being abused or harmed by a member of a marginalized community doesn't give you a free pass to be bigoted towards that community as a whole. yeah even if you were traumatized. if you find yourself unable to act with civility towards a marginalized group because someone in it hurt you, that's something you need to fucking work on.

Enjolras animation✨✨

Quality is a bit butchered🥲

jehanparnasse coded btw

sorry guys i wont ever shut up about this

Oh no, Les Mis characters are your co-workers and you just sent out an email about a big project with the wrong attachment. 

Jean Valjean: Waits to see if anyone else will point out the error and if no one does within 24 hours, he’ll reply directly.

Cosette: Immediately replies and includes a self-deprecating joke about how she messes up attachments all the time. Every sentence ends with an exclamation point!

Enjolras: Sends a Reply All which calls out the error in very direct terms and asks for the corrected info.

Javert: Same as Enjolras but he also adds the division director to the CC line. 

Éponine: Sees Javert’s message and texts you to commiserate about that fucking guy. She keeps it out of Slack because she’s paranoid. 

Fantine: Doesn’t notice that it’s the wrong attachment but does reply to volunteer her help with anything you need. 

Thénardier: Doesn’t read the email and complains loudly at the next staff meeting that none of this information has been shared with him. 

Madame Thénardier: Responds but only to send you a link to her latest MLM product page. 

Combeferre: Emails you directly — and also asks whether this is the best approach to the project and make several suggestions which you will absolutely be ignoring. 

Courfeyrac: Messages on Slack because he’s trying to put a happy hour thing together, and oh yeah, that might be the wrong attachment???

Grantaire: Only bothers to read Enjolras’ reply, then sends you a bunch of obnoxious gifs 

Lesgle: Hunts down the correct attachment to send to the group, accidentally attaches the results of his latest STI panel as well. Good news is, he’s clean. 

Joly: Doesn’t reply because he’s out sick today.

Marius: Didn’t read the email.

Bahorel: Never reads his email.

Im so so so so so so so tempted to make some sort of silly Enjolras rp tumblr account of some sorts. But I already have a couple of blogs, and i am trapped inside the "man that would be so cringe of me" mindset. Also, Idk if it should be modern au based or Canon era based. Mmmmm

Im cringe but I'm free I'm cringe but I'm free I'm cringe but I'm free im cringe but I'm free I'm cringe but I'm free I'm cringe but I'm free im cringe but I'm free I'm cringe but I'm free I'm cringe but I'm free im

I have heard and read many interesting and thoughtful reviews of Les Misérables and the themes and characters deeply rooted in racism. However, I barely hear anyone really talk about the explicit stance the book takes in being pro-colonialism.

I don't really have the interest in re-reading the book to every chapter because of long essays such as the Argot one, where Victor Hugo paints a very negative picture in anyone who differs from the standard form of French.

Now, this isn't just about Standard French, but also any linguistic children of it, because Hugo explicitly talks about the usage of Creole. To make his stance clearer, even one of the members of Patron Minette is 'Créole'.

We can't have depictions of mixed race or non-White ethnicities in books like this without racism being the foundation of it. I feel like sometimes people will happily call something racist, and then move on without talking about how topics such as colonisation is thought of and expressed.

I think one of the villains here is the colonial mindset. If we aren't taught about colonialism and the effects and horror from the said atrocities and beyond harmful psychology, then we will read pages and pages of content, and only reduce the conclusion to: "Ah, racism."

When we think about the criticism of class, hierarchy, social inequality, court procedures, justice, religious morality, perceived equality, and so on, we got such a deep analysis of it from Hugo about France.

At the same time, he proceeded to be explicitly pro-colonial inside the book, within his other books, and in real life statements as well. It isn't equal or excusable that Victor Hugo, and historical authors alike, can analyse their own country in such detail, combing through their thoughts on the matter, while sweeping generalisations such as 'France has a right to colonise Africa because we bring civilisation to it' is being said.

How come some societies are given the luxury of having the nits and grits be explored and criticised, while other societies are given willy nilly thoughts? Surely, one isn't expected to understand all the doings around the globe. So then, why discuss it in one's book?

Sure, old books— and even contemporary ones— from places born from privilege, having pillaged and colonised in unwelcomed spaces, will inevitably reek of the colonial mindset. That is a given. The main difference in contemporary books is that there is effort to erase that mindset, which can be admittedly difficult to do, if all your life, you had been groomed by the education system to be pro-colonialism, or at least unempathetic to it, or believe 'it isn't that big of a deal.'

When we are thinking about adaptations of Les Misérables around the world,— and in my case, around Asia,— there is an element of charm or fascination in how artists in different countries interpret the points, messages, and arguments presented in Les Misérables.

