.... mrngh. cant sleep.
Jul. 13th, 2010 06:07 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
csi_sanders1129So, first of all, Inkdeath = Done.
I'm rather sad that it's over now.
I wasn't especially thrilled with the ending. The killing the Adderhead/Piper stuff, yeah, that was fine. Though Orpheus should have been killed way back in the beginning when he and Oss were abusing the hell out of Farid. Which, btw, the chapter where Dustfinger comes back and saves Farid? Amazing. I've read that chapter like 20 times and then typed it up.
Favorite bits include:
There was only one answer: because he hadn't been missing her half as much as she'd missed him. He loved Dustfinger more than her. He would always love Dustfinger, even now, when he was dead.
---
Farid rubbed his numb wrists. He couldn't take his eyes off Dustfinger. Suppose he was only a ghost after all - or even worse, nothing but a dream? But then would Farid have felt his warmth and the beating of his heart when he leaned over him? No more of the dreadful silence that had surrounded Dustfinger in the mine. And he smelled of fire.
The Bluejay had brought him back. Yes, it must have been him. Whatever Orpheus said. Oh, he'd write his name in fire on the city walls of Ombra - Silvertongue, Bluejay, whichever name he liked! Farid put out his hand and timidly touched Dustfinger's face, so familiar and yet so strange.
Dustfinger laughed quietly and raised him to his feet. "What is it? Do you want to make sure I'm not a ghost? I expect you’re still afraid of them, aren't you? Suppose I was a ghost?"
By way of answer Farid flung his arms around him so impetuously that Jasper, with a sharp little scream, slid off Dustfinger's shoulder. Luckily, he caught the glass man before Gwin did.
---
"As for you, you lying little camel-driver" - Orpheus's voice broke - "I'll make you disappear into a story full of horrible things specially written for you!"
The threat halted Farid for a moment, but then he heard Dustfinger's voice.
"Take care with your threats, Orpheus. If anything ever happens to the boy, or if he suddenly disappears - the fate you clearly intended for him this time - then I'll come to visit you again. And as you know, I never go anywhere without fire."
---
That whole chapter about teaching Farid Dustinfinger's new tricks while watching over Mo at the Castle? Yeah. That.
---
For himself, Mo knew the answer - although he sometimes wondered whether by now ink, rather than blood, flowed through his veins. He wasn't so sure about Dustfinger. The horses shied when they saw the Fire-Dancer, although he could calm them down with a whisper. He hardly slept or ate, and he plunged his hands into fire as if it were water. But, when he talked about Roxane or Farid, there was human love in his words, and when he looked around for his daughter surreptitiously, as if he were ashamed of it, it was with the eyes of a mortal father.
(* points for grouping Farid with Roxane and not with Brianna! *)
---
The Night-Mare reached a black hand out to the fire. It hissed when he dipped it into the flames and Dustfinger thought he recognized a face in all the blackness. A face he had never forgotten.
Was it possible? Had Orpheus seen it, too, and so tamed his black dog by calling it by its forgotten name? Or had he given it that name himself and brought back the man whom Silvertongue had sent to his death?
Brianna was crying behind him. Dustfinger sensed her trembling through the bars, but he felt no fear now. He was just grateful. Grateful for this moment. Glad of this new encounter - which he hoped would be their last.
"Well, look! Who have we here?" he said softly, as Brianna's weeping died down on the other side of the bars. "Do you remember yourself in all your darkness? Do you remember the knife, and the boy's thin, unprotected back? Do you remember the sound my heart made when it broke?"
The Night-Mare stared at him, and Dustfinger stepped toward it, still surrounded by flames - flames burning hotter I and hotter, nourished by all the pain and despair he was bringing back to mind.
"Away with you, Basta!" he said, speaking the name loud enough to pierce the heart of all the darkness. "Be gone for all eternity."
The face showed more clearly - the narrow, foxy face that he had once feared so much and Dustfinger made the flames bite into the cold, made them penetrate the blackness like swords, all of them writing Basta's name, and the Night-Mare screamed again _ its eyes suddenly full of memories. It screamed and screamed while its shape ran like ink, melting into the shadows, dispersing like smoke. Only the cold was left, but the fire ate that, too, and Dustfinger fell on his knees and felt the pain leaving him pain that had outlasted death itself. He wished Farid were here with him. He wished it so much that, for a few moments, he forgot where he was.
