#also the way his relationship with Javert ends

[rubberbutton]

So, I have this wacky Javert & Cosette detective agency AU idea that I’ll probably never write…

Post-Seine Javert starts a private detective agency — reuniting loved ones, shutting down extortion rackets, stopping forced marriages, things like that. He doesn’t make any money because he fails to collect payment on the rare occasion he’s not working pro bono. [Very Angel Investigations, sans vampires … unless?] The work is both penance and its own reward.

Bored of social calls and society dinners, Cosette decides to help him in his work. Javert refuses her, but she keeps showing up. She proves herself useful, as no one ever suspects her of being a double agent, she’s clever, and she can cry on command — which is an incredibly effective distraction. Since Paris’s underworld is already familiar with him from his previous profession, Javert has had difficulty making progress on some of his cases. But Cosette is entirely unknown. Grudgingly, he allows her to help on his smallest, safest, most respectable cases. Which rapidly escalates into her running the place. He’s really not an ideas man.

There are capers! Escapades! Daring rescues! A heart-warming Christmas episode!

Valjean and Marius are given to believe that Cosette’s time is spent volunteering with ladies aid societies. When the truth comes out, Valjean is apoplectic, and it’s the first real risk to his relationship with Javert (well, post Seine, haha), especially when Javert makes it Cosette’s choice whether to continue. Marius’s anger burns out much quicker; that boy is nothing if not easily led.

Meanwhile, Montparnasse has filled the leadership vacuum left by Thénardier and has made great inroads in the Parisian organized crime scene. With Javert foiling many of his more lucrative business interests, Montparnasse decides it’s time to deal with with him more permanently...

Other odds and ends for this ‘verse:

Javert accidentally adopts some urchins when he attempts to cultivate them as informants, but they keep showing up like stray cats when they realize he’ll feed them. 

Having heard it in her tenderest years, Cosette quickly picks up the accent and argot of the street and becomes a mistress of disguise.

She also purchases an umbrella with a stiletto hidden in the handle, which she mostly uses to underline her better rhetorical flourishes.

Whilst Javert is not an easy man to like, Cosette appreciates his honesty. Granted, that honesty is couched in the most pessimistic, condescending and insulting way imaginable. But after her father and her husband gaslighting her for years, it’s a relief to not second guess the information someone gives her. 

They both appreciate having someone to commiserate about Jean Valjean’s idiosyncrasies with. “You know the way he clears his throat when he disapproves, but won’t say he disapproves — and if you ask him if he disapproves, he’ll deny it?” “I know it very well!” 

After Jean Valjean is finished being furious, he moves right on into being jealous. He wanted them to get along, but not quite this well. He of course would rather eat glass than admit it. 

Also, as many of les amis survive as I can reasonably get away with. Definitely Courfeyrac, because I like him. Probably Bahorel, in case they need some additional muscle when working a case. And Joly because they’d need someone with a medical background to identify the cause of death/provide medical aid. Also no one should die with a cold, talk about insult to injury. 

Anyhoo. Everybody lives happily ever after with a gentle ’90s TV glow. Fuck you, Victor-Marie Hugo.

[secretmellowblog]

One fascinating thing about the way Hugo writes Jean Valjean's inner conflict is that we're almost never actually in his POV when he makes his final decisions. We spend chapters and chapters exploring Jean Valjean's thought processes as he agonizes over difficult moral choices, but in the final crucial moment, when he actually makes his choice, Hugo "cuts us off" from his internal monologue. We view what his final choice looks like from the outside, from the perspective of other characters. This is especially significant because Jean Valjean, from the outside, is often pretty unreadable. He is uncannily calm, tranquil, and polite. He's opaque. There's a moment where he's described as a "whirlwind within, calm without;" Jean Valjean uses excessively polite behavior as a defense mechanism, "picking up his calm the way a warrior would pick up his buckler." The most obvious example of this is the Champmathieu trial, where Jean Valjean agonizes over whether to turn himself in. We spend chapter after chapter inside of his POV, exploring his terror and inner conflict as he weighs his options and invents a thousand excuses for himself-- we explore his trauma-fueled reactions to the concept of returning to prison in painful, agonizing detail, from his horrific memories of prison to his surreal nightmares about being buried alive. The tension builds as chapters fly by and he still hasn't made his final decision, as he hopes some unforseen accident will prevent him from making it to the trial and he won't have to make the decision after all-- But in the final moment, when Jean Valjean *actually* makes the final choice...we're not in his point of view. Instead, it's told "from the point of view" of the courtroom, and Jean Valjean's strange heartbreaking serenity is described solely from the outside. At the moment where we most want to hear what Valjean is thinking, we're abruptly cut off from his inner monologue. This becomes even more tragic when the "adrenaline rush" of the courtroom fades away and we witness the aftermath of the trial. When Jean Valjean returns to Fantine, we see him from the point of view of Simplice and other characters. He's described as behaving "mechanically" as if in shock. From the outside he appears eerily uncannily "tranquil" and completely opaque. It is impossible to tell what he is feeling or thinking. Jean Valjean responds to Javert's violence toward Fantine with an icy, eerily tranquil restrained fury: threatening him with a leaden bar, saying "I advise you not to disturb me at this moment"-- but you can feel behind that restraint the weight of all the grief/anger from the previous chapters, which he's incapable of letting himself express openly. He has made this horrible nightmarish sacrifice that he's been agonizing over for thousands of words, he's facing unimaginable violence and grief--- and in the moments where we most want to hear how he's reacting to this, "the line goes dead." We're brutally cut off from his mental state and left to imagine what he might be feeling.

After a few moments of this meditation (Jean Valjean) bent towards Fantine, and spoke to her in a low voice. What did he say to her? What could this man, who was reproved, say to that woman, who was dead? What words were those? No one on earth heard them.

[tjjamess]

watching les mis bootlegs everyday

Day 3

okay so this was meant to be a daily thing but I literally passed out from exhaustion half way through this performance then was immediately sick the next two days. This may be a sign from the universe, however, this sign can’t stop me cause I can’t read.

14/6/2014 West End Production

Https://youtu.be/ucpfyLQKif8?si=AURouDP1jYXb5ZFl

To preface, this is incredibly biased because this is a rewatch of the first bootleg I ever watched of Les Mis and was literally my introduction to Les mis

it holds a very very very special place in my heart

first off literally one of the most powerful singing from Valjean I’ve heard

Incredible!!

oml Na-Young Jeon plays Fantine and she is literally my favourite Fantine ever I love her so my she is how I have always and will always picture Fantine she is literally the greatest

she’s gorgeous like just look at her

She has a power in her voice that I don’t hear often in other Fantine’s

she’s literally perfect

theres a moment in at the end of the day where she attempts to stop Valjean from leaving cause she knows what’s going to happen

Carrie Hope Fletcher as Eponine!!!

