New story ideas

[fpb]

I am developping a couple of new stories - always HP, alas. One came to me when I was listening to one of the greatest moments in world music - Verdi's Cortigiani, vil razza dannata. Rigoletto, the protagonist, is a nasty old man, a poison-dripping cripple who hides in the shadow of his lecherous master, the Duke of Mantova, and uses his job of court fools to mock the victims of his master's lusts. Only, one day his master abducts his own daughter, the one good thing in his twisted and agonized life. His burst of fury before the whole court is something to shake every soul in the audience:

Cortigiani, vil razza dannata
O you scum of the court and the levee
Per qual prezzo vendeste il mio bene?
How much cash were you paid for my baby?
A voi NULLA per l'oro sconviene,
There is nothing you won't sell for money,
Ma mia figlia e' impagabil tesor!
But my child is worth more than you can pay!
La rendete, o se pur disarmata,
Give her back, or with or without weapons
Questa mano a voi fora cruenta
This hand yet will drip with your hearts blood;
Nulla in terra piu' un uomo paventa,
There is nothing on Earth a man fears,
Se de' figli difende l'onor!
If it is for his children he fights!

The outburst is so powerful that for a second we feel as though he could really rip down the whole court in his rage; but we immediately see him struck down and reduced to abject begging - another theatrical master stroke. Now Rigoletto is a weak old man, really without the strength in his frame to protect or avenge his daughter; and he is a villain himself, the accomplice of the very monster who is debauching her. Think, on the other hand, of Arthur Weasley at the end of CoS. A man he already has good reason to hate, Lucius Malfoy, has placed his youngest, his innocent, sweet, funny, chatty little twelve-year-old tomboy of a daughter, in a position where she was mentally abused, debauched, vampirized and nearly murdered by a fragment of the most odious and degraded monster of the time; and no thanks to Malfoy that she survived at all. Arthur is a fairly powerful wizard, and he has every reason in the world to want revenge. Think about it.

The other is going to be very difficult to write, because I am in great danger of being maudlin. It sort of projects Trine Michelsen's story in the wizarding world, and tweaks continity and a few leading characters a bit. I hope I can manage to work it out, but don't be surprised if this is the last you hear of it.

Comments

HP and Rigoletto

[sanscouronne.livejournal.com]

I would have never, ever made that connection. Interesting.

Re: HP and Rigoletto

[fpb.livejournal.com]

Great popular art, noxious to the elitists of today.

[becomethesea.livejournal.com]

I really love your devotion to HP. I wish I could get as excited about it as I used to, but alas...

[fpb.livejournal.com]

They just give so many situations that can be exploited. I just read a terrific epistolary novel - a novel told through letters - featuring the correspondence between Dumbledore and Grindelwald after the latter's fall. It is just so full of exploitable situations.

[becomethesea.livejournal.com]

That is amazing. JKR may have given us the foundation, but the ideas and expansion of fan fiction is really more satisfying to me as a reader than the actual story itself. And to the poster below, Arthur Weasley is indeed a fine character.

[fishlivejournal.livejournal.com]

Arthur Weasley is one of the finest characters in HP. My flatmate pointed out that while most people recognise Harry as 'the boy who lived', Arthur's response to meeting Harry was to greet him as 'Ron's friend'. Friendship and family mean much more to Arthur than mere fame.

[ravenclaw-eric.livejournal.com]

One take on this I've seen, courtesy of my betareader "excessivelyperky" is like this:

"I've not had my daily Calming Potion for a week, Malfoy. Now, let's talk about what you tried to do to my daughter. You don't have anything else to do, after all. Not after I finished cutting off your arms and legs."