i22 The Jay and the Moon
Mar. 5th, 2012 10:53 am![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
huinare.livejournal.com posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
b2memB2MeM Challenge: Alternate Viewpoints ('A Thief in the Night')
Format: ficlet ~600 words
Genre: Character study?
Rating: G
Warnings: Author enjoys trying to do some justice to under-appreciated characters, does that count?
Characters: Bombur, Bilbo
Summary: Bombur's thoughts on the eve of Bilbo's little excursion with the Arkenstone.
“That stone, of all the treasure, I name unto myself,” Thorin says, and voice is as cold as the lonely watches, and Róac the raven says, “The treasure is likely to be your death, though the dragon is no more!”
Has everybody forgotten already that a talking bird is a fine and unusual thing? Perhaps its words have some wisdom. Perhaps wise counsel is more than a whole waterfall of gold.
I used to hear of this Arkenstone when I was younger, and mightily impressive did it sound. I should say now that the real heart of the mountain, back in the days of Thráin and Thrór and their fathers, was the fellowship in its halls. For certain I should say that good food and drink and a warm fire are worth more than rivers of gold when all’s said and done.
I don’t say it out loud of course. Any time I mention food or comfort, it’s remarked that I’m saying such things because I’m old fat Bombur. Would Dwarves heed me more if I was haler or leaner? That’s never seemed fair, but then it was never fair that the Dragon came and ruined everything to begin with. It wasn’t fair how they treated our Burglar either, like baggage, like a smaller one of me, until he proved himself so truly.
I may be Bombur and old and fat, but I’ve better and deeper reasons for being of a mind that food and drink and fellowship are worth more than a sea of gold. When we were wandering in dark Mirkwood there, lost and starving, did we want anything more than sustenance and a warm fire? Did we think anything of treasure or lordship?
“You may eat your gold, if you will,” the messenger from the armies down there said. It was rude, to be sure, but I wager he had a point.
I’ve been having different thoughts like this since I fell in that stream, and dreams too. I wander along dim paths, and lights and musics that dazzle the eye and ear come from some direction I can’t find. Animals with bright eyes look out of the brush, Thorin is a wolf, Balin is a pale elk, Mr. Baggins is a jay, and they melt back into the dream when I stop to talk to them.
It’s cold on watch and the others are all off poring over their treasure or their plans. It is good to see Mr. Baggins come up to the wall. He climbs up and sits nearby. We talk about warm fires, food and drink, sunlight. If Mr. Baggins is a typical Hobbit, I daresay I would get on with those little folk just fine.
He offers to take the rest of my watch. He hasn’t had watch duty in a while and can’t sleep. Meanwhile, sleep is all I want to do right about now, since any of the other things I should like to have aren’t in reach.
“You are a good fellow, Mr. Baggins.”
A peculiar look crosses Mr. Baggins’s face, but it is gone and then he suddenly looks very clever in the dimness, like a small knowing bird. “Off you go!” he says kindly, and I find that is wise counsel indeed.
I am very tired. Soon I have dreams where laughing and crying and animal noises echo. The Arkenstone rises like a moon floating through the deep shadow under the looming trees, and the animals chase it. It hardly looks to be moving, but they run after it and can never catch it up.
Format: ficlet ~600 words
Genre: Character study?
Rating: G
Warnings: Author enjoys trying to do some justice to under-appreciated characters, does that count?
Characters: Bombur, Bilbo
Summary: Bombur's thoughts on the eve of Bilbo's little excursion with the Arkenstone.
“That stone, of all the treasure, I name unto myself,” Thorin says, and voice is as cold as the lonely watches, and Róac the raven says, “The treasure is likely to be your death, though the dragon is no more!”
Has everybody forgotten already that a talking bird is a fine and unusual thing? Perhaps its words have some wisdom. Perhaps wise counsel is more than a whole waterfall of gold.
I used to hear of this Arkenstone when I was younger, and mightily impressive did it sound. I should say now that the real heart of the mountain, back in the days of Thráin and Thrór and their fathers, was the fellowship in its halls. For certain I should say that good food and drink and a warm fire are worth more than rivers of gold when all’s said and done.
I don’t say it out loud of course. Any time I mention food or comfort, it’s remarked that I’m saying such things because I’m old fat Bombur. Would Dwarves heed me more if I was haler or leaner? That’s never seemed fair, but then it was never fair that the Dragon came and ruined everything to begin with. It wasn’t fair how they treated our Burglar either, like baggage, like a smaller one of me, until he proved himself so truly.
I may be Bombur and old and fat, but I’ve better and deeper reasons for being of a mind that food and drink and fellowship are worth more than a sea of gold. When we were wandering in dark Mirkwood there, lost and starving, did we want anything more than sustenance and a warm fire? Did we think anything of treasure or lordship?
“You may eat your gold, if you will,” the messenger from the armies down there said. It was rude, to be sure, but I wager he had a point.
I’ve been having different thoughts like this since I fell in that stream, and dreams too. I wander along dim paths, and lights and musics that dazzle the eye and ear come from some direction I can’t find. Animals with bright eyes look out of the brush, Thorin is a wolf, Balin is a pale elk, Mr. Baggins is a jay, and they melt back into the dream when I stop to talk to them.
It’s cold on watch and the others are all off poring over their treasure or their plans. It is good to see Mr. Baggins come up to the wall. He climbs up and sits nearby. We talk about warm fires, food and drink, sunlight. If Mr. Baggins is a typical Hobbit, I daresay I would get on with those little folk just fine.
