#most important takeaway is that i finally know where pilf's username comes from

[shitpostingfromthebarricade]

Actually, in the brick, Grantaire mentions studying at Le Gros which was a really prestigious art school. (Or 'under Le Gros' who was a really famous artist, I don't actually remember, but I know Grantaire + Le Gros = Artistaire) Anyway, why can't he be both? He's already really skilled at pretty much everything else.

I will assume that this is in response to this shitpost:

I always heard Le Gros mentioned in fics, but I never saw any passages, so I look up what you said and found this:

“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[24] is the masculine of rapine.” (V3 B4 C4)

(apparently “rapin” is a slang term for “painter’s assistant”–rapine means to violently seize, so it’s a fucking pun about stealing as a painter’s assistant, Vicky you beautiful bastard)

Important takeaway: Nonny is actually right.

And now I’ll be able to sleep at night knowing that artist!taire didn’t spring forth from nowhere.

HOWEVER!

I stand by my feelings that artist!taire, particularly paint-covered and messy and smelling of oil paints and linseed oil, is tired–especially in modern AUs. And I will now get on my soapbox and tell you why, because I finally have a platform on which to complain about this.

First and foremost: have you been to an art store? Oil paints and canvas? In this economy??? Traditional is nice and all, but art supplies are expensive. If you’re an artist in this day and age you’re probably doing most of your work digitally: buy your hardware/software once and be done with it (until it breaks at the least convenient time) rather than constantly having to replenish materials as you use them up, easy to carry around and work anywhere, clean…sure, he’s probably still sketching and stuff, maybe doing some paintings or scuptures or fiber arts on the side, but if you’re writing R as a broke graduate just getting by on commissions and barely affording rent and his drinking addiction, he probably can’t also absorb the costs of his art painlessly. And also, who is spending hundreds on the oil paintings of a twenty-something year old? Microtransactions is where it’s at these days.

Secondly, as you point out: he can be both. But most people don’t represent him that way. He has so many talents and skills, but most often he is boiled down to three main traits: his alcoholism, his obsession with Enjolras, and his role as an artist. What about his boxing? His musicality? His dancing? They often get listed in the same breath if they come up and rarely have any bearing on the plot or character progression, not the way his artistry always seems to. And thisnis assuming it’s allowed to be a trait of his without it having to be a full-on AU where every is a dancer or a chef. It’s a convenient crutch, and when you consider all of the other things we know about Grantaire it just feels boring and a little lazy.

Note: I am not saying that artists/writers who portray R as an artist are lazy or bad at what they do. I myself have done it (though jury’s still out on whether I am a lazy or bad writer, to be fair). Tropes exist because they’re fun, because people enjoy them–both creating and consuming. There’s nothing wrong with playing into that.

I just wish that being an artist wasn’t the role R always fell into just because Huge-hoe wanted to set himself for an absolutely terrific pun.

(Sorry Nonny, this isn’t intended toward you with any mailicious feelings–I am really glad that you did point this out to me and feel all the more educated for it. I’ve just been looking for an excuse for this ramble for a long time. Thank you so much for the ask!!)