Draco Furtum
Feb. 14th, 2007 05:39 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
wombat1138Idly paging through some of CC's Draco Trilogy again-- the last story, "Draco Veritas", which come to think of it doesn't seem quite right in Latin: "Dragon Truth", not "True Dragon" which would be (flips through Cassell) "Draco Verax"? But anyway, on the same grammatical template, although Cassell suggests the deponent verb furor, furari for "steal/plagiarize", I'm going to give up trying to remember how deponent participles work and just go with the related noun furtum for "theft/robbery".
Refs are to pagination in the extant PDFs. Actually not that much stuff this time; by the time I'd skimmed up to p.500 of DV, I couldn't stand the sheer tedium anymore.
Further addendum: have been occasionally adding bits and pieces from DS; some are exact matches, other are vaguer overlaps of thematic keywords.
---
DV p.73: "The Dark Lord put his hand against the mirror in which Draco's face was clearly reflected, his outspread fingers touching the boy's face. 'And God so hated his only son,' he said softly, 'that he gave him to the world, that the world might have him.'"
Tanith Lee, "Malice in Saffron", the second of three stories in The Book of the Damned; my copy is repackaged in SFBC's anthology The Secret Books of Paradys I & II (1988). Page 118: "That night the Mother entered the refectory. She opened the Bible on its stand and read these words: 'God so hated His Son, that He gave him to the world that the world might have him.'"
---
DV p.244: [Draco to Ginny] "When he spoke, it was in a toneless voice, made all the more sincere somehow by his lack of affect. 'You are so beautiful it is hard to look at you for very long,' he said."
TL, "When the Clock Strikes" (orig. pub. 1980), p. 48 in the SFBC hardback of Red as Blood (1983): "She was so beautiful that when the clock was still, nobody spoke. She was so beautiful that it was hard to look at her for very long."
---
DS15-- Charlie Weasley gives Harry a mysterious object he received from a hooded stranger, and describes the transaction, pp 960-961:
"'He said, "Dragonrider, take this to the Heir of Gryffindor, the One who Lived. It will keep him safe when all else fails, when charms and spells prove useless, and his Magid powers have forsaken him. Give it to him, if you value his life."'
"'Bloody Hell,' said Harry, and stared at the thing in Charlie's hand. It was a rough sort of circle, made of a dark scarlet-black material that glowed like ruby syrup shot through with charcoal. It looked like glass, but when Harry took it in his hand he found it was much heavier and denser than glass, and more flexible, like a thin steel cable."
TL, "Stained With Crimson", the first story in The Book of the Damned; pagination again from SFBC's Paradys I & II antho. The narrator receives an object from a mysterious stranger pursued by a hooded rider, p.6:
"'Young man,' he said, 'I am so glad to have found you. Ah yes. Now I will give you the secret of life. Do you want it?'
[....] "There in the palm was another ring, that burned in the half-light a deep smooth red, like a drop of syrup. [....] What could it be but a gaud of glass, or something much worse. But I stole a look at it again, and it remained immutable. A huge polished ruby, incised with a snub-headed insect with folded wings."
DS15-- someone comments on Harry wearing the object around his wrist like a bracelet, p. 975:
"'That is an expensive-looking piece of jewelry,' said a soft voice in Harry's ear.
[....] "'Some thief will have your hand,' she said, 'to get that from you.'
[....]"'I suppose you don't mind,' she smiled. 'You wear it on your left wrist. Should you lose that, you still have your right hand to do your magic with. And to catch the Snitch, of course.'"
TL, "Stained with Crimson"-- friends' comments about the narrator wearing the ring, p.8:
"'He's still wearing that ring. Look. It must be some token.'
"'You are a fool,' said Russe, going back by the wine to the sombre forests of his blood. 'Some cut-throat will have your finger off for that one night, when you're sprawled in some alley.'
"'The left hand,' said Philippe. 'He doesn't care what happens to that. As long as the right hand can write.'
---
DS8 footnote, p. 419: "3) A smug scholar is only a fool, but a smug swordsman is a dead man. I haven't the faintest. It seems to be a saying. If you know its origin, let me know."
refers up to p.397: "'[...]Just remember--' The sharp tip of Lucius' sword nicked his son's throat and Draco felt the blood begin to flow-- 'a smug scholar is only a fool, but a smug swordsman is a dead man.'"
