ask les amis de l'abc

pretty much exactly what it says on the tin. another "ask the amis" blog. i am going to try to keep this as in-character as possible, although i'll happily answer modern AU questions as well.

[asklesamis]

Okay guys, this is not as much a question as it is a huge favour to ask, but anyways. I have ten more days to finish my thesis and then two more weeks to study the hell out of my finals questions so I can finally graduate this university after four long years. It's just linguistics, nothing as fancy as your law, medicine, politics and other stuff, but eh. Basically, do you have any ideas for how to make it alive and avoid the stress? I fear I will break in a day or two, serious.

Jehan:  Make sure you take time out for yourself every so often.  Stop studying and take half an hour or forty-five minutes to watch an episode of your favorite show, or read a couple of chapters of a non-school-related book and drink a cup of tea.  Or take a relaxing bath.  Do whatever helps you relax.  (Also, linguistics is VERY important, and there’s so much you can do with it!)

Grantaire:  make sure you’re exercising your body as well as your mind.  even if it’s nothing more than getting up and doing a few jumping jacks, or going for a walk around the block.  the break will be good for you, and exercising has been proven to help us think and remember things better.

Bahorel:  I know this is contrary to what you’ve probably been told, but school is not the be-all, end-all.  It’s one aspect of your life but it’s not everything.  Your friends will love you and support you no matter what.

Bossuet:  …as an addition to what Bahorel said, even if the worst-case scenario happens and you fail, it’s not the end of the world.  If you fail one semester or don’t graduate on time, it’s not unfixable.  Sure it sucks and it’s upsetting, but you just pick yourself up and try again.

Joly:  The urge to pull all-nighters is strong, but don’t do it.  If you’re feeling tired while you’re studying, take a nap (or just go to bed if it’s late).  Your memory retention is basically nil when you’re tired, so you’re staying awake for nothing.  Sleep for at least one full REM cycle and then try again.  

Combeferre:  It seems that now school is about nothing more than checking the right boxes and being able to remember random and useless facts and dates, but try to remember that the point of going to university is to learn things that are worth knowing.  So if you’ve learned anything valuable at all, if you’ve learned anything that helps improve your life, you’ve already succeeded, regardless of what the tests or a bunch of stodgy professors think.

Enjolras:

[asklesamis]

Enjolras, thoughts on Trump?

He claims to be a successful business man, but his casinos have filed for bankruptcy more times than any other company in the last 30 years.  He’s not a wise investor - if he had simply invested his money in an index fund, he’d be worth at least twice what he is now.

Trump’s ex-wife accused him of brutally raping her while they were married, and he recently said “what do you expect” when the topic of female soldiers being raped by male soldiers was brought up.  He also said that he would “date” his daughter if she weren’t his daughter.  He would also like to defund Planned Parenthood.

I could go on and on and on about all the horrible things Trump has said and done and claims he WOULD do if he is elected.  

Suffice to say that I worry about the future of not only the United States, but the WORLD if Trump is elected president.

[asklesamis]

blogger’s post

guys, i don’t send myself anons, so if i’m not getting questions, there’s nothing for me to post.  

this really isn’t meant to be emotional blackmail, but if this blog doesn’t get active again soon i’m probably going to delete it (because there’s no point keeping a blog that’s not active at all)

[asklesamis]

Enjolras, tell us your thoughts from when you saw Grantaire playing dominos at the Barrier du Maine?

I was disappointed, but not entirely surprised.  I was certainly angry, but not so much at Grantaire as at myself.  I should have rearranged assignments somehow so that someone else could go to the Barriere du Maine, but Grantaire insisted and I wanted to believe in him.  But I suppose in the end it wouldn’t have mattered who went.

[asklesamis]

Say, Bahorel, how do you feel about musicals?

Individual musicals are okay (Spamalot, Book of Mormon, Rock of Ages, etc), but as a whole I’m not a fan.  

When I was about ten, I broke my leg playing rugby and was in a cast for weeks over the summer.  My mom took advantage of the opportunity to make me watch every musical under the sun (she’s a huge fan) and I resented the fact that my friends were all out there having adventures and doing sports while I was stuck in the house watching musicals with my mom.  So I think that’s a big part of why I don’t like them.

[asklesamis]

Grantaire, who's your favourite Star Wars character?

man, i wanted to grow up to be han solo when i was a kid.  i always thought he was so fucking cool, all smooth and suave and such a ladies’ man!  i guess i never outgrew that, although i now recognize that he’s also a bit of a dork.

~R~

[asklesamis]

For Enjolras, following the HP question. Snape was also a character that went from working for Voldemort to working against him, though for different circumstances. What do you think of that character? (Grantaire can answer too if he wants)

Enjolras:  Grantaire and I are of similar opinions of Snape.  We think he was a deeply flawed person who acted very selfishly at times.  The way he treated Harry and his friend was absolutely uncalled for and inexcusable.  Neither of us see him as any kind of hero, and we mostly feel very sorry for him and wish that he could have been a bigger person.

