Just some questions that came to mind

[amamelina.livejournal.com]

In a previous post, we learned that LKH was part of an anthology, and we got a mini-review of the story she was posting. However, I found that the story raised some questions in my mind.

1. How many Animator companies are there in St. Lois? There can't be just one. St. Lois is a fairly big city, with many cemetaries, I'm sure. Lots of dead, more then just one company (unless it's like a hundred people) can handle.

1b. If there are other Animator companies, why don't the customers ever pull a customers_suck on them? Something like, "Company X is offering the same service for $5 less. If you don't match their price, I'm going over there." Or, "You just insulted me! I'm taking my business to Company X!" or even "I don't like you. Company X gets to raise my dead husband. I hope you're happy!"

2. Is there a "Do not raise" form? I know her world has a "If I grow fangs, stake me" form. And, if there is a form, how do they keep track of it? Is it public record? Would it be placed with the will? Would the family lawyer have it? I have an image of them trying to raise dear old grandma from the dead while Aunt Suzie is runnig up, paper waving in her hand, screaming, "Stop the ritual! Edna didn't want this. I have the form!"

3. While I'm thinking of legal issues, why don't they have a lawyer on retainer? Or was that Ronnie's role? After all, if you're raising a zombie that might get loose and eat the client, don't you want to cover your buns and make sure you don't get sued? Are there legal papers that clients have to sign to make sure that they don't sue?

4. How long does it take between hiring an Animator and the raising? Is there any research that goes into the death of the one being raised, or do they just take the client's word for it. To quote House, "Everyone lies." Is the money paid up front? Are there payment plans? Do you wait until the last payement to raise Grandma? What if it's part of a trial? Who pays then?

I think if some of these questions were fleshed out in the actual series, it would be cool. I have in my "To write someday" file a story sketch about a legal consultant for a zombie raising company, with these questions to be answered. After all, how great of a story would it be to follow the lawyer of an animator company and deal with the crazy families, lying clients, power-stuffed animators and greedy bosses?

Comments

[polymexina.livejournal.com]

it would be awesome, especially if your lawyer was perfectly professional and never actually SLEPT with the monsters or clients.

[dreamstrifer.livejournal.com]

I thought Ronnie was a PI?

And there are plenty of cemetaries in and around St. Louis. Apparently Bert was the only one to organize animators into a company? Or was it that he was the first? I can't remember, it's been awhile since I read the books.

I'd LOVE to see a customers_suck post about Anita Blake not doing her job (or bringing Micah or whoever along....). It'd be all "OMG this total slut raised my dad for me. It was horrible. She kept making out with her boyfriend, and I swore to god she was going to start dancing around with the blood and do some weird ass sex ritual. THank god she didn't. And the bitch explained the entire process to me as if I were three despite the fact that HELLO I know some things about zombie raisings. It's not exactly a new power, omgz. ANd then she started talking about how her mother died. When she was 6. I care? She also kept looking at my husband (who is rather fetching) and I was all "HELL NO" and cut her tip. Bitch."

[amamelina.livejournal.com]

Actually, complaining about Anita would be bad_service since she's the one doing the service. Customers_suck are bad customers. But I still like the idea.

[amamelina.livejournal.com]

Oh, wait, yeah, Ronnie was the PI. For some reason I thought she was a lawyer.

[fadeinthewash.livejournal.com]

Catherine was Anita's lawyer friend.

[lucidscreamer.livejournal.com]

Bwahahahah!

She also kept looking at my husband (who is rather fetching) and I was all "HELL NO" and cut her tip. Bitch."

Perfect. :sporfle:

[christraven.livejournal.com]

See, these are all good ideas, and all part of a well-thought-out, intricately developed background and world. Your stumbling block is that they are all logical ideas, and would only get in the way of Laurita's sexx-fests.

[knowthyself.livejournal.com]

LOL, those would all be awesome and so much more interesting!! But, you know, would require LKH to actually try and think of a plot that wasn't Anita having sex and getting more superpowers, so it'll never happen in this series.

Definitely that story, and heck, those other ones too! It'd be a fun twist, and who says she can have the monopoly on the zombie raising business?

[amamelina.livejournal.com]

I'd have to be careful and not name them Animators, though. That might be a giveaway.

I think once I'm done with the first book of the series I'm writing, I'll get started on the first story with the lawyer girl. Then do the second book of the one series, and the second story of the other.

[frabjously.livejournal.com]

There is at least one more animating company in St. Louis, the one that John Burke works for. I think animating companies are alluded to in general (since I think they have a professional journal?) but whether there are more within St. Louis I'm not sure. Presumably necromancy is a hard skill to come by since it can't be taught, so there aren't many more companies to compete with.

[amamelina.livejournal.com]

I know Burke was from NO, but he moved to St. Lois. I can't remember if he works for Animator's Inc since he's barely mentioned after he first shows up.

[dwg.livejournal.com]

These are the type of things I started to contemplate back on my re-read of the series and I bemoaned, "Why couldn't Anita be a lawyer?!"

