#dustfinger was fine because he reminded me more of my own father

[schleierkauz]

i’m bored, everyone post your most spicy inkworld opinion to this post. i’ll start:

when i read the books for the first time i really really didn’t like mo. at all. i was 10 and just simply did not like caring fathers. 

also dustfinger sacrificing himself to bring farid back because an old story said that maybe it would work was pretty stupid and a complete bastard move towards roxane. 

cosimo the fair (the original) and his father were both idiots and shouldn’t have been allowed to rule over an empty pigsty let alone a city filled with people. getting killed in the woods was simply embarrassing and could have been avoided if cosimo had made better choices and you don’t get to wallow in depression and let your people fend for themselves just because your kid dies, i’m sorry. like, you live in the dark ages. everyone’s kids are dying. how do you think roxane felt? on that note, even before he checked out i don’t think the laughing prince deserves all the credit he gets. yeah he’s better than the adderhead but that’s a low bar.

you know who does deserve more credit? the barn owl. no one ever talks about the barn owl (myself included bc i’m still ignoring that one ask i got about him but i’m waiting until my gf and i get there shhh) and i KNOW he was barely in the story but he’s so cool. like, his hospital is one of the very few safe havens in the adderhead’s realm, he’s a renowned healer who genuinely wants to help people, he went to check on the kids in the dungeon, he raised dustfinger and he was the one roxane turned to when basta cut him up... can we get more barn owl content please.

lastly i genuinely never cared about meggie’s boyfriends. i know it’s a hot topic and yeah, farid’s character development was very weird but i am looking away. in fact, i’m glad everyone disappeared before i had to translate her wedding, that’s how much i don’t care. tell me more about everyone’s parents instead.

[takahero]

some descriptions of Basta in Inkheart if you’re interested!! spoiler warning just to be on the safe side, in case u haven’t read it. and my unsolicited commentary here and there

“‘Naturally I recognised them at once. Capricorn had sent his best men. Even Basta was with them.’” — pg.99

“Rasping cat’s-tongue voice” pg.125

“(Basta’s face) was thin, sharply angular, with close-set eyes…Basta was not a tall man, and his shoulders were almost as narrow as a boy’s, but Meggie held her breath when he took a step towards her…He had an aura of fury about him, or something keen and biting—” pg.126

“Only Basta wore a snow-white shirt, just as Dustfinger had said, with a red flower in the buttonhole of his jacket, a red flower like a warning.” pg.131

“He caught her eye, and with a twisted smile kissed the blade of his knife.” — pg.173 (I JUST HAD TO ADD THIS)

“‘Oh, Basta can’t write,’ replied Capricorn calmly. ‘None of my men can either read or write. I’ve forbidden them to learn.’” — pg.176 (literacy rights for Basta 2k21)

“She could see the trepidation even on Basta’s face, although he was doing his best to hide it by assuming a particularly bored expression.” — pg.185

“‘Abduction!’ Basta savoured the word. ‘Sounds good to me. Really good.’” — pg.192 (ok but if u read it a certain way. unofficial evidence that basta would enjoy reading if he could LMAO)

“‘Where’s our luggage?’ she asked.

“Dustfinger looked at her with amusement. ‘I expect Basta’s divided it out among Capricorn’s maids. He likes to ingratiate himself with them.’” — pg.213 LMAOOOOOOO OH MY GOD

“Basta was still standing in the road. His face was sharply outlined when he lit a cigarette with a lighter.” — pg.215

“And he bent down to cut through the leather thong that Basta wore around his neck. It had a little bag tied with a red drawstring hanging from it.” — pg. 231

“‘Ah, Basta!’ Fenoglio smiled. Each of his separate wrinkles expressed self-satisfaction. ‘One of the best villains I ever thought up. A rabid dog, but not half as bad as my other dark hero, Capricorn. Basta would let his heart be torn out for Capricorn, but his master is a stranger to such loyalty.’” — pg.264

“‘You know, if you were to ask me which of those two I was prouder of, Basta or Capricorn, I couldn’t tell you! Even though some critics said they were just too nasty!’” — pg.265

“Basta emphasised the word, putting his foxy face so close to Meggie’s she could see herself reflected in his eyes.” — pg.301

“‘You’ll do no such thing!’ he spat at Flatnose, as the grey cat disappeared under the wardrobe. ‘Killing cats is unlucky. How often do I have to tell you?’” — pg.303 (friendly reminder that the last time he appeared, he kicked a dog in the ribs 😐)

“Basta was walking just behind her, and she heard him quietly cursing the rain.” — pg.304 (irrelevant but i kind of hc basta to like the rain, since it would dampen dustfinger’s showbiz LMAO)

