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bunn--y · 2 years

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I've been watching Les Miserables: Shoujo Cosette. Ie, the World Masterpiece Theatre version of Les Mis. I probably wouldn't have given it a chance if it wasn't for the fact that it is WMT since seeing Cosette as the main character wasn't something I was looking forward to. I should also note before continuing that my attempts to read the book have only got around 20 or so pages in. I might try an audiobook at some point.

Anyway, I'm enjoying this anime version. I'm currently midway through episode 21 and it's interesting. The censoring for kids is well done. Usually I prefer laugh at badly done censorship but there is something of value here. There's certainly a debate to be had on if it is right to censor Les Miserables if it is to be shown, but right now I'm not really interested in that.

I'm more into just collecting some random little thoughts than anything else.

Sister Samplice feels like an anime original and I was surprised to found out that she's from the book. Chou Chou would have been a bigger surprise but no, he's as much of an anime original as he looks like.

Cosette is very much the sort of moe character who I don't like, but there are a few things that I like so far. I like the fact that we see clear cut signs of PTSD from her abuse from the Thénardiers. I have a vague memory of reading once that she doesn't in the book. Considering that even decades after the book was published it was believed that child abuse couldn't lead to PTSD, I find that believable, though i have not been able to find the source that she didn't again. I also like that more focus (in comparison to the musical) is put on her relationship with Jean Valjean. This does allow the annoying parts of her moe characterisation to at least have justification. I should note that according to all sources, they didn't change how moe she was... though I doubt that her riding a dog was in the books. But that was genuinely cute (because she's an anime girl and hence won't break the dog's back) so I count it as the third thing that I liked.

I suppose I'd better address the elephant in the room. I dislike the character designs. I want to like them, especially when I checked out the book illustrations and found them to be quite cartoony too. For the most part individually I have no issues with them. However, when put together, there's too much of a 'beauty equals goodness' feel for me to like them. It's particularly annoying since The Book has a good sense of creating morally complicated characters. Javert has always fit into the idea of a anime villain even though he predates anime by so many years. Seeing him made out to look so obviously like a villain was disappointing.

A few months ago I came across a video on how Avatar The Last Airbender isn't popular in Japan and China due to existing in an uncanny valley but culturally rather than aesthetically. I feel something similar with this series, which is odd because it's often with things that I've been impressed with WMT for portraying well before like Christianity. I don't know how much of this is due to it being an anime and how much is due to it talking about catholicism when I'm used to protestant conversations. There's a lot of little bits though that just feel really off.

You know how I said this is censored and in this case, I'm amused by it though it's done well. I'm going to explain that now. It's things like Fantine not becoming a prostitute so she has instead work really unpleasant jobs, including one with dead fish bones. There's more of a focus on her feeling that she can't trust anyone and we get to watch her homelessness and abuse get to her. Again I'm comparing to the musical and not the book here, but I did enjoy that she got to attack those two men who attack her. (They put snow down her back). Yeah, let the abuse effect her, please. This censorship is well done since it's taking elements that kids haven't had the experience to understand and turns them into ones that kids do. While as an adult, I'm like 'fish bones and selling your body are two very different things' on a level of 'this is a gross thing to feel forced to do for money' it is a stronger idea for kids. Kids aren't supposed to know about sex on the level of understanding how sex work could effect Fantine and most of them wouldn't. At best they might understand that this makes her hard to employ, but she is already a begger on the streets just for having a daughter, so what difference does it make? As an adult who tries to understand children, it could even be argued that this is a stronger way of showing the sexism of the time.

That said, I'm hoping that the kids who grew up with this version went on to either the book or more adult adaptations.

There is another type of change that was made that I actually have a more solid ground on my feelings on. For anyone reading who isn't familiar with WMT they tend to do three things with their adaptions: make them slow, keep as much of the depressing stuff as possible even adding stuff sometimes and make them beautiful. So it wasn't a surprised that this is a slow adaptation. It also wasn't a surprise that there's a lot of focus on the abuse Cosette and Gavroche go through form the Thénardiers. WMT likes to focus on child abuse and not necessarily in a good way. It can often be guilt tripping in the attitude of 'look at what this child goes through and they're not making a fuss'. From what I have seen of this adaptation so far, this attitude is not here. In fact, the show goes out of its way to show that there are good people in the world who will look out for abused children. When Cosette goes off with Jean Valjean, we get to find out that the blacksmith and his wife who took Gavroche on for work is kind so we don't need to worry about him having to stay with the Thénardiers. Another example is discovering that the anime original character Alain is going to be taking over as mayor in the city that Jean Valjean had helped as mayor for so many years. This lighter and softer feel really stresses the hopeful nature of the story without undermining the sadness that it is also very important.

