#this is r talking to enj btw

[whorejolras]

ignoring the usual characters ("sold yourself") i am always saying deadass sex worker enjolras is realer than you think because of this reason. if he's been cut off by his rich parents and wants to dedicate as much time as possible to the cause, then he's sex working.

if you guys knew how many real world grassroots social and political movements were and currently are majority funded by sex workers, either donating their money or their time, both of which is paid for by doing sex work.

[delusionalbitchinthehouse]

It's the way Enjolras and Grantaire present as total opposites but really, they're not. They share such a fierce loyalty, and no matter what Grantaire says, they both care so much. It's obvious with Enj because really, he wears his heart on his sleeve, even when he doesn't realize he does, but R cares too. Cares and feels so much he can't stand seeing his friends running full steam to their death. It might not be the only reason he drinks, but I believe drowning his feelings in alcohol is the only way he knows how to cope with the loss he can feel coming.

That's why I love the way he looks out for Gavroche in the musical - and that I'm pissed they gave that role to Courfeyrac in the movie, as much as I love Courf. It's proof that Grantaire does care for something else than what he claims are his only interest - his bottle and Enjolras. Still in the musical : the way he interacts with Les Amis, most of the actors playing him really understood the assignment and I love them for it. (I'm shit at remembering names, but the Grantaire I saw was amazing btw, i'll check my program for his name later). Like, the way he teases Marius during Red And Black - the R I saw laughed and said something along the lines of "c'mere my boy gimme a kiss" after the "I am agog, I am aghast" line, and it felt so on brand. I like to think of Grantaire as very physically affectionate, so seeing him give Marius a big smooch (and seeing Marius looking equal part embarrassed and amused) felt really right. It's the way he always speaks (well, sing, really, but you get my point) loud, looking around at the other students and raising his bottle at them - boisterous, delighting in every laugh he causes, like maybe making his friends happy, helping lifting the mood is where his worth lays.

And Enjolras. I don't know if it's always the case, but the one I saw checked on R a lot. Quick glances over his shoulder, lots of claps on the back, talking really close to his face during Do You Hear The People Sing (they were almost forehead to forehead, that's how close). Now that definitely speaks of care, right ? Sure, one could argue he's making sure R doesn't cause trouble, but really, that does not explain Enj's willingless to let him finish his clownery before telling him off, doesn't justify the lingering touchs - and there are a lot of those, if you pay attention ; doesn't explain why, if Enjolras truly cannot stand Grantaire and his antics, he hasn't kicked him out definitely yet. And we all know R wouldn't return if Enj told him not to. So why ? Why let him come back everytime ? Does Enjolras himself even knows ? Probably not. It's not like he's the best at understanding feelings and especially not his own. Emotional constipation doesn't even cover it. But he keeps R around, despite everything, despite the fights, despite the harsh words traded, the annoyed glares, the drinking, the jabs, the claims of uselessness.

Because, in my opinion, Enjolras needs Grantaire to poke and prod, to bring him back to earth in a way that may piss him off, but still benefits him - because i do believe it benefits him. Having someone questioning his plans, reminding him of the harsh reality of the world. Grantaire does that for him, conciously or not, and though his warnings are rarely heeded, I believe he needs to try and temper his friends' enthusiasm ; and there is no one as enthusiast as Enjolras.

Let's be honest, Enjolras does not mince his words, especially when it comes to R ; he can be cruel to him, even if not purposefully, for I do think he doesn't realize the weights of his words, nor does he sees the extend of Grantaire's reverent admiration - love - for him, and just how much it amplifies the effect those words have on him. Grantaire, with his self-deprecative sarcasm, his cynism and endless rambling, pushes it, toys with the limits of Enj's patience, and he knows it. It really doesn't help his case, but, for me ? In his mind, it's the only way for him to exist in Enjolras' world ; by being a mild annoyance hovering at the outskirt of his thoughts. Of course, with all the words of fury hurled his way by his beloved Enjolras, he doesn't see the way he is kept close despite it all.

And, well. You know. The whole "permets-tu" thing. Enjolras smiles. And it isn't because he thinks R suddenly believes in the cause they're about to die for. Enjolras may be oblivious, but he is far from stupid. No, he smiles and squeezes Grantaire's hand knowing R won't let him die alone. He smiles because he will die holding the hand of someone who could have chosen to lay low and live, but would rather die by his side. I saw someone saying that Grantaire chosing to die right there could be out of either extreme selflessness or selfishness, whether it was prompted by the desire not to let Enj die alone or not wanting to live without him - and his friends. I believe it's both, because R is contradictory as are all humans, and the way he's pulled between different things, impulses and wants makes him such a complex and interesting character. One that volunteers to help Enjolras, earns a chance to prove himself to him, but gets distracted and let him down. One that will squeeze Enj's shoulder and tell him to "be easy", but will later ramble about the uselessness of Enj's efforts. One that drinks every words dripping from Enjolras' mouth, only to spat them out like venom.

