The main feeling I came away with is... so what? It didn't convey any ideas or viewpoints that were new to me; it didn't have any surprising twists or revelations that informed earlier happenings. What is the target audience?
The Spivak pronouns are nice; even though I don't remember encountering them before I feel I could get used to them easily in writing, so (I hope) a transition to general use isn't impossible.
I'm curious if anyone finds that they think of Key and the other Spivak character as having a particular gender in the story
The general feeling I got from Key is female. I honestly don't know why that is. Possibly because the only other use of Key as a personal name that comes to mind is a female child? Objectively, the society depicted is different enough from any contemporary human society to make male vs. female differences (among children) seem small in comparison.
Target audience - beats me, really. It's kind of set up to preach to the choir, in terms of the "moral". I wrote it because I was pretty sure I could finish it (and I did), and I sorely need to learn to finish stories; I shared it because I compulsively share anything I think is remotely decent.
The general feeling I got from Key is female. I honestly don't know why that is.
Hypotheses: I myself am female. Lace, the only gendered character with a speaking role, is female. Key bakes cupcakes at one point in the story and a stereotype is at work. (I had never heard of Key the Metal Idol.)
ITT we talk about whatever.