Combeferre: *waves cheerfully* Hi there! This is where my friends and I have some nice discussions, along with some people that I wasn't too familiar with before now. Here are the main players in our talks:

Enjolras- My closest friend and one of the most exasperating people I have had the priviliege to meet. Reckless, often irritable, but an extraordinary individual.

Courfeyrac- Another friend of mine. He's charismatic, flirtatious, and sometimes quite a nuisance, but we love him anyway, don't we?

Grantaire- A good-natured drunkard, if ever there was one. Witty and quick with comebacks, but harsh-tongued and caustic as well. Aggravates Enjolras like no one else can.

Feuilly- Quiet, but always ready with a word to lighten the mood. Usually obliging, but also very stubborn, like Enjolras.

Jehan Prouvaire- Shy, not very sure of himself, but endowed with stunning eloquence and poetic power, when he gathers the confidence to share it with us.

Laigle (or Bossuet)- The comic relief of our discussions. Has absolutely nothing better to do than think of cracks to make at everyone else. Is especially unlucky.

Joly- The constant companion of Bossuet, and can barely get a word in edgewise between his friend and his sinuses. Is a true hypochondriac, although he'll be the first to tell you otherwise.

Bahorel- A hasty, temperamental fellow, quick to judge. Easily excitable, and often violent. Believes firmly in "shooting first, asking questions later".

Marius Pontmercy- The youngest Ami, who always seems to have his head in the clouds. Has a disturbing fixation with a young lady by the peculiar name of Cosette.

Cosette Pontmercy- Marius's new wife. Seems to be a nice enough girl, although I don't really know her well enough to say for sure. Seems to be quite at odds with 'Ponine. Hmmm...

Eponine Thénardier- A rather ragged, but friendly girl. Pouts a little too much for my liking, but perhaps Enjolras...? But no, Cilla has warned me to lay off the matchmaking...'Ponine is quite fond of Marius, after all.

Gavroche Thénardier- A cheeky gamin. Pipes in when we least need his nosy opinions. Thinks he knows everything about everything, but that's debatable.

And, of course, there's me, Combeferre, the scribe of our group, apparently, since I am saddled with the job of recording what goes on at our meetings. I'm a pleasant fellow, as you probably could already tell...I'm fairly average, I believe, so there isn't much else to tell about me.

Discussion #1

(Dead silence.)

Gavroche: *yawn*

Courfeyrac: So, what do you want to talk about?

Bahorel: I dunno, what do you want to talk about?

Courfeyrac: I dunno.

(Silence.)

Laigle: Hey, did you guys hear the one about the kangaroo who went into the bar--

All: *GROAN*

Enjolras: Only about a dozen times today!

Laigle: (mumbles) Well, sor-ry. Only trying to help think of a topic...

(Silence.)

My comments on this discussion: What can I say? These comments are probably more words than the entire discussion combined...One minor point though--don't ever agree to let Bossuet tell a joke. We'll just say that he isn't my comedian of choice...

Discussion #2

Enjolras: Hmmm...I have just now been thinking on the distasteful subject of fanfiction. I can't decide which I hate more--slash, or parody.

Cosette: Oh, ugh, you boys talk about the strangest things. But since we're on the topic, I think I have a stronger dislike for parody...those parody authors have no respect for me! In the frequent occurances of love triangles, they always cast me as the girl who gets left behind, trampled in the dust, when in reality, it's just the opposite!

Eponine: Rub it in some more, why don't you! Hmmm...I haven't much to say on either subject. Parodies are bad enough, but I can only imagine that slash would be worse, if I ever got written into it. After all, there are only a limited number of people I could be with...(looks with utter disgust at Cosette)

Grantaire: I don't know...the immortal question, eh: slash or parody? It depends, I suppose, on who I'm paired with in slash...

Courfeyrac: *grins at Enjolras, who flushes deeply* Who else?

Bahorel: *laughs heartily* Low blow, Courfeyrac, low blow...

Me: I don't know, Capital R might be on to something there. If, for instance, I was matched up with Bahorel in a slash story, I would be inclined to say that I prefer parody--

Bahorel: (indignant) HEY!!

Me: --However, if it was anyone but Bahorel, I would probably prefer slash...shows you how much I just love parodies...

Enjolras: I'm going to have to go for parody here. No matter which one I opt for, the author tries to set me up in an awful match with someone who generally makes me want to regurgitate my last meal--

Eponine: *ahem* Harsh words, Enjolras. You sure it wouldn't be healthier for you to retract them? (shoots him a menacing look)

Enjolras: *scowls at her* No, I will not retract them! After being forced to *shudder* kiss you in "Scarlet Pimpolras", I had to brush my teeth about a dozen times just to get the nasty taste out of my mouth...

My comments on this discussion: Well, things got pretty ugly after that. I considered the discussion officially ended when Enjolras received his bloody nose...

Discussion #3

Eponine: Well...I'd really like to talk about this latest adaptation.

Me: What, you mean the Fox Family Mini-movie?

Eponine: Right. Let me say that I was quite disturbed by this version. You all will excuse me, but I looked completely evil, and kinda acted it, too.

Cosette: (snootily) I'm sure they had perfectly good reasons behind that...

