HIT LIST, CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Oct. 10th, 2013 12:30 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
a_sporking_rat-Eeee, guys, look at the birthday gift I got! Sati fanart!
http://elila.deviantart.com/art/Birfday-Sati-405991804
-Tangled was on TV and I realized LKH must really hate this movie. Blonde femme heroine in pink, EVIL VILLAINESS WITH DARK CURLY HAIR OF EVIL. I told that to Cyngnusrex, and he said "Or she could relate to it because Mother Gothel traps a pretty young person with really long hair and convinces them that she knows best and she's protecting them by keeping them confined in order to use them to retain her immortality and youth. Whereas Anita brainwashes a few pretty young people with really long hair and takes away their individuality and will in order to use them as a power source in order to retain her immortality and youth. 'Cept Mother Gothel is actually less horrible of a person than Anita is, and she's the dang villain." SO TRUE!
-While at the library, I flipped through Circus of the Damned, and Melanie actually refers to her harem as being just that. Once again, I love her and her honesty. I also got Bloody Bones to reread the fey bits, so I might be posting some thoughts about those soon. I flipped to a random part of it, and lo and behold, so much instant facepalming in just one small passage
Anita asks JC what Serephina meant by him once having been "a catamite for any vampire who would have you" and JC explains how he was turned not for money, title, or even love, but for lust, cuz he's so hot to everyone, and he used to get passed around like a bong basically and Anita is like "if you were going to make up a story, this so wouldn't be it" REALLY? BECAUSE GIVEN YOUR PATTERN OF FALLING FOR ANY HOT MAN WITH A SEXUAL ABUSE SOB STORY, I THINK THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT HE'D COME UP WITH. granted JC is actually the *first* case of this, it wasn't a pattern yet, but he's so wily and manipulative and *knows* desire that I think he could see it from the start and was just waiting to whip these lines out.
Then she asks why Serephina is an older woman because she thought vamps didn't age. He's like SHE DIED AT THAT AGE, DUH ok without the duh. And Anita asks if he slept with her, and he said yes, and she asks "How could you let her touch you?" BECAUSE OLD PEOPLE ARE ICKY. I mean, it's not the sexual abuse there that's the problem, it's that SHE'S OLD EWWWWW
Oh Anita. Oh LKH.
HIT LIST, CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Edward walks at her left as they go across the parking lot, Nicky at her right. She squeezes his fingers. Edward says they have company, and she can feel Domino at her back "like heat behind me" and she can feel the other men but not as much as Nicky and Domino because "they were mine in ways the others were not" ugh ugh ugh. Anyway, it's only Newman, now with a "nice, noticeable bandage on his forehead" and Anita notices he has a few freckles that she didn't realize he had before. Also his shirt brown hair is uncombed and he has a tall lanky body and is watching them. Edward asks him how his head is, he says fine, Anita mentions how Edward slipping back into his Ted persona creeps her out. Personally I'm way more creeped out by how he's been acting like he cares for and/or wants to bang Anita. Anita thinks about how she and Edward both know Newman isn't fine, that his head probably aches, but that she or Edward would also have said the same thing. Well, uh, okay then.
Newman says Laila isn't though. Anita says she was told that Laila was going to pull through just fine. Newman says she's physically fine, Anita says oh so you mean she's positive for lycanthropy and he says yeah and Anita asks what kind and instead of saying THE WOLF KIND BECAUSE THAT'S THE ONLY KIND THAT'S WHY IT'S CALLED THAT BECAUSE LYCAN IS GREEK FOR WOLF YOU PUTZ he asks if it matters, Anita says yes, her bodyguards all agree with her. Newman asks if they're all lycanthropes and instead of saying "No, Ares and Socrates are hyainathropes, Bobby Lee is an arouraiosanthrope, Nicky and Domino are both ailuranthropes, respectively a leonanthrope and tigrisanthrope." Anita tells him they are. Newman says he didn't ask what kind Laila was going to be, that he didn't know it'd matter. Anita says it matters for a lot of reasons. Socrates steps up and says he heard about what happened to her and asks how she's taking the news. Newman just shakes his head, Socrates asks how bad, Newman says that "I think if her family weren't here she'd eat her gun."
Anita asks Edward what the plan is. Edward says that "We go back to the last place they attacked us and one of your friends here to track them." Anita asks "You mean use them like I got to use werewolves to track that one serial killer in St. Louis?" Considering that this is obviously what he means, I think that Anita just said this so that Newman would know HEY I DID THIS COOL THING especially since she's sure to say 'that one serial killer' rather than his name or anything, just so Newman absolutely knows it was a serial killer, ooo! She then tells us that that worked so well she'd "hoped it would become more standard for police around the country" and I'm surprised it isn't already since, as she points out "it was like having a tracking dog that could talk to you" but alas "the prejudice against shapeshifters was too deeply ingrained. You could bring a shifter to a crime scene, but you couldn't bring them in animal form, and in human form their noses weren't much better at tracking than a human being." Why can't you bring them in animal form? Are people more freaked out? I mean, I can see being scared by big wolves and tigers, but police work just fine with bigass German Shepherds and such, and I think that logically knowing there's a human mind in there can help overcome the instinctive urge to freak out and flee, especially when the animal behaves totally tame.
