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Valvert playlist (CanCon Edition) 🍁

The gay hockey show has made it big and 2026 is now officially the year of CanCon yaoi. Everyone get more Canada pilled right now ‼️

—

I already have a few Valvert playlists, so if I was going to do another one, I needed a gimmick.

Thus: a Valvert playlist that is entirely, 100% CanCon. That means every one of the bands/artists included is Canadian eh.

The definitive version of this playlist is on YouTube, because one of the songs I really wanted to add wasn't available on Spotify.

The gay hockey show has made it big and 2026 is now officially the year of CanCon yaoi. Everyone get more Canada pilled right now.

....But there is also a Spotify version (below), and also here is the extra song that isn't on Spotify so you can listen to it separately (you have to click through to YT but the link works):

Please listen to the extra song pleas eplease please please it's so good it's so good it's so good please please please

I moved my entire playlist to YouTube just for this song pleeeaase

besides this is the guy who sings it, look at his sad little face:

how can you neglect him????

when you don't listen to the extra song this is who you're being mean to 🥺🥺🥺

wow this post is a disaster ok anyway. ONWARDS!!

LINER NOTES!!!

IN THIS ESSAY I WILL!!!!

This playlist tells a story in chronological order, starting with Toulon then covering Valjean's redemption, M-sur-M, Javert's pursuit of Valjean, the barricades, Javert's derailment and suicide attempt, Valjean rescuing him, Post-Seine depression, followed by reconciliation and friendship while Javert deconstructs his beliefs, and finally, love!!!

see below the cut for in-depth lyrics analysis! I will be pulling Brick quotes and constructing a whole coherent, chronological storyline for you through song lyrics! because I am insane <3

LET'S GO!!! EMBARK ON A MUSICAL JOURNEY WITH ME!! IMMERSE YOURSELF IN THE SOUNDS OF THE GREAT WHITE NORTH!!!

👉 @lesmisshippingshowdown to sum up that's 43 songs + 9,316 words of liner notes (excluding lyrics and song titles), plus a photo edit (spotify cover image)

i honestly can't believe it let me copy/paste all this. does tumblr not have a character limit? whack.)

anyway so i didn't number the songs because the numbers could differ if you listen on spotify and skip the extra song in spite of my plea (NO! LISTEN TO IT!)

Liner Notes

Ballad of Hugo Chavez by Arkells | Toulon ⛓️‍💥

It was a bad idea to give me this kind of time When they said, "You're gonna be in solitary confinement" And while the other inmates are outside lifting barbells I'm in an eight by ten prison cell

So here we are at the start of our story: Toulon. Or, I guess, Milhaven maximum security in Ontario, as per the next song. I'm pretty much going to write you a little AU here through lyrics analysis, so here we go.

—

38 Years Old by The Tragically Hip | Toulon ⛓️‍💥

Twelve men broke loose in '73 From Milhaven maximum security 12 pictures lined up across the front page Seems the Mounties had a summertime war to wage

Here's one of Valjean's infamous escape attempts. Also, #MountiesMentioned, so we have our first Javert cameo. I mean, he starts as a prison guard of course, but given that it's later in Valjean's sentence by this point, it makes sense that he's moved on to a policing role.

Been one seat empty 18 years and all Freezing slow time away from the world He's 38 years old, never kissed a girl

The escaped inmate has done 18 years of prison time—pretty much a perfect match for Valjean in canon. The man's lack of romantic experience is also highlighted, as is Valjean's (From the Brick: "He had never known a 'kind woman friend' in his native parts. He had not had the time to fall in love.")

Heard the tap on my window in the middle of the night Held back the curtain for my older brother Mike See my sister got raped, so a man got killed Local boy went to prison, man's buried on the hill

The escaped inmate runs straight back to his family, even though he'd have to know this would be the first place the cops would look for him.

We also find out that the reason he's in prison with a long sentence is for killing his sister's rapist, which -- okay, obviously this is not at all the same thing as Canon!Valjean's simple bread theft, but I think this fits really well for a modern AU. We already know that in canon, Valjean is the breadwinner and "man of the house" for his older sister and her children, that he's impulsive, and that he's very strong. If Jeanne were a victim of sexual violence, Valjean is definitely ending that guy, whether he actually intends to kill or doesn't know his own strength in an ensuing fight.

And over his shoulder on the squad car megaphone Said, "Let's go, Michael, son, we're taking you home"

Sure enough, the escaped inmate is caught, and the cops are here to take "home" to prison. Just like our dear Valjean, whose early escape attempts never did work out for him.

(Btw if you really want to understand Canadian music—for your gay little hockey boy playlists or whatever—this is your starting point right here: The Tragically Hip. It is difficult to overstate The Hip's cultural impact in Canada, in spite of their almost complete obscurity everywhere else in the world. When The Hip played their last concert [frontman Gord Downie had terminal cancer], the CBC stopped broadcasting the Olympics in order to broadcast the concert instead, so it would be free to watch live for all Canadians. And like, they were projecting that shit on buildings in town squares. Every pub in the nation was showing it instead of any sporting event, and people were streaming in off the streets to watch. Strangers were crying together in the bathrooms and comforting each other. When we did lose Gord, the prime minister addressed the nation and cried. Like, I don't know what to tell you. These guys are it.)

—

Black Heart by Hey Rosetta! | Toulon ⛓️‍💥

You bright sun You darkest dirt Hardest paradox I ever learned You're tireless And I tire quick It's the easy death of reason within my chest

Javert's perspective: though Valjean is a convict -- part of that class of people whom Javert considers to be the lowest of the low -- he's also, at this point, a man in the prime of life, highly regarded for his strength and skill in climbing, nicknamed Jean the Jack-screw. It's easy to imagine Javert being attracted to him on some level, whether you are a full Toulon-era slash enjoyer or you imagine this as a heavily repressed, never acted-upon seed of desire. Either way, such feelings could easily cause such confusion as what's being described in the lyrics, as far as what must feel to Javert like a "death of reason".

You cry out your orders You cry out your pain And every letter's followed like its sacrosanct

Now we have Valjean's perspective on Javert, the young guard, whose orders he and his fellow inmates have no choice but to obey.

I'm at the mercy Of an idiot tyrant king

Valjean is not taking a terribly favourable view of Javert at this point. The younger man with his wrong-headed ideals strikes him as a fool. Of course, there's more than a little resentment there.

I jump high! Talk loud! And listen? I'm always listening!

Valjean does everything he can to obey his orders, but it never feels like the guards are satisfied: they're always demanding more.

Cause he built his throne from my bones and skin

The guards' power, and their very livelihood, comes at the prisoners' expense.

I love, I hate, I hate to live this way A dog, a slave, we do what our deity dictates

This is how Valjean must live throughout his years in prison. It's also how Javert lives in his own way: as an unbending slave to the law, which functions as his deity.

And I just want Someone to lean on I just want someone To lean on me

Both men are lonely, lost, and confused, but especially Valjean. He wishes he had someone to lean on, but he also wishes he had someone to depend on him -- he's used to being the provider for his family and misses having loved ones to care for.

—

Fallen by Sarah McLachlan | Valjean's redemption 🕯️

Heaven bend to take my hand And lead me through the fire Be the long awaited answer To a long and painful fight

After being released from the galleys at last, Valjean travels on foot and passes through Digne, but he is turned out of every inn for being an ex-convict. The Bishop is the only one willing to take him in, giving him a place to sleep and something to eat ("Heaven bend to take my hand"). He is Valjean's "long-awaited answer / to a long and painful fight", who will end by "lead[ing] him through the fire" of overcoming his hatred for society and starting on the path to redemption.

