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a_sporking_rat- In addition to animals and their corresponding therianthrope type, individual AB vampires have also been shown to be able to call djinn, ghosts, and merpeople, so I wondered if there was a vampire who could call humans. Then I last night...they can ALL call humans. Even basic vamps seem able to control humans like Master vampires can their animals to call. I figure that's because said vamps all started as humans, y/n? So they already have that inherent connection. That's why they can go around rolling humans, but not everything else unless that thing is their one specific OTHER animal to call!
- It turns out that there is actually a canon reason why so many vampires are French, and ones from other European countries (Germany, Russia, etc.) are seldom seen: It's because a lot of the non-French Euro-vamps got turned to toast a few hundred years ago.
http://eternaleve.wordpress.com/2013/10/11/a-review-of-laurell-k-hamiltons-burnt-offerings-chapter-thirty-four/
Historical fuckery failure aside, that is at least a decent in-universe explanation, and I therefore retract all previous statements about there being a glut of French vampires for no reason except that LKH likes them and/or doesn't seem to realize there are other countries in Europe. I did not have all the facts, and I will try to be careful to make sure that I do before making similar statements in the future. I don't feel bad one bit about snarking in general, but I am very serious about only snarking that which deserves to be snarked.
Luckily there's a lot that deserves to be snarked in....
HIT LIST, CHAPTERS THIRTY THREE & THIRTY FOUR
So, something just occurred to me: Anita having Nicky and Domino among her bodyguards makes no sense. Bodyguard means getting hurt or killed for someone. But that someone is Anita, and her bond to them means that if they get hurt or killed, SHE DOES TOO ANYWAY!
"Bernardo split us up; he took Olaf leaving Lisandro to drive Nicky and Me." Kinda like a parent splitting up kids who can't get along, eh? Olaf is "icily and completely calm" which Anita finds "more chilling than anything else he could have done, because the change of heart couldn't be real." Anita, not everyone handles anger like you. Some people DO get cold when they're mad. It doesn't mean they're not mad or trying to pretend they've changed, it's just the way they manifest it. I know, I know, it's bizarre remembering not everyone is just like you.
Lisandro tells Anita to sit up front with him. She asks why. He says she and Nicky getting "distracted" made Olaf upset and "he wanted to break you guys up." Anita asks if that means to hurt them or just stop them smooching, Lisandro says Bernardo isn't sure which is why he stopped him, Anita says she appreciates that they interceded, Lisandro says it's his job (which I like implies he wouldn't otherwise) and "Bernardo is more afraid of Edward than he is of Olaf." Anita says thanks anyway still, he tells her to ride up front, Nicky says Anita can sit back here with him, he says "I'm not driving around while the two of you make out" HAHAH YOU GO LISANDRO and Anita says they're not gonna do that and he's like ok then so what does it matter if you ride up front then and Anita realizes she doesn't have any answer. And then Nicky and her hold hands and she thinks that's why, and then wonders if she can promise they won't make out, and she realizes she can't, and "why would it matter? What was so wrong us touching each other?" Nothing when you're alone, but that is indeed awkward for Lisandro?
She says fine she'll sit up front, Nicky tells her "You're the boss, not him" and Anita says she can't promise him that the touching won't get "out of hand" and there is only "need, almost hunger" in Nicky's face, and she tells us this is the longest she's ever been away from Nicky. She compares holding his hand to being "the only anchor in all this mess" and wonders how much more she'd be compelled to make out if he were JC or Micah holding her hand instead, and wonders if not being home with her men is what really affected the rate at which she healed. No, I don't see how this makes sense either, and she doesn't explain it beyond saying that she feels better holding his hand than she has in days, but admits that could be her imagination. I think she might be grasping at straws to explain how she's become so dependent, and LKH is just trying to grasp at straws the justify Anita making out without actually WANTING to so it's not her fault she can't stop smooching on a case!
She tells him she wants to touch him and that "it's like the metaphysical tie is making you more touchable than normal." He asks what that means, and I'm counting that because obviously it means her tie to you is making her want to touch you more. She says she doesn't know what she means though but "just let me sit up front and get to the hotel. We'll go from there." He says he doesn't understand, she says she doesn't either, she sits next to Lisandro but she and Nicky still hold hands all the way there, and the chapter ends after three pages so I'm just gonna do the next one too.
