#theirs are the only pronouns i know on this list. otherwise i'm just defaulting to they

[unloneliest]

anyways. here's my top les mis fics of all time in no particular order - the best of the best, as well as a personal fave i couldn't help but include. these are mostly related to grantaire, but not entirely. under the cut because this got VERY long. forgive me for the inconsistent length of rambling paired with fics.

sentimental you and faithful me, myrmidryad (exr) this is not only one of my top grantaire fics of all time, but is also the best body swap fic i have ever read. i find myself revisiting it often; it explores the ways that mental health struggles are a part of existing in a body - how much of us is dictated by our genetics and neurological makeup. i cannot reccomend this fic enough. it rewired my brain in a very healing way. i remember liking this author as a whole, but i haven't reread anything else by them since 2016, & this is already going to be too long altogether without me branching out further!

works by lady_ragnell i have yet to read through 100% of her les mis works, but everything i have read i have loved. i'm highlighting my top 3 fics/series by lady_ragnell, but everything i've read by her is of such a high caliber that i seriously can't recommend her entire catalogue enough. highlights of her writing include: incredible characterization of the full cast of characters, a strong focus on relationships outside of the romantic pairings, and some of the most delightful, thoughtful worldbuilding of all time.

ships include exr, jbm, eposette, cosette/marius/courfeyrac, combeferre/eponine, & some of of the best les amis friendship dynamics i've read to date

you dance dreams - exr, with background jbm, combferre/eponine, & cosette/marius/courfeyrac (the last of which is further detailed in beautiful music together). in this fic, combeferre has written an opera sequel to midsummer night's dream as his senior thesis, and asks grantaire - sole dance major of les amis (the rest of whom are music majors) to choreograph and to play the role of puck. the rest of les amis' are music majors for whom the opera is their senior capstone. enjolras, of course, is oberon. what's so, so wonderful for me about this fic is that grantaire has a life outside of his feelings for enjolras. this fic is the reason i consider grantaire & floreal friendship a green flag for les mis fics - i have a soft spot for that dynamic to this day, as well as for grantiare's friendship with joly, bossuet and musichetta. on top of that: grantaire's initial crush on enjolras is something that was hurting him and that he moved past very with support from his friends. that as the starting point for this story makes what develops between grantaire and enjolras in this fic so, so special to me. this fic lives in my bones and i've reread it with frequency.

silence is the speech of love - exr, background cosette/marius & cosette/marius/courfeyrac i haven't reread this as recently as i have you dance dreams, so this will be shorter, but it maintains all of lady_ragnell's fantastic strengths in characterization and crafting of a fantastic world. worldbuilding is perhaps more on display in this work: it's a modern world in which the greek pantheon is real and actively involved in the world. the ways eros's arrow impacts consent is touched on; eponine is writing her thesis on echo; enjolras gets cursed for speaking out against the gods and that's the turning point in his and grantaire's relationship. i'm not doing this justice. read this fic.

never bitter and all delicious - exr grantaire delivers wishes to the fairy godparents' bureau; enjolras is their newest caseworker. this is a comfort reread for me, less because it touches the parts of my heart that ache and more because it's one of the most straightforwardly delightful, wonderful and sweet stories i've read in my life. it's been some time since i've read this but again: read everything by lady_ragnell. the setting, the way the magic is written - it's something that inspires me as a writer just as much as it is a joy to read.

let me restate - this is just my personal top 3. my bookmarks of lady_ragnell's works number in the double digits. she has a leverage inspired au in which grantaire is lost in an explosion. for anyone following me who knows about my longstanding leverage wip & the way i feel about both eliot spencer and grantaire, the fact that it didn't make my top 3 should speak to the absolute unparalleled, incredible quality of the fics i've highlighted here.

subluxate, dislocate, replace by sovin (joly/bossuet/musichetta) this fic also healed something in me. if you are disabled and you have family that Does Not Understand and it feels more like they refuse to learn or believe you about your own lived experience. and going home for the holidays sucks so bad. read this. read this fic. come back to it when you need to read it again. and i hope you find community and family with people who treat you right.

sovin is, to me, one of the greats of les mis fic, right alongside lady_ragnell. the only reason i can't rec more fics here is because i have not managed to reread any of my bookmarks since i first read them in the mid 2010s, largely accounting to never having both the emotional capacity and free time at once to dive back in, but i've been making eye contact with let us speak of a letter for years meaning to revisit it.

idiopathicsmile is another of the authors who has defined my understanding of les mis fandom. the characterization is right. this is what i go to les mis fanfiction looking for, this feeling, the way the characters are as individuals and in the context of one another.

