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expired-applejuice · 2 years ago

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Part 5 of incorrect quotes

Bahorel: Guys, there's a monster under my bed and it's really ugly.

Grantaire, on the bottom bunk: Honestly, fuck you.

Cosette: i made a Marshmallow Inspector Javert.

Cosette: see? his arms are crossed because he's mad at Marshmallow Valjean for escaping him.

Cosette: you like it?

Javert:

Javert: *choked up* it's fine.

Courfeyrac: Once again, Courfeyrac and Combeferre save the day.

Enjolras: You didn't do anything It was all Combeferre.

Courfeyrac: We're a package deal. Everybody knows that.

Grantaire: Hello, fellow idiots

Enjolras: Hello, Grantaire

Grantaire: No, no, not you, you're not an idiot

Enjolras: You underestimate me

*Combeferre is cooking*

Grantaire: Any chance that's for me?

Combeferre: It's for Courfeyrac. I'm planning on making some bad choices tonight, and I need him on my side.

Enjolras: I never realized the forethought that went into being a disappointment

Enjolras: Feuilly isn't answering his phone

Bahorel: I'll call

Combeferre: Enjolras and I have both tried six times each, what makes you thi-

Feuilly: Hello?

Javert: God, give me patience.

Valjean: I think you mean "give me strength".

Javert: No, You better hope God doesn't give me strength because if he did, you'd be dead.

Joly: Hey, Bossuet? What does IDK, ILY, and TTYL mean?

Bossuet: i don't know, I love you, talk to you later.

Joly: Oh, okay, I'll just ask Musichetta. I love you too.

Bossuet:

Jehan: You have to apologize.

Montparnasse: Fine, but this might make me a better and more likable person and that is not the man you fell in love with!

Someone may have done this

*playing truth or dare*

Eponine: Okay, truth or dare?

Grantaire: Dare.

Eponine: Kiss the next person who arrives.

Grantaire: Gross, I'm not kissing any of you. None of you are my type.

*Enjolras walks in*

Grantaire:

Grantaire, using breath stray and putting on chapstick: Well, a dare's a dare.

Courfeyrac: You know my motto: carpe diem, carpe noctem, carpe coles.

Marius: Seize the day, seize the night, what's the last one?

Courfeyrac: Seize the dick.

Grantaire: mean, sure, I have my bad days. But then I remember what a cute smile Apollo has.

Combeferre: *seductively takes off glasses*

Combeferre: Wow...

Courfeyrac, blushing: Haha... what?

Combeferre: You're really fucking blurry.

Bossuet: Hey, babe.

Joly: Hmm?

Bossuet: I need your help with a math problem.

Joly: Oh, sure! What do you need?

Bossuet: How do you simplify 2i<6u?

Joly: i<3u

Bossuet: Awww, i<3u too!

Joly:

Enjolras, texting Bossuet: Send dudes

Bossuet: You mean-

Bossuet: You mean send nudes??!

Enjolras: No, we crashed the funeral and I'm bleeding. Send Grantaire

Grantaire: *already ran out the door*

Combeferre: I know every song to ever exist, doesn't matter when it was made.

Enjolras: Oh, yeah?

Grantaire: Finish this; I don't cook, I don't clean-

Combeferre: but let me tell you how got this ring,

Combeferre, Grantaire, and Courfeyrac, who came out of no were: GOBBLE ME, SWALLOW ME, DRIP DOWN THE SIDE OF ME-

*undercover*

Eponine: You don't think can fight because I'm a girl.

Marius: 'Ponie I don't think you can fight because you're in a wedding dress. To be fair, don't think Bahorel could fight in that either.

Bahorel: No, but I'd make a bomb ass wife.

Valjean: You're pouting.

Javert: I'm not pouting, I'm brooding.

Valjean: That's how pretty men pout.

Valjean, picking up his phone: Javert? I'm kind of busy right now-

Javert: Do you think drinking thirty-six cans of Redbull consecutively would heighten my senses or would I just die?

Valjean:

Valjean: I'm on my way.

Eponine: Bitches be like "I'm baby" but have childhood trauma and were neglected.

Eponine: Like what do you know about being baby? You were forced to grow up from an early age.

Eponine:

Everyone else:

Eponine: It's me. I'm bitches.

Gavroche, sighing: We know.

Feuilly: Y'all ever get so tired you see spiders?

Grantaire: Me when I take seventeen Benadryl and start seeing the Hat Man.

Jehan: THE WHAT?

Grantaire: Oh, so this is suddenly not a safe space?

Courfeyrac: Relationships should be 50/50; Combeferre cooks dinner while I sit on the counter looking pretty.

Bahorel: Not everyone likes you, Montparnasse. You aren't Feuilly.

Montparnasse: Not everyone likes Feuilly??

Enjolras, coming out of no where: Who?

Montparnasse:

Bahorel, cracking his knuckles: we need names, Montparnasse.

Musichetta: Can you two cut me some slack? I'm sort of in love.

Joly: I'm sorry, but that's really not our problem.

Musichetta: I'm in love with you both.

Bossuet, blushing: Oh... that brings us into the loop a little.

Combeferre: I fell-

Courfeyrac: From heaven?

Combeferre: No, I literally fell-

Courfeyrac: In love with me the moment you saw me

Combeferre: MY ARM IS BROKEN, COURFEYRAC

Courfeyrac: Ok, but am I pretty? Be honest.

*Combeferre and Grantaire in a casino*

Combeferre: Grantaire, we're about to get kicked out-

Grantaire: Shush!

Combeferre: We gotta-

Grantaire: Shut up!

Combeferre: R-

Grantaire: Shh! Shush, shush, shush! Do you hear that?

Combeferre: Wha- are you drunk?

Grantaire: Yes, but listen!

Combeferre:

Grantaire:

Grantaire: It's the sound of me not giving a fuck.

Javert: We all have our demons.

Javert, pointing at Les Amis: These ones are mine.

Valjean, helping Marius stand after being wounded: You need to be careful, you're loosing a lot of blood-

Marius, loopy: I'm not "loosing" it, I know exactly where it is!

*Marius points to the puddle of his blood on the floor.*

Valjean: Oh, dear Lord, I should just leave you.

Enjolras, making his third cup of coffee: Why are my hands so shaky?

Combeferre, on his fifth: Your skeleton is ready to hatch.

Montparnasse, to Feuilly: What's the first thing you notice when someone approaches you?

Bahorel, holding Feuilly's hand: The audacity.

Combeferre: Did you know-

Bahorel: That somethings are better left unsaid?

Combeferre: Nice try.

Eponine: Do you have any idea how dangerous I'd be if I had zero self doubt?

Jehan: If I were a drink, I'd be cherry vanilla coke. If you were a drink, what would you be?

Grantaire: Bleach.

Bahorel: Blood

Montparnasse: arsenic

Feuilly: Alright, calm down edgelords.

Grantaire: Dad didn't raise a quitter!

Joly: I thought your dad left?

Grantaire: Which is why I'm quitting.

Grantaire to Combeferre: Do you think I'm ugly?

Combeferre: It's not about looks, R. What's valuable is on the inside.

Grantaire, touched: Aww...

Combeferre: For example, someone's heart.

Grantaire: You're a good friend, Combeferre -

Combeferre: It can be priced at over one million US dollars, you know.

Grantaire:

Grantaire: Ok, here's my wishlist.

Musichetta: This is surprisingly reasonable.

Joly: We could probably get all this by Christmas.

Enjolras: Oh, so no one's gonna ask why I'm on the list?

Grantaire: That's more of a hope.

Enjolras: I still don't get why I'm on the list?

Bossuet, to Grantaire: Are you sure you don't want someone else?

Grantaire: Nope, I want him.

Enjolras: CAN SOMEONE PLEASE EXPLAIN WHY I'M OM THE LIST?!

*playing Would You Rather?*

Eponine: Ok, R. Would you rather die or-

Grantaire: Die.

Cosette: She hasn't even-

Grantaire: Die.

Marius: Grantaire, we talked about this...

Enjolras: I was born for politics.

Enjolras: have great hair and I'm great at lying.

Bahorel: I've thought about taking swim classes for adults, but honestly that's sadder than just drowning.

Combeferre, to Grantaire: I need 45 minutes away from you, and then we can be best friends again.

Montparnasse: *raises eyebrows *

Jehan: Put those back down

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everyonewasabird · 2 years ago

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Brickclub 5.4.1 “Javert Derailed”

I’m going to resort to bullet points, because I don’t know how to tackle this chapter as a whole.

- We come to this book’s last mention of Napoleon, as Javert, who has up till now folded his arms like Napoleon confident, now holds his hands behind his back like Napoleon uncertain. It feels significant that Napoleon never comes up again after this, but I don’t know what it means. We seem to be at another Waterloo in some sense, but mostly in a sense of combining a reckoning with a senseless waste of life.

- Javert experiences himself as a crystal suddenly becoming cloudy, which feels true of him, but also as damning as the rest of this. We’ve seen his cruelty and his corruption and the blind eye he turns on his coworkers’ corruption. The fact that he thought all that was a limpid pool is... like I said, not surprising, but it’s pretty awful.

- There are no stars or moon because of the cloudy sky. That means this chapter is conducted entirely by the light of streetlamps, which seems deeply unfortunate. Streetlamps are the eyes and the point of view of Authority, and they’re the light Javert has always operated by. Javert can see clearly enough to know he needs to leave this place, but there’s no other light to guide him. Valjean in his first upheaval after the bishop found a desolate place with a whole lot of creepy natural lighting effects--but the light he saw by was God’s.

- Javert is caught between a dog and a wolf, which we know means evening. Evening might have been a dubiously good sign for Valjean a few chapters ago, but it doesn’t seem auspicious here.

- The narrator is very close to Javert’s pov in a certain sense--we have someone to explain in great detail the feelings Javert has but doesn’t understand; the narrator understands much more about this than Javert possibly can. It’s also a pretty biting narration, though--there’s a real thread of sarcasm and mockery running through all this, maybe not undeservedly, that’s going, “Oh, so you’re noticing the world is maybe a smidge complicated NOW, huh?”

Which, you know. Fair. But it’s interesting being asked to understand this deeply while being subtly warded away from sympathizing.

- I love the line about “internal rebellion in thought.” We know from his intro that one of Javert’s big things is hatred of rebellion. I take it from this that the reason he hates thinking is that the thoughts he would have if he had thoughts would be rebellious ones, and he knows it. He’s been crushing all his instincts beyond the basic “search for criminal, arrest criminal” for decades, and that’s the towering mass of cognitive dissonance that’s been piling up over his head for years.

- God, there is something so sad about this marginalized person being horrified by the idea that there might be a narrative about the world that isn’t Authority’s narrative, or that his own experience and point of view could matter.

- I do really get why the Valvert contingent is the kinky side of the fandom. Just saying.

- Just like with Valjean’s revelatory moment, this would all go much better if he could see the person who overturned his worldview as a person, not some kind of impossible saint--which in both cases would go better if people had conversations and relationships instead of Big Dramatic Moments Of Apotheosis and then running away. It’s worse here, though, since Javert’s failure to see people’s basic humanity is one of his biggest problems. We are not in any way leaving behind his black and white thinking, we’re just messing with which is which.

- God, Enjolras and Grantaire seem so functional by comparison.

- It’s hard to pin down where Valjean fell off the road to Calvary tonight. I don’t think the answer is Javert’s refusal to play Pontius Pilate. Like, that’s a good thing, and the thing that went wrong for Valjean feels a lot more wrong than that.

- Javert wishing he’d thought to yell for Enjolras et al to come kill him because Valjean was failing to do his job right is absurd, and perfect.

- His reaction to recognizing the existence of kindness is genuinely so sad. There’s so much there, in the fact that he thinks he was “depraved” for being kind, in the fact that he can recognize all this as kindness, in the way that recognizing that the world has contained kindness in it all along is a uniformly bad feeling for him. It makes me wonder exactly which things he’s trying not to think about hard enough to regret.

- Man, that “Javert’s ideal [...] was to be irreproachable.” I can’t relate to his authoritarianism at all, but I was the kind of autistic kid who wanted to know what the rules were so I could do things “right.” There’s something really heartbreaking about somebody reaching 52 years old--and a whole lot of harm done to people and the world--before they 1) encounter any of the limits of that mindset or 2) encounter the idea that there might be something better to hope for and work for in life than not making Authority mad at you.

- For all that he hates what’s happening right now, I love the implication that hatred isn’t what’s at issue here. This is about having a heart, in spite of not believing in having hearts, and it’s about humanity’s indelible contact with the numinous, no matter how much he always tried to ignore and avoid it. I fight with Hugo’s optimism a lot, but I appreciate it here--Javert tried to crush his own humanity and, in spite of all the inhumane harm he’s done, all the cruelty, the pointlessly mean death of Fantine and all the other deaths he’s no doubt caused, he failed: he’s still human, he still has a heart. He still has a soul, and that’s what’s hurting him so much.

- All he can see of this is anarchy. Which feels like it’s exactly the streetlight thing: the only light he can see this by is the light of authority, and so the only outcome he can see of this is a destruction of authority. The higher truths are making themselves apparent to him by force, but they don’t really show up in the light he’s seeing by.

- His little note is so sad, it’s so nothing. He’s spent so long ignoring these petty cruelties and indignities and thefts, and people have suffered for it. And he’s all, “Hey, Authority, please, could you maybe just, if it’s not too much trouble....” This is the great firing of Javert’s soul towards Justice at last, and... iIt’s not very good. And hey, it’s a first try! There’s a lot he could learn if he lived and stayed on this route! But.... you know.

And this is the night of the day the barricade fell: we know what good, true, right, glorious, loving rebellion for the sake of alleviating suffering looks like. This note is how far Javert is able to get down the road of rebellion, and wow is it not very far.

- He’s writing all this in the police station in the Place du Châtelet. Underneath him are the now defunct dungeons where prisoners stood in the mud and their own excrement for months chained by the neck, waiting to be shipped off to the bagne if they didn’t strangle or starve or die of disease first. I think it’s underlining how utterly insufficient Javert’s “rebellion” really is.

- It’s really striking me this time the degree to which in the last section he literally can’t see? There’s no light from heaven, there’s no light from houses or passersby--that is, from men. The only light left to him is that horrible, horrible streetlight, and it’s skewing his view of everything. When he looks down or up or even at the city, he can’t perceive anything properly.

It really feels like he died of the void that was left when authority vanished from above him, and that if some other light, any other light, had come, he wouldn’t have concluded there was nothing left.

We saw Providence come for Valjean time after time tonight, but nothing and nobody came for Javert.

#brickclub #lm 5.4.1

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dmsden · 3 years ago

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Crime and Whimsy - Reconciling crime with certain characters

Hullo, Gentle Readers. Welcome to another Question from a Denizen, where I open our electronic mailbag and answer questions on rules, lore, and the like. This week, we’ve got a very interesting one from an Anonymous source. They ask, “Fey wanderers (and rangers in general) seem too preoccupied with their nature activities to be interested in doing illegal things. Satyrs especially are mirthful and appear to be poor candidates for criminality. What might draw a character like this into the underground world of criminals? What sorts of crimes would they commit? How would they reconcile a serious law-breaking lifestyle with their affinity for nature, whimsy, and revels?”

I’m super-intrigued by what inspired this question, and I wish I could pick this Anonymous person’s brain. Are they planning a crime-based campaign, and they have some players who are creating mold-breaking characters? Are they planning on playing such a character in an upcoming game? Well, let’s dive in, shall we?

