I'm glad to see you give Black Bart some love here! It's only fitting that Blackbeard gets a mention and Mr. Roberts only gets mentioned indirectly, serving as another reminder that there's more to fame than just success.

Yukia has been pretty interesting to follow for a while now. She's shown some small signs that there may be more to her than just being a psychopath for several chapters, and that kiss with Higgins last chapter could have meant a lot of things. Now it looks like she's slowly working her way through the same process Higgins is, possibly setting up not one, but two redemption arcs! And a potential couple redemption arc at that!

But it was really enjoyable to see Yukia display that playfulness and even a bit of craziness in a way that was more loving and teasing than deadly, even if she wasn't fully aware of (or just doesn't want to admit) why she was acting that way. It'll be interesting to see how her excuse that Higgins is just "more fun" than most humans stacks up against Natasha's "new" stance on humanity.

As for Higgins, he shows a lot of subconscious trust in Yukia here, even after he keeps chastising himself for it. I kind of feel like his instinct are still good, even in a social situation like this. Even though he's seen Yukia eat humans several times and, on a conscious level, thinks she's going to do it to him, deep down somewhere, he dropped his guard because he knew he would be safe. I really don't think it was lust that led him to her room, at least not entirely.

It was phenomenal to see Chloé get past that struggle to accept herself, and it was fitting that Mika helped her do it, given that he inadvertently caused the problem in the first place. I've mentioned it a few times, but again, it was sadly sweet for her to wish that she could be what she believes Mika wants, a human girl. It's heartbreaking to feel like the person you love wants you to be something you can never be.

And it makes sense for her to feel that way, because Mika's feelings on that are a lot more complicated than she can comprehend, given that she's still learning (but has come a long way; keep it up, Chloé!) about complex human thoughts and emotions. Also, I think she took Mika's use of the word monster last chapter a bit too literal. He wasn't talking about her being a naga but rather about the prospect her viewing his entire species as food. The fact that she feels the way she feels at the start of this chapter kind of proves that she doesn't feel that way, though. It's just instincts (although those instincts can lead her to saving humans, too). Or anger, if you happen to stab her or kill her boyfriend's parents.

And it was extremely satisfying to see Mika help her accept herself by telingl her how he really sees her and for Chloé to take what's hers!

For his part, I don't think Chloé's new diet is what was bothering Mika in the first place. At the end of the last chapter and through most of this one, I kind of got the vibe that it's his new role that he's not comfortable with. I felt like he had come to terms with Chloé's need to eat humans when he took ownership of her stomachs. It's the fact that he's the one who has to decide who's on the menu that's his issue. Given how much the thought of Chloé determining which humans were food was for him, having to do that himself probably ways pretty heavily on him, even if he ultimately agrees that it's necessary.

I really like the way you handled Emelie's assimilation into the group. This is the first chapter where it really felt like she wasn't an outsider just tagging along. While Oklahoma accepted her pretty quickly, it makes sense that it would take Chloé and Mika more time to do so, and the past few chapters have done an excellent job of showing the tensions between Emelie and each of them individually without making it a central focus or feel melodramatic. We also saw them start to warm up to her gradually over time, and now the Neko is here giving love advice to and dancing with Chloé and Mika's thought that they could be four friends on vacation was kind of a subtle way for him to acknowledge her as a real part of the group.

Also, Emilie's history references and lack of understanding that things progress over time continues to be hilarious.

Cotton Eye Joe. In Mumbai. This is everything that's wrong with globalization. (I just want to note that I could have made a stupid pun about that "being the Bombay!" but I just couldn't bring myself to stoop that low. I feel like I deserve credit for that.)

Finally, at the end of the chapter, we see Natasha make a classic villain mistake. She can't have her human anymore, so now no one can! As I mentioned above, it'll be interesting (and probably bad for Natasha by the end of things) to see how Yukia deals with that.

Careful Gloria, you really don't want to end up in a Turkish prison!

So Chloé and Emilie have a secret to share now. Maybe this will help ease some of the tension between them from Emilie wanting to use Mika as a baby-making machine.

The way Charboneau's demise was written, I briefly thought that Chloé might not have gone through with it the first time I read through the chapter. I'm always a bit suspicious when something that we haven't seen is alluded to in any work of fiction, and Chloé never actually admits to eating the old killer and his mercenary friends.

But after going back and looking at Chloé's return to the group, it was easier to notice that Emilie figured out what happened because she drew parallels to the benefits her own people experience after eating humans. And Chloé being thankful that Emilie didn't mention her suspicions out loud seems proof enough that those aren't fish in her second stomach.

I do wonder what Mika will think when he inevitably finds out. These people were going to kill them, and, obviously, Charboneau killed his parents, not to mention that Chloé was clearly starving, so I have a hard time seeing him judge her too harshly. But she did break her promise to him, and part of the conversation leading to that promise was about how the legal system, rather than one individual, judges a criminal's punishment, so I could see him being a bit upset, too. I don't know, if ever there was a person who did deserve to get eaten, it was Charboneau. It's just a matter Mika weighing that against his worries over how Chloé view humanity, which seemed to have melted away but will likely come bubbling up to the surface soon enough.

