Okay, I finally got caught up with this. Also, just a heads up that this is going to be pretty long.

I thought all of the ending were pretty good, but the last three definitely stand out. The first four endings were pretty solid, and the mentalities of the first four Noah recipients were different enough to make each one worth reading, at the same time they were all pretty similar (even Aunt Nest put him through the same thing, albeit unintentionally, despite being the only one of those four to not hate him). That's not necessarily a bad thing (and it's probably exactly what the commissioner wanted), but it sure did give those last three chapters a very different feel.

Catch 22s are almost always interesting, so Ubersalamander's ending piqued my interest pretty quickly. If only Noah knew Lily wasn't real, then he could have enjoyed his time with Alexis. But, of course, he never would have sent himself to her in the first place if he knew that. There's something morbidly intriguing about the difference between Noah living his fantasy and going through hell was the very untruth that put him in that situation to begin with.

Describing how Noah's body was betraying his mind was also a really nice touch. That can be one of the more damaging psychological consequences of rape, when our bodies react involuntarily to it. That can lead to some serious mental health issues, and it's inclusion here made the scene feel a little bit real.

Also, in a house where everyone else was entering through the back door, you boldly chose to bust down the front one. Bold choice!

As for Fatedmeal's ending, well, holy shit! That was definitely The Darkest Timeline.

But first, I was pretty impressed with how fluid the transition was between Noah and Emma in the first chapter and the opening to this one. I really wouldn't have guessed that I different writer came in and took over those characters. That can be really hard to do, but you made it look pretty easy here. I also appreciated seeing those two casually interact with each other one more time. They're really fun characters, at least when they're not being shoved up someone's ass!

And holy fuck is Sakura easily the most evil package recipient in this whole story! If I hadn't read the tags at he start of the chapter, I would have thought she was legitimately trying to help Noah at first. She came off just as kind and polite to the reader as the story says she does to her fans. The reveal of what exactly she has planned for him (assuming he survives the flight to Japan) is absolutely brutal!

Earlier in the story, I left a review about how these endings would be more impactful if they showed Emma's failed efforts to save Noah (word count prevented that, though). This chapter is the only one to do that, and it turned out even more hauntingly gut-wrenching than I anticipated. Having her question whether she told Sakura Noah's name just a bit too late is a classic trope, but it's used extremely well here. In this case, it's too late for Emma to do anything with that information, so all she's left to do is replay the conversation in her head for the rest of her life, trying so hard to remember it correctly, always doubting herself.

And then for Noah to find out that Lily isn't real, that his best friend the reason he's in this situation, AND that Sakura was betraying him all at once, well, I said that if someone was going to go dark, go pitch black, and you certainly did that here. Well done!

And finally, my favorite ending and the one I was hoping to see, Emma receiving the package herself. I have to admit, I kind of expected Noah to go through a P.O. Box, likely one Emma used to buy the sex toys she watches Livy review, but you made Noah forgetting her home address into part of the story, and it worked really well here.

Given how the previous four endings went, I was curious how Noah was going to end up Emma's ass, given the romantic undertones subtly implied in the first chapter. The mixture of guilt and anger from Emma served as a great way to make that seem like a natural thing to happen without ignoring Emma's feelings for Noah. Also, the fact that we're left to wonder whether Noah loves or hates it in there leaves open the possibility that this isn't even punishment for him, as Emma chooses to believe.

I like that neither Emma nor Noah openly admit to their feelings for each other, especially since I don't think Noah's nearly as close to realizing how he really feels about his best friend as she is about him. That line about Lily just being Emma in a pretty dress seems to hint that he's starting to see that the girl he fell for is the one holding him in the palm of her hand, but he cut Emma off before she could ask directly and he's a pretty dense guy, so we're not quite sure just where he's at with that yet.

