Patchwork Justice

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Fanfiction
Title: Patchwork Justice
Author(s): manic_intent
Date(s): 14 September 2013
Length: 12,417 words
Genre: Superhero AU
Fandom: Les Misérables
External Links: on AO3

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Patchwork Justice is a Javert/Jean Valjean fanfiction by manic_intent. It was inspired by a prompt on the Making Hugo Spin kink meme:

My kingdom for a fill featuring Valjean as a caped crusader (with super strength, obviously) who gallantly saves our favorite inspector from certain doom, and as he turns to help Javert up... He gets cuffed, because vigilante justice is not TRUE JUSTICE.

Cue shenanigans where Valjean is constantly saving Javert and then running away, exasperation at constantly being thrown together, and romance!

bonus if Javert also has powers but chooses to hide them because he thinks they're dangerous, but discreetly uses them in his police work.

(captcha features justice, this pleases me)[1]

It has been translated into Chinese by micorom: 补丁正义联盟.

Reactions and Reviews

I really loved reading this. From the look at people who are not apart of the superhero abilities and how they can get caught up in it or at least be outmatched (with respect to the two poor police officers) and I really enjoyed the point of how vigilantism is not something that should be lauded. What with Javert initially always assuming that Madeline was going to kill the minions/other people or really hurt them. Not being answerable to anyone can cause problems.

And I also really loved Javert's constant second guessing of himself and his crush and what Madeline might have said. It really rang true for how you can always assume the worst when you want to impress someone. And Madeline must have loved being able to be the friend asking what Javert thought of him. Though it must have been depressing when he realized that Javert would never make a move and would never want to make a move because he hated being a Special and didn't want to taint 'non-Special' Madeline. That must have been awkward.[2]

This an interesting re-write of Les Mis where all of the characters exist in a Paris where super-powers are common. For all the story is fairly short, it packs a wallop on taking everything to the nth degree and considering how the characters and the world would change if it was full of Super-powered beings.[3]

What a classic gem, the double identity superhero romance! This delighted me beyond measure with its fast-paced plot (i'm glad you didn't spend so much time stripping away the layers bc it's a format we're all familiar with) and lovely world/character building (the valjean and javert we come to know are not exactly the originals but they still work so well together; although I am admittedly a bit bummed that Madeleine/Valjean was never referred to as 'the Jackman'). I always relish in the awkwardness of failed interactions caused by Javert's low EQ. Lovely plot device, that is. Thank you <3[4]

References

  1. ^ Valjean/Javert, superhero AU, Archived version at Making Hugo Spin. Posted 28 April 2013.
  2. ^ Comment by psi_neko on AO3. Posted 15 September 2013.
  3. ^ chibifukurou. Les Miserables: Patchwork Justice by Manic-Intent, Archived version at Fancake. Posted 14 December 2013.
  4. ^ Comment by suzzzan on AO3. Posted 23 July 2019.