[Report This]Date: November 27 2024 10:09 PM Title: Downsizing
Just finished chapter 3 and figured I'd get some of my early thoughts out there because it's going to be a long while before I catch up. You probably don't need your 99th review to tell you this, but this story's fucking great so far! I see why it's so popular.
First off, the worldbuilding is fantastic, intricately detailed but never bogging down the plot. All the bureaucratic nonsense surrounding the downsizers and handling them is really well thought out, and everything from how tiny phones work to how tiny paper feels thick as cardboard is really clever.
You also did a great job conveying how stressful the idea of downsizing is in these early chapters. Like, Matteo is about to live our collective dream, but I feel for how rough this situation is for him, and I can sympathize with his desire to not shrink (especially after what happens with his mom in chapter 3). The way he reacted with his mom and dad in that scene felt like such a real response and I'm impressed by how much I can see a real teenager acting like that towards his parents in this situation (which is to say, I think the dialogue there was very well written).
As for characters, I'm calling it here: Beth's gonna be my favorite. She's a towering muscle mommy, what more reason do I need? Oh, and a bully with a heart of gold is one of my favorite archetypes. The way her and Matteo “got along” despite her behaviour and reputation was sweet to see, and I loved her confrontation with Triscia at the mall. I'm not sure if her relationship with Matteo is gonna wind up romantic or platonic (or perhaps neither), but I'm very eager to see how it and she develops from here. At the very least, her “interest” in downsizers is certain to be entertaining.
Matteo's an interesting protagonist. It's rare to see an unwilling shrinking scenario like this, where he technically consents to shrinking but is against it internally (as opposed to the more common, protag finds himself shrunken and has to react to that). I loved seeing that anxiety build as he approached the fated moment, and the malaise he feels as his life is turned upside down, like when the apartment is being sold and all their possessions hauled off. It'll be great to see him with his friends again now that he's tiny, and hopefully they can lift his spirits and he can open his eyes to gain a new perspective on life or some junk like that lol. And as I said before, I'm really eager to see the downsizer enthusiast Beth get to know the new Matteo and how their bond shapes from there.
I like Sofia a lot so far. Is it because she's hot? Listen, you can't keep describing how big her boobs are while putting her in outfits that fit too tightly and not expect that to affect my opinion of the character. Her waking up among the shrunken women in the shrinking chamber was really evocative, along with every outfit she wore proceeding and following that lol. Great job with emphasizing her scale, and the scale of her curves, compared to the shrunken women. I have some very cursory, incomplete knowledge of what's coming up regarding her and Miguel (something about cheating and a microwave?), and while I won't pretend that isn't painting my early impressions of these characters, I'm very intrigued to see how they develop from here. Her inability to downsize after Miguel and Matteo did, and after they sold all their stuff, took out a loan, and bought Lilliputian property they can no longer use is so rough, but the fact she legally cannot touch her family in this stressful moment is such a strong way of exacerbating the tension in that scene. She clearly has a lot of love for her son and husband, and I'm very curious to see how their new stature affects her attitude and behaviour towards them. (I'm holding out hopes for her and Matteo. They're both going through enough as is, and a strained mother-son relationship is the last thing either of them need right now.)
I've got a bad feeling about Liam lol. Luna seems nice though, if a bit preachy.
And Matteo's friends seem like a lovable bunch. Skater girl with an energetic tiny girlfriend? Yes, please. I hope Jack finds the tiny girlfriend he's looking for too. I get the feeling I'm going to be wanting some gentle M/f (or M/m) to balance out whatever Liam's got going on.
So yeah, really excited to read further! I'm a slow reader, so it'll probably take me at least a year to catch up (I honestly don't know how serious that estimation is lol), but this probably won't be the last spewage of praise you see from me.
Author's Response:
Yooo, TerryLarka!
Thank you for giving this story a chance and leaving such a positive review! I wrote those first three chapters almost a year ago. It’s so refreshing to hear your opinions about the characters from so long ago. I almost forgot what it was like for them. You like Beth? I think we all like Beth. Actually, I think you’re going to like all the giantesses. They are so different and respond in their unique ways to the downsizers. But yeah, Beth is something special.
Thank you for the comment about their dialogue. One of my favorite parts about writing is dialogue. It’s like having an RP session with yourself, lol. But yeah, that comment means a lot to me, and thank you for pointing it out.
Ah, Sofia. Sofia and her big boobies. I had to describe them in great detail so you’d get the picture, okay? Lol. She’s much larger than other women in terms of height and curves. Not as tall as Beth, but you get the picture.
LMAO, how do you know about the microwave? Haha. I should put that as a tag. I don’t think Sofia is a bad person, but when you get to that point of the story, I would love, LOVE, to hear your opinion about her actions. It’s one of the climactic points in the story, I guess. Your point that she has a lot of love for her son and husband is true. Problems arise due to the huge differences in size. You’ll see.