Pamela Dean, The Secret Country (Firebird reprint), p.60: "'His Highness thinks,' said Randolph, 'because I have told him so, that he is but an indifferent swordsman. He grows smug when praised, my lord, and while a smug scholar is only a fool, a smug swordsman is a dead man.'"
---
DS8, p.408: "Sirius shuddered. All around him the dungeon was deathly cold, and every shadow contained monsters."
TSC p. 265: "Randolph came to bar the door behind them, but he stood in the doorway watching them go down, and under even hs imagined gaze they were quite silent. It was deathly cold in the stairwell, and every shadow looked like a beast about to appear."
---
DS8, p.409: "Harry felt Draco jump beside him, and looked up to see that a blazing circle of fire had suddenly sprung up around them, encircling the three of them inside a ring of burning grass. It didn't look like ordinary fire, either, but blazed bright gold and hurtful like the sun seen through glass. Harry say Draco wince, and look away."
TSC p.131: "Ted pulled the sword out, and it blazed like the sun on a mirror, bright gold and hurtful. Laura's eyes squeezed themselves shut and overflowed."
---
DS8, p.415: "Harry watched in amazement as Wormtail was wrenched to his feet and hurled again toward Draco, eyes screwed nearly shut in terror. Draco made a movement with his sword that seemed to Harry both incredibly tiny and incredibly quick, and Wormtail jerked back, bleeding from the wrist."
TSC p. 155: "He was fighting in the same way he tied his shoes or rode a bicycle: easily and without thought. Randolph was making motions with his sword, which seemed to one part of Ted to be incredibly tiny and frighteningly quick."
Refs are to pagination in the extant PDFs. Actually not that much stuff this time; by the time I'd skimmed up to p.500 of DV, I couldn't stand the sheer tedium anymore.
Further addendum: have been occasionally adding bits and pieces from DS; some are exact matches, other are vaguer overlaps of thematic keywords.
---
DV p.73: "The Dark Lord put his hand against the mirror in which Draco's face was clearly reflected, his outspread fingers touching the boy's face. 'And God so hated his only son,' he said softly, 'that he gave him to the world, that the world might have him.'"
Tanith Lee, "Malice in Saffron", the second of three stories in The Book of the Damned; my copy is repackaged in SFBC's anthology The Secret Books of Paradys I & II (1988). Page 118: "That night the Mother entered the refectory. She opened the Bible on its stand and read these words: 'God so hated His Son, that He gave him to the world that the world might have him.'"
---
DV p.244: [Draco to Ginny] "When he spoke, it was in a toneless voice, made all the more sincere somehow by his lack of affect. 'You are so beautiful it is hard to look at you for very long,' he said."
TL, "When the Clock Strikes" (orig. pub. 1980), p. 48 in the SFBC hardback of Red as Blood (1983): "She was so beautiful that when the clock was still, nobody spoke. She was so beautiful that it was hard to look at her for very long."
---
DS15-- Charlie Weasley gives Harry a mysterious object he received from a hooded stranger, and describes the transaction, pp 960-961:
"'He said, "Dragonrider, take this to the Heir of Gryffindor, the One who Lived. It will keep him safe when all else fails, when charms and spells prove useless, and his Magid powers have forsaken him. Give it to him, if you value his life."'
"'Bloody Hell,' said Harry, and stared at the thing in Charlie's hand. It was a rough sort of circle, made of a dark scarlet-black material that glowed like ruby syrup shot through with charcoal. It looked like glass, but when Harry took it in his hand he found it was much heavier and denser than glass, and more flexible, like a thin steel cable."
TL, "Stained With Crimson", the first story in The Book of the Damned; pagination again from SFBC's Paradys I & II antho. The narrator receives an object from a mysterious stranger pursued by a hooded rider, p.6:
"'Young man,' he said, 'I am so glad to have found you. Ah yes. Now I will give you the secret of life. Do you want it?'
[....] "There in the palm was another ring, that burned in the half-light a deep smooth red, like a drop of syrup. [....] What could it be but a gaud of glass, or something much worse. But I stole a look at it again, and it remained immutable. A huge polished ruby, incised with a snub-headed insect with folded wings."
DS15-- someone comments on Harry wearing the object around his wrist like a bracelet, p. 975:
"'That is an expensive-looking piece of jewelry,' said a soft voice in Harry's ear.
[....] "'Some thief will have your hand,' she said, 'to get that from you.'
[....]"'I suppose you don't mind,' she smiled. 'You wear it on your left wrist. Should you lose that, you still have your right hand to do your magic with. And to catch the Snitch, of course.'"
