Player name: Lil
Contact: artemis_rose@live.com/ magpieandbuttons on AIM/ pierette on plurk
Are you over 18: y
Characters in The Box Already: none

Character Information
Character Name: Eponine Thenardier (Jondrette)
Canon: Les Miserables (the novel, though I’m nicking icons from the film because it’s easier!)
Canon Point: Her death
Is your character Dead, Undead or Alive: Eponine is dead
History:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89ponine – Eponine’s history.
Personality:  Eponine began life as a spoiled brat. She was an odious child, with long, dark braids and a plump, pretty face, dressed in the best clothes her mother could provide. Doted on and indulged by everyone, including the drunkards in the inn, Eponine grew used to getting her own way in everything. And she absolutely loved to show off in front of Cosette and make her jealous. She actively sought to get Cosette in trouble with her mother and found it funny when the poor little girl was beaten. She also established herself as a leader; her little sister looked up to her in admiration and followed Eponine’s lead. It was clear that at this early age, Eponine ruled the roost.

With her dramatic lifestyle shift, so too did her personality change. It was forced to. It is impossible to chart the events which made her personality change, because of the ten year gap in the narration of her tale, but it is, of course, possible to see how her personality affects her actions when the narrative begins again.

Eponine’s tough. She’s had to be. She has grown up in a hostile environment, where the philosophy of ‘every man for himself’ is predominant. She knows how to stand up for herself, and she is not one to back down in an argument.  This is shown in the manner with which she deals with her father and the gang on the Rue Plumet. Her father calls her a bitch, the other men deride her and threaten her with knives and fists, and she carries on shouting back and jeering at the men. She lets their comments slide over her head, perhaps indicating she is used to the name calling. She carries herself well, and can talk to most people. Her chatter comes across as awkward at times, or even inappropriate. She flirts with Marius as best she can– but again, it comes across as awkward. Hugo describes her as a trapped bird flitting around Marius’ room, a melancholy and desperate sight. Uncomfortable amongst wealth now, she tries to fit in, but ultimately cannot. She is nervy. She speaks more than she should to people she doesn’t know, and is very open about herself and her life. Within minutes of meeting Marius, she tells him about her suicide consideration. Her words come without a great deal of thought, in a tangle of argot slang and French when she’s nervous. The more in control she tries to seem, the more ladylike she tries to act, the more it comes off as an act, a sham– sheer desperation. Hugo says that Eponine might have been gay and flirtatious, like any proper society miss, as her exuberance and feistiness bubbles from her, despite her drab life– but the reality of being poor has rendered her uneducated and out of her depth in social situations with her ‘betters’. Eponine longs to be a lady, but by the end of her story, she realises it’s something she’ll never be able to attain.

She’s not much use in a fight, and relies more on her tongue to get out of situations. When Eponine knows a person well, she’ll talk back at them, jousting with words, even if they threaten physical violence. She herself does not rely on physically fighting; she knows she is weak from starvation and in a world of men, she never has the power to win physically. Eponine reacts to danger by facing it head on and without flinching. She will accept violence against herself as well as she can, with her head raised high and a glare in her eyes. Eponine is very difficult to scare; her life has desensitised her to a lot of horror. She’s seen things, in prison and out, that no teenager should ever see, and she’s experienced more abuse and hardship than a lot of people will ever see. She is also very good at hiding any signs of her fear too. Fear is considered a weakness in the Underworld, and Eponine quickly learned to hide that particular emotion a long time ago. She will talk back at those who wish her harm, and she will unashamedly flirt and talk candidly to them. She lets insults wash over her head; she has heard so many insults in her time that they simply don't bother her any more.

Some would describe Eponine as cold– but she’s not, not really. It’s a show, an act she puts on, so people don’t try to mess her about. She seems to react with indifference to a lot of things– she’s world-weary and brow beaten so much that she finds it difficult to be enthusiastic enough to show her emotions in her actions. She can barely smile, barely cry.  But deep down, Eponine is an emotional little creature. She’s completely in love– or no, not love, but lust. She’s in lust with Marius, a student, who doesn’t return, or even acknowledge her feelings.  I say lust because I truly believe that Eponine’s life has stunted her emotional ability. She is unable to truly love because she has never known love.  Marius, for Eponine, is an escape from her life. He is a living fairytale prince that she falls instantly for. He is generous, he gives her food and money, and he doesn’t offer her violence and name calling. Compared to her usual companions, he is soft and well spoken– and he reminds Eponine of the life she SHOULD have had. Eponine craves love though. It’s what drives her. Show her any hint of kindness, and she becomes a lapdog, eager to please and willing to do anything, even if it causes her physical or emotional pain– shown in the way she agrees to lead Marius to Cosette, despite quite wanting to keep the two apart for her own selfish gain. But, knowing Marius would be unhappy without Cosette, she agrees to show him the way. Eponine wants attention. She laughs inappropriately and says the wrong thing a lot of the time. She’s outspoken and will say what she thinks, regardless of the consequences.