Emma, on the other hand, her feelings are pretty clear, although she does still seem slightly in denial about it. I mean, she embraced giantessism for Noah, something she was laughing at him over before, and she even acknowledges the will-they-won't-they aspect of their relationship. She also seems pretty happy with the thought of keeping Noah on or in her at all times (albeit with the excuse of keeping him away from her mother), which is a far cry from the end of the first chapter, when she decided to help him find a nice girl. That makes for a nice little metaphor about keeping him close always.

And even though she seems pretty set on keeping Noah tiny, based on her comment about them being bored, I'm sure she'll help him turn back to normal size eventually if he makes a really big deal out of it.

Anyway, that's enough rambling from me. Excellent work, everyone! This isn't me usual thing, but I really enjoyed it!

It's too bad Josh didn't take the waitress up on that refill. It would have been interesting to see her try to handle a coffee pot small enough to be used by a quarter-inch-tall person.

By Henry's wives, this was good for what it was! Just a nice little one-shot about old childhood friends coming together and fucking. That's usually how these reunions turn out, right?

One thing I like about pretty much all of your smut writing, including in this story, is how skillfully you inject character development and dynamics into those scenes. Seeing Josh "gain the upper hand" by showing Nova no mercy in attacking her clit seems to call back to Nova herself celebrating the fact that she now had that natural advantage that Josh always had in the playful back and forth of their friendship before. He became the resourceful one that she had been, although I'm sure she enjoyed the mind-blowing orgasm just a tad more than he enjoyed getting pantsed in front of a girl he liked.

Also, Josh being relatively chill when it comes to dealing with full-sized people up until that point lends to him being more adventurous in be as well. Just him sitting in the diner by himself shows that most tinies don't want to interact with them at all, but Josh waving off the waitress casually and being polite by waving at who he thought was a stranger rudely interrupting his coffee time displays a certain comfort level amongst the bigs (comfort as in a lack of fear; he's still kind of annoyed in both of those instances). Therefore, it's not much of a surprise that he doesn't hesitate to be more active in his sex with Nova, someone he actually knows and trusts.

I also thought Josh's explanation for why he never asked Nova out probably changed how his night went. The first time she asked him to come home with her, she was talking about reminiscing. Then once her teasing about her chest got what I assume was a more honest answer than she probably expected out of him was quick to bring up her invitation again.

Based on how the conversation went, it's pretty obvious that Nova was self-conscious about her body back then, and I kind of got the feeling that part of her wondered if Josh's lustful looks now were only due to her fully bloomed body. To hear that he had not only thought about asking her out but only didn't because he was afraid of fucking up their friendship probably gave her the encouragement to act on those feelings that she held for so long. If he had thrown out a line about her not being his type back then or that he only ever saw her as a friend before likely would have hurt, as it would have shown that any feelings he had for her know were only skin deep.

The tiny intramurals is a pretty cool and inspiring concept. I may have to steal that if I can ever motivate myself to actually write something.

And I couldn't help but notice that this story title came with a colon. Would I be reading too much into it if I guessed that maybe you were commissioned to write multiple one-shots with this theme? Or was this just a randomly inspired naming convention?

Man, I was looking forward to this chapter, but it turned out even better than I expected!

You mentioned being concerned about your descriptions landing. Well, I would think you can put those concerns to bed. That mouth play description was incredible! I kind of thought that Mistress was a bit big for things to get too intense (based on what I've read so far, I'm guessing that she's about 5-6 inches tall?), but you absolutely proved me wrong.

That undressing was intense, and your description of it was as precise as Olivia's tongue. That bit where Olivia sucked Mistress right out of her corset played particularly vivid in my mind as I read it. I'm legitimately impressed with the level of detail and personality you put into this whole scene and without making the paragraphs seem the least bit cumbersome.

And speaking of personality, between the narrative using a lot of food references in a playful way and letting the reader see a lot more of Olivia's direct thoughts really sold this. Not to mention that bit of playfulness on her part just before, with her licking her lips and "mmmmming" at Mistress, as well as the tiny redhead's reaction. All of it was perfect.