First off, it’s probably worth thinking about why people participate in crimes in general. Almost always, it’s one of two things spurring the activity: want or need.

I suspect the vast majority of crimes comes from need. If someone doesn’t have the things they need in life, they may either be forced by circumstance to commit a crime, or they may decide to commit a crime as the easier or more expedient path to meeting their needs. When someone is without food, drink, shelter, clothing...the basic needs of life...and the system they live in isn’t helping them, crime might be the only answer.

For a literary example, famously, Jean Valjean, a very righteous man in Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables, breaks into a house in order to steal bread to feed his starving family. He is caught, convicted, and incarcerated. He then attempts numerous times to escape, which adds to his sentence. When he is finally released, he can’t find any work, so he steals the silver from a church. When he’s caught, the bishop lies and says he gave Valjean the silver as a gift to help him. Finally, riddled with remorse for what his life can become, Valjean breaks the law one more time, fleeing his parole, creating a new identity, and using the silver to build a new life for himself and the people he cares about. In every case, it’s need that forces him to continue to break the law.

For some, crime may be more a matter of want than need. Someone who is wealthy may want for attention or excitement, such as in the case of rich kids shoplifting. Someone may see crime as the most expedient way to achieve the goals they desire, so they break the law. Someone denied a goal might want to achieve it so badly that they might steal or even kill to get what they are after.

Again, going back to a piece of literature, look at Selina Kyle from the various Batman media. Catwoman might’ve started crime out of need, but it’s clear that now she mostly commits crimes out of want. She is, after all, romantically linked to Bruce Wayne. She is unlikely to need anything. But she covets precious gems, often ones that she can’t acquire through legal means, and that’s when she costumes up and goes after the object of her desire.

So as to why your rangers, satyrs, and the like would commit a crime, I would say that it would be because they were either motivated by want or need. Robin Hood is a very famous example of a criminal ranger. In pretty much all versions, he fights against a corrupt system that’s oppressing England’s poor. Based on what version you like, he was either forced to commit an illegal act of poaching due to starvation (need), or he’s a member of the nobility who breaks laws because the government is unjust (want). Other rangers or druids might break the law for a variety of reasons. If they consider themselves the protector of a forest, and local nobility consider that forest theirs for purposes of hinting, lumbering, and the like, there’s going to be conflict, and, since the enemy represents the system, that ranger is going to end up a criminal, possibly working with other criminals, even if their goals aren’t exactly the same.

Another thing to consider from a “want” point of view is that satyrs and others of their ilk are likely to be very chaotic. They may commit crimes for the sheer excitement of it, especially if there’s a nobler goal behind the crime. If a fabulous treasure from the Feywild goes on the auction block, maybe they intend to acquire it to return it to its rightful owner. Or maybe a hag or medusa who’s disguised as a local noblewoman has one of the satyr’s family, petrified, displayed in her garden. There’s likely to be some crime in the offing.

I hope this helps give you some idea for motivations, Anonymous. I’d welcome follow-up questions, because I find this kind of thing fascinating. Until next time, may the wind be ever at your back...unless you’re on the edge of a cliff or something.

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emptymasks · 3 years ago

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I’ve seen a lot about your thoughts on Elisabeth and Tanz der Vampire, and they’ve been really helpful getting into those musicals! But you have a huge list of other musicals that people can get into…

So I was wondering if you had any musicals you hadn’t mentioned in a while that you really like or would like to talk about??? (preferably something from your lists that has a blue heart please?)

Oh if only you knew how long the list of European musicals really is... I however have only seen 9 (if I counted right) and I have a lot more that I still need to watch. Oh also, I only put the blue hearts on any musicals that I was providing multiple links for so people could see which version I reccoment the most highly. If a musical only had one link and didn't have a blue heart it doesn't mean I didn't like it.

I've watched: Mozart das Musical, Elisabeth das Musical, Tanz der Vampire, 3 Musketiers, Mozart L'Opéra Rock, Dracula (the Graz production), Rebecca das Musical, Roméo et Juliette and Schikaneder.

If you enjoyed those two you're likely to enjoy Rebecca! It's written by the same composer/lyricist team as Elisabeth and Mozart (and same lyricist as Tanz der Vampire - though if you're listening to any German musical, original or translated, 90% of the time the lyrics will have been done by Michael Kunze that man is everywhere). The Stuttgart production has my favourite set design of any musical! Well... Actually probably. There are so many big set pieces it's insane, way more than I've seen in some Broadway and West End musicals. You can tell so much work went into it and the visual effects that I won't spoil if you don't know the plot but if you know the plot you know what I mean by the effects at the end are so good and I didn't expect them at all and I freaked out so much the first time I watched it. Jan Ammann as Maxim in the Stuttgart production is the best Maxim. No I won't take any argument. Other actors feel a bit one-dimensional to me, but the way Maxim acts at times comes from trauma and some actors and productions seem to forget that, but Jan really goes for it and his Maxim is a lot more sympathetic and I just want to give him a hug. Pia Douwes as Mrs Danvers, if you've seen her in Elisabeth what more do I need to say, she's amazing. A musical goddess. Her Danny is a bit more wild than some, but she kills it. My favourite video, which I put the blue heart next to, has understudy Christina Patten as Ich/I, but I adore her she's my favourite. She adds some spunk to Ich in act 2 and her voice is so pretty and aaaa. I just love these three actors together in these roles.

Roméo et Juliette is another favourite of mine! It's hard to choose which one to recommend, but it has to be the original 2000/2001 production because of the sweetness and chemistry and voices of Damien Sargue and Cecilia Cara as Romeo and Juliet. They're so pretty and work together so well. The only reason I say it's hard to pick is Mercutio. I adore him, but in the original production they cut out a song they had planned for him and he doesn't really do much at all? In the 2010 revival they gave him two more songs and you care about him so much more and John Eyzen plays such a good Mercutio. So I'd recommend the original but if you want to like Mercutio more, which you should he's amazing, I'd recommend watching at least clips of John's. It's an interesting musical because all productions are non-replica and also change around the order of songs, add or take away characters, all sorts. The Hungarian production is also very popular and I'm sure it's great, I just haven't' gotten around to watching it yet.

Mozart das Musical was the first non-English language musicals I watched so I have a fondness for it, but it's not my favourite. However, I do realise I have forgotten most of the songs and the few I've gone back and listened to are better than I remember.

Dracula isn't super popular and I understand why, I don't love the plot of the Dracula/Mina romance in it, however. I do love this musical because despite how I find the plot lacking, the songs are so good! At least, I love them. And the actors are all doing a great job. And it's one of the few Dracula adaptions to keep Quincy Morris so they get bonus points for that.

Mozart L'Opéra Rock and modern French musicals... This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but they're often more like pop-rock operas now. So if you're not into musicals with that style of music it might not be for you, but I still enjoyed it even though I didn't think I would because of the style of music. Mozart and Salieri's chemistry is very good, Salieri's bisexual crisis song is iconic, actually all of Salieri's songs are iconic.

Schikaneder... eh. I didn't like it that much and I didn't really like any of the songs. There's no English subtitles, but someone sent me the entire English synopsis and I watched it with a German friend so I had double the help of understanding it. Doesn't mean others might not like it, just none of the songs stood out to me and I had no desire to listen to any of them again. It's by Steven Scharwz of Wicked fame and I love Wicked, but I didn't love this.

3 Musketiers!! God it's so underrated and not spoken about within the European musical fandom that I even forget about it and literally forgot to write about it earlier in this post. It's a Dutch musical (though did also have a German production) and it's really good!? Faces you might know are Pia Douwes as Milady de Winter, Stanley Burlseon as Cardinal Richeliu (Netherlands Der Tod in Elisabeth), Henk Poort as Athos (Netherlands Phantom and Jean Valjean). The dialgoue is funny, the songs are good, some of the set pieces have no right to exist in this tiny musical?? They made this giant boat and pelt the actors with rain just for one 5 minute song and then we never see the boat again? And while I recommend the Dutch one because Dutch musicals deserve more love and it has official English subtitles!! Official ones, not fanmade! I have the DVD and it comes with English subtitles (and Dutch and German subtitles) which is so nice. The German version is also good, good cast, Pia came back and Uwe Kroger as Richeliu and omg they rearranged the songs and the German arrangement of Nicht Aus Stein is insane and amazing and frankly iconic.

That's all of the ones I have watched. Next on my list to watch are Rudolf and Notre Dame de Paris, both of which I have listened to some songs from and already love (I've listened to way too much of Notre Dame de Paris and am so in love).

I want to start organising streams where I'll host the musical either by getting the video from Youtube or my own files and anyone who wants to join can come along and watch with us, chat with us if you want or just watch there's no pressure to chat. I thought about doing weekly streams? This would also make me finally watch some of the ones I've been meaning to for ages. But I keep wondering about time zones. I'm in the UK and would want to stream at about 11pm at the latest (11pm BST/GMT+1 as we’re in daylight savings at the moment, if the streams continue past the end of October which would be wild then I’ll make a note of the time change that would be to 11pm GMT), which I know can work for other UK and Europeans, but for any Americans would be in the afternoon. So, I wondered if doing it on a weekend would be better? Then it doesn't matter if it's in the afternoon? Maybe Saturday evenings then? It would either be Saturday evenings UK time or Friday evenings UK time. What do you guys think? If people are down then I'll make a separate post with a list of what we'll be watching each week and if anything happens to me that means I can't stream one week then everything will just get pushed back a week, but I don't see that as likely to happen. And I'll only be streaming those that have English subtitles, so don't worry about not being able to understand anything.

edit: am also open to 10pm bst if others want that, im just trying to think of what time works best for everyone so sorry if 11pm is a little late for europeans, i know 10pm could be a little early for americans. also in case it sounded like these are the only musicals i will be streaming, thats not so, ive got more than just the ones mentioned on this list!

(Tagging some people who I know are or might be interested in streams to see what you think of that plan: @sirona-art @ringwraith100 @tanz-der-trash @smilingwoland @the-weird-dane @witchgaye @ami-fidele @kisstheghouls @looking-4-happiness @ladysapphire928 @sloanedestler @tinywound @persephonaae @phoenixdewinter @uwucoffee @freshbloodandgothicism )

#european musicals #mozart das musical #3 musketiers #dracula the musical #retj #romeo et juliette #mozart l'opera rock #mozart l'opéra rock #musical theatre #musicals #broadway #musicaledit #rebecca das musical #rebecca the musical #answeredasks #non english language musicals

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missmis · 3 years ago

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I’ve been having a lot of heated debates recently over which actors are the best in certain roles, so I thought long and hard about my ideal Les Mis cast.

For some roles, I have several actors (mainly Enjolras, because every guy who’s ever played him seems to be gorgeous). For some roles, there is only one person who just IS that character to me.

Now without further ado, here we go:

Jean Valjean: Alfie Boe, always. He perfectly conveys Valjean’s transition from angry convict to noble and almost saintly, plus his voice still gives me chills every time. I could write an entire post exclusively on the sheer perfection of his high note at the end of “Bring Him Home”, but that is a subject for another day. Honourable mention: John Owen-Jones because his voice is incredible, too-but he overdoes it on the anger sometimes.

Javert: ooh, that’s a tough one. I’d say it’s probably a tie between Earl Carpenter (who has the warmest and most powerful baritone ever) and Norm Lewis, who does the cold-hearted arrogance perfectly. Honourable mention: Richard Woodford, who used to be Grantaire and Javert’s understudy ages ago. Most people probably won’t know him, but he is honestly amazing- and a lovely guy.

Fantine: Carrie Hope Fletcher. Her voice can be powerful or soft as needed and she really captures Fantine’s pain. Honourable mention: Lea Salonga, whose voice is also gorgeous, but whose acting I find a little exaggerated sometimes.

Éponine: Samantha Barks will always be the one true Éponine for me. Her voice is incredible, she looks right (because in my head, Éponine is always dark-haired) and she portrays the whole unrequited love thing to perfection. And yes, I may possibly have a tiny crush on her... Or a big one.

Cosette: Honestly, Cosette always annoyed the heck out of me until I discovered Lily Kerhoas. She’s completely lovestruck-as the character should be- but she manages to turn Cosette into an actual person and not just a one-dimensional teenager who was put in to make all the guys look better. And that is honestly a huge accomplishment. Honourable mention: Amanda Seyfried, although her incredibly high soprano is a bit too much for my ears.

Marius: I loved Eddie Redmayne’s portrayal in the film version. His general adorable shyness steals my heart every time. I also love Rob Houchen, who has a gorgeous voice and who captures the innocence of the character. And Gareth Gates does hands down the best version of “A Little Fall of Rain” I’ve ever seen, because he actually seems to care that Éponine just died, unlike many other actors who’ve played this role.

Enjolras: As I said, there are so many amazing people who have played him. But if I had to choose one, it’d probably be Bradley Jaden (and no, I’m not just saying that because his man bun is a blessing to this fandom). I love his passion and the sheer power he brings to the character. Aaron Tveit is also up there with my favourites-he may not be the greatest singer, but he looks exactly like Book Enjolras and he gets that coldness and indifference-especially towards poor Grantaire- just right. Then there’s Killian Donnelly whose Irish accent I absolutely adore. Oh and lastly, Ramin Karimloo, of course-he may not look like your classical Enjolras, but the light of rebellion is ablaze in his eyes :)

Monsieur Thénardier: the one and only, the inimitable Matt Lucas. He is simply hilarious, which is actually kind of an ethical issue, because he almost makes me like Monsieur T. And every time someone says “Cosette”, I now hear “Courgette” in my head, which is entirely his fault.

Madame Thénardier: Katy Secombe. She’s mean, she’s funny, she’s brash, her facial expressions are everything and her voice can knock you off your feet. Especially great in combination with Matt Lucas. Honestly, I’d pay to see these two do stand-up comedy together.

Gavroche: Also a tough one. My favourite is probably Daniel Huttlestone in the film, just because he’s so adorable I want to adopt him. I also love Robert Madge’s mischievous and cocky Gavroche in the 25th and recently, Logan Clark, whose antics give me life.

Grantaire: He’s my favourite character, so I’m kind of picky about who plays him. Only two guys have found mercy before my eyes. One: George Blagden, whose pining for Enjolras was the only thing that kept me watching the film. I will never stop being pissed that they cut his solo in “Drink With Me”. Two: Keith Anthony Higham. He has the richest voice ever and he just gets Grantaire-the cynicism, the drama and the unrequited love thing. If you haven’t already, watch his 2008 version of “Drink With Me” with David Thaxton. Thank me later.

Courfeyrac: Fra Fee- I love his passion and his friendship with Gavroche in the film. Plus, he has a beautiful voice. Also the guy from the 2019 staged concert- I believe his name is Michael Sheehy, but I could be wrong. He is honestly hilarious.

Combeferre: Killian Donnelly. He gets the whole slightly-exasperated-by-all-of-these-irresponsible-idiots professorial vibe. And he has a very powerful voice.

Feuilly: Matthew Gent because of his lovely soft singing and his funny-as-hell facial expressions.

Joly: Jamie Muscato, who is just such an adorable goofball.

Bossuet/Lesgles/Laigle/the dude with a hundred different names: I don’t know the guy’s name, but he’s in the 25th. Firstly, because he’s actually bald and thus, about ten times more accurate than most other portrayals and secondly, because his voice is warm and soft and it’s actually a shame he hasn’t got more lines to sing.

