#if you're ever looking at eponine and wondering

[crispyflowerblaze]

thinking about marius and cosette, how what makes their chemistry work (at least for me) is the fact that they're constantly noticing each other and in the same area without ever interacting. the romantic thing about it is the tension you get when there's someone you're aware of and you're always noticing them and you never talk but it just always makes you wonder about them and what talking to them would be like. and how you feel like they must be aware of you too but you don't know for sure and that just makes you wonder more

basically i would just love to read a modern au fic where someone makes it work that their equivalent to this is being neofriends on neopets and literally all the time when they're on neopets they see that the other person is on and they always want to neomail but they never do lmao, cus it's like the same vibe

and i also just have to talk about my own modern au 😊 cus i think i adapt this whole thing really well too. basically they're all preteens going into teens and cosette used to live with eponine's family but was adopted by valjean and they live on the other side of town, which is also the other side of town from marius and the other guys, who all become friends with eponine. cosette meets everyone besides marius and eponine at the public pool, which is their perpetual hang out spot during summers (marius is always at his grandfather's house/mansion the whole entire summer, eponine's parents are banned from the pool and probably wouldn't let her go anyway). she learns that they know eponine, so she lies and says she doesn't know eponine. that's kind of getting away from the point here but the consequence of it is that cosette can't see the guys during the school year, cus like besides going to the pool (which valjean knows eponine's parents are banned from, so it's safe) they're practically hermits, and it's too dangerous letting cosette start hanging out somewhere where eponine very well could be (it's a plot hole basically, but i'm okay with it lol). and basically the purpose of all this is just making it so that cosette and marius never meet, despite being part of the same friend group (and just like, to make angst for cosette lol). and what happens as a natural result of this is that their friends tell them a lot about each other, so they get a sense of what they're like and they just seem so sweet and cool. and it's mainly just frustrating that they can't meet each other (only one high school in this town, so they will eventually, but it seems like such a long time to wait). so basically, they're not interacting and in this they're not even seeing each other, but there's still that tension, because all the tension is is awareness without interaction, and this is definitely awareness even if it's not in person. honestly i haven't focused much on this specific way of looking at it because i didn't really realize it was such a crucial part of marius and cosette as a concept lol, but now i want to retroactively lean into it more. but yeah i can't help it it's just so cute that they get crushes on each other without ever meeting, just through what they learn about each other through their friends, it's adorable!

[jetgirl1832]

20 Questions More

This is a deeper and more detailed version of the 20 questions for AO3 fanfic writers. @nottawriter hit me with a tag, I have been attacked lol.

1) How do you keep getting ideas for your ship / fandom? A dash of shower thoughts, with a pinch of I watched a movie and couldn't help but think... Yes, that will work. They often feel like the come from nowhere.

2) Which authors inspire you in your fandom, and why are they so freakishly good? That's not fair how dare you ask me this!!!! Uhhh I'm mostly reading Supercorp stuff these days sooo... @jazzfordshire, @mycatismyeditor, @fazedlight, @innamorament0, @scribblingpunk, @fyonahmacnally to name a few. AAAAND my co-author and a vast array of things @tomatopudding! Why? Idk, I just get drawn a lot to these works and think they're lovely, and I love their depictions of these characters I love.... with @tomatopudding we just vibe very well, sharing the same five brain cells helps.

3) Aside from the characters of your main ship, who are the characters you love to write? If we're talking Supergirl... That's so hard, but I might have to say Brainy and Nia if really pressed... and Alex. I really enjoy Alex.

Otherwise, my other faves include all of the Les Amis from Les Miserables (if you know you know), specifically Courfeyrac and Marius and their hilarious dynamic. Other faves include Eliza Schuyler-Hamilton, Eponine Thenardier and... This could go on for a very long time, are you sure you have time?

4) Are there pairings or tropes you know for sure you’d never write about? Which ones? Not putting Kara and Lena together just makes me sad... So Supercorp ftw all the way, they are my top (I am a lot more amenable in other fandoms I've written for)

Tropes... I'm unlikely to do Omega-verse, I haven't done it and I can't see myself starting even if I sometimes read it.