What Does That Mean: 1
Chapter 34 starts with Anita telling Lisandro to park in front of the hotel office so she can ask if they have enough rooms for everyone. He does as she asks and "didn't argue" (why, did you expect him to?) and Nicky keeps holding her hand and leans forward to nuzzle the side of her face. She tells him to put his seatbelt on, he says they're going only 10 miles per hour, she reminds us how she's a seatbelt nut because of her DEAD MOTHER and personally I think that whole thing might be more effective if she *didn't* bring up said mother every time she tells someone to put their seatbelt on and then she realizes that Nicky would survive going through a windshield just fine and "if my mother had been a shapeshifter she wouldn't have died when I was eight." This is portrayed as the first time she's ever thought this, which I find utterly unbelievable. Not only is this a world where shifters and their super-healing exists, it's one where people have been shown to deliberately become shifters for the sake of said super-healing (Cherry did in order to regrow her leg after losing it in a car accident, for instance), probably one of the FIRST things that people say or think after losing a loved one is "if they'd been supernatural, they might have survived, would that be worth it?" And Anita is around them so damn much it's extra unbelievable to me she'd never think of that. "I had one of those moments of clarity, and wondered if I dated only preternatural men because they would survive." No, that would only make sense if you CHOSE to date preternatural men. You had to get with Micah because your leopards were Nimir-Ra and Nimir-Raj, you bonded Crispin and Domino and Cynric and Alex to you by supposed accident/control of the MOAD, Nicky because you 'had' to, and Meph because you 'had' to. JC blackmailed you into dating him, and...don't even get me started on Nathaniel, that's just a mess.
Dead Mother: 1
Lisandro parks. She and Nicky get out and hold hands again. She talks a lot about compromising the gun hand. Like, as in more than half a page. They go inside and smell coffee and she realizes she doesn't remember the last time she had some. "The desk clerk who had worried about losing his job at the crime scene turned from the full coffee carafe" I cannot fucking remember this guy. I even went back and checked the aftermath part of when Laila was attacked, I could not find this dude anywhere but I don't think that really matters at least. It also probably doesn't matter that he has short dark brown hair that "almost didn't match the oversized superhero T-shirt, jeans, and well-loved jogging shoes, as if his mother did his hair, but he dressed himself." What the fuck kind of hotel has the clerks dressed like this?
The clerk offers them fresh coffee and pushes up his glasses "in one of those automatic gestures people with glasses make." Something about this phrase makes me roll my eyes, as a person with glasses who does indeed push them up all the time, and I'm not sure what exactly. Anita says it smells like real coffee and goes toward it, dragging Nicky along with her, yes really. "Yes, we had bad guys to catch, but even crime fighters need coffee." She is really living in a kids comic book, I swear. Except with all the sex, I mean. The clerk talks about the coffee and pours them three cups. Lisandro observes "You like coffee" to Anita. NO FUCKING SHIT, IT'S BEEN ESTABLISHED FROM BASICALLY THE FIRST BOOK THAT'S ALL SHE LIVES ON. It's also probably the biggest difference from her and LKH: The latter doesn't actually drink coffee herself, and prides herself on being able to write about it well despite this. Really. Nicky turns it down, the clerk says he hates wasting good coffee and is glad someone is drinking it. Lisandro and Anita take their cups while Nicky stays on alert, and Anita thinks that if she can't stop being touchy-feely with him she'll have to send him home, and wonders again if she'll be so bad with Domino, and if it is "that would mean something was wrong with the metaphysics, and that would be bad." I don't see how it would indicate that, since her needing to hold a boyfriend's hand at all times is the norm
Bad Guys:1
She smells the coffee. The clerk asks how he can help her. She says sorry, she got distracted by the coffee. He says he's just glad he could help and heard about that other marshal getting hurt. Anita says they're here to get clothes for her. He asks if that means she's okay, Anita shrugs and smiles and decides she shouldn't tell him about the lycanthropy that Laila got. Lisandro adds that they need rooms too, and Anita realizes she'd gotten distracted from that and wonders what's wrong with her. Oh honey, you want a list? "I was losing focus in the middle of a case, that wasn't like me. Not to this degree anyway." I am cracking up because she just admitted it is totally like her to get distracted during cases in general though, just not THIS badly. The clerk asks how many, Bernardo and Olaf come in, Olaf is tall, Anita wonders "how it would feel to be so tall that ceilings were too short. It was so not the problem I had." It is literally impossible for her to mention the height of anyone else without mentioning her own.