Newman nods, and Anita says the idea is "cool, but the odds of actually finding them close enough to track are pretty remote after all this time." All this time meaning one or two days? Because that's all that's passed. I mean, I'm sure they can cover a ton of ground, but you could still at least track them to, say, an airport and then go from there figuring out who booked tickets where an stuff or something like that. Edward agrees with her but says it's still the plan. Anita admits she doesn't have a better idea and tells him to "take some of the men with you, track the bad guys" and to call her if they find a workable trail. He asks why she isn't going with, she says she's going to go talk to Laila. OH GOD, ANITA IS THE LAST PERSON SOMEBODY SUICIDAL NEEDS TO SEE. Especially if the reason they're suicidal is becoming a shifter. Somehow I doubt "Oh yeah, you can become my harem member if you're a hot dude, but since you're a woman you'd just better stay out of my sight, never touch any man, even if he's not in my harem, and exist only as cannon fodder or to make me look good. You'll also be periodically raped in ardeur outbreaks, and all your autonomy pretty much goes to the leader of your group, who is probably fucking me fyi. Oh, and I notice you're not white, you can ask Jamil and Shang-Da how that's going to go for you." IF SHE WASN'T EATING THAT GUN BEFORE, SHE WOULD BE AFTER THAT.
Bad Guys: 1
Edward moves away to privately ask her "Since when do you hold the other marshal's hands?" Yeah, Laila isn't even a hot dude! "Since Micah became head of the Furry Coalition" STILL THE MOST UNFORTUNATE AND HILARIOUS NAME EVER "and I saw what a difference it can make to have another shapeshifter to talk to when you first find out. Having someone on the other side say, 'Look, I've got it and I'm doing okay.' It helps." So send ANY of the bodyguards to her, Anita, but you are a poor choice for that. You do not shift. Laila in all likelihood will. You haven't faced losing your job as an animator or badge as a marshal the way she is going to. You aren't tied to the moon like her. You aren't going to be a social pariah like her with people being afraid she's going to Hulk-out in a gigantic predator and eat someone. Not to mention, Anita also had a really easy ride in that she's never had to be in a therian group structure as a new member who is just learning, or a member at all. All her beasts were automatically 'queens' of their respective groups from the get-go.
Edward says Anita feels responsible, Anita says a little "but I know it will help to talk to me and some of the guards." No, just the guards. Edward says he doesn't like splitting up, Anita says she doesn't either but they'll both have good men with them and that she'll check on Olaf too while she's at the hospital because she "didn't mean to break him." Edward says it was his fault because "I didn't think he'd try you." Actually, I think Edward knew he'd do exactly that and wanted to see how Anita would react so he could study her new powers further and make sure she wasn't yet stupid enough to TOTALLY trust 'Serial Killer Guy' just because he smooched her. Anita asks why Olaf tried anyway, Edward says he thinks it's partly the rumors about her therian-level speed/strength, partly the rumors about her harem. Anita calls that "A combination of boyfriend and work jealousy" and Edward agrees and I gag because JEALOUS JEALOUS JEALOUS IS ANYONE NOT JEALOUS OF THIS WOMAN EVER?
Anita asks if Olaf has "decided that I'm not his little serial killer pinup now?" and Edward doesn't know. He says when Olaf arrived he was asking questions about Anita's men, especially about Cynric. Anita asks "Why especially Sin?" and Edward is like wtf why is he called Sin and Anita is like it's a nickname ok and Edward is like but why Sin of all things and Anita says that "If he were a different kind of kid he'd be a pale person in black, writing death poetry" Okay, but he's NOT that kind of kid, so why is his name that? Like, he'd be doing all sorts of things if he were different sorts of kids, how does that make sense as an answer? She then asks again why Cynric especially bothers Olaf, Edward thinks it's the age, Anita asks if it's just that "he's a teenager, or the age difference between him and me?" and Edward says Olaf wouldn't talk about it, just wanted to know more about Cynric and if it was true Anita had a teen boy living with her as her lover. Again, I think LKH knows she can't get away with actually putting Cynric on-screen (because she doesn't know how to have her characters interact in a way that's not overtly sexual) so she just wants to have everyone talk about him and how he's a teenager omg as much as possible. Kind of like how in Bullet she liked to mention a lot for no relevant reason how Nicky had no free will; she gets off on saying it over and over, I think.
Non-Answer Answers: 1
Anita asks if Olaf "asked it like that?" and Edward says Olaf asked if Anita had a teen boy living with her, Edward said yes, Olaf asked if he was "truly" her lover, Edward said yes. Anita asks if Olaf has ever asked about any other lovers specifically before, Edward says no, "just if you had as many lovers as the rumors say you do; to do that, I said, no one could be fucking that many men." Didn't Anita already explain to Ethan how they do a lot of group scenes for that exact reason? Anita says Edward didn't want to tell him how many men she was with, Edward explains that "Part of Olaf's hatred of women comes from thinking they're all manipulative whores." Remember how LKH wrote Haven as having had lots of girlfriends before Anita but none of them really enjoyed sex like Anita does and they all, unlike Anita, wanted things like money and jewelry from him? Olaf clearly is not the only one with this opinion. "You weren't having sex with anyone when he met you, so that helped him not have issues with you." How would he know? How does he knows his other victims were having sex, given that from what we've seen he doesn't seem to stalk them over long periods of time and get to know them so much as just spot them, chat them up, then snatch them on the spot. Granted, I guess that a guy who thinks like him would assume ALL women are having lots of sex, but then why wouldn't he think Anita was? Especially since, at that time, wasn't she with Jean-Claude? And was already sexually active with him? Were they on a break, does anyone remember? Did she tell Olaf she wasn't having sex with anyone? Why would he believe the word of a woman? Did Edward tell him that to make sure he'd work with Anita alright? That seems unlikely too since in OB when Olaf was first introduced, he did not seem to give a shit about the sex lives of his victims and it was instead Bernardo who openly admitted to having a virgin/whore complex.
Anita asks "Do you think I've gone over some magic line in Olaf's mind?" There's nothing 'magic' or mysterious about that line, Anita. It's a stupid sexist line, but it's not a hard one to figure out. You're the 'exceptional women' you've always wanted/claimed to be to him because you're both a sociopathic killer and supposedly chaste. When he finds out you're not chaste, you lose Not Like Other Girls status in his book. It's that simple, no 'magic' needed to refer to it, which implies (to me) that it's a line somehow incomprehensible or nonsensical to anyone but Olaf. "Am I not his girlfriend anymore, but just another whore that he'll want to kidnap, torture, rape, and kill?" God, I hope so. He'll no longer get favorable treatment for his worship of Anita as sexually desirable and Not Like Other Girls, and maybe something will finally be done about him.
