#but i think marius is dedicated to one person at a time

[midasinc]

do you by chance have any canon era courfius hcs

i do but i might bum you out in the process (this is also more of a timeline than hcs, sort of like with montparnasse/courfeyrac)

canon era courfius:

-i think in canon era courfeyrac is a closeted bisexual and he dabbles with men on the side, but he really overcompensates in public with women so people don't think he's of a certain persuasion. he's incredibly paranoid about it and he has reason to be

-marius pops into his life and it really fucks with him because this dude migrates into his own lodgings and confides in him and courfeyrac thinks he's incredibly handsome and yes he dresses oddly and is easy to tease and all of his friends despise him, but there's something earnestly endearing about marius

-when marius comes round saying this and that about an "ursula" that he's in love with, courfeyrac is admittedly distraught that somebody else has caught marius's attention and that it wasn't him. it was something that he often dreamt about in classes and even at night, but now this dream was being shattered right in front of him

-still, courfeyrac has appearances to keep up so he helps his friend. he instills hope in marius as much as he teases and he takes him out and about paris to find other things to do than mope around because he can't find this woman of his dreams and it hurts.

-they do share the same bed. it makes things difficult sometimes. courfeyrac won't be able to sleep and he turns and sees marius's cheek squished against the pillow and it makes his heart ache

-sometimes marius borrows his hats or cravats or even a blouse and courfeyrac is just vibrating at this point. it's a miracle that he hasn't punched a wall. he has it so bad and it's killing him

-the increasingly close revolution enjolras is determined to have keeps him busy, at least. he does his tasks and helps enj and combeferre and it keeps him from wallowing. wallowing is his last resort because courfeyrac is not a wallower

-if we're going by brick timeline im just gonna switch some stuff up because after marius's grandfather says absolutely not to his possible marriage with cosette, he goes to courfeyrac's apartment and wallows (lol) on the bed and when he wakes up courfeyrac is there with the others about to leave and asking if he's going to the funeral. we can edit this a little and have the funeral at a somewhat later date and courfeyrac is there to try and mend marius's broken heart

-"she's going to be gone forever" / "maybe it wasn't meant to be" / "it was"

-marius is just very huffy and upset and his head lays against courfeyrac's shoulder. courfeyrac just plays with his hair and lets things be quiet for a moment. marius doesn't pomade his hair the way courfeyrac does- it's soft and dark and unstyled. he threads his fingers through the front of his hair to reveal marius's face. the pad of his thumb brushes against his cheek, just gently tracing the line of marius's face

-marius glances over at him with his big ol dark eyes and lashes and courfeyrac has never been good at hiding secrets anyway. his head softly bumps against marius and he tilts his forehead to see him better

-"you still have me, you know"

-marius is frozen when courfeyrac first kisses him, mostly in shock, but after a moment he relaxes into the touch. they kiss and it's good and it gains momentum and marius is the one to push open courfeyrac's lips and courfeyrac brings a hand to marius's waist and hoists himself onto marius's lap and there are hands on his waist now and courfeyrac breaks their kiss so he can move onto the side of marius's mouth, then his jaw, and then trail down his neck but-

-courfeyrac gets pushed off as marius scrambles to get off the bed

-"i don't- you're-" marius isn't sure what else he can stammer out, but he's beet red and instead just takes his hat and leaves the apartment

-courfeyrac wallows.

-courfeyrac goes to the barricades with the rest of his compatriots.

-he's disappointed in himself most of all, truly. he shouldn't have done it, he shouldn't have been so forward. marius might be here if he hadn't. marius was in love with a woman and not courfeyrac and he might as well accept that

-marius is confused. he loves cosette, he knows that much, but he had never thought courfeyrac was... it didn't make sense to him. i also think he's a closet bisexual but perhaps a bit too closeted in canon. it happens to the best of us. he's chosen cosette this time but when she's gone he sees no reason to live. when he goes to the barricades, it's because of that. he doesn't expect himself to threaten to blow them all to hell, but it happens. he's confused, he's angry, and he's willing to make a stand after all

-courfeyrac sort of gets the wrong idea and thinks that maybe marius is back for him. marius saved his life, marius is here to save his life and be here with him. that's why he greets him so enthusiastically. marius is rigid, though, and courfeyrac begins to get the hint

-it's in the night when he sits alone on what used to be a rather nice table. the sky is turning an inky black and feuilly is humming and prouvaire is reciting poetry and courfeyrac feels irrevocably empty

-marius comes and sits with him, and things are quiet for a moment. courfeyrac doesn't want him to speak, but marius had never been able to pick up on others' desires

-"i'm sorry" / "you have nothing to be sorry for" / "i cannot betray cosette" / "i figured as much"

-marius is unsure of how to make courfeyrac feel better

-"in another lifetime," courfeyrac says with his chin rested on his palm, "do you believe that you might love me in return?"

-perhaps. courfeyrac is kind and amusing and generous. marius had saved his life because he cares for courfeyrac and wouldn't want to be in a world where he'd have to see him die. courfeyrac has been his kindest and most loyal and, truly, his only friend. perhaps in another lifetime, things would be different. perhaps in another lifetime, marius wouldn't be spoken for

-he leans over and kisses courfeyrac's cheek before leaving and finding eponine in the alley

-at the final battle, marius is hit and comes to terms with the fact that he is dying. he is frightened, he is terrified, but he can see courfeyrac fighting on. he hasn't noticed yet that marius has fallen. he thinks that it might be okay. he's sorry that cosette will never have gotten to be with him in this lifetime, but perhaps in the next, he will see courfeyrac again

-marius wakes up in the real world, however, and courfeyrac does not

[la-pheacienne]

What are your thoughts on Eponine? (I haven’t read the novel, I have only watched the Liam Neeson movie (which didn’t have Eponine) and a recording of the musical).

Thank you for the ask I love getting Les Mis asks 💖

So keep in mind that I have read this book 13 years ago so I don't remember a lot of details. I remember the core idea of her character though and she was one of the most badass characters in the book, I loved her.

So Hugo initially had another named planned for her but changed it after Baudelaire dedicated a poem to him (Les petites vieilles from Les Fleurs du mal) that goes like this:

These dislocated wrecks were women once,

Were Eponine or Lais! hunchbacked freaks,

Though broken let us love them! they are souls.

And that is a very good introduction to her character.

Her first trait that needs to be mentioned is hunger. Eponine was a hungry, very hungry young teen, starved, to be more exact, she had a horrendous appearance, some teeth missing, she was extremely dirty, her clothes had huge wholes, she walked barefoot I think. Hunger was so absolute and omnipotent in Eponine, as in a lot of characters from the book, that it seemed to completely erase any hint of personality, or agency, or personhood really. She seemed to not even be a human being at all, she was just a starved girl who resembled a starved animal more than a person. And that's the thing with hunger, it's so catastrophic and definite that it completely annihilates a person. You can't have free will, you can't have spiritual autonomy, you're just that, hungry. Hunger in Les Mis is the ultimate and most substantial form of violence, and Eponine embodies that.

"The grace of her youth was struggling against the hideous old age brought on by debauchery and poverty".

What hunger also does is it gives birth to the lowest, most debased, most inhuman form of monster. That's Eponine's parents, les Thenardiers, and I honestly cannot recall a single literary character that is more appalling than them. They were appalling people before they became so poor, but poverty turned them into actual vultures. So in this "cocktail Molotov" of moral depravity plus extreme poverty and hunger, what chance does Eponine have of becoming something more than a vulture herself? A vulture, or a living, lifeless, soulless corpse, like her sister.

Yet that's not Eponine's arc. Eponine starts as a bully to Cosette while she was a kid, then becomes this hungry street smart kid, then an accomplice in a gang of criminals (burglars, thieves etc) then she goes to prison for a short time. She is in love with Marius, and so she's torn between her jealousy and the desire to make him happy, that is why she helps Marius find Cosette's house and leads him there, then she observes them every night they meet in the garden. She even prevents her gang from entering Cosette's house, because she knows that Marius would be destroyed if anything happened to Cosette. That's the part of the book where she stops them :

"Please yourself, you won't get in. I can't be the daughter of a dog seeing as I am the daughter of a wolf! There are six of you. What's that to me? You're men. Well, I'm a woman. You don't frighten me, that's for sure. I'm telling you, you won't get inside this house because I don't want you to. If you come any nearer I'll bark. I told you, I'm the 'cab'. I couldn't care less about you. Now be on your way, I've had enough of you! Go anywhere you like, but don't come here, I won't let you! You use your knives, I'll use my feet, it's all the same to me. So come on, then!"

And then, after this very selfless act, she actively manages to separate Cosette and Marius. She scares Valjean so he decides to move, and takes Cosette's letter for Marius with no intention of giving it to him, then leads Marius to the barricades so that they can die together there. And then, she dies for him after giving him Cosette's letter :

“She let her head fall back upon Marius' knees and her eyelids closed. He thought that poor soul had gone. Eponine lay motionless; but just when Marius supposed her for ever asleep, she slowly opened her eyes in which the gloomy deepness of death appeared, and said to him with an accent the sweetness on which already seemed to come from another world:

"And then, do you know, Monsieur Marius, I believe I was a little in love with you."

She essayed to smile again and expired.”

So Eponine was a morally ambiguous person but an exceptional character, moving from debauchery, spite and depravity to bravery and love. She doesn't believe in the Cause, but she loves Marius and she dies for him in the barricades, thus her death is as honorable as any other person that gave their lifes in the barriades. I think Eponine's function in the narrative is to show that it is in fact, possible, for an exceptional character to be born out of total material, moral and spiritual decay. It is possible for a human being to preserve the quality of a person, even an exceptional person, and rise above theIr horrendous circomstances. She's a tragic character but the underlying message is ultimately optimistic, in a way.

Of course she was not presented accurately in the musical, she was sexualised in a way that the supposed "conflict" between her and Cosette looks like the conflict of a the popular high school girl vs the high school underdog which is SO not the case in the book.

[veonhagen]

tot boys with an idol s/o

… artem wing

you were normally a shy person whenever you didn’t put up your idol front. you were soft spoken and kind towards everyone, but how you perform songs with such great power and charm never fails to shock everyone — artem definitely was not an exception.

he’s caught you singing to yourself in your kitchen whenever he visited you, or maybe whenever a song you liked started to play in his car in a nighttime drive. but, he’s never interrupted once, relishing in the sweet sound of your voice in secret.

sadly, he doesn’t get to attend most of your performances around the city, given his important work as an attorney. but he does make sure he supports you in some other ways ( such as listening to your music from time to time, buying some of your merch and taking care of you )

overall, ten out of ten. the paparazzi’s gonna get a whole ton of news from this couple.

… vyn richter

literally didn’t know until you revealed your status to him at a young point of your relationship — but at the same time, the psychiatrist isn’t exactly surprised you’re one of stellis’s idols.

vyn doesn’t know much about the modern music world ( ‘cause you and i both know he likes to listen to the older age instrumentals on the radio ), but he tries to keep up with your industry and your new releases.

how your expressions can go from meek to powerful immediately in one dance just, basically baffles the man. vyn is definitely impressed by how well you can perform on stage, and doesn’t hesitate to let you know about that. his several compliments come to make you blush multiple times aww <3

… luke pearce

you told him once in your childhood days that you would want to become and idol — to sing and dance in front of many people was your dream. of course, the boy supported your decisions, even promising that he’d be your personal bodyguard and all that.

and guess what, he actually meant it. now there you are, being defended from your ( way too ) obsessed fans who are going out of line just to inhale your scent in the airport. you would usually hold his hand whenever you meet these situations, and he’d give a comforting squeeze which is in no way similar to the glare he’s giving to the frenzied crowd.

literally your biggest stan ever. buys your albums, your lightstick, memorizes your fanchant, heck, he might even be thinking of setting up a fan account dedicated to you right fucking now. you’d see him in front row in most of your concerts, if not all.

overall he’s the best boyfriend ever, pls thank him <3

… marius von hagen

tell your staff to restock your merch regularly ‘cause marius will literally go all out to buy pretty much everything that is your merch. from company partner products to lightsticks, he’ll have the entire collection and treats them like the finest antiques. his money knows no bounds, obviously.

hires a ton of bodyguards to escort you wherever you go ( and probably gives them extra money if they listen to your music, just saying ). he wants to make sure you’re the absolute best idol in all of stellis and wants the world to recognize how his baby is so motherfuckin’ talented. like you can dance — and sing ? it’s as if he’s fallen in love all over again.

marius would definitely take some time off his already busy schedule to attend your concerts. ( he begs the guards to let him bring a megaphone to the stadium just so he can outscream the other fans whenever a chant happened. anything for the love of his life, ya know. )

Ⓒ veonhagen, do not steal. 09/15/21.

