Reviewer: Js23 Signed [Report This]
Date: December 21 2016 2:03 PM Title: Introduction

Please

Reviewer: lancealot501 Signed [Report This]
Date: September 24 2016 7:23 AM Title: Introduction

Really can't wait to see what happens next. I know Jacks plan is to stay out of school for a few days but I don't know how he will acheive it. Also I can't wait to see where the story and Jacks romatic life goes from here.

Author's Response:

I'm delighted you're so eager to read more, I'm just sorry I can't update more regularly; tends to be very intense periods of writing separated by long periods of thinking about it in the back of my mind and building the story. Still a long way to go...

Reviewer: TomSpeedy Signed [Report This]
Date: September 24 2016 1:39 AM Title: Separation

Feels like the story is over. All these goodbyes, the memories, things back to normal. A guess a conclusion is coming up.

Let me guess. The final chapter is titled: "Completion".

Right? I know there's a lot more words out there that can fit, but I think this fits best.

Or it could be "satisfaction" since we are all satisfied with this ending.

I will miss Penny. She was good for this story. A symbol of hope, a protector and a sign that not all Alphas are bad. She gave Jack a new chance at life and I wish them all the best.

I can't wait for the next chapter!

Author's Response:

If this were a trilogy, this would be the end of the first film... or something like that. I'm still not entirely sure how long it will be, or exactly how things will pan out, but there's a lot of ideas and scenarios being worked through and this is just the end of the beginning, in some respects.

Reviewer: TomSpeedy Signed [Report This]
Date: September 23 2016 12:16 PM Title: Connection

Penny should surprise Jack. She should get a picture of Caitlin, enlarge it, print it, then wear it like a mask and scare the shit out of Jack. Then she takes of the mask and hugs and kisses him repeatedly(not on the lips) all over his face.

I don't know why I thought of that but I just think it would be a thrill for Jack.

Also, being in the friendzone is better than the Beta toy zone like with Caitlin. Jack is so desperate for love that he sees his only female friend as a lover.

Maybe Penny will change her mind. Maybe her time alone will make her think that Jack is all that she needs and she will start seducing Jack. (I know it won't happen, but just a thiught.)

I can't wait for the next chapter!

Author's Response:

That would be so mean! I don't think she particularly wants to give him heart failure. You're also absolutely right about the (apparent) friendzone, even if he feels like a lovesick fool and pines for her, she's very kind and supportive of him, and that's a big deal in a world of apparently uncaring giants.

Reviewer: Carycomic Signed [Report This]
Date: September 21 2016 8:37 PM Title: Connection

Thanks for the head's-up. And, no problema. Even I go through George Lucas Syndrome, every once in a while!

Author's Response:

Ugh - George Lucas syndrome... I hope I didn't inadvertently ruin anyone's childhood or anything. I just reached a point in the story where I thought 'that rounds off the Chapter ok', but then, when I started writing some more, realised it would be way better to end it the way the start of the next Chapter was shaping up.

Probably shouldn't rush so much...

Reviewer: geeman Signed [Report This]
Date: September 21 2016 5:05 PM Title: Connection

I see, abit better way to end the chapter. Not like it changes things drastically or anything but it leaves on a more thoughtful note. As always, I'm looking forward to updates!

Author's Response:

Cheers - I just felt like I rushed the end of the Chapter a bit, and when I started writing the continuation I felt like it would be much better to end on that note, than start on it.

Reviewer: geeman Signed [Report This]
Date: September 21 2016 12:09 PM Title: Acclimatisation

Awesome! I'm glad this story came back! Right now Jack is a lucky guy no? I guess it's only fair considering what he went through! I still think he should have gone to the police! He's got evidence, the emails, witnesses, and more! Can Caitlyn really get off Scott free with so much proof and considering what she's done? Well whatever. Anyway, I'm glad u came back!

 

Author's Response:

Caitlin can arguably counter his evidence (it's just some messages he wrote so she could claim it's to smear her), provide her own witnesses and intimidate or disincentivise those Jack would rely upon - it appears to have happened before and she has the resources and connections to make things go away - so it would still be a really difficult and protracted thing. Obviously, if we're really getting into it, they might be able to trace the messages back to her iPad, but let's say there's a way for Caitlin's people to muddy that particular avenue of investigation, and play up the absurdity of the claims based on a previous attempt to defame her character, and with her Father's money greasing the wheels of the machine... it would not be as clear cut as it should be. Obviously I'm no law expert, this is just a story that's hopefully relatively realistic, and from a story point of view, as of right now, it makes no sense to have Jack start litigation against the Reids when he basically doesn't want people to know, and wants to move on with his life and forget it ever happened... OR DOES HE? (He kinda does, it's just very complicated for him, lots of conflicting emotions on the go.)