Truth be told, I've tried my best But somewhere along the way I got caught up in all there was to offer And the cost was so much more than I could bear

It's certainly true that Valjean paid dearly for the loaf of bread he stole, but these lines also reflect his impulsive escape attempts, which Hugo describes as "utterly useless and foolish", yet "in the presence of so violent a temptation, reason vanished; nothing remained but instinct."

And finally, the Bishop's silver as well proves too great a temptation, although it could cost him dearly—and would have, had Myriel not intervened.

Though I've tried I've fallen I have sunk so low I messed up Better, I should know

After Valjean steals from the Bishop and is given the candlesticks—and in the book, after also taking the coin from Petit Gervais—the crisis of conscience hits, and he realises how low he has sunk in stealing from a man who showed him such kindness, and from a child.

There's even an illustration from the book (the edition on Project Gutenberg) entitled "The Fall", which shows the moment Valjean regards the sleeping Bishop and decides to take the silverware. So, he has indeed "fallen", as per this lyric and the title of the song.

We all begin with good intent When love was raw and young [...] But we carry on our back the burden Time always reveals In the lonely light of morning In the wound that would not heal It's the bitter taste of losing everything That I've held so dear

Hugo details how Valjean "the inoffensive tree-pruner of Faverolles" grows bitter and angry "thanks to the manner in which the galleys had moulded him", making him newly "capable [...] of evil action".

Later, at Champmathieu's trial, Valjean himself says, "the galleys make the convict what he is".

Though he began with good intent as a young man, his time in prison broke him by taking everything he held dear, leaving "the wound that would not heal".

[...] it's one missed step, one slip before you know it And there doesn't seem a way to be redeemed

Stealing the loaf of bread was Valjean's "one missed step", "one slip" that led to the terrible, drawn-out chain reaction of where he is now, all these years later, consumed with guilt for these newest crimes he's committed against Myriel and Gervais.

It doesn't seem like he can ever be redeemed (Brick: "He examined his life, and it seemed horrible to him; his soul, and it seemed frightful to him")—but he's sure as hell going to do his best.

Which brings us to Madeleine era.

—

Building a Mystery by Sarah McLachlan | M-sur-M 📿

A second Sarah McLachlan song is going to introduce us now to Valjean after he's transformed himself into the benevolent—yet mysterious—Monsieur Madeleine. Although he is respected and beloved, he lives a solitary and brooding life. He also canonically seeks out funerals ("When he saw the door of a church hung in black, he entered: he sought out funerals as other men seek christenings") so he's kind of got like an emo/goth thing going on. Thus...

You live in a church Where you sleep with voodoo dolls

Compare with this line from the Brick about the gossip surrounding M. Madeleine among the citizens of Montreuil-sur-Mer: "Some people maintained that he was a mysterious person, and that no one ever entered his chamber, which was a regular anchorite’s cell, furnished with winged hour-glasses and enlivened by cross-bones and skulls of dead men!"

And you won't give up the search For the ghosts in the halls

While Valjean is in Montreuil-sur-Mer, he begins making discreet enquiries about his sister and family in Faverolles (Javert learns of these enquiries, which become part of the evidence Javert includes when he writes his letter to the prefect).

Can you look out the window Without your shadow getting in the way?

Madeleine remains haunted by his past.

You're so beautiful With an edge and a charm But so careful When I'm in your arms

Aha! Now we get into the fun exciting canon divergence! Now we get into the slashfic! In the world of this playlist, Madeleine-era entanglements are happening. Although Javert has his suspicions about Monsieur le maire, he ultimately can't resist his "edge and charm". Given what he suspects about Madeleine, perhaps Javert expects him to be rough, but in fact he is very gentle with Javert.

'Cause you're working Building a mystery Holding on and holding it in

Madeleine's identity and backstory are unmistakably mysterious: he just kind of showed up one day and no one really knows where he's come from. That he was "about fifty years of age" with "a preoccupied air" was "all that could be said of him".

Of course, he has worked hard to build up his new identity, but there's only so much you can do to backfill 19 missing years. But he's doing his best, and holding in all his secrets.

You're a beautiful A beautiful fucked up man

Undoubtedly what Javert thinks of Madeleine, and what Madeleine thinks of Javert. :3 Whether or not either of them (especially Javert) would actually be considered "beautiful" to the average person, they are just exactly each other's type. <3

—

Escape Artist by The Zolas | M-sur-M 📿

My alter-ego, he's an escape artist He's only truly happy when he's under arrest [...] He's like a mirror, he sticks into our ears A stethoscope to the chest of the vacant years

These lines reflect Valjean's perspective in Montreuil-sur-Mer: he goes by Madeleine now, but he's constantly haunted by the man he used to be and the years he spent in the bagne, when the only thing that kept him going was planning out his next escape. He doesn't really know how to live a normal life now. It's like what they say about people who get out of prison, that it can be so hard to reintegrate back into society that they just give up and end up back behind bars.

But then it's Hey boy, I've got your man, he's right here Putty in my hands [...] Coming in the sheets You've got no excuse to leave

Naturally, Valjean is afraid of getting caught, but things grow even more complicated when he begins a fraught affair with Javert (hey, that rhymes). He's made himself vulnerable and he knows it. It would be so easy for Javert to catch him now.

But in the real world, an intertidal cave I ride a desk chair waiting for a tidal wave

Meanwhile, he goes about his life as mayor and businessman, trying to keep to his routine but waiting for the whole thing to be upended again.

My alter ego, he's in a jailer's cage He sits and waits for the devil to abet his escape I'm sorry Pastor, I can't be pasteurized All of the Bibles in the world for a metal file

Valjean is afraid he won't measure up to the Bishop's faith in him, that he won't be able to become an honest and truly good man, and will go back to his old criminal ways. This also speaks to his crisis over how to handle the Champmathieu situation, wherein he goes back and forth over whether to intervene or not (the Tempest in a Skull chapter). If he had let Champmathieu be sent to the bagne in his place, that would be like allowing the "devil to abet his escape" and trading "all of the Bibles in the world for a metal file", metaphorically speaking, by betraying his newfound belief system and allowing an innocent man to suffer in exchange for his own freedom.

—

Whistleblower by Dan Mangan | M-sur-M 📿

The edge of all that is Pierces slowly in Opens up the skin Takes as well as gives

The essence of a Madeleine-era relationship between Valjean and Javert: vulnerability is dangerous. Whatever Madeleine might be getting out of this liaison, he's also losing.

But you could be the whistleblower You could really sound it out The end of all the willful blindness Mayor of the town

This could be Madeleine in his own thoughts, worrying about Javert's potential to turn him in, or it could be Javert talking to himself after the Fantine Incident when he goes to write the letter to the Prefect and expose Madeleine as Jean Valjean, the convict.

—

Fixed by Stars | Confrontation ⚔️

When the plans fall Changing hands What are the chances Of winning?

Uh oh...Valjean's been found out. His plans have failed and Javert has the upper hand now. How are his odds looking now?

You, you hold my heart You, you won't let up After when I'm caught Touch turns into fisticuffs

Whatever feelings may have emerged between them, we know Javert won't show any mercy. (Brick: "Come! if you had been what I thought you, I should not have been kind to you, not I!")

They've gone from touch to fisticuffs indeed. This is the Confrontation right here.

Is it your fall?

Will this be Valjean's downfall?

You're finished, so they say [...] A killer killing fate

Now that he's been found out, it certainly does seem like he's cooked. Or can he kill this fate?