Bahorel: Again, the dude from the movie- Iwan Lewis, I think he’s called. Just the right amount of recklessness.

Jehan Prouvaire: I haven’t really found anyone I like in this role yet. I’m not that big a fan of Alistair Brammer for some reason, so if someone could help me out here, I’d be grateful.

The Bishop: Also Earl Carpenter, because his voice is-for lack of a better description-like a nice, warm blanket. And I like Colm Wilkinson in this role, too.

I hope I haven’t missed any characters. If I have, please do point them out to me. I hope you’ve enjoyed my analysis- I tried to make it about more than just “Oh, I like this person because they’re hot”. Feel free to share your own opinions and remember: these are just my subjective ones.

#les mis #les miz #les misérables #les amis #jean valjean #fantine les mis #éponine #marius pontmercy #javert

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ferret-not-microwave · 4 years ago

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Les Amis Modern AU: What They Wish Others Believed About Them (Part 5)

[I kind of wrote this in response to some general trends in characterising the Amis. There are some stereotypes which I'm not quite comfortable with.]

[Hey, y'all! I'm so sorry for not posting this series for a long time, I was flattened for the past 12 days by COVID-19. We have Cosette and Marius today, and I'm so glad that I am feeling better enough to write about them. Cheerio!]

Cosette:

• Is fed up of being considered dainty, fragile, weak and excessively nice, a bit of a pushover. She is anything but. Living with crappy foster parents don't really let you do that. She can stand up against bullshit with biting sarcasm if necessary. It's just that Cosette doesn't rise to the bait very easily, because she has trained herself to ignore battles which don't need her attention. But that doesn't mean that she needs to be protected all the time.

• Is sick of having to relate her childhood traumas in order to not be judged as being a privileged airhead. Cosette likes buying nice things. She likes fashion, and she has some habits from Catholic school, still. She spends a lot of money on her friends and loved ones. She is sunshiney and injects bougie humour and fun into meetings. That doesn't mean that she knows nothing about the shitty world, and that she doesn't actively try to make ethical choices in her consumer behaviour and social commitments. She really dislikes the "Ohhhhh" moment coming from someone judging her for her privilege when someone tells her story to them. Why presume that people are shitty for no reason, damnit?

• Is sick of being mistaken as straight. On one memorable Pride, she was called "straight passing". She dislikes the term immensely. She thinks that people do not have the liberty to immediately assume that she is heterosexual because Marius is her partner. Similarly, people do not get to assume her sexuality because she presents stereotypically femme.

• She feels insecure and uncomfortable when people fix too much attention on her in relation to someone else, as if to scrutinize her. It happened twice amongst the Amis, once when Marius introduced her as his crush for the first time, and once when they came to know that she and Eponine knew each other since childhood, and that Eponine's parents were her abusive foster parents. She likes it better if she were befriended for being herself.

• She feels a little frustrated that people didn't get her conflicting feelings towards Eponine. People immediately assumed that she forgave and forgot everything Eponine had done or said when they were children, in her "characteristically sweet way". Actually, the first time she saw Eponine, her fear reared its ugly head again and she almost ran out of the Musain. There was much dancing around Eponine (who seemed worn out and super uncomfortable as well) and it is only with Marius and Courfeyrac's help that Cosette could start a conversion with Eponine. She did it not be particularly forgiving (though she eventually forgave her anyway), but because she needed to leave her emotional baggage behind and move on.

• A large part of Cosette's forgiveness towards Eponine was fuelled by the knowledge of Eponine's own abuse at her parents' hands. As someone who had faced quite a bit of the same abuse, she needed to put her foot down. Cosette was extremely angry about it, and her anger made sure that Eponine could separate from her parents faster, and eventually get custody of her siblings.

• She hates, hates, hates it when people remind her that she's lucky to get an adoptive father like Valjean particularly after she has a row with him. Just because her foster parents were shitty doesn't mean that she cannot speak against some of Valjeans imperfections! And children often disagree with their parents. She doesn't need to be dampened with the idea that she should basically think Valjean to be perfect because of her past. She is fiercely loyal to Valjean, and doesn't need anyone to test that.

• Cosette is protective of Marius. No one gets to mow Marius over with judgements and snide comments. In fact, Marius found himself being not so much the butt of jokes anymore after Cosette teaches him to stand up for himself. At the same time, Cosette does not helicopter parent Marius. She does tease him within limits, and does not usually interfere when he has disagreements with the Amis. It is a fine balance which does exhaust her sometimes.

• Cosette can be mischievous, even impish. She can land punches (whether they hurt or not doesn't matter), ace paintball/mudslinging matches, play the best pranks on April Fool's Day and curse like a sailor if needed. She is especially proud of the wide-eyed look she still gets from some of the Amis at her antics. She can also get people out of trouble faster than you can say "bail".

Marius:

• Marius feels scared of being judged. It is really, really difficult to understand your own privilege when you come from a super rich, super bigoted family (read grandfather). He has taken lots of embarrassing knocks and call-outs every day till now, but he is learning, and learning fast. The Amis know, and for them he isn't some peripheral person anymore, but an integral part. But sometimes he wakes up with nightmares of being kicked out as a wokeboi and a fraud by the whole group. He often stumbles over his words because he panics that maybe what he is trying to say is problematic. It takes him months to take any initiative in the Amis because he suffers from imposter syndrome all the time.

• Marius hid all information about his favourites (he loves strawberry rosé macarons and silver needle tea, for instance) because he thought that he would be judged as a rich brat. Funnily, it was Ferre who had figured these out and was the first Amis to give him a small tea chest and a box of macarons as a birthday gift (followed closely by Courf and Jehan with a huge birthday party). It took time for Marius to understand that just because he got a bit panned for his political opinions the first time, it doesn't mean that the Amis hate him.

• Quite unlike popular belief, Marius and Ferre do get along very well. They share a lot of niche interests (poring over etymology dictionaries and having a love of museums and trivia nights). They did discuss that first "to be free" moment, and Marius had placed his request to be given more chances to undo his problematic stances. (There was also another "to be free" moment that had left Ferre stunned, but it's a them thing). It hurts Marius when people immediately think that he's probably annoying Ferre when they hang out.

• Marius is not stupid. Please. The whole idea people have that he is stupid because of his awkwardness and shyness is plain mean at times. No, he doesn't need to be talked to slowly, like talking to a child. Whenever he has the courage, he brings up a lot of valid points in Musain meetings. He is extremely resourceful in handling money and talks with boring rich people, and fundraisers have never been better without him. He is juggling a double Masters degree with internships and volunteer services, and picks up languages at the drop of a hat (including Elvish).

• Marius has also had that dangerous phase when, in a bid to be as radical as possible, he fell into trouble way too many times. Even the most even-tempered of them all (read Jehan) has outright cried in exasperation on finding Marius glaring at a policeman in a protest, promising to burn the place down with a flare if they didn't back off from hitting protestors. Marius has similarly taken punches and hits, and there was a time when Joly would hover around him to administer first aid as quickly as possible. It took Enj and R a whole day to explain to him the merits of self-preservation and that revolution today does not necessarily involve a militant loss of life.

• Marius has also that phase when he drove a college sophomore to tears with his radical speech. Aka attacking the heck out of the kid's problematic Facebook post. Cosette had to give him a talk. Marius is learning about how to be a zealous but kind activist every day.

#marius pontmercy #cosette #les miz #les amis #les mis #les miserables #marius and cosette are such sweethearts #marius is an underrated noodle boi #modern au #les mis as #ferret's freshly microwaved post

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meta-squash · 4 years ago

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Brick Club 2.3.8 “Inconveniences Of Entertaining A Poor Man Who May Be Rich”

This chapter is so long. Here goes.

Is it normal for Cosette to have to knock to get into the house she lives in? Or is Hugo just using that as a vehicle to make Mme Thenardier meet Valjean first?

It’s times like this that I desperately wish I knew more about biblical stories and fables and things. This, a rich man in disguise as a poor man being treated poorly by innkeepers and taking something from them, sounds like a bible story or a similar type of fable. But the only two bible stories I know with similar themes are the nativity story and Sodom and Gomorrah and neither of those seem quite right. Still, this entire episode reads like a fable or fairytale.

We’ve already seen how Evil the Thenardiers are re: their treatment of Cosette. Now we are seeing their Evil in the form of treatment of the poor.

You know, that’s an interesting thing that I’m not going to get into in this longass chapter. Javert’s evil and Thenardier’s evil are different because I feel like Javert’s evil is a lot more muddied or obscured by morality and duty and things like that. Where are the Thenardiers are bad but the badness of their actions is much more black and white. I think it’s also because, technically, they never have social power over anyone unless they are manipulative, whereas Javert always has the social power. I’m not sure where to go with either of these ideas but I will look back on it for a shorter chapter.

Cosette is ugly because she’s sad. It’s like the exact opposite of Roald Dahl’s description of ugliness. I called it on the orphanage thing and kids looking years younger than they are; she looks 6 when she’s 8. That doesn’t seem like a huge difference when you look at it written down but the difference between the size and maturity of a 6 year old vs an 8 year old is surprising.

In the way that the description of the doll was a distant echo of young Fantine, the description of Cosette here is a faded echo of dying Fantine.

“Fear was spread all over here; she was, so to speak, covered with it; fear squeezed her elbows against her sides, drew her heels up under her skirt, made her shrink into the least possible space...” I’m sure this description comes from Hugo observing children in his lifetime, but I also wonder if any of this comes from his brother who had schizophrenia and was institutionalized?

“The expression on the face of this child of eight was habitually so sad and occasionally so tragic that it seemed, at certain moments, as if she were on the way to becoming an idiot or a demon.” What an interesting pair of choices. Fear and sadness either stun and numb you completely or they turn you aggressive and evil. Hugo said the same thing before when talking about Valjean’s prison time. Again, like I said before, Cosette here is Valjean when we first met him: exhausted, scared, sad, numb, hatefully terrified of the people around her; the difference is that she still has hope. She had that moment of hoping someone would rescue her, she had the moment of pausing and wondering what the doll’s paradise was like; when we met Valjean he was past that kind of hope.

(Funny that Mme Thenardier doesn’t suspect the trick Valjean just pulled, despite Valjean “finding” a 20 sous piece instead of 15 sous piece.)

I love the description of Eponine and Azelma because it’s so innocent. They as little human beings aren’t morally bankrupt at the level of their parents yet. They’re still pretty and glowing. Partly because they are well-cared for unlike Cosette, and partly because they are still innocent.

“Eponine and Azelma did not notice Cosette. To them she was like the dog. The three little girls did not have twenty-four years among them, and they already represented the whole of human society: on one side envy, on the other disdain.”

Ah, human microcosms. Hugo loves those. The Thenardier children and Cosette are the pared down, simplified version of society. It’s also an excellent example of how Privilege works in layers. The girls’ doll is worn and old and broken, but the fact of them having a real doll and Cosette having nothing is already a layer of privilege Someone else, another little girl with wealthy parents and a new intact doll would have privilege over the Thenardier girls. There are layers.

I really love this passage too because it shows the start of the zero-sum game between Eponine and Cosette. At no point are Eponine and Cosette able to be equals. But the important thing is that neither of them are aware of this. Later, when Cosette and Eponine encounter each other again in the Gorbeau house, Eponine doesn’t have the awareness to be angry about the reversal of their fortunes. She seems sad, mostly, a jealousy born from a feeling of worthlessness rather than feeling slighted. And Cosette doesn’t even recognize Eponine, so there’s no room at all for disdain on her part, unless she’s disdainful of Eponine et al due to their poverty, though that never seems to be the case. But Eponine cannot be happy while Cosette is and Cosette cannot be happy while Eponine is, because their goals occupy the same fulcrum (Marius) and they can’t both be on the same level at the same time.

Fanfiction has explored this a lot in modern AU but I wonder the kind of havoc that could have been wreaked had Cosette and Eponine met and become proper acquaintances. Their teenage personalities are two sides of the same coin. I’ve always been of the opinion that had they switched places as children Cosette would have ended up like Eponine and Eponine like Cosette. Because Eponine has the capacity for kindness within her, except that she doesn’t know how to use it selflessly; and Cosette has the same stubborn ruthlessness as Eponine, except that she is held back by convention and reduced to talking a lot in order to try and somehow glean information from Valjean or Marius.

“Now your work belongs to me. Play, my child.” This is the second (or third?) Myriel moment for Valjean. Cosette is a child, an innocent child, but her soul doesn’t need to be bought for god. As far as I can tell, for Hugo, children are always holy. Instead, he’s buying her work. But that makes sense. For Valjean, his soul needed to be bought for god because he had already lost it to sin and to evil and to doubt. Cosette still has hope; what she needs bought from her is suffering.

And here is where the parallel continues. Cosette up until now has been Valjean as we first met him: sullen, suffering, scared, dulled, close to becoming “an idiot or a demon” and now, like Valjean’s soul, her work has been bought so she can be free.

I think it is within the walls of the convent that their parallels will catch up to each other and they will become more equal.

I feel as though the cat in a dress vs the sword in a dress must be some sort of parallel to Eponine and Cosette’s personalities but I’m not quite sure how to pull the meaning out.

“A little girl without a doll is almost as unfortunate and just as impossible as a woman without children.” Ugh. Gross, Hugo. This whole chapter was so lovely and then this misogynist bullshit.

I can explain the “water on her brain” line! Mostly because it’s a medical condition I actually have! So, “water on the brain” is another term for hydrocephalus, which is a buildup of cerebrospinal fluid in the ventricles of the brain. It can be caused by being born prematurely (like mine was) or by infections/head trauma. Nowadays they can put a shunt in your head that pumps the fluid into the abdominal cavity (which is what I have), but obviously they didn’t have the technology back then. So what happens to the head if the fluid doesn’t drain, is the head will start to increase in size, and the fluid buildup will squish the brain against the sides of the skull, causing seizures and brain damage/intellectual disabilities and vision problems and other such things. I function perfectly fine except for mild dyscalculia and ADHD (which might have been genetic anyway) but back in the 19th century hydrocephalus probably would have resulted in either mild-to-severe disabilities or death.

Cosette doesn’t have hydrocephalus, but what she does have is severe malnutrition, which can make a person’s head look much too large for their body. So Mme Thenardier is likely using Cosette’s appearance due to neglect to fake that she has a neurological problem and explain why they have to “take care of” her.

Jesus fucking christ this next bit is so much. There’s so much going on. Mme Thenardier is talking to Valjean about Cosette’s mother, the drinkers are singing vulgar songs about the Virgin Mary and baby Jesus, and Cosette is under the table singing “My mother is dead.” to herself. Woof. It is, yet again, an instance of the memory of “Fantine” (in the symbolic, saintly form of the Virgin) being sullied both by the foul songs of the drinkers and the callous, flippant commentary of Mme Thenardier. And Cosette is there under the table, staring at the fire, suddenly playing the role of her own mother, rocking the sword-baby (herself) to try and comfort herself from the shock of this new knowledge that her mother is dead.

(Anyone else read As I Laying Dying, by the way? All I could think of when I read that line was “My mother is a fish.”)

We start to see Cosette’s bold personality come out in fits and starts. She’s brave enough to sneak out and grab the doll Eponine and Azelma have abandoned. But it’s also an example of how desperate she is for something pleasurable and good, considering she’s doing that at the risk of a beating.

