Heavily Inspired By A Dormont Illustration, Nothing Like 1950s Spousal Resentment To Invoke Enjoltaire

I went to see Les Mis a few days ago! Here are my notes:

- Killian Donelly's Valjean, I think, fits so perfectly with Bradley Jaden's Javert. Killian is a little more harsh, a little more desperate to atone for his sins. He trembles when he holds those silver candlesticks, you could hear his desperate breaths. No matter how soft or how gentle he’s become, he is still so, so anxious and paranoid.

- But y know what? There was freedom when he saved Javert from the barricades. There was freedom when he grounds himself in his love for Cosette. There was freedom when he shows mercy and forgiveness. At the face of love and mercy, he is free and I FUCKING WENT INSANE

- Bardley Jaden’s Javert's transformation from start to finish is terrifying and I'll say it again. He was not so violent at first. He was composed, strong-willed. He held his nose high and looked down at everyone. He pitied Fantine and smiled at her, he looks to the audience with gentle eyes asking to be justified, asking for some kind of sympathy as if he was a saviour taking action so no one else should. It is such a contrast to Valjean's anxious nature.

- but Javert is capable of fear. I have never thought I would see a Javert so terrified of somehow being misunderstood, of being proven wrong for his ideals and principles. Normally, Javert is angry with his sights only on Valjean, but Bradley makes this character so fearful AND IT IS SCRUMPTIOUS. Almost near the end he's afraid of even Valjean's touch. He doesn't look at the audience, he looks up at the heavens instead.

the end of les mis is so fucking good. like, yeah we just turned this whole ending around from a feeling of tragedy and profound loss to one of hope, interconnectedness, and an understanding that the bounds of human love and the innate bonds in the rich tapestry that our lives are woven together into exceed even death. that loss will not stop the future, because the memories of those who dreamed of change will always live on. and this all is achieved in like 20 seconds before credits roll.

Juan Luna’s Tampuhan, except it’s Enjolras and Grantaire

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I’m back on my Filipino Les Amis bullshit. Tampuhan, in English, means “sulking”, and I think it fits Enjolras and Grantaire perfectly.

Top five misleading Les Misérables chapter titles

5. “Wherein will appear the name of Enjolras’ mistress” - the mistress was France, it’s always France

4. “In which they adore each other” - they can’t stand each other

3. “A Merry End to Mirth” - nothing merry about this chapter

2. “The Man Aroused” - zero boners, just moral conflict

1. “A Few Pages of History” - it’s never just a few pages

Red, the Color of Desire

Some canon era Enjoltaire for you. Just wanted to challenge myself to draw something that was very hand based instead of relying on faces. I think it went pretty well. I have to draw a lot of hands at my works so I've gotten really comfortable with them over the years.

Anyway I hope you like it. Just a little bit of Enjolras/Grantaire steaminess.

I absolutely love how Marguerite, in Chauvelin’s eyes, is a symbol of wisdom and freedom in the musical.

He wants her. He objectifies her not as a woman, but like a national treasure. He is possessive of what was once her ideals. He wants her to be like him. He wants her to become a martyr. He wants to eternalize her into a symbol of their new society.

I believe this is also what the 1982 film tried to portray (the musical is directly inspired by this film adaptation).

They got rid of Marguerite’s agency over her own sins and completely antagonized Chauvelin in order to put an emphasis on this form of objectification.

As the story nears its end, Chauvelin loses all interest in Marguerite, upholding his own ideals above his yearning for her. He was to make an example out of her. Instead of a symbol of the revolution, he would turn her into a national traitor, a symbol of evil, everything that goes against his idea of “democracy”.

guys quick how do you spell gourgus

Just a doodle of Lawyer Enjolras and head wound Grantaire from my fic Drink to Forget. Maybe I'll manage something better later but for now I just wanted to draw and make something simple.

I wish I was capable of creating faster my brain wants me to write and draw faster.

To the sewers!

I feel like Victor Hugo would love this transition to the sewers setting

Jean Valjean catches Marius falling from having been shot. He points at an escape route and tells the audience he'll go via the sewerage. (Les Misérables peking opera, 2006)

The fact that I cannot understand Chinese at all, and this was one of the few terminologies I could read (since Japanese uses the same characters) made me accidentally laugh out loud.

It was a jumpscare of comprehension.

I will say, this is obviously my first experiencing watching a Peking Opera, so I'm just not used to the style of writing yet. I really love it though!! I can't believe this artistic, fun, acrobatic way of theatre was hidden away from me 😭😭