The sad part about that is that Mika won't know what Chloé went through when she resisted her instincts when she was searching for them on the streets of Istanbul. I thought that scene did an excellent job of conveying the internal struggle she endured and showing just how far she had come since the time that promise was made. Unfortunately, her trying to explain that will probably sound like she's just bragging about not eating random humans to Mika; it might actually makes things worse in his mind.

Of course, you also have to consider that Chloé's immediate reaction to Charboneau trying to sink that boat was to save it, without even thinking about how she was leaving her friends behind to do so. Yeah, part of that was some natural instinct in the Naga's, given how human-friendly they seemed to be, based on the history we've learned so far. But even if that was a factor, she still rushed off to save a bunch of humans she didn't know and was happy when she succeeded, so she clearly views human life differently than she did before.

Back to Charboneau, he was a different level of evil altogether. It's evil enough to enjoy taking a person's life, it's another to hold a grudge against someone for stopping you from taking lives. That's quite possibly amongst the highest levels of fucked up.

And I love Natasha's selfishness regarding Charboneau's death. It's been clear from the start that she feels differently about him than any other human (something Yukia and maybe even the man himself never seemed to understand), and the fact she's after revenge for his death, completely ignoring that she has caused similar feelings to countless people over the centuries, is the stuff great villains are made of.

I wasn't sure what to expect from Natasha's "last conversation" with Emilie, but I kind of like how it went. There really wasn't much said, but I think that was the point. A small part of Natasha does feel bad about trying to have Emilie killed, something she made clear that she had put off for quite a while, but it's far too late for her to back down now. That desire to speak to her old friend one last time was the last gasp of that struggle. She didn't actually have anything that she needed to say. There was just a need to do it, for closure if nothing else.

Again, I feel like we see a little payoff in the building relationship between Emilie and Oklahoma. I liked how Oklahoma defended Emilie (even if it was in a casual way) from Mika when they were talking about Chloé eating humans. Then we had Emilie show more concern for Oklahoma than she did for her own lab assistant when Yukia was teasing eating the pilot. So it felt natural that a tiny Oklahoma (who escaped a Neko's clutches by herself, like a badass) wasn't the least bit worried as she approached Emilie and was picked up by her. I don't know if even Han Solo would have been cool with being handled by one cat-girl, ally or otherwise, after almost being eaten by another.

I can only imagine how confusing a conversation with Abbot and Costello can be for an immortal Neko from the Bronze Age. Emilie's understanding of humans is better than the other Nekos we've met so far, but I'm sure their wit was still lost on someone with only a passing understanding of humans.

And lastly, I was happy to see Higgins start to embrace the comradery of some of his co-workers. I don't know if the bill for his past deeds is going to come due by the end of this story, but I like how all of this is starting to pull him away from neutral killer lifestyle toward a more likeable one. I've had a bit of a soft spot for the guys from the beginning, so it's nice to see him develop like this, especially when we've seen what his line of work can lead to in people like Charboneau.

You know, this fetish is really interesting sometimes. I mean, where else could something like this make sense:

Chloé: I shouldn't eat you now because I want it to be special (with an entire ship's crew and a state in her stomach already).

Mika: Cool.

Chloé: So I'm going to put you in my sex instead.

Mika: Also cool.

It seems so surreal out of context; how could being shoved inside a woman's most intimate place be less, well, intimate than being eaten, especially if it's not done fatally? But within the context of the story, this makes perfect sense, and not just because vore is a thing.

Pretty much from the start, this story has been building to that moment when Chloé finally eats Mika. In most of the stories I've read here that focus heavily on vore, a lot of the intimacy tends to come from the fact that either pred or prey (or both) have a vore fetish and are either reluctant to act on it or happy to take their time stalking and teasing and whatnot. But here, the tension hovering around this throughout the story give it a more organic feel, if that makes sense.

Neither one ever seemed to think of eating or being eaten as a sexual thing until they met each other. And while I still think there's a genetic component to their mutual desire for this to happen, it's clear that the driving force behind said desire is their feelings for one another. I think the hesitation be each of them is a sign of that (Chloé's hesitation hasn't been as obvious, given her bubbly nature, but just like she said when she teased Mika, she could just do it whenever she wants. So technically, every second Mika spends outside of her stomach is her hesitating to put him in there).

But yeah, I just started thinking about all that during that scene and thought it was funny that being swallowed by Chloé (or swallowing Mika, from her side of it) has become more intimate than crawling around inside her pussy.

Also, I mentioned it after the last chapter, but I wanted to point out again how much I appreciate the way you've built the relationship between Chloé and Oklahoma. I don't think it would have served the story well to have made that a focus "on screen," so to speak, so having them bond between chapters, when the trio is actually doing most of the traveling and we're not around, is a nice touch.

