BULLET, CHAPTER 26

[a_sporking_rat]

I'm on Chapter 44 right now. The first paragraph is about how piss-scared the vampire world is, how they're now willing to turn to JC, etc. The last paragraph emphasizes how time is of the essence, they've got about six hours to get their sh*t together and kick some MOAD ass...but right after the first paragraph it says "But as usual with Jean-Claude and the vampire world, the next step involved a party" and the rest of the chapter before that last paragraph is all about Anita getting dressed up fancy and hating it and what Cardinal and Meng Die and Micah are wearing. WHAT THE EFF. HOW DID ANY VAMPIRES SURVIVE AT ALL IF THIS IS THEIR MODUS OPERANDI. HOW. Well, at least this is canon support for the fancy mixer party in Sue vs Sue. They will clearly throw one over anything, especially when it makes the LEAST sense to do so.

Speaking of future chapters...I have a new favorite character! SPOILER TIME: When they're meeting all the tiger clans, Anita whips the sh*t out of three female tigers. First she dominates one named Julia who dared challenge her/touch Victor (the white tiger prince she boned in Skin Trade). Then she uses sex to take jade, a black tiger sent by a bad Harlequin as a spy and make her one of her harem. And then...she gets in a fight with Reba. Reba. Is. Awesome! She's daughter of the red tiger queen, and she says Anita is just a survivor, not a true queen, not anything, just a human! She tells the red tiger men not to her bewitch them! And then when Anita tackles her, she's all "Are you going to fuck me? Is that all they know how to do in St. Louis?" BADASS LADY ALERT!

Of course, as it turns out, she's a totally weak weretiger who can't partial shift, doesn't deserve to be queen, etc. *eyeroll* And she's criticized for knowing how to use a knife to make up for that. As with Bibi and Julia, I am getting entirely tired of how LKH claims this species is matriarchal, women have the power, etc., yet are repeatedly shown as ineffective and easily defeated. Even jade is said to be omigod sooooo powerful but she has to be dominated and then rescued from her master by Anita and does eff-all herself and is describe as fragile, wounded, etc. (Also her defeat of Julia is really creepily rapey, of course, talking about how she straddles her on the floor and "thrust the power into her" and stuff...this is why you're not allowed a real penis, Anita. Speaking of penises, she has to have Domino doing her from behind while she kinda grinds on Jade. because CAN'T GET TOO GHEY NAO CAN WE?)

Yeah, Reba is going in Lucy's harem. So is Julia. BELONG TO A *REAL* MATRIARCHY, LADIES! Of course, Reba doesn't want to bow to Anita, so I doubt she'll be willing to bow to Lucille...oh, this could get interesting.

BULLET, CHAPTER 26

Anita goes to Nathaniel's bedside and says that in the Circus there are "a series of rooms that had been made into hospital beds". She mentions that "human hospitals didn't always like treating lycanthropes." and that she misses windows. "I'd gotten my hysterics out of the way." Having emotions over having killed someone and someone you love almost being killed are just hysterics! Nathaniel smiles at her and "I regretted having to kill Haven the way I did, but I couldn't regret him being dead. He'd shot Nathaniel. He'd meant to take that smile, those eyes, and the hand in mine away from me forever." Wait, so your issues isn't so much he tried to kill someone you love so much as he tried to take them from you? I know it's the same thing, but the way she words it suggests the issue isn't 'Nathaniel would be dead' so much as 'I wouldn't have my Nathaniel anymore' and that's a big difference. Also, what happened to the reason she killed Haven being because of Noel's sacrifice?

Nathaniel tells her that he's sorry she had to kill Haven, she says it's okay, he says its not, she says it is what it is, he asks if "Do you want me to let you be all macho about this?" and she says she had her breakdown earlier, to which he replies that he's sorry he wasn't there to help. With any other character I'd rage about Anita being first-priority even when they themselves have been shot, but for Nathaniel that actually makes sense. It's a pity there's no reflection from Anita about how this shows he still has a long way to go in terms of psychological repair, though, which makes me wonder if LKH even realizes how he sounds or if she just thinks it's normal at this point for Anita to be the #1 Concern for everyone no matter what now.

There is a knock at the door and Damian comes in. Anita thinks for a second about how "alone in my mind and emotions" she is and how that feels weird now. Does that mean she isn't feeling her connection to all her slaves, or...? I'm not really sure. She quickly moves on to describing that Damian "had changed into his favorite robe" which is a "Victorian smoking jacket except it came down to his ankles" and she thinks he's worn this robe for hundred of years and it's a "comfort object" to him like "a certain toy penguin" is to her. OH MY GOD SHE REMEMBERS SIGMUND! Oh and "his red hair was dry". So important! He's carrying a tray of food. Anita tells us that "I so wasn't hungry" and when Damian tells her she has to eat she tells him "I so don't want food, Damian." The food is "croissants, various cheeses, and fruit. It looked like enough food for all of us, if Damian could eat solid food." Well damn, that sounds delicious to me, but Anita just demands more coffee.