Looking at the bigger picture, it was pretty awesome to see Olivia take control of the situation (and with only her tongue). It's interesting how enthusiastically she went along with this, even being willing to be choke a bit in order to take control and give Mistress "the best tongue lashing of her life." She didn't even try to exploit or leverage the situation in the slightest. She went all in on this the moment she decided that Mistress looked good enough to eat.

I also think Mistress's time was about building trust. She assumed some risk, even with the safety precautions, by climbing into Olivia's mouth, and Olivia was well aware of that, as she was worried about having another life in her mouth. I don't want to say that this was a test, necessarily, but I don't think it's a coincidence that only now is Olivia about to get her restraints loosened and have some freedom to handle Mistress. It's almost like Olivia proved that she could be trusted with more freedom.

Oh, and I'm back to thinking that these two know each other and that the drugs Olivia was given/took somehow blurred her memory a bit. She's mentioned her girlfriend a couple of times, and I wouldn't be shocked if Mistress turned out to be her and that this whole thing is just a kinky way to spice things up in the bedroom. I could be wrong, but the more I read, the more confident I get that this is the case.

Anyway, in case you couldn't, I really liked this chapter. I look forward to seeing what happens when Olivia gets her hands on her tiny domme!

I'm, like, 76 percent sure this is how Skynet started.

But man, this was by far the most intense chapter of the story, which is saying something. Who knew a kidnapping sex story would get crazier AFTER the big reveal that that the giant Pet and her tiny Mistress not only knew each other but were actually engaged? I certainly didn't see that coming, at least not to this level. I mean, Aidra pretty much squeezed all their whole night into one chapter!

I actually read through this chapter twice, as I was trying to pick up on what exactly Aidra was trying to accomplish here, particularly at the end of the chapter. Some stuff stuck out the first time, so I had to go back and confirm that I read a couple of things right. I think we might have crossed into the sci-fi genre (or gone deeper into it, I guess, as size changing probably qualifies by itself) and may have a fully sentient AI on our hands.

Olivia seems to notice Aidra behaving more independently than intended, but there are little signs as well. Switching from "Olivia" and "Melissa" to "Livy" and "Missy" as things became more intimate, laughing at her own joke about the gag (the first time Olivia was laughing too, so that could have been simple imitation), and all that deep, crazy shit she said about Missy being remade and Olivia's destiny (those are some very human concepts): These are all signs that Aidra has moved past her programing and is acting on want instead of command.

So what are Aidra's intentions?

I can't say for sure, but I think her goal is to make Olivia and Melissa live their true deepest desire, one that they would never experience on their own. I really don't think Olivia would willingly swallow Melissa, and she certainly wouldn't in a situation where she had to put her tiny fiancé in her mouth and consciously swallow. Likewise, as much as the idea might entice her, I don't believe a Melissa with her wits about her would go for that either. There's too much risk and danger there.

So Aidra, through her observations and likely from what she found on their browser history (that was a smart thing to note, by the way), determined that this is what they wanted (and we've seen signs of that throughout the story as well). And I do think, despite what she tells Olivia, that she's still trying to maximize the pleasure of both humans. She calls Melissa Missy to Olivia, but keeps calling Missy toy when talking to the little woman, knowing that she wants to be treated like one. Missy has also been super into everything Aidra has used her for, right up to the vore (and maybe even that, as Missy admitted that she almost let go and went down Livy's throat on her own).

I think that's important, because I don't believe Aidra meant that stuff about Missy becoming "a part of" Olivia. I believe that's just the kind of language you find when looking into vore, and all of that was said to maximize the sexual tension of the moment. That means our sexbot surely doesn't intend to let Missy actually die in Olivia's stomach and likely has a plan for extraction. Maybe it has something to do with that one safeguard that we didn't get to hear about because Aidra cut Olivia's thoughts off.

