birthday things and narcissus in chains

*hugs to everyone* Thanks so much for the birthday wishes and Bethy for the purse that everyone keeps asking me, where did you get that, and veredus for the Very Hot QaF that she *is* going to post, if I have to stalk her down and *make* her. Because it is hot, and I am shameless in taking advantage of writers who write good fic.

*loves Te for Past Grief commentary, still my favorite SV story of all time*

By the way? Read the above. *Bathe* in the wonderful, enchanting darkness. *blissful fangirl wibbling*

Yesterday, less than six full hours before I offically turned twenty-eight, I was refused permission to buy alcohol from a liquor store.

*blinking*

"This ID is expired." Clerk looks at me sharply. Clerk is, at least, five years younger than I am. Not amused.

Okay, yes, legally, I can see how, just maybe, that would be a problem, but *really*. So, to make this just pathetic, I called my sister and piled her with guilt until she got me cinnaomon schnapps. She is, by the way, almost four years *younger* than me.

I have no idea if this is some sort of sign. I mean, okay, but of *what*? Blindness by store clerks?

Educating Child

After weeks of worrying about how to discover Educational Material for child to learn AND play with (and what happened to the good old days when all the tykes wanted were action figures anyway?) So, I got this.

Dinosaur Digging Thinger! and Dinosaur Field Guide!

Isn't it just the coolest thing *ever*? And I hope I did that link right. Shall come back with blissed out reactions of Child, but frankly, if he doesn't like them, I certainly do.

By the way, amazon.com is crack. It is officially, the worst crack ever. I go there and I can't leave with just one item, because of that damn Super Saver thing, where I *must* buy twenty-five dollars worth of stuff, dammit, because free shipping! I have never, ever gone and bought just one item. And there are always items that I cannot possibly live without. Lots of them.

Now. Having finished Narcissus in Chains, I can finally articulate why Richard makes me want to kill him and let him be eaten by someone else.



He is whiney. Okay, everyone is whiney here--all this drama--oh, I'm a lycanthrope! Oh woe is me! I can lift entire cars with my bare hands and have magic and a bizarrely powerful sex drive and heal very fast and it is hard to kill me! Horror! Shame! Oh woe!

What. The. Hell.

Yes, I get the downside of it, I do. Silver, moon, messy and somewhat painful changes, prejudice, blah blah blah. I understand. But you know? I look at the bright side and think, this is not a bad way to live. I mean, let's face it, vampires have a worse deal and no one is going around woe is me'ing vampirism. Sunlight, crosses, churches, a few hundred years of scary slavery to frighteningly sadistic older vampires...yet people *like* vampirism and they don't like the lycanthropy.

Richard I just want to spank. He is annoying and I want to choke some sense into him. He's a *leader*. That means *getting your paws dirty*. Yes, you. Which is probably why I can stand Anita most of the time, since at least she'll shoot people when they annoy her too much and I admire that, and well, she owns an arsenal and that is sexy. Richard is so very "don't cross that line or I will be put out! Okay, now don't cross this one. Oh why oh why are you crossing lines? You are putting me out!" His sheer lack of anything resembling practicality gets people *killed*.

And then that malicious streak worries me. Because he *is* ruthless when he's being stupid, and not even in a good, make an example out of someone way. He gets mad, reacts badly, then other people have to fix it. Man, a lot of this angst could have been avoided in book four if Richard had just *killed* Marcus and got comfy with being Ulfric. Instead, everyone and their puppies have to run around cleaning up so he can feel morally superior. Bah.

This does not change the fact that the book did annoy me sometimes, but at least no one is being chaste. Like any good smut writer, I applaud every time someone gets laid. And man, did people get laid a lot. They also tended to get their penises eaten, and I'm still not sure if there's a message in that. So far, I've come away with "Don't have oral sex with people with really sharp teeth", but I sort of figured that's pretty instinctive.

Though I suppose Jean-Claude, Micah, and Richard all ending up in the middle of *ardeur* in a locked room is too much to hope for... Okay, leave out Micah.


I am eating cupcakes and ruining all my appetite for the rest of the day, and maybe tomorrow too. There are some upsides to adulthood, apparently. Lots and lots of guilt-free cupcakes.

Comments

[silveraspen]

Richard is dangerous because he's unstable, unreliable, and in some ways just weak. He needs counseling or something -- do they even have counselors for lycanthropes?

BTW, I'll be very interested to see your comments after you read Cerulean Sins.

[seperis.livejournal.com]

God, yes. YES YES YES. He's dangerously unreliable and hotheaded. Isn't Sylvie's girlfriend a counselor? She should have him in the couch every *day*. *shakes head*

*grins* I am getting it next, I think. I'm all fascinated with this world again.

[beloved4always.livejournal.com]

happy, happy, HAPPY birthday

[seperis.livejournal.com]

*snickers* That's what I get for opening two comment windows at once.

*hugs hard* Thanks *so* much for the birthday wishes!

[bethbethbeth.livejournal.com]

I *so* agree with you about Richard (although I've felt that way since about page 20 of the first book *g*). But...what do you have against Asher? Doesn't he deserve to be locked in the room with Jean Claude and Richard? Just for a few min...hours? *G*

(Also? A *very* happy birthday to you!)

[seperis.livejournal.com]

Asher and Jean-Claude alone....man, we deserve flashbacks to times past. We deserve *lots* of flashbacks.

*drools* Asher wouldn't share well, though. I'm not, however, *against* the three of them....