Damian explains to her (and it's facepalm-inducing that she needs this explained, since isn't it something she already should know would be the case?) that "Nathaniel is drawing on us to heal himself. If you want him to heal quickly, and with no scar" because god forbid anyone have any physical imperfections that aren't Asher-style dramatic-overscarring Phantom of the Opera angst "we need the energy to feed him. You and I will have to eat more so Nathaniel doesn't drain us."

Simple, right?

It turns out not to be.

Nathaniel offers to "try to stop taking so much energy from the two of you" and Anita tells him no, that "I'll eat, but I'd really like the coffee first." Damian tells her to eat a certain amount and then she can have coffee. She replies with a frown and "Yes, Daddy" which might be funny coming from another person in another situation, but coming from Anita, it just sounds skeevily sexual, and also YOU ARE EATING TO HEAL NATHANIEL. HE IS DRAINING YOU TWO BY THE SECOND. AND WITH THE MOAD ON THE LOOSE, YOU CAN'T AFFORD TO BE DOWN ON YOUR ENERGY! Damian says that "I could have brought sausage. Protein will help him heal the fastest and give us the most energy. I was nice, bringing something light." Are you fucking serious? You're risking not healing Nathaniel and/or the very life energy of yourself and Anita because Miss Priss doesn't want to eat meat right now?

Anita thanks him, he looks suspicious, she says "Don't look so suspicious. You're right and I'm admitting it." Anita doing THAT is totally reason for suspicion. He says that "You don't usually give in this fast" and Anita says that she wants everyone well and then takes a bite of a strawberry and it's really good and makes her realize she's a lot hungrier than she thought...but she ends up asking for coffee only "two strawberries and half a croissant later." Dude, that is NOT a lot of calories, and Damian said no coffee until you ate a whole croissant. Usually I wouldn't advocate a grown person being bossed around like this, I swear, but it's made ridiculously clear that Anita needs it. However, Damian just smiles at her and gives her a coffee mug and we get AN ENTIRE FUCKING PARAGRAPH about this damn mug and the penguins on it and the clever saying on it and how "Micah had found it for me on one of his business trips" (WHAT THE FLIP DOES MICAH DO FOR A LIVING?) and how "everyone who could drink coffee" Could? Are there a lot of coffee-intolerant therians around here or something? Oh, wait, she means excluding vampires I guess "had their travel mugs, or used the generic ones that matched the red and black plates. The Kitchen was too far away from some of the rooms, so ways to keep hot things hot were important." Important and IRRELEVANT. Like, it's nice that LKH has thought up these little details about the Circus, it really is, and it does make it feel like a place where a lot of people really are residing. It's just that the information is coming in at a time where it's not really something that the reader feels the need for a paragraph for right now. Or at least, I sure don't. I would like the plot to just get the hell on already.

"I sipped the coffee, closing my eyes so the smell and taste of it could have their way with me." Even coffee has to be talked about sexually.

Damian says "That's better" and his robe gapes a little and we get a paragraph about his skin. He tells her that he's taken blood, and now her job is to eat solid food. Because I guess she needs reminding even though he told her that just last page. She just goes on sipping her coffee though, while holding Nathaniel's hand. Dammit, Anita, if you actually give a shit about him, drop his hand and start stuffing your face. Then Damian touches Nathaniel too and Anita can feel "power breathed through us" and a bunch of blahblah about their energies mingling, and she can feel from the pain in her should that "whatever the doctors had done to fix the wound had cost Nathaniel other pain." What does THAT mean?

Then it stops because Damian took his hand away from Nathaniel and he tells Anita that "You're our master, Anita; you have to get better at controlling this." Darn tootin'! Wait, energy going gaga when they touch ISN'T supposed to happen if she's in-control? But didn't it do the same when she was touching her other triumvirate earlier and it was a good thing and not a sign she lacked control? He tells her that he knows a lot of shit has gone down and he's sorry about Haven and Noel "but you can't afford to retreat from your psychic abilities like this." Anita starts to get pissed and says she's doing the best she can. Can I remind you all of that chapter in Flirt where Nicky asks "So, because you have to control it, you just do?" and Anita's like "Yup". Granted, they were talking about something else in Anita's superpower arsenal, but since then I've been suspicious of any and all of Anita's claims that she's really truly trying to control her powers when they do something they shouldn't.

Nathaniel says they know she's trying, and looking at him calms her down and reminds her that Nathaniel being alive means "nothing could be bad today." She apologizes to them both and then says "I'm just tired, but I shouldn't be. We were passed out for hours." Damian tells her that passed out is not the same as sleeping and that "you're more than just tired." I can't tell you if the former is true or not, but I can tell you that Anita proves she's dumb once again by asking what the latter means and he has to tell her that she needs to eat some more and then have a nap for a couple of hours. Anita makes the logical point that "we're trying to stay ahead of some of the most powerful vampires in the world. I don't have time for a nap." and Damian counters with the even more logical point that if she pushes herself Nathaniel won't heal right and she'll start draining Damian. "You can't do your usual, Anita. Not eating, not sleeping, just pushing." She shouldn't do her usual anyway. That's no way for an ordinary person to live, let alone someone who is supposed to be staying strong against supernatural assaults and who has all these people metaphysically tied to them that they will start to drain under those circumstances.

