[Report This]Date: January 29 2023 10:51 AM Title: Chapter 4: Prisoner of the Ant People
Another amazing chapter filled with detail and character developement. From what I can tell it seems the ants have learned by observing humans and surpassed them already? Probably courtesy of Dr. Thorax genius. Will he be able to produce a growth formula? My gut says no: one because he will find out it’s easier to shrink but hard to reverse without killing the subject, two because Antopia has no need for such a disruptive technology anyway. Plus I want Max to stay ant-sized forever LOL
With development, comes change. The fact that govenment officials are suggesting to use Max as leverage points to opposing views inside Antopia. Some are like Sting and see Lucy as nothing but a danger. Others see in her a opportunity to overthrow the current structure of power. Hell, if we are talking about mimicking humans, at this point some ants might have built some crazy cult around her.
After this trials Max understands he can never let Sting capture Lucy, but call me crazy, I can see the ant general warming up to Max, coming to dote on him like a grandson. The great dillema if this happens is obvious, but again, the story is playing with perspectives – we have opposing view inside Antopia as well as in each character. Who is right? I don’t think that is the main issue when feelings and desires are at play and there is no need for a clear answer also. Divya and Lucy are friends and right in the middle of the struggle we have Max and Penelope.
I can totally understand Max frustration with Penelope, she seems to treat him less like a brother and more like a pet project to make her mother proud. The irony is that, if Max was at his normal size, what would this kind and naive princess be to him? Those two have a lot to learn with each other.
The queen… well, I agree with Max, Dakota is a badass and I really liked her, but. as any ruler, she is prone to manipulation and the fact that Dr. Thorax shrunk the wrong person (was it really by accident?) puts her in a thogh spot. She can’t just send Max back, she can’t punish him for what others did and (here is another irony), he more time she keeps Max, the more reasons she will give for Lucy to hate Antopia even more.
There is another issue. It’s a guess and I am repeating myself, but that’s the whole point of my theory: unless it’s possible to mass produce darts to shrink the entire human race, Max value as a hostage is unfathomable – the key to keep the entire family of giants roaming her land at bay instead of just punishing one.
Talking about the Firewalls… It’s sad nobody noticed Max is missing yet, but is just a question of time now and it will be another shake to weight on Lucy’s shoulders ot top of what happened to Divya. I think some high-rank ants understand that and what it means – a chance to communicate.
I love the way you are keeping us updated on what is happening on both sides – Antopia and the Firewall residence – and I just can’t wait for the next chapters. Thank you THANK YOU for all the effort!
PS.: third time I am changing my comment. This chapter really gave me a lot to think :D
Author's Response:
I honestly think you must be one of the most in-depth analytical reviewers on this site! Wish you could have helped me with my school TEEL analytical essays back when I was in high school around 4 years ago...
You are absolutely spot on. It is much harder to grow a human back than it is to shrink him so Max will be stuck for a while let's just say even if Dr Thorax wanted to help him.....
All the government ministers are essential based on different sections of parliament in the real human world so I tried my best to base the society of Antopia on that with a little bit of the Roman Empire thrown in as well.
Many different ants have their own views of Lucy. Most of them hate her but some see this to use it to their advantage to fulfil their own agendas .....
Let's just say a lot of characters will be undergoing character development including General Sting.....
Later on, we going to find out why princess Penelope is so sympathetic and optimistic about humans.......
Since Max was hard to punish since he wasn't doing any of the actual genocide I tried to portray the most accurate and realistic punishments and convictions based on his actions. So glad you liked the trial!
Yeah, those shrinking darts are a manufacturing nightmare so it will be literally impossible to shrink 7 billion humans. It would take millions of years...
Let's just say Max is leverage at this point......
The irony is that had Rebecca refused to listen to her husband's rant on porn and barged into the room they would have discovered the son was missing sooner. Let's just say it has been delayed a little bit...
You have to be my favourite reviewer on the site...😊
[Report This]Date: January 29 2023 5:06 AM Title: Chapter 4: Prisoner of the Ant People
This chapter is so good!
Before the positives, there is one thing I didn't like and that's the excessive swearing. I don't have any problems with swearing, but almost every character uses it so constantly that it makes it feel like they speak the same way, which makes the dialogue sound a bit artificial.
It's justifiable since this is a tense situation and everyone there is angry, but it made the dialogue a bit tiresome to read, for me at least.
The rest is great!
Seeing the ant universe getting expanded is always a treat, some of the interactions are pretty funny (mainly with Max and Sting), and all the Lucy scenes are excellent!
My favorite is probably the painted nails story, with the magnifying glass scene being the second.
And I'm very interested to see how these characters develop and evolve through the story, especially the main three Max, Penelope, and Sting, I feel like they will change a lot, both themselves and how they interact with each other.
Also, one of the ants said "AMONG US" at one point which was epic.
Author's Response:
Looking back I kinda agree with you that, especially in the earlier chapters the word fucking was used way too often. I guess I did because I felt the story hadn't had much action yet but it still needed to earn that R (Ma15+) rating. Going forward I will try to use the swearing when it flows better in the story.
Glad you like the interactions between our three main protagonists.
The magnifying glass scene was actually heavily inspired by the animated movie Antz. The painted nails were a creative touch as well in terms of how they can be used as a powerful weapon for the ants so I am so glad you enjoyed both scenes!
Our three main protagonists (apart from Lucy and Divya) will be undergoing a lot of character development in the story
The ant shouting AMONG US was a foreshadowing clue. I wonder if they have traitors among them? And who could they be? 🤔