—

Born a Criminal by Jay McCarrol | Confrontation ⚔️

It’s not a sin to know you’re wrong and you know where you belong

The Confrontation continues, and now we'll hear Javert's angry words towards Valjean. Although Javert was wrong when he went to the mayor's office to beg for his dismissal, thinking Madeleine was truly who he said he was, the main thing is that he's back on track now. (Brick: "The humiliation of having, in some slight degree, lost the scent, and of having indulged, for a few moments, in an error with regard to Champmathieu, was effaced by pride at having so well and accurately divined in the first place, and of having for so long cherished a just instinct.")

Now they both know where Valjean belongs: in the slammer!

Such an early age they fall and too young to lose it all

This is reflective of Javert's "once a criminal, always a criminal" beliefs.

It's amazing how it works Such an audience for looks Take that audience away and who would you find then?

Javert thinks Madeleine is nothing but a facade to allow Valjean to escape rearrest. He can't comprehend that a criminal could truly change, and he thinks Madeleine's good deeds are done for optics alone.

I know who you are Born a criminal Born an animal

Javert throws these accusations at Valjean, and rubs it in a little that now he knows his true identity. He's also clearly projecting to some extent, given the circumstances of his own birth.

Does the praise for wrong feel nice? Still think you’re with Jesus Christ?

Madeleine, beloved in Montreuil-sur-Mer, is often praised and celebrated for his charity and what he's contributed to the town. However, to Javert, this whole identity is nothing more than a disguise conceived to trick people and hide Valjean's identity as a dangerous criminal. Thus, he's being praised for doing wrong, and his perceived saintliness is nothing more than a facade (hence the dig "Still think you're with Jesus Christ?")

And the violence that you do What the hell you trying to prove? What the fuck you trying to do?

Valjean's passport marks him out as a "very dangerous man", capable of violence. This is how Javert sees him, and Hugo also notes "It will be perceived that it was not without reason that Jean Valjean’s passport described him as a very dangerous man."

The singer's aggressive, angry delivery on these lines also reminds me of how Javert speaks to Valjean during this scene in the Brick: "There lay in the inflection of voice which accompanied these words something indescribably fierce and frenzied. Javert did not say, “Be quick about it!” he said “Bequiabouit.”

—

Go On by Basia Bulat | Pursuit 🏃‍♂️‍➡️

Call this on my awful luck Skies, they opened wide for us Oh, what a heavy rain it was that covered all of you The wind has changed, my boy

Valjean truly is experiencing some terrible luck. What are the odds they'd catch some other random guy who kinda looked like him, and think it was him, and try to get him thrown back in the bagne, and then Valjean would find out about that and have to turn himself in. The skies have indeed opened wide for him (and "us" in the sense of his relationship with Javert, which is not going great right now) (over. it's over. it's very very over) (FOR NOW!!)

The wind has definitely changed now that Javert has learned the truth.

But to call those shadows coming after you Go on, go on, I couldn't bear to lose

Javert rallies the policemen to chase Valjean down. He can't bear to lose the "game".

Could've been the one you loved The visions of the things I'd done Well, I wouldn't be the only one, if you'd only told the truth While they chased you down that night I was pulling feathers from your lies And I swear I saw it in your eyes, you never told the truth

Javert is bitter over what could have been, and over all the lies Valjean told him. He's humiliated by the "things [he's] done", having trusted Madeleine and gotten into a romantic entanglement with him. These are the emotions he grapples with during the start of the chase.

—

Falling Apart by The Rural Alberta Advantage | Pursuit 🏃‍♂️‍➡️

All falling apart now, you know [...] Giving you up and then Hope it's following a plan

Everything is falling apart and of course, it's all over between the two of them: they have to give each other up. From Javert's perspective, the "Giving you up" line could also refer to turning Valjean in.

Oh, we've been lucky for a while At least, more than I could have known Oh let's play on hard Bring the wolves full force

From Valjean's perspective, he's been lucky for a while. He's had a good few years here in Montreuil-sur-Mer, much better than he could possibly have imagined for himself. So here he accepts the inevitable and the fact that "the game" is back on ("let's play on hard"). Referring to Javert's pursuit of Valjean as a game is also Hugo-approved. When Javert begins chasing Valjean through the streets of Paris, Hugo writes: "Then he began the game."

Now it's Valjean's wits against Javert's, and against the police force ("the wolves"). Bring it on. He's not giving in without a fight.

—

You Want it Darker by Leonard Cohen | Pursuit 🏃‍♂️‍➡️

If you are the dealer, I'm out of the game If you are the healer, it means I'm broken and lame If thine is the glory, then mine must be the shame

Valjean and Javert are two sides of the same coin, facing off in a zero-sum game. In a world where the law—rigid, unyielding—is seen as a force for goodness and justice, Valjean cannot win. Conversely, for Javert, if a convict can be mayor, it means the world has turned upside down and the law is being mocked. What is glory for one is shame for the other. If one of them is seen as the "healer" (or the "good guy"), the other must be the bad. If one is the "dealer" (in control), the other is not.

You want it darker We kill the flame

Valjean continues to run and the hunt intensifies. Javert will show no mercy and insists on capturing Valjean at all costs, so the stakes get higher and the story grows darker. This also reminds me of Javert chasing Valjean through the dark labyrinth of Paris streets in the dead of night.

Magnified, sanctified Be the holy name Vilified, crucified In the human frame A million candles burning For the help that never came

With Valjean having been led by the Bishop to a religious epiphany and "selling his soul to God" in exchange for the silver candlesticks, these lines that reference both religion and candles are very fitting for him.

Valjean is indeed both sanctified and vilified, and he is one of the many (a million, perchance) misérables in France, for whom help never came in their time of need, no matter how many candles they may have lit in prayer.

There's a lover in the story But the story's still the same

In the little story I've made through this playlist, despite a Madeleine-era affair, the story can't be changed and unfolds the same way (so far!).

They're lining up the prisoners And the guards are taking aim

You could interpret this line as a flashback, or as occurring during Valjean's brief period of recapture as Prisoner No. 9430 before he escapes again.

—

Take Me to the Riot by Stars | Barricades 💥

As we can see by the song title, we've now moved forward in time to the barricade.

I'm there, yeah, I serve them The one with the empty looking eyes

Let's take attendance: here's Javert, the ever-dutiful pawn in service to the police and The Lawr.

Come closer, you'll see me The face that is used to telling lies

Here's Valjean.

Take me, take me to the riot

Though neither one came here because they wanted to, they have both set out in search of the riot tonight.

You sprung me, I'm grateful

Valjean sets Javert free instead of killing him like he told Enjolras he would, and like Javert expected him to.

I love when you tell me not to speak

Javert can't believe Valjean isn't going to kill him, and won't let it go (“You annoy me. Kill me, rather,” he shouts). Valjean tells him to shut up and get out of there ("Be off with you"). We all know Javert was lowkey into that. Please be so serious.

I owe you, but I know you You'll have me back, but it's gonna take a week

I mean, they do have a way of running into each other all the damn time. It ain't gonna take a full week though.

What now, kid? Which way, love? Will we ever make up and be friends?

In canon, perhaps not. In this playlist story arc, hell yeah!

You despise me and I love you

Javert will get to this point mentally when he derails very shortly. In this chapter in the book, the way he thinks about Valjean is to essentially idolise him so intensely that it really does read like something close to love.

—

Terrified by The Rural Alberta Advantage | Barricades 💥

I'm terrified. Honey, I've got you if you pull the knife. It's only right, put your hand around the hilt tonight.

This is the moment Javert thinks Valjean is going to kill him with the clasp-knife at the barricade. "It's only right" both in the sense that Javert thinks the clasp-knife is a fitting weapon for Valjean (Brick: "A clasp-knife! [...] That suits you better,") and that he considers it right that Valjean should be the one to kill him (Brick: "That is just").