Short: 1
Sooo: 1
The clerk tells them there is fresh coffee, asks how many rooms, it's three with two beds each, Bernardo thanks the clerk by name and Anita thinks how nice that is of him since the clerk isn't even female like Bernardo likes and it "made me wonder if some of the flirting from Bernardo was just a level of social enjoyment that I didn't have with strangers." Remember in Flirt, when she had the revelation that you don't just flirt with people you want to date but your friends, family, on a job interview, etc. and thus clearly she can't fathom positive interaction with anyone useless you give it a sexual label like flirting? Yeah, this is that again. It creeps me out so much. And, once again, Bernardo is the nicest person in this group. Not a hard task, but still. I also wonder if maybe he's not the flirty ladies man she claims so much as he's just actually nice to people, including women, and Anita can't imagine being nice to EW GIRLS unless you want to bone 'em?
Clerk puts the numbers in. Offers Olaf coffee. Olaf doesn't want any. Anita says he doesn't drink coffee or tea. Clerk says "Good to know" which is the only polite response I reckon he can have. Nicky says "We just drink the blood of our enemies" and Anita assures clerk that he's teasing, because I'm soooo sure he'd take Nicky totally seriously otherwise. Nicky tells him they need a room close to Anita's, but the best they have "two rooms upstairs, near your original room, and one downstairs". Lisandro and Bernardo are hanging out drinking coffee together and I want them to be buddies now. Bernardo has "added enough cream to make it tan, probably added sugar too. I thought about calling him a pussy." WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?! Then she gets all dizzy and has to steady herself against the desk. Nicky asks what's wrong, she says she's dizzy, she collapses, Nicky catches her, Lisandro collapses too, and Anita realizes the coffee was drugged. Bernardo goes down, and Olaf shoots the clerk as he swears he didn't know. And then she sees a black cloak and white mask and then it's a blur as Olaf and Nicky shoot at it and she prays it's not as fast as it looks. The last line is "I heard Nicky yelling my name in the dark."
We're 85% through the book, can she die now?
CHAPTER TALLIES
Bad Guys:1
Dead Mother: 1
Short: 1
Sooo: 1
What Does That Mean: 1
NOVEL TALLIES THUS FAR
Bad Guys: 18
Can't Say Penis: 20
Curves: 3
Dead Mother: 2
Flavor: 3
Guy/Girl Stuff: 24
Manita: 8
Mood Ring Eyes: 4
Needless Re-clarification: 23
Non-Answer Answers: 5
Pretty To Think So: 2
Racial Angst: 1
Short: 13
Skinny Women Suck: 3
Smells Like Home: 3
Smile Doesn't Reach Eyes: 5
Sooo: 11
Spill: 6
Sweeties: 3
Things Low In My Body: 2
Wet and Tight: 1
What Does That Mean: 17
Whitebread: 3
- It turns out that there is actually a canon reason why so many vampires are French, and ones from other European countries (Germany, Russia, etc.) are seldom seen: It's because a lot of the non-French Euro-vamps got turned to toast a few hundred years ago.
http://eternaleve.wordpress.com/2013/10/11/a-review-of-laurell-k-hamiltons-burnt-offerings-chapter-thirty-four/
Historical fuckery failure aside, that is at least a decent in-universe explanation, and I therefore retract all previous statements about there being a glut of French vampires for no reason except that LKH likes them and/or doesn't seem to realize there are other countries in Europe. I did not have all the facts, and I will try to be careful to make sure that I do before making similar statements in the future. I don't feel bad one bit about snarking in general, but I am very serious about only snarking that which deserves to be snarked.
