who are you all gonna be fighting for in the steal offs? im gonna do multiple teams to keep it interesting

Les Misérables 2.3.7, Hapgood translation

+ Starchild [The Ghost Quartet]

Round 0: Sudden Death

These obscure ships only received one submission. Help narrow down which will proceed to Round 1!

Steals will not be counted in Round 0, though propaganda is encouraged.

Already voted? Make sure you also vote in our other polls!

Friends, Romans, Countrymen…

Please vote for Grantaire/Marius Pontmercy. Please. These two losers have so much good canon material, both in the brick and other adaptation.

Vote for Grantaire making fun of Marius and Marius not even noticing because he hasn’t been to a meet up since Combeferre sang at him (devastating). For their weirdly incompatible yet similar romantic obsessions. For all the horrible hijinks that ensue when you put them together and make them interact with more socially competent individuals.

Proganda (aka fic I wrote with Marius and Grantaire interaction at the fore, all canon era):

Les Amours de Marius, aka The Fakest Fake Dating AU

Works of Nature

The Course of True Love

Aaaand I would link one of the ficlets I wrote where they actually make out, but apparently I didn’t put any of those on Ao3. Whoops! …Vote for Grantaire/Marius and maybe I’ll dig around to find them and put them on Ao3.

If I may:

[x] Based off some bootleg gifset from Red & Black that was circulating like 10 years ago

[x] Collab I did with @withinadream27, an illustration of her fic A Cure For Sorrow. (fic is NSFW)

Sudden Death Announcement: Hugo Showdown

You all have really been showing up for these polls, even pre-stealing in Round 0! We've already seen amazing callbacks to existing work, excellent rationalizing of otherwise unusual ships, and even original work after not even 36 hours. Incredible work.

The mods have noticed that Victor Hugo, icon and legend that he is, appears to be dominating most of his polls. This should come as no surprise, as our good teacher is famously handsome, wise, intelligent, and full of wit; however, as is also in keeping with his character, his presence in the polls appears to be overwhelmingly drowning out other worthy ships' voices.

As a corrective to this (much like the cat to the mouse), we will be hosting a 24-hour Hugo Only elimination poll.

All of the ships containing Victor Hugo in Round 0 will be put into a single poll. The winner of this poll will be determined to be the winner of his Round 0 poll and will move on to Round 1; in cases where the Hugo option won his original poll but lost the elimination poll, second place from that poll will go on to Round 1 (for example, if Hugo/his opinions won Round 0 Poll #12 but lost the Hugo Only elimination poll, then whichever ship in Poll #12 had been in second place will advance).

This poll will take place in the final 24 hours of Round 0 Sudden Death polls, opening 15 April at 17.00UTC and closing 16 April at 17.00UTC. This is to assure that anyone who already voted for Hugo in their respective poll doesn't have their vote invalidated before the polling window closes while also keeping our timeline moving along.

why is everyone talking about this website dying again for tje 15th time

they;re selling us to one direction??

Les Misérables' OC character, Nande, by Su Manshu

Su Manshu was a revolutionary poet who wrote a translation of Book One of Les Misérables into traditional Chinese.

Copy and pasted from a comment I made in Dec 2024:

Su Manshu wrote a self-insert (Nande) who was a mouthpiece for the favour of the revolution of China (which was ruled by the Qing Dynasty at the time).

However, since there wasn't much of a freedom in press in regards to the criticism of it, the main character (the self insert) dies.

During the translation (which was only book 1), there is a running comparison of Chinese and French history, and also anti-Christian sentiments due to Su's fear of the 'Western influence' of China.

The translation is so different, there is some unintended comedic elements to it in retrospect, but I'm sure during the time when it was written, it was truly a piece of revolution. It's just funny if you take the political context out of it.

There is also mistranslations, such as the Bishop asking how many coins Jean Valjean has, and telling him that his place is not a hostel and therefore he doesn't need to pay -> to then become the Bishop asking Jean Valjean how much coins he has, and telling him that it is indeed like a hostel, and thus needs to pay him with all the coins that he has (rather than JvJ keeping them).

There is an academic argument apparently on whether or not mistranslations such as these were intentional, or if Su wasn't as proficient in English as we believed he was to be (since he translated from Wilbour's trans.)

It also is a running theme throughout the translation that JvJ is a bad guy.

