Dresden and Lara

[dspringer1]

This is an interesting plot twist that can go so many ways

Pluses
1) Dresden and Lara have a great deal of respect for each other.   
2) They are also clearly attracted to each other in a way that has nothing to do with magic or inner demon beings
3) This ties Lara even more tightly to Mab -- a very strong political alliance for Mab.  After all, the White Court has a great deal of power in the mortal world - where Mab is fairly weak (relatively speaking).
4) It demonstrates Mabs power over Dresden in a very public way right after he was just super scary
5) It provides another layer of protection for Dresden vis-a-vis the white council.  I am sure there are other allies of the White court that would not hesitate to target Dresden before but would hesitate after a marriage.
6) Does this give Dresden access to white court resources?  Aka - cash and favors? 


Negatives
1) Lara feeds on souls -- so hard to see how they can have a marriage without that being a pretty strong barrier
2) Dresden is going to resent the hell out of a political marriage and that will create a lot of issues.  And if it becomes a real marriage then either Mab loses a lot of control over Harry to Lara (aka - she feeds on him scenario) or it turns to love and this becomes very damaging to Lara. 
3) A lot of worry that Lara is infected by outsiders based on odd behavior.  That could have been Justine distorting things-- or it could be a real sign that Justine infected Lara (or visa-versa as her father was probably associated with outsiders as well.
4) A distraction for Dresden. Normally that would be a good thing for Mab, but things are very ugly right now and having her winter knight be off his game would be dangerous. 
5) A political marriage involves obligations on both sides.  What would Mab promise Lara to make this happen?  Or does Lara already owe Mab too much to say no. 
6) Kids - enough said
7) Lara is the responsible type -- and a soul eating vampire.   Relations with Maggie will be complicated.....  of course, this might explain why Maggie goes to boarding school.... 
8.) Dresden will have obligations to Lara that might conflict with his obligations to Mab.  And Mab cannot just override such obligations as winter law applies. 
9) Lara's family are mostly a bunch of monsters.   Her extended family/court even more so.   That cannot end well when Dresden walks into the room.  And they are unlikely to take a few random deaths as well as the winter court did. 

[KurtinStGeorge]

Plus, at some point Thomas leaves the island.  Certainly he will have been changed by the experience.  He might even become a KotC.  Imagine what that would look like to other members of the White Court.  To the monsters it would look like Dresden did something to change Thomas, to alter his normal; to them, demonic side and make him into something they can't comprehend.  And it won't matter a bit that Harry didn't actually do anything to Thomas, other than save his life.  It would sure look like Harry did something.  None of this would be good for Lara.  To other members of the White Court it would look like a mortal; a powerful wizard true, but still a mortal human, is the more powerful individual in a relationship with a White Court vampire.  This is virtually unthinkable for any member of the White Court and would make Lara look weak.

This doesn't mean Lara couldn't recover from a situation of this type.  Maybe this would be when she demonstrates that she learned her father's kiss of death technique.  However, it would certainly complicate the situation.

I know there are other readers who think that when Thomas returns from the island he may become the next King of the White Court.  I'm not sure how this would happen.  The only thing I'm certain of is that when Thomas returns there will be unexpected and serious repercussions.

And here's a completely different issue which could complicate Harry and Lara's relationship.  In Peace Talks, Lara confirmed that her father is starving to death.  We don't know when it will happen but when it does the masquerade that Lara has been playing; that her father is still in charge and she is acting as his deputy, will be over.  Someone in the White Court is bound to make a move against her.  It might involve making a move against Harry first.

So lots of fun possibilities to make things complicated, make that more complicated, than they already are.   

 

[Bad Alias]

Minor point, the White Court don't eat souls. They eat emotional energy.

[funnyhalo]

Plus, at some point Thomas leaves the island.  Certainly he will have been changed by the experience.  He might even become a KotC. 

 

I can totally see Jim creating a creature deathly allergic to love, take up the sword of love. It just seems like the thing Butcher would want to do, or have it planned out. Sword of Faith, wielded by a Jewish Knight of the Cross, the Sword of Hope, wielded by an Atheist Knight of the Cross, and finally the Sword of Love being wielded by a White Court Knight of the Cross; He does this, despite the risk of death to himself, all in the name of the love he has for Justine? Especially now that she has been taken by Nemesis. We already know that a vampire of the Red Court (Ok, yes, half-turned), when focused on what she truly loves, can take up the sword and wield it, in the name of love. I can totally see Thomas doing the same for Justine, or using the sword to help keep his inner demon in check. Not to mention the fact that he is technically related to "Royalty". His father WAS the White King, and I am sure he comes from a long line of WC Royalty (although that last bit I have no source reference on). With the swords being wielded by the descendants of Royalty, and do to the current circumstances of him fighting his demon so he can Love again, I think he is a shoe in.

[Paviel]

Thomas was able to feed by "sipping" on the sensual pleasure of women getting their hair done. Lara could probably do something similar, if Harry insists on it.

[ZhonLord]

Thomas was able to feed by "sipping" on the sensual pleasure of women getting their hair done. Lara could probably do something similar, if Harry insists on it.

Except the act of doing so was such agony to Thomas that he couldn't even maintain the strength to fight.  It wasn't until he was forced to give in to the Hunger by a Naagloshii that he finally regained his strength.  Lara would NEVER compromise her own strength in that manner, even for the benefits of a political marriage to the Winter Court.