---
"Look around," Roxane whispered to him, and Dustfinger saw Silvertongue embracing his daughter and wiping the tears off her face. He saw the bookworm woman running to Resa - how in the name of all the fairies did she come to be here? Tullio burying his furry face in Violante's skirt, the Strong Man almost smothering Silvertongue in his bear hug . . . and . . .
Farid.
He stood there digging his toes into the newly fallen snow. He still went barefoot, and surely he'd grown taller?
Dustfinger went up to him. "I see you've taken good care of Roxane," he said. "Did the fire obey you while I was gone?"
"It always obeys me!" Yes, he had grown older. "I fought Sootbird."
"Imagine that!"
''My fire ate his fire."
"Did it indeed?"
"Yes! I climbed up on the giant and made fire rain down on Sootbird. And then the giant broke his neck."
Dustfinger couldn't help smiling, and Farid returned his smile. "Do you. . . do you have to go away again?” He looked as anxious as if he feared the White Women were already waiting.
“No,” said Dustfinger, smiling again. “No, not for a while, I think.”
Farid. He’d ask the fire to write that name in his heart, as well. Roxane. Brianna. Farid. And Gwin, of course.
---
I did not, however, APPROVE OF THE ENDING:
Farid frowned. "Yes, yes," he said, "and Dustfinger's with his minstrel woman again. He kisses he so often, you might think her lips tasted of honey."
Oh dear. Farid was still jealous of Roxane.
^ Really, you go from THAT to: I THINK I'LL GO AWAY FOR A WHILE.
...I... what? NO! You do all of this, take all of Orpheus and Oss's crap to get him back and now you just want to go wander the countryside? WHYYYYYY? I mean, I get it, you're jealous. But, no. That is not how I wanted Farid's part in this story to end.
Also, given this ending, I am exceptionally pissed off about how they fucked up the movie. Not only did the make it nae impossible to continue, but... NO, DUSFINGER DOES NOT GO BACK AT THE END OF INKHEART. NO, FARID DOES NOT WILLINGLY STAY BEHIND TO BE WITH MEGGIE, NOR DOES HE END UP WITH MEGGIE AT ALL. WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT ABOUT? WHY DOES ROMANCE ALWAYS HAVE TO KILL PLOT? WHY? I DO NOT GET IT. AT ALL.
Gah.
Ahem, in addition, I spent several hours tonight working on thesetwo THREE lovely icons. Which I am very proud of, given how ridiculously hard it is to get .gif files down below the 40kb limit for LJ icons.
I'm rather sad that it's over now.
I wasn't especially thrilled with the ending. The killing the Adderhead/Piper stuff, yeah, that was fine. Though Orpheus should have been killed way back in the beginning when he and Oss were abusing the hell out of Farid. Which, btw, the chapter where Dustfinger comes back and saves Farid? Amazing. I've read that chapter like 20 times and then typed it up.
Favorite bits include:
There was only one answer: because he hadn't been missing her half as much as she'd missed him. He loved Dustfinger more than her. He would always love Dustfinger, even now, when he was dead.
---
Farid rubbed his numb wrists. He couldn't take his eyes off Dustfinger. Suppose he was only a ghost after all - or even worse, nothing but a dream? But then would Farid have felt his warmth and the beating of his heart when he leaned over him? No more of the dreadful silence that had surrounded Dustfinger in the mine. And he smelled of fire.
The Bluejay had brought him back. Yes, it must have been him. Whatever Orpheus said. Oh, he'd write his name in fire on the city walls of Ombra - Silvertongue, Bluejay, whichever name he liked! Farid put out his hand and timidly touched Dustfinger's face, so familiar and yet so strange.
Dustfinger laughed quietly and raised him to his feet. "What is it? Do you want to make sure I'm not a ghost? I expect you’re still afraid of them, aren't you? Suppose I was a ghost?"
By way of answer Farid flung his arms around him so impetuously that Jasper, with a sharp little scream, slid off Dustfinger's shoulder. Luckily, he caught the glass man before Gwin did.
---
"As for you, you lying little camel-driver" - Orpheus's voice broke - "I'll make you disappear into a story full of horrible things specially written for you!"
The threat halted Farid for a moment, but then he heard Dustfinger's voice.
"Take care with your threats, Orpheus. If anything ever happens to the boy, or if he suddenly disappears - the fate you clearly intended for him this time - then I'll come to visit you again. And as you know, I never go anywhere without fire."
---
That whole chapter about teaching Farid Dustinfinger's new tricks while watching over Mo at the Castle? Yeah. That.