[licncourt]

I just have to know, do you think there were/are ever times where Lestat get Louis to laugh? Like actually laugh like he's having fun? Just because Lestat loves to see Louis smile. Do you think Louis and Daniel ever have really funny best friend moments or inside jokes? I think Louis could benefit from trying to relax and have fun. <3

Oh, absolutely!! It's a shame we don't see more of Louis' sense of humor in the series because there's little hints of it in IWTV and even TVL. It's very charming and, for lack of a better term, humanizing. He's more than just a wet blanket!!

I doubt he wanted Lestat to have the satisfaction of making him laugh in the Interview era, but he didn't always succeed in keeping it under wraps, especially in happy times when he's more susceptible to the Lestat Charm.

When Claudia was young, we know he and Lestat put on little plays for her and since Lestat was an actor, he must've REALLY committed. I'm positive he got Louis laughing with his dramatic renditions of Shakespeare's comedies, monologuing as Puck and Bottom from A Midsummer Night's Dream (with cobbled together costumes ofc) and teasing Louis with quips from Taming of the Shrew (he makes Louis read for Kate and himself for Petruchio. In times when Louis is feeling more amiable towards Lestat, I think they both get the giggles over the very familiar dynamic)

I see them laughing together a lot more in the modern day when things are softer between them. Lestat has always been very witty and clever, but it's easier for Louis to laugh when the jokes aren't so harsh and nasty and the teasing is gentle and from a place of affection. It's nice to banter instead of fight.

I totally agree about Lestat wanting to make him smile. He spent so long making Louis sad and scared and angry that he got desensitized to it. Now that things are better, I think Lestat would realize how much it weighed on him to know he was making his partner miserable. To make up for it, I see him going out of his way to do the opposite.

Overall, Louis becomes much more open with expressions of happiness. He isn't nearly as sullen and dour now that visible signs of enjoyment aren't a loss of power/control or opening him up to be mocked. He's still a serious person by nature, but there are plenty of impromptu living room dances and joy rides down the coast just before dawn that have them both smiling and laughing until their cheeks hurt.

Louis totally has the polite behind-the-hand laugh most of the time, but when something REALLY gets him, he'll absolutely snort. That's Lestat's white whale and he's always searching for the next thing that gets that reaction. There doesn't seem to be much of a pattern to it, but Lestat is nothing if not dedicated.

As for Daniel, I bet they have a lot of inside jokes. Like I've said before, I don't imagine Louis as having had many friends growing up and spending his formative years pretty lonely and isolated. Daniel is his first real friend, so once he gets comfortable I could see him getting more playful and almost childlike as he has those experiences that most people had as kids.

He's still very poised and collected, but he really enjoys basic friend things like inside jokes and gossip or the innocent fun of games and frivolous outings.

In reference to "best friend moments":

Louis frequently loses track of his current fake birth year, so sometimes he has to take a wild guess (vampires aren't great with the passage of time). More than once Daniel's had to cover for him when he says a wildly unbelievable years. ("Yeah, no, he was born in '93. Sorry, he hasn't been the same since the accident.")

Both of them have a bit of a bone to pick with Marius, so one day Daniel finally talks Louis into being his accomplice for a prank. There's no way Marius would trust anything Daniel, Armand, or Lestat told him, but he'd never suspect Louis. Anyway, Daniel manages to convince Marius, via Louis, that Twilight is considered a seminal yet niche masterwork written as an experimental postmodern satire of classic vampire literature. They take great pleasure watching him name drop it in serious conversations about the cultural history of their kind

Daniel grew up as a very normal kid in a mid-century San Francisco suburb, so he's both baffled and horrified by Louis' childhood. He takes it upon himself to make Louis do everything from balancing on retaining walls/curbs instead of using the sidewalk to making blood popsicles to eat in the summer. The days they've done those silly little things are the times Daniel's seen Louis the happiest

[lavynrose]

- a oneshot for artem wing when he finally mustered up courage to ask out their s/o to hang out as friends (theme parks or just garden strolls, you can pick which type of place you want i won't mind!) to confess to them and when he confesses their s/o confesses at the same time too? and the s/o is kinda shy and awkward with him so he gets surprised and all flustered with them confessing at the same time?

(ackk this has been stuck in my head for a while, sorry if there are any grammar mistakes since english isn't my first language! i hope u have a great day!! :D <3)

- coomkie anon ♡

Artem Wing and his s/o confessing at the same time pt. 1

Title: Dedicated

Pairing/s: Artem Wing X Reader

Pronouns: Gender Neutral

Genre: Fluff

Warning/s: Grammatical errors probably

Notes: blushy artem is best artem, and we have celestine being the best wingwoman again

enjoy an amusement park date with Artem <3

Artem Wing is a dedicated man.

If it had been any other person, they would be home right now.

but not him.

Even now, as the looming hours of the night began to tick, he sits at his swivel chair, busied with the love of his life called paperwork.

"Aren't you overworking yourself?" He looked up from his papers to see Celestine waltzing inside his office with documents in hand.

The question should've made him stop and think to at least consider getting rest, but no, we're talking about Artem the workaholic here.

He has heard Celestine's question directed at him for the past few days, and from different people at that.

"Overworking means I have more time to double-check these documents," Artem said as he reached out for the folder that Celestine brought over, "Don't you think it's pretty convenient?"

"Artem," She started with concern in her blue-green eyes, "I know you're trying to distract yourself."

Artem was silent for a few moments before coughing, "Whatever do you mean? There's nothing I have to distract myself from." He said with complete calmness in his voice that he could even fool himself.

"You don't have to hide it, you know? I see the way you look at them," She smiled as she recalled the lingering stares and soft smiles setting display into Artem's face when he's around his colleague "The way you act around Y/N." she added with a hint of teasing.

The mention of your name seemed to short-circuit Artem's brain, Celestine took advantage of this with delight.

"Also... They've been getting friendly and close with that new employee.." She puts her hands on her chin, thinking.

Earlier today, she caught Artem's looks of distraught while his eyes were on you and the new guy. You were having a friendly conversation.

Too friendly.

After that, The youngest senior attorney even requested you to work with him at his desk, claiming that he, quote "needs to keep close tabs on the files that Y/N is handling." end quote.

but Celestine knew better.

Jealous is the only word that can describe how Artem was acting. She decided she will push his buttons tonight.

"Aren't you... threatened?" She beamed at him, waiting for his reaction.

"..."

"They've been on your mind lately, I reckon."

"..."

"They're getting closer with each other, don't you think?"

"..."

Hopeless. Celestine thought.

To say that she's frustrated with this whole situation surrounding the two of you is an understatement. Everyone in your circle clearly sees it - you and Artem like each other.

In the way he bought cake for the whole office that one afternoon the day after an episode of an office drama aired, or in the way that he went out of his way to take care of you in the hospital when you overworked yourself to sickness, or in the way you blushed around each other, the lingering touches, oh the lingering touches. It was all obvious.

The both of you spend your time together more than anyone else, everyone thinks your blooming affections were inevitable at this point. Solving controversial cases meant having the mental and emotional intimacy to get to know each other better compared to your average professional relationship.

You don't see each other as "working partners" anymore, it's clear that you guys want each other as a different kind of partner.

It was known to everyone except for the two of you, apparantly.

Celestine sighed before rummaging through the magazine shelf in the office, grinning when she found what she's looking for.

Artem shot her a look of suspicion. He has a bad feeling about this.

"There." She said with satisfaction before dropping the magazine into his desk.

The magazine lays there, with an eye-catching font and colorful cover page, Artem blushes as his eyes read, 100 cute date ideas...

Judging from the cover, the magazine might actually be useful when giving date suggestions. Under the big font however, there was a smaller text that read, Your significant other is waiting!

What is this...

"I'm sorry but I have work to finish." He tried his best to unsee what he just saw, and decided to turn his focus on the headache of workload in front of him instead.

Celestine raised her eyebrows at him with a frown, "Don't be stubborn now, I'm your boss, I'm giving you both a day-off tomorrow. I mean, you haven't used your day-off at all ever since you started working here. So please. " Her voice is laced with concern.

He looked away with a sentimental look in his eyes, "You don't have to do this for me. I'm fine with... Giving them affection without them realizing it."

Celestine just frowns deeper.

"Come on now Artem, doesn't it sound tempting to you?" She clasped her hands and continued a little too excitedly like a schoolgirl in love, "Having alone time with Y/N, finally asking them out on the date so the other guys threatening your future can back off."

It does sound tempting, Artem admits.

He looked away with reddened cheeks, "I'll think about it."

He doesn't need to look at Celestine to know she's sporting a big grin right now.

Later that night on his bed, his mind keeps flashing images of you. You, wearing a big, warm smile on your face. You, with your little mannerisms that he came to memorize from hours of being with you. Every little thing, every moment, as long as it's with you, he cherishes it.

Oops. The butterflies are starting.

He didn't mind.

You looked stunning today, but then again, he finds you stunning everyday.

When was I this cheesy? He thought to himself.

His thoughts kept racing with reveries about you when a new image interrupted every nice thought.

It was of you and the new employee laughing together.

He frowned and his stomach churns.

"Are they interested in each other?" He finds himself asking the wind. His mind was reeling.

He thinks about the time when he first heard you say that you were married to your work. Surely, you aren't interested in being in a relationship with some guy, right?

Right?

Groaning, he then realized that he needs to make a move now before it's too late.

To him, you're the loveliest person he's ever met, your kindness, your welcoming smile, the passion that you present when you're in the court, the way you always remain headstrong no matter how many people clash with you and try to break your principles.

The only one that occupies his heart, you.

Artem is sure he won't regret giving you his feelings, and eventually, reveal them.

He got up from his bed and sent a glare at the magazine that is now resting on the lamp table beside his bed, mocking him. He picked it up with less hesitation than before.

'What should I choose?' Artem asked himself before flipping the pages, a faint blush adorning his cheeks.

This is a big step for him, and he wants to make sure that he's going to do it right.

7:00am

You rubbed your eyes and stretched your limbs as the sunlight permeated through your bedroom window, the yellow glow giving you a peaceful feeling, a new day is about to start.

A new day without work at that.

You had been ecstatic when Celestine called you to inform you last night of your long awaited day-off, you smiled at the memory as you stand up to brush your teeth.

"You deserve it for all your hardwork!" Even through the phone, you heard the smile in her voice.

Soon, your thoughts drifted to a certain raven-haired man.

'How about Artem? I'm his assistant, does he get a day-off too?' You wondered as you finished washing your mouth, finally heading off to the kitchen to prepare for breakfast.

You were about to choose what to eat from the fridge when you hear a song play from your phone in your room.

You hurriedly went back as you recognized that ringtone - that ringtone you had set for a particular contact.

There on the screen, displays the name of the object of your affections.

Mr. Wing.

'Why is he calling this early? What could he possibly need?' you thought to yourself before pressing the green button.

"Good morning Artem, what is it?" you didn't even try to hide the happiness from your voice, Artem calling you this early doesn't happen often, after all.

"Good morning. Do you have plans for today?" His morning voice echoed through your ears. It was husky and rough, filling all of your senses.

Realizing that he just woke up, you can't help but blush at the thought of being the first person to talk to him today.

He thought of you first thing in the morning!

You tried to control the lingering heat in your face as you replied, "Uhm, yes uhh- none. I have no plans for today, Artem. I'll be thinking of what to do though. Why did you ask? " You hoped he didn't mind the sttuttering mess presented to him this early in the morning.