Liam’s not bad. At least, not now. In the earlier chapters, I knew little about him, but his character has developed to its own in the latter part of the story.
Hey, thank you again for taking a chance on this story. I’m glad you're enjoying it. You’re in for a treat of an adventure story.
[Report This]Date: March 13 2024 6:01 AM Title: Downsizing
Well, I've cluttered up the reviews of your other two stories, so I figured I may as well do so with this one too!
First, I have to echo one of the other review in praising your worldbuilding here. There are a ton of little details in how this dual-sized society works, and we're delving a little deeper into how all that works with each chapter. It's clear you put a lot of thought into this, and that's greatly appreciated.
Maybe even more importantly, at least to me, is how that information is being presented to us. There's a real natural flow to it throughout the story so far, with no part of it feeling the least bit exposition-y. You've done a masterful job of blending these details in with casual conversation between the characters, Mateo's own thoughts and concerns about downsizers and downsizing himself, and super fun propaganda! I've yet to feel the least bit burdened or info-dumped upon while reading this story so far.
As for the world itself, is it just me or does it feel like there's something really sinister goin on in the background of this whole downsizing thing? I mean, $5,000 a month rent for an apartment that is clearly nothing special? And rent is going up?! Not mention Miguel and Sofia's enthusiasm for downsizing, despite the fact that the only reason they're doing it is because they have to financially. Mateo was right about they're responses to his arguments seeming scripted, although I think conditioned might fit even better. But it wouldn't really be conditioning if everyone knew it was conditioning, right?
And could there even be amore dehumanizing thing for the downsizers than calling normal people humans? Sure, downsizers are very much protected in this society (at least for now), but the fact that both normal-sized people and downsizers themselves consider the latter to no longer be human just because they're tiny now is pretty chilling. Not only that, but, since everyone seems to view it this way, those choosing to downsize are literally willing to give up their humanity in order to have a better life or save the planet or whatever. Yeah, I can't envision a scenario in which this branding nightmare ever coming back to haunt the tinies! Not at all!
Between that stuff and the obsession over carbon footprints and climate change, it just seems to me as though people are being steered toward downsizing rather than naturally thinking it's the best choice for them. Someone is putting a lot of work into convincing people that this is the case, at least that's what the voices in my head that I put in charge of organizing my conspiracy theories are telling me. I like to keep things orderly in there.
Mateo is a really relatable main character, and I'm finding it very easy to get behind him, even when he does stupid stuff like walk out on his family at two inches tall (I'll get to that in a minute). His quiet, more passive demeanor (most of the time) means he lets people push him around a bit (Beth obviously, but the way he let Trish go off on downsizers with no pushback comes to mind as well), but he's shown that he has a little fire in him if he's truly stressed. And the bond he has with his friends feels genuine and really strong.
His concern about downsizing are pretty legit, and I can't blame him for considering complete isolation from the bigs. I think the fact that he didn't press that "juicy red button" (I love that wording to describe the temptation, by the way) shows just how much trust he has in Hazel. I mean, the only reason he was starting to come to terms with downsizing was being able to live in a society where he would always have the option to be surrounding by people and things sized for him, so trusting Hazel enough to not isolate himself from his friends seems pretty significant.
Still, I'm going to go ahead and guess that his first time seeing her as a giant and being "handled" is going to go less than smoothly next chapter. He's just too overwhelmed right now, and that's going to be a lot for him. Not to mention the fact that while Hazel has experience with handling a downsizer, Emma was born that way, so dealing with someone adjusting to being tiny will likely be a challenge for her as well.
Speaking of Hazel and Emma, those two are extremely cute together. Hazel's laid back attitude is really fun, and it shows how much she cares about her little girlfriend when she breaks that demeanor and gets serious. And Emma's happy-go-lucky attitude not only endears her to the reader, but it also shows how comfortable she is not only with her size but with Hazel as well. Her enthusiasm at evening-up their group with two tinies and two bigs is pretty funny, too.
And Jack made me crack up pretty hard with that "I hope you don't die" line. He's just so fucking awkward, and the thought that this was him trying to be legitimately supportive made me lose it.
I'm pretty curious to see how this group dynamic shifts with Mateo being a tiny now. Jack and Hazel seem really open-minded and respectful about downsizers, so I don't think this is going to be one of those "friends gradually stop seeing you as a person" type stories, but I could see Mateo being overly sensitive to minor changes to things and blowing stuff out of proportion or the two bigs doing something that they don't realize is a big deal to a tiny that used to be a big. No matter how it goes, it should be pretty interesting, I think.