Amazing of course

She’s an icon she’s a legend

a little fall of rain actually hurt my soul so much

She’s such a good actress I will literally shout it from the rooftops

Cosette oh Cosette i cannot speak enough about her

her acting was actually incredible especially in the finale and her face is so expressive I can’t even

this post is just turning into actress appreciation at this point

Marius was such a Little loser this performance

At least he can sing

empty chairs and empty tables broke me

Enjolras had a little bow in his ponytail

Im pretty sure Javert gets a little bow in his hair at some point later as well

but you cannot tell me this is not one of the most Enjolras looking Enjolrases to even Enjolras

He gets all up close and personal with Javert

now for my little Grantaire tangent

i absolutely loved Grantaire in this performance I think this was my favourite portrayal of him ever

he as a really good relationship with Gavroche it’s so cute

When Gavroche is accusing Javert he flings his arms around and almost knocks Grantaire in the face

Grantaire holds onto Gavroche to keep him away from the guns

My sillies

and when Gavroche dies and the set spins to return to the barricade boys the spotlight is on Grantaire as he slowly sits down after witnessing it

:)

After a little fall of rain Enjolras steps forward to speak to Marius but Grantaire steps between them stopping him from getting any closer before comforting Marius

In Drink with me Grantaire tries to (or does I can’t tell) kiss Joly

Then he fucking sobs through his solo and hugs Enjolras who sits him down and takes away his drink

then he REACHES OUT TO ENJOLRAS

i cant do this

and on the Barricade Enjolras runs all the way down from the top to see Grantaire then they both climb back up together

also he’s either wearing eyeliner or it just looks like he’s wearing eyeliner

his actor was just really really good in general

and that is why I love Grantaire thank you for coming to my Ted talk

After the finale battle Javert tried to open the sewer grate then GROWLS ‘Valjean’

like actually

through out the entire show this man is just full on GROWLING

Javert’s soliloquy was a masterpiece genuinely

his transition from the bridge to the ground was so smooth I have no clue how they did that

i mean…he kinda… *gets spritzed with water and starts melting like that witch*

The Thenadiers are like exactly how I pictured them to look

plus they were both real good

^^Now I know you can’t tell, but this here is a picture of Feuilly holding Enjolras by the waist (it’s canon fr fr)

shout out to this random woman and barricade boy who are being adorable in the background while Marius is lamenting about his sad sad life

time for my lighting nerd moment!

the majority of especially the first part of the performance the stage is like entirely dark with a single spotlight

particularly with individual songs but for like most of the songs that aren’t group songs (red and black or one day more ect)

It’s done SO well and looks SO good

it’s very impressive how exact the spotlights are

It feels like this performance is very character focused rather than set

especially because the person filming tends to zoom in on the actors faces to capture their expressions

They make really good use of smoke the whole performance it’s very nice

I like how they used smoke with coloured lighting at the beginning of at the end of the day

The sequence was very nice

and in the sewers they used a bunch of spotlights to show Valjean and Marius travelling

they also use a grate light for the sewers and dog eats dog which worked really well imo

if you want the full stage the whole time you absolutely will not get that for most of the performance

the person filming is actually pretty good at catching faces

Overall the performance was so incredible

i am very biased so take everything with a grain of salt

but definitely one of, if not my favourite bootleg

now I leave you with two of my favourite screenshots

If you have suggestions for other good bootlegs please let me know (YouTube only)

[jedijolras]

so my mum got me this korean adaptation of les mis made for children. it was published in 2021 and is actually really complete in terms of giving historical and political context, and even includes some facts about victor hugo. but it’s really cute and a good way to get children into classics i think (and on a personal note, its nice to know i have enough of a level in korean to understand a children’s book lol..)

the story is centered about cosette and valjean’s lives (from the chain gang to valjean rescuing cosette to the convent), cosette and marius (none of les amis are mentioned except for when “the commander” allows valjean to kill javert) and éponine’s death is described and illustrated as it’s a plot point in marius and cosette’s relationship. it also focuses a bit on javert and valjean’s relationship and ends with valjean dying, cosette and marius by his side.

also it made me think of how cosette in the perfect manhwa heroine, with her tragic past that turns into a “beautiful” and successful future in which she ends up happily married, never thought of that.

it’s ≈130 pages and clearly a children book but the illustrations are really good (manhwa-style) so here are marius and cosette because. theyre adorable in this art style.

[transrevolutions]

got any Marius headcanons? also I promise the college AU will be out in like a week

god this is so incredibly late I'm so sorry. with that being said:

(these are modern au, I'm in that kind of mood rn)

-marius likes classical music more than any other genre. he enjoys going to local orchestra concerts.

-marius and enjolras are actually really good friends, especially once marius has been around courfeyrac/the rest of the abc enough to get some Coherent Political Stances. they don't see eye to eye 100% of the time but they always have interesting conversations over coffee. autism-to-autism communication, etc.

-he's the sole Token Straight of the abc/abc adjacent folks (I'm sorry bi marius enjoyers, I see you, for me he just exudes confused ally token straight vibes. he has two gfs tho if that counts).

-on the subject of the two girlfriends: in my head there is a very funny dynamic where, at least to start, marius has a massive crush on cosette, who has a massive crush on eponine, who has a massive crush on... marius. this goes on for quite some time before any of them actually realize.

-he's generally a very stay-off-to-the-side, let-others-take-the-lead sort of person, except for some very specific moments where there'll be some sort of crisis and he'll just. come up with the wildest fucking idea that somehow ends up working (i.e. canon era blowing up the barricade). if enjolras has "occasional outbursts of eloquence", marius has occasional outbursts of tactical brilliance.

-he's on the prelaw track. bahorel (ex-law student from way back when, hates the subject on principle), bossuet (in a casual situationship with the idea of being a lawyer), and courfeyrac (almost did law school but last-minute switched to education and never looked back) constantly bother and tease him about it.

-one time very early on he was at a small rally and struck up a long and cordial-ish conversation with javert. enjolras rarely gets visibly angry with marius (he saves it for The System), but he just about bit his head off that time. (for context: do not fucking talk to cops, and especially not at a protest.)

-harbored some not-so-great preconceived notions about criminals/the justice system that were leftovers from being raised by his grandfather. this ended up being a sticking point in his relationship with cosette (valjean being her dad and an ex-con) and with eponine (career criminal parents). eventually comes around on this matter, but it takes a while.

I actually had a lot of fun making these! thanks for the ask!

[dolphin1812]

 I highly recommend looking through @everyonewasabird's analysis for this chapter, particularly the title and the issues present for Cosette, as it’s extremely insightful.

Valjean is continuing the trend of poor decision-making by the characters after a sleepless night (he is also the one usually making these decisions).

Seeing Marius call Valjean “father” hurts because it would be so nice for him to have a living father figure! But it’s about to go so badly! 

And the future Marius imagines is actually beautiful! When he speaks of his relationship with Cosette, he always says “we” and “our” here (“we” don’t want you staying in the old house, for instance). His phrasing suggests a partnership where he and Cosette make decisions together. He’s trying to make Valjean at home, too, and he’s also pointing out how he can be a part of her life (their walks!!). The idea of a Gillenormand-Valjean friendship is so preposterous that it’s almost funny, but he has good intentions.

. . .  But of course, Jean Valjean can’t accept happiness, so he has to tell Marius about his true identity. I understand why Marius is shocked, but I still hate how he immediately thinks of his own future rather than the man in front of him. The tomb comparison is concerning.

It’s so frustrating how Valjean downplays his relationship with Cosette, too. He’s so much more than a “passers-by” to her, and although it’s true that he loves children in general, he doesn’t love Cosette in the way he’s a “grandfather” to all children. He loves her as his daughter specifically. He’s trying to reason Cosette into the place of the random people he’s rescued, but it doesn’t work, and not only because he actually does end up building relationships by his kind acts (as seen with Fauchelevent, who was offended that Valjean didn’t recognize him after impacting him so deeply). It doesn’t work because Cosette is the most important relationship in his life.

Another sad detail: if this isn’t the longest amount of time Jean Valjean has ever spoken for, then it’s certainly up there. The rambling style is how the misérables speak (the references to Champmathieu are probably incomprehensible to Marius), but the content is purely his self-hatred as he projects a stereotypical bourgeois perspective onto himself and then projects that view onto others.

