no one actually ships enjoltaire, everyone just projects onto grantaire and has a crush on Enjolras. In this essay I will

I’ve seen posts going around about how Valjean is just overly perfect and boring compared to Les Amis…and while I get that opinion, like. John McJohn is a gay old socially awkward hermit who instantly becomes known as the Town Weirdo™ wherever he goes, reacts to affection with either utter confusion or total emotional breakdowns, and is so aNXious 24/7 that in the Brick he doesn’t leave home without wigs stuffed in his pockets because “You Just Never Know”??????  Iconic honestly and I do not see the boring

honestly no matter how faithfully you adapt les miserables to stage or screen, nothing can really quite replicate the effect of hugo being like “so valjean got to this convent…. btw, just briefly, i don’t normally do this but bc it’s relevant, im gonna take 45 pages to tell u the history of the convent, all the significant nuns & their daily routines, & this is my opinion of organised religion in general - it fucking blows! - do you believe in god btw? we actually are god. philosophy and religion are both right. actually, convents are quite noble sometimes when u think about it. idk, anyway, as i was saying valjean got there” and u know he’s gonna do t again on some other topic in like 6 pages time

— Bahorel’s red waistcoat, Les Miserables, Book 11, pg 1071 (via orlofsky)

{Knives + Flowers} Montprouvaire

what should happen on the barricade

Actually this describes my perspective on any classic literature that I’ve ever read on a more than accurate level.

So i just finished rereading Those Chapters of les mis and almost everyone is dead now–all of les amis are dead, marius is mostly dead, javert just died…..

At least the Parisian sewer systems are still ok

Les Mis jokes that will never not be funny to me

Nothing cracks me up more than picturing les Amis going through a very intense game of Never Have I Ever and getting progressively horrified as Jean Prouvaire keeps taking one shot after the other

Jean Valjean: In order to symbolize that I see myself as a repentant sinner saved by God’s love and human kindness, I will name myself after Mary Magdalene and commit myself to service under that name.

Edmond Dantes: I’m SINBAD THE FRIGGING SAILOR yoloooooooo

it’s been a while hasn’t it

THIS IS IN AN ACTUAL BOOK THAT WAS ACTUALLY PUBLISHED. Bellos talks about starbucks AUs, Enjonine, and our obsession with Les Amis.

I really don’t like that way this has been written. Just this part makes me uncomfortable, so I wouldn’t touch the book with a 10ft barge pole. ‘Discover they are gay’ - claiming knowledge of the book yet ignoring all Hugo’s very intentional queer subtext to make the pairing seem like some ridiculous fandom nonsense.

'Marginalised groups’…why is it in quotations?

And the strange air of disdain I get from the writer when talking about how 'shipping a boy-girl relationship between two white able-bodied people is now not good according to fandom! How wild is that?!’

Sorry but why is this exciting? It just looks like the same old 'haha look how weird fandom is! Let’s have a giggle at young people!’

I've had to read so many academics who mock fandom with a passion that my bar for what I tolerate has sunken low enough to not take any offense from this. For someone who doesn't seem to have a clue about the field of 'fan studies', Bellos is holding up pretty well in my opinion. Can't and won't judge how well his book deals with queer themes until I actually read it myself though.