5) What is your writing process and why is it cursed?

When I worked in retail I wrote on stupid little scraps and probably lost about 75% of them. Sometimes the method is hand writing, and then typing and making edits during that process as well. The handwritten can vary drastically from the typed draft lol.

I tend to fly by the seat of my pants unless someone is keeping me in line. I'm pretty darn chaotic.

I doubt myself a lot, so I always think whatever I write is garbage no matter how much proof there is that's not true. Also, sometimes I get burnt out, or my muse dies and then I feel terrible. Yay.

6) What is your favorite part of your writing process? Falling down rabbit holes, looking into fun topics. Likely ending up on a government watch list for the stuff I've searched up over the years

7) What’s the weirdest thing you’ve had to research for a fic? Uhhh.... hmm. I have no idea what the weirdest is lol. Cause it's on my mind, probably looking up what types of wood are easiest to chop, and why. (There is definitely weirder, but I don't remember right now).

8) Is there a particular writing rule you struggle with (grammar, spelling, tense, reality in general)? Commas. They hate me, and I hate them.

9) What was your hardest scene to write so far and why? Oof. Uhhh... This is so hard! Honestly there is a lot of stuff in my co-written very long series Hamilton Family Album that was *a lot* between research and feels.

Especially when you're co-author hits you with unexpected feels out of nowhere that you weren't anticipating (YOU KNOW WHAT YOU DID).

10) Have your characters ever done something you didn’t expect, changing your plot completely? Of course, they have. It happens all the time.

11) If you could converse with any of the characters, who would it be and why? Ohhh... Hands down Kara and Lena, I wish they could be my friends and we could hang out. Why? I think that they are absolutely incredible, wonderful and I could just sing their praises for ever.

12) What are some of the tropes or themes that you find yourself returning to in your writing? Oooo, I'm a sucker for fluffy romances, and I've been dabbling in smut recently. Other themes for me can be like found family is a really popular one for me.

Since I've written both a lot of Les Mis and Hamilton stuff (among other similar things) I've done a lot of "Modern AU's" as well, which are uhhh varied to say the least. If I can treat anything they way the treat most Shakespeare pieces these days I do it.

13) What’s your most important resource as a writer? Asking for help! Soundboarding with other writers, I love doing it. It helps me make sense of my ideas... Or decide they're maybe too out there (almost never lol)

14) Can you share some of your strategies for editing and revising your work? Reading it out loud, I have a hard time noticing errors otherwise. Asking someone you trust to look it over as well, take your time and double and triple check if you're unsure about something.

15) Which is worse: making the summary, picking the tags, or the anxiety when you post your fic? D. All of the Above

16) How do you define success for your fanfic - hits? Kudos? Comments? Bookmarks? Or just if you like it? I try to just write for myself, usually because I haven't seen something like it and think it should exist. I do really enjoy getting comments if only because I'm always curious to hear what readers think about my work.

17) Do you have a playlist for your favorite character / ship? I don't, and if I did it would be odd... I'm the most massive theater nerd. I do have songs that I think fit the vibes, and some shows I listen to have more apt things than others. Or if it's Les Mis it's the whole dang album lol.

Supercorp things if anyone is curious (and wondering how odd it could get): Mercury Rising from Lizzie, Come Home With Me, Anyway the Wind Blows, Wait for Me and Wedding Song from Hadestown, In A Crowd of Thousands from Anastasia, Origin of Love from Hedwig and the Angry Inch. Maybe I introduced you to something fun today.

18) If fan art was going to be made from your work, which fic would you pick and which fan artist would you like to create it? Oh dear... I don't know. The thing I'd love to see art for isn't up yet and I just think it would be fun but it will be called What Was I Made For... And we're gonna leave at that for now.

19) How many WIPs do you currently have? I'm finishing up You've Got New Followers (One chapter left!), I think three other WIP's (two more plotted than others) and my WIP for May-Hem... So five?

20) What’s your advice to new fanfic writers? Don't be afraid just because you've never done it before. That's why fanfic is amazing. You can do what you want and in reality no one can stop you, just make sure you're having fun.

