I had read the other nine of these prior to making an account here, and I just wanted to say that I thoroughly enjoyed all of them, as well as your other work that I've seen. In fact, when I saw this pop up in the Most Recent's on the front page, I was really happy to see that you had written something new!

And this newest "exercise" didn't disappoint!

Your writing in general has such a personal feel to it, so much so that I'm actually a tad bit jealous at how you're able to pull it off. As such, I wasn't surprised to find myself so invested in Fiora well before I learned her name. I liked the "slow start" that gave us a brief glimpse into her general mindset and an introduction into her take on this fetish. By the time she actually meets Carv, I felt like I knew her pretty well and that made everything that came after feel so much more "real" than someone just randomly caring about a tiny person that materialized from a video game.

Speaking of said tiny, I love the way you wrote Carv here. The description of what happened in the game as Fiora played it led me to think he had experienced a good bit of trauma even before his accidental death, and that shows through in his perspective. The way he gave up as soon as he saw how hard it would be to get away in the hallway made me feel his hopelessness. He's terrified and wants to live, but he's been through too much and is resigned to his fate. Not to mention how hard it is for him to accept Fiora's kindness and believe that she really wants to be his friend.

Without even realizing it, he really made her work for it, which was also conveyed nicely through her sweat and nervousness, and that was something I found to be incredibly cute.

I also really enjoyed the premise for this one. A video game that locks you out and deletes itself when you die once but that somehow makes the tiny main character appear in your house afterward? That's one of the more original ideas I've read on this site. As I mentioned a bit above with Carv, you did an excellent job showing how difficult this transition was for both of them. Carv is dealing with some serious trauma, while Fiora is both dealing with the guilt of getting off to him being digested (to be fair, she was upset that it happened in the first place and couldn't really help that it turned her on) and desperate to keep Carv in the dark about his fictional origins.

I thought the whole concept was pretty well developed, especially given that it was confined to a single chapter.

Lastly, the interactions here are so sweet and nicely done. They're even a bit funny at times, like Fiora saying she likes tinies in the form of a question. I know she was just nervously covering up the real reason, but I still laughed pretty hard at this for some reason.

But yeah, I know you're not a fan of your own work based on the chapter notes of several of your stories, but I thought this (and pretty much everything of yours I've read so far) is really good. I guess I'll just have to like it enough for the both of us then!

I know you're not a fan of your own work, but I really enjoyed this!

The lack of lore didn't really bother me, although I'd argue that there was a good bit of subtle worldbuilding going on in the background here. Through the natural course of the story, we learn a little bit about Smollarians and how they are viewed by society at large (get it, it's a pun!!!! Woohoo! I did it!), as well as the mere fact that nekomata exist in this world and seem to be on at least somewhat even footing with humans.

I love the little personal touches you put into this. The way Miren learns what a "mice" is. How he stares at his own palm as he finds himself in awe at how easily he fits in Nera's. The way the princess went from an unwittingly patronizing cutesy approach with Miren to referring to him as Sir Miren as soon as she realized how he viewed himself. Things like this make stories fun and more personal (A word I use to describe a lot of your work, if you haven't noticed).

That misunderstanding between Miren and Nera was hilarious! Very well done! Actually, this may be my favorite line in the whole story:

Into what stuff? Having heroes swear fealty to her? I guess I can deal with that. She's allowed to be a little bit egocentric if she wants to, after all, she's a fucking PRINCESS.

It's so adorably funny. And the way Nera reacts when Miren says he's doing this for her, too! Ha! I also like that Miren was excited at the prospect of dating the nekomata. Although honestly, she seemed to have enough respect for him that I think she'd actually consider it (especially by how hot and bothered she was at the prospect of him "offering his services" to her.

I'm also a big fan of how revered the Smollarians are in this society. It's a refreshing change from the "they're just bugs" mentality that takes up most of the stories here about naturally tiny races (I'm not complaining about those, but this really is a nice change of pace). People are literally trained to watch their step, and the Smollarians are given free reign throughout the castle. They don't even need to schedule an audience with the monarch! I love how caring both of the giants with speaking parts are here (Molly seems a bit suspect, not even telling the princess she was eating a person, but even she was nice to Miren, so maybe Molly just has a thing against assassins? Weird, right?). It makes these rules for the tinies' protection seem more plausible, and it contrasts really well with how naturally terrified the Smollarians are of the bigs, now matter how nice they are.

This makes Channa's excitement at Miren actually requesting to see her seem so realistic. At first, it seemed like she just liked tinies in general and wanted to have fun with him  (which was true, too!), but, again, that shift when she realized he wasn't there for that and wanted to do something dangerous shows how much she cared about him as an individual, which was incredibly heartwarming. And at the end of the story, when, after it's clear she hates the very notion of punishing a Smollarian (especially for something so stupid), she meets Miren halfway and decides to make him "double-hers," acknowledging his honor and having her fun at the same time! I love that ending so much!

Of course, finding out at the very end that Smollarians have have such ridiculously short lifespans was a bit of a downer. But it was a good way to show how Channa's policies and legitimate care for the little people is helping expand that average lifespan. But yeah, I would have hoped that Miren was rewarded for his bravery with a long, happy life being pleasured and pleasuring Channa and Nera.

That's not a criticism, by the way. I think the fact that the last paragraph made me feel a little sad just shows how attached I became to these characters in such a short amount of time. This really made me acknowledge that.

Lastly, the smuttier stuff here was really, really good! That bit of mouthplay with Channa was well setup and a lot of fun to read! And I love both the way and her reason for shoving him down into her cleavage, which was also well-described. The horror the Smollarians felt when Nera ate that mouse and Miren's satisfaction at how it must be suffering in her stomach (him hearing the sounds that she can't was a nice touch!) was great! And how you described him climbing up Nera's fingertip and how she lifted her finger slightly to give him some momentum into her palm was incredibly well done! All of it was great!

So yeah, once again, this was a really fun read, and I'm glad you decided to put it out there despite your lack of confidence in your own work. Thanks!

Apologies in advance, as I already know this is going to be really long.

I just happened upon this story by chance, but I'm really glad I did. I love stories, even smut-related ones, that have depth and make me think, and this was a very deep, very thought-provoking story, at least in my mind.

First, I really appreciated the little details you put into the relationship between Cole and Chelsea. Things like Chelsea ordering milk for Cole's coffee because not only does she know he wants it, but she also knows he's struggling to decide if he wants to make a fuss about it shows a sense of familiarity she has with him that goes beyond simple friendship (I also feel like this is paid off near the end of the second chapter; more on that in a bit).

Then there's Cole recognizing all of Chelsea's personal touches in her living room, especially after first noticing how nice it looked in general. Being able to go deeper and know where her knick knacks were bought from or that the blanket came from her grandmother, let alone her using flowers to display her favorite colors, shows an understanding of her that can only come from paying attention to and truly knowing someone.

I also thought this was a good way to distinguish Cole from being a stalker, as the depressed obsession he has for her presented a fine line for him to walk early on in the story. I feel like things like this helped to manage that line pretty well, though.