Luckily there's a lot that deserves to be snarked in....
HIT LIST, CHAPTERS THIRTY THREE & THIRTY FOUR
So, something just occurred to me: Anita having Nicky and Domino among her bodyguards makes no sense. Bodyguard means getting hurt or killed for someone. But that someone is Anita, and her bond to them means that if they get hurt or killed, SHE DOES TOO ANYWAY!
"Bernardo split us up; he took Olaf leaving Lisandro to drive Nicky and Me." Kinda like a parent splitting up kids who can't get along, eh? Olaf is "icily and completely calm" which Anita finds "more chilling than anything else he could have done, because the change of heart couldn't be real." Anita, not everyone handles anger like you. Some people DO get cold when they're mad. It doesn't mean they're not mad or trying to pretend they've changed, it's just the way they manifest it. I know, I know, it's bizarre remembering not everyone is just like you.
Lisandro tells Anita to sit up front with him. She asks why. He says she and Nicky getting "distracted" made Olaf upset and "he wanted to break you guys up." Anita asks if that means to hurt them or just stop them smooching, Lisandro says Bernardo isn't sure which is why he stopped him, Anita says she appreciates that they interceded, Lisandro says it's his job (which I like implies he wouldn't otherwise) and "Bernardo is more afraid of Edward than he is of Olaf." Anita says thanks anyway still, he tells her to ride up front, Nicky says Anita can sit back here with him, he says "I'm not driving around while the two of you make out" HAHAH YOU GO LISANDRO and Anita says they're not gonna do that and he's like ok then so what does it matter if you ride up front then and Anita realizes she doesn't have any answer. And then Nicky and her hold hands and she thinks that's why, and then wonders if she can promise they won't make out, and she realizes she can't, and "why would it matter? What was so wrong us touching each other?" Nothing when you're alone, but that is indeed awkward for Lisandro?
She says fine she'll sit up front, Nicky tells her "You're the boss, not him" and Anita says she can't promise him that the touching won't get "out of hand" and there is only "need, almost hunger" in Nicky's face, and she tells us this is the longest she's ever been away from Nicky. She compares holding his hand to being "the only anchor in all this mess" and wonders how much more she'd be compelled to make out if he were JC or Micah holding her hand instead, and wonders if not being home with her men is what really affected the rate at which she healed. No, I don't see how this makes sense either, and she doesn't explain it beyond saying that she feels better holding his hand than she has in days, but admits that could be her imagination. I think she might be grasping at straws to explain how she's become so dependent, and LKH is just trying to grasp at straws the justify Anita making out without actually WANTING to so it's not her fault she can't stop smooching on a case!
She tells him she wants to touch him and that "it's like the metaphysical tie is making you more touchable than normal." He asks what that means, and I'm counting that because obviously it means her tie to you is making her want to touch you more. She says she doesn't know what she means though but "just let me sit up front and get to the hotel. We'll go from there." He says he doesn't understand, she says she doesn't either, she sits next to Lisandro but she and Nicky still hold hands all the way there, and the chapter ends after three pages so I'm just gonna do the next one too.
What Does That Mean: 1
Chapter 34 starts with Anita telling Lisandro to park in front of the hotel office so she can ask if they have enough rooms for everyone. He does as she asks and "didn't argue" (why, did you expect him to?) and Nicky keeps holding her hand and leans forward to nuzzle the side of her face. She tells him to put his seatbelt on, he says they're going only 10 miles per hour, she reminds us how she's a seatbelt nut because of her DEAD MOTHER and personally I think that whole thing might be more effective if she *didn't* bring up said mother every time she tells someone to put their seatbelt on and then she realizes that Nicky would survive going through a windshield just fine and "if my mother had been a shapeshifter she wouldn't have died when I was eight." This is portrayed as the first time she's ever thought this, which I find utterly unbelievable. Not only is this a world where shifters and their super-healing exists, it's one where people have been shown to deliberately become shifters for the sake of said super-healing (Cherry did in order to regrow her leg after losing it in a car accident, for instance), probably one of the FIRST things that people say or think after losing a loved one is "if they'd been supernatural, they might have survived, would that be worth it?" And Anita is around them so damn much it's extra unbelievable to me she'd never think of that. "I had one of those moments of clarity, and wondered if I dated only preternatural men because they would survive." No, that would only make sense if you CHOSE to date preternatural men. You had to get with Micah because your leopards were Nimir-Ra and Nimir-Raj, you bonded Crispin and Domino and Cynric and Alex to you by supposed accident/control of the MOAD, Nicky because you 'had' to, and Meph because you 'had' to. JC blackmailed you into dating him, and...don't even get me started on Nathaniel, that's just a mess.