My fics: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JetGirl1832/works?page=1

Tagging but no pressure: @tomatopudding and @innamorament0

[lesmiserablesabridged]

The Terrible Thenardiers: What Really Happened on the Battlefield

Narrator: In...

Thenardier: Hold on, this is my backstory to tell!

Napoleon: No, it's mine!

Thenardier: Mine.

Napoleon: Mine! Anyhow, what do you have for me, Lafayette?

Lafayette: Um...Vive le Republique!

Napoleon: Precisely. Now bring in the Colonel. I need his loyal ass right here!

Georges: You called for me?

Napoleon: Yes, I need you to show the Austrians who is boss!

Georges: I'll try my best.

Napoleon: Right. You'll find some expendable soldiers outside. Now go.

Georges: I'll start right away!

Napoleon: Now I heard these boots will make me taller...can't hurt to try them on.

Thenardier: If you thought this was about Napoleon, you are mistaken! Brace yourselves, for it is...

Georges: Exposition time! My name is Colonel Georges, and my loins made a human being who would be relentlessly mocked. By everyone.

Thenardier: And I am Thenardier, first name unknown. Come to think of it, that seems to be a trend.

Georges: Right, here we are. On the battlefield. Now we just need to win in the name of Napoleon...Oh...I've been shot...

Thenardier: Stealing money from dead soldiers is profitable! Oh, this one is alive...crap...he'll get me arrested...

Georges: Thank you, kind Sir, for saving my life. Are you a Sergeant?

Thenardier: I am. I am.

Georges: Thank you for saving my life. I won't forget. Should we meet again, I will be sure to help you.

Thenardier: Man, that guy sure was gullible. I wonder what happened to him.

Narrator: Let's find out.

Georges: Oh, look, I got married! My wife is pretty.

His unnamed wife: I popped out a baby. It's a boy. I shall name him Marius!

Georges: A pretty name.

His unnamed wife: And now I die.

Georges: I need someone to raise my child because I cannot do it myself!

Fantine: Omg, you are like me!

Both: And our children get married! *they finger-gun one another*

Gillenormand: I'll take him! I need someone to lavish all of my grandfatherly love onto! Also, you're forbidden from seeing him again, ever!

Thenardier: There are no coincidences in this narrative. *chugs a glass of milk, but it's actually brandy disguised as milk* I love drinking. I turned my passion into profit by opening an inn! Oh, and I too have a wife and five kids, who are all important, though some more than the others.

Narrator: Well, by the end, you'll only have one.

Thenardier: Well, by the end, your boys will all die and I will win!

Narrator: NOOOOOOO...!

Thenardier: Children roll call! Eponine!

Eponine: I am cute and I have morals. I die at the barricade.

Thenardier: Azelma!

Azelma: I end up in Americas where I abuse the native folk.

Thenardier: Gavroche!

Gavroche: I am likeable. I also die at the barricade.

Thenardier: And the other two, whoever they were.

Madame Thenardier: I could have married a bourgeoisie. Instead, I got this guy.

Narrator: Yeah, well...at least yours isn't dead! Speaking of which, come here, boys! You all get a hug!

Les Amis: Gladly. *They come over and are given a hug, each*

[theloftpoetry]

Taylor Swift

I'm like Taylor Swift.  Shit. Everything I write has to be in Red because apparently blue pen isn't good enough for me. It never will be. I can't let myself underline your name in blue cos it hurts too much.

I knew this was going to be trouble yet it still feels like there's a bullet going straight through my heart but the old Carly isn't dead yet cos I don't have the guts to pull the trigger and put this all to an end. 

Instead the guns in your hands, because you already knew the bad blood between us is about other guys. Other guys who mean nothing to me.

I look at them the way Taylor Swift looks at Jay-z. So do you really think I’m going to look at them the way I look at you? Because I look at you the way she looks at Joe Alwyn or Calvin Harris I would name drop taylor Lautner but you’ve never seen twilight  So you won’t understand it when I say I’m team Dan instead of Jacob or Edward.

There’s no real competition You mean more to me than…. Cheesy chips You mean more to me than the arrow, the flash, felicity, Don Lockwood, Eponine, Mark Cohen, Brad, Janet, Mia and Sebastian, Lorde TAYLOR FREAKIN SWIFT. You even mean more to me than quadball.

