![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
I can still write.
Wow. Earthsea isn't horribly face-suckingly bad. I'm *shocked*. In fact, I can actually see the justification for most of the changes they'd made, and not totally disagree with them; they've effectively made the world smaller, less numinous, less dark, which is a crying shame but is necessary within the limits of the media.
Except for the fact that Ged looks and sounds like an upper-class hobbit instead of a disfigured dark-skinned blacksmith's son with a thick Gontish accent. And all the gratuitous sex. And turning Vetch into a fat parody of himself (although he's *still* the most fanciable guy in the story, so they didn't get him *entirely* wrong.)... And a bunch of other little things that they changed for no good reason. But Ged is still acts like Ged, despite looking and sounding and being raised entirely wrong, which is more than I expected (however badly they've butchered Tenar).
If *I'd* done it, I'd have just started out with a close adaptation of Tombs, which stands alone and is in some ways the simplest and most conventional story of the three, and focused on making Earthsea as very Earthsea as it is, but that probably wouldn't have sold on cable at all, so. My lack of burning hatred is probably due entirely to my very low expectations. And the knowledge that it couldn't do any more harm to Earthsea than The Other Wind did. I put it in on while studying and only got sucked into paying attention when I heard a few lines of the king's visit to Thar and went "Wha? Is the Place a Handdara Fastness now?" This wasn't helped by their persistently calling the Kargad people Kargiders.
Also, it scares me how many of the actors and actresses I know. Darn it, I'm becoming a media fan against my will. I must fight this. If anyone other than me needs needs to throw off the show's influence, I found the actual book at thuongviet.com/entertainment/enovels/display.php?ID=303&vn_enc=utf8 .
Also, snip of Earthsea fic. Basically gen, and as far as I'm concerned the Other Wind never happened (literally-- I read it once and blocked the memory out of my mind) and the hawk still flies bright against an empty sky. The movie will be worth it if the only result is somebody writing more Estarriol fic, really.
The tiny, well-trimmed boat came in with the fishing-fleet to the docks of
Ismay, and discharged its passengers, a man, a woman, and a child which was so warmly
wrapped it might have been male or female, had it turned its head up enough to
be looked at. The woman was pale of skin like a Karg, though her hair was dark, and when she took
the child's hand and spoke softly to her, her voice held something of the harsh accents
of the Kargad lands, but also over that the slower sounds of Gont. Her man was entirely Gontish,
lanky and red-skinned and weathered, wrapped in a sheepskin coat beaded with moisture from the sea. After he had
secured the boat, he leaned comfortably on a oar as if it were an accustomed staff, watching the woman negotiate the child onto dry land, until he set it aside, stepped
forward and took the child's other hand and the three walked together up into the
town.
Visitors of any kind, in these unsettled days with no Archmage and the new young King
still uneasy on his throne, were exceptional enough for comment; but these three
seemed particularly harmless, and were allowed to pass unremarked to the inn
called the Harekki. It was still as warm and bright and watchful as it had been
for long years, the townsmen having had litle truck with shadows that whispered
of a way out of death. And so the visitors were looked over as they entered,
then dismissed along with the breath of cold sea air they'd let in. The
inkeeper, a bluff, friendly woman whose father and grandfather had kept the inn
before her, came to ask what they'd like (mutton and ale, the man said, and milk
for his daughter if there was any to be had), and she mentioned carefully that their
town welcomed visitors who brought no trouble with them; why, the Archmage of Roke had even come through in his
day, and had sat quietly and drunk his ale like any other.
The man looked at her sharply then. "There is no Archmage on Roke," he said.
"Well, no," the innkeeper answered, taken aback, "But they say the Sparrowhawk's
still alive, on Gont, and as they've named no other--"
"We've come from Gont," the woman said, smiling. "There are no mages there. Even
Aihal is gone, this year past."
"Aihal?" the inkeeped asked. Ismay was not so large that news came
regularly, and small enough that news made good currency.
"Aihal who was called Ogion," the man said. "Aihal who stopped the earthquake."
"Aihal who named the Sparrowhawk out of the sky, and named the White Lady out of
Havnor?" The inkeeper leaned forward in interest, her hair falling off her
shoulders. Her pet harekki, until now coiled around her neck like a scaled golden collar,
lifted its head up and gazed curiously at the strangers.
The man and woman looked at each other ruefully. "Truly his deeds will be sung
forever," the man murmured to himself. But the child, seeing the harekki,
turned her head up for the first time, and made a soft sound like steam from a
kettle, looking at the harekki which looked back at her. She raised a hand to
it, and her hood fell back; but the hand was a scaly claw, and her
face was half eaten away, slabbed with scars.