The thing that I like about these more hopeful additions is that they're small. From what I've read spoiler wise, the show still keeps a lot of the character deaths and has already kept Fantine's. As much as I think that doing a kid's version of les mis is interesting and that toning down some aspects is understandable in this instance, I would like to as a les mis fan see as much of the story kept as possible. As a WMT fan though I'm happy that they are showing restraint.

I imagine that I'll have a lot more to say once I finish the series. Especially considering the changes to some of the character deaths I've read about. One of the spoilers I'm already having real concerns about a big one involving an adult character.

#world masterpiece theater #les miserables #les miserables shoujo cosette #bunny watches stuff

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secretmellowblog · 4 years

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I feel like Javert never really left prison, he just rose through the ranks.

He began life as a child born behind bars, which is as helpless/powerless under the criminal justice system as you can get. When he was obedient enough, he was promoted to prison guard. And when he was obedient enough at that, he was promoted to a police inspector. Being a police inspector meant he was kept on a longer leash, and didn’t have to stay in prison anymore, but he was never free of it; he’s described as never allowing himself to have anything outside his work.

Hapgood translates Javert’s introduction as:

“His name was Javert, and he belonged to the police.”

And I love that translation because it has such a great double meaning....Javert “belonged to the police,” because he was in the police force. But he also “belonged to the police” because from the moment he was born he was a ward of the state, his life wasn’t his own, and from that point on his entire life was one long unending stream of police violence-- either as the victim or the (vicious violent terrifying!) perpetrator of it.

Javert is terrible because he’s like a prison guard. He’s allowed to attack people who are legally already “wrong,” already “prisoners,” like Fantine or Valjean. But he’s not allowed to attack people who are “outside prison,” who aren’t legally already prisoners.....

…..and he’s certainly never allowed to attack the people who *run* the prison.

Javert is frequently described as a dog that the police own. He’s a “domesticated animal” who is only tolerated because he hunts the “wild animals” like Valjean. Javert enthusiastically obeys the orders of his handlers, but they’d “put him down” if ever tried to attack them, or even if he just became inconvenient. (like the way he’s just left to die when he gets captured at the barricades— the national guard has an opportunity to exchange Jehan’s life for his, and they don’t.)

And Javert sees himself that way too? In his inner monologue in Javert Derailed, he repeatedly describes himself as a dog, a beast, and his hands as claws. He does not see himself as human. Javert being a furry is symbolically important and tragic!

And I feel like this is the big difference between him and Valjean? Valjean spends all the decades of his life trying to escape prison. At every opportunity, every time he sees an opening, even if it means faking his death or burying himself alive or doing all kinds of impossible feats, Valjean always tries to escape.

But Javert never does.

Valjean desperately tries to leave prison behind; Javert digs his heels into the ground and stays.

Javert gets obsessed with gaining the approval of the criminal justice system’s authorities instead, and is granted more power the more he complies with their orders and viciously enthusiastically hurts other people like him. He refuses to leave when it’s cruel and destructive, he refuses to leave when the things he’s doing are so obviously wrong he can’t do them without shutting his brain off, he refuses to leave when staying means destroying himself.

When he’s shown a way out, he can’t bring himself to take it.

#les mis #tw: police violence #tw: suicide #tw: police #to vague about Shoujo Cosette #this is also why I can't see a Javert 'redemption arc' where he keeps his job as a happy ending #like.#idk #even ignoring all the Important Political Messages and stuff #i feel like when your job makes you so miserable you kill yourself it's a sign that job is making you Unhappy #and a happy ending would be finding a new better job #like being a gardener! :)#anyway that's my emotional midnight javert hot take #i just want him to quit his job and become a gardener bc i love him #even tho he is a violent horrifying scary train wreck #he is my favorite violent horrifying scary train wreck #u_u

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everyonewasabird · 3 years

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Brickclub 2.3.8 ‘Unpleasantness of putting up a pauper who might just be rich’

The Thenardiers really are society here in all it’s harshest aspects: the way they find ways to make the poor pay for being poor; the division between the children’s scorn for Cosette’s poverty and Cosette’s envy of their comforts; the way a rich man’s whims to have a child play are law and a poor man’s wish for the same is an absurd imposition. It’s all here in microcosm.