Especially for countries victims of colonisation, and those of which who continuously suffer from the consequences of it; I don't think there is near enough talks in the anglophone side of the fandom (I don't know about any other side, I only know the anglophone side) about what it means to restructure and reimagine the arguments presented by the book.

In particular, when we see countries who were victims to French colonisation, like Vietnam, where we get to see 'cultural resistance' against the effects of the oppressive French policies portrayed in their most famous retelling of Les Misérables; there isn't much talk about the political statement the act of translation and adaptation alone has.

Here, in these adaptations, the stories are being handled most likely by those who are native to the lands, cultures, and languages, and they get to choose what political opinion the adaptation is going to have now, whether or not that is something we would personally agree with. The power is given to the people nevertheless.

Therefore, we no longer get sweeping generalisations or a willy nilly essay of thought about language use or ways of society of the 'uncivilised countries', and instead we get to see an insightful criticism of their own injustices through the adaptations of stories such as Les Misérables.

I don't mean to romanticise the adaptations, because of course there's flaws to them as well. The main point is that, the people who would not have a voice are giving themselves it, and they can insert details the oppressors would've never even been bothered to consider.

The themes of Les Misérables are very flexible, and therefore applicable to many injustices in nations not even touched by France. To learn about countries and national pride from peoples' thoughts and artwork relating to Les Misérables sure is an odd way of me exploring world history and politics. I do admit it's a funny of mine.

But as a fandom, or as a collective of shared interest, let's not dismiss obvious colonial thoughts that a lot of Hugo's points sprouted from.

Let's also not forget that European empires aren't the only empires to exist, and other adaptations can fall short in representing the themes of Les Misérables most likely largely influenced by thoughts sprouting from colonial ideals and racist ideologies.

All in all, let's give adaptations more love, and address the political implications of it as well as the literal racism and pro-colonial mindset the book argues on explicitly.

The urge to bother my mutuals

reblog if it’s okay for your mutuals to bother you <3

I think...well... SJ's eyes may resemble to his father's much more. I can see a vibe of SJ especially in his father's eyes. Friends of SJ might see him gazing like his father in this portrait.

is this what saint just’s future held in store for him? @theblackrook

Les Amis as French verb tenses:

Enjolras: futur antérieur. Used to denote future actions that will specifically happen before other actions or time frames. Example: Nous aurons renversé le gouvernement avant le fin du siècle (We will have overthrown the government before the end of the century.)

Combeferre: futur simple. Used to generally denote future actions, albeit sometimes with less connotation of immediacy. Example: Je lirai un nouveau livre (I will read a new book.)

Courfeyrac: présent. The standard present tense, used to express what is currently happening. Example: Il est heureux (He is happy.)

Jehan: passé simple. A form of the past tense seen most often in literature rather than in modern spoken French. Used for narrating actions with a definite beginning and end. Example: Vous écrivîtes ce poème (You wrote this poem.)

Feuilly: futur proche. Used to denote actions definitely happening in the near future, similar to futur antérieur but without the expectation of specifically occurring before anything. Formed by conjugating the verb aller (to go) with the infinitive of the main verb. Example: Le monde va être égal (The world is going to be equal.)

Bahorel: imparfait. A past tense that denotes previous states of being or actions without a defined start or end. Example: L'émeute était puissante (The riot was powerful.)

Joly: conditionnel. A tense in which the action described is contingent upon another factor. Also used for polite requests. Example: Je voudrais une baguette, s'il vous plaît (I would like a baguette, please.)

Bossuet: infinitif. The unconjugated form of a verb, which encompasses the action or state of being in its essence, with no modifiers. Examples: être (to run), parler (to speak), choisir (to choose), etc.

Grantaire: subjonctif. A tense with no strict English equivalent, generally used to express doubt, negation, uncertainty, fear, desire, superlativity, and (perhaps surprisingly) necessity, among other things. It's often considered a difficult tense to master, particularly when one's first language doesn't have an equivalent, due to many irregularities and exceptions in its formation. Example: Je ne crois pas que tu comprennes (I don't believe that you understand.)

NICK SQUARED ‼️‼️‼️‼️

i know most people dont care unless its the usa but its my country and i must speak about it

the current president has been president for the past 25 years, by the way. i have never witnessed a different presidential regime. if you cant do anything, atleast raise awareness on it.

the students are being sent to prison while killers and rapists go free with no consequences, students are being attacked with water but when the grand kartal hotel in bolu burned down and 78 people died they 'werent able to do anything' (they arrived an entire hour after the fire occured).

oh and actors who are speaking up about this and telling their following to boycott certain bands that support the current government are being arrested