BULLET, CHAPTER 30, PART ONE
May. 16th, 2013 12:31 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
a_sporking_ratJabez continues to show improvement! He has been getting special treats like cake and cereal to encourage him to eat, and I think he's going to pull through.
Justin and Jenner got fed from the very last of the rat food bag today, so there was mostly just seeds and no big tasty kibble-thing bits that Justin loves...the look that Justin gave me after he realized this was enough to make me open a new bag and promptly give him the prime pieces.
Ratsputin tried to get in a fight with a squirrel this morning. I never believed that "testosterone poisoning" was an actual thing until this. Luckily he didn't actually get near enough to catch any disease or get bitten, but it was tough to hang on to him!
WEREHEDGEHOG!
http://summer-of-supervillainy.tumblr.com/post/49390090115/fuckyeahdiomedes-donnamosses
Chinchillas!
http://www.qualitymutationchinchillas.com/images/640_xbabies.051809.2.JPG
http://www.jennykyledesign.com/chincalendar2009/web/virus_1.jpg
And what would happen if Anita ran a restaurant
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6LY7TJ16pg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQDtoHpAWhg
And speaking of testosterone poisoning...
BULLET, CHAPTER 30, PART ONE
Some other therians take Jamil and Shang-Da away to lie down. Jamil won't look at her and Shang-Da gives her a dirty look "as if he were considering how he would kill me if he had to" Well, that's something I think everyone around Anita should think about, given how bad it would be if she went villainous...more than she already has, I mean "and considering for the first time that he might not be able to." Pssh, because Anita is just that great, of course. "One of them dealt with his fear by being afraid, the other by estimating his chances." How do you know Jamil is afraid just because he won't look at you? I'd be too disgusted with Anita on a regular basis to look at her. Not to mention there's nothing wrong with the fact they're both afraid. They fucking should be. "Either way, I'd damaged what relationship I'd had with the two werewolves." Last time I checked, their only relationship with you was that they very sensibly didn't like you at all. Which I guess is yet another reason why they had to get this treatment. "I could have pointed out that they'd volunteered, and that it did save Richard's life, but I wasn't comfortable enough with what I'd just done to be logical."
This frustrates me so much. Because what she's saying she's not comfortable with is the whole life-draining thing. And that's the part I'm fine with. It was for a good cause and they both volunteered for exactly that with full knowledge they could die from it. It cheeses me off that LKH would rather this than a sex scene with a black and Asian guy, but in-universe I don't think Anita needs to feel guilt about this in itself. What she SHOULD feel uncomfortable with but isn't even CONSIDERING is how she gave energy to other people besides Richard to heal wounds they didn't need help with, risking the chance of running out of enough juice to restore Jamil and Shang-Da who did NOT volunteer their life-energy to do THAT thank you very much. That's what's truly fucked up here. That's what Jamil should be looking away in disgust with and Shang-Da wanting to kill her for. I would.
"I let them be led away like children lost in the mall when security finally finds them and takes them back to Mommy and Daddy."
1) Don't you dare try and make me feel sorry for YOU in this, Anita
2) Stop fucking comparing the therians to children!
3) Wait...if they're the children in the mall...and you're not Mommy and Daddy or security, you're the person that security is leading them AWAY from...oh my god I wonder if LKH thought this metaphor out to its logical end.
Anita says that "the black-star vision" helps her "see things more clearly, as if everything were sharp-edged like it can be in an emergency. You see everything, and you notice things you might not have noticed otherwise." She claimed this same thing about emergency situations earlier, saying that her vision got all sharp-edged like everything in her eyes were made of glass, and maybe that is how emergencies happen for LKH, but the few life-or-death emergencies that I've been in didn't have anything like that. Nothing went in slow motion either, which would have been handy at the time, I must say.
Anita looks at Nicky and he no longer looks scared but "considering" instead. Anita asks "What?" and he says that the energy rush he got through Anita felt amazing and asks if it was even better for her. Creepy, Nicky, thanks. Anita says she doesn't know, Nicky says she does and that "it felt good the way killing something with teeth and claws feels good. It feels good to feed." JC steps in between them and praises Anita for how she saved Richard and assures her that "you have done no lasting harm to the other wolves." Yeah, but she sure didn't mind risking it! Save your breath (so to speak) JC, I don't think she cares!
Then Anita fucking randomly observes that "You really don't use any vampire wiles to make yourself this beautiful" and he confirms this. Uh, well, that was out of left field, I guess, but then again Anita can never stop yammering about how hot her men are no matter what, I guess she may as well go off on it here too.
