Danse Macabre, Chapter 2
Jun. 15th, 2013 02:37 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lliiraCN: Anita Blake book, pregnancy, bullying
The intelligent, brave, and beautiful Ronnie, who is my best friend ever, has just revealed to two of Anita's boytoys that Anita might be pregnant. Normally I would of course not condone revealing that someone else might be pregnant. But Anita has been treating Ronnie in such an appalling manner, and generally being such a jerk, I'm thrilled with it. Now, on to chapter 2.
That one word [baby] fell into the room like a thunderbolt, except that afterward the room was quiet. (14)
That's the second time in a span of two pages that LKH has written a qualifier for a simile. It's like this book was written for a drinking game.
Nathaniel's body was so still against mine that if I hadn't felt his pulse against my hand, it would have been like he wasn't there.
I thought Nathaniel was a wereleopard, not a ghost with a pulse. Anyway, they're all standing there tense until Nathaniel looks at Anita, which somehow breaks the silence. "...sound spilled around us" (14). People say LKH likes the word "spilled" too much, so I'm going to take note whenever she uses it, in order to see if this criticism is valid.
In this conversation about whether Anita's pregnant, it seems she has a far stronger connection with Nathaniel than with Micah. Perhaps it's because Nathaniel might be the father of the baby Anita might be having, but it doesn't feel like that's all that's going on. Anita is far more aware of where Nathaniel's standing, how he looks, how he's feeling, than she is of Micah. Micah just stands there robotically saying things to move the conversation along. So far, he could be removed from the book without changing it except for the better. This scene would feel much tighter and more emotional without him.
Anita decides that, instead of facing up to her own problems, she'll yell at Ronnie for not telling her fiance that she's had "lovers in the triple digits". Anita, Micah, and Nathaniel then proceed to pile on Ronnie for this. Then the conversation takes a very strange turn indeed, when Nathaniel accuses Ronnie of calling him a stripper, a "beef cake", etc. There's this vibe in this argument that makes me think Ronnie and Nathaniel were lovers in the past. I can't define why I have this feeling. But Nathaniel is acting like he was once madly in love with Ronnie and he caught her cheating on him, or she dumped him in a really harsh way. He's incredibly bitter and focused on her. He's just learned his current lover might be pregnant, but he doesn't act like he cares. Tearing Ronnie down is what he cares about.
Nathaniel rips into Ronnie for not wanting to be monogamous, and he's incredibly cruel. While Ronnie's insulted him in the past (by calling him a "stripper" which, er, he is, so where's the insult), this is painful. It's also ridiculously hypocritical. Anita's not monogamous either, and Nathaniel is her lapdog.
He says to Ronnie, "And you've always been beautiful enough, hot enough, to get anyone you've ever wanted, right?" (16) Nathaniel's tirade seems to be LKH insulting women she thinks are "hot enough" to get any man they've wanted, letting out all her spite and bile at them. They might be hot and have lots of sex, but they can't have Nathaniel, Nathaniel despises them.
Here's the thing: getting any man you want into bed isn't hard. You just have to know who to want. But Nathaniel's tirade feels like he's saying almost any man in any circumstance would have sex with Ronnie because she's so hot, which is pretty insulting to men. It's not about her wanting who's attractive and available; it's about her wanting ALL men. And the only one she wants and can't get is Nathaniel because he's just that special. So he says.
Nathaniel yells at Ronnie for three pages while she stands there cringing and crying. Then he gives her a card for a psychiatrist -- as if she's the one out of this group who needs it most -- and she takes it and apologizes to Anita, and leaves the book.
Yeeeeeeechhhhhhhhhh! What beautiful woman offended Laurell K. Hamilton, that she felt the need to shove that into the book? I guess it developed Nathaniel's character: he's a bully, he thinks he's the sexiest thing on the planet, and he worries more about screaming at Anita's frenemy than that he just learned Anita might be pregnant with his child. I don't understand why any author would want her self-insert to have sex with this character.