He offers to take the rest of my watch. He hasn’t had watch duty in a while and can’t sleep. Meanwhile, sleep is all I want to do right about now, since any of the other things I should like to have aren’t in reach.
“You are a good fellow, Mr. Baggins.”
A peculiar look crosses Mr. Baggins’s face, but it is gone and then he suddenly looks very clever in the dimness, like a small knowing bird. “Off you go!” he says kindly, and I find that is wise counsel indeed.
I am very tired. Soon I have dreams where laughing and crying and animal noises echo. The Arkenstone rises like a moon floating through the deep shadow under the looming trees, and the animals chase it. It hardly looks to be moving, but they run after it and can never catch it up.
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Date: 2012-03-05 10:15 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-03-06 02:06 am (UTC)I always thought the narrative--and other characters--were rather unfair to Bombur. Considering what might have been going on in his head has just gotten me a bit attached to the character (heh, isn't that always what happens...I'm loving this Alternate Viewpoint card)
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Date: 2012-03-06 11:47 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-03-07 12:28 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-03-07 11:21 pm (UTC)I wander along dim paths, and lights and musics that dazzle the eye and ear come from some direction I can’t find. Animals with bright eyes look out of the brush, Thorin is a wolf, Balin is a pale elk, Mr. Baggins is a jay, and they melt back into the dream when I stop to talk to them.
This, and the last line, are terrific, and lend an air of grown-up, yet playful, ambiguity to Tolkien's mischievous children's tale.
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Date: 2012-03-08 02:45 am (UTC)I recently revisited The Hobbit for the third time (on audiobook, a thing I do often because it's a way I can do something useful while falling asleep), and I find I like it better each time I visit it. Once one gets past the narrative style, there's so much serious stuff going on to unearth, ponder, and place into context with the more dignified narratives of Arda.
no subject
Date: 2012-04-02 10:41 am (UTC)Now I'll go back to dreading what PJ will do to him...
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Date: 2012-04-02 05:03 pm (UTC)Despite the fact that I'm one of the people eagerly awaiting the Hobbit films, there are certain things I do dread, and that's definitely one of them. That prospect already kinda bugged me; but, as often happens with fic writers and one-offs, I'm now kind of attached to Bombur, so now it bugs me more.
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Date: 2012-04-03 12:02 am (UTC)Yes, I agree! I already found lots of the humor in the LotR movies mostly juvenile and tedious, and Bombur lends himself to fatty jokes so well, I can already see it. :-/ The trailer did hint at at least one, too... ignore mode on. Maybe that will help the good parts stand out.
I'm now kind of attached to Bombur, so now it bugs me more.
Very understandable as well! Hopefully they will give him redeeming qualities; he can't be along just because of his girth...
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Date: 2012-04-03 12:18 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-04-03 12:47 am (UTC)I'm so hoping that they will do well by these - Dol Guldur looked a little too much like typical horror movie fare for me (I found the visuals breathtaking, but a bit clichéd all the same), but then the previews will hardly be able to hold a candle to the finished movie, so there's still hope. Including both the White Council and Dol Guldur will at any rate provide a more serious backdrop to the narrative, which I'm totally in favour of. Hopefully without any wizards wiping the floor with each other. >>
If there is any truth to some casting rumors, there will even be more supplementary/visual fanfic (as Pandë calls it) material that I've desperately been trying to place... why and where and how would they fit Elros? ...
I quite disliked how PJ and company handled Gimli.
Same here again - there were a few jokes that nearly had me throw my drink at the screen, especially in TTT. It just seemed so out of place and out of character, and when John Rhys-Davies mentioned at a convention that part of them had been his improvisation, that was... a little offputting. But then PJ has a greater variety of dwarves this time, more personalities to handle, so hopefully we'll get less forced comic-relief and more characterization. It'll do away with stereotyping them as the funny short guys, at any rate. Hopefully.
no subject
Date: 2012-04-03 03:55 am (UTC)Including both the White Council and Dol Guldur will at any rate provide a more serious backdrop to the narrative, which I'm totally in favour of.
Yes, this. I disliked the book's lighthearted nature until I began to understand its context and fill in the blanks for myself, so I love that the films will also be touching on the issues we don't find in the book...and that in turn makes me peruse the book with different eyes and come to appreciate it more.
Basically I'm just really thrilled that for once I've read the book before the movie arrives, though I realize I stand a chance of being disappointed in some things.
(This discussion made me watch the preview again, and Bombur really was the only thing that made me wince there....the chilling rendition of the Dwarves' song makes me think at least some of them will be treated with due regard.)
ETA - wait, what, Elros? I think I missed something!
no subject
Date: 2012-04-03 06:17 pm (UTC)Yes. PJ can't really have a whole band of bumbling short guys making "funny" comments without fatally disneyfying those movies. I do have some faith that it'll be a decent two movies, with some drawbacks. :)
Elros - well. It may just be a working name (iirc they had Saoirse Ronan cast as a wood-elf character named Itaril before, now it's Evangeline Lily as Tauriel in the same function), but here's what ToRn has to say (http://www.theonering.net/torwp/2011/11/07/49761-of-laketowns-bellringer-or-net-mender-and-an-elf-named-elros/). I mean... why re-use fairly prominent names?
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Date: 2012-04-04 06:07 pm (UTC)I love that icon. ^_^