The point I’m trying to make here is that you mean more to me than all of my favourite things. 

Lions and tigers and bears oh my,  If you don’t get that you can’t rid of me by now then there’s no hope  because I can't live without you.

And while you're sat there questioning everything, I'm here wondering when you’ll wake up and realise that what your looking for is standing right infront of you. 

All you have to do is stay. 

Because we are never ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever breaking up.

Not in your wildest dreams. 

[awaywardplantagenet]

Guys, I'm gonna talk about Les Mis again. Buckle up.

I watched a video from a guy called Micky Jo I think where he discussed his least favorite lyrics in Broadway love songs. No shade to him, because everyone's entitled to their own opinions and he did make some good points, but I disagreed with him here.

His complaint about A Heart Full of Love was that Cosette keeps shooting down Marius's attempts to be romantic (I am lost - I am found, do I dream - I'm awake, etc)

But here's why I actually think that those lyrics are so good!

It demonstrates their characters and their backgrounds. Perfectly.

Cosette - who's spent most of her life hidden away in a convent behind walls, living a life apart from the real world, sees Marius as the embodiment of that reality, so her romantic associations with Marius are far more real world.

Marius - who's been beaten and broken by the real world quite a lot lately now that he's living a life of poverty with only himself to depend on, sees Cosette as a dream. An unobtainable angel who's miraculously falling for him and he can't understand why. (And also, let's face it, he's surrounded by classics majors who spout poetic nonsense nonstop, he probably picked it up from them.)

"Cosette, I don't know what to say."

"Then make no sound."

That's not her shooting him down, that's her saying that his presence is enough. He doesn't have to say anything if he can't.

"I am lost." - I love this line because the symbolism runs in so many ways.

I am lost. I followed Eponine into the bowels of Paris to find you and now I'm literally lost.

I am lost. I'm lost in the beauty of your eyes and your smile and everything about you.

I am lost. I'm a lost cause now. Lost to anyone who ever thought I was theirs.

I am lost. I don't have any opinions that are my own. I've always been told what to think, first by my grandfather, now by my friends. I am lost and I'm hoping I might find myself in you.

I am lost. I am twenty years old, impoverished, and fighting a cause I don't believe in. I don't know what I'm doing with my life.

Just...yeah

"I am found"

On the flip side we have Cosette, who is also quite literally found by Marius because he was looking for her (double meanings are so clever I really don't get why Micky had an issue with this song)

She's found because she's been spending her whole life hidden away.

The faraway song calling out to her in In My Life has found her.

Life has found her.

Valjean still sees Cosette as a child lost in a wood. But that's not what Marius sees. She's not that child lost in a Wood anymore. She's been found.

"Do I dream?"

Do I dream? You're so perfect and wonderful I feel I must have strayed into a dream. (*swoon*)

Do I dream? Do I dare to dream that I might have fallen in love?

Do I dream? Is this what all the poets felt when they sang their songs of love?

"I'm awake"

I'm awake. I've been dreaming my way through life already. Dreaming of finding love. Dreaming of living life. Dreaming of what it's like beyond my father's protectiveness. I found you and now I'm awake.

I'm awake. I've missed so much of my life. I've slept through it all. Now, I see you and I'm wide awake. I don't want to miss this.

I'm awake. "They say we are asleep until we fall in love. We are children of dust and ashes. And when we fall in love we wake up and we are a god and angels weep." (Great Comet anyone?)

So yeah, I have a lot of feelings about this song.

[maitretmaitresse]

bonhcmme:

     The number had evoked more than a few raised eyebrows even among the peasants of Brie, though it was by no means unheard of. The mayor now put down the look of horror on her face to a mixture of nebulous imagining— seven at once!— and her current experience but multiplied. From the births alone, which he had only witnessed from afar by ear, he could well think why the notion might instill dread in a woman.

    He fell silent, his glibness momentarily failing him. He had loved the little ones, he remembered; but if there had only been fewer… he shook himself and produced a smile. “Indeed. A full garden.” Too full in the end perhaps, but she didn’t need to hear that.