Eponine: *glares* Did I ask you, Lark? I believe I was addressing the intelligent people in this room.

Bahorel: *grins wickedly* Ooh, burn!

Enjolras: *sigh* Must you all always act like an immature bunch of adolescents?

Eponine: *sticks out her tongue at him* I am an adolescent, dummy.

Me: All right, all right. You picked the topic, 'Ponine, now stick with it. Was there anything other than your portrayal that bothered you, or shall we go on to the next person who wishes to comment?

Eponine: Oh yeah! Plenty of things. Example: I never actually died; I kinda just drifted off into obscurity. They coulda at least had the decency to give me a proper death scene.

Enjolras: Huh, you think you're the only one with that complaint?!

Grantaire: (sullenly) Hey, for people who actually appeared in this movie, you two sure do complain a lot...

Me: Agreed, R. I think I was the guy who kept trailing Enjolras like a puppy on a leash, but I can't really be sure...

Courfeyrac: I think I've got your drift here. I mean, I didn't figure into this version, so Marius ends up rooming with Enjolras, of all people?!

Enjolras: (haughtily) He could do worse. Although it perturbs me that the fellow had the audacity to go around telling my address to every silly mam'zelle in town...*gives an oblivious Cosette a sidelong glance*

Eponine: Oh, I almost forgot! Probably the biggest thing that disturbed me, of course! Marius was actually almost painful to look at...

Cosette: (makes a cute little face of disgust) Ugh, for once, I have to agree with you there.

Gavroche: I, for one, liked my character...they got me pretty well down...

Enjolras: (obviously already annoyed) Well, skippity-doo-dah for you, gamin! I was a bit disappointed at the decided lack of screen time the insurrection got.

Me: Ah, I wondered when someone would bring that up...And I figured it'd be you...

Enjolras: Well, it's true! Where was the Le Cabuc incident? Where was the Mabeuf incident? Where was my speech? But, noooooo, we had to have the powder-keg incident in there, of all things.

Cosette: You're just jealous, you nasty rebel! Just because my Marius is a hero, and you're a...a...a dead person!

Enjolras: *shoots her a withering glare* Oh dear, I'm so insulted, Madame. I think I'll go run and tell my mommy on you...

Courfeyrac: *grins* You do that, Enjolras...

Enjolras: *prudently ignores him* I felt rather insulted by how easily the barricade fell.

Me: Too true.

Cosette: Argh, I'm stuck with a bunch of wacko guillotine-toting revolutionaries with one track minds!!

(Enjolras opens his mouth to point out that we do not tote guillotines, but she's already moved on to the much more interesting occupation of painting her nails.)

My comments on this discussion: Well, the conversation moved on to slightly more pleasant things after that. I got the distinct feeling that quite a few in our ranks are rather tense about this movie. It's sort of a raw nerve with Enjolras; I can't even mention it, 'cause he lauches into tirades about how he doesn't just compose flawless speeches for his own health. *sigh* It isn't easy being friends with someone who is chemically unbalanced in their brain. The whole thing just really annoys Eponine, especially the part about the hideous Marius, and Cosette, I think, is just tired of hearing us all whine about it. Must be nice to have no complaints about one's characterization. *sigh*

Discussion #4

Me: Has anyone else noticed that these odd Internet people have something like their own language?

Enjolras: Mmm-hmm...they make up words when they cannot find a suitable one...take, for instance, "Enjolrati". What an insanely odd word. What would ever make one think that the plural of my name comes out to anything akin to "Enjolrati"?

Courfeyrac: Good question. It does seem rather non sequitor, now that you mention it.

Enjolras: Same with "Enjolraic", as an adjective form of my name.

Eponine: It isn't just Les Mis stuff, either. Ever noticed how they'll add the suffix -age to most any word to create a brand-new noun?

Me: Yeah...as in "Stuffage"...

Eponine: "Pollage"...

Cilla: (sticking her head in the door) "Spoof-age"...

Enjolras: *shudder* Perish the thought...

Grantaire: Ever noticed how we all speak as though we were born into the British aristocracy? I mean, who uses words like "odd", anyway?

Enjolras: Mind your absinthe, winecask. I fail to see how this discussion involves you.

Me: *sigh* Now, children...

Grantaire: (quite undeterred) And for that matter, does anyone know if "angsty" is actually an honest-to-God word?

Eponine: I also like how they combine words...like "slashfic", and "sillyfic".

Enjolras: Yea, she speaketh the cursèd words...

Grantaire: (mumbling) Dear God, the boy's been reading too much Shakespeare...

Laigle: And then, there's their obsession with abbreviations...

Me: Lord, yes. I think just about every one of us present has at least one nickname, because someone, somewhere along the line, said to themselves, 'I'm too lazy to type out their full names'...

Enjolras: Like "Enjy" and "E!" for me...*shudder*

Grantaire: "R" for me...

Gavroche: "Gavvie" for me...

Javert: *sticks his head in the door* "Javvie" for me...*huge shudder*

Courfeyrac: *grins at him* Or "Snookums"...

My comments on this discussion: Hmmm, one gets the feeling that Javert is rather sensitive on the topic of his nicknames...considering we had to go down to headquarters to bail out Courf'rac after that little comment...

Return to my room...

Feels like home...