The paper I read doesn't talk about other characters, so I don't know how other characters are presented unfortunately. Probably because it overly focuses on the OC lmao

Hi, I'm looking for people willing to participate in my BA research. It is a survey about how being in fandom influences motivation towards learning English.

If you have some time to spare, English is not your first language but you are more or less actively involved in any fan activities in English, please take a moment to help me (I would also appreciate it if you shared the link with your friends that could help 😉)

BarricadesCon: From Paris to Bangkok

Comment regarding A Wish in the Dark by Christina Soontornvat

In July, 2024, I left a comment about my thoughts behind the wonderfully interesting talk by the author Christina Soontornvat about her 2020 book, 'A Wish in the Dark'.

I've copy and pasted my comments:

"I absolutely love this panel!! I love politics being talked about in children's literature, and for it to be the themes and plot points from Les Misérables?? I want to buy. I'm may not be a child, but I love these ways of storytellings.

I love how real life experiences have been interwoven into the story, and every day I am also reminded of how much of an impact Lea Salonga to the world. [I'm guessing I put this because the Soontornvat talked about Salonga's impact on the Western stage.]

The "commentary on systems of inequality" is right off the bat about the women's "rehabilitation center" and I was hit with a doozy, ready to dive in to the story.

I love how it was said that kids are hungry to talk about these kinds of themes and subjects. It’s true. So many children are willing to tackle these subjects and I am beyond delighted to see the encouragement towards this cognitive development.

I wish we could see more of a Buddhist interpretation [like the panelist] of Les Misérables in the world!

And I didn't know the incarceration levels, especially for women, was so high in Thailand. Having the story start off there was a great narrative choice, and well, everything the panelist said was super interesting and the more I talk, the more my chat is going to turn into her quotes because everything that was brought up was interesting.

Thank you for the panel!!"

To hear more from Christina Soontornvat the author herself, she uploaded a video in which you can watch:

'A Wish in the Dark - Where did the idea come from?'

Les Misérables used as political messaging across Asia (incomplete)

In my intro of my blog, I talk about the utilisation of Les Misérables for the purpose of giving political statements being available to search on my account. (Usually via the hashtag 'protests')

I'm just going to create a separate list (this one) compiling of information that I found which talk of certain events in countries across Asia. (as the list I have now in my intro largely limits itself to adaptations/translations only) If anybody has anything else to add, please tell me!

The following will have different levels of research be put into it. I've put a link to the post which has the most relevant information regarding to the matter for a quick link to the research, however it necessarily won't be the only informative post about it.

It's definitely a work in progress! Think of it as a blog update.

Otherwise, here's the list thus far:

1903 China -> Criticism of the Qing Dynasty & International relations (Western countries and influence on China)

#Su Manshu

1926 Vietnam -> Combatting the post-colonial state from the French Empire and Criticism of the Nguyễn Dynasty

#Nguyễn Văn Vĩnh and #Hồ Biểu Chánh and #Ngọn Cỏ Gió Đùa

1938 Japan -> Anti-war messaging.

#kyojinndenn

1945-9 Indonesia -> (Real world comparison to:) War of Independence / Indonesian National Revolution and the Dutch colonisation and Japanese occupation

#Indonesia independence

1955 India -> Criticism of the British colonisation and the representation of the Quit India Movement (Heavily incomplete- I need to do much more research regards to the historical background and setting)

#Kundan

1957 Malaysia -> (Real life comparison to:) Declaration of Independence (Merdeka) and ethnic & patriotic unity and the British colonisation

#Malaysia

2019 Japan -> Contemporary Japanese identity; protests and earthquakes (still largely incomplete)

#owarinaki tabiji

2019-20 Hong Kong -> Independence Protest ('dyhtps')

#Hong Kong protests

2020 Thailand -> Critiques systems of inequality, selective morality, (youth and women's) incarceration, women's rehabilitation centers. (Heavily incomplete- I haven't read the book yet nor have I researched Thailand's modern political climate regarding these themes.)

#A wish in the dark

Honourable mentions: Yang Kui (Taiwan: 1895-1945); Gezi Park Protests (Türkiye: 2013); Candlelight protest for the Impeachment of the President Park Geun-hye (S. Korea: 2016-7); Aragalaya protest (Sri Lanka: 2022).