Eponine is defiant. She hates what her father makes her do, but she has to participate. Still, she does it all with a glare in her eyes and her mouth pressed into a hard line. She often shouts back before giving in– demonstrated in her apartment. Thenardier wants Eponine to wait in the snow outside, and she is quick to point out that she has no shoes and her feet will freeze and she’s sarcastic– but ultimately bows to his wish. The exception is when she is protecting Marius. She stands up to her father and the Patron Minette properly for the first time and it costs her her home and her family alliance, essentially leaving her destitute. Eponine’s love for Marius is greater than any love or fear that she has for her Papa.

She does what she has to do to survive. She can be incredibly manipulative, if she thinks she will gain from it. Eponine says that most people believe what she says; I’m guessing that the exceptions tend to be those in authoritative positions in Paris. She is incredibly brave and doesn’t seem to have a great sense of personal danger. Eponine will face any adversity that comes to her head on; it is not really in her nature to hide. And she will face her fate with a straight back and a defiant glare. Nobody will feel pity for Eponine. She is brave till the very end. She is not stupid, though. She’s practical.  If there is a way to avoid a beating, either through lies or staying away for a night, Eponine will take that option. After all, as she says, ‘there’s no point in looking for a beating I could avoid, is there?’ She is pretty much fearless though – the only thing that seems to truly scare her are the monsters in her head.

Eponine is loyal. If she feels obliged to someone, she will bow to their will, whether she agrees with their actions or not. This is seen particularly with her Papa and the Patron Minette. She is more loyal to those who show affection towards her than those who intimidate her, though. A lot of the time, she’s scared and she’s wary, and she has the same cautious expression as a hunted animal.

She doesn’t consider herself to be at all beautiful; she thinks she’s disgusting, and that she doesn’t deserve a happy life. Eponine loathes herself. She hates everything about herself, from the dirt she is encrusted in, to the criminal that her Papa has turned her into. She cannot see anything positive about herself at all; but she forces herself to continue with life. She loves mirrors, and will stand and stare at her reflection, pinking and preening, remnants of her childish vanity. This is evidenced when she goes into Marius’ room to check he is not there, and tells her father she is searching– whilst she is, in fact, staring at her reflection. Her self hatred is evident throughout. She makes a lot of self-depreciating remarks, and constantly refers to her social class as something shameful. She’s open about her imprisonment; it’s something almost expected of her after all, but again it fuels her hatred for what she has become, and the impossibility of her life.

She is somewhat bitter, especially towards those better off than her. Jealousy is one of Eponine’s biggest failures.  She is jealous of Cosette when they meet again as adults, and this only intensifies when she finds that Marius loves Cosette. Cosette, for her, represents what Eponine’s life should be, and I think she thinks she is living Cosette’s destiny. It’s hard for Eponine to see Cosette, especially having everything, whilst she starves and freezes to death. She desperately wants a better life, but knows she will never have one. Eponine is not much of a fighter, though. As much as she hates her station in life, she has accepted it, and is willing now to ‘go with the flow’, to go where life takes her. She fights back at her end – she fights for her love – and it ends in her death.

Eponine is argumentative. Hugo calls her a ‘squabbling sparrow’ several times in the novel, which indicates that her arguments can come across as annoying to other people. She is incredibly defensive, and will stick up for herself in an argument, no matter who it is against and no matter whether she is likely to win or not.  S

Eponine has some psychological problems, although Hugo says that she is not mad. She has been known to suffer from hallucinations when she is very, very hungry. She tends to laugh as well, in very inappropriate places, a nervous reaction perhaps. She is also known to be quite suicidal; the winter of 1931, Eponine considered wading into the Seine to drown herself– she didn’t because she was scared that it wouldn’t work and it would be too cold. This is perhaps an indication that Eponine cannot cope with her life as well as she seems to on the surface.

Eponine can be sweet. She likes flowers; she finds them soothing after the horrors of Paris. She is somewhat of a dreamer, and likes to imagine herself as a proper lady, dancing with Marius. She can’t let the people she loves end up hurt. She’d literally rather take a bullet for them than let them be injured. Eponine likes to sing; she has always been told that she has an awful voice, but she doesn’t care. She likes to sing and often hums away to herself, singing old French ditties and raunchy ballads, and songs that she makes up herself. Her mother says she is a waste of space, but she isn’t really. She just… She wants to be able to learn. She wants to study with the scholars, but she knows that’ll never be. She can just about read and write her name, and is very proud of these facts as it shows her higher class breeding and makes her stand out in the crowds of destitute teenagers.  It takes her a while to read, and longer to write anything beyond ‘Eponine’ and ‘the police are coming’. She’s very intelligent, and picks things up quickly. She is very street smart, and has the potential to be book smart too.  Hugo says that Eponine could have been cheery and lively, a real society miss, had circumstances allowed her– and this gaiety CAN bubble through at times. She is vain, too, given half the chance. She spends as much time as she can in Marius’ apartment staring at herself in the mirror, preening, even to the extent that she lies to her dad about what she’s doing so she can continue, as noted previously.