And there were also little "throw away" moments between more active parts of the story that subtly showed the bond between them as well, such as when they ragged on that house Chelsea was showing during her lunch break and that whole bit with the daytime soaps marathon. These may not have been essential to the story, but the personalization used to detail them really sold the friendship between them and made them feel more real.

Oh, and speaking of Cole's house tour, I love that you found a legitimately believable way to justify Chelsea platonically shoving him in her cleavage. In most of these stories, it's either not platonic or the excuse is lame. The scene was well set up, right down to Chelsea taking her jacket off and folding it up in the bedroom because she was hot. Again, it's a small thing, but I really enjoy that attention to detail.

I also thought the internal struggle Chelsea goes through in chapter two was really well done, although I didn't think that at first. As I was reading it, I initially thought her transition from super sweet best friend to sex-obsessed potential owner was a rough one, as I had a hard time buying that a simple visit to a website could awaken something so drastic in her and alter her personality so much. I was a little disappointed about this, given the thought that went into so many other aspects of this story (such as the ones I mentioned above), but I rolled with it anyway because, hey, it's a just a smut story, and a well-written one at that.

But then I came across a short paragraph in the back half of the chapter that completely changed my perception (I love when stories make you go back and reevaluate things, by the way).

Okay, stay with me for this, because this is a winding road.

Maybe it should have been obvious to me sooner, but it wasn't until we learned that Chelsea didn't think that Cole was "into her ... that way" that I realized that she already felt the same way about him that he did about her. I kind of thought that this was going to be a story where the girl married a guy and fell out of love with him only to realize that her soulmate had been right in front of her the whole time, and the fact that he was tiny only helped her to realize this.

That's not what this is at all, though.

When Chelsea said that Cole would have pursued her when they first met if he liked her like that, it became clear that she felt that way about him from that moment, with that feeling likely only getting stronger with time. It hadn't occurred to me until she basically said it that she would ever think that Cole had no interest in her. But now, we've got two main characters who both loved and wanted to be with each other but, for various reasons, both thought the other one didn't want a romantic relationship, so they each kind of gave up on life, since the person each of them cared about most (i.e. each other) didn't return that love (in their own minds).

For Cole, that meant abandoning whatever he was going to do after college to get a dead-end, soul-crushing job; pining after pictures of Chelsea; and condemning himself to a life of solitude. For Chelsea, yeah, she kept her bubbly personality and is clearly living more comfortably than Cole, but her role as a wife is equally as soul-crushing and lonely.

For me, that became incredibly obvious during that last scene, when Jeffrey made his regular semen deposit into his wife (that's how impersonal it felt). It wasn't blatant, but I drew some parallels between Chelsea in that scene and Cole in the factory. She seemed almost robotic in what she said and how she moved, like she was just going through the motions. In essence, having sex with her husband has become something of a job for her, which, in a way, might be even more lonely than not having anybody at all.

But anyway, yeah, I kind of got the vibe that Chelsea never actually loved Jeffrey but just settled for him because she didn't think that the person she actually loved felt the same way, which is way different than what I initially thought.

So how is all of that relevant to Chelsea's struggle to not turn her best friend into a living sex toy?

Well, because I don't think that's what the struggle is really about. To be sure, if that darker side won out, I have no doubt she would be using him that way, but I don't think that's the core of the issue. No, I think something deeper, maybe even subconscious, took over her brain when she stumbled upon Giantess World.

At first, Chelsea just wanted to help her friend. But after reading stories about the power someone her size has over someone his size, part of her realized something. She had the power to just take him. She's wanted Cole for 10 years but felt she couldn't have him, not in the way that she wanted, anyway.

But now he doesn't really have much of a choice, does he?

And I think that's where the obsession with owning Cole comes from. Again, she might not realize it's her motivation, but Chelsea's attraction to things like the leash, birdcages, and aquariums isn't to keep Cole as a pet. It's to make him hers. Her love for him is coming out in this weird way that she can't fully make sense of, but wanting to treat Cole like a possession is symbolic of her desire to have him more broadly.

And I think this is even backed up by how she has accepted how Jeffrey treats her. He makes sure she's the last to know when he's staying at a conference for extra days, doesn't really listen to her, tells her to lose weight, and then, after going several days without seeing her (we know he stayed an extra three days, but we don't know how long he was there before that), he tracks her down, immediately has sex with her (the way he wants it), and goes to get cleaned up: no real conversation, no questions about how she was when he was a way, and no real intimacy or cuddling. In short, he views her as a possession, one he can take out and put away whenever he wants.

And I doubt Jeffery is the first lover to treat her this way. Given how Chelsea couldn't understand why Cole wouldn't make a move if he loved her, even though we know through Cole that she was always either seeing someone else or in a tough spot emotionally and he didn't want to take advantage of that, as well as the fact that the only other boyfriend we know of cheated on her, it's almost as though she doesn't know how to recognize a potential lover who's also a decent person. That tells me that she's informed on how relationships work from nothing but bad experiences and poor treatment.

So, with all of that in mind, it isn't hard to understand how Chelsea might associate love and ownership.

But the part of her that's fighting this urge realizes that to do this is to take away a part of Cole: the part that she loves, the part that separates him from all the other men in her life. Also, it represents her having to make a choice between continuing to be in the same type of relationship over and over again (albeit this time in the opposite role) or to choose something different, a more filling and relationship (although, up until the end of the chapter, she believes that this would be a nonromantic relationship, which is why it's such a struggle for her to go down this road).

But Cole's near-confession changes all that. Like I noted much earlier in this review (sorry again for being so long-winded), Chelsea knows him really well and can almost read his mind at times, it seems. So I thought her finishing Cole's thought with the "And I love ... you" while looking at the drawer was artfully done and really powerful. It seems like that was the moment, despite the tension she felt throughout the day or the fact that Jeffrey was using her before putting her back on the shelf, so to speak, that Chelsea found a moment of clarity and realized that Cole loved her just as much as she loved him.

Or everything I said is all in my head, and I attributed a bunch of ideas to your work that were wrong. But that's how I saw things as the story evolved.

And I also appreciate that you gave us an upbeat cliffhanger (which is hard to do), as opposed to a more depressing one. It would have been really easy to cut things off with Cole questioning if he was just a plaything or a friend at best to Chelsea, but having her tell him that she loved him directly makes me want to read about what happens next even more than if I was left hoping that he would, at some point, learn the truth. It also doesn't take anything away from the drama of her loving him but being married to Jeffrey, so there's still plenty of tension for our characters to deal with going forward, even with things starting to look up.

Finally, I did want to mention Jeffery one more time. I think it was a good decision to have him be so over-the-top with his stereotypical uncaring-husband mentality. Normally, I'd like to see a bit more nuance in characters like this for fear of them turning into a cliché, but I think you needed to use a blunt hammer here, and it was really effective in conveying just what Chelsea has condemned herself to.

Anyway, I see it's been a while since this has been updates, so I don't know if the commissioner is looking to keep this story going at some point, but I really enjoyed what we've gotten so far. I'll keep an eye out in case we get a chapter three and probably check out some of your other work, as I was pretty impressed with this one.