You wondered if there's an emergency case needed to be taken care of, he rarely ever calls outside of work.

Then again, you're always at work.

"That's good," the other line was silent for a bit. As your anticipation for his reply grew, he finally said, "A new amusement park is going be opened today. I heard they'll be having a fireworks display tonight to celebrate the opening."

You've heard about the said amusement park from your coworkers yesterday, you even heard that it was a project from PAX.

Marius' wealth truly knows no bounds, you thought.

Kiki even invited you to come with her this sunday, as it's the only freetime the both of you had before Celestine's sudden news of a day-off.

Is Artem coming there today? He doesn't seem like the type to go to amusement parks, but now you know that he likes them, or at least he didn't mind going, you added this info to your list of things about Artem that make you fall in love with him more and more. Because let's be honest, what's there not to like about the man?

He's handsome, sweet, a good cook, a senior attorney you can look up to, and he always makes sure to reassure you that you're doing well, that he's proud of you.

He cleared his throat, breaking you out of your thoughts, "Do you want to go there..." He paused, his nerves getting the better of him, unbeknownst to you, "With me? I have two tickets, and I wanted to invite a close friend. Is that alright with you? "

What?

'Is he asking me out on a date!?' you were practically screaming internally as you paced frantically in your room.

No. No way. This isn't a date. Not until he says so.

He said 'close friend' so you shouldn't overthink this. You were partners, after all!

At least you try to convince yourself.

"Of course Artem. I'm glad you invited me, I'm really happy." You weren't lying, his invite was the most unexpected thing that happened to you this week.

He hummed, "I'm happy, too. I'll be there at 2:30pm to fetch you, they'll open around 3pm. " He said in a gentle voice before hanging up.

You pumped your fist in the air. You have plenty of time to prepare.

2:30pm

Among all of the outfits that you could've worn today, you decided to wear a cute, beige, knitted sweater. A pair of faded ripped jeans, white sneakers, and a beanie to top it all off.

The amusement park being your destination, you decided to wear casual clothing since you'd be hopping on rides left and right.

You wouldn't want to wear a skirt just for it to blow on the wind while you're in the air, screaming for dear life.

Nope. You definitely don't want that.

You're now waiting outside your apartment after Artem sent you a text 5 minutes ago that he's on his way.

Your head is plagued with expectations on how this friendly date is going to go. You've never felt as giddy as this before.

It's understandable, right? The person you like asked you out to go with him to an amusement park - using his morning voice, nonetheless, so it wouldn't be strange for you to think that this is like an actual date.

You bonked yourself mentally.

You keep reminding yourself that it's just a friendly date. It's just a friendly date. You believe in the power of your mind, it's a friendly date. He even said so himself.

Artem's going to think you're weird. It's not like you're going to hold hands or anything...

Yet, you didn't even try to stop the daydream clouding your mind.

While you were busy indulging yourself in your fantasies, your eyes caught a familiar spot of black in the parking lot. Artem's car!

That's your cue. When his car stopped, you made your way over to him with a small smile on your face.

His black car opened, spilling out Artem clad in his casual clothing.

You scanned his appearance, taking in those breath-taking, familiar eyes. Taking in the beige, knitted sweater he's wearing, paired with slacks and black shoes.

Wait.

You did a double take- beige, knitted sweater?

You looked at his clothes, then looked down at your own, then back at his again.

Red and warmth crept up to your cheeks as realization hits you.

You kind of looked like a couple.

"What's wrong?" Artem inquired with concern as he stepped closer and reached out his hands to your flustered form.

He even placed his hand on your forehead to check your temperature.

Yes, you think you have a fever.

It's only when he got to take a good look at you when realization hits him the way it hit you.

He retreated his hand and looked away, face as warm as yours.

"Uhh..."

"..."

Why are you acting like a highschooler!? You're better than this, getting flustered just because you wore identical clothes.

With the person you like, you added.

The both of you stayed silent for a few seconds before you spoke up with a grin, thankful that the pink that dusted your cheeks is now cooling down a bit, "We should get going now."

You expected the ride to be as awkward as earlier, but to your relief, that wasn't the case at all.

Artem played the radio on your drive to the amusement park, and even asked you about how you're feeling lately and whatnot.

Honestly, with how he's always so concerned about your well-being, you're doomed to fall even harder.

"What are your favorite rides, Artem?" You decided to talk about something connected to where you're going to go.

"Hmm," as he hummed, you looked in front of the car to see the gates of the amusement park came into view. You can even see the familiar structure of a rollercoaster and a really grand ferris wheel turning slowly.

Majestic.

Is the motif for this amusement park golden!? The railings are shimmering with gold, some parts of the rides are adorned with gold, wherever you look, gold!

PAX outdid themselves with this one, definitely took "shining, shimmering, splendid" to a whole new level. Too much for the word grandeur, you think.

You can't even imagine how wide the place must be. You haven't even stepped foot inside, yet your eyes were oogling as some more rides were seen from outside the gates.

"We're here Artem! Look!" From your side, Artem turns to take a look from the road to the park, his eyes screaming nothing but amusement.

"It's beautiful," He breathed while you nodded furiously with agreement. He shot you a look, "I'm glad I get to spend my first time here with you." The softness is his eyes is blinding as you stared at him and processed his words.

"Me too..." you managed to choke out, turning away to hide your blush.

While you were taming your flushed cheeks, Artem had parked the car already.

He opened the doors for the both of you as he offered you his arm. Confusion takes over your features.

"So you wouldn't get lost, it's a big crowd out here, " He tilted his head to have a better look at your still sitting form inside the car, "Let's go?" He said with that gentle smile, as comforting as ever.

You stood up and linked your arm with his and suggested, "How about the bumpy car first?" excitement was evident in your voice.

He shook his head and chuckled, "Whatever you wish." He said as he locked the car doors with a click. You both headed to check in and do the formalities first. After all that, with a skip to your step, you pulled Artem to the bumpy car's ticket booth, and went inside.

You're elated.

"I can't believe the Artem Wing, the youngest senior attorney, is losing to me!" You sound hysterical as you bumped Artem's car with yours over and over, your bumpy car dominating his.

This is fun! Just minutes earlier, the atmosphere between you and Artem seemed a little tight because of the matching clothing incident. Just a little. However, the laughter of everyone playing in this space is infectious, it leaves you in a really good and playful mood.

It makes you feel like you were a kid again. You hope Artem feels the same.

Before playing, you made a bet with him earlier that whoever bumps the other the most, wins.

"Y/N. I think this car is defective." He said with a frown, his eyebrows furrowing as his hands tinker whatever there was in the steering wheel.

You looked over to him and replied, "We can switch cars, let me see." The two of you switched from each other's bumpy ride and you assessed the supposedly 'broken' car.

You realized he didn't push the right buttons to ride the bumper properly.

"Artem..." You looked at him blankly and said, "Have you ever been to bumpy cars before?"

He was silent before replying with darting eyes, "No, I haven't," He cleared his throat, "I have only been to the ferris wheel and escape rooms, I haven't been to bumpy rides before. Sorry."

You beamed at him.

"Don't be sorry!" You flail your arms to disagree, "There's nothing wrong with that. I'm actually happy that you allowed me to drag you here despite you not having played it before." You flashed him a thankful smile.

He looked a little surprised at first, but then that warm smile of his came back, "Thank you." You stared at each other's eyes for a few beats in time, his ocean eyes containing a sparkle you rarely see them hold. It looks so gentle, so welcoming.

So fond.

You stared at each other for a while, his deep eyes were enough to drown out the crowd. To drown out everything that existed but him.

Blinking, you snapped out of it to teach him how to drive the car.

The cars were booster types, different from the old models wherein you just turn the wheels and you'll be good. In this specific model, commands are needed to be performed in order for the car to execute it's special feature.

"You turn it like this..." Artem is a fast-learner, so the both you were back on track as soon as you guided him the directions.

In the end, you were tied, the bumper time limit resulting the draw.

"I'm definitely beating you next time!" you declared with a smug look, hands on your waist.

After the bumper, a receptionist from what seemed like a family raft ride made his way to invite the two of you.

"You guys look like you're having fun!" He then pointed at the paper he's holding and said with persuasion, "You're going to have even more fun here! The family raft ride is the only free ride we're offering in the park for it's first day, be sure not to miss out on this special bonus!" He then turned his heel to find more costumers.

You blinked, "Too bad we don't have extra clothes..." You hung your head low and you sighed as your mind thinks of a different ride to enjoy.

"Well, he did say it's a special bonus," Artem pondered, "They sell clothes here anyway, and there are restrooms we can change on," you wondered if this is going the way you think it's going, "I can see no harm in trying this free ride." He finished with the corners of his lips turned upwards.

Your eyes sparkled with so much joy that he's glad he suggested this.

"Then what are we waiting for!?" You squeal and jump from where you stand and Artem could only shake his head at you with an adoring look in his ocean eyes.

You both headed to the line of people waiting to get their tickets for the raft.

"That's a long line..." You're already mentally tired as you stared at the single file of people in front of you.

"There's still plenty of time before the fireworks at 7pm, I can go and buy us ice cream. Do you want some? "

You're face fell, remembering you were on a diet, "I appreciate the offer, but no thanks, I'm on a diet." An ice cream sounds really tempting right now, but you must resist.

"I heard they sell low-fat ice cream in here. How about that?" He proposed as his eyes glinted with satisfaction.

He knew this would do you in, sure enough, you gave him the biggest grin you could muster.

"You're the best, Artem! Any flavor is fine, by the way. " You beamed as he turned his heel to the ice cream stall, you just stared at his back the whole time he was away.

A minute later, the man wearing a cozy beige sweater that matches yours turned around and went over to you, two chocolate chip ice cream in hand. You reached out to take your ice cream, your fingers brushing.

You ignored the tingling feeling and the chills. He looked away.

While eating, you talked about how the line for the rollercoaster was two times longer than the raft's even though it's literally free.

"I believe they added a new feature to the coaster." Artem reasoned.

"You bet. The rides' golden theme is already impressive enough," You eyed the unbelievably long line from the coaster's ticket booth, "We can go back here some time to see that feature for ourselves." your face heated as you realized the implications in your words.

His eyes widened for a single moment and then looked at you with such intensity you can't bring yourself to look away, "I'd love that." a gentle look worms it's way in his features once again.

Comfortable silence dawns on your own, little world while you both busied yourselves in your ice cream.

The two of you were thrilled as it was your turn to ride the raft, ice cream long gone, replaced by the life-vest in your hands.

"Ah," you sighed, fumbling with the vest a little longer than you should have.

Artem, of course, noticed your movements. He was kind enough to help you adjust the vest.

Of course.

"Come here." He said as his arms finds it's way to your waist, pulling you towards his stature. His hot breath hitting your face while he circled his arms around you to wrap the vest securely.

This is not good for your heart...

He's so close, you could kiss him if you wanted...

He pulled away, his warmth lingering still.

Even when the both of you sat down on the raft. The ride is going to start in a few and here you are, lost in the feeling of Artem being near you.

"Y/N," You abruptly turned your head to him when he suddenly called you, "are you nervous?"

You blushed so hard you wanted to evaporate with the water, 'Yes. You make me nervous.' you're tempted to respond.

"Yes, but don't worry about me." was your reply instead, and you smiled awkwardly and stared at his blue eyes, blue eyes laced with concern.

He leaned closer, probably so that the other people within your raft wouldn't hear, "I care about you and I want you to feel as comfortable as possible," he whispered in your ear, sending chills to your spine.

This is definitely not comfortable, Mr. Wing.

Your heart is doing flips, this isn't normal!

"Please tell me if you need something." The gentleness in his voice took your breath away the way it did as the first time.

The fact that he's unaware of his effect on you angered you so much. You scanned his face for signs of teasing. Smirk, maybe a playful glint, anything.

Yet you found none.

The raft began to move, a perfect timing to change the subject!

You leaned on him, but not too close, and whispered, "It's starting."

Water began to splash, as the raft moved with the current.

The track was smooth at first, you getting small splashes here and there.

Until a bumpy track decided to present itself.

Like before, the raft went with the flow of the water, except that it bounced and rotated harshly that one particular splash of water was enough to wet you and your clothes completely.