I bring this up again because it struck me just how comfortable Oklahoma has quietly become around Chloé. When she thought the giant mermaid was Chloé, Oklahoma's first response was to chastise her, which isn't something I thought she would ever be comfortable doing to the Naga in her actual form. Then, of course, there's Oklahoma volunteering to go inside Chloé's stomach first to show the crew that it's safe. She REALLY doesn't seem like the kind of person that would volunteer for that sort of thing (in fact, I expected her to argue about it until it was just Mika and her left on Chloé's belly), so this really surprised me. Chloé has earned a lot of trust with Oklahoma, and the pilot definitely isn't someone who trusts easily.

And it was also sweet how Chloé included Oklahoma when talking about what she didn't know was missing in her life. That not only shows that the feeling is mutual, but it also subtly tells us that, yes, the two are getting along quite well when we're not around to see it (or even in those quick notes in the story, like when it was mentioned that Oklahoma brought Chloé to play cards with the crew).

I just really like the discreet way this has been brought along, with little hints here and there to let us know that this is happening. It makes scenes like the ones in this chapter make sense when they would otherwise feel pretty random for the characters.

I do feel bad for Carl, though. I feel like he indirectly called dibs on Mika's riding spot, so he kind of got screwed, and not in the way he wanted. Not only that, but a mermaid showed up and he still didn't get any sex (I mean, we are playing by Lovecraftian rules here, right?). Poor dude.

Emilia seems to genuinely like Higgins, even though she knows he's not a good guy. Maybe hanging around her sisters so much has gotten her used to sharing company with unfeeling killers (I mean, compared to Yukia, Higgins is seems downright cuddly). I also like the dynamic between these two, with Higgins' experience in high pressure situations giving him a bit of an edge on Emilia, despite the vast age difference. She's able to keep it together, but Higgins can keep her on edge. Between that and the mutual respect they seem to have for each other, it's always interesting to see them together.

And speaking of Emilia, I was curious how she was going to introduce herself to Mika and company, and it looks like she's going with the honesty route. That means it looks like we'll be getting a better view of the big picture in the next chapter, as I'm pretty sure the archivist of all people is going to have a pretty good idea of what's going on. Yeah, we've got the gist of things, I think, but, you know, unanswered questions and all that.

Thulsa Doom? Thulsa Doom?! THULSA DOOM?!

That's a hell of an obscure reference you threw in there! That's one family lineage even the cat girls cant Conquer.

Once again, I'm really enjoying this story. there's a lot of moving parts to it, which I'm into, but the biggest draw for me is still that dynamic between our male and female protagonists. In particular, the ethical quandary surrounding their relationship provides a lot of depth to both Chloé  and Mika.

I think the most interesting part of this is the different ways in which the two of them are using/interpreting the word scared. Chloé still believes that Mika is scared that she might eat him at some point, and this clearly breaks her heart. The way she starts to cry when she tells Mika she would never eat him or any of his friends was a sad but touching moment.

Of course, Mika already knows this and probably has for a while now. If there was any doubt of that, the fact that his reaction was to harshly ask about innocent people who aren't his friends proves this is the case. There was no relief that he was guaranteed safety, something you would expect even if he was still concerned for other people as well. 

No, he's troubled by that answer, because when he told her that she scares him, I don't think he meant that he was afraid of her. In a way, I think he's actually scared for her. He's afraid that she's going to turn into a monster ... well, more of a monster ... a metaphorical monster. Yeah, let's roll with that.

Mika's afraid that he's in love with someone who has no problem taking human life, regardless of whether they "deserve" it, that she'll only ever look at the humans she doesn't know personally as food. He's already trying to reason away any past innocent victims that Chloé may have killed (although he admits he'll never know for sure) by reminding himself that there was no way for her to know better back then. But the fact that he even asked her about it shows how much it bothers him that she might have killed someone who's only crime was being around her. While I think Mika legitimately cares for the lives of the strangers he's trying to save from becoming a potential meal, what he's really worried about is balancing the feelings he has for her with the fear that she's an indiscriminate killer.

In short, he's afraid that he can't be with Chloé, and his efforts to instill a good set of morals in her is his way of fighting against that fear. Not only that, but it's not enough for her to stop eating 

Chloé, of course, can't understand Mika's real fear, as she doesn't understand humans well enough to get such a concept yet. His words are having an impact however. Ironically, though, I think Chloé is doing more of the ethical legwork herself.

For example, I love the way this chapter ended, with Chloé hesitating to eat that womanizer, his begging causing her to fight against her instincts as she wasn't sure what to do. Before we saw which side won out (to be fair, the narrative itself seemed very pro-vore, but we still don't know for sure what she would have done), Mika intervenes and Chloé does the right thing. This is brilliant because we're left to wonder what choice she would have made on her own and, therefore, just how far she's come from a moral perspective.