Damian (remember him? came in with blood on his mouth at the end of last chapter? because I had already forgotten owing to him not doing shit or even being mentioned within the first two pages of this chapter) and we get a small paragraph about how his black eyes are so startling against his pale skin and red hair and he says that the rush was almost better than blood. Anita says that this is the real danger of some powers, that it doesn't feel bad, it feels good, and you can start craving it. Yawn. Again, this same ol' "Anita might give in to her bad powers!" crap that has never come to anything and never will. "If I craved it and gave in to it, I would be the monster. I didn't want to be the monster." See Dick. See Dick run. See Dick run from Anita. That is a prose style you want to avoid! "I didn't want Jamil and Shang-Da to be afraid of me, not like that." But they can be afraid of you in other ways, that's fine! And that's what they get for not liking Anita and for being NON-WHITE bishies, so there, nyeah!
"I was beginning to understand that the only difference between being the monster and being powerful was choosing not to be the monster." How is this a new fucking revelation? Or a hard conclusion to come through? And didn't she spend her entire fucking life prior to the beginning of the series using her animator powers in, if not good, at least neutral/non-evil ways? And being repulsed against using them for evil? She's known this a good long time because it's really BASIC FUCKING LOGIC. Also, it is really weird to me how the word "monster" is used just as a general term for people who happen to be therians or vampires ("I accept the monsters") but also a term for someone morally evil and dangerous in a supernatural way like here. You'd think she'd pick another word for one or the other. Because as is, it's kind of offensive to these people she claims to accept so much. "But there would always be tomorrow, and another chance to choose." And Anita will once again choose right when that comes. Well, she'll be portrayed as having chosen right by LKH, when, in reality, she will most likely be a total monster. LIKE SHE WAS JUST NOW.
Her phone rings, she answers it, and I suppose nothing bad is going to come of Damian's bloody mouth since they're not addressing it at all. Geez, you'd think they'd at least ASK who snacked on? And why he didn't bother to wipe his mouth? That's the equivalent of a human being walking around with mashed potatoes smeared on their face. Ru-ude!
A man asks if this is Marshal Blake and says that's Marshal Finnegan. Anita hopes that the Marshal Service doesn't need her now because "black glowy eyes and hit men out to get me, how would I explain it?" Maybe don't TELL them about the hit men? Or, if you have to, say it's related to your Executioner position? Angry lover of a vamp you offed, maybe. As for the glowy eyes, well, they'll probably go away by the time she sees any law enforcement face to face, but I'd actually fucking love it if she does have to explain, and can't, and someone BESIDES her who actually knows a thing or two about supernaturals (ha, as if that'd happen!) knows what it means and blows the beans and they throw her off the damn force for it and AREN'T shown as stupid meanies for it. That'd be so fucking awesome. It'd also be good writing. Which means it won't happen.
Finnegan says he wants her to watch a crime scene video. There's a waste of two whole paragraphs specifying that it's an address and password for a site rather than an email and using Nicky's iPhone with the screen set to notebook to write it down. Finnegan tells her that the password is just going to work for today and that changing it later is standard protocol. Anita apparently doesn't understand the meaning of "standard protocol" because she assures him that "I wouldn't want someone I didn't know personally having full access to my stuff, either." Anita. It's not about knowing you personally or not. It's just the fucking rules. That's what protocol MEANS. Finnegan is apologetic nonetheless because "I'm asking for your help, not the other way around" and Anita responds with "Fine, I'll stop trying to play well with others." WHAT IS HER PROBLEM?
Finnegan takes this extraordinary and random rudeness in stride by saying he's heard none of the preternatural branch marshals are team players. Well, yeah, probably because they were never on a team like I presume regular marshals are before they got grandfathered in. Anita says that "Being the Lone Ranger doesn't teach you good group skills." ANITA, YOU ARE NOT THE FUCKING LONE RANGER. YOU ARE THE HORSES'S ASS. Finnegan corrects her that the Lone Ranger was a Texas Ranger, not a US Marshal and Anita is like UGH MY POINT IS THAT SOLO AGENTS DON'T LEARN GROUP SKILL and he's like OKAY OKAY CHILL I'M SORRY. My god, it has been a whole page since he called and we still don't know what about at all. She asks when he needs her to get back to him, he says ASAP, she demands a specific time frame. He tells her she'll do it ASAP once she sees the video. So she says she'll watch it and then do that.
