down the actor's name in my playbill so i could see if i remembered him. like he just felt like another member of les amis tbh. two points because at least he's still characterized well

marius: 5/10 we hear his name from enjolras and because we get no context for his life before this point he feels so damn uninteresting... like all we get is the "ooh marius is in looove" without ANY context of his life outside of that. literally just there to fall in love with cosette and it shows

les amis de l'abc: 4/10 i am grouping them together because they literally get NO distinguishing qualities from each other in their introductions. grantaire making fun of someone is alright for things grantaire would do but like. can we not give that to courfeyrac?? why are all of them such non characters in this introduction?? like at least we get a few name drops from enjolras but i am just not really a fan. courfeyrac should be in here more since marius lives with him but i guess that doesn't matter because marius had his whole backstory surgically removed to make room for the brick to not be a million year long play. whatever. probably why lesgle gets nothing either despite the fact he introduced marius to les amis. didn't know this got on my nerves so much

patron-minette: 5/10 i mean. it's AN introduction but also to be fair i can't get mad too much since they're not major characters+ they are kinda interchangeable in the end. only montparnasse got a name drop but they did also keep my favorite eponine moment largely intact so. eh. whatever they get a five for being mediocre

[honorhearted]

"You did what was necessary to ensure she had the best life," Benjamin softly reassured. "One day, I'm sure she'll understand...but for now, she's just glad to be back in your life. I can tell."

Still young...

A tired smile lifted his mouth. He supposed he was, in terms of numerical status, but he certainly felt old due to weeks upon months upon years of having to see others die; of having to kill in order to avoid death.

Unfortunately, his continuous lack of grace with the fairer sex -- or rather, just this woman, in particular -- led to yet another faux pas, and his spine grew rigid at her declaration.

"Oh..."

Fool! As a teacher, he knew all too well that illiteracy was rampant all across the globe, and with a guilted little curl of his shoulders, he breathed a soft, self-conscious laugh. "You must think I'm a complete doddypole," he muttered. "I didn't mean to be ignorant, I just...these topics are generally what excite me most. And if anyone has a favorite book, I want to know about it, just in case I haven't yet had the pleasure."

Starving and freezing, yes, Fantine assuredly had no need for books nor philosophy -- not unless either served as kindling, of course -- and shifting in his chair, Benjamin winced before offering, "I could teach you? That is...if you want to learn your letters? I've taught children and adults alike, so there's no shame in starting late in life. And Cosette too, if she is in need of an education." Finally, his posture relaxed and he smiled more openly. "Perhaps you two could read together. I always enjoyed that as a boy...getting to read with my parents."

Fantine asked of his own preferences, and as before, his shoulders slumped with uncertainty. "You don't have to indulge me," he promised. "I already feel like a heel for having asked... But if you're genuine in your curiosity, I've always enjoyed Shakespeare, John Keats, Voltaire, and Gulliver's Travels from my childhood. Robinson Crusoe, as well." He cleared his throat. "Swift's story is a scathing satire, so you might like that one, seeing how you, yourself, have quite the quick-witted tongue."

Cutting, too, he thought, but chose not to say that part aloud.

"I think a child would love stability and structure. Something I was always denied and then, unintentionally, denied to my child also." Her words were heavy, the regret of bringing this child into the world always weighing on her mind. She hadn't wished to continue this cycle of poverty and grief, but her she was perpetrating it regardless; even if it wasn't her fault, Fantine could have chosen to spare Cosette such an existence.

Wet palms wiped across her face as if to will away unpleasant thoughts. "But you're still young," she chose to say, directing the conversation away from her. "And I'm sure you're precisely marriageable material." Not like her, no. Men, as Félix had proven, enjoyed a far more forgiving social rules than their female counterparts. "Of course, you might not wish to marry again, but I don't think anyone particularly enjoys being lonely."

As he sorted his chair, she sunk below the water. Her hair was still far shorter than it once was, but she couldn't care when she finally had the chance to clean it. She reemerged, lathering the soap in her hands again to then gently run it through her hair.

His questions were well intentioned, but Fantine fell quiet for a long moment, embarrassment causing her face to grow hot. Luckily, should he turn and glance at her, she could simply blame the heat of the bath for her redness. "I cannot read," she finally admitted, massaging fingers against her scalp so to relieve the sudden onus on her. "And I don't believe myself particularly learned to have a favourite philosopher. It's hard to care about hypotheticals when starving and freezing."

She dipped once more below the surface of the water, rinsing soap from hair. She came back up, wiping water from eyes before releasing a sigh and relaxing once again against the basin. "But to ask such questions must mean you have favourites of such things. So, Monsieur, what and who are these particular favourites?"

