#the orion

[dolphin1812]

Now that we’re (somewhat) back to Valjean, Hugo automatically makes sure we know his thoughts on one of the main themes of the book: poverty (and budgeting. He likes telling us everyone’s budgets).

“This vessel, battered as it was,—for the sea had handled it roughly,—produced a fine effect as it entered the roads. It flew some colors which procured for it the regulation salute of eleven guns, which it returned, shot for shot; total, twenty-two. It has been calculated that what with salvos, royal and military politenesses, courteous exchanges of uproar, signals of etiquette, formalities of roadsteads and citadels, sunrises and sunsets, saluted every day by all fortresses and all ships of war, openings and closings of ports, etc., the civilized world, discharged all over the earth, in the course of four and twenty hours, one hundred and fifty thousand useless shots. At six francs the shot, that comes to nine hundred thousand francs a day, three hundred millions a year, which vanish in smoke. This is a mere detail. All this time the poor were dying of hunger.”

Unlike with individual characters, we don’t know how much money the state has here. It’s not important. What is important is that rather than choosing to spend money on the poor, the state invests in spectacle, even for “battered” vessels like this one. The Restoration is, above all else, a façade; it hasn’t brought about a return to the old order because it can’t erase all of the changes brought about by the Revolution and Napoleon, but it also does nothing to address the problems in French society, instead covering them up, ignoring them, or distracting from them with as much pomp as it can manage. The “Spanish War” highlights this; it might be a financial war for the monarchy, but those fighting were trained under Napoleon, and it was revolting to the people because of the democratic beliefs instilled by the Revolution.

This isn’t analytical, but this passage is really beautiful:

“There comes an hour, nevertheless, when the gale breaks that sixty-foot yard like a straw, when the wind bends that mast four hundred feet tall, when that anchor, which weighs tens of thousands, is twisted in the jaws of the waves like a fisherman’s hook in the jaws of a pike, when those monstrous cannons utter plaintive and futile roars, which the hurricane bears forth into the void and into night, when all that power and all that majesty are engulfed in a power and majesty which are superior.”

Hugo is excellent at portraying the terrifying power of water (especially the sea), and this passage really highlights this strength.

The description of the incident aboard the Orion continues to display this talent, but it also parallels an earlier incident: the rescue of Fauchelevent. Like back then, there’s a crowd of onlookers who can’t/won’t help the dangling man, with his situation worsening until Valjean intervenes with a spectacular feat of strength. Like with Fauchelevent, he’s applauded, but it marks an end for him as well. With Fauchelevent, he sacrificed his freedom by revealing himself to Javert; here, his fall marks the end of 9430. Even the reveals are similar, with the name “Jean Valjean” appearing after we’ve seen this person act for some time. Once again, we see him as an outsider, ending even further from the scene that we began (a newspaper article vs the ship). He may be the main character, but we only know so much about him.

[apollos-boyfriend]

something they don’t tell you about being autistic is that every character you write WILL end up autistic/autistic-coded whether you like it or not

[everydaylouie]

there's a cat in my neighborhood with three little spots on his waist, so i've taken to calling him Orion 🌌

[energ00n]

Prime apprentice AU! (primeprentice? idk)

Basically the Thirteen are still alive and they take in apprentices to train for potential Primacy.

Prima Prime → Orion Pax

Megatronous Prime → D-16

[dataglitch]

Finished this piece finally! Took a while due to new base style, but I like it:'D

[lupinsuniverse]

พลั่วน้องD

[coefore]

Meet the ES: kind of

[dxkjf]

Elita please he's trying his best :[

[milkymolle]

[taimanzano]

B-127 pero bebé ;v;

[violetaquadelight]

From 0 to 1000+

A Transformers xover

[cloowwwwn]

Oh crap…guys…I think…I have a new hyperfixation..

[crumb-crumblet-s-crumbington]

this literally happened in the movie

[jaradraws]

‘Cause I was born with a hole in my heart Yeah, we were fucked from the start Tell me it’s inevitable that I’d End up with scars from falling Down, down We were always meant to fall apart

[edgar-allan-possum]

Transformers One poster from Studio Trigger

Drawn by Masaru Sakamoto