Nathaniel laughs, and Anita asks why and Nathaniel says "It's just I've heard this conversation a lot over the last year. You'll argue, Damian or I will push, and you'll finally take care of yourself. Can't you, just this once, give in now?" Over the last fucking YEAR? Look, I know a lot of people do have problems remembering to take care of themselves in these basic ways for various reasons. I've been one. But when I was, I didn't have people whose well-being literally depended on me eating and sleeping right and who had spent a YEAR trying to make me. Anita doesn't come across here as 'flawed, but finally improving' on this issue. It comes across her being incredibly selfish and callous to a rather terrifying point. Especially since she doesn't seem to have any REASON for not eating properly. She's not depressed or nervous or anorexic, she doesn't have some kind of physical condition that causes it or makes it unpleasant for her to eat or digest, we know she's sure as hell not dieting given her views on that, and while she did sometimes forget to eat or in the earlier novels it was always while she was working a case or something similar, and she didn't do it as much at all. In fact, it didn't become an issue UNTIL she got these guys dependent on her eating. That kind of creeps me out and makes me wonder if this is all just an act and she in fact is deliberately 'forgetting to eat/working too hard to eat/etc.' so that she'll start to drain them and they'll be reminded of their dependance on her and have to come begging her to just eat a damn croissant. Honestly, given LKH's apparent obsession with total control (as evident by the creepiness with Nicky) I would not be surprised if this is why LKH is writing these scenes.

Nathaniel looks like he's in pain, so Anita agrees to finish her food "and then what do you want me to do?" Damian and Nathaniel are shocked, and the former says again that he's not used to her giving in this soon. He tells her to eat and he'll go asks the doctor what to do next. Anita asks "Am I really that big a pain in the ass?" and Damian says "Yes" while Nathaniel says "You can be."

UNGH FUCK YES! I mean, I realize this was supposed to be cutesy, especially with how Damian and Nathaniel answered in unison, but I think this might be the closest we get to a call-out of Anita that DOESN'T get shut down or brushed off as the whinings of a jealous hater. I really hope readers aren't supposed to be impressed with Anita for finally giving a shit enough to EAT SOME DAMN FOOD AND TAKE A NAP when the well-being of a loved one and quite possibly the fate of supernatural America depends on her doing these things. The fact that Damian expected there to be an argument, and even had to take a whole chapter to talk to her at all in order to get her to do these things, says enough. Honestly, I'm just more frustrated than anything else that THIS is what counts for "progress" with this woman.

Anita says that the Vegas tigers should have arrived in St. Louis by now, and Damian says they have but that "Jean-Claude filled them in on what's been happening. They're calling the other tiger clans to try to get as many to St. Louis as quickly as possible." Doubtlessly to fuck Anita. "Get some rest for a couple of hours before you have to start working with the tigers." AND ANITA ASKS WHAT DOES THAT MEAN OH GOD THAT PHRASE NOW OUTDOES 'FLAVOR' IN MY MOST-HATED LIST. Next book I swear I will be keeping a fucking tally of it along with holding and group hugs. Damian tells her not to worry about it right now (yup, she's definitely gonna be boning them) and to just eat, sleep, and "stop being such a pain in the ass". And then he leaves. "I thought of a lot of things to say, but they all sounded petty, so I ate my food" poor baby, having to have a delicious breakfast when you're hungry! "and tried not to be a pain in the ass." Only Anita would have to actively TRY to avoid being a pain in the ass just while having some fruit and cheese. "I think every man in my life, and most of the women" what women? "would say it wasn't one of my best things." So she's fully aware that she's a pain in the ass but never has done anything to try to change that. Am I supposed to like this woman? Find this spunky and cute and tough? I don't know, but I think I am.

I just want to kick her in the face instead though.

Comments

[mocha-latta.livejournal.com]

"She thinks he's worn this [Victorian] robe for hundreds of years"
Victorian robe
Hundreds of years
>:C
I know I'm being pedantic, but come on. You're Goth, LKH. You should know this shit.

She replies with a frown and "Yes, Daddy
Huh. I always assumed Anita was the Daddy.

Seriously, why all the b.s. with the food? She even admits that she's hungry! I hope that this isn't just an excuse for her to go "Nathaniel is dying, (for some reason. God, is 2 strawberries not enough for him?) we need to raise more power! I know how to do that, teehee, and power won't be the only thing I raise, TEE FUCKING HEE"
Whoa, things got... Heated there. Sorry, y'all!

Head canon is that every 'cute' thing the boys say to Anita is just pure aggression and the first person P.O.V skews it. Because seriously, put some meat in your mouth to save Nathanael's life, and by extent your own and everyone else you 'love'. No, not THAT meat!

[collectively.livejournal.com]

I feel like I have no sense of Damian as a character, and he's been around since before I gave up on the series. Does he have a personality or does it consist entirely of his RED HAIR, THE RED OF FIRE, BUT NOT NORMAL FIRE BECAUSE THERE IS TOO MUCH YELLOW IN IT, RED LIKE THE EDGES OF FLAMES and EYES LIKE WET EMERALDS?

