#the contrast between most valvert fics

[secretmellowblog]

I love how Javert has this deep emotional overwrought emotional breakdown over letting Jean Valjean go, like it’s the most important thing that’s ever happened to him in his life and it’s shattered his entire philosophy and view on the world and etc etc

But Jean Valjean’s response is just an indifferent “huh I guess Javert went crazy. Weird. But this might as well happen. Anyway moving on—“

Moreover, Jean Valjean knew that he was delivered from Javert. The story had been told in his presence, and he had verified the fact in the Moniteur, how a police inspector named Javert had been found drowned under a boat belonging to some laundresses, between the Pont au Change and the Pont-Neuf, and that a writing left by this man, otherwise irreproachable and highly esteemed by his superiors, pointed to a fit of mental aberration and a suicide.—“In fact,” thought Jean Valjean, “since he left me at liberty, once having got me in his power, he must have been already mad.”

It’s also fascinating how Javert is acting “sane” for the first time in his life— making decisions that he actually thinks through deeply, having empathy for people— but he gets labeled as insane by both his superiors and by Jean Valjean.

Though it’s also fascinating, as I mentioned before, how this is both a parallel to Javert’s reaction at Jean Valjean’s supposed “drowning” earlier on and a reflection of the way Hugo learned about the drowning of his own daughter via reading a newspaper.

Neither Jean Valjean or Javert express any grief when they learn the other has drowned—-but it’s compelling that “learning someone you know has drowned via the newspaper” was actually taken from such a deeply horrible emotional painful moment in Hugo’s life. There’s a deep poignant grief there, but it’s not one that Jean Valjean or Javert ever actually feel.

[morethanonepage]

fic titles meme

tagged by @aimmyarrowshigh​ um -- ages ago??? sorry i’m really behind in responding to things 

Look at the most recent 20 (or however many!) fanwork titles on your AO3 account and answer the questions below.

the unconscious conscious

the fire and the flood

a last minute possibility 

careful fear, and dead devotion 

overflow 

stir 

need a little time (to wake up)

drive 

laid bare 

a double bed, and a stalwart lover for sure 

the bloom of youth 

Washington Square 

raw 

some strings attached 

no assignment for cowards

not what ships are built for 

Anything Can Happen (On Halloween) 

Adrift

mages against literacy 

a boy with a thorn in his side

1. How many are you happy with?

I think I’m just answering in terms of the titles and not the fics themselves (bc the answer would be two in that case; you can guess which two). I like the pun of laid bare a lot, and Adrift is probably the title I call back to the most in the fic itself, if not directly. Washington Square is just meant to be parallel with Notting Hill bc that’s what it’s a fusion of & because the other option would’ve been East Village, which I guess now thinking about it might’ve been better lmfaooooo. 

I also like raw, bc as the tags say: “#unpremeditated barebacking #it's a metaphor”. It’s about the intimacy. 

2. How many are…not great?

I hate mages against literacy lmfao it’s so lame. I think if I had a better idea for it I would change it now, but also the fic itself is a little ehhhhhh so I also probably wouldn’t bother. 

otherwise i’m not SUPER proud of the TWO smiths songs referenced above but. what can i do. that’s my #brand. 

there’s also SO many things inspired by songs i just randomly listened to on youtube but like, w/e, titles are hard.

3. How many did you scramble for at the last minute?

ALL OF THEM.

most recently I was casting about for the title to the fire and the flood, even once I had the text of the fic itself uploaded to AO3. I think I had it in drafts already and was still going through potential titles. some of the options i still have in the evernote document I wrote it in:

zephyr 

by some glamour change 

My faith is sick and my skin is thin as ever

All of which are bad imo. the fire and the flood is from the Vance Joy song, which doesn’t fit the mood of the fic really but I like the -- idk the contrast of the words? Both the fundamentally destructive nature of both fire and flood but also the way they cancel each other out, basically. And they’re both sweeping and epic and idk vaguely biblical and I’m #CatholicTrash, so. 

4. How many did you know before you started writing/creating, or near the beginning?

Two -- the unconscious conscious is a phrase comes from some haphazard research I did about ~sex magic back when I first started writing that fic (I should’ve. Like, saved that, I guess???). And a last minute possibility was bc  @jessicamiriamdrew was telling me about a film festival she was helping organize, and she mentioned that she’d received one film late and it was a last minute possibility, which I thought was the title of the movie itself (twas not) but I jokingly said that I was going to use it as the title of whatever I wrote next bc I liked the sound of it. et voilà.

5. How many are quotes from songs or poems?

Hmm let’s see:

the fire and the flood -- Fire and the Flood by Vance Joy

careful fear, and dead devotion -- Don’t Swallow the Cap by The National

need a little time (to wake up) -- Morning Glory by Oasis

a double bed, and a stalwart lover for sure -- I Want the One I Can't Have by The Smiths

Anything Can Happen (On Halloween) -- Anything Can Happen On Halloween

a boy with a thorn in his side -- The Boy With A Thorn In His Side by The Smiths

6. How many are other quotes?

no assignment for cowards -- allegedly this is a quote from Ovid (well, the quote itself is, “Love is no assignment for cowards”, but I think it’s cute to skirt around the l word, and if someone knows the full quote that’s a fun little easter egg for them/a shared joke between us)

not what ships are built for -- an old adage of undetermined provenance (”A ship in harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for”) but i uh. 100% cribbed it from a Valvert fic I read in 2013. God I’m old.

7. Which best reflects the plot of the story/content of the fanwork?

probably raw.

i mean. they raw. it’s raw...emotionally. i -- that really does say it all.

i also think the onomatopoeic feeling of the word stir (like, the slow susurrant awakening it evokes) really fits the mood of the fic itself. just the soft simplicity of waking up with someone you know and love. 

8. Which best reflects the theme of the story?

Adrift, no doubt -- Adrift is probably one of the best fics I’ve written on all levels, including the title, and that’s probably because it’s ALL p thematically tight. 

9. Which best reflects the character voice of the story/pov of the fanwork?

Hmm none of them, really? They all reflect my voice which is why so many are lyrics from the Smiths but I really don’t make the effort to tailor fic titles to character voice. maybe a boy with a thorn in his side, by virtue of it being modern au/teen Cassian Andor who’s -- Mexican and simmering with pretentious progressive rage and therefore, also probably a Smiths fan.

10. Which is your favourite title?

hmmm i think tied between raw and Adrift. gotta love those one word titles i guess

(but of fics i’ve written, ever, or at least on AO3, my crowning achievement for titles has to be save an x-wing, ride an ex-stormtrooper. I remember SCRAMBLING to finish that fic bc i was worried someone else was going to poach the name first, BUT THEY DIDN’T and i won.)