KISS THE DEAD, CHAPTER FORTY ONE
Mar. 24th, 2014 07:51 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
a_sporking_ratSpoiler: This ends up getting solved with sex. Surprised? I thought not.
"I couldn't see Dev" why couldn't Dev just be his name? Like his actual name? "when I first pushed the curtains apart, but I felt him like a brush of heat across my face" and she says this means "his emotions were strong enough that he wasn't shielding well" and how the golden tigers are "masters of control" because of how they had to hide from the Harlequin for centuries but now he is "leaking through all that practiced control" So all it takes is a breakup for him to lose the control he's had all his life? That really seems unlikely. If his very survival depends on this, and his people have been doing it for centuries, you'd think his parents/clan/whoever was raising him would have prepared him for how to maintain control through heartbreak. I mean, I know that there's no longer any danger for him from the Harlequin, so he can drop his control now without fear, but this seems like something that would just be ingrained in him as second nature, and Anita implies that the golden tigers all still do it too, so yeah.
Anyway, she follows the energy and he's got his back against the wall beside the fireplace hugging his knees. She describes his hair and build and what he's wearing and that the room is decorated in red and gold. The guards "melted away" as she goes to him (so they were just...standing around in the room while he cried?) so "it was my problem now. Oh hell, it had always been my problem." Uh, duh, he's YOUR boyfriend, not theirs? And no one has any relationships in this series that isn't based around sex or work so it's not like he'd have any FRIENDS to comfort him. "Because of Asher's jealousy" YOU ARE ONE TO TALK "no one else but me was dating Dev" yeah, and did you ever step in on his behalf about that before now? I doubt it "so it was just him and me." Convenient how that works out, huh? His only significant other besides Anita being the one who gets the chop? That's what he gets for pairing off with another MAJOR character instead of a background nobody like JJ or Cardinal that can just be ignored and only trotted out to remind the readers that LOOK ANITA LETS HER MEN HAVE OTHER LADIES NOW REALLY. "I said a quick prayer for wisdom because I didn't know what to say" Again, she never prays until she needs something. Though she doesn't even really need it because she adds sometimes all you need in these situations is to just be there, not say the 'right' thing.
"I walked over to him and touched the silk of his hair." He takes a breath, looks up, his face is tear-streaked and also, we are reminded, handsome. His eyes are described in detail, then he hugs her around her thighs. We are told how strong his arms are and how big he is and how tiny she is that even though he's sitting down his face is "above my belly button, almost to my sternum. I suddenly felt small." As opposed to the rest of the time when she's monologuing about what an itty bitty teeny tiny girl she is. She strokes his hair and tells him it's all right, he rubs his face against her shirt and gasps tearily that it's not, she says Asher will come back after only a month, Dev says that he loves Asher, she says "That's great, Dev."
....there is no way I can not read that in a totally bored sarcastic why-aren't-you-talking-about-me tone.
Dev says he's never been in love before and I love how this implies he's not in love with Anita. Anita must not notice this (how could anyone NOT love her, after all?) because instead of throwing a fit she bends down and hugs him back and says "It's wonderful and awful, isn't it?" and Dev says "Yes, because he's wonderful and awful" and she says "Yeah, that's about right--wonderful and awful is very Asher." VERSUS THIS DIALOGUE, WHICH IS JUST PLAIN AWFUL! Dev says that if Asher heard this he'd assume they meant the scars, Anita pets Dev and says she's offered to try to fix the scars but he won't let her, Dev says he's afraid, Anita tells Dev how "I'd have to cut enough flesh away to make a new wound and see if I can heal it with sexual energy" which Dev seems to know already and thus is clearly for exposition. Dev says he thinks that Asher is afraid to be perfect again, Anita asks why, Dev shrugs and the subject is dropped. The subject is dropped because THAT'S A LOAD OF BULLSHIT. The *actual* reason that Asher is never gonna get healed is because that would involve actual character change and progress, and LKH can't handle that.