And once again, Valjean baffles society’s efforts at categorization.

I was struck last chapter by Cosette’s resilience and fearlessness in Valjean’s presence. This chapter, she’s cowering again, and we get a long description of the horror of her misery and fear. Once again it’s close to transforming her.

The expression in the eyes of this eight-year-old child was normally so forlorn and sometimes so tragic that it seemed, at certain moments, that she was in the process of turning into an idiot or a demon.

So far she’s staving off that transformation, as we saw in the woods, but it’s still encroaching. She needs to be out of here.

[Cut because this got long. Also, child abuse.]

I hadn’t previously caught how hard it is for Valjean to speak up on Cosette’s behalf. I’d pictured him in my memory as in control of this scene, and he’s actually only managing to bring himself to argue because of the harm about to be done to Cosette.

“Madame,” he said, smiling with an almost frightened look, “Bah! Let her play!”

Which makes perfect sense. This is society in microcosm, and it isn’t in him to outwardly rebel anymore--or even outwardly act like he deserves to be in society. Like Boulatruelle, his deference is suspicious.

Hugo doesn’t cast blame on the Thenardier girls. They’re just children, acting like children, and they’re lovely for it.

In the animal symbolism of the novel, Eponine’s play-acting sounds Significant.

“See, sister, this doll is more fun than the other one. It moves, it cries, it’s nice and warm. See, sister, let’s play with it. It will be my little girl. I’ll be a lady. I’ll come to see you and you’ll look at it. Little by little you’ll see its whiskers and you’ll get a shock. And then you’ll see its ears and then you’ll see its tail and you’ll get a shock. And you’ll say to me: ‘Oh, my God!’ And I’ll say to you: ‘Yes, Madame, that’s my little girl and she’s like that. Little girls are like that these days.’”

I never know exactly what to do with cats. They’re positive in this text, but what do they mean? I suppose they’re something that’s both harmless and not exactly tame like dogs are, capable of catching mice to fix God’s errors--a symbol of revolution--and capable, in a pinch, of transforming into lions. The people of Paris were cats in 1817 and presumably still are.

The child-that-is-secretly-a-cat also has, at least visually, some echoes of Little Red Riding Hood for me (”What big ears you have, Grandma!”) It’s a cat, not a wolf, but still. That story seems relevant to the story we’ve just come from, where our young werewolf child met a stranger in the woods and brought him home.

I just looked up whether Little Red Riding Hood would have been a cultural touchstone here, and of course it was--Perrault wrote it down in 1697.

Wikipedia also recorded this quote from Perrault about its moral:

From this story one learns that children, especially young lasses, pretty, courteous and well-bred, do very wrong to listen to strangers, And it is not an unheard thing if the Wolf is thereby provided with his dinner. I say Wolf, for all wolves are not of the same sort; there is one kind with an amenable disposition – neither noisy, nor hateful, nor angry, but tame, obliging and gentle, following the young maids in the streets, even into their homes. Alas! Who does not know that these gentle wolves are of all such creatures the most dangerous!

Little Red Riding Hood may not really be something the text has in mind right now, but that sure sounds relevant to what’s just happened. A littler girl went into the woods alone amid talk of wolves, met a stranger, and took him home. (It also applies well to Fantine, alas. But Valjean is a very different kind of gentled wolf.)

Hugo has some thoughts to share about women and I don’t like them at all. I’m skipping them, I don’t feel like fighting with Hugo right now.

Cosette “vaguely listening” and picking up “a few words here and there” as Mme Thenardier insults her and says her mother abandoned her is more heartbreaking than if she’d been listening intently. It gives a sense that either there’s nothing particularly new in these statements, or else Cosette doesn’t feel invested in them because they don’t contain the information that really matters to her, which is whether or not to expect imminent physical violence.

Or.... nope. I definitely read that wrong.

By “vaguely listening” Hugo meant “dissociating.”

Because the scene that follows is:

Meanwhile the drinkers, all three-quarters sozzled, were singing their dirty song again, jollier than ever. It was an off-colour story in very bad taste in which the Holy Virgin and the Infant Jesus both featured. Mother Thénardier had wandered off to join in the outburts of hilarity. Cosette, under the table, was watching the fire, which was reflected in her staring eyes; she had again begun to rock the sort of swaddled doll she had made, and while she rocked it, she sang in a low voice: “My mother is dead! My mother is dead! My mother is dead!”