Now that Ronnie's gone, Anita, Micah, and Nathaniel can finally talk about Anita's possible pregnancy. She says, "I haven't bought a pregnancy test, because I wasn't sure how to take it without one of you finding out" (17). ARGH. This is staggeringly irresponsible, immature, ridiculous, and also creepy. Anita can't pee on a stick without one of her boys finding out? I would be more creeped out if I believed this, but we've just seen that Micah and Nathaniel go jogging regularly. So even if they creepily hover over her while she pees, they're not always in the house.
We learn more about Nathaniel's life, and how he was a prostitute and drug addict at 13. It's written in a very exploitative way and I don't like it and I don't understand why LKH dropped it here. Then Anita stumbles upon something important:
It was my turn to look into his face and realize how young he was. We were only seven years apart in age, but they could be an important seven years. (19)
Anita's 27 and Nathaniel's 20. That is a huge age difference, especially considering Nathaniel's history of being sexually exploited and his position with Anita now. I tend to get seriously squicked by age differences in modern works when one of the people is substantially under 25 and the other is not, so I shall sum up thusly: ICK.
Nathaniel says they can raise the baby if Anita is pregnant, but it's her choice, and both the men keep talking and talking while Anita says virtually nothing. They keep reassuring her but not asking her how she feels.
Nathaniel says they're getting a pregnancy test and Anita's going to use it after the party tonight.
For someone who was supposed to be a submissive his voice held no compromise. (20)
Being a submissive sexually does not mean being submissive non-sexually. Nathaniel doesn't seem to be a full-time submissive to Anita. Even if he were, he's a human being, and human beings don't generally act on strict rules of hierarchy in personal relationships 24/7 even when they are in full-time d/s relationships. There is nothing strange about a sub being an assertive person, including toward their dom, if the situation warrants it. But I don't think Anita's even Nathaniel's dom.
Anita ends the chapter by thinking that if she's pregnant it's "a really big, scary negative". She doesn't share this thought with either of her "sweeties". I do not like the relationship she has with these men. She's scared they'll catch her out if she pees on a stick, she stands there and listens while they natter on at her about what's happening to her body, she lets one of them bully her supposed friend, and they don't ask how she feels. They keep touching her, which I guess is supposed to be "support", but it feels cultish. And Micah really needs to be cut from these chapters -- he's useless.
The intelligent, brave, and beautiful Ronnie, who is my best friend ever, has just revealed to two of Anita's boytoys that Anita might be pregnant. Normally I would of course not condone revealing that someone else might be pregnant. But Anita has been treating Ronnie in such an appalling manner, and generally being such a jerk, I'm thrilled with it. Now, on to chapter 2.
That one word [baby] fell into the room like a thunderbolt, except that afterward the room was quiet. (14)
That's the second time in a span of two pages that LKH has written a qualifier for a simile. It's like this book was written for a drinking game.
Nathaniel's body was so still against mine that if I hadn't felt his pulse against my hand, it would have been like he wasn't there.
I thought Nathaniel was a wereleopard, not a ghost with a pulse. Anyway, they're all standing there tense until Nathaniel looks at Anita, which somehow breaks the silence. "...sound spilled around us" (14). People say LKH likes the word "spilled" too much, so I'm going to take note whenever she uses it, in order to see if this criticism is valid.
In this conversation about whether Anita's pregnant, it seems she has a far stronger connection with Nathaniel than with Micah. Perhaps it's because Nathaniel might be the father of the baby Anita might be having, but it doesn't feel like that's all that's going on. Anita is far more aware of where Nathaniel's standing, how he looks, how he's feeling, than she is of Micah. Micah just stands there robotically saying things to move the conversation along. So far, he could be removed from the book without changing it except for the better. This scene would feel much tighter and more emotional without him.
Anita decides that, instead of facing up to her own problems, she'll yell at Ronnie for not telling her fiance that she's had "lovers in the triple digits". Anita, Micah, and Nathaniel then proceed to pile on Ronnie for this. Then the conversation takes a very strange turn indeed, when Nathaniel accuses Ronnie of calling him a stripper, a "beef cake", etc. There's this vibe in this argument that makes me think Ronnie and Nathaniel were lovers in the past. I can't define why I have this feeling. But Nathaniel is acting like he was once madly in love with Ronnie and he caught her cheating on him, or she dumped him in a really harsh way. He's incredibly bitter and focused on her. He's just learned his current lover might be pregnant, but he doesn't act like he cares. Tearing Ronnie down is what he cares about.
