(Image ID: Screenshot Of Two Replies By @alicedraws-kostyalevin. Saying: Funnily Enough Eponine Works

(Image ID: screenshot of two replies by @alicedraws-kostyalevin​. saying: Funnily enough eponine works for thenardier but doesn’t actually sacrifice herself for him (or at least, not anymore) but gavroche almost dies for him, and he doesn’t even recognize who it was. Absolutely brutal. Les mis has a thing? for people recognizing others and there must be some symbolism here that I never thought about.)

(Context: this post about he parallels between Eponine and Javert)

I never thought about it until just now either and you’ve made me realize— Javert’s weird power in Les Mis is just, his ability to recognize people?

Javert has a borderline magical ability to know who everyone Really Is, to know everyone’s True Names, regardless of their disguises.

There’s a common fandom joke that Javert is bad at recognizing people, but in canon it’s the exact opposite. Javert’s whole Thing is that he sees through disguises and recognizes the people that no one else is able to recognize, the people that everyone else forgets and overlooks.

And instead of using that power for good he uses it for evil. Javert could use his borderline magical skills to help all these forgotten people, but instead he uses it to condemn them and make them all suffer.

Javert even arrogantly shows off this semi-magical skill during the Gorbeau House ambush. All the members of the gang are masked; Javert orders them to keep their masks on, and then lists off their names one by one, to prove that he knows who they are even when they’re disguised.

“Why?” for the drama of it all

The six pinioned ruffians were standing, and still preserved their spectral mien; all three besmeared with black, all three masked.

“Keep on your masks,” said Javert.

And passing them in review with a glance of a Frederick II. at a Potsdam parade, he said to the three “chimney-builders”:—

“Good day, Bigrenaille! good day, Brujon! good day, Deuxmilliards!”

Then turning to the three masked men, he said to the man with the meat-axe:—

“Good day, Gueulemer!”

And to the man with the cudgel:—

“Good day, Babet!”

And to the ventriloquist:—

“Your health, Claquesous.”

God Javert is such a diva

And as mentioned on the other post: no one recognizes Eponine. Cosette sees adult Eponine and doesn’t recognize her/thinks she’s just a random boy, Marius doesn’t recognize Eponine even after she takes a bullet for him, Thenardier doesn’t recognize Eponine when he sees her in the Rue Plumet garden, etc.

But when Javert is about to be executed, he’s like “oh, it’s her. I know her.”

“Javert gazed askance at the body and, profoundly calm, said in a low tone:

“It strikes me that I know that girl.”

And when Valjean drags a muddied half-dead body away from the barricades– Javert recognizes it as Marius:

He bent over, drew from his pocket a handkerchief which he moistened in the water and with which he then wiped Marius’ blood-stained brow.

“This man was at the barricade,” said he in a low voice and as though speaking to himself. “He is the one they called Marius.”

(ok I literally never noticed the parallel between the way he recognizes Eponine and Marius’s bodies………….quietly saying ‘oh I know this person’ to himself in a low voice, while Valjean looks on)

But the biggest example is obviously Valjean. Javert recognizes Valjean when no one else does, when everyone else thinks he’s crazy for recognizing him, when everyone else thinks a mayor couldn’t possibly be a felon, etc. He’s the only one who recognizes Valjean when he’s wealthy and a mayor, not just when he’s a prisoner dressed in rags.

At the Champmathieu trial no one believes Valjean’s testimony. They think he’s gone mad, even his own prison-mates don’t seem to know him, they think he can’t possibly be Valjean because he’s too rich and educated, etc. Valjean gets Upset and says:

“I wish Javert were here; he would recognize me.” Nothing can reproduce the sombre and kindly melancholy of tone which accompanied these words.

And I don’t know how feel about this aspect of Javert????? But it’s….a Thing!!!

there is going to be an arguably even more important election than the presidency happening on january 5th in georgia. the two senate seats in their state did not reach enough of a majority in this election to decide a winner, so theyre doing a “run-off election”. 

if these two seats are won by democrats they will flip the senate to a MAJORITY for democrats. we will have the presidency, the house AND the senate if the democratic candidates in georgia win. the policies biden promised could have a better chance at being passed!

if you live in georgia PLEASE vote for the democratic senate candidates on january 5th

if you do not, i recommend donating to the candidates election fund! :) 

https://electjon.com/

https://warnockforgeorgia.com/  

if you voted by mail-in ballot in PA, MI, WI, NV, NC, and GA:

you can check the status of your ballot online by entering the information associated with your voter registration to check if your ballot was accepted. 

pennsylvania voters: check the status of your ballot here

michigan voters: check the status of your ballot here

wisconsin voters: check the status of your ballot here

nevada voters: check the status of your ballot here

north carolina voters: check the status of your ballot here

georgia voters: check the status (how to) of your ballot here

it is vital to the success of this election that you check to see if your vote was accepted, and especially important since it has come down to these six states. please take a few seconds to follow up to make sure your vote was counted! 

every state will look different, but for example:

this is what it will say on pennsylvania’s ballot status site if your vote has been recorded. if the site does not indicate that your vote has been recorded, please consider following up with a phone call to your county election office or whoever your state dedicates to these issues. if not, keep checking periodically throughout the week to make sure your vote was recorded. 

this is so important. there is a lot at stake here. so many people are vulnerable. we need to make sure every. single. vote. is counted to ensure a fair election. your vote matters! please don’t let it stop at just casting the vote, make sure it’s been recorded.

@themiserablesmonth Day 23 - Threadbare

@themiserablesmonth Day 21 - Bloom

@themiserablesmonth Day 19: Fold

(that is, Valjean’s most ridiculous escape yet)