This sketch I did make Basta and Capricorn look like they're about to drop the album of the century.

Less sad headcanon time!

Capricorn is actually the protagonist of Fenoglio’s Inkheart.  He’s the title character, the one with a heart as black as ink.  He’s the one Fenoglio is the most in awe of meeting.  In Inkspell, he hardly remembers such major characters in Dustfinger’s life as Roxane and Cloud Dancer, but definitely knows Firefox and the Piper, who worked for Capricorn during the time his book took place.

Some headcanons for you all.

Dustfinger didn’t develop PTSD after Basta gave him his scars.  He was able to process the experience effectively with the help of friends, and has always felt comfortable talking about it with Roxane.  He experiences memories of the event the way one would expect, as traumatic, but has moved on and is no longer stuck there in a way that affects his daily ability to function.

However, he did develop PTSD after being read out of the book.  Extreme prolonged mental, physical, and emotional distress was compounded by having no social support system with which to process the event.  He was largely confused, alone, hungry, and afraid for years on end.  During that period, he was also sent verbal and nonverbal messages by the only people he knew (Capricorn, Basta, Silvertongue, and the Black Jackets) that he was worthless and weak, causing him to stagnate, integrate those attributes into his sense of self, and create a mental block around healing.  When he has nightmares and flashbacks, they are mostly about his first few days to years in this world.  He has since developed other symptoms of paranoia, social isolation, and hypervigilance.

~~~Halloween Headcanons~~~

Resa loves halloween and making her own costumes. The Folchart’s have always given out the best candy and have the most decorated house in their neighbourhood. Resa makes hot coco for everyone when they sit around the fire to tell stories. Mo reluctantly dresses up but usually it’s just a pair of ears or a hat. Meggie and Farid tried to put a costume on Gwin once, but quickly learned their lesson. 

Dustfinger likes to put on fire shows, he can make all sorts of monsters and figures out of fire to entertain his audience. I like to think there is some similar holiday in the inkworld when the motley folk will put on cool masks and celebrate. He makes Basta’s life a living hell because he tells them there is a witch in the forest who come into the village every halloween to pick a victim.

Farid dresses up as Dustfinger every year and takes trick or treating very seriously. He loves doing pranks and scaring everyone, but when Dustfinger tells ghost stories he has to sleep inside with the lights on afterwards.

Elinor hates halloween. She turns off all the lights and hopes no children come knocking at her door. She does enjoy buying candy for herself and staying up reading classic horror novels though.

Fenoglio always goes out with his grandchildren to get candy. His ghost stories are obviously the best, but the parents complain they are too scary for the kids.

Halloween is a bad time for Basta. He will carve hundreds of jack o’ lanterns to ward off evil spirits. They’re actually pretty good but a huge fire hazard. He also refuses to go out at night lest the witch gets him. 

Capricorn puts on a huge party with a bonfire and lots of food. The black jackets will wear horrifying masks and terrorize the locals villages. It’s best not to refuse them what they want when come knocking at your door. They also enjoy smashing and stealing Basta’s pumpkins. At least one of them has gotten a jack o’ lantern stuck on his head. It was probably Flatnose.

I will never, ever, ever be over the fact that the very first scene we meet Capricorn he’s getting his toenails cut by some old maid and it feels so creepy and demeaning (for her)

…then much later in the book Fenoglio reveals that said old maid is Capricorn’s mother and wow does the tone of that scene become hilarious with that information

god what a loser

A thought that keeps me up at night🤔

If a Silvertongue reads a character out of a book what language does the character speak? Is it the one the Silvertongue speaks or in which they had read the book? Or the one in which the book is (originally) written? Or (that’s what I’d go for tbh) do/can they speak every language the book was ever published in?

I’d also go for every language the book was published in. Apparently, Farid can speak more languages than only Persian. (Arabic? Not to mention an old version of the language). But the language in which the Silvertongue read the book might also be possible. 

What would happen if a character in a book is canonically monolingual, tho? Does reading them out of their story override the author’s intention? 