If I review another story, I'll try to be a bit more brief. I promise.

Alright, let's see if we can find out what the character limit on this thing is. Also, long story short, I love this story!

The worldbuilding in this story is incredible, not only for its depth but for how fluid it is as well. In particular, that opening to chapter 1 with Joey and Kurt gave us so much information and background into the history and tone of relations between humans and Zetans, but at the same time it came off as such a natural and entertaining conversation that it didn't feel like an information dump at all. This story is filled with conversations and narrative parts that accomplish this as well, but I was struck right away with how quickly I felt familiar with this world and without ever feeling like backstory was being shoved down my throat.

I also really like the philosophical question lingering in the background of the story: How should society weigh the accountability of one's actions? Throughout the story, Nea is blamed for all of the chaos that happens following her actions in Clearwater, but is that really the case?

Was it Nea taking of Kurt and Joey that made the mutinous weapon's officer take over her ship and try to capture the humans on their sister ship? Or made the human who tried to kill Kira hate Zetans? Or even motivate the Zetan arms dealer to sell out her own people for a quick Earth buck? For that matter, wouldn't it be fair to say that all of those people's actions were darker and more destructive than Nea's when looked at individually?

I like how this is addressed late in the story. Nea blames herself solely for the coup attempt and everything else that happened because of Clearwater, but Kurt (and later the empress) points out that the tension between the two races has been boiling over for 45 years and that she was just a spark and that something like this was always going to happen at some point. Both Kurt and Tetra make it clear that she's not blameless, as she did do something terrible, but you can't hold her responsible for decades of xenophobia and hatred or the actions of everyone else who acted after her, right?

I don't know, I'm just really intrigued with the way we judge individual actions when compared to the grand scheme of things, as well as at what point does demanding accountability turn into scapegoating.

I actually read some of the other reviews for this and saw that some people felt as though the story could have spent more time on "mean Nea." I can see where they're coming from, but I have to respectfully disagree. Yeah, it might have made the redemption arc a bit sweeter (it's kind of like the old heel pro wrestler philosophy: the more you hate me know, the more you'll love me when I turn), but, having the hindsight that comes from reading the whole story, I don't think that would have meshed well with the Nea we see later in the story, who comes off as much more benevolent, brave, and a natural leader who can convince even the most bigoted Zetans in the galaxy to work with humans that have every reason to distrust them.

I mean, Nea isn't even really that mean to Kurt, outside of the kidnapping itself. She tries to intimidate him at first, but the thought of actually hurting him makes her feel like shit. Kurt seems to pick up on this, as he even seems to have doubts that she'll make good on her threat to hurt Joey by the second time she makes it. Once she finds out he's attracted to her, she almost immediately decides to go with a little less Vic Vinegar and a little more Hugh Honey in her approach to "taming" him.

I'd even argue that chapter 1 Nea isn't even that mean in her approach to humans. She's ignorant, sure, but even when that ignorance is filled with misguided Zeta Forever propaganda, she's still making excuses in her head to treat her future pet human well. She talks about how he'll need to be a good example for the rest of the humans once the Zetans start taking them again (what, was she going to take her pet human on tour or something?). She also rationalizes taking a human by thinking that her human enclosure is a place that humans would be lucky to live in.

While she's making these excuses, she never seems to get excited at the prospect of the "taming' process itself; instead, it seems more like a necessary evil to her, an unpleasantness that she wants to get out of the way. That's certainly a far cry from the Zeta Forever partygoers, who seem to enjoy tormenting humans and aren't the least bit worried about the "example" their pets (or jewelry and apparel, rather) are setting for other humans.

I guess my long-winded point is that Nea was never actually a very mean person to begin with. On a subconscious level, she's almost the same person at the beginning of the story as she is at the end, but that ignorance, decades of bigotry from both races, and Zeta Forever propaganda are keeping that inner goodness from getting out, if that makes makes sense.

I have to admit, I was a bit concerned early on that the shifting of perspective between so many characters would hurt the pacing of the story. It really didn't, though. Ultimately, getting so many different viewpoints from so many different "levels" of this world made the story more immersive. Also, the fact that so much effort was clearly put into each of the characters and their respective arcs kept each one interesting, with each couple having their own unique relationship to dive into and their own unique problems to solve.

The dynamic between Kurt and Nea as "enemies to lovers" works so well because the same traits that makes them enemies also makes them attracted to one another. Nea is desperate to prove her worldview correct and "break" Kurt, but the whole reason she chose him was his unbreakable defiance and determination. Kurt, on the other hand, hates that Zetan sense of superiority but discovers that he's turned on by that same smugness. Once Nea realizes her view on humans is wrong and Kurt accepts his feeling for her, the conflicting feelings those traits were creating are no longer conflicting, and all that's left is their attraction to each other. This was really well done.

To me, Telma and Joey seem to represent the average human and Zetan mentalities about the opposite race. At the start, Joey's scared that all Zetans are obsessed with shrinking and stomping humans, while Telma views humans merely as tools. Of course, Joey had never seen a Zetan before, and Telma's experiences with humans was probably mostly limited to the human guards at the palace. Once they saw each other, it didn't take long for them to mesh and forget about those preconceived notions. Their relationship was a lot of fun to read, even with most of their smut happening when they were either at their natural sizes or the same size.

Adam and Kira were interesting because their relationship had already begun before the story started. Seeing Kira appreciate human culture and even poke fun at her own once or twice was endearing, and that familiar chemistry between them made them a good team, both in the propagand-err, I mean the Cultural Office and in the bedroom. Their perspective also gave us an idea of how society at large was reacting to the story's developments. They were a pretty cute couple, too.

Craig, Tayla, and Liana's arc gave us a deeper insight into Zetan culture. Tayla was a fun character, although maybe as ignorant as Nea but choosing to love humans rather than hate them. She's also got just a bit of that bratty princess mentality to her but just enough to be cute rather than annoying or mean. That she eventually took the time to learn a bit about Craig's culture shows just how much she cares about him. And seeing this arc from Craig's perspective really drives home the differences between the two cultures when it comes to relationships. By the end, it seems as though they've found a nice unspoken compromise, as I kind of got the vibe that the three of them would stick as a trio of sorts, rather than have Craig handed off to 49 other Zetan women. Craig seems to have a strong bond with Liana as well, so I think this works really well.

Finally, we have Jolene and her pet Zetans. I really liked how the space cowgirl with a height complex refused to let anyone on her ship be taller than her. This is a great metaphor for a character who clearly hates the thought of being looked down upon. I think that's also part of the reason why the Zetans don't like being at their normal heights: They don't want to look down on Jolene physically because they look up to her. Also, it makes sense to me that Zetan subs would like being small, given their culture's love of shrink rays, and that those subs would be members of the Human Appreciation Society, so the Zetans choosing to be pets isn't quite as far fetched as it might seem at first. I also like that Amra took a second to "break character" and let Jolene know that they weren't just a bunch of ignorant fools who got duped into being slaves and that they were really with her because they wanted to be. It was really touching. Even Jolene almost cried.

