Date: October 19 2015 12:57 PM Title: Inundation
The only negative thing about this excellent tale is the time between chapters. Sigh.
Author's Response:
I know, right?
Date: September 19 2015 12:08 PM Title: Inundation
This story has all my favourite elements! Good writing, suspense, giant dildos, and powerful women dominating vulnerable men!
At the same time, I feel like I will inevitably be torn by the ending.
One side of me wants a happy ending, where the bullies are punished, and Jack runs off into the sunset with Penny.
...And the masochist in me wants Jack to be completely brainwashed by Caitlin, and made into her cute little pet/toy!
Either way, this is an excellent story. I can't wait to see what happens next!
[Report This]Date: August 13 2015 10:12 AM Title: Inundation
I enjoy this series, and really want to know where this is going now. But the characters have gotten increasingly harder to read personality-wise, with the exceptions of Amber (who is straightforward in cruelty) and Jack (who honestly seems to have stalled in character development, but I would too if I was living in utter terror and humiliation for the last two days).
I think Alex doesn't like Betas still, but ultimately dislikes seeing displays of utter cruelty. So why is she still a bully, and more importantly friends with the others?
Also, does Hannah also disapprove of hurting people, or is she just sad because she ruined everyone elses good time? If it's the former, why was she enjoying it so much, and if it's the latter, why was she so broken up about it?
Also, what's Caitlin's motivation at this point? I thought she was just a dominatrix towards Jack at the beginning, but then later showed more layers to it, and now is showing less?
Will any of my questions be answered in the next chapter? I really want to know where this is going!!!
Author's Response:
Ultimately, you won't know where this is going until it gets there - I'm not really sure why you'd want to know in advance, isn't that the whole point of a good narrative in the first place?
More specifically, the characters are evolving as you see more of them - they're not one-dimensional and they are capable of complex reasoning, like most people I know. I'll give you the current standing of each of them:
Jack: Utterly fucking exhausted, has not had a rest since being dragged out of the bear, has not had a moment to think, has barely said a word, scared for his life, currently more scared of Amber than Caitlin. The latest chapter hasn't covered his feelings, only what's happened to him.
Caitlin: Not enjoying having her friends over as much as she thought, worried that someone will injure Jack which will make things complicated - not because she doesn't mind him being hurt; rather that she would prefer to have complete control of him herself to toy with.
Amber: Has not been in the story long enough to be anything more than an even more twisted version of Caitlin, motives uncertain, enjoys his pain and humiliation immensely, seems very vindictive and cruel, furious to be told to leave (worrying!).
Hannnah: Ditzy, enjoys being with the popular girls, likes the little man in a similar way to a doll or pet, likes to hold him, very childlike, gets upset because she fears her carelessness will get her expelled from the group - not intrinsically evil but easily led astray.
Alex: Doesn't care much for Betas, does what everyone else does, doesn't share Caitlin's preoccupation with them but tolerates it. Saturday is the first time she truly senses how helpless Jack is, makes her think, puts herself in his position, begins to doubt herself, needs time to think.
[Report This]Date: August 12 2015 6:17 PM Title: Inundation
Another great chapter!
Interesting to see Alex feel for the little guy. He needed someone or anyone to help him.
Getting beat up in water; Ouch! Each breath is crucial especially when you are just trying to stay afloat.
We all know Cailtin is cruel, but it felt different this chapter. It's like she becomes cruel to an extent and then decides enough is enough. She even watches how the other girls handle Jack and tell them to watch out. I'm not sure if she is trying to establish authority or just want Jack to still be in one piece.
Perhaps both. I thought maybe she was even jealous when the other girls played with Jack, and it became the cause of her casting her friends away.
The whole pool party scene felt like Cailtins way of punishing Jack for hiding. I think she pictured all 3 girls using extreme force and abusing Jack. Instead, Alex showed compassion and Caitlin's plan withered away. I'm guessing that's another reason that could explain why Cailtin told her friends to go away.
Good stuff, I can't wait for the next chapter!
Author's Response:
Caitlin definitely comes across as more measured and less terrifying here - this is partially because Amber is presented as the loose cannon determined to inflict damage on Jack, taking the mantle from Cait, but you also realise that technically she can't damage him too badly or there will be ramifications when the time comes for him to be let free. Jealousy could explain her actions, which would suggest a certain depth of feeling for Jack, but it could equally be explained by a selfish, spoilt sort of attitude: 'he's mine, I kidnapped him, hands off'.
Caitlin will view Alex as being a soft touch with him, Amber a bit of a liability, albeit an entertaining one from her perspective (taunting Jack is great fun for her), and Hannah as a silly little girl. For now, she'd much rather be alone to treat him how she sees fit instead of worrying about how the others might do too much or too little of what she wants.
