Karen Chance Fans discussion
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Curse the Dawn
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Curse the Dawn (Cassandra Palmer #4)
Leodora, I've suspected Marlowe and the Consul have been at it for a while. He clearly has awful taste in women!! :PI asked KC about this in a Q & A once but she gave one of her trademark evasive answers, and that just makes me even MORE suspicious that it's happening. That's why I think it'll be soooo interesting if Mircea and The Consul ever have a fall out at some point in the future. Which side will Marlowe take?
But I do prefer our crackpot theories on this subject. I mean, if you were to look up the phrase "stubborn, powerful, complicated types" in the dictionary (I think that's the exact wording), why, you'd get a picture of Mircea!! :D
I still can't get over Zheng-zi being bisexual. I'm starting to think he and Marlowe are made for each other, since they're both a bit dangerously crazy. Sigh, just my kind of guys LMAO!
LOL no wonder Mircea and Marlowe are in cahoots!!! They are perfect for each other!!! EXCEPT when Marlowe starts digging where he shouldn't...And Lannister...you didn't like Gillian?? She was pretty badass...she was "stubborn, powerful, and complicated."
Oh, I'd forgotten about Gilliam. I wasn't thinking of her when I said that, just the Consul. And her snakes.So Aileen, if you had to choose between Missie and, uh, Mirlowe, who would you pick? :)
Mirlowe? Say it ain't so! *runs away screaming*
Mirlowe? Mar...cea? They both sound awful to the ear. Although, it is a very funny conspiracy theory to entertain when reading about their interactions. It'd give Mircea his happily ever after!
I don't know about you guys, but I could see Mircea not honestly believing that Cassie was breaking up with him at first. I can imagine him taking it really well, hoping to win her back.
Mircea's ego is too giant to accept that a mere human would walk away from him. ;)
I could see that, too, Claire. He knows he pisses her off at times, but I doubt he'd ever think that she would actually walk away from him.
Lannister wrote: "Oh, I'd forgotten about Gilliam. I wasn't thinking of her when I said that, just the Consul. And her snakes.So Aileen, if you had to choose between Missie and, uh, Mirlowe, who would you pick? :)"
how could you forget about Gillian???? There were TWO Marlowe shorts!!! TWO!!! That's terrible...Marlowe would be so disappointed...
Lol I thought we decided on M&M for those two!!! Much "sweeter" and less...weird...Mirlowe HAHAHA (sounds a bit like Merlot...and I remember reading in EtN about how Mircea only drinks wine in certain circumstances...) ANYWAY...that is a VERY hard decision...I think I would HAVE to chose Missie only because if I didn't then Cassie would be free to Pritkin and we just cannot have that. Though I really do like the M&M scenario, I just can't see it. Mircea doesn't strike me as the type, and Marlowe was FIRMLY friend-zoned much too long ago for Mircea to ever see him romantically. He also wouldn't come between Snakey and her LOVAH!!! Between her and Cassie?? Yes. Her and Marlowe?? No. He ain't dumb.
Yeah, I think we'd have to pick Missie. Much as I enjoy the M&M crackpot theories, the chances of anything actually happening there are zero. But why let reality get in the way! :) Also, I laughed at him being friend-zoned!! :)
I'm so glad you found it funny. I did too. For some reason, I see Marlowe being more open to...experimentation??...than Mircea...I think it's partly because he's with Snakey...you have to be a strong man for that...
And KC has stated that Marlowe swings both ways, so, yeah, I think he's up for anything! :DI actually think of Her Snakeyness as quite puritanical. I'm not quite certain why I think this. I think there have been a couple of snippets of text in the books where she seems quite strait-laced. I think she disapproved of Anthony's, ah, free-loving approach, and also saying LC's thing for Dory was a perversion. She doesn't strike me as someone who's game for anything. So maybe she and Marlowe are totally vanilla in the bedroom.
Interesting point there Lan, I kind of get the same feeling from the Consul, but maybe it's just because Anthony is her ex and Dory is a dhampir. I do imagine Marlowe as more kinky. I can see him being into BDSM, but probably not with Snakey. If they were into that kind of thing, who would be the Dom? I'm betting her.
