Romances
N has always felt forced and fake to me, and I couldn’t quite place why. You’re right that now that we know N’s hiding part of their true self helps that along.
In b1, it came across as N trying to hard (the weird flirt scene at the lab really turned me off as a reader, so even on N’s path, my MC decided to stay outside with M to avoid that crap). In b2, N’s path felt stilted as well as N feeling fake, but I wrote that off as Sera forcing the plot instead of letting the characters behave more naturally. The whole thing with “I will plan on asking you for a date once this mission is over” was just weird–aren’t there always missions to do? That’s why I figured N’s weirdness in that respect was Sera-forced, so the “date” could be at the carnival. She forces a lot of things that way, really, and the “romance” suffers for it.
Never watched The Originals, but I saw Elijah on The Vampire Diaries before they did the spinoff. I think Elijah pulled that whole thing off more, with the noble front but being vicious. Maybe because he wasn’t so over-the-top all the time. In TVD, he came off as this vampire that was very controlled until he snapped (I remember a scene where he wasted an alley full of people in short order). But I get what you’re saying. I can see the parallels with N, but N overcompensates by acting like this peacenik who’s anti-combat and… really… kind of spineless when talking to A. Does N ever really win an argument with A?
I love this about M. One of the many things I love abouto M.
Yep, I’ve noticed this. My husband finds it grating, because one of his LT MCs is not dating N and refuses to do so, but the narrative always pushes the guilt. It’s not like she’s cheating on Nate (unlike his other LT MC, who is dating Nat and basically using her to get Ava), so why force that idea?
I think Sera intends for the MC to be conflicted from the start, and always feel like they’re cheating on N by wanting A because that’s how the original novel was to be written. This is just another blatant example of how the MC has no effect on the “romance path”, because it’s going to happen the way Sera wants it, no matter what. The MC isn’t given much leeway–you can choose not to date N, but you’ll still be forced to be in love with them, instead of just attracted, with that attraction starting to fade as you get to know N. And that’s a problem, I think. There should be options within the “paths” that can affect them (like ending the LT earlier), but there aren’t. And likely never will be. We’ll be kept completely on the rails, for the entire ride.
For A… That was an interesting theory, and it would make more sense than what we’re given so far.
I mean, the MC is already spending time with them separately, getting to know A without getting physical (but with emotions in the mix), so the whole “dating” aspect isn’t really needed. I think all it would really take is for A to tell the MC that they want them, that they’ve been in love with them from the first time they met them, and they’re tired of resisting. They need to know if this will work. A and N would need to have a chat about that, especially if the MC is dating N (if not, I don’t see the issue here, other than both A and the MC sitting N down and telling them how things are). If the MC is dating N, then it’s on the MC to make the choice whether to take a break from N to figure things out or to tell A it’s too late.
The situation is a mess, but it’s not a mess that can’t be cleaned up with some adult behavior and honesty.
If it doesn’t conclude by the end of b4, the LT is going to be stupid as hell. There’s too much that has to be dealt with, otherwise.
That said, as someone who prefers M to the rest of these characters, I am going to be supremely pissed off if the LT gets concluded at the end of b4 and M-mancers are left with nothing again just because Mishka doesn’t want to have things “happen at the same time”. That will be a huge piss in M-mancers’ faces if it went down that way.
I could see that. I think the only one who wouldn’t fear that is M, because M is always certain the MC can handle anything. But M will probably be the only one who never brings it up or wants the MC to become a supernatural, since they won’t consider the MC’s mortality until the MC is already dead.
You got a better scene by letting Sanja die? I got the feeling we were supposed to always pick Sanja and let the LI get hurt, since that’s when you get the better LI scenes. The scenes you get when you save the LI kind of suck, really. An injured A gets you the ‘tu omnia’ scene and an injured M gets you M telling you they would’ve saved you instead of Sanja and then the sweet cheek kiss. Without them hurt, you really don’t get anything worth a damn.
That said, it is too out of character for my M-mancer to go for Sanja when M is in danger, so she just got screwed out of the good scene. Sanja didn’t die, though, since she never did the tests. My F-mancer saved F, didn’t do the tests, and Sanja still died (I didn’t know that was possible), but she just shrugged it off.
Agreed. I like the idea of there being a new poison against all supernaturals, something that their super healing can’t just shrug off. That’s what I wrote for my AU, and the “poison” actually affects the MC differently, and gives her supernatural powers while it’s in her system. I like flipping the script.
I think she wanted to introduce the trappers as a threat to the MC to set up b3, but she couldn’t think of a better way to do it than the attack outside the facility, which–again–just made the Agency look incompetent. That scene was ridiculous.
I think all of the fight scenes are written strangely. They seem more suited to a Three Stooges skit than actual fight scenes. The first fight scene in b3 was a little less stupid, but it still wasn’t good. When you hamstring the vampires and don’t let them actually fight without having a good reason for them suddenly being weak and incompetent (a poison would be a great reason for this!), then the scenes will be stupid. And the only thing she seems to know for the MC to do is to trip people. Or to have the enemies trip over branches and shit. It’s really awful.
b3
Ooh, that would’ve been cool.
One thing I couldn’t figure out a purpose for are the “blood taken” stats tracked at the blood drive and the cell scene if the auctioneer grabs the MC. At the blood drive, Elidor “saves” the MC if they can’t get out of the stupid blood donation, but there’s still a “blood taken” stat. In the cell, if you have 85% of your highest stat, you manage to overpower the jerkwad trying to take your blood, otherwise it gets taken. I could see the two being temp variables if it was only for those scenes, but they were global variables. Either they’ll come up again or she just needlessly tracked them.
That would’ve been freaking awesome.
Maybe. If so, then this book should’ve gone a different route. The kidnappings weren’t personal for the MC. Maybe take Rebecca/Bobby/Douglas and draw the MC in that way. Or let the MC sacrifice themselves for the LI. Instead, it was a waste of what could’ve been a really cool plot.
Yeah, I just still don’t get why Murphy thought this would work. The comment from that council person, wondering aloud what Murphy had done to the MC, made me think there’s a lot more going on with the MC’s blood than there was in b1, and that Murphy didn’t just make the MC’s blood more powerful for supernaturals who ingest it, but it did something to the MC, too.
Were I writing it, I’d definitely explore that (and, for one thing, use it to explain why the MC healed so quickly from the building falling on them, when they should’ve had multiple broken bones and internal bleeding). But I guess expecting any depth to it is a pointless endeavor.
M and the MC have a way more healthy relationship.
But that’s about what I expected, anyway–M’s always last, and the “not an official relationship and the MC psychically knows M loves them” will have to wait until the others are happy and settled.
all over the detective.