#lm 2.4.2

[les-mis-daily-doodles]

awwwww she has a home now!!

[lmchaptertitlebracket]

Round 5, Matchup 6: II.iv.2 vs III.viii.22

Which chapter title do you prefer?

A Nest for Owl and Wren

The Little One Who Was Crying In Volume Two

Voting ended onOct 28, 2025

ahh, les miserables little ones 🥺

[lmchaptertitlebracket]

Round 4, Matchup 9: I.viii.4 vs II.iv.2

Which chapter title do you prefer?

Fantine Happy

A Nest for Owl and Wren

Voting ended onSep 15, 2025

[lmchaptertitlebracket]

Round 3, Matchup 10: I.iv.3 vs II.iv.2

Which chapter title do you prefer?

The Lark

A Nest for Owl and Wren

Voting ended onJul 21, 2025

[lmchaptertitlebracket]

Round 2, Matchup 52: II.iv.2 vs IV.iii

Which chapter title do you prefer?

A Nest for Owl and Wren

The House on the Rue Plumet

Voting ended onJun 15, 2025

[lmchaptertitlebracket]

Round 1, Matchup 93: II.iv.2 vs IV.xiii.2

Which chapter title do you prefer?

A Nest for Owl and Wren

Paris As the Owl Flies

Voting ended onMay 4, 2025

[maybeitsapineapple]

LM 2.4.2

virgin becomes a parent on the 25th december. haven't i seen that somewhere before

(i'd forgotten he SPECIFICALLY MENTIONS IT WAS NINE MONTHS. valjean mpreg is real)

echoes of the night valjean stole the candlesticks, "ready to break this skull or kiss this hand", and, as stated in the text, fantine’s death. because, as hugo will tell us in the weirdest possible way in lm 4.15.1, valjean only allows himself one (1) relationship at a time and needs to transfer every single feeling from each to the next. with the bishop, he could not make his choice; with fantine, he made it too late; with cosette, he’s made it in time! which would be great, because we love valjean getting to grow as a person, except that what he’s growing into is Putting People On Pedestals. not good for valjean’s sense of self-worth (or sense of self) and also not good for the person being placed on the pedestal. religious feelings about dead bishops are okay(ish), religious feelings about your daughter are not

cosette is a warbler now, rather than a lark – pretty similar birds; she’s still the same little girl, but now she’s shed the awful reasoning for being called the lark – being frightenned and always up before the dawn. she's free to just be happy and sing (play)

[pilferingapples]

LM 2.4.2

Possibly because I'd just been watching Kundan, which really leans on the JVJ- Cosette parallels, I noticed for the first time this readthrough--

I think this chapter is the first time Valjean lets himself play. In his entire life. He never had time and chance before this to just hang out with someone he loves; and from what we saw in M sur M, he never took the chance then to just have a Day Off, Doing Nothing.

The way he spends today's chapter-- just sitting, watching Cosette, answering her questions-- also reminds me strongly of the way Cosette intially plays with Catherine-- putting her on a pedestal, even if that's just a chair, and just watching, reverential and overcome with feelings about this new presence.

I know Hugo, in a letter to Juliet , once described his early concept of LM as being about "a man, a woman , and a doll" (Valjean, Fantine, and Cosette) and I'd always sort of wondered about the Doll part--but now I think I'm beginning to get it.