For the second time, we see Cosette so absorbed in her moment of “I Want” that she doesn’t see or hear anything else. Again, this seems unusual considering her constant hypervigilance. But her success in getting the doll and her increased confidence due to Valjean’s presence probably have something to do with her lack of awareness.

Cosette is caught with the doll. Is this the parallel of Valjean being caught with Myriel’s silver? Mme Thenardier says “That beggar has dared to touch the children’s doll.” The gendarmes don’t say as much when they return Valjean to Myriel, but it’s pretty obvious they’re thinking something similar.

“We are forced to add that at that moment she stuck out her tongue.” COSETTE IS SO CUTE I LOVE HER SO MUCH SHE DESERVES THE WORLD. Also I just love the way Hugo writes children, it’s so real.

Why did Hugo choose Catherine for the name of the doll? Is it to do with St Catherine? She (the saint) became Christian at 14 and converted hundreds of people before being martyred at 18 after rebuking the Roman emperor for his cruelty and winning a debate with his best philosophers.

“This solitary man, so poorly dressed, who took five-franc pieces from his pocket so easily and lavished gigantic dolls on little brats in wooden clogs, was certainly a magnificent and formidable individual.” Valjean is now Myriel. Outsiders are fascinated by him because he dresses so shabbily and yet is so benevolent and charitable with his money. Again, the difference is that Myriel’s name is always known, and Valjean’s is never known.

I know I say this so often but the distance with which Hugo treats Valjean is absolutely fascinating to me. Valjean has this incredible power to just go inside himself and not move, but we never get that kind if internality unless it’s really really important (like with the Champmathieu affair). Otherwise, Hugo keeps a respectful distance, and even when we get Valjean’s emotions described to us, I feel like Hugo is always holding back a little, like he’s not letting himself see all the way into Valjean, or Valjean isn’t letting him in.

Valjean asks for a stable; I think this is the first time we see his whole thing about sacrifice of physical comfort. Things like this asking for the stable and sleeping in the shed behind the house at Rue Plumet and not having chairs and only eating black bread etc. This is the first example we see of him feeling unworthy of physical comforts to such a degree.

(It’s interesting to me that we don’t see this characteristic when he was mayor, or at least not to this extreme. Is it because it would be unbecoming of a mayor and therefore would blow his cover? Or did going back to prison hammer in that feeling of worthlessness and lesser-than and warp his perception of what he is compared to others?)

“What a sublime, sweet thing is hope in a child who has never known anything but its opposite!” We’ve said this already, but Cosette is full of hope and life and light and that is Important because it is exactly what Valjean did not have when he was in her position. But it means that she doesn’t have to work as hard in her ascent towards happiness and goodness.

And, lastly, I love that the placement of the gold Louis in Cosette’s shoe isn’t just a sweet Christmas gesture or a gesture towards Cosette: it’s also an echo of M Madeleine breaking into houses to place gold pieces on the table.

Wow. Long af post for a long af chapter. Congratulations if you read through all of my rambling thoughts.

#les miserables meta #les miserables #brickclub #lm 2.3.8 #les mis #les mis meta #doing this chapter melted my brain a little

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nekojitachan · 4 years ago

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I really need to figure out how many parts there are to this story (The Real Thing). I do. But for now, have a new one, and know there’s one more left.

Last part is here.

Uhm, mention of Andrew’s rehab, nasty Ravens roughing Nathaniel up (nothing too bad) and Andrew NOT LIKING THAT, FEELINGS! Oh, and Riko being Riko.

******

Despite being told not to practice for a week, Andrew changed into his Ravens’ uniform as soon as he was back in the Nest since the rest of the team was out on court – since Nathaniel was out on court. He rushed out of the locker room as quickly as he could, muscles still rubbery from recovery, and immediately noticed three things.

First, that Riko wasn’t anywhere to be seen, nor was Kevin. Second, that the Ravens were oddly subdued as they stood around watching the players currently involved in a scrimmage. And third? That Nathaniel took part in the scrimmage (as did Jean)… not as a backliner, but as a striker. He wore a lighter set of padding and held a striker’s racquet, managed to avoid Federov to score a point – and then nearly went to his knees when the asshole slammed into him after the ball was out of his racquet.

A sharp, tumultuous anger flared to life inside of Andrew to see his soulmate treated like that, yet before he could do more than take a step forward, he found his way blocked by racquets; Toby and Leif had moved to block him. “Don’t,” Toby whispered while Leif shook his head. “It’s almost over, and it’ll only be worse if you do anything.”

“Don’t tell me-“

“Let him get through this and then be happy you’re back,” Leif hissed. “He’s been through enough.”

Andrew stopped trying to shove past the racquets and gave the backliner a narrow look. “Ben said he was all right.” Had his partner lied?

Leif shrugged then resumed watching the scrimmage. “He is, all things considered.”

That wasn’t much of an answer. Andrew ignored Toby belatedly welcoming him back and resumed watching the scrimmage as well, inwardly seething each time Nathaniel was slammed into, knocked down or battered around. His soulmate was one of the best backliners out there despite his small size, and even showed promise as a striker because of his amazing speed and knowledge of Exy. But he had still switched to a new position after years of playing a different one, so his responses were the slightest bit off. If he was playing anyone else but the Ravens? It probably wouldn’t matter, but he was, and the best team in the Class I division picked up on each and every mistake he made.

After a few more minutes, Tetsuji finally called an end to the scrimmage; Andrew wanted to throttle the old bastard when he strode over to an obviously worn out Nathaniel and gave him three strikes against the lower back with his cane then ordered him to do more drills. He ‘corrected’ a few other players before he approached Andrew and studied him for a few seconds. “Work on drills.”

No ‘hey, glad to see you’re back after we put you through hell’ or ‘get some rest, you look terrible’, but Andrew would accept it since it allowed him to be near his soulmate and not punch the asshole in the throat (yet). He grabbed his racquet and went to the outer ring of court, where Nathaniel was already at work on the Raven drills.

The idiot paused to give him a slight yet pleased smile, his eyes shadowed as if exhausted and cheeks sunken as if he’d skipped too many meals, but other than that… other than that the sight of him made Andrew’s heart race, dammit. Ever since coming off the drugs, the world had been somewhat muted, had lacked the hint of mania-enhanced vibrancy it had possessed the last year and a half, but now that he stood near his soulmate…. He felt the same inexorable pull toward Nathaniel that he always had, the same urge to slide his fingers into the auburn curls tucked beneath the black bandana and tug him forward for a kiss, to nibble and suck on that full bottom lip.

Those emotions were real, were so very real, as was the need to protect Nathaniel, to ensure he was all right, to track down everyone who’d hurt him while Andrew was gone.

For a moment, Andrew felt a rather dramatic urge to carve out his heart to put an end to all those feelings before common sense kicked in. Then he realized that he was still staring into Nathaniel’s eyes and decided he could live with beating himself into a coma with his own racquet. Before he could carry through with that solution, though, Nathaniel began to frown. “Are you all right? You look really tired, should you even be out on court?”

Andrew clicked his tongue and stepped forward. “Look who’s talking, sweetpea.” He scooped up a ball and with a clever twist of his wrist, knocked over the three cones on the end to the left. “When’s the last time you slept? Or ate a full meal?”

“I’ve been eating,” Nathaniel mumbled as he completed drill #8. “And… not here.” He glanced over at Tetsuji, who barked out a correction at Leif (who was certain to be caned once the scrimmage was over).

That implied that a certain ‘sweetpea’ would talk later; Andrew gave him a narrow look before he focused on knocking over cones for the next twenty minutes, imagining that they were Riko and Tetsuji the entire while.

He felt a rush of that irrational, potent urge to protect when he saw all the bruises, new and old, on his soulmate’s lean body when they stripped for the showers, and only managed to keep from crushing skulls with locker doors when he realized that they were from playing Exy, that the marks matched up to weak spots in the protective padding (or the lack of it entirely) and not from- that it was from Exy.

That no one was suicidal enough to ignore his reminders before he’d left for rehab.

He wasn’t particularly hungry, so he dumped his slab of disgusting tofu in Nathaniel’s bowl, followed by his orange dropped on his surprised soulmate’s tray. “Eat them,” he ordered in French. “Let Valjean do the talking.”

Jean snorted in amusement but motioned for his partner to eat as well. “So nice to have you back.”

“Considering that I go away for a couple weeks and come back to everything all fucked up? I’d say ‘yes’.”

Jean winced while Nathaniel nibbled on his bottom lip and slowly peeled his extra orange. “It… it is nice to have you back,” Nathaniel murmured as he ducked his head.

“Eat,” Andrew repeated as he poked at his rice with his chopsticks and told his stupid emotions to fuck off. “What the hell happened with the asshole?”

“Yes, that,” Jean sighed as he stabbed at his own tofu before breaking it apart. “Have you heard the story about how Kevin and Riko went on a skiing trip together, only for Kevin to break his hand?”

Andrew nodded as he dropped several grains of rice onto the table and began to flick them toward the wall. “Utter bullshit.” Why would either of the young men take time off right before the playoff season? All they’d talked about was how the team had to spend the whole winter break training, not to waste time on some stupid vacation.

“Yes, exactly.” Jean glanced around the large room, but everyone appeared to be focused on their own meals and conversations. “All we know is that Kevin disappeared one night, unable to attend the winter banquet with us, and Riko left soon after that.” He gave Andrew an intent look before he forced himself to eat his dinner, while Nathaniel, done with the one orange, steadily shoveled rice and tofu into his mouth.

All they knew? Or all they could say while out in public? Andrew continued to flick rice grains until the two were done, then nodded when Nathaniel proclaimed that he was tired. He watched his soulmate pocket the extra orange, and followed the two backliners (well, maybe not Nathaniel anymore) to their room.

Once there, Nathaniel set the orange on his desk and opened the drawer to retrieve a paper bag filled with the ‘good’ energy bars… and what turned out to be expensive chocolate bars. “Here,” he told Andrew as he handed them over. “I made sure to grab them whenever they restocked.” A slight flush colored his sharp cheekbones as he ducked his head again. “And, uhm, one night they had the chocolate up in the East Tower. I thought… well, I can’t get out to buy a gift.”

Andrew noticed that Jean was pointedly looking away right then, his right hand clamped over his own soulmate mark. “The only thing I could have brought back was used toiletries, so give me a few days, okay. These… these are great.” He reached out with his left hand to tousle Nathaniel’s hair, which made his soulmate smile, then sat down on Nathaniel’s bed as he pulled an energy bar and chocolate bar from the bag. “Now tell me what really happened.”

Nathaniel sat down next to him, so close he could feel the redhead’s body heat. “As you guessed, the skiing story was a lie,” he said as he switched to French. He looked straight at Jean as he tugged on the hem of his black sweatshirt. “What really happened was that… well, Riko broke Kevin’s left hand.”

Andrew paused in opening the wrapper of the energy bar to raise an eyebrow. “Not to apply logic when dealing with a jealous psychopath, but any idea why then?”

“Because earlier that day, several ERC officials showed up and had the two play against each other to disprove the rumors that Tetsuji is making Kevin hold back in favor of Riko,” Jean explained. “Riko won, but… I think he realized that perhaps they were right.”

“Of course they were right.”

Andrew nudged the ‘peanut gallery’, AKA his soulmate, in the side (gently, considering all the bruises) to make him remain quiet, and nodded to Jean to continue. Nathaniel grumbled but began to peel his orange.

“All we know for certain is soon after that, Kevin came to us with his hand broken.” Jean winced while Nathaniel muttered about Riko being a fucking prick. “Riko used Kevin’s racquet to break it with the intention of crippling him. We did what we could, and….”

“And?”

“And I called in a few favors from the guards I know who report to the main branch,” Nathaniel explained with a quiet voice. “Enough to get him out of the Nest and somewhere safe.”

For a moment, Andrew wanted to grab Nathaniel by his shoulders and shake him, to yell at him about doing something stupid, something that would put him in danger… yet he hadn’t seen any new cuts or scars on his soulmate (or Jean), hadn’t seen anything to make him think that the two idiots helping out their friend had been a huge mistake (yet). “Where is he?” he asked before he popped a piece of dark chocolate into his mouth, then hummed in pleasure at its intense flavor.

Nathaniel slumped in relief next to him (and slightly against him) while Jean smiled (a tiny bit, but still a smile). “It’s not common knowledge yet, but he’s at Palmetto State.”

Andrew was only familiar with the university since he’d spent a couple years in Columbia, which wasn’t far from the university. “Why the hell is he there?” He’d think that Kevin Day, #2 of the ‘esteemed’ Ravens, would go into a fit of apoplexy to be near the worst team in the Class I division.

Nathaniel and Jean shared a smug look as Nathaniel handed Andrew an orange section, which he accepted with a dubious frown despite his soulmate’s urging. However, when he tried it with a piece of chocolate, he had to admit it was an acceptable flavor pairing. “No one knows who’s Kevin’s father, right?” Nathaniel asked, his expression still smug.

“Big deal, he’s not the only one playing the ‘who’s your daddy’ game.”

Nathaniel’s smile was wiped away by Andrew’s dry comment while Jean rolled his eyes. “Perhaps, but the thing is, Kevin does know who’s his ‘daddy’.” He scrunched his nose when Andrew gave him an interested look. “A couple years ago, we found a letter his mother wrote in Tetsuji’s library identifying the man. It seems she had an affair with David Wymack but chose not to inform him of the results.”

“Hmm.” Andrew slipped the last piece of chocolate past his lips and sucked on it as he considered that bit of news – and the fact that Tetsuji knew about Kevin’s bloodline while Wymack didn’t. “Why didn’t he go before now?”

“Because Kevin worried about the Moriyamas doing something to his father if he did,” Nathaniel explained as he rubbed his right hand along his scarred chest. “Now… now he doesn’t have much to lose and feels that he has no value to the family because of his hand.”

That and Nathaniel (and Jean) had stuck his neck out to get him away from Riko (and the Nest). Andrew once again wanted to shake his soulmate for being such a fool, but part of him realized that he couldn’t throw stones when it came to him protecting Aaron and Nicky.

(That he’d do just as much if not more for Nathaniel.)

“What about Riko and you being a striker?” he asked as he once more nudged his soulmate.

Nathaniel grimaced as he tugged again on the hem of his sweatshirt. “With Kevin gone, Tetsuji decided that I was the best choice to replace him. There’s no chance of having anyone ready for the playoffs, but he’s determined I’ll be trained in time for next season.”

“They’re hoping for Kevin to return, one way or another, but don’t think he’ll be able to play,” Jean explained in more detail. “Since the main branch ‘happened’ to find out about Kevin’s ‘accident’, Riko’s actually had to pay for his impulsiveness, at least a little, and was sent to Baltimore for winter break.” Next to Andrew, Nathaniel twitched at the mention of his birth city, which made him think that Riko wasn’t spending time with his professional team.

“He’s going to be furious when he returns,” Nathaniel murmured against Andrew’s shoulder. “Especially since Tetsuji announced that the Ravens will play without him for at least the first round.”

That was a surprise; Andrew glanced at Jean to confirm the news and clicked his tongue when the young man nodded. “Supposedly, Riko’s too distraught to play, but we think it’s a mix of keeping him away from the press and a punishment of sorts. They announced the line-up the other day, and it’s not as if we’ll have a problem winning without him or Kevin.”