It would have been fine to end the call here, but then Finnegan tells her that someone named Ben Carter has said good things about her. We then get HALF A FUCKING PAGE of back and forth gushing from Finnegan about how Anita watched a surveillance tape for this Carter guy and caught things nobody else saw and is so amazing and Anita trying to be all modest and oh-I'm-not-that-great and he says he thinks she plays just fine with others after all. Ugh, I think I'm gonna barf. She thanks him and then asks what she's supposed to be looking for in the tapes. He says "We're looking for reasons" and she asks what for and he says if she watches the tape she'll understand. Goddammit, LKH, that bit about "you'll want to call us ASAP once you watch it" was enough buildup, the perfect amount, now this is just getting stupid and delaying shit.
He again tells her to just watch the video so she can tell them "what the fuck happened" and then apologizes for using the f-word and she says that's fine because she cusses a lot and he says he heard that about her (she does it so much even the other cops talk about it? that seems to cross the line into just plain weird) and he says that his mother still raised him not to cuss in front of ladies and Anita thinks about how he might treat her as less of a marshal if he thinks she's a lady. She just assures him it's not necessary to watch his mouth in front of her, he says he thinks it is but he'll try not to apologize for it again, OH MY GOD WATCH THE FUCKING VIDEO ANITA, I THINK HE MADE IT PRETTY CLEAR THIS IS NO TIME FOR SMALL TALK WTF.
But then they have a conversation about whether women are offended when other women cuss, and neither of them is sure, and only THEN does she say she'll watch the video. He says "We'll be looking forward to any insights you can give us." Yeah, insights like 'hmm, the attacker is hairy and orange and has stripes, but stands on two feet like a man, I bet this is a weretiger in half-shift!' I expect. Before she hangs up, she asks where he's calling from, he says Atlanta. Great. I fucking live in Georgia, guys. Not that far from Atlanta. I can't wait to see her fuck this up with a bunch of ridiculous ideas about Southernhood like I'm sure she will. She writes down the number he gives her on Nicky's iPhone, gives it to Nicky and tells him to send the notes to her phone, and JC asks her if she's really going to take the time to watch the video.
Um, yes? It's her job, jackass. And if it's a supernatural crime that can't be explained and happened recently, it could very well be connected to the shit going down with the MOAD. Now, I agree with him that there have been a ton of fucking delays in this novel--Haven, orgies, hit men--and that the introduction of yet another sub-plot when the main plot hasn't advanced one iota is bad, but in-universe this is actually the most reasonable sub-plot to have occured so far. JC says that the tigers from Las Vegas are waiting, Anita says she doesn't want them to see her and everyone connected to her when their eyes black, and Damian asks why not. Anita points out how good it felt to feed on Jamil and Shang-Da, and she says that makes her not want to be around wereanimals that she's attracted to while "this power is still riding me." I am laughing bitterly at the claim she finds Jamil and Shang-Da attractive. And how is it that she just fucking knows already that the weretigers will of course all be hotties.
JC says "You are afraid your hungers will not stop at the ardeur." and Anita says yes. Implying she's okay if it's just the ardeur?! You know, just raping people?! He says that he believes her control is better than that, and again I must laugh most bitterly. He studies her face and she wonders "if he saw me differently with the power riding him" and decides not to ask because "I'd had enough shocks". She says she needs someone to help her get on the computer (seriously?) and then leave her to watch it alone. He says he doesn't want anyone in the triumvirates left alone, and Anita asks if that's because the council or MOAD might try something else, he says yes, she agrees, he says he'll watch with her then. I have to wonder, isn't the MOAD just as likely to go for anyone else in the Circus? I mean, going for the two triads would gain her the most power the quickest, but since she seems unable to do that as of yet, possessing everyone else at the Circus and turning them against Anita & Co might be a good idea.
Also. I am bad with technology (compared to other 20somethings). One of my characters is bad with technology to the point that Anita is and worse, comically so. But neither he nor I are involved with the police, who regularly use this technology nowadays in investigations. Anita not knowing how to do this stuff is not realistic. She would be pretty much made to learn. It's also not cute and endearing like it might be if she weren't in law enforcement, because the fact that people's lives literally rely on learning to do this shit, so the fact she's clearly not bothering to learn is actually pretty scary and revolting.
She tells JC that it's a police investigation so she can't share it with a civilian. JC doesn't think he qualifies as a civilian. Tough luck buddy, you are in the eyes of the law, which does not recognize Vampire Masters, so there. Anita seems to agree he's not a civilian (because civilians are never COOL people!) but that "you aren't a cop either." JC says he'll "spell" Micah with the weretigers (does "spell" mean help?) but that Anita can't be alone because the Council might try to get her when she has no one to touch.