I mean, LKH brings up some interesting concepts here about human/inhuman rights and instead of using that as a stepping stone toward maybe exploring the human condition and telling an awesome story about how humanity is dumb or that even monsters can be good, we get this chick that raises zombies and kills vampires, no questions asked. I, for one, wanted more exploration into the fallout about vampires being declared citizens. But no, we just get the odd update on the current political climes (again, why couldn't we have a lawyer for a protagonist? She could be fighting for zombie rights in a courtroom and butting heads with politicians to make the world a better place for the electroencephalographically challenged) and then we move onto how this makes Our Herione's life just that bit more convenient. Bleh.

I'm going by memory here, so bear with me:

1. I think Animators, Inc. is one of three major firms in the country. There was definitely mention of a rival down in New Orleans.

That said, I have to wonder why other people didn't follow suit. If animating can be turned from an "embarrassing gift" into a lucrative business, as proved by Bert, then surely other firms will spring up across the country. I had this whole spiel about Micah where I had to ask why an animator that just-so-happened to also be a federal marshall had to raise the zombie in that book. Surely Philidelphia has animators of its own? Or wouldn't it be easier to go to New York? That's big enough to have zombie businesses. Insert Jersey joke here.

2. I think the "do not raise" form is called "cremation". But it's a valid question -- if you can state that you don't want to be a vampire, then surely you can state that you don't want to be raised as a zombie.

3. Ronnie was a private investigator with her own firm that consulted for Animators, Inc. from time to time. Woe, it would have been awesome if she were Single Female Lawyer.

The whole murdered zombie thing is something I've been campaigning against in NuCanon -- granted, LKH canon is a flimsy thing, so I've been going by what appeared in the books first -- in the earlier books it's stated time and again that zombies were routinely raised to testify against their murderers. The zombie in Guilty Pleasures did not immediately go apeshit to nom Zachary. Phillip did not leap on Aubrey and try to eat his brains. To suddenly have zombies be all GRR ARGH BRAINS about their murderers that even animators/necromancers cannot control them just came out of left field to me.

4. Yet another thing kind of left out from the books. I vaguely recall something about people willing to wait for months if need be, but you'd think there'd be a full-time researcher on staff to do background checks on the deceased before the animator goes off to their assignments.

Annnd once more I went off on a tangent asking where the hell animators get their livestock for sacrifice. I mean, they kill chickens and goats on a regular basis. Where doe the ASPCA stand on this? Are the chickens and goats specifically bred for slaughter? Do they have farmers that exclusively supply animating firms? I don't think everyone would happily sit back and condone animal slaughter by a bunch of people who apparently get no training in humane practices.

These are the things I think about when worldbuilding. RE: animal issue, I had one of my witches have a chicken coup in her backyard, not just for eggs, but for animals to sacrifice if need be. One of the others bred rats to help feed his pet snake and for spell ingredients. His fridge is full of animal parts, and he just tells people that he cooks them. Which isn't exactly a lie, but y'know, not the whole truth either.

That was one long comment. I'll...um, stop now.

[starcrossedlady.livejournal.com]

oh, just had a thought...

What if a PETA-like group got involved? I mean, Anita's having to slice herself (because the coven that she was peripherally involved in frowned on animal sacrifice, and it's so much more darkitydark for Anita to have to feel yet more PAIN! one has to wonder about her emo poetry these days) but that's not to say the entirety of Animators, Inc. isn't using animals.

Would they picket the gravesites? Would they start bugging Anita at home? Would they try to claim Anita is putting cruel and unusual punishment on her wereharem by making them have sex with her?

just a thought...

[talymil.livejournal.com]

I thought she started the animal sacrifices again because OMG her hands were getting all scared and ew and chickens were more convinent.

I think it was in the book 'Micah'.

[amamelina.livejournal.com]

All very good points! I'm adding a few of what you mentioned to my folder for that story. I didn't even think about the animals.

If they aren't supplied by someone for the animals, how do they get them? Does the petting zoo have to replace its goat every month? Are Animators banned from zoos because they eye certain animals funny?

Oh, and another question that popped in my mind. If it's a natural talent, what's to stop some down-trodden teen with the gift to raise zombies from setting a bunch on the bullies of his schools? Instead of a school shooting, we have a school eating.

Dangit! I think my plot bunny had babies.

[dkphoenix.livejournal.com]

1. I remember three "big" ones being mentioned in the early books, Animators Inc, the one John Burke worked for in New Orleans, and Resurrection something or other on the west coast. Seems like I remember some little incident in the earlier books implying that the profession was so small and insular that pissing one animator/company off lessened your chances that the others would work for you, excepting renegades like Zachary (in Guilty Pleasues0. Alternatively, animator business practices would be too much like "plot" and would therefore get in the way of metaphysical emergencies requiring multi-species orgies to resolve.

2. I think it was mentioned after the Dominga Salvador thing that a lot of animators had themselves cremated to avoid being raised.

3. Catherine was a lawyer, so was Monica, but we haven't seen either one of them since book #3 or 4. Neither one worked specifically for Animators, but I think it was implied that they did some work for them.

