amazing story

First off, I have to admit, I mistakenly expected there to be a mix up with Mateo and Kenneth by Liam in this chapter.

It seemed like all the elements were there: naked tiny Kenneth is dead, naked tiny Mateo isn't, Sofia assumed that he wouldn't be able to find his way down from the bathroom vanity (which I wrongfully assumed meant that he was absolutely going to find a way to do that), the near-accidental eating of Miguel last chapter (Mateo has no clothes and Liam wouldn't recognize his voice, which were the two things that saved Miguel), and we were given no indication that Liam and Luna knew that Mateo was in the house (they knew she was back from the school, but did they know why she went there in the first place?). Hell, even Miguel begging not to be caught was something I took to mean that he would be hidden somewhere and thus unable to see what the danger his son would face if found by the DPS officer.

So I don't know if these breadcrumbs were left to deliberately distract from what was really going to happen in this chapter or if I just read way too much into everything, but if it's the former, great job! You got me!

As for what did happen here, Sofia made me feel a lot of different ways this chapter. I've been going to bat for her for a while now, but I have to say that she's pretty indefensible with her actions for most of the chapter. She clearly doesn't realize what she's doing, but that doesn't excuse the physical and mental abuse she's putting Mateo through here. Between the beatings and the effort to strip him of his free will, she's filling the role of antagonist quite nicely, although I think, base on how she's been written to this point, that she'll only be doing so temporarily.

That's not to say that I don't understand how Sofia feels or that I think she's evil. Far from it. Her concern about humans makes total sense, especially after seeing first hand how easy it is for a human to squish a downsizer. I was wondering whether she'd see herself as a threat now or use this as an excuse to shut Mateo out from the rest of the big world. She certainly picked a direction on that front.

I also completely get her angst and even her anger at Mateo stepping out on the family in such a critical time I even said back then that while I got where he was coming from and couldn't blame him for leaving, he ultimately handled that situation poorly. But when he left, Sofia understood and didn't even try to stop him. Maybe part of her regretted that decision, but that she has gone from understanding to literally trying to beat those feelings out of him shows how far she's fallen.

I like that Mateo called her out a sizist, because he's exactly right. And I really like that Sofia's brand of sizism is so different from Tricia's. Sofia doesn't hate downsizers; she loves them, especially her family. But the mixture of stress and her enjoyment of the power she wields over the little people has devolved into her not really viewing them as people. She wants Mateo and Miguel to be happy and content, but she doesn't even consider their feelings when deciding what that looks like. She's pissed that Miguel left the box she put him in, quite literally yelling at him for not staying put away when she was done with him. And the fact that Mateo can't even talk about seeing his human friends, let alone his would-be girlfriend without risking a beating shows that she sees any thought Mateo has that she doesn't want him to have as something to be removed.

Basically, she sees downsizers as things rather than people, and she doesn't even realize it. Part of the problem is that her love of having unlimited authority over her family and her love for them in general are directly contradicting here, but she thinks that these two things align with one another. She thinks she knows what's best and what they need to be happy, and she's going to make sure they get it, whether they want it or not! They just don't understand or know any better, after all.

The saddest part is that she may well be irreparably damaging her relationship with her son, even though she thinks she's looking out for him.

I think this is where the silver lining is hidden. If Sofia truly understood what she was doing to Mateo, how much she actually hurt him and just what it is she's trying to take away from him, she would be horrified! I think the only way for Sofia to truly understand is either for her to go too far and realize that she's fucking up or another human shows up and explains the truth to her or their disgusted or horrified looks make her begin to realize what she's done. I've got some speculation in my head for how this might play out (assuming you plan on Sofia actually finding the path to redemption at some point), but given how absolutely wrong I was on the whole Mateo/Kenneth non-thing, I'll keep them to myself. Don't worry, I'll let you know if I was right, honest!

In any case, I think Sofia is going to spend a lot of time crying and lamenting her behavior if she ever gets around to starting the process of getting her proper permit. Although, to be fair, I imagine there's probably something in there about exactly what she's doing being a common mistake when interacting with downsizers for the first time. I imagine this very behavior was pretty common in the early days of downsizing, assuming it took time for the proper laws and organizations to form.

But aside from the frustration and sadness I felt reading about Sofia's unwitting self-implosion, she was also hot as fuck throughout the chapter. That insertion scene in the shower was incredibly well done, capturing a very complex set of emotions perfectly while also displaying just how easily her pussy was having its way with little Miguel. Caring about her husband but caring more about how he felt inside her, throwing caution to the wind and not worrying about his safety (even dismissing the notion that he even can be safe while fucking her) was as sexy as it was illustrative of the shift in her thinking on her tiny family.

And that Downsize Ninja Warrior bit, with her acting as the obstacle course, just awesome! I really enjoyed how much she got into it, sweeping them off her thighs and shaking them into her cleavage. And that insight into how having two littles using her body as an obstacle course made her feel just made the scene.

I love that Mateo is fighting for Beth in his own way. He knows he can get his mom's beatings to stop if only he stopped bringing her up, but he flat out refuses to let go of her. Now that he realizes how he feels about her, how he's always felt about her, he's not going to give that up without a fight!

And as frustrated as I felt about Sofia throughout the chapter, I felt just as bad for poor Mateo. That part where he straight up asks her why she's doing this to him, no cursing or anger, was just heartbreaking! You know, I can justify Sofia "kidnapping" him from school because he "ran away," but what he went through this chapter (and what he's likely to go through in the next half of it) is so far beyond anything he deserves for that mistake.

I also have a newfound respect for Miguel after reading this chapter. I like that he keeps standing up for his son, and the way the guilt of fucking Luna is eating away at him shows that he's a good man who did something bad for reasons he doesn't understand and isn't fully responsible for. Beyond that, seeing how Sofia has handled having power versus the glimpse we saw when he was the "dominant" one in the family draws a pretty stark contrast. Rather than try to control his wife, he would try to calm her down (or rile her up, which I took to mean that he did that because that fire in her turned him on), but it's clear that he would listen to her and that her opinion mattered to him. He was also big on Mateo respecting her as well as him, which is pretty different from Sofia getting angry at him for telling her how to parent her kid.

She doesn't even recognize him as a legit parent anymore. I can't imagine Miguel ever doing that to her, even if their roles as human and downsizer were reversed.

Overall, this was a spectacular chapter, filled with plenty of sexual and emotional beats that came out really well. And as of when I started writing this, there were 32 total reviews for the story already, so I'm looking forward to seeing that back half of this chapter on Wednesday!

Sofia has taken over the role of head of the family for sure

and the way she is raising Mateo is really impressive

OH MAN! This is getting intense! That description of the unaware crunch is pretty unique. I've read pretzels and soft fruit, but never cooked spaghetti. It really brings in another detail of how fragile downsizers are.

Drunk Sofia is absolute whiplash and I can imagine Miguel is really trying to be faithful, but her cute-aggression is not helping. Luna is quite the seductress. Either Sofia is going to come around and join the fun (her crushing criminals is frighteningly hot), or she is going to crush the shit out of Luna, haha. And maybe Miguel too....

Anyway, another awesome entry to another amazing story. Keep up the good stuff.

Edited for mistakes, sorry for the spam.