The cephelos were great villains. Intriguing and mysterious, but definitely evil. In particular, I like how much their perspective of the Zetan/human dynamic differed from the Zetan perspective. Zetans obviously generally believe they're superior and that the humans are tools. From the first time we're introduced to the squids and they called the Zetans the "green food species," I thought that they kind of saw that relationship as inverted, with the humans being their rivals and the Zetans being tools that humans were using. When the ancient cephelo talked about using Kurt's own weapon (Nea) against him and mocked the idea that humans saw the Zetans as their equals, I thought, "That's the thing! That's the thing I was thinking!" I just found it interesting that the "gods" of the galaxy could see things so differently from the "mortal" Zetan and human perspectives.

There's so much more I could say about this story, but I think I've said enough. Overall, this is my favorite of your stories that I've read so far, and I was happy to see that you might revisit this world one day. You've left a lot of interesting plot threads waiting to be pulled for sure.

This story has had it's shares of emotional highs and lows, but these last two chapters took it to another level!

While the last chapter provided some great tension at times, it certainly ended leaving the reader feeling as though our heroes were in a good place and everything was going to be alright now that they were all together. That feel-good feeling carried over into the start of this chapter, which made hitting (what I think) is the "all is lost moment" all the more surprising and impactful. I've absolutely loved the pacing and structure of this story throughout, but that's particularly true with these last two offerings. Nicely done!

I read MicroThaumaturge's review below, and I have to kind of agree with him regarding his critique of the rescue plan. However, I do think that it had to be tough to come up with a good scenario to get these characters in the positions you needed them to be in. In particular, I think Katie probably made things harder, as her not actually being affiliated with the company would make it almost impossible to have Justin and company know whether she would be home at any given time, and mentioning a role for her in the company now would feel a bit lazy and contrived just to move the plot along. Therefore, I understand why you went the route that you did. It wouldn't be far-fetched to believe that employees might be aware that the boss takes his wife with him on business trips, especially if one of said employees is in charge of booking the boss's travel, as Alia is.

That being said, this is clearly a bad plan, and I agree with MT that our protagonists should be smart enough to realize that under normal circumstances. Still, I don't have a problem with them coming up with and trying a bad plan, I just think it needed to be sold to the reader better.

For example, having Claire start the chapter off being a little less cheerful (not too much, as that seems to be her natural state) and looking tired, along with Brooke, while keeping her feisty nature and happiness to see Justin in general in tact, showing some signs of stress, would hint that they were in the state of mind to not really think things through. Maybe as they're planning their next move, Brooke and Claire can't agree on where to go first, with each one arguing, almost pleading with each other to start with a particular place. Claire, feeling unfounded guilt at "letting" Jazmin kidnap so many residents that she thought were being regrown, admits to having nightmares about her failure to save them and absolutely has to go after them. Brooke counters by giving some variation of "But you didn't hear her voice" when talking about Rae, the revelation of just how far Jazmin went with the residents, with Justin, making her imagination run wild with the possibilities of just what they Taylors are doing to her dear friend. Eventually, they come to an understanding and decide that the only way to ease both of them is to split up, and Justin, still not sure about the idea, gives in after seeing their respectively disrupted emotional states.

That might be a bit of a cliched scenario, granted, but I feel like it would have made the fact that they were going with such a flawed plan make a lot more sense.

As it stands, I found myself wondering why they didn't just wait until confirming the Taylors were on the plane (maybe wait an hour or two after their departure time before going over) and just rescuing Rae together. That would have almost been too easy, and even though they didn't know about the remote for Rae's collar, they surely would have figured that Rae could at least restore herself back to normal size, if not Justin as well. That would give them a three or four to one advantage over Jazmin, so at that point it wouldn't matter if she was home or not. Just have Claire knock on Jazmin's door pretending to apologize and beg to be left along, the rush her as soon as she opened the door. Two of them hold her down while the other(s) save the tinies from the doll house. With the hostages free, our heroes would then be free to use the recording and Rae's testimony to put the Taylor family behind bars and let Rae assume full control of the company, and everyone lives happily ever after.

Of course, that would also be really boring and the way the story's going is obviously much better, but I struggled a bit to understand why three level-headed individuals, two of them geniuses, never considered the above scenario. Again, though, it would have been a lot easier to buy their actions had their mental and emotional states regarding what's clearly a high-stress situation been demonstrated a bit more at the start of the chapter, even despite the fact that I think the happier beginning set up the cruel end of the chapter really well (finding a balance like that is really hard).

But overall regarding the plan, I think this was more a case of the natural course of the story putting you in a tough spot as a writer than anything else. And yeah, it was a bit messy, so to speak, but you got through it, and the rest of the chapter was really, really good. So I guess I'm saying don't sweat it too much and just chalk this up as a learning experience, if anything at all.

There was a small, but much appreciated pay off for me at the start of the chapter. The fact that Claire already talks to Justin like he's a friend was pretty rewarding for me. Claire's a naturally friendly character, but she's only met Justin one other time, and that was briefly during his shrinking process. Also, throughout the story, Claire has been a bit intimidated by people Justin's size, not out of fear of hurting them or disgust, but just the awkwardness of interacting with them. Even holding them was a problem for her, as she felt bad that her breath blew the one Micropolis-sized resident she held in her palm before. So it says something to me that Claire is naturally comfortable enough around tiny Justin that her naturally bubbly personality shines when interacting with him. This could be because she can actually communicate with him, the relatability of their respective situations, or even just that it's hard to feel awkward around someone anymore after you step on them. It could be a little bit of all of those, or even just the assertive way that Justin talks to them despite his size. I don't know, but I was feeling pretty good reading the first part of the chapter because of it.

I do have to respectfully disagree with MT about Brooke's reaction to the Taylors returning home. I think I've said before that I picked up a vibe that Brooke doesn't deal with extreme stress very well, so it made sense to me that she wouldn't think to use her phone or even do something bold like put Rae back and wait out the Taylors in hiding or something. The fact that Brooke was so scared that Rae had to hide herself because Brooke couldn't even think to follow her instructions felt right to me.

I'm really curious to see how Brooke handles her torture (assuming Rae and Justin don't figure something out before she said torture starts). Again, she doesn't deal with high-pressure situations well, but she's also really compassionate and loyal, and I think that will override her fear enough to hold out for help. That would be a different kind of bravery.

I was caught by surprise that both Brooke and Claire shrank, as I thought only one of them would be going down, leaving the other one to use her size to help save the day. I like this development, though. Now the ball solely in Justin and Rae's court, and I love that the two tinies are going to have to try to save the day on their own. And Rae has quickly become one of my favorite characters as well. With everything she's been through, she still comes off as calm, cool, and resourceful, showing that same mental resiliency that Justin has. They should be a good combination, size notwithstanding.

And it was great to see Justin come through in the clutch as well. That knife came in handy after all. It's good to seen him prove useful despite his size.

And that whole scene at Jazmin's place was heartbreaking. Seeing Claire shrink and the happenings in the doll house really made that "all is lost" feeling hit home, maybe even more than Brooke being captured. Of course, it's pretty obvious that Jazmin was expecting Claire to do something like that and was ready for her (I mean, what's the company going to do if she doesn't show up for her shift, fire her?).