It's just that the information is coming in at a time where it's not really something that the reader feels the need for a paragraph for right now. Or at least, I sure don't. I would like the plot to just get the hell on already.
Ah, there's your mistake! You're expecting there to be a plot! What you're reading is a series of poorly written, thinly strung together sex scenes, with the occasional violence thrown in so some booksellers will still put this under urban fantasy instead of romance. (Not this is a good romance, either. It's hardly my genre but I'm sure there are plenty of romance writers who have interesting characters/plots and sex scenes that are actually hot.)

Her reluctance to eat is UN. FREAKING. BELIEVABLE. The man you cared so much about half an hour ago that you killed someone for him is healing himself, and all he needs is for you to have a goddamn sandwich. I would have sent Damian back out for sausage the second he said that would be better. How is this woman supposed to be sympathetic?! If she had been fighting nausea or something, I might understand her reluctance, but she's drinking coffee (which is actually quite hard on the stomach) so it's clear she can keep stuff down and...AARGH.

(You made basically all these points, but I wrote that before reading the whole spork so I'll just leave the rant intact. For posterity. Or something.)

[lady-fellshot.livejournal.com]

Nate might be okay with being Anita's creature most of the time, but Damien clearly is over that crap. He's gotten a girl friend whom he cares about enough to try to keep her away from the mass rapes orgies. He isn't hanging out at Anita's house and he isn't one of her favorites. Can we have Lucille offer to free him in exchange for information? I think he's fed up with being tied to this woman who can't be bothered to take care of herself even when other people depend on it. Reba can be Sailor Mercury to Lucille's Sailor Moon and be a BFF rather than a lover.


Are you fucking serious? You're risking not healing Nathaniel and/or the very life energy of yourself and Anita because Miss Priss doesn't want to eat meat right now?
Maybe Damien doesn't like Nate at all since Nate is one of the "perfect boitois" and Damien is afraid that he might be mindfucked into that state. He doesn't want to lose himself. Also, he knows that getting Anita to eat anything is going to be a battle and his continued existence is contingent on getting her to eat, so he's going in with the all the arguments and food items he thinks will get him the win. He doesn't care if Nate gets a scar or if MoaD takes over. He just doesn't want to be drained on by two parasites at once.


Damian says "That's better" and his robe gapes a little and we get a paragraph about his skin.
That makes me think that he had it closed as snugly as it could get, because he doesn't want to be her sex toy anymore.

[ex-naomi-ja.livejournal.com]

Damien is the most sensible character in this series. I want to kidnap him and put him in a better series. How has he not bludgeoned himself to death to escape her?

I wonder if we're supposed to somehow see Anita's inability to feed herself as somehow admirable? Like, "oh, she's so dedicated to her job and her "people" she forgoes/forgets her own needs! She's so selfless!"

You know, as opposed to, "why won't she just starve to death already?"

[wanderingworlds.livejournal.com]

I just imagined one of Lucy's wererat girls wanting to groom Reba in tiger form SO BAD YOU HAVE NO IDEA. BECAUSE RATS ROOMING IS ADORABLE AND ALDSKJFASKLDJF.


1. What does missing windows have to do with hospital beds OR getting her hysteria over with? Also, why WOULDN'T the Circus allow windows in some of the rooms? Especially those made to be hospital rooms for lycanthropes? Sunshine and fresh air (even if city air isn't the "freshest") helps with the healing process. I mean, I get that lycanthropes have super-healing but still. Why not let them have some sunlight? And I still don't get what windows have to do with her feels.

2. Nathaniel GOT SHOT IN THE SHOULDER IT DOESN'T COUNT AS HIM ALMOST BEING KILLED. It wouldn't have even hit him if he hadn't jumped in to protect Noel. LIKE THIS IS REALLY STUPID AND I DON'T EVEN CARE. If hoomans can survive from gunshots to the shoulder, a goddamn lycanthrope can. Goddamn shit. But yes. She's had her smelling salts and she's ready to move on now. Good for her.

3. So... does she regret the over-kill present when she killed Haven? Like she could've shot him in the head once and been done, execution style. But she over did it by far with the multiple shots to the head until the clip was empty AND THEN STILL FIRING BLANKS.

4. I'm not gonna touch the "He tried to take my toy from me so he HAD TO DIE" thing. Nope. She really hasn't matured much from the mentality of a child, though, has she?

5. See... I would be totally okay if Nathaniel was like "I'm so sorry let me be there for you" and was intent on putting Anita first and not focusing on himself, because in my experience, the guys I know don't like focusing on their pain/weaknesses. But this would require to be like "No, okay? You're the one who was shot, if we're going to deal with my shit, we're going to also focus on you, okay? We'll heal together" because a relationship is give and take not just give-just take and THIS IS WHAT ALL HER RELATIONSHIPS ARE ALL SHE DOES IS TAKE AND IT'S SO INFURIATING I WANT SOMEONE TO EAT HER FACE OFF.

6. I read this as her being incredibly selfish. Like... she just FEELS SO ALONE AND NO ONE IS REACHING OUT TO HER AND OH MY GOD SHE HAS NO ONE WHO IS TRYING TO UNDERSTAND HERRRR. Like, bitch please, you were just coddled on by Richard, JC just did your goddamn hair, and now Nathaniel is ignoring the GUNSHOT WOUND IN HIS SHOULDER to cater to your emotional needs. Have I mentioned I want someone to eat her face off?

