A Drinker is a Babbler. Volume 4, Book 15, Chapter 1.

Clips from <Il cuore di Cosette>.

Reading Resolution: “Les Miserables” by Victor Hugo

22. A book you’re intimidated by: Les Miserables by Victor Hugo

List Progress: 1/30

I am a fairly confident reader at this point in my life, but I still have some books I shy away from. And the prospect of reading 1200 pages, in small type, of dense French literature has always been a bit daunting (despite the fact that I have multiple friends who have read it). I had put off Les Miserables, the 1862 novel by Victor Hugo, for a long time, and 2019 was the time to finally tackle it...even if it took me into 2020 to finish it. I had seen the movie and was familiar with the musical, so I was intrigued to see how the uncut book would come across. “Very inconsistently” turned out to be the answer.

Les Miserables follows the life of a convict, Jean Valjean, who is released from prison and is inspired to become a good man, but realizes that he must skip his parole and make a clean start to do so, as the “justice” system places such fetters on the formerly-incarcerated. He goes through many different new lives over the course of his freedom, but is always looking over his shoulder for danger to find him, often in the form of Inspector Javert, a police inspector who believes in Law over Good to such a fanatical degree that it rules his very soul. Valjean’s story crosses into Fantine’s, a single mother driven into poverty and prostitution, and after her tragic death, he adopts her young daughter Cosette. He raises Cosette until she is a young woman, and her story brings them both to meet Marius, a college student who becomes involved in the 1832 June Rebellion in Paris. In addition to all of them, you also have Cosette’s former foster parents, the conniving Thenardier’s, and their daughter Eponine who falls in love with Marius, and their young son Gavroche who lives as a street urchin eager to join the growing uprising. And that’s even before you get to the revolutionary leader Enjolras and his crew. While Les Miserables is technically Jean Valjean’s story, it does its best work when it is telling the story of an era, showing lives that serve as representations of broad social trends. Fantine is a person, certainly, but she is also a symbol and a treatise on what prostitution can do to the vulnerable. Victor Hugo is often mocked for his lengthy diversions into historical side-bars, but most of them work well as continuations of the central conceit of a working man’s history. (Aside from the Waterloo chapters, I could not stand those.)

No, what Hugo should be mocked for is how thin and trite the story’s romance is. The musical adaptation did Marius a lot of favors in being less whiny, self-centered and dull, and aged up Cosette to avoid the downright creepiness of a 21 year old lawyer becoming obsessed with a 15 year old he had never spoken to and stalks until her father has the move houses to get away. Jean Valjean and Javert are both rich, complex characters, and even some of the side characters are fascinating jumbles of contradictions and pain, but Marius and Cosette are just made of Classical Romance tropes that did nothing for me. My favorite character ended up being Gavroche: a young boy living on his own and thinking he knows the ways of the world, only to get caught up in matters more serious than he can comprehend. When the main couple had scenes intercut between Gavroche’s adventures, I know which ones I was eager to skim through and which I wanted to spend time with.

So would I recommend it? I’m honestly not sure. I am glad I went through the experience and I think that was a lot of beautiful writing (and compelling arguments about justice and injustice for the formerly incarcerated). But I don’t think I needed to spend 1200 pages in it, and unfortunately an abridged copy would not help, as I am far more eager to skip some of the main characters than the 20 page history of the Paris sewers (which was oddly fascinating). So while I’m glad I did it and started off the year by finishing a paper brick, it will be a long time before I read any more Victor Hugo.

Would I Recommend It: If you really love the musical or big doorstopper challenges.

Persona 5 AU

You know, I figure I should talk about how Haru and Goro swap roles as a result of their father swapping roles.

Haru Okumura (Takakura) [Arcana: Justice/Fool aka Wild Card] <- Goro Akechi (Shido) [Arcana: Not Stating]

As the Beautiful Detective Princess, Haru is beloved by girls and boys, men and women, for different reasons. Girls look up to her, women see her as breaking boundaries, boys just find her cool and cute, and men...split if she's going to last long. A sweet, kind heart girl with a strong sense of justice, she finds the PT's actions as criminal due to their methods (however, when the PT’s name get damage after the death of Kaneshiro and Shido, she believes their innocence of the murders). In her spare time, she enjoys ballet and gardening (she has a nice small garden at home). No one knows she is Okumura's bastard daughter, or the fact she moonlights as a supernatural hitman in the Metaverse. Everyone only knows her as (Eiji) Takakura, 'niece' (first cousin once removed; easier to say niece), as Haru’s mother was a cousin of his. (This is of course a cover story; Haru isn’t related to Takakura at all. Okumura ask the man to take in the child, saying she’s the daughter of a friend of a friend. Takakura  suspects otherwise, but will never speak thoughts.)

Despite the love and care Takakura  gives her (Takakura wants what’s best for Haru), Haru is driven to be acknowledge by  Okumura, wanting him to admit he left her and his former fiancee alone, and plans to get that by getting him to prime minister, only to reveal the truth after the election. Haru gets along well with Sae, in part for not asking for sushi. Haru worries for Sae a lot, and sometimes brings Sae fresh vegetables for her and her sister to eat. (Makoto is jealous of Haru for having the better relationship with Sae, but grows out of it by the time of the Space Station Palace).

