Discover Top Posts Tagged with #which is ew

You really don’t realise how many distractions you have in everyday life until your somewhere other than home and have crappy internet

Every time I’m down the beach I have the insane urge to write

But hey. Go write. Right now. Even just a sentence or two. Write.

#probably cause it’s cold and rainy rn #it’s probably cause it’s cold and rainy right now #which is ew #imma be freezing in bed tonight #cause we’ve got no heating here #yaaaay #anyway #writing #souls bs

that moment when you think of a wonderfully whumpy moment that will happen in the future. and then you remembered that in order for it to happen you actually have to write the thing.

#today has been interesting #my brain jusy made me think of a thing #and i'll definitely have to write it at some point #but that means actually writing #which is ew

Javert in Modern AUs for the reverse unpopular opinion meme!

Ooh thanks!. I have a complicated emotional relationship with the idea of Modern AU Javert lol

The short answer is that I LOVE the concept of Javert in a modern AU. (I’m not sure if that comes across in the multiple overlong posts where I go on and on about it? But I do!) The entire point of Les Mis is to apply it to the political events that are happening in your country and in your time. Like, that’s literally what Hugo says in the first line: “So long as there shall exist, by reason of law and custom, a social condemnation, which, in the face of civilization, artificially creates hells on earth (.....) books like this cannot be useless,” and all that.

And like: Javert is a cop character, where the point of his character is (paraphrased) that All Cops Are Bastards. He is the “best police officer it is possible to be,” and he is terrible, because the system he serves is terrible. He commits horrible acts of cruelty because he’s “just doing his job.” Idk I feel like…. in the right hands, handled by the right people, that message can still be pretty relevant. :P

Idk like, the whole point of Les Mis is to be a Political Book about how “we should change society somewhat.” And you can disagree with some of the politics in it (the way I disagree with a lot of Hugo’s attitudes towards women) but if you refuse to engage thoughtfully with its politics at all, or to apply anything in it to real social issues, I feel like the book just kinda “breaks.” Like-- sometimes I see people saying things like “I can’t believe Javert is aRRESting Valjean for a LOAF OF BREAD” as if that’s a plot hole that needs to be corrected. “Les Mis is so ridiculous! In real life, police officers don’t arrest people for silly meaningless infractions like that! :) In real life, police officers are all super reasonable :)”And I think of this essay written by a former cop, where he talks about the acts of horrible petty cruelty he was expected to perform as part of his job, like arresting homeless people who “stole”” cans from trash bins even as they sobbed and begged him to have mercy.

Police being cruel and unreasonable isn’t a plot hole in Les Mis, it’s a plot hole in……...reality……………I think people want to force Les Mis to be “apolitical,” but like, it’s not. Idk I feel like engaging with the politics of Les Mis is really important, and I like the general concept of bringing the characters into the modern day to explore the ideas in the story in a really explicit/challenging way. I think Dallas Les Mis does a pretty good job of that.

TL;DR: My general feelings are that Modern AU Javert is kinda like, a salad. I get that he’s good for me(™) even though he’s not very fun and I don’t enjoy him. XD A Magic/Fantasy AU Javert is like ice cream, something that tastes good but has very little substance. And Brick Canon Javert is great because he’s in between those two things-- relevant enough for his character to have Substance but also disconnected from modern police enough to be fun to read about, lol.

But ahhh my emotions on this are very complicated!! And I disagree with myself half the time. Every post I write about it is way too long :_;