 I also want to foster a sense of injustice about what happened, about her getting away with it, or not, and what Jack himself does within his own means to cope. As soon as I start to involve his parents, the Police, make it into a courtroom drama, all of the intrigue of the GTS parable goes out the window - at least that's how I feel about it. I need to keep the cast and the scenarios small until there's a reason for it to break out, if you know what I'm saying.

Reviewer: Carycomic Signed [Report This]
Date: September 20 2016 9:54 PM Title: Acclimatisation

Ah, yes; SOME LIKE IT HOT. The original gender-bender. A laugh-riot with what Leonard Maltin describes (quite accurately, as far as I'm permanently concerned) as the greatest closing line in film history!

FYI: when George Raft snatches away the coin being flipped by Edward G. Robinson, Jr., demanding to know where the latter "learned that cheap trick?" It's an in-joke reference to George Raft's character having the same tendency in the original SCARFACE!!*

*That's right, folks. Al Pacino's version was a loose remake.

Author's Response:

Nobody's perfect.

Reviewer: Seth Lase Signed [Report This]
Date: September 20 2016 7:26 PM Title: Acclimatisation

Nice to see a new chapter to this story, one of my favorites. I feel rather sorry for Jack. In a world where he is undersized, and not at all respected. N even Penny seems to truly respect him and does not even notice him as the same age as her.

I do wonder how Jack will be able to have a normal life. Caitlin and Amber is still out there. It would not be hard for Caitlin to kidnap him again if she ever sees him at school or even out in the street.

If Jack does go back to school, he will need to make sure that Caitlin does not catch him alone/

Really nice story and look forward to what happens next.

Author's Response:

Thanks for the feedback!

Reviewer: Concordant Opposition Signed [Report This]
Date: May 21 2016 5:46 PM Title: Introduction

This story is on its way to being one of the best on this site. You've managed to balance the fetish content with the dramatic content so well that the two - which are normally at odds - actually compliment each other, building the narrative into something greater than the sum of its parts.

This combination of smut and plot often feels dissonant or forced, but I think the reason it works so well in GH-X2 is because you've crafted a world and characters that are exceedingly human and believable.

The fact that the hormone only works on children and the relatively slight size difference it creates make the setting and size interactions feel like something that could actually happen in the real world. And yet the impact of the size difference is not reduced in any way. At 2x scale it is hardly difficult for Alphas and Betas to coexist logistically, but the physical power an Alpha holds over a Beta person is no less absolute than it would be if the Alphas were 5x or 10x larger.

With a believable setting it becomes much easier to write interesting, believable characters.

Let's start with Jack: he is an author/audience proxy character, nondescript white male, in high school, etc, etc. Very common in size fiction (and honestly in genre fiction in general). He also has a size fetish himself, which in most stories is an inexplicable (but very convenient) idiosyncracy - the character only has it because its important to the author/audience fantasy that he does. Even other "serious" size stories fall into this trap sometimes (looking at you, Titan). But in Jack's case it makes sense he should be attracted to the giants. The size difference is only 2x, and all the girls his age are that size. They're all big and impossibly beautiful, and on top of that mostly unconcerned with his existence through no fault of his own. That would mess up any teenaged boy's sexual development.

Caitlin is a young woman with serious misconceptions about love and trust, who likely has low self-esteem despite her outward success and privledge. Acting out her fantasies on someone small and helpless like Jack seems reasonable. In our world she'd just find weak-willed male orbiter to domineer, but GH-X2 turned them all into manly paragons who would never bow to a strong woman, so she turns to a Beta like Jack to make herself feel powerful. The most recent chapters reveal that despite Caitlin's capacity for cruelty, once her desire for gratification is sated she's actually a normal (vulnerable, even) girl.

Amber is a natural sadist. She probably enjoys hurting animals too, but torturing a Beta is both more fun and more socially acceptable.

Hannah is ditzy and childish. In the world of GH-X2 Jack is a rare anomaly, and so she's probably never been taught how to treat a Beta respectfully. As a result she treats him like a pet, because that's what makes sense to her intuitively, and is in line with what she's seen from people like Caitlin.