Steadfast is also a word to describe her; she'll stick to the people she likes, no matter what they ask of her.

Eponine is naturally proud. She doesn’t want to be pitied, and hates the fact that people do pity her. She’s playful, and somewhat of a tease when she’s around people she’s comfortable with. She teases Marius, and Montparnasse too. With strangers, she’s more wary of ending up in trouble. Her speech is often colloquial; only when she talks of love does she become more poetic.

Eponine is obsessed with social classes. It’s something she feels acutely, probably because of her dramatic class shift. She’s the bottom of the pile, but she wishes she could climb higher. Throughout the novel, she takes every opportunity she can to show that she is of a higher class than she seems, but ultimately acknowledges and accepts her place in society. The shift comes after her imprisonment; possibly because of her experiences in jail and her realisation that she is a criminal and nothing more and will not be able to rise past that.  It’s probably affected by the political situation in Paris too; girls her age and in her situation were often rounded up and accused of prostitution, without any evidence against them, and were submitted to degrading tests to check them. The lack of food and clothes when she saw others warm and fat probably fuels her resentment too– and, of course, her father’s treatment of her as well, all adds up to a girl who has learned to hate herself and her social position and resent almost everybody in positions of power over her who subject her to this life.

In all, Eponine craves affection. She wants to love and be loved. She wants a happy life. She wants Marius. She wants pretty dresses and a bath and the opportunity to learn. But she has no hope that she’ll ever get any of this. It’s there, she can see it, but for Eponine, it is going to be forever out of reach. And she’s accepted that. And she will face her fate bravely.

Abilities, Strengths and Weaknesses:  Eponine is an incredibly strong person. She must be, to be able to cope as well as she appears to, with what she has been through. Her life has been incredibly, incredibly dark, from being forced onto the streets of Paris, to begging and worse in order to make a Franc or two  and even surviving in the worst prison in Paris amongst prostitutes and murderers.  Her sheer resilience to life has to be a strength for her. Which also means that she’s pretty numb to most ‘horror’ ideas – which can only be a bonus in a horror setting.

She seems to have a really good immune system as well: at the time of her death, Eponine is apparently suffering from a minor cold; she has a chesty cough and wipes her nose occasionally.  Considering her dad sent her to sit outside the apartment without either coat or shoes a few months previous, and she has spent a great deal of time out of doors since, it is a miracle that she wasn’t dead from the flu or pneumonia. The prion she was locked up in, as well, La Prison des Madelonnettes, apparently had overflowing toilets and outbreaks of the plague and smallpox were a regular occurrence, neither of which Eponine has. (C.Arnaud, ‘Chamfort’, p.244 – in case you’re wondering where the toilet detail is coming from).

Eponine’s a really good liar, and a lot of people seem to believe her a lot of the time. She’s cunning and, despite a distinct lack of formal education, she’s actually quite intelligent. She has a good memory; she knows her way through the Parisian underworld even in the dark, as well as the wider, grander streets.

Eponine says she’s not afraid of anything – both a strength and a weakness. It’s a strength because she’s not afraid of tackling problems head on, but she also doesn’t have much conception of her personal safety. She puts others before her, and though she does her best to avoid trouble where she can, she will quite happily put herself in danger for a man she loves.

Eponine’s loyalty is both a strength and a weakness – it makes her a great friend, once she has ascertained that she likes a character – but it is pretty detrimental to her own health, as she will go to absolutely any length, including giving up her family and indeed her life, for the person she loves. Eponine is not a good leader, primarily because she is ultimately a selfish character. She acts for Marius, yes, but in the end, she tries to manipulate that situation for her own ends. Unfortunately, she's just not very good at manipulating. Eponine will take as much as people offer her; her early nature indicates that she can be spiteful and self absorbed, given half the chance.  She is very good at taking orders though - and once you've earned (or forced) her loyalty, she'll do as she's told whether she likes it or not.

Her weaknesses are really quite apparent – Eponine strives for affection and attention, which, of course, can allow her to be manipulated relatively easily.  And, because of her desperation for affection, she will often do as her manipulator says, whether she agrees or not.