(Grantaire:  I’d like to say that Enjolras is more of a Harry Potter fan than he lets on)

[asklesamis]

Enjolras and Grantaire, who's my favorite Harry Potter character?

Enjolras:  I never really got into Harry Potter.  I don’t dislike it, I’m just not that invested i it.  I suppose one character who intrigued me was Regulus Black because he was willing to see that he wasn’t on the right path and was willing to turn away from and against Voldemort.  I think he was a very brave person.

Grantaire:  luna lovegood!  what an amazing character!  she was always happy to be herself and never compromised her own beliefs and principles and was never tempted to change her personality just because she didn’t fit in.  she was weird and proud of it.

[asklesamis]

Everyone - Do you have an historical figure you admire? Who?

Enjolras:  This will probably surprise absolutely no one, but Saint-Just and Robespierre

Grantaire: leonardo da vinci and van gogh

Combeferre:  I mentioned a while back that I really admire Nikola Tesla and Marie Curie, so I guess that’s my answer for this, too.

Courfeyrac:  idk, i don’t think about it that often, so i don’t really have an answer.

Jehan: i’ve always really loved the beat poets.  i know they don’t really necessarily qualify as historical figures, but i still love them all the same.

Marius:  At the risk of getting yelled at by Enjolras again, I’m still not quite over my admiration of Napoleon.

Feuilly: I really really admire Benjamin Franklin!

Bahorel:  King Leonidas of Sparta.  Such a kick-ass dude!

Bossuet and Joly:  we really like Charlie Chaplain and Buster Keaton, as well as Louis de Funes

(ooc note:  history is absolutely NOT my strong suit, so i found this question quite daunting.  my eternal thanks to @ereini0n for helping me out with thes question.

[asklesamis]

Everyone- What's your favourite band?

Enjolras - Muse

Grantaire – Pearl Jam

Jehan - HIM

Combeferre – Weird Al, although I also really like Tom Lehrer, and Tim Minchin

Courfeyrac – Flogging Molly

Joly – The Killers

Bossuet – The Beatles

Feuilly – Johnny Cash, or the Rolling Stones

Bahorel – Sonata Arctica

Marius - Adele

(blogger’s note:  i try to answer these asap, but when you ask everyone a question it’s going to take longer and the answers will probably be less detailed than they would be if it was just one character.  i don’t at all mind getting these, i just wanted you guys to know they’ll take longer to answer.  also, feel free to ask follow-up questions to individual character if you’re still curious)

[asklesamis]

Everyone - what's your favorite color?

Enjolras - Contrary to popular belief, my favorite color isn’t red (I only wear red when I need to get people’s attention or if I need to be easily found).  My favorite color is probably dark blue, although it’s not something I think about a lot.

Combeferre - I know this is going to sound pretentious (I’m not going to say “blood orange”, I promise), but that purple-blue color the sky turns at twilight.  It’s my favorite time of day, when the stars are just coming out, so seeing that color always makes me think of that.

Courfeyrac - emerald green!

Jehan - Purple.  And black.  

Feuilly - Orangey-yellow.  Or Yellowy-orange.

Grantaire - green  :)

Bahorel - i’ll take enjolras’s red

Bossuet - I don’t really know, actually?  I guess it depends on the day or my mood or something.  Sorry.  I know that’s not helpful.  

Joly - It used to be light blue, but now that color just makes me think of scrubs, so now I guess it’s pink.

Marius - Pale yellow because it reminds me of spring time.

[asklesamis]

R, I hear you dance - what kind is it? Ball room? Hiphop? Balett? Bit of all?

i do dance (and i’m going to kill enjolras for bragging about me - my dancing is nothing special).  i’ve studied ballet the longest and have a strong foundation in that; it’s probably what i do the most and what i’m most dedicated to.  my parents made me learn ball room, but it’s my least favorite and i quit once i had the basics down (they also tried to make me learn tap but i absolutely refused).  i do jazz and hiphop, too, mostly for fun, but sometimes i can get a job doing one or the other.  thanks for asking!

~R~

[asklesamis]

A question for Combeferre: who's your favourite role model?

Although I’m not sure I’d say either of them are exactly role models for me, I’ve always been a bit awed by Nikola Tesla and Marie Curie.  They both accomplished incredible things during their lives, and if I could be even a fraction as successful as they are I’d be happy.

[asklesamis]

So, whoever feels like answering, what are you up to these days? (modern AU)

Enjolras here.  Thanks for your question!  I’ve been running a pretty successful and popular blog which I use to bring attention to human rights issues that the mainstream media and other outlets don’t talk about.  I also freelance, writing articles for The Huffington Post, and various op-ed pieces that have been published by many newspapers and magazines.

(As a side note, I wanted everyone to know that Grantaire is a professional dancer!  He doesn’t talk about it much because he feels like he’s bragging, but I’m very proud of him and want everyone to know!)

[asklesamis]

i realize this is hardly an original concept, but i really wanted to run my own “ask the amis” blog, so here it is! 

my aim is to keep the answers as in-character as possible.   i’m open to questions for both canon and modern AU amis.