Deciding that he must be miserable and arrest himself out of “duty” is also the most Javert thing he has ever done. 

Cosette! Marius is trying to save Valjean here, but it’s so clear that Marius’ ideal has already fallen apart. Cosette is completely excluded from decision-making. Her protests at their treatment of her and their secretiveness are ignored. Valjean may not be able to stick with his initial thought of avoiding her entirely, but she’s still marginalized in the household, and it’s only been a day.

[azeriairis]

I'm just going to go on a rant right now for no clear reason.

I really hate it when people look down on stories for having Villains of the Non-morally complex type. Because Hot Take, some stories are best when the Villain has a simple moral structure, or is just an unapologetic evil bastard.

For one not all stories need to be in-depth discussions of the meaning of the human condition, some stories can just be mindless fun, and a simple Villain/Antagonist can absolutely work for that.

But also morally complex villains necessarily make your story more complicated and demand a lot more attention in the narrative, as in order to pull off a morally complex villain you need to ensure the reader understands their motivations and morality, and not all stories have the space for that. It's possible for a story to be too complex, and by making your villain simple that frees up space to dedicate to other things.

Take Lord of The Rings, Sauron in many ways is a simple Pure-Evil Villain, at least during the main story, he does horrible shit and causes immense suffering because that's just what he does. Now imagine LOTR if Sauron was a more complex villain and Tolkien spent a bunch of time diving in-depth as to why he does what he does and how he morally justifies his actions, it'd quickly gum up the narrative, so the story is served better rendering him as a more simple villain so Tolkien could focus the narrative on other themes.

Additionally sometimes simpler Villains/Antagonists serve the purpose of communicating themes better.

I'll use Les Mis as an example of this. One of the main things Victor Hugo tackles in Les Mis is the relationship between the Law and Justice/Morality. In order to make this easier to understand, he writes the Antagonist Javert as a strict legalist Police Inspector whose moral code can be simply described as "The Law is always right, no matter the circumstance" and who never strays in his behavior from what the Law expects of him (at least until the end), this means that in the narrative Javert is depersonalized and instead of being a character in his own right, serves as the personification of the Legal System, his actions are not his own, they are the actions of the Legal System. This means that when Javert does something Unjust, Immoral, or generally harmful the negative consequences of his actions cannot just be assigned to him, but to the system as a whole.

Victor Hugo critiques the Legal System by literally just having a character with power and authority who does precisely what the Legal System expects of him at every turn cause a bunch of harm through his actions. And it works.

If Javert was more individualized and had a more complex moral system that sometimes caused him to stray from the Legalist Route then the consequences of his actions could be attributed to the results of letting a Rogue Cop stray from what he was supposed to do, instead of the system as a whole; making the critiques Victor Hugo has of the system less obvious.

[russell-crowe]

why i actually really like russell crowe as javert

naturally i will preface this by acknowledging that yes, i am heavily biased. however, i will try to make some points as neutral as possible, especially considering i love most of the various adaptions of les mis!

let me start by asking you to take into account the widely different versions of les miserables and especially the character of javert. i have seen most adaptions of les mis and i was fortunate enough to be able to see the show at west end once, and one thing i have a lot of love and admiration for is how different all of them are - especially in the pre-musical, brick inspired works. some adaptions focus more on his air of authority and faith in the law, others put emphasis on his relationship with valjean (which narratively makes sense in film adaptions that make valjean the clear main character) and some beautifully craft javert’s derailment.

focussing on the 2012 adaption, i think a lot of the ick of people comes from it being neither a perfect musical adaption, nor a perfect live action - both of which have had their runs with successful versions in the past. i personally like how hooper has blended both adaptions, but i can understand that the adaption takes liberties in both ways that will not satisfy people who particularly are fond of the musical or brick-inspired live action films. i personally really admire the 2012 adaption for managing to add an authenticity to musical films by ambitiously going for live recordings rather than studio, but that is a different story.

anyway, that brings me to russell crowes version of javert and a polite read more for people who follow me.

let’s get to the obvious first - no, russell crowe is not a professionally trained singer and at the time, his only singing experience was with his rock band. and yes, russell crowe has released one of the worst selling singles in new zealands history. however, there are a couple elements i like about his voice. first of all, i find that the version of ‘the confrontation’ of the 2012 adaption easily rests among my favourites, partially because the contrast between hugh jackman’s voice and russell crowe’s voice greatly adds to the clash of the song. hugh’s voice is bright and musically trained, while russell’s voice covers the lower ranges and a more straight forward path. i like their version because it is easy to understand both their melodies, and i feel like it is cleaner than a lot of other adaptions.

second of all, especially in ‘stars’, i find that there is a beauty in it that is largely caused by a lack of professional training for crowe. his version of ‘stars’, as well as other songs, are carefully constructed. there is something suiting about taking an intense strong-willed outlier and trying to fit him in a musical theatre mold that imho compliments javerts storyline. and while i love the intenseness of quasts ‘stars’, to name one famous example, i also like the quiet prayer-like version of russell.

voice aside for one moment and focusing more on the live action approach, i like that russell was chosen for the role. he is famous for diving into roles and going back to the roots, rather than finding his inspiration in other, newer adaptions. while there is a great cause to be made regarding standing of the shoulders of giants in the musical world, i appreciate a take on javert that draws from crowe’s interpretation of the version that he read in the brick, rather than one that is inspired by the many javert that have been there before him.

then regarding his general acting, i appreciate his body language and above all the humanity he adds to javert. i think the character of javert is often wrongfully seen as a villain, but crowe’s javert makes it... easy for a general audience to sympathize for him. there’s pride in him, a clear respect of authority and justice and slowly, towards the end, the unraveling that ends up destroying him.

now there are some things i believe russell’s javert falls short, whether it be on him or other members of the crew. his version of ‘javert’s suicide’ feels a bit too flat and i would love if he leaned in just a bit more into the beauty of musical theatre here. having the derailment both happen in music as well as in his acting, would have added a great deal to this version. (and the spine snapping sound was also so unnecessary).

i also believe that he would have been more loved if they presented him with a look that better matched people’s common idea of javert. if he had more whiskers or longer hair (such as master & commander, maybe even), a whole lot of his adaption would already feel different. he has the canine like features (though he’s a bit more rounded and bear-like, than wolf-like), he’s not conventionally attractive, he can be an intense presence as well as be more stealthy - he has all the possibilities, but a lot of them just... went slightly unused. (they did feature the typical crowe ‘this character gets pegged’) energy tho

but yes - i love how this javert compliments hughs valjean. they are not my favourite javert and valjean (though, actually, hugh’s valjean is probably my second favourite), but they are a combination that works well. and i also just... love imperfections? i love having a javert that is a little odd and a javert who doesn’t quite fit in. I love a javert who can be stern and cold, but have humanity too.

sorry for the lack of coherency - perhaps when i get round to finishing my reread of the brick i might change my mind on some things or specify certain elements i can see in crowes adaption, but i felt the need to just... add my two cents to 11 year old discourse as some people were entering the russell crowe tag and sharing their dislike for his javert. <3

[kurokmask]

now that we are on Link topic. do you have any other hcs that you've not included in the fanfic? like extra info and stuff?

sorry for the late answer, college blah blah blah

there's lots that haven't made it in explicitly, but they're all still swimming in my head when im writing him. this is gonna be disorganized, sorry!