Edward says he honestly doesn't know. Anita says this could complicate things. I'm sure you all know by now just what my opinion is on how to un-complicate things. Edward adds that because she broke his wrist he will be "trying to prove that you're not better at this job than he is; almost any man would." I'm starting to wonder if maybe the men that LKH grew up around were all this very specific type of insanely macho jackass, and that's why she not only seems to think all men are like this but also that it's a good/enviable/admirable thing that Anita should be commenced for getting in on (hence dumb shit like the jogging scene in Bullet and doing the same thing as Newman--going into the woods while wounded and bleeding--as the blonde EMT complains about stupid men doing these stupid things, silly female that she is, unlike Anita!). Anita says she didn't mean to make things worse, Edward says he knows, and Anita thinks about how "I still couldn't get used to the fact that "Ted" wore a cowboy hat and Edward didn't like hats." Well then.
Anita asks what Edward wants her to do about him. Edward says he doesn't know and that if he's decided she's just another whore then she can not only never work with him again (YES GOOD) but he may try to go after her. Anita says "You mean make me one of his victims." YES THAT IS WHAT 'GO AFTER YOU MEANS' I THINK THE READERS UNDERSTAND THAT. Edward says yes, probably thinking 'duh'. Anita asks if that means she shouldn't check on him when she goes to see Laila. Edward makes some gestures with his hat and Anita thinks about how "he was being more Ted than himself the last few years" probably because you've only been seeing him on cases where he has to be Ted? "maybe Edward liked hats too, now?" Oh my god she has some kind of weird ADHD or something I swear. He tells her he doesn't like her being at the hospital at all with Olaf there. She asks if he's asking her not to see Laila. He says he knows better, she says "because I can't let fear of Olaf prevent me from doing my job" oh god how heavy-handed contrived can you get with setting her up to see him.
Needless Re-clarification: 1
Edward tells Anita that "hold Karlton's hand isn't your job" and I can forgive coldness of that type from him since we're SUPPOSED to see him as a sociopath (if only the LKH definition of such) and Anita says "No, but I don't want Micah in this city with the Harle...shit, them here. He'd be a hostage, or a target." It took me a minute to figure out just what the fuck Micah had to do with anything, and I realized Anita thinks the only other option is calling in Micah to talk to Laila. Like, what? Anita brought men with her who are all therians. And there are clearly therians in Seattle, not just born ones like the weretigers who would be crap at it too but also infected tigers, as evident by the fact infected tigers have been killed here. Why the fuck is Micah the only one who could do this? Somehow Edward knows why she's just blurted this out and just says agreed (or maybe he doesn't even want to ask) and Anita says well that leaves me to do it (NO IT DOESN'T) and he says he knows she'll be careful and she says "Like a virgin on her wedding night" and Edward has a smile that doesn't reach his eyes, which are blue btw.
Smile Doesn't Reach Eyes: 1
He says he doesn't want to kill Olaf until he's helped them catch the killers, and Anita tells us how it's "perfectly him" to say he doesn't want to kill someone until later because it's practical versus any moral reasons and just...sheesh, Anita, we can figure that out from what he just said an how he said it, okay? You do not need to break it down and explain it to us, please. He tells her to do her "bleeding-heart routine for Karlton. I'll try to send Newman with you, and you try to leave both of them at the hospital." Anita tells him Newman wasn't useless in the woods. True, he wasn't, despite the fact you, Anita, kept talking then as if he was. Edward says he's still new "which means he won't bend the rules like we do" gee how terrible THAT would be! Anita says nobody bends the rules like they do...am I supposed to find that cute/clever? Edward says actually "a lot of the old-time marshals do it" oh okay then that makes it okay and totally cool! Anita says that's true, and Edward says that between them, Bernardo, Olaf, there is nobody "as ruthless about bending the rules than we are." YES I GET IT YOU ARE ALL SUPER COOL REBELS WITH A BADGE YOU CAN QUIT NOW.
Edward says he'll go track the "big, bad vampires while you waste time at the hospital" OKAY YES PLEASE CAN WE GET ON WITH IT and then Anita says his name as he starts to walk away and he doesn't turn around but he does say that "I'm sorry, but until I know what Olaf's intentions are toward you, Anita, I don't like you away from me." Yeah, Olaf might kill her before Edward can! Anita touches his arm and "made him look at me" and asks if he's more afraid of Olaf kidnapping her than he is of "Those Who Shan't Be Named?" I trust I don't need to make Harry Potter jokes here. Edward takes a deep breath. Anita says that "They'll try to let the Wicked Bitch of the World posses my body, Edward. I'd be worse than dead." Edward says they wouldn't torture her first, which is a good point, and that he trusts she's "strong enough psychically that you'll still be in there, which means we might be able to get you back out" which I do not think is so likely at all.
He continues that if Olaf takes her then there won't be anything left to save and "you don't know what he does to his victims." Yeah, she doesn't, does she? She claims she knows what Olaf is, and she may know intellectually that he "tortures" women, but she really doesn't have any idea just what that entails, does it? Anita asks "And you do?" and Edward nods, looking pale. She asks if he's seen it in person. He tells her the story, without Anita's non-contributing interruptions:
"We'd finished a job, and we were all celebrating. We'd gone to a brothel, and I didn't know Olaf's rule that he waits until after a job to indulge. Another customer was drunk and went in the wrong room, and started screaming. The sound stopped, abruptly. All of us who weren't drunk came out of our rooms, armed; you just knew the sound of screams being cut off like that. The man who had screamed ws dead in the doorway. The girl was tied to a bed."