[Snark Knight]

Except the act of doing so was such agony to Thomas that he couldn't even maintain the strength to fight.  It wasn't until he was forced to give in to the Hunger by a Naagloshii that he finally regained his strength.  Lara would NEVER compromise her own strength in that manner, even for the benefits of a political marriage to the Winter Court.

Huh? Thomas was still very much functional in fights in White Night. And while he was obviously hungry in Small Favor, he was still able to kick Denarian and Mob asses as needed. IIRC he described it as 'it adds up'.

As for Lara, she most definitely wouldn't be *only* feeding from her political husband, if it comes to that. The bigger issue is that Harry is currently radioactive to her, and an order to go have a one-night stand with a random mortal to deliberately remove the protection of having been with Murphy is the kind of thing he'd balk at.

[ZhonLord]

Huh? Thomas was still very much functional in fights in White Night. And while he was obviously hungry in Small Favor, he was still able to kick Denarian and Mob asses as needed. IIRC he described it as 'it adds up'.

Side Stories, there's one from Thomas's perspective where he describes the constant agonizing effort of making sure his Hunger only sips from the life force of his customers at the salon instead of devouring them whole.

[groinkick]

Minor point, the White Court don't eat souls. They eat emotional energy.

I thought they fed off life energy via emotions. 

You know Thomas and other White Court have fed off non humans who have more life force, that doesn't harm them.  I wonder if something about the Winter Mantle will provide Lara with the energy when she's feeding so Harry can have all kinds of fun sex with her without being damaged.

[Arjan]

I do not think Lara will feed of Harry winter mantle or not. There might even be a no feeding clause in the marriage contract. Mab wants to secure an alliance, not provide catering. Mab spoke against it at the beginning of peace talks as well.

Everyone with half a brain puts a clause against that in the contract just like Vadderung did with Freydis.

Lara is always very well fed and she won't compromise that.

[Bad Alias]

I thought they fed off life energy via emotions. 

You know Thomas and other White Court have fed off non humans who have more life force, that doesn't harm them.  I wonder if something about the Winter Mantle will provide Lara with the energy when she's feeding so Harry can have all kinds of fun sex with her without being damaged.

It's a little unclear what the difference is between emotional energy, life energy, and energy. Jim's been pretty clear it that the White Court don't eat their victims souls though.

[toodeep]

Will be interesting to see what a sword like Butter's can do to a white court vampire.  Can it kill just the demon?  Same question with Justine - could it just kill/drive out Nemesis?

[PastorChris]

I can totally see Jim creating a creature deathly allergic to love, take up the sword of love. It just seems like the thing Butcher would want to do, or have it planned out. Sword of Faith, wielded by a Jewish Knight of the Cross, the Sword of Hope, wielded by an Atheist Knight of the Cross, and finally the Sword of Love being wielded by a White Court Knight of the Cross; He does this, despite the risk of death to himself, all in the name of the love he has for Justine? Especially now that she has been taken by Nemesis. We already know that a vampire of the Red Court (Ok, yes, half-turned), when focused on what she truly loves, can take up the sword and wield it, in the name of love. I can totally see Thomas doing the same for Justine, or using the sword to help keep his inner demon in check. Not to mention the fact that he is technically related to "Royalty". His father WAS the White King, and I am sure he comes from a long line of WC Royalty (although that last bit I have no source reference on). With the swords being wielded by the descendants of Royalty, and do to the current circumstances of him fighting his demon so he can Love again, I think he is a shoe in.

Thanks for this!  I've just logged back into these forums YEARS later--having finally read PT and BG, and I keep thinking that Thomas is going to end up with Amoracchius at some point.  He knows Love like no other White Court vamp because of his love for both Harry and Justine (and presumably Maggie).  Maybe Uriel calling him to Amoracchius would even help Ebenezar let go of his hate.

[seanham]

Can Lara even feed on Harry? In PT, he burned Lara, showing everyone that he was in love with Murphy. If Harry doesn't do anything with another woman (which is likely), he will forever be protected. On the other hand, it might be in Harry's best interest to allow Lara to feed off the Winter Knight's mantle. We know that the mantle makes it harder for him to think at times because it increases his libido. Allowing Lara to feed on the energy might make it easier for Harry to think clearly and become a better wizard and detective.

No matter what, this marriage will make Harry look that much worse to outsiders (especially the white council). Although, he could use this as an opportunity to spy on some opposing faction, aka, pretend to be under Lara's control to infiltrate and gain information on his enemies.

[Arjan]

Can Lara even feed on Harry? In PT, he burned Lara, showing everyone that he was in love with Murphy. If Harry doesn't do anything with another woman (which is likely), he will forever be protected. On the other hand, it might be in Harry's best interest to allow Lara to feed off the Winter Knight's mantle. We know that the mantle makes it harder for him to think at times because it increases his libido. Allowing Lara to feed on the energy might make it easier for Harry to think clearly and become a better wizard and detective.

No matter what, this marriage will make Harry look that much worse to outsiders (especially the white council). Although, he could use this as an opportunity to spy on some opposing faction, aka, pretend to be under Lara's control to infiltrate and gain information on his enemies.

Politically Lara feeding on Harry is not the right message for Mab.