In this week’s Season 3 premiere of True Blood, we learn that serial killers need love too, Pam’s NOT a hooker, haircuts are for badasses, the water’s hard in Arkansas… and yes, vampires CAN grow beards…
Sink your teeth into some spoilery commentary after the jump…
[This is a modified version of a post I made on a forum a few months back – so some of you may have read it already.
Since the subject of Sookie being a null came up in discussion on the DITF post, I thought I’d respost it here.]
I recently read the short story, “Lucky” from A Touch of Dead, and was intrigued by Amelia’s explanation of a “magical null”. This is a concept we haven’t seen mentioned in the full length books at all, and it seemed particularly random to have Amelia raise it outside the framework of the main story.
Amelia describes a magical null in fairly simple terms, as an exceptionally rare human who is not affected by magic. While Amelia seems to imply that this refers to witch magic I wonder if we’re meant to be seeing that as usual, Amelia doesn’t quite have the full picture.
Throughout the series we’ve seen a number of instances where Sookie is either not affected, or able to put up a pretty decent fight against various types of magic.
– She is resistant to vampire glamour, but can also submit to it by choice (CD).
– LDID: she didn’t go under with the maenad when every other human present did. In fact, Callisto implies that the reaction Sookie did have was in response to the other humans – and not her magic at all. “You were close.” She said to me. “You were very close. Maybe as close as you’ll ever come. Maybe not. I’ve never seen anyone maddened by the insanity of others. An entertaining thought”.
– CD: she is very aware of the stay away spell around the outside of club, but she is still able to enter both times she visits.
– DTTW: During the witch war, she is very aware of the spells the witches have cast around the abandoned building, and again she is able to overcome their influence and enter.
– FDTW – Niall uses magic to deflect attention from the humans in the restaurant during his first meeting with Sookie. Sookie is aware of it, but she is not affected by it.
– The Blood Bond: Eric has repeatedly insinuated that the BB is not working in the way he expected it would. For example, he seems surprised when he tells her that “the bond has worked both ways”.
– “Gift Wrap”: When I first read this story I thought it completely blew a hole in the theory. Sookie is put under a spell by a fae posing as a were. But after some wider reading I found that in some faery mythology, the fae are immune to most types of magic but can be bewitched by other fae. Which of course, Preston is. Interestingly, Charlaine Harris is following established mythology regarding vampires, weres, shifters and the fae reasonably faithfully.
Charlaine Harris has said that Sookie won’t get any new abilities – but since this trait has actually been evident since the early books, it’s not new. It seems to have been there since the beginning, though it hasn’t received the attention in her writing that Sookie’s telepathy has. Although Sookie knows she can’t be glamoured, she doesn’t seem to have connected the dots with other types of magic yet either. Could that be coming down the line?
If Sookie is a magical null or some variation of this, it would seem to me that this trait is separate to her telepathy, and one that would make her even more valuable and special. Amelia makes a point of mentioning how rare this is and says in the story that she has only met one null before. She also notes that it takes an experienced witch to identify one. Perhaps CH is offering an explanation here for why Amelia herself hasn’t recognised it…yet?
I think this idea needs some refining – and that perhaps it may be a bit off the mark in some respects. Even so, given the examples above and the fact that this idea has been mentioned very specifically by another character, I think that eventually we will see some variation of it starting to play out. I think that definitely we are going to find out that there is something else going on with Sookie that is going make alot of these loose pieces fall into place.
I firmly believe that by the end of this series Sookie will have found her true place in the supe world, and some of us have speculated that it may turn out to be a more formalised, mediator type of role – rather than simply a telepath to be used purely for her unique abilities. She is already doing mediation type work in an informal capacity anyway, mainly because she can’t help getting involved in things she probably shouldn’t. A more developed ability to ward off the effects of different types of magic would be a valuable skill in this scenario – especially when combined with her telepathy.
“Where were you?” Rage bubbled up in my throat.
“It’s not like you were obliged to come find me,” I said, “but I hoped the whole time – I hope you would come, I prayed you would come, I thought over and over you might hear me…”
“You’re killing me,” he said.
“You’re killing me.”~Dead and Gone~
Eric’s whereabouts during Sookie’s torture by the fae in Dead and Gone stands as the number one question I (and I’m betting most of you) would like to have answered in Dead in the Family.
All I have to judge Eric on is what I see written on the pages of these books. Eric can be twisty. He can manipulate people and situations to his advantage with an ease that only comes with a thousand years of practice. He is cunning, intelligent, and often self serving. He rarely does anything without more than one motivation. Lest you think I’m about to tear him down, I love these things about him because book by book, he is tearing them down himself. Nine books into this series we have uncovered a vampire who still has all of those character traits – but who is learning through a human woman that even after so long in his skin, it’s still possible to become more than he was without her. This vampire always has Sookie’s back – even when it’s put him in danger, at political disadvantage, or just been an outright pain in the butt. This vampire has taken more bullets for, and been involved in more skirmishes over this woman than I care to recount. This vampire is finding more and more that he is doing things, and feeling things that would have been unthinkable to him before a small town waitress walked into his bar. His story arc has shown him becoming increasingly willing to take big risks for Sookie, even to the point of risking his undead life as his feelings for her have deepened. Whatever else you want to throw at him no one could accuse Eric of apathy, stagnation, disloyalty, or backing down from a fight.
Yet in Dead and Gone while the Fae are engaging in all out war – with his blood bonded, fae descended wife right in the middle of it – Eric is suddenly a no show. Where was he when Sookie was as close to death as she has ever come, and why did he send others to help her?
I thought we might kick around a few theories and see if we can find something that fits. I’m effectively throwing the proverbial at a wall here to see what sticks, so feel free to grab a handful in the comments.
THE BLOOD BOND
The crux of the blood bond theory runs like this: Eric felt Sookie’s torture through the blood bond and was somehow incapacitated by it, unable to come to her rescue.
As I understand the blood bond (and I could well get flamed here since interpretations of the bond and its effects vary wildly), it acts as an emotional conduit – Sookie and Eric can feel eachother’s emotions through the bond. It has been hinted at in the text that the two-way nature of their bond is unusual, and that blood bonds don’t normally see the vampire as affected by the human as Eric seems to have become by Sookie. Certainly in traditional vampire lore, the vampire would usually retain the upper hand over the human. And while we don’t know if Eric has ever fully bonded to a human before Sookie – he makes a couple of comments that indicate some aspects of his bond with her are not what he expected:
“We’re bound a bit too tightly to suit me, Sookie.”
He was visibly tense; I couldn’t remember ever seeing Eric so notably anxious. “I’m here to die right along with you, it seems.” – ATD“The blood exchange has worked both ways,” he said. “I’ve had the blood of many women. I’ve had almost utter control over them. But they never drank mine. It’s been decades, maybe centuries since I gave any woman my blood. Maybe not since I turned Pam.” – DAG
While the bond is an emotional freeway, it does not conduct physical sensations or pain. Again, this is supported by the text. When Eric and Felipe are accosted by Sigebert outside Merlotte’s (bad juju in that parking lot, I tell you) they are beaten and burned with silver; but Sookie, driving away just before the attack, is not aware of Eric’s physical pain and that’s not the impetus for her to turn her car around and go back to check on him. She notes that she feels anxious, that she is overcome by what is almost a panic attack. She realises that it may be possible that her feelings are Eric’s, decides to trust her gut and returns to Merlotte’s. Interestingly, she points out that is her genuine regard for Eric motivating this decision and she makes a point of telling the reader that these feelings are separate to the blood bond. At no time does she mention feeling the physical effects of his assault and though she does experience some mental fogginess, she still manages to quickly assess the situation, come up with a plan, and dispose of Sigebert single handedly.