Dev hugs her so hard she falls, he catches her and "his face was suddenly peering at me through my breasts" THIS IS THE MOST HILARIOUS MENTAL IMAGE HAHAHA HOW DID THAT EVEN HAPPEN? "He snuggled his face so that I could see his whole face framed by my breasts." Is this supposed to be sexy? Because it's just absurd. Anita says "I'm here to comfort you" and Dev rubs his face against her tits and says this is comforting. Oh good lord. Anita asks if this means he doesn't want to talk about it, he nuzzles her boobs more and rubs his lips over the nipple (doesn't she have a shirt on? presumably with a bra under it?) and he says no, that's not it, it's that "I haven't gotten to touch breasts in a long time, and I miss girls. I do love him, Anita, I really do, but if he wants me to give up everyone but him, loving him isn't enough." But wasn't it fine with Asher if Dev was with Anita? Why should he have been tit-deprived until now? As Anita gets turned on ("my body beginning to react to him") says that "Love doesn't conquer all."
You know, except for in Skin Trade, and Bullet, and Hit List, when the ending/epilogue was a big ol' tract all about love conquering all, being the most important thing, etc. And from Anita's POV at that.
Dev asks if it was stupid to think it was, and as he continues to lick her tits Anita says it wasn't just that "for some people one person is enough, but you...you are the most truly bisexual person I've ever met. You really don't have a preference for boy or girl, you just like the person."
GODDAMMIT SHE JUST HIT ON ONE OF MY BIGGEST LGBT PET PEEVES
I hear "Being pan/bi means that I don't care about gender, I just love the person!" from so many people, and it drives me BONKERS. Plenty of them don't know what they're actually implying with this phrase, of course, but that doesn't stop it from sounding incredibly snobby and sanctimonious and judging of monosexuals (people attracted only to one gender) and let me tell you why: It implies that gay/straight people only care about gender, and not the person, and that bi/pan people only ever care about the ~person~ and never have preferences, restrictions, or shallowness in other ways that have nothing to do with gender---like only dating blondes, turning your nose up at fat people, having a thing for Goth crossdressers, having one-night stands that mean nothing, etc. Look, bi and pan people can and do do all these things as much as straight and gay people do, okay? They're not some magical perfect orientation who, each and every one, "just loves the person" because they can see into your true soul and value you for who you REALLY are or something like that while the rest of us can't. Yeah, some can be saints who only care about your personality, and some only care about how good you look, just like ANYONE ELSE OF ANY ORIENTATION. Gender preference (or lack thereof) is not the be-all and end-all criteria of whether you "care about the person" or not, good lord. Now, this isn't to say that bi and pan people don't love their partners as persons. But so do gay and straight people. Seriously, you think I wouldn't love my girlfriend as a person? And as a lesbian, I'm especially sensitive to the idea that I just care about gender and nothing else, because there's a very prevalent stereotype that gay people are attracted to literally everyone of their own sex, so I'm already hearing that enough from straight people, I don't need it from other queer folks. Sorry for the rant but this idea of bi/pan people as magical unicorns who value you for you and the rest of us monosexuals as shallow fucks who only care whether you're a man or woman and nothing else is pretty big in the tumblr-LGBT community right now and I'm getting tired as hell of it. If you are bi or pan, I hope I didn't make you uncomfortable, my issue is NOT with you at all, it's with this phrase and all it implies.
Anyway, Dev jams as much of Anita's boom into her mouth as will fit, and Anita says someone like him can't be happy without both...which contradicts entirely her "you just like the person" bit anyway, because if he did only "care about the person" and has no gender preference whatsoever then WHY THE HELL WOULD HE 'NEED' BOTH? Also how gross is it that 'needing' a woman just means needing breasts and/or sex with one, eh? That's all we are, I guess! Of course, to be fair, the men are equally reduced to body parts and nooky in this series. Dev bites down a little on her boob, and Anita says she takes it he doesn't want to talk anymore. "He shook his head with my breast still in his mouth." I AM CRACKING UP AT THE MENTAL IMAGE OH MY LORD. Anita asks "Bedroom?" and he shakes his head again "shaking my breast a little more firmly." Oh god I can't. She asks "here?" and "he nodded, biting down on my breasts" and growls and "the growl vibrated across my breasts" and she breathes "God, Dev" and "he grinned with my breast still in his mouth." Yes, I get it, he has your mound in his maw. "His eyes filled with a mix of mischief, sex, and just him. Dev was short for Devil, and in that moment he earned his nickname." Yeah, Satan is well known for biting boobies. "I shivered and he worried my breast with his teeth until I cried out his name."