I remember reading in one of the books (not sure which one) that Farid knew the language Mo was speaking but he wasn’t sure how or why. So my best guess is that they know every language the book is written in when it is spoken to them.

1a. the language issue kinda implies that each book is each own self-contained universe, and not a continuous single canon, doesn’t it? seeing as there’s no such thing as a perfect translation and there will inevitably be differences in canon to accommodate for jokes (wordplay and puns impossible in the other languages), to make room for grammar basics of one language that another doesn’t have (such as german having formal pronouns that english doesn’t have, which is lost in inkheart translations), and just generally different ways that things are phrased and other untranslatable concepts.

i also remember that in the first book it’s mentioned that farid speaks english bc that’s the language his story was read in by the silvertongue, which, by the nature of translation, make it a different story and sequence of events than the original arabian nights story, thereby making this a different farid than existed/exists in other stories. if the actual language of the book printed matters to the outcome of the story interpretation being read into existence, then that implies that every single printed story is an entirely different story and universe than every other version of itself.

1b. that also means that it’s confirmed the actual magic taking place when a silvertongue reads aloud is at least partially based on the actual copy of the printed/written word, regardless of authorial intent (how many weird translations have you heard of that actually contradict the original canon), which means when inkheart mentions the “magic of paper and ink” it’s not a metaphor, that’s quite literal.

it ALSO has interesting implications regarding what would happen in a reading session were the physical copy of the story altered in some way. i.e. can you change the story you read by manually crossing out words and writing in new words? can damage to the copy of a book create issues in the outcome of the reading the way a stutter does, because the story is not “clear”? if you read out of a book that’s virtually the same as another except for a particular chapter torn out, will that “chapter” of the story no longer exist in it’s canon???

@incorrectinkheartquotes wait so if each book is it’s own universe does that mean you could read the same character out as long it’s from a version in a different language? Because imagine the chaos of Capricorn having silvertongues read out all the versions of himself to make a council of multilingual Capricorns (not that I think he would tho).

edit: whoops I just realized you said this in your tags

AAHASHDHSJJSFJ SAME HAT

and i imagine it would ALSO mean you could read different versions of things out of any other copy of the book/story, even if it’s the same language, simply by virtue of being a different printing. (which capricorn would ALSO exploit the fuck out of–being able to use the same silvertongue rereading the same passages from different copies of books to Maximize the gains??? yes.)

also……a council of capricorns all loudly speaking in different languages in the same room….,.,, plEASE someone write a fic

So there was an Inkheart play...

and there were like several versions

Here it appears Capricorn won the iron throne

Dustfinger what have done to you? What have they done to Gwin?

??????? beach day filler episode?

they made Flatnose hot but Basta….my dude I’m so sorry 

The scariest Capricorn, nerdy Meggie, and vampire Basta 

There was one in Taiwan, this is Capricorn and Basta

and lastly Inkspell, but I have no idea what is going on here

someone: would you say you're independent?

basta: *looks at capricorn*

capricorn: *nods*

basta: i'd say so yes

I drew Capricorn from the Inkheart Trilogy because I was very dissatisfied with the Andy Serkis dude staining my imagination and making Capricorn completely unthreatening and just a tad bit laughable.

So I drew Capricorn the way the book described him; tall and gaunt. pale eyes. colorless as a glass of milk.

…I’m slightly more satisfied with this Capricorn.

Like I could learn to fear this dude. I could see how this dude would be feared.

I may develop him further some other time, but yeah.

yeah.

More like he looked in my head too

the signs as underrated animated films

Aries -  Meet The Robinsons

Taurus - Treasure Planet

Gemini - The Black Cauldron

Cancer -  The Iron Giant

Leo - The Road to El Dorado

Virgo - Atlantis: The Lost Empire

Libra - Brother Bear

Scorpio - The Rescuers Down Under

Sagittarius - Anastasia

Capricorn - Balto

Aquarius - Ferngully

Pisces - Oliver & Company