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Post by Dante on Oct 25, 2012 4:43:43 GMT -5
First in a series of concentrated speculation threads I'm starting up to get things going. First off we're going to talk about this old gimcrack: Why is Hangfire after it? What is it for and what does it do? Probably the clearest clue, which is to say the most detailed description of it, is on page 136: "The eyes of the statue were actually small holes, as was the mouth, with its lips drawn back and the tiny, sharp teeth making thin lines over the hole. The entire statue was hollow, I realized, and for a moment I wondered if it had been carved to fit over a candle, so that the fire might shine through the eyes and mouth to create an eerie effect. I turned it over to look at the base of the statue, which had a strange slit cut into the wood. There was a small, thick piece of paper pasted over the slit like a patch. The paper patch felt curious to the touch, like the paper wrappings on cookies in the bakery. I shook the statue to see if there was anything inside, but it did not make a sound." Legends of the Bombinating Beast date back hundreds of years, and while we don't know when the statue was made, we know the Beast itself has long been associated with the Mallahan family, whose lighthouse likewise seems to be similarly old. We don't know whether the statue came into their possession or was always in their possession from the moment of its creation, whenever that was. So, what's your theory?
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Post by Isadora Is a Door on Oct 25, 2012 8:55:10 GMT -5
Well, that Paper will have something written on the inside, just one word. Thats what i think
This may sound silly, but could it be related to the sugar bowl?
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Post by Dante on Oct 25, 2012 10:11:28 GMT -5
My guess is that Handler will try to steer well clear of the sugar bowl, which is something of a symbol of how muddled the backstory of ASoUE got.
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Post by Hermes on Oct 25, 2012 11:05:58 GMT -5
I took it that the paper was indeed, as L first thought, to hide something concealed inside; but something firmly fixed, so that it did not make a noise when shaken. The idea of something written on the paper is certainly intriguing. but in that case why not just steal the paper?
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Post by Tryina Denouement on Oct 25, 2012 11:10:10 GMT -5
I thought there was some precious info when the paper can be taken out from the statue.
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Post by Dante on Oct 25, 2012 11:15:49 GMT -5
By contrast, I think it's just covering the slot. How unimaginative! But the interesting part is what you do with the Beast once the slot is uncovered.
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Post by B. on Oct 25, 2012 11:40:08 GMT -5
Lemony himself mentions that you could put it over a candle. Perhaps you have to fit the statue onto something or put something in it? That way it could be part of a far bigger picture. Is it something the fire-starting side of VFD wants, and is Hangfire even part of VFD?
I do think the paper is significant in some way, as it is described in a fair amount of detail. We also know the beast is made of a rare, black wood, although I'd like to think money wasn't Hangfire's motivation. It's a little too cliché.
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Antenora
Detriment Deleter
Fiendish Philologist
Put down that harpoon gun, in the name of these wonderful birds!
Posts: 15,891
Likes: 113
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Post by Antenora on Oct 25, 2012 11:47:35 GMT -5
The "something hidden inside" explanation seems almost too obvious. But I do think the slip of paper is likely to be important-- although it's not mentioned after the first time Lemony examines the statue, so perhaps it fell off somewhere during the Beast's travels. Actually, I just had an idea which might not work, but it's interesting: what if the statue functions somehow as a noisemaker? Perhaps it makes a bombinating sound when some appropriate device is placed inside it, or when air is blown through it just right-- that would be fitting given its name and mythical background. It could even have been constructed to imitate the sound of the real beast. Come to think of it, that could also explain the paper-- the comparison to wrappings on cookies suggests that it's wax paper, which is used in kazoos.
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Post by Dante on Oct 25, 2012 15:03:22 GMT -5
Actually, I just had an idea which might not work, but it's interesting: what if the statue functions somehow as a noisemaker? Perhaps it makes a bombinating sound when some appropriate device is placed inside it, or when air is blown through it just right-- that would be fitting given its name and mythical background. It could even have been constructed to imitate the sound of the real beast. Come to think of it, that could also explain the paper-- the comparison to wrappings on cookies suggests that it's wax paper, which is used in kazoos. I really like this idea, and if it wasn't for the fact that it's hard to see what such a bombinator could be used for, I would adopt it myself. Thematically it's just perfect, making the Beast statue even more of a miniature Beast, and it would be tremendously satisfying to come to that realisation that the true function of the statue was right in front of us all along. But what could it be used for? I'm certainly not ruling this one out, but I have my own theory that goes one step further, although it has only narrative attraction rather than aesthetic attraction. I'll post it later, when a few more ideas have come in.
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Post by B. on Oct 25, 2012 15:26:54 GMT -5
Perhaps upon blowing through it, the bombinating sound might summon the beast from the watery depths? Assuming it turns out not to be a myth, of course. This idea becomes more interesting and has more possibilities if you consider the Bombinating Beast to be similar/the same thing as the Great Unknown.
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Post by Charlie on Oct 25, 2012 20:05:54 GMT -5
That is indeed a very interesting thought. I can also see it as functioning somewhat similarly to the whistles used by The Sinister Duo to control the Mortmain Eagles. So that rather than just summoning it, it can be used to control it. Going by this it could be the reason that the Great Unknown is so mysterious, It could be under the influence of either a volunteer or a villain. Widdershins would have been unable to tell who was controlling the Great Unknown, and didn't want to take his chances
EDIT: My belief before Antenora posted that theory was that the statue might be one of a set, that could be placed somewhere (Indiana Jones style) to activate something (such as the flooding of Stain'd).
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Post by Vacuum Pot on Oct 26, 2012 0:27:25 GMT -5
I like the idea that the statue is a kazoo. The sound a kazoo produces can certainly be called "bombinating."
Ellington Feint has been established as passionate about music. She has a phonograph she bothers to take with her. Her favorite place in town has a player piano that seems to be playing the same music she plays at Handkerchief Heights. She expresses deep interest in Duke Ellington's Black, Brown and Beige. Who does she get this interest in music from? Her father?
What evidence do we have that Hangfire isn't Papa Feint? What if Ellington is after the Beast to please him, and not to save him?
Are these the wrong questions?
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Q.R.V.
Formidable Foreman
Better paranoid than dead.
Posts: 149
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Post by Q.R.V. on Oct 26, 2012 0:44:09 GMT -5
Perhaps it makes a bombinating sound when some appropriate device is placed inside it, or when air is blown through it just right-- that would be fitting given its name and mythical background. It could even have been constructed to imitate the sound of the real beast. I like this very much. Snicket himself says, during his library research on the Beast, "Other stories said that people could tame the Bombinating Beast by imitating its fearsome buzz". So maybe: Hangfire, the imitator extraordinaire, hears this story and thinks to himself, "Hey, I can use the Beast in my plot for world domination!" He discovers that buzzing correctly is harder than he thought, but learns that a statue/kazoo exists that can buzz for him. Thus he attempts to buy and then to steal said statue. I bet VFD submarines are first in his firing line. Eating line.
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Post by Dante on Oct 26, 2012 2:35:14 GMT -5
The problem with all of this is that frankly I don't buy the idea of a statue controlling a quasi-mythical sea monster in a Snicket series. It is too far into the realms of fantasy. If ASoUE had never been written and ATWQ was the first thing we'd read by Snicket - maybe. I think there's a little bit of Lovecraft about Stain'd. But with that context? Not for a second.
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Post by Charlie on Oct 26, 2012 4:18:22 GMT -5
Why not? As I mentioned before, the Sinister Duo control the VFD eagles with shiny whistles, I don't really see how this is very different, considering the Great Unknown would likely be more difficult to control.
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