Courfeyrac should've been Marius' Best Man!

Clips from <Il cuore di Cosette>

So no one is commemorating 16 February in the les mis fandom hmm? Or did I miss it

Marius and Cosette

I know this is a pretty niche brick meme but - Theodule in Volume 4 Book 5

— Les Misérables : Shoujo Cosette

This blog is to appreciate every moment these two have together just look at them <33333333

“Meanwile, two other masks in the same car, an old-fashioned-looking Spaniard with an outsize nose and an enormous black moustache, and a skinny fishwife of a young girl wearing an eye mask, or loup, had also noticed the wedding party, and while their companions and the passersby were busy insulting each other, they carried on a dialogue in a muted tone.

Their private conversation was covered by the tumult and swallowed up by it. Gusts of rain had drenched the wide-open car, the February wind is not warm; all the while answering the Spaniard, the fishwife, in her low-cut dress shivered, chortled, and coughed.

This is how the dialogue went.

‘Well, I never!’

‘What, pop?’

‘You see that old geezer?’

[…]

‘That’s not all there is to it. I tell you, I want you to try and find out for me what’s going on with that wedding party that the old geezer’s part of, and where the wedding party lives’

‘Not on your life! Talk about rich. You’d think there was something to it— one week later, finding a wedding party that went by in Paris at Mardi Gras! Like looking for a needle in a lousy haystack! Can it even be done?’

‘Doesn’t matter, I want you to give it a go. You hear me, Azelma?’”

[Illustration source available here.]

Imagine Theseus and Leta had their wedding, and Newt performed the best man duties.

Newt’s heart broke when he saw Theseus and Leta together. He was happy for them; he loved them after all. He wanted them to be happy. But, it also hurt.

Newt had loved Leta, too. He had wanted to be with Leta. But, he couldn’t. It was Theseus Leta loved in that way. And, Theseus felt the same way about her. This left Newt the odd one out. He had to let Leta go.

When Newt came home from their wedding, he sadly sang “On My Own” but with the pronouns gender-switched. He also went to his creatures and sought comfort from them.

so funny that victor hugo spends the first half of a chapter talking about all the incredible shit georges pontmercy did. “am i permitted to wear my scar” badassery. and then he reintroduced marius and is like “yeah this sad little shit. writes once a year. sad as hell” and i’m supposed to give a shit abt him

the age old question, who the fuck are the people at marius and cosette’s wedding? i mean marius’ friends are dead, cosette didn’t have anyone except valjean. are they people like marius’ family knows? that wouldn’t make sense because he got disowned by his grandpa???? (book and musical canon lets go)

The Two Old Men(+One Young Man) Do Everything, Each One After His Own Fashion, to Render Cosette Happy, Volume 5, Book 5, Chapter 6.

Clips from <Il cuore di Cosette>.

what are your honest opinions on Les Mis 2000

Before receiving this ask, I had only seen a little under half of Les Mis 2000 (French version). In order to provide a fair and complete response to this question, I started over and watched the entire show from beginning to end over the course of 5/6 weeks.

I will provide more details below the cut, but my completely honest opinion on Les Mis 2000?

Looking at the show as a whole, without considering adaptational value, it's scattered and confusing. A lot of storylines get picked up or dropped with little to no explanation, the characters and their motivations make little sense, and the time skips are inconsistent at best (Félix abandons Fantine when she is still pregnant, JVJ is released after Cosette is already 4yo and just being left at the Waterloo Inn/Fantine is already on her way to Montrieul-sur-Mer, Immortal Gav is 12 for ten years, meanwhile Javert undergoes a dramatic appearance change many scenes into the time skip, Cosette ages up when I assume the time skip takes place, and Depardieu [I refuse to call him Valjean] never ages until after the wedding). If you look at the context, it makes sense: they decided to (rather than dubbing after the fact) shoot everything in French and then again in English, so of course performances are going to flag, editing is going to be a mess, and the storyline is going to get lost in the changes they've made while shooting two shows at once.

