Comments | gilpin25: Drabblefic #2: Dumbledore, "Mars, Bringer of War"

gilpin25

Drabblefic #2: Dumbledore, "Mars, Bringer of War"

Aug 01, 2008 21:24

For tegdoh, who wanted Dumbledore and moon, and has ended up with Firenze too, which I hope she doesn't mind. "Coughs* These are getting longer, but they will peak soon and then go downwards again. ;) This one arrives at a fairly brief 597 words.

( Mars, Bringer of War )

drabble meme 2008

Comments 18

tegdoh August 2 2008, 02:23:23 UTC

This was lovely, thank you. Dumbledore's regret is so palpable here, and his concern for Remus so sincere... I think I have sympathy for him for the first time since That Book.

gilpin25 August 4 2008, 07:52:44 UTC

Thank you for a great prompt. I hope you didn't mind me bringing Firenze in too, but he and Dumbledore seemed an interesting combination. And I needed someone impassive like that to enable Dumbledore to show the regret and doubts in private I think we were meant to think he felt inside in DH. (It just got a bit lost, amongst the arch manipulating;)) Having to make decisions with people's lives at stakes, and keep such secrets, must take a toll...

Glad you enjoyed it!:D

shimotsuki August 3 2008, 04:59:40 UTC

Frivolous comments first: I saw the title of this last night as I was logging off, and Holst's "Mars" has been thumping in 5/4 time in my brain ever since, thank you very much. ;) Also, it occurs to me that, as a horse person, you actually know how to write plausible centaur gestures ( ... )

gilpin25 August 5 2008, 13:57:56 UTC

Hope "Mars" is finally out of your head by now, lol. It's such a 'jolly' one to get stuck there, though I must admit it was playing relentlessly through mine as soon as I thought of the title. And hope you had a good journey home as well.:D

Many thanks for such lovely comments. I had no qualms at all with seeing the machinations and toughness of Dumbledore in DH - it's not easy being the one making the life and death decisions for others, and it's lonely at the top, too - but I did lose a little of the previously obvious care/love he had for Harry etc. while doing so. Perhaps JKR didn't think she had to reiterate it, but it was nice to imagine something like this, which is hopefully in line with McGonagall's line in the hospital scene and the implied regret in the scene where Tonks won't meet his eyes.

What did come over in DH was that Dumbledore had no one to confide in, or trust, which was where Firenze, with no agenda at all, was ideal. And because, yes, I did think he'd be fun to write and so it proved.

I'm guessing the ( ... )

philotic_net August 4 2008, 03:34:31 UTC

That was really beautiful. Firenze and Dumbledore are both characters I love and I am glad you explored them! I always thought that Dumbles must not have intended Remus to leave Tonks. He is too good of a guy, to intune to the workings of things. This was a really great and touching story.

gilpin25 August 5 2008, 13:35:15 UTC

Thank you very much! I do enjoy writing Dumbledore, and was quite sad that one of the things I lost a bit of in DH was how tough it was to be the man making the life and death decisions about people he loved in order to win a war. He really had no one to confide his worries and fears in, which is where the idea of Firenze came along as I've always had a hankering to write him. And, yes, I think Dumbledore would have been upset by Remus leaving Tonks, hence McGonagall's remark in the hospital wing scene. So it was nice to imagine this taking place...

Thanks again for a lovely comment.:D

katyhasclogs August 9 2008, 14:07:59 UTC

Oh, oh, oh. This is so touching. Poor Dumbledore, with the weight of the world on his shoulders. I'm so used to thinking of him as a manipulative bastard now, that it's so touching to see him really affected by what he has to do.

I'm not really managing to articulate how this makes me feel and how much I love it. Just know that I think it's brilliant.

gilpin25 August 12 2008, 13:29:03 UTC

Amongst my (quite long;)) list of complaints about who and what got shafted in DH, I lost some of the sense of how much Dumbledore cared about people, particularly Harry, when he was doing his arch manipulating. And I do regret that because it must be very lonely at the top, making the tough decisions with people's lives and unable to trust anyone. Which is where Firenze was ideal, having no agenda, or any particular sympathy or understanding, but is therefore someone Dumbledore could unload a fraction on as there must be so many doubts and regrets.

Thanks for such a lovely comment. This one's been my favourite to write so far so it's great when someone likes it too.:D