While not really a presence in what i'm usually writing about, I still wanted to design them. Enjolras certainly is more relevant than Grantaire when I'm writing about Marius, though. Sorry !
With a blond/..er, frosted tips? Version. Cause I know blondjolras is like canon and all but I'm not sure which I prefer.
Grantaire's design is still very much in the early stages, and whether it will ever leave them still remains to be seen . I didn't draw him in colour, but he is indeed ginger and taller than enjolras, thanks Kyle Adams! (With credit to Tom Hext)
So! Design details!
My Enjolras is Javanese. Representing this (to the best of my very british ability) is his sarong (the garment around his waist). While not Javanese in essence, Enjolras is not currently living in Java/Indonesia to be able to receive that direct cultural influence. Some batik (the name of the textile pattern) would have had european influence. This can be seen in the design I have created in the branches, which I tried to base on the tree brances seen on the symbol of the French Revolution.
Also on the batik is a fleur-de-lis, and alongside the french flag stipes on the trim, connects the indonesian to the french. Admittedly the addition of the fleur-de-lis doesnt really make much sense considering it wasn't particularly used much after the Revolution, so that might end up getting changed.
The necklace he wears is also javanese in origin - admittedly I should really have looked at a reference as they are NOT made from beads, so that would be an amendment for later, but he wears that also to represent his heritage. It also somewhat symbolises his more fortunate background.
His earring is simply for flair, however since they weren't particularly common, I guess it's him straying from the status quo.
Same goes for the bleached hair - purely to stand out. But I'm not sure if that's a permanent addition to his design yet.
In my first design I had him wearing trousers and shoes, but I've changed it to a pair of boots, as they are more militaristic in nature and practical.
As for grantaire... not much to say. He looks older than his days, a bit bloated, certainly his swollen alcoholic's nose too. Hair's grown long as he's stopped caring about getting it cut and styled at the barber, but hates how cropped hair makes his head feel cold. I'd say that's the situation with his beard too - can't be arsed getting it shaved.
Anyway.... next post will probably be about the old men, don't worry. Just needed to get this out of my system.
Any requests or questions about them or the other amis are totally welcomed - but i can't guarantee i'll have a decent answer past these 2 or courfeyrac. SORRY
Quick madeleine post. ive already made a post about this, just wanted to repeat myself LOL
i just like his hair. at the time long hair was not exactly the standard (in MsurM my javert has short hair. he grows it out later. i think i talked about that in another post) but i think the eccentric look would suit him anyway, being that eligible bachelor that whisks around handing out money, wearing an ugly ass yellow frock coat . iirc hes also making little toys for the kids of the town at this point. (im unclear as to time periods of certain details like this but this seems like somthing he'd do.)
the REASON he has it long is to make it easier to obscure his scars, as he has a very obvious scar down near his left eye which he had as a prisoner in Toulon . his other scars are less noticable (nose, lip & chin which he covers with his beard, the rest are under his hair).
I guess you could also say the hair is kind of healing, since his hair was cropped short in toulon. the rest of the facial hair is personal fashion.
his hair was probably not THIS long before javert arrived in the town, after which he would probably be growing it out longer to better hide his face suspicious, yes, but its better to look a BIT suspicious than to have javert recognise his scar immediately.
Javert would probably also think the messy hair was a bit uncouth and unprofessional, but who is he to question madeleine?
theres a lot of layers to this but. i just like madeleine's hair <3
I am bound to produce some drawings to accompany this at some point but I am verrrry tired and am certainly not drawing anything right now. this is focusing more on physical than mental but i have some details about mental anyway ummmmmmm ANYWAY v2
Jean Valjean
In my opinion, Jean Valjean had the ability to stay quite physically healthy, as more or less he was somewhat active in his older age, at least in my canon he kind of goes on frequent walks, though his diet could be better. He struggles with a slight bad leg from the heavy chains, neck pains & other random aches (both old-age and PTSD induced), a reoccuring tremor and digestive issues, which is one of the reasons he is often reluctant to have a good diet. Still, I think he maintains some sort of frequent exercise.
Following the Barricade I think his physical health begins its decline because of the ongoing stress but generally levels out after Cosette's wedding, as in my canon by that time she had known about his past (i'll make a post on how that all goes down at some point once i've ironed out some details.) He definitely has some joint issues with his shoulders and back from the heavy weights he's often burdened throughout his life , which like, he was more than capable of carrying.
I've also toyed with the idea of him being hypermobile? He's mentioned to be "supple" in the book and flexible in some translations (iirc the original french mentions it but id have to check) and i just like the idea of him being hypermobile - but i'm not settled on it yet...
Also probably sleep apnoea #dadsnore
And and OCD which contributes to his whole dilemma going "hm well if i do 1 bad thing then im literally the worst person in the entire world and deserve to be damned to hell".
Cosette
Cosette I am not TOO sure but I think she has joint problems in her legs, i do not think she can walk very long distances without getting really bad pain . theres like a name for what i think she has but i cannot remember but my mum's friend has it . this is going to really annoy me. i dont think she usually needs a cane but she can go through bad periods when she really cant walk very far at all and might need a cane. in modern era she'd carry one of those canes that can fold out into a stool when she knows she has to walk long distances.