Lovers unaffected, how did you expect it'd go? Lovers undetected, how did you expect to grow old?

Despite their past, it was always going to turn out this way between them...wasn't it?

As Javert waits for Valjean to slit his throat (which he's completely convinced is what's about to happen), he thinks to himself that this is all just as expected: an ex-convict would of course want to murder him for revenge, and let's be real, very Javert has never had any expectation or intention of living to old age, given how readily he seems to want to throw his life away at the barricade.

—

The Knife by Great Lake Swimmers | Barricades 💥

Point so sharp that it cannot feel Has two sides. Which one’s real?

A description of the knife, which has two sides/edges: one side is the blade, and the other is the dull side. There are also two possible ways this situation could go.

Should have known, living in a storm You’d act like thunder and shift your form

Javert should have known Valjean would be here, wearing yet another disguise.

The knife you, the knife oh Cut me free, let me go The knife you, the knife oh Cut me deep, send me home

Much to Javert's shock and confusion, Valjean doesn't use the knife to kill him, but instead cuts his ropes and sets him free.

Half my mind, burning snow Burnouts rarely make good flames But don’t bother playing if you don’t know the game

Javert is a) crashing out over this, and b) still thinks Valjean is playing "the game" with him, doing this in expectation of reciprocity.

I’m not made of metal and I’m not made of wood Destined, it seems, to be misunderstood

Though I wouldn't say these lyrics apply to this exact moment when Valjean is releasing Javert from the barricade, they definitely resonate as Javert-like due to his infamous "heart of wood" and his ultimate change of heart.

Cut through me neatly with your fine blade

Javert isn't quite so polite about it, but:

“Take your revenge.”

“You annoy me. Kill me, rather.”

And my favourite, when he thinks to himself later: "But then, why had he permitted that man to leave him alive? He had the right to be killed in that barricade. He should have asserted that right. It would have been better to summon the other insurgents to his succor against Jean Valjean, to get himself shot by force."

In summary, yeah, he really really wanted to be cut through neatly with Valjean's fine blade. Not even a euphemism, but whatever you could imagine that to mean euphemistically, he would also have been into.

—

Drain the Blood by The Rural Alberta Advantage | Barricades 💥

Well I felt you drain the blood from my left ventricle anytime you said you would change my heart into petrified wood

An oft-referenced point in fanworks is Javert's wooden heart (Brick: "[Fantine] would have softened a heart of granite; but [Javert's] heart of wood cannot be softened.")

Perhaps Javert's wooden heart reacts to being shown mercy by becoming petrified XD Either way, the Vibe is definitely there.

Oh oh oh I'm really trying to save you tonight

Valjean's thoughts, no doubt, when Javert keeps going like "But when are you killing me? Kill me tonight? Kill me tonight king?"

Oh oh oh I'm really trying to make it through the night

This is also Valjean, because as mentioned previously, Javert is truly doing nothing to help himself here. Valjean, however, has to try and survive for Cosette—so that he can rescue Marius, yeah, but also, even if he doesn't succeed in that, he needs to survive so that he can make it back to Cosette himself. She's a teenage girl without anyone else in the world, in a time when women had basically no agency and very few options. She's screwed if Valjean doesn't make it out of there!

—

While We Were Hunting Rabbits by Matthew Good | Javert Derailed 🛤️

Buy in, it'll shut you up Try it, it should shut you up [...] It's a life's work

This makes me think of Javert buying into the concept of law and order as a force for good, and making it his life's work. Being the child of two convicts, Javert had no other choice in order to be (sort of) accepted by society. Hugo himself tells us this: "He observed that society unpardoningly excludes two classes of men,—those who attack it and those who guard it; he had no choice except between these two classes".

And having bought in, he keeps quiet about things that bother him on some level, until he writes his letter to the prefect listing out a series of suggestions he has for improvements to the system, right before jumping off the bridge.

The sky its stars like fortune drilled me

We all know about the Javert–stars connection. In his song in the musical, he thinks of the stars as "sentinels", a source of orderliness and light in the darkness.

Now, as we get into the Javert Derailed portion of the story/playlist, the stars seem to drill into him rather than offering comfort, like how in his later song "Javert's Suicide", the stars have turned "black and cold".

Until now I was a soldier Until now I dealt in fear

This is the turning point: until now, he was those things, but what comes next? When he decides to let Valjean go, he is relinquishing his identity as a policeman—all he's ever known.

These years of cloak and dagger Have left us disappeared

After all those years of disguises, secrecy, and the hunt—have either Javert or Valjean really lived?

Valjean is "disappeared" because he has been forced to hide and change his identity constantly. Javert is "disappeared" because he has no idea who he is outside of police work.

I'm just a boat on the ocean And I'm just a ship lost at sea

This description is accurate to how utterly unmoored Javert is feeling at this point in the story.

—

Tall Tall Shadow by Basia Bulat | Javert Derailed 🛤️

Be true or be gone, you're only fooling yourself

Javert must choose to "be true" to his own rigidly held values and belief system (which are currently crumbling in his mind as he paces the streets), or "be gone" (kill himself because he can't live with the truth, or with failing in his duty. At this point, as everything he thought he knew is eroding, he begins to realise he is only fooling himself if he continues to cling to a belief system whose wrongness he can now, finally, see.

Now every hour, change of heart You're running away, but the shadow is yours

Lost in confusion and anguish after letting Valjean go, Javert wavers over what to do next, and though he paces the streets of Paris, he can't escape the long shadow of his own past and the choices he has made.

No deception left, and now even you might realize That there is no lie that you can live in, tear it apart

At last, he can no longer lie to himself. The "now even you" is apt: even Javert, who was so sure of himself and the law, has come to a point of realisation. And since he can't live in that lie any longer, the only option left is to "tear it apart".

Your own confession made in the dark

Although the only true confession Javert makes before he jumps is to himself, the letter he writes to the Prefect containing "a few observations for the good of the service" comes very close.

When you know that the tall, tall shadow [...] is yours

This works in a literal sense as well as metaphorical: Javert is canonically "of lofty height".

—

The Grace by Neverending White Lights | Javert Derailed 🛤️

In better days I've been known to listen I go to waste, all my time is missing I'm mapping out my ending

In "better days", i.e. before he had this crisis of conscience, Javert always did as he was told. Now he is "going to waste" instead, and planning to kill himself because of it.

You pray to stars that can help you get by And all at once you forget to try

Once again, the mention of stars instantly makes it that much more *Javert*. His song "Stars" essentially is a prayer to the stars, so this is very in character.

You're not coming back for me, these things they will never be I'm so used to being wrong, so put me where I belong

Now that he has let Valjean return home and left him there, Javert is sure Valjean will never think about him again, despite how large he looms in Javert's own thoughts. He certainly has no expectation that Valjean might come after him. (Fortunately in the context of my little playlist-story he is also wrong about this, in addition to all the many things I will list in the next paragraph <3)

Speaking of being wrong, however much Javert's ideal is to be irreproachable, he IS "used to being wrong" when it comes to Valjean. First, when he tried to turn Madeleine in and was told he was wrong, then when he goes to Madeleine to confess what's he done and ask to be punished—he experiences being "wrong" twice because in that time between finding out about Champmathieu and Valjean confessing his true identity, Javert really does believe Madeleine is who he says he is. Then he is wrong again when he fucks up the chase in Paris by drawing it out longer than he needed to, thinking there was no way Valjean could possibly escape. Then Valjean does manage to wriggle out of the trap he's set, and Javert ends up looking like a fool. At the barricade, he's wrong when he assumes Valjean will kill him. Later, he's wrong when he thinks Marius is dead, and finally, he realises what he's been wrong about all along: Valjean's nature and the nature of all criminals being unchangeably wicked. So yeah, he's used to being wrong. And now, having realised how wrong he has been and how much harm he has done, of course this guy—the "punish me, Monsieur le maire" guy—want to be punished again ("put me where I belong")! Here's Canon!Javert in the Brick: "I ought to be punished; I must be turned out" and "Mr. Mayor, you were severe with me the other day, and unjustly. Be so to-day, with justice."