Haru joins the PT after showing them the photos of them entering Shido’s Palace. She blackmails to steal the heart of the Sixth Palace Owner, in exchange for However, her plans on betraying them differs. Originally planing on 'selling' the PT out and shooting Joker in the head (the PT never suspects Haru as being the Persona User working with the conspiracy), the fact that one party member left and rejoin so quickly nip it. So Haru play nice with everyone in Okumura's Palace, but she let one slip up: one room is fully biometric, meaning it can only be access by 'people' with authority...or with Okumura's blood. The PT realize this too late. 

Haru traps them all, explaining they're all going to die. She gives out her backstory and her motives, and she and the PT fight (the PT, especially Goro of all people, try to reason with her). She is brought back to her senses, and the PT agree to finish the job together when Cognitive!Haru shows up, injuring Haru. Everyone learns Okumura knew of Haru's plan, and learn about Okumura's plan for Haru after the election, that she was going to suffer a fate worse than death. However, it may be better to kill her now. The PT (re: one PT member) intervene and kills Cognitive!Haru. While Haru does live, her injuries in the Metaverse ended up causing her to into comatose in the real world for the rest of the game, even in the final battle. She wakes up after Ren/Akira/Joker is in jail, and she gets Sae for the two to switch places. 

I joking applied game mechanics and figure her Co-Op/Confidant story is automatic moving with the plot, but it isn’t going to like Goro’s with the EXP bonus. Her Special Bonus and Skills is being able to grow vegetables at Shujin Academy,  accessable at rank 2, 4, and 5,  (2 it's here does Haru bring up her love of gardening) as she and Ren/Akira/Joker meet at random places and it just ranks up. When she becomes a party member, she gets all the regular members skills except one.

On a more serious note, Milady is no longer Haru's Initial Persona. Frankly, keeping Milady in this AU doesn’t seem like a good idea. Honestly torn between Irene Adler, being 'the woman' that outsmarted Joker and the PT for a good while, or Josephine Balsamo, as she is part of the Lupin lore. Ultimate Persona is Eris, Goddess of Discord. Also, I like to think that Haru keeps her almost all her Persona skills as in canon, expect she now has Deliberate.

Being the son of Masayoshi Shido is a heavy burden, especially given the fact Goro knows he's really Shido’s bastard child (Shido’s attempt to hide it from his son fail). A brilliant, cold, standoffish third year at Shujin, he's a stickler for keeping the status quo, which makes many students afraid of him. Everyone that does get the chance to speak/know him think of him as a haughty prick that needs to be taken down a few pegs, as Goro tends to insult people he views ‘lower’ than him. That being said, everyone can’t deny he a food lover with good taste (mostly with fancy tuna sushi,) and athletically build (favorite sports is rock climbing; darts is his second).

Goro is honestly a sensitive, decent person. His behavior is just an attempt on keeping people at arm lengths, as he is in full self-loathing on his true status, and believes people will treat him differently. Goro joining the PT isn’t like Haru; while he has access to the Navi App (for quite awhile actually), he never half awaken his Persona. He put in a request to change the heart of his father as a result, but nothing came of it...until recently, as Shido is now the number one requested person (which shocks the PT as they can’t find too much dirt on him). Goro only learns of the PT identity's after the PT fail to figure out Shido’s Palace Location or Keyword. Goro is a tag-along, and awakens after seeing the Cognitive Version of his mother: a cannibalistic, fire monster-like human on its legs (Shido doesn’t have good opinions of Ms. Akechi), screaming at him for killing her and ruining her life. After defeating her and leaving the Metaverse, Goro tells the PT the truth of his family, and his father’s crime in regards to his friends at the National Diet and for the business.

Seeing Shido's death in front of him took a toll, being reminded of finding his mother's dead body. He leaves the PT for part of the exploration of Sixth Target’s Palace, to make peace with everything, and rejoins after Haru joins (he is glad the PT had an extra pair of hands). Goro’s role in getting Joker out of police custody is...complicated, and that will be discussed later. All I can say is that Goro has to be a red herring, as he and the PT agree he should contact the Conspiracy. 

Goro is the PT member that saves Haru after she almost dies from her Cognitive self. While he never plans on forgiving her, he tells Haru he can empathize, as he too is a bastard child, and would have probably done the same thing if Shido had not taken him in (then Haru goes into coma). Goro is with Haru when she awaken, and he tells her what happen while she was out.

Having Robin Hood as his Initial Persona seems odd, so it's between Inspector Javert, being 'scum' of society that made his way to be a proper member of society, or Jean Valjean, as he is 'changed' and wants to do better. Ultimate Persona is Loki because I want to keep him. I like to think that the skills are the same, but now he has Heat Riser (or Luster Candy). 