Possibly also struggles with walking due to weak muscles? Effects of childhood malnutrition and whatnot, Valjean makes sure she gets food now so she is not as lacking in nutrients and minerals as she was in her diet but on top of poor muscle strength she still has issues with her immune system. Also a reason for her reduced height despite the fact Fantine and Tholomyes (probably, i literally dont think about him at all) were somewhat taller than even Jean Valjean.
I also think she is def prone to anxiety & panic attacks with periods of bad breathing and the occasional heart tremor.
I think especially in her earlier years her academic learning growth was not fantastic, i think childhood malnutrition can affect brain functions, also like, she's not. having the best time with nuns . i like to think she finds self-expression in music and fashion instead, finds more pleasure in the auditory and visual rather than words and numbers and such.
Javert
Like Cosette, I don't think he has a great time walking due to having a lifelong bad knee following an injury in his childhood but is supported mainly by his cane which he also uses basically constantly or he Just Cant Walk
Also probably a few poorly-healed injuries from fights and scrapes. Usually he's very good at not getting into huge brawls but unfortunately his thick layers of both wool and meat isnt protecting him entirely from someone he's trying to arrest . Also sustained injuries as a child outside of the knee thing due to mistreatment growing up in prison (NOTTTT from his mother i love javert's mother i think she was kind to him and helped him heal. whatever. headcanon)
Anyway onto the other stuff i think he has some acute form of acromegaly i cannot recall if it is actually possible to get a slight form of acromegaly but whatever i can do what i like . most physical symptoms of acromegaly he 100% displays especially around the time of the main story because that's when acromegaly starts to display ANYway he gets thyroid pains (also slightly enlarged but not always noticable because of his tight ass stock which doesnt help the thyroid pain i imagine and also his fat neck), joint pains especially after days when he has been on a long rough patrol, sleep apnoea, poor sleep (gave up a long time ago trying to get a good night's sleep because of this), frequent headaches which he just bites down on a leather strap to deal with and moves on, thick & poor skin condition.
Also suffers (extension of acromegaly) with poor fine motor in his hands because of them being slightly enlarged and numb, and his eyesight deteriorating quite quickly after the barricade. There's probably more but this is just what I can recall
Post-seine I think it takes a couple years but his walking gets really painful and ends up needing a wheelchair nearly full-time especially when leaving the house . I hate to say it as well but he is 100% not treated for the further complications of acromegaly & like being over 50 like his health just gets BAD with all of the organ stuff that goes down. Again i think i had more but i can t remember i know too much about acromegaly i think javbertt has it hugo told me
aldo dyslexic which explains why he doesn t like reading he just refuses because he cant read. writing those reports are hell. hes being punished more because he;s french please save his soul
Marius
Frankly i think considering he's live laugh loving because his best medicine is his wife BUT TT i think pre-barricade he struggles with more anxious dispositions due to gillenormand's treatment, having poor nerves prone to over-stress and breakdown, heart palpitations, probably gets poor sleep most of the time despite occasionally experiencing bouts of fatigue (cosette cures this by sleeping in the same bed), 100% got those anxiety stomach aches.
Was considering maybe he has asthma too....?????? he seems like the kid to me who always had an inhaler handy idk he has the vibe
Post-barricade is when it gets more messy because the stress symptoms get WORSE on top of like everything else. i always forget to draw this but he gets a scar down his face probably from one of his lamarquillion head injuries he sustains and leaves him blind in his left eye.
also cant hear very well because all those explosions probably werent great for the hearing also banging your head ten million times isnt really kind to your ear balance
On the topic of head injuries 10000000% has memory and cognitive issues following this. Struggles in his studies because of it (manages to pass law school anyway somehow idk i dont know how law school works in 1800s france i need to work on that) but often falls into episodes of unawareness or completely zoning out and not being able to pay attention, basically just blacking out periodically. this doesnt last throughout his life but he does still get headaches and not great at remembering stuff, also requires a cane to walk pretty much full time. more barricade injuries #yay
adhd as fuckkkkkkkkkkkk
GOES without sayubng all 4 of them have autism becauyse i SAID so its just true. they are autistic. this is also something else hugo contacte d me about I didnt include it in these paragrap hs because most of it just centres around the rfact they probabyl didnt like education save marius who liked that and nothing else. or whatever.
i think i probably have missed a lot of details and will have more to say later but its 1am and lacking nuance
Anyway i would love to hear everyone elses disability headcanons fo rles mis characters and any suggestions/feedback on my own.....!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i always love taking on board other Opinions for SURE . tell me your own thoughts and headcanons i wanna hear so bad . please
So, neither option won that poll, so I'm making this post first. This is probably going to be me ranting more about Javerts I like than actually talking about my own Javert.
The characterisations of other characters have been taken from either one primary source, musical actor, or my own personal take. For example, Cosette is mainly inspired by the 1982 film, but has some influence from musical actresses such as Beatrice Penny-Touré.
Exeptions to this is the versions of the characters post-barricade, as from there is where my story mainly diverges, as most Javert & Valjean Live AUs do. Most of that is my own interpretation, since they are no longer in "normal" circumstances.