Charlaine Harris gave this answer last July to a question on her board about the difference between the sire/child bond and the blood bond:
If Eric were to be staked, Appius and Pam would both feel it, and Sookie would feel his absence emotionally and know he was in pain, though she would not actually experience it”.
And this in May last year:
Q. Can the bond can have an effect from afar? Sookie felt the impact on the road to go to save Eric, but would it be possible that she felt it from Shreveport in Bon Temps?
A. Yes, but not as vividly as when they are closer.
So what’s the point? Well, let’s pull it all together.
So if we accept that only Sookie’s emotions were flowing to Eric through the bond, and we accept that the distance between them would have dulled their intensity somewhat – the idea that the blood bond incapacitated Eric starts to come undone.
Despite being in very close proximity to Eric while he was attacked by Sigebert, Sookie was clearly nowhere near “incapacitated”. So if Eric was hundreds of miles away during her torture, it’s not likely he was incapacitated either. And this is not even taking into account Eric’s age, which should make him harder to keep down than some 26 year old human – telepathic part fairy, or not.
And then there are the phone calls – one taken from Bill, and at least one more to mobilise Niall. In the context of the blood bond theory, Eric called Niall in because he was physically unable to go to Sookie himself and he assessed Niall to be the only other being with the balls, and the commitment to Sookie to take on the fae successfully. Looking at the way the phone calls went down, that doesn’t pan out either.
Bill called Eric as soon as he saw the abduction, making Eric aware of what was going down even while Lochlan and Neave were still moving Sookie through the portal. The Things had not started torturing her at this point (recall also that they waited for their spell to wear off so that she was aware). Bill told Eric to “call Niall”. Eric really had no choice but to enlist Niall, knowing that fae had taken Sookie and that he wouldn’t be able to find them without his help, so he wouldn’t have needed to think about this for more than five seconds. Eric’s call to Niall then, was almost certainly made before Sookie was being tortured – and before Eric could be affected by that torture. This makes it unlikely that Eric called Niall to rescue Sookie because he was incapacitated by the bond.
It seems to me that Eric’s call to Niall was to formulate a plan to get Sookie and enlist his back up, rather than to ask Niall to go in his place. So how did Niall end up rescuing Sookie with Bill? Either something happened after this call that pulled Eric out at the last minute – or else whatever kept him away was actually in play beforehand, and Eric knew immediately upon hearing from Bill that he would not be able to help her.
While the blood bond has played a huge role in Sookie and Eric’s relationship in the last few books, I feel that this is probably the least likely reason for his absence. It’s a heady romantic notion – that Eric and Sookie are so tightly bonded that Eric could be rendered useless by an attack on her – but I just don’t see support for it in the text.
So I ain’t buying it.
NEXT POST: Meet Your Maker
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For the last week or so we’ve been getting slightly hot and bothered around here as we explore Bill and Eric’s sexual behaviour and what it reveals about their character, their relationship with Sookie, and their role in the story generally.
In two previous posts we looked at how each vampire initiates lovemaking with Sookie, and also how they behave during the act itself.
Today it’s time to stifle those hormones, calm down a bit and snuggle up close. It’s time to bask in the afterglow.
THE AFTERGLOW – BILL
In putting together some Bill and Sookie afterglow material to explore, I was immediately struck by something I hadn’t even noticed as I read the books – there isn’t very much of it.
In comparison to the Eric love scenes which contain pages of action and dialogue, the Bill scenes are short, and they often miss bits. For example, Charlaine Harris will show us the initiation and the act, but leave out what happens after. Or she will just start the scene after the sex is over, with Bill and Sookie talking. Charlaine says she doesn’t include anything superfluous to the story – everything that is in the books is there because it’s relevant; and if it’s not there, it’s not important to the plot or Sookie’s story.
I find this little tidbit noteworthy, and you should bear it in mind as you read through this piece.
Surely, I thought, there must be lots of warm and glowy talk after Bill and Sookie’s first love scene, right? It was Sookie’s very first time after all. Even though I couldn’t immediately recall a monumental conversation, I was fairly confident that I must have just forgotten it.
After finding the scene in my copy of DUD, it turns out that Sookie’s first pillow talk is marked by a comparatively brief exchange during which Sookie confirms to Bill that he is her first, and Bill reassures her about her lack of experience, and confides that she is the first virgin he has been with since his wife.
DEAD UNTIL DARK
Finally Bill moved to lie beside me, propped on one elbow, and he put his hand over my stomach.
“I am the first.”
“Yes.”
“Oh Sookie,” He bent to kiss me, his lips tracing the line of my throat.
“You could tell I don’t know much,” I said shyly. “But was that alright for you? I mean, about on a par with other women at least? I’ll get better.”
“You can get more skilled Sookie, but you can’t get any better.” He kissed me on the cheek. “You’re wonderful.”
Sookie then suggests that Bill use some of his blood to heal her lady bits and Bill is pretty well up for that. It’s kind of hot, if you like that sort of thing. And brief – less than half a page. Bill is well behaved, which you would expect if he ever wants to get sex again. It’s all relatively normal. Well, as far as losing your virginity to a vampire can be considered “normal”.
There is no real afterwards conversation to speak of, but otherwise it was kind of sweet, right?
Let it never be said that I fail to give credit where it’s due.
Moving on, the next time Sookie and Bill make love we are at Bill’s house. We get the initiation – and nothing else. Oh c’mon Charlaine, that is just mean! Let’s try again.
Night three after Sookie gives it up. We miss the initiation, and we miss the act as well. We pick up the action with Bill and Sookie lying in bed afterwards, talking. The subject? Nasty Uncle Bartlett. Bill opens the conversation by asking Sookie if she has ever played “show me yours” with Jason, and shares an incident from his childhood when his brother and sister were caught doing this by their mother.
So far so good. Bill is sharing! The topic is…well, odd. But he is sharing.
Bill then begins to sense Sookie’s discomfort at the turn of the conversation, and manages to extract from her the story of her molestation as a five year old by Bartlett. Listening to Sookie tell the tale, it’s clear that he’s pissed as hell. But I can let that slide, since most any boyfriend would react from the gut in the same circumstances.
So the scene concludes, and I’m thinking “Hey! That was good for Sookie! She confided something deep and private and got things off her chest, and Bill listened attentively and acted like a nice caring boyfriend. These two might just have a shot.” Of course, this was early days – and I didn’t really know Bill.
Tell me, did it even occur to any of you that Bill would get on the phone and arrange a hit on the old fella as soon as Sookie fell asleep? Old Uncle B is drained dry by the time the sun comes up and I am picking my jaw up off the floor. The reality of what Sookie has invited into her life hit me full in the face.
Bill!?! What the FUCK?! In her newly sexed up hormonal fog, she trusted you with something huge. And you just ruined it all! RUINED IT. You really have no idea, do you?
Maybe things will improve in the next book?
Sookie tells Bill her deepest, darkest secret. Bill broods. Bill does something stupid. The End.
LIVING DEAD IN DALLAS
The frequency of Sookie and Bill’s sex really hits the downhill slide in LDID – perhaps because there is so much going on around them, or perhaps CH is deliberately setting up for Bill’s emotional withdrawal at the beginning of Club Dead. I suspect it’s a bit of both.