But that realization made me see Lana's tormenting of Ally, Tim, and Claire in a different light. After Lana mentioned that Jazmin did the same thing to Lana and her boyfriend, I realized that Claire hadn't actually been physically tormented at all. She was forced to abuse Ally (or used to abuse Ally, as she didn't really have any control over it). And then Claire was forced to order Ally to "retrieve" Tim. All of this, as well as the fact that Jazmin didn't make good on her threat to shrink Claire so tiny that her toys wouldn't be able to see her (which I think would have happened had Jazmin gotten the collar on her then), makes me think that Jazmin is using Lana to make into another Lana. I think if Claire had been shrunk by a less hostile Jazmin, our attractive villainess would have likely let Claire be herself or possibly tried to corrupt her into being less kind to the other tinies, but her betrayal (from what we know of Lana, it seems like Jazmin felt betrayed by her as well) has led Jazmin to want to break her mentally instead of physically. There's something intriguing about the idea of someone punishing a perceived traitor by conditioning them into complete and total loyalty, like Lana.

Or I could be wrong about all that and Lana was just having fun. Who knows?

Anyway, thanks for another great chapter! I've been into this story for a while, but my anticipation for seeing what happens next grows with each addition since things started to ramp up about five or six chapters ago!

This was a fitting ending (aside from the epilogue, of course) to a great story!

I mentioned in a couple of my previous reviews that I felt like Justin was being set up to actually play a role in the endgame here, and these last two chapters have definitely delivered on that. Given his size, that wasn't an easy task, but you found ways to make Justin into a vital part of both climactic scenes. I was glad to see him make use of his trusty knife once again, especially after he questioned if it would be of any use to him beforehand. And while I figured his engineering skills would come into play, I certainly didn't expect him to help figure out how to grow someone past their original height. That was pretty cleverly done.

The one other thing I'll say about growth factoring into the chapter is that it would have played better if the possibility had been hinted at during a previous point in the story. Maybe a quick mention about the collar's PCB during the scene where Rae was shrunk, as she was working on the collar at the time. Or a reason that prevents growth past one's original height could have been mentioned earlier, only for Rae to quickly explain why that reason didn't apply during the malfunction. As it reads now, it does seem a tad convenient that a method of growth was introduced at just the right time for our heroes to prevail. This didn't ruin the scene for me, but I do think the growth would have felt more organic to the story if there would have been some indirect clue about it beforehand.

That last introspective with Jazmin before the big finale was pretty interesting. I like how it seemed as though she was more annoyed at the fact that Claire put up a fight than the actual pain her former friend caused her. She was rationalizing her decision to shrink Claire, even after Claire "betrayed" her. I think this shows that, even after everything, she really views Claire as a friend. Unfortunately for Claire, she's alive and breathing, which means Jazmin expects her to bend to the spoiled heiress's whims.

Still, she thinks she was doing Claire a favor, or, at least, that's what she's trying to convince herself. For all we know, she did the same thing with Lana, going so far as to break her mentally in order to make her a more compliant "friend." Like I said in my last review, whether Jazmin ordered it or Lana did it on her own, they were starting to put Claire through a similar process, one that she thankfully won't have to complete now.

The contrast between Jazmin's view of all people being her playthings but wanting some semblance of companionship with one or two of them, Hank's view of all people as stepping stones or tools to bring him more profits, and Katie's ability to toggle between heartless bitch and charming socialite really caught my attention in this chapter, mostly because of Katie. The way she talks to her sex-toy-to-be like they're old friends sharing sex stories (especially as disturbing as hers would be to Brooke) seems to illustrate that she sees tinies that she plans to use as objects exactly the same as she sees someone her own size. But, like her husband and daughter, that equality isn't a good thing, as, again, the family's view of all people (even each other, as Jazmin demonstrates later on) is that they exist to be used.

But, unlike Hank and Jazmin, Katie actually holds a casual conversation with Brooke (you now, aside from the threatening and whatnot). She's such a social butterfly, given you've got something to say that interests her. I'm just blown away by how you've created a family that holds such a degrading, materialistic view on humanity, yet made each of them incredibly unique from one another. It's like a deep dive into the differing ways to wear sociopathy.

Oh, and I love how Brooke was able to use Katie's interest in her sex life to distract her and buy Rae and Justin time to save her (although I doubt she realized they were going to actually save her, given their respective sizes when she last saw them.).

I said it last chapter, but I really, really like Rae. She wasn't what I expected at all! She's logical, cool under pressure, a little flirty, REALLY horny all the time apparently, and, most importantly, decisive. She's a fun character to read but also one that I would buy pulling off some crazy plans (this may have helped me ease into that sudden introduction of growth issue I mentioned above). Seeing her paired with Justin here was really enjoyable, as their two characters play off one another very well: two geniuses, one a straight-laced engineer and the other a sexy, kind of goofy inventor who (thankfully for Justin's sake) doesn't swallow!

And it was very satisfying to see her be the one to take down Hank and Katie, given the dark turn the story took during the chapter detailing her kidnapping and new life under their "care."

And now for a little constructive criticism:

You had mentioned before that you had a lot to cover with this last chapter and the epilogue, and this climactic chapter did feel just a bit rushed to me. I think this chapter might have been better served if it had been broken up into two chapters, and I did have a couple thoughts on how they might have worked, if you'll indulge my armchair quarterbacking for a minute.

My first thought is that the final battle in Micropolis could have been explored a bit more from Justin's point of view. I like how it's noted that he helped the residents evacuate, but I think the battle could have benefitted from more details on this. Spending a few paragraphs detailing the chaos as our hero is directing panicked residents to the mixed size area amid all of the thunderous booms and devastating footsteps could have elevated the stakes for the reader, giving us a better idea of just how terrifying Brooke's struggle with Jazmin was to the residents. Also, describing part of the fight from the perspective of Justin glancing up during his evacuation efforts could have really sold how big of a struggle the catfight seemed at "ground level," and this, in turn, would have added to the parts of the fight described from titaness level, such as Brooke falling on the bar, as the reader's imagination would have likely incorporated Justin's perspective into them.

Second, and personally, I was hoping to see a bit more of life in Jazmin's dollhouse. I would have loved to have seen the psychological effects living under the rules instituted by Lana have had on some of its other unwilling tenants, and I think a little check-in with Claire and Ally would have made for some nice filler to give the story more room to breathe via an extra chapter. Have the other residents of the dollhouse just given in to their new reality? Are there still some stubborn tinies trying vainly to fight back? Would Ally need to rely on Claire to protect her from some of the other "big" tinies there?

It also would have been cool to see Claire and Ally bond a little, as they're two characters I previously never thought would interact directly because of the size difference between them for most of the story (I figured Justin would interact with Claire again eventually, but only because he's the main character). But I also think their personalities would mesh really well; I think they'd certainly become pretty tight if they hung out a few times, regardless of size (assuming they could communicate). So I was interested to see those two interact a bit more.

