Reflections...

[http://users.livejournal.com/_shiisa_/]

I've just realized that my mental image of Richard looks an awful lot like the human form of the Beast from the Disney movie... gee, no wonder I never liked him ^^;
And I'm still waiting for the day he'll end one of his mope-ohmygawdimamonster-fests with "Are we not men?", or for someone to tease him with that quote; it would be so fitting.

Anybody else had some weird deja-vu feeling from an unrelated work?

Comments

[othellia.livejournal.com]

Well... my mental images of Anita, Jean-Claude, and Asher are all from this (http://youtube.com/watch?v=0l8WtDFF4uQ). Though I don't know whether that counts as deja-vu since I first found out about that music video through this community.

Micah on the other hand... Based on the way LKH always mentions how short and "big" he is, I feel that this (http://coedmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/09/06/midget.jpg) is a metaphorically accurate interpretation. The only thing that's missing is the long hair.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_shiisa_/]

OMG, it's them!!! And Micah too (it must be one of those Magic Braids)! This is scary...

In Italy we have this mini-series called "Sensualità a corte" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0qW61gTzyU). The protagonist, the "beautiful baronet Jean-Claude", is a whiny french kid who is betrothed to an overly domineering witch. He dreams to escape with his beloved, Batman, but he never manages. When he's being too stupid, his evil mother treathens to destroy his belongings, usually girl's clothes.
I'm pretty sure they didn't do it on purpose, but...

[bludflower.livejournal.com]

AHH-HAA-HAA! I love his teeth! And that voice... Too funny.

[fangedsekhmet.livejournal.com]

My image of most of the men in her book are a lot like the Chippendales from the 80s crossed with Fabio. I never did like them. Everyone is just to perfect and pretty, it makes me annoyed.

[ladymuttly1.livejournal.com]

The Chippendales and Fabio were all muscular. I picture Anita's harem as skinny.

[witchwillow.livejournal.com]

I am curious if this (http://community.livejournal.com/lkh_lashouts/343048.html?thread=10866440#t10866440) might change your views on Richard. If it doesn't, it doesn't. But I am curious if looking at things differently would change the way some Lashers view Richard's actions and what they think he's become.

As for how I see the characters? Adrian Paul from Highlander has been my Richard since I don't even know when. Janeane Garofalo was my Anita Blake before all the crazy sexing. And David Hyde Pierce was my Edward.

Therefore imagine my WTF double take when watching the first Hellboy movie, wherein Edward was a blue amphibian man.

Pause.

With psychometry powers!

It was like an Anne Rice / LKH / Lovecraftian smash up!

[mm_madb]

Regarding the link: that was very interesting. I've actually always been a fan of Richard and part of why I dropped the series when I did was that I hated watching him struggle so much. A lot of my feelings that I wasn't able to articulate, even to myself, were expressed there. Thank you.

[easol.livejournal.com]

Oh, I get that feeling all the time. I get the biggest, baddest, most warped "Phantom of the Opera" vibe from Asher.

[easol.livejournal.com]

Small addition: the hottiepants Andrew Lloyd Webber version, not the book one.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_shiisa_/]

Doesn't everyone? Or one of those innumerable half-mask wearing anime characters like that guy from Gundam Wing whose name eludes me

[amamelina.livejournal.com]

I don't mind that Richard can look like human beast. Heck, my ex looked like Beast-beast. No, seriously. I'm still wondering what I was thinking.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_shiisa_/]

My reaction to the transformation has always been "Turn him back, he was prettier!", which might say something about my mental health...

[wonderbink.livejournal.com]

Does real life count? My mental image of Micah from the first time I read about him was of a guy I met through a friend of mine. (Once in a while, my brain will 'cast' people I've met who match a given description.) I can't remember his name, which is only fair since every single time I encountered him he introduced himself as if we'd never met.

He was a drug dealer and a pompous asshole. Never liked him.

[tsula.livejournal.com]

Jean-Claude and Anita's interactions in the earlier novels always reminded me of a bad parody of the Pepe Le Pew cartoons, to the point were I would randomly mental image JC bouncing off after Anita like Pepe, and they had the same voice... now I miss those days.

[easol.livejournal.com]

Hee hee, he does remind me of Pepe Le Pew. Same kind of annoying treacly faux-charming "French" attitude.

[beth-ann.livejournal.com]

Ok my image of Nathanial had always been this (http://www.sailorlah.com/duoactsexy.jpg) and here is another pic (http://www.sailorlah.com/duosummer.jpg). An you will never convince me that his description was not at least based in part on that character.

[the-mome-wrath.livejournal.com]

I like to pretend there is no possible connection between Duo and Nathaniel. I know there is a possibility but I like to imagine there isn't. The less LKH knows about anime, the better. Though she has said she found the hentai section and that alone is a scary enough thought.

[nova-night.livejournal.com]

Noooo, please no character based off of Gundam Wing or any other anime in her books. I love all the characters to much to even think about them ending up in her story from all the anime listed.

Even if some of the characters do sound like rip off of other character I don't want to see what she is doing to characters that are so cool by turning in to character they nothing a like after give them a new name.

[easol.livejournal.com]

Yeeeaaarrrrgggghhhhh.... it's almost identical, except that Duo ain't wearing a thong.