“Basta’s eyes always narrowed when he smiled.” — pg.305

“‘You wear long sleeves,’ Fenoglio continued very slowly, as if giving Basta time to take in every single word, ‘because your master likes playing with fire. You burned both arms right up to the shoulders when you obeyed his orders and set fire to the house of a man who had dared to refuse his daughter to Capricorn. Ever since then, someone else has laid the fire, and you confine yourself to playing games with knives.’” — pg.308

“‘Oh, I know all about you, Basta,’ he said. ‘I know you’d give your life for Capricorn any day, and you’re always hungry for his praise. I know you were younger than Meggie when his men picked you up, and ever since you’ve loved him like a father. But shall I tell you something? Capricorn thinks you’re stupid, and despises you for it. He despises you all, his devoted black-clad sons, although it’s his own doing that you’re still so ignorant. And he wouldn’t hesitate to set the police on to any one of you if it was to his advantage. Are you quite clear about that?’” — pg.308 (FENOGLIO…..RUTHLESS)

“Basta winked at Meggie.” — pg.310 (wink 1)

“Every cruel deed with which he had ever credited Basta was probably going through his head. Basta relished the fear on his face for a few delicious minutes.” — pg.312

“Basta’s car had not been in the car park at all since they’d come here. It was unusual for it to be gone so long, because Basta didn’t like to be away from the village for any length of time.” — pg.318 basta is a homebody guys

“‘Save your tongue for later, scribbler!” Basta interrupted. ‘I don’t like whispering.’” — pg.324

“Almost all the women in the village kept away from Basta, but he didn’t keep away from them.” — pg.337

“‘Take him, for instance,’ he said, pointing to Basta. ‘I always knew he was a very unhappy boy before you picked him up. As it says in another very fine book, it’s terribly easy to persuade children that they are worthless. Basta was convinced of it. Not that you taught him any better, oh no! Why would you? But suddenly here was someone to whom he could devote himself, someone who told him what to do — he’d found a god, Capricorn, and if you treated him badly, well, who says that all gods are kindly? Most of them are stern and cruel, wouldn’t you agree? I didn’t write all this in the book. I knew it, that was enough.’” — pg.345 (this is really the part that made my stance toward basta change. like PHEW. that’s a lot to unpack)

“Basta was notorious for his silent tread.” — pg.363

“Basta’s breath smelled of mint, fresh and sharp. Apparently a girl he’d once wanted to kiss had told him he had bad breath. The girl had regretted it, but ever since then Basta chewed peppermint leaves from morning to night.” — pg.364

“He whistled softly through his teeth, then held the book close to Meggie’s face.”— pg.374 (i was rendered speechless)

“Basta’s lips quivered with annoyance, but he bit back his reply and, without a word, put his hand under the black cloth.” — pg.377 (ugh I loved this. like we know he worships capricorn like a dog, but earlier fenoglio flat out told him capricorn couldn’t care less about what happened to him. more than that, capricorn asked basta to bring meggie and fenoglio — prisoners — into his home. later dustfinger says that basta would’ve slept on the threshold of capricorn’s room if he could but none of the men sleep there. so with all of this fresh in his mind, you can imagine him feeling quite hurt and betrayed. UGH I wish he had a greater arc surrounding capricorn…like even if we saw a few hints that his loyalty was starting to show cracks…idk what his arc is in inkspell so maybe I’ll sit tight for that)

“He was in a hurry to get back to the light of day, away from the dead and their ghosts. His hand shook as he hung his lantern on a book and opened the grating over the first cell.” — pg.409

“Dustfinger was always surprised to find how easily you could scare the man with a few words.” — pg.409 LMAOOOOO

“‘That notion of burning us isn’t a very new idea, Basta, but then you were never fond of new ideas.’” — pg.422

“His teeth were almost as white as his shirt.” — pg.442

“Meggie saw from his face that everything in him felt revulsion, but he came closer and took the creature. He held the scaly body well away from him as it wound and twisted in the air.