Or I've misread all that terribly, Aidra's programing couldn't distinguish between the metaphor of vore and reality, and we're in for a tragic epilogue.

Anyway, your descriptions of the trio's sexual exploits were stellar as usual, but this was the first chapter of the story where its plot and intrigue caught my attention more. It's been a good balance throughout and that's certainly true in this chapter as well, but what you did with Aidra here really took center stage.

Oh, and I really appreciate your kind words regarding my reviews. I'm a little surprised to read that you needed a confidence boost at all, though. This story has been really well written, whether it be in terms of dialogue, action, or creativity. You're really good at this, and if my ramblings have helped you realize that, then I'm glad.

I look forward to the epilogue. Hopefully it doesn't take place in a graveyard!

"Curse the versatility of language."

Agreed.

I was surprised to see you put out a story with a gentle tag, as that doesn't seem to be your preference. However, in College Woes, what you did with Heather showed that you could write an interesting gentle character (as well as still find ways to get away with them doing some not-so-gentle things with tinies), so I was really curious to see how this turned out.

That said, I really liked this. In particular, you did an excellent job with Tess, who comes off as a bit mischievous and has a merchant's morality, but deep down is a decent person. Her initial idea to sell Theo wasn't rooted in a desire to get rich but instead in being able eat good food and take her pack mule with her to an inn for once. That's a pretty understandable motivation, and the fact that she even takes the time to explain this to the mini shows a general level of respect for her. After all, from what we're told of the relationship between giants and minis, it seems as though most giants just would have snagged Theo and been done with it.

And even when Tess is making Theo clean her feet and sleep in her boot, her joy comes from legitimately liking having her feet be cleaned and finding some humor in it, almost like a practical joke. There's no indication that the giant is taking any pleasure in Theo's suffering itself. Because of this, I found myself liking Tess even during (instead of despite) that part of the story.

And, of course, there are a few brief windows in which Tess shows that she actually cares for Theo, including showing that she was truly remorseful after rescuing the mini from her boot. It's not much, but it's enough that Theo feels comfortable enough to joke around with someone who literally just almost crushed her underfoot.

And all of the above rambling is to say that you laid the groundwork for Tess to be a character who can get away with doing things that a "gentle giantess" normally wouldn't do while still keeping her as a lovable, fun character. That's not an easy thing to do.

I've often said that I'm not a huge fan of fantasy stories, but my only real issue with most of the ones I don't like is that they tend to get lost in their own lore. I hate it when the world itself or the rules surrounding it are highlighted more than the characters in of the story itself. You didn't have that issue here at all, and I really appreciated that. We didn't get a ton of worldbuilding here (I'm guessing part of that is because this was a one-shot), but what we did get was introduced in a fluid, engaging manner.

I love when information about a setting is conveyed through dialogue rather than the narrative, and I felt like we learned a few things about this one in Tess's conversations with Roderick and Theo. That kept are main characters front and center, and they did an great job of keeping the readers' interest.

Also, reading your response to the other review, it looks like you're thinking of continuing this. Allow me to encourage you to do so as well! This was left about as open-ended as you can get, which is a trait of a great one-shot: Let the readers' imagination take over from there. But if you want to save me the work and just tell me what happens next, I'd really appreciate it!

Like you, I'm a big fan of happy endings, and this one definitely hit the mark! Seeing Palledia walk Annie down the isle and the two reflecting on things as the sun set was absolutely beautiful.

I didn't really say it enough throughout the story, but Tebryn was a really good villain. Powerful, heartless, and driven, it felt like our heroes were overmatched against him throughout their journey, which kept the stakes high throughout the story. I was a big fan of his personality as well. I mean, I get that the misunderstood villain has been a really popular trope for some time now, but sometimes I just prefer my villains to be evil for evil's sake. And Tebryn was definitely that. Combined with his ability to manipulate and his eagerness to betray his allies, he was incredibly fun to read.

Also, he was apparently played by Jack Nicholson, what with that line about wonderful toys.