I love Beth! Putting her this low in the review is in no way a reflection to how I feel about her as a character. That hard exterior that she showed in the first chapter had me wondering which way you were going to go with her, and I was thrilled to see her show that she actually cares about Mateo (and downsizers in general) in chapter two. That combination makes her unpredictable, especially since I'm getting the vibe that she thinks that Mateo likes to be pushed around a little bit (and I'm not so sure that she's wrong about that) and might act on that at some point after the inevitable meetup between the two happens. But that soft interior protected by a prickly exterior thing she has going on has the potential to be really rewarding for the audience down the road.
Also, this is just pure speculation on my part, but I'm guessing that Beth's home life probably isn't the best. Something is making her hostile (and let's face it, as hot as she's been made out to be and with her status as a star athlete, you would have to be pretty hostile to be a exiled the way she has), and that something doesn't seem to be originating at school.
Trish is a really interesting character. I'm not sure exactly what you're going to do with her. Part of that has to do with the nature of her complaints about downsizers. The things she was talking about didn't strike me as stuff that high schoolers typically worry about. It sounded more like stuff she's heard at the dinner table over the course of several years. So I think she was unwittingly conditioned to think this way (probably off-handed complaints from her parents or possibly older siblings that they likely didn't think much of at the time; not that they would care that she hates downsizers, too).
So how will Trish feel when she sees downsized Mateo for the first time? Well, the fact that she ditched him and that we got such an unflattering look at her at the end of chapter two doesn't bode well, but you never know. Does she still care about him at all? Did she ever actually care about him at all? Will seeing him tiny piss her off and/or awaken something in her? Or will it make her second-guess her worldview?
There's a lot of places you can go with her, and we really don't know her well enough to have a good idea of the role she's going to play in the story. I kind of like that.
Sofia is such a sweetheart! She's strong-willed but super nice, not to mention incredibly patient (I wouldn't have been able to deal with Luna for that long). I love the passion she showed when she found out about Trish being a sizist. And the understanding she showed during Mateo's tirade displayed a level of maturity that most adults never reach, in my opinion. She understood just how angry Mateo was and, more importantly, that because she ended up keeping her size, she was going to be the scapegoat for that justified but misdirected anger. Even with all the stress she was under, she put her son's feelings before her own, and that's extremely admirable.
As for that tirade, I completely understand Mateo's anger, especially when he found out that he would have to live in the big world because his mom couldn't downsize. Like I said above, he was clinging to the fact that he could stick to Lilliputian Lakes and possibly even the downsizer parts of school to get him through the downsizing. Now that comfort has been ripped away from him (his tiny home is now gone, and now he has to choose between his friends and his comfort around tinies at school). It's not Sofia's fault, but, at the same time, she's the reason why this is happening. It only makes sense that he take out his frustrations on her, even though that's not really fair.
What's really funny to me, though, is that he's so made about having to live with the bigs that he's going with his friend to, uh, live with the bigs? He clearly didn't think that one out all the way, not that I can fully blame him, given the situation.
And I blame the fact that Mateo is even in that position mostly on Miguel. I really like the nuanced way his machoism has been shown so far, kind of as a "live by the sword, die by the sword" kind of thing.
For example, he knew how upset Mateo was about Sofia not downsizing, but he demanded that they see her anyway. Then he expected Mateo to come with him to see her (against the advise of the clinicians), despite his son showing that he was going through a myriad of emotions at that moment. Then, when Sofia showed up and Mateo was clearly freaking out, he made his son sit down instead of letting him leave to get himself under control. And finally, when Mateo finally snapped, his expectation for Mateo to just accept the situation like he had served to further antagonize his son rather than bring him back. If he had just taken a minute to consider what his son was going through instead of expecting him to man up and act like everything was fine, he probably would have given Mateo the space he needed to come to terms with the new situation and things would have most assuredly gone better than they did.
At the same time, Miguel's need to be a strong man is exactly what Sofia needs right now. She needs someone to lean on, and if her husband would have let their situation get to him (he didn't seem super thrilled about living with the bigs, either), she would have fallen apart after Mateo walked off. Not only that, but him being there for her, as well as how much comfort she found in that, show just how much they love one another.
So while I like Miguel, I do think that machismo needs to be taken down a step or two, just enough for him to be able to show a bit more empathy toward his son. Huh, I wonder if being two inches tall and being married to a giant wife might help with that ...
I did want to go back to Sofia for a second. I thought the twist of her not shrinking was brilliantly executed, as I didn't see it coming until they were separated (not that this gave anything away, but just by the nature of writing it set off alarm bells in my head). But I think holding off on describing her until the flashback during the phone call (when we pretty much knew what was up) was a pretty good way to conceal that she was going to stay normal-sized (if you had described her, especially like that, in chapter one, I think we would have figured that she would end up a giantess).
And I also wanted to compliment you on that scene with her in the downsizing room. There hasn't been much giantess content in this story as of yet (not that I'm complaining, as I'm pretty into the build up of the story, as the length of this review should show), but that was a great example of the less is more concept. I mean, really all Sofia did was role over, stand up, and take a step back to catch herself from falling, but, with the way you wrote it, it was hot as hell!