“‘As you see, Basta doesn’t care for my snakes!’ said the Magpie, with a smile. ‘He never did, not that that means much. As far as I know Basta doesn’t like anything but his knife. He also believed that snakes bring bad luck, which of course is pure nonsense.’ Mortola handed Basta the second snake. Meggie saw the viper’s tiny poison fangs when it opened its mouth. For a moment, she almost felt sorry for Basta.” — pg.446

“‘Basta likes to use snakes to scare women who reject his advances. It didn’t work with Resa. How did it go exactly — didn’t she finally put the snake outside your door, Basta?’” — pg.446 (10/10 resa & snake well-deserved)

“Basta did not want neighbours. Indeed, he wanted no other company but Capricorn’s. Dustfinger knew Basta would have slept on the threshold of Capricorn’s room if he had been allowed to, but none of the men lived in the main house.” — pg.478

“Basta was probably the only man in Capricorn’s village who locked his front door.” — pg.480

“They said in the village that whenever Capricorn had a house set on fire Basta took away a brick or stone, even though he feared fire at other times, and clearly that story was true.” — pg.480

“(Everything in Basta’s house was scrubbed clean, as spotless as his snow-white shirt.)” — pg.481

“Once or twice, footsteps approached, but each time they passed by the house. What a good thing Basta had no friends.” — pg.482

“Basta was not in a good way. Whenever they looked at him they saw his hands clinging to the bars, knuckles white under his sun-tanned skin.” — pg.503 (BASTA’S SUNTANNED?!?!)

“Basta in particular was the object of enough scorn and derision for ten men, and from his failure to react at all one could only guess at the depths of his despair.” — pg.503

“For the fraction of a second life came back into Basta as his former lord and master stopped by the bars; he raised his head, his eyes pleading silently, like a dog begging for forgiveness…Basta only bowed his head and stared at the floor. Elinor thought he looked like an oyster with the flesh and life sucked out of it.” — pg.504 (i honestly still can’t wrap my head around his behaviour in this chap. i mean yes, the gladiator-style death sentence looming over his head can’t be understated. but i think for me it was how rapidly his spirits deteriorated from screaming for help in the cell to becoming a husk of a man before he even saw capricorn again? how?? was it all because of dustfinger spooking him so bad in the crypt?? 🤔🤔)

[readbookywooks]