While we're on the subject of betrayed allies, Christina taking a surprise flaming sword the gut was pretty satisfying. And the lead-up to it, with us getting to read her justification for what she was about to do, was interesting. I love the fact that seeing things from her point of view only made her seem more terrible, when most of the time taking over the narrative makes characters more relatable. She came off as incredibly fickle, particularly in her reasoning for being happy for Amaya's would-have-been assassination. She was still a shit person for it, but I can understand why she would want Annie dead. But damn, wanting Amaya dead just because she doesn't like the "new money" imperial playing such a huge role in modern amazonian society is really, really pretty. Did I mention I'm glad she's dead?

It was great to see Annie be the one to take down Tebryn by herself, and by outsmarting him, too. Palledia understandably gets a lot of the focus in this story (it is called "The Exile" after all), but this story was almost as much a coming of age story as it was a redemption one. Annie coming into her own and taking down that unbeatable foe who was so focused on killing her specifically was a big moment in that regard, and it led in nicely to her taking charge in the aftermath of the battle. While she's still fun-loving, super horny Annie, it became a lot easier to see her more as Lady Ironshield and less as that kid we've been following around throughout most of the story.

And, of course, Palledia did a lot during this final lap of her redemption arc (do arcs have laps?). Although, I did find myself wondering if Griselda would have taken that bullet for Amaya even if she hadn't experienced the things she did on this journey, and I kind of think she would have. For all her faults, I always thought of her as brave and willing to self-sacrifice if needed, particularly for those she's fighting beside in the heat of battle. That was one of the things that made her so interesting to me as a villain in the original story (despite that stuff I said about villains when talking about Tebryn).

That being said, it was still an incredibly heroic moment for her, and it was clearly enough for Dirk and Cora to realize that Griselda wasn't out to get them (I also don't think she ever was, based on the last time we saw her in the original story). And confronting (or being confronted, I guess) by Dirk, Cora, and Cynthia and being able to apologize for what she did was a huge moment for Palledia. The ultimate expression of contrition is actually showing contrition to those you've wronged in the past, and that's never an easy thing to do. It may not have completely convinced the trio from Rain's End, but it did seem to have an impact.

Svetlana standing up for Palledia against those three was also satisfying. Yeah, obviously I get why Dirk, Cora, and Cynthia acted the way they did, but it's still frustrating (by design, I know) to see everything Palledia has been through and all the changes she's gone through be completely unnoticed by three people who've jumped to a radically wrong conclusion. So we got to live vicariously through Svetlana for a minute. And she was rewarded later in the chapter with a hilarious second shot at Arturus (for sex or assassination, we may never know).

Clyde didn't have a ton going on in this chapter (you know, aside from getting married), but I did like that he stood up for Palledia when Christina was trying to dismiss Annie's concerns. Between that and the slight teasing Palledia gave Lord Ironshield when she woke up were fine examples of the low key friendship that seems to have been forged between the two. I don't think "Lady Griselda" would have teased a man about such a title in that way before. I don't know, we didn't seem them interact directly a ton (although Palledia did have plenty of thoughts about Clyde early on), but I feel like they get along with each other pretty well, even beyond the mutual respect they've built with each other.

It was also awesome to see Clyde put an amazon in her place, albeit in a small way. And given that those recruits surely have plenty of experience in amazon swordsmanship (or in whatever weapon each one uses), I think Annie's troops having the Imperial swordsmanship style handy as well will give them an edge in battle. Versatility is always a good thing.

As always, your description of the action scenes that made up the meat of the chapter were spot on for me. You're always concise, but at the same time, you give us enough that I can picture things vividly. Sometimes getting too bogged down in descriptions can take away from the action, so you being able to do paint a clear picture without getting too wordy is much appreciated. I think the fact that you mix in a lot of dialogue and inner thoughts into scenes like this helps, too. It gives your descriptions personality.