Touch. That's seriously all our heroine has to do in order to ward off the most powerful vampires ever. Touch a hot guy. Yeah, so scary.
They compromise that Nicky will stay with her "because if I ordered him not to tell anyone what he saw, he'd have to do what I said." This is why I have a hard believing it whenever Anita gives her token mentions of finding Nicky's behavior creepy--because she happily indulges it and exploits it whenever it's convenient. I guess I get that she 'has' to now because she needs someone there to ~touch~ but that's just so stupid I can't even see it that way. She says that same is also true of Damian, and we get a big long paragraph that takes up most of the page about how Anita has even more control over Damian than she does over Nathaniel or that JC has over Richard or her. Well, genius, maybe that's because Damian is a weak vampire while Richard is a really strong wolf? And also you don't have the Fourth Mark as JC's Servant while Damian is fully bound to you? My guess is that it's because her necromancy gives her a strong degree of power over all vampires anyway, and then that adds to the control she has over a Vampire Servant. But Anita has to say that "Since I was the first necromancer in vampire history to have a vampire servant, none of us knew why" BECAUSE WE ARE NOT ALLOWED TO EVER FORGET HOW SPECIAL SHE IS which takes up a good chunk of this very long paragraph. "But right now I had a crime scene to look at." After your long monologue about your mysterious specialness and how it mystifies everyone with how special you are, of course.
She thinks that she's glad to have something else to concentrate on besides her personal life and the supernatural problems. Yes, because a crime case is just a fun distraction! And the MOAD-controlled Council trying to kill you and take over America is something you should totally divert attention from! She also says that she likes police work better because "it had clear-cut goals. You figured out who did it, or what did it, and you caught them, or killed them. Problem solved." Isn't that exactly what you're doing about the supernatural problems? And, hell, given how it went with Haven, your personal problems too? "When crime busting is easier than your personal life, something has gone seriously wrong." Yeah, it means that you're in a crappy self-insert novel where the author spoon-feeds you the solution to every case! Seriously, Anita pretty much never puts any clues together or solves any crimes, the culprits just fall on her.
Anita thinks it's weird that the underground of the Circus has a computer room. Really? That doesn't seem weird at all to me. That seems sensible and realistic. She reasons that most vampires aren't huge on technology and other inventions that weren't around when they were alive but that "Jean-Claude was an early adapter and he was insisting that all his people know the basics." Again, I doubt this is an exceptional thing, if not among vampires in general than at least among the Masters of the Cities. Being as ahead of the game as much as possible in every way is the only way to survive and stay on top in the very cutthroat world of vampire politics shown to exist in this universe, and 'in every way' includes understanding and utilizing the cutting edge of technology and other inventions no matter what century you're in, and continuing to do so with every subsequent decade and century to use them against your enemies and keep yourself safe. Would keeping up often be hard? Probably. But if a Master is still around and at large, they've probably so far succeeded at that. I refuse to believe that Jean-Claude is unique in this like it's being presented. I'm also amused that it's being presented as exceptional that he has some of the dancers do online blogs. Uh, that's just basic business management? Promote your business, keep touch with the fan base, that sort of thing. I again don't see how it's so bizarre for a vampire to be able to understand that. "They were on Facebook, MySpace, and even Twitter, whatever that was." Hahah, Anita doesn't know what Twitter is! Isn't that funny? isn't that cute? isn't that quaint? isn't that endearing? LOVE HER DAMMIT! She's human! And has weaknesses! Really! This proves it! That's basically the vibe I'm getting from this.
When they go into the computer room, Valentina is using one of the computers. Aw, yay, Valentina! She's one of my favorites. I have a ridiculous love for little girl vamps, I don't know what it is. Anita, as she did earlier in the novel, misuses the term proverbial: "No one made her dress like the proverbial little girl." Dammit, Anita, there is a proverbial wolf in sheep's clothing, there is the proverbial bird in the hand, there is the proverbial divided house, but as far as I know there is no proverbial little girl! Proverbial does not mean stereotypical or archetypical or expected manner of something like you seem to think, it means something from a proverb or story or famous quote!
Whatever Valentina is looking at on the screen, she's staring at it so very intently that she doesn't even realize Anita and Nicky has come in. Anita then has the "horrible thought" that both Valentina and Bartolome were here at the Circus when the ardeur hit everyone. Well, if they were effected by it, then this wouldn't be the first time that the ardeur caused (sort of) child rape, now would it?