TL, "Stained with Crimson"-- friends' comments about the narrator wearing the ring, p.8:
"'He's still wearing that ring. Look. It must be some token.'
"'You are a fool,' said Russe, going back by the wine to the sombre forests of his blood. 'Some cut-throat will have your finger off for that one night, when you're sprawled in some alley.'
"'The left hand,' said Philippe. 'He doesn't care what happens to that. As long as the right hand can write.'
---
DS8 footnote, p. 419: "3) A smug scholar is only a fool, but a smug swordsman is a dead man. I haven't the faintest. It seems to be a saying. If you know its origin, let me know."
refers up to p.397: "'[...]Just remember--' The sharp tip of Lucius' sword nicked his son's throat and Draco felt the blood begin to flow-- 'a smug scholar is only a fool, but a smug swordsman is a dead man.'"
Pamela Dean, The Secret Country (Firebird reprint), p.60: "'His Highness thinks,' said Randolph, 'because I have told him so, that he is but an indifferent swordsman. He grows smug when praised, my lord, and while a smug scholar is only a fool, a smug swordsman is a dead man.'"
---
DS8, p.408: "Sirius shuddered. All around him the dungeon was deathly cold, and every shadow contained monsters."
TSC p. 265: "Randolph came to bar the door behind them, but he stood in the doorway watching them go down, and under even hs imagined gaze they were quite silent. It was deathly cold in the stairwell, and every shadow looked like a beast about to appear."
---
DS8, p.409: "Harry felt Draco jump beside him, and looked up to see that a blazing circle of fire had suddenly sprung up around them, encircling the three of them inside a ring of burning grass. It didn't look like ordinary fire, either, but blazed bright gold and hurtful like the sun seen through glass. Harry say Draco wince, and look away."
TSC p.131: "Ted pulled the sword out, and it blazed like the sun on a mirror, bright gold and hurtful. Laura's eyes squeezed themselves shut and overflowed."
---
DS8, p.415: "Harry watched in amazement as Wormtail was wrenched to his feet and hurled again toward Draco, eyes screwed nearly shut in terror. Draco made a movement with his sword that seemed to Harry both incredibly tiny and incredibly quick, and Wormtail jerked back, bleeding from the wrist."
TSC p. 155: "He was fighting in the same way he tied his shoes or rode a bicycle: easily and without thought. Randolph was making motions with his sword, which seemed to one part of Ted to be incredibly tiny and frighteningly quick."
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no subject
on 2007-02-15 08:24 pm (UTC)Also, my goodness but this still has your attention, doesn't it? There must be something you like in this Draco Trilogy of which you type...
no subject
on 2007-02-16 12:48 am (UTC)Why yes, they're the borrowed snippets of Tanith Lee :b
Still, you could be right; the deciding factor will probably be if there are more scattered lines from this particular story in there. Haven't had a chance to resume re-skimming since finding that one line, though, or at least haven't been re-visited with a vague urge for some sort of low-effort mental activity to multitask with folding origami boxes.
no subject
on 2007-02-16 01:30 am (UTC)Ouch; hope that didn't hurt her too much.
Well, the origami boxes might be more immediately useful, at least if you're putting something in them. Authorial fragments, perhaps. :-)
no subject
on 2007-02-16 05:26 am (UTC)no subject
on 2007-02-16 12:59 pm (UTC)Don't wanna get up today. Am already late for work. Some stupid car alarm will not stop going off outside the window; my kingdom for an RPG launcher, and I don't mean the kind that throws D&D at people. And have to go lace up boots to make my way through the slushy streets we've had for the last 2-3 days. Blfuh.
no subject
on 2007-02-16 10:19 pm (UTC)Think my brief foray back into plagiarism-catching has ended already; after ~500 pp skimmed into DV, I can't stand slogging through any more shallow melodrama larded with Buffy dialogue for a while. OTOH, am probably going to re-read some Tanith Lee again now.
no subject
on 2007-02-17 12:13 am (UTC)Enjoy the Lee. Am finding it easier, lately, to distinguish between potential re-reading/viewing material and not-such while still in progress on a first read/watch. (Heroes falls into the Alias category of fun-to-follow-but-I'll-never-see-it-again.) Then again, I've been known to repeatedly give away and then re-buy certain things, so maybe not.
I can't stand slogging through any more shallow melodrama larded with Buffy dialogue for a while.