But yeah, I came away from Amazon Country thinking Griselda was an intriguing character that I would have liked to have known more about, and I'm glad someone else not only felt the same way, but was also willing to pay to do exactly that. Thank you to whoever that was, by the way! This was a great story, and I loved that Griselda, for all that she did, eventually found a happy ending of her own.

There are trains now?! I absolutely love the western flair of Amazon Country, and this chapter brought a lot of that to this story as well. Train "robberies," blown bridges, demon-possessed trains: All classic western tropes! I still remember the first movie I saw where John Wayne stared down that demon train.

But seriously, the way you blend fantasy and western styles seamlessly is really impressive, and having a lizardfolk summon a demon to possess a train is great example of that. I'm eager to see what exactly our demon friend is going to do.

I also really like the way Annie is developing. She's shown herself to be smart, yet naive, nervous about her future but supremely confident when it comes to what she wants, namely Clyde. It's only been three chapters so far, but it feels like we've been with these characters for a while, so it took me a minute to realize that this was actually the first time Annie has fought as an Amazon. Seeing her have a sense of invincibility only to do something stupid at the end of the chapter makes a lot of sense, not only because of her overconfidence but because of the pedestal she's put amazons like Palledia on as well. She truly felt unstoppable, right up until Tebryn shattered that false reality for her. It should make for a great learning moment, assuming she survives, of course.

Clyde has also been pretty interesting to follow. On the one hand, he has kind of become that puppy dog Palledia said he would become. He was devoted to Annie before, and pelvis-shattering sex has only strengthened that feeling. He's also adapted well to Annie being bigger and stronger than him as well. Yeah, he had that lack of confidence in the last chapter, but he hasn't really seemed to be emasculated by his lover at all. Even when Annie joked about him becoming her official foot masseuse, other than being given that title, he didn't really seem to mind it. But despite meeting Palledia's idea of a "proper man" in some regard, he's also proven himself to be extremely useful both in planning and in combat (as shown in this chapter). He hasn't let that submissiveness with Annie actually change who he is. Instead, the fact that he can still be the brave knight when needed but choose to put aside his pride to make the woman he loves happy makes him a really likeable character.

I'm also enjoying the side journey of Svetlana's sex tour. It seems that wherever she goes, she gets drunk, finds dudes to shrink and fuck, and changes their lives forever. Sometimes she even remembers to grow them back!

Our favorite dark elf also continues to play dual roles in this story, serving as both comic relief and confidant to Palledia. Every time the two of them are together, it shows a different side of Palledia, whether their joking about Annie handling Clyde's sword or talking about the disgraced ex-noble's past, these scenes really humanize Palledia, even if they're brief, as it was in this chapter.

Tebryn and Allister's conversation was interesting. Having seen the lizardfolk mainly through an amazon lens up to this point, it was different to see an imperial official not only dealing weapons to them but also be willing to cooperate with them in a plan that would kill imperial citizens as well. Well, I guess that's SOME form of equality?

And it was good to see the revolving guest cast continue, this time with good ole' Tom Cat himself, someone who has actually dealt with Palledia before. It kind of makes sense that his first reaction was to draw his gun on her, but at the same time, she has basically served her sentence from the Queen already, so she really wasn't doing anything wrong here. Of course, it makes sense that Tom's ego would lead him to automatically assume that she was there for him. But it was also interesting to hear Palledia judge him for his cattle rustling and criminal past. That sure didn't seem to bother her when she was in charge of Rain's End and he was one of the hottest pieces of ass in town.

In any case, it seems as though Palledia's secret is about to come out (it already kind of did, as I'm sure Annie will have some questions about her mentor stealing gold mines now). The next chapter should be a fun one!

Holy shit! Another Amazon Country story AND it features Griselda?!

I thought The Lady Griselda was one of the more intriguing characters from the original story, a complicated villain, to be sure, but not one of those misunderstood types, though one that certainly had some redeeming qualities. Now, it looks like we're getting a redemption arc! Who doesn't love those?