As such, Javert has been very fun to work on, because there have been many different characterisations that I find VERY entertaining. They all seem to lean into one aspect of his character more than the others, which makes him... strangely versatile, for such a rigid character?
So... what does this mean for my favourite baldie?
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Let's start with the guy who started it all, and my blog icon: Todd Alan Johnson. There will be several musical Javerts listed here, but nobody was doing it like TAJavert. I blame him in part for getting me into Les Mis, as I had been a fan of TAJ for a while, when I stumbled across him in 2021 in Little Shop of Horrors as Orin Scrivello (my favourite character - can you tell I like villains). After being introduced to Les Mis through the work experience I was doing in Feb 2024, i revisited TAJ, finding out he had in fact played Javert - first in the third national US tour, and a few other times in smaller productions.
Thats when I found the pictures from Surflight's 2013 production.
And thus Chauvert was cemented in the brain. simply couldnt have it any other way. he just HAD to be bald. Because of this, and at the time I began designing him I didn't know anybody else who played Javert (this would later be changed when I saw stewart clarke live, but nothing really changed after that except for the javert bug eye truth to be solidified)
I really wish there was more footage of this production past these photos, because I NEED more of his bald head as Javert. And look at those sideburns! They're all-natural! Plus, i thought his face was a good fit in general for Javert. It's less obvious with his sideburns, but he's got that big jaw, talks with his bottom teeth showing, intense eyebrows, big buggy eyes when he wants them to be.
Pic from him as Sweeney Todd. My Javert's face is just a heavily cariacaturised version of his.
Additionally, I'm sure you're all familiar with jadenvargen/melancholyarchivist's art. I was a fan before, so finding out there was les mis art too was huge. My Javert was always a bit on the larger side, but that one drawing with Javert and Valjean labelled something like "tremendously large man" and "bigger even huger man" or whatever, cant find the piece right now. anyway that definitely confirmed for me that they were BOTH gonna be built and fat, rather than the lanky javert that I see most people draw.
So, that was the foundation.
From here I'm not really sure in what order inspirations came, but next was probably Anthony Perkins in LM1978, because you just dont get more diva that that. We all know how much of a drama queen Javert is, and in fact Perkins was so good at this that the first thing I did after watching this film was go downstairs and ask my mother if Perkins was gay (to which she replied "Oh, absolutely flaming")
My inspiration for Javert usually comes from small, inconsequential little actions or demeanour that catch my eye... Perkins had plenty, as well as a ring on his finger, which I always forget to draw, but my Javert is supposed to have.
Here's a select few bits I like of his, that have directly influenced my Javert. There's probably more, but I can't remember off the top of my head.
1) the walk. 2) the way he hold's the cane??
3) this whole scene, but specifically the there is no monsieur in this room! there is only a scoundrel! line. 4) the way he reacts to finding out valjean is still alive. VERY similar to how it goes down in my canon, just in a different setting/scenario.
outside of 1978, there havent really been any non-musical adaptation Javerts that have particularly stood out to me. I havent watched 1998 but he doesnt look like he'd be like my Javert, and 1982 despite being my favourite adaptation ... did not have the most memorable Javert.
Even in the radio dramas, which i love to death, don't really have much influence over my Javert, since I already have a very clear idea in my head of his speech, and most inspiration comes from visuals. the CBS radio drama probably comes the closest to the way he speaks, though. (his voiceclaims are either roger allam, todd alan johnson, or some random french guy with a really deep voice who came up on my instagram feed once. yes, I'm serious, my javert sounds like that.)
My javert is not exactly expressive, or outwardly "sassy", per se? I think he's more subtly camp, perhaps with the way he stands sometimes. Don't worry, he's still the absolute drama queen he is in the brick, with "would you like my hat?" and all, but he delivers it in a much more flat way. that's why I don't exactly look at the way perkins delivers "monsieur, monsieur le inspector now!" for my javert. yes, he'd say that, but with a little less visible sass, if that makes sense.
Pre-seine, he's expressive in his own way. whenever he loses control a little he's prone to getting visibly angry; distressed (see: losing valjean when chasing him through paris); when you can see him setting his jaw with a visible vein in his head, short-tempered and curt; or that sort of sinister glee with his "bark" of a laugh or patronising sneer. But other than that... you've gotta hear it in his voice. Sorry to all the cuntvert fans out there, my Javert tries to keep it professional when he can, but he's still trying to out-diva everyone at any given opportunity!
So we return to musical Javerts, then.
I've seen a few, so it's hard to gauge who's had an actual effect and who hasn't. There are a few I do know for a fact I have taken little bits from:
Terrence Mann is familiar to everyone I'm sure. sass-central, which contradicts the above paragraph, but he does it in a wonderfully weird and kind of menacing way which i LOVE. My javert leans more into that menacing side of things. He's always JUST in the shadows, just so that you might not notice him, but if you were wary of authority, you'd see him lurking. his stature, you might think would make him a bit lumbering, but he's shockingly agile and snakelike. Think of a tiger. (oh yeah, shere khan from the jungle book is another inspiration i guess, but I won't include him here - we know.) Terrence Mann is delightfully snide and insane and I love it.
