#les mizzzz

[idiopathicsmile]

hey, I was wondering, what DO you think are the best fics of the les mis fandom?

oh gosh, keeping in mind that i am terrible at mentally ranking things:

i think skill-wise, @arriviste is definitely up there with the best of the best. she wrote what is in my mind THE f/f Enjolras/Grantaire fic. i tend to prefer her modern AU stuff, because her canon-era work will break your heart and i am a simple creature.

secret agent man and generally stuff by @soemily is so full of life and heart and beauty.

under my wings you will find refuge by @fivie was a classic when i was starting out. it left a huge impression on me and i say that as someone who never made it through a full episode of supernatural.

lag time by @nonmodernists inspired me to write three different songs, i love it so much.

(i should also say that these are the ones i like best, but i do also think there was a breed of LM fic back in the day that was canon-era and thoughtfully done and extremely sad, and some of these were objectively excellent but i don't remember them that well because my brain shies away from sad fic.)

[homicidaltyger]

Someone gave me the Les Mis soundtrack

I put it on before I went to bed

Woke up ugly crying

What is life

[idiopathicsmile]

Somewhat related to the last ask but is there any trope in Les Mis fanfic that you were aiming to sort of consciously turn away from in WAR? Whether or not it was a deliberate move (and no disrespect other writers in the fandom!) WAR feels so different from a lot of Les Mis fanfics in a refreshing way that I really really appreciate

thank you! i'd say the biggest trope in LM fic that i knew i wasn't going to do, because it doesn't do anything for me personally, is "Enjolras comes to a big realization about Grantaire's feelings for him after seeing a painting/drawing R did of Enjolras." (i have no idea if people still do this or not but it was pretty common when i started.)

the reason it doesn't do much for me is that for me is that i think it stresses how Enjolras looks (canonically: very good), which is not something i think the character really cares about, and also not a reason for Grantaire's attraction that i find interesting. also it's entirely possible that Enjolras both doesn't care how he looks, and also knows on some level he looks good, because people have been reacting to it for years, so "Grantaire does a beautiful painting of Enjolras" wouldn't necessarily even contain any new information for Enjolras.

you could argue that Grantaire maybe captures something besides the good looks in his portrait, but the truth is that i'm not adept at sussing out the message of visual art. like, i wouldn't be able to see it probably, which makes it hard for me to write about. also, given that i tend to write Grantaire knowing a lot about visual art, i think it's more interesting if Enjolras knows less.

so yeah, for me personally, the trope never did much. no offense to anyone out there who has written it or enjoys it, though!

[idiopathicsmile]

so there's that part in enjolras's intro where it says he was severe even in his enjoyments and i am PRETTY SURE this is not what victor hugo meant but i just keep picturing his friends dragging him to do 1830's recreational activities and like

Enjolras playing tennis while doing the grumpy cat face

Enjolras feeding baby ducks and CONCENTRATING on giving them all an equal amount of breadcrumbs

Courfeyrac takes him to the opera and Enjolras HATES IT for five minutes then mentally invents a whole allegory where the soprano represents THE PEOPLE and the tenor represents FREEDOM and he winds up gripping the armrests, SO EMOTIONALLY INVESTED

[idiopathicsmile]

So sonhoedesrazao asked about the AUs I'm working on, and I figured it's as good a time as any to sit down and make a comprehensive writing to-do list.

Filk, fic, and et cetera. Surprise, it is like 90% Les Mis.

6. A story in which Enjolras and Grantaire almost break up over a fight about Apple Jacks, because it is not in fact really a fight about Apple Jacks at all. (Also, Grantaire doesn't think they're dating, which is more of the actual problem.)

7. Bedlam and I once outlined a story wherein Les Amis are all women, and they run a radical 19th century women's theater group that performs satirical operetta (sometimes while wearing TROUSERS *gasp*). It is bonkers. (One of the subplots includes Bahorel stealing Courfeyrac a baby. Kind of. It's considerably less shady and more heartwarming.) We are stalled on it, in part because the story involves Grantaire's sexual awakening in terms of realizing it is possible for a woman to A) enjoy sex, and B) be attracted to other women. I blush writing kissing and am almost painfully heterosexual. Bedlam is in a slow recovery from Lyme Disease and not in a position to churn out the necessary lesbian smut on cue.

Anyway, that is what is on the docket. For now. More AUs could descend upon me at any moment. There is every chance I will wake up tomorrow convinced I also need to write something where they're all sea monkeys or something.

[idiopathicsmile]

the accordion is a metaphor for Grantaire, check it

If you've never had a meandering facebook chat conversation with bedlamsbox I am real sorry for you, son.

[idiopathicsmile]

Hello, internet! Good morning or good evening, depending on where you are.

How's things? Remember that time before my whole blog fell down a fandom rabbit hole that seems to be tunneling itself deep into the center of the earth? (If you started following me back in those halcyon days and have somehow stuck around, know that I love you very, very much. Also, your patience is a mystery to me.)

From now on, I'm gonna tag any and all Les Mis related posts with "Les Mizzzz" (4 z's) so you can tumblr savior your way out of a dash filled with too many feelings about fictitious dead French people, if for some reason that is not your jam. At the same time, the tag is irritating enough that I can't imagine it's being used for anything right now, which means nobody is gonna suddenly get deluged with all my posts.

Everyone wins! High five!

[idiopathicsmile]

New rule: on your birthday, you are allowed to post the most silly, self-indulgent headcanons in the world, with total amnesty.

I'll start. Hi, I'm Smile. Roughly fifteen minutes ago, I turned 26. Have you ever given extensive thought to what podcasts each of Les Amis would listen to, were they around today and not, you know, dead?

"Well, Smile," you say, "given that I assume they're all still French, presumably their podcasts of choice would also be in — "

"Shhh," I say, tenderly maintaining eye contact a beat too long. "It's my birthday."