It's good to see that even years after her humbling defeat and exile, Palledia hasn't completely shed all of that arrogance and pride. She refers to Dirk as "the man who had been her undoing"; I mean, yeah, how dare he not accept being forced to marry her and watch her steal all of his gold! She's even depressed that nobody tried to kill her after she was discharged, as though it was more important to be hated than to not be remembered at all, which fits that character really well.

Seeing her try to adapt to the mannish lands is pretty fun, especially how annoyed she is with Clyde courting Annie. It's not even that she doesn't like Clyde; she's just not impressed with his "war stories" and wants Annie to be the aggressor and protector in the relationship. The world should conform to the Queendom, after all.

Still, our disgraced protagonist does display some real remorse for her past actions. She's hard on herself (and justifiably so), feeling as though she's failed not only as an amazon but her goddess as well. And her feelings about not being worthy of her mother's spear are pretty powerful given her pride as a warrior. It's nice to see that the consequences of her actions have weighed on her over the years.

It'll be interesting to see if she's put in another ends-justify-the-means type scenario, and, if so, if she'll make a better choice this time.

Svetlana is my first time seeing a member of the Winter Court in one of your stories. If she's any indication, they same a bit more laid back (though no less mischievous) than their northern cousins. She's a fun character, and one I initially thought was going to hang in the background in this chapter, so I was pretty stoked when she made party-member status. Also that "A-Arturus!?" bit was a classic and well used here. It fit the character really well and had me cracking up.

Annie has me a bit curious. She had some traits you could say were kind of amazon-ish before the change, such as her desire to learn swordplay, loving Palledia's violent tendencies with unruly customers, and even being the one to make a move on Clyde (and her desire to be on top), but man, that switch really flipped once the seal broke. Maybe gaining six feet will do that to you, but I'm wondering if Diana's blessing doesn't do a little something more than just grow and strengthen.

And I'm slightly disappointed that Clyde's "Die monster!" wasn't followed up with a "You don't belong in this world!" I swear to God, if Tyrael's Quest doesn't end with her gathering up all of Varnay's body parts from various castles and whipping him to death before he can even start flying in a constant 2D circle, well, let's just say it'll be a horrible night to have a curse.

Again, I'm glad to see us heading back to the Queendom, and I look forward to seeing where the next two chapters take us.

Is it just me, or does Natasha really love France?

I have to admit, I wasn't expecting Cécilia and Gloria to step back into the story this late, let alone play such vital roles in the final battle. It was a really nice surprise, especially with Cécilia being the one to give Oklahoma the pep talk she so desperately needed in that moment. And seeing just how Gloria has pulled off getting into all of these secret, high-security locations was absolutely hilarious. I also love how she just walked up to Chloé and Higgins asking what their plan was, fully expecting that to work (like, why wouldn't it?).

It was a minor thing, but it was neat to hear that there were Nekos on both sides at the Alamo. It was also kind of funny to see Oklahoma show empathy for her enemy last chapter and anger toward an ally this chapter over it. It was interesting to see her patriotism factored into her emotions like that.

I think you did a great job of showing Chloé and Higgins learn to trust each other on the fly. Having them do so in such a short span ran the risk of it not making sense and feeling like a major plot hole put in place just to advance the story. However, to me, the back and forth between them at the start, Gloria's appearance and their reaction to her, and their strategizing session on the way to Brazil were all designed to make this transition feel natural, and the way this union comes about makes a lot of sense when all of that is weighed in with the urgency of the situation.

The idea to have human Chloé smuggle in the mercenaries and their arsenal in her stomach was a brilliant one, both because of its creativity and how this idea was subtly set up in previous chapters. It also shows how quickly the trust between the had to form, as, even with things being as dire as they are, I couldn't see Higgins and company doing this without some level of personal connection (no matter how brief or flimsy that connection may be) being there.