Lastly, Liam and Luna have me pretty curious. Liam obviously works with tinies, given that he has a permit already despite the fact that he didn't know Luna was shrinking down until after she had already done so. So I'm left wondering where he works. And just what the fuck are unregistered downsizers? Are people shrinking themselves with pirated tech? Or maybe it's a reference to downsizers who neither live in a downsized community nor have a big to look after them? And just why does Liam think it's okay to ... do things to these unregistered tinies? Then again, he didn't seem like the most empathetic person in the world, either.
And I feel kind of bad for Luna, as she seems pretty brainwashed (again, assuming that there's something nefarious going on behind the scenes). At the same time, I love how into Sofia she is, especially since Sofia is annoyed by her but is too polite to show it. I think that might lead to some interesting times at Luna and Liam's place in the coming chapters.
Author's Response:
Have I mentioned how much I love your reviews lately? :D
Worldbuilding – I’ve been dreaming about this universe ever since I’ve seen the movie, and I’ve always fantasized my version of it. Of course, I made the downsizers smaller, heh. And two, I wondered, realistically, what type of protections would extend to downsizers in this type of universe. Because if downsizers lived a harsh life or as second-class citizens, who’d want to downsize then? I was having second doubts if I was worldbuilding too much. There was a recent discussion about it at the gtsworld discord, and it seemed like a lot of readers dislike worldbuilding and just want to jump into smut. But your kind comments about my gradual exposition of the universe reassured me. I’m glad to hear others enjoying it.
Sinister Motives – Yes! Someone gets it! You’re so observant. Although this universe seems awesome on the outside, it’s a disguised dystopia. We’ll see more hints as the story progresses.
Hazel & Emma – You probably noticed from my other stories, I’m a shrunken woman, F/f, fan. And these two are my favorite to write about. I love their relationship and the way they speak to each other, including the level of trust Emma shows in her bigger girlfriend.
Beth & Trish – They’ll play a big role in Mateo’s post-downsizing life. Mateo will have lingering feelings for Trish, whilst his new stature will intrigue Beth. Beth kind of represents the macro-fan in all of us. The size dynamics between her and the downsizers create a borderline obsession with the tiny people. While Tricia despises them.
Sofia & Miguel – Sofia is a victim here as much as her family is. I’m happy to hear my twist sorta worked, haha! My beta-reader suggested I make Sofia sound like a background character as to not draw attention to what was about to happen. I’m glad he gave me that advice! And yup, Miguel is a macho-man coming from old-school thinking, where he doesn’t show any weakness or show any emotions that may take away from his tough-guy persona. It’s gonna be real interesting to see how his life turns out, now that he’s smaller than his wife’s thumb.
Liam & Luna – Unregistered downsizers? Dun dun dun!
Huge thanks for writing that awesome review! I never expected such a response to this weird idea that’s been floating in my head. I’m happy to hear you’re enjoying and hope to continue delivering!
[Report This]Date: March 12 2024 5:42 AM Title: Downsizing
Honestly, Mateo being as pissed off as he is, is understandable. His family aren't exactly helping the situation here.
Emotions are running high, but imagine shrinking down thinking your life is going to be one way and it turns out *after* the fact now plans are changing.
He didn't even want to shrink, and now they're all angry at him for being angry?
I'm on his side in this.
If he never wanted to see/interact with them again, it'd be understandable. Imagine being around a constant reminder of how your life was changed (against your wishes) and now you're not getting at the very least, the tiny life promised and planned for?
Author's Response:
I'm glad you agree with Mateo! I've RP'd this with myself before I wrote it. Mateo's reaction, to me, is realistic, especially coming from someone young. He had little to no voice in a life-altering decision. And guess what, his mom didn't have to go through with the life-altering procedure after she shut him down. He's right to be angry.
Thank you for your comment! I greatly appreciate every comment I get, as it helps with my motivation to continue writing!
[Report This]Date: March 10 2024 6:14 PM Title: Downsizing
Loved this chapter. I liked the twist where the mom couldn't downsize. I hope there is some good interaction between her and her now tiny family. One suggestion I have for this story is for a bit more butt content. Keep up the good work.
Author's Response:
I got someone else asking for more butt stuff, haha. I'll find a way to naturally work it in. Thanks for your comment!
Date: March 10 2024 8:32 AM Title: Downsizing
great chapter
Author's Response:
Thanks!
Date: March 10 2024 5:28 AM Title: Downsizing
Dear Lord this was the perfect chapter. I absolutely love how busty the mom is, and can't wait to see her be the mega milf she was born to be. Seems like she's got plenty of cleavage to keep her disobedient son in for timeout.
Author's Response:
Oh, I know you like busty moms ;P