Which takes me to my next point: as an adaptation, it's also incredibly weak. I don't know if I should be blaming the writer, director, or a terrible combination, but so many elements are not only not accurate to the book (fair enough, if you want book accuracy watch '25 Les Mis or '64 I Mis, or '72 Les Mis for accurate barricades specifically) but seem to totally miss the messages of the book altogether! Fantine was always in trouble before she gets fired (undermines Hugo's message that even doing everything "right" Fantine was still put in an unwinnable position), Javert gets his usual "obsessed with JVJ specifically and also treated as unusually cruel by everyone else" treatment, Gillenormand looks out for this fellow old man who was a gardener and has now been joined into his family by marriage, and Depardieu's character is going to get an entire section below. The Thénardier sex scenes are a lot but ultimately harmless compared to, say, the part where Javert cuts his hair (?) and attends law school with Marius and Enjolras as himself (?), and then later arrests the entire class for treasonous speech. This kind of belongs in the previous editing section, but a lot of the reveals (Marius knowing his neighbors are the Thénardiers, the Thénardiers recognizing the old man in the sewers, Cosette knowing her dad saved Marius, Gillenormand and Marius knowing Cosette's dad's background, Depardieu's character knowing about Javert's death) happen WILDLY out of sequence, and since they are plot-driving sequences, the motivations become confused, the choices make no sense, and you get scenes like Éponine trying to coerce Marius into having sex with her. I kind of liked the switch from jet beads to stinging nettle fabric except again, it didn't matter because Fantine's downfall was so badly done (forget that she turns to sex work immediately, only later selling TEN TEETH and her hair to make ends meet — Javert threatens to [and later does] arrest her for the completely legal profession of sex work before showing her where she can sell her teeth???) and Madeleine was so opposite from everything his character is supposed to be and show.

Which brings us to our next point: yes, in both the English and French versions, Depardieu's performance falls flat, but more importantly, there is an inherent misunderstanding of who and what Jean Valjean is at each phase of his life. I'll be honest, there was a lot going on when he was in prison with Javert tormenting JVJ for fun and the fire that Cochepaille needed saving from and Myriel announcing that he was buying JVJ the same way Judas sold Jesus and Cosette already being with the Thénardiers, so I don't have much feedback about JVJ's characterization or the paper that was yellow like sunshine at that point, but (ignoring the fact that Fantine apparently shows up in Montrieul-sur-Mer with no established factory in sight) then he becomes the most corporate businessman possible, with no regard for the wellbeing of his employees or town who spends all of his time running numbers? The hospital is underfunded, he only rubs elbows with other government officials/bankers, he is painfully out-of-touch with the people of his town, and apparently he doesn't even pay enough for Fantine to be making ends meet even before she is fired. A big part of what JVJ goes through in the book is that he feels like he cannot safely express his feelings about the system to anyone, leading him to act like a scared animal after Petit-Gervais, living in constant fear of being kicked ( @secretmellowblog has a great post about this here), but this Madeleine is CONSTANTLY venting and complaining to anyone who will listen. Not only that, but after he leaves M-sur-M, the police admit to Javert that they knew who he was and just decided to ... leave him be? This isn't a man who's living in fear, and this isn't a man who has to make hard choices in order to do good and help his fellow man. For some reason, Sister Simplice seems to be like 85% of his morality? (and we are very much skimming over the romance subplot that was going on there) So it doesn't even feel like he helps Fantine altruistically, it feels like Sister said "Please help" and Depardieu sighed and went, "Fine, I'll see if I can't pull some strings." When he gets Cosette and begins taking care of her, it feels ENTIRELY self-serving and creepy, and he later confirms with his own words from his own mouth that his feelings for her are not fatherly. He cares about prison reform because he experienced it, not from any sense of altrustic human kindness, and Toussaint ends up robbing him for having taken a chance hiring an ex-convict? (because ofc this Toussaint is a mute manservant, not a maid who can actually help Cosette, because all of Depardieu-Dad's choices are to serve himself, not to keep Cosette safe or happy). By the time Marius is sending Depardieu's character away, it's the only only adaptation that you're cheering on Marius, because this man calling himself Cosette's father who bought her for 1500 francs and still sometimes shares a bed with her and locks her in various rooms and has just admitted his love is not fatherly needs to LEAVE.