Granted, you may have something along these lines planned as part of the epilogue (a little pre-rescue scene or something), but I feel that, even if you go that route, any drama surrounding them in the dollhouse is gone now that we know for sure that help is on the way.

So, I guess what I'm saying is that this ending might have flowed a bit better if this chapter ended with Hank and Katie being captured and teasing the dramatic climax at Micropolis and another chapter either expanding on the battle, giving us a peak at Claire and Ally in the dollhouse maybe at the start to remind the reader of the stakes, and/or incorporating your epilogue (I haven't read it yet, obviously, so I don't know how well it would mesh with the Brooke/Jazmin fight).

All of that being said, I absolutely enjoyed the chapter as is, so don't take this as me trying to tear down what I think was a pretty well-written ending. I just wanted to throw that criticism out there in case you might find it useful when writing future stories.

Finally, if you don't mind me asking, is that next story that you're working on going to take place in the same universe as this one, or are we heading somewhere completely different next?

I've been waiting for our heroes to come together and share their respective pieces of the puzzle for a few chapters now, and it didn't disappoint when they finally did. Seeing each one's reactions as they learned of what they others had gone through was satisfying, and I'm glad everyone is finally on the same page. The tension and action at Claire's misunderstanding was unexpected but welcome.

Justin's mental resiliency continues to be impressive. I like how he keeps a cool head when there's something to focus on. He had two near-death experiences in this chapter but kept on point throughout. Also, he was able to push past his feeling of inadequacy at being unable to comfort Brooke and Claire by focusing on planning their next move. That's a stark contrast to when he dwelled on how pathetic it was that he couldn't use Natasha's soap dispenser on his own, when he only had his own sorrow to keep him company. It's that engineer's mindset: Give them a task and that's where all their attention goes.

I also liked that Justin was the voice of reason here, shooting down Claire's short-sighted idea about going to the police with the recording. It makes his value to the trio a bit more evident. While he's able to keep a clear head, Claire's panicking and Brooke is struggling to keep track of everything (her boyfriend in particular).

That leads me to my one minor criticism for this chapter. I think Brooke forgetting that Justin was on the table when trying to console Claire makes perfect sense. He's hard to see and hear, and seeing Claire so paranoid would obviously be her focus in that moment. But I would have liked to have seen some brief recognition of how careless she was when she told Claire to put her feet up, maybe something as simple as going wide-eyed and saying "Oh shit" when Claire called attention to the resident on the table. This could have also been misinterpreted by Claire as Brooke being scared that she got caught stealing residents, adding even more motivation to her attacking her host. This isn't a huge thing, but I think Brooke having a moment of recognition for accidentally almost getting her boyfriend killed would have been a bit more in-character.

Now to follow that criticism with a bit of praise. You're doing an amazing job of playing with the range of Justin's headset. It was a good decision to keep the range relatively short (well, not short to Justin). It's fun to see that ranged play a part in the story, with Brooke and Claire not being able to hear him at times. That's also a minor thing, but such attention to detail is really, really appreciated.

I love seeing Claire take up that one-woman battle to see her co-workers recognize residents as people. She's so passionate about it, and I was surprised to see that even Alia seems to disagree with her. It's amazing how Claire can be so resolute about it, even though everyone else in the company seems to view the tinies as bugs or toys. Hell, even Brooke's initial reaction when Justin asked if she was a resident was "Ew." Yeah, she got over that feeling and probably didn't hold anything against residents before, but somewhere deep down she saw being that tiny as something gross at first, even if she didn't realize it at the time.

So it's pretty admirable that Claire can continue to see residents too small to really see very well or talk to as the people they are. She's been that way throughout the story, but this chapter illustrated it better than any of the previous ones. It makes her that much more likable.

Going back to Alia, I don't know if I would even label it as a missed opportunity, but after seeing her reaction to restocking Micropolis, I found myself wishing her trip to the city was detailed in this chapter. I can see why it wasn't, as I don't think that would have added anything plot wise, but from a fetish standpoint, it would have been awesome to see her try to deal with being around the "bug people" of the city.

Also, I really like how you're creating a shade of gray for minor characters like Alia and Alexis. For Alia, she seemed so nice in the early chapters, and she's a support of Rae instead of Hank, but her negative view of the citizens makes her come off as maybe not quite so nice after all. And Alexis seemed pure evil when talking to Justin, and her involvement in shrinking Natasha seems to confirm that that's the case. However, seeing her seem kind of sweet when interacting with Rae and Hank last chapter and Claire's shock at the HR rep's involvement in this whole ordeal makes me wonder if she's really all bad. Maybe she's going along with things because she's afraid that she'll be shrunk otherwise, or perhaps she's just really good at hiding her evil side when she needs to.

In any case, I like that even these two aren't just black and white characters. It shows a real attention to detail to make minor characters a bit complex.

Like I do in every review for this story, I've have to do a deep dive into Jazmin. First, I love how righteous she comes off when she confronts Claire. She has zero understand of how her threats put Claire in a position to feel desperate enough to record her fucking with the city or even that her fucking with the city is wrong. No, Claire betrayed her, made her feel like she wanted to be friends before turning on her, and that's all she cares about. And the way she talks about how Claire was going to be her "new had toy" (sorry Lana), like it was an honor she was going to bestow upon Claire and that now she was losing that honor as punishment, it really shows both how highly she thinks about herself and how much she cared about Claire, in her own super fucked up way.

Jazmin's hurt is palpable here, and that added a real intensity to the scene, even beyond my concern for Claire. Exceptionally done!

And then there's that last scene with Jazmin and poor, poor Tim. Seeing Tim's fate play out made me think back to Ally. With Claire, Jazmin shrank him to almost nothing on a whim just because he wouldn't eat her out, then gave her to her "toys," making him a "plaything for my toys." I don't think he can be smaller than Ally's size, and Ally is actually more of a stranger to Jazmin than Tim is, so why did Jazmin tell Lana to keep her safe? Why does she even care? It's not like Justin has something to exchange for her, and even if Justin were hiding somewhere, Jazmin could make sure he doesn't do so again in a number of ways that don't involve giving Ally back to him. So, again, I'm left asking why Jazmin wants Ally kept safe when it's clear that she doesn't give a fuck about strangers.

The answer I came up with is that Ally is tied to Justin in Jazmin's mind, and Jazmin feels a strange bond with Justin. When she kidnapped Ally, there was an implied promise that Ally would be returned if Justin is there next time (the opposite of Ally "getting it" if he isn't), so just adding Ally to her collection or letting her toys have her way with the Micropolis redhead would be like going back on her word to him.

I don't know if Jazmin has become endeared to Justin through her daily taunting or she felt that she was different when he was able to get her going a bit when working on her clit or maybe there's just a little bit of respect somewhere in that black heart of hers for Justin trying to stand against her by reporting her to HR, but I'm really starting to think that her obsession with bullying him is tied to some weird sense of connection she has with him (again, in her own fucked up way).

