#i've agonised over this over ages bc i wanted to do my boi justice lmao

[pumpkinspice-prouvaire]

hi i think it's fair to assume you like enjolras

so okay

why do you like him? what are traits/qualities of his that make you like him as a character? i genuinely want to know

i've been trying to find arguments to kinda force myself to like him and not just hate on him for no reason because im sure he's an interesting character, but i just can't bring myself to like him. idk why. maybe someone who likes him might make me see beyond what i see.

thanks in advance, also love your blog :D

hey anon! Thank u v much I’m glad you like the blog I’m sorry this took forever xo

yes it is fair to assume I like Enjolras, I am not very subtle about it lolll.

Please note that I have not read the brick in a good.........Seven years ish? A long time, anyways. And also I am by no means an expert on analysing text/characters, genuinely when it comes to a lot of my favourite books/characters it’s just “I enjoyed myself and I like their vibe” lmao

that said, I’ve really tried here lolll pls no one bully me. 

I think the reason I’m personally such a fan is because he has a lot of character traits that I personally wish I had more of sometimes? The charisma, the self-assuredness, the idealism, the determination and decisiveness. All very good character traits. He’s compassionate, but he’s also a pretty ruthless person if it means going after something he wants. But it’s cool bc even when he’s at his most ‘terrible’ it’s in the service of  a better world for the people around him and the people who will come after. He genuinely think he’s doing the right thing, and he isn’t afraid to sacrifice himself or his morality if he thinks it’ll go towards achieving the goal of Les Amis. 

Also I love the fact that he just....Admires the people around him so much? His interactions with Combeferre at the barricade, the entire ‘Enjolras and his lieutenants’ chapter where he’s able to individually select the best person for each job based on their respective strengths (minus Grantaire, but hey that isn’t exactly his fault let’s be real), the way he talks about Feuilly at the barricades. He knows the people around him, the comrades he’s working with. Apart from when he let Marius be a leader of the barricade bestie wtf were you thinking (/j). And I think it’s really nice that we can take this and turn it into “Enjolras really loves and admires his friends” and/or “Enjolras respects his comrades and recognises their importance to the cause”- It’s def one of my favourite things about him. 

Also I live for the scene where he fights with Gavroche- He’s canonically a giant dork and I think that’s really sexy of him (and so does Victor Hugo and he will remind you every page with Enjolras on it)

He gets a lot of amazing, intense scenes and lines in general as well which I think just makes for a really fun character. The execution of Le Cabuc, “your friends have just shot you” to Javert after the National Guard execute Jehan, “The 19th century is great but the 20th century will be happy” (makes me go OOF every time), “Love, thine is the future”, his DEATH scene???? Honestly it’s kind of sad that most of his ‘big’ scenes didn’t really make it into the musical because they are missing some great action

also I just like his vibe

That said, I feel for you if you can’t get into him, since so much of the fandom content, especially for the Les Amis side, is centred around him (and since I haven’t done him much justice with my rambly mess of an answer lmao). It’s stange since he’s such a minor character in the book and even more so in the musical, but that’s the power of a shippable twink I guess. 

If you want some recs for fics etc where he isn’t there/isn’t a main character, let me know and I’ll do my best to help!