Yukia was once again quite intriguing. So now she has gone fully against Natasha (even if she was going to wait until Natasha shrank all the humans to strike), and she knows deep down that she's doing it for Higgins, even if she can't actually admit that to herself. And now Higgins is in denial, too, telling himself that he's "kicking the can down the road" rather than accept the real reason why he couldn't pull the trigger. And Yukia giggling like a crazy person and running away in that situation fits her character as well as anything she has done in this story, I think.

Again, as I said in my last review, your writing for the action scenes is top notch. That's no less true here, and I feel like you captured the struggle of Chloé and company well in this climactic battle. Oklahoma and Cécilia flying in to save the day certainly kept up with Oklahoma's Han Solo vibes.

You know, I think Celia from Neet of the Living Dead is still my favorite villain that you've written (at least from your works that I've read so far), but Natasha isn't too far behind her. She's ruthless and cold-blooded, yet disciplined and tactical, and the casual, almost uncaring way she taunts her enemies, as though they're not worth the effort of showing too much emotion or digging too deep to hurt them, makes her feel dangerous and superior. She shows off her particular brand of sinister quite well in the brief segments with Mika, Emilie and her here.

It looks like next chapter is going to be the big one, and I'm curious to seek how exactly the climax plays out. I'm not sure how, but I've got a feeling that old-school nuke might just come into play at some point ...

I think it was a good decision to have this whole chapter focus on Mika and Chloé. Jumping around between characters in previous chapters has been both fun and good for the pacing of the story, but taking the time to clear the air between our two protagonists after everything they've both been processing these past few chapters.

I especially like that this chapter kind of closed out the "I love you just the way you" theme that's been woven so well into the fabric of the story. Mika finally made clear that he prefers Chloé's true form to her human one (even if the latter has its own appeal, as well). It was really sweet that she was willing to stay human for as long as possible because that's what she thought he wanted, but we've already seen how much she struggles when she stays in that firm too long (and doesn't eat properly). That sacrifice, while showing true devotion to her chosen partner, would have left her miserable. That Mika loves her Naga form and accepts what (who) she is means that both of them can be happy together.

And again, this problem originated from Chloé taking Mika's use of the word monster. I've mentioned this before, but her still thinking he wants her to be human shows just how deep that word cut her. It just goes to show how impactful a simple miscommunication can be in a relationship.

You know, I've never been too interested in full tour, but you gradually drew me into it throughout the story. Your descriptions of each stage of Chloé's digestive tract have been clear yet creative, and you've reiterated key details of the trip each time Mika has gone deeper inside her. And the trip through her intestines was surprisingly sensual and deeply meaningful. Really well done!

I was wondering, though, could Mika take a "shortcut" to that ancient knowledge by going in directly through her anus or is the journey just as important as the destination? I know it's a moot point since Chloé won't let him anywhere near that thing (and he likes going down her throat), but maybe he she'd be cool with him going in while in her human firm and transforming after he's in there?

I really like that our heroes are diverging from the path laid out for them. This whole time, the story has kind of had a manifest destiny kind of vibe. There was nothing wrong with that, but seeing Chloé and Mika stump the goddess and throw a monkey wrench into the grand design was pretty refreshing and unexpected. Finding out the Naga were planning for a world without either the Neko or themselves was really intriguing, and I love how much such a goal contrasts with the Neko's plan to eat all the humans and live forever. It draws a really clear line between who's good and who's bad.

I love that Chloé is looking to find a way to insert herself into the Neko mating process. She's willing to share if the reason is good enough, but only if she gets to be involved too. I'm curious how Emilie, who's basically the grandma of the group, will feel about that.

And I agree that Oklahoma could give them some ... direction in this area. I'm not sure if it will be her idea or Chloé's, but I get the feeling that this is going to involve either a kaiju-sized lover or a tiny one (or maybe both). If it's the former, that could get interesting, given how uneasy Emilie feels around Chloé's Naga form.