Yup, that checks out all right.

I'll get back to you God knows I try But I still lose

In the context of this playlist-story, I think of this as Javert trying to grapple with the concept of Valjean and who he is and get back to a version of him that he can understand—but he can't.

Angels say they can make you suffer They give and take like a vicious lover

Javert has begun to think of Valjean as some sort of terrible angel (Brick: "more nearly akin to an angel than to a man") and this is what's making him crash out. Angels (one angel) is definitely making him suffer right now—giving him his freedom, but taking away his sense of purpose and understanding of the world.

Awake but still I'm dreaming And never waking up

He's so in his own head for this chapter and really is walking around in a sort of dream (nightmare) state. (In the Brick, he's described as being "meditative" and in "reverie" during this period.)

And in canon, he never does wake up after. :(

—

Bridge to Nowhere by Sam Roberts | Javert Derailed 🛤️

I can never figure out how to make a case That this don't amount to a fall from grace [...] can I replace This tired wool with satin lace

I interpret this as a reference to the phrase "dyed in the wool", meaning someone who has opinions so deeply engrained they'll never change. So, as he falls from grace, can Javert manage to switch out his tired old dyed wool for a lighter, softer fabric?

Yeah, I'm a fool who believed love is bred in the bone

All this time, Javert believed certain traits, like a loving or a criminal nature, are "bred in the bone". He's only now realising how mistaken he was.

Your debt's paid off but it don't feel gone So you slip out the back and you're moving on

Valjean let him go free, and Javert let Valjean go free. They're even. The debt has been repaid. But it doesn't feel like enough, so Javert is moving on the only way he knows how.

[...] you're on a bridge to nowhere and you're gettin' there fast

Boy is he ever.

Put it in the past, put it in the past

He can't!

—

Hallelujah by Reuben and the Dark | Javert Derailed 🛤️

Forgive me, father, for I am lost In all the trouble I have caused Now what will become of me?

As he starts to deconstruct everything and realise how much suffering he has contributed to in service of the law, Javert turns at last to desperate prayer. Compare with the Brick: "He had a superior, M. Gisquet; up to that day he had never dreamed of that other superior, God. This new chief, God, he became unexpectedly conscious of, and he felt embarrassed by him."

I went down to the river

Yep, he sure did.

And when I closed my eyes I saw a devil walking in the daylight [...] And he sings hallelujah

This is akin to how Javert is thinking about Valjean at this time. There is a constant contrast in his mind of Valjean as both convict and saint, as devil and angel at once. ("A galley-slave sacred!" [...] "A benevolent malefactor" etc. etc.) This is what breaks him in the end: he simply cannot reconcile the two. Valjean as a devil singing hallelujah in these song lyrics is very apt for Javert's derailment.

See the devil dressed in white Heaven fell a hundred times Oh the joy his sorrow brings

Continuing the motif of the holy devil, we now learn he is wearing white. And of course, Javert is in such a state of mental chaos that to him, it feels like heaven is falling. He perceived the law as infallible, and essentially treated it as his religion. Now, he is feeling its foundation of justice and fairness crumble within him. (Compare with the Brick: "to behold a rift in the immense blue pane of the firmament!")

The final lyric could be interpreted in a couple of different ways. First, the fact that Valjean's past sorrow had brought Javert joy (through the satisfaction of knowing he was doing his job and justice was being done against a man he perceived as a violent and dangerous criminal). Second, this could be a reference to Valjean bringing joy to others through his charity and compassion, despite not being able to extend the same compassion to himself, and being fundamentally a sorrowful person.

I saw the devil walking in the daylight But he didn't see me

[Éponine voice] But he never saw me theeeeeere!

No but honestly, although in the book Javert does eventually "see" Valjean truly, Valjean never gets the chance to "see" Javert with the same clarity: he never meets him again after Javert changes his mind, nor does he ever find out about Javert's past (born in a prison to two criminal parents, father in the galleys) or have the chance to understand how it's made him the person he is.

Just as Marius never sees Éponine, Valjean never sees Javert.

(This band was an absolute goldmine btw. I swear I found like 10 songs from them that would have worked well for a Valvert playlist. I used 4 to keep it reasonable otherwise this playlist would have ended up being like, a quarter Reuben and the Dark.)

—

Breathing Underwater by Metric | Javert's suicide (ATTEMPT) 🌊

I'm the blade You're the knife I'm the weight You're the kite

When it comes to the suicide attempt Javert is about to make, Javert may be the blade (the one making the actual "cut"), but Valjean is the knife who brought it about in the first place.

Equally, Javert sees himself now as the weight dragging Valjean down.

Out of place all the time In a world that wasn't mine to take

He realises he had no right to try and take Valjean's world away from him by consigning him to the bagne. This also calls back to how he grew up believing he was "outside the pale of society, and he despaired of ever re-entering it". He's always been out of place in the world, which has never been his to take.

Nights are days We'll beat a path through the mirrored maze

Everything is upside down and back to front for Javert now, in a world where a convict like Valjean can be so saintly.

I can see the end But it hasn't happened yet

He's ready to jump.

Is this my life? Ahhh Am I breathing underwater?

He jumped.

—

Rolling Stone by Reuben and the Dark | Valjean rescues Javert 🛟

You took my body, you took my body, you took my body home

Literally, from the Seine.

It's quite a sight for my sore eyes And break my heart back into pieces A city black in a sea of white When all I want is to be alone

Javert has literally just tried to kill himself because of Valjean, and what does he see as soon as he opens his eyes? Valjean. Yep, that probably doesn't help much with the emotional turmoil in this moment. It just reminds him of how confused he is, how everything seems to be changed and wrong ("A city black in a sea of white"). And all he wants is to be left alone to die, damn it! It was his right!

I said, well, I don't wanna die in the middle of the city

Okay, yeah, he did jump, but as they say, most people change their minds on the way down. At least to some extent, Javert probably did have this thought as he fell, or while he was in the water.

I awoke in your arms I thought I saw for the very first time

While Valjean carries him back from the Seine, Javert wakes up for a moment. I think this is a very sweet image, and I can imagine him feeling, for a second, like he's seeing Valjean properly for the very first time.

—

Sleeping Sickness by City & Colour | Post-Seine depression 🕳️

I awoke Only to find my lungs empty And through the night So it seems I'm not breathing

When Javert wakes up properly for the first time since his plunge, he's gasping for breath. He jumped into the Seine, but he was saved from the river by Valjean, as happens in so many Post-Seine fanfics—a beloved Valvert subgenre. And after all, it makes so much sense. This is the guy who's canonically as strong as four average men ("At work [...] Jean Valjean was worth four men") AND an excellent swimmer (he escapes the bagne by plunging from the rigging of a ship into the sea, then swimming underwater for long enough to resurface without being seen).

And now my dreams are nothing like they were meant to be And I'm breaking down, I think I'm breaking down

Naturally, after this goes down, Javert is always and without fail A Mess emotionally. There are several more lines in the song that essentially cover this same point but I won't quote them all. (It may not seem like it, but I am actually exercising restraint. This is me showing restraint.)

