#dude grows and redeems himself ayyyy

[faerielleart]

“...do you permit it?”

[Les Misérables!AU, in which Hanji gathers a group of students to conspire behind the king’s back and start a revolution to put an end to the extreme social inequality. Levi is the most cynical and pessimistic of the students and doesn’t believe in the revolution at all, however he attends all the meetings and takes great interest in Hanji, the leader of the group, though he is unwilling to even admit it to himself. Following the plot of the book, the revolution begins during the funeral of an important military officer, Hanji and the students wreak havoc among the crowd and built barricades in the streets using old furniture. The people do not rise with them and they are left alone the following day, with the guards coming to shut everything down and kill the rebels. Hanji gives one last speech, encouraging the loyal students, who didn’t leave despite the situation being hopeless, to fight til the end; “Let others rise to take our place until the earth is free”, using the lyrics from the musical. The students are killed, until Hanji is the only one left. Just as the guards are about to shoot her, Levi arrives. He did not participate in the battle, but he wants to die by her side. He asks for her permission and Hanji smiles and takes his hand. The guards shoot them, Hanji stands against the wall as if nailed there, only her head bowed, and Levi falls at her feet. Needless to say, Hanji is Enjolras, Levi is Grantaire]

[the reference for the scene is taken from the 2012 movie! pls go watch it yall it’s my fav movie of all time also listen to the songs they’re all amazing and if you have time read the book and come cry about enjolras and grantaire with me]

[ibuproffie]

why the soc duology is peak ya literature *some spoilers*

cohesive, interesting worldbuilding 

it makes sense. no weird plotholes. 

ketterdam feels like a real place. 

all the places in the story are based off of real places that’s prob y. 

does not require a whole bunch of infodumps to explain how things work (i h8 that)

a plot you actually want to read

just imagine

no love triangle 

NO GODDAMN LOVE TRIANGLE 

did i mention no love triangle

yeah, there is romance, but it’s an addendum to the story, not the whole thing (which makes it more special imo) 

plot twists that aren’t stupid 

it’s never boring or drags 

most importantly imo gr8, complex, well-rounded characters ~ EVERYONE has development and growth, no one is perfect, and best of all, no one is whiny or abusive 

nina zenik 

a queen, too good, too pure 

the most beautiful character in this story is in-canon a chubby, bisexual girl

who is never made to feel bad about her weight 

who loves herself (and waffles) unconditionally 

did i also mention she could destroy us all ~ she is also the most powerful character in this story (a magician called a “grisha”

has an extremely healthy and empowering relationship with 1! matthias helvar (we’ll get to him in a second) 

even though they are enemies @ first they become friends and then fall in love and it is GREAT this could have been executed so poorly but it’s actually v cute and fluffy 

matthias helvar 

we stan a reluctant good guy in a crowd of thieves and murderers

originally had some bigoted ideas about grisha b/c he was basically brainwashed to believe they were evil 

but he changed and put aside his prejudices to help the squad and nina 

it’s amazing how far he’s come - this is proof that even if you were problematic in the past you can redeem yourself now 

he loves her so much it’s so cute 

he too is a badass-he was specially trained to hunt down grisha 

secretly a huge dork but outwardly he’s very uptight (lmao he’s Relatable) 

jesper fahey

starts out as escapism at its finest ~ basically he just wants to have fun all the time and avoid his problems

but he learns how to handle himself and that sometimes you have to face your demons to get what you want 

makes a lot of mistakes but shows that he can grow and learn from them 

did i mention he is a) in canon biracial + bisexual b) in canon dark skinned we love some good representation ayyyy he’s def not a token brown or anything 

and everyone’s totally okay with his bisexuality there’s literally no homophobia in this story 

has wild fashion taste and likes guns a lot bitchh he dropped out of college to join a gang and escape his boring a$$ farmer life if that isn’t a power move wtf is 

definitely the funniest character but that does not in any way detract from his character development 

is very much in love with wylan (these two just get cuter and cuter and cuter) 

wylan van eck 

a ginormous nerd ~ he likes chemistry and the flute 

a typical tumblr gay softboi (y’all know you want this) 

joined a gang to scam his rich and abusive dad out of house and home (ultimate revenge fantasy tbh) 

has a learning disability but he’s still one of the smartest characters (i told ya the representation in this book is amazing) 

blushes easily

has done nothing wrong in his life ever (a complete cinnamon roll) 

has a major crush on jesper (at first jesper annoys tf out of him but if you like resentful-dude-has-to-tutor-the-noob character arcs y’all are gonna be HERE for this ship) 

kuwei yul-bo

a reluctant participant in these shenanigans

so brave (he absolutely did not have to do anything for these people and helps them anyway) 

everyone just wants to take care of him because he just kinda fell into their hands *this poor boi*

he’s “shu” which basically means he looks east asian 

is a crow as well FITE ME 

inej ghafa 

my actual wife 

in canon dark skinned 

a badass bitch who could take anyone half of me reading this book is being “SHE DID THAT” 

someone described her as “the person in the group project who does all the work” and i stand by that 

even though she’s the “tough girl” she still has emotions and character development 

also no girl on girl hate in soc: she and nina are big friends 

actually sparks a really intelligent discussion about the hypersexualization of woc (she is a victim of human trafficking and sex slavery) 

religious even though the world is mean to her 

does not settle for less in her relationship w kaz “i will have you without armor” anyone

even though she works for him they are equals 

honestly meme team = dream team they both have so many iconic moments 

wants to kill sex slavers and ruin their businesses never has a more righteous quest been undertaken 

kaz brekker  

the ya bad boy we actually need 

no but hear me out ~ he starts out having no moral compass whatsoever and gradually become someone who cares about stuff if that isn’t PEAK character development i don’t know what is 

is morally grey and an interesting character without being abusive (like a lot of times in ya *cough rhysand cough* characters that are intended to be just a little bit sketchy are actually A Lot Sketchy and do absolutely unforgivable creepy things and then have a shocking revelation about their past and become Good!Guys with Problems) kaz never becomes “good” but he treats the people he cares about with respect for the most part and his abuse is never used to justify his shitty behavior

is so sweet to inej like come on!!!!

has panic attacks and is disabled (but he’s still a badass lmao i really would not push it)

out of everyone had the most potential to be tropey but he’s really well written and that’s why i’ll stan him and not some other similar characters