*arches eyebrow* To play the alternate Devil's Advocate...
1.) It does come out that most of Mercy's "all the women hate me" is mostly because she felt like a freak in the pack, and even if Bran did what he could to help with that (and in effect, Samuel, too), the rest of the werewolves only could after Mercy accepted their dominance. (Because wolf > coyote in the wild, bigger.)
That sounds & smells like a ret-con to me. Like someone told the author "Hey, this ALL women hate Marcy thing is Just Not On. Also, it's offensive. Also, you'll lose readers if you keep it up. So mitigate it, somehow."
And she did via the It Was All In Her Head trope. Which is a near cousin to the She Dream It All trope. It's a quick, easy way to fix a corner that you've written yourself into.
2.) The only female I remember legitimately hating on Mercy is Bran's mate, Leah. But that's because Leah pretty much has tons of issues and hates all females?
...Yeah, that's not an evil stepmother stereotype, at all. *is studiously not looking at the Wicked Witch in every fairytale ever or Adam's ex*
3.) Bran's original mate was a Salish woman (Charles' mother) who died giving birth to him. And after several hundred years (or something) his wolf decided he needed a new mate, but Bran doesn't want one. So Leah is the wolf's mate, and technically Bran's wife, but Bran doesn't love her. He just respects her. So she's got issues.
How does this possibly work with your who wolf & human soul must come together and be one thing later on?
And did Leah get a say in this mating crap? I mean, is this dub-con like Dragon Riders of Pern series or non-con as in, what Leah wants doesn't matter because the Wolves Made Them Do It. Can she even say no? And how does forcing a woman to marry you, have sex with you, raise your adoptive kid (and maybe your real one?) somehow equate to 'respecting her'?
And if Leah DID give some form of consent to the 'marriage' did she know going in that Bran subscribed to the One True Love model of relationships? Did he tell her up front that his dick needs a hole and his kids need a maternal figure and that's all she'll ever be to him?
Either way, that sounds offensive as hell. I hope she eats him.
4.) The only think I really solidly remember about the book I read was that there seemed to be a love quadrilateral in play. That spells 'romance' to me. (But yeah, the fade-to-black approach is one that I can firmly stand behind.)
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2013-02-06 09:40 am (UTC)1.) It does come out that most of Mercy's "all the women hate me" is mostly because she felt like a freak in the pack, and even if Bran did what he could to help with that (and in effect, Samuel, too), the rest of the werewolves only could after Mercy accepted their dominance. (Because wolf > coyote in the wild, bigger.)
That sounds & smells like a ret-con to me. Like someone told the author "Hey, this ALL women hate Marcy thing is Just Not On. Also, it's offensive. Also, you'll lose readers if you keep it up. So mitigate it, somehow."
And she did via the It Was All In Her Head trope. Which is a near cousin to the She Dream It All trope. It's a quick, easy way to fix a corner that you've written yourself into.
2.) The only female I remember legitimately hating on Mercy is Bran's mate, Leah. But that's because Leah pretty much has tons of issues and hates all females?
...Yeah, that's not an evil stepmother stereotype, at all. *is studiously not looking at the Wicked Witch in every fairytale ever or Adam's ex*
3.) Bran's original mate was a Salish woman (Charles' mother) who died giving birth to him. And after several hundred years (or something) his wolf decided he needed a new mate, but Bran doesn't want one. So Leah is the wolf's mate, and technically Bran's wife, but Bran doesn't love her. He just respects her. So she's got issues.
How does this possibly work with your who wolf & human soul must come together and be one thing later on?
And did Leah get a say in this mating crap? I mean, is this dub-con like Dragon Riders of Pern series or non-con as in, what Leah wants doesn't matter because the Wolves Made Them Do It. Can she even say no? And how does forcing a woman to marry you, have sex with you, raise your adoptive kid (and maybe your real one?) somehow equate to 'respecting her'?
And if Leah DID give some form of consent to the 'marriage' did she know going in that Bran subscribed to the One True Love model of relationships? Did he tell her up front that his dick needs a hole and his kids need a maternal figure and that's all she'll ever be to him?
Either way, that sounds offensive as hell. I hope she eats him.
4.) The only think I really solidly remember about the book I read was that there seemed to be a love quadrilateral in play. That spells 'romance' to me. (But yeah, the fade-to-black approach is one that I can firmly stand behind.)