Dead Mother: 1
Lisandro parks. She and Nicky get out and hold hands again. She talks a lot about compromising the gun hand. Like, as in more than half a page. They go inside and smell coffee and she realizes she doesn't remember the last time she had some. "The desk clerk who had worried about losing his job at the crime scene turned from the full coffee carafe" I cannot fucking remember this guy. I even went back and checked the aftermath part of when Laila was attacked, I could not find this dude anywhere but I don't think that really matters at least. It also probably doesn't matter that he has short dark brown hair that "almost didn't match the oversized superhero T-shirt, jeans, and well-loved jogging shoes, as if his mother did his hair, but he dressed himself." What the fuck kind of hotel has the clerks dressed like this?
The clerk offers them fresh coffee and pushes up his glasses "in one of those automatic gestures people with glasses make." Something about this phrase makes me roll my eyes, as a person with glasses who does indeed push them up all the time, and I'm not sure what exactly. Anita says it smells like real coffee and goes toward it, dragging Nicky along with her, yes really. "Yes, we had bad guys to catch, but even crime fighters need coffee." She is really living in a kids comic book, I swear. Except with all the sex, I mean. The clerk talks about the coffee and pours them three cups. Lisandro observes "You like coffee" to Anita. NO FUCKING SHIT, IT'S BEEN ESTABLISHED FROM BASICALLY THE FIRST BOOK THAT'S ALL SHE LIVES ON. It's also probably the biggest difference from her and LKH: The latter doesn't actually drink coffee herself, and prides herself on being able to write about it well despite this. Really. Nicky turns it down, the clerk says he hates wasting good coffee and is glad someone is drinking it. Lisandro and Anita take their cups while Nicky stays on alert, and Anita thinks that if she can't stop being touchy-feely with him she'll have to send him home, and wonders again if she'll be so bad with Domino, and if it is "that would mean something was wrong with the metaphysics, and that would be bad." I don't see how it would indicate that, since her needing to hold a boyfriend's hand at all times is the norm
Bad Guys:1
She smells the coffee. The clerk asks how he can help her. She says sorry, she got distracted by the coffee. He says he's just glad he could help and heard about that other marshal getting hurt. Anita says they're here to get clothes for her. He asks if that means she's okay, Anita shrugs and smiles and decides she shouldn't tell him about the lycanthropy that Laila got. Lisandro adds that they need rooms too, and Anita realizes she'd gotten distracted from that and wonders what's wrong with her. Oh honey, you want a list? "I was losing focus in the middle of a case, that wasn't like me. Not to this degree anyway." I am cracking up because she just admitted it is totally like her to get distracted during cases in general though, just not THIS badly. The clerk asks how many, Bernardo and Olaf come in, Olaf is tall, Anita wonders "how it would feel to be so tall that ceilings were too short. It was so not the problem I had." It is literally impossible for her to mention the height of anyone else without mentioning her own.
Short: 1
Sooo: 1
The clerk tells them there is fresh coffee, asks how many rooms, it's three with two beds each, Bernardo thanks the clerk by name and Anita thinks how nice that is of him since the clerk isn't even female like Bernardo likes and it "made me wonder if some of the flirting from Bernardo was just a level of social enjoyment that I didn't have with strangers." Remember in Flirt, when she had the revelation that you don't just flirt with people you want to date but your friends, family, on a job interview, etc. and thus clearly she can't fathom positive interaction with anyone useless you give it a sexual label like flirting? Yeah, this is that again. It creeps me out so much. And, once again, Bernardo is the nicest person in this group. Not a hard task, but still. I also wonder if maybe he's not the flirty ladies man she claims so much as he's just actually nice to people, including women, and Anita can't imagine being nice to EW GIRLS unless you want to bone 'em?