[...] I'll never find the words to say Which would completely explain Just how I'm breaking down

Suffice to say he's not doing well, and he's suffering not only from trauma due to his suicide attempt and guilt over the past, but also struggling to find the words to express this and fully convey to Valjean just how much his perspective has shifted, and how much his guilt is eating at him. He doesn't even feel like he can live with this level of guilt.

Someone come and, someone come and save my life

A plea Valjean has thankfully answered already <3 In the early days post-Seine, Valjean sometimes needs to do so again when Javert makes another attempt.

—

Underground by Shred Kelly | Post-Seine depression 🕳️

Close my eyes and I go back under Will I come back to the surface I wonder Last night I didn't sleep very much, no

Whenever Javert tries to go to sleep, he has flashbacks and/or nightmares about drowning.

I'm alive, but it cuts right through me hits a nerve so sincere and truly

He's in Struggle City. He's alive, but at what cost? He doesn't want to be here.

—

So It Goes by Hollerado | Reconciliation 🤝

You lived through prison, You killed and were forgiven, But I'm grateful to have known you as my friend.

Okay, Valjean's crime in canon is a lot more minor than that, but otherwise this checks out. However, you may recall one of the earlier songs introduced us to an inmate who was imprisoned for killing his sister's rapist. So, if we want to follow that AU, this line is actually a perfect fit :)

Here Javert is starting to tentatively get to know Valjean a little better as he continues to work through his post-Seine depression and confusion.

Your life left me so confused, You said "I'm a lot like you."

Now that Javert has crossed through the point of crisis, they can start to understand the similarities between them and see each other as human beings.

Oh so it goes, you're always sort of all alone

Valjean and Javert are both deeply solitary people. Neither has any sort of friend or confidant in their lives.

But you testified to set your jailor free. I asked you why, you said "he was a decent guy, And I'm sure he would have done the same for me."

Valjean in a nutshell—except he would (and did) do so by releasing Javert at the barricades, even thinking the "jailor" would never do the same for him ;) But Javert does! As we've already covered.

You can't make peace without an enemy. You can't be forgiven without sin. We're all looking for a love that's gonna set us free, But first you must forgive the man you've been

This is exactly where they're at right now: formerly "enemies", they now both have to forgive themselves for what's past—at least to some extent—before they can move on. And if neither of them had "sinned", neither of them would have reached this point in their lives where they have the chance to come together and truly know each other.

—

Left and Leaving by The Weakerthans | Reconciliation 🤝

My city's still breathing, but barely, it's true Through buildings gone missing like teeth The sidewalks are watching me think about you Sparkled with broken glass

After recovering enough to leave his sickbed and Valjean's home, Javert goes for a walk around the area of Paris where the conflict had taken place a few days earlier. Even though he's left Valjean's care, he finds he is still preoccupied by him.

I'm back with scars to show Back with the streets I know

He has the emotional scars and probably like, physical scars on his lungs too. Maybe some on the outside of his body from the fall, I dunno.

Wait for the year to drown

The phrasing is fitting. But yeah, he still feels really clueless and despondent and there's not much more he can think of to do but let time wash over him.

Spring forward, fall back down

Javert is still trying to figure out who he is as a person and figure out how to build a new life for himself, and there are stops and starts along the way.

I'm trying not to wonder where you are

Still, he can't help thinking about Valjean often.

[...] all that you gave me A blanket, some matches, this pain in my chest The best parts of lonely

I mean okay, Valjean definitely would have given him a blanket after rescuing him. Matches seem not outside the realm of possibility either. The pain in the chest is obviously for love reasons! And also lung reasons.

New words for old desires

Gotta love when your character starts to understand how they feel, then realises they've actually felt like this for a looong time, but didn't have the words for it.

—

Refrain by Boreal Sons | Reconciliation/Post-Seine guilt 🤝

You wear your scars Like they're purple hearts A victim's award. You wear your scars Like they're who you are, Your birthmarks.

Although the actual context of the song is most likely saying this person is playing the victim, I'm using it differently in my context. I'm imagining Javert's guilt over Valjean's scars from the bagne combined with Valjean's low self-esteem and feeling that his scars and his past still define him.

Of course, Javert seeing the whip marks on Valjean's back is a frequently recurring image in Valvert fic, but in my little playlist-story, I'm not imagining that they're really at that point yet where Valjean is taking his shirt off. So maybe Javert accidentally catches a glimpse of him changing, or maybe the scars are on his wrists instead, or maybe they're simply metaphorical/emotional scars. There are a lot of possible ways to interpret this, but I think the vibe is definitely right for them.

But your refrain, your refrain, your refrain Is "I can change, I can change, I can change"

This could be Valjean, who's been telling himself this for years (and doing it!) without truly believing he can ever escape the long shadow of his past. It could also be Javert, who has reached the point post-Seine where he is really trying to turn his life around instead of just being deeply depressed.

—

Peace with the Past by Reuben and the Dark | Javert's redemption 🌱

I've been making peace with the past Oh, with all the things I can't take back And maybe I'll quit smoking cigarettes And maybe I'll quit you after that

The first couple of lines are pretty self-explanatory.

Javert does canonically take snuff ("When he was pleased with himself, he permitted himself a pinch of snuff") as his only vice. Smoking cigarettes is the closest common modern equivalent. (I mean technically you still can take snuff nowadays, but it would be a bit unusual.)

Javert "maybe" wants to "quit you" (Valjean) as well—Valjean still confuses him, and Javert does not like being confused. Valjean also makes him feel vulnerable in ways he doesn't want to look too closely at. In many post-Seine fics, Javert also has lingering feelings of guilt and the impression that his company can't possibly be anything but a burden to Valjean, so he tries to distance himself from Valjean for Valjean's own good.

It takes a lot of pain to truly change Takes a lot of love to let it go

This transformation for Javert has undoubtedly been a painful one, mentally and physically. He's had to survive a suicide attempt to even make it this far, and if it hadn't been for Valjean's "love" (in a general sense, towards humanity) in saving him and caring for him, he wouldn't be here at all. Now he is starting to learn that same love from Valjean, both in the sense of starting to learn compassion and also, starting to fall for Valjean himself.

And I've been making amends It's the hardest thing I've ever had to do And just as I was getting used to having nothing left to lose I found you

Remember what I said about Valjean making him feel vulnerable? Yeah, here we are again. He was at rock bottom for a while during and immediately following his suicide attempt, and it was rough being down there, but it also felt right: that was where he deserved to be. And it was comfortable in the sense that he couldn't possibly fall any further, so nothing really mattered. He'd lost his livelihood and his life's purpose, his health, his direction, his sense of self. He had nothing left to lose. But now he's starting to develop this friendship with Valjean, and suddenly...

Well this time maybe I can break the rules So that I can spend forever with you

After a lifetime of rigidly following every rule to a T, Javert is finally learning how to look beyond and even break them. Of course it's Valjean who's brought him to this point. This is is literally Victor Hugo's line illustrating the effect Valjean has on Javert during his derailment chapter: "...suddenly to become aware of the fact that one cherishes beneath one’s breast of bronze something absurd and disobedient which almost resembles a heart!" THAT'S FROM CANON. HOW CAN YOU NOT SHIP IT?

—

More Like You by Brave Shores | Javert's redemption 🌱

All my love is burned All my tables turned

Cheesily, the flame of Javert's love has been lit. And the tables have definitely turned in terms of his morals and who he is as a person.

I'm becoming More like you

As in all good post-Seine fics, Javert has to become a little more like Valjean in order to move forward: he has to learn mercy and kindness.