7. Uh... WHY DIDN'T DAMIEN BRING HER EGGS? HE COULD'VE BROUGHT LIKE SCRAMBLED EGGS. THOSE HAVE PROTEIN AND AREN'T HEAVY. HELLO? Like, granted, cheese isn't bad. And fruits are good. BUT EGGS. Jesus Christ Almighty people.

8. ANITA WHY ARE YOU A CHILD. WHY. THIS ISN'T SEXY. YOU ARE A RAPING CHILD CHILD RAPIST. IT'S WEIRD AND CREEPY AND I DON'T LIKE IT. ARGH.

9. WHY. IS. THE. COFFEE. FUCKING. HER. Oh God, now I'm thinking of the coffee as like an anthropomorphized person thing and it's fucking her and she's like "OOOH YOU'RE SO HOT" and it's like "MMM YOU'RE SO TIGHT AND WET" and she's like "THIS IS THE BEST WAY TO GET CAFFEINE IT'S EVEN BETTER THAN COFFEE ENEMAS" and now I want to cry and laugh.

[wanderingworlds.livejournal.com]

10. "What does that mean?" and "spill". LKH I will throttle you with a thesaurus. I will throttle you with BETTER CHARACTERS DAMMIT. Wait. WAAAAAIT. Do you think LKH makes Anita ask this question so damn much because she expects that her readers are this stupid and so she has Anita ask the questions JUST TO GIVE HERSELF AN EXCUSE TO EXPLAIN FURTHER INFORMATION FOR THE READERS? LIKE SHE CAN'T JUST GIVE EXPOSITION WITHOUT ANITA ASKING INANE QUESTIONS OVER AND OVER AGAIN? DAMMIT NOW I'M MORE PISSED OFF.

11. I HATE ANITA BLAKE WITH EVERY SINGLE FIBRE OF MY BODY AND SOUL.

[uf-addict.livejournal.com]

I just want to kick her in the face instead though.

Me too!

All the time!!

I would have to be on a Xanax mix with Valium to make it a day around this woman without committing homicidal acts.

[viridian5.livejournal.com]

In the hands of a good writer, the necessity for parties could be a lot of fun.

A lack of windows is actually a terrible thing for longterm patients. Due to construction issues my dad spent three weeks in a windowless cubicle of the basement of the hospital, and he went into full-on delirium. That whole month is a loss to him; he remembers almost none of it. The orderlies would wheel him over to a window for about a half hour a day but it wasn't enough. He didn't start to really heal until we got him out.

Sometimes I don't eat when I'm hungry as a control thing since my body is out of my control in a few painful ways. It's not healthy but I can't always help myself. But I don't have many people whose lives depend on me eating. I don't have people who would get raped if I don't eat. I also don't have anyone bringing me plates of tasty croissants, cheese, and fruit.

[subtle-shades.livejournal.com]

about how piss-scared the vampire world is, how they're now willing to turn to JC, etc. <-- I have doubts about this, mostly because deep in their hearts they still see him as the gigolo with the awesome toy. I'd enjoy this plotline more if ANYONE tried to steal Anita from him.

HOW DID ANY VAMPIRES SURVIVE AT ALL IF THIS IS THEIR MODUS OPERANDI. HOW. <-- They bore their enemies to death.

Anita whips the sh*t out of three female tigers. <-- Of course she does. It's not a day in Anita-ville if she isn't kicking the crap out of some poor defenseless woman. Heaven forbid that any of them be able to fight back or, even better, kick her teeth in.

one named Julia who dared challenge her/touch Victor (the white tiger prince she boned in Skin Trade). <-- I would LOVE to ask LKH about the gender-swapped equivalent of this, hear her rant about the misogyny, and then ask her WHY SHE WROTE THIS.

Then she uses sex to take jade, a black tiger sent by a bad Harlequin as a spy and make her one of her harem. <-- Didn't this plotline come up at least once before?

Reba. Is. Awesome! She's daughter of the red tiger queen, and she says Anita is just a survivor, not a true queen, not anything, just a human! She tells the red tiger men not to her bewitch them! And then when Anita tackles her, she's all "Are you going to fuck me? Is that all they know how to do in St. Louis?" BADASS LADY ALERT! <-- LOVES REBA SO HARD!!

[Reba]'s a totally weak weretiger who can't partial shift, doesn't deserve to be queen, etc. *eyeroll* <-- I actually REALLY LOVE IT SO HARD THERE ARE NOT WORDS when a physically/politically/socially weak character stands up and says THIS ISN'T RIGHT, even if they know that they're going to get their ass kicked for it. Especially then, actually. Once again, LKH has inspired in me feelings that are the exact opposite of what she was going for.

And she's criticized for knowing how to use a knife to make up for that. <-- How is this any different from Anita using a knife in a were-dominance-stupidity-thing? I mean, aside from the fact that it shows that her mother must REALLY LOVE HER because she acknowledged her child's weaknesses and then arranged lessons to compensate for them. In any other series, Reba would be the Princess of Awesomeness.