The only versions of holy motherly love that have trickled down to her are corrupted into near unrecognizeability. Her eyes are full of flames, another hint of that demonic transformation under duress that she’s still skirting the edges of.

There are a couple of ways to read “my mother is dead.” I kind of suspect that Cosette, like last time transformation threatened, is grimly hanging on to her sense of herself and the dim bright side: her mother wasn’t a bad woman who abandoned her, the only reason she is isn’t here is because she’s dead. Cosette claimed to Valjean not to have a mother, but it’s clear she has complex feelings on the subject that she can’t articulate. These lines feel like such an act of faith, actually: It’s Cosette believing, against all evidence, that her mother’s love for her is real, that she would still come if she could.

And she follows that with an act of such courage and hope and defiance: she steals the doll and is enraptured by it for a quarter of an hour. She stays human. She isn’t beaten yet.

She must know she’s going to pay for this--but she would pay worse for giving up hope, too, or for giving in to the thing that’s trying to turn her demonic.

Fuck, she’s fighting so fucking hard. Valjean is beaten down by society’s expectations of him, but Cosette isn’t. Holy hell, I love her so much.

The retribution of society in the person of the Thenardiess rains down on her, of course. It says she sobs, which is one more way in which she isn’t Valjean in the bagne--she can still cry when she’s sad.

And Valjean is also near tears. We know he wept when he was being shackled fo the bagne the first time, and we know he hadn’t wept any time between then and the bishop’s mercy. I’m not sure we’ve seen him weep any time since.

There’s so MUCH in the fact that he’s watched all this happen. He was worse off than she was when he showed up here--beaten down, hopeless, almost like he was after leaving the bagne the first time.

We never hear directly what the bagne did to him the second time--but we can see it. And it’s a lot like what it did the first time.

And instead of being saved by the bishop, he’s being saved by Cosette. We watch him becoming a parent over the course of this chapter.

Cosette doesn’t touch the doll. Valjean puts the doll’s hand in hers.

And that thing about Cosette being irrepressible--as soon as someone is kind, she becomes a kid again, like she’s been waiting for it all along. Because, she probably has. Shoujo Cosette isn’t wrong about the way she seems to have been waiting all along for her mother to come for her.

“I’ll call her Catherine.” Oh, my heart. Unlike post-bagne Valjean, she’s so very ready to be saved.

Valjean after sitting still a long time rises up suddenly in a sentence structure that feels like his sudden decision making at the bishop’s. Once again, he looks down at sleeping people, this time on Cosette.

She left her shoe out, because she still believes the good fairy will come. And Valjean does come.

I didn’t expect this to feel like Valjean at the bishop’s, but it IS. The transformation Cosette is resisting is one he’s more or less suffered again.

She saves him the way the bishop did.

I love them.

#brickclub #lm 2.3.8

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incorrectmidc · 7 years

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Something Stupid (ch2)

Note: Leo finally appears. Lol. Cringe-worthy and self-indulgent. I give you that. :P

"I need you to do something for me."

"Oh look who it is, the future Lady Crawford!" Nico Meier exclaimed, his voice filled with glee. He was seated comfortably on the plush chair situated in front of the humongous desk in the room. He then gave (Y/N) a mock bow when the latter gave him a pointed look.

"Shut up, Nico," Leo Crawford said from behind his desk where he was sitting on his plush chair looking over a few documents that needed his signature. He then turned to look at (Y/N), a charming grin plastered on his face. "What can I do for you, love?" he asked, his tone sickly-sweet and he had the pleasure of seeing the blush that rose on her cheeks at his endearment. What a beautiful girl.

But the blush disappeared from her cheeks just as quickly as it appeared. She gave him a scowl before speaking again. "I need you to help me convince our parents that this engagement should be called off,” she said, wasting no time in pleasantries.

Leo’s expression was unreadable though the slight raise of his eyebrow told her that he was displeased with what she said. "Excuse us for a while, Nico," he told his colleague, and friend, who immediately made a beeline for the door, muttering about something akin to 'marital issues' and ‘trouble in paradise’. The platinum-haired male almost rolled his eyes at that as he turned back to (Y/N) when they were alone. "And pray tell why we should do that?" he asked as he motioned for her to sit down.