‘I don’t like this!’ whispered Elinor. ‘Look at the pair of them. They’re talking to each other as if our matchstick-eating friend can come and go here as he likes!’ ‘He probably knows they won’t hurt him because we’re bringing them the book!’ Meggie whispered back, never taking her eyes off the two men. The stranger had a couple of dogs with him. German shepherds. They were sniffing Dustfinger’s hands and nuzzling him in the ribs, wagging their tails. ‘See that?’ hissed Elinor. ‘Even those dogs treat him as an old friend. Suppose—’ But before she could say any more Basta opened the driver’s door. ‘Get out, both of you,’ he ordered. Reluctantly, Elinor swung her legs out of the car. Meggie got out too and stood beside her. Her heart was thudding. She had never seen a man with a gun before. Well, on TV she had, but not in real life. ‘Look, I don’t like your tone!’ Elinor informed Basta. ‘We’ve had a strenuous drive, and we only came to this God-forsaken spot to bring your boss or whatever you call him something he’s been wanting for a long time. So let’s have a little more civility.’ Basta cast her such a scornful glance that Elinor drew in a sharp breath, and Meggie involuntarily squeezed her hand. ‘Where did you pick her up?’ enquired Basta, turning back to Dustfinger, who was standing there looking as unmoved as if none of this had anything at all to do with him. ‘She owns that house – you know the one I mean.’ Dustfinger had lowered his voice. but Meggie heard him all the same. ‘I didn’t want to bring her, but she insisted.’ ‘I can imagine that.’ Basta scrutinised Elinor once again, then turned to Meggie. ‘So this is Silvertongue’s little daughter? Doesn’t look much like him.’ ‘Where’s my father?’ asked Meggie. ‘How is he?’ These were the first words she had managed to utter. Her voice was hoarse, as if she hadn’t used it for a long time. ‘Oh, he’s fine,’ replied Basta, glancing at Dustfinger. ‘Although he’s saying so little at the moment that Leaden-tongue would be more like it.’ Meggie bit her lip. ‘We’ve come for him,’ she said. Now her voice was high and thin, although she was trying as hard as she could to sound grown-up. ‘We have the book, but we won’t give it to Capricorn unless he lets my father go.’ Basta turned to Dustfinger again. ‘Something about her does remind me of her father after all. See her lips tighten? And that look! Oh yes, anyone can see they’re related.’ His voice sounded as if he were joking, but there was nothing funny about his face when he looked at Meggie again. It was thin, sharply angular, with close-set eyes. He narrowed them slightly as if he could see better that way. Basta was not a tall man, and his shoulders were almost as narrow as a boy’s, but Meggie held her breath when he took a step towards her. She was afraid of him. She had never been so afraid of anyone before, and it wasn’t because of the shotgun in his hand. He had an aura of fury about him, of something keen and biting— ‘Meggie, get the bag out of the boot.’ As Basta was about to grab Meggie, Elinor pushed herself between them. ‘There’s nothing dangerous in it,’ she said crossly. ‘Just what we came here to hand over.’ By way of answer, Basta pulled the dogs aside, pulling so harshly on their leashes that they yelped out loud. ‘Meggie, listen to me!’ whispered Elinor, as they left the car and followed Basta down a steep pathway leading to the lighted windows. ‘Don’t hand over the book until they let us see your father, understand?’ Meggie nodded, clutching the plastic bag firmly to her chest. How stupid did Elinor think she was? On the other hand, how was she going to hang on to the book if Basta decided to take it away from her? She preferred not to follow this line of thinking through to its conclusion. It was a hot, sultry night. The sky above the black hills was sprinkled with stars. The path down which Basta was leading them was stony, and so dark that Meggie could hardly see her own feet, but whenever she stumbled there was a hand to catch her. The hand belonged either to Elinor, walking beside her, or to Dustfinger, who was following as silently as if he were her shadow. Gwin was still in his rucksack, and Basta’s dogs kept raising their noses and sniffing, as if they had picked up the sharp scent of the marten. Slowly, they came closer to the lighted windows. Meggie saw old houses of grey, rough-hewn stone, with a pale church tower rising above the rooftops. Many of the houses looked empty as they passed, going down alleys so narrow that Meggie felt they could close in on her. Some of the houses had no roofs, others were little more than a couple of walls partly fallen in. It was dark in Capricorn’s village. Only a few lamps were on in the streets, hanging from masonry arches above the alleyways. At last they reached a small square. The church with the tower they had seen from a distance stood on one side of the square, and not far away, divided from it by a narrow passage, there was a large, two-storey house which did not look at all derelict. This square was better lit than the rest of the village, with four lanterns casting menacing shadows on the paving stones. Basta led them straight to the big house, where more light showed behind three windows on the upper floor. Was Mo in there? Meggie listened to herself as if she could find the answer there, but all her heart would tell her was a tale of fear. Fear and grief. 14 A Mission Accomplished ‘The reason there’s no use looking,’ said Mr Beaver, ‘is that we know already where he’s gone!’ Everyone stared in amazement. ‘Don’t you understand?’ said Mr Beaver. ‘He’s gone to her, to the White Witch. He has betrayed us all.’ C.S. Lewis, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe Hundreds of times since Dustfinger had first told her about him, Meggie had tried to picture Capricorn’s face. She’d thought about it on the way to Elinor’s house when Mo was sitting beside her in the van, and in the huge bed there, and finally on the drive here. Hundreds of times? No, she had tried to imagine it thousands of times, drawing on her ideas of all the villains she had ever read about in books: Captain Hook, crooked-nosed and thin; Long John Silver, a false smile always on his lips; Injun Joe, who had haunted so many of her bad dreams with his knife and his greasy black hair … But Capricorn looked quite different. Meggie soon gave up counting the doors they passed before Basta finally stopped outside one. But she did count the black-clad men. Four of them were standing in the corridors, looking bored. Each man had a shotgun propped against the whitewashed wall beside him. Dustfinger had been right: in their close-fitting black suits they really did look like rooks. Only Basta wore a snow-white shirt, just as Dustfinger had said, with a red flower in the buttonhole of his jacket, a red flower like a warning. Capricorn’s dressing gown was red too. He was seated in an armchair when Basta entered the room with the three new arrivals, and a woman was kneeling in front of him cutting his toenails. The chair seemed too small for him. Capricorn was a tall man, and gaunt, as if the skin had been stretched too tight over his bones. His skin was pale as parchment, his hair cut short and bristly. Meggie couldn’t have said if it was grey or very fair.

[schleierkauz]

The Color of Revenge: Chapter 6

Chapter 6! Give it up for chapter 6 everybody! Probably my second favorite chapter so far (my favorite being chapter 8) so I’m excited to hear what you guys think! Enjoy!

Chapter 6: Nothing But Childish Magic

Midnight had passed when the first guests started to go home. The house emptied itself as if it were exhaling people and Meggie stood in the room where she had danced with Doria and looked down at the small golden ring on her finger. It was a promise. A shimmering promise that their adventures had only just begun.

But when she looked up, Doria was standing in the door with Dustfinger and Mo and all three wore a shadow on their faces that wasn’t painted by the night.

Mo was holding something in his hand. Meggie felt herself hesitate as she walked towards the three of them, as if her feet knew that the dance was over. Something else had stepped into the room, something that had nothing to with the joy she wanted to feel this day.

Mo was holding a small wooden stick. He tried to hide it from Meggie but Doria shook his head.