Gifs of small bits of his performance I like.
And his soliloquy? oof.. believably absolutely losing his mind.
The Javert who has probably influenced mine the most is Hartwig Rudolz, from the german Duisburg production in the 90s. He's commanding, he's dignified and haughty, he's even got the sinister chipperness about him from time to time (he's chummy with Madeleine in the cart scene, even laughing and smiling with him. While not really my Javert, it's worth a mention. Also does a condescending chuckle when Thenardier asks to be let go before Stars.)
More gifs of bits I like!
Bonus gif, cus that wig is loooong!
Three more would be Nic Greenshields, Jordan Simon Pollard and Michael Ball. They are all great Javerts (which might be a hot take, I'm not sure if ballvert is popular but I've been a fan of his for 5 years so maybe i'm biased.) I can't say TOO much on Nic and Michael acting-wise, because Michael Ball has only been in the arena tours, and the footage ive seen of Nic Greenshields is not the GREATEST quality - but they all have an air of haughty dignity about them, which obviously i try to give my Javert.
Jordan I've had the pleasure of seeing in person, twice, as well as meeting the guy. He's been the understudy for a while. He takes quite an expressive approach to Javert, using mainly his eyebrows, which i definitely think makes up most of my Javert's expressiveness. He really knows how to use his face to act - seriously, I can barely believe it's the same guy ! He usually has quite a furrowed brow, with his chin jutting out a little, standing with his chest puffed out. He's 6'3, and quite broad-chested (seeing as he works out) so you can imagine what kind of a presence that creates.
Both Nic and Jordan, being in the same production (Jordan was Nic's u/s in the UK tour, is now Stewart Clarke's on the West End) had this moment, but after Thenardier asks to be let go, on "it was me what told you so!", they turn and step forward so that Javert is basically chest-to-face with Thenardier (and the guy playing him at the time was like, a foot shorter than the both of them). I liked that a lot. Absolutely something my Javert is doing. He's got the height and the tits for it, there's no way he isn't, cmon
Also, both Nic and Michael also have the benefit of being broader than most Javerts, Nic especially, as he stands at a whopping 6'6, so he's a SERIOUS presence onstage. My javert is around that margin at 6'6-6'7, so that checks.
I know a lot of people say Ballvert is "too cute" or whatever, and i'd totally agree as a michael ball fan, but if you ignore the fact it's Michael Ball, i think he seems a bit more "unsuspectingly cruel" than outwardly intimidating. While this doesn't exactly reflect my Javert, he DOES have some good bits. From my notes when I saw him in the arena tour:
the wway he takes off his gloves in the confrontation was not only kinda sexy (sorry) but a bit foreboding. he has a nice amount of sass, which of course is always appreciated. his general attitude in Stars, too, like he's truly earnest, and someone mentioned how he sings it like a love song - yuuup. His soliloquy is also amazing, the way he portrays Javert as being just so scared of what's happening, but lapsing into anger... ouuh.
I have not fully planned out my Javert's suicide (attempt) yet, how he would be responding, but I've been leaning into the more fearful approach. I mean, his entire worldview has been shattered like that, the entire structure of which he built his life on has just crumbled in front of him, i'd be frightened too.
Anyway, random detail - if you were interested in the origin of Javert's scar, like, from a meta perspective:
Adam Robert Lewis, of course, with his cool nose scar.
My javert had a scar anyway, just a small cut on the lip, probably from a nasty hit to the face which never quite healed right and scarred, but something about ARL's scar really worked... so the scar extended a few inches up the face. It's changed places since then, originally going from the lip to the nose, then from the lip to below the eye, but now it's branched off to both. I still don't have a specific origin for the scar in canon, so you can make one up yourself.
Linking to that scar, and also linking back to Michael Ball - i mistook a shadow on his eye for a burst blood vessel, and thought it would be an interesting look for my Javert. I'm a sucker for temporary details (Javert's moustache post-msurm, for one), so I've given him a bad eye for early M-sur-M. Very recent development.
HONORABLE JAVERT MENTIONS, THAT INSPIRED ME SLIGHTLY OR CEMENTED A SPECIFIC IDEA:
Stewart Clarke. He was the first I physically SAW, and also the one I've seen the most, since he's the current West End Javert. Very good javert, unsettling with those eyeballs, very spitty, which I totally forgot to mention is also an integral part to my Javert. So, thanks Stew! His soliloquy is also just out-of-this-world, seriously. Seek out a recent audio of his if you haven't heard him. He's nuts.
Jeremy Secomb. Sir Eyeballs Supreme. If you want a Javert with an unsettling stare, he's your guy. And he's currently the Bishop in the arena tour! What a way to convince Valjean to be a good guy, just staring him down with your evil fucking peepers. When partnered with Peter Lockyer, they form THE valvert duo, they kissed on video in costume, so many cute photos of them together, and they LOOK the parts. Jeremy looking like those toys you sqeeze and their eyes pop out vs Peter's soft face and kind smile like a golden retriever or something. Seriously perfect.