Anita asks if the girl was dead too. Edward softly says no, that "We thought she was dead, but she wasn't. I wished she was dead when we found them." Sweet Jesus. "I would have killed him" I do have to wonder if that's for moral reasons, or because Olaf just risked them all getting busted "but he was standing there pointing a gun at me, at all of us. He bargained with us." Anita asks how, Edward says that Olaf said they could all die, or could all live, and they chose to live. What I want to know is how come Edward didn't take out Olaf the next time he had the chance, or at the least never work with him again? Because you don't need a moral problem with serial killers to not want to be associated with him; even the all-practical 'sociopath' that Edward is supposed to be (or was, at least) wouldn't want to be around him because of the legal trouble he's going to attract and all the cleanup required to make sure said legal trouble is not attracted.
Anita asks just that, why would he ever work with him again? Edward says that "There aren't many people as good as I am, Anita. He's one of them. Besides, part of the bargain was that he'd never indulge himself again, if he was working with me." Well, he's at least thinking of breaking that promise, because in Skin Trade he was creeping on at least two women besides Anita that I recall, and given the way he's presented now, I doubt he would bother to interact with them if he wasn't planning for something to come of it. Speaking of Skin Trade, remember if you please about how he did squat in Skin Trade. Seriously, the only fucking thing he did was make some observations about knife wounds that any forensics lab could have. Also, even if Olaf actually did live up to how 'good' we're told he is, that shouldn't make him okay with Anita like it does with Edward, because we're told Anita is a heroic person who has morals. Now, that's obviously not true, but that's how she's SUPPOSED to be, how we're expected to see her, and it would help me see her that way a hell of a lot better if she DID NOT STAND FOR THIS.
"So you made a deal to dance with the devil to keep him from killing more women?" Dance with the devil? Was it in the pale moonlight? I don't know what it is but I can't take this phrasing seriously, it seems like she's being flippant or something. She asks if Bernardo was there, and Edward says no, that Bernardo has never seen Olaf's work in person and would "never work with him again if he had." Anita says that's because Bernardo "spooks easier" than Edward, and Edward says "Easier than either of us" and Anita "took the compliment". Dude. Dude, what the shit. Being horrified by someone who mutilates women is spooking easy? I could be okay with it if Edward said that, but he didn't, ANITA DID. I am not only pissed off at this sentiment, I am pissed off that, as in Skin Trade, Bernardo is being lambasted, made fun of, and looked down upon by Anita for being the closest one in their bunch to a normal/decent human being. Also, Anita, you haven't seen Olaf's work in person either, so don't you sneer at him for supposedly not being able to handle it, you don't know that you could either. And if you couldn't? It would not mean you "spook easy" or are weak or whatever. God, this is so fucked up.
Anita asks Edward what he wants her to do. He tells her to kill Olaf if she even suspects Olaf might see her as his next victim. He makes her promise, and she does.
...how about you just shoot him at the hospital and claim to Edward that you think he had decided that? I know I rag on her for being a murderer a lot but this really would not bother me at all. Turning him in would be best, of course, for the sake of closure for the families of his victims, but we all know Anita will never actually do anything so ~uncool~ as to let the justice system do its job rather than just appointing herself judge, jury, and executioner, so the most I feel I can realistically hope for is that she'll just decide to be that last one.
Also I really hate Olaf.
CHAPTER TALLIES
Bad Guys: 1
Needless Re-clarification: 1
Non-Answer Answers: 1
Smile Doesn't Reach Eyes: 1
NOVEL TALLIES THUS FAR
Bad Guys: 11
Can't Say Penis: 18
Curves: 3
Dead Mother:1
Flavor: 2
Guy/Girl Stuff: 19
Manita: 7
Mood Ring Eyes: 3
Needless Re-clarification: 23
Non-Answer Answers: 3
Pretty To Think So: 2
Racial Angst: 1
Short: 12
Skinny Women Suck: 3
Smells Like Home: 3
Smile Doesn't Reach Eyes: 4
Sooo: 8
Spill: 4
Sweeties: 3
Things Low In My Body: 2
Wet and Tight: 1
What Does That Mean: 14
Whitebread: 3
http://elila.deviantart.com/art/Birfday-Sati-405991804
-Tangled was on TV and I realized LKH must really hate this movie. Blonde femme heroine in pink, EVIL VILLAINESS WITH DARK CURLY HAIR OF EVIL. I told that to Cyngnusrex, and he said "Or she could relate to it because Mother Gothel traps a pretty young person with really long hair and convinces them that she knows best and she's protecting them by keeping them confined in order to use them to retain her immortality and youth. Whereas Anita brainwashes a few pretty young people with really long hair and takes away their individuality and will in order to use them as a power source in order to retain her immortality and youth. 'Cept Mother Gothel is actually less horrible of a person than Anita is, and she's the dang villain." SO TRUE!
-While at the library, I flipped through Circus of the Damned, and Melanie actually refers to her harem as being just that. Once again, I love her and her honesty. I also got Bloody Bones to reread the fey bits, so I might be posting some thoughts about those soon. I flipped to a random part of it, and lo and behold, so much instant facepalming in just one small passage
Anita asks JC what Serephina meant by him once having been "a catamite for any vampire who would have you" and JC explains how he was turned not for money, title, or even love, but for lust, cuz he's so hot to everyone, and he used to get passed around like a bong basically and Anita is like "if you were going to make up a story, this so wouldn't be it" REALLY? BECAUSE GIVEN YOUR PATTERN OF FALLING FOR ANY HOT MAN WITH A SEXUAL ABUSE SOB STORY, I THINK THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT HE'D COME UP WITH. granted JC is actually the *first* case of this, it wasn't a pattern yet, but he's so wily and manipulative and *knows* desire that I think he could see it from the start and was just waiting to whip these lines out.