Clerk puts the numbers in. Offers Olaf coffee. Olaf doesn't want any. Anita says he doesn't drink coffee or tea. Clerk says "Good to know" which is the only polite response I reckon he can have. Nicky says "We just drink the blood of our enemies" and Anita assures clerk that he's teasing, because I'm soooo sure he'd take Nicky totally seriously otherwise. Nicky tells him they need a room close to Anita's, but the best they have "two rooms upstairs, near your original room, and one downstairs". Lisandro and Bernardo are hanging out drinking coffee together and I want them to be buddies now. Bernardo has "added enough cream to make it tan, probably added sugar too. I thought about calling him a pussy." WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?! Then she gets all dizzy and has to steady herself against the desk. Nicky asks what's wrong, she says she's dizzy, she collapses, Nicky catches her, Lisandro collapses too, and Anita realizes the coffee was drugged. Bernardo goes down, and Olaf shoots the clerk as he swears he didn't know. And then she sees a black cloak and white mask and then it's a blur as Olaf and Nicky shoot at it and she prays it's not as fast as it looks. The last line is "I heard Nicky yelling my name in the dark."
We're 85% through the book, can she die now?
CHAPTER TALLIES
Bad Guys:1
Dead Mother: 1
Short: 1
Sooo: 1
What Does That Mean: 1
NOVEL TALLIES THUS FAR
Bad Guys: 18
Can't Say Penis: 20
Curves: 3
Dead Mother: 2
Flavor: 3
Guy/Girl Stuff: 24
Manita: 8
Mood Ring Eyes: 4
Needless Re-clarification: 23
Non-Answer Answers: 5
Pretty To Think So: 2
Racial Angst: 1
Short: 13
Skinny Women Suck: 3
Smells Like Home: 3
Smile Doesn't Reach Eyes: 5
Sooo: 11
Spill: 6
Sweeties: 3
Things Low In My Body: 2
Wet and Tight: 1
What Does That Mean: 17
Whitebread: 3
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no subject
Date: 2013-10-24 06:02 pm (UTC)As for missing world building elements: the Anita Blake series has 21+ books, and is so... ill structured, I guess it is the best term for it, that missing even important parts of world building is perfectly understandable. Especially, as LKH keeps retconning or forgetting them herself.
Also (hopefully a bit of self promotion is okay): I am doing Compare and Contrast's between the Anita Blake series and the Hellsing manga on my LJ account, in case anyone is interested and wants to check it out.
no subject
Date: 2013-10-25 06:12 pm (UTC)Yeeeah, I've noticed a lot of smaller retcons in addition to the big ones (zombies-kill-their-murderers and fey being the major ones) as I look back through some of the older ones :/ And she gets worse with each book
Ooh, that sounds neat! I never read/watched Hellsing but I'll definitely check that out!
no subject
Date: 2013-10-24 06:51 pm (UTC)Imo, it would have been kind of cool if Missouri had a particularly large French vampire population for some reason, and that's why Anita is surrounded by French vampires and thinks in French vampire terms. But then she could visit other places and the vampires there would use other terms for the same things. Hopefully grammatical ones. It would be a small thing that would make the world seem more real -- like the pop/soda/Coke divide in the U.S. irl.
Re: Anita being continually surprised at other people being nice to people they don't want to fuck -- and she only gets worse. She is a strange, shallow, and very lonely woman.
Also LKH writes a woman liking coffee the way she writes a woman liking sex: not only as if she doesn't like it herself, but as if she's never met anyone who does like it or who even partakes of it on occasion.
no subject
Date: 2013-10-24 10:59 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-10-25 06:16 pm (UTC)I definitely like your idea about vampires in different places having different terminologies! That's how mine are, or will be, in my novels, since I didn't see why or how every group in the world would just agree on a single language.
no subject
Date: 2013-10-25 07:51 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-10-25 07:59 pm (UTC)Vampires would probably agree to a single language, at least in large geographic swathes in Ye Olden Times, for the same reason that there are agreed upon business languages and science terminology in our world: it makes it easier to communicate exactly what you mean to communicate and come to an agreement.