I agree with you that fleshing out those little details would make for a vastly more interesting story. (It's what made the earlier books neat - the world-building stuff.) Like, what kind of insurance would a big animating firm have to carry? There was a Marvel Comics miniseries (Damage Control) about the insurance firm to the superheroes, who came in after the Avengers or the Fantastic Four (the X-Men couldn't get coverage, as I recall) trashed NYC yet again, to clean up the mess. That was big fun. I think it would be big fun to see in Anita's world, but alas, insurance is not sexy.

[amamelina.livejournal.com]

1. Ah, ok. But only three big ones in the whole country?

2. That makes sense.

3. Catherine left before Monica. I think Monica was mentioned after Catherine when her baby was born. Now both Monica and the baby are AWOL.

Also, I have to check out Damage Control. That sounds cool.

[fadeinthewash.livejournal.com]

Seriously. Topics like this make me sad + desirous of a change in copyright laws. Hey, if people abuse their pets, we remove the poor things; let's do the same for incompetent authors abusing their characters/worlds.

[kd-lalala.livejournal.com]

1. There's several at least, I'd guess, because Anita has mentioned a couple of times toward the later books that Bert won't fire her because she's such a talented animator any one of his competitors will pick her up.

[shadwing.livejournal.com]

On the flip of this...she may be a talented Animator, but if she doesn't come in to do her job or is difficult to work with Bert can fire her and since IMO the pool of Animators is small and word would get around on WHY she was fired...

"You heard about Blake?"
"Yeah she's got the gift but is a bitch to work with."
"Wouldn't want to be HER boss."
"Heard she's poison to work with too..."

I mean look at Tom Cruise, around the time of MI:3 and War of the Worlds (when he was on his huge Scienctology Convert everybody kick) he was almost poison in Hollywood due to his new rep of being so tough to work with that no matter HOW talented he is on screen it's not worth the hassle of having him on set. Rumors are that he was a pain in the ASS on the Set of Batman Begins when Katie was costarring. So yeah talent is great but if you are a pain and hard to work with word gets around.

[pastygothchick.livejournal.com]

To do what? Right now she's pretty much just having sex, vampire politics solved by sex, were-thing problems solved by sex, and then more sex. I don't think she's managed to get off her back (or knees or that table over there) long enough to call in to work. I think she's just a name that Bert can use to make money.

And WTF is up with the whole Federal Marshall thing she has going. I never really got that. How in the heck does that do anything but give her an excuse to be more nosey and bitchy than usual?
"I'm Anita Blake, I'm a nosey bitch with a badge. Now, take off your pants I haven't had sex for five minutes."
"But there's a corpse here."
"I'll straddle him in a second."

[pandaemonaeum.livejournal.com]

To the best of my knowledge, that story was set in the early days of AI, when the firm was still new and mistakes were common. Kind of "this is the reason we make people do X, Y, and Z"

1. John Burke works for Animators Inc, and Larry works for AI too, so there are at least two other animators working for AI alone. I'm pretty sure than Manny's original main role was as an animator. In earlier books, before LKH decided Laurita was sparkly and speshul, John Burke was nearly as good as Laurita, and Larry was pretty damn spiffy as an animator too, with hints at something more. I know there are two other firms mentioned, with AI being the best, and Laurita being the one they send out for the tougher jobs. To answer 1b, Laurita can raise older zombies and more zombies in a single night than other animators, and thus there really isn't competition - she can treat the customer any way she likes, as she is their last hope. Also, many people will only deal with Laurita, so she just treats them like crap as they can't do anything about it.

2. No, I don't think there is a 'DNR' for raising, although I am sure in at least one book there has been a legal battle over whether one chap should have been raised at all over codicils in a will.

3. I am sure that this is mentioned as paperwork handled by the secretary and Bert. I know checks are mentioned, and retainers, I just made the assumption that people would want a contract before parting with retainers.

4. In the early books, Anita talks about background checks, research, retainers, fees, contracts, appointments etc. From memory, it goes

Person wants someone raised -> Bert takes retainer -> background checks/ research -> contracts are produced -> animator consulted -> contracts signed.


I don't want to be an LKH apologist, but she does cover some of this stuff before the books really turn to shit, honestly.

[fadeinthewash.livejournal.com]

To the best of my knowledge, that story was set in the early days of AI, when the firm was still new and mistakes were common. Kind of "this is the reason we make people do X, Y, and Z"

This is a society that "grew up" alongside vampires and weres. Raising the dead isn't just a horror flick motif and hasn't been for centuries (not sure how LKH set up her past several centuries of history re: regular society handling the supernatural). So 1)there should've at least been underground zombie-raising companies in the past, possibly forcing the government to legitimize and therefore regulate the practice, and 2) regardless of 1, it seems unlikely to me that any society, especially in America with its high Christianity* rates, would allow this to go on without a stack of laws thicker than your head to accompany it.

*and as a side note, how are there possibly any real atheists in Anita's world? [Ha, mental image of Rebels Without a Cause smoking, not wearing seat belts, and proclaiming atheism to look cool and dangerous.] Vampires cowering in the face of faith via a religious object seems like it would pretty much eliminate the need for faith altogether, since it would become a matter certainty. As atheists cannot replicate this effect, it's obviously not all in the attacking vampire's mind, either.