The first sex scene in LDID is interrupted by Eric before it really gets started (though Bill, true to form manages to get in some panty ripping to kick things off. This allows Eric to later find Sookie’s undies in pieces on the floor, and Alpha all over him. As he does.) By the time they get rid of Eric and get busy again, Charlaine is bored and we are cut off as Bill “bends his head to other things”. No afterglow here. No sex on page either for that matter.
“Things” are heading decidedly pear shaped between Bill and Sookie by the time we get our first post coital scene, well over three quarters of the way into LDID.
When he collapsed on top of me, I was exhausted…
…”Are you okay?” he mumbled.
“Except for having run into a brick wall a few times,” I said, indistinctly.
We both drifted off to sleep for a little, though Bill woke first as he always did at night.
“Sookie,” he said quietly. “Darling wake up.”
“Oo”, I said, slowly coming to consciousness. For the first time in weeks, I woke with the hazy conviction that all was right with the world. With slow dismay, I realised things were far from right…
“We have to talk”, he said…
“So talk.” I was awake now. What I was regretting was not the sex, but having to discuss the issues between us.
What they talk about, at length, is Bill’s self control issues (oh yes, this again) and specifically his inability to restrain himself from eating the FOTS people after the shoot out. Of course he has a good reason for this, and we all know what’s coming. He is VAMPIRE. Just in case we forgot.
The discussion then briefly turns to Bill’s parading around Bon Temps with Portia Bellefleur to make Sookie jealous. Finally, Eric gets a look in as Bill furthers his “Make Sookie Think Eric Is The Devil” agenda in a post-bullet sucking scare campaign.
I guess Sookie and Bill are having some problems, because this isn’t very warm and fuzzy. It is also the last time Bill and Sookie have consensual sex on the page. Charlaine has had enough of this mess, and so have we.
In the immortal words of Everclear – “So much for the afterglow”.
THE AFTERGLOW – ERIC
Comparing Bill and Eric’s behaviour after sex? Night, meet day. The differences are stark, and I know I’m harping on this but I just cannot fathom how Charlaine could be writing Eric’s sex scenes with such detail and completeness and glossing over everyone else’s, unless she has a purpose in mind. Namely, to hook the reader on Eric. As usual we have lots of talking, playful banter, touching and holding, and eye contact. Is that getting boring yet?
Hardly.
Dead to the World
From Eric and Sookie’s first love scene it was clear that in Eric, we were not getting a roll over and fall asleep kind of guy. DTTW Eric is not his complete self – however he is operating from his core, instinctive being. Since sexual behaviours are instinctive, I’ve always felt that Eric’s sexual behaviour in DTTW was probably not far off the mark for how “real” Eric would behave. It took five more books before we got any real Eric sex to judge whether that assessment was correct, and I think it was. Eric’s sexual behaviour in DAG really isn’t much different to that of DTTW. As it has remained throughout the previous two stages, his afterwards MO is consistent over both books…and of course it involves every hot move known to man, and some that most men have no clue about.
“Tell me about us. How long have I known you?”..
…“I’m cold,” I said gently, and he let me lie beside him, pulling the covers up over us. I propped myself up on one elbow and he lay on his side, so we were facing each other. “Let me think. I met you last year at Fangtasia, the vampire bar you own in Shreveport. And by the way, the bar got attacked today. Last night. I’m sorry, I should have told you that first, but I’ve been so worried about my brother.”
“I want to hear about today, but give me our background first. I find myself mightily interested.”
He was holding me, and my head was on his shoulder. I murmured into his neck, “You are so beautiful.”….
…“What part do you like best?” he asked, his voice teasing.
“Oh, your butt,” I said instantly.
“My… bottom?”
“Yep.”
“I would have thought of another part.”
“Well, that’s certainly… adequate,” I told him, burying my face in his chest. I knew immediately
I’d picked the wrong word.
“Adequate?” He took my hand, placed it on the part in question. It immediately began to stir. He moved my hand on it, and I obligingly circled it with my fingers. “This is adequate?”
“Maybe I should have said it’s a gracious plenty?”
“A gracious plenty. I like that,” he said.
I love this passage, it demonstrates perfectly the playful flirtation that has always characterised Eric and Sookie’s relationship. From the very beginning they’ve played off each other, openly teased and flirted, and shared a sense of humour no one else around them seems to understand. Even Bill admits they’re compatible and very alike in DAAD. They bring that playfulness into their lovemaking, and there are numerous examples of their sexual banter through out the books, not all of it occurring in the bedroom:
Lest we part on too lovey-dovey a note, I said, “Eric, when I’m back to being myself, I’m going to nail your ass for putting me in this position of being pledged to you.”
“Darling, you can nail my ass anytime,” he said charmingly, and turned to go back to his table.
Jeez! They're at it again! All lovey dovey, and touchy, and gazing into eachother's eyes. Laughing, talking...acting like a goddamn married couple. Get a room!
DEAD AND GONE
This time Sookie is the one to get the conversational ball rolling, before dodging out when Eric completely blindsides her with an unexpected offer:
“Can I tell you what happened today?” I asked after we’d drowsed for a few minutes.
“Of course, my lover.” His eyes were half open. He was lying on his back beside me, and the
room smelled of sex and vampire. “I’m all ears—for the moment, at least.” He laughed.
…Eric was a good listener, at least in his postcoital relaxed state.
So off I babbled like a brook in the spring, telling him about my rendezvous with Claude and
Claudine and all they’d told me about Breandan and Dermot.
This conversation is very long and covers alot of emotional ground. While it began blandly enough with Sookie relating her encounters with some nasty fairies, things soon moved into heady emotional territory. Pretending to be acting out of concern for her safety (while we are all thinking what a big fat liar he is), Eric asks Sookie to leave Bon Temps and stay with him in Shreveport. Sookie immediately panics that she’ll end up fessing up her feelings before she’s sure that they’re reciprocated, and starts putting up her brick wall at lightening speed. Eric keeps trying, coming closer than he’s ever been to telling her exactly how he feels about her. Sookie – who obviously has no idea when to shut up – tells him not to even go there. They then discuss her feelings for Quinn, Andre’s final death, the blood bond and Eric turning her…even the L word is raised, in a roundabout fashion. This was a landmark conversation for a couple whose ability to dodge emotional issues is the stuff of Sookieverse legend.
The reversal of “traditional” roles in this scene is striking. It is Eric who ends up laying himself emotionally bare in this scene, albeit unwittingly. He displays the kind of emotional vulnerability traditionally associated with the woman in a relationship that is still finding its feet. Sookie behaves more like a man; rambling about her orgasms, closing down his attempts to discuss their feelings and leaving him completely confused as he tries to work out what she needs from him – [“What are you after?”]
Along with their talk at Fangtasia earlier in the book during which Eric shared the details of his human life, his turning and his maker, this pillow talk certainly stands as a milestone in their relationship. Eric put more out there emotionally in Dead and Gone than he has in all eight previous books combined. The vampire quite obviously has it bad.
Finally, with dawn approaching Eric leaves for Shreveport:
He bent to kiss me, and I put my arms around his neck. For a second, I knew he was thinking of crawling back in the bed with me; I hoped it was his body language and his murmur of pleasure that cued me to his thoughts….
“I want you again,” he said, sounding a little surprised. “But I have to go.”
“I’ll see you soon, I guess?” I was awake enough to feel uncertain.
“Yes,” he said. His eyes were bright and his skin glowed. The mark on his wrist was gone. I touched where it had been. He leaned over to kiss the place on my neck where he’d bitten me, and I shivered all over. “Soon.”