Then she asks why Serephina is an older woman because she thought vamps didn't age. He's like SHE DIED AT THAT AGE, DUH ok without the duh. And Anita asks if he slept with her, and he said yes, and she asks "How could you let her touch you?" BECAUSE OLD PEOPLE ARE ICKY. I mean, it's not the sexual abuse there that's the problem, it's that SHE'S OLD EWWWWW
Oh Anita. Oh LKH.
HIT LIST, CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Edward walks at her left as they go across the parking lot, Nicky at her right. She squeezes his fingers. Edward says they have company, and she can feel Domino at her back "like heat behind me" and she can feel the other men but not as much as Nicky and Domino because "they were mine in ways the others were not" ugh ugh ugh. Anyway, it's only Newman, now with a "nice, noticeable bandage on his forehead" and Anita notices he has a few freckles that she didn't realize he had before. Also his shirt brown hair is uncombed and he has a tall lanky body and is watching them. Edward asks him how his head is, he says fine, Anita mentions how Edward slipping back into his Ted persona creeps her out. Personally I'm way more creeped out by how he's been acting like he cares for and/or wants to bang Anita. Anita thinks about how she and Edward both know Newman isn't fine, that his head probably aches, but that she or Edward would also have said the same thing. Well, uh, okay then.
Newman says Laila isn't though. Anita says she was told that Laila was going to pull through just fine. Newman says she's physically fine, Anita says oh so you mean she's positive for lycanthropy and he says yeah and Anita asks what kind and instead of saying THE WOLF KIND BECAUSE THAT'S THE ONLY KIND THAT'S WHY IT'S CALLED THAT BECAUSE LYCAN IS GREEK FOR WOLF YOU PUTZ he asks if it matters, Anita says yes, her bodyguards all agree with her. Newman asks if they're all lycanthropes and instead of saying "No, Ares and Socrates are hyainathropes, Bobby Lee is an arouraiosanthrope, Nicky and Domino are both ailuranthropes, respectively a leonanthrope and tigrisanthrope." Anita tells him they are. Newman says he didn't ask what kind Laila was going to be, that he didn't know it'd matter. Anita says it matters for a lot of reasons. Socrates steps up and says he heard about what happened to her and asks how she's taking the news. Newman just shakes his head, Socrates asks how bad, Newman says that "I think if her family weren't here she'd eat her gun."
Anita asks Edward what the plan is. Edward says that "We go back to the last place they attacked us and one of your friends here to track them." Anita asks "You mean use them like I got to use werewolves to track that one serial killer in St. Louis?" Considering that this is obviously what he means, I think that Anita just said this so that Newman would know HEY I DID THIS COOL THING especially since she's sure to say 'that one serial killer' rather than his name or anything, just so Newman absolutely knows it was a serial killer, ooo! She then tells us that that worked so well she'd "hoped it would become more standard for police around the country" and I'm surprised it isn't already since, as she points out "it was like having a tracking dog that could talk to you" but alas "the prejudice against shapeshifters was too deeply ingrained. You could bring a shifter to a crime scene, but you couldn't bring them in animal form, and in human form their noses weren't much better at tracking than a human being." Why can't you bring them in animal form? Are people more freaked out? I mean, I can see being scared by big wolves and tigers, but police work just fine with bigass German Shepherds and such, and I think that logically knowing there's a human mind in there can help overcome the instinctive urge to freak out and flee, especially when the animal behaves totally tame.
Newman nods, and Anita says the idea is "cool, but the odds of actually finding them close enough to track are pretty remote after all this time." All this time meaning one or two days? Because that's all that's passed. I mean, I'm sure they can cover a ton of ground, but you could still at least track them to, say, an airport and then go from there figuring out who booked tickets where an stuff or something like that. Edward agrees with her but says it's still the plan. Anita admits she doesn't have a better idea and tells him to "take some of the men with you, track the bad guys" and to call her if they find a workable trail. He asks why she isn't going with, she says she's going to go talk to Laila. OH GOD, ANITA IS THE LAST PERSON SOMEBODY SUICIDAL NEEDS TO SEE. Especially if the reason they're suicidal is becoming a shifter. Somehow I doubt "Oh yeah, you can become my harem member if you're a hot dude, but since you're a woman you'd just better stay out of my sight, never touch any man, even if he's not in my harem, and exist only as cannon fodder or to make me look good. You'll also be periodically raped in ardeur outbreaks, and all your autonomy pretty much goes to the leader of your group, who is probably fucking me fyi. Oh, and I notice you're not white, you can ask Jamil and Shang-Da how that's going to go for you." IF SHE WASN'T EATING THAT GUN BEFORE, SHE WOULD BE AFTER THAT.
Bad Guys: 1
Edward moves away to privately ask her "Since when do you hold the other marshal's hands?" Yeah, Laila isn't even a hot dude! "Since Micah became head of the Furry Coalition" STILL THE MOST UNFORTUNATE AND HILARIOUS NAME EVER "and I saw what a difference it can make to have another shapeshifter to talk to when you first find out. Having someone on the other side say, 'Look, I've got it and I'm doing okay.' It helps." So send ANY of the bodyguards to her, Anita, but you are a poor choice for that. You do not shift. Laila in all likelihood will. You haven't faced losing your job as an animator or badge as a marshal the way she is going to. You aren't tied to the moon like her. You aren't going to be a social pariah like her with people being afraid she's going to Hulk-out in a gigantic predator and eat someone. Not to mention, Anita also had a really easy ride in that she's never had to be in a therian group structure as a new member who is just learning, or a member at all. All her beasts were automatically 'queens' of their respective groups from the get-go.