But Enjolras is too, isn't he ? Contradictory. A rich young boy ready to overthrow a system that benefits him - who's ready to die trying. A charming young man capable of being terrible. A driven, purposeful man, letting a drunk cynic disturb his meetings again and again and again. A compasssionate boy who executes a man on the spot. Someone with all his life ahead of him, pinned to a wall by eight bullets (it's eight, right ? I'm having sudden doubts and i don't currently have my book near to check) at twenty-something.

So, really, those two aren't that different ; it's no surprise their relationship fascinates, no wonder people are curious, no wonder people write about them, explore what ifs and could've beens.

Someone please ask me about Enjolras and Grantaire or just Les Amis in general. I swear i will be completely normal and won't rant for hours. I cannot be trusted about that.

[little-orphan-ant]

Ami name hcs (plus reasoning)

disclaimer a lot of this is just me infodumping about names. i really like names.

Alexandre Enjolras - yeah idk i just stole this from the fandom. Enj despises being called Alex though (he will punch you in the face :D), if you must shorten Alexandre he prefers Andre or Al/Allie

Florian Combeferre - i fucking love this name. according to wikipedia it's a saint name, which im like 80 percent sure was popular Back in the Day, so it works for canon era which im happy abt. in modern day France, the name Florian peaked in 1991 at number 9 for boys before promptly dropping out of the top 500 by 2020 for some reason. but when Ferre was born it would still have been pretty popular.

Olivier Courfeyrac - idk it just fits him. similar to Florian, Olivier was uncommon but not unheard of in canon era, and also dropped out of the top 500 a few years back. however, Olivier peaked back in the early 1970s. although it was still being given to several hundred kids a year by when modern!courf would have been born, i hc that he was named after a relative who died soon before his birth.

Camille Feuilly - in both modern-day and canon era France, Camille is seen as a gender-neutral name, which is great because i hc Feuilly has enby-spec. since Feuilly is an orphan, xe may have named xirself after the revolutionary Camille Desmoulins, but i must admit that I only skimmed his wikipedia page and maybe this Camille was an asshole idk. also i found a French artist born in 1934 named Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot and he's pretty cool ig. painting are nice but not as nice as Gainsborough Dupont's ofc

Jean-Marie "Jehan" Prouvaire - of course, we already know Jehan's name, but I added Marie just bc i can

Corentin Bahorel - if you call Bahorel Cory he with smite you btw (like enj they bond over it). Corentin peaked in France at 21 in 1996, but was also very popular during the Revolutionary Period so. thats good.

Valentin Joly - means 'health', i mostly gave him this name bc Irony. as a kid, Joly went by 'Val' and Bahorel, who knew him as a kid still calls him that. Valentin managed to make it to number 11 in France in 1998, and while uncommon, was in fact a name in canon era (like literally all of these akjddsfsa). also i found a French painter called Valentin de Boulogne from the 1600s who died after taking a dip in a fountain while drunk and freezing to death which. slay.

Louis Lesgles - I mean. i can't give all of them cool names. Bossuet gets to be Louis. his family were royalists and named him after all 17 (?) Louis of Frances. that's one of the reasons he goes by Bossuet, he doesn't want to be associated w a (scoff) king

Claud-René Grantaire - i cannot take credit for this it was @jolys-cane (hello). but yeah Very Good. double thumbs up i'd say. maybe even triple. both Claud(e) and René fell out of favor for boys in france around 1990, so our R would have been born *just* (a decade) to soon for it to be popular (eg not in the top 500). works for canon era as well. R tolerates his name, but Only his family is allowed to call him just René. anyone else must say both.

might do this for non-ami characters sometime (god i hope i didnt forget any of them lkjfksd) idk always love an excuse to talk abt a (minor) hyperfixation

[mussichetta]

OK SO reincarnation au, right???? so enjolras has a lot of trauma and guilt from the barricade that the Amis are helping him through (not r cause he's not here yet),,, and like after he stars getting better,, he starts to remember grantaire and miss him, he's also really sad because grantaire had an art exhibition after the barricade,,, so well you know that happened. But well one of the Amis (jehan??) finds grantaire and while they're catching up grantaire tells them/him about grantaires art exhibition in a couple of days,,, so jehan comes up with a plan (all of the Amis go to his art exhibition, without really telling enj what they're doing,,, r doesn't know that enj is going either) and like they all go and enj sees r and r sees enj and they stare at each other (y'know add some watery eyes cause ✨ANGST✨) and ferre gives enj a little push and suddenly they're hugging and wishpering in relief and it's emotional (and I'm kinda crying)

extra: the amis leave enj and r alone to catch up and enjolras starts talking about how grantaire couldn't even go to his own arta exhibition because of the barricade (oh no he's also blaming himself again) and r is just like "look around" "what? Wait,,, this are the same paintings from back then?" (don't ask how he knows he just does idk) and like YEAH he recreated his own art and says some sappy thing like "an art gallery is not important without you by my side" and "and now I can actually have both"

(sorry for any spelling mistakes btw)