tushanshu | Voice;

[James hasn't made a post since his first - in part because he's terribly lost. He has proper clothes, now, thanks to Favrielle, but it is still overwhelming to be in such a foreign place. His concern isn't so much the rationing, though that seems to be quite the source of anxiety for some he's encountered. What he wants is answers to the many and contradictory things he's been told since his arrival.]

I find myself at something of a loss, in this place, with so many people from such seemingly different times and places. It seems impossible that one person could have brought us here, and insensible that they should.

[That, though, is a subject he's sure has been at the center of many debates. What truly haunts him is what he heard from Peggy and Ariadne before.] I was led to believe that this place was a sort of afterlife, and yet, if I understand correctly, there are some here with ambitions to return to their homes. I do not see how such a thing could be accomplished.

[And that's it. No suggestions, he's just mulling. Aloud, and in public, which, he realizes now, is terribly unseemly.]

Forgive me. There is little purpose to these musings. Perhaps they are better off left unvoiced.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

That is a fair point.

[In truth, James doesn't even think Enjolras is necessarily wrong. But he's spent too much of his life blindly following. He likes Gavroche. If he can teach him anything, maybe he can spare him that.]

But, by that logic, couldn't you chose to immigrate to another country or colony, and place yourself under the rule of a king of your choice?

[And while Enjolras has been following this conversation and refrained from commenting, he finds he can no longer.

You recall that comment Grantaire made about angels of liberty? Well, his eyes are blazing rather wrathfully. You did not just compare him and his ideals to the Monarchy he has died trying to overthrow.]

First, Monsieur, it is currently the prividegle of wealthy only to have the means to move freely between countries. Those amongst the people who wish to do so must risk health and what little they have, or else sell themselves into servitude in the hope that their employer will free them once they have reached their destination.

Secondly, there can be no choosing between kings. Do you suggest that one king may somehow be better than another? They are all of them corrupt leeches who live in excess while forcing the citizens of their lands to submit to them. Who gave kings their authority? By what right do they claim that they are higher than other men? They have no such right.

Gavroche is correct, monsieur. The only form of authority which can be accepted is one in which all people have the means to express themselves, and to choose who their leaders will be. No man is higher than another, nor lower. All deserve equal rights and voice when it comes to government, and to ensure that all men, not just the rich, are provided for and educated.

[He looks as though he'd like to go on, but he'll stop here. This man seems educated enough. Perhaps he can be helped to see sense.]

And yet your friends look to you as the single voice to speak for them.

[Just sayin'. Don't kill the messenger, here, Enjolras, but even to James, the irony of your speech is obvious.]

Shouldn't you, then, support the ideal that all men, even young ones such as Gavroche, should think for themself? Should reach their own conclusions about this world and how to change it, instead of merely parroting what they learned at the knee?

[Did he kind of just call you Gavroche's mom? A little bit, yes.]

You presume much, monsieur.

[Whoops here comes a scowl. Norrington you can insult Enjolras all you like, but don't you dare insinuate that his amis are anything but the best.]

One man alone, espousing his ideas only is easily struk down. My friends and fellow revolutionaries had voices and thoughts of their own and felt no fear in bringing them forward, even if they went against the common thought. [He subconsciously slips into past tense- after all, not all of his friends are here yet.]

I will not deny that I am was often the one to speak- to bring our cause before the public. But that is my strength, and what good would it be if I had not put it to use for our goals? Each of my fellow revolutionaries had their own skills, all of which were put to the service of the revolution.

[As for the matter of Gavroche, Enjolras is not going to discuss that with you. He has known the gamin far longer, and no doubt the young thing has been exposed to more education at the hands of the amis than many could boast.]

I invite you to join those of us who are on this turtle one evening. We are accustomed to meeting for debate and conversation in the evenings at the [name of a local bar]. You may then see for yourself whether our love of Republic is in name only.

[James wouldn't know. He's never had an ami...]

And how did it work out for you, your revolution?

[James isn't stupid. He's seen the bullet holes on Gavroche's coat, heard Grantaire's recollection of his own death.]

Believe me, your sincerity was never in doubt. Thank you for the invitation. I will consider it.

[And he will. He doesn't think the revolutionaries are wrong, exactly, he just doesn't think they're right. And really, what weight do all their ideals have, now that they're all here. And dead.]

We died, because the people were not with us.

[But you probably won't understand that Enjolras doesn't view this as a loss.]

But only a few years later the people did rise up, and take France back for their own. I do not know what time you are from, Monsieur, but I will have you know that France, even two hundred years in the future, is a République which holds to the ideals of liberty, equality and brotherhood between all men.

That does little good for those of you gone on. And from what I understand of this place, it is certainly not a Republic of any kind.

But it did a great good for the citizen of France who came after us.

You misunderstand our goals if you think we hoped for France to change for us, monsieur. It is the for the people who cannot yet conceive of the freedom they are due that we fight.

And while the turtle may yet be subjected to the arrogant demands of their Empress, my friends and I are working to see it otherwise.

I could, but that don't change the point, Admiral. The nation's people should decide who runs the show, not just one family!

It's a nice thought, I admit, but still, I wonder how feasible it is.

If enough people want it it'll be feasible. Y'gotta stop bein' stuck on old ways just 'cause you're an old man with a title that don't mean nothin' to anyone but you.

Edited 2013-04-17 04:14 (UTC)

Out of the mouths of babes.

I ain't no babe! Been through a hundred years more stuff than you!

Oh? And how do you come to that conclusion, logically?

'Cause I'm dead quicker than you are. An' here longer than you, too.

Dying younger does not make you any wiser, Gavroche, it is just a tragedy.

I don't think so.

Because you did not have the time to.

All I know is that I helped mes amis. An' I think that's worth it.

That is hard to argue with.

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