The inkeeper drew back in shock and made a sign to ward off evil, the harrekki
losing its balance and spreading its wings with a shriek of reproach.
"What have you brought among us?" she hissed. "We have no place for witches and
doers of evil here."
"And you said the people of the East Reach were known for their kindness and
hospitality," the woman muttered. He glanced aside at her, humor in his eyes,
and said to the inkeeper, soothingly, "We are not vagrants and we carry no
evil or trouble with us. We only have come on a visit." He paused, as if
considering. He had brought them here simply because it felt right, trusting
to the echoing places in him, but he had not, until now, conceived that they might
find only an empty house at the end, that Ismay's wizard might have been lost with
Cob as so many others had. He said, as if in afterthought, "You do still
boast of your wizard, do you not? Roke-trained, Ismay-born, and given his staff
by the Archmage himself?"
"Yes," she said, coldly. "But he is only lately returned from consulting with messengers from the King, and he has no time for dealing with nuisances, foreigners and
monsters, for trying to cure what should not ever have been borne."
"Then it is fortunate that I ask of him only the courtesy due an old friend,"
the man said, standing, then added thoughtfully, "And perhaps not even that.
But I would not overstay my welcome here either." He dropped coin on the table,
and the pale woman stood with him.
The child had not moved since pulling her maimed hand back under her cloak,
frowning at her mistake, but she had kept her gaze on the harekki, and it had
watched back, bright with interest and intelligence, and that had unnerved the
innkeeper as much as the child's appearance; she was more than glad to see the
girl turn with her parents and go back out into the night.
Except for the fact that Ged looks and sounds like an upper-class hobbit instead of a disfigured dark-skinned blacksmith's son with a thick Gontish accent. And all the gratuitous sex. And turning Vetch into a fat parody of himself (although he's *still* the most fanciable guy in the story, so they didn't get him *entirely* wrong.)... And a bunch of other little things that they changed for no good reason. But Ged is still acts like Ged, despite looking and sounding and being raised entirely wrong, which is more than I expected (however badly they've butchered Tenar).
If *I'd* done it, I'd have just started out with a close adaptation of Tombs, which stands alone and is in some ways the simplest and most conventional story of the three, and focused on making Earthsea as very Earthsea as it is, but that probably wouldn't have sold on cable at all, so. My lack of burning hatred is probably due entirely to my very low expectations. And the knowledge that it couldn't do any more harm to Earthsea than The Other Wind did. I put it in on while studying and only got sucked into paying attention when I heard a few lines of the king's visit to Thar and went "Wha? Is the Place a Handdara Fastness now?" This wasn't helped by their persistently calling the Kargad people Kargiders.
Also, it scares me how many of the actors and actresses I know. Darn it, I'm becoming a media fan against my will. I must fight this. If anyone other than me needs needs to throw off the show's influence, I found the actual book at thuongviet.com/entertainment/enovels/display.php?ID=303&vn_enc=utf8 .
Also, snip of Earthsea fic. Basically gen, and as far as I'm concerned the Other Wind never happened (literally-- I read it once and blocked the memory out of my mind) and the hawk still flies bright against an empty sky. The movie will be worth it if the only result is somebody writing more Estarriol fic, really.
The tiny, well-trimmed boat came in with the fishing-fleet to the docks of
Ismay, and discharged its passengers, a man, a woman, and a child which was so warmly
wrapped it might have been male or female, had it turned its head up enough to
be looked at. The woman was pale of skin like a Karg, though her hair was dark, and when she took
the child's hand and spoke softly to her, her voice held something of the harsh accents
of the Kargad lands, but also over that the slower sounds of Gont. Her man was entirely Gontish,
lanky and red-skinned and weathered, wrapped in a sheepskin coat beaded with moisture from the sea. After he had
secured the boat, he leaned comfortably on a oar as if it were an accustomed staff, watching the woman negotiate the child onto dry land, until he set it aside, stepped
forward and took the child's other hand and the three walked together up into the
town.
Visitors of any kind, in these unsettled days with no Archmage and the new young King
still uneasy on his throne, were exceptional enough for comment; but these three
seemed particularly harmless, and were allowed to pass unremarked to the inn
called the Harekki. It was still as warm and bright and watchful as it had been
for long years, the townsmen having had litle truck with shadows that whispered
of a way out of death. And so the visitors were looked over as they entered,
then dismissed along with the breath of cold sea air they'd let in. The
inkeeper, a bluff, friendly woman whose father and grandfather had kept the inn
before her, came to ask what they'd like (mutton and ale, the man said, and milk
for his daughter if there was any to be had), and she mentioned carefully that their
town welcomed visitors who brought no trouble with them; why, the Archmage of Roke had even come through in his
day, and had sat quietly and drunk his ale like any other.