Nick Rehberger. Current US Javert. Great at really minor acting choices, sassy man apocalypse. Very dignified. VERY handsome. Bit gay. Amazing voice. What more could you want?
Roger Allam. Now, I'm getting a bit ahead of myself here. I've already mentioned he's one of the 3 people I cycle through for my Javert's voiceclaim, and there's like NO (publically available) footage of him. I am planning on viewing the footage they do have, but that's some time in the future. The OLCR is my personal listening choice when I'm listening to the musical soundtrack, so Allam is kind of burned into my brain. I know it probably sounds crazy but the way his voice sounds really influenced the way I have Javert physically speak, with his heavy jaw. Anything about his specific physicality is completely imagined - but hopefully not for long.
Chris Murray. Another german Javert I really like, from a 2007 nonrep production. If you like unhinged Javerts with eyeballs for days, he's your man. He's also just greatly unsettling. He almost made the cut with gifs, but unfortunately Terrence Mann won out. He was just a little TOO chipper about things. But i do love how his amiability is very obviously a ruse, with the way he holds a stiff smile in The Robbery on "But where's the gentleman gone / And why on Earth did he run?" (or, the German lyrics, whatever. It's that part of the song.)
Preston Truman Boyd. One part only. He's the reason I gave Javert a moustache and weird little chin beard thing post-msurm. I just thought that was important enough to get a mention, other than that I haven't really seen much of him enough to say.
ANYWAY, that's about it !!
There's probably more i've missed, but it's 5.30am right now, and I'm flagging. Plus, the post is long enough as is.
If you've read this far, I gotta know - who's your favourite Javert, or at least top 5? Have they influenced the way you view Javert in any way?
If you're like me and like taking tidbits from different sources, what are yours? Im curious to know !!! PLEASE tell me!!!!!!
Thinking about his stupid ass so I'm making a post LOLLL
If you saw my post about Marius' friends, you'll have read about the infamous Gérard Ambroise - hes a bit mysterious, a bit of a dickhead, but sticks around regardless. So.... who is he exactly , you might be asking?
Pre-note.... shoutout to @24601orwhatever as per usual for helping me develop all of this and being the one to suggest gérard be canonised in the first place! he wouldn't be alive without you! most of what you will read below in the byronverse section will probably have been suggested or , like. "yes, and"-ed by him. THANKYOUUUU!
Let's begin ! (this is going to be a bit long, sorry.)
FROM THE META ANGLE:
For those who are not part of the like, 5 people worldwide who are In The Know (or maybe there are actually people who pay attention to my deranged rants on my main blog, i dunno), Gérard is, technically, an actual character in Les Mis. Officially he is an unnamed student, and has some iconic lines such as Our world! and Marius, sit down!. You may also spot him at the start of the ABC café scene seemingly arguing with enjolras centre stage.
The character who runs that track is not called gérard of course, though i call every actor who covers or plays the role in previous productions "Fake Gérard"s. Gérard is ONLY Gérard when played by Jordan Simon Pollard, on the West End. He's even in the programme, twice!
Here's some more pictures, with his iconic glasses. (Didn't have em in the programme for some reason.)
The surname Ambroise is completely invented by me. The name Gérard however, the man himself told me, for which I am eternally grateful Thanku hero
And thats basically all there is to know about the "canon" character, other than funny little details i spot. Keep an eye out for him. His track runs usually further offstage so you might miss some of the drama (or him completely if you're watching a bootleg) but if you're like me you probably prefer to watch whatever the fuck the ensemble are doing instead of the leads (sorry, enjolras).
SO IT'S PROBABLY IMPORTANT TO MENTION that the Gérard in the show and the Gérard in my head are two different guys. The interpretation I have of his character comes from my insane mind flanderising little interactions into oblivion until he became this man with a personality like sandpaper. The interpretation that Jordan Simon Pollard himself has on the character is most definitely entirely different. If he somehow sees this, sorry promise i'm normal.
That brings us to...
THE BYRONVERSE ANGLE:
In the brick, i think its mentioned that 5 students escaped, disguised as national guardsmen? well... regardless...... somehow Gérard survived, a slightly meta inside joke about the fact that the first time i was actually paying attention to him in a show, i lost track of where he was on the barricade and he seemingly just vanished and therefore theoretically could have survived the barricade. However the last time i saw him he did indeed take a bullet to the face (while screaming insults, might i add). My canon doesn't follow brick canon word for word anyway, as i like some details of other adaptations better and they work better with my characterisation - whatever. not important right now ,, kinda ,,,
anyway, gérard was one of les amis d'ABC, obviously. A law student, like marius, but cared more about activism, politics and debate than he did his degree, hence joining the revolution. he locked horns with enjolras a fair bit, but was not all that outspoken or loud, usually preferring to keep his head down and judge the rowdy students from afar, shaking his head in silent disapproval.
During the rebellion, suddenly he was faced with the reality that he may very well die, but was still determined for the cause and fought hard, gaining himself a nasty scar to the jaw and a few injuries here and there , yknow, the normal stuff. (another slightly meta note here, in the show, i dont know whether it's jordan not being able to act firing a musket or what, but i first interpreted his shooting during the Attacks to be him looking away from where he was shooting before he fired. this was probably me misinterpreting a very quick glimpse i saw, but whatever, #adoptingintomybeliefsystem.