And thank you!

[reboot-wlm.livejournal.com]

When I first found Anita Blake, it was when she wrote Blue Moon. I immediately went out and bought all her books and read them till my eyes gave out. I agree with you about Richard. He's getting on my last nerve. At first I loved the tension between the three of them and then it just got boring.

Now Anita, JC and Asher...oh my. I never thought of a threesome with Asher and Jean-Claude but that would be hot.

Is there a fandom where they write about these characters?

[narrmorr.livejournal.com]

There is over a 150 Yahoo groups lists, apparently. There is also Anita Blake Compendium: http://halo-productions.com/anita/, which is an encyclopaedia of references from the books.

The best fanfic writer I've seen is Tenley Schofield, author of "Incoming" and "This Town Ain't", which were posted to a AB Yahoo list. The link to the list was posted to Seperis's journal a week or two ago (unless someone else has been reading AB for the first time and writing about the experience in the last month).

If you can't locate, drop me a line. I converted the emails containing the stories to Word documents so that I could save them to savour them again for the future.

Re: Anita Blake

[reboot-wlm.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the info. I'll check it out.

[jaymalea]

"So far, I've come away with "Don't have oral sex with people with really sharp teeth", but I sort of figured that's pretty instinctive."

You crack me up. You really do. Thanks so much for the laugh in the middle of my day.

Happy Birthday Wishes, chica. Enjoy your cupcakes.

[seperis.livejournal.com]

*Grins* I like practical advice.

*hugs* Thank you VERY much.

[alymid.livejournal.com]

Loved the Richard Commentary - pretty much exactly how I see him -

enjoy your b-day

[seperis.livejournal.com]

Micah would be good replacement in the triumvirate, wouldn't he?

*hopeful*

At least he's willing to share a bed with Anita and Jean-Claude. Which...man. Mmmm.

Thanks! *hugs*

Random Anita Blake fan dropping in.

[elspethdixon.livejournal.com]

Richard is so very "don't cross that line or I will be put out! Okay, now don't cross this one. Oh why oh why are you crossing lines? You are putting me out!" His sheer lack of anything resembling practicality gets people *killed*.

Word, word, ten thousand times word! As a leader, he is dangerously, ah… not ineffective, more like willfully blind. He clings to his ideals long past the point at which he should have woken up to the (admittedly brutal) reality of life in a werwolf pack and started facing facts.

Fact One: He’s a werewolf. Nothing’s gonna change that. He might as well learn to live with himself and stop punishing others (like, say, Anita and especially his subordinates) because of his self-hatred.

Fact Two: Sometime, in a nasty, violent world filled with sadistic vampires and shapeshifters, you have to do nasty, violent things to keep your people safe. And if you’re not willing to do them, you’re probably not the right person for the job. And getting other people (like Anita and lower-ranking pack members) to do them for you is just cowardice.

Granted, they’re good ideals, granted, killing and brutality are Bad Things, but when your ideals start costing people their lives, it’s time to do some serious self-evaluation.

Though I suppose Jean-Claude, Micah, and Richard all ending up in the middle of *ardeur* in a locked room is too much to hope for... Okay, leave out Micah.

No, no! Leave Micah in. Then Jean-Claude and Richard can kill and eat him. (Though I suppose Richard would self-destruct from guilt afterward, so maybe it's not as good an idea as it sounds).

Instead of Richard- how about Jason in there??

[viola69.livejournal.com]

Yes- Richard became very whiney and too.... judgemental. Micah? I'm still not sure of- a little too obediant? although is a pragmatic leader who respects Anita- and that's all good.
And If you think there was smut & sex abounding in Narcissus- you must check out the Merrie series. Merrie is less... restrained than Anita- and that includes Anita under the ardeur. And her sexuality gives her power. ;-)

Re: Instead of Richard- how about Jason in there??

[slightlights.livejournal.com]

Mmm, and Merry's knights, too. Although I wish she hadn't named the one Doyle; it still makes me crack up, thinking of the Angel version. Which this one definitely is not. ::fans self::

Agreed, by the way, about Richard being judgemental.

And: happy birthday, jenn! Hope this year just gets better and better for you. Love the dinosaur ideas.

[kelly-girl.livejournal.com]

Happy Birthday!

And yes Richard is a whiny S.O.B and he's gotten on my nerves since 'Blue Moon'. I think most of the pack is terrified of Anita and therefore won't challenge him directly. I hope he is better or just not in the next book.

Mmm, JC, Asher and Jason is I think a reasonable request. It's probably already happened so we just need a flashback, plus yes give me a flashback to some JC and Asher action.

[cjandre.livejournal.com]

Happy birthday!!!!

I hope you get everything you want in the coming year - or at least what is good for you annd legal! *g*

As for Richard and Narcisus in chains - Well - he is stupid, and the story was a really long fairly well written PWP - which wouldn't have bothered me if I hadn't thought I was buying a novel.

My favorite of the series is still Obsidian Butterfl, but Cerulean Sins is better than N in C - although I keep wondering when Anita will top out on her powers... :-)

[issaro.livejournal.com]

/sneaks in with one more piece of chocolate cake

happy birthday *g*

[logovo.livejournal.com]

Happy birthday!
Your presence online makes everything more fun :)

[fyrdrakken]

A belated happy birthday, and we'll have to compare notes on Cerulean Sins once we've both read it. (Go read the Merry Gentry books in the meantime.)