Who will be strong and stand with me?

[Deleted]

If Enjolras is the chief and Courfeyrac the center of Les Amis de l’ABC, then Combeferre is the guide. Blaise Combeferre prefers to be known as a pacifist—he would never lift a finger against anyone without good reason, nor would he take an innocent life, and he tries to hold the group to the standards that he so dedicatedly believes in. Loyalty is what chains him to Les Amis when his morality clashes with their radical political ideals. He will speak out against any actions the society takes that he views as corrupt or unnecessary, but at the end of the day his loyalties lie completely with his friends.

Combeferre seeks to improve the world through the pursuit of knowledge—not only for himself, but for other people. He will avidly read on any subject no matter how unrelated said subject may be to his medical studies. His favorite areas are philosophy and politics. A night well-spent consists of a hearty discussion over a book he’s just finished, or reading the book alone in his flat over some tea.

He will go out of his way to help those in need, handing alms to the poor or intervening in muggings of complete strangers. He views assisting the oppressed and exploited as a fundamental duty and responsibility, not just of the ABC, because that’s what he envisions them as doing, but of man in general. His lofty principles influence every aspect of his life.

Friends: Combeferre is very choosy in selecting friends. Part of this is due to the fact that he isn’t the most social creature on the planet— unless he has a reason to speak to someone or a genuine interest, he probably will hold his tongue. He likes having friends that share his common interests—reforming France’s government and society, philosophy, and education in general.

Enemies: Combeferre makes a conscious effort not to make enemies, but obviously everyone has them and he is no exception to this. His most notable enemies of course are the monarchists in general—since of course he is a leading member in an organization bent on toppling the monarchy.

Lovers: Combeferre doesn’t consider love a priority, or even an concern of his. His chief love is for books and attaining knowledge, and he supposes that if ever he did take a wife or a lover—which he hasn’t and at the moment has no plans to do—she would have to share or at least appreciate his love of education.

Plot away!

[Deleted]

<3 Courfeyrac loves Combferre like his brother. They take care of each other, they learn together and have scholarly debates, and Courfeyrac tries to set Combferre up with women even though he wants to keep him to himself. I imagine they'll be fighting back-to-back and side-to-side at the barricade.

I can't wait for our thread with all the Amis!

[CHRISTOPHE FEUILLY]

Pretty much all I can think of to say is: Feuilly. They could definitely at the very least have an interesting conversation on the educating the working class thing.

As far as ideals and so on, well, they're in the ABC. Of course they have shared ideals and such.

Somehow I could see Combeferre having been one to help Feuilly's attempts at educating himself, too. Even something as simple as lending him books, correcting his spelling, or pointing out when he's speaking non-standard French.

[Deleted]

Combeferre & Courfeyrac: Totally! I think what Combeferre loves the most about their relationship is how brotherly it is, because--even though he has a brother--he was so absent from his childhood since he's so much older than him and they're pretty much polar opposites so they never talk to each other anyway. So yes, Combeferre would definitely consider Courfeyrac one of his best buddies--if not his best! And of course, he'd want to be right next to him to make sure nothing happens to him even though he absolutely loathes violence in general. XD He'd totally cut any guardsman that tries to mess with Courfeyrac.

Me too, totally! Maybe before the barricades we could have a thread with the two of them sharing a drink or something?

Combeferre and Feuilly: These two would be great friends too!

I like that idea, because it's definitely something that he would do. Maybe we could do a thread of them discussing something he read? I'm open for anything, really, these two just need to have their awesome intellectually stimulating discussions.

[CHRISTOPHE FEUILLY]

Them discussing something he read would certainly be interesting, though I suspect that earlier in their friendship Feuilly would have been a little self-conscious about it.

I mean, I can't imagine that he's spent much time discussing things he's read before that point, and may not even be sure how good of a reader he is (and it seems likely that he is a slower reader than the Amis who were actually, you know, taught by a tutor). Plus there likely would have been a class dynamic early on that it would take time to have fade away, at least in how Feuilly responds to Combeferre--he would (probably unconsciously) assume that Combeferre would deal with him in the context of their class difference, even if Combeferre doesn't do anything to suggest that. (Sort of a He's going to make fun of my accent. I know he's going to make fun of my accent. I don't know this word, either... I just guessed what it meant. He'll probably love pointing out my mistakes...).

With time, though, more of a friendship would mean that sort of stuff would be much more forgotten. Feuilly would deal with him just as a friend, without considering status as a factor except if it's actually relevant. And it's at that point, of course, that there would be more actual meeting of the minds between them to discuss serious issues--as Feuilly would have the confidence to engage him in debate. Early on, I suspect it would sound more hostile than intended if he disagreed with something Combeferre said, because there would still be some of the "What do you know, wealthy student?" dynamic there. Or else he simply wouldn't have spoken at all.