What I'm really looking forward to down the road, however, is seeing how, if at all, Chloé's code of ethics differs from Mika's as it develops. Will she find instances where she feels morally justified to eat people (obviously, that's different from just eating people and not really caring, even if you try to justify it by calling them "bad")? If so, will Mika understand and accept those differences? I mean, would it would be enough for him if Chloé simply stopped eating people because he asked her to, even if she would still see them as food but just care about him enough to give up some delicious snacks? I don't think that's the case, so she needs to come to these conclusions herself if she's going to get to where Mika wants her to go. As such, he may have to decide if he can accept that she may be able to justify doing some things that he may not agree with, such as eating people who are actively trying to kill them. It'll be interesting to see how that plays out, if it comes to that.

I love how the tabloids are leaking out the catgirls' plans. I usually go to them for all my catgirl news, so this was very reassuring.

I'm also glad that we confirmed that Emilia is working against Ouroboros. It sure seemed that way, but I feel like this is the first time we could confirm that she was working to stop them rather than to sabotage her cohort for personal gain. I also really like her motivation and that she's been having these reservations for centuries, but only just now acting on them. That adds a sense of urgency to the story, cluing us in that this is different what her people have been doing all this time. Shit's about to get real. Like, really real.

The way her mindfuck powers are working on Oklahoma is also fun to read. Oklahoma gets to continue being herself the entire time (as opposed to being in some kind of trance state) and her true motivations shine through, even when she's acting on "orders." Also, I know she's eager to have first dibs on whatever treasure they find, but I wonder if she'll find anything that belongs in a museum.

I've quietly really liked Higgins's character from the start, and I really like where he's going. The way he's been set up as an unfeeling professional cutthroat this whole time makes his concerns about his current employer that much more potent to the reader. Also, I could see him slowly being set up for some kind of redemption arc (I think I've made my feelings on those very clear) but I could just as easily see him diving in head first and going the other way. It's nice to have that kind of uncertainty with a character.

And lastly, I didn't see the plot twist about Mika being part-catperson coming (although with a name like Mika, maybe I should have? It sounds very catperson-like to me, for some reason.). I'm intrigued to see where this development takes us, as Emilia hinted that he could provide an alternative to the catgirls shrinking us all down and eating us, which would be nice.

Having seen Chloe's more or less master English over the course of three chapters, I again have to say brilliant developing a language barrier for the Mika and her to overcome was. Not only did that show off how intelligent Chloe is (as Mika notes himself), but I feel like the way this was handled in the first two chapters has helped the man-eating naga maintain a sense of innocence that I don't think could have been pulled off if she could have simply communicated with him from the start.

It just feels more natural when she doesn't understand certain things about the human world, given that she didn't even speak any human languages just weeks before. And the cuteness that came from her gradually learning the language is still reflected when she forgets certain words (such as "legs"), and that puts a softer tone to her discussion on eating humans and "friend privileges." I think Mika's assumption that her ethics haven't developed yet is right on the mark.

On the subject on her ethics, it was interesting to see Chole feel "uncomfortable" after eating those three mercenaries. I think, on some level (although maybe not a conscious one), she understands that her eating habits scare Mika, which clearly isn't what she wants. And the fact that she can now actually understand what her prey is screaming from her stomach probably doesn't help much either. I'm really curious to see wear this goes, as her simple logic of "eat bad humans, don't eat my friend" might get a bit more complicated as the story moves forward.

I love how creative Chloe is getting with these fruit visions. I also believe that's the first time she has intentionally gotten Mika off. That ties in well with the ongoing theme of MIka being surprised that someone finds him attractive (or at least hinting that nobody back home does). The scene with Chloe manipulating him in her mouth to climax, then exposing him to the fruit reflects that the naga not only finds him attractive but also feels a deeper connection with him and wants to keep him safe, matching her other actions as well. I just like the intense feelings Chloe seems to have for him matched with the backdrop of a dude with zero confidence in himself.

And again, that constant conflict Mika has between wanting to escape, wanting to stay with Chloe, and wanting to be food is great! His need to uncover his past is really engaging, but the internal struggle he's having regarding Chloe is driving the story just as much.

Yukia and Emilia brought a lot more questions with them when they arrived. I certainly didn't expect Ouroboros to send in the catgirls. Shit must be getting real.

Yukia's shrinking power adds another element to the fetishy side of this story for sure, but I'm interested to see how useful it turns out to be plot wise. And my first thought on Emilia is that she's secretly working against Ouroboros, but she could just as easily be planning on just cutting out Yukia to move herself up in the organization. She adds another element of intrigue for sure.

Oklahoma's back! You said she'd be back, and now she's back! It seems Emilia has some specific plans for her, even if the pilot isn't able to remember them. In any case, I'm looking forward to the sarcastic pilot lady's reunion with Mika and introduction to Chloe. That should be really interesting.

And you left us on that little cliffhanger with Chloe and Mika, implying that Mika was the one that found her egg (apparently) 19 years ago. That of course leaves us wondering where Mika and his parents were when the egg hatched. I'm sure she would have appreciated their help against that villainous frog!

But yeah, I'm a big fan of how this little mystery is unfolding. The pacing is nice; I feel like we've learned a lot in just three chapters, yet there are still so many questions waiting to be answered. I'm pretty well locked in to this one!

