I blame this one on yeloson, and maybe Derrida also

[jhameia]

I was trying to nap, right, and for some reason I start thinking this:

Tsai Kim is so below-average, her killer thought no one would miss her when he kidnapped and buried her. But Tsai Kim is a descendant in a long line of [sorcerers/magicians/people prone to seeking immortality/magic-wielders/charm makers/folk with magic in them anyway], so when he buries her in the wrong--in this case, the right--kind of earth, she comes back to life, angry and hungry for vengeance.

Tsai Kim's powers are contingent on her finding revenge, but vengeance is a poor reason to live. Can she both seek justice and reclaim her life?

I don't write urban fantasies. I don't even read the genre. So I blame yeloson for talking about Shinto vampires the other day and I was totally reading Derrida last night.

Comments

[yeloson.livejournal.com]

So, what happens AFTER she gets revenge? Does she move on into a new life? Or does she have to keep going for vengeance to remain around?

Scud: the Disposable Assassin has a great story line, where people can hire assassin robots from vending machines, and after they kill the target, they self destruct. Scud, happens to see the note on his back that he will self destruct after killing the target, so instead, he cripples the target and spends the rest of the series as a mercenary to pay bills to KEEP the target alive in the hospital.

[fantasyecho.livejournal.com]

I think I was going for something about justice that doesn't rely on revenge, something something law is just legally sanctioned vengeance bla bla bla, but yeah, if she gets revenge, she can't exist anymore. Which, all things considered, would kind of suck, even if her actual life wasn't that great to start with.

[yeloson.livejournal.com]

That actually sets up an interesting situation - does she need to keep "pursuing" revenge also? Because then she either has to try to figure out ways to self sabotage, or to produce the minimal amount of revenge seeking while living a normal life.

[fantasyecho.livejournal.com]

I don't know, dude, like I said, I don't actually like urban fantasies, so I ain't writing this novel. But if I had to write it, I'd pursue two threads: 1) the idea of revenge being contingent on a wrong being done to an individual, and have her instead look into the causes of his crime and how he's been allowed to keep up his killing spree for so long, taking a more holistic view of what constitutes justice and 2) she probably wouldn't have a normal life anyway; she has superhuman strength, she can fly, she has telekinesis, but she can't control it at all, because she's dead and only came back to redress wrongs. And because she's Asian, you KNOW she's gonna have some other kinds of ish all wrapped up in that, too.