@spongyllama on AO3 where I write fics about dudes having mental breakdowns. Historically Anakin, but currently deeply fixated upon Javert
this is a side blog, follows come from parks-and-exploration
COMPLETE: Scrupulosity, a post-Seine Valvert slow burn
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Curse him. Curse his name and this supposed gift he’d given of life. Even Javert’s final thought, submerged willfully in the cold waters of the Seine, was littered with the remnants of Jean Valjean. Let him be free. Let the water wash away the curse inflicted on his soul. Let him die now, too tormented to wait in agony for a natural death, even if it meant the remainder of his soul would go to Lucifer’s domain. Let his eternal life be one of misery, as he deserved. Perhaps Valjean would meet him there, but Javert did not think it so.
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Rescued from the Seine by a determinably anonymous benefactor, Inspector Javert struggles to cope with the consequences of being left alive.
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She’s finally done so I figured I should repost it for all you fine folks who only read completed fics ;) hope you enjoy if you read it and I’d love to hear it if you do
My new favorite thing is promotional photos from the OBC of Les Mis. Valjean is trying to take a nice family photo and Javert is just…idek cooking up evil schemes in the background. He looks like Dracula. What is happening
all you new fandom members need to QUIET DOWN oh my god you're going to get us KILLED. we're happy to have you but if you keep talking about BULLSHIT like PUBLISHING fanfic for MONEY, Anne Rice is going to come back from the dead to KILL US. looking at YOU, maurauders fans, heated rivalry fans, byler fans...out here giving out interviews to news channels SHUT UP. we're going to have to start setting off firecrackers to keep the rent down.
Saw Les Mis US Tour tonight front row; some crazed ramblings in the spirit of Pride Barricade Month Week
(tl;dr I am helplessly Javert pilled but there is some Grantaire in there)
so I bought a literal front row ticket in back October, immediately forgot it was for the front row, showed up tonight, was shown my seat, jaw drops onto the floor because I did NOT remember selecting that seat (thank you for your service past spongyllama)
anyway just some thoughts before I forget them under the cut
-you really get to hear all their little whispers and stuff that the mic doesn't pick up (and you really immediately forget all the details because you're completely overwhelmed by being in the front row and not having expected it)
-in the spirit of pride month, and the actual reason I made this post, I would like to draw special attention to the way this Grantaire (who also has beautiful long luscious hair) spends the ENTIRE First Attack leaning over Javert and whispering directly into his ear, pointing around and pointing at Valjean, this of course after Javert just had a very intimate staring session with Valjean (as he always does), and all I can see in this very fine first week of June is a gay man talking to another gay man and isn't that just beautiful. Victor Hugo really gave us that
-Javert's wigs are, as usual, my favorite character
-the LITTLEST boy I've ever seen played Gavroche and I would DIE FOR HIM, he knew all his lines and did amazing but he was VERY little so he didn't sing them The Traditional Way which is in no way whatsoever a complaint because it made it ADORABLE and he was so happy during the applause
-Hayden Tee is probably my new second favorite Javert of all time and I had never even heard of him (no one can dethrone Mr. Quast in my eyes I am sorry)
-and then I look him up on instagram and this is the most wonderfully gay kiwi man ever, doing Get Ready With Me's as Javert, which he calls Javert Drag, and he is traveling the US on tour with his dog, this man is my king I love and adore him
-Nick Cartell. enough said there I believe???? Completely lived up to the hype??? Literally what is there to say about perfection??? Big fan of his wigs as well?? also shout out to those perfectly tailored jackets hnngggggg
-I am not knocking the Thénardiers actors, they were excellent (everyone is) but I cannot get behind them having American accents, I understand that it doesn't make any less sense than for them to be Cockney, but it simply does not work for me at all lol. I'm afraid the actors I saw in London two months ago blew me away so hard that they might be my gold standard now
-Half of Empty Chairs was performed 10 feet directly in front of me and as the worlds only Marius fan I have died and gone to heaven
-Jaedynn Latter AMAZING Eponine
-Valjean and Javert's exchange during the First Attack was also directly 10 feet in front of me and I think I went out of body
-same for The Robbery; Valjean and Cosette were right in front of me and Valjean is shading his face so Javert doesn't recognize him, and that shading was done perfectly in the direction for me to see the terror in his eyes
-The people sitting around me were literally a nightmare for my hypersensitive ass, so loud, actually so distracting that my night was slightly ruined, but the one highlight was the lady right behind me, while otherwise a fucking nightmare seat-neighbor, directly after the Confrontation, as the lights fade and Javert is unconscious on the floor, says at full volume, "I like that cop guy"
-I’m also deeply interested with the way the musical stages the students handing Javert over to Valjean, specifically Javert protesting at this and shaking his head, almost afraid, though of course he ultimately still challenges Valjean to kill him; in general I’m just fascinated by the contrast of musical Javert to book Javert: the former seems to want to live so he can do his job and stuff probably and is annoyed to be prisoner, whereas the latter is like 🥰 can’t wait for you guys to kill me 🥹 can I have some death, as a treat (pretty normal behavior at the barricade tbh)
I think that's it for now, it is so terribly cruel to witness perfection right in front of you and never be able to relive it except in memory. But such is theater and I shall ride this high until the Arena tour comes to New York next month ❤️ happy pride barricade month week yall
the fact that I can never relisten to this cast will haunt me forever. I saw it in Portland (3rd time for Cartell, and let me just say, performance has become GOATED since 2019), and I will never be able to stop thinking about the current cast.
How can I allow this cast to hold dominion over me? There is no way to go on???
Oil paintings based off photos of Nick Rehberger and Nick Cartell from the North American Tour souvenir program (photos and details below the cut) which I got at the show this month
really just needed an excuse to paint my two favorite characters (Javert's wig and the silver candlesticks)
No but I'm utterly taken with the contrasting imagery: the dark cool tones as Javert deliberates drowning, cold, alone, and afraid; and the warm heavenly light surrounding Valjean as he prepares to be embraced by God. And the fact that each photo has two lights, but Javert is facing away from the light and Valjean looking toward it.
tbh it's an utter coincidence that my motivation to paint these lined up with Valvert week but I'm glad they did because it gave me a healthy deadline to actually finish them instead of letting them sit in WIP hell with my 24,601 other projects
but God you would not believe how hard it is to photograph a wet god damn oil painting where half of it is matte and half of it is shiny because you may have finished it but you can't actually FINISH IT (i.e. varnishing) for like 3 months
anyway here are the references and some WIPs and various stuff; as you can see I opted for Javert's whiskers (my third favorite character) over Nick Rehberger's lovely beard (so don't look too closely at his mouth and chin, I don't want to talk about it), and I gave Valjean a hint of white in his own beard (only a hint because I've gotten a lot better at color theory but once you put oil paint down it's not always the easiest thing to color correct if you mess up...)
^you see, earth pigments like browns dry very matte and flat until you reshinify them, and it just ends up being patchy and varnishing fixes all that but I can’t varnish any time soon so I had to dab oil all over the thing which could lead to yellowing in a few years but whatever I gotta get that tumblr clout after all