(Y/N) ignored him and opted to just remain standing in front of his desk. "Are you saying you wanted to be wed to me?" she asked, her voice incredulous. She couldn't believe this guy. Who would want to marry someone they hardly know?

"Well, if you put it that way, I don’t actually mind if it's you I'm marrying." Leo shrugged before he smirked when she glared at him this time. "I already agreed to it, (Y/N), and on my honour as a Crawford, I'm not going to back out of the engagement." He got up from his seat and approached her, getting amused at the sight of her taking a step back. "Look, why don't we give this a try? I'm not that bad, am I?" He wrapped an arm around her waist and swiftly turned them around so that he had her pinned against his desk, their noses almost touching at the close proximity of their faces.

(Y/N)'s baby blue eyes fired up for a moment, making Leo think of a blue flame glowing brightly amidst a dark sky. Then those eyes cooled down as her gaze changed from fiery to seductive, the same look she gave him days ago that led to that picture that caused this situation. "You may be something, Leo Crawford, but you're not bad. In fact, if this would help boost your ego, you're the best kiss I've ever had," she murmured, her arms wrapping around his neck. They stared at each other for a moment before she stood on the tips of her toes and closed the minute distance between them.

To be honest, she didn't really remember what happened between them during the party. She only met him that night when Cosette and Elise introduced them but she was certain that Leo Crawford was more than average when it came to giving pleasure.

And she was proven right the moment their lips touched for the second time. She moaned against his mouth when his tongue found hers, barely noticing it when he lifted her up, effectively making her sit atop his desk, clutters of papers and pens falling down the floor. "Idiot, what are you doing?" she asked breathlessly against his mouth as he settled snugly in between her parted legs. "We're in your office. Someone might come in and see us."

"Then let them watch," Leo murmured back before he sought her mouth once more. She tilted her head to give him more access, her mouth parting under his. "But on the other hand," he added when he lifted his head seconds later, leaving her almost mewling in disappointment. "I wouldn't want any of them, especially Nico, seeing you look like this." His eyes, the colour of blood, roamed over her face hungrily as if a predator hunting for prey, making her shiver in anticipation. They were clearly attracted to each other sexually, no doubt about that.

But sexual attraction wasn't enough for her to agree to marry him.

(Y/N) wrinkled her nose, surprising herself for getting comfortable with him so easily. "I don't like possessive guys, you know," she said, her tone going back to neutral.

Leo grinned wolfishly at her before he dipped his head and nibbled on her lower lip. "You'll get used to it, love."

"You are one arrogant young man, you know that?" she said then she raised an eyebrow when he planted a kiss on the tip of her nose. "Getting cosy, aren't we, Crawford?"

Leo, to (Y/N)'s astonishment, flushed a bit before scratching the back of his head in embarrassment, which she found extremely, and secretly, adorable. She didn't know that he has this side. All she heard from Cosette was how confident and flirty her brother was. "How about lunch then? I know a diner just around the block that makes the best milkshake around here." He pulled away from her and offered his hand. "So, shall we?"

(Y/N) jumped off from the desk and fixed her crumpled shirt. "I'm not saying no to milkshakes, especially when it's free." She raised an eyebrow again as she placed her hand on his waiting one. "You're paying."

Leo laughed once more at that. "Of course, my lady." He tucked her hand in his arm as they headed out of his office. "I'll give you anything you want."

"What's your favourite food?"

"What?" From the window, (Y/N) shifted her gaze to Leo who was sitting across her. As promised, the two of them were at the diner that he mentioned earlier, having an early lunch.

"Your favourite food," the Crawford Heir repeated, his gaze holding hers. "I just realised that we practically know nothing about each other at all."

"So you decided to play 20 questions," she sarcastically said as she stirred her milkshake using the straw. Leo was absolutely right when he told her a while ago that this diner makes the finest milkshake in town. When Leo laughed, she continued, "I don't really have a particular favourite when it comes to food though I love strawberry milkshakes, shortcakes, cheesecakes. Basically anything that has strawberries in it. My grandmother used to bake pastries for me when I was just a kid." A happy smile subconsciously showed up on her face when she remembered how she and Albert used to fight over every last piece of strawberry shortcake when they were just kids.