Link likes being told what to do. secretly he likes having other ppl’s expectations on him bc it gives him security, so he doesn't have to think about who he is

not Link, but every version of OoT Zelda I write is transmasc, whether thats something Zelda is truly aware of or not.

again not Link but Cremia was supposed to have a hot Gerudo pirate gf 💔 sorry girl

I kind of regret not doing more with the Ocarina of Time, and time travel in general. Like, towards the end, Link would definitely try to use it, right? I think I'm going to do a major overhaul of the Termina arc soon.

Link can cannot write more than his name.

Link was originally going to be very open about his past adventures. But i decided bottling everything up and feeling ashamed about it and letting it fester like a rotting wound would be sadder :)

sexuality was going to be a concept i explored in the fic. ultimately i wanted to keep it a T rating so i didn't do this, but. it was definitely a thing! cut things include lotsssss of Sheik baggage, boyish feelings about Kafei, weird fierce deity sex dreams and um. remember Javert?

Javert and Link wereeee... supposed to fuck! I even wrote a before and after scene LOLLL. Javert was going to play a more important role in general, being a semi-reoccurring character. He was planned to be Link's kind of """only friend""" in Castletown. Link was drawn to him because of how much older and experienced he was, and Javert took pity on Link, both in a sort of genuine but also kind of overbearing way. ultimately Link got annoyed by him pretty quickly and once he started to get to know Malon he basically ghosted him. another example of how Link struggles to balance relationships, especially those who really care for him. obviously i. didn't go further with this. but it was planned for about a year before I scrapped it. But i hope you reread their scene together to pick up on some vibes.....

since im already being disgusting um. bottom. praise kink. but he never really finds this out. how sad.

when i was first conceptualizing his character, i was actually going to write link as bipolar. I ended up writing him more adhd/autism as thats closer to my own personal experience. but its still in the back of my mind, and it definitely manifests more as he gets older. but this man has so much going on please project anything you want on him and its real he has it

OoT Link is the only Link i hc as cis bc only a cis man would fumble the bag THIS bad. put those tights on boy

i have a weird hyper-specific modern au where he's living in 1998 germany with his little brother (whos just young link). they play ddr together, he goes to acid techno raves, and dresses like this

again, in a modern au, Link would be a total audiophile. his favorite musicians would be Kate Bush, Fiona Apple, Talking Heads, the Prodigy, Devo, the Mountain Goats, Modest Mouse, Nirvana, Radiohead, Nine Inch Nails, Bjork, the Magnetic Fields-- ok ill stop

if he was an Animal Crossing villager he'd be a gold wolf with the Jock personality

that's all i can think of right now, I'm sure more will come to me and I'll write them here. thanks for the ask, thanks so much for the interest!!!!!

[for-the-love-of-javert]

Les Miserables 1935: My Review

First of all I'd like to say, while this film is very different from the book in a number of ways (I'll get to that in due course) I really enjoyed watching it. not sure I would watch it again, though I wouldn't rule it out.

Frederic March was wonderful as Jean Valjean. He is also very handsome. I niggled me slightly in one or two scenes (I can't remeber exactly how many it was but it was only a couple at the most) where post prison he is shown to a bit too much on the violent side whereas canonically he threatens violence, certainly towards Javert but doesn't actually knock him down/out or hit him.

Charles Laughton, that big chunky hunk of a Javert. So I think most of you have gathered by now from my previous reviews that I like Javert to at least look the part even if they can't find an actor thats canonically so ugly. So I'm always delighted to see a dark haired, wel built Javert with a pair of good old fahsioned bushy sideburns (like my little sweetheart Javert in the 1925 film). Charles Laughton did not look the part imo but he acted it supremely well, from the stioc, no nonsense attitude, the rigid and stalwart sense of duty to the law, the law being his whole life, to his vulnerabilities i.e. asking to be fired when he drops a bit of a bollock even though he didn't really drop a bollock and he was just doing his job. There is a nice little scene very early in the film (I won't describe it in too much detail because I don't want to spoil it for anyone who hasn't seen this film yet) where he almost looks like he's going to cry. Laughton has very sad eyes too, that's just a little observation btw.

Now the parts that got to me and not in a good way

(In no particular order)

Thenardiers only appear briefly

The film starts differently to other adaptations and Valjeans original prison sentence is longer than in the canon story and other film adaptations. Also in this film he only tries to escape once, it isn't shown but it is mentioned.

Eponine is not mentioned as being a Thenardier, she is also no a down and out but but she is still in love with Marius. She does come across as being a bit unhinged at one point in the film.

No Les Amis only Marius and a whole bunch of random characters I've never heard of before. Also Marius is the leader of the Studen't revolt.

Valjean and Cosette's relationship was a little bit too intimate at times especially teenage Cosette during the Marius era. There were times when they looked more like a young lady and her sugar daddy as opposed to a father and daughter.

There are some slight differences in the storyline itself. As in things happening in this film that don't happen canonically or in any of the films I've seen so far.

Part of Fantines story is left out though is alluded to when Javert is trying to send her to prison due to how she is dressed.

As well as Les Amis not being featured, there is no mention of the Patron Minette or Gavroche. I really missed Gavroche in this movie. I love that little imp.

It was funny imo seeing Javert/Laughton waddling through the sewers.

This whole film makes it about the cat and mouse chase between Valjean and Javert with side story of Cosette and Marius with most other side plots are either left out or only given a very brief mention.

The film ends at the weird point of Javert's suicide. Where really this whole story, canonically is about Jean Valjeans redemption. Javert's suicide was a bit lack lustre too and it's different to other adaptations and 'The Brick' where when he jumps it is late at night and the streets are empty and there are no people around.

I think that's pretty much all I have to say at the moment (I need to get some sleep), I enjoyed the film as I stated at the beginning of this post. But if I were to watch it again my only reasons would be to watch Charles Laughton's portrayal of Javert and have a good ogling sessions over Frederic March. There was no bad acting in this film btw and any of the things I mentioned that narked me were not the fault of the actors but the writers, producers and directors. It's not the worst adaptation I've seen though.

I'm going to leave you with the loaf of bread that Valjean stole.

[everyonewasabird]

Brickclub 5.9.1 “Pity for the Unhappy, but Indulgence for the Happy”

This would have been Monday’s chapter (or possibly I’m making up for missing a day last week) but anyway, I saw the line

We must say, however, that it would be unjust to blame Marius.

and I couldn’t help myself.

This chapter is all about how we shouldn’t censure Marius and Cosette for their behavior and, well, ONE of those hadn’t occurred to me as an option. Hugo wtf.

We hear about how Marius didn’t know any better than doing what he did, and also how he decided to ask zero questions of anyone who could help him understand (Valjean, the bank clerk with intel about Madeleine’s money, any form of newspaper whatsoever) and so he decided to pull a Gillenormand and systematically end Cosette’s relationship with her father. It’s for justice, don’t you know!

For which, the text asserts, we can’t possibly blame him, to which I assert: watch me.

I really hope this is the tone Hugo used to talk about Javert’s questionable good qualities and not Hugo talking about anything he thinks are actual good qualities, but it’s really hard to tell right now.

As for Cosette, she was in on none of these secrets; but it would be hard to condemn her, too.

Yeah, it really would be. Hard enough that I really don’t know why we’re even talking about it.

