favorite parts of the brick that weren’t in the musical
• jean and jeanne having a kid named jean valjean
• valjean stealing an incredibly minor amount of money from a kid right after being released from prison
• valjean becoming a gardener
• valjean being hidden in a coffin
• the amount of times victor hugo pretends valjean isn’t valjean
• victor hugo discussing how puns are in fact very serious
• bahorel first meeting marius like “hi, thanks for getting me out of law school”
• marius having no money and then sending back the money his grandfather have him so he can freeload off courfeyrac
• bahorel giving joly love advice by telling him to buy new pants
• marius, praising napoleon: “what could be better than having such an emperor?” combeferre: “to be free”
• marius obsessing over the handkerchief he thinks is cosette’s but it turns out to be valjean’s
• grantaire trying to impress enjolras by wearing a robespierre waistcoat (why does he even own that?)
• marius banging his head against a tree for two hours when he learns that cosette is going to england
• marius refusing to go outside in the day wearing anything but black
• anything with marius tbh
• bousset: “enjolras doesn’t even have a girlfriend” enjolras: “excuse you i have france”
Notable mention – Grantaire got drunk, nearly passed out and Enjolras told him that whilst he didn’t care that he was drunk, he was disrespecting the barricade and had to leave
@ les mis fandom why are you all so insistent on erasing what is arguably Grantaire’s canonical bisexuality? The dude likes girls. He’s also got the mega angsty hots for Enjolras. Everytime I see a headcanon or post where he’s described as gay I’m like??? But??? He talked very clearly about liking ladies??? Why do you have to erase his bisexuality? Him having had a Thing with Floreal for example doesn’t somehow undermine his love for Enjolras? Generally I say headcanon however you like but given it’s practically canon it seems less like ‘this is my interpretation of him!’ And more just. Shady bi erasure. >
Chill, fandom. Let R be bi.
Yes, but I think that the same point could be made for “erasing” Grantaire’s arguably canonical heterosexuality. (I, personally, don’t think either can be erased, because nothing ficwriters do could ever change canon, so even in cases a character is stated to be something or other in canon, they can be written literally opposite in a fanwork, and it still won’t be erasure, because it doesn’t affect canon in any way.)
As for Grantaire, I think the case slightly more complicated – he is described as having no understanding of what his feelings for Enjolras are. Like, he can’t even wrap his head around the concept of him being attracted to a man, in any way. But he is also a libertine, which might indicated that he’s been around to some lovely parties where everyone sleep with eachother, and he arguably knows that same-sex attraction and action exist. It’s just that he couldn’t even imagine it applying to him.
But then, Grantaire is no master in self-awareness and reflection – he doesn’t think he can be attracted to men, but he’s drawn to Enjolras, for his character, and perhaps for his beauty also.
It’s been 3 years, and I’m still on the fence about Grantaire – either he is straight, but confused, or he is gay, but repressed and confused. Either way, Grantaire being confused is my only fixed opinion about him.
‘Either straight but confused or gay and confused’ ??? Or just. Bi? No offence but the ‘either straight or gay’ mentality doesn’t sit well with me and is exactly what I’m talking about here. Bisexuality is an option here you know? He could like women and men (and I never see him imply otherwise in canon – I don’t see where your ‘cannot possibly wrap his head around being attracted to a man in any way!’ Thing comes from. He seems pretty accepting of his feelings towards Enjolras; it shows in how he’s always described as talking to him ‘tenderly’ and ‘sweetly’. He’s regularly compared to figures with questionable sexualities. He’s literally introduced as in love with Enjolras and all that he is. That doesn’t strike me as a man repressed. Also the idea that a 19th century Parisian artist is unaware of same gender attraction even existing is pretty amusing to me)
Grantaire is arguably one of the only characters in the brick who can almost canonically be discerned as LGBTQ. And one of the only characters who has canonical evidence hinting towards bisexuality. To reduce him to straight or gay without ever exploring this is insulting.
Regardless of your in depth analysis though you’ve sort of missed my point entirely. This post is aimed at a very specific part of fandom who like to erase all the evidence that Grantaire has ever had any interest in women and make him gay due to biphobia and some weird fandom notion that bisexuality will get in the way of their ships. This wasn’t a discussion about Grantaire’s sexuality; it is about erasure of bisexuality in fandom, as an act of biphobia (whether conscious or not) – not about erasing this particular character’s sexuality. Grantaire is my example here because there is very obvious evidence for him being attracted to both women and men.
I’d like to add that the idea that Grantaire is either “straight, but confused, or he is gay, but repressed and confused” (as you say) is also a form of bi-erasure.
’s theory that he doesn’t understand his feelings for Enjolras, it’s only more likely he’s bi. What makes gay people question whether they are gay? Attraction to the opposite gender. A man in the 19th century won’t have access to labels like bisexual, gay and straight, not to mention all the other labels, so he’ll be more likely to think it’s hella weird that he likes men and women. If Enjolras is the first man he’s ever been in love with, he would be slightly confused.
Our poor, confused, possibly bi little bab.
(that is to say, the OP should also keep in mind that just because R likes two genders doesn’t mean he’s bi. Pan-erasure is also a thing. There are so many labels modern!Grantaire could pick. Gay or straight just aren’t the most recommended when you look at canon)
In the group watch of this concert yesterday, the important topics of Enjolras’ indecent costume and the eventual stripping of the rest of Les Amis to copy him were extensively discussed.
However, not being too familiar with either the musical adaptions or 19th century Parisian fashion, I found it hard to keep track of who was taking off their clothes when. So of course, I went through taking screenshots of each character, first at the café, then at the barricade.