Edward says Anita feels responsible, Anita says a little "but I know it will help to talk to me and some of the guards." No, just the guards. Edward says he doesn't like splitting up, Anita says she doesn't either but they'll both have good men with them and that she'll check on Olaf too while she's at the hospital because she "didn't mean to break him." Edward says it was his fault because "I didn't think he'd try you." Actually, I think Edward knew he'd do exactly that and wanted to see how Anita would react so he could study her new powers further and make sure she wasn't yet stupid enough to TOTALLY trust 'Serial Killer Guy' just because he smooched her. Anita asks why Olaf tried anyway, Edward says he thinks it's partly the rumors about her therian-level speed/strength, partly the rumors about her harem. Anita calls that "A combination of boyfriend and work jealousy" and Edward agrees and I gag because JEALOUS JEALOUS JEALOUS IS ANYONE NOT JEALOUS OF THIS WOMAN EVER?
Anita asks if Olaf has "decided that I'm not his little serial killer pinup now?" and Edward doesn't know. He says when Olaf arrived he was asking questions about Anita's men, especially about Cynric. Anita asks "Why especially Sin?" and Edward is like wtf why is he called Sin and Anita is like it's a nickname ok and Edward is like but why Sin of all things and Anita says that "If he were a different kind of kid he'd be a pale person in black, writing death poetry" Okay, but he's NOT that kind of kid, so why is his name that? Like, he'd be doing all sorts of things if he were different sorts of kids, how does that make sense as an answer? She then asks again why Cynric especially bothers Olaf, Edward thinks it's the age, Anita asks if it's just that "he's a teenager, or the age difference between him and me?" and Edward says Olaf wouldn't talk about it, just wanted to know more about Cynric and if it was true Anita had a teen boy living with her as her lover. Again, I think LKH knows she can't get away with actually putting Cynric on-screen (because she doesn't know how to have her characters interact in a way that's not overtly sexual) so she just wants to have everyone talk about him and how he's a teenager omg as much as possible. Kind of like how in Bullet she liked to mention a lot for no relevant reason how Nicky had no free will; she gets off on saying it over and over, I think.
Non-Answer Answers: 1
Anita asks if Olaf "asked it like that?" and Edward says Olaf asked if Anita had a teen boy living with her, Edward said yes, Olaf asked if he was "truly" her lover, Edward said yes. Anita asks if Olaf has ever asked about any other lovers specifically before, Edward says no, "just if you had as many lovers as the rumors say you do; to do that, I said, no one could be fucking that many men." Didn't Anita already explain to Ethan how they do a lot of group scenes for that exact reason? Anita says Edward didn't want to tell him how many men she was with, Edward explains that "Part of Olaf's hatred of women comes from thinking they're all manipulative whores." Remember how LKH wrote Haven as having had lots of girlfriends before Anita but none of them really enjoyed sex like Anita does and they all, unlike Anita, wanted things like money and jewelry from him? Olaf clearly is not the only one with this opinion. "You weren't having sex with anyone when he met you, so that helped him not have issues with you." How would he know? How does he knows his other victims were having sex, given that from what we've seen he doesn't seem to stalk them over long periods of time and get to know them so much as just spot them, chat them up, then snatch them on the spot. Granted, I guess that a guy who thinks like him would assume ALL women are having lots of sex, but then why wouldn't he think Anita was? Especially since, at that time, wasn't she with Jean-Claude? And was already sexually active with him? Were they on a break, does anyone remember? Did she tell Olaf she wasn't having sex with anyone? Why would he believe the word of a woman? Did Edward tell him that to make sure he'd work with Anita alright? That seems unlikely too since in OB when Olaf was first introduced, he did not seem to give a shit about the sex lives of his victims and it was instead Bernardo who openly admitted to having a virgin/whore complex.
Anita asks "Do you think I've gone over some magic line in Olaf's mind?" There's nothing 'magic' or mysterious about that line, Anita. It's a stupid sexist line, but it's not a hard one to figure out. You're the 'exceptional women' you've always wanted/claimed to be to him because you're both a sociopathic killer and supposedly chaste. When he finds out you're not chaste, you lose Not Like Other Girls status in his book. It's that simple, no 'magic' needed to refer to it, which implies (to me) that it's a line somehow incomprehensible or nonsensical to anyone but Olaf. "Am I not his girlfriend anymore, but just another whore that he'll want to kidnap, torture, rape, and kill?" God, I hope so. He'll no longer get favorable treatment for his worship of Anita as sexually desirable and Not Like Other Girls, and maybe something will finally be done about him.
Edward says he honestly doesn't know. Anita says this could complicate things. I'm sure you all know by now just what my opinion is on how to un-complicate things. Edward adds that because she broke his wrist he will be "trying to prove that you're not better at this job than he is; almost any man would." I'm starting to wonder if maybe the men that LKH grew up around were all this very specific type of insanely macho jackass, and that's why she not only seems to think all men are like this but also that it's a good/enviable/admirable thing that Anita should be commenced for getting in on (hence dumb shit like the jogging scene in Bullet and doing the same thing as Newman--going into the woods while wounded and bleeding--as the blonde EMT complains about stupid men doing these stupid things, silly female that she is, unlike Anita!). Anita says she didn't mean to make things worse, Edward says he knows, and Anita thinks about how "I still couldn't get used to the fact that "Ted" wore a cowboy hat and Edward didn't like hats." Well then.
Anita asks what Edward wants her to do about him. Edward says he doesn't know and that if he's decided she's just another whore then she can not only never work with him again (YES GOOD) but he may try to go after her. Anita says "You mean make me one of his victims." YES THAT IS WHAT 'GO AFTER YOU MEANS' I THINK THE READERS UNDERSTAND THAT. Edward says yes, probably thinking 'duh'. Anita asks if that means she shouldn't check on him when she goes to see Laila. Edward makes some gestures with his hat and Anita thinks about how "he was being more Ted than himself the last few years" probably because you've only been seeing him on cases where he has to be Ted? "maybe Edward liked hats too, now?" Oh my god she has some kind of weird ADHD or something I swear. He tells her he doesn't like her being at the hospital at all with Olaf there. She asks if he's asking her not to see Laila. He says he knows better, she says "because I can't let fear of Olaf prevent me from doing my job" oh god how heavy-handed contrived can you get with setting her up to see him.