Leo's eyes widened slightly when he saw her smile for the very first time ever since they've met each other. If she was beautiful just scowling or being a snarky young woman with a deadpan expression, she's a total knockout when having that honest smile on her lips. He swallowed hard at the thought. "Wow," he breathed which made her look at him questioningly. He smiled at her. "It's the first time I've ever seen you smile. Why don't you smile often?" he asked, curiousity getting the better of him.

(Y/N) took another sip of her milkshake before she returned her gaze to the street outside, her eyes having a faraway look in them. "I used to smile often when I was a kid, not the least embarrassed about the gap in between my front teeth." Leo smiled again at that. "But then someone told me that my smile was horrible and it would only scare people away. Then he told me that it would be best if I don't smile at people that much, that I should just smile at him only for I won't scare him whatever I do." A scowl appeared on her face as she clenched her fist. "That idiot. I'm going to kill him if I ever see him again."

Leo looked at her for a second before he spoke. "It was mean of him to say those things to you but I think I understand what he was trying to say." He smiled again when she shot him another questioning look. "How do I explain? He's looking at this girl who has the most beautiful smile in the whole world, a smile so radiant that could rival the sun. He wants to see her smile more but then he thinks that others might see it, that others might take her away from him because of it so he tells her not to smile to anyone but him. For he wants that beautiful smile to be his and his alone."

(Y/N)'s heart was pounding hard against her chest at the way Leo was looking at her with those intense crimson eyes of his, his words making her stomach flutter. She stared hard at him in order to hide what she's really feeling. "Do you read romance novels or shoujo manga perhaps?" were the words that came out of her mouth. Her eyebrow arched when he suddenly burst out laughing at her question. "Quit it," she said as the other customers turned to look at their table to see what has made the handsome young man with the bright crimson eyes laugh with mirth.

"You are one interesting girl, (Y/N) Burckhardt," Leo said when he stopped laughing but the smile remained intact on his face. He held out his hand to her. "Our first meeting was pretty vague to me so let's restart. Hi, I'm Leo Crawford. I was named after my great grandfather. I'm the eldest son and heir of Daniel and Layla Crawford. I have two siblings – a younger twin brother and a younger sister. You know both of them of course. I'm twenty-five years old and currently employed in my father's company. I have a parrot named Sebastian. And call me Leo. You sound so cold calling me Crawford."

(Y/N) accepted Leo's hand and shook it vigorously, her expression that of amusement. "Hello, Leo. I'm, as you've mentioned, (Y/N) Burckhardt. Like you, I was named after a relative, my mother's deceased younger sister and my aunt. I'm the youngest daughter of Alistair and Cordelia Burckhardt, twenty-four years old and a writer. I only have one sibling as well, an older brother who's as irritating as older brothers could get but I love him and I wouldn't trade him for anyone else. And unlike you, I don't have a parrot but Albert has a bunny named Benjamin. I look forward to meeting Sebastian though."

"You'll meet him soon enough," Leo said, trying to lower his expectations for he wasn't sure if Sebastian would like (Y/N) or not. His parrot was a picky creature and he couldn't actually remember a time where he warmed up to his past girlfriends. He didn't really mind it at that time but now it is imperative that his pet likes (Y/N) for Sebastian is an integral part of his life. His brows then furrowed when he realised something. "Wait, a writer? What kind of writer?" Despite the hectic schedule that he has, he's someone who enjoys a good book when he has free time. His vast collection of books at his house could fill up a mini library.

So it was interesting to learn that his intended was a writer.

"I write fiction – mostly thriller and suspense. I majored in literature and creative writing back at Wysteria University," she raised an eyebrow at his amused and quite surprised expression. "Wait, don't tell me you went to Wysteria University as well? I don't reckon seeing you there. I would have noticed you if you did."

"No, I didn't go to Wysteria. I studied at Stein Academy. But I'm flattered, sweetheart." He laughed when she snorted. "You know, it's very unlady-like to snort."

"What are you going to do about it then?" she challenged. If her father and brother weren't able to stop her from doing anything that she wanted, no way in seven hells would she let Leo Crawford do so.

Leo shook his head at that. "Nothing for I know that if I try to change you, you would just rebel. And I don't want to be with someone who isn't herself. Besides, I can tolerate this attitude of yours. Remember I've been living with Alyn and Cosette for more than two decades already."

She took one last sip of her milkshake as she silently regarded him. He just stared back coolly at her. "We'll see if you can really tolerate me," she said. "But honestly? I think I like you as a person. You're tolerable, I think." He burst into another bout of laughter at that.

