Great Jim interview from December 2020

[vultur]

Lash and Lasciel are not illusions. They certainly present themselves as female. They probably self identify as female even without a body.

Dresdenverse angels seem to be loosely on the Catholic model which as I understand it (and I am not a theologian) do not really have gender as we would define it.

I am not sure how much of what we see of them is "put on" to interact with humans vs inherent.

Lash (vs Lasciel) is a slightly different case as she is not a true angel but an imprint/shadow in Dresden's brain so probably is more "human-influenced". Lash probably is female but I am not so sure about Lasciel proper.

[vultur]

It would make Harry less effective so no. I think Mab is pretty transparant about what she wants from Molly and Harry both.

Mab also seems to believe that if Harry can't measure up to her standards, then he wasn't worth it anyway, though.

Lara is clearly prohibited from killing Harry by feeding, but I am not sure "influence" is off limits - Mab probably expects Harry to be able to deal with that.

Mab would not want to lose control of Harry, but if Lara has obligations to Mab...

Although, given Starborn "mind control resistance" can Lara enthrall him? Mab could mess with his memories in SmF, but his Starborn powers don't seem to have been "fully awakened" then.

[Mira]

Mab also seems to believe that if Harry can't measure up to her standards, then he wasn't worth it anyway, though.

Lara is clearly prohibited from killing Harry by feeding, but I am not sure "influence" is off limits - Mab probably expects Harry to be able to deal with that.

Mab would not want to lose control of Harry, but if Lara has obligations to Mab...

Although, given Starborn "mind control resistance" can Lara enthrall him? Mab could mess with his memories in SmF, but his Starborn powers don't seem to have been "fully awakened" then.

I don't think he even knew what a star born was let alone that he was one.  After all the training Harry and Molly did, sparing to hone their mental defenses, I doubt Lara can enthrall him now, even without his star born status.

[vultur]

I don't think he even knew what a star born was let alone that he was one.

Yeah, exactly. His status still seems to have had some effect vs HWWBehind, but I think it was in some way "awakened" by the events of Changes/Ghost Story and what he learned, so that by CD he can resist HWWBefore's mental attack, strike back, and get its Name (whereas he needed Lash's help to partially resist a similar attack in WN).

EDIT: typo, Behind/Before

[Mira]

Yeah, exactly. His status still seems to have had some effect vs HWWBehind, but I think it was in some way "awakened" by the events of Changes/Ghost Story and what he learned, so that by CD he can resist HWWBefore's mental attack, strike back, and get its Name (whereas he needed Lash's help to partially resist a similar attack in WN).

EDIT: typo, Behind/Before

As a terrified sixteen year old kid he was just trying to survive in what will eventually become classic smart ass Harry when confronting something beyond his weight class.  However when he witnessed HWWB brutally murder, something in him changed, it awoke something in him, and he did what future Harry will always do, he will fight that.  However what he has always lacked and still lacks is information.  Lash gave him some, but there was no time for the full story.  Eb dances around it, as do everyone else on the Council, it is like they seem to think that it better that Harry get misinformation as opposed to information.

[Arjan]

Mab also seems to believe that if Harry can't measure up to her standards, then he wasn't worth it anyway, though.

She spent a lot of time recovering him from death. She is not going to waste that investment on something that is clearly not in his weight class.

Kringle said so in Skin game anyway.

Lara is clearly prohibited from killing Harry by feeding, but I am not sure "influence" is off limits - Mab probably expects Harry to be able to deal with that.

It goes further than that. Anny nibbling from Mab’s porridge will sent the bears. Which is logical. Feeding is an attack and you don’t attack your allies.

Mab woelt not want to lose control of Harry, but if Lara has obligations to Mab...

Although, given Starborn "mind control resistance" can Lara enthrall him? Mab could mess with his memories in SmF, but his Starborn powers don't seem to have been "fully awakened" then.

Lara is not an outsider.

[vultur]

She spent a lot of time recovering him from death. She is not going to waste that investment on something that is clearly not in his weight class.

Absolutely... but Lara's not out of Harry's weight class, except politically as a sort-of head of state. She's not actually that powerful personally as shown in Turn Coat, it's who she can order around.

Feeding is an attack and you don’t attack your allies.

That would make a lot of sense... I am not sure it is quite so clear cut that White Court feeding is always an attack though... in the vast majority of cases absolutely yes... but see Thomas at the hair salon or Bigfoot on Campus...

There seem to be degrees of White Court influence too. In BR Harry has True Love protection but he is still affected by Lara's supernatural presence. So there may be the possibility of mental influence without feeding.

Lara is not an outsider.

True - but is the Starborn mind-resistance necessarily limited to outsiders alone?

[Mira]

True - but is the Starborn mind-resistance necessarily limited to outsiders alone?

I'd say not, even with the almost useless mind defenses taught by the White Council, Harry was able to resist the Corpsetaker back in Dead Beat.  He ended up losing it is true, but he lasted a while.

[Arjan]

I think Thomas in the hair salon is definitely an attack. It is a minor one and it goes unnoticed but that does not negate what he is doing.

Thomas misleads his victims, addicts them and steals from them. Their essential life force. Not that much of course but there is a principle at stake here.

[Mira]

I think Thomas in the hair salon is definitely an attack. It is a minor one and it goes unnoticed but that does not negate what he is doing.

Thomas misleads his victims, addicts them and steals from them. Their essential life force. Not that much of course but there is a principle at stake here.

I don't know if you can exactly call that mind control though.  Thomas isn't a wizard, he is a vampire..  Then again it is mind control because he controls his victims through pleasure, I guess you could call what he was doing, "grooming," no pun intended.  He grooms his victims much like a pedophile does children, if Thomas was really evil or wanted to, they'd then be perfectly set up for him to feed upon them until death.

[Basil]

I have wondered about Mab, Harry and Lara -- in particular, can Mab "do something" about Lara's Hunger -- at least where Harry is concerned.

Recall in Changes that Auntie Lea put Martin and Susan's hunger to "sleep."  In Summer Knight, Mother Winter offered Harry an Unravelling that would "cure" Susan.

These incidents suggest that Winter (in this case Mab) could come up with a solution

[Mira]

I have wondered about Mab, Harry and Lara -- in particular, can Mab "do something" about Lara's Hunger -- at least where Harry is concerned.

Recall in Changes that Auntie Lea put Martin and Susan's hunger to "sleep."  In Summer Knight, Mother Winter offered Harry an Unravelling that would "cure" Susan.

These incidents suggest that Winter (in this case Mab) could come up with a solution

But I don't think any of the solutions can be undertaken lightly.  If I remember correctly there also was a reason why Lea couldn't keep the hunger aspect  asleep forever.  Also I doubt that the Mothers give away the unraveling that easy.  I also doubt that Lara would want to be "cured" she likes the way that she is.

[Arjan]

She would loose her power, her position, her usefulness as an ally and thus as a bride for Harry and then soon her life.

[Mira]

She would loose her power, her position, her usefulness as an ally and thus as a bride for Harry and then soon her life.

If you mean Susan? First of all, she'd have been a mortal vanilla human again.. She still could have told Harry she didn't want to marry him, but her dilemma would be she'd want to use him for supernatural scoops, so she wouldn't totally drop him.  That could get her killed, but her choice.  If she was cured, she would have been in no danger in turning, thus becoming the youngest vampire, so Harry wouldn't have had to cut her throat..  Their kid still would have died because the Red King wanted his revenge on Eb's bloodline, but Susan would live on, however Harry wouldn't have..

[Arjan]

Oh I thought someone was shipping Lara again.