Dottie's break down here
Richard comes in with his two tokens, Jamil and Shang Da. He is pissed off because it looks as though Nathaniel and Anita are in a compromising position. For a series that is supposedly about a dark and vicious supernatural world, this sort of HEELARIOUS misunderstanding comes up a lot.
I also feel completely comfortable saying that Richard has zero right to be pissed off at Anita at this moment. He may not have wanted to dump her, but dump her he did, and it's none of his damn business what Anita does with her body or her emotions, or who she does it with. I guess I am supposed to feel like he's this amazing powerful alpha male but I just think he's a childish jerk.
Things are hot and biting, because everything in the ABverse is hot, biting, like a hand of some description, or like a big fuzzy animal. Also she sure feels her face do things a lot, like right now where it decides independently of her to become neutral and sort of pleasant.
"Richard was one of those big men who never seemed big unless he was angry."
Richard reveals that he already knows about the ardeur thanks to J.C. and reiterates his hard limit regarding being fed on, which he tells Anita in no uncertain terms means that he will not allow her to sate the ardeur through using him for sex. I am on board with this but then Richard ruins it by being a nasty asshole for no good reason. Sorry Richard, when you dump a girl she then has the right to fuck whoever she wants. You goddamn hideous manchild.
He starts shoving the table around because that is somehow supposed to be intimidating.
He makes a big ol fucking deal about Nate's bite marks. Oh my god, why does everyone care about this so much? Why are shifters so stupid as to assign so much social weight to something as vanilla as a few visible bite marks? I don't think she even broke skin. Richard starts to intimidate Nate because he can. I am starting to think he might have deserved the rape charge in Blue Moon.
I hate how the fact that he's a were is portrayed as a justification for his abusive ways. Being a were doesn't mean you get to come in and act like this. Wolves don't really do this in the wild, so I fail to see why his behavior should get a pass just because he's a werewolf. He's also human, and the human side shouldn't just get shunted to the side once you turn.
None of this is Richard's business and Anita and Nate owe him nothing. But of course I'm supposed to think that this is sexy because jealousy is supposed to be sexy, and look how much he must love Anita if he's this upset. Well guess what, it's not sexy or loving. It's possessive and objectifying (in a way neither Anita nor Nate consented to) and a huge red flag that Richard is a person who doesn't understand or respect boundaries which is quite rich since he expects everyone else to respect his boundaries, such as not wanting to be fed on.
The same way that Micah was a textbook rapist, Richard is a textbook abusive boyfriend. He's the poster child for breakup violence.
According to that same site, here are the warning signs for abuse:
1). Checks your cell phone or email without your permission
2). Constantly puts you down
3). Extreme jealousy or insecurity
4). Explosive temper
5). Isolating you from family or friends
6). Makes false accusations
7). Mood swings
8). Physically hurts you in any way
9). Possessive
10). Tells you what to do
You're not looking too good there, Rich. The only reason I didn't slap him with #5 is because Anita has no family or friends that matter, so no one can really isolate her from them. She has people who exist to oppose her for stupid reasons, or people that want to fuck her for stupid reasons, and that's it. Since she has several personality disorders she either views people as those who can give her something she wants, or those who can't and are therefore worthless burdens to her.
Richard asks Nate whether Anita sucked him off. Anita and Nate both say no even though she totally did. Richard starts to manhandle Nate and Anita threatens Richard with a knife. In this case I am going to give Anita a pass, because it reads like legitimate self defense to me after watching Richard have a disgusting thwarted little boy hissy fit. He deserves to have that knife shoved through his fucking eye.
He calls Anita's bluff about being willing to kill him. She isn't willing so "I had no threat." That is the weirdest way to construct a sentence and LKH keeps doing it. I have never, not once, in my entire life heard anyone say "they fear my threat" or any variations thereon.
This brings me to another problem: Anita does not have a consistent character voice. She either sounds like a Valley Girl ("like, so"), like a Ren Faire reject, ("pretty to think so" "Nimir-Ra in truth") or an enforcer in a bad mafia movie. ("they fear my threat.") There's no unifying thread to how she speaks or thinks. This is pretty basic stuff, guys.
Anita does cut his arm though and takes Nate out of his grasp. Good. You fucking deserved that Richard, that and more. She tells Richard he isn't allowed to put a hand on her leopards or on his wolves, not out of anger. I would be more on her side if SHE HADN'T SPENT THE MAJORITY OF THIS GODFORSAKEN BOOK TELLING HIM HE ISN'T VIOLENT ENOUGH.
God, these books are terrible. The chapters barely fit together. No one's motivations stay consistent from scene to scene. Everyone talks like they have multiple personalities, but not in an interesting way where it's acknowledged that they have dissociative identity disorder, because that would be interesting and god knows we can't have that. Fucking terrible. And I've been accused of jealousy because I'm sporking them! Jealous? Of that?
I'm just going to say it: yes, I am hands down a better writer than LKH. If that makes me a jealous hater baby, well I've never been so proud to be one. That and she can cry herself to sleep on a bed made of hundred dollar bills if she wants. Forgive me for not worrying too much about her feelings regarding this matter. Ugh.
Lillian shows up and talks about how Richard needs stitches. HE IS A FUCKING WEREWOLF. I FEEL LIKE I AM TAKING CRAZY PILLS.
Fine, just tell me that it costs too much energy and pain to shift for every little wound. Sure, I'll buy that. Something. Because right now I am forced to conclude that LKH keeps forgetting her universe's most basic rules every five minutes.
Anita thinks that J.C. has deliberately put the info about the ardeur and Nate across to Richard in a way that is guaranteed to turn him in to a rage monster. Remember how everyone in these books is a piece of shit?
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