The chapter ends here, but, alas, the sex scene itself does not. Stay tuned, folks!
"I couldn't see Dev" why couldn't Dev just be his name? Like his actual name? "when I first pushed the curtains apart, but I felt him like a brush of heat across my face" and she says this means "his emotions were strong enough that he wasn't shielding well" and how the golden tigers are "masters of control" because of how they had to hide from the Harlequin for centuries but now he is "leaking through all that practiced control" So all it takes is a breakup for him to lose the control he's had all his life? That really seems unlikely. If his very survival depends on this, and his people have been doing it for centuries, you'd think his parents/clan/whoever was raising him would have prepared him for how to maintain control through heartbreak. I mean, I know that there's no longer any danger for him from the Harlequin, so he can drop his control now without fear, but this seems like something that would just be ingrained in him as second nature, and Anita implies that the golden tigers all still do it too, so yeah.
Anyway, she follows the energy and he's got his back against the wall beside the fireplace hugging his knees. She describes his hair and build and what he's wearing and that the room is decorated in red and gold. The guards "melted away" as she goes to him (so they were just...standing around in the room while he cried?) so "it was my problem now. Oh hell, it had always been my problem." Uh, duh, he's YOUR boyfriend, not theirs? And no one has any relationships in this series that isn't based around sex or work so it's not like he'd have any FRIENDS to comfort him. "Because of Asher's jealousy" YOU ARE ONE TO TALK "no one else but me was dating Dev" yeah, and did you ever step in on his behalf about that before now? I doubt it "so it was just him and me." Convenient how that works out, huh? His only significant other besides Anita being the one who gets the chop? That's what he gets for pairing off with another MAJOR character instead of a background nobody like JJ or Cardinal that can just be ignored and only trotted out to remind the readers that LOOK ANITA LETS HER MEN HAVE OTHER LADIES NOW REALLY. "I said a quick prayer for wisdom because I didn't know what to say" Again, she never prays until she needs something. Though she doesn't even really need it because she adds sometimes all you need in these situations is to just be there, not say the 'right' thing.
"I walked over to him and touched the silk of his hair." He takes a breath, looks up, his face is tear-streaked and also, we are reminded, handsome. His eyes are described in detail, then he hugs her around her thighs. We are told how strong his arms are and how big he is and how tiny she is that even though he's sitting down his face is "above my belly button, almost to my sternum. I suddenly felt small." As opposed to the rest of the time when she's monologuing about what an itty bitty teeny tiny girl she is. She strokes his hair and tells him it's all right, he rubs his face against her shirt and gasps tearily that it's not, she says Asher will come back after only a month, Dev says that he loves Asher, she says "That's great, Dev."
....there is no way I can not read that in a totally bored sarcastic why-aren't-you-talking-about-me tone.
Dev says he's never been in love before and I love how this implies he's not in love with Anita. Anita must not notice this (how could anyone NOT love her, after all?) because instead of throwing a fit she bends down and hugs him back and says "It's wonderful and awful, isn't it?" and Dev says "Yes, because he's wonderful and awful" and she says "Yeah, that's about right--wonderful and awful is very Asher." VERSUS THIS DIALOGUE, WHICH IS JUST PLAIN AWFUL! Dev says that if Asher heard this he'd assume they meant the scars, Anita pets Dev and says she's offered to try to fix the scars but he won't let her, Dev says he's afraid, Anita tells Dev how "I'd have to cut enough flesh away to make a new wound and see if I can heal it with sexual energy" which Dev seems to know already and thus is clearly for exposition. Dev says he thinks that Asher is afraid to be perfect again, Anita asks why, Dev shrugs and the subject is dropped. The subject is dropped because THAT'S A LOAD OF BULLSHIT. The *actual* reason that Asher is never gonna get healed is because that would involve actual character change and progress, and LKH can't handle that.
