Falling for Fandoms

You are putting the thunderbolt on trial for the storm.

A Group Which Almost Became Historic 

It's been over a decade since I first read Les Mis, and first drew this, (which still floats around in reblogs, the original post now being deleted with my old blog) and I thought I ought to finish this for Barricade Day. At the time, that illustration was the most ambitious I had ever drawn.

In the last ten years, Les Mis has perhaps felt more pertinent than ever. In Australia, where I live, bigoted, far-right political parties that were previously considered fringe are leading polls on the back of racist, anti-immigration rhetoric. I donate regularly to a charity that supports refugees that is local to me, the Asylum Seeker Resource Center, and am going to do so again today. I encourage you to do the same, either to the ASRC, or to an equivalent charity in your area.

Epilogue

Happy Barricade Day! After all, June 6th is the day they made their sacrifice, so I’m not late, right?

The inspiration for this drawing came from the Toledo Cathedral—the sense of the heavens opening up, which also corresponds to the final song of Les Misérables, "Epilogue."

In the painting, I wanted to depict the scene Jean Valjean vaguely sees as he passes away. Fantine takes his hand, leading him toward heaven, while the Bishop stands beside him, illuminating the path behind. And in the background are those who fell during the battle.

The upward composition gives the feeling that their voices fade into the "valley of the light," reflecting their destiny of "climbing to the light." I wanted the darker surroundings to contrast with the light of heaven, showing that they now dwell in that place beyond—echoing the lyric, "We will live again in freedom in the garden of the Lord."

Jehan loves playing the flute, so perhaps the "distant drums" are sounds he conjures.

Behind Valjean, there is a mural of women—intended to represent the "lovely ladies," along with little Gavroche and his sister Éponine above. These figures embody the suffering people of the earth, much like the lyrics of "Wretched of the Earth."

POV: You are Marius entering the back room of the Café Musain

Yes I did use Phoenix Wright as a pose reference. I’ve never played Ace Attorney but it felt appropriate. Happy Barricade day

Stills under the cut

𝑯𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒅𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆, 𝒅𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒂𝒅𝒊𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒖𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆

Happy (?) barricade day!!

This is a last minute art piece😭😭idk if it counts as one, I'm not sure if I liked it or not in the end, but I wanted to make something.

@barricadeday prompt: to days gone by

one more dawn, one more day