I know Gloria Chesterfield is a pretty minor character in the grand scheme of things (unless she's not, of course), but I really appreciate the little details you've put into her. She has turned out to be a fun balance between brave, noble journalist and mousy, nervous girl-in-over-her-head. Between that and her, uh, direct approach to gathering information, she makes for a great comedic relief.

I'm also really enjoying the relationship between Emilia and Oklahoma. Emilia has this sort of refined aura about her and comes off as careful and bookish, while Oklahoma is decidedly unrefined, carefree, and action-oriented. This odd-couple style pairing works really well here, with Emilia getting a bit frustrated with Oklahoma's bluntness at times but also leaning on her a bit to get a better understanding of Mika and Chloé.

And it's impressive how quickly Oklahoma has come around to trusting Emilia, as the pilot is far from the trusting type. Even after being mindfucked by Emilia, she's still able to look back at the Neko's actions and look her in the eye and realize that her intentions are pure. And with how protective Oklahoma has become around Chloé and Mika, the fact that she was willing to keep Emilia's secret from them in the first place implies a really deep trust.

Speaking of Oklahoma being really protective, I was a bit surprised to see her reaction when Cécilia tried to eat Mika. I knew she felt close to them, but for her to become so fierce and potentially put herself in harms way for him shows that oftentimes deep-buried sense of loyalty we tend to love in our "rouge" archetypes. I've brought this up a few times now, but it really has been rewarding to see this "B-story" of Oklahoma going from a loner, for-the-money type to a true friend to Chloé, Mika, and (gradually) Emilia play out subtly in the background, poking its head into the main plot here and there.

As I said before, I was pretty curious about how Chloé would take Emilia's Neko repopulation plan, and man was that a strong reaction! She was more upset about that than she was over Cécilia trying to eat Mika. To be fair, he was fine by the time she realized what was happening, while the threat of Emilia "enacting her plan" is technically around as long as she is. Also, Chloé, now confronted with a potential threat to her relationship with Mika, became territorial, almost primal at the thought of having a romantic rival, even if romance isn't part of Emilia's equation. It was interesting to see play out, and we'll see whether that tension has completely boiled over in the coming chapters, I'm sure.

But I like the way you've handled Emilia's assimilation into the group. Mika starts off irrationally (though understandably) bitter about Emilia's role in his past, but that seems to be slowly drifting away, and his interest in history is something I could see them bonding over as the story progresses. Chloé was empathetic but skeptical about the Neko, then furious over the thought of her sleeping with Mika, and then we don't see them really interact after that. And Oklahoma, as noted above, is the closest to her, but in the most carefree, cavalier way possible.

And it was noticeable that when the train pulled out of the station, it was just Mika, Chloé, and Oklahoma sharing a toast, as Emilia isn't quite in that circle yet.

I'm finding Emilia's recollection of history to be pretty fun. I like her throwing out ancient names for Egypt and Istanbul (I personally like the name Constantinople better, although its namesake was just terrible), but her recalling interactions with famous people from history is pretty great. I especially appreciate how these stories involve her being just like any other regular person of the time (I feel like there's a temptation with stuff like this to have the time traveler/immortal rub elbows with these historical figures) and that her opinions of them seem to match those of her contemporaries at the time (her being annoyed at, rather than an awe of, Jessie James and the Sundance Kid, for example). Since her people are always hiding in the shadows, it wouldn't make a lot of sense for them to be so tight with so many well-known people, after all.

And lastly, I was intrigued by Charboneau's "critique" of Higgins. In particular, it was interesting to see how the older merc's perspective on the job contrasts so deeply with Higgins'. I mean, if you ignore the pure evil of what they do, what Charboneau says makes sense: People should love what they do. That also makes me wonder exactly how Higgins got into such a line of work if he didn't feel that way.

But yeah, I ultimately agree with Higgins in the last chapter: If you enjoy a job that calls for murder and violence, there's something wrong with you. And the more we see of Charboneau, the more Higgins seems to not be quite so bad.

The more we see of Shana, the more impressed I am at how you're able to make me view her so differently from how I did at the start of this story.

I mean, she hasn't really changed the way she acts or even speaks at all from the early chapters, and she hasn't had some sort of life-changing revelation to change the way she thinks or views the world, either. No, she's exactly the same as she was from the start. And yet, I find her so much more likable now, and she has gone from being a bully to someone I want to root for.

I know you said before that you were worried that Shana's "turn" might seem forced and unnatural, but the exact opposite is true. She's every bit the same as she was when we first met her, but a deeper understanding of who she is has radically changed my perception of her words and actions. I've said it before, but I can't say enough how blown away I am by that.

And this chapter is a perfect example. Without those chapters that showed Shana lightly (barely at all, but just enough) touching on her deeper feelings with her teammates, Shana would have come off as a hateful jerk for the way she handled the situation with Maya, despite the fact that she bought her food. But now, she can say things like, "If you open your mouth on the way, I swear I will strangle you and throw you in a ditch," and my reaction is to chuckle a bit and think, "Oh, silly Shana."