Yeah, that's a fair point about Dory and Anthony. Because we don't see the Consul in any kind of personal relationship, it's hard to judge. I remembered another scene that made me think of her as quite strait-laced. There was a bit in Fury's Kiss where Dory goes to the Consul's house and ends up in Anthony's suite, where he's busy getting cosy with another Senator. One of the Consul's guards shows up and Anthony says to him that if he doesn't leave he (Anthony) will assume the guard wants to join in. Dory makes some comment about the look on the guard's face and that he probably doesn't see that kind of thing normally in the Consul's house (I'm paraphrasing, but that was the gist of it). So, unlike Anthony, Snakey seems to keep her private life private. Though what she does in private in anyone's guess. She certainly enjoys power and control (in public, anyway. Sometimes the powerful like to be dominated in private, simply because it's a novelty for them.)
However, I love that line in the books where it says Marlowe usually shows up wherever the action is. What kind of action are we talking about?!! ;) I tend to think of Marlowe and the Consul as an on & off kind of thing, where they hook up whenever they feel like it, but are also free to pursue other interests. No idea if that's actually the case, but that's how I tend to view it.
I think it's interesting how Mircea, when talking to Marlowe, always refers to the Consul as 'your lady'. He does it again in the teasers for Tempt the Stars. This could either be an absolutely blatant clue from KC, or just a respectful turn of phrase from Mircea. I can't decide which. Have we heard Mircea refer to another senior master's maker anywhere else, e.g. has he ever talked about Radu to LC? What sort of phrasing does he use?
I'd never picked up on that phrasing before, Lannister.I could see Marlowe and the Consul only hooking up whenever they felt like it, too. I couldn't see them in a long-term exclusive type of relationship.
Mello, Mircea saying 'your lady' to Marlowe happens a couple of times. I'm sure he says it in Curse the Dawn too. I'm tending toward seeing it as a respectful phrase, since it was the Consul who made Marlowe. But the consul is boss of both of them, so why not say "our lady"? I really can't approve of workplace relationships between an employee and his direct superior. These things never end well!! ;)
I was wondering that, too. Why not say "our lady"? They both work for her, so it does make one wonder what he means by it, if anything.You're not only disapproving because it's Marlowe, are you?
Mello ❣ Illium ✮Harry✮ ☀Myrnin☀ Torin wrote: "You're not only disapproving because it's Marlowe, are you?"LOL, no. Really, I'm not. Honestly. ;)
I hope Marlowe likes getting up close and personal with snakes. *shivers*
The lay doth protest too much!
Mod
I have a feeling that ol' Snakey and Marlowe are less off/on again, and more...whenever the Consul wants some Marlowe action?? I have a feeling that they are both free to do whoever they please, BUT if the Consul wants Marlowe she gets him. And not just because she is his maker. And NOW I will be looking very closely to see what they refer to the Consul as when Marlowe is concerned...
Yup, I think what the Consul wants, the Consul gets. I wonder if she ever hit on Mircea?!
Lannister wrote: "Yup, I think what the Consul wants, the Consul gets. I wonder if she ever hit on Mircea?!"And how would Mircea respond?
Maybe he ran away ...
Mod
Ha, good point, Lannister and Leodora.I almost think he'd sleep with her. He loves women; wouldn't he regard it as his chivalric duty to service any woman who wants to sleep with him, so long as she's not using him as a step up in her political career? And someone more powerful than him wouldn't be doing that.
Also, we know from his memories that he likes women who boss him around. Think of his first wife. Politically speaking she was powerless, but on a personal level, she was tough. He loved her because she talked back to him and bossed him around, unlike every other woman who bowed her head to him.
I've always wondered why Mircea took up with Augusta. She comes off as distinctly nutso in the scenes with Jack, and nutso never struck me as being to Mircea's taste.
Wow, did he take up with Augusta? I kind of missed that LOL!
Leodora wrote: "Maybe that's why Mircea was at the chinese court for so long..."Ha, excellent point!
Bell wrote: "Also, we know from his memories that he likes women who boss him around. "
LOL!
KC has said Mircea is like a rockstar in the vamp world and, like every rockstar, he's pursued by groupies. Even in his human days, Mircea admitted that women wanted the prince, rather than the person. It must get tiresome after a while to only be valued for what you are, rather than who you are. I think Mircea is therefore drawn to people who are powerful in their own right, since they're not trying to take advantage of his position, or he likes people who have no interest in status at all (like his wife).
Josie wrote: "Wow, did he take up with Augusta? I kind of missed that LOL!"
I think Augusta falls into the same category as Ming-de. We have no proof that anything happened but, knowing Mircea, something likely did!
I can only guess Mircea saw a powerful, attractive woman in Augusta, and maybe a potential ally on the Senate. That might have been enough?
