An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
This entire quest is supposed to be about getting Thorin and Bilbo together. (Wait. What? Nori, no, the dragon-)
But these idiots keep getting distracted by every little thing that comes along.
Take the besotted princes for example.
So strangely enough, switching between this and Stone Essence is harder than it seems. Because Stone Essence is no-holds-barred ridiculous crack, but Battles...well, I have rules for Battles. It has to be almost-believable-if-dwarves-get-this-bored. I don't want the characters going completely nuts/OOC, nor would I allow pranks that would slow the quest, or plans that would cause problems for the camp (the, ah, food issue brought up by the Elders' first plan was unintentional on their parts, and didn't really slow them down). Basically, Thorin has to be willing to put up with their behavior for the reasons Bilbo outlined in Battles of the Brothers: it builds camaraderie and it keeps them engaged so they're not REALLY fighting with each other, since dwarves are a fairly emotional lot.
So I have to stop and consider, "Have I turned this into Stone crack?" because that's not what I want. I want humor, but not straight up unabashed crack. I was keeping that balance pretty easily until Stone Essence. Now it's more of a struggle.
@_@ Confuzzling. Ah, Essence should be done soon, so that'll make it easier. :)
And I am going to bed, tah all!