Date: August 12 2015 4:09 PM Title: Inundation
And the suspension continues! I'm glad to see that there is at least one sympathetic soul in the group, maybe two if you consider Hannah (overly playful but not sadistic). Wondering how long poor Jack is going to be held prisoner. Eventually someone is going to be concerned (family or the few friends he has in this world) and file a missing persons report or something. Really like the variety you have going on in the group: the power-hungry leader (Caitlin), the sadist (Amber), the semi-ditzy party girl (Hannah), and the compassionate voice of reason (Alex).
Side note on Caitlin: Was that night she threw the tantrum and then broke down emotionally just a one-time deal? I couldn't tell if she had some kind of potential love-hate relationship for Jack or slight tsundere characteristics towards him, or if that all was just a momentary break from her overall character of the domineering type she comes off as in general. Wondering how she'll come off from here on out.
Tantalizing stuff overall, both among the variuos Alphas and the direction of the story in general. Looking forward to more!
Author's Response:
Thank you for the in-depth review, it's really nice to read other peoples' analyses of what's going on, and for the most part your experiences of reading this story have matched my intentions when writing it.
It's deliberately not clear how or why Caitlin has selected Jack to be subjected to this kind of treatment, she has previous with at least one Beta boy that was presumably serious, and she has explained some of her reasoning - a lot of what you have mentioned may turn out to be true, it's quite complex and will ultimately reveal itself down the line. I wasn't familiar with tsundere as a concept but thank you for drawing my attention to it; now I know what it is I've definitely seen it used prominently in manga I've read, and there are elements of GH-X2 that could be considered very similar.
PS: Whilst Alex comes across in this chapter as the 'compassionate voice of reason', it's more a by-product of seeing the worst side of Caitlin and Amber, one that she may not have seen before. She's not a Beta-friendly person, by-and-large, and didn't seem to have a problem crushing his pen, or carrying him for Caitlin to antagonise behind closed doors, but when confronted with reality of a small, powerless boy being held captive, stripped and abused in the name of 'fun' for her Alpha buddies, she felt uncomfortable being complicit with it. This chapter was quite an eye-opening one for her, as in many ways this was the first time she's been made aware of how serious the implications of being a helpless Beta can be, and the guilt and confusion was too much to take.
Date: August 12 2015 1:56 PM Title: Inundation
Pretty fun chapter, the gorls were surprisingly less rough with him than I originally thought.
[Report This]Date: August 12 2015 1:43 PM Title: Inundation
I was making a half-serious reference to the "Omega" stories of Ackbar and Jacksmith. As those stories depict a size-related social hierarchy similar to yours. Namely, the Betas (us normal people); Alphas (mostly female giants ranging from Amazonian to Brobdinagian height who are sadistically cruel to the Betas...just because they can be); and Omegas (giantesses of mega-to-giga height who try their best to police the Alphas...with variable success).
Author's Response:
Ah righto - sorry, I didn't know, I haven't read any of the stories from that series. I had no idea that Alpha and Beta were used in such a similar way, I decided to use the terms to replace Classic (normal) and Idol (giant) used by SpawnGTS in his story 'Classic Guys' - which provided huge inspiration for the NWO scenario I depict. It's obviously a common sort of idea, so I'm not surprised other people have used these terms in such a way.
As for the 'feminazi' thing, I'm not a fan of the term but I can understand its usage here. Almost all Alpha girls treat Beta men with very little respect, it's common for them to tease and humiliate them in ways that are unpleasant but rarely violent, the difference here is that at least two of the girls appear to be quite misandristic, hence 'feminazi'. As will be uncovered later in the story, the grounds for this are actually rooted in the fact that the Alpha world is in fact much like our own - the cards are loaded very much towards rich, white Alpha men and even rich, white Alpha women can feel jaded and usurped. Betas are lower down the food chain than any other Alpha-scale person, of any race, creed and colour, thus white Beta males are targeted because they appear to be smaller versions of the most commonly overly privileged people in society.
If you were to transpose this to our world, just imagine if there were a sub-class of half-size humans, predominantly non-white, but with the occasional WASP - it's not unreasonable to suggest that some people might choose to take their ire out on them because of perceived injustice, resentment, etc in the 'real world', and because it is so easy for them to do it.
[Report This]Date: August 12 2015 12:28 PM Title: Inundation
Now, I know what prompted the evolution of the Omegas. Feminazi atrocities like this one. :-(
Author's Response:
I don't understand - can you explain?
Date: August 12 2015 12:00 PM Title: Inundation
well maybe there's some hope for Jack when you see alex's attitude but it'll much better if jack's friends show up!
Date: August 12 2015 12:00 PM Title: Inundation
well maybe there's some hope for Jack when you see alex's attitude but it'll much better if jack's friends show up!
Date: August 12 2015 12:00 PM Title: Inundation
well maybe there's some hope for Jack when you see alex's attitude but it'll much better if jack's friends show up!
Date: August 12 2015 11:05 AM Title: Inundation
great story. glad to see that you're updating more frequently
Date: August 12 2015 10:47 AM Title: Inundation
Is there hope left for our protagonist after all? :D
Date: August 12 2015 10:23 AM Title: Inundation
Oh now one of them has a heart! Well, Caitlin will probably take it out on him.