As with Bibi and Julia, I am getting entirely tired of how LKH claims this species is matriarchal, women have the power, etc., yet are repeatedly shown as ineffective and easily defeated. <-- If they were awesome, who would Anita be (and certainly feel) superior to?

[subtle-shades.livejournal.com]

Even jade is said to be omigod sooooo powerful but she has to be dominated and then rescued from her master by Anita and does eff-all herself and is describe as fragile, wounded, etc. <-- Wasn't she the one who was "defeated by sex"? Because if so, she was just recently magically and quite publicly raped. And no one did anything to stop it. THEY ALL JUST WATCHED IT HAPPEN TO HER. OF COURSE she's feeling fragile and wounded. (Also, hateful, hopefully because the good guys suck.)

(Also her defeat of Julia is really creepily rapey, of course, talking about how she straddles her on the floor and "thrust the power into her" and stuff...this is why you're not allowed a real penis, Anita. ...So two rapes out of three were-tiger ladies? Reba really dodged a bullet there.

Anita goes to Nathaniel's bedside and says that in the Circus there are "a series of rooms that had been made into hospital beds". <-- JC probably had to do this because the number of Anita-related casualties who DIED IN TRANSPORT was getting too high. I wonder why it didn't occur to him to put it in any of the above ground circus structures, though. Because, presumably, he has to own the land OVER his lair. (If he didn't, the ACTUAL owner of the land presumably would've evicted him by now.)

"human hospitals didn't always like treating lycanthropes." <-- They may not LIKE it but they HAVE TO act for the public good. It's why a doctor can turn you away for lacking insurance but a hospital can't.

Wait, so your issues isn't so much he tried to kill someone you love so much as he tried to take them from you? I know it's the same thing <-- In another series, it MIGHT be the same thing but in THIS series it's NOT. In this series, the wording is ominous, creepy and reminiscent of murdering someone over the 'prize' in a happy meal. And it's SUPER telling that she doesn't say anything about any of his PERSONALITY traits so much as his PHYSICAL traits that she especially enjoys. And that's HUGE.

Also, what happened to the reason she killed Haven being because of Noel's sacrifice? <-- She doesn't looooove him so it doesn't matter in the long term. Or the short term. Or at all.

"Do you want me to let you be all macho about this?" <-- LKH REALLY doesn't understand what machismo is.

to which he replies that he's sorry he wasn't there to help. see it. There fixed it.

Anita's first priority... even when he's been shot... but for Nathaniel that actually makes sense. <-- I maintain that in ANY better written series, this would just be Nathaniel's OTHER job. He's a street kid, a junkie, and a (former?) whore. It's not beyond him to use his body to get what he wants. In this case, food, shelter, and a bit of kindness. In one of the previous chapter sporks, I detailed how Anita treats Nathaniel no differently than Haven or Augustine treat their Pretty Women. Nathaniel might not be on the streets any more but he still acts like he's working in the world's oldest profession... and from his perspective he might actually be doing so.

There is a knock at the door and Damian comes in. <-- FEEL MY LOVE DAMIEN.

that Damian "had changed into his favorite robe" which is a "Victorian smoking jacket except it came down to his ankles" <-- It's interesting how many men like to cover it up around Anita.

"his red hair was dry". <-- MOST IMPORTANT DETAIL EVER.

"I so wasn't hungry" <-- Anita is nearly thirty years old and NOT from the part of the country that speaks like that. This bit of dialogue is OOC, infantilizing, and not cute.

[subtle-shades.livejournal.com]

The food is "croissants, various cheeses, and fruit. <-- This whole food thing is just another instance of Anita being a thoughtless, ungrateful asshole. Someone, here Damien, has yet again gone to some troubl to take care of her, make her life easier, and help her fulfill her self-imposed duties and she spits on their efforts, kindness, and general self-ness.

Damian explains to her... <-- He has to explain this to her multiple times in EVERY BOOK. At this point, I think he's just made a recording of himself explaining it and keeps in a pocket for later playback to Anita, especially since it's bound to come up again.

because god forbid anyone have any physical imperfections that aren't Asher-style dramatic-overscarring Phantom of the Opera angst <-- I actually thought that there was going to be a plot connected to this, like Belle Mort having sent fake Inquisitioners to kill Julianna and scar him for life because he chose another woman over her, left her, and took the young and impressionable JC with him. And JC's mother's illness was instigated by her to get him to leave at the opportune moment and be spared. I thought this as a teen because it seemed ridiculous to me that in a world where everyone has always known about vampires someone -- ANYONE -- would mistake a vampire for a bewitched human.

...Clearly I was wrong and she'd just wanted Le Phantom. Interestingly, however, the character is STILL difficult.

"try to stop taking so much energy from you" <-- I find it interesting that Nathaniel can control this and Anita can't. It implies that EVERYONE IS WORKING ON THEIR CONTROL BUT HER. Maybe in that previous book, it wasn't ANITA controlling her powers so much as NATHANIEL doing it for her. Sort of like Damien controls her mood swings. Wow, that is a disturbing and creepy supposition.

Damian tells her to eat a certain amount and then she can have coffee. <-- He is treating her like a child. Normally, I'd find that highly enraging but I can see his point... and his perspective. Anita's snide, skeeivily sexual commentary isn't warranted.