This exchange is so incredibly…human. I love that she knew what he was thinking as he was saying goodbye – was she reading his mind as she has done briefly in the past? Was it the effects of the blood bond? Or was it nothing more complicated or magical than a “knowing” we all experience at some time – the knowing that comes with feeling a deep emotional connection with the person we love.
VERBS AND ADJECTIVES
Bill Scenes: kiss, tracing, shyly, skilled, wonderful, indistinctly, drifted, hazy, dismay, regretting, sex, discuss.
Eric Scenes: tell, gently, interested, holding, beautiful, teasing, burying, stir, drowsed, lover, laughed, relaxed, babbled, kiss, murmur, pleasure, want, uncertain, touched, shivered.
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In the first of three posts looking at Bill and Eric’s sexual behaviour and what it may reveal about their character and their vampiric nature, we took apart the MO used by each vampire to initiate sex and noted several stark differences in their approaches.
Today in the second post I’m getting down and dirty. It’s time to get these vampires between the sheets to see what they can do.
I would like to state for the record that writing these posts has given me the best excuse ever to pore all over the steamy bits of my books again…as if I really needed an excuse. I did, however, need to explain to my husband why my whole SVM series is sprawled around my desk with all the sex scenes dog eared and notes scrawled through them. Being a dirty perv in the name of research certainly sounds better than being…well, just a dirty perv.
And on that note, we shall begin. With an apology for the epic length.
THE ACT – BILL
Bill and Sookie have a number of sexual encounters during which the tone of Sookie’s narration is generally…well, harrowing.
Dead Until Dark (graveyard scene)
..I could feel the turmoil in him, I could taste his rage.
Directing that energy in another way might save me. I leaned that inch, put my mouth on his chest…
The next moment his teeth grazed my shoulder, and his body, hard and rigid and ready, shoved me so forcefully I was suddenly on my back in the mud. He slid directly into me as if he were trying to reach through me to the soil…
I had thought he might kill me without meaning to.
Living Dead in Dallas
His hands were under my sweater and my bra was in two pieces. He was relentless. I almost collapsed after the first time I came. “No” he growled when I was flagging, and he kept pounding. Then he increased the pace until I was almost sobbing, my sweater tore and his teeth found my shoulder. He made a deep, awful sound, and then, after long seconds, it was over.”
The first passage above from DUD is borderline rape. Sookie initiates sex with Bill sensing that he has completely lost control and that she is in immediate and serious danger. This scene is actually an interesting precursor to the trunk rape. In the trunk rape scenario, the defence centres around the fact that Bill had been tortured and starved and that he never would have done it in his right mind. I call bullshit. In this scene we see a well fed, untortured Bill in his right mind on the verge of raping Sookie or worse, because he cannot control his urges. Naturally a tortured and starved Bill can control them even less, however this scene demonstrates that the issue exists long before Sookie ends up locked in a trunk with him. Bill has self control issues and Harris deliberately points it out, over and over again.
In the second passage, Sookie almost sounds like she is relaying her grocery list rather than describing an intimate interaction with her boyfriend. Her voice is detached and I think that is meant to clue us into where she is mentally. What is noteworthy is not just the fact that this is rough sex – since there are other times that Sookie enjoys Bill’s “intensity” and what goes on between consenting adults is their business. But what I notice about some of these scenes is how at first Sookie is generally consenting and comfortable with what’s happening, as she is in this scene until she orgasms. Then Bill crosses a line, and Sookie often doesn’t speak up. I wonder whether this is a combination of her sexual inexperience in these earlier books, and her history of sexual abuse. Regardless, Bill crosses her line…and then he just keeps right on going.
A common coping mechanism adopted by victims of sexual abuse is to “leave their bodies” during the experience. As a victim of childhood sexual abuse, it’s reasonable to assume that as an adult, Sookie’s response to aggressive sexual behaviour is to just “mentally check out” – and this perhaps goes some way to explain her tone in these scenes, and also why she doesn’t put up more of a fight when Bill loses control. Her fear, or discomfort about what is happening is easily detected by the reader through her narration, even when she isn’t verbalising it to Bill.
The lack of dialogue noted between Sookie and Bill in the initiation stage continues through the act itself. Unless they’re communicating immediate physical needs, they use only their bodies to communicate during sex. The act is often brief, intense…and mostly silent. Kind of like Bill. Bill/Sookie sex involves very little eye contact, however Bill’s penchant for taking her from behind, bent over something or in darkened cars, porches and graveyards would seem to make eye contact a challenge.
Look behind you Sookie! He's BEHIND YOU! And what's with the arm grabbing? We CU Beel...
Now I do realise that Sookie and Bill have a couple of sex scenes during which Bill manages to behave himself – they aren’t all as dark as the examples above. But even in their “lighter” scenes, I still feel a vibe from Bill that I just find unsettling. Witness his vengeful fit killing of Uncle Bartlett after Sookie shared something private with him in her post coital glow. Sookie is not very impressed with this and she dumps him. No sooner are the words out of her mouth and he’s trying to have sex with her. Again. Really, Bill?
It was at about this point I realised I was utterly and completely over Bill Compton.
Interestingly, there aren’t any dark sex scenes with Eric. Could it be that Harris doesn’t really want us to think he’s the bad guy, after all?
THE ACT – ERIC
Ladies, hold onto your panties. Gentlemen, you may wish to take notes.
Dead to the World
I was so on fire for him I was surprised that flames didn’t flicker out of my fingertips. I curled my fingers around him and stroked.
Suddenly Eric was on top of me, about to enter. I was exhilarated and very ready. I reached between us to put him at just the right spot, rubbing the tip of him over my nub as I did so.
“My lover,” he said hoarsely, and pushed.
Though I’d been sure I was prepared, and I ached with wanting him, I cried out with the shock of it.
After a moment, he said, “Don’t close your eyes. Look at me, lover.”
The way he said “lover” was like a caress, like he was calling me by a name no other man had ever used before or ever would after.
His fangs were completely extended and I stretched up to run my tongue over them.
Fangs....so pretty....sigh...what was I saying? Oh yes - I hold some hope for True Blood watching the two dream sequences. They captured the spirit of E/S perfectly.
Dead and Gone
His jeans were off, and his shirt, too, and my panties vanished. His long cool body pressed full length against my warm one. He kissed me over and over in a kind of frenzy. He made a hungry noise, and I echoed it. His fingers probed me, fluttering against the hard nub in a way that made me squirm.
“Eric,” I said, trying to position myself underneath him. “Now.”
He said, “Oh, yes.” He slid inside as if he’d never been gone, as if we’d made love every night for the past year.
“This is best,” he whispered, and his voice had that accent I caught occasionally, that hint of a time and place that were so far distant I could not imagine them.
“This is best ,” he said again. “This is right .”
I rose and fell faster and faster, and then I took his wrist, and I bit with all my strength, sucked on the wound. He yelled, an incoherent sound of release and relief. That was enough to finish me, and I collapsed on top of him. I licked his wrist lazily, though I didn’t have the coagulant in my saliva that he possessed.
“Perfect,” he said. “Perfect.”
Let us take a moment to collect ourselves before continuing.
Because I am very fucking distracted.
.
.
.
Okay then.