---
For himself, Mo knew the answer - although he sometimes wondered whether by now ink, rather than blood, flowed through his veins. He wasn't so sure about Dustfinger. The horses shied when they saw the Fire-Dancer, although he could calm them down with a whisper. He hardly slept or ate, and he plunged his hands into fire as if it were water. But, when he talked about Roxane or Farid, there was human love in his words, and when he looked around for his daughter surreptitiously, as if he were ashamed of it, it was with the eyes of a mortal father.
(* points for grouping Farid with Roxane and not with Brianna! *)
---
The Night-Mare reached a black hand out to the fire. It hissed when he dipped it into the flames and Dustfinger thought he recognized a face in all the blackness. A face he had never forgotten.
Was it possible? Had Orpheus seen it, too, and so tamed his black dog by calling it by its forgotten name? Or had he given it that name himself and brought back the man whom Silvertongue had sent to his death?
Brianna was crying behind him. Dustfinger sensed her trembling through the bars, but he felt no fear now. He was just grateful. Grateful for this moment. Glad of this new encounter - which he hoped would be their last.
"Well, look! Who have we here?" he said softly, as Brianna's weeping died down on the other side of the bars. "Do you remember yourself in all your darkness? Do you remember the knife, and the boy's thin, unprotected back? Do you remember the sound my heart made when it broke?"
The Night-Mare stared at him, and Dustfinger stepped toward it, still surrounded by flames - flames burning hotter I and hotter, nourished by all the pain and despair he was bringing back to mind.
"Away with you, Basta!" he said, speaking the name loud enough to pierce the heart of all the darkness. "Be gone for all eternity."
The face showed more clearly - the narrow, foxy face that he had once feared so much and Dustfinger made the flames bite into the cold, made them penetrate the blackness like swords, all of them writing Basta's name, and the Night-Mare screamed again _ its eyes suddenly full of memories. It screamed and screamed while its shape ran like ink, melting into the shadows, dispersing like smoke. Only the cold was left, but the fire ate that, too, and Dustfinger fell on his knees and felt the pain leaving him pain that had outlasted death itself. He wished Farid were here with him. He wished it so much that, for a few moments, he forgot where he was.
---
"Look around," Roxane whispered to him, and Dustfinger saw Silvertongue embracing his daughter and wiping the tears off her face. He saw the bookworm woman running to Resa - how in the name of all the fairies did she come to be here? Tullio burying his furry face in Violante's skirt, the Strong Man almost smothering Silvertongue in his bear hug . . . and . . .
Farid.
He stood there digging his toes into the newly fallen snow. He still went barefoot, and surely he'd grown taller?
Dustfinger went up to him. "I see you've taken good care of Roxane," he said. "Did the fire obey you while I was gone?"
"It always obeys me!" Yes, he had grown older. "I fought Sootbird."
"Imagine that!"
''My fire ate his fire."
"Did it indeed?"
"Yes! I climbed up on the giant and made fire rain down on Sootbird. And then the giant broke his neck."
Dustfinger couldn't help smiling, and Farid returned his smile. "Do you. . . do you have to go away again?” He looked as anxious as if he feared the White Women were already waiting.
“No,” said Dustfinger, smiling again. “No, not for a while, I think.”
Farid. He’d ask the fire to write that name in his heart, as well. Roxane. Brianna. Farid. And Gwin, of course.
---
I did not, however, APPROVE OF THE ENDING:
Farid frowned. "Yes, yes," he said, "and Dustfinger's with his minstrel woman again. He kisses he so often, you might think her lips tasted of honey."
Oh dear. Farid was still jealous of Roxane.
^ Really, you go from THAT to: I THINK I'LL GO AWAY FOR A WHILE.
...I... what? NO! You do all of this, take all of Orpheus and Oss's crap to get him back and now you just want to go wander the countryside? WHYYYYYY? I mean, I get it, you're jealous. But, no. That is not how I wanted Farid's part in this story to end.
Also, given this ending, I am exceptionally pissed off about how they fucked up the movie. Not only did the make it nae impossible to continue, but... NO, DUSFINGER DOES NOT GO BACK AT THE END OF INKHEART. NO, FARID DOES NOT WILLINGLY STAY BEHIND TO BE WITH MEGGIE, NOR DOES HE END UP WITH MEGGIE AT ALL. WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT ABOUT? WHY DOES ROMANCE ALWAYS HAVE TO KILL PLOT? WHY? I DO NOT GET IT. AT ALL.
Gah.
Ahem, in addition, I spent several hours tonight working on these