Needless Re-clarification: 1
Edward tells Anita that "hold Karlton's hand isn't your job" and I can forgive coldness of that type from him since we're SUPPOSED to see him as a sociopath (if only the LKH definition of such) and Anita says "No, but I don't want Micah in this city with the Harle...shit, them here. He'd be a hostage, or a target." It took me a minute to figure out just what the fuck Micah had to do with anything, and I realized Anita thinks the only other option is calling in Micah to talk to Laila. Like, what? Anita brought men with her who are all therians. And there are clearly therians in Seattle, not just born ones like the weretigers who would be crap at it too but also infected tigers, as evident by the fact infected tigers have been killed here. Why the fuck is Micah the only one who could do this? Somehow Edward knows why she's just blurted this out and just says agreed (or maybe he doesn't even want to ask) and Anita says well that leaves me to do it (NO IT DOESN'T) and he says he knows she'll be careful and she says "Like a virgin on her wedding night" and Edward has a smile that doesn't reach his eyes, which are blue btw.
Smile Doesn't Reach Eyes: 1
He says he doesn't want to kill Olaf until he's helped them catch the killers, and Anita tells us how it's "perfectly him" to say he doesn't want to kill someone until later because it's practical versus any moral reasons and just...sheesh, Anita, we can figure that out from what he just said an how he said it, okay? You do not need to break it down and explain it to us, please. He tells her to do her "bleeding-heart routine for Karlton. I'll try to send Newman with you, and you try to leave both of them at the hospital." Anita tells him Newman wasn't useless in the woods. True, he wasn't, despite the fact you, Anita, kept talking then as if he was. Edward says he's still new "which means he won't bend the rules like we do" gee how terrible THAT would be! Anita says nobody bends the rules like they do...am I supposed to find that cute/clever? Edward says actually "a lot of the old-time marshals do it" oh okay then that makes it okay and totally cool! Anita says that's true, and Edward says that between them, Bernardo, Olaf, there is nobody "as ruthless about bending the rules than we are." YES I GET IT YOU ARE ALL SUPER COOL REBELS WITH A BADGE YOU CAN QUIT NOW.
Edward says he'll go track the "big, bad vampires while you waste time at the hospital" OKAY YES PLEASE CAN WE GET ON WITH IT and then Anita says his name as he starts to walk away and he doesn't turn around but he does say that "I'm sorry, but until I know what Olaf's intentions are toward you, Anita, I don't like you away from me." Yeah, Olaf might kill her before Edward can! Anita touches his arm and "made him look at me" and asks if he's more afraid of Olaf kidnapping her than he is of "Those Who Shan't Be Named?" I trust I don't need to make Harry Potter jokes here. Edward takes a deep breath. Anita says that "They'll try to let the Wicked Bitch of the World posses my body, Edward. I'd be worse than dead." Edward says they wouldn't torture her first, which is a good point, and that he trusts she's "strong enough psychically that you'll still be in there, which means we might be able to get you back out" which I do not think is so likely at all.
He continues that if Olaf takes her then there won't be anything left to save and "you don't know what he does to his victims." Yeah, she doesn't, does she? She claims she knows what Olaf is, and she may know intellectually that he "tortures" women, but she really doesn't have any idea just what that entails, does it? Anita asks "And you do?" and Edward nods, looking pale. She asks if he's seen it in person. He tells her the story, without Anita's non-contributing interruptions:
"We'd finished a job, and we were all celebrating. We'd gone to a brothel, and I didn't know Olaf's rule that he waits until after a job to indulge. Another customer was drunk and went in the wrong room, and started screaming. The sound stopped, abruptly. All of us who weren't drunk came out of our rooms, armed; you just knew the sound of screams being cut off like that. The man who had screamed ws dead in the doorway. The girl was tied to a bed."
Anita asks if the girl was dead too. Edward softly says no, that "We thought she was dead, but she wasn't. I wished she was dead when we found them." Sweet Jesus. "I would have killed him" I do have to wonder if that's for moral reasons, or because Olaf just risked them all getting busted "but he was standing there pointing a gun at me, at all of us. He bargained with us." Anita asks how, Edward says that Olaf said they could all die, or could all live, and they chose to live. What I want to know is how come Edward didn't take out Olaf the next time he had the chance, or at the least never work with him again? Because you don't need a moral problem with serial killers to not want to be associated with him; even the all-practical 'sociopath' that Edward is supposed to be (or was, at least) wouldn't want to be around him because of the legal trouble he's going to attract and all the cleanup required to make sure said legal trouble is not attracted.
Anita asks just that, why would he ever work with him again? Edward says that "There aren't many people as good as I am, Anita. He's one of them. Besides, part of the bargain was that he'd never indulge himself again, if he was working with me." Well, he's at least thinking of breaking that promise, because in Skin Trade he was creeping on at least two women besides Anita that I recall, and given the way he's presented now, I doubt he would bother to interact with them if he wasn't planning for something to come of it. Speaking of Skin Trade, remember if you please about how he did squat in Skin Trade. Seriously, the only fucking thing he did was make some observations about knife wounds that any forensics lab could have. Also, even if Olaf actually did live up to how 'good' we're told he is, that shouldn't make him okay with Anita like it does with Edward, because we're told Anita is a heroic person who has morals. Now, that's obviously not true, but that's how she's SUPPOSED to be, how we're expected to see her, and it would help me see her that way a hell of a lot better if she DID NOT STAND FOR THIS.