The first thing I notice about Eric and Sookie’s sex scenes is the complete change of tone in Sookie’s narration. She is very much present, physically and emotionally in every scene and there is not a hint of the mental detachment so often evident with Bill. The Eric scenes are quite long – the DTTW scene runs for 8 pages, and the scene in DAG for 15 pages. In contrast to the Bill/Sookie scenes, none of which are anywhere near as lengthy, Sookie describes the actual events, what is said, what she’s thinking, how Eric is reacting, and her feelings in great detail. You certainly don’t feel as though she’s rattling off her grocery list when she’s relating sex with Eric. Sookie (*ahem* Charlaine) makes sure we get every…single…juicy…detail. I wonder why she thinks we’d need to know all of that about Eric, but not about Bill? Or Quinn for that matter.
Just as we saw in the initiation post, as they move onto the act itself E/S remain physically on level with each other, they are always face to face, always in eye contact, and they are talking to each other throughout. No one partner is ever dominant – in both scenes, they make love twice. The first time is more intense and Eric takes the lead. The second time is always slower, with Eric noticeably stepping back and encouraging Sookie to take things where she wants to. Sookie tends to play a wait and see game a little in bed with Eric. She takes her cues from him – then she responds fully when she’s confident she’s not misreading him. I think this springs from her still not understanding what he might see in her beyond her telepathy and fae blood, and her intimidation by the extent of his experience over hers – something she comments on often. He seems to be aware of these feelings, and appears to be trying to encourage her.
In Dead to the World, Sookie reflects on her first time with Eric: “It wasn’t just the dynamic sex that had given me so much pleasure (though that had contained moments I’d remember till the day I died); it was the companionship. Actually, the intimacy”. In contrast to Bill, Eric actually initiates a lot of the more intimate aspects of their encounters – asking her to look him at him rather than close her eyes, asking her to bite him just because it feels good, asking her to tell him about their history when he lost his memory. These behaviours indicate to me that Eric understands women. Not only does he understand them, but he genuinely likes women. He chose to turn a woman as his companion in Pam, after all. While I’m under no illusions that he doesn’t rate himself in the sack, I think it’s clear from these scenes that sex for him is as much about making Sookie happy as it is about his own satisfaction. I don’t feel this is necessarily the norm for him anymore – vampire that he is – which makes it even more fascinating to see this side of him reawakened through her.
Far beyond two people having sex, Eric and Sookie are most certainly making love.
VERBS AND ADJECTIVES
Eric scenes: fire, stroked, exhilarated, ready, lover, pushed, ached, wanting, shock, caress, stretched, kissed, frenzy, hungry, probed, fluttering, squirm, made love, best, right, whispered, release, relief, bit, kissed, licked, lazily, perfect.
Bill scenes: relentless, collapsed, growled, came, no, flagging, pounded, sobbing, tore, awful, turmoil, rage, grazed, hard, rigid, shoved, forcefully, slid, kill.
So are we seeing a pattern here yet?
NEXT POST: Loved by a Vampire – The Afterglow
For nine books now, most of us have probably argued the suitor pros and cons back and forth on forums, made lists, traded insults and experienced dark moments of doubt in the great “Suitor Debate”.
Personality flaws and attributes have been endlessly dissected in an effort to determine the best partner for Sookie. Sexual behaviour is a reflection of personality, and we can tell a great deal about a person – and a relationship – from what goes down in the bedroom.
With that in mind, I thought it could be interesting to compare Bill and Eric’s sexual behaviour and the way they relate to Sookie in bed. One way to do this is to break the sex scenes down into phases – the initiation, the act, and the afterglow.
INITIATION – BILL
As the younger vampire, Bill has more issues with self control [both in and out of bed] than Eric does, but I don’t think this is solely due to his age. His personality is generally dark, secretive and more introverted than Eric’s and I think this is expressed most clearly in the way he relates to Sookie sexually.
From the outset it is clear that Bill has alot of trouble reigning himself in when it comes to sex. His approach to initiating it is often intense and very physical:
Dead Until Dark:
He scooted across the seat towards me, his arms scooping me up before I could say anything else. Then his mouth was on mine and after a second his tongue began licking the blood from my face.
I was really scared. I was also really angry. I grabbed his ears and pulled his head away from mine using every ounce of strength I possessed…
His eyes were like caves with ghosts dwelling in their depths.
“Bill!” I shrieked. I shook him. “Snap out of it!”
Living Dead in Dallas:
“As I unlocked the front door, Bill came out of the darkness. Without a word he grabbed my arm and turned me to him…we stumbled into the house and he turned me to face the couch. I gripped it with my hands and, just as I’d imagined, he pulled down my pants and then he was in me.”
The Mood tends to take Bill quite suddenly, it overwhelms him often, and he really does have trouble controlling his urges. This would seem to be partly because he doesn’t really understand why he should have to. There is usually very little dialogue between him and Sookie – Bill is an Action Man – and sex is not usually preceeded by conversation or intimacy. A notable exception is the very first time when Bill shows up the evening of Gran’s funeral and proceeds to brush her hair like his dolly and talk with her a little about his human life. The time he chose to make his move, and the fact that Sookie gave it up to him that night makes the motivation for his sharing [which incidentally, never happens again] dubious. Although this scene appeared intimate on the surface I think it’s reasonable to question it, given that it doesn’t gel with his sexual behaviour thereafter.
Foreplay for Bill often includes a bit of underwear ripping and “manhandling”. I can think of at least three instances where Sookie’s underwear/clothing is ripped by Bill, and many more where he has physically handled her person. This happens both in and out of the bedroom.
And notice that I haven’t even mentioned the OTHER incident. Interestingly, it’s not even necessary to refer to that in order to flesh out Bill’s self control issues. They clearly still exist, even outside the gray area of the trunk.
Bill puts on his moves. On the porch, in the dark...as is his habit. Nice t-shirt Sook - that colour suits you very well...
INITIATION – ERIC
Eric approaches sex in a very different way to Bill, and his approach is consistent. Vampire he may be, but he demonstrates patience and self control that Bill either cannot muster, or has no desire to.
Club Dead
[Sookie wakes after the staking with Eric already in the bed beside her]
“Thank you Eric” I didn’t care for how shaky I sounded but an obligation was an obligation.
“For what?” His hand stroked my stomach.
“For standing by me in the club. For coming here with me. For not leaving me alone with all these people”.
“How grateful are you?” he whispered, his mouth hovering over mine. His eyes were very alert now, and his gaze was boring into mine….
“That kind of ruins it, when you say something like that,” I said, trying to keep my voice gentle. “You shouldn’t want me to have sex with you just because I owe you,”
“I don’t really care why you have sex with me, as long as you do it,” he said, equally gently.
…His mouth was on mine then…
Dead to the World:
“I’ll do that for you,” Eric said, pulling back the curtain to step into the shower with me…
…While I stood stock-still, paralyzed by conflicting waves of emotion, Eric took the soap out of my hands and lathered up his own…
“Have we ever made love?” he asked.
I shook my head, still unable to speak.
“Then I was a fool,” he said, moving one hand in a circular motion over my stomach. “Turn around, lover.”
Dead and Gone:
Then he got under the blanket with me and propped himself up on an elbow. He was looking down at me…
[Conversation about Quinn and Nevada]
“Then I am high handed.” Eric said with no shame whatsoever. “I’m also very . . .” He dipped his head and kissed me slowly, leisurely.
“Horny,” I said.
“Exactly,” he said, and kissed me again. …”It’s time I claimed what is mine.”