Justin and Jenner got fed from the very last of the rat food bag today, so there was mostly just seeds and no big tasty kibble-thing bits that Justin loves...the look that Justin gave me after he realized this was enough to make me open a new bag and promptly give him the prime pieces.
Ratsputin tried to get in a fight with a squirrel this morning. I never believed that "testosterone poisoning" was an actual thing until this. Luckily he didn't actually get near enough to catch any disease or get bitten, but it was tough to hang on to him!
WEREHEDGEHOG!
http://summer-of-supervillainy.tumblr.com/post/49390090115/fuckyeahdiomedes-donnamosses
Chinchillas!
http://www.qualitymutationchinchillas.com/images/640_xbabies.051809.2.JPG
http://www.jennykyledesign.com/chincalendar2009/web/virus_1.jpg
And what would happen if Anita ran a restaurant
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6LY7TJ16pg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQDtoHpAWhg
And speaking of testosterone poisoning...
BULLET, CHAPTER 30, PART ONE
Some other therians take Jamil and Shang-Da away to lie down. Jamil won't look at her and Shang-Da gives her a dirty look "as if he were considering how he would kill me if he had to" Well, that's something I think everyone around Anita should think about, given how bad it would be if she went villainous...more than she already has, I mean "and considering for the first time that he might not be able to." Pssh, because Anita is just that great, of course. "One of them dealt with his fear by being afraid, the other by estimating his chances." How do you know Jamil is afraid just because he won't look at you? I'd be too disgusted with Anita on a regular basis to look at her. Not to mention there's nothing wrong with the fact they're both afraid. They fucking should be. "Either way, I'd damaged what relationship I'd had with the two werewolves." Last time I checked, their only relationship with you was that they very sensibly didn't like you at all. Which I guess is yet another reason why they had to get this treatment. "I could have pointed out that they'd volunteered, and that it did save Richard's life, but I wasn't comfortable enough with what I'd just done to be logical."
This frustrates me so much. Because what she's saying she's not comfortable with is the whole life-draining thing. And that's the part I'm fine with. It was for a good cause and they both volunteered for exactly that with full knowledge they could die from it. It cheeses me off that LKH would rather this than a sex scene with a black and Asian guy, but in-universe I don't think Anita needs to feel guilt about this in itself. What she SHOULD feel uncomfortable with but isn't even CONSIDERING is how she gave energy to other people besides Richard to heal wounds they didn't need help with, risking the chance of running out of enough juice to restore Jamil and Shang-Da who did NOT volunteer their life-energy to do THAT thank you very much. That's what's truly fucked up here. That's what Jamil should be looking away in disgust with and Shang-Da wanting to kill her for. I would.
"I let them be led away like children lost in the mall when security finally finds them and takes them back to Mommy and Daddy."
1) Don't you dare try and make me feel sorry for YOU in this, Anita
2) Stop fucking comparing the therians to children!
3) Wait...if they're the children in the mall...and you're not Mommy and Daddy or security, you're the person that security is leading them AWAY from...oh my god I wonder if LKH thought this metaphor out to its logical end.
Anita says that "the black-star vision" helps her "see things more clearly, as if everything were sharp-edged like it can be in an emergency. You see everything, and you notice things you might not have noticed otherwise." She claimed this same thing about emergency situations earlier, saying that her vision got all sharp-edged like everything in her eyes were made of glass, and maybe that is how emergencies happen for LKH, but the few life-or-death emergencies that I've been in didn't have anything like that. Nothing went in slow motion either, which would have been handy at the time, I must say.
Anita looks at Nicky and he no longer looks scared but "considering" instead. Anita asks "What?" and he says that the energy rush he got through Anita felt amazing and asks if it was even better for her. Creepy, Nicky, thanks. Anita says she doesn't know, Nicky says she does and that "it felt good the way killing something with teeth and claws feels good. It feels good to feed." JC steps in between them and praises Anita for how she saved Richard and assures her that "you have done no lasting harm to the other wolves." Yeah, but she sure didn't mind risking it! Save your breath (so to speak) JC, I don't think she cares!
Then Anita fucking randomly observes that "You really don't use any vampire wiles to make yourself this beautiful" and he confirms this. Uh, well, that was out of left field, I guess, but then again Anita can never stop yammering about how hot her men are no matter what, I guess she may as well go off on it here too.