In other words, I can see beyond the hateful tone her words imply and see that she's really trying to be a good big sister. She just doesn't know how to do that, and the spite she puts out there is really just a defense mechanism. It's really interesting, and I find myself liking and sympathizing with her more and more each time she says something that seems terrible on the outside. I also find myself really hoping she can find a good way to actually express herself by the end of the story.

As for Maya, this was a pretty eye-opening chapter regarding her character. I've found it odd for a while now that Maya acts a bit younger than 13 quite often in this story, but I've mostly attributed that to the kind of silly, almost zany undertone you've inserted into this story, which does give it some much-appreciated levity. But after reading this chapter, I feel like it actually makes sense for her character now.

Seeing the lonely life that Maya lives (outside of Emily), with her mother always away and seemingly trying to parent strictly through parental controls and limiting Maya's access to things, I can understand why Maya acts so young and finds comfort in things that maybe some 13-year-olds would find to be a bit childish. She didn't have a role model to aspire to be until Emily came into the picture (which couldn't have been more than what, two or three years ago at most?), so her idea of what is and isn't childish is different from most (there are also times where she shows some advanced maturity for her age as well).

This is especially sad when you realize that that very role model was always present in Shana, but the elder sister's inability to properly convey her feelings has made that impossible. Not to mention that Shana's conflict with Maya's mother (and from what we've read here, I'm starting to think that Shana is right about her) has clearly driven a huge wedge between the two sisters. I can see now why Shana was so happy (whether or not she would ever admit it directly) that Maya found Shana, as well as why Shana wants Maya to make up with Emily.

I also understand why Maya deleted Emily's text. In a normal situation, that wouldn't have made a lot of sense, but seeing as how most of Maya's personal interactions have likely been with Shana, it makes perfect sense that she would assume that Emily would send her a randomly hateful text because she was mad at her. That sounds like something an unhinged Shana would do, after all.

So I can understand why the thought of reading something spiteful from her much older crush would be too much for her heart to bare.

With all of that being said, I'm really curious to see how this conversation between Emily, Shana, Maya and (most likely, I would think) Jane is going to go down. You've done a wonderful job with these last four or so chapters in building anticipation for this (and other confrontations to come, I'm sure).

First of all, I think that transition between chapters nine and ten reads a lot more clearly and is a lot easier to understand now. You had a good idea for how to pull off that transition, and it's nice to see it executed so well now!

As for this chapter, I continue to be thoroughly impressed with the uniqueness and complexity of the relationships you create between your characters, as well as how well those relationships are set up.

I figured Suki would become attached to Nadia over time, but I certainly didn't think she would become this attached this quickly. But even so, it makes a lot of sense that she did, given what we've learned about her so far.

At first glance, it might seem odd that Suki, the one who is by far the most cruel to the Little Folk could feel so much affection for little Nadia, especially with the way she has been constantly referring to them (and Nadia herself) as bugs and denying their personhood. However, I've been saying for a while now that there's some undertones to this character that make clear that she actually does view the tinies as people but is simply taking advantage of society's stance on them to exert her dark desires that likely stem from her lack of human connection. So I feel pretty vindicated here, with Suki forming such a strong attachment to one of the "bugs," who also happens to be the first person that actually has to spend an extended period of time with her.

When thinking of things this way, it makes perfect sense that Suki's closeted desperation for companionship wouldn't waste any time manifesting itself through her adoration of Nadia.

As for "Mushi-chan," her struggle to cope with her situation has quickly become the most intriguing thing about this story. She's actually starting to like the person who killed her brother and devoured her master, which is a pretty hard sell to make to the reader. However, you do a really good job of doing exactly that.

Between the hatred she's getting from her own kind, the adoration she's receiving from Suki, and the sudden elevation in her standard of living, it makes a lot of sense that a part of her might come to like and even appreciate Suki. The other Little Folk turning on her was something I really never thought of, but it's a great way push her toward Suki, especially given Nadia's emotional, fiery nature. I mean, we're still seeing the bitterness she has for her master in this chapter with the comment about him being free to come back from the dead and judge her.

Although, I do have to wonder if Master Sean had the foresight to see Nadia's pampering as a possibility when he made that deal. We'll probably never know, but I'd like to think that he was wise enough to have seen something in Suki that led him to believe her wasn't condemning Nadia to a lifetime of torture.

But anyway, with Nadia seeing Suki deliver what she believes to be justice on Matt, there's a lot of things in the plus column when it comes to the Little Folk's view on her giant captress. Hell, at some point, I could see her lessening Suki's murder of her brother as an accident (which is technically true, I guess), maybe even laying that at the feet of her former master as well (I could see her saying something like, "If he hadn't antagonized her, maybe Suki would have kept my brother around, too.")

But seeing these complex feelings from each character come together is what really makes this chapter. Nadia shows that she actually cares for Suki, but the disdain she still holds from her, combined with a shyness of these feelings (which Suki called out correctly, I think) leads to her having some particularly harsh words for Suki at a couple points in the chapter.