Especially when Andrew would continue to shut down the goal as much as possible, per his bargain with Riko. Reminded of the importance of his performance, he gave his sleepy soulmate a slight nudge before he slipped off the bed. “Unless there’s any more gossip I should know, I’m heading off to bed.”

“No,” Jean said while Nathaniel stretched out on his own bed, clearly exhausted and ready to fall asleep. “You know the important things.”

Andrew gave him a quick salute before he left, thoughts focused on what he’d just been told. He wasn’t happy about Nathaniel risking himself for Kevin Day, but doubted that Tetsuji would wait to punish the fool if he suspected anything. That left them with Nathaniel’s position switch, Andrew and Jean having to work harder to make up for Kevin’s lack on the court, and dealing with an even more unstable Riko.

Oh what fun.

(Andrew pondered the chances of him getting away with another ‘accidental’ death, but dammit, Riko was rarely alone and highly unlikely to get into a rigged vehicle with him.)

Ben acted happy to see him and filled him in a bit more about the ‘drama’ while he unpacked his bag, sent a few texts to Aaron and Nicky then got ready for bed; about how the fans were upset over the possibility of Kevin never playing again, and most of the strikers being unhappy about the thought of Nathaniel stepping in for Kevin next season.

Morning came all too soon; Andrew struggled through the morning workout, determined to build back the muscle he’d lost during rehab. He noticed that Riko still wasn’t back on campus, and so made a point to give long blank stares at Federov and a few others (the ones who looked too long at Nathaniel, the ones who’d slammed him around on court yesterday) as he lifted weights (too much weight, his muscles protesting the entire time which he ignored); they quickly looked aside, their expressions uncomfortable.

(The pain was worth it when Nathaniel – Nat – sat next to him at breakfast and handed over the banana one of the servers had snuck to him.)

The campus was even more an explosion of black and red as Edgar Allan showed its ‘pride’ at the team heading into the playoffs yet again (as if there’d ever been any doubt), with many students in Andrew’s classes wearing #1 and #2 jerseys and sweatshirts. There were hushed discussions about Riko and Kevin, but the students wisely didn’t approach him. That semester, he didn’t have any classes with Aaron, so he picked seats in the back row, far away from everyone else, and basically catnapped to catch up on his sleep.

Tetsuji was indeed a bastard about playoff training; their first game was against Idaho State’s Bengals, who weren’t much of a challenge, but ‘the Master’ demanded perfection (‘the Master’ was a prick). Andrew was ‘allowed’ one week of drills to get back in shape, then another week of scrimmages before the first game of the season. So much for following the doctor’s orders, but he wanted to be back in shape to defend the goal just as much as Tetsuji expected him to be, if for different reasons.

(Nathaniel kept taking the abuse while out on court from his own teammates; Andrew looked forward to the next week when he’d be out there with him, to when he would be in control of the ball and ‘oops, I didn’t realize I threw it that hard’….)

There was a sense of anxiety and uncertainty thrumming through the team as the week wore on, a nervousness that had them snarling at each other more than usual. Andrew watched on dispassionately as the Ravens postured and plotted for starting lineup, for Tetsuji’s (positive) recognition, for anything that would make them seem more important. The only time they dared to drag him into their pathetic games (Bautista and Loiseau trying to taunt him about his lack of a smile and insinuating something about him and Nathaniel), he put a stop to it real quick by asking them if they thought they could play without half their vital organs.

(He was even going to be ‘nice’ enough to leave the choice of which ones to them before they mumbled something about homework and scurried away.)

Things didn’t get any better when Riko showed up at last toward the end of the first week, sullen and appearing odd without Kevin skulking nearby like a misshapen shadow. As Nathaniel had predicted, he was an even moodier bastard than usual, especially when Tetsuji ordered him to do drills instead of practice with the team, a sign that his punishment was ongoing.

So it wasn’t much of a surprise when he approached Andrew toward the end of practice on Friday with a cruel smirk on his face. “How’s life without the drugs, Minyard?”

Andrew gave him a cool look for a couple seconds before he answered, aware of how Nathaniel and Jean slowly approached from the left. “Less medicated.”

“It’s certainly not improving your sense of humor, but your Exy skills are as good as ever, if not better,” Riko said as he eyed the red cones knocked over during Andrew’s drill practice. “I’ve good news for you, as of now, you’re #5. Someone will be here tomorrow to do your tattoo, and your new uniform will be your locker in the morning.” The glassy gleam in his eye dared Andrew to argue, especially when he glanced at Nathaniel standing a few feet away, but all Andrew did was nod once (his hands clenched around his goalie’s racquet).

It was a quiet dinner, with Nathaniel forcibly holding in what he wanted to say until they reached his room a short while later. Once the door was closed behind Andrew, he let out a harsh breath and jerked his hands through his damp curls. “Why? Why are you letting him do that? You don’t have to be perfect court, too! It’s another way for him to sink his claws into you!”

Because Andrew knew if he put up any sort of fight, Riko wouldn’t hesitate to use Nathaniel against him, and possibly Aaron as well. “Because it’s just a stupid tattoo. He’s probably doing it to balance out the fact that Kevin’s gone.” To fill the gap left in his stupid perfect court because of his own jealousy.

On the other side of the room, Jean grunted in agreement. “I agree, he’s likely trying to show it doesn’t matter, Kevin’s loss, when he can still find talent to round out his court.”

“Still, it makes it that much harder for Andrew to get away if he’s perfect court. You know Riko will think he can plan his entire Exy career now,” Nathaniel snapped.

As if Riko didn’t already have a leash on him; as long as the prick had control of Nathaniel, Andrew would ‘behave’ until he figured out a way to break his soulmate free. “At least I should get a better pro contract this way,” he said in a deadpan manner. As if he cared about such a trivial thing.

“Not funny.” Nathaniel’s brows drew together as he reached for but didn’t touch Andrew’s left cheek. “I didn’t want this for you.”

Foolish Nat, one of the very few people (besides Nicky) who seemed to give a real damn about Andrew; he found himself mirroring his soulmate’s gesture and, when Nathaniel gave a solemn nod, cupped his hand on that sharp, tattooed cheekbone. He didn’t know if he was the one to shuffle forward or if it was Nathaniel (perhaps both), but they soon were so close that he could feel Nathaniel’s warm breath against his lips, could see the flecks of grey in those pale blue eyes, could think of nothing but finding out how soft his soulmate’s full bottom lip would feel-

Then jerked back when Jean cleared his throat in a loud manner.

Nathaniel’s cheek felt hot beneath Andrew’s calloused palm, but he didn’t run away; instead he glared at Jean and barked out something in Japanese which made Jean shrug. “Should I leave?”

Andrew shook his head. “I’ll go.” At the quickly masked hurt on his soulmate’s face, he shook his head again as he gave a light caress to Nathaniel’s cheek before he forced his hand to fall aside. “Nicky’s supposed to call me, and it’s already late enough in Germany.” His cousin was an emotional moron, but what else was new?

“Okay.” Nathaniel gave him one of those slight smiles which made his chest ache and would haunt his dreams (in a good way, at least) all night; Andrew forced himself to leave and put up with a call from his overbearing cousin once back in his own room, who asked too many questions about Nathaniel and rehab. He knew Nicky was worried about him and wanted him to be ‘happy’, but the call left him drained enough that he was grateful to go to bed afterward.

(Even if he dreamed about fending off an army of faceless creatures who wanted to take Nathaniel away from him.)

It was a good thing he went to bed early, because he (and a grumbling Ben) were woken up by Akagi, who dragged him off to get tattooed first thing in the morning. Andrew didn’t think he’d ever get another face tattoo, but it was small and over with quickly, and he received many envious glares when he showed up for the morning workout with a telling bandage on his left cheek.

His teammates’ displeasure only grew when he pulled on his new uniform, but there was nothing they could do when Tetsuji nodded in approval. At least, nothing too overt, not when he was tucked into his goal. Federov and Adams were rough once again with Nathaniel, but a few well-aimed return throws convinced them of their folly in regards to targeting Andrew’s soulmate.

Aaron caught up to Andrew on Sunday, when his tattoo was uncovered; he came to a stop in the hallway and gaped at him for several seconds before he shook his head. “What the fuck. Are you so into Wesninski that you had to get matching tattoos or something?” he asked with a slight sneer which seemed forced.

Andrew gave his twin the finger. “It’s how many men I killed in rehab.”

“Yeah, I’m sure that’s it.” There was a bitter twist to Aaron’s lips for a moment, yet like always, he avoided the huge elephant in the room (so to speak). “Despite me reminding him about how much of an asshole you are, Nicky sent a bunch of gifts for you. I’ll bring them next time.”

“Okay.” Andrew waited to see if there was anything else then nodded in goodbye; as he walked away, he heard his twin mutter about how he wasn’t going to be as much of a ‘sap’ when he found his soulmate.

Andrew had already picked up a gift for Nathaniel, he was just waiting until after the game with the Bengals on Friday when they would be alone to give it to him soulmate. When they would be alone, no Jean and no drugs… he felt an unusual mix of anticipation and nervousness fill him whenever he dwelled on it. He’d thought about what could possibly happen between them if Nathaniel had any interest, now that he was off the drugs (when it was clear that his… that whatever it was between them wasn’t a part of the medication), and he had an idea of how it could proceed in a manner which would ensure that they both were willing.

They just needed a bit of privacy and space.

Unfortunately, they didn’t get that chance, because the Wednesday before the game, David Wymack reached out to Tetsuji to let him know that Kevin was staying with him and unwilling to return to Edgar Allan, that he wanted to buy out Kevin’s contract with the Ravens, which set off an already unstable Riko (it seemed the prick had been waiting for Kevin to return any day now). The psychopath strode out on court and began tearing into his own teammates, smacking their legs and backs with his racquet for any perceived infraction (imperfect form, holding their racquet wrong, etc.). For once, Nathaniel was wise enough to duck his head and stay out of the way… until Riko targeted Jean.

All it took was one swing of Riko’s racquet crashing down on Jean’s left shoulder and Nathaniel leapt to his partner’s defense, yelling in Japanese at Riko. The prick whirled around, his eyes wide enough that their whites could clearly be seen and a ‘smile’ pulled taut on his face, as he swung at Andrew’s soulmate. Nathaniel ducked the first attempt to hit him, but took the second blow as he acted like a human shield to protect his stunned partner.

Andrew was in motion as soon as he realized what his idiot soulmate was doing, uncaring about the consequences. When Riko raised his racquet again to bring it down on Nathaniel, Andrew smacked his own into it, which knocked it out of Riko’s hands. He should have stopped there, he knew, but the prick had dared to hurt Nathaniel, had been unwilling to stop, so Andrew hit him again, enough to send him crumpling to the wooden floor as he cried out in pain.

The prick out of the way, Andrew knelt next to his dazed soulmate, his arms draped over him in a protective manner, and didn’t let go until he was dragged away by several people.

*******

SO CLOSE. You gotta feel sorry for Jean, stuck with these two idiots while Jeremy is across the country and oblivious about him (I mean, Jeremy suspects, but Jean won’t let him know for certain for his own protection).

One more part, I’ll get it out soon (would I not give you a HEA??? Well, for the most part). Though I want to answer a prompt and I’ve an Old Guard idea/snippet which should be out in the next day or two.

Hmm, the earl grey tea cake which is baking smells wonderful...

#aftg #the real thing fic #andreil #andreil soulmates #raven!andrew #raven!neil #it's getting serious now #aaron minyard #jean moreau #riko moriyama #the ravens #protective andrew #one more to go

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neroushalvaus · 4 years ago

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Top 10 favourite characters from any fandom

I was tagged by @limalepakko , thank you! Since I have recently listed male characters here (or you know, in August, but we all know time hasn't been a thing for many moons), I took the liberty to list characters in general this time. I also went with which characters feel right at the moment, so does not show all my favourites. I also try to keep these short. (edit: okay so these are not remotely short, I will post a list first and have the explanations be under the cut, read if you want to hear my ramblings c': )

1. Fantine, Les Misérables 2. Javert / Jean Valjean, Les Misérables (yes i am cheating) 3. Carrie "Big Boo" Black, Orange Is the New Black 4. Jane Marple, Agatha Christie's Marple 5. Aunt Lydia, The Handmaid's Tale 6. Bridget Jones, Bridget Jones books & movies 7. Rock Lee, Naruto 8. Sarah O'Brien, Downton Abbey 9. Marilla Cuthbert, Anne of Green Gables / Anne with an E 10. Sister Monica Joan, Call the Midwife

1. Fantine, Les Misérables

I love Fantine with all my heart. I remember reading Les Mis for the first time and her story sending chills down my spine. Her character development makes me so sad, from a girl who falls hard and fast and won't deny anything from her lover, to a woman who is so beaten down by society that she can't do anything but laugh at her fate. But I love how she doesn't lose her pride or her fighting spirit and how she still has the guts to spit in Valjean's face when she sees him after being arrested. And I love how all she does is for her daughter and how despite selling "the gold on her head and the pearls in her mouth" she is content, because all that matters to her is that Cosette will live.

2. Javert & Jean Valjean, Les Misérables

I was really trying to limit this list to one character per fandom, but alas, I am but a weak little person. Thus, I am cheating already. The thing is that when it comes to Les Mis characters, Fantine, Javert and Valjean are the eternal top 3 for me, but I'm never quite able to say who I love the most. Last time I picked Javert for the male character meme because I love the symbolism and critique of society his character embodies, but let it be known that Jean Valjean is the best character in all of literature and I will fight you on this. The original soft on crime icon (aside from Jesus Christ but they're the same and you know it). Valjean's character journey is such a complicated one from an ordinary man (no worse than any man) to a person, who had been shaped by society and criminal justice system to be a very dangerous man, to someone you could compare to a saint if you wanted to... To an ordinary man, who would do anything for his daughter. He has so many character-defining moments, the biggest ones being in my opinion the trial of Champmathieu and letting Javert go instead of killing him. I just love Jean Valjean so much and could speak about him for hours.

3. Carrie "Big Boo" Black, Orange Is the New Black

Hopping away from the Les Mis hole and into a OITNB hole. I was debating on whether I'd put Boo or Pennsatucky on this list since I love them both so much, but I've been feeling so much love for my angry butch king that it had to be her. First of all, I'm just so happy to see butch lesbian representation where the butch identity is not just a joke. I know OITNB sometimes uses Boo questionably, but in general she is a nuanced character and one of the most interesting ones in the series in my opinion. I'm so sad they forgot all about her on the last seasons. I love everything about her, how she has trouble with feelings besides anger and often deflects serious stuff through humor, how fiercely protective she is of those she loves (boosatucky otp forever fucking fight me), how proud she is of her butch identity ("i refuse to be invisible")... Also, not to express attraction, but... Mama I'm in love with a criminal. And not to be a slut for how characters view religion/spirituality/God, but the relieved smile she has in one of her flashbacks when she says "there's no God... there's nothing", like you can't just do stuff like that and expect me not to love the character to bits.