Ironically, French is one of the world's business languages and certain documents and court records are kept in French (with English and possibly Chinese translations - but don't quote me on the Chinese thing) because it's easier to know that This Is The Language That We Use For Business. Also because the French were historically quite powerful and obsessive record keepers at the time this idea started taking root and coming into practice. The guy who takes the (court) notes gets to decide the language that they're kept in.
India may not like most of what the British brought them but they do like the fact that various sects and geographic outliers can communicate with the rest of the country at large. Before the British came, there were hundreds of languages in use and it was rare for anyone to speak their neighbors' languages fluently enough to know exactly what they were agreeing to. (Although there's this interesting phenomenon regarding the on-going development of their English that's being studied at the moment...) Everyone learns English... and not because they want to be customer service reps.
All of that said, however, I don't think French would be the dominant language of anything immortal because French is a badly spoken Latin dialect at best. (So are all of the modern romance languages.) What they would use as the default "business" language would depend on when they decided that they needed such a thing as the "dominant" language varies over time and by region. (For example, all the Latin and Greek in our language. And there are a surprising number of modern words that were derived from Mongolian because of Ghengis Khan... in fact, to this day, language-related variations on "Khan" are both names and surnames in countries that the Mongols captured.)
So, uh, yeah, that's my epistle...
no subject
Date: 2013-10-25 08:10 pm (UTC)Yeah, that's also true!
Thanks for this, I'm really still building everything and can use all the input and info I can get on little-but-big things like this
no subject
Date: 2013-10-25 08:32 pm (UTC)After I hit 'post' and saw how long my reply was, I was a little worried that I'd upset you. It's not that I think you're wrong regarding everyone having their own terms in their own languages because that makes sense but, well, I like all of the pieces to come together too.
no subject
Date: 2013-10-25 08:47 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-10-24 07:24 pm (UTC)Low is the word you're looking for, Laurell. The ceilings are too low. Further evidence that her vocabulary is actually shrinking.
no subject
Date: 2013-10-25 06:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-10-25 06:18 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-10-25 07:02 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-10-25 01:29 am (UTC)Apologies if this is off, I'm going from what I remember from a paper I wrote in high school.I have no idea where I went with that. ...Oh right. Mass emigration and deportment would probably be a good time to be a vampire since so many of the people who emigrated and were deported died from hunger and disease. So there would indeed be a good number of French vamps in the States/in Canada, regardless of that really stupid attempt to worldbuild away the fact that she's had far too much Rice, but there would also be a lot of British ones as well. Then again, LKH barely knows about the rest of history and probably couldn't point out the Maritimes/any of the colonies on a labelled map, so I think my ancestors (some of 'em anyway *shakes a fist at Damian*) are safe for now.
I guess the whole point to that was CANADA WAS SETTLED BY THEN, YOU NINNY. THERE WOULD BE VAMPIRES THERE. FROM ALL OVER THE PLACE. WE'RE RIGHT BLOODY NEXT TO YOUR COUNTRY, LKH.no subject
Date: 2013-10-25 03:52 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-10-25 05:54 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-10-25 07:03 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-10-25 06:23 pm (UTC)Not to mention that if vampirism began in pre-history with Marmee Noir, then it existed back when humans first crossed over the Bering Strait, and thus it's entirely possible/probably/likely that vampires already had existed among the native peoples of the Americas and Canada since their very beginning in this land. In fact, I think this has to be the case, since the Aztec vampires Alejandro (CotD) and Itzpapalotl (OB) were both around a thousand years old or more, meaning they became vampires waaaaaaay before Europe started colonizing.
no subject
Date: 2013-10-25 09:12 am (UTC)Also, the "bodyguard" ridiculousness just caters to Anita's vanity and gives her an excuse to keep the guys she obviously needs to be near close to her. I wish one of her "sweetie" "bodyguards" would get killed, hopefully slowly enough for her to realize in horror what's she done as she and her whole coterie die with her. *g*
no subject
Date: 2013-10-25 06:24 pm (UTC)YES, I APPROVE OF THIS IDEA!