[Report This]Date: September 17 2015 5:40 AM Title: Chapter 4. Adaptation
I had some mixed feelings about this chapter. I had to really read it s couple times to kind of fully appreciate it. At first I thought this chapter was too similar to an earlier chapter. After reading it a couple more times I noticed a few things. You can kind of see Kelly changing and getting more annoyed with people. I'm a little surprised she doesn't have more people willing to worship her yet. What's the government planning to do since she's already caused mass casualties? I thought nuke was coming in last story, does itshow up here? Will Lisa be able to get edge over Casey again? Will either realize how to get bigger? Another great chapter. Can't wait for more!
Author's Response:
I had some other comments about this chapter feeling repetitive. I guess it's true. I wanted this chapter to show Kelly's continued evolution to someone that has stopped caring about people and sees herself way above them. Once I look at it in retrospective, I could have probably achieved the same objective with a chapter that had been a little different (I should probably have avoided having the cops shooting her, which is probably the part that felt more repetitive, and tried to find an alternative instead). Still, I think that I managed to achieve my objectives on character development (even if the chapter could have been funnier set in a different way). Anyway, I can guarantee you that what's coming will be more original :)
About your questions:
- Kelly is not that type of goddess. She does not want to be worshipped as a supernatural being. She "just" wants to rule and be respected. And, honestly, so early in her conquest, I had a hard time imagining the people who are being slaughtered by her doing anything other than fighting back or trying to get away.
- The government is still trying to decide how to react. More about this in tomorrow's chapter :)
- More to come about Lisa tomorrow as well!
You will only need to wait 24 more hours :)
Cheers!
Date: September 12 2015 3:05 PM Title: Chapter 4. Adaptation
Good Chapter. I saw that Kelly killed the cops with her foot but ended up killing a lot more people in process. If she really wanted to kill JUST the cops, couldn't she have crushed them with her fingertips instead of using such a broad limb like her foot? I mean I get it, she just doesn't care anymore about what her power destroys, but at the same time she DOES care about what people think of her.
It's obvious, otherwise she wouldn't be so excited about being able to hear them... So how is anyone supposed to like her when she behaves like this? Aren't gods/goddesses supposed to be loved and worshipped not hated? And then she wonders why people run away. Anyway, I can't wait for the next one!
Author's Response:
As usual, thanks for the feedback. I'm glad you liked the chapter.
Kelly is a gray character that is very quickly evolving, especially since she became massive. One knows what to expect from Lisa and Casey (for the good and for the bad), but Kelly is still unpredictable. Right now, the only predictable thing about her is that she will do whatever is needed to keep her power and defent her position.
I think that, as you mentioned in some previous reviews, it's obvious that Kelly has let the power get into her head in a big way. Megalomania is a very strong driving force behind Kelly now. This does not explain her entire behavior, though. Here's an attempt at being more complete without being too exhaustive:
Kelly's main objective is too keep her status and her ultimate goal is to use her power to take over the world, which she has now convinced herself is her natural position. At the same time, she has convinced herself that, in the end, it's for the greater good (you'll get more on this in future chapters). Because of this, she needs to rationalize her acts of massive destruction. The way she rationalizes hers are by thinking that she is not killing on purpose, that accidents are unavoidable and hence she cannot be blamed and, ultimately, that she is not an evil sadist like Casey and that the world is much better off with her than with Casey around.
Taking over the world, on the other hand, implies interacting with the people she is conquering. Otherwise she would not be taking power, she would only be bringing destruction. That is why she is excited at being able to communicate. At the same time, it helps her rationalization process to convince herself that all she is doing is really for the greater good.
Even if she is, up to some point, deceiving herself, Kelly is still a very smart person. So, she really does not expect to be loved (at least immediately) and she certainly does not expect to be worshipped. She is more pragmatical in the sense that she only expects respect and obedience.
This is the reason why she looses control every time she is attacked. Ever since she grew to her current size none of the attacks on her have been able to harm her in the slightest way. Still, they have bothered her enormously, since she takes them as a total lack of respect and obedience. And she has reacted harshly.
In the case of the small town, the attack on her has caused hundreds of collateral victims around the cops and in the city hall. But her mind has quickly worked on rationalizing them as necessary collateral damage, to be blamed to the ones that had attacked her.
Another way of explaining the same thing is that while Kelly is still convinced that, unlike Casey, her behavior is still guided by morals, the fact is that she is making her own morals as she goes (and unfortunately, there is no one that can tell her that she's wrong).
Anyway, I hope you'll like the next chapter. Also, let me tell you that I'd bet that you'll love Chapter 7. You'll tell me in a few weeks :)
Cheers!