Damian (remember him? came in with blood on his mouth at the end of last chapter? because I had already forgotten owing to him not doing shit or even being mentioned within the first two pages of this chapter) and we get a small paragraph about how his black eyes are so startling against his pale skin and red hair and he says that the rush was almost better than blood. Anita says that this is the real danger of some powers, that it doesn't feel bad, it feels good, and you can start craving it. Yawn. Again, this same ol' "Anita might give in to her bad powers!" crap that has never come to anything and never will. "If I craved it and gave in to it, I would be the monster. I didn't want to be the monster." See Dick. See Dick run. See Dick run from Anita. That is a prose style you want to avoid! "I didn't want Jamil and Shang-Da to be afraid of me, not like that." But they can be afraid of you in other ways, that's fine! And that's what they get for not liking Anita and for being NON-WHITE bishies, so there, nyeah!
"I was beginning to understand that the only difference between being the monster and being powerful was choosing not to be the monster." How is this a new fucking revelation? Or a hard conclusion to come through? And didn't she spend her entire fucking life prior to the beginning of the series using her animator powers in, if not good, at least neutral/non-evil ways? And being repulsed against using them for evil? She's known this a good long time because it's really BASIC FUCKING LOGIC. Also, it is really weird to me how the word "monster" is used just as a general term for people who happen to be therians or vampires ("I accept the monsters") but also a term for someone morally evil and dangerous in a supernatural way like here. You'd think she'd pick another word for one or the other. Because as is, it's kind of offensive to these people she claims to accept so much. "But there would always be tomorrow, and another chance to choose." And Anita will once again choose right when that comes. Well, she'll be portrayed as having chosen right by LKH, when, in reality, she will most likely be a total monster. LIKE SHE WAS JUST NOW.
Her phone rings, she answers it, and I suppose nothing bad is going to come of Damian's bloody mouth since they're not addressing it at all. Geez, you'd think they'd at least ASK who snacked on? And why he didn't bother to wipe his mouth? That's the equivalent of a human being walking around with mashed potatoes smeared on their face. Ru-ude!
A man asks if this is Marshal Blake and says that's Marshal Finnegan. Anita hopes that the Marshal Service doesn't need her now because "black glowy eyes and hit men out to get me, how would I explain it?" Maybe don't TELL them about the hit men? Or, if you have to, say it's related to your Executioner position? Angry lover of a vamp you offed, maybe. As for the glowy eyes, well, they'll probably go away by the time she sees any law enforcement face to face, but I'd actually fucking love it if she does have to explain, and can't, and someone BESIDES her who actually knows a thing or two about supernaturals (ha, as if that'd happen!) knows what it means and blows the beans and they throw her off the damn force for it and AREN'T shown as stupid meanies for it. That'd be so fucking awesome. It'd also be good writing. Which means it won't happen.
Finnegan says he wants her to watch a crime scene video. There's a waste of two whole paragraphs specifying that it's an address and password for a site rather than an email and using Nicky's iPhone with the screen set to notebook to write it down. Finnegan tells her that the password is just going to work for today and that changing it later is standard protocol. Anita apparently doesn't understand the meaning of "standard protocol" because she assures him that "I wouldn't want someone I didn't know personally having full access to my stuff, either." Anita. It's not about knowing you personally or not. It's just the fucking rules. That's what protocol MEANS. Finnegan is apologetic nonetheless because "I'm asking for your help, not the other way around" and Anita responds with "Fine, I'll stop trying to play well with others." WHAT IS HER PROBLEM?
Finnegan takes this extraordinary and random rudeness in stride by saying he's heard none of the preternatural branch marshals are team players. Well, yeah, probably because they were never on a team like I presume regular marshals are before they got grandfathered in. Anita says that "Being the Lone Ranger doesn't teach you good group skills." ANITA, YOU ARE NOT THE FUCKING LONE RANGER. YOU ARE THE HORSES'S ASS. Finnegan corrects her that the Lone Ranger was a Texas Ranger, not a US Marshal and Anita is like UGH MY POINT IS THAT SOLO AGENTS DON'T LEARN GROUP SKILL and he's like OKAY OKAY CHILL I'M SORRY. My god, it has been a whole page since he called and we still don't know what about at all. She asks when he needs her to get back to him, he says ASAP, she demands a specific time frame. He tells her she'll do it ASAP once she sees the video. So she says she'll watch it and then do that.