...And wow, that turned into a little essay. I guess take what you want out of that, as it amounts to "Everything is a good idea to me and I want to explore how Feuilly relates to the other Amis, who are from such different backgrounds from his!"

[Deleted]

Aww. I'm not sure whether to laugh or cry at that - he'd totally cut any guardsman who tried to hurt Courfeyrac - because really, they're all just young men who are doing something they don't want to do (fight and kill) because of something they want (a republique). I don't even want to think about what might happen in an AU setting if one dies and the other doesn't, because how could one go on without the other...?

We could always do a past thread too, where Courfeyrac tries to teach German or English to Combferre (or Feuilly, for that matter!) like he did for Marius. They're all pretty busy, esp. now, but who knows what was happening a few months ago. Hugo didn't explore that as deeply as he did the barricade scene itself (could you imagine how long Les Mis would have been if he had included that, too?!), so it might be fun if you guys are down.

[Deleted]

Combeferre and Feuilly: That really would be an interesting dynamic, especially since, in his worst moments, Combeferre can have a tendency to be condescending toward other people. At the beginning of their friendship he could have said things or did things inadvertently that made him appear that way, since, for all his care for the lower classes he still is a bourgeois by birth. Of course once he realized his mistake he would apologize profusely for it. I agree that initially the definitely could have been some tension there.

I'm up for a past thread or a current thread, whatever you'd prefer ^^

Combeferre and Courfeyrac: Oh no, that'd be too much for me to handle There would be all kinds of survivor's guilt and depression...

That would be a fun idea of him teaching both of them a language! He would probably consider himself more of an authority on English since his mum's English, but we could do German too.

[MYLÈNE LACOQUINE]

Mylene&Combeferre:

Mylie is the barmaid at the ABC café and good friends with most of the lads, especially with Feuilly and Courf. So if Courf and Combe are bros I am sure she would exchange some words with him every once in a while ^^ I don't have a specific thread idea right now, but I have an OOC suggestion, since Ems mentioned German lessons. I am native German so if you need any help for that, you can always ask for clues or such^^ I'd DEFINITELY stalk that hilariousness of language lessons with delight! xDD

[Deleted]

Combeferre and Mylene: I could see them having a chat or something while he's in the cafe. He is friendly, honestly most of the time, he just doesn't socialize all that well because he's book smart and not necessarily people smart.

To your OOC suggestion: That'd be great! The only German words I know are danke and Lager, so any help would be most appreciated XD

[Deleted]

Comb & Courf: Argh I couldn't handle it either.

I'm more familiar with English than German as well, hahaha. Maybe Comb could have taught him English.

So we could do a past thread too. I don't want to overwhelm you with threads or anything though, if we're trying to focus on plot development in what's happening with the Amis right now. I'm up for anything ^^

[CHRISTOPHE FEUILLY]

I'm cool with past or present, language lessons or something else. It is true, though, that they're rather busy at present. So character development types of threads probably do better in the past at the moment?

Accidental condescension and the tension that comes from that seems like it would get very interesting--as I have no doubt that Feuilly is used to being treated with a degree of condescension, but would very much dislike it. Which could result in the normally very friendly Feuilly being a bit standoffish with him, but warming up again as he realizes it wasn't so deliberate.

If Feuilly is getting in on the language lessons, that also could be really funny. He would try, he would seriously try so hard (for either language!), but... somehow I can see him both a) having a ridiculously heavy accent when he tries to say anything in a foreign language, and b) making major mistakes. But... learning a foreign language might improve his French/help him understand why things are the way they are linguistically. Because that seems to usually be how that goes, you get a better understanding of your native language by finally actually being taught the grammar of another one.

[Deleted]

Combeferre, Courfeyrac, and Feuilly: I'd definitely be up for a past thread about the language lessons. I could even start if if you'd like, I'm just eager to get him involved in some way ^^

Awww poor Feuilly! And that's definitely true--I'm in fourth year Spanish right now and I've totally had that experience. My accent is terrible but it really has taught me more about my native English as well.

[EPONINE THENARDIER]

Yay! More Les Amis for Eponine to harass! Er... Pester. Get to know? We'll go with that.

Obviously Eponine has been to a few meetings and likely knows each of the members on sight, but doesn't know much else about them. Mostly because she's so focused on Marius. However, she does have a burning need to prove her meager education from time to time. Her pride just won't let her be with all these students around. Which could get interesting if she got around Combeferre's books.

[Deleted]

Ooh that could be interesting! At first he'd probably be like "o.O What are you doing with my books?" but then I think he'd be really excited that someone's actually taking an interest in his books. He'd definitely offer to teach her if she wanted to learn more on any particular subject because he's pretty much an expert nerd--partially because he feels bad he forgot her name, and also because he's a sweetheart and just wants to help.

[EPONINE THENARDIER]

I like it! She'd be a little too proud to ask for help, but if it was offered it might get past her pride and give her an option of bettering herself. I've even got an idea how to kick the whole thing off. Maybe. I'll think on it and message you.