Guess you won't be watching Buffy for a while then, eh? *ducks*
Have just discovered that I have $43 with which to make it through the next week. Time to raid Savings again; nothing I put in there ever lasts.
So, about that fantasy setting...?
no subject
on 2007-02-17 03:27 am (UTC)Current TL re-read = the aforementioned "Malice in Saffron", which may or may not lead to re-reading the rest of the Paradys series as well. However, I also pulled several other TL books off the shelf at the same time-- Red as Blood and Dark Castle, White Horse-- as well as the first three books in LM Montgomery's "Anne" series.
Guess you won't be watching Buffy for a while then, eh? *ducks*
Definitely not season 6. *quackquackquack*
It is kinda nice that CC has some sympathy for Riley, judging by her overall presentation of the Hogwarts boy who's been given so many of Riley's lines. The last actual Buffyfic I read was Spike-centric to the point of trashing all of Buffy's other boytoys, which was wearisome. However, having Seamus Finnegan's romantic rival refer to him as "Captain Cardboard" is just plain gratuitous.
WRT fantasy setting, I demonstrably don't have the authorial attention span to complete long projects even when they're limited to *one* style; the initial collage-like concept for its presentation is probably beyong my technical skills.
*curious* Where is your $43 going? Transit fare and lunch?
no subject
on 2007-02-17 03:55 am (UTC)And so it is lost forever, dissolving into the fabric of the universe and fading backwards into time, carrying with it secrets that I shall never know. Or not.
Re Lee: hmm, nothing I've got, I think (checks shelf: nope); oh well.
Definitely not season 6. *quackquackquack*
Touche. Also, I WONDER WHERE ALL THE HUNTERS ARE TO-DAY.
WRT fantasy setting, I demonstrably don't have the authorial attention span to complete long projects even when they're limited to *one* style; the initial collage-like concept for its presentation is probably beyong my technical skills.
On the contrary: you haven't managed to stick with a novel-length work through to completion yet (and you may have noticed that I haven't either). However, you have demonstrated the knack for developing complex fiction at a far greater length than you seem to be giving yourself credit for. Arcadia and Edodale may be unfinished, but both reached at least novella length, you realize that? Far from proving that you can't do long projects, you've proved that you can.
(Obviously, I think you ought to.)
Where the money's going: food, bills, necessaries including meds //a/n/d//B/o/r/d/e/r/s//a/n/d//A/m/a/z/o/n//a/n/d//J/i/m//H/a/n/l/e/y/'/s//.
Oh, just watched Millennium Actress, which reminded me of nothing so much as the flamenco version of Carmen (http://imdb.com/title/tt0085297/).
no subject
on 2007-02-17 04:18 am (UTC)Arcadia and Edodale may be unfinished, but both reached at least novella length, you realize that?
They've reached that length, but they're still unfinished :b theoretically there's always the option of rewriting "Arcadia" in such a way as to file off the serial numbers, but it would require rather more effort than a cut'n'paste and not nec'ly that much less than simply picking a different project de novo.
Unless you want to try writing their endings. It's not as if "Arcadia" even has a foregone conclusion anymore, if orphaned from its original context.
no subject
on 2007-02-17 02:54 pm (UTC)Aren't they? But almost nobody uses 'em. Heck, there's a general move away from polyhedrals, period; quite a lot of current systems use nothing but plain old d6s. Which is unfortunate, since part of gaming's appeal for me has always been the neato Platonic solids.
theoretically there's always the option of rewriting "Arcadia" in such a way as to file off the serial numbers, but it would require rather more effort than a cut'n'paste and not nec'ly that much less than simply picking a different project de novo.
I am reliably informed that rewriting is part of the game. Aside from getting rid of the lightsabers, I don't know that there's that much to change, serial numbers aside. With Arcadia, you've got an ending already (assuming you don't change it--and it wouldn't be so hard to change it to "and then she gets the upper hand in the duel, convinces him of the truth, and they take down the Palpy-figure, the end"), so all you have to do is connect the dots.
I have no idea where Edodale was headed, and it'd need a lot more serial-number-filling-off. OTOH, as you may have noticed, no-this-isn't-my-Buffy-fanfic-with-the-names-changed-honest! novels are hot right now. Just a thought.
Yeah, they'd require a lot of effort. But given the effort you were able to put into their first halves--which is way more than I've ever managed--I have no doubt at all that you could do it. Just saying.
no subject
on 2007-02-17 03:59 am (UTC)no subject
on 2007-02-17 01:25 am (UTC)Which title, btw?