It may even be that, out of all the people in her life, Justin is the only one who has seen her as she truly is (technically, all of Micropolis has, but Justin is the only resident there that she actually knows). Yeah, Claire has seen her being a brat and teasing residents, and she seemed to hope that Brooke would come to her side after meeting Justin in person and (she assumed) being disappointed by the reality of their size difference, but Justin is the only person (that she acknowledges) that has seen her cut loose and be her true, evil self. I mean, her toys have clearly seen that side as well, but I'm guessing that once you're one of her toys, you no longer count in Jazmin's mind.

I still don't know quite what it is, but the dynamic between Jazmin and Justin in a uniquely tricky one, at least on Jazmin's end.

Anyway, this was another great chapter. Keep up the good work!

These little blurbs between Jazmin and Claire the last few chapters have been pretty enlightening.

It was intriguing to see Jazmin try to convince Claire to shrink down voluntarily. Between her words and the way she delivers them, I think this is the most honest we've seen Jazmin in the story so far. Again, it comes back to her lonely nature. Yeah, Claire's right that Jazmin now definitely wants her as a tiny pet now, regardless of if she can be trusted, but this exchange between them shows that Jazmin wants her to WANT that as well.

Deep down, probably subconsciously, she wants Claire to choose her, in a way, to want to be around her despite everything that's happened between them in the last few chapters. I think that same yearning shines through when Jazmin is excited that Claire offers, unprovoked, to hang out with her that night. Maybe I'm misreading and Jazmin is really just happy to get some extra sleep, but I really think her reaction has more to do with the prospect of Claire choosing to be her friend even after seeing her true nature.

Of course, as Claire seems to have figured out, this probably won't save her from being shrunk if she doesn't do something quick. Her plan with the camera is a good one, and it'll probably work, provided Jazmin doesn't decide to tear Micropolis apart looking for Justin that night.

And yeah, I figured it would be just Justin's luck that Jazmin would make sure to handle the restocking that night. I'm curious to see how long it takes her to figure out what happened, whether she correctly figures out why Brooke took him, and what happens to the city along the way.

And, of course, I'm still impressed by how Claire is able to maintain her composure despite understanding exactly how much danger she's in here. Her internal reactions show how frightened she is at the prospect of becoming Jazmin's toy, which makes her being able to maintain her natural attitude toward Jazmin outwardly that much more admirable. I know I keep saying this, but I feel like it keeps being worthy of a mention each time we see her with Jazmin.

As for Brooke and Justin, their "interaction" in this chapter was everything it needed to be, both from a descriptive standpoint and from a character-oriented one.

I love the irony of Justin making Brooke feel a lust and sexual pleasure that no one else can based almost entirely on the fact that he can't actually make her feel much of anything in a physical sense. Beyond Justin's helplessness doing it for her, it seems as though Brooke is turned on by the fact that Justin, despite being too small to pleasure her physically, is giving it his all just to try and make her feel something. Again, going back to that comparison between Brooke and Jazmin, where the latter would be disappointed by this, Brooke loves the effort he's putting in precisely because of its futility, as well as the fact that Justin is eager to try despite said futility.

Also, that line about Brooke wondering about Justin's cock was a noteworthy one. Instead of being desperate for the all-mighty penis like Jazmin seems to be, this bit shows that while Brooke isn't simply disappointed that Justin's equipment is too small for her. Rather, it's Justin's penis in particular that she's wondering about, meaning her thoughts are more about wanting Justin at full size rather than being disappointed with how he is now. This is an important distinction, as Brooke simply thinking that she wanted a dick inside her during sex with Justin would imply that she's unfulfilled, which I don't think is the case here. Instead, that thought shows a logical want on her part, without making her seem less invested in the relationship, if all that babbling makes any sense.

And Justin, for his part, is written really well here, I think. While he should absolutely have a sense of fear during all of this, no matter how careful and caring Brooke is toward him, this chapter is all about him embracing his lust and newfound kink. There's just enough reference to his concern here that it's clear that he's aware of the dangers of what they're doing together, but most of his thoughts and dialog revolve around him wanting to pleasure Brooke and try things on her body at his tiny size. This also shows an incredible amount of trust in Brooke, which helps advance the relationship between the two while also letting us all indulge in some good old-fashioned smut at the same time!

And, as I mentioned last chapter, Brooke's mix of concern, lust, and teasing continue to make her one of my favorite gentle giantesses I've read. She clearly loves and respects Justin as an equal, yet gets turned on by her physical superiority to him (it's not even just dominance; just holding him in her hand was enough to get her wet in this chapter). And how she teased him at the end there by offering to carry him in her tits, pussy, or ass when he couldn't express his obvious concerns was perfect! In short, she'll do everything she can to keep him safe, but she won't just treat him like he's made of glass, either, which is nice.

And the descriptions of how Brooke's simple actions have such a profound impact on Justin are really well done! Also, I'm not sure if we'll get the chance because it looks like the plot is about to take a serious step forward here soon, but I'm hoping we get to revisit that idea about Justin wearing a camera and exploring Brooke's body again, especially if a live feed is involved.

I figured Dr. Perkins would make her way into the story officially before too long, and there are certainly some implications behind her voice seeming faint and faraway. I'm curious to see if our three protagonists get a chance to unite and piece together what's happening before one of them ends up in Jazmin's dollhouse.

Oh, and I had a quick question I've been meaning to ask: What's the revenue stream for Micro Cities Inc.? Are the residents paying rent to live there, and if so, are they making actual money through their jobs in the micro cities? And also if so, what happens if a resident doesn't make rent?

I just caught up with this story, and I wanted to say how much I've enjoyed it so far. Also, a heads up, this is going to be long (I like to overthink stuff).

I really like the pacing and casualness of the worldbuilding so far. I mean, we learn the basic details of the various tiny cities and the shrinking technology through a fun and flirty conversation between Justin and Natasha at the start, more about the company and Dr. Perkins through Jazmin's rudeness and her co-workers reaction to it early on, and, most recently, that there are classes that have to be taken in order to handle a resident that's below a certain size (or is that class needed to handle residents of all sizes?) through Brooke's flirty teasing.

These are all valuable plot points (at least, I'm assuming Dr. Perkins will become relevant later on), but they're spread throughout the story in a way that flows naturally with the conversations in which they're revealed and spread out in a way that doesn't overwhelm the reader with too much information too soon. I think the hardest part of worldbuilding is the urge to infodump everything at the start to get it out of the way, but you avoided that intimidating clunckiness masterfully.

The characters are all also really engaging and easy to invest in. Man, when Justin had that "all is lost" chapter, where he found out about his size difference with Brooke and realized he was trapped tiny back-to-back, I really felt for him. He's been a pretty likable main character so far, and the personality he's displayed, whether he's lightheartedly teasing Natasha about her height in chapter 1 or navigating being tinier than the other residents in the shrinking room, really gives him a voice, so to speak. It's easy for characters, especially main characters, to fall into generic troupes and dialog, but, again, you avoid that quite well.

The harem style love life Justin has embraced so far has worked especially well in this story, as it allows the reader to enjoy sex scenarios on different size scales a bit, taking advantage of the size variations offered by the cities. Also, all three of the women in Justin's life bring something different to the table.