There was an all-powerful magnetism flowing from Marius to her. which made her do, instinctively and al­most automatically, whatever Marius wished. In regard to "Monsieur Jean," she felt a strong wish from Marius; she conformed to it. Her husband had had nothing to say to her; she felt the vague but clear pressure of his unspo­ken wishes, and obeyed blindly. Her obedience in this consisted in not remembering what Marius forgot. That took no effort for her. Without knowing why herself, and without affording any grounds for censure, her soul had so thoroughly become her husband's soul that whatever was covered with shadow in Marius's thoughts was ob­scured in hers.

This all honestly pretty much tracks; I fully believe this paragraph. The problem is, it doesn’t track the way Hugo wants it to.

I think Hugo wants us to say “ah, yes, young women in love are just like that!” when what I’m seeing is much more about the unspoken but extremely punitive ways we’ve seen Marius treat her when she goes down a path he doesn’t like.

Remember that chapter when she (as an unmarried 16 or 17 year old bourgeoise girl) wouldn’t agree to leave her father because her father wanted to take her to England? Reminder of exactly what it’s like to fight with Marius.

No fucking wonder she conforms to his wishes without being told and without thinking too hard about it, when not conforming instantly and unthinkingly to his every whim looks like THAT. That section is also a reminder that eclipsing Valjean from Cosette’s life was always Marius’s wish. He’s found what he thinks is a morally justified excuse for utter control and possessiveness, but he was always heavily motivated in this direction. Which maybe explains why he’s so ready to take this road with so many questions still entirely unanswered.

We aren’t seeing any of Marius’s abuse--and it absolutely is abuse--in this current chapter. My concern is that the reason for this is that Cosette has already very expertly learned how not to trigger the punishments. She’s good at keeping her head down and not asking questions and surviving; she was trained by the fucking Thenardiers. And then she spent the (albeit much better) rest of her life so far not really able to ask Valjean why he had so many secrets either.

She knows how to quietly and automatically bend herself around the unspoken wishes of a weird, sad, secretive man. With Valjean it was because if she didn’t notice and preempt his worst impulses he would eat terrible food and live in the winter without a fire--which was bad enough. With Marius, I am truly and genuinely afraid that it’s because if she doesn’t notice and preemptively follow his expectations of her, he’s going to turn back into that absolute fucking nightmare again. And this time, outside of him, she’s utterly alone in the world.

I’m sure she really would describe all this as being in love! I’m sure she isn’t noticing any of this. It’s a really easy thing not to notice, especially when you’re as young and inexperienced as she is, and also when you’re as meticulously cut off from every single other person you could possibly be close to as she is.

Anyway, Hugo doesn’t fucking realize any of this, so the end of this chapter is all about how the young, being focused on their bright futures, forget the old who are heading towards death, and honestly it all sounds like more of what Pilf was saying in discord about how much Hugo is reveling in self-pity and aggrandizing the notion of going off and DYING because his kids don’t LOVE HIM ENOUGH, and THEN THEY’LL SEE etc etc etc.

The chapter ends with

We must not blame these poor children.

jesus fucking christ.

[secretmellowblog]

Valjean + 7 & 8 (game ask)

For this ask meme: #7. What's something the fandom does when it comes to this character that you like? And #8. What's something the fandom does when it comes to this character that you despise?

Thanks for the ask!!

#7: a thing fandom does with this character that you like:

I love fix-its (I just want him to live!) it’s great when Jean Valjean gets to have a happier ending than his bleak passive suicide.  

Fics that explore Jean Valjean interacting with Other Characters (outside of Cosette) are also  great. He has such a narrow social circle in canon — he has basically no friends outside of his daughter— so playing him off other characters is really fun. It’s especially fun if (as is canonically accurate) he struggles very hard to interact with people and comes across as deeply weird. Jean Valjean tends to get “trapped in his own head” a lot, and exploring the relationships he could have with other characters– or just how other characters would be utterly baffled by him, while viewing him from the outside– is always great.

I also love fandom stuff that acknowledges how deeply strange he is. Any fandom stuff that features Jean Valjean breaking into people’s houses to give them money is always chefs kiss.

#8: A thing fandom does with this character that you despise:

I  was originally going to answer this with a whole passionate overlong essay about fandom tropes around Jean Valjean that bother me, but…I’ll keep it short lol because it's not really a big deal, haha. Like, I don’t want to be mean or unfair, and I like being in a fandom so large I can afford to be picky about characterization. I don’t like holding fanfic  to a higher moral standard than big “professional” media properties that are doing far worse. The most popular Les Mis fanfic on ao3 has maybe a couple thousand readers; BBC 2019, which is an utterly vile horrible conservative take on Les Mis and on Jean Valjean in particular, had millions of viewers. Fanfic writers have no budget and often no editors, so we don’t deserve to be held to the same level of scrutiny as massive projects like a tv show . Like I don’t want to overstate harm– fanfic is fine! Les mis fanfic is a tiny niche of a niche, and so small no one’s really being hurt by it. If I don’t like something, I don’t read it, and all that. I'm not here to be the fandom police XD.

And I really don’t like ever positioning myself as an “authority” on these characters or the person who does them “correctly,” because I’m not. 

That being said, if I were to be petty and summarize my personal Problems with the way Jean Valjean is often handled in fandom really briefly–

My core "pain" is that I feel like a lot of fans miss that the police are the villains of Les Mis. The police are the villains of Jean Valjean’s story and they’re the villains of Javert’s. Prison is evil. The carceral system is cruel and unjust, as a system. It is not a problem of Javert “not being nice enough to Valjean,” the entire system is fundamentally violent and vile and needs to be burned to the ground.  acab, and all.

I think part of why that gets missed is that many fans are laser-focused only on Javert–  and often on a highly specific musical-inspired fanon reading of Javert where he Did Nothing Wrong. (I'm not throwing shade, this was kinda also me when I was 13 lolllll.) And then they don’t analyze Jean Valjean anywhere near as deeply, if they analyze him at all, and don't pick up on the larger themes of the novel. And that's a shame, because Javert’s characterization will also suffer if you don’t have that wider context! I think the “problem” is just that if you acknowledge the complexity of Jean Valjean's character and his trauma, if you recognize how deeply Jean Valjean was ripped apart by prison,  how he has not recovered from his imprisonment and never will, and how he doesn’t view the criminal justice system with ‘total forgiveness’ but actually does have complicated overwrought repressed useless grief and rage over the system that abused him and the injustices he’s undergone, how he actually doesn’t like Javert on a personal level and only saved his life out of the same pity he would’ve shown to any other person in Javert's position–  it is much harder to see Javert as a Good Person and the police as a Good Institution. So as a result fanfic!Jean Valjean often  kinda has to be written as a bland saint patiently agreeing that Cops Are Great and Prison is Fine and Javert Did Nothing Wrong...because if he isn’t, the author has to acknowledge Javert has hurt Jean Valjean in ways he will never heal from, and question the morality of both  Javert and the police. 

 I think lots of people take the line “there’s nothing that I blame you for/you’ve done your duty nothing more” from the musical, interpret it as a sincere compliment, and then graft that interpretation onto the book— to the point of making it the entire core of Jean Valjean’s character. But Jean Valjean complimenting Javert with the Nuremberg defense (“it was all fine because you were doing your job”), and this being portrayed as Correct and Wise, is just not a compelling take on the character to me XD. I do not like it all. So I just don’t read fics that head in that direction. I'm not gonna content-police people, I just don't read it, haha.

I’ve been recommended multiple fics where Jean Valjean becomes Javert’s cop partner, or enthusiastically encourages him to return to the police, and it’s always a big “He Would Not Say That.” XD Jean Valjean, the most well-known victim of police brutality in the history of fiction, the character whose entire personality is built on the trauma of surviving incarceration and attempting to save others from his hellish fate, would never enthusiastically participate in incarcerating people–not even if they were  ‘bad’ people! It’s literally the core of his whole weird little Deal. it’s his whole schtick. 