Why would I feel the need to document this? Well, that’s for me to know and you to find out.
First, Enjolras. He is inexplicably and indecently dressed right from the beginning. No coat, waistcoat open, cravat tied at the bottom, kinky leather wristbands, “what are shirt buttons for?” Either he is very passionate about the coming revolution, as @spacestationtrustfund suggested, or, as @elliotenjolras offered as an explanation, he was making out with someone pretty intensely just beforehand, and they failed to help him re-dress.
This Combeferre has the fashion sense of a stressed professor anyway, but he imitates (or perhaps is helped by) Enjolras in losing one vest and opening the second, loosening his (adorable) bow-tied cravat and rolling up his (questionable) sleeves for the barricade.
Jean Prouvaire is all-too-happy to shed some clothing for the cause, and looks suitably Romantic doing so.
Feuilly naturally strips to stand in solidarity with Enjolras and his unfortunate inability to wear clothes.
This Courfeyrac is so passionate that he probably tears at his clothes until they look like this. “Revolution is of greater importance, even, than my newest silk cravat, as fashionable as it undeniably is.”
Bossuet just managed to trip several times on the way to the barricade, and that’s why he looks dishevelled.
Joly removes his cravat completely, to go one better than his compatriots. Not at all because he has secretly always suspected that wearing one probably impedes the natural flow of blood to one’s head.
Grantaire is an absolute mess at the café and remains so at the barricade, matching Enjolras throughout.
Marius tries very hard to fit in by taking off his coat and cravat, but his frilly shirt and gold waistcoat makes him look more like a posh bee than a busy revolutionary.
Bonus: As @shellcollector pointed out, Javert easily infiltrates the group by dressing up as one of them. It’s not particularly difficult to do.
So there you go. Thanks to his loyal friends, Enjolras is not the only one who dies looking as though he only had 30 seconds to get dressed that morning.
today I was looking through some word definitions for a class (like a good English major) and I discovered something really interesting (and by interesting I mean the kind of discovery that makes you sit with your head in your hands for a little while)
(also maybe a ton of people already know this and I’m freaking out for nothing but we’ll just hope that’s not the case)
anyway. the word I was researching was grant
and I looked at the word’s origin, because that’s something my professor encourages us to do and it helps uncover meanings that maybe we wouldn’t immediately recognize
and this is what I found:
1175-1225; Middle English gra (u) nten < Old French graunter, variant ofcrëanter < Vulgar Latin *credentāre, verbal derivative of Latin crēdent-,stem of crēdēns, present participle of crēdere to believe
take a look at that last part. to believe. the word grant comes from the Latin verb which means “to believe”
so. grant is part of the name Grantaire.
it comes from the verb meaning “to believe”
Grantaire means “to believe”
Grantaire. the man who took good care not to believe in anything. his name means “to believe”
GRANTAIRE MEANS “TO BELIEVE”
GRANTAIRE MEANS “TO BELIEVE”
and I have a feeling no one needs me to tell them in what (or who) Grantaire believes
Can we appreciate that when Cosette kept seeing a figure in her garden her rationale for it not being a ghost wasn’t “Ghosts aren’t real” it was “Ghosts don’t wear hats.”
op is compared to classical queer characters and described using words and phrases that are known historical ways to refer to a gay man, is described as having no interest in women, and literally dies holding hands with a man, but if you want to ship him with a woman then go off I guess
hufflepuff javert and slytherin valjean is the only thing i care about
Please explain, as an Hufflepuff you piqued my curiousity
ok so these are just my personal interpretations but
hufflepuff values hard work, dedication, patience, and loyalty, which is. pretty much javert in a nutshell. he’s so dedicated to the law and his own morals that he’d rather kill himself than break them. he respects authority and is incredibly honest which are also hufflepuff traits
slytherin valjean i like mostly bc of how cunning and resourceful he is like? one of the unofficial mottos for slytherin is “whatever means to an end” which is absolutely valjean. ruin your life to save some guy you’ve never met? burn your arm with a hot poker to intimidate your kidnappers? he’s obviously willing to go to extreme lengths to achieve his goals. he’s also a good leader and always thinks every action through completely he’s such a slytherin
@kohsette this is the post that convinced me but obviously opinions can differ
this is … fucking valid & I didn’t think abt it that way
what’s interesting about the song Bring Him Home from Les Mis (which I was listening to for the 509348th time don’t judge me) is that essentially…. it’s all about Cosette?
which is weird to think about?? but this is Jean Valjean PRAYING, with every fiber of his being, for Marius to be safe and survive the war. It’s such an intense emotional song but it’s for… this boy he doesn’t really know?
all he knows about Marius is that Cosette loves him, more than anything in this world. The only reason Jean Valjean even goes to the barricades in the first place is to find this boy and bring him home to Cosette because Cosette means more to him than the entire world
he wants God to protect Marius, even at the cost of his own life, so that Cosette will be happy
so like when I say that Cosette is the heart of Les Mis I’m being so literal you guys. she IS the show. there’s a reason she’s on the poster. Fantine gives up her whole life, quite literally, for her daughter. Fantine’s sacrifice affects Valjean so much that he HAS to find this little girl, and oh boy, little Cosette completely changes Valjean’s life. From the moment he takes her away from the Thenardiers she becomes his joy.
The bishop gave Valjean his soul back, and Cosette gave him back his heart.
And that is why Bring Him Home holds so much emotional weight. Valjean knows he’s growing old. He knows he may not survive this. But Cosette is his heart, his everything, and he needs Marius to survive for her. Even though it’s never spoken in the song, that’s what it means to him.
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