Non-Asian shoutout: Fabrika's protest against President Mohamed Morsi's government and suppression on artistic expression (Egypt: 2013). [Context: It was in the midst of Calls for Resignation for the President.]

[These are put into 'honourable mentions' because Les Misérables was more of a mention in the protests or rebellion, rather than it being a consistent and a major factor for a cause or political belief.]

armenia and les mis

no better way to show some pride in my homeland of armenia than showcasing a little bit about it's history with my beloved les miserables!

we commonly call it Թշվառները in the armenian language, which means "the miserable" much like the original french.

character names as they most often appear in translations (all phonetic translation from french into armenian, pronounced similarly to their french names aside from small differences)

jean valjean, Ժան Վալժան

javert, Ժավեր

fantine, Ֆանտին

cosette, Կոզետ

marius pontmercy, Մարիուս Պոնտմերսի

eponine, Էպոնին

m. thenardier, Թենարդիե

mme. thenardier, Թենարդիե տիկին (տիկին means mrs or lady in armenian)

gavroche, Գավրոշ

enjolras, Անժոլրա (pronounced ahnzzlora)

grantaire, Գրանտեր

some history

the first translation of the novel into armenian was first printed in the 1880s, and remained in print until the early 1900s. its completely lost media as far as i know and despite my best efforts, i have not been able to unearth a copy. i doubt it's gone forever though, so who knows where one may be lurking!

soviet era armenia was full of translations, the most well known being in 1987, even receiving an audiobook recording (year of recording unknown)

not a single professional production of the musical has been performed in the country to this day, with no plans to as far as i know. but several adaptations have been subbed in armenian and released in the country. many other adaptations have also made it here through their russian (a popular language spoken in armenia as well) dubs and subs

also i think you all would like to know that there was a small fandom of armenian fans in the 2010s haha

cosette and her glock

Round 1, Matchup 10: I.i.8 vs IV.xii.3

Hong Kong's protestes, and the usage of 'Do You Hear the People Sing' from Les Misérables

Message from the Free HK account that I've given links to below:

"

The reason for selecting this song is to remind Hong Kongers not to lose hope, to encourage everyone to stand up, to speak up together, and to further the fight for democracy. Another purpose is to beckon every Hong Konger and the rest of the world: in acts of conscience, call out together against the high, solid wall.

[Reference to Haruki Murakami's speech in 2009: "Always on the side of the egg," in which he said, "If there is a hard, high wall and an egg that breaks against it, no matter how right the wall or how wrong the egg, I will stand on the side of the egg."]

[...]

Indeed, not everyone can go to the front line, but many truly want to give what they can for this movement. We don't know how long this fight will last, and therefore we must stay unified and not lose hope. [...]

Last but not least, a thank you to all the participants for all their work-- including the conductor, musicians, singers, recording engineers, sound engineers, sponsors for the sound and video recording venues, actors, videographers, and sponsors for recording equipment--all of whom made this video possible. Hong Kongers truly "we connect"!

[...]

"

[Context:]

Description of the video:

Musicians responded to a call to action and formed a 40 member orchestra and 60 plus member chorus within a short amount of time to record "Do You Hear the People Sing" in three languages (Cantonese, English, Mandarin); people from all walks of life also contributed to the production of this music video.

ENGLISH

CANTONESE

MANDARIN

if tumblr shuts down you can find me on tumblr. ill still be here. they cant make me leave

Parīzes Dievmātes Katedrāle is an opera by Latvian composer Zigmars Liepiņš, based on the novel Notre Dame de Paris/The Hunchback of Notre Dame, by Victor Hugo. It was written and performed around 1996, and was very successful. The CD recording was the most demanded recording of any Latvian opera in history. The opera was awarded the Great Latvian Music Award the following year.

This DVD recording of the 1997 montage is posted with english subtitles on Youtube, so it’s possible to actually understand the plot, the characters and the songs lyrics and themes. If you’re a Hunchback of Notre Dame fan, i highly recomend it as one of my favorite adaptations of this iconic novel, conciling faithfulness to some key elements of the source material and the inserction of some refreshing and unique elements to it.

The Reason Why Cosette took the Bucket Back. Volume 2, Book 3, Chapter 7.

Clips from <Il cuore di Cosette>.