—

Aside by The Weakerthans | Javert's redemption 🌱

My ribs that show through t-shirts And these shoes I got for free I'm unconsoled I'm lonely I am so much better than I used to be

Even though the plunge into the Seine was rough on Javert's health, and he's broke, and he's still horribly lonely, he's a much better person that he was, and he knows it.

And I'm leaning on this broken fence Between past and present tense And I'm losing all those stupid games That I swore I'd never play But it almost feels okay

He's still on the point of transition and figuring out how to make peace with the past. He's learning slowly and out of his depth, but he doesn't mind as much as he thought he would. He's starting to grow more optimistic through his burgeoning friendship with Valjean.

—

At Transformation by The Tragically Hip | Javert's redemption 🌱

I want to be kind, not a bullet in the right place

Javert is now actively wanting to choose kindness. In a reflection of Valjean's transformation after his encounter with the Bishop, Javert has turned his life around after so many years of simply being "a bullet in the right place".

I want to help you lift enormous things A pinch, a sting, I don't feel a thing As the Earth revolved around the sun

This is a song about transformation and this feels to me like the moment of Javert's second epiphany—realising there can be a real future for him, if it has Valjean in it.

"I want to help you lift enormous things" also makes me laugh because, yeah, literally. Valjean does do that. And Javert would like him to continue doing that, please. And he will gladly assist by staring at him while he does (well come on, it's not like Valjean needs any help with the actual lifting). Of course this also functions metaphorically, but like, you get that.

I can see it all at once And, oh, what a glittering chance

More description of a moment of realisation, of the "glittering chance" that awaits him of being with Valjean <3

At transformation

He really is undergoing a transformation.

—

Dents by The Acorn | Post-Seine friendship 👯‍♂️

I can see your years in my reflection, dents and cracks embedded in my skin May will bloom in fireworks and fury for all the times I didn't let you win.

Valjean is older than Javert by 12 years, but Javert realises he himself is getting old too, and he can see the same signs of age in his own face that he's noticed in Valjean. He reflects on how they were at odds for so many years before they found this peace with each other now that they are older. Despite their advanced years, this represents a new spring of sorts ("May will bloom"), with dare I say some passion too ("fireworks and fury")—Valvert fandom does love to write fics where those old men get it on (hell yeah).

As I make my way through your convictions,

Valjean makes his way through Javert's convictions, as in opinions, by slowly helping him unravel his old, flawed belief system. Javert makes his way through Valjean's convictions, as in criminal convictions, by helping him get a pardon (another classic addition to many post-Seine longfics).

And all the miles that we have put between us have been filled with loving blisters and sour truths.

After so many years of fraught history between them, in which they have been so many things to each other (prison guard and convict, mayor and subordinate, fugitive and policeman, captor and captive), they've mostly been at odds ("sour truths") but now they can finally start turning old wounds into affection ("loving blisters").

One by one the seasons change you Maybe once but not for all Time can't paint the picture for you Dying leaves need time to fall

Although Javert has already come a long way, these big changes still take time.

Javert continues to change, though without losing his own personality: he's still Javert, he's just learning how to be a better man. No one can do this for him, he has to do it himself, and give it the time that it needs.

—

Black Water by Reuben and the Dark | Post-Seine pining 🫀

Well I get high And I get low Oh, but that's the way These things go

The road to redemption remains uneven.

I saw my face in the mirror Oh, I know I've changed Though I look Much the same

Another moment where Javert reflects on his reflection (heh). This time, he's thinking that although he looks like the same man who set off for the barricades that day, he's changed so much since then.

And I found grace in the black water Bathe my soul And tell my heart I told you so

Through his plunge into the black river water (Brick: "Javert bent his head and gazed. All was black"), Javert has undergone a baptism and rebirth of sorts, and has had a change of heart ("And tell my heart / I told you so").

But I'm begging, please I need this so much More than you'll ever know

Javert has really fallen for Valjean at this point, and the yearning situation is truly painful to see. Let the post-Seine pining begin!!

—

Dead Leaves by Shred Kelly | Post-Seine pining 🫀

We can be friends, but if not you'll stomp on my heart I've got some things to burn and you've got the spark

Now that they've managed to sort through some of their considerable baggage over months or even years, the emotional foundation is actually there for love to grow. They've cultivated a friendship already, and maybe they (particularly Javert) have even already been aware of an attraction of sorts. But true love (twu wuv)? That's a whole other ballpark.

Naturally, they'll both start by believing they're not good enough for the other, and keep their feelings to themselves. I love watching these two idiots go through their mutual pining era, and I've written a fic like that myself.

—

I Hated Love Songs by Dan Mangan | Post-Seine pining 🫀

I used to figure that love was a joke A myth to keep the folks sedated It was overused and overrated

Before Valjean, Javert had never experienced romantic love before, but beyond that, he didn't even really subscribe to the concept of love at all. He was completely alone and it seems he had never had anyone in his own life. He felt that taking a compassionate outlook towards others was wrongheaded because it got in the way of ensuring justice was done and society was kept in order: an officer of the law needs to be objective. (Brick: "Good God! it is very easy to be kind; the difficulty lies in being just.")

You're not even trying, and somehow it breaks me in two In relative terms, I hate everyone else, it's true I hated love songs until I knew you

Javert may have since learned how to be a better person and show compassion for his fellow human beings, but he hasn't stopped being Javert. He's still got that sharp tongue and sass, he's still anti-social and avoids people when he can. I can easily imagine him saying "In relative terms, I hate everyone else".

Also let me remind you of this line: "...suddenly to become aware of the fact that one cherishes beneath one’s breast of bronze something absurd and disobedient which almost resembles a heart!".

I'm also thinking of the song "Javert, t'es amoureux" written by the original Javert actor. Javert definitely did hate love songs until he knew -- really knew -- Valjean.

—

Bobcaygeon by The Tragically Hip | Love ♥️

I left your house this morning About a quarter after nine Could have been the Willie Nelson Could have been the wine

THEY DID IT!! They've worked through the pining era and they are doing this thing for real. There's no other possible explanation for Javert leaving Valjean's place in the morning following an evening of Willie Nelson and wine, is there?

It was in Bobcaygeon, I saw the constellations Reveal themselves one star at a time

And we are back to our stars theme. And I guess in this little Canadian playlist AU, Valjean lives in Bobcaygeon, Ontario (a.k.a. about the only word Tragically Hip frontman/songwriter Gord Downie could find to rhyme with "constellation") (Necessary addition because we miss him a lot: In Gord We Trust. R.I.P.)

I do love to imagine that after they confess their feelings to each other, Javert looks up at the sky and feels this sense of overwhelming peace and wholeness watching the stars come out.

Or, it's already night and he is looking up at the stars, feeling that they are being arranged into new constellations because everything is so different in his life now. Either way, it's a nice thought related to this lyric.

Drove back to town this morning With working on my mind I thought of maybe quitting I thought of leaving it behind

I like to have my post-Seine Javerts quit the police force. Usually I would have him do this prior to any sort of romance with Valjean, but ah well, I'm literally building this story out of random song lyrics, I have to take what I can get. Bear with me.

In this scene, when Javert is driving back into town from Bobcaygeon (which is a couple hours outside of Toronto), he's reflecting on the nature of police work and how it fits into his life now that he's changed so much and is starting a relationship with an ex-convict, who is a better man than anyone he's ever known. Is it possible for him to continue on in this career ethically? Can one cog in the system make any meaningful change? He doesn't know yet, but he's starting to think more and more about quitting and leaving that life behind.

That night in Toronto [...] Riding on horseback And keeping order restored

A reference to his work as a mounted police officer in Toronto.