It would have been fine to end the call here, but then Finnegan tells her that someone named Ben Carter has said good things about her. We then get HALF A FUCKING PAGE of back and forth gushing from Finnegan about how Anita watched a surveillance tape for this Carter guy and caught things nobody else saw and is so amazing and Anita trying to be all modest and oh-I'm-not-that-great and he says he thinks she plays just fine with others after all. Ugh, I think I'm gonna barf. She thanks him and then asks what she's supposed to be looking for in the tapes. He says "We're looking for reasons" and she asks what for and he says if she watches the tape she'll understand. Goddammit, LKH, that bit about "you'll want to call us ASAP once you watch it" was enough buildup, the perfect amount, now this is just getting stupid and delaying shit.
He again tells her to just watch the video so she can tell them "what the fuck happened" and then apologizes for using the f-word and she says that's fine because she cusses a lot and he says he heard that about her (she does it so much even the other cops talk about it? that seems to cross the line into just plain weird) and he says that his mother still raised him not to cuss in front of ladies and Anita thinks about how he might treat her as less of a marshal if he thinks she's a lady. She just assures him it's not necessary to watch his mouth in front of her, he says he thinks it is but he'll try not to apologize for it again, OH MY GOD WATCH THE FUCKING VIDEO ANITA, I THINK HE MADE IT PRETTY CLEAR THIS IS NO TIME FOR SMALL TALK WTF.
But then they have a conversation about whether women are offended when other women cuss, and neither of them is sure, and only THEN does she say she'll watch the video. He says "We'll be looking forward to any insights you can give us." Yeah, insights like 'hmm, the attacker is hairy and orange and has stripes, but stands on two feet like a man, I bet this is a weretiger in half-shift!' I expect. Before she hangs up, she asks where he's calling from, he says Atlanta. Great. I fucking live in Georgia, guys. Not that far from Atlanta. I can't wait to see her fuck this up with a bunch of ridiculous ideas about Southernhood like I'm sure she will. She writes down the number he gives her on Nicky's iPhone, gives it to Nicky and tells him to send the notes to her phone, and JC asks her if she's really going to take the time to watch the video.
Um, yes? It's her job, jackass. And if it's a supernatural crime that can't be explained and happened recently, it could very well be connected to the shit going down with the MOAD. Now, I agree with him that there have been a ton of fucking delays in this novel--Haven, orgies, hit men--and that the introduction of yet another sub-plot when the main plot hasn't advanced one iota is bad, but in-universe this is actually the most reasonable sub-plot to have occured so far. JC says that the tigers from Las Vegas are waiting, Anita says she doesn't want them to see her and everyone connected to her when their eyes black, and Damian asks why not. Anita points out how good it felt to feed on Jamil and Shang-Da, and she says that makes her not want to be around wereanimals that she's attracted to while "this power is still riding me." I am laughing bitterly at the claim she finds Jamil and Shang-Da attractive. And how is it that she just fucking knows already that the weretigers will of course all be hotties.
JC says "You are afraid your hungers will not stop at the ardeur." and Anita says yes. Implying she's okay if it's just the ardeur?! You know, just raping people?! He says that he believes her control is better than that, and again I must laugh most bitterly. He studies her face and she wonders "if he saw me differently with the power riding him" and decides not to ask because "I'd had enough shocks". She says she needs someone to help her get on the computer (seriously?) and then leave her to watch it alone. He says he doesn't want anyone in the triumvirates left alone, and Anita asks if that's because the council or MOAD might try something else, he says yes, she agrees, he says he'll watch with her then. I have to wonder, isn't the MOAD just as likely to go for anyone else in the Circus? I mean, going for the two triads would gain her the most power the quickest, but since she seems unable to do that as of yet, possessing everyone else at the Circus and turning them against Anita & Co might be a good idea.
Also. I am bad with technology (compared to other 20somethings). One of my characters is bad with technology to the point that Anita is and worse, comically so. But neither he nor I are involved with the police, who regularly use this technology nowadays in investigations. Anita not knowing how to do this stuff is not realistic. She would be pretty much made to learn. It's also not cute and endearing like it might be if she weren't in law enforcement, because the fact that people's lives literally rely on learning to do this shit, so the fact she's clearly not bothering to learn is actually pretty scary and revolting.
She tells JC that it's a police investigation so she can't share it with a civilian. JC doesn't think he qualifies as a civilian. Tough luck buddy, you are in the eyes of the law, which does not recognize Vampire Masters, so there. Anita seems to agree he's not a civilian (because civilians are never COOL people!) but that "you aren't a cop either." JC says he'll "spell" Micah with the weretigers (does "spell" mean help?) but that Anita can't be alone because the Council might try to get her when she has no one to touch.