And it's not that I hate Valvert either. I actually think Valvert can be very compelling-- and also funny, which is the most important thing. But part of the reason I’ve often stayed away from the valvert  fandom despite enjoying the Funky Weird Little Relationship is that I’ve had lots of trouble finding fic that gives Jean Valjean an actual life or character outside of Javert, or that also acknowledges the anti-police anti-prison themes of the novel.  But! There are a tiny handful of people who do it occasionally! And that's enough.

And again, this isn’t like the biggest deal or anything! I’m not a fandom cop trying to police what people write, especially because most people are just extrapolating from the musical/lots of people change their minds on characterizations over time/it’s hard to write without a team of editors to help you navigate things. These are just some fandom trends I personally don’t like, that I personally avoid,  and that I hope change over time….so that I have more fanfic to read that lines up with my own feelings on the characters XD.

But yeah those are my (abbreviated) years of spicy fanon Jean Valjean hot takes!!!

[destieldisaster]

I've been listening to Like We'll Never Have Sex by Leith Ross on repeat a lot this week so I figured it's time to rec one of my favourite Ace Cas fics!

How many slams in an old screen door by dandelioness @daisies-on-the-windowsill (15k, rated T, podfic by Tenoko1 @tenoko1)

“This is real, this makes sense. There are other people like me.” He doesn’t mean to choke out the last words, doesn’t mean for his eyes to fill, but it happens all the same. “Rachel, I thought I was sick and b-broken and that maybe Balthazar was right and I was just confused or maybe you were right and I just had a stick up my ass but it’s real, Rach. It’s real.”

College AU where Cas is a theater major playing Javert in Les Mis for his senior thesis and Dean is hired to build the sets. They're drawn to each other, but Cas doesn't know how to deal with it - he thinks being ace means a relationship with Dean could never work. Dean might just prove him wrong.

Flashbacks to important moments in Cas discovering his asexuality are included and those get pretty heavy. There's a scene with an ex who wants to go further than Cas does and eventually Cas lets him go beyond what he's okay with. There's also people not understanding or straight up invalidating asexuality. Even Dean puts his foot in his mouth a few times (though he always means well and apologises). Can definitely be upsetting, so be careful with that.

This has one of my favourite meetings for Dean and Cas I've read, it's adorable. And mostly they continue on like that - sweet and fond and gently flirty in getting to known each other. There's a few bumps, but I promise they get a happy ending.

Aside from the relationship, the setting is just SO much fun. You're swept up in putting on this big show and thinking about all these spn characters playing roles in Les Mis. Sam and Jess are Marius and Cosette and of course they fall for each other along the way. And of course they're all theater kids, which.. let's just say the word 'cuddleslut' is rightfully used.

So yes, you should read this fic. Honestly, it means a lot to me, so I hope you'll love it as much as I do. I also highly recommend the podfic by the always excellent @tenoko1!

omg it’s FAN FICTION FRIDAY

Reblog and promote a fic of yours <3

[b-else-writes]

The Great CLAMP Re-Read Part 2: Man of Many Faces

Part 1 (RG Veda)| Part 3 (Tokyo Babylon) | Part 4 (Duklyon) | Part 5 (Clamp Detectives)| Part 6 (Shirahime)| Part 7 (X)| Part 8 (Chunhyang) | Part 9 (Miyuki-chan)| Part 10 (Rayearth)

Onto the next work in CLAMP's oeuvre, Man of Many Faces (technically the translated title should be 20 Faces, Please!!). This ran from 1990 to 1991, and it is wild to think that it was running concurrently with RG Veda (and Tokyo Babylon!) because it is SO tonally different. It is also technically CLAMP's first foray into shonen, running in Newtype magazine, although it feels like it's aimed younger. I had never knew it existed! It's one of the few CLAMP manga with no anime adaptations (it did have 2 drama CDs).

It's out of print and was released in English by Tokyopop in the early 2000s, in two volumes comprised of 11 chapters. I read this entirely online and would probably only hunt down a physical copy if I'm feeling like being a completionist. Spoilers? I guess?

Synopsis: Ijuin Akira is a precocious 9 year old at CLAMP School who leads a double life as the gentleman thief 20 Masks/Faces. As 20 Faces, Akira steals beautiful objects to satisfy the whims of his kleptomaniac two mothers. One day, Akira ends up in the bedroom of 5 year old Okawa Utako, sparking off a romantic comedy due to his double life and the nature of love!

The Story: There really....isn't one. Whatever it bills itself as, this is not a heist story. Man of Many Faces is pure fluff, basically a gag manga, which is what makes it so crazy that it was concurrent with the dark, fatalistic fantasy of RG Veda and the tragic urban fantasy of Tokyo Babylon - did CLAMP need a cute comedy as a mental break?

The chapters have a similar structure: Akira's two mothers spot something and cry "we want it!". Akira goes after the object and ends up entangled with Utako as they overcome the next (very low stakes) obstacle in their relationship. Akira often gets advice from his uncle and school pediatrician Akechi Shigetaka, while narrowly escaping his next door neighbour Kobayashi Ryusuke, who acts as the Inspector Javert. Along the way, he and Utako mediate on love and what makes a good man and good bride.

The story ends with the two getting married and still working to make sure that their relationship is always loving and new. It's a light, charming read (I was able to read the whole thing in about an hour) and it did make me smile a few times. The Christmas episode is particularly cute. Otherwise, the story is fine, just enough to string together the story that it doesn't implode from meandering fluff.

The Themes: Despite being so divorced from their serious works, I'd actually say you can see a lot of what would come to be CLAMP's attitude towards love - what makes a good love? Can love last forever and overcome all barriers? Are people destined for each other, and if so, does that make love easy? Some of the waxing poetic is very silly (Akechi once quotes the plot of Some Like It Hot, yes, the Marilyn Monroe film, to give advice) and very questionable, but there are some surprisingly nuanced takes too.

Namely, you are entitled to your feelings (very CLAMP), that nobody can fully know another person's heart (hello Tokyo Babylon) so we must remember we are two people and not lose ourselves in each other (X 1999??), be understanding and kind, and that love and people will change, and love is about meeting that new person each day, which is shockingly mature for CLAMP, who I had always taken to be rather fatalistic and immature in their romantic attitudes. I definitely walked away thinking that I hoped these two kids made it.

The Characters: It's an 11 chapter gag manga - the characters are thinly written. That doesn't mean they aren't charming. Utako is a rich brat but an adorable one, and Akira's maybe polyamorous mothers are very funny. Akechi and Ryusuke are especially funny, and Akira's father definitely leaves an impression. Akira himself is rather boring, he's a Mamoru with even less personality (interestingly this predates Sailor Moon by 2 years, but you can't read it without thinking of Tuxedo Mask!). They all serve their purpose, are funny and cute enough, but you're not going to be left contemplating them either.

The Art: It's very 90s shojo in style (despite being marketed for shonen) so it is competently drawn, comprehensible visual storytelling, and nice to look at, but it is not particularly transcendent, especially by CLAMP standards. The only time they really shine is in the splash pages, which are sooo delightfully sweet. Akira's mothers are very pretty, and Utako is cute, but the character designs are unremarkable despite the nice outfits. It also hits one of my irritations, which is that the backgrounds are very ill-defined and replaced by patterned screentones. In short, it is fine.