Lannister wrote: "I think Augusta falls into the same category as Ming-de. We have no proof that anything happened but, knowing Mircea, something likely did!..."I always took it as a given, so I just went back to check and you're right, Augusta and Mircea's relationship does seem somewhat more ambiguous than my mind remembered.
Consider this scene from Midnight's Daughter, when Dory has a flashback to the first time Drac came after her. He carves the message into her back and sends her to Mircea. And then:
"I realized that the drumming sound I was hearing wasn't my heart, but someone beating on a door. It took a moment to realize it was me. The door opened to reveal a pissed-off female vamp in a diaphanous white negligee: Augusta, a Senate member."Now I always assumed that she had gone to Mircea's house, knocked on the door and Augusta in her negligee answered, but then, next page, Dory whispers, "Get Mircea," and August leaves the room, shouting.
"What seemed like only a few seconds later, Mircea came in, shaking black snow off his greatcoat. He smelled of coal dust, horses and cheap perfume. He knelt by my side."So I didn't remember this. I thought Augusta was at Mircea's, but it's not clear, and Mircea was outside (and also smells of cheap perfume, so possibly was with some other woman, since Augusta presumably doesn't wear cheap perfume).
Still, why would Dory go to Augusta's house (if that's where she was) and expect to find Mircea there if they weren't a couple? Dory at least seems to believe they're a couple; she makes reference to it several times.
PS When Cassie first goes back in time to the theatre, in Claimed by Shadow, and encounters Mircea with a female vamp, is that Augusta or someone else?
When Cassie goes back to that theatre in the 1880s, I'm pretty certain it's Augusta that Mircea's with. Cassie possesses her later on.I'd actually forgotten about Augusta answering the door in a negligee. That's a good pick up! I also assumed that this was Mircea's house and Augusta was staying there. I remember they were hunting Drac and there was some confusion at first, as they thought the women Jack had killed were actually killed by Drac. I always took the comment about 'cheap perfume' to mean that Mircea had probably been out talking to prostitutes to try to get information from them. Perhaps it was decided that Mircea on his own would do better than if he were accompanied by a woman, hence the reason for Augusta staying behind? Augusta could have been in a negligee because she was in bed, or she could have been waiting for Mircea. I guess it's up to each of us how we interpret it!
I'm thinking this ambiguity about Mircea's previous lovers is completely deliberate on KC's part. Apart from Cassie and his wife, do we have absolute proof of any other women Mircea has slept with?
Must admit, I do admire discretion in a man! :)
A) What Dory went to the Senate headquarters? Or the "Club" where really powerful vampires can stay when they're away from home?Also, there's that scene in Embrace the Night when they're in the ballroom and someone says to Mircea "your Augusta" and he said "She's not my Augusta" (I'm paraphrasing, it was something like that) and the way he reacted indicated he found the idea of August being his distasteful.
LOL, Mircea saying 'She's not my Augusta' doesn't rule out a fling! In fact, it may strengthen the idea that he had a fling with her then tried to distance himself.I wondered at first if Mircea and Augusta were at a 'Vamp Central' type of place in London, but I didn't think it likely that Augusta - a senator - would answer the door herself at such a place.
OMG guys, I'm so behind, and I didn't read all your comments. Only halfway through curse the dawn, but will finish my reread today...Couple of things I did notice:
When Mircea remarks on Marlowe's preference for his woman being "alive", we thought not the consul cause she's a vamp. but in that discussion, they are actually talking about keeping her alive as in, in regards to the evil.
Mircea is terrible about respecting cassie's wishes, but I loved how he just saved Rafe like it was nothing. Like sure it protects his family and maybe there are some political ramifications, but he risked his life for this guy. Sometimes we forget how awesome Mircea is I think...
Descrption of Caleb... Dude I never realized how hot he sounded until I reread that part....
I agree about Mircea's awesomeness, Zeenat. He has these moments where I just get reminded that he's a pretty good person at heart.
It's funny how you've been talking about Mircea's previous girlfriends because I've been reading HtM and picked out some interesting quotes. I'll take them over to the HtM thread so not to mix up books...
OK switching threads now! Can't wait to see what you've found, Josie...
About Augusta...she always confused me with her relationship in regards to Mircea, because while they seemed friendly they didn't see FRIENDLY...I have no idea WHY but I actually thought Augusta was into women...do I have any support for this?? No. But do I have this weird inkling in the back of my head?? Yes.
I get the exact same impression!
So glad I'm not the only one!!! I don't know what it was about her that made me think that...there's just something about her...