4. Jane Marple, Agatha Christie's Marple

Last time I listed Poirot and was a bit frustrated I couldn't list Marple, but now it's time to right that wrong! I love this little old lady so much. I love Agatha Christie so much for just going "you know who is the person who knows everything that's going on in a community, and thus would make the perfect detective for a detective story? the nosy old woman". As she is introduced in The Murder at the Vicarage: "Miss Marple is a white-haired old lady with a gentle, appealing manner — Miss Weatherby is a mixture of vinegar and gush. Of the two Miss Marple is much more dangerous." She is so likable and witty, you can't help but love her. My favourite portrayal of her is by Geraldine McEwan, she looks so gentle but has such a sharp gaze. I would spill all my secrets to her any day. I also am compelled to tell you that when I was a child we had a costume party at my school and I dressed up as Marple and learned some old lady things in English (it was before third grade so I didn't know much English back then) just for the occasion (such as "thank you, my dear", "what a lovely necklace you are wearing" or "there has been a murder"). Teacher might have thought me rather morbid but I remember that day being quite good.

5. Aunt Lydia, The Handmaid's Tale

The Handmaid's Tale is such a great series and a book and Aunt Lydia is such a great character. The way she's capable of being absolutely cruel and vicious, but how she is also protective and caring in her own way. One of my favourite scenes in this series is when Serena Joy (my other favourite, can you tell) tells Lydia to "remove the damaged ones" from a line of handmaids and Lydia tries to argue with her. Sure, she is responsible for some of the punishments these women are now "damaged" by, but she truly believes those punishments were for a greater good and now the handmaids deserve their place with the others as much as anyone else. It is chilling and the character is such a dark shade of morally gray, but I can't get enough of it. The actress who plays her, Ann Dowd, has so interesting thoughts about her, like here. I just love this character so much I could scream.

6. Bridget Jones, Bridget Jones books & movies

I'm mostly talking about the movies here because Renée Zellweger's performance is iconic. Plus the movies are what made me love this character first. But I'll give it to the books, they're one of the few books I've laughed out loud while reading. Anyway, how do you even begin explaining the love I have for Bridget Jones... I love how she is a character so many people can relate but who would be a comic relief side character in some other story. Yes, yes, it is really bad that she is constantly described as fat when she really is not, but when I was growing up she gave me hope that people who are viewed as fat and/or unattractive by other people can be admired and appreciated, and they don't have to be super talented at everything and highly intelligent and some kind of a super smooth social butterfly to "make up" for what they "lack". And also that they can have standards (i once dodged a bullet by rejecting someone by pretty much subconsciously quoting Bridget Jones so..). I also love how the comedic tone of everything does not dismiss Bridget's feelings. For example in some other movie we maybe would concentrate on how "stupid" Bridget was to trust that Daniel was in love with her, but in Bridget Jones we concentrate on how Bridget was hurt by Daniel cheating on her, how he is the one who did wrong. Idk I just love Bridget Jones so very much can you tell.

7. Rock Lee, Naruto

Aka the boy who would have kicked Madara in the balls if Kishimoto had any sense of drama and good storytelling. I think I robbed Lee by not putting him on the fav male characters list. You know that post that goes like "gays be like 'these are my comfort characters', 1 literal ray of sunshine, 2 war criminal" etc? This child is the sunshine. I've been reading and watching Naruto again ( @hapanmaitogai is my sideblog for that nonsense) and I'm so ready to adopt Lee and/or Gai. Rock Lee is just such an earnest character, he has a goal he will give anything to achieve and he's the one true underdog in this manga. I love how he's so kind and polite (it's not so clear in English but in the Finnish translation he speaks as formally as he does in Japanese, he uses singular polite "you", calls Sakura "Sakura-neiti" = "Miss Sakura" etc... i love one polite boy). Also, he has the best fights in the series. Like Lee vs Gaara is a Classic, but we simply can't forget that time Lee absolutely crushed Sasuke in just a few minutes, or that time he politely asked Kimimaro not to kill him while he drinks his medicine. The best boy. I love that boy so much.

8. Sarah O'Brien, Downton Abbey

Last time it was Thomas' turn, so now I must talk about the snakiest snake, the queen of weaponized handmaidenry, Miss O'Brien. She is such a great character especially in the first two seasons (I obviously love her on season three as well but Julian Fellowes really tried to make it hard by not explaining her actions at all, didn't he. Well, luckily I am ready to stuff the gaps with my headcanons). She has some of the best comebacks in the series and brings some needed realism in some conversations. I also love how she uses her position as a lady's maid for her advantage and how she is proud of her profession despite being highly aware of the power structures in the Abbey. And then there is the soap. That is such a good character moment, because for a character who always plans ahead, who is ruthless and cunning and intelligent... I don't think O'Brien thought about the soap thing at all before she left the room ("Sarah O'Brien, this is not who you are" hit me like a train). Just once she did something with nothing but anger motivating her and that became one of the defining moments of her character. And one of the defining things of the future relationship between her and Cora. That's why I find the Sarah/Cora ship so interesting, because there will always be the undercurrent of bitter regret. Also Sarah O'Brien and Thomas Barrow are the greatest brotp and Fellowes was a coward for driving the smoking scheming gay best friends apart, and

9. Marilla Cuthbert, Anne of Green Gables / Anne with an E

I'm not saying L.M. Montgomery is entirely responsible for me having a fondness for strict, older women who first act unkind but have a heart of gold, but she most certainly did not help. Between characters like Marilla Cuthbert and Elizabeth Murray, how can you not fall in love with the type? It's been a while since I read the Anne series, but I really love how Marilla's character has been adapted into the Anne with an E tv series. Geraldine James looks like she was born to play her, she has me in tears so often. She has the ability to portray someone like Marilla, who is a very hard and stern person but feels deeply for her loved ones. I was watching the episode that dealt with Matthew's heart attack and Marilla berating her brother while hugging herself like she was trying so hard to hold herself together absolutely destroyed my heart.

10. Sister Monica Joan, Call the Midwife

It was a tough choice between her and Sister Evangelina. I just love these nuns very much. Sister Monica Joan is such a lovable and wise character. She is so knowledgeable of many subjects, from the Bible to astrology, and I feel like her unspecified memory problems and confusion are handled very tastefully. I also love how she's such an important part of her community despite not working as a midwife anymore. She is such a kind woman and gets visibly upset when others are treated poorly. And how could I not mention her saying "I do not believe in weeds. A weed is simply a flower that someone decides is in the wrong place", like... I love her so so much.

I won't tag anyone, but if you read this and you want to do this, consider yourself tagged and you're no allowed to mark me as the one who tagged you!

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tokiro07 · 3 years ago

Note

One of the other qualifications for the pretender class is that the person is an enemy not to man or beasts but to the world itself (their hatred is directed at the land/world), so maybe that narrows down the list?

Anonymous asked: It seems that the main qualification of pretender class is being against the world hence the class art being demonic looking: This class is for those that want to destroy the world for whatever reason they have

So the difference is that the Pretender class are servants that seem to be standard heroic spirits but are actually pretending to be regular servants to hide how they want the world flat out gone for whatever reason while Faker Class are servants that fake being another servant from more benevolent reasons

Pretender also seems to be the class for servants that are completely malevolent from the start but hides that they’re malevolent under guise of being a regular servant while Avenger class seems to be “evil” class, most avengers were wronged and became filled with hate since if they didn’t got wronged then they��d qualify as potential heroic servants

So basically Pretender class is like backstabbing con artist and Faker are like spies in disguise

That all definitely sounds plausible, I just think it's strange for there to be a class that's definitively "evil"

Even Foreigner, which is the class for Outer Gods and those who come into contact with them, lost the necessity for its more sinister implications with Voyager qualifying for Foreigner as something "alien," even though it's alien to everyone but the people of Earth

I think that "being an enemy of the world" is the kind of thing that will get distilled out relatively quickly, or at least will be applied to characters who don't already have that as a part of their story in much the same way that characters with no connection to the Outer Gods were made Foreigners with whatever loose justification they wanted to use

I think the idea of Pretenders being con artists isn't too far off the mark, but I don't think it's an absolute necessity either

Now that I've had about 24 hours to mull it over, here's how I reconciled the difference in my head:

Consider Metal Gear. Through the majority of Metal Gear, you play as Solid Snake, a clone of Big Boss created to replace Big Boss if he left the Patriots. For all intents and purposes, Solid Snake is a counterfeit, an imitation of Big Boss. He is not playing the role of Big Boss, he is not deceiving anyone into thinking that he is Big Boss, he's just a counterfeit Big Boss. This qualifies him for Faker on the basis that he could be summoned as a Heroic Spirit of Imitation

In Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, however, you play as Venom Snake, the name that Big Boss supposedly took after a failed mission. In reality, Venom Snake is a different man who was forced to undergo plastic surgery and hypnosis after said mission, being manipulated by others into believing that he is in fact the real Big Boss. While he believes he is Big Boss, he is a Faker, a counterfeit made by the real Big Boss, Ocelot, and Kaz. Once he learns the truth though, he chooses to continue carrying on the name so as to continue operating with Big Boss' influence while the real Big Boss also carries out his own plans. At this point, he still qualifies as Faker because he is a body double of Big Boss (like Hephaestion), but now he is also a Pretender as he is playing the role of the ultimate soldier, leader of the Diamond Dogs, etc. Even if you consider the "enemy of the world" angle, he still fits as Big Boss' goal was to create his own military nation that would always be at war

Or let's look at One Piece. Bon Clay's Clone-Clone Fruit lets him shapeshift into other people; this would make him a counterfeit, a Faker, while also allowing him to take on the roles of others to manipulate people, such as when he took on Cobra's form in order to frame the real Cobra during the Alabasta civil war. Pudding, on the other hand, is simply an actress who deceives and manipulates people for her own and Big Mom's ends, making her a Pretender but not a Faker as she isn't copying anyone or anything else

So now the question is: of the Heroic Spirits I assigned to Faker a few years ago, who still fits Faker and who would actually be a Pretender, or both?

Mulan took on the guise of being a man in order to join the army. One could argue that she was a "counterfeit man," so maybe she'd still be a Faker, but Pretender seems somewhat of a better fit as she was being deceptive in order to achieve her own goals. Not evil goals or any that opposed the world by any stretch, but goals that required deception nonetheless

The Fiend with Twenty Faces, by my understanding, is a master of disguise with twenty identities. Assuming they aren't based on existing characters in-story, I would say that those identities which he uses in order to pull of his thefts are more in line with Pretender than Faker

Babo pretends to still be a slave while setting up Benito Cereno as the captain; Babo himself is more a Pretender, manipulating others into thinking the ship he overthrew is operating as it should, but Benito Cereno is a counterfeit captain put in place by Babo, technically qualifying him for Faker, but just barely

Jean Valjean, simply pretending not to be Valjean, is not imitating anyone, thus likely disqualifying him for Faker

Bampfylde Moore Carew, the way I conceptualized him as a Faker, works the way that Pretender seems to, taking on the abilities of other Classes. Since he was known as an impostor, I think he qualifies as Faker, but he is a dead ringer for Pretender as it's been established thus far (aside from being an enemy of the world I suppose)

Pope Joan is like Mulan, and thus more Pretender than Faker

Ferdinand Waldo Demara, the Great Impostor, would actually take the names of other people, so he most definitely qualifies as Faker. He was playing the roles of other professions, which would work for Pretender and its ability to take on other class abilities, but he's a Faker for sure

George C. Parker, selling fake deeds, is a counterfeiter and Faker, but being a con-man is a Pretender

Hervor, again like Mulan, is more of a Pretender than a Faker, at least until she takes on her father's identity

So four of my nine Fakers are either definitely or arguably Fakers, while some others are debatable, but all of them can be argued to fit for Pretender

So...I'm not sure if I'm going to bother making a specific post for fan Pretenders, since I've basically already done it? Maybe I'll just repurpose my Faker post for Pretender and then just find new Fakers that are more accurate with our new understanding

Again, though, I think we need to wait to know what Pretender is the Heroic Spirit of to really get a good idea of who should actually qualify, but I think this interpretation is satisfying enough for me for the moment

#fate series #fate grand order #pretender class #faker class #long post

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startwithbrooklyn · 3 years ago

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THE GREAT ND REWATCH OF 2021 / SEPTEMBER 30, 2019 // larkspur lane/the whisper box

this post is a double whammy cause they have 2 eps happen in the same day if u can believe it (thats how awful judging timelines in this show is!!)

-"hi josh..." LMAOOOOOOO

-BESS just breaking in lmaooo how many god damn times does bess just shit the bed in this show

-LOVE her frowny face at nancys closet ("my expectations are low" lmfaoooo but this would totally be me)

-"bet she meant it metaphorically" okayyy but then why did lucy say that at all? i feel like theres defo more to this story, combined with josh's cagey behavior (part of which is to get nancy to stop looking into shit d/t him and karen but still)

-"they dont accept visitors unless they're family" .....🙂

-ace "youre really good at that" to bess i fuckin love this friendship with all my heart (also love their talk at the claw mirroring nick & nancys talk in the last ep)

-also PINK AND ORANGE BESS ARE U BLIND (also 1) why tf would nancy own this and 2) where would she wear it??)

-okay wtf is vampire dip

-"boss??" see this is what i meant yesterday about nancy ruining everything for nick/george

-god DAMN she sucks at dealing with this news lmaooo that emotional competency babey + love george literally agrees to help bc she feels bad (AND nicks immediate look of "you just reprimanded me for helping her last ep and i know why youre doing this rn" lmaoooo)

-LOVE george noticing nick "shout out to jean valjean" lmaooo once again nancy would never have noticed/commented on something like that

-"get the hell out of here" was this foreshadowing for an epic dad joke for these two eps? "how do you make holy water? you boil the hell out of it" 😂😂😂😂

-so what i dont get about the whole haunting is the ball + kids' laughter but its all the emphasis on "mr roper" the adult? wtf like what kind of entity is this

-"how did you ever have a solo career??" 😂

-okay amaya's hair is gorgeous here (also "you feel like a snack" ....👀) *ahhh so the reason bess feels so off balance is bc its like a top vs a top scenario

-has anyone who's ever been to prison confirmed this is what it looks like?

-love how ace is the only employee there when they all leave so he had to fucking close the place when he goes

-why does she take the whole file? time constraints? it'd be smarter to take pics + replace it (better sleuthing) but this place is clearly not well run anyway 😂

-so this is a pretty decent cover she invents but theres no way she would get away with it so easily for a real guard

-love how ace recognizes ryan's car (+ is able to find it by driving around)

-"my father wouldnt do anything like that" LMFAOOOOOO SIS WHY ARE U DEFENDING HIM ironically, ace is actually the best person suited to engage w ryan here d/t the car accident + connection with laura being ryans SIL. its a unique set up

-i am fascinated by the concept of priests + holy water being so effective here combined with mcginnis' beliefs and basically nondenominational ghosts/seances etc after that. the show is very clearly big on diversity but definitely steers clear from too much WASP stuff yk? wonder if other stuff from christianity works against the ghosts/demons like taking refuge in a church "holy ground" or using silver etc

-"did this start after the night of sept 10?" *this is where you get the time line for the seance if you didnt know

-this is so fucking funny when u realize that patient sal talks to is actually a ghost so sal really is psycho i guess 😂

-bitchsplain/tall jar of mayonnaise 🙏🏻😌 2gether 4ever

-how did ace get this van? also heart attack when he yells at carson (but then grins at him like a goofball lmaooo)

-"for nancys sake and yours" damn she owes ace big time for all this shit

-"what do we do for 7 minutes?" ...ummm play 7 minutes in heaven lmaooo 👀🥵

-was not expecting ace to look this sexy holding an axe but okay (*ah, its his short sleeve shirt showing his arms. usually hes a sleeves guy)

-"desperate for attention" nancy (from gomber) vs "bc she's starved for attention" patrice --> lucy (and candace also...) we know nancys detective work makes her seem like an attention seeker, but what was lucy doing to make them all think that? she was trying to hide her relationship with ryan, not expose it. unless they just mean the rumors about her?

