Date: May 26 2013 1:24 AM Title: Interlude – search and find.
Kate is by far the most interesting IMHO. I have to agree with the previous reviewer. You made Rachel seem quite shallow with her POV section. I've lost some faith in her at this point.
I'm not much in to gentle but as I stated before you make this stuff interesting, hence I'm following it. Kate is in my mind the "gentlest" in that she's not sexually abusing her micros at this point. Doesn't matter about her past; to me I'm reading the "present" and she's not the one putting them on her nipples for play at present.
Idk. Not disappointed with Rachel... Just kinda bummed she seems equally as shallow once we got to see her up close. But I still have hope for Kate.
Author's Response: Well, obviously she is the most interesting one - since she had the most attention, with around 25k words of her and her littles perspectives versus Rachel's what, 4k? And half of that on the fun. I merely wanted to point out in response that the "unconditional" (as gadget suggested) part was groundless. Especially that she only started to care after the events in her zone. Additionally, in this chapter, I wanted to make Rachel's thoughts seem very sad - after more than a century of fruitless search for solutions, she has reasons to be disappointed - wouldn't You be? But the people seemed to enjoy it even though she blamed herself for "abusing" them - that sadness was in her thoughts, which are very subjective to the person and even the situation. Actions of the people (their eagerness and asking to take more of them) - should suggest that maybe it was not that bad. Lauren for instance did not care about her people much - and the biggest concern was the "drop in efficiency", the approach of her people were also different - more like a necessity. Now, I imagine those misunderstandings may be caused by the lack of POV from Rachel's people here - I wanted to point out their emotions in their actions since the POV would be highly repetitive. And knowing Your violent cravings, You were probably disappointed that Rachel did not kill them all :>
I do not want to comment the "shallow" part - hopefully it may change in the next several chapters (if she somehow survives, that is - no wait, it was Gary that dies, yeah - never mind then), but there will still be missing pieces - if I wanted to describe every character properly, I would have to write a book about each and every single one of them... even Kate is barely explained - while we see how she thinks now, we have hardly any details on her past, but yes - it is not the point, that is why I am focusing on the present.
Also.. keep in mind that Kate has not been abusing them so far - who knows what could have happened in a couple decades...
Date: May 25 2013 5:20 AM Title: Interlude – search and find.
*SPOILERS AHEAD*
Very good character Rachel is..She is definitely compassionate towards tiny people and is probably the most experienced character in this story yet...But at the same time shes a little twisted in that she's trying to find excuses to protect her ideal version of herself that cares about the micros unconditionally, while still using them to satisfy her lust. Id place her at #2 on my giga gentleness scale, with Kate being first (so far), and Lauren at third. Im very into the gentle stuff so Kates my favorite still and I like that shes super cutesy and a bit playful with her tone when talking to the tinies. Nice insight into the life of Gary and also that governor guy who obviously thinks of Kate as some kind of God that must be kept entertained and happy (which she kind of is). Nice chapter and I'll be looking forward to wherever you want to take this story next!
Is this ^ okay? I dont know why Ive never thought about possible spoilers, I always figured people would read the story first, before reading reviews but I shouldnt assume that.
Author's Response: Well, a LOT of misconceptions here.
Rachel not only understands what is going on but also cares about the people, the only person so far to exercise both - I would think she blames herself for everything rather than "trying to find excuses", especially how some people seem to enjoy it (wouldn't we all.. :>) - while other mothers seemed not to care much or even at all, while the kids.. well, they don't even know what they are doing - I hoped it should be obvious by now. Kate barely scratched the surface with her realizations - but I think You are probably trying to idealize her, given how young, "shy" and "cute" she may seem - but keep in mind how the other seconds recalled she used to "play with micros" together as well. I have no idea where You got the the "unconditionally" part from - she wondered just a couple chapters earlier (ch6?) why she was feeling guilty about "some damn micros". No offence, just... it seems you are reading a different story than the one I am writing :<
There is no point of having a "gentleness" scale or ranking - they are just... various caretakers behaving how I imagined they would given their experience, nature and understanding of the world - and their actions also change as they learn and live through more. Will Kate still be so mindful and reasonable when she calms down after her discoveries? Or maybe the next discussion with whoever changes her approach again? Who knows...
When it comes to Crawford, I fear that You may have misinterpreted the "maintain this very delicate mix of calmness, anxiety and emotion" part - and also I'd think the dialogue would suggest he was more annoyed by the situation ("liability", facepalm) rather than worshipping her or anything even close to that. After all, didn't "entertain her" sound like a pun after his explanations?
I usually read the whole chapter after the night to correct any missing pieces and try to make sure the overall tone and message matches my earlier intent. The ch13 felt this way as well - have I failed at it so badly? (yes - actually a question, I really need to know if I failed to communicate their ideas, emotions and the way how they think about the tinies)
And its fine - spoilers don't matter as long the review is on the proper chapter (like now).