“Show her,“ he said.

Mo would always be the father who wanted to protect her and she would always be his child. But now Doria was there to remind Mo that she had become an adult.

Her father hesitated but eventually opened his hand so Meggie could see the stick. It was barely longer than her ring finger and had fine patterns carved into it that resembled flowers. But the upper third formed shoulders and a head. It wore the face of the Black Prince. It was such a perfect copy that Meggie couldn’t help but touch the carved features – who could create such a marvel?

“The Prince’s bear found this stick,“ Dustfinger said. “Underneath the pelt he sleeps on. I’ve never seen anything like it, but it can’t mean anything good. We couldn’t check under the beds yet, because the guests were still here.”

Meggie hadn’t seen her father this worried in years.

“We’re going to do that right now. We’re starting with your room so you can go to bed soon. Stay here with Doria. I don’t want your day to end like this.”

Of course neither Doria nor Meggie wanted to listen to Mo and so they followed the others up the steep stairs to the attic Meggie shared with her brother. A few empty glasses and cups stood on the steps and crumbs of the delicious bread Minerva had made were scattered in front of the door – proof that the house really had been filled to the roof with guests.

The chamber door was slightly ajar. Meggie thought she could hear a quiet clanking sound as Mo pushed it open. Like glass on glass…

Her father shared a look with Dustfinger and the other man lured a flame out from between his fingers before creeping into the chamber. When he bent down to shine under the bed something dashed forward, barely bigger than a rat, with transparent limbs and the silhouette of a human being.

Ironstone!

Meggie cried out as the intruder flitted towards the window. The horrible memories Orpheus’ glass man brought back paralyzed her limbs. Dustfinger threw a fiery noose after him and Doria tried to cut him off but the glass man was quick. He evaded Dustfinger’s fire and Doria’s hands and when Meggie could finally move again and ran towards the window, Ironstone was already leaping away across the rooftops. He was carrying something on his back but in the darkness Meggie couldn’t discern what it was.

Once again, they searched for the glass man until the sun rose. Elinor, Darius, Fenoglio, even Minerva and her children roamed Ombra’s dark streets. Dustfinger alerted the Black Prince and Farid (he found him in the arms of Filippa Bafone). But their search was just as fruitless as the first one.

Ironstone stayed untraceable and along with him whatever he had searched for under the bed in which Meggie and her little brother slept. The day that had celebrated happiness and love was followed by a morning shadowed with worries that Orpheus was still alive and surely hadn’t sent his glass man to Ombra with good intentions.

It was market day and merchants were loudly praising their wares outside. Meggie loved market days and she often spent hours strolling past the booths with Doria. But today she stood with him and her parents in Mo’s workshop and stared at the stick with the Black Prince’s face. Dustfinger had put it down on the table where Mo cut paper and leather. They hadn’t found any more sticks like it but that didn’t mean much.

Ironstone had paid most of them a visit and those visits suddenly made horrible sense.

“At least it’s not moving,“ Farid said, “and it’s just made of wood. I heard the dark witches steal souls with figurines made of bone.”

“Yes, I’ve seen some of those before,“ the Black Prince said. “It’s not easy to fend off such dark magic.”

“Magic? Witches?“ Fenoglio sounded both angry and amused. “What kind of superstitious chitchat is that? Next you’re going to tell me that red-haired women use brooms to fly and should be burned at the stake!”

“Burned?“ Dustfinger shook his head. “How would you burn a witch? The fire is their element. They could burn you, Inkweaver. Have you never met one?“

Doria put his arm around Meggie’s shoulders. She usually felt so safe when he did that but not this morning.

“Filippa gave me and Doria bracelets,“ she said. “Farid says they’re from a witch, too.”

Dustfinger put the wooden stick back into the bag in which he had brought it.

“Were they black with small painted flowers?“

Meggie nodded. The Black Prince was famous for his fearlessness but Meggie saw him shiver as he took the bag with the stick that wore his face.

“Love rings,“ Dustfinger said. “They’re meant to cause trouble between couples. A childish curse, most of them aren’t even made by witches. A few wagon-makers try to make some money on the side selling them. This stick may just be a beaten man’s attempt to scare us.”

“Exactly!“ Fenoglio seemed very taken aback by the existence of witches in the world he probably still considered to be his own.

“Orpheus is sitting somewhere in those godless mountains he fled to and he knows that we beat him! His words don’t obey him anymore. Why else would he try to intimidate us with such childish magic?”

“That’s probably true,“ the Black Prince said as he put the bag with the stick into his coat pocket. But Meggie didn’t like the look he shared with Dustfinger.

(Next chapter)