You're risking not healing Nathaniel and/or the very life energy of yourself and Anita because Miss Priss doesn't want to eat meat right now? <-- The man has learned how to pick his battles. Plus, I'm not convinced that he cares so much about Nathaniel or Anita's well-being provided that they don't drag him down with them.

but she ends up asking for coffee only "two strawberries and half a croissant later." <-- she doesn't want to get fat. I distinctly remember her worry A LOT about that in earlier books. Which makes sense since she looks down on fat women as well as slim and small breasted ones.

WHAT THE FLIP DOES MICAH DO FOR A LIVING? <-- Micah runs Anita's were-animal coalition. His job is to be the "central government" of the were-animals in St. Louis. Of course, it's a government of two -- himself and Anita -- so it's more of a monarchy and less of a democracy, which is what Anita keeps mistaking it for. (Anita and LKH fail civics and government classes FOREVER!) The idea of him going on 'business trips' is skeezy and alarming when one factors in his absolute control over the other groups/were-animals. (I know it'd be a TOTAL abuse of his powers and probably rape - but dud, he's a rapist so that shouldn't be surprising -- and completely repugnant, but I'd LOVE it if he was getting some on the side. And Anita, with her calm and understanding demeanor, found out. Except, she'd probably punish the lady/man/victim and not Micah and that would be terrible all around.)

Like, it's nice that LKH has thought up these little details about the Circus, it really is <-- BUT she peppers them in at ALL THE WRONG MOMENTS. Also, it's illegal to force people to rent an apartment without heat and running water, among other things. I strongly suspect that there wouldn't be half so many people living in JC's cold, drafty caves if the living standard is below what they're assured in even the crappiest apartment with a shared communal bathroom. There's GOT to be more than ONE kitchen.

Even coffee has to be talked about sexually. <-- It's a proven fact that she's got a one track mind.

[subtle-shades.livejournal.com]

his robe gapes a little and we get a paragraph about his skin. <-- Poor Damien. He's got the perviest, skeeziest boss EVER.

and she can feel from the pain in her should that "whatever the doctors had done to fix the wound..." <-- THIS REALLY IRRITATES ME because in RL, even a graze by a bullet is a HUGE thing. A "shoulder wound" is NOT nothing, regardless of what T.V. and movies and some books would have you think. And it's NOT something that *any idiot* can quickly bounce back from or ignore.

"You're our master, Anita; you have to get better at controlling this." <-- supports my general theory that everyone is working to live with her mess except for Anita.

didn't it do the same when she was touching her other triumvirate earlier and it was a good thing and not a sign she lacked control? <-- I think it's a matter of perspective. BECAUSE Anita has no control, it happened with both triumverates. BECAUSE Anita's the POV character, it's portrayed as a good thing earlier when someone else, JC for instance, might've disagreed both about her control and how "excellent" it is that they're leaking power like a sieve. But here, because it's Damien weighing in on the power leakage, it's NOT portrayed as a good thing. Objectively speaking though, it's probably not a good thing in either instance. Aside from anything else, it's a ginormous waste. (She might have to rape fewer people of their personal energies if she stopped losing almost as much as she takes. Additionally, I wonder if JC would HAVE to keep distributing all of his lovely power among "their people" after every orgy if Anita didn't have magical incontinence. Because, if you notice, no one ever talks about Belle as if she's a great big share-er of power and she has the EXACT same lust-power.)

"but you can't afford to retreat from your psychic abilities like this." <-- He speaks from experience. She will LITERALLY drive him and maybe Nathaniel mad if she does.

Anita...says she's doing the best she can. <-- This is a scurrilous lie!

"looks into Nathaniel's eyes <-- As I proposed above, I think this is all Damien and NOT Nathaniel's hotness or Tru Wuv.

Damian tells her that passed out is not the same as sleeping... I can't tell you if the former is true or not <-- I can tell you that they're not the same. Anyone who has done both should know it. Anita, who has also supposedly done both, is so ridiculously dumb that the only excuse I'm willing to accept is that she's concentrating on remembering to breathe.

Jean-Claude filled them in on what's been happening. <-- Someone's got to keep their eye on the ball. Luckily, they've got JC. (He might also be warning them about his creepily sexual human servant and apologizing in advance and arranging banking details because he's so going to have to pay damages to their clans to keep Anita's behavior out of the courts.

Damien tells her not to worry about that right now. <-- Maybe they just don't want Anita to start screwing things up before JC has soft-soaped everyone on board with the plan. And MAYBE the plan is NEVER to have Anita bone more men... that's just where Anita always takes it. Or maybe the EBIL Monica is helping JC arrange those banking details and they don't want Anita to slink around, antagonize their mouthpiece, and screw everything up.... y,know, before the point where they HAVE to let her in on things, at which time she will inevitably screw the pooch... and everyone else.

Only Anita would have to actively TRY to avoid being a pain in the ass just while having some fruit and cheese. <-- There are LOTS of pain in the ass characters that I enjoy. Anita, however, is nothing so benign.

I just want to kick her in the face instead though. There's a line with numbered tickets and everything. Would you like a ticket?

[watersheerie.livejournal.com]

Anita totally loves her men, particularly Nate, which is why she does all she can to help and take care of him....