Finally — and I will freely admit that this is the pettiest section — the historical accuracy is in shambles. Electricity in the 1820s? 1840s fashions in the 1830s? The hair and makeup are given as errors, but how do you have accurate men's shirts and repeatedly let them wander around without cravats? And no one, not a single person, thought to check 1800s French currency? Sending Cosette off to buy bread with FIVE FRANCS (~$100USD)? Leaving one hundred thousand francs for the funeral of someone who canonically doesn't even have a marked grave? Even the part where Fantine sells her teeth: these were simple numbers they could have checked (two teeth, one napoléon aka twenty francs each — not ten for four each). All of the prices and amounts were in the book. It is not that hard to call the imaginary coin being passed between two characters a sous instead of a franc: we couldn't even see it.

I spent a lot of time thinking about how I would respond to this ask before finally answering, but ultimately, I was asked for my honest opinion, and this is it: it missed the mark for me in every way. I'm sure there are some people who enjoy it, and I am happy for them, but it is not an adaptation that I would recommend to anyone looking for a good Les Mis adaptation or a well-executed show.

for anyone wondering, i saw the les mis us tour last night in DC and it. was. CRAZY. i’ve seen the tour a few times in my life and i noticed some new things so here we go:

~~ spoilers ~~

- petit gervais was actually shown in the prologue when JVJ gets out of jail, he has some line like “but monsieur!” before being shooed away

- batambois actually hits fantine with his cane, knocks her down, and kicks her multiple times before she reaches up and scratches his face (i feel like i usually see him grab her arm or something instead of actually hitting her?)

- the other lovely ladies whores are all freaking out and trying to protect fantine from batambois and the pimp men people are actively holding them back and letting him hit her

- JVJ and javert have the gayest little moment of holding a handshake before “forgive me sir i would not dare” for a solid 30 seconds

- fantine shoots up and hugs JVJ in the line before she dies and stays there until he lays her dead body back down

- mme. thenardier was just so wonderful. i loved her

- gavroche has this entire moment with javert after the robbery, yelling “yeah! clear the streets! that means you too!” (said to a cop), and when the only two people left on stage are him and javert, he completely squares up to him and then salutes and it’s a really sweet moment. it also makes little people so much more impactful because they actually recognize each other then

- enjolras has a visceral reaction to eponine and marius speaking and he hasn’t even met cosette yet. enj turns to speak to marius and sees him talking to ep and throws his hands up in the air like, SO frustrated because MARIUS THE REVOLUTION IS COMING.

- red and black is BEAUTIFUL. the entire ensemble respects enjolras so much and it’s very obvious. “marius, you’re late” is not sung and so deadpan and so enjolras.

- R gives gav his bottle after javert’s arrival and it’s really funny

- grantaire does not take his eyes off of enjolras until drink with me. at all.

-when eponine dies, gavroche turns suddenly and sees her dying and grantaire SHOOTS up and grabs him and sits in the corner with him. it’s beautiful

- R does not touch a gun at all for the entire show. whenever anyone starts shooting, he hides behind the barricade or he grabs javert in custody but he never fights at all

- when gav dies, R throws a goddamn fit and does not leave his body until enjolras is about to be shot.

- when enj dies, he climbs up the barricade and is backlit and R is sitting at the bottom of the barricade reaching upwards, and when enj is shot, he falls backwards off of the barricade and out of sight. when this happens, R climbs the barricade with no gun, just enough so his head is exposed, and gets shot and slides down the barricade. it’s very “no one loves the light like a blind man”

- when javert is picking through the bodies looking for JVJ, another officer is wheeling a cart for dead bodies, and it ONLY has enjolras in it, hanging upside down just like aaronjolras in the window. javert heaves gav’s body on top of his and wheels them both off. (i heard multiple audible gasps during this, assumedly from the other enjolras girlies like myself)

- enj and R are beside each other for empty chairs until they cross and they’re directly facing each other instead

-during the wedding song, the line “this one’s a queer, but what can you do” is changed to “this one’s a queer, i might try it too” before thenardier waltzes with a male ensemble member for like 4 bars before finishing the song

- there is a lot of rich people laughing as a bit and thenardier cues to the conductor and counts them off like 3 separate times

- the finale is beautiful as always, JVJ and the dead bishop hug before everyone just lines up in formation (R and enj are both holding one of gav’s hands on either side)

- in conclusion: i cried

If anyone else has seen the tour and would like to add little things they noticed, please do in the tags!!