He got out alive, laid low for a bit, continued his habit of wall-hugging everywhere he went, returned to his studies as a student. His injuries were not so grave like marius' that he took significant time in bed, plus he's a stubborn bastard so would've been up and about anyway if he didn't have anyone to play dramatics around for sympathy.
Emotional scarring however WAS there, of course, and caused him to become a lot more withdrawn and bitter. He became highly defensive and generally abrasive. If he was not a people person before, he certainly was not now. I suppose that's his way of trying to keep his identity low to avoid, yknow.. getting arrested for being an insurgent. just glower at everybody so they leave you alone.
He met marius completely by coincidence - if you read my last post, and as you'll find out if you read the fic when it releases, he was drawn in kind of against his will by Marius' friend René (another law student who dngaf about the law, just wanted to meet people and get the gossip) who saw his Mysterious Aura and got chatting. Gérard noticed something familiar about Marius and vice versa, and found them strangely drawn to each other.
They find each other utterly annoying. They cannot be left in the same room or marius will feel so awkward he will literally fold up and gérard will burst a blood vessel. Gérard will not shut up about politics, which reminds Marius of Enjolras, which brings back memories, which- its just a whole mess. but they have a warriors bond nobody else understands.
and thats the gist, i guess?
so its time for my favourite part ...
INCONSEQUENTIAL CHARACTER DETAILS THAT I THINK ARE FUNNY
He's an absolute train wreck of a guy, as i'm sure you've already gathered. he's rude, unpleasant, a repressed homosexual and an outspoken radical.
Another little meta joke - there's another ensemble character Jordan Simon Pollard plays in les mis. another unnamed character, but he in fact gets TWO lines, in the intro to Master of the House - "Landlord, over here!" and "God, this place has gone to hell!". He told me this character is called Willy Wonka, so we'll call him wonka for now, because previously i was calling him Tall Jean or Jean 3, and willy wonka i fear is more insane and also the OFFICIAL name from the guy himself so who's to argue.
anyway my point - Gérard has a brother. i'm sure you guessed it's wonka. we did indeed canonise that connection, for a laugh .
Yes the only official photo of him has luke's arm in the way. Oh well! You know it's wonka because of the red coat and brown hat. yknow... like willy wonka...
Anyway. his deal. sometimes in the show he will pull out some perfume and spray himself, so let's assume he's a) gay b) into perfume. He seems to be a much more amiable guy than his brother, chatting with other patrons at thenardier's inn (and even sometimes flirting with other men. saw him sit on a dude's lap once. most recently a guy came up to him while he was stood in the doorway gayly and the guy dragged a finger down wonka's stomach seductively. sometimes he dances with the ladies too, so he's either a gay for the girlies or bisexual, you choose) and even dancing around and joining the festivities, overall having a GREAT time , GOD he is SO fun to watch onstage i can HIGHLY recommend. he's tall, dressed in red, camp, and always smiling, he's hard not to miss.
Him and gérard don't really talk. He won't come up much in future, but he's here and he's queer!
(there has been some discussion of other JSP ensemble characters being relatives of Gérard, such as the wedding guest in Beggars at the Feast - who thenardier flirted with and nearly kissed last time i saw the show - but none of it has been wholly funny enough to be canonised at all. From a byronverse standpoint, Marius did not know Gérard at the time of his wedding, PROBABLY? timeline is still, uh, nonexistent?)
(the timeline issue also struggles with wonka's age in relation to Gérard's, becuase obviously Master of the House is 15ish years before the ABC café, so should wonka be significantly older than his brother....? yes. probably. but i don't think about it too hard. he's just......... older than gérard by a nondescript amount of time.. it's not really important and i can tweak stuff to make it work, WHATEVERR)
AND LASTLY, the funniest shit ever, the Gérard Ambroise situationships.
When jordan was on with milan valjean, they'd talk and interact during drink with me off to the side. I'll let you make your own assumptions there.
As mentioned, he's a repressed homosexual. he is in close quarterd with the aforementioned (some time ago) René Gignac, who is VERY camp, very effeminate, participates in the homosexual underground of Paris, the WORKS. Gérard has very conflicting feelings about this man, because on one hand René just LOVES to rile him up by saying purposefully stupid things whenever Gérard makes a political comment. and he can't just back down.
he assumes the hotness he feels in his body is to do with the anger, surely nothing more.
Anyway they at some point get together, its weird, its uncomfortable and awkward, they break up. and get together. and break up. and get together. and this repeats, like, a thousand times throughout the time they know each other. literally the WORST couple ever, to the point where everyone kind of loses track of whether they're together or not, because it's really hard to discern when they are, becuase Gérard is a bit ashamed and René is purposefully trying to piss him off.
René this whole time also has a crush on one of the other members of the friend group, Albéric, but this is mostly superficial and he just thinks he's hot . Albéric is not interested and René knows and respects this, however this does not stop him from pretending Gérard is Albéric whenever they kiss.