Except eat a damn piece of bread.

In the early books, Anita's views on her weight and eating habits were annoying (I really don't believe she could weigh 100lbs max and have that figure), and I'm sure some of it is related to LKH's own yo-yo'ing body issues. But it's become downright infuriating at this point. And none of her men seem to care that this woman practically has an eating disorder. LKH may dance around the issue, claim that Anita is simply never hungry and just likes her coffee, but that isn't what we are seeing here. She never eats unless forced too, even when eating may mean the health of one of her lovers.

This is a bit of a sensitive issue to me, as someone who has recently come to accept her own eating disorder. I used to be like Anita, eating practically nothing except a granola bar or a few carrots. Exercised constantly and would hate myself for eating just one bite over my quota of food. My bf has helped me, basically forcing me to eat at least one normal meal a day, so I've made some progress. But eating disorders are a serious issue, and it's aggravating to see LKH treat Anita's eating disorder so lightly. Worse yet, Anita's poor eating habits affect the health of others, so it isn't just her body she's hurting. She could literally kill Nate and Damien, two men she supposedly cares about, with her shitty eating habits. And she doesn't give a fuck, it's all about how mean everyone is for forcing her to eat a piece of fruit. I just can't understand how LKH sees this as love. Anita has to be forced to eat to help her lovers heal, she has to be forced. She doesn't think of it on her own, she doesn't even care. You can tell us Anita loves her men, but her actions seem to indicate that she could care less about them.

God dammit this book is offensive.

Also, I can't remember if it's this chapter or the next, but did you catch the part where Anita has the gall to be upset that Noel is dead, because it ruins her happiness about Nate being alive? Our heroine.

[dwg.livejournal.com]

AND ANITA ASKS WHAT DOES THAT MEAN OH GOD THAT PHRASE NOW OUTDOES 'FLAVOR' IN MY MOST-HATED LIST

JUST YOU WAIT UNTIL HIT LIST. I started doing a tally on how many times she fucking asks it, and the whole guy/girl things because it was irritating the fuck out of me, and iirc it averages out to be at least once per chapter. But I really hate this method of exposition -- it's like LKH thinks that the audience cannot possibly know something unless Anita knows it. So this is why we get the useless infodumps and "what does that mean?" as she's processing how to understand the scene rather than just letting it fly and trust that the audience is smart enough to figure things out for themselves. I'm sure she, and other authors that do this, don't intentionally set about treating their readers like idiots, but this is how I feel when I run across a book like this. The other consequence of this is that it makes the heroine look dumber than a box of hair. Your supposed expert with the inside scoop on monsters asking what does that meeeeaannn does not inspire confidence. Karen Chance's Cassie Palmer books, I am also looking at you.

[aikaterini.livejournal.com]

/I am getting entirely tired of how LKH claims this species is matriarchal, women have the power, etc., yet are repeatedly shown as ineffective and easily defeated./

Yes, it bothers me when that happens in other media as well. It’s an expansion of the Woman of Ice trope. Sure, we’ll *tell* you that this matriarchy is strong and confident, just to pretend that we’re feminist, but then we’ll quickly show how corrupt and/or stupid and/or incompetent the female leaders are and unwittingly shoot ourselves in the foot.

/Having emotions over having killed someone and someone you love almost being killed are just hysterics!/

Anita has the same problem as many bad anti-heroes do. They equate showing emotion with weakness. So, they never cry, never smile, never laugh, never sympathize, never apologize, and never comfort. The only emotion that they’ll sometimes allow themselves to show is anger. Because anger is cool and awesome and hardcore whereas all of those other emotions like sadness and compassion are for wimps. It’s much more important to be a macho stoic who either denies that he or she can feel emotion to cartoonish lengths or is a walking time bomb.

/You're risking not healing Nathaniel and/or the very life energy of yourself and Anita because Miss Priss doesn't want to eat meat right now?/

If eating pork was literally the only way to heal or save someone, I’d like to think that a decent, good, and compassionate Jew or Muslim would do it. If eating beef was literally the only way to heal or save someone, I’d like to think that a decent, good, and compassionate Hindu would do it. If eating meat was literally the only way to heal or save someone, I’d like to think that a vegetarian or vegan would do it. Anita has none of these dietary restrictions. So, why is she being such a petulant brat?

/I really hope readers aren't supposed to be impressed with Anita for finally giving a shit enough to EAT SOME DAMN FOOD AND TAKE A NAP when the well-being of a loved one and quite possibly the fate of supernatural America depends on her doing these things./

Does LKH not realize how ridiculous this scenario sounds? “The fate of the world and her loved ones depends on a one woman having a snack!” I mean, come on.

[baeraad.livejournal.com]

Anita tells us that "I so wasn't hungry" and when Damian tells her she has to eat she tells him "I so don't want food, Damian."

What the hell is it with Anita and food? She's always whining about having to eat like she's a toddler being faced with the horrors of spinach! It's like she hates the world so much that she can't stand the thought of taking any of it inside of her!

...

I mean, aside from in the obvious way.

...

Which she always has to be pressured into doing, admittedly...

...

So basically, what she needs is some sort of magical curse that compels her to pig out every so often. :P