Reading these passages together, a pattern emerges. Eric has always initiated with Sookie in the same way. First, he makes his physical presence equal to hers [lying down in bed with her, lying down on the floor, getting into the shower with her]. This might be to make himself less physically threatening, or perhaps just a reflection of his desire for them to be on an even footing. It’s an interesting contrast to Bill – rather than using his body to put her at ease as Eric does, Bill uses his physical strength to dominate her and maneuver her body for his satisfaction. I always get the sense that Bill’s determination to satisfy Sookie is rooted in the desire to satisfy himself.
Eric’s next move is to emotionally engage through conversation. The talking leads into the sex and even though Eric initiates, Sookie is always in control of how far it goes. When she says stop, he does – without hesitation or sulking [recall CD when they are interrupted by Bubba, and LDID – “Yield to me, Sookie” and she says no.] He always initiates in a slow, non threatening way. He always makes sure that she knows she is in control. He always makes sure that she can see him coming.
He behaves as though he knows about Sookie’s childhood sexual abuse. But he doesn’t know. We also have no evidence that he knows about the rape – they have never discussed it on the page and while he would have seen that she’d been drained after getting her out of the trunk, it would not have been obvious that she had been raped. So we can only assume that Eric’s behaviour speaks of the man, rather than the circumstances.
From the small taste we’ve had of Dead in the Family, Sookie is physically battered and psychologically traumatised. Eric is continuing to show an awareness that Sookie needs to be the one to set the parameters of their sexual relationship. Sookie tells Amelia he had asked her several times if she was sure she wanted to engage in sex.
Compare Eric’s self restraint to this Bill/Sookie exchange in LDID:
He was ready again, and he was rough with it, as if he were trying to prove something.
“Be sweet,” I said, the first time I had spoken.
“I can’t. It’s been too long, next time I’ll be sweet, I swear”.
This is one of a number of examples of Sookie telling Bill no, slow down, stop, or be gentle and he is unable or unwilling to comply. He is VAMPIRE. He relishes his nature because it gives him an excuse to behave like an oaf. He constantly uses it to defend himself when his self control is lacking.
Eric makes a move. And look! They're holding hands and smiling! There's connection, there's intimacy...there's talking! OK it's a dream, but we all know that this was major foreshadowing. This is how Real Eric rolls.
It’s also interesting to compare the verbs and adjectives used in the selection of passages above, which are taken from different scenes and books.
Bill scenes: scooted, scooping, licking, scared, angry, grabbed, pulled, shrieked, shook, snap, stumble, gripped.
Eric scenes: stroked, whispered, hovering, gaze, gently, emotion, made love, lover, kissed, slowly, leisurely, mine.
CH’s choice of words sets the tone of the scenes, and sheds light on the nature of the relationships. Bill’s words convey the physicality and urgency of the sex and are a reflection of the essentially physical nature of he and Sookie’s relationship, and Bill’s lack of self control. Eric’s words are “relationship” words. They are words you find in love scenes, as opposed to sex scenes – and this is the case even as far back as Club Dead, before love was ever part of the equation for either of them.
My last ramble about Eric and Quinn looked at how these two play off against eachother as romantic rivals, and the impact that Quinn’s presence in the story has on Eric’s actions and his emotional responses to Sookie.
That is one facet of the Quinn/Eric dynamic, and this post will look at another – Quinn’s political ties and his intentions towards Sookie.
As we touched on previously, Eric’s suspicion of Quinn is palpable from the outset. While on the surface it would be easy to chalk this up to good old fashioned jealousy, their first meeting leaves us feeling that Eric’s dislike of Quinn runs much deeper than this. The very first mention Eric makes of Quinn, even before their meeting on Sookie’s porch indicates that their paths have crossed before:
Eric’s eyes widened. “So the contest was today. I’d heard Quinn was in town. Usually, he keeps transgressions to a minimum.” – Dead as a Doornail
In All Together Dead, Eric corners Sookie in the parking lot at Merlotte’s and grills her about her feelings for Quinn, not for the first time:
“Eric,” I said, and my voice was shaking. “I don’t know why you’re here, and I don’t know why we’re having all this drama.”
“Are you Quinn’s now?” His eyes narrowed.
“I’m my own,” I said. “I choose.”
“And have you chosen?”
“Eric, this is beyond gall. You haven’t been dating me. You haven’t given me any sign that was on your mind. You haven’t treated me as though I had any significance in your life. I’m not saying I would have been open to those things, but I’m saying in their absence I’ve been free to find another, ah, companion. And so far, I like Quinn just fine.”
“You don’t know him any more than you really knew Bill.”
That sliced down where it hurt.
“At least I’m pretty damn sure he wasn’t ordered to get me in bed so I’d be a political asset!”
Hump...hump...hump...watch out for splinters there, Tiger.
As Eric quite correctly pointed out, since when does the Queen send a shifter to conduct her business? After Bill made such a monumental screw up of his mission, it would have been pointless to send another vampire covertly. So did Sophie Anne send Bill off to Peru to get his screwy-up-arse well out of the way, while she sent in a shifter to try again? I think there is some evidence for this. Having observed Sookie directly and through Bill for quite some time by this point, Sophie Anne knows her well enough to understand how Sookie reacts to lying and deception, so she changes tactics. This time, instead of outright deception Bill-style, Quinn’s strategy is to be open about his connection to the Queen. This openness seems to throw Sookie off the scent but Eric discerns Quinn’s game early. Which makes his readiness to rip Quinn’s throat out the first time they come face to face a little more feasible. Eric knows Sookie has to work Quinn out for herself, since she would only put it down to jealousy if he openly questioned his motives. In the Merlotte’s parking lot scene in ATD, he is once again trying to lead Sookie to reach her own conclusions about what is bleedingly obvious to him.
Let myself in. Naked in ur tub. But don't call me Alpha.
Why, of course he did. He is smart that way and THIS IS WHY WE LOVE HIM.
I do feel that Quinn cares for Sookie, and that perhaps he even loves her. But the most sensible thing Sookie ever did was give him the boot over his mommy issues. His feelings about his family lead him to make the most unbelievably stupid mistakes. While Quinn is indebted to vampires, Sookie will never be safe with him.
I feel like there’s a major showdown on the wind for Eric and Quinn. Not only do they want the same woman, but there is definitely something political going down between the two of them as well. They seem to have a history going back before Sookie, and Eric totally smells a rat around Quinn and his dubious associations. With Quinn having to align with Nevada to protect his mother and sister, and Eric looking more and more like he’s about to move against Nevada to become King (this is another one of my conspiracy theories – I told you have more than I can poke a stick at), I’m betting we haven’t seen the last of the alpha posturing between these two by a long shot.
One of my favourite things to mull over in the Sookie books is the interaction between Eric, Sookie and Quinn. In a series of posts over the next week or two I thought it’d be cool to look at this in more detail – Quinn as Eric’s main rival for Sookie, and how the personal and political undercurrents between Quinn and Eric might play out later in the series.
****
I know Quinn isn’t a popular suitor, and I count myself in the camp that doesn’t want him near Sookie with a bargepole. Let’s face it, the tiger has issues and his creepy habit of calling strange women “babe” is only the start of them. Quinn tends to be pigeon holed as just another suitor that doesn’t really have a chance and I know, alot of us wish he’d just disappear. But he won’t! Now that Bill has found his place in Sookie’s life and it’s not a romantic one, it’s becoming clearer that Quinn is meant to be Eric’s main threat and Sookie’s alternative love interest for the remainder of the series.
I hear you groan. But bear with me here people, this may not be a bad thing. The dynamic between His Purple Pansyness and Eric is really fascinating.