In the middle of that riot Couldn't get you off my mind So I'm at your house this morning Just a little after nine

As he breaks up a riot while on the job, he can't stop thinking about Valjean and the lingering question of what he's doing and what he ought to do with his life. He returns to Valjean's house the very next morning to tell him he's quitting the police force.

—

In Our Bedroom After the War by Stars | Love ♥️

Wake up, say good morning to That sleepy person lying next to you

They spend the night together again <3

Listen, the birds sing Listen, the bells ring All the living are dead, and the dead are all living The war is over and we are beginning

Here it comes, here comes the first day It starts up in our bedroom after the war

Everything is fresh and the world feels like it's beginning again. They are together, Javert will no longer work as a policeman, and ultimately, "the war is over" between them.

Those who were lost on the barricade, and the ideals for which they died, feel closer now than ever; and Javert and Valjean, who survived, feel how close they came to dying, which manifests in the gratitude they feel now for this new morning.

—

What Arrows by Hey Rosetta! | Love ♥️

It curves in through the weather It's coming from above And it brought us together It guided us to touch

A powerful, mysterious force "from above" has brought Valjean and Javert together. Their lives have been so deeply intertwined for so many years, and they can't seem to help finding each other again and again until they finally really found each other. Of course it feels like they're fated.

What tender tailor came And pushed a thread through each of us?

It's the proverbial red string of fate that ties them together. From their very inception as characters, they were two halves of one whole, both inspired by the same person (Vidocq).

Then he left us alone To walk our length oblivious

Though they've been destined as soulmates from the start, fate moves in msyerious ways, and there was a long road to get to this point.

I can't believe it, I think I believe in this

For two deeply lonely people who have never been in love before, having found this love late in life would be a revelation. Even more incredible to have found it with each other, after all that they've faced together.

We open the door and we're in the river But we're not getting wet [...] Bring me the cliff, I'm going over it Let her just reel me in

A callback to Valjean saving Javert from the river, but this time it's remembered with joy as the moment that brought them together and led them to this point. Opening the "door" of memory leads back to the river, but it no longer has the power to hurt them or even touch them ("we're not getting wet").

Javert would do it all over again just to let Valjean rescue him.

—

All My Life by The Strumbellas | Love ♥️

You put the snake under my bed You killed my spirit, now my spirit is dead You set the rocket off in my heart You put the daisies over top of my scars

Hell yeah!! You don't even need me for this one. This is SO them. I don't even need to say anything further.

You were the hunter hiding in the trees You were the pirate ship in my sea You were the thunder crashing through my storm You made me wish that I was never born

Again, just: behold. It's them.

All my life I'll be yours

<3 <3 <3

—

Red Heart by Hey Rosetta! | Love ♥️

Were you born in water A fish so cold? Were you born in autumn As the river froze?

The references to birth, water, and the river remind me of Javert's rebirth through his plunge into the Seine. (Or if we want to speak in AU terms, I guess it'll have to be the Saint Lawrence. I know that's a ways out of Toronto. Whatever, they can go to Kingston for that bit.)

And you're shut in And I know that You've got your reasons But even still, listen: Honey, let your red heart show

Now that they're together, Valjean wishes Javert would open up more and let himself be vulnerable. This can also go both ways, as Valjean is like, the master of keeping things shut inside! I just imagine that he would also be quicker to thaw than Javert, and thus would be the one making this plea. Either way, this definitely speaks to their dynamic.

But you look so good when you're laughing you know

Now this is absolutely Valjean to Javert. I say this because of Javert's tiger laugh, a trait from canon that I and many others love to repurpose in fanfiction. This is the quote I'm referring to: "When Javert laughed,—and his laugh was rare and terrible,—his thin lips parted and revealed to view not only his teeth, but his gums, and around his nose there formed a flattened and savage fold, as on the muzzle of a wild beast. Javert, serious, was a watchdog; when he laughed, he was a tiger."

Now Hugo is not being very complimentary here. But that's part of what makes it so fun to flip the POV on it and imagine this description from the point of view of someone who cares about Javert. It's easy to picture how this characteristic laugh of his could be seen as endearing.

—

Pornostartrek by USS (Ubiquitous Synergy Seeker) | Love ♥️

You make me feel like A shooting star

Yep, we got stars again. :D

You make me feel like A porno star

>:3

You hold me closer still, When I get paranoid You give your hand to hold, When I lose control

These are two pretty traumatised individuals carrying a lot of baggage and hard memories. They would definitely need to be there for each other and be a source of stability and comfort when one of them is going through a hard time.

You're like my compass and We always find our way

For Javert, Valjean really is like a moral and emotional compass.

You make me so content With everything I am [...] Heroine of confidence When I'm strung out on doubt

For Valjean, who is always doubting himself and thinking himself unworthy (just look at the way he talks to Marius about himself when he confesses the truth, and the way he throws his life away in canon because he thinks he's just worth nothing at all without the necessity of raising Cosette). He has incredibly poor self-esteem.

Javert, however, in the Javert Derailed chapter, comes to almost worship him as a saint, an angel, a holy figure. By this point in the playlist-story, of course, they know each other well and Javert sees him for the man he is, but he still idolises Valjean and makes sure he knows it when Valjean is self-doubting again. As a result, Valjean feels better about himself than ever.

You're so my everyday You're so my sweetest love

Awww!! Aren't they adorable? This is it, they're in a serious relationship now, and so much of that is about the day-to-day. It's being there for each other every day, in little everyday ways and little everyday routines that add up to a life you've built together.

You're so the greatest change I'm always dreaming of

None of this would have been possible without each man undergoing an epiphany and a resulting massive change to their life: Valjean's years earlier thanks to Bishop Myriel, and Javert's after the barricade, thanks to Valjean.

To Valjean, Javert is "the greatest change" because he's the one who changed and thus became someone Valjean could love. To Javert, Valjean is "the greatest change" because he's the one who caused the change in Javert.

—

Lovers in a Dangerous Time by Barenaked Ladies | Love ♥️

The final song!

Don't the hours grow shorter as the days go by? You never get to stop and open your eyes One day you're waiting for the sky to fall The next you're dazzled by the beauty of it all

Of course, the more time they have together, the more conscious they grow of how quickly time is passing. They're both past middle age and they have to cherish all the time they have together, especially after so many years of misunderstanding each other.

After all that time spent running/chasing, "waiting for the sky to fall", they can't help but be in awe of the life they have built together and how beautiful it is that they've found each other.

These fragile bodies of touch and taste This vibrant skin, this hair like lace Spirits open to the thrust of grace Never a breath you can afford to waste

The thrust of grace, indeed. But seriously, yeah, they're fucking. They're making beautiful old man love every day. Write that down.

When you're lovers in a dangerous time Sometimes you're made to feel as if your love's a crime Nothing worth having comes without some kind of fight Got to kick at the darkness till it bleeds daylight

As two men in a relationship, Valvert are indeed "lovers in a dangerous time", especially if we're talking canon era. More than that, just by virtue of their whole complicated, fraught situation, they were always kind of going to be lovers "in a dangerous time".

But, they fought for this! They fought to build this new life together by—and I think this is such a brilliant line—"kick[ing] at the darkness till it bleeds daylight". Both were dealt a terrible hand in life; both coped with that in sometimes ill-advised ways; both have led difficult, thankless, lonely lives and both of them, in the end, refused to accept that for themselves (again, this is my Fix-It ending, not the canon ending) and kicked at that goddamn darkness until it bled daylight and now they're here, they've made it, this is the happy ending and it's BEAUTIFUL goddamnit!!!

The Fucking End Eh!!

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