But Suki's reaction to said harshness is interesting. She cuts to the core of Nadia's feelings and appreciates the concern the tiny has for her. Even two chapters ago, I think Nadia would have been killed on the spot for talking back at all, but now she can call Suki names and all the big girl does is laugh it off or blush? There's a certain irony here, I think, in that Suki is treating Nadia more like a person than even somebody like Liliana would, as she's recognizing really complicated emotions from Nadia and responding with a level of understanding that I think even most normal-sized people wouldn't have for one another. It really shows how much Suki cares for her.

And while it's noted that Nadia believes that Suki's feelings are for her as a pet, I don't think that's quite right, either. After all, I think it's pretty clear that Suki wasn't going to eat Matt when she thought he was someone important to her, even though she obviously really wanted to. I don't think she would let a bug or even a pet keep her from doing something that she really wanted to do. And then there's how happy she was to receive Nadia's blessing to eat him. That acceptance meant a lot to Suki, which, again, is something that only another person could have made her feel.

But yeah, the further this story goes, the more interesting each of these characters becomes. I really have no idea where these two go next. Could Nadia be wrong and Suki eventually be redeemed through her love of Nadia? Or could Nadia keep drifting toward Suki's line of thinking and eventually act as a cheerleader or even an idea girl for the cruel acts Suki performs on the tinies? Or what would Suki's reaction be to Nadia trying to escape? I'm even left wondering where Nadia's head will be at by the time she inevitably meets the other characters in the story.

There's so many possibilities, and even though we know so much more about these characters now, I still can't predict what's next for them. That's something I really appreciate.

I'm also eager to see what's up with Emily and company in the next chapter. I can get into the darker stuff, but it was the gentle nature of Emily and her instant chemistry with Jane that initially sucked me into this story. After seeing how Shana, Suki, and Nadia have changed/revealed over the course of a week, I'm looking forward to seeing where our trio of protagonists are now.

Oh, and just a quick question. Did Suki just rename Nadia Mushi, or is that just some term of endearment she has for the Little Folk?

I do have a bit of constructive criticism regarding the start of this chapter.

The scene in which Nadia confuses the sock for a monster trying to eat her didn't quite work for me. I was able to figure out what was happening thanks to it being stated outright at the end of the previous chapter, but I found this to be confusing at first here.

First, I think you decided to reuse part of the end of the previous chapter at the start of this one, as it helps to clue the reader in that we're seeing the same scene from a different perspective. This wasn't a bad idea, but the fact that it was exactly the same passage from the before left me with a sense of deja vu and confusion.

If you knew ahead of time that you were going to use this technique, a better strategy might have been to have saved Nadia's portion of the narrative at the end of last chapter for the start of this one exclusively and work those thoughts between Nadia and Suki's lines of dialogue right before it at the start of this chapter, maybe starting with a description of Nadia being taken out of Suki's pocket from the tiny's perspective. In other words, the dialogue tips us off that we're rehashing the previous scene, but Nadia's internal struggle and rage is only expressed in this new chapter.

This would provide us with enough of a clue of what's happening without making us question our sanity (or maybe that was just me?) for a quick second.

Second, while I can buy Nadia not knowing what a sock is (I actually like that, as Jane set the precedent earlier by not knowing what underwear was. This makes sense, as these things are luxuries that people struggling to survive, at least to the extent of the Little Folk, wouldn't have or know about.), I had some trouble believing that Nadia couldn't tell the difference between a living creature and a sock, at least as written here.

I think you were on the right track by noting that she was crying and became terrified as she was lifted, but a more in-depth description about her becoming hysterical or maybe a note that her vision was blurred through tear-stained eyes would have made such a mistake much more believable. Blurred vision could easily justify her mistaking the sock for something like a snake, and going hysterical throws logic out the window entirely, which makes it easier to justify almost anything from her perspective.

Third, a description of Nadia feeling the material of the inner sock as she was "swallowed" and/or during her climb out would have provided an opportunity for the reader to figure out that the beast wasn't a beast at all. Maybe a thought or two from Nadia about how this isn't how she envisioned the "belly of the beast," noting how soft and unalive it seems, could have worked here.

And finally, I feel like we needed just a bit more detail on the "crawling beasts" that Nadia thought the sock resembled. As noted above, I kind of think this was supposed to be a snake, so maybe replacing "crawling" with "slithering" might have helped emphasize this. If it wasn't supposed to be a snake, another description in passing would have helped the reader identify what this was supposed to be.

When I read through this the first time, the "crawling beasts" part threw me off a bit, and I was wondering if Suki had a pet that she was using to tease Nadia with. As I read on, it became clear this wasn't the case, but I was really confused for a minute.

Overall, I think using this immersive narrative style was a good idea here, and you captured Nadia's blend of terror and anger (more on that in a minute) extremely well. But the scene itself was hard to follow and it took reading it a few times for me to figure out exactly what was going on here. I hope my criticisms above made sense and might be useful to you going forward with you work.