Quinn has similar status in the shifter hierarchy to Eric’s status amongst the vampires. Both of them hold influence amongst their kind. They are very similar in some respects – both “alpha” males, both charming, good looking, and powerful. And they are both completely accustomed to getting what they want. It’s very clear from the first time they interact in the books that Eric views Quinn as his only real competition for Sookie – and that he considers him a far more serious threat than Bill. In fact, it’s pretty obvious from the outset that both of these men recognise each other – not Bill, not Alcide and certainly not Sam – as the main rival for Sookie. Both of them have uncharacteristically big emotional reactions to interference from the other.
The first time we ever see Eric and Quinn interact sparks fly. In Definitely Dead, Quinn arrives to take Sookie on their first date. Eric is already at the house, already in a foul mood, and he comes about as close to completely losing his shit as we ever see him get. He goes straight for Quinn the second he arrives, demanding to know what he has been telling Sookie about her role at the vampire conference. Sookie says he has “fang showing”, and he is so angry his eyes are “throwing sparks”. She also notes that “something lay underneath this”, and that she is a symptom but not the source of their animosity. It is clear from this scene that Quinn and Eric knew each other before their cockfight on Sookie’s porch – so what’s the backstory with these two?
In FDTW, Eric is so threatened by Quinn that when the opportunity arises to ban him outright from Area 5, he does it without hesitation after he is satisfied that Sookie is done with him. He has never taken such measures against any of Sookie’s other love interests, even though it is well within the scope of his authority to do so.
Eric asks Sookie multiple times if she loves Quinn, or else confronts her about her feelings after almost every scene involving the three of them. He never asks her how she feels about anyone else, not even Bill. Eric tells Sookie she is “his lover – not Quinn’s, not Bill’s, not Sam’s” – and it’s no coincidence whose name is mentioned here first. When Quinn ignores Eric’s ban and comes back into Area 5 in DAG, Sookie says “I could feel rage on the wind. It wasn’t my rage.” Eric knows Quinn has defied him and come back to see Sookie, and she feels his rage through the blood bond. Not long afterwards, Eric shows up on her doorstep. Five books pass after DTTW with no Eric sexy time – and all it takes is for Quinn to show Eric he is willing to defy him, and suddenly he can’t get Sookie back in the sack fast enough. When the blood bond is forged in Rhodes, Eric deliberately flaunts his obvious pleasure in the process purely for Quinn’s benefit. Marking territory takes on a whole new dimension for Eric when Quinn is around. Yet he has never felt the same compulsion to taunt Bill with the details of his physical relationship with Sookie, even though Bill knows damn well that they’re having one. Why? Because he didn’t need to assert himself over someone he didn’t consider a true threat.
In one of the few moments I ever liked him, the cocky tiger had the balls to tell Bill to his face that he “isn’t even on the list” where Sookie is concerned in DAG. So it’s clear that Quinn, like Eric, sees this as a two man battle now as well. Quinn’s emotional responses to Eric are volatile and often show him as emotionally stunted (which he is but he is usually good at hiding). His tantrums over Eric are too numerous to list – but who could forget him telling Sookie in DAG that “Eric loves his little piece of Louisiana more than he’ll ever love you”. Hands up if you wanted to stab him in the eye? Oh me.
Quinn has no problem killing for Sookie – he has already killed Andre and freed her from what was, at the time, a very dangerous threat. He’s also sounded Sookie out about killing Eric much to her horror, and I get the feeling that regardless of her objections he would take out Eric in a heartbeat if the opportunity presented itself. Eric killed Longshadow in defence of Sookie, as well as a few others along the way – but he won’t kill Quinn unless it’s in self defence. He has certainly had opportunities, and in DAG Quinn gave him a free shot when he defied his orders yet Eric still showed restraint. Aside from knowing that it would hurt Sookie, Eric wants her to choose him because she wants him, not because there’s no one else left. This is what stops him killing or interfering with her other love interests…and just one more reason why Eric is awesome and Quinn is a tool. Quinn went from mildly irritating to the very top of my shit list when he started talking about killing Eric.
Part of Quinn’s function as a romantic interest for Sookie is to give her an opportunity to recognise another Bill – albeit in a slightly different disguise, but that’s for the next post. For Eric, he provides another alpha to square off against – worthy competition if you like. Quinn forces him to confront how he feels and act on it, and he does it quite successfully. Quinn is due back in the book after DITF apparently, and I can’t wait. I hate him as a love interest, but I LOVE how he is the only character in the whole series that can send our usually unflappable viking totally off the rails and bring out his insecure streak. When he does show up again, you can bet it’s going to be ugly for all concerned…and not the least for Eric.
It's hard finding pics for Quinn posts...so here's a pretty purple pansy and you can use your imagination
Let us count the ways.
He dresses badly.
Single gold hoop earring. Black silk tshirts. Paisley ties. Hammer pants?!? Oh man.
In all fairness, everyone in the Sookieverse commits heinous crimes against fashion. Some of these crimes are nothing short of atrocities, so I really shouldn’t hold his fashion sense against him. But I will.
He has the emotional maturity of a 17 year old boy.
Who the hell disappears for months, without making so much as a phone call – and comes back with barely an apology, expecting to pick up a relationship as though nothing ever happened? My 13 year old nephew wouldn’t dare try get away with this shit with a woman – even he knows better. But not Quinn. Because Quinn is a tool.
He hates vampires and always wants to kill them.
It’s not like Quinn is Mr Perfect. The man has a list of issues as long as my arm. Yet he refers to vampires like they’re shit stuck to his shoe, and when the opportunity to kill one, or attempt to kill one comes along he is there with bells on. Ask Andre. Or Bill.
Though to tell you the truth, I really don’t care what he does to Bill.
He has mommy issues.
Don’t get me wrong, all boys should love their mothers. But Quinn just takes it to the extreme. His relationship with his nutjob of a mother is toxic and he will never put Sookie, or anyone else before her or his big mouth sister.
Sookie dresses up like J-Lo and he doesn’t even notice.
Further proof, as if I need any, that his interest in Sookie is as politically motivated as Bill’s and about as genuine. Who doesn’t notice when their date shows up looking like that? And then he has the hide to compliment her dress in a note, as an afterthought! Tool!
He calls women he doesn’t know “Babe”
He called Sookie this the first time he met her! WTF? If someone called me that on first meeting I’d be reaching into my handbag for my mace. Is this meant to be sexy or something? It is so NOT. It’s creepy and weird and it made me not like Quinn from the first time he opened his mouth.
He is impulsive, weak and easily manipulated.
Impulsive – check. He comes back to area 5 knowing that Eric may literally kill him for defying his orders.
Weak – check. He is a constant pawn for others more powerful. Sophie Anne and Felipe de Castro both own his ass, and so does his mother for that matter.
Easily manipulated – check. See above.
Let’s just check off all three and move on shall we?
He lashes out at Sookie when he’s cornered.
Remember Quinn telling Sookie that Bill valued his position and status in the hierarchy, and that Eric valued his little piece of Louisiana more than he would ever love her? That was such a horrible conversation. As Sookie observed, it was like he came there to tell her that no one else would love her so she might as well just shack up with him. Come to think of it, that whole conversation was very reminiscent of one she had with Bill. He also told Sookie that she would never be able to have a relationship with a human man when she threatened to dump him.
Tools! The pair of them.
And the number one offence on Quinn’s Wall of Shame….
He keeps talking about killing Eric
OK so Quinn obviously hates Eric and wants him out of the way. I can kind of understand that. After all, who wouldn’t be threatened by a charming, extroverted, tall, blonde immortal with – to quote Jason Stackhouse – “sex abilities”.
