Re: Chapter 35: From Hong Kong With Love
Posted: Sun Jun 13, 2021 3:59 am
Quite a long and detailed chapter, and I must say I'm impressed by how you're able to write so many chapters so quickly. Great job there.
The opening scene was delightful - from the sly opening narration ("the mayor’s daughter really does have a lot to learn when dealing with infiltrators") to the takedowns of the individual sentries, one by one (or two by two) - set a great tone for the chapter. It really showed how well the sisters work together, knocking out multiple sentries in a variety of fashions without missing a beat. And of course, offscreen muggings are always a thrill.
Also quite rare to see some stewardesses show up and retain their uniforms.
Certainly did not expect cowgirls to be mugged in a story taking place in Hong Kong, but that was a nice surprise. I like the detail of their Southern accents, and the synchronized takedowns were again very well done.
The use of waitresses in cheongsam dresses was an inspired choice, and the way Tinker lures them to the alley recalled a similar (great) manga scene from Dirty Pair. I admit I was unfamiliar with cheongsam dresses before Cuccut posted that link to a pic on his DA page. Great use of disguise, even if as Rufus says, the way the sisters were able to pass themselves off as Asian waitresses was a bit implausible.
I'm going to be a bit more critical of the sex slave scenes, which I did think were a bit too disturbing for the story (not that this sort of content is ever not disturbing in any context). I know that was the intent, but it really did feel a bit jarring compared to the usual lightheartedness of your stories, to the point that it kind of pulled me out of the narrative. I know you've done dark chapters in the past, and sometimes quite well, but here the light scenes and the dark scenes just didn't mesh well for me, and it kind of jarred me out of the last third of the chapter.
Still, there was certainly a lot of good stuff here. As I said, I liked the group dynamic and the USB scenes. I don't think the tonal whiplash worked very well. But I'm eager to see how Shen is (hopefully) defeated in the next chapter

The opening scene was delightful - from the sly opening narration ("the mayor’s daughter really does have a lot to learn when dealing with infiltrators") to the takedowns of the individual sentries, one by one (or two by two) - set a great tone for the chapter. It really showed how well the sisters work together, knocking out multiple sentries in a variety of fashions without missing a beat. And of course, offscreen muggings are always a thrill.
Also quite rare to see some stewardesses show up and retain their uniforms.

Certainly did not expect cowgirls to be mugged in a story taking place in Hong Kong, but that was a nice surprise. I like the detail of their Southern accents, and the synchronized takedowns were again very well done.
The use of waitresses in cheongsam dresses was an inspired choice, and the way Tinker lures them to the alley recalled a similar (great) manga scene from Dirty Pair. I admit I was unfamiliar with cheongsam dresses before Cuccut posted that link to a pic on his DA page. Great use of disguise, even if as Rufus says, the way the sisters were able to pass themselves off as Asian waitresses was a bit implausible.
I'm going to be a bit more critical of the sex slave scenes, which I did think were a bit too disturbing for the story (not that this sort of content is ever not disturbing in any context). I know that was the intent, but it really did feel a bit jarring compared to the usual lightheartedness of your stories, to the point that it kind of pulled me out of the narrative. I know you've done dark chapters in the past, and sometimes quite well, but here the light scenes and the dark scenes just didn't mesh well for me, and it kind of jarred me out of the last third of the chapter.
Still, there was certainly a lot of good stuff here. As I said, I liked the group dynamic and the USB scenes. I don't think the tonal whiplash worked very well. But I'm eager to see how Shen is (hopefully) defeated in the next chapter