Questionable Elements: The way gender roles was discussed did not sit right with me. This was written in the 1990s in Japan so I am not surprised it is so "woman are emotional and crazy and end up as housewives" and shojo like it or not has a lot of sexism baked in so it didn't shock me, but it is disappointing and can make some of the advice and comments touted unpleasant. Also I see you CLAMP with Utako's first love being her teacher - at least he rejects her!

Overall: A little sidetrack in CLAMP's oeuvre as sweet as the pastries our couple enjoy. It's got enough genuine charm to get it across the line into enjoyable, but it's also perfectly obvious why it remains one of their most obscure works - you'll end with a smile, but it won't change your life. I wouldn't personally recommend it to anyone except diehard CLAMP fans. It's a nice sugary treat for a quick read and doesn't overstay its welcome, but only just.

[lenievi]

Les Misérables BBC episode 2

LM2000 has my favourite Thénardier, and I like how that adaptation portrayed him and Madame Thénardier as people in love. Were they scoundrels, sure, but they weren't necessarily villainized nor made into a comic relief. So seeing Thénardier hitting his wife in LMBBC is hmmmm (maybe it's book canon idk yet tho) but like it doesn't really add anything? Just because Thénardier is a thief and scoundrel doesn't mean he has to abuse his wife...

The obvious "I know who you are" the moment Javert saw Madeleine is not bad (I think most adaptations go that way, more or less, but LM2000 was very subtle about it and I liked how Madeleine was not visibly bothered (he knew that Javert was coming so he could prepare himself) and always spoke to Javert from a position of power, and Javert only realized/confirmed whatever !! thoughts after the cart scene, even though thanks to Malkovich's acting you could see his brain working upon meeting Madeleine for the first time but he said or implied nothing)

(I knew I would compare them, but I haven't realized they'd be so... opposite... and so far I do like both approaches)

not a big fan of Javert telling anyone about his suspicions before Madeleine humiliates him :((( The cart scene just wasn't enough in the book. The cart scene happened like two years before Fantine's arrest :((( But here he just goes to Paris. Hey, I found Jean Valjean. just to be told that Jean Valjean was arrested a few days ago. And now Fantine's timeline will get too messed up :((( (2000 was better about this. Like it's not a big issue but I do think that humiliation played a big part of Javert's denunciation. "You humiliated Javert? It's over for you.")

that said, the way they did it fits this adaptation, so I'm okay with it.

I also, I think, like that Valjean didn't lost his irritability and his "do before think" trait he had in/after Toulon in this series. He was agitated because of Javert, because he knew that now Javert had proof (even tho the proof was "he strong" lol) so that influenced the way he dealt with Fantine (which is obviously not book!Valjean, but feels IC for this one) (also liked that in the dubbing, Madeleine started using the equivalent of "tu" with Fantine when firing her, and then when she was in the infirmary, he went back to "vous")

Fantine's arrest was fine imho but I would enjoy if Fantine's descent to misery and towards prostitution wasn't done in the matter of days instead of months/a year.

Javert: "What exactly does this woman mean to you?" Javert pls

"You astonish me."

hm, I wonder if the reason why Javert went to Madeleine to tell him that he denounced him only now (and not when he came back from Paris) was because he wanted to see what Madeleine would do. He knew he would risk his good name to save Fantine, so did he want to see what he would do if Javert told him that "Jean Valjean" was arrested? I can't see that scene as Javert genuinely apologizing, there was too much tension for that. (Even tho this Javert genuinely apologizing and trembling would be chef's kiss, but I do feel like he was testing Valjean. Hence the handshake too)

But I also think that Fantine's arrest was the beginning of "Javert is starting to crack" because "you astonish me" felt genuine, as if he couldn't grasp his mind around Valjean (because he never stopped believing he was Valjean in this version, imho) genuinely wanting to help someone, someone who could tarnish his good name as Madeleine - since that's the way society worked. And that's also what made him go to Madeleine and tell him about "Jean Valjean's arrest"

honestly the Valjean/Javert relationship and dynamic is good in this, and the characters really work for me in this version because they have the inner continuity. Because when you change the beginning, you have to keep them in line with that rather than trying to align them with the source material (even though they still need to arrive to the same ending).

is this like the book? Not really. Is it entertaining? Absolutely yes.

BBC!Javert will probably be on the same level as Malkovich!Javert for me. And if nothing goes wrong, BBC!Valjean will be my favourite Valjean.

[maxwell-grant]

Speaking of Pulp Heroes and their rather more fraught relationship with the authorities than their 4-Color successors when I read the first couple Secret Agent "X" stories, it felt like he has a buffoonish cop nemesis solely because the writer felt the genre's tropes required him to have a buffoonish cop nemesis. So. Why do so many Pulp Heroes feel a need to have a cartoon caricature of Inspector Javert in their cast?

(Inspector Javert art by dasha-ko)

The simplest answer is that much of it can be chalked up to the importance pop culture osmosis plays in how we construct stories, especially when we're explicitly trying to reference existing tradition or building off an established mold. So much of superhero fiction's origins are built off the American pulp stock and trade, and so much of that in turn is owed to the British and French pulp fiction. And when people look at the history of detective/crime fiction history and it's origins, and the role of characters like Arsene Lupin's Ganimard, Fantomas' Juve, Jacques Closeau, Harvey Bullock, Zenigata and so on, they quite reasonably assume that, much like how tight circus costumes are grandfathered into the superhero concept, it's assumed that every Gentleman Thief protagonist needs a Ungentlemanly Cop arch-nemesis / annoyance, because that's just how the concept works. The longer answer means that we gotta talk about Inspector Javert specifically, and why he ended up becoming such an imitated touchstone for pulp fiction.

The fact that so many of them take up after Javert specifically is interesting in itself, because it's not just a result to Javert being one of the most popular mainstream examples of "bad cop" characters and thus the go-to example when you want your cops and detectives to be, at a minimum, dumb obtrusive goons who can have a change of heart and, at worst, one-note villains who usually still aren't quite bad to overshadow the more interesting villains and piss off real cops who are a million times worse than what you can usually show in fiction get in trouble with audiences for disrespecting authority. In some ways, they miss the point of Javert, but also expand on the point Victor Hugo was making with him and the novel as a whole, which was in some ways a response to what the serialized fiction tradition was like at the time, as part of Hugo's intended aim of advocating for social reform:

So long as there shall exist, by reason of law and custom, a social condemnation, which, in the face of civilization, artificially creates hells on earth, and complicates a destiny that is divine, with human fatality; so long as the three problems of the age—the degradation of man by poverty, the ruin of woman by starvation, and the dwarfing of childhood by physical and spiritual night—are not solved; so long as, in certain regions, social asphyxia shall be possible; in other words, and from a yet more extended point of view, so long as ignorance and misery remain on earth, books like this cannot be useless

A lot of people miss the fact that Javert did not exist in a vacuum. He wasn't just designed to be a criticism of law enforcement and a rotten cop or whatever, he was explicitly based on Inspector Eugéne Vidocq. Claims about his real life achievements are countless and self-aggrandizing and none of them matter here except for one fact: His memoirs published in 1829 are said to be the bedrock where this entire concept of "detective fiction" started, at least in the anglo-sphere (although his effect loomed globally). Vidocq was not only the inspiration for Javert (as well as Valjean), but he was also the inspiration for Rodolphe de Gerolstein in The Mysteries of Paris, Monsieur Lecoq who would go on to inspire Holmes, and long before that he inspired Edgar Allan Poe's C.Auguste Dupin, who was an unflattering take on Vidocq, and is considered the first fictional detective.

