Reviewer: It Was Me Signed [Report This]
Date: May 19 2025 4:33 AM Title: Chapter 6 - Pride comes before the Fall

There it is!

I was wondering how long it would take for Angie to end up on his client list. Not only does she end up being his first, but he's got a whole day to worry about it! He's already freaking out about it, too. I wonder if he'll see her at school that day before the session (assuming it's scheduled on a school day) and, if so, how he might handle being around her before having to be underneath her, so to speak. Either way, he's got a good 24 hours to stress out about this.

I was also really curious what you would do with Angie here. Would she be a regular who would help this "random" first-timer get accustomed to the job? Would she be going with a friend and secret Ben would somehow stand out to her? Would she be familiar with shrinkies and maybe even a bit playful with them?

But finding out that she's not only a first-timer herself but also that she requested a new hire to work on her is really interesting. It says a lot about her already, I think. To me, this means that she's not necessarily comfortable, at least not entirely, going to Tiny Treatments. Even though she's the one being served, she wants to make sure the one working on her isn't experienced. It seems like she's afraid of embarrassing herself in front of the tiny workers, so she wants someone just as new as her to spare her being judged. I think that's actually kind of cool (assuming I'm right and not just talking out of my ass!). It would be pretty easy for an elitist big to not care about the shrunken employees' opinions and even not see them as people while being served.

Between this and the fact that Angie was hurt when Ben threw that thing about responsibility in her face back in chapter one, I think she probably has a pretty level head on her shoulders and that Ben's fears about her ruining him if she found out the truth are unfounded. Rivalries can blind you like that, though, so I can understand why he'd think this.

So yeah, I'm pretty excited to see how this first session goes! We don't know that much about Angie yet, but I like her already!

I love how well Ben has adapted to being shrunk. It's awesome the Dr. Rivera thinks he's ready for clients on only his second day instead of the usual week waiting period. Although, I guess that does confirm my theory that Tiny Treatments is having trouble keeping employees because of how uneasy the shrinking makes people. But given where we left Ben at the end of the last chapter, it was great to see him feel good about himself and his decision to volunteer first.

It was also great to see Ben set the example for the other three employees. Seeing Tara come out of her shell and Jasmine flash him a smile as she volunteered to go next was pretty cool, as was seeing him earn Kyle's respect right away. I don't know how often we'll be seeing these three, but I really enjoyed seeing Ben put the three slightly older employees at ease and feel some pride in himself!

We even got a little handheld action in this chapter! You've read Roomies, so you surely know how much I love that stuff! And the little details you put into describing the walk from the orientation room to her office was excellent, starting with him walking onto her palm. The way he fell on his hands and knees because he wasn't used to walking on a living, moving, malleable platform (and the reassurance that "most first-timers do that"), Dr. Rivera offering her finger because her rising from a crouch to standing was making it hard for him to keep balance, the way the subtle vibrations of her steps traveled through her palm, and the comparison of the journey to crossing an ocean and Ben not wanting to look down at the "dizzying drop" so far below, all wrapped around Dr. Rivera's encouragement, made for an fantastic and fun little scene, making a huge deal out of something that most people would consider so simple. You really nailed this!

This was a great chapter! Not only did you give us some size-y action, but you continued to build anticipation for that first time we get to see tiny Ben around giant Angie. And you continued to build my investment in Ben as a main character at the same time. Excellent work!

Author's Response:

It was never going to take all that long. I did consider if I wanted Angie to be a surprise to Ben, or if I wanted him to know in advance. I did agonize a bit over that part. In the end, I decided to go with him just knowing before it happened so he could spend time being nervous and freaking out over the upcoming appointment, somehow that seemed more fun to me to put together than you know, the 'great shock' thing when she walks in.

What kind of person Angie is, that'll be clear later on. But she definitely wanted a first-timer so she would feel more comfortable going there, I can say that much.

Shrinking technology is still somewhat recent in the world that most people don't have hands-on experience with, and it's still something that makes the majority go 'shrinking, is it actually real?' And it's still considered a frightening experience. So in that sense, it made sense to me that Rivera was eager to put someone to work that only just applied and had one quick experience, I needed a logical reason for him to get to work as soon as possible.

I love handheld stuff, it's massively underrated and I always try to work some details in around that. I like when being on top of a hand or interacting with fingers can really bring it home to the tiny how small they feel in comparison. But hey, no one does that better than Callie. Although maybe... not for a while as things stand (seriously, that killed me. I need a proper conclusion to that whole thing one day) 

Glad you're enjoying Ben as a character! I wanted him to be likeable but also somewhat relatable in some ways.