"OH MY G-" you exclaimed when the raft hit a rough spot again, soaking everyone wet.

You were making a surprised pikachu face as the water seeped into your clothes.

You turned to look at Artem to see his state and you suppressed a giggle with how he's making the same face as you did earlier.

Never in your life you thought you'd see Artem with the surprised pikachu face.

You took pride in knowing that you're one of the very few people who gets to see this side of him.

"Artem!" you shouted through the noisy stream of water. "We look silly!" you laughed as the water rocked everyone in the raft as harsh as it possibly can. Round and round, back and forth.

"We do!" his laughed mingled with yours even when the water relentlessly kept soaking your already wet bodies.

You smiled once again, gazing at his form with profound fondness longer than just a friend would've done.

6:00pm

"That was really fun!" You shouted to the air while Artem scooted beside you, offering his arm like he did earlier, which you eagerly took.

The both of you went for another round on the raft after the first round, not caring about the long waiting line. The ride was worth it!

All you ever did was scream and laugh at each other's state, but it was the most enjoyment you've ever had in years.

You were completely dry now, changed into fresh clothes that were sold as the park's merchandise.

Even with the change of clothes, the clothes you were wearing right now still matched Artem's.

You weren't complaining.

The crowd continues to enjoy themselves, all while the sunset was making everything in the theme park look like a fairytale.

"Yes, it was. I enjoyed it very much." Artem flashed a smile so genuine, you wanted to see this sight a thousand times more. The orange glow of the sunset gives his raven hair a golden shade, light reflecting on his blue eyes, making him look so bewitching. So you carved it to your memory, not knowing how to elicit that same image from him once again.

Looking up at him, and looking back at the things that happened today, you realized something.

You couldn't take this silent pining anymore, you wanted to tell him how precious his smile is to you, to tell him you're glad he's spending his time with you, to tell him to make more memories with you.

To tell him he's the reason of the warmth flooding your whole being right now.

'I'm in love with you' is what you first thought of saying. No matter how cliche that may be, you wanted to let him know, that you're in love with him.

"Uhh, Artem, I-" You were about to spill your feelings then and there when a voice boomed the speakers of the park.

"Everyone! One hour more to go for the fireworks! Please look forward to it!"

Your confession's gonna have to wait for later.

part 2 here

do not repost © lavynrose 08/15/21.

[surely-galena]

Notes on Main Story 6.1

Excluding 6-01 and 6-15 because I didn't really have anything to say there

6-03

Neil left a month after Artem joined the NXX, which he says was Oct 2029

And oh I've only just realized this, but the dub I listen to has the voice actors pronounce NXX as "N-two-X" when I've been saying each letter (like DNA). I'm... probably still going to continue saying it as NXX though

At that point, he tells MC it was only Neil, Vyn, and Giann -- so we can assume the order of member accumulation goes Vyn -> Artem -> Marius -> MC -> Luke

Whoa Neil and Giann disappeared within two weeks of each other? Ouch

Oooh MC did know Neil 'personally' in the sense that she was in one of his classes! Nice to have that confirmed

Okay okay also I knew that Artem's father was a judge because spoilers but the highest title? *immediately adds Artem to the list of practically Stellis royalty*

Huh, Artem's parents' English names are Kimberly and Bryan? Okay, cool

"if we get into anything dangerous during the investigation," artem says. ha. foreshadowing (and then MC saying his identity makes him a target ohhh)

But also it kinda makes you think, if Artem hadn't been brought up as this kind, respectful person, he might have ended up as someone who'd have no issues using their parents' names to get what they want

North Stellis is a no-go area. Got it.

6-05, 6-07

MC getting mad over Jovi trying to guilt trip Artem (even if she didn't actually say anything due to the current situation) is so sweet

Also MC wanting to laugh over the idea of Baldr's involvement is so funny to me

6-09

Oh? cutting to Marius for a quick second, cool

Nooo not MC forgetting to eat again!! I love that she's dedicated to her work, but she needs to take care of herself or we'll get SR 'In Sickness or in Health: the Sequel'

MC: we need to do this now! and this! and this!! It's very urgent!!

Artem: no.

MC: ???

Artem: we need to eat 🤨

"regarding nutrition intake, you currently have a reputation of 0" OOF

Artem telling MC to prioritize self-care? I can respect that

Also him telling MC he'll take care of her work meals is tugging at a found family fic idea for me... I'll just throw that into the ToT fic google drive folder

6-11, 6-13

Artem? With Velcro sneakers? GOOD CHARACTER AMMUNITION, I'll find a way to sneak that into a Marius insult somehow (also Sam if you're reading this, I see what you mean by your light up shoes post and I nod enthusiastically in agreement)

Note for future reference: Artem's books consist of law, philosophy, filmography, sci-fi, and foreign books (not too sure what the latter means but he speaks German I think so they're probably just books in another language)

The Artem Swimming Thing (slightly later addition because I forgot I had thoughts on this) (is this 6-15? maybe I do have thoughts on 6-15 after all)

3 minutes 42 seconds? THAT'S VERY SPECIFIC FOR *cough* PLOT PURPOSES

Artem swimming a lot actually might explain the broad shoulders! I swam a lot when I was younger -- less so now because covid -- but you can tell because my shoulders broadened as I grew up (maybe possibly due to genetics but swimming was at least a partial factor as well). So that's interesting!

Other thoughts

Chapter 6 has a very clear focus on Artem. Nothing wrong with that, but it's interesting to me because the story so far has taken the time to make sure MC has at least one case with each boy so far (partially to introduce the reader to each of their characters)

We have ch1: Luke, ch2: Vyn, ch3: Artem, ch4: Marius, and ch5: Luke again. This led me to believe that it was a cycle and character focus would go in that order, but this chapter proves that is not true at all

Which means the character cycle is broken (perhaps slightly ironic, considering the chapter title is 'A Vicious Cycle')

I have my own theories as to which of the remaining two (Marius and Vyn; the order of the cycle may be broken but for equality reasons the story can't favor one character too much -- and thus all four must be covered before the cycle restarts) ch 7 and ch 8 will be focused on, but that's spoiler territory so nothing to say there

Also here is my Zak ToT bingo card so far (link to the plain template)

Overall 6.1 was fun! Looking forward to 6.2 in two weeks :D

[hekateinhell]

Hi! I would love to know which of your VC fics you're the most proud of, and can you tell us a little bit about the thought process behind it!!!! Like the DIRECTORS CUT if you will.

KACYYY omg hiiiiiiii 🖤

Oh man, here’s where I get to be more self-indulgent and self-absorbed than usual. Brace yourselves. Alright, let’s roll! For the sake of this ask, I'm going to eliminate AUs simply because they take the vampire out of VC lol.

I want to preface all this with a quote from AR I remember as a young teen (had to dig it up). She was reading from TVA, and she said that book, more than any other, was a metaphor for the vampire as, “A creature who thought he was damned and lost and still had a vision of the world as a beautiful place.” It just speaks to me, both as the person behind the screen writing and as something I try to keep in mind re: my characterizations at this point in the fic process.

Anne also got a lot of credit for being the one to humanize the vampire in the 70s and 80s which, I want to point out, isn’t the same thing as taking the monster out of the vampire and making them human—especially in the moral sense. Just another note re: my personal characterizations.

And now to fics! We get mature under the cut. :)

I couldn't decide between these two, so you get both! Lol or you can stop reading after one! In no particular order:

Shake The Disease (previously Bijoux Box)︱Armand/Daniel ︱Rated: E (more out of caution atm, but she'll soon earn it!)

This isn't even a proper fic lol this is my prompt collection. And I absolutely love it because it's my tiny tribute to the pairing that hooked its claws into my brain fifteen years ago and never really let go. It took about six months of writing fic to get to where I thought that maybe ?? I could ?? do them justice ??

My first time writing human!Daniel and Armand, outside of little flashback scenes in other fics. Given how little material we have to work with (consider the Devil's Minion chapter compared to the rest of the Chronicles), it takes Great Depression era creativity and dedication to get the absolute mileage out of it that this fandom has. And it's tricky, because while I want to nail the cadence and dynamic of canon, I have to acknowledge that my take on D/A will be different in its own way. How we all individually process and analyze lit is such a unique thing, no two takes can (or should be!) identical. So finding a balance is my goal.

Additionally, it's been really nice to actually give something back to the fandom through prompt requests (I didn't even specify Armand/Daniel when I posted the prompt list, but my sweet, wonderful, perfect moots know me ❤️).

Closer ︱Armand/Lestat︱Rated: E ︱this one required the Consensual Sex tag, lord help me.

My third (I think?) fic ever, and imo it kind of shows, but it's special to me because here’s where I started feeling comfortable enough to venture into darker themes. I’ve always enjoyed exploring power dynamics and play.

There's a good dose of D&S (dominance and submission) themes, and something I enjoy with this pairing (just like with human!Daniel/Armand) is the vampiric mindreading ability that can be used to confirm consent. Now, obviously, this is a fictional adaption of already fictional characters, but a reminder for anyone reading since we're on topic—if it's not consensual, it is not BDSM and it is not sex.

Armand and Lestat are just fun to work with because they’re very similar in a lot of ways (abusive childhoods/adolescences, this obsessiveness/neediness in their relationships, a tendency to deflect/unholy tempers, underdeveloped prefrontal cortexes, Mutual Marius Issues, etc.) and there's a lot of good and bad history. Sequel coming very soon, bless my heart.

My fingers have run out of breath, but I did want to share this I posted a while back, half-jokingly, but hopefully marginally helpful for anyone wanting to dip their toes into fic-writing (and if anyone wants an cleaner, updated version lmao I will do it): Hekate’s Tips & Tricks for Not Wanting to Capri Sun a Rat & Sob All Over Your Keyboard

Thank you so much for this Kacy, it was really fun and interesting (for me!) to actually take a beat and think about my own creative process. Rip.

[benjaminmoorepaint]

red: the color of...grantaire?

Figured I might do another meta post like the one I did for Marius to address the myths and misconceptions surrounding certain characters, so it's Grantaire's turn!

I'm sure we all know Grantaire quite well...a sensitive starving artist, with his Apollo as his muse, and a cynic who pragmatically points out the flaws in Enjolras's idealism, which they quarrel over.

Let's unpack that!

Grantaire is most likely middle class if not wealthy, he is certainly not poor. We don't know what he's studying (if he's studying at all) but he is nevertheless a quintessentially Parisian bourgeoise "student", much like Bahorel. "A rover, a gambler, a libertine..." As the foil of "severe in his enjoyments" Enjolras, Grantaire is a pleasure-seeker, indulging in the excesses that Enjolras disdains.

Again, though we don't know what Grantaire is studying (and I suspect he's just Bahorel-ing it) he's clearly an educated man, judging by the references he throws into his speeches, and he mentions that he once was a student of Gros.

So is he really an artist? He might have been an apprentice at some point, but it's clear he was not particularly enthused by it. After all, discipline is something that Grantaire…lacks. And because it's Grantaire, you can't completely discount the idea that he made it up just for a pun (though I do find that unlikely.) But it's a triple (quadruple?) play--it's important not to take this quote too far out of context because he's actually saying several things here.

It is a shame that I am ignorant, otherwise I would quote to you a mass of things; but I know nothing. For instance, I have always been witty; when I was a pupil of Gros, instead of daubing wretched little pictures, I passed my time in pilfering apples; rapin is the masculine of rapine. So much for myself; as for the rest of you, you are worth no more than I am. I scoff at your perfections, excellencies, and qualities. Every good quality tends towards a defect [...] there are just as many vices in virtue as there are holes in Diogenes’ cloak.

Gros was a well-known neoclassical painter of the time, and I believe Hugo's inclusion of him here is a jab at the neoclassicists, as Grantaire doesn't seem to care for him.

There's a pun! "Rapin"--term for a painter's assistant--is the masculine of "rapine"--to steal.

So he likely means he stole the apples intended to be painted for a still life, which fits his careless attitude... but he's ironically putting himself down for it too, and at the same time

putting his companions down, saying they're no better than him even if they do have more "good" qualities because each good quality has a corresponding downside, so what's the point, really?