Touch. That's seriously all our heroine has to do in order to ward off the most powerful vampires ever. Touch a hot guy. Yeah, so scary.
They compromise that Nicky will stay with her "because if I ordered him not to tell anyone what he saw, he'd have to do what I said." This is why I have a hard believing it whenever Anita gives her token mentions of finding Nicky's behavior creepy--because she happily indulges it and exploits it whenever it's convenient. I guess I get that she 'has' to now because she needs someone there to ~touch~ but that's just so stupid I can't even see it that way. She says that same is also true of Damian, and we get a big long paragraph that takes up most of the page about how Anita has even more control over Damian than she does over Nathaniel or that JC has over Richard or her. Well, genius, maybe that's because Damian is a weak vampire while Richard is a really strong wolf? And also you don't have the Fourth Mark as JC's Servant while Damian is fully bound to you? My guess is that it's because her necromancy gives her a strong degree of power over all vampires anyway, and then that adds to the control she has over a Vampire Servant. But Anita has to say that "Since I was the first necromancer in vampire history to have a vampire servant, none of us knew why" BECAUSE WE ARE NOT ALLOWED TO EVER FORGET HOW SPECIAL SHE IS which takes up a good chunk of this very long paragraph. "But right now I had a crime scene to look at." After your long monologue about your mysterious specialness and how it mystifies everyone with how special you are, of course.
She thinks that she's glad to have something else to concentrate on besides her personal life and the supernatural problems. Yes, because a crime case is just a fun distraction! And the MOAD-controlled Council trying to kill you and take over America is something you should totally divert attention from! She also says that she likes police work better because "it had clear-cut goals. You figured out who did it, or what did it, and you caught them, or killed them. Problem solved." Isn't that exactly what you're doing about the supernatural problems? And, hell, given how it went with Haven, your personal problems too? "When crime busting is easier than your personal life, something has gone seriously wrong." Yeah, it means that you're in a crappy self-insert novel where the author spoon-feeds you the solution to every case! Seriously, Anita pretty much never puts any clues together or solves any crimes, the culprits just fall on her.
Anita thinks it's weird that the underground of the Circus has a computer room. Really? That doesn't seem weird at all to me. That seems sensible and realistic. She reasons that most vampires aren't huge on technology and other inventions that weren't around when they were alive but that "Jean-Claude was an early adapter and he was insisting that all his people know the basics." Again, I doubt this is an exceptional thing, if not among vampires in general than at least among the Masters of the Cities. Being as ahead of the game as much as possible in every way is the only way to survive and stay on top in the very cutthroat world of vampire politics shown to exist in this universe, and 'in every way' includes understanding and utilizing the cutting edge of technology and other inventions no matter what century you're in, and continuing to do so with every subsequent decade and century to use them against your enemies and keep yourself safe. Would keeping up often be hard? Probably. But if a Master is still around and at large, they've probably so far succeeded at that. I refuse to believe that Jean-Claude is unique in this like it's being presented. I'm also amused that it's being presented as exceptional that he has some of the dancers do online blogs. Uh, that's just basic business management? Promote your business, keep touch with the fan base, that sort of thing. I again don't see how it's so bizarre for a vampire to be able to understand that. "They were on Facebook, MySpace, and even Twitter, whatever that was." Hahah, Anita doesn't know what Twitter is! Isn't that funny? isn't that cute? isn't that quaint? isn't that endearing? LOVE HER DAMMIT! She's human! And has weaknesses! Really! This proves it! That's basically the vibe I'm getting from this.
When they go into the computer room, Valentina is using one of the computers. Aw, yay, Valentina! She's one of my favorites. I have a ridiculous love for little girl vamps, I don't know what it is. Anita, as she did earlier in the novel, misuses the term proverbial: "No one made her dress like the proverbial little girl." Dammit, Anita, there is a proverbial wolf in sheep's clothing, there is the proverbial bird in the hand, there is the proverbial divided house, but as far as I know there is no proverbial little girl! Proverbial does not mean stereotypical or archetypical or expected manner of something like you seem to think, it means something from a proverb or story or famous quote!
Whatever Valentina is looking at on the screen, she's staring at it so very intently that she doesn't even realize Anita and Nicky has come in. Anita then has the "horrible thought" that both Valentina and Bartolome were here at the Circus when the ardeur hit everyone. Well, if they were effected by it, then this wouldn't be the first time that the ardeur caused (sort of) child rape, now would it?