lovesickness (exr, i believe background jbm) is cheesy, lighthearted, and has a very silly premise - enjolras doesn't realize he has a crush on grantaire, and instead thinks he is sick, asking joly for medical advice for his symptoms. i've been rereading and thinning out les mis fics i bookmarked in 2016 recently, and wasn't sure if this was one i'd keep based on the description - i have a pretty low tolerance for secondhand embarrassment. but this fic is a delight, and i'm glad i reread it, and wish i had been rereading it more often over the years.

it's been a minute since i reread in defiance of all geometry (combeferre/enjolras, developing combeferre/enjolras/grantaire), so i can't elaborate further, but i know i liked it.

world ain't ready is an almost 200k series (exr, background courfeyrac/jehan). i'm currently halfway through my first time reading it, despite having been recc'ed it by one of my best friends 800 years ago, because i would've read it in one sitting at the time (to my own detriment), and because it's been a while since i revisited my les mis hyperfixation. it is the best fake dating au i have read in my entire life. that's saying a lot. i read fic at an honestly alarming rate. it is a high school au, and i am, at this point, an adult nearing my 30s. i am significantly less interested in high school aus than i was as a high school student/someone who had recently been a high school student - it often is something i intentionally avoid at this point. but this being a high school au is an absolutely key part of this fic and something i like so much about it - the fake dating, the characterization, it's something that makes complete and total sense for teenagers to do. and it's done so, SO well. on top of that. the _______ isn't therapy get help lol meme format has absolutely been applied to fanfic. and for the most part, fanfic ISN'T therapy get help lol. but once in a blue moon, i would argue that a fic can actively rewire your brain in a way that's deeply needed, & i can most shorthandedly describe that as THIS fanfic IS therapy. (and yes, i have been in therapy). this is one of very few fics i'd put in that category. it's a highly personal and qualitative metric, but it's having enough of an impact on me that i'm wholeheartedly recommending this fic to any and all people out there who relate too much to grantaire at times. (the other relevant fic in the "this does count as therapy" category is infinite coffee and protection detail, a bucky barnes centric stucky series that i'd love to discuss with someone who's read the murderbot diaries) anyways! grantaire POV fics of all fucking time.

homies help homies always - fangirl_squee (grantaire & marius friendship, exr, cosette/marius)

i could write an essay on this series. i somewhat have, in a lot of the individual works' comments. without even realizing it, this fic is what made clear to me that i wanted to work with youth, and that just helping the people around me was a big enough way to change the world.

and the fact that the central focus in this is grantaire and marius's friendship - this fic really, really put into detail the kind of friendship i was looking for in the world. and being able to name that value was something that changed my life forever for the better. les mis fic in general does a great job with that, but this is the series i'd most highlight for focusing on friendship. it's a sweet, delightful read with heart - not the whole thing is fluff, it does a great job acknowledging that the path to a closer relationship between grantaire and enjolras would not likely be straightforward - but it is something i return to for comfort.

this is included on the list for personal fave/emotional impact reasons; i have nothing negative to say about the writing, but i would be remiss if i failed to mention that it's not quite at the level most of the rest of these are at. i can't tell you why at all, i love it very dearly, it just doesn't also delight the part of my brain that's in love with language.

and finally, last but not least:

Witchboy - tothewillofthepeople (exr, background courfeyrac/combeferre, joly/bossuet, eponine/cosette, babet/montparnasse) this is the most drop dead gorgeous magical realism i have read in my entire life, fic or not. i started reading this series in 2015, within a month from when it first posted. the final part was posted a little over a year ago, after a long pause, and listen: when i tell you i yelled, seeing that email update, i'm not exaggerating at all. i probably had to do a few laps around the apartment. while yelling about it. and texting everyone i knew who was a les mis fan.

in this fic, enjolras has been cursed to have gold coins fall from his mouth whenever he speaks, and grantaire has an extremely strong connection to magic, which he navigates in an atypical manner. that's the starting point.

there is Nothing like this fic in the world. (well, if there is, i'd absolutely fucking love for someone to tell me about it so i can dive right in). the storytelling is incredible. the characterization is incredible. the worldbuilding is incredible. the artistry with which the author uses language is incredible. i'm a poet at heart. this fic is so loved by my poet's heart.

i can also hands down endorse BE (exr), a modern au by the same author in which enjolras stage manages a production of hamlet that eponine is directing, and in which grantaire is playing hamlet. i am a hamlet lover for the rest of my life and this is as much a loveletter to hamlet as it is to les mis.

i'm aware i've said relatively little about witchboy in comparison to some of the other fics here, but listen to me: it's because my brain whites out and just starts screaming not unlike a teapot when i try to come up with more to say. trust me. be also absolutely fucks. i haven't read 100% of tothewillofthepeople's back catalogue but again endorse their work wholeheartedly.

guy who is doing so mentally well right now. voice ive been getting really into reading a lot of fanfiction about grantaire