You can see that even in this small sample of his speech that Grantaire often has layers upon layers of meaning in what he says. He's a smart guy! But that means you can't always take what he says at face value, as Hugo says, he's constantly "reasoning and contradicting" himself. So let me invite you further down into what I think his real meaning is here (though now firmly into the depths of my own conjecture, so others may have different interpretations.)

I would speculate that "the rest of you" who he professes to mock refers mostly to a specific person, you can probably guess who. After all, Enjolras is surely the paragon of virtue among them, and you could certainly argue that his good qualities edge on being flaws. I think Grantaire is right about that, and it's a sort of theme we see pop up again and again--the Bishop's generosity does hurt the women he lives with, Valjean's self-sacrifice hurts Cosette, and Javert is someone who's tipped all the way over to his virtues being vices.

But like, man, come on. Seriously. "I scoff at your perfections, excellencies, and qualities." Dude. We all know that you're obsessed with this man.

And you might notice that this is just a whole lot of Grantaire talking and talking over people, never letting anyone else get a word in. It's not a debate, Grantaire never actually debates anyone, let alone Enjolras. The idea of Grantaire debating Enjolras and making him see the flaws in his idealistic revolution is wholly a fandom invention.

The closest we get, really, is Grantaire trying to convince Enjolras to send him to the Barriere du Maine...and Grantaire doesn't come out of that looking so good.

“Do you know anything of those comrades who meet at Richefeu’s?”

“Not much. We only address each other as tu.”

“What will you say to them?”

“I will speak to them of Robespierre, pardi! Of Danton. Of principles.”

“You?”

“I. But I don’t receive justice. When I set about it, I am terrible. I have read Prudhomme, I know the Social Contract, I know my constitution of the year Two by heart. ‘The liberty of one citizen ends where the liberty of another citizen begins.’ Do you take me for a brute? I have an old bank-bill of the Republic in my drawer. The Rights of Man, the sovereignty of the people, sapristi! I am even a bit of a Hébertist. I can talk the most superb twaddle for six hours by the clock, watch in hand.”

I won't bother going too in-depth here since you're probably familiar with all this--Grantaire talks a big game and then fails to follow through. And we see one of two red waistcoats mentioned, neither of which are worn by Enjolras.

Grantaire lived in furnished lodgings very near the Café Musain. He went out, and five minutes later he returned. He had gone home to put on a Robespierre waistcoat.

“Red,” said he as he entered, and he looked intently at Enjolras. Then, with the palm of his energetic hand, he laid the two scarlet points of the waistcoat across his breast.

So yeah, it's actually Grantaire who wears red, at least canonically! I know their popular red/green color scheme comes from the musical, but it might be fun to reverse it sometimes...I think Enjolras would look great in a nice emerald green, and he'd be more likely to wear that, actually.

Why? A red waistcoat like would be a very obvious, in-your-face political statement--perfect for Bahorel, the other red waistcoat wearer, but Enjolras is actually a lot more reserved and less reckless than fandom sometimes makes him out to be. Wearing something that blatant isn't really his style.

The real question is, why does Grantaire, of all people, own one? Why has he read Prudhomme and the Social Contract and the Rights of Man?

Grantaire is not a super sympathetic character. He's a man of means, talent, intelligence...and he wastes those gifts and privileges on doing nothing, he has no aims in life, he does not aspire to do better or make the world better. He may be Enjolras's foil but I would also contrast him with Feuilly, who has spent his life dedicated to improving himself and the world despite the challenges he's faced. He's obnoxious to women, denigrates his friends for their beliefs, and is generally useless. He's given the opportunity to change and he squanders it. He's not so much cynical (because that's a belief) as he is indifferent, which is arguably worse. His indifference can certainly be read as symbolic within the group, their belief versus the apathy of the world.

But, layers upon layers...Grantaire does have a good heart hiding underneath all that. What I've been getting at all along here is that he does care; he may say he doesn't, he may even believe he doesn't, but he does, clearly, care. He says he hates mankind; he loves people. He says he scoffs at his companions; he admires them. He declares himself indifferent, yet he can't help but talk about the sufferings of the world.

Which isn't to say that simply caring absolves him of anything. Up to this point, he's still just been a useless layabout. What does absolve him (narratively speaking) is the first time, possibly the first time in his life, that he chooses to act. He chooses to take a stand. And this transfigures him, as Hugo says.

Grantaire had risen. The immense gleam of the whole combat which he had missed, and in which he had had no part, appeared in the brilliant glance of the transfigured drunken man.

At the last moment, he chooses to believe, and Enjolras finally accepts him.

One last thing: Grantaire never calls Enjolras "Apollo". Furthermore, he's actually the only one who couldn't have called him "Apollo". The only line where this nickname is mentioned is as follows:

It was of him, possibly, that a witness spoke afterwards, before the council of war: “There was an insurgent whom I heard called Apollo.”

Who could have called him that? Not Grantaire, he was fast asleep during the whole thing. So I choose to believe it was Prouvaire…he would.

[cosmicangst]

all of tears of themis ml have such great dynamics with the mc and i enjoy all of them but Luke’s relationship with her is the one that breaks my heart the most and I’ve only recently started looking into it reading dates and his personal story. What is your take on all the boys’ relationship/dynamic with mc? Sorry if this is too long of a question, feel free to ignore me if it’s too much of a hassle!! Have a blessed day❤️

they really do! and no worries at all i love babbling

for me, a main theme that resounds in every boy's “route” is loneliness and possibly alienation in pursuit of a higher goal or ideal (which ties w the other theme of mental illnesses/disorders prevalent in a lot of their cases.) it's no wonder that the plot really kicks into gear with rosa joining the nxx, which was created for the purpose of bringing these individual, disparate professionals together for the purpose of addressing the insidiousness brewing under stellis's chrome gilded facade. they're stronger together than apart. rosa having special ties with each of them is one of the few who can see their more genuine sides, which is part of the reason why they gravitate to her. as such, their individual and unique dynamics shine less on the fluff (which are cute) but on the ones where she bumps heads with them directly or they both come across a bump that parts the curtain of that persona.

marius is the one who i relate to the most and never fails to make me laugh. his dynamic with rosa is fun and playful, which at the end of it, is just a light cover for the deeper care they reserve for each other and masks the complex underpinnings of what's really happening. i've talked extensively about marius and rosa before so i'm going to leave him out of this one

artem wing

artem is my favorite archetype and personal bias. he’s a hyper-competent, gentle but challenging mentor at work and an introverted, nurturing, and obviously lonely man who didn't really have the space or time to explore or indulge what it really meant to be young.

as a prodigy, artem fully dedicated every part of himself to his career. he often highlights his "boring" personality, his straitlaced manner and inability to relate to people on a casual level as points of insecurity. because of his lack of experience in relationships and the persona he's cultivated for work (involuntarily or not) as an intimidating perfectionist, artem is less secure in his pursuit. where the other guys, marius and vyn notably, will flirt openly with her, artem will step back either from his own professionalism or his own lack of candor in being so open. he's a private person who's probably kept a lot of his own self that didn't fit with being a career man in the back. being confronted for the first time with a woman that he wants and who similarly pushes him past his comfort zones, these repressed sides come out in unexpected and sometimes childish ways (see: atmospherics ssr) and quite possibly once they get together, he'd probably be the clingiest boyfriend ever lmao (outside of marius maybe but i think marius would be only half-serious about it)

out of everyone, i posit he spends the most consistent time with her (in current day.) for being the most reticent, artem is possibly the most “what you see is what you get” kind of person. i really can't imagine him indulging in some kind of nefarious agenda or plot or hiding some dark, secret background the way i sometimes indulge for the others when i hc. he and rosa share the same means and the same ends, and on the occasions they differ on the means, he would rather she commit to her ideals rather than mold herself to fit into his own (that fight they have in episode 2 of his personal story is quite possibly my favorite rosa-li interaction so far.) he’s her steady rock. at the end of the day, he just wants to do his job right and be loved for his mundane normalcy and rosa wants to develop into the kind of genius of artem’s caliber and find someone who can recognize her efforts. they both teach and learn from each other all the time. whether it’s their careers or their relationship, they’re always making an effort to meet each other halfway.

luke pearce

luke is rosa's history and foundation and our only point of reference for who she was before the story began. he knows rosa and her family. he is her family, romanced or not. even if she did get together with someone else, he's the most inevitable presence in her life (with death being literally the only thing that would keep him away.)

he knows sides of her the others haven’t even seen or learned yet. it’s with him that we see those sides she thought she had already left behind. because of their history and the fact that he's the closest to her in age (along with marius but the fact that he's even younger adds a unique layer to their own dynamic), rosa doesn't have the hangups of deference and respect for her seniors the way she does for artem and vyn. she does respect luke and is constantly wowed by his abilities but he's already familiar to her. she witnessed him in the trials of puberty so like they're well past that stage of awkwardness and initial distance in friendships. as such, she has more shorthands in their interactions. she can make fun of him, push him to a certain extent, and not be worried about turning him away completely.

but their layers of knowledge about the other does add some complexity to their closeness, in that they know each other like family but some parts of themselves are essentially strangers they’ve developed in the eight years they’ve been apart. luke wants her to retain the purity of their childhood memories and doesn’t want to sully that by showing his more coarsened and merciless sides, even if that means keeping her at some distance. plus the fact that he’s on a literal timer that she knows nothing about adds a sense of tragedy to even their most lighthearted moments.

along with artem, luke is the most reserved in his pursuit of her, which is not based on an internal insecurity but rather the more immediate, external threat of his death. he knows and hates himself for playing the losing game of spending more time with her. aaron is the only one who hasn't given up on him yet (and rosa would be too if she knew) but luke has little optimism for the future. if rosa found out and there was truly nothing to be done, she would stay with him regardless and try to concentrate on the present and not on the little time they have left together. luke knows this and wants to prevent as much heartbreak as he can. but in his years of isolation doing missions and possibly risking his life, he's cultivated this sense that he knows best ultimately, not realizing or perhaps in denial that abandoning her to ignorance is actually the most heartbreaking thing he can do.

vyn richter

vyn…. idek where to start with vyn. vyn is a fascinating contradiction between gentle menace and sly sweetness (and to a more subdued extent, the genteel noble and the cutthroat brute.) i think it's funny that he and artem share a similar worry that their "perfectionism" prevents her from relating to them. but where artem fears that she puts him on a pedestal as her "idol of worship," vyn worries whether she'll put her trust and intimacy into someone else because he's not capable of fully caring for her needs. out of everyone, i think vyn is the most possessive of her esteem and attention and the most likely to retaliate against any interlopers in his own quiet and cunning way.

luke and vyn share similarities in that they'd both willingly embrace the role of the "god of death" if it meant rosa's well-being and achievement of her goals. but where luke would possibly lose a little sleep in the thought of what breaking his moral boundaries would mean for him personally and how rosa would view him, vyn would sleep like a baby lmao vyn is like the bane to luke's batman ("you merely adopted the dark..." ok lol i'll stop.) he's self-possessed about every aspect of himself, both the good and the bad and his only worry is his inefficiency. he doesn't want to just support her; he wants to be the best out of everyone to the point that he will always be the one she seeks out.

idk all the details about his background but it appears to me that he felt choked by the constrictions (and possible hypocrisy) of his nobility, which has colored his general pragmatism and morality. as such, whether he was alienated by others or purposely alienated himself from the people and views of his upbringing, rosa's entrance to his life seems almost like a rebirth of sorts that accompanies his immigration into this new country and this new name.

uniquely, he seems to test her to approaching certain lines that the other lis steer clear of, which only ever end with her confirming her principles (and making him want her even more lol) where rosa will always consider the law and the right way to do things, vyn will default to his inner sense of right and wrong by his own judgment and desires regardless of what propriety or law demands. he talks like a gentleman but he knows how to act like the opposite if it’s for a purpose he deems as right and just. you notice in the promo art ft rosa as the statue of themis that vyn is the one taking off her blindfold (aka her impartiality)? he would always want her to pursue the truth in her own way but i get the sense that he would have no qualms dirtying his hands and working in the shadows to help her bring the truth to the light. he’s the other, darker side of her coin for better or worse

[byeol-ssi]

Can I just start off by saying thank you so much for writing and making one of the most amazing fics and then for writing me one of the most beautiful fic for my request?