"Why are you just drinking there, Leo?!" Nico yelled over the loud music resonating in the bar they were currently in. After work, he then proceeded to drag Leo off to the most famous bar in the city saying that the Crawford Heir should be enjoying his last days as a free man partying hard. "You're ignoring the gorgeous ladies!"

"I'm not in the mood, Nico," Leo replied before he drained the liquor he ordered. "I think I'm going to call this a night." He left a couple of cash on the bar and stood up. "Enjoy yourself."

Nico looked at him incredulously. "Seriously, Leo? Are you actually getting cosy about the idea of marrying?" He sat on one of the stools in front of the bar, seemingly forgetting his real aim as he refocused his gaze on his friend. "And I haven't heard you, not even once, complain about this arrangement to your father. Don't give me that duty thing for I know if you didn't really want it, you would've found an excuse." His eyes then widened, seconds later, when realisation dawned on him. "Seven hells! You like her!"

"Shut it, Nico," Leo snapped but Nico could clearly see the light blush that painted the Crawford Heir’s cheeks. "It's not illegal to like (Y/N). We're getting married."

"(Y/N)? You're a fucking goner, Leo," Nico grumbled then he laughed when Leo scowled at him. "Does Alyn know?"

Leo shook his head. "Not yet. I'm calling him tomorrow," he replied thinking of what his twin brother's reaction would be the moment he learns about Leo's betrothal and impending marriage.

"A hundred bucks for Alyn not getting surprised with your news," Nico said with a grin as he motioned for the bartender to bring him a drink. "And a fifty for him telling you that he's been expecting it already."

Leo scowled at his friend before nodding. "Deal. And if you lose, you have to finally ask Elise Sannes out." He flashed a smug smile at Nico who flushed and frowned at him.

"I'm going to win this, Leo," Nico muttered, secretly terrified at the idea of confessing to his greatest crush.

Leo, who knew exactly what Nico was thinking, flashed the younger male another smug smile. "Good luck, Nico."

#fic #midnight cinderella #leo crawford #nico meier #good luck indeed nico #something stupid

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roseinapril · 7 years

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Finally finished! So here is the first chapter of a fanfic I'm writing. I have it all in my head, but it will take long I guess XD It's the story of les Amis, how they meet, one by one, how they form the group and all their adventures: Hernani, the '30 Revolution, theirs deaths... Well, my headcanons of everything Hugo let to our imagination.

I'm so so sorry that it's in Spanish. I've felt uncapable of writing it in English. It was the initial idea, I swear, I mean, I wanted to write it in Spanish cause it's more easier for me, and then traduce it. But the fanfic came out so long and complicated, more than I expected, and in the end, I felt unable to traduce it cause I'm so bad in English. And it really hurts me cause I'm really fond of how it turned out. Maybe that's why I don't dare to traduce it cause I know I will completly ruin it.

But I will try to make a little resume of the story so you can understand the drawings:

So, as you might have noticed this is the story of how Enjolras and Combeferre meet when they are kids. I've decided to name Enjolras Gabriel, and Combeferre, Antoine. The chapter is titled "Apple pie" (blame Shoujo Cosette).

The format of the story is supposed to be a diary that Combeferre has been writing and then it's found in the barricade. But since is quite difficult to explain everything trhough a diary, I've compagined it with the explanation of an omniscent narrator. So the letters in cursive are the diary, and the normal ones are the narration by me.

At the beggining I've putted a little manifest that is supposed to be written and firmed by les Amis when they are in the barricade. And then Combeferre (Antoine) begins explaining the story.

I'm sorry it will be so summarized and messy but I don't know how to begin with. The idea is that Combeferre is one of the sons of a family of humble peasants. He have lots of brothers, like... lots (two older brothers, two twin sisters and a drooling baby). But among all of them, he is the only one that cares about the teachings of his mother. His mother is a healer and teaches him all about plants and all of this. He is also very fond of a book of Linnaeus that her father gave to her mother and which she nearly burned, cause she doesn't believe in the writted knowledge.

The case is that one day that Antoine is in the forest searching a plant for her mother, he sees Enjolras (Gabriel) who is walking alone, and in a moment of social awkwardness, when he is trying to introduce himself, he makes Enjolras fall and twist his ankle. He brings him to his home so her mother can cure him, and before the poor boy can react, he is invated to lunch with Combeferre's family. And his brothers are totally excited and incontrollable and it's quite funny. The dessert is an apple pie.

