I know, right? Since LKH has also said that dialogue is her strong point, this is spectacularly painful. When it comes to the random tangents, I like to believe that Anita stands there with her head tilted to one side, her eyes glazed over, while everyone else stands there and shuffles from foot to foot, checks their watch, maybe orders a pizza. The secondary characters could probably resolve all their problems if they just used their words, but if Anita doesn't see it, then it doesn't happen.

I have no idea about the shapeshifter thing. It was set out initially like lycanthropy was akin to HIV/AIDS and the stigma attached to it, but it's more like the whole "don't ask, don't tell," deal where if people don't know you're a werewolf, they won't judge or be scared that oh dear, they shared your mug they might catch it. That...still doesn't excuse why it's still legal in some states to hunt down people just because they have the misfortune of being a shapeshifter. Seriously, way to be supportive of people who survived an animal attack, or had something like what happened to Richard with a bad batch of vaccine.

This comm's come up with some really creative alternatives for how to deal with that and making it beneficial (like using lycanthropy to cure people with cancer/other diseases).