I am so so so ecstatic and so so damn happy and genuinely grateful for the amount of amazingness and sincerity and love you put into writing the characters. You're an amazing writer and I'm so so glad i stumbled upon that Marius x bodyguard mc fic bcs i waited for all parts like i wait for kdrama episodes and it was so damn worth it. I'm gonna brag about this to my friends and think about this all day every day and it made me smile so damn much. You combined food and my best boy together and that's mf talent and hardwork and appreciation all in your writing I'm so so happyyyttttttrhsjjajajaja

Excuse the hystericalness of my message lol i wanna give u a big fat cat huggggg

Also, this is to let you know i appreciate you and your hardwork and dedication to the characters and the love you have for writing but more than a fan, i wanted to let you know as one person to another, that you're craft and art in writing is worthy of only the best praises and that if anyone tells you otherwise they are jealous and just plain eughhhhhh

Please always take good care of yourself and never feel discouraged by writer's block or other obstacles

You're doing amazing and ur going to keep on doing amazing and know always that you make someone's day alot brighter and better and that you make them happy and excited with what you do. I wish for you to always get the reward for being such an amazing ball of sunshine in my life

i had to reread this several times, spend the next few minutes bawling my eyes out, then took another moment to clutch my phone close to my overjoyed and extremely full heart.

firstly, no words will ever be enough to express how grateful i am that you took the time to send me such a heartfelt message. i had tons of fun working on your request, and i really did want to make it as special as possible for everyone. i'm a little speechless, but i do want to convey my appreciation as well, so please bear with me if this gets a little sappy.

i feel very blessed to know that i have someone like you reading and supporting my work. that alone has already made a huge difference in my life, and i'm certain i'll be able to handle any challenge regarding writing because i know that i have you. your encouragement will definitely allow me to grow even more as a writer and a person, and for that, again, i'm thankful.

my world is definitely a lot brighter, because this message, your well-wishes, and you, will forever be engraved on my heart and be the biggest motivation for me to continue writing. that's how massive of an impact your love has done for little me, so when i do release something new, please remember that i'm only able to, because of you. honestly.

you deserve the entire world, my love! i hope you know that i'll always be thinking of you — and wishing for your safety, health, and happiness.

(also, i too, feel frustrated that i can't tackle you into a big hug. so instead, i would love to make you another request/fic should you desire one and if you have any ideas in the future, as my way of saying thanks. you truly don't know how much this entire ask means to me ♡)

[actualbird]

// spoilers for symphony of the night in bulk and also reactions

mc, girl, i REALLY think you should check on your childhood best friend who is ALSO a very skilled hacker who ALSO is a self sacrificial doofus. because uh. not only does he have the capability to do this. but also. THE WORRYING ON AND OFF DESIRE TO DO THIS.

thats a VERY interesting description of ur business place. ive been playing around with a fake-out makeout fic idea occurring in the abyss. something ala "oh no we were caught investigating secret codes in the hallway leading to the back exit!! QUICK, KISS ME!!! AND DO IT IN A WAY THAT WILL MAKE EVERYBODY WHO SEES FEEL SO AWKWARD THEY CANT QUESTION US!!!!" cue passionate makeout both parties RIDICULOUSLY ENJOY to the point that they, for a moment, forget that theyre doing this as a ruse.

if that aint "dreams come true" well...

bar owner having witnessed the nxx investigation team in various permutations kissing each other stupid For The Case: ...is this...a thing for you guys? im not bothered but DO GET A ROOM...

(and yes, for those curious, this is a marluke fic idea. im on a mission here to populate the marluke ao3 tag one fic at a time)

marius' expression when he was saying this.....it was the I Don't Like This, This Is Sad And It's Hurting My Heart expression and i just....

1) it REALLY pulls at my heartstrings how BIG everybodys hearts are, in this team. theyre focused and can put emotions aside to get the job done but theyre all also so driven by human stories. they want to stop tragedies somehow all the time, and if the tragedy has already been written, theyre all willing to do whatever it takes to make sure it cant happen again. luke always says that mc hates bad endings. shes in good company though, in this team. all of them hate bad endings.

2) back to marius particularly just. uGH. this is my marluke brainworms jumping out but i am TAKING NOTE of how intensely upset marius is at the concept of a person willing to sacrifice themself for the benefit of other people. marius understands why types of people like this exist but i know in my HEART that he wants to make the world so that those people Dont Have To Be Like This.

what kind of world is so cruel that the best thing somebody can do is with their life is...leave it?

HONEST TO GOD, THIS MADE ME CRY. COME ON, TOT. WHY. WHY DO THIS TO ME??? not only did you throw medilla into my face but u tell me he created his AI with the same "purpose" because the life he lived was just so fucking goddamn lonely

im crying again, shut up, dont look at me, im very easy to bring to tears

//zak continues crying his eyeballs out

PLEASE and the fact that medilla had really really bad social anxiety. the world he loved was one he struggled to be a part of, one that existed in a manner that was hostile to him. so much of his actions were him at the sidelines doing good that nobody will ever ever know about.

the team promised both him and lilith that theyd witness the end of notro and centipede but god. GOD. i dunno, man! their story and dedication does live on in the minds and hearts of five people but it's breaking my heart,

these characters who lived their lives as a whisper because the world is too loud

and not many people are willing to listen

//zak CONTINUES CRYING HIS EYEBALLS OUT

ALL IN ALL: sotn event story was VERY GOOD. gameplay was fun as hell but i think Media Journalist is entitled to financial compensation for being our debate punching bag this entire time. but yes the story was WONDERFUL. pacing was nice since each day kept suspense going but also gave us enough that i felt satisfied with each chunk and jus the Overall Themes hit me hard like a brick to the face.

i have to eat breakfast now and think about all of this intensely and also yoink a BUNCH of story themes from this to season future writing contents

[everyonewasabird]

Brickclub 3.3.2 ‘One of the Red Ghosts of the Time’

We meet Georges.

His introduction--an unnamed 50ish man in a garden--reads for a little while like he’s going to be one more incarnation of Valjean, until we get to the hair that’s only nearly white and the scar over his face.

After that point, he starts to sound like Myriel, with his flowers and his gentleness. But unlike Myriel, his work in the world outside his garden is all in the past. And he’s a far more deliberate and scientific cultivator, whereas Myriel merely loved flowers.

In any case, whenever both happen to be sincere and good, no one gets on as well or becomes as close as an old priest and an old soldier. Deep down, they are the same man. One has dedicated himself to the homeland here below, the other to the homeland up above; there is no other difference.

You know, I’m just kind of uncomfortable about everything in this paragraph? None of that sounds like a good thing to me.

But priest and soldier are important character types in this book, used for explaining Javert and Enjolras and others. It makes sense that having met the archetypal good priest, we would meet the archetypal good soldier.

These last few chapters feel like a strange remix of past digressions. It’s like a pop quiz we’re being given: Did we take the past lessons to heart? We see Waterloo again, but this time we pass through all the rising and then falling glories of Napoleon to get there, as Georges’s fortunes rose and fell with him. We get no commentary on Napoleon now, though--we’ve already heard it.

And it’s 1817 again, with all the events of that year still unfolding. Depending on what month it is, Fantine may still be happy. We’ve traveled back in time, and we can’t change anything, but maybe there’s something we were supposed to learn.

The stories we follow this time are messier and more complicated and far more embedded in politics, but they have the same resonances. Gillenormand is awful, but less straightforwardly. He echoes Tholomyes, but he pays for the upkeep of children. He keeps Marius from his parent like Thenardier did, but the harm he does is internal--nobody starves. Not for food, anyway.

Georges, like Fantine, lost his child to manipulation and his own misjudgment--but he accepts the situation meekly, steals his glances at Marius, and thinks about his flowers.

Maybe it’s not fair, but I can’t help thinking Fantine would have fucking fought Gillenormand for that child. Maybe she wouldn’t have won--but George probably could have, if he’d tried.

This might one of my more controversial opinions, but I find it hard to warm to Georges as a character. The book is telling me to like him, but I never really feel it.

And it’s not even for Gillenormand’s money that he does it, because there won’t be much. This is explicitly about Mademoiselle Gillenormand’s money. George capitulated to Gillenormand’s demands in order that his son would inherit it--but she wasn’t holding that over his head. It’s not clear she even wanted the child to come live with them, and it’s not clear that Marius living with them has any bearing on what she decides to do with that inheritance.

Later, we’ll see her decide what to do with the inheritance that Georges literally gave up his child for. It’ll be a silly afterthought, which she makes for bad and shallow reasons. She never assumed it was going to go to Marius, and if he’d really needed it, she wouldn’t have given it to him anyway.

There’s something complicated going on with her here, that she’s both a cypher in her own house and the character with the actual power here, if money is power. (And money is certainly what Georges is valuing over the presence of his kid in his life. Somebody, anybody, feel free to defend Georges to me.)

But, by sheer force of personality and manipulation and desire to control people, Gillenormand gets what he wants on the flimsiest pretext possible.

[barricadebops]

Anon who saw the post about someone saying it would be difficult to be friends with Enjolras. When I sent my first ask in I forgot to mention that the reason this person thought it would be so difficult to be friends with him is because of how passionate and intense he is. Like hello, the reason he was so intense and passionate for his cause is because he was filled with so much love for people and his friends. And again, that passion/intensity is what made his friends love him so much. I just can't with some people.

Hmm, maybe this person was saying it in regards to themselves? As in they personally couldn't be friends with someone who has a personality like Enjolras? Because then it changes the situation up a bit—some people do find certain personalities draining to be around, so if it's a personal thing, I understand.

However, at the same time, the way it's worded rubs off a little wrong—they seem to be implying that nobody can be friends with someone who has a personality like Enjolras, which is incorrect. You're absolutely right in saying that his intensity and passion is derived from his love for his friends and for people in general—he has so much care inside him, how could anyone not find that such an endearing quality? The only intensity he would direct straight to one of his friends is his intense care. He'd always be that person ready to help a friend with homework or a situation, because that's just the person he is. His passion lends him an enormous capacity of genuine adoration for the people he loves—and that sort of enthusiasm towards his friends is seen in the chapter "Enjolras and His Lieutenants" when he's busy thinking of all his friends' admirable qualities.

Another thing to be said is that I think a lot of people get confused with the concept of passion. Passion doesn't always mean screaming your feelings and being super loud about everything—passion can be shown in quiet, tender moments too, when someone does the dishes for you they demonstrate a passionate sort of love, or when someone decides to befriend the new kid they demonstrate their passion towards people, or when someone is reading a book from their favourite genre—simply reading it even—they're demonstrating their passion for that particular genre. Passion isn't always so loud, people show it in different ways. Similarly, Enjolras ia described to have "unexpected outburts of soul," meaning there were often moments in which he would get "loud," buy in other moments, he's generally quite calm and collected, actually. In the chapter "The Backroom of the Musain" (I believe, at least), while the rest of the Amis are all talking and laughing and debating amongst themselves, Enjolras is described to be the only of the Amis (Marius isn't technically an Ami) who is sitting there quietly, listening and observing rather than speaking. A lot of the times, he's quiet—but this doesn't mean he isn't passionate or as passionate as he is when fired up. Which leads me to believe a lot of people mistake his passion for him being super loud all the time, which isn't true, and not just for him, but for a lot of people.

(Also wanted to point out that if you are loudly passionate, that's not a bad thing either! There will always be at least one person who will always listen to you with that adoring smile of their's.)

And yes, absolutely, his intense dedication to caring for his friends—caring for people—is what made his friends admire and love him so much. It was for that intensity he has towards that sort of love that made them all decide that they wanted him to lead.

[ifeveristoday]

Thanks for keepin up your Boom! Coverage, I was surprised to see how much Xander's storyline is pulling from Angelus- its interesting even if groan Robin implied XanderBuffy is more than friendship. I had always assumed any buffy version would feature the tragedy of Buffy and Angel - hellmouth, early Angel issues indicated that, but VampXander combined with the soul Mara-Kate silliness has me doubting. What new ground would be covered with an Angelus Buffy crossover?