Nathaniel rips into Ronnie for not wanting to be monogamous, and he's incredibly cruel. While Ronnie's insulted him in the past (by calling him a "stripper" which, er, he is, so where's the insult), this is painful. It's also ridiculously hypocritical. Anita's not monogamous either, and Nathaniel is her lapdog.
He says to Ronnie, "And you've always been beautiful enough, hot enough, to get anyone you've ever wanted, right?" (16) Nathaniel's tirade seems to be LKH insulting women she thinks are "hot enough" to get any man they've wanted, letting out all her spite and bile at them. They might be hot and have lots of sex, but they can't have Nathaniel, Nathaniel despises them.
Here's the thing: getting any man you want into bed isn't hard. You just have to know who to want. But Nathaniel's tirade feels like he's saying almost any man in any circumstance would have sex with Ronnie because she's so hot, which is pretty insulting to men. It's not about her wanting who's attractive and available; it's about her wanting ALL men. And the only one she wants and can't get is Nathaniel because he's just that special. So he says.
Nathaniel yells at Ronnie for three pages while she stands there cringing and crying. Then he gives her a card for a psychiatrist -- as if she's the one out of this group who needs it most -- and she takes it and apologizes to Anita, and leaves the book.
Yeeeeeeechhhhhhhhhh! What beautiful woman offended Laurell K. Hamilton, that she felt the need to shove that into the book? I guess it developed Nathaniel's character: he's a bully, he thinks he's the sexiest thing on the planet, and he worries more about screaming at Anita's frenemy than that he just learned Anita might be pregnant with his child. I don't understand why any author would want her self-insert to have sex with this character.
Now that Ronnie's gone, Anita, Micah, and Nathaniel can finally talk about Anita's possible pregnancy. She says, "I haven't bought a pregnancy test, because I wasn't sure how to take it without one of you finding out" (17). ARGH. This is staggeringly irresponsible, immature, ridiculous, and also creepy. Anita can't pee on a stick without one of her boys finding out? I would be more creeped out if I believed this, but we've just seen that Micah and Nathaniel go jogging regularly. So even if they creepily hover over her while she pees, they're not always in the house.
We learn more about Nathaniel's life, and how he was a prostitute and drug addict at 13. It's written in a very exploitative way and I don't like it and I don't understand why LKH dropped it here. Then Anita stumbles upon something important:
It was my turn to look into his face and realize how young he was. We were only seven years apart in age, but they could be an important seven years. (19)
Anita's 27 and Nathaniel's 20. That is a huge age difference, especially considering Nathaniel's history of being sexually exploited and his position with Anita now. I tend to get seriously squicked by age differences in modern works when one of the people is substantially under 25 and the other is not, so I shall sum up thusly: ICK.
Nathaniel says they can raise the baby if Anita is pregnant, but it's her choice, and both the men keep talking and talking while Anita says virtually nothing. They keep reassuring her but not asking her how she feels.
Nathaniel says they're getting a pregnancy test and Anita's going to use it after the party tonight.
For someone who was supposed to be a submissive his voice held no compromise. (20)
Being a submissive sexually does not mean being submissive non-sexually. Nathaniel doesn't seem to be a full-time submissive to Anita. Even if he were, he's a human being, and human beings don't generally act on strict rules of hierarchy in personal relationships 24/7 even when they are in full-time d/s relationships. There is nothing strange about a sub being an assertive person, including toward their dom, if the situation warrants it. But I don't think Anita's even Nathaniel's dom.
Anita ends the chapter by thinking that if she's pregnant it's "a really big, scary negative". She doesn't share this thought with either of her "sweeties". I do not like the relationship she has with these men. She's scared they'll catch her out if she pees on a stick, she stands there and listens while they natter on at her about what's happening to her body, she lets one of them bully her supposed friend, and they don't ask how she feels. They keep touching her, which I guess is supposed to be "support", but it feels cultish. And Micah really needs to be cut from these chapters -- he's useless.