I say Co-Op/Confidant storyline would be Goro and the the aftermath of Shido’s death, trying to become a better person, and being ‘in charge’ of the Red Lodge business. It’s in quotes as Goro is still in high school and needs to go to college before he fully takes over, so he’s stuck dealing with the philosophies Shido’s partners that are on account, clean: silent yet seemingly loyal Hitomi Makimura and eccentric yet ambitious Kou Kougami, If I joking add game mechanics, his bonus and skills are an enhancement of the Demon Negotiation (loosely inspired by some of the games files that show Goro was going to have skills/bonuses). If Joker made the wrong choice, he gets another chance. It evolves to where he can get two extra chances, with the high chance of getting the correct choice, leading to the Demon to 100 agree to what Joker want (Giving money, item, or being a Persona) for three times.

Reading this over made me realize I just put some Persona 1 elements. Haru is the Reiji, as while raised by someone that cares for them, they still want that sweet revenge. Goro is the Nanjo, watching someone they care for died in front of them, and a dickweed (not on the levels of Nanjo though) that grows out of it.

i figured you'd enjoy talking about sam and i love listening/reading about the winchesters so it was a win-win! tell me about your happiest memory: who were you with, what were you doing, what was westher like? ~ love week anon

Gosh Anon you are just full of great questions! I don’t know if I have one happiest memory but this was the first one that came to mind when I went to answer this so I’ll use it for now. It is definately one of my happiest memories. (And of course it’s about theatre, who would have guessed, right?)

So, A few years ago I was in a production of Les Miserables at my local community college where I do almost all of the theatre I have been involved in, this is the place that made me love theatre like I do. I got to play my favorite character in the show, Gavroche! He is a little street urchin boy that has befriended the revlutionary students who build a barricade in the show. I don’t know how much you know about the plot of Les Mis but I highly suggest watching it! Its one of the greates musicals ever written in my opinion and one of my favorites that I have done.

Anyway, the short version is that the show centers around a man named Jean ValJean who, at the start of the show is a convicted criminal about to be released from the labor camp where he has served 19 years for stealing a loaf of bread. This whole thing takes place in France in the 1800′s. ValJean is discovering that freedom is not all that he dreampt it would be now that he is labeled a criminal, he struggles to find work and even when he does he is not paid as much as other men. Finally he stumbles upon the doorstep of a generous Bishop who takes him in, feeds and clothes him, and offers him a place to stay for as long as he needs. ValJean sees his opportunity and steals away in the night, taking all of the church’s fine silver with him. He is quickly caught by some constables who bring him back to the Bishop and repeat his story that “out of Christian goodness when he learned about his plight … he made a present of this silver?” to which the Bishop responds “That is right.”, even adding two precious silver candlesticks to the pile of stolen items. The constables leave and the Bishop explains to ValJean that he has saved his soul for God and Valjean must use this new wealth to make a better life for himself and for God.

Flash forward a few years, Valjean has done what the Bishop said and now runs a factory where he employs the poor. One of these women, Fantine, gets fired because the foreman discovers that she has a daughter living with an innkeeper and his wife whom she sends money to. ValJean is too distracted by the return of the policeman, Javert, who first caught him to stop this. Javert is looking for ValJean who broke his parol when he ran away with the wealth the Bishop gave him. Fantine is forced to become a whore to send money to her daughter and ValJean stumbles upon her as she is dying from cold and hunger and realizes what he has done, promising to take her daughter into his care once she is dead.

Javert tells ValJean that he has found the man (he does not know who ValJean really is) and that he is to be arrested today. ValJean struggles with what to do, can he let this man go to prison in his place? But what will happen to the poor he employs if he goes to jail? Finally he decides that he must reveal who he is. He does so but again runs from Javert to collect Cosette, Fantine’s daughter and raise her.

Years later, ValJean with a now grown Cosette again finds himself in the same town as Javert. A town that is full of students who have ideas of revolution to help the lower classes of France, led by a young man named Enjolras who is close friends with Marius (this is the group Gavroche has befriended). They are planning how to start a revolution when Marius and Cosette meet and immediately fall in love. This spark leads ValJean to end up participating in the revolution in an attempt to keep Marius safe when he discovers his daughter’s love for him. 

Eventually, the students make a barricade in the streets of France where they fight French soldiers and are all (except for Marius and ValJean) killed in their efforts. Gavroche also dies :’(

When Marius and Cosette discover how ValJean saved Marius (on their wedding day) they rush to his side to find him dying. They thank him and he thanks Cosette for being the light of his life. Then Fantine’s spirit comes to him, calling him to come to her in Heaven and rest after his long and difficult life. This leads me to the point of this entire ramble:

This scene is the last song of the show, its called The Epilogue and it is beautiful. It starts with Fantine, then ValJean joins until eventually the entire cast (of more than 100 people) is on stage singing to the audience, basically saying “Did you get it? Did you get what all this was trying to say?”

One day at rehearsal we were doing this song. This was early in the process, we didn’t have costumes or a set or anything. It was just a vocal rehearsal, all of us standing in a giant arch with stands and our music still in front of us but something magical happened. We all truely felt the emotion in that scene that night and all 100+ of us stood there holding hands and crying so hard we could barely sing. It was one of the most beautiful experiences I have ever had and we never performed that song as well again. So yeah, Anon. I would say that is my best memory!

heres a video of a performance of the Epilogue (not mine)