Alex has got more of a brain on her shoulders, and is probably the most interesting character in the story so far, because she's the closest to a normal person - an outsider to the standard interactions of the size fetish that all the other girls fall into to some degree.

She's obviously more than capable of empathizing with Jack, but she rarely shows it because she's a more guarded, reserved person and being super nice to Jack (like, say, Penny) would be out of line with the normal tomboy persona she wears. She probably thinks of her treatment of Jack at school as being like a dickish older sibling. She's mean to Jack, but would never think of seriously hurting him. There's clearly a line for her that just shouldn't be crossed. Jack obviously doesn't see it this way, though, and I don't think Alex really understood his perspective (and just how vulnerable he is) until she saw how the other girls treated him at the pool.

For example, when she broke his pen in class she probably didn't think it was a big deal. He was ogling her, and after all, it's just a pen. She doesn't know that it was his only pen and that Beta sized pens are actually very expensive. Just as she didn't know what Caitlin and Amber were capable of doing to him in the privacy of a home.

I'm very interested to see how she treats him at school now that she's seen what he goes through and has taken a huge risk in saving him. I would expect her "public" actions to maintain the same tone, but lessened, while in private she will likely apologize to him and assure him that if he really needs help then she'll have his back.

Finally we have Penny, the willowy brown-haired sweetheart who has become Jack's saviour and confidant. She natually has a kind and gentle demeanor, but her past experiences - both with Jack and with her own growth - have made her particularly sensitive of Jack's unique plight. She's aware of his personal space, how intimidating her size is, and how easy it is to be condescending or dismissive of a smaller person. Many gentle giantess characters are written this way, with a intuitive knowledge of how to treat a tiny person, but rarely have I seen as a compelling an explanation for it.

 

Other say that its impossible for Jack to live a happy life unless he finds some way to grow. I think that Jack's biggest enemy is actually himself. While his size puts him at a disadvantage, it's not so great that with some self-esteem and talent he couldn't land a job and get a girl. The reason normal girls like Alex and Hannah treat him like crap is because he acts so weak and scared. The problem is that girls like Caitlin and Amber give he very good reasons to fear and doubt himself.

 

Ironically, if Caitlin could handle treating Jack with respect I think they'd be an awesome couple. She just needs to learn to keep the kinky stuff in the bedroom. Maybe she will. I fear she can't.

Author's Response:

Hard to put this into words, really - I may never get a review this good for anything I do ever again.

At the best of times, I find it hard to accept that people are able to write such intelligent, incredibly profound stuff about a wish fulfillment story I've been faffing about with in my spare time. From the bottom of my heart - thank you - you may not realise how much it means to me to read feedback like this.

Onto what you've written - you've basically summed up what I'm trying to do better than I have myself. Barring a few minor discrepancies that I haven't clarified yet as I haven't explored them fully, you're spot on about the characters, and your thoughts mirror my own. There are a few things I would like to clarify:

i) Totes agree with the non-descript white male protagonist thing - apologies in advance for contributing to the least original trope in western literature. It's me, basically. If I wasn't a non-descript white male, I wouldn't have written Jack as one - it helped me put myself into his position enormously. (Honestly, I did very strongly consider writing someone completely different to myself in the role for this very reason, but in the end, decided to just be honest to myself.)

ii) Not *EVERY* Alpha male is a macho studmuffin (though it seems like most are, in Jack's eyes) - GH-X2 doubles predicted height, and increases metabolism and athleticism, but a naturally short, thin boy will grow into a comparatively short, lean and wiry Alpha man. It's not explicitly explained, but Caitlin has bored of Alpha men who do not match up to her (she's a comparative 6' 7" and very powerful) and it seems like she has gone for a more extreme size differential mainly for kicks.

iii) Torturing a Beta isn't more socially acceptable than hurting an animal, but bullying Betas is relatively widespread and not taken as seriously as it should be. You could argue that abusing a Beta is fun for Amber because her victim can communicate that humiliation back to her in a way she understands, whereas an animal cannot.

iv) Jack is in many ways his own worst enemy, but not in all. His fears and hang-ups are largely justified, and even if he tries to be brave, things inevitably backfire - he needs a lucky break a lot more than he needs to grow a pair. Growing a pair arguably ended up getting him into more trouble, actually... Alex and Hannnah do not treat him like crap because he's weak, they treat him like a little kid because to them he's less than 3 feet tall and would fall over if they blew on him too hard.

v) Caitlin is Jack's dream lay. Mine too. But it's not all about that - and that's what the story will continue to explore.