Dev hugs her so hard she falls, he catches her and "his face was suddenly peering at me through my breasts" THIS IS THE MOST HILARIOUS MENTAL IMAGE HAHAHA HOW DID THAT EVEN HAPPEN? "He snuggled his face so that I could see his whole face framed by my breasts." Is this supposed to be sexy? Because it's just absurd. Anita says "I'm here to comfort you" and Dev rubs his face against her tits and says this is comforting. Oh good lord. Anita asks if this means he doesn't want to talk about it, he nuzzles her boobs more and rubs his lips over the nipple (doesn't she have a shirt on? presumably with a bra under it?) and he says no, that's not it, it's that "I haven't gotten to touch breasts in a long time, and I miss girls. I do love him, Anita, I really do, but if he wants me to give up everyone but him, loving him isn't enough." But wasn't it fine with Asher if Dev was with Anita? Why should he have been tit-deprived until now? As Anita gets turned on ("my body beginning to react to him") says that "Love doesn't conquer all."
You know, except for in Skin Trade, and Bullet, and Hit List, when the ending/epilogue was a big ol' tract all about love conquering all, being the most important thing, etc. And from Anita's POV at that.
Dev asks if it was stupid to think it was, and as he continues to lick her tits Anita says it wasn't just that "for some people one person is enough, but you...you are the most truly bisexual person I've ever met. You really don't have a preference for boy or girl, you just like the person."
GODDAMMIT SHE JUST HIT ON ONE OF MY BIGGEST LGBT PET PEEVES
I hear "Being pan/bi means that I don't care about gender, I just love the person!" from so many people, and it drives me BONKERS. Plenty of them don't know what they're actually implying with this phrase, of course, but that doesn't stop it from sounding incredibly snobby and sanctimonious and judging of monosexuals (people attracted only to one gender) and let me tell you why: It implies that gay/straight people only care about gender, and not the person, and that bi/pan people only ever care about the ~person~ and never have preferences, restrictions, or shallowness in other ways that have nothing to do with gender---like only dating blondes, turning your nose up at fat people, having a thing for Goth crossdressers, having one-night stands that mean nothing, etc. Look, bi and pan people can and do do all these things as much as straight and gay people do, okay? They're not some magical perfect orientation who, each and every one, "just loves the person" because they can see into your true soul and value you for who you REALLY are or something like that while the rest of us can't. Yeah, some can be saints who only care about your personality, and some only care about how good you look, just like ANYONE ELSE OF ANY ORIENTATION. Gender preference (or lack thereof) is not the be-all and end-all criteria of whether you "care about the person" or not, good lord. Now, this isn't to say that bi and pan people don't love their partners as persons. But so do gay and straight people. Seriously, you think I wouldn't love my girlfriend as a person? And as a lesbian, I'm especially sensitive to the idea that I just care about gender and nothing else, because there's a very prevalent stereotype that gay people are attracted to literally everyone of their own sex, so I'm already hearing that enough from straight people, I don't need it from other queer folks. Sorry for the rant but this idea of bi/pan people as magical unicorns who value you for you and the rest of us monosexuals as shallow fucks who only care whether you're a man or woman and nothing else is pretty big in the tumblr-LGBT community right now and I'm getting tired as hell of it. If you are bi or pan, I hope I didn't make you uncomfortable, my issue is NOT with you at all, it's with this phrase and all it implies.
Anyway, Dev jams as much of Anita's boom into her mouth as will fit, and Anita says someone like him can't be happy without both...which contradicts entirely her "you just like the person" bit anyway, because if he did only "care about the person" and has no gender preference whatsoever then WHY THE HELL WOULD HE 'NEED' BOTH? Also how gross is it that 'needing' a woman just means needing breasts and/or sex with one, eh? That's all we are, I guess! Of course, to be fair, the men are equally reduced to body parts and nooky in this series. Dev bites down a little on her boob, and Anita says she takes it he doesn't want to talk anymore. "He shook his head with my breast still in his mouth." I AM CRACKING UP AT THE MENTAL IMAGE OH MY LORD. Anita asks "Bedroom?" and he shakes his head again "shaking my breast a little more firmly." Oh god I can't. She asks "here?" and "he nodded, biting down on my breasts" and growls and "the growl vibrated across my breasts" and she breathes "God, Dev" and "he grinned with my breast still in his mouth." Yes, I get it, he has your mound in his maw. "His eyes filled with a mix of mischief, sex, and just him. Dev was short for Devil, and in that moment he earned his nickname." Yeah, Satan is well known for biting boobies. "I shivered and he worried my breast with his teeth until I cried out his name."
The chapter ends here, but, alas, the sex scene itself does not. Stay tuned, folks!