Due to being near-starved in Paris, Eponine firmly believes she’ll be dead within the year, either through starvation, disease or murder. Though she’s not afraid of death, her lack of sustenance in Paris has left her unable to digest a great deal of food – unfortunate if she’s put in temptation’s way. She’ll be unable to stomach large or rich meals for quite some time. On the other hand, she’s used to going for days without food, which might be helpful, I suppose.

Eponine doesn't seem to have much of a moral compass - or rather, she chooses to ignore it quite a lot of the time. She does what she has to do to stay alive, whether it be begging, stealing or closing her eyes and waiting until she feels money in her hand. She's resolute in her actions, but for the most part, she acts without enthusiasm. She has little experience of joy and friendship is a foreign concept to her, though one she longs for.

A final weakness is more mental. In the novel, Eponine says that she has seen monsters and been chased by these figments of her imagination when she is hungry. She says the ground wavers and the houses tilt in on her and she runs and runs. Eponine is acutely aware that it is all in her mind– she says so several times– but it is a vulnerability which could be preyed upon, especially as she is very open about her hallucinations.

Special abilities – well, Eponine is very proud of the fact that she can read and write. Her education is paltry, but she’d definitely consider even her meagre education as a special ability.

A definite special ability is Eponine’s knowledge of a ‘secret’ corrupt language spoken by the Parisian underworld. It’s called Argot – and it’s a corruption of mainstream French and a bit of Latin and Old French thrown in.  For those who don’t know what it means, it’s pretty obscure, and if Eponine were to speak it, her meaning would be difficult to understand. At her canonpoint, Eponine hasn’t been able to use Argot because it makes her ashamed of her criminal status. But in a new world,  alone and confused, she is more than likely to indulge in it. There is an ever-growing dictionary of Argot in her journal, and any vocab I use, I will naturally translate in an ooc note for the recipient.

Samples
Network/Action Spam Sample: http://makeflowersgrow.dreamwidth.org/4794.html#comments This is a link to her old inbox from Somarium.

 Prose Log Sample: The fall seemed to last forever. Pain rippled through her, upwards from her hand, her wrist, elbow, shoulder, chest – oh God, her chest. It seemed to explode there, across her chest and down over her stomach. She wanted to vomit.

And then she landed. Her breath was quite taken away from her as she fell heavily, sprawled on her back. For a moment, she lay still, wheezing desperately. But then self preservation took over, and she rolled over onto her front, groaning all the while, and forced herself to crawl to the relative safety of a deep-set doorway. Holed up there, she looked down, pulling open her coat. That brought her urge to vomit forth again. Her tattered shirt, already filthy, was stained red with blood still steadily pumping from a wound just a little to the right of her heart. She probed it,  feeling the hole in her blouse, in her chest – but no bullet.

She pulled her hand away, gasping from sheer pain. Throwing her head back, she brought her hand up to wipe away a tear that trickled down her cheek.

Blood. More blood was dripping down her wrist. But from where – OH! She forced open her hand – and the sight of the hole there really did bring the vomit that had been threatening to the surface.  She coughed it up, sinking further into the recess, miserably pushing her hand against the hole in her chest.

This was it, wasn’t it? This was how she was going to die. She ought to have laughed. It wasn’t the cold that killed her in the end, or the lack of food. Not even her Pa.  She was going to die here, all alone. All by herself, each drip of blood slowly, agonisingly counting down to her death. She wished it were quick.

It seemed to be an age until Marius found her. Maybe it was an hour. Maybe ten minutes. Time meant nothing to Eponine now, even less than it had before, when she had so little left. He was lovely with her, of course she was, but she was nearly dead then, and she could barely hear him. But smell – yes – even as her vision blacked, her sense of smell heightened. She could smell Marius, his rich, sooty dirty smell. She could feel his hands, still soft, as they brushed hair out of her eyes – not that it mattered now. And from far away, she heard her own guttural tones wheezing out that she loved him. She heard herself begging for a kiss as she died. She felt herself reaching desperately, even the slight lift of her injured hand causing a tight pull in her shoulders and an agonised gasp from her lips, for Marius’ hands.

And then she simply stopped feeling.

There was no bright light. No angels singing. No face of God. No flash of her life. No nothing. Not for Eponine.

Instead, there was only a dull pain as she blinked. Where was she? It was dark, and she could feel cold metal pressing into her back, her buttocks, through the thin, tattered material of her breeches. Slowly, she sat up and shivered.  Her uninjured hand went to her chest, felt for the hole. Nothing. Her left hand. The hole was gone.

Had she dreamed it? Hallucinated it? She <i>had</i> been hungry… but no. Surely not. Surely she could not have imagined such a death? So what had happened?

Slowly, she eased herself off the metal table, flinching as her bare feet hit the cold tiled floor, and unsteadily, she made her way to the big doors at the end of the room and stepped out.