Natasha has an infectious personality and fun loving attitude that really draws the reader to her from the start, and Ally seems a more laid back, down to earth person looking for a bit of fun. Looking through some of the other reviews, I can see why so many people want Justin to end up with one of them.

But, personally, I prefer the slow burn, and, if this last chapter is any indication, that long game is about to pay off with Brooke. Granted, a lot of the chemistry between them happens "off stage" early on, as we're told that they're vibing without seeing it like we do with the other two girls (I don't think this is a bad thing, as the story would have been bogged down with mundane conversation, but it did give the other two girls an "advantage" with the reader early on, I think).

But then, after the size difference is discovered, that tension makes the relationship more interesting, as does Brooke's struggle with how tiny Justin is. This makes it all the more rewarding when she decides that her feelings for him are strong enough to overcome that doubt, and the anticipation built through the interactions between them from that point on are golden, at least to me. I don't know, there's something about how Brooke can tease Justin with something that's his size by stuffing it in her tits are panties and look him in the eye as though they're the same size at the same time that I really enjoy. But it's that build, that slow burn between them that sets up those scenes and gives them a different, more intense feel.

That slow burn also comes in the form of her concerns regarding Justin's size. At first, she seems deterred and doubtful that anything can happen between them because of it, but that's built into excitement over the prospect of sex with him, which will make that likely coming sex scene between them all the more rewarding. Also, the concern she shows for Justin's safety from what could easily be dismissed as a minor inconvenience in the internet outages during Jazmin's restocking nights, shows that her newfound lust hasn't overtaken her nature as a caring girlfriend and that she's really invested in the relationship.

'm really looking forward to where things go in the next chapter, from a plot standpoint as well as a smut one, as I think we're nearing the time that Brooke finds out the truth about Justin's situation.

Finally, we have Claire and Jazmin as two regularly seen characters. I really like what you've done with Claire. There's a bit of airheadedness to her, but it doesn't define her, another trap you've managed to avoid. She's not only good-natured but brave, has good instincts and able to navigate most of Jazmin's shit as well. And honestly, I'm willing to bet that her moments of being airheaded in Micropolis probably don't happen as often in the other cities and that they would happen less frequently there if the residents had a way to communicate with her, as she really seems to care about the residents and would be quick to fix any issues (such as accidently trapping a group of them in the park with her feet or using a thimble to deliver a drink to someone too small to use it) if she only knew about it. Also, I'm eager to see what her next move is after Jazmin's threat.

And that threat really heightened my opinion of Jazmin as a villain. I thought she was a solid giantess story villain with some personality but kind of typical in the sense that she just seemed to view the residents as less than people because of their size. But after threatening to shrink and kidnap Claire, her best friend as far as we know to this point, the imply that she likes having her as a friend (as though they're still friends after that), It now seems clear to me that she just thinks of everyone as lesser than her and that the only real difference between the residents and regular sized people in her eyes is what she can get away with. This also made me reevaluate some of her earlier interactions with her co-workers in which I initially thought she was being crude because she just didn't care, but now I think this was intentional on her part in order to enjoy their shocked, angered, and embarrassed reactions, as well as the fact that they couldn't do anything about it. Maybe I'm overthinking things, but this added a bit more depth to the character for me.

Well, if you're still reading after all of that, I do have a bit of constructive criticism for you. I kind of feel like the post-rape interaction between Justin and Natasha could have been handled a bit better. Natasha being remorseful after drunkenly taking advantage of Justin was done pretty well, but I think Justin not even really addressing it was a bit of an issue. This didn't even have to be him confronting her about it; maybe he has an internal struggle in which his anger/shame/insecurity/whatever he's feeling is met with his need to comfort his close friend. Maybe seeing her cry had an effect on him, maybe his guilt over her being a resident at all overrides any negative feelings he has about the rape, or maybe there's another reason he's able to move past it.

My (admittedly long-winded) point is that Justin doesn't deal with it at all. Also, he doesn't feel inadequate when he's forced into being a sex toy by his former co-worker whom he used to tower over, yet he's dejected that he couldn't use a soap dispenser? I don't know, I just feel as though there needed to be something like that there.

But, to be fair, this story has a good bit of smut in it, and I understand that there are times in which that smut is going to skirt these issues but not deal with them for the sake of the reader enjoying said smut. I honestly wouldn't have even brought the point up, but the detail and character development throughout the story are so good that an omission like this is noticeable, and I thought maybe this feedback might help in the future if you do a similar scene in a different story.

But yeah, overall, this story is great, and I'm really enjoying it so far.

This was intense!

That narrative style was really raw and personal, which I can really appreciate. It helps us not only see but, in a sense, feel what Alexandra's going through, both physically and mentally, which gives this story its edge. And even from a third person perspective, too!

It also serves as a replacement for really in-depth descriptive writing, allowing us to envision the finer details of the scene ourselves, rather than trying to paint every detail for the reader, which can be a bit cumbersome to read in some cases. In other words, I really like that an action is stated, but then we get to read what and how Alexandra is feeling, instead of a paragraph trying to describe EXACTLY how Talia's finger and tongue feel (not that there's anything wrong with stories that do this, but I think that doing so here would have hindered what you were going for).

I'm also a big fan of the short, choppy paragraph style you chose to go with. It made this story very easy to read and understand who was speaking during each line of dialog, even when it wasn't spelled out for us. But yeah, longer paragraphs can be a real burden to a story, even if they're well written, so keeping them short and sweet was a good call. I also feel like it added to that aforementioned intensity, as it made the story seem to move at a faster pace, if that makes sense.

Alexandra and Talia themselves are pretty interesting as well. I think this story does a really good job of establishing a relationship between the two beyond the text itself. The story starts with a literal question of trust between the two, which is a pretty essential element to any good gentle story. The interaction between them afterward is really tender and sweet, which I think follows up the passionate, visceral meat of the story beautifully.

It's also made clear throughout the story that their roles had been reversed previously, which raises some interesting questions about the shrinking/possible restoration process. However, the story doesn't really go into that, which I think is also a good decision, as it's really more about this particular experience, rather than building lore. Still, this element adds a bit of intrigue to the story, which is appreciated.

But the ending may be my favorite part. Talia's minimal effort could have easily just been stated during the sex scene itself, and it would have been impactful. I've read and enjoyed a ton of scenes that point out that the slightest of movements from a giantess have significant effects on the tinies they're pleasure (or torturing or destroying, depending on the story). But to see the whole experience through Alexandra's eyes, including the exhausting effects that are easy to note afterward, only to find out at the very end that Talia had "barely even touched" her really drives home the power dynamic between the two.

If I could nitpick at one thing, near the end of the story, when Talia is putting her hand in front of Alexandra on the nightstand (which, as the story notes, is a really sweet gesture), you noted that Talia "let her hand fall just short of Alexandra's form." Maybe this is just a personal preference thing, but I feel like the word form is unnecessary. I mean, sure, I guess you could say that Alexandra owns her form, but wouldn't it make more sense to just say that Talia "let her hand fall just short of Alexandra"?

Anyway, I really enjoyed this! Good work!