There's not much to it. it's textbook toxic yaoi .
it does get funnier however when René does, one day, meet Gérard's brother WHO you will remember is also effeminate and likes perfume - just like René. Needless to say they get on SWIMMINGLY, wonka probably sells rené a perfume or two, and ultimately get together. René does not tell Gérard this. he does however find out because René is wearing Gérard's older brother's perfumes, and Gérard is furious . you can imagine the kind of argument that'd follow.
Whether rené and wonka end up happy i DON'T know. havent thought that far but it was the funniest outcome to me after the disaster that was rené and gérard's "relationship".
ANYWAY! thats all i have to say on this freak. hope this was at all comprehensible. here's an audio clip of one of his wonderful lines in Red & Black.
this blog is sk awesomecool what r ur fav headcanons….. can be canon characters or les copains lore
i dont think i really have favourites... obviously bald javert is up there just cause its funny but i have also become fond of javert going a bit loopy post-msurm and growing out his facial hair like Madeleine had it.
For valjean i like the idea that he likes floral patterns. not sure why i like it so much but i DO... catch him wearing a gaudy ass waistcoat!!!!!!! also forever will speak truth of valjean actually liking marius instead of hating him. he probably hated him from the start but later grew fond of him .
cosette.... i like to think shes really dainty and stuff but her attitude does not reflect this. shes like Oh my! what a beautiful flower! papa may i please take it home! but then shes like dragging marius around by the scruff of his neck and stuff. and she will also yell if she has to . WILL punch someone.
Marius i dont even know bro hes like a wet rag to me. i think he looks up to valjean but is unsure on valjean's opinion towards him. he is also a secret huge bitch. oh and in the modern era she is a woman i dont make the rules its true!!!!!!!!!!!
i dont really have any favourite individual headcanons for les copains just yet past like, their opinions of each other. e.g Albéric and François being like brothers, whatever the fuck gérard and rené have going on, marius seeing himself in françois etc etc. theyre just fun .
what are the family histories of your ocs like where are their parents from, how were they raised etc.
general rehana and hélène like how did they meet, how do they interact
you might've said this before but what's the scar on javert's face from
thank you!!
Thankyou for the ask! Answers under the cut :-)
1) Family Histories
Uhh.. hopefully this is what you were asking for? follow-up questions always welcome lmaooo
Gérard - i... dont have much on him at all. The VAGUE idea i had in my head is that his home life was not the greatest . I'm pulling from meta jokes ive made about all of Jordan Simon Pollard's ensemble characters, basically. Anyway, he's probably from the more rural & farm-heavy area in the North around Paris? It was probably... strained. I wouldn't say TERRIBLE, but I think his father was a bit of an overbearing patriarch. His mother was caring, but stern. So while it could've been worse, he wasn't having the BEST time. His older brother (who has been dubbed Guillaume Ambroise, but he will always be Willy Wonka in our hearts) probably got more freedom than he did, because he was the older son and probably was nearing adulthood when Gérard was still around preteens, for which he probably got quite salty about. With them both being queer, too.. ouch. No wonder Gérard repressed HARD. His brother did not so much, but he ended up travelling, so who cares. Probably let down his father by leaving and not taking over the business. Oops!
Additionally he was probably like, upper working-lower middle class? So not TOO comfortable, his dad was probably a labourer? But they're fine. They have food. If his dad got out of work they'd start to panic. So i get the feeling there was just an overall tense feeling overarching Gérard's life growing up, which led to his older brother basically scarpering and becoming the absolute free spirit/travelling perfume merchant or whatever the hell that he became, and Gérard the radical student. He probably made it a bit better in Paris, but not much. His apartment is probably fine.
Albéric - Probably the most fortunate of the group. Born and raised mostly in Bergerac, in the south of France. Albéric's father (named Albéric Joseph-Renault Lafitte) moved up to Paris for work when he was just entering college age and they've basically lived there ever since, but they own a family holiday estate somewhere along the Dordogne river. His mother was probably also from a rich family, hence the marriage. I do think however that they did hold affection for each other, so it wasn't unpleasant by any means. Albéric's father is, however, quite firm & strict and became a little more eccentric as he got older. They're new money, so not aristo by any means and didn't have their family guillotined in the Revolution.
So his life was .. kind of boring? Like his father as mentioned moved to Paris for work, but he was a prosecutor, so its not really that exciting (putting aside the fact that he was a very good prosecutor and known by Javert), and he's been setting Albéric up to follow suit. Albéric does have a younger brother (not by much) who joined the National Guard, and an older sister who moved away to live with her husband, so it's basically just him around the house. Law has basically been all he's expecting. In a previous post I made where I shared some writing I had done with them, it mentions the fact that he made friends with Marius and co. because they seemed fun (and he was right!).
Also, he does indeed have a Bergeracois accent. This sets him apart a little from the Parisien bourgeoisie that he's used to hanging out with when his dad (who was a bit better at adopting the Parisien accent) has guests over, but it obviously doesnt matter when it comes to Marius & Co. because they have other problems and are probably too busy making fun of Gérard to care.