-so is patrice hiding lucy's "truth" talking about lucy being a whore or lucy being a ghost? what is lucy's secret? did patrice guess she was pregnant or did patrice's somehow garbled mind remember tiffany trying to show patrice the video with lucy on it?

-wonder what captain thom thinks of this stand off w ace lmaooo

-"like you do?" top v top shenanigans

-how awko for carson to talk to karen again like this

-"oh no" ACE 😂

-love how amaya says "be a human" like shes kind of admitting people in rich circles typically arent (^this is an interesting focus in s2 when bess's rich family rejects her, thus making her human again, but nancy embraces her rich fam and experiences subsequent moral struggle which is predicted with the wraith)

-wonder what ryan thinks he could get from the marvins (which he cant get now lmaooo)

-this damn whisper box. so many questions. who named it the whisper box? why are the ropers' old possessions still there? who decided to build a mental hospital on top of it? and patrice! she "hid lucy's secrets" hannah gruen thinks tiffany tried to show patrice video w lucy on it, which patrice then specifically says she hid in the thin mans book. so patrice knows of the thin man? can she see him? does she know he was a ghost/supernatural? she must have a supernatural sense to know about him (unless sal told or some shit) so then when tiffany shows up w/ lucy being supernatural in it patrice hides it to protect her? is this why she is "crazy" kinda like victoria? supernatural elements or ability to sense ghosts makes her unstable? this is why lucy being a ghost/nursery rhyme that she repeats makes patrice worse/"stroke"? how did patrice even get into the whisper box to put the key in the bible and get out without getting trapped? also, her dementia --> lucidity is really fucking off, some people mildly switch like that but usually with dementia they cant even register new shit anymore

-...so did bess take the ride? 👀

-interesting how celia says "your father will be disappointed" but nothing of her own opinion. wonder how much celia truly puts up with to keep everett calm and nonhomicidal

-like george asking nick follow up questions that nancy never really would have asked

🥞🥞🥞(ep13)🥞🥞🥞

-is this bitch just eating a plain pancake with her bare hand?

-"extra case load and excessive volunteering" ugh. nancy's family here are like, gross in how "good" of people they are // unrealistic, trying to paint carson in the best light/ no way ryan could ever compare (but the reality is theyre not that good of people for lying about nancy) **and shes arrogant to think shes better than everyone else ie the only one who truly lives virtuously, thinks she can do no wrong sometimes even tho using sex to cope, breaking and entering, etc is not morally "good" stuff she still thinks she is the only one who doesnt lie and plays fair (like in the pilot she lists everyone else as a suspect but herself- obviously we know she isnt guilty but no one else does. (i mean in theory we really dont, what if nancy was an unreliable narrator and was actually guilty, that would be a hella cool show)its reactions like that where she cant understand why others like the chief suspect her

-ooooh ironic that in the Good Place carson readily agrees to pay her for helping with cases as opposed to s2 in reality

-nick's house has "problems" so why does he need a lawyer? as opposed to an interior designer, plumber, or realtor?

-in the Good Place nick and george realize they are not going to work out after one date. does this failure in the Good Place predict failure in reality, or merely an easier way of figuring out the truth? does this mean that the "opposite" of the Good Place is reality, or only an opinion of what is better? (nancy says "you all like me" as her opinion of them liking her is skewed; does this then only reflect nancys version for what is the "perfect life"?)

-why is bess a hippie??? and love how george curls her hair and wears pink lipstick here

-if this dream is so realistic then why is the one thing it cant conjure smoke? like how random

-love the locket being a key realization bc with things like jewelry you dont notice the weight of them until theyre gone

-"you all like me" in her perfect life nancy means they "like" her objectively/regardless of circumstance even though liking her is still an objective choice (like they "like" her because of other reasons instead of her working at the claw? (like how you make friends with coworkers/people at school every day but after you leave the job/graduate you never speak to them again) and her "thanks for showing up!" as if theyre not doing exactly that in reality 😐like where is she getting this shit? she sort of acknowledges in earlier eps she is hard to like/that she puts mysteries before friends, but also pushing them away to avoid danger like the previous ep "why do u show up" etc

-is it just me or does the inside of nicks "house" look like the drews'?

-nick has a dick scar lmaooooo (or more likely was hit in the balls or smth)

-love how nick + george match their anger in confronting sal 100% on the same level

-so when did ace go back to work after having such a busy day earlier?? lmaooo

-damn father shane is a creep (casting defo hired him for his voice) and how tf did he just poof + escape? and what did he request???

-love bess's white hair bow here 😌+ her jacket, whole outfit on point as usual

-like how bess is right that nancy has to find her way out but thats kind of a nonstarter for a room full of panicked people wanting to help

-in the Good Place theres no bad blood between drews + hudsons bc nancy is really theirs

-"the only one who has the key is you" in the Good Place nancy has the key (smaller picture, to finding out what happened to lucy but bigger picture, post-reveal) but ryan has the clues nancy needs- following the Good Place's mirroring, this just means that in reality ryan will either be completely useless or an active hindrance (but you KNOW this is a dream bc in what universe would ryan remember clues like that 😂)

-so in a perfect universe ryan acknowledges his family's "criminal empire" as opposed to reality where he only makes under cover jabs about disengaging with being an "entitled corrupt legacy criminal" ie finding the bonny scot relics but does nothing about them, etc

-"strippers" 😂

-okay what is nancys obsession w her beanie?? bc her mom made it? "wear beanies do crimes?" idk

-making the call: nancy -unable to make up for lost time/both her mothers had to find out/suffer alone / in the Good Place nancy was able to be with kate while she called, and in reality she had carson; somethig about seeing the mother looking to the daughter for strength in the Good Place instead of the reverse (which is what reality sounded like, kate being strong for nancy through the illness despite the struggle)

-concept: nancy & nick "let's wait out the storm"

-"i believe that you believe it" nick in the Good Place + owen in reality both trust nancy when she says she's seen things (owen's is the teeth) but nick in reality (and not really knowing details) doesnt think much of their "moment" bc it wasnt real (so she had to leave the Good Place to save carson- but if she had known then he wasnt her real dad, would she have stayed to be w nick?)

-stranger - suede james 💙👌🏻

-"really anxious as a kid" v telling bc of her desire to know everything to remain in control of situations like she always does now

-"the medicine or the metaphysics?"/"you cannot beat supernatural with science"

-i love nancy playing with her pinky while saying goodbye 🥺

-"always seek out the truth even if it hurts" this is straight irony bc kate never told nancy anything. like does that include the truth about nancys parentage? they taught her to seek out the truth, but who taught her that the truth is the only thing to live by? ie things dont count anymore like carson and kate straight up raising her is tossed out bc she finds out its not "the truth" like all that work/stress to protect carson + she just drops him? with kate maybe shes just upset thst she spent all that time mourning for someone who lied. and would she do the same to ryan if needed? probably

-bess and ace head tilt 💙

-like how for all the time she spent there nancy only has a subconscious memory of blue curtains

-YESSSSS i LOVEthese beautiful overhead shots of hannah's hands. so out of character for the show lmao but so gorgeous

-i feel like future eps/grand future will be nancy going through the lock boxes to help people who asked hannah for help

-the video is officially dated Aug 22, 2019

-soooooo in the first ep nancy breaks into the hudsons house and finds tiffanys secret drawer w the nail polish and finds the amulet with a note that says "for your protection HG" yet on this video tiffany says she talked to a medium who gave her the amulet sooooo am i just confused? HG is hannah gruen obvi so is the address for the medium what hannah gave her? or was the address on the amulet which nancy dissolved in salt water to see? so how would tiffany know where to go? its chicken and the egg which came first hannah or the medium?

and lastly:

i close these two eps with a thought that everything in this show is sealed in death. all the lies, the imagery, the fake constructs people put up to get by all crumple the second someone dies- all the secrets come clean just like these doors have been unsealed.

#brooklyn's ND primer #nancy drew cw #the Great Rewatch of 2021 #you best start believing in ghost stories miss drew - you're in one

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badlesmisimaginesofficial · 4 years ago

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shoutout to @byjuxtaposition for egging on my worst thoughts and impulses! this is dedicated to them and also the NHL for giving me more hours of hockey a day than one person can reasonably or safely consume

[nsfw text]

Imagine....

When Valjean first disappeared, you spent weeks looking for him. It made no sense how a man could vanish into thin air and yet he'd done it. Even when your pursued his pseudonyms, no one had heard of Madeleine or Fauchelevent. You kept looking for a while, hoping he would pop up somewhere, but months and then years passed. You had to accept it. The best dick of your life was gone, and he wasn't coming back.

Slowly, you got over it. Gillenormand was happy to pay for your therapy in exchange for sexual favours and you could always go to Javert if you wanted a spanking. His heart was never in it as much, but it scratched the itch.

'I think you're going to see him again,' Eponine says one day. You'd been feeling melancholy and, like clockwork, she showed up in your door with a lit cigarette in hand. It was like she had a psychic sense for when you needed to talk about your love life. So much as a fleeting thought about your romantic prospects and Bam, Eponine would be there.

'Really?' you say, hating how hopeful you sound.

'Yeah. Like, you'll be walking down the street one day and there he'll be. You won't be expecting it.'

'When did you get so wise, 'Ponine?' you giggle. She shoves you affectionately, rolling her eyeliner-rimmed eyes.

'I'm always saying, Y/N. You've got to put your trust in the Infinite.'

'Right. Because that always ends well.'

'Oh come on, it does. And in completely unrelated news, because I exist just to be your hypewoman - '

'What?'

'Are you coming to the game on Saturday?'

'Oh god. I don't know. Wait, are you going?'

Eponine nods, a sly blush creeping onto her face. 'Enjolras has been begging me, you know how he gets about sport.'

'Are you guys like, a thing now?' you ask, delighted. You've spent way too long watching the two of them circle shyly round each other, unable to act on the crazy amounts of sexual tension. It's even worse when they bicker, like watching a lightning storm due to obliterate everything in its path.

'Maaaybe. If you and Montparnasse come it'll be like a double-date!'

You sigh. The only person crazier about sport than Enjolras, Montparnasse has been trying to get you into ice hockey for ages. You're still not super sure of the appeal, but it's like, Really important to Monty. He's got Wayne Gretzky's face tattooed on his left buttcheek for a reason.

'I guess,' you say.

Eponine claps in delight. 'Yess! Ohmygod Y/N, it's going to be so much fun.'

You hate to concede it, but she's kind of right. The game is more fun than expected, plus Montparnasse is so delighted that you came that you just know you are getting ploughed for hours later.

Having done exactly zero research before going, you knew nothing about either of the teams. There was one face, though, that you instantly recognised.

'Wait,' you say, tugging on Montparnasse's sleeve. 'Is that... Gritty?'

'What? Oh, yeah. Guess you saw the memes, huh?'

You nod quickly. Ever since seeing tumblr posts about the hideous orange mascot, the thought of his dizzying eyes had stayed with you. You hadn't even realised it was a hockey thing. You can never tell Monty, but there's something sexually thrilling about Gritty, in an appalling way.

Now, you find your eyes following him. Is it your imagination, or is there something familiar about his frame? It's hard to tell under all the orange fluff, but his lumbering gait is oddly recognisable.

It's difficult to pay attention to the game after that. Monty is telling you about how power plays work, but your eyes keep seeking out Gritty wherever he is.

As soon as the first intermission begins, you know what you have to do. Mumbling something about going to the bathroom, you leave Montparnasse next to Eponine and Enjolras (who are snogging vigorously) and head at top speed to where you last saw the mascot.

It doesn't take long to find him. You see the back of his head over the crowd and your heart speeds up. Weaving through the other fans, you break through to the front and find yourself face to face with Gritty.

'Hey,' you say. For one long, horrible moment, he just stares at you, impassive and unblinking. Maybe you got it wrong? It could be some random guy in there, who has no idea who you are or why you sought him out.

'Y/N..?' Gritty says, softer than any such abomination should sound.

Your heart somersaults. It is him!

'We need to talk,' you say, oblivious to the confused fans surrounding the two of you. Gritty nods quickly and, taking your hand, leads you through a series of doors until you're safely enclosed in a store cupboard. Only then does he remove his head, hands trembling, and reveal his face.

'I thought I'd lost you,' you say, tracing one hand along his jaw.

'I'm sorry I left,' Valjean whispers. 'It was all so complicated. But you deserve better.'

'I can't believe you're here. Have you always been Gritty?'

He nods. 'It was a chance for a fresh start. I had to take it, Y/N. God, it's so good to see you.'

Leaning in, he kisses you passionately. It sends electricity through your entire body. You haven't felt like that in so long.

'I...' suddenly, you remember Montparnasse, dutifully waiting for you.

'What?' Valjean tenses, and then reads your mind, just like old times. 'You have a boyfriend?'

Shamefully, you nod. 'I know I should go back to him.'

'Do you want to?'

You shake your head. 'I want... I want you.'

A sudden, devilish smirk plays its way across Valjean's face. 'That can be arranged.'

He reaches to unzip his costume, but you stop him.

'Oh, no,' you say. 'Gritty costume says on during sex.'

#valjean's wig collection but it's actually his Gritty suit #badlesmisimagines #valjean x reader #gritty #philadelphia flyers

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alastanor · 4 years ago

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youtube

To start, I would like to thank @cis-het-angel-kinnie for bringing this video to my attention, even if it was to praise the video rather than to point out it's flawed arguments against Charlie for main character.

If you have not seen the video yet, I recommend giving it a watch prior to reading this or you may be confused.

Click to read more...

What Is A Protagonist?

I am not bringing up this question because I think the source used was incorrect. However, the statement that "protagonists ask questions and antagonists make arguments" is an oversimplification of both roles. And I am going to explain why.

The trope of protagonist vs antagonist is an age old theme which has been used countless times throughout storytelling's history in books, plays, films, and story-driven video games. As such, the definition of both roles has continued to flourish and evolve over time. It is no longer good vs evil.

While @diregentleman used books written by, I assume, published writers for his argument, I am going to use Creative Writing and Literary Experts from a Masterclass article.

In the article, a protagonist is described as this:

"In storytelling, a protagonist is the main character or principal character or group of characters in a story."

More than one character is capable of being an antagonist in this story. Given that demons are meant to be redeemed, fitting the theme of the story, it is fair to surmise that all (or the majority of) the demons surrounding Charlie are protagonists in some form.

The article goes on to state that the protagonist's goals reflect the overall story goals and the plot moves forward based on their decisions.

This being said, Charlie's overall goal reflects the premise of the story, that being that Hazbin Hotel is a story about redemption. This is a goal that Angel Dust does not have.

In DireGentleman's video, he claims Angel Dust joined the Happy Hotel with the intention of being redeemed, albeit skeptical whether it could actually be done. This is actually inaccurate, and we see this in both the pilot and the comic.

Angel does display skepticism straight from the gate, but when they explain their reason for approaching him (that no one else has agreed), he makes this face:

Does that really look like someone who believes redemption may be possible? But for further establishment of just how little Angel believes redemption is possible, Angel also laughs them off and calls their goal "lame."