Detective fiction existed some ways before Poe's Dupin via magazines and newspapers, as the concept of the "private detective" started taking form circa the turn of the 19th century and, as all new things tend to develop, fiction started to develop about them, largely thanks to the memoirs and autobiographies of officers like Vidocq, to the point that by the 1830s, virtually all detective fiction was about private detectives. I'm linking this thread on the Pinkertons that Jess Nevins wrote on Twitter here, in case more of you wanna dive deep into where this grody copaganda business took it's baby steps to sink it’s teeth into fiction to never let go, but the point being: For about half a century, the whole concept of the Great Detective, the central figure of detective fiction and of much of popular fiction as a whole, was based on Inspector Vidocq, and that was what Victor Hugo was responding to when he made Javert. He was based on The Super Cop, the Cop of the Century for that era, and here's another dirty secret that even most Les Mis adaptations get wrong about Javert: He IS a Super Cop. In-universe, he's the best damn cop in the whole world.

He is without vices, but upon occasion will take a pinch of snuff. His life is one of privations, isolation, self-denial, and chastity—never any amusement

He would have arrested his own father if he escaped from prison and turned in his own mother for breaking parole. And he would have done it with that sort of interior satisfaction that springs from virtue.

He is every bit the incorruptible paragon of order and devotion that people tend to attribute to characters like Jim Gordon. He’s honest to a fault to a point he insists that, if he were to be dishonest, he should not only be resigned, but also punished, should he commit any injustice on others. Other cops in the story dislike and distrust him specifically because he’s not corrupt. He’s as unrelentingly hard on himself as he is to everyone else, and it literally kills him the second he’s forced to grow a seed of conscience towards those he spent his entire life oppressing. He is, by basically every metric, a Good Cop, an unusually good cop at that, and he is a bad, rotten person, because that’s what it takes to be a good cop. He isn’t bad because he’s “one rotten apple”, he isn’t bad because he’s just too obsessed with one particular man, he is bad specifically because he’s a good cop, and he is very good at serving a terrible system, and he is very good at enduring and enforcing it’s cruelties, and the moment he is forced to question to it, when he’s no longer a “good cop”, he kills himself because that’s his way of resigning from life.

He had lost his bearings in this unexpected presence; he did not know what to do with this superior (convict); he who was not ignorant that the subordinate is bound always to yield, that he ought neither to disobey, nor to blame, nor to discuss, and that, in the presence of this superior who astonishes him too much, the inferior has no resource but resignation. But how to manage to send in his resignation to God? - Victor Hugo

It was a very damning perspective that Hugo was putting forth with this character, not just as a criticism of law enforcement, but also as an open dialogue with pretty much the entirety of the feuilleton traditions that informed the century, of the uncorruptible, inscrutable, unfailingly correct detectives stomping on wicked criminals, a condemnation somehow more timeless in 1863 than countless other takes on the story across the couple of centuries since that downplayed what exactly Hugo was getting at and why Javert was that way. Javert was a response to almost 50 years worth of how the entire concept of detective fiction worked and was seemingly supposed to work forever. So, obviously when it was time for others to twist the concept further and start focusing on the daring thieves and arch-criminals for a change, well, if these characters are supposed to stand against the law at it’s mightiest and get away with it, and you don’t quite feel like buggering Conan Doyle again, what other archetype are you gonna invoke as the allmighty, yet failed, representative of the power of The Law? 

(Pictured: Inspector Zenigata, Inspector Lunge fan-art by admhire, Hank Schrader)

The Javert / Inspector has become an ubiquitous staple not just of fiction that stars gentleman thieves that, even when they are not specifically modeled after Javert, they often hit on many of the same notes that made Javert so enduring and potent of a character. It’s kind of almost a necessity, if you’re writing a story that focuses on a criminal, to see what does the law enforcement he opposes on some level looks like, and it makes for some pretty varied and interesting characters, often with some of the most interesting dynamics these stories have to offer. 

Sometimes you get characters who actually do need to be serious and heroic, if only because of the sheer scale or menace of what they’re up against, and because they don’t get to win, they can be played for tragedy, characters like Inspector Juve or Hank Schrader, who is interesting as he is very much not a Javert-kind of character at first and probably never would have come close to being one, if he didn’t find himself thrust into the position of Heisenberg’s arch-nemesis and thus had to try and make himself into the extraordinary pursuer of justice, to disastrous consequences. Zenigata’s one of a kind as, somehow both a Super Cop as well as the absolute worst cop alive and only one by the thinnest thread possible (which is part of why he’s ultimately sympathetic, because his morals usually come first and he will team up with Lupin to solve bigger problems), a more deranged nutjob than the entire gang of master thieves he keeps up with. He stretches the broad strokes of the Javert archetype to such an extreme while still remaining ultimately a moral character that he winds up becoming as much of a cop as Mario is a plumber, and an indispensable part of the gag while still being very much not just a gag character. 

Lunge’s on a totally opposite end of a similar scale, in that he’s a direct response to Javert as well as Holmes, demonstrating what an unflinching obsessive devotion to the law as well as a restless genial crime-solving brain does to someone who is not afforded a protagonist safety net or that sheen of fantasy most fiction affords these characters: it basically leads him to torpedo his life of everything that doesn’t get him to capture the criminal he mistakenly pursues, and it doesn’t bring him any step closer to stopping the real mastermind either, and it’s not until he owns up to his mistakes and starts to understand the story he’s in that he starts to actually help.

You can play these characters up as seriously, or as comedically, as you’d like. Sometimes they are overzealous clowns who never stood a chance and exist to make our protagonist and other villains seem cooler by comparison, and sometimes they make for such hilariously “bad” cops that they actually end up being pretty decent and even potential allies (like Chase Devineaux from Carmen Sandiego). Often, they can be a concentrated amalgam of the writer’s own feelings towards law enforcement and policing and carceral systems and whatnot, which often makes them complicated in ways even the authors don’t quite intend them to be. 

A massive part of why we enjoy these kinds of stories comes in the form of transgressive fantasies where people can trick or escape or overpower or even take over and change the systems that routinely make life so difficult for us. So much of detective fiction stars police protagonists because they place readers in the shoes of getting to be the ones with the power of the jackboots for a change, but copaganda is not synonymous with detective fiction, and hasn’t been for well over a hundred years, much of it for so long has reveled in characters who are not police or police-adjacent. These characters often stand, in turn, as many things that you might need a cop in the story for, almost like a concentrated focal point.

Maybe you want to explore the ramifications of law enforcement in your fantasy world, maybe you do believe that cops can still be salvageable and you want to show what a “good one” would look like in your view, maybe you can’t think of them as anything other than distractions at best and chief enforcers of all wrong with the world at worst, or maybe you just put em in there so you can go “Oh, what would the cops do about my hero? They would hate them because they’re too cool and they would suck at stopping them, end of story, let’s move on to more interesting stuff”. 

They aren’t always the most interesting characters, especially when they are just 1-to-1 Javert clones who remain neutral or mistake the point of Javert for simple-minded obsession, but they are always very telling characters, and they are not just a crucial archetype for what makes this kind of fiction work, but also a very significant touchstone of it’s inception and how far it’s come, and often, just fun to have around to make idiots of themselves, when fiction lets us get away with that. Fiction lets us get away with softening the edges of a lot of things we need outlets to confront safely (what else lets us do that?), this being one of them. Even when they suck, and they’re pretty much made to suck most of the time, I’m glad this archetype stuck around.