François - I also don't have too much on him. His parents hail from the Philippines, where they wanted to give their son a better life, but didn't want to go to Spain, so went to... France. Great. Named their child François-Michel to fit in, but he retains the Spanish surname Dolosa from the colonial rule. (Fun fact, was originally going to be Dosier before i changed it.) Double colonialism! As a result I think he grew up in the poorer areas of Paris. Not totally scuffed, but he's still not that well off.
His father was probably a labourer but moved up into some more cushty job in Paris like a clerk or something. Mother working on a loom in a factory maybe? Nice honest people.....
Anyway, growing up he was probably loved. I think his grandmother also lived with them, in some dingy rooms they managed to get. Not exactly coddled? but his family were supportive of his endeavours.. family all have jobs but him cause he was #struggling cause he only ever wanted to look at birds, wanted to do something fun so family funded his trip to law school (WHICH by the way he did NOT complete after being talked out of by his friends, but continued frequenting the library anyway cause DUH). He's living in a similar situation to pre-barricade Marius, in some fuckass apartment with holes in the walls and he has maybe 3 outfits and that's only because he owns 3 different waistcoats. Spent his money on bird merch. seriously just blinged out in bird merchandise.
René - Not too into the details. Similar to françois in some respect. His mother and aunt, along with their parents (René's grandparents) are from a fairly aristo family from what is modern day Somalia... you might remember Rehana - he and Rehana were both born in Somalia, around the same time (she is a few months older) but moved to Paris at around age 7. They live in a modest house for their wealth. When René starts to gain independence in the world and make his own way, he decides to change his name (initially Rohaan Mohamed Said) to René Gignac, as his arabic name was unfortunately getting him flack whenever he was applying for jobs or whatever, so thought a french name would do him better. Around this time, René's mother remarries another rich man, and the family becomes a bit more stable financially, as before they were relying mostly on whatever René's grandfather had going on but as he was getting older yadda yadda you get it. They're fine now.
Because of the wealth, they were a fairly lax family. Not totally blind to societal issues (yknow, since they're African in 1800s France) but they haven't been scraping the barrel like, say, François and Marius were. This leads to René's more hedonistic outlook to life, but still enters law school for.... something to do. Its a respectable position, and he's going to meet a lot of other rich men (who he might also hope to get with, you never know). Obviously his studies are funded by his family. He and Rehana move out of the family home to live in their own, slightly less modest houses.
Additionally they were also a Muslim family, but René is nonpracticing, and Rehana is a bit more lax on it. Religion isn't something i've been focusing on right now though with my les mis canon so I'll probably return to this later ...
Thats about it, though. He's stupid rich.
2) Rehana & Hélène
Thanks again to @vexonlegs for the help with these two .
They met through René, actually! The ever-dramatic, he knew Rehana had been a little lonely lately, and got talking to a woman he met in the library. Hélène studies law herself, for fun...? (professionally, she is an actress who also dabbles in some writing & directing.) This obviously intrigued monsieur René "Nosy Parker" Gignac greatly so he was asking all about her, got MAJOR lesbian vibes all round. Hey, Rehana likes theatre! Rehana does a bit of writing! And introduced them. They got on swimmingly. Moved in together and everything (this was very easy to do without much suspicion back in the day).
They're very nice, to René's disappointment, as he loves some gossip . as mentioned, hélène is an actress, so rehana will attend her performances. She will give her a hand in writing, should she need any consulting. They both quite enjoy watercolour.
Hélène also has a tendency to get quite exasperated with people, at which she will need to storm out of a room and probably collapse onto Rehana's lap to make herself feel better.
And of course they frequent underground lesbian parties of any sort, usually in drag. Forgot to mention they'll usually wear suits around the house, with their hair (which they have cut short for the time period) styled up. All-round swagging it up, they're having a GREAT time.
Not sure if I ever mentioned that they are friends of Cosette's? Since Marius got his own friend group, I thought it was only fair Cosette had one too. We discussed that it was probably an embroidery group of some sort. Just an extra hobby for Rehana & Hélène, since they've got plenty of time on their hands at this point, and plus, it's nice to mingle with people who arent...... actors.
3) Javert's Scar
I don't think i ever actually have said where it's from?
Admittedly, I've been drawing him with it for a while now, but I haven't decided on a story behind it LMFAO. If you look at some older art it was just a tiny cut across his lip, probably from some scrape he had with a prisoner at Toulon, but then I draw Adam Robert Lewis' Javert ONCE and suddenly something clicks and now Javert's scar has grown several inches.
I think the story is still probably the same, though. When Valjean knew him in Toulon, he did not have the scar. In Montreuil-Sur-Mer, he has the scar. I think in my head somewhere the scar and Javert's leaving Toulon had some connection, but I couldn't decide on what worked best, whether he became police of his own volition or being recommended for his safety after being attacked? I don't know. I think that's just for you to decide.
And, in case you were curious - he does actually have more than one scar! I just only ever draw him visibly with the one on his face. He has one on his head, from being struck in MsurM. Luckily this was more superficial and scratched up the skin rather than doing any damage (the bald head is an easy target). He has scars over his body from other various police work, and very old scars, mainly on his back, from being raised in prison.
Hope these answer your questions!! Thankyou again for the ask!!!