I can't be the only one yelling into the void about how much I enjoy the Boom! Verse, so I figured I'd take you all with me. ��

I've posted before while I'm not excited about the Xander - Buffy storyline, I knew by all the clues that littered past issues that they were going to have to do *something* about it. And yes, Robin pressing Buffy on her 'true' feelings for Xander seems rather out of left field for him. Especially on a date - why is he so intent on pushing the girl he likes into admitting she has secret buried feelings for her as-far-as-he-knows, dead best friend? Way to stall a potential romance. (Though he was right to call her out on her martyr complex.)

Then Buffy extrapolating from Kendra's conversation that she would know when she knows re: Xander - I'm interpreting it as Buffy being in a particularly vulnerable position. A lot of traumatic things have happened within the span of a month - the Hellmouth opening then closing, Xander's apparent 'final' death, Willow leaving, Rose getting hurt, Kendra's arrival and disruption of Buffy's status quo. And she can't talk to anyone about it - her mother can't know her secret, she believes Giles is more impressed with Kendra, and Ms. Calendar is out of the loop. And Rose and Cordelia aren't really *her* friends. She's really alone like she said she wanted to be at the start of the series, and she tries to fix that by throwing herself into a relationship with Robin, because he assures her he's on team Buffy. (And Buffy wants to be liked and needed.) And then that stops before it even could start.

And with her unsettling slayer dreams and reluctance to share ("It's personal"), it's a very lonely place to be for Buffy. Xander coming back from the dead, sort of - well he's a charter member of Team Buffy, so I can see why she's conflicted. He's one of her best friends and even though his feelings for her are terribly twisted by the demon, he's a reminder of when she wasn't lonely. Willow is gone, but Xander is back.

Buffy's loneliness is something that hasn't been brought up much in the Boom! verse. At least not in conversation with the other characters directly. Willow and Xander had their mini arcs dealing with depression and their childhood bond, but Buffy was absent for a lot of that, as she was fighting on another plane of existence. Angel had some camp counselor like advice about loneliness, but then got possessed by the personification of an ancient evil, oh and omitted telling Buffy he was a vampire until the worst possible second, so her tentative trust in him is gone.

Which brings me to your point about how Vamp! Xander's obsession with Buffy is reminiscent of the Angelus story line (and boy is there a whole essay that could be written about how in TV canon, Angelus adopts Xander's nickname for Buffy, "Buff" and his manipulation of her and Xander's feelings and how eerily similar the toxic aspects of the men in Buffy's life can be drawn back to Angelus, etc.) and how it seems like the early hint of Buffy and Angel now feels like a red herring. I think while there are similarities, it's more aligned to the Jesse/Ford plots.

I can only wildly theorize from what print canon says - Buffy and Angel had to meet, and Buffy is going to change Angel's life. Just not now. The timing is off plus they have so much other stuff going on, though Buffy's got more internal chaos while Angel's is more focused on external forces.

And just by the characterization and consistent reminders that Buffy and her friends are sixteen and seventeen year old children - not CW/WB sexy 20 something teenagers, but awkward, messy, traumatized, occasionally shitty to each other children. Angel clearly is not a child.

In Jordie's interviews she's been clear that she wants to bring Buffy into a more modern time, embellishing what we loved about the show, and updating stuff we didn't - Jenny is a character outside of being Giles's girlfriend! Kendra exists and is shown to be a capable and dedicated slayer without Buffy needing to be all white savior about it, the queerness is explicit (Willow, Rose, and Kendra), Black and POC characters get to have lines and motives of their own, mental health is portrayed mostly sensitively and with compassion, and oh, Anya is a full adult demon woman and doesn't have to fit in with the gang to their comfort. And have I mentioned Dolly the cat?

Having an Angel and Buffy romance in that timeline now doesn't make any emotional sense. Also, Buffy seemed less than enthused with him by the end of Hellmouth, and we never get to see Angel's opinion about her at all. Buffy only exists as a prophecy in Lillith's convenient magic 8 ball of foreshadowing - and I also get the feeling that the creative teams just weren't talking that closely. With the new creative team coming in, it's another unknown quantity.

And yes. Kate as Mara/Marius just feels lazy and a complete scuttling of any attempt to make Kate a character of her own and one that isn't tied to Angel by some prophecy. Angel. Use Demon Craigslist and undead tindr or something. Just because Lillith is an omniscient power who can see what could be doesn't mean she's always right.

I think the only Angelus coverage will be in regards to Mara, because Buffy has no emotional connection to Angel. There's no devastation/conflict possibility for them currently, and honestly, Buffy would probably stake Angelus easily.

I can only speculate that these initial relationships are setting the stage for a future rematch between Buffy and Angel, but for now their writers are content to build their separate journeys.

Sorry I took so long to reply! It’s been in the mid to high nineties here in California and I mostly want to sit by a fan and disconnect.

[dyscrasia-eucrasia]

Part 1

Next>>

"Hey, uh, so we're Bacchus," the lead singer said, leaning into the microphone. Immediately, Angel doubted the rumors he'd heard. No way this guy was related to Marius. He had none of Marius' charisma. He hunched his shoulders, spoke softly, and stumbled over his words. His long hair looked like it hadn't been washed in a day or two, and he had a ratty goat beard. He wore an Iron Maiden shirt that, even under the bar's shitty stage lights, looked extremely faded. 

Sure, he was wearing fuzzy pants and a pair of curled ram's horns that looked especially realistic, but that just made him seem even more like a weak imitation. It was like he'd chosen curled horns specifically to throw people off the fact that he was riding on Marius' coat tails. 

The drummer looked even more out of place. She was a sturdy-looking woman, with long blonde hair cut into blunt bangs. She hadn't even dressed the part of a member of a heavy metal band, wearing an anime t-shirt and jeans. 

And that was it for the band. No bass player, no keyboardist. Just drums and a guitar. 

Angel leaned back against the bar, thinking to himself that this was gonna suck. 

The lead singer looked back at the drummer and nodded. She counted off on her sticks and the crowd got a little quieter. 

And then the entire bar was hit by a wall of sound. The drums were wild and frenetic, some of the best Angel had ever heard. But they paled in comparison to the guitar. The lead singer was absolutely shredding it, going faster and harder than anyone Angel had ever seen live. The bar erupted into cheering, and a scuffle of moshing started down by the stage. 

Then the singer opened his mouth and began to sing, and Angel felt like he would've been knocked over if he weren't leaning against the bar. The singer's voice was a deep baritone that reverberated across the venue. Angel wasn't even hearing it, but feeling it rattle his sternum. 

The singer finished a verse and launched into a wild guitar solo, his hair flying around him as he banged his head to the beat. The awkwardness of his introduction melted away, and he became a commanding figure on the stage, despite how slim and gangly he was. 

He straightened again, grabbing the mic, and launched into a harsh growl that came up from his chest. The crowd went absolutely wild, and Angel's head began to spin. It was like he was drunk, but also like he was horny, but also like he wanted to grab someone's head and smash it into a brick wall. He could see down in the mosh pit that elbows were flying, faces were getting bloody, and no one seemed to care. 

The band went through an entire set, but time had stopped meaning anything at some point and all the songs bled together. Angel could pick out some of the lyrics, things about gods and monsters and heroes. It was messy and violent, but at the same time somehow painfully erotic, and the audience was hooked on every line. 

Then, suddenly, it was over. "Thank you," the singer shouted into the mic, "like I said, we're Bacchus, thanks to Rattlesnake for having us open for them, they're great guys. We'll be up by the bar for the rest of the night, come buy a shirt or buy us a beer or something, ya fuckin' animals." 

That was right, they weren't even the headliner act. The rest of the bar screamed in excitement for Rattlesnake, but for Angel, it was like a spell had broken. All the awe and energy he'd felt was sapped away in an instant, the minute the band left the stage. Who the fuck even cared about Rattlesnake, anyways? 

He could see now why there were rumors that the lead singer of Bacchus was related to Marius. Marius' style was different, more polished, more theatrical, but they had the same sort of resonance to their voice, and similar guitar work. Not like they were copycats of one another, more like they came from the same musical family. 

Angel slumped onto a bar stool, exhausted. He hadn't even joined the pit - it would look pretty bad, showing up for work with bruises - but he still felt like he'd been beat within an inch of his life. 

He was just thinking about leaving when he looked over and saw the band's lead singer - he was hard to miss, towering over even the biggest of guys - down at the end of the bar, ordering. Based on the way the crowd had reacted to him, Angel would've assumed he'd be swarmed by fans, but he was pretty much alone. A quick scan of the crowd showed that the drummer was sitting at a merch table, chatting with someone, but her side of the table was a ghost town, while a large knot of people were in line for the Rattlesnake side. 

Angel had never actually approached any musicians after shows. It just seemed too needy, too parasocial. He was approached by enough weirdoes after work himself to not want to put someone else in that position. But the lead singer was magnetic. Angel couldn't understand how he wasn't surrounded by people begging for his attention. 

He got down off his barstool and made his way over to the singer. 

"Hey!" He shouted at the bartender above the noise. "Whatever he's having, I'll pay for it," he pointed at the singer. "And give me one, too." 

The singer looked genuinely surprised by the gesture. "Hey, thanks dude," he shouted. 

"Great set," Angel shouted back. "I'm Angel, by the way." 

"Demie," the singer replied, holding out a hand. Now that Angel was right next to him, he realized just how big Demie was. He was built like a twig, but he stood at least 6'6", if not taller, and his hand was like a shovel. It completely enveloped Angel's when he shook it. 

"What was the name of that third song you played?" Angel shouted. "That really fast one?" 

"That one's called 'Wrath of Mars," Demie hollered back. 

"It's really good," Angel shouted. 

"Thanks. I wrote it for my brother, actually." 

"Your brother wouldn't be Marius, would he?" Angel shouted as the bartender put two pints on the bar in front of them. Mars, Marius. Angel felt like he was connecting the dots.

"Uh… yeah, actually," Demie said. His skin was dark - not tanned, but more of a deep olive - but Angel thought he saw his cheeks go a little red. 

There was an explosion of shouting from down by the stage as Rattlesnake took the stage. 

"These guys any good?" Angel shouted, pointing a thumb over his shoulder to the band. 

"Yeah, I mean, if you like country-metal fusion," Demie shouted back. 

"Sounds weird." 

"It is." 

The band started up with some twangy guitar that sounded like something out of a spaghetti western. It wasn't really doing it for Angel. They didn't sound nearly as good as Bacchus had. 

"Hey, uh," he put a hand on Demie's shoulder, standing on his toes to be closer to his ear. "You wanna go outside for a while? I'd love to hear more about your band." 

Demie gave him a quizzical, 'you serious?' kind of look. He glanced over to the merch booth. His drummer was pretty much alone, messing around on an old smartphone. 

"Yeah, sure," he said, grabbing his beer first. 

"So you're really related to Marius, huh?" Angel said as they stepped out of the bar into the cool spring evening. 

"Yeah, he's my older brother," Demie replied. 

"So… what, is this like, some kind of sibling rivalry? Your brother made it big so now you're trying to catch up?" 

"Fuck no," Demie muttered as he took a swig of beer. "Nah, Mar taught me how to play the guitar. We used to all be one band, me, him, and Elaine. We all got the offer to sign with Maggot Records but I backed out at the last minute, and Elaine wouldn't agree to move out West and go on tour without me." 

"So, Elaine… that's your drummer?" 

"Yeah."

"Is she like… your girlfriend…?"

"What? Fuck, no, she's my roommate. We've been friends since we were like ten, she's like a sister." 

"Sorry, sorry," Angel laughed. 

"S'cool," Demie said, continuing to drink. 

"So… I know you said it wasn't a sibling rivalry, but I gotta admit… I think you two are actually better than Marius." 

A crease formed between Demie's eyebrows, but otherwise his face was static. On stage, while singing, he'd been overcome with energy and emotion, but off stage he came off as extremely stoic. Had Angel met him in any other context, he never would've guessed he was a singer, his voice was so monotonous. 