Now, with that out of the way, I really liked this chapter overall.

I can't say enough how much I loved Nadia's attitude here. People react differently to fear, and that tends to get lost a bit in these fetish stories, with tinies usually having the narrow emotional range between terror and hopelessness. Nadia deciding to go out with pride and sacrificing herself to inconvenience her captor and the "beast" is refreshing! It was great to see her anger win out over her fear and embrace such a "fuck you!" mentality, even if it didn't work out for her in the end.

I'm really enjoying pretty much all of your characters in this story so far, but Nadia has quickly become one of my absolute favorites!

I also like how the dynamic between Suki and Nadia is shaping up.

With Suki, it was finally stated outright what had been hinted at quite a bit these last few chapters: that Suki had an exceptionally lonely childhood and had no friends. That explains her awkward social skills, as well as her lack of value for other people. I think she takes out her frustrations with people in general out on the Little Folk (I still say that, deep down, she sees them as people, but indulges in society's claim that they aren't to justify doing what she would want to do with anyone if she could get away with it).

In short, she's never had anyone in her life that to care about or who cares about her, and that frustration comes out in sadistic glee as she has tormented Nadia and company.

But now, near the end of the chapter, we see the tiniest signs of her feeling a sense of companionship with Nadia. She uses her personal shower gel to clean the Little Folk (and it's noted how big a deal that is to Suki) and she seems somewhat happy that Nadia is clean and to feed the little person (even her excuse that Nadia was "too clean" to play with seems like a weak excuse to give the girl a break).

I'm not saying that Suki cares about or respects Nadia, but maybe finally having someone else around has started to change her a bit. This opens so many narrative possibilities! I initially thought/hoped this might turn into a Shana redemption story, but is it really a Suki one instead (I wouldn't have even thought that just a couple chapters ago)? Maybe it's one for both of them. Or for neither of them!

Even if Suki keeps being evil, this new development could open some interesting avenues to explore for Suki and Nadia (especially given Nadia's justifiable hatred of Suki).

I've been pretty high on the unique relationship you built between Emily and Jane previously, but I'm starting to see a no less unique one forming between Suki and Nadia but in an entirely different way. I'm really looking forward to seeing where this goes!

It was nice to see Shana show a bit of what's underneath that tough exterior, if only slightly here and there. Getting to see her interact with a different group of characters, ones that she has a different type of relationship with, was able to draw a little more out of her but without her having to give up that rough-around-the-edges demeanor that we've become accustomed to when dealing with her.

And I think we learned a bit about her as well. The way she talked about Emily, even if she didn't say it directly, indicates that she has a certain respect for her. She also trusts Emily with Maya (I'm with Liliana, I'm not buying this "She's not my sister" bit, either), which I think is a bigger deal for her than she lets on.

Also, it was pretty cute how flustered the tomboy got when Liliana subtly let Shana know that she views Shana as a friend. It shows that Shana doesn't really know how to deal with that, which implies that she doesn't have any real friends (I think Suki is more of lackey than a friend).

I think seeing this softer side to Shana could be important moving forward, as I also think that she's going to have to "pick a street" regarding Little Folk for this story to really advance. At some point, she's likely going to recognize that tinies are more than she thought they were, and that can go one of two ways: She can be like Emily and treat them like people or she can be like Suki and use them as a release (although hers would likely be more about anger and stress relief than the sexual release that Shana is seeking).

Either way, I'm guessing that seeing Suki with Nadia (and how Nadia actually reacts to whatever terrible things Suki is doing to her) is going to change the way Shana sees things. Now that we know that there's a (slightly) softer person in there somewhere, we can accept the possibility that she might follow the path of Emily rather than the path of Suki. If she does, what does that mean for her when she thinks back to all the tinies she killed without a care? And if she goes the other way, how crazy is she going to get with tormenting the Little Folk (probably Jane at some point)?

I thought it was interesting that Liliana came to the opposite conclusion that Emily did about Shana's indifference toward stepping on Little Folk. To Emily, not even taking the time to acknowledge that Shana was killing them is worse than Suki deliberately trying to eat them, like Shana is insulting them by acting like they're not even worth acknowledging. Liliana, on the other hand, sympathizes with the tinies, but accepts that unintentional deaths at the feet of people like Shana are going to happen, so it isn't that big of a deal to her. Liliana strikes me as one of those people that Jane described a few chapters ago, a person who cares about Little Folk and maybe even believes that they should have some rights but doesn't see them as equals. I could see her owning a pet tiny and pampering it (I'm assuming she comes from money with the way she was presented here).

I don't know if that comparison holds any significance to the story going forward, but I was kind of intrigued by it nonetheless.

I also wanted to say that you did a great job differentiating all of these new characters, Liliana in particular. I love the regal, teasing, almost benevolent personality you crafted for her. Of course, Hannah's shy, quiet, on-edge character and Satsuki's quiet but deadly and slightly sarcastic demeanor were pretty stark and enjoyable as well.