Man, after seeing Jazmin's parents in action, maybe she's not so bad!

Hank kidnapping Rae and turn her into a sex toy with his wife was pretty enlightening in a lot of ways. Hank (and Katie, from what little we see of her this chapter) share that trait I linked to Jazmin earlier in the story: They see everyone that's not them as beneath them. Unlike Jazmin, though, her parents don't seem to share that same sense of loneliness or need for companionship that she has (maybe because they have each other or maybe because they're psychopaths). That makes them a lot more evil and a lot more dangerous.

I mean, look at how Hank went about shrinking Rae. Their discussion didn't seem particularly tense or heated. They had a couple of simple disagreements about the future of the company that annoyed him, so he shrank and kidnapped her on a whim. After that, his former partner became a literal sex toy, only being taken out when it's time for her to be used. That's so much more evil than if he had hated her and shrunk her out of revenge or planned it well in advance. He just cared so little about her that it wasn't a big deal to him to turn not only a person, but THE person who is most responsible for making him money, basically into an object for his pleasure. That's scary as fuck!

I found myself comparing him with Jazmin. Say what you want about her, while she's reckless and enjoys fucking with residents, she still treats them a lot better than her father does Rae. Even the ones she kidnaps get a house to stay in (although maybe I should wait to see more of that arrangement before I draw too many conclusions from that). And even though there's apparently some kind of tier system (those under a certain height have to refer to her as Goddess?), it seems as though she treats at least some of them well relative to their situation.

Following that thought, Lana clearly has Stockholm Syndrome, and that's usually not something that affects people who are tortured or grossly mistreated by their captors. The fact that she had a previous relationship with Jazmin probably helped her higher status in the dollhouse as well. If I had to guess, Lana and Jazmin were pretty tight, and Lana got shrunk when she started drifting away or getting turned off by Jazmin's personality. My first thought is that she wasn't shrunk for revenge of some kind, but rather as a way for Jazmin to hold onto her. I really think Jazmin just needs a friend, but doesn't have the first clue what that actually entails. Again, given who her parents are, it's easy to see why that's the case.

And that need for friendship or companionship or whatever is part of the reason why she's so mad about Justin not being around during her latest visit to the city. I think she has a sense of attachment to both Brooke and Justin. In Brooke, she sees someone who will come to the same conclusion as her about tinies once she "realizes" that Justin isn't worth the trouble, thus giving her someone she can share her darker desires and actions with. In Justin, I'm not sure exactly how she feels about him, but she definitely views him differently than the rest of the residents. She was pretty upset that he wasn't around when she wanted to give him a hard time. Again, in her own way, I think she's showing him almost a weird kind of affection by picking on him so much, unwelcome though it may be. When he wasn't there to taunt, she got upset.

But even after she kidnapped Ally, her threat that she's going to "get it" if Justin isn't around next time, she says it with a pout, which is more petulant than threatening. Then, after they get to her apartment, Jazmin makes sure to note that Ally is a hostage instead of a toy and that she needs to be kept safe. Jazmin likes to play with tinies and she might not be super concerned with their comfort or safety, but she's not necessarily looking to intentionally hurt them either. It could also be that Jazmin wants Ally protected because she's part of her game with Justin too, I suppose. I'm not sure, but I thought that was an interesting development as well.

We didn't get much of our heroes this chapter, but from what we got, I think I have an idea of where things are going.

I like that Brooke is leaning on Justin in her time of need, just like Natasha could still be her laid back self while tiny because she's sure Justin will figure a way out of all this. And just like with Natasha, Justin can't understand why Brooke feels like he can do anything at his current size. But that's the thing, Natasha, Brooke, and even Ally are confident in him because they know he's a smart, gutsy dude (especially Brooke on that second one) and they know that he's capable of almost anything. Much like the villains of this story, however, Justin discounts himself because of his size. Once Justin sees what the women in his life see in him, I feel like he's going to prove them right by overcoming his self-doubt and ultimately come up with a crazy plan to save the day, even at 9 millimeters tall. I like the theme of a tiny using his brain or other assets to overcome a size disadvantage, and I feel like we may be building to that here.

I know predicting that the main character will save the day isn't normally a bold prediction, but on this site it certainly can be, especially if said main character is significantly shorter than average.

Natasha being so upset about Ally being taken was also pretty powerful. Having been so laid back so far, this change not only shows how much she cares about Ally, but also helps convey to the reader how serious the situation is. This is a really good use of her character here.

And finally, going back to that first discussion between Rae and Hank, I thought their views on the business represented a pretty interesting debate on capitalism (don't worry, this isn't going to get too political). Hank kind of represents the kind of person most critics of capitalism believe to be prevalent in such a system. He views his customers only as a revenue stream and is therefore willing to do just about anything to control them and keep that stream flowing. Rae, kind of representing what supporters of capitalism feel is the more common type of entrepreneur, takes a more Hyekian approach, viewing the human condition itself as their revenue stream, meaning that she believes that making a better, more attractive product will bring in more customers and therefore more money.

I think Rae has the right idea here. Instant size-changing would probably remove some hesitation by some potential residents who don't want to spend that week re-growing. Conveniences like that are sure to bring in more business. Hank is too worried about losing what he already has and the government subsidies that come with them that he can't see the bigger picture here. Ironically, while his plan to "maximize profits" has lead to him having more power in the short-term and ensured that his business model stays intact, he's likely leaving a LOT of money on the table. It may feel like he's won, but really, he's lost before he's even begun.

I think that theme of unwitting self-defeat is likely to carry over into our plot as well. He thinks that having Justin stuck as a resident makes him easier to control, but if Justin ends up being the one to bring him down, it'll be ironic since Justin probably wouldn't have been involved with any of this if he had been given the same arrangement as Brooke.

So, in other words, Hank's need to micromanage is costing him more than her realizes and will probably be his downfall.

Alright, that's enough out of me. I'm excited to see where this story goes next, and I hope Brooke doesn't get caught up in Jazmin's search for the camera planter next chapter!