    “Only three months— why, it’s nearly upon you!” he exclaimed with a genuine smile at least for the upcoming child. He did not discourage them following him around because nothing pleased him more than to make them smile (unless perhaps to put coins in their parents’ pockets and therefore food in their stomachs).

    As for the business that had brought him here in the first place, Madeleine stopped short. What kind of hair did the child have? Fantine’s had not yet grown back and all she had said of it was that it was beautiful. Even that could be put down to a mother’s doting, really. “Well then, I’ll take one of each to be sure…” his hand strayed to his own hair; he made do with a comb, but still… an indulgence if he had no other reason behind it, but he did.

            It was a remarkably healthy pregnancy; when the village doctor was called upon, he could hardly believe it was Beatrice’s first. That may owe to her demeanor as well, but any suggestions to her relationships prior to her marriage were kept under tight binds. With that said, labor was a frightening concept to all women. Eve’s punishment weighed most heavily on those with child.

                         “Very lucky.” It was disingenuous, but so were most words which fell from her lips – and it wasn’t as though he disagreed, considering his tone. They were expensive, children. Between clothes, food, the hypothetical education that their new station required of their offspring… It was enough to make her shudder.

           She smiled back, though it was the slightly embarrassed smile of a woman unsure of the joy thrust upon her. “Yeah, it should be soon now…” Her hand fell back to her stomach, her thumb rubbing over the linin-covered bump which concealed their child. It kicked so frequently – she’d heard that meant it would be a boy. In the day-to-day, she wasn’t a terribly superstitious woman, but in the desperation of the unknown, she was willing to believe anything.

          Her smile widened at the prospect of a hitched sale – even accidentally, she was an excellent saleswoman! “Course, Monsieur, won’t be a moment.” She turned once again, mild irritation in her eyes as she realized they were all on the top shelf – damn her husband’s lanky legs! Heaving a quiet sigh, she jumped up to the first step of the only slightly rickety ladder and scaled the heights. She was a nimble woman under ordinary circumstances, but a six pound infant in her stomach was bound to make her slightly clumsier.

[stoppit-keepout]

FRUIT SALAD YUMMY YUMMY PLEASE, MY GOD (for the wip grab bag meme)

HELLO!! this is a collab with ps, hi ps :)

THE TITLE: we got capital-O Obsessed with the Wiggles cover of Elephant, can I explain why? not particularly. feels like an elephant shakin' his big red trunk for the hell of it! so we called the doc "fruit salad (yummy yummy) and then got the proper title of the fic from the wikipedia page on fruit salad.

THE FANDOM: Les Misérables :) this one's already partially on AO3, we just gotta continue! [flexes]

THE CONCEPT: we collectively lost our minds over The Mirror Has Two Faces, a 1996 Barbra Streisand joint where she sees herself as ugly and gets into a companionable and platonic (?) marriage with Jeff Bridges, who had been having SO MUCH UNFULFILLING SEX that it was interfering with his career and life goals. Anyway, this time it's Grantaire/Enjolras :)

THE EXCERPT: (from a future ch., also largely part i wrote even though i really wanted to do a part ps wrote)

"You don't understand how beautiful he is," Grantaire groans into his hands. "It's like he was designed in a lab."

Eponine rolls her eyes and keeps re-stocking the bottled waters in the fridge under the bar. "We have very different taste in men," she reminds him. "But I'm happy you're happy."

Grantaire had shown up in the early afternoon with two massive tote bags of papers and proportionally massive bags under his eyes. Apparently it's midterm season and nobody gives lecturers people to help with marking, so he's been doing nothing but grade all week. Eponine had been wondering where he'd gotten to--last year, he'd been around so often that they'd actually gotten to be passably good friends, but it turns out that teaching at four separate universities is a lot more inconvenient than doing the same number of courses for just one or two. And the idiot's also decided to start dating at the same time? If Eponine ever wants additional proof that more years of schooling doesn't mean anything about being smarter, she need look no further.

"Am I happy?" Grantaire asks philosophically. His voice is still muffled by his palms, but he peers out through his fingers at Eponine.

"If you're not, your standards are too high."