"Don't get me wrong, I'm a huge fan of your brother. That's the whole reason I came out to this show, I'd been hearing rumors that you were related to him for months. But he's really… Marilyn Manson, y'know? Really focused on the aesthetic. He's a good musician, but you've got the better voice and better guitar skills." 

"Thanks," Demie said, shifting his feet awkwardly. Angel couldn't help but look down at them and wonder. He'd seen those goat-feet high heels before, and they looked uncomfortable as hell. He had to give Demie props for wearing them even after he got off stage. That was dedication. 

"Hey, don't take this the wrong way," Demie said, "but you really don't seem like the kinda person who'd like our music." 

"What does someone who likes your music seem like?" Angel asked. 

"I dunno, like… all those Viking looking motherfuckers." 

"No offense, but you don't really look that much like a Viking yourself." 

Demie snorted. "Fuck no, I'm Greek. I fuckin' hate all that Nordic shit, like half of them are Nazis. And their mythology fucking sucks." 

"Y'know, I thought I made out something about Odysseus in one of your songs," Angel said. 

"Yeah, it's only like… the invention of Western literature, or whatever," Demie said, then drained his pint glass.

"No, it's cool. I liked it. Most metal bands sing about Satan or their D&D groups, it's cool to hear something different. I mean, I expected you to sing about Satan, but…" 

"Nah, man, Christians fucking took Satan from the Greeks. They had to find a way to get all these Pagans to stop believing in their Gods, so they made Pan into Satan. They took Hades from us, too. Like the Jews, they don't even have an afterlife, that was all the Christians trying to absorb Greco-Roman Paganism." 

"Wow. I didn't know that. I mean, I'm Vietnamese, so I know about Christianity and colonialism, but I didn't know about the Greeks. That's wild." 

Demie opened his mouth to say something, but was cut off by a shout coming from the door. 

"Jesus Christ, there you are!" The stoutly drummer, Elaine, had popped her head out the door. "I got work in the morning, we gotta get shit into the van and hit the road. Come help me with the drum set." 

"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming," Demie groaned. He turned back to Angel. "Nice talkin' to you, man." 

"Yeah, a pleasure. Hey -- you wanna exchange numbers? You're a cool dude, maybe we could hang out sometime." 

"Oh. Uh… I don't actually got a cellphone, I just got a shitty landline. And I live way out in the sticks, like an hour away." 

"Hey, no, that's cool, no pressure--" 

"Actually, uh…" Demie looked over his shoulder and cupped his hands around his mouth. "HEY! ELAINE! YOU GOT A PEN?" 

"Yeah? Why?" 

"Toss it over here!" 

Elaine grumbled something inaudible but fished a pen out of her jeans pocket and tossed it to Demie. He caught it out of the air and gestured for Angel's hand. 

"I know people hate using the actual phone, but if you wanna call, feel free," he said, scribbling a set of digits on the back of Angel's hand. "Nice meeting you, man." 

With that, he turned and headed back towards the door, his goat shoes clicking on the concrete patio. 

Weird guy, Angel thought. He'd never really met anyone like him. But a few things were obvious - he was talented, he was interesting, and he was definitely gay. And that was enough for Angel to want to keep talking to him.

[goodbyecringe]

(Un)Natural Selection Chapter 17

Enjolras

“Citizens of Illeá, I have decided to narrow the current pool of Selected girls to the ten Elite,” I read from the teleprompter.

While I usually memorized my speeches, my father demanded that I use a pre-approved speech written by his advisors. For once, I wasn’t offended because as soon as I began I could hear one of the girls begin to cry.

“I don’t want to drag this out any longer than it has to be so the following ladies will be staying. Lady Iris Hathor of Hudson, Lady Adele Castro of Waverly, Lady Liberty Cook of Bonita, Lady Teresa Gilbert of Hansport, Lady Harley Housten of Calgary, Lady Keliah Little of Paloma, Lady May Munez of Sota, Lady Musichetta Smith of Angeles, Lady Cosette Fauchelevant of Kent, and finally Lady Éponine Jondrette of Allens. To everyone else, I am incredibly sorry and I hope this opportunity was a positive experience for you to serve your country. If anyone leaving wishes to speak to me I will be available to meet with you. ” I said, keeping my eyes locked on the camera.

The crying intensified as the ten eliminated girls were escorted out of the room for their individual goodbye interviews. There were several hugs among the newly announced Elite and I could see several girls crying tears of happiness. I knew that the eliminated girls would be demanding explanations as to why they were sent home and I would be forced to comfort several of them, which was unsettling. I debated whether I should be blunt or sugarcoat things while Kyran interviewed The Elite so Illeá could see their genuine reactions.

Some of the girls, like May and Liberty, were very emotional and needed a moment to compose themselves. Other girls, like Musichetta and Teresa, stated that they weren’t surprised they were Elite because of the strong connection they felt with me. On the other hand, Éponine and Cosette both said they were shocked to have made it so far in the competition and were honored. After finishing with the girls Kryan invited me to discuss the method I used to determine who was eliminated. I could see photos flash across one of the televisions that showed several girls speaking passionately and others looking clueless.

After the show ended I began to make my way to the eliminated girls.

“Julien,” I heard my father say from behind me.

“Are you satisfied with my choices or do we need to film a redo?” I asked without turning around.

“I’ll be satisfied when you stop all of this nonsense and marry one of these nine girls,” he growled.

“There are ten Elites,” I said rolling my eyes.

“You can play dumb with me but you know which one I’m talking about. She was just meant to be a bone thrown to the Lower Castes, not any actual competition. Either she’s the next to go-”

“Or what? In case you haven’t been paying attention I don’t know any castes of The Elite so I, therefore, have no clue who you’re talking about. My idea to make this a caste-blind Selection has meant to stop caste supremacists. I’ve done what you asked. I’ve read your stupid script, I’ve taken my time throughout this ridiculous facade, and I’m about to comfort ten hysterical girls. So I’m getting on a plane to Carolina tomorrow and delivering an obituary with or without your support.” I said, leaving the room.

Of course, I knew he was talking about Éponine. It didn’t take a genius to determine that she was different from the other girls. But she was good and refreshingly different from those raised in the Higher Castes. Even though the other girls were naturally well mannered and educated, Éponine wasn’t afraid to speak her mind or challenge my beliefs. Éponine had become an ally to The Friends of the ABC and would support our cause to abolish the caste system in Illeá.

By the time I arrived three of the eliminated girls had left the palace. Charlotte was the first to run into my arms and pour out her apologies. She didn’t need an explanation, which made her the easiest girl to deal with. Most of the girls had cried all of their makeup off and those that hadn’t left black stains on my shirt. The whole experience was like the third circle of Hell and I was happy when Claudia announced that it was time for the girls to pack their things so they could go home.

As I began to make my way to my office I couldn’t help but feel drawn towards stopping by Éponine’s room. During the Report, she seemed to be so composed that part of me thought she wasn’t even excited about becoming an Elite. As I stood outside of her room I realized that I had only ever been to a girl’s room once and if I wanted to keep the role of Romantic Prince I would need to dedicate more time to the Elite. When Éponine finally opened the door I noticed she was still dressed in her evening gown.

“Awfully late to still be so dressed up,” I greeted her.

“I give my maids the night off after we do the Report. We don’t have any classes tomorrow and I usually take breakfast in my room on Saturdays which gives me an excuse not to sleep with my hair in rags,” she laughed, inviting me inside.

I noticed that her room had changed since my last visit and there was a large number of pictures covering her wall.

“You’ve redecorated,” I noted.

“Oh, these are the pictures that Monsieur Marius sends me. Having them on the wall makes me feel like I’m out of the palace and in the real world,” she said, sitting at her vanity to brush her hair.

“Do you wish to be out of the palace? You seemed a little disinterested during the Report.” I asked.

“Not at all Enjolras, I’m very grateful for my opportunity to be here. You’ve been nothing but kind and generous towards me and I want you to know that I appreciate that.”

“Six months ago I asked you why you wanted to be here. Do you remember what you said?”

“I never answered the question. I said when I figured it out you would be the first person I’d tell,” she said, moving to sit next to me.

“Have you figured it out yet? You once told me you were here so that your sister could attend college, but earlier today you were talking about moving to Paris. Forgive me if I’m crossing a line but if you don’t want to be here-”

“I’m a nobody, Enjolras. I always have been and I always will be, and nothing about being here will change how people see me. But from the moment we’ve met you’ve treated me like your equal and now I never want to go back to the way life was before I met you.”

“So why do you want to be here?” I asked again.

“There’s nowhere else I’d rather be, Enjolras.”

Suddenly I realized tears were beginning to pool in her eyes. I had scared her and made her believe I was going to send her home even though we had only once talked about her feelings and emotions surrounding the Selection. I made her believe I was sending her back to her abusive parents. I had been ignoring Éponine as a contender because she had become an ally in my political war. Once again, Patria triumphed at the expense of someone else.

As if time had stopped completely I felt her smooth lips against mine. I don’t know who initiated the kiss but I soon began to feel Éponine’s tears on my cheeks, which pulled me away from the smell of cucumber in her hair. It was wildly inappropriate to kiss a girl that I had just upset, no matter if I was meant to be dating her. It felt like my stomach was doing backflips and I could only imagine the horror that Éponine was going through as I broke away from her.

“I’m a Six,” she whispered to her lap.

“That’s why you can’t ever marry me. I’m just here for some diversity that will satisfy the Lower Castes. But now you know so I’ll start packing my stuff,” she said standing up.

“I don’t want you to leave,” I said without thinking.

Even though she had broken my rule, I didn’t want to send her home. Éponine was too valuable to the cause and I wanted to protect her while I still could.

“Do you have feelings for me?”

“Not romantically. But you’ve become an important asset to our cause,” I said, looking at her dead on.

“So you don’t love me?”

“No, I don’t love you. But I don’t love any of the other Selected girls either.”

“I don’t love you either,” she shrugged.

“I guess it’s good that the feeling is mutual,” I said standing.

We stood in front of each other for several moments of pure silence. Éponine pressed her finger to her lips and I wondered if she was still thinking about the kiss. My stomach was still doing backflips as we stood awkwardly, like two children that had just gotten in trouble.

“Why didn’t you talk about what happened in Carolina?” She asked, breaking the silence.

“To be honest, my parents believe that The Selection provides more hope to Illeá than addressing the real problems in our country.”

“So you're just going to roll over and do whatever they tell you to?” She asked, picking her brush up again.

“I’m actually planning on flying to Carolina tomorrow to deliver a speech.”

“That’s good. I’m sure everyone will really appreciate it.”

“I just hope all the coverage about The Elite won’t overshadow it,” I said, beginning to pace around her room.

“I see how that could be a problem. Maybe it would get more coverage if you brought the Selection with you,” she said, turning around to face me.

“I suppose it would force a few hands. But I’m not sure it could be arranged this late at night. The pilot would have to adjust for more people, we would need more guards, all of the maids would have to be notified. I’m not even sure if Claudia has briefed you on travel and press etiquette,” I began.

“Enjolras, you’re the Crown Prince of Illeá, I think you can make a few things happen. And if it will make you feel better, I can go down and tell all of the maids for you,” she smiled, standing up.

“You would do that?” I asked.

“I’d do anything if it meant you would stop pacing in my bedroom,” she laughed, putting a robe on over her dress.

“Well, I appreciate it. I suppose I should go call the Captain of the Guard, but I can only hope Javert is in a good mood,” I said, while Éponine slid into a pair of slippers.

“Your Captain of the Guard will get over it. However, my maids may never forgive me for this tragic fashion disaster.”

“I’m sure the evening gown-nightwear collection is just about to be released,” I laughed.

I stared at her again while she rolled her eyes.

“Thank you for keeping me Enjolras. I meant it when I said I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else,” she said, smiling sheepishly.

“And I wouldn’t want you anywhere else,” I said, opening the door.

Éponine went towards the kitchen to alert the maids while I journeyed to my office, hoping Javert was in a good mood. It wasn’t until I sat down to write my speech that the adrenaline from kissing Éponine finally subsided.