Hello I love your art!! If you're able to, can you draw Valjean gardening? Or alternatively talk about your thoughts on Valvert flower shop AU? :)

ty!!!!!!!! 🥺 the only flower shop au i’ve done is part of a larger wedding plan au where javert is cosette’s wedding planner and valjean has a flower shop/plant nursery. also one of the dumbest aus in terms of stupid javert jobs that don’t truly fit as an adaptation but are like candy for my diseased brain

part of the fun was their history tho……. valjean used to crash weddings for free food and drinks and javert caught him out when they were younger. and then the drama of them working together on cosette’s wedding but bonding over how much they both hate the groom……. javert being the only person who really sees how much valjean is just decimated by his daughter leaving…………. bear gardener covered in dirt who prefers the company of plants to people and stuck-up pristine wedding planner who’s emotionally unavailable but deep deep down is a hopeless romantic

sort of a throwback to the ye olde narumitsu wedding plan au. the real bitches know what i’m talking about 🤧

anyway that’s what this drawing was from a few years back !

AHHH LOOK HOW SO CHARMING!!

All credit to the wonderful @ferociousconscience for pointing me toward some fascinating background information and additional insights about Magnon in the cut chapter 'Further Adventures of M. Tholomyès' [source]!

This omitted section provides us with further context evidencing that, prior to her scheme involving the mômes in 1832, Magnon had been employing similar tactics and using children to manipulate circumstances to her advantage for many years. Interestingly, Hugo even draws parallels to real-life happenings of the time and briefly ties the character within a wider narrative: 'To those who would find such existences unbelievable, it suffices to respond that they are real.'

Not only do we gain newfound insight here into Magnon's deceitful past and personal affairs when she was 'hardy' and 'young', but this cut chapter also reveals just how long-standing her connection to the Thénardier family really is (a detail which is eluded to in the final novel, but never fully explained).

In fact, the focus of this chapter actually involves Magnon being lent Cosette by Monsieur and Madame Thénardier (for only 3 francs!) so that she can convince the municipal welfare office that she has a child. However, by coincidence, when making her way to the town hall with Cosette, Magnon stumbles upon the wedding ceremony of none other than Tholomyès… resulting in a heartbreaking incident where Cosette recognises her father and calls after him.

I love the deeper insight we get into Magnon's criminality and deceitfulness in these unpublished sections (which, in turn, also helps to emphasise the influence of gender and patriarchal ideals in shaping a perceived sphere of 'Women's Crime' during this period— where it was commonly assumed that women generally committed less violent but more exploitative crimes in comparison to men).

Moreover, I find this additional information about Magnon particularly interesting in light of the fact that, at one stage in the novel's drafting progress, she may have also been intended as Brujon's mother [more info here], originally being given the name La Brujon instead of La Magnon. I'm completely fascinated by the different avenues this character might have been taken if Hugo changed his mind before publication!

sooooo I cannot believe I am saying this, but nine chapters and 61K words later, my silly lil Enjolras & Eponine friendship fic is finished!!!

This idea started off as borderline crack but I'm so proud of the end result, give it a read if you like platonic fake dating shenanigans, found family, and two very different people realising that maybe, they're not that different after all.

***

Summary:

Enjolras takes a deep breath, and says in a rush, “Would you come with me to Provence and pretend to be my girlfriend so I don’t have to deal with my incredibly homophobic family for a week and subsequently put my head through a wall?”

Éponine blinks. There’s no way she heard that right.

Or

When your best friend’s boyfriend asks you to accompany him to a wedding as his pretend girlfriend, what else can you say apart from yes?

Chapter: 9/9

Pairings: Platonic Éponine & Enjolras, Enjolras/Grantaire, Éponine/Cosette