Aaaah, yes, the final chapter. :D I always dislike this part of the book, so I've been looking forward to your mocking this one.
1. "1) Is it just me or does this wording make it sound like Anita's main concern over Jade's mental health is that it prevents her from being an effective guard?" Y' have to ask if Anita cares about anything more than how able people are to serve HER? 2. "3) If it turns out she's specifically good at Asian martial arts, I'm going to be pissed. (Not that no Asian character can ever be good at Asian martial arts, just that Jade is already nothing BUT a stereotype--a lesbian due to abuse, a submissive yet sexualized China Doll--so adding one more just makes her worse)" ... ... ... Incidentally, do you want me to link that, ahem, online version I found? Obviously I object to piracy, but I have a bought-and-paid for copy of my own, and I figure it would help you to get a head start on the Kiss the Dead material. I don't know if that would be relevant to your Hit List spork, but perhaps it would let you know what plot points are going to be dead-ends? “Devil is a lot stronger, he’s got more muscle around his neck, so the blow wouldn’t have hurt him as much, and he’s a more powerful wereanimal. That helps protect you, too.”
I looked at Claudia. “How strong is Sin compared to the rest?”
She shrugged. “He’s clan tiger, so that’s a step up in metaphysics, but I’d say he’s one of the least powerful of your tigers. The only one weaker is Jade, and I think her problem is she’s afraid of the power.”
I thought about the only woman tied to me metaphysically. She was tinier than me, fit under my arm like I did with most of my men. She was all pale skin, and long black hair, with those big brown eyes that uptilted in her face. She always made me think of words like delicate, dainty, and not a lot of women made me think that.
“She was her vampire master’s punching bag for centuries; it makes her think like a victim.”
“She’s got these wicked skills when she practices by herself,” Nicky said, “but when we try to put her in the sparring ring, she freezes.”
“He made her into his victim,” I said.
“But she’s got these ninja skills, and I’m not making a racist remark on that; all the Harlequin are beyond special-forces good at some things. They’re like movie ninjas, almost magical.”
“Her master trained her up like the rest of the Harlequin, but he abused her so badly that she had the skills but never got to use them,” Claudia said. “As if he crippled her at the same time he trained her.”
“Accurate, I think.”
[Elsewhere in the book...]
Damian let me see the second woman in front of him. She was tiny, shorter than me by inches, short enough that she fit under my arm, when I put my arm across her delicate shoulders. Her shining black hair fell like patent-leather water straight and perfect to her waist. Her uptilted eyes looked brown, but I’d spent enough time looking into them to know they were actually an orange so dark they looked brown. In the right light they were the color of fire when it burns deep into the wood and you think the flame is out, but if you don’t douse it with water, it’ll flare up and burn the house down. Her Chinese name translated to Black Jade; to me she was just Jade, my Jade. She was my black tiger to call, and the first woman to change me from heterosexual to heteroflexible.
Jade looked frantic, and jerked away from Damian’s hand. She started running down the hallway. Damian looked up, as most of us did when we were “seeing” each other in our minds. “Someone told her you were hurt.”
“Shit,” I said, out loud.
“What’s wrong?” God asked.
“Someone told Jade I was hurt. She’ll have to see for herself that I’m healed.”
“Can’t you just tell her mind-to-mind?” God asked.
“She’s too scared, and panicking. It makes her head-blind.”
“No offense,” God said, “but for a ninja assassin super-spy she spooks easy.”
Domino said, “You try being abused by a master vampire for centuries and see how you do.” His beasts flared enough to raise heat around him like a breath of summer in the cave-cool corridor.
no subject
1. "1) Is it just me or does this wording make it sound like Anita's main concern over Jade's mental health is that it prevents her from being an effective guard?"
Y' have to ask if Anita cares about anything more than how able people are to serve HER?
2. "3) If it turns out she's specifically good at Asian martial arts, I'm going to be pissed. (Not that no Asian character can ever be good at Asian martial arts, just that Jade is already nothing BUT a stereotype--a lesbian due to abuse, a submissive yet sexualized China Doll--so adding one more just makes her worse)"
...
...
...
Incidentally, do you want me to link that, ahem, online version I found? Obviously I object to piracy, but I have a bought-and-paid for copy of my own, and I figure it would help you to get a head start on the Kiss the Dead material. I don't know if that would be relevant to your Hit List spork, but perhaps it would let you know what plot points are going to be dead-ends?
“Devil is a lot stronger, he’s got more muscle around his neck, so the blow wouldn’t have hurt him as much, and he’s a more powerful wereanimal. That helps protect you, too.”
I looked at Claudia. “How strong is Sin compared to the rest?”
She shrugged. “He’s clan tiger, so that’s a step up in metaphysics, but I’d say he’s one of the least powerful of your tigers. The only one weaker is Jade, and I think her problem is she’s afraid of the power.”
I thought about the only woman tied to me metaphysically. She was tinier than me, fit under my arm like I did with most of my men. She was all pale skin, and long black hair, with those big brown eyes that uptilted in her face. She always made me think of words like delicate, dainty, and not a lot of women made me think that.
“She was her vampire master’s punching bag for centuries; it makes her think like a victim.”
“She’s got these wicked skills when she practices by herself,” Nicky said, “but when we try to put her in the sparring ring, she freezes.”
“He made her into his victim,” I said.
“But she’s got these ninja skills, and I’m not making a racist remark on that; all the Harlequin are beyond special-forces good at some things. They’re like movie ninjas, almost magical.”
“Her master trained her up like the rest of the Harlequin, but he abused her so badly that she had the skills but never got to use them,” Claudia said. “As if he crippled her at the same time he trained her.”
“Accurate, I think.”
[Elsewhere in the book...]
Damian let me see the second woman in front of him. She was tiny, shorter than me by inches, short enough that she fit under my arm, when I put my arm across her delicate shoulders. Her shining black hair fell like patent-leather water straight and perfect to her waist. Her uptilted eyes looked brown, but I’d spent enough time looking into them to know they were actually an orange so dark they looked brown. In the right light they were the color of fire when it burns deep into the wood and you think the flame is out, but if you don’t douse it with water, it’ll flare up and burn the house down. Her Chinese name translated to Black Jade; to me she was just Jade, my Jade. She was my black tiger to call, and the first woman to change me from heterosexual to heteroflexible.
Jade looked frantic, and jerked away from Damian’s hand. She started running down the hallway. Damian looked up, as most of us did when we were “seeing” each other in our minds. “Someone told her you were hurt.”
“Shit,” I said, out loud.
“What’s wrong?” God asked.
“Someone told Jade I was hurt. She’ll have to see for herself that I’m healed.”
“Can’t you just tell her mind-to-mind?” God asked.
“She’s too scared, and panicking. It makes her head-blind.”
“No offense,” God said, “but for a ninja assassin super-spy she spooks easy.”
Domino said, “You try being abused by a master vampire for centuries and see how you do.” His beasts flared enough to raise heat around him like a breath of summer in the cave-cool corridor.
“Hey, no offense,” God said.