Also, on Micah & Nathaniel: YES- that's pretty much how I see them too. Sometimes, when reading opinions on how the series fails from (at least) Narcissus in Chains onward, I find people criticizing LKH for writing the men as too "weak" and submissive, but I actually find Anita's relationships disturbing for the opposite reason. Her men run every part of her life-- they just pushed her toward that arrangement by using tactics that are sneakier than what most male characters in UF prefer.