[morriganscrow.livejournal.com]

I am a long-time Richard loather, as I consider him a gormless, spineless, whiny, arrogant, posturing hypocrite who doesn't deserve to be an Ulfric, or even a werewolf. He shits me almost as much as Whorenita does.
Verne is a strong leader, Richard is anything but.
The scene at the end of NiC was the clincher for me. He was going to die and to Hell with the Triumvirate and the entire Pack. He was willing to sacrifice hundreds of people on the altar of his own self-hatred and wangst. I cannot put into words how much I despise him.
I do understand many folk see him as a tragic figure, a victim of Anita's cootch, and he is that too, but the rest of his actions and attitudes condemns him as far as I'm concerned.

[kerame.livejournal.com]

"I am a long-time Richard loather, as I consider him a gormless, spineless, whiny, arrogant, posturing hypocrite who doesn't deserve to be an Ulfric, or even a werewolf. He shits me almost as much as Whorenita does."


I don't see any of those adjectives could be applied to Richard, if viewed through anything but Anita's twisted pov.

spineless--He stood up to Marcus and Raina, fought constant pack battles, and now is the only character to stand up to Anita.

whining--Whining is complaining about trivial issues which are easily changed, not standing up to a powerful bully and objecting to their abuse, and he's the only character in the Anitaverse to do so. Whining is a word bullies like to use because they don't want to be called on their behavior.

arrogant--How so? This is the word Anita uses because he refuses to bow down to her arrogance.

posturing hypocrite--He's never asked anyone to live by double-standards, so I don't see how he could be accused of hypocrisy. Anita condemns him for attempting to make the pack more democratic and less hierarchical. Hypocrisy is the privelege of unaccountable power, that's what Anita demands, not he. Nor does he posture, since he has always tried his hardest to live by a more humane standard.


"Verne is a strong leader, Richard is anything but. The scene at the end of NiC was the clincher for me. He was going to die and to Hell with the Triumvirate and the entire Pack. He was willing to sacrifice hundreds of people on the altar of his own self-hatred and wangst."


Verne has a faithful lupa. He's not eternally, psychically chained to his blackmailer and betrayer. That alone would be enough to do most people in. On top of which, at the end of NiC, he had been metaphysically raped, on the same day he was forced to give up democracy, and go back to ruling as a dictator with terror and violence. It's not as though he refused to fight, he fought, his reflexes were just a bit slower due to the despair almost anyone would feel at that moment, that's hardly being "willing to sacrifice hundreds of people." It sounds like the end of TH, when he shows up ready to fight, but because he lacks the proper opinion of the all powerful crotch, he's turned over to be tortured, while Anita's band of cult-followers use their mind-meld to defeat them through their absolute faith in the benevolence of the crotch-goddess. In both cases Richard is condemned for daring to feel anything other than grateful for Anita's attention/abuse.


"I cannot put into words how much I despise him.
I do understand many folk see him as a tragic figure, a victim of Anita's cootch, and he is that too, but the rest of his actions and attitudes condemns him as far as I'm concerned."


I can not believe how the one character who shows any concern for fairness and equal treatment, and struggles to maintain any independence is condemned. Those qualities would make him and excellent leader, if not for Laurell's egomania. He is a tragic figure, he's also the only heroic one in the series.

[gothgoddessrhia.livejournal.com]

I have to admit that way back in the days of the triangle (Anita, Jean Claude and Richard), I was a JC girl. I knew he was evil as could be, but I liked that he could appreciate Anita for what she was. But I originally liked Richard, but eventually felt he was far too needy and jealous.

After OB, I thought Anita was going to go home and pick him, get married and that the triangle would take on a different dynamic. I honestly thought that somehow the triumvirate was going to be destroyed and set Anita and Richard free and that the new struggle would be them against Jean Claude as the vampire tried to break them up and draw them back into his power.

Of course, I was totally wrong.

Looking back, I can see now that Richard was the first victim of LKH's notorious character assassination. The more comparisons that are drawn between Richard and Gary Hamilton by LKH herself, the more uncomfortable I am with the character's treatment in the books. Reviewing the novels now, it is clear now that Richard's decline parallels the decline of that marriage.

There is something almost obscenely real about Richard and his attempts to be free of Anita. I cannot read any scenes with Richard in them because it’s so terrible to see him struggling to get free and only being enslaved further. I had a smidgen of hope when he showed up with his hair cut off, but that was short lived. Later, when I read LKH’s blog about when Gary cut off his hair, it all made some sort of sick sense.

I used to despise Richard, but now, I just feel bad for the character that is obviously the avatar for LKH’s ex. The more LKH wants us to hate him, the more I tend to feel defensive of him.

[morriganscrow.livejournal.com]

I used to despise Richard, but now, I just feel bad for the character that is obviously the avatar for LKH’s ex.
I agree with what you say here, and admit this is the only thing that provokes a smidge of compassion for the character. However, it is the character, Richard Zeeman, as written, no matter what role he may or may not fill for LKH, no matter how monstrous Anita has become, that I dislike intensely.
His choices, reactions, jealousy, pettiness and all - irrespective of the Gary angle - tends to make me have no respect for him.

[longtail.livejournal.com]

I always pictured Micah as Weird Al Yankovic.

I feel so dirty making that admission *sniffs*. Weird Al is one of my heros and has way more personality than Micah's got peen, and he deserves better! Dammit. It's the constant descriptions of "long curly brown hair" that does it!

[dameruth.livejournal.com]

Okay, now I need the brain bleach, because I never thought of that before, but now that you've mentioned it I see the connection.

Aaaaargh. I'm sorry, Weird Al!!