Favorite quotes:It didn’t matter what my heart said, I reminded myself. My heart told me stupid stuff all the time. My heart should just shut the hell up.
He wasn’t that good-looking, he had the social skills of a wet cat and the patience of a caffeinated hummingbird.
When we’d started working together, I’d assumed it would be a question of putting up with Pritkin; then suddenly the stupid hair was making me smile, and the sporadic heroics were making my heart jump and the constant bitching had me wanting to kiss him quiet.
I’m trying to remember all the reasons you are indispensable and can’t be killed slowly and painfully.
A courteous war mage. The world really was coming to an end.
And then Pritkin ran back around the corner followed by half a dozen groggy people. He glanced at the cells that still had to be emptied. “You aren’t done yet?” he demanded.
The world righted itself.
We were obviously going to have to have a talk about the difference between “maintaining security” and “being a dick.”
“There was a time when you trusted me with your life!”
“And there was a time when you used your brain instead of blindly following orders”
I didn’t know how men managed with something taking up so much room down there. And what the hell kind of design left a person’s privates dangling loose in the air and changing sizes all the time?
“I have a theory about war mages,” I said. “The more powerful they are, the worse the hair.”
I don't remember all the points I had, but I LOVED this book. The part where Pritkin kissed Cassie knowing he was going to die :::sigh::: Mircea kissing Cassie even though she was in Pritkin's body... These boys will give me a heart attack!
Zeenat wrote: "Mircea kissing Cassie even though she was in Pritkin's body... These boys will give me a heart attack!"SO MUCH YES. I love that man...*big lusty sigh* he's my favorite. If you couldn't tell. I hide it so well after all.
I enjoyed that too :) It was actually a big mark in Mircea's favour.What I would love to see, is the scene where Mircea takes Pritkin-in-Cassie's-body out of the room into the hallway and Priktin comes back in looking furious LMAO! Oh, we've been shipping the wrong couple - Mircea and Pritkin FTW!!
I adore Mircea. I would find a way to curb his overprotective nature while also getting him to give me all that free clothes. I have no problem using his money :P
Zeenat wrote: "I adore Mircea. I would find a way to curb his overprotective nature while also getting him to give me all that free clothes. I have no problem using his money :P"WOWWWWWWW...now I know why you really love him...the clothes, not only the ones he wears, but the ones he provides.
And I would LOVELOVELOVE to see what happened between Pritkin and Mircea...definitely at LEAST a kiss...maybe some clutching and touching??
One of my favorite lines from the beginning of CtD is Cassie thinking "for someone who could hear a pin drop three rooms away, Mircea could be amazingly deaf."That combined with KC saying Mirceas story arc hasn't even really begun just made me happy.
Wait, where did KC say Mircea's story arc hasn't even really begun? That's so intriguing!
She commented on a FB post on her page about it she said "I'm only using the Cassie books. So that should narrow the field for you, since Mircea's big arc hasn't really even started there, lol!"I got SOOOOOO excited. That will (hopefully....) mean MUCH more Mircea in time!!!! I also forgot that Cassie had ALMOST confronted Mircea about Dory in CtD. I didn't realize how...absent he was in CtD either, I had forgotten so much of his time was taken up with the Consuls and when he went to see Radu, since only a couple days went by in the entirety of CtD. I always forgot how short it was since there was SOOOO much action. I loved it though. ESPECIALLY that ending. One of my favorite endings EVER.
Oh wow, that's intriguing.
So, I caught something while reading this...I don't remember exactly where, but I think Mircea was going to tell Cassie about Dory...but couldn't, because a) they were never alone, b) she kept running off to do things, and c) they were trying to discover the traitor. And I LOVE that Cassie confused the hell out of Mircea and he's all "And what girlfriend????" He's dumbstruck he's so confused. I wonder if he thought it was Ming-de she was talking about...
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Lanni I'm sorry, but I think Marlowe is didling Snakey! Mircea says Marlowe is sure the consul is giving him an ulcer, and Alphonse comments that he thought Marlowe preferred them (implying his women I'm guessing!) strong, stubborn, powerful and something along those lines. (I know I'm not phrasing this very well, but in the original text it makes sense!) I think it clearly indicates that even IF he isn't getting his sexy times from the consul, he definitely wants to!
Not that it has anyhting to do with.. well anything, it just poppeed out at me and I had t share ^^
Oh and stray thought.. in tts... how is Cassie gonna explain her mission to get Pritkin back, without letting everybody know who he really is!?