4.7

Let’s dovetail immediately into 4.7. I need to see them try to catch Fray in a web before realizing they are ensnared themselves~

Chapter 4.7

4.6

I’m not 100% confident that Fray didn’t swap their pills, but I’ll trust protagonist instinct for now. Sounds like the Lambs are still on the hunt for Fray herself, but they’re sending back valuable word to the Academy in the meantime.

Chapter 4.6

4.5

After sobbing that I didn’t understand Sy clinging to the Academy in the face of the potential answers Fray offers, I was asked:

• Do you think Sy understands?
• Does Fray?
• Do any of the Lambs?
• Does Hayle?

While this is obviously a dystopia in a variety of ways, fundamentally I’m unclear on _what_ Sy has hope in the Academy for – what it’ll make ‘better’.

There are indications he’s thinking on the scope of humanity, but I’m unsure if he’s concerned about abstract forces like death, entropy (hi Entities), war, etc., or if there’s some more concrete, nebulous force working against humanity that I haven’t been made aware of yet.

Alternatively, he could be pretending to care about humanity, but really (and understandably) his concern is closer to home – whatever threat he perceives affects his fellow Lambs, and he thinks the Academy will be better positioned to address it.

Whatever the case, Fray does understand as she accepts his answer at face value, and knows that she won’t be able to sway him.

In terms of the other Lambs, I can’t really begin to guess without understanding Sy’s objection myself. Is it something Jamie could reason about? Mary could understand on an instinctual level? That Helen could perceive with her other-ness? That Lillian could wield Academy knowledge to divine? Of all of them I think Gordon is the one least likely to have a unique reason to understand but I’m speaking so abstractly at this point that I don’t really know what I’m saying

Sy specifically calls out Hayle’s work as the bastion of his faith in the Academy, but I don’t know if that’s intentional or derivative

Unsure if that really answers the questions, but it’s good to mull on for now. In the meantime, we will see if 4.5 can mend my shattered heart :(.

Chapter 4.5

4.4

I am more hype for this conversation than any chapter so far. Jumping in.

Chapter 4.4

4.3

I am super hype to see how the showdown between Genevieve and the Lambs goes. For the second arc in a row I’m going to predict that the antagonist obtains leverage over the Lambs that allows them to seduce them away from the Academy – just last arc, I figured that would be charisma, and this arc Genevieve has already succeeded in literally holding their lives in her hands. Barring some faster-than-train communication and then delivery system (though I’m making no assumptions on that front yet), there seems to be no alternative to them obtaining their pills except from Genevieve by submission, force, or guile. Almost certainly not the second, but I wouldn’t put anything past Sy at this point for the third!

Chapter 4.3

4.2

Gordon wants to go recruiting, eh? I’m not quite sure what that means yet!

Chapter 4.2

4.1

Stitch in Time, eh? A climax revolving around racing the clock, more stitched featuring more heavily and letting us feel for the humans that remain buried underneath, to a large degree? Let’s find out!

Chapter 4.1

Arc Review – Lips Sealed

Damn, time flies. I suspect y’all are less interested in the reasons behind a two month hiatus as opposed to simply the fact that it is ending. I am excited to hop back into this saddle.

That being said, I’ve been trying my hand at this liveread for 4 months and I’m only like 10% of the way through Twig. With kids potentially on the horizon for me, I’m not sure that this is going to be a sustainable pace, so I’m going to try to cut back on the amount of prep I do for this and just read and react. It’s not a coincidence that each time there’s a sizeable gap in my posts is circling an arc review time or the like. That being said, I am hype at this point in the story for Genevieve.

HOLY SHIT, SHE GONNA SAVE THE LAMBS…like I thought Shepherd might, once upon a time .I’m going to laugh if this turns into all of the Lambs’ prior antagonists turning into their allies. Percy, Shepherd, Sub Rosa, now Genevieve (who can unlock their ability to betray the Academy via obviating their need for that chemical). I wonder if a Lamb will defect back to the Academy though? Not Jamie.

It’s super telling of her character that she makes sure Warren gets his revenge while that’s still possible. I’m unsure if it’s simply pity that motivates her to go out of her way for him, or if it’s ‘payment’ for the ‘help’ he’s going to provide her :s]

3.Enemy

Ah ha! The interlude (still Enemy) was correctly next. I think it’d be neat if the incoming Duke is the PoV of this interlude to make it even more blatantly obvious that the Academy is the real enemy, but I won’t be surprised if it’s Sub Rosa or someone intimately tied to her that will give us sufficient additional context on her character arc while pulling double duty in some other way. Let’s find out!

Chapter 3.Enemy

3.10

Possibly time for denouement, I expect we’ll mostly focus on Jamie’s health and the consequences he’ll suffer from his encounter with Sub Rosa. In copying this chapter over I saw something about having a sister in the final line (boo unintentional spoilers), so I’m also expecting an Evette reveal at the end, which should move us into 3.Enemy (_possibly_ Sub Rosa flashbacks and her sitting in a stomach, but can also see a side character being fleshed out at this point).

I can’t wait any longer to find out if Jamie will be mostly ok, so Chapter 3.10!