Before mister Combeferre brings Enjolras to his home, since Antoine feels culpable cause this boy will have to repose during a lot of days and he will provably be bored, he gives him his book of Linnaeus. Although Enjolras has been quite arrogant at first, he realizes that ‘Ferre is peculiar and special.

Then I mix parts from the point of view of Enjolras, and from the point of view of Combeferre, to explain the past of Gabriel, and who he is, and all the story and also a bit of the Revolution thing (the situation in France in that moment and how people perceive it- mister Combeferre is sick of revolutionaries xd). It is supposed to be explained by parts, so there is a little of mistery and all. I apologize if there are any historical mistakes, I’ve tried my best. But in resume, Gabriel was the son of a liberal printer (it's called this, right? I mean, a man who publish newspapers, and propaganda and all that). I took the idea from somewhere in the fandom, I can't remember exactly where, but I know it's an extended headcanon and I really like it. The original idea that I had was too similar to Marius, so I changed it cause the idea of the printer has more sense to the story. So he was a young printer, quite popular, who had a newspaper called “Abaissé” (you see what I’ve done here ¿right? XD). But during the Restoration, his house was attacked by a band of “verdets”, you know, these ultra-royalist groups, leaded by the future Charles X, who protagonized massacres and arrests of republicans and bonapartists. So there is a whole dramatic scene where Gabriel (Enjolras) sees how they took his father away, and there is a moment where his father looks at him, but the kid is terrorized and instead of doing anything he hides. There is the trauma. I wanna traumatize Enjolras at any cost. Then Enjolras and his mother were helped by a rich chevalier, friend of Enjolras’ father, named Leroy, who marries her and takes they two to his country mansion. He is the possessor of the lands that Combeferre’s fathers cultivate. He was all involved in the Revolution thing (at the beginning, he was a poor chevalier, so he had to study laws in Paris where he made friend between the intellectuality of the moment; then he took adventatge of his position to get rich). The case is that Enjolras is very traumatized, and depressed, and hates Leroy, and his new house, and hates everything, and is obsessed with the memory of what happened...

But he returns the book to Combeferre. And in compensation he brings him another book, “Julius Caesar” by William Shakespeare (you see what I did here also XD). Since then he spends all days in Antoine’s house. Her mother cook apple pies cause Enjolras really loves them, and she cares about him like a son cause she is a lovely woman. Although Combeferre’s brothers wanna play with them, they always scape and went to their favorite place: the apple trees that are near the house. And there they read. Enjolras brings every day books that he steal from Leroy’s bibliotheque, and someones are "prohibited", cause how I’ve said, Leroy was initially involved in all the Revolution thing. And these books begin to introduce some ideas, quite vagues at first, to the two kids. Also is here where Combeferre becomes so passionate of reading and learning, and he realizes of the importance of education (cause he felt an ignorant before) and you know XD.

I spend I don’t know how many pages describing these moments, how they read, what they read, how they become friends, how Enjolras let Combeferre approach him… There is a part, where I insist specially, that is when they read the epic poem “Paradise Lost” by John Milton. Have you read it? In this poem, he talks about the fallen angels, the demons, as revolutionaries who fighted for freedom against the tyranny that was in Heavens, so they were degradated and humilliated. But they also intended to free huamity. I've dedicated a lot of text considering about all the symbolism that is in the apple, related with the knowledge and intelligence; and the revolutionary fallen angels… Well, I know it’s a silliness, but I like to lose time in these things XD The case is that this poem cause a little clash between the two friends.

One day Enjolras doesn't go to his home, so Combeferre worries and goes to the mansion to know if he is ok (he puts one piece of apple pie in his pocket). There he sees how Enjolras’ mother and Leroy are arguing cause of these books that he shows to his son (cause Enjolras’ mother is very worried and doesn't want Gabriel to end like his father). Gabriel has scaped, so Antoine begins searching for him and in the end he finds him crying next to a river. He comfort his friend, and gives him the piece of pie, and they talk (Combeferre scolds him a little bit), and Enjolras makes him swear that, when they are older, he will accompany him to Paris.

In the end I explain the evolution of the two characters and how they've become how they are when they arrive in Paris.

I repeat I'm so angry with myself for not being capable of traduce it. But I really hope the drawings have been quite undertandable with this little explanation, and that you like them... ^^

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