Yet even after Sookie all but has a heart attack at the very suggestion that he would kill Eric, Quinn still keeps going on about it. How Sookie feels about it isn’t going to stop him, it just means that he will make it look like an accident or self defence so she doesn’t blame him. For Quinn, the only thing that matters is that Eric is dead.
I know that he’s going to have a crack at taking Eric out sooner or later and I WISH HIM LUCK. I will dance on his grave right after Eric puts him in it.
So there you have it. Quinn’s transgressions in a nutshell.
I think I’ll do a list of these for everyone, Sookie and Eric included. Though I may need some help with the Eric list since I seem to be able to justify every remotely questionable action of his for some reason.
But I know I’m not the only one who has that problem.
I’m going to come right out and say it. I have very little respect for Sam and I will absolutely spit chips if he is Sookie’s happy ending. Yes, I think he’s a Nice Guy. But even if the Viking was DEAD (you know…properly dead), I still wouldn’t be feeling it with Sam.
I am not buying Sam as Sookie’s happy ending in any make, shape or form.
Sam has done nothing to earn Sookie’s love
Sam has done little more in the books than whine about Sookie putting herself in danger, whine about her choice in men, and then sit around waiting for her to fall into his lap. He’s a lurker – less creepy in his lurking than Bill, but a lurker nonetheless. Sam’s a sweet guy, but can someone please tell me why he would deserve Sookie choosing him after everything that she has experienced? He had 5 years to make his move before Bill showed up. He didn’t. Then she suddenly became the supe version of a porn star, and still he has not had the balls to go after her with any conviction. What is wrong with him? There is a reason that his animal of choice is a dog when he shifts, and I’m not buying that it’s because most people like big puppy dog eyes. Dogs also put up with alot of shit for no return. And while we’re on the subject of the proverbial, where is Sam when it hits the fan? He is almost never there.
If Sam is going to be the HEA, Charlaine needs to get this boy busy. He has been sitting on his backside pulling beers for nine books, while everyone else has practically killed themselves for Sookie. And I’m supposed to believe that he is worthy of her? Give me a break. Eric, Bill, Quinn, Calvin and even Alcide, have all stuck their necks out to save this woman’s bacon at some point. But not Sam. Nuh-uh. Yet I am supposed to take him seriously as a suitor? No Ms Harris, I will not. You have to show me more.
Sam is A Plant
From a story-telling perspective, I wonder if Sam’s role in this story is to provide an option for the readers who cannot accept the logistics of a long term human/vampire relationship – no matter who the vampire is. They wouldn’t invest in Eric, they wouldn’t invest in Bill…they wouldn’t invest in anything dead. The ageing issue, and the children issue are deal breakers for these readers. Sam provides an obvious solution to both of these dilemmas and keeps these readers invested in the story.
On my tin foil hat days, I wonder also if Sam is a plant – literally. Eric seems to know an awful lot about what goes on in Sookie’s life during the day and he also seems to show up at the oddest moments (like every time she lands her sorry arse in the hospital after yet another beating). We all know there is no love lost between Sam and Eric, but they have also shown that they are both capable of sucking it up where Sookie is concerned. Is there is a reason Charlaine has all of these supes and weirdos showing up to see Sookie at work? Is there a reason so much plot seems to play out at Merlottes, and especially in that goddamn parking lot? It has bad mojo, and if I were Sookie I wouldn’t be setting one foot out there anymore without an armed guard. OK I will grant you this theory is a bit out there. But seriously – how the hell does Eric know half of what he does about who comes to visit her and what is going on in her life? There are too many examples of it to list – perhaps it’s another post – but I’m sure he has a man on the ground, and this has been going on since before the blood bond.
Sam can’t watch Sookie’s back
This one is a major problem for Sam. Let’s take stock of where Sookie stands right now. Her reputation as a telepath is universally known amongst both supes and humans. Also widely known in the supe world is the fact that her great grandfather is Head Honcho el Fae, she is the ongoing obsession and Achilles heel of a vampire sheriff to whom she is blood bonded, and she has a influential shifter of rock star status pursuing her to boot. She is in tight with the King of Nevada and his peeps. Let’s face it – our girl has a Rep. She is submerged in this world up to her neck, and she will never be able to just walk away from it. She doesn’t want to walk away from it either – for the first time in her life she is important instead of crazy to those around her. She likes the ego stroke, and the work she does appeals to her “inner helper”. Nope, the best Sookie can hope for is to find a way to live within this world safely, and to retain as much control as possible over her own life while doing so.
Sam has professed a sheer loathing for politics and he is not at all happy about Sookie’s involvement with the supe world in general. He could never stand beside her in the life she is destined to lead. And he doesn’t have the resources, the contacts or the wits to watch her back while she lives that sort of life either.
He dates women who have it in for Sookie
Callisto? Oh yes, that was a sound decision. Why not encourage the maenad that almost killed Sookie in the woods and then tried to send her bonkers.
Tanya? A spy sent by Debbie Pelt’s parents, in an attempt to get Sookie to slip that she committed a murder. Way to impress the object of your affections Sam – date women who want to do her in or get her thrown in jail. Not strong points in your favour.
Sookie doesn’t need Sam’s sperm donation
“Sookie wants babies” is apparently the deal breaker for her being with a vampire – and by inference the strongest point in Sam’s favour.
Sookie is many things – but she is not recklessly irresponsible. Particularly when it comes to family. Sookie’s notoriety within the supernatural community means that she might as well paint a target on the kids forehead and sit them in the middle of Club Dead for some supe to come and claim. Her children will never be safe, and they will make her vulnerable as well. Does she really want children anyway? Or is it just that before her life took the turn it did, she thought children and marriage was the most she could aspire to as a small town barmaid? Much has changed since that Sookie was calling the shots, and in the later books she hasn’t been clucking like she used to. Sorry folks, there will be no itty bitty booties for our girl. Which brings me to….
Hunter – the kid with substitute child written all over him
From the moment Hunter, Sookie’s telepathic nephew by her cousin Hadley – appeared on the page, Team Pro-Vampire sat up and took notice. Here we have a child with Sookie’s abilities, a dead mother, and a father who clearly has no freaking idea what he has on his hands…much less how to defend him until he is old enough to take care of himself. This child is already a target – albeit a dormant one for now, and he already needs protection. Taking on Hunter is a far cry from making the decision to bring a child of her own into the dangerous world she inhabits.
My prediction – towards the end of the series, Remy will die (possibly defending Hunter from a kidnap attempt or worse once he ends up on the supe radar), and Sookie will spend a whole book tracking him down and hunting Remy’s killer. Sookie will then take Hunter in. Don’t you think that would make a nice parallel – the orphaned telepath takes on another orphaned telepath to raise and protect? I like it, but it can’t happen until the end. Sookie can’t be running around trying to get herself killed and screwing hot viking vampires on her kitchen table at all hours with a 4 year old in the house *snicker*.
I guess my overall problem with the idea of Sookie and Sam is that I’ve really seen nothing to convince me that either of them genuinely want each other in that “I have to have you” kind of way. Sam just feels like settling to me, when Sookie’s life and her destiny are calling for so much more from her. It would just feel like one big fat let down – like she went through all of those experiences only to end up where she started, and yet not really having come “full circle”. I want to see her grow and evolve as a person, embrace her talents, and be appreciated for them. Sookie is too much woman for Sam to handle, and I think he knows it.
Sookieverse 
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