"So you made a deal to dance with the devil to keep him from killing more women?" Dance with the devil? Was it in the pale moonlight? I don't know what it is but I can't take this phrasing seriously, it seems like she's being flippant or something. She asks if Bernardo was there, and Edward says no, that Bernardo has never seen Olaf's work in person and would "never work with him again if he had." Anita says that's because Bernardo "spooks easier" than Edward, and Edward says "Easier than either of us" and Anita "took the compliment". Dude. Dude, what the shit. Being horrified by someone who mutilates women is spooking easy? I could be okay with it if Edward said that, but he didn't, ANITA DID. I am not only pissed off at this sentiment, I am pissed off that, as in Skin Trade, Bernardo is being lambasted, made fun of, and looked down upon by Anita for being the closest one in their bunch to a normal/decent human being. Also, Anita, you haven't seen Olaf's work in person either, so don't you sneer at him for supposedly not being able to handle it, you don't know that you could either. And if you couldn't? It would not mean you "spook easy" or are weak or whatever. God, this is so fucked up.
Anita asks Edward what he wants her to do. He tells her to kill Olaf if she even suspects Olaf might see her as his next victim. He makes her promise, and she does.
...how about you just shoot him at the hospital and claim to Edward that you think he had decided that? I know I rag on her for being a murderer a lot but this really would not bother me at all. Turning him in would be best, of course, for the sake of closure for the families of his victims, but we all know Anita will never actually do anything so ~uncool~ as to let the justice system do its job rather than just appointing herself judge, jury, and executioner, so the most I feel I can realistically hope for is that she'll just decide to be that last one.
Also I really hate Olaf.
CHAPTER TALLIES
Bad Guys: 1
Needless Re-clarification: 1
Non-Answer Answers: 1
Smile Doesn't Reach Eyes: 1
NOVEL TALLIES THUS FAR
Bad Guys: 11
Can't Say Penis: 18
Curves: 3
Dead Mother:1
Flavor: 2
Guy/Girl Stuff: 19
Manita: 7
Mood Ring Eyes: 3
Needless Re-clarification: 23
Non-Answer Answers: 3
Pretty To Think So: 2
Racial Angst: 1
Short: 12
Skinny Women Suck: 3
Smells Like Home: 3
Smile Doesn't Reach Eyes: 4
Sooo: 8
Spill: 4
Sweeties: 3
Things Low In My Body: 2
Wet and Tight: 1
What Does That Mean: 14
Whitebread: 3
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2013-10-10 05:10 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-10-10 05:45 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-10-10 05:56 pm (UTC)Anita calls Cynric a "kid". Uuuuuuuuuuggggggggghhhhhhhhhh.
I still couldn't get used to the fact that "Ted" wore a cowboy hat and Edward didn't like hats.
Anita can't even be flexible enough to deal with someone wearing a damn hat, and we're supposed to believe she's the queen of poly and so open-minded and the bestest "cop" ever?
he says he knows she'll be careful and she says "Like a virgin on her wedding night"
What. How does that work as a metaphor for someone being careful not to get killed? And, uh, wedding nights and/or the first time people have sex aren't generally "careful" times. Do you have any clue what the hell LKH is on about here?
WHY DO THEY NOT KILL OLAF?! They're all ooh, we bend the rules, we're such awesome rebels, and Anita is all too happy to murder other people, but no, not Olaf. Because powerful people are awesome, and you show your power through violence, especially sexual violence against women, and victims completely suck anyway and deserved it. That is what I am getting from LKH's books; that this is what she truly believes. "Might makes right" appears to be the beginning, middle, and end of her moral system.
no subject
Date: 2013-10-10 06:27 pm (UTC)IF YOU CALL SOMEONE A KID YOU SHOULD NOT BE FUCKING THEM
The thing with Olaf gets worse. So much worse.
no subject
Date: 2013-10-10 09:35 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-10-10 06:16 pm (UTC)Jean-Claude was a catamite and vampire sexual plaything, Anita. What makes you think he had any choice in Seraphina touching him in the first place? FFS.
I wonder how long Olaf would last if his preferred victims were delicate, long-haired pretty men instead of women?
no subject
Date: 2013-10-10 06:18 pm (UTC)God, that too *facepalm*
I wonder how long Olaf would last if his preferred victims were delicate, long-haired pretty men instead of women? </i Indeed!
no subject
Date: 2013-10-10 06:47 pm (UTC)ehehehehe
sorry, i just love sneaky references like that
no subject
Date: 2013-10-10 07:13 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-10-10 10:53 pm (UTC)I want the MoaD to come eat them all now.
no subject
Date: 2013-10-11 12:20 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-10-11 10:19 pm (UTC)You know, it’s pretty sad when the SERIAL KILLER is the one to show the appropriate reaction to what is obviously an exploitative relationship.
/"Part of Olaf's hatred of women comes from thinking they're all manipulative whores."/
*snorts* Oh, yeah, and that is TOTALLY different from Anita’s thoughts on other women.
/YES I GET IT YOU ARE ALL SUPER COOL REBELS WITH A BADGE YOU CAN QUIT NOW./
Okay, look. I know that it looks all cool and rebellious when the heroes bend the rules and, indeed, it can be argued that sometimes bending the rules is necessary. But there are rules for a reason. You can’t just break them whenever you want.
/Dance with the devil? Was it in the pale moonlight?/
It would make more sense if LKH cut out the “dance” part and just had Anita say, “So, you made a deal with the devil?”
no subject
Date: 2013-10-11 11:14 pm (UTC)HAHA EXACTLY
You can’t just break them whenever you want.
I think that's the key thing that bugs me with Anita. She doesn't do it because it's necessary so much as she just wants to and that they don't apply to her
She must like the "dance with the devil" phrase, another character uses it in Bullet.