The man looked at her sharply then. "There is no Archmage on Roke," he said.
"Well, no," the innkeeper answered, taken aback, "But they say the Sparrowhawk's
still alive, on Gont, and as they've named no other--"
"We've come from Gont," the woman said, smiling. "There are no mages there. Even
Aihal is gone, this year past."
"Aihal?" the inkeeped asked. Ismay was not so large that news came
regularly, and small enough that news made good currency.
"Aihal who was called Ogion," the man said. "Aihal who stopped the earthquake."
"Aihal who named the Sparrowhawk out of the sky, and named the White Lady out of
Havnor?" The inkeeper leaned forward in interest, her hair falling off her
shoulders. Her pet harekki, until now coiled around her neck like a scaled golden collar,
lifted its head up and gazed curiously at the strangers.
The man and woman looked at each other ruefully. "Truly his deeds will be sung
forever," the man murmured to himself. But the child, seeing the harekki,
turned her head up for the first time, and made a soft sound like steam from a
kettle, looking at the harekki which looked back at her. She raised a hand to
it, and her hood fell back; but the hand was a scaly claw, and her
face was half eaten away, slabbed with scars.
The inkeeper drew back in shock and made a sign to ward off evil, the harrekki
losing its balance and spreading its wings with a shriek of reproach.
"What have you brought among us?" she hissed. "We have no place for witches and
doers of evil here."
"And you said the people of the East Reach were known for their kindness and
hospitality," the woman muttered. He glanced aside at her, humor in his eyes,
and said to the inkeeper, soothingly, "We are not vagrants and we carry no
evil or trouble with us. We only have come on a visit." He paused, as if
considering. He had brought them here simply because it felt right, trusting
to the echoing places in him, but he had not, until now, conceived that they might
find only an empty house at the end, that Ismay's wizard might have been lost with
Cob as so many others had. He said, as if in afterthought, "You do still
boast of your wizard, do you not? Roke-trained, Ismay-born, and given his staff
by the Archmage himself?"
"Yes," she said, coldly. "But he is only lately returned from consulting with messengers from the King, and he has no time for dealing with nuisances, foreigners and
monsters, for trying to cure what should not ever have been borne."
"Then it is fortunate that I ask of him only the courtesy due an old friend,"
the man said, standing, then added thoughtfully, "And perhaps not even that.
But I would not overstay my welcome here either." He dropped coin on the table,
and the pale woman stood with him.
The child had not moved since pulling her maimed hand back under her cloak,
frowning at her mistake, but she had kept her gaze on the harekki, and it had
watched back, bright with interest and intelligence, and that had unnerved the
innkeeper as much as the child's appearance; she was more than glad to see the
girl turn with her parents and go back out into the night.
no subject
I completely missed it. Wonder if it'll be rerun soon?
no subject
no subject
BTW, Vetch is rather chubby - it's canon. :)
I'm not in a position to see this miniseries, but the reviews are cracking me up. Kossil gets sex scenes? Kossil?! WTF??? Guess the HP equivalent would be to throw some hot steamy Umbridge action into the OotP movie...
no subject
Vetch is *heavy-set*, not *fat*. q: But like I said, I liked him in general. Now Jasper, Jasper they *completely* ruined by making him evil instead of just arrogant. Malfoy's influence I'm sure.
And you're right about the East Reach; I wrote that without my books to reference, and I was just assuming they'd be lighter being closer to Kargad, but I was *totally wrong*. I'd *like* to write more of this; we shall see.
no subject
I too noticed Ged's resemblance to a Hobbit, and was thoroughly annoyed at his pairing with a fat fellow obsessed with food and his "master's" well being. If the adaptors were going to channel Frodo and Sam, they could've been a tad less obvious.
Also, what was up with the Reverend mother telling Tenar that story about the foolish priestess and her lover trying to release the nameless ones to gain immortality...a story that happens to already be the plot of the movie?
Other than that, not bad for a sci-fi movie. I only screamed at the tv once..well technically twice, but on the same subject. First, I wanted to know why the Kargad would be so foolish as to try to invade a wizard island when boats are so easily sunk...and then I wanted to know why the damn wizards werent sinking the boats.
no subject
But nooo...