[wanderinghedgehog]

I’m watching this German production of Les Mis (I do not speak nearly enough German to be able to translate) and I think I really like it, so I’ll write down some of my thoughts so far. I’m about halfway through. I’ll watch the rest tomorrow. Anyway, my thoughts on this production in mostly chronological order:

I like this set. The extra staircases and platforms make for interesting visuals.

This Valjean was kinda funny. I don’t think there was anything wrong with his voice, but the high notes sounded strange to me. I like his acting though. He also kinda looks like a magician for some reason.

Fantine! My favorite lady, Fantine! This actress was pretty good I think, but I always love Fantine, so I might not be the best judge.

Have I ever mentioned that I dislike Lovely Ladies? I just don’t like it as a song. That has very little to do with this particular production though.

Some of these ensemble members are doing the most and I love them for it.

I have so many thoughts on this Javert (of course I do). He looks like a mad scientist, he’s kinda bitchy, at some point he wears a really tall hat, his facial expressions are fantastic, he gave one of the best performances of Stars I’ve ever seen. Truly a magnificent performance, but I just can’t quite get past the mad scientist thing.

They didn’t switch the set during Who Am I, so Valjean is just singing the final verse to no one. He then proceeds to SEND A LETTER TO JAVERT?!?!?! This is what leads to the confrontation.

Valjean looked especially magician-y when he met little Cosette.

I think they did a pretty good job with Les Amis in this, but I’m not an expert like some of y’all. They all felt like distinct characters which was nice. I loved this Enjolras.

Eponine! When I first got a clear look at her face, I paused the video because she was so pretty. I love her voice too, especially in Heart Full of Love.

This Cosette is adorable but her voice is so strikingly classical, it’s a little funny.

Marius is alright so far. Not much to say about him.

[emmigarvey]

Blog post #1 - On Experiencing Art Museums

During this trip, I have had a positive experience overall visiting the art museums. Each one was clean, had beautiful architecture, felt safe, and had art pieces that I am interested in. Of course, one of my favorite parts about going to a museum is the gift shop. I know I am an art major so this should be embarrassing, but I love taking the lovely art that I have seen home. Whether it’s a postcard or a sticker, I enjoy decorating my life with the art that I experience in the museums. So I was very excited to see that all of the art museums, for the most part, had a gift shop to quench my shopping addiction thirst. My only complaint is the lack of seating in the museums. I think we all had some sort of body pain from the long days of walking or something else. Regardless of that or any problematic disability accessibility issues, I find seating to be especially helpful for absorbing the ambiance of the works in the room and to really sit in the beauty of the art around you.

If I had to choose a museum to be my preference, I would have to say that the Musée D’Orsay tickles my fancy the most. Call me basic, but I adore Impressionist art. The subject matter, the colors, the texture, the way the paint is applied to the canvas, it all just makes me feel so joyful and inspired. More specifically, I absolutely adored the pastels exhibition in the Musée D’Orsay. Pastels are a medium that I have always been very interested in learning more about and practicing with. My mother used to create art with them when she was younger. Therefore, I got a lot of hand me down supplies that I struggle to know what to do with. The lovely thing about a lot of the work that was created using pastels were much more clear about the way the artist created it. By that I mean, a lot of the paintings that we have seen have been seamless and hyper realistic. While those are wildly impressive, they are harder for me to connect with. I feel as though seeing the strokes of the pastels connects not only the viewer to the painting, but also with the artist because it is clearer how the artist created the artwork itself. That is also a likely reason why I love impressionism.

Furthermore, I was amazed by all of the work shown in the exhibit. Especially Henri Fantin-Latour’s pastel on lithograph piece titled, Les Filles du Rhin ou L'Or du Rhin. This was created in 1876 and depicts three feminine figures that seem to be floating upwards into the heavens. The eye of the viewer moves upward with the movement of the woman, but then as it moves back down, one notices a man laying at the bottom of the painting. The female figure at the top of the painting is so light that she appears to be glowing and the other two women have a clear sense of light and shadow, however the man at the bottom is rendered to look as though he is in the shadows with no bright highlights. The contrast between the two figures, the light woman at the top and the shadowed man at the bottom, not only adds to the movement of the piece, but it also suggests a deeper meaning.

As an art major, I have always enjoyed viewing art in museums, but it was always very casual. Since being in this class, I have started to analyze art and how the elements and principles of design add to the meaning. I am very grateful for the skills I have learned or strengthened by taking this class. It has helped me appreciate art on a deeper level than I did before.

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