The only reason Angel agrees to Charlie and Vaggie's proposition is because it is a rent free place to stay. He admits as much just a bit further into the comic. By the end, Angel says "Redemption, it's silly. Huh, Nuggs."

The tone we are led to believe he uses is one of contemplation and relief. Relief due likely to the fact that there is some light at the end of the tunnel to the shit situation he was in.

This is just comic evidence, of course. If we go to the pilot, when Angel is engaging in the turf war with Cherri Bomb, he explains that he is using Charlie and Vaggie for free rent. Further exemplified when he later asks if participating in the turf war meant he didn't have a free room anymore. But also in his conversation with Cherri, he also admits that he is still taking some drugs behind Charlie and Vaggie's back. Something that we see immediately toward the opening of the pilot when Angel buys a bag of Angel Dust.

Character Dynamic

I cannot emphasize this enough, the Hunicast is NOT a good exemplifier for character dynamics. Every single "character interaction" is based on fanon, not canon, and they are prompted by the fans themselves. Only Viv really knows exactly how Angel and Alastor would canonically interact. It is no better a source for character dynamic than the wiki is for accurate information. IE, some things may hold true, but the majority of it is not and it is better just to wait until it is confirmed canon.

Moving on...

There is a lot of focus on Valentino as a main antagonist, based entirely too much on the hope that Angel will be the main protagonist. And this is really just disingenuous when you consider there are two other implied Overlords, as well as several other sources of strife within the world of Hazbin Hotel.

An Antagonist is someone working against the protagonist to prevent them from achieving their goal. Alastor would not meet this criteria, as he is a self-professed observer and conflict creator. But he is not a main antagonist. Someone working against the goal of redemption could be anyone from the Overlords (which, far as we know, would include Valentino), Lucifer, or even Heaven itself.

Where antagonists come into play, quoting Masterlist once again, I think these two types of antagonists were overlooked:

A conflict-creator. An antagonist doesn’t have to be a “bad guy.” Sometimes, they’re just a character whose goals are in direct conflict with the protagonist’s, like Mr. Darcy in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice or Javert working to arrest Valjean in Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables.

The protagonist themselves. The main source of conflict in a story can be from within the protagonist themselves—their shortcomings or insecurities are keeping them from reaching their goal. A prime example of this is Holden Caulfield in J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye. While Holden comes into conflict with many characters in the novel, the ever-present antagonizing conflict comes from his own obsessions and insecurities.

Now, why did I bring up these two types? Well! I'm glad you asked! You see, where conflict-creator comes into play would line up more with Alastor. He isn't really the bad guy, but he does create some friction where his goals meet with Charlie's. He is a professed observer, but it is strongly believed that there is something else, another goal, that he has omitted.

As for the Protagonist themselves, this lines up pretty strongly where Charlie is concerned. You could argue that it does for Angel too, but Angel's goal, as mentioned before, is not Redemption. That goal is Charlie's, and hers alone. Yet it is her naivety, inexperience, and insecurities surrounding her failures as a princess that are holding her back from achieving her goal. Going by this, not only do we have multiple protagonists, but we also have multiple antagonists.

"So far, no one else's past is wrought with tension like Angel Dust's."

Even if this wasn't a sweeping, dismissive statement made with limited information, it would still be incorrect. Why? Because each and every character in Hazbin Hotel is going to have their own story to tell. Stories that will each be as relatable and wrought with tension, the only reason we know Angel so extensively is because Viv put the most work into him. She has admitted that Alastor and Angel were characters she wrote based on past dealings and experiences she had. Let those implications sink in a bit.

Now, to further this, people don't need to empathize with a character to like them. They can sympathize as well, even if they personally cannot relate to the emotions the character is feeling.

And where Angel is concerned, he is not addicted to drugs. Angel has used drugs to escape the pain of his trauma. His response in the pilot to having his drugs stolen from him is not one of a typical addict. Which leads us to believe the drugs are simply a coping mechanism more than they are an addiction.

Real Audience for Hazbin is 12 to 16

I would really fucking hope you are joking. I'm gonna go out on a limb here and guess that this was said by someone who isn't a parent. While yes, kids will be sneaky and watch or play things they're not supposed to, a show with drug use/abuse, rape, sex, physical/mental/emotional abuse, and suicide is as much for them as Rick and Morty.

Further, it is not just these themes that make the show for adults. It is the format of the storytelling. Yes, you can complain about what you consider issues with the pilot. But at the end of the day, it did it's job. It established the story premise, introduced important characters (Fat Nuggets does not fall in that category, calm down), gave a basic understanding of their relationships to each other, and get the audience interested in continuing the series. Considering the views for the pilot and the resulting disproportionate growth of the fandom, I would say it did that in spades.

Hazbin Hotel is not Steven Universe. I cannot say this enough times, and the reason I cannot is because I cannot tell you how many times I have come into contact with the underage side of the fandom griping about lack of lore, griping about lack of production information, and overall being exceedingly impatient. At the risk of sounding like an old miser, the underage side of the fandom has never had to wait for additions to a series. Like waiting for Homestuck updates, or the new release of a Harry Potter novel. They have had a steady schedule of content, along with shows that give exposition dumps "in the first 3 minutes."

So don't look at Hazbin Hotel through the lens of kids' show fandoms. It has so much more to offer than that.

Alastor vs Valentino

No, this is not about whether Alastor could beat up Valentino. In the video, DireGentleman pulled a huge pet peeve of mine and lumped Valentino and Alastor together, labeling them both "monsters." Which is opening a huge can of worms for me. So, I will give a brief summary of why that is wrong, and provide a link to one of my other posts for deeper diving.

So, there is a reason why Valentino is more hated than Alastor is. Lumping them together is a mistake.

Valentino is a pimp that abuses and manipulates his victims through intimidation and (implied through) some kind of addiction to the red smoke (whether that is real or symbolism is yet unknown). He takes who and what he wants, be damned the consequences or who gets hurt. He is incredibly self-serving, with no consideration for anyone else. He uses people like pawns, and when those pawns refuse to do what he wants, what does he do? He forces them to do it anyway.

By comparison, while Alastor may use his people like pawns, he also has more consideration for them and doesn't abuse them (far as we can tell). The evidence to support this is the attitude of those serving under Valentino vs those under Alastor. Niffty and Husk both seem to not have a problem with Alastor, and where Husk is concerned it seems that his attitude toward Alastor is their typical banter. But definitely nothing that displays abuse. In fact, when Husker is hesitant or even refusing to do as Alastor asks, Alastor doesn't force Husker. He offers payment in the form of something Husker genuinely likes.

Now, while some might argue this is also manipulating through addiction, one could look at it this way. However, Alastor didn't make Husker an alcoholic. That was Husker's vice to begin with, Alastor simply has no intention of fixing it. After all, Alastor has said he doesn't think anything can change a sinner.

For further explanation and delving into Alastor, click here.

Parents don't 'get' Charlie = Disney Princess

Once again, we fall upon the slippery slope of disinformed statements. While the joke was made that the princess of hell expresses herself best through song, parent issues do not equate to being something that is relatable primarily or only to kids and teens. It's kind of offensive that there is a sort or implication in this statement that adults don't have issues like insecurities surrounding their own failures, or parent issues like what Charlie has or worse. And once again, we fall into the empathize vs sympathize realm and I once again will say that the audience does not need to empathize with the protagonist to make them a good protagonist.

Charlie is a failed princess, her people don't respect her and didn't even prior to her hotel announcement. Yes, she is sheltered and naive. Likely due to how little she was able or allowed to interact with sinners. After all, her ex-boyfriend was from another hellborn family. One that, from what we can surmise, interacts rather frequently with the Magne family.

And it is because of this naivety and inexperience that her method to redeem sinners will not work.

In the video, DireGentleman states that we can pretty much assume that Charlie's redemption methods will work. But her methods, as we see in her song, is to inject demons with meds and take away/burn their vices. She is seeking immediate resolutions to problems that require therapy and a long process that should be making sinners want to change. All Charlie is currently accomplishing is earning the ire and scrutiny of her people. This is why I previously mentioned that Charlie is both protagonist and antagonist, as she is getting in her own way to accomplishing the goal of redemption. And this is where we find that Charlie meets the "starts out being wrong" requirement mentioned in the video as well as "admiring a character for trying."

Charlie is also in a perfect position to be the tour guide for us, the audience, as we observe the metamorphosis of every demon who needs to be redeemed. She is, once again, surrounded by those who need to be redeemed which means we will witness every character arc. This includes Angel, who does not need to be the central focus for us to witness his story.

Finally...

It was stated, or at least implied, that Hazbin Hotel's pilot is no longer relevant. This is a statement that pretty much leaves me puzzled. The only way it would be irrelevant is if Hazbin went in a completely different direction, and we have no reason to believe it will. Vivziepop is still creative director for Hazbin Hotel, and A24 is notorious for giving creators their creative freedom. What A24 is doing is animating, making VA regulations, and ensuring there is an air tight lid kept on the project. Especially given it's popularity in such a short amount of time.

Contrary to what DireGentleman said, Hazbin Hotel will definitely live up to it's hype. Being picked up by A24 will not compromise the show simply because it's not in the same realm of indie production that Helluva Boss is. And it's a bit unfair to Vivziepop to imply as much.

In Conclusion...

Please do a bit more digging in regards to not only the show, but everything surrounding it. Don't lump fanon and canon together and expect them to be equal sources, and please do not claim an obviously adult-audience show is more fit for children and teens.

And lastly, please do more digging to better understand media and storytelling. Reading books is great, but what you were using as the foundation for your arguments were far too simplified and vague,, given the complexity of the protagonist and antagonist roles. Overall, the video just came across as one huge helping of Angel Dust bias with a side of strong dislike for Charlie.

#Youtube #hazbin hotel #hazbin hotel alastor #hazbin hotel charlie #hazbin hotel angel dust #hazbin hotel husker #hazbin hotel video critical #video analysis #long post #diregentleman #counter argument

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montmartre-parapluie · 4 years ago

Text

Top Ten Queries for Dead Men Tell No Tales That Really Bug Me:

Thanks to @tockamybeloved and @intricatecaprice for chatting with me about this.

I’m a history nerd. I admit that. And I ALSO admit that I really shouldn’t look for historical accuracy in a movie franchise that includes the Fountain of Youth, mermaids, fish-men, and “Poseidon’s Tomb”. But hear me out on my delayed thoughts from 2017...

1) The Poseidon Adventure:

Is the Greek Pantheon actually part of the POTC canon now, re “The Trident of Poseidon”? When (and HOW?) did Poseidon die? Why isn’t it Calypso’s Trident, given how she is pretty much THE all-powerful sea-goddess in the previous movies? Why am I thinking about this when the screenwriters clearly didn’t?

2) The “?” on how Will is still cursed: I’ve seen some really great, detailed headcanons on why this happened, so this is more a niggle directed at the movie.WHY did they press rewind on the AWE small-print on the curse? I thought his freedom all depended on Elizabeth being faithful for ten years - which she clearly was, when he returns in that post-credit At World’s End scene! Is the movie suggesting Elizabeth had a tawdry affair whilst Will was busy being an undead psychopomp? That really takes something away from the reunion scene...

Hi Honey! Sorry about that bonus curse extension...

3) Carina Smyth, “Born of the Devil”:

*weary sigh* What. Just... what. Witchcraft trials. This is about... seventy to eighty years too late for Salem: The Tropical Beach Years, guys. If you’re going to have the British villain arrest and hang your feisty, educated young female protagonist for witchcraft, at least have him do it in a year when that would reasonably make sense. The 18th century is called the age of Enlightenment, people. Your average smelly pirate/superstitious villager might believe in it, but...please don’t have the scientific instrument-seller shouting about witches because your female character knows science . Especially when the actual witches in your canon are more of the ‘human skulls and rats in cauldrons’ type. It looks, and sounds, stupid.

4) The Tragic Waste of David Wenham

Admittedly, this is more of a hang-up from my old-timey Faramir crush, but WHY? Why waste this pointless cameo role on a talented actor like David Wenham? We get a cardboard cut-out villain who has such stale lines as ‘The Power of the Trident belongs to the British Empire!!’ and not a jot of characterisation. You might as well call him Lieutenant Badguy.

(Not to mention, history niggle here- what is a BRITISH Lieutenant doing on the Dutch/French owned colony of St Martin giving orders like he owns the place? I think the French and Dutch would have had something to say about that, boyo!)

5) ‘Never Betray the Compass.... apart from the last 1,982,734 times you did.’

I don’t like to count how many times Jack gave the compass to Elizabeth/Will/Barbossa/Jack the Monkey various other characters in the previous movies, only for this rule to turn up now and suddenly be a big deal. This is a plot-hole as big as Poseidon’s Tomb, and it’s not getting any smaller the more I look at it. (Also: What exactly counts as ‘cheating on’ the compass? Is this strange rule based on not hurting the compass’ feelings?)

6) Elizabeth doesn’t bother to rescue Will? SERIOUSLY?!

This should be further up the list near point 2.We had three movies all about the power of Elizabeth and Will’s love. THREE. This was NOT a small plot point - these two adorable idiots take on the East India Company, the dead, fish-people, heck, and most of piratedom, just to be together. There is no way in HELL Elizabeth is just sitting, chin in hands, in her lighthouse, letting Will carry on being cursed for no good reason, AND letting her young son risk his life trying to find a cure. That is just... NO. BAD MOVIE. BAD/

7) Join the queue for “Vengeance on Jack Sparrow”

If point 5) was true, shouldn’t Salazar and his crew have been freed way back during Dead Man’s Chest? Is there some sort of turn-based persecution rules for all the undead revenants Jack has pissed off over the years? And why don’t they all get together over drinks and REALLY try to stamp him out? I’d enjoy a ‘Supernatural Unionisation event’ where Salazar and Davy Jones put aside their squishy undead differences to “really I mean it this time” kill Jack for good. All you need to do is communicate and co-operate, zombies of the deep!

8) “I AM yarr father!!”

This could have been a whole movie in itself. Granted, a weird movie, but it would have been different to anything we’d seen before. Barbossa - our snarly pirate villain, from the original movie - falling in LOVE, people. Barbossa trying to juggle a steady relationship with his questionable career choices! Harrassed Single Pirate Dad Barbossa trying to plunder the Spanish Main AND manage a hyperactive toddler!

The comedic/dramatic/tragic character possibilities were all WASTED for a quick perfunctory reveal that felt like an unearned cheesy Star Wars rip-off. Plot point FAI.L

9) The Tragic Waste of Javier Bardem

Oh, POTC, what you do?! If you’d played your cards right, you could have had a villain who could have seen you through another three movies AND helped more character development for Jack! Salazar could have started out as a Spanish Norrington who slowly sank into darkness through his pain and rage, whilst Jack could actually face the impact of his some of his crimes. We could have had a nuanced Valjean/Javert vibe. It would have been so good! Javier Bardem is a good actor. Plus another opportunity for Penelope Cruz to show up again.

Nope. Brushed over and a comedy ‘anchor to the head’ second death. Gee. Thanks.

10) The post-credits DMTNT scene.

Er... way to undo MORE of the original trilogy without it making a lick of sense? And messing up your own ‘All Curses Are Broken” logic at the same time?

#PotC #i love DMTNT #but OY do I want to do a rewrite #general thoughts #dead men tell no tales #jack sparrow #potc5 #potc dmtnt #salazars revenge

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