Reviewer: It Was Me Signed [Report This]
Date: August 02 2024 10:04 AM Title: Chapter 31: The End is Nigh

It's amazing that you've found a way to make Trish being so ridiculously big not only be incredibly hot but also continue to play into such a compelling narrative. All the buildup from this slow burn up to now has made her so interesting that even when she can't speak or move she's intriguing to read about.

That's a hell of an accomplishment, and I'll admit that when you initially marked this story's size range to the most extreme categories early on, I had my doubts that this story would be able to hold on to what made it special when we started measuring Trish in miles, let alone when we'd start doing so by states! But you pulled it off, and I have no doubt that the final chapter, no matter how large Trish is, is going to be interesting and satisfying.

I mentioned that the last chapter was heartbreaking, as that was the chapter when Trish became too big to safely interact with humanity, namely her family. But the start of this one was a bit gut-wrenching. Not only finding out that Trish's growth had claimed lives (albeit it sounds like those people's stubbornness is as much to blame as her), but to see her blink an apology for stretching for the first time in three days was just so sad to read. Throughout this story, it's been made clear just how much Trish loves people, loves humanity as a whole, so knowing how much it bothers her that people are dying just because she exists makes me feel for her in a way I don't think I have for very many fictional characters.

And for her to want to know the damage she's causing, even when Thomas would rather protect her from it, just made me love Trish even more. People are small enough now that she could just pretend they aren't there and no one could really blame her. Hell, at her size, she could easily justify to herself that she needs to be able to move around and that she deserves to be comfortable. It's not even her fault that this has happened to her!

But, once again, she tries so hard to put everyone else before herself, like a true goddess would (I still haven't given up on that theory yet; we'll see what happens next chapter). It's really touching!

But with that mentality, it only makes sense that she lost that faith that had guided her for so long, that she stopped believing that she could will herself to not destroy the planet. Such a trying time would shake anyone's faith, I think. But that just made it so much more rewarding when that faith came flooding back as she realized that her purpose was to save the people of Earth, not destroy them.

This week's Trish moment was her blinking that everyone was invited to live on her body before the president was able to explain what was happening. That kind of made him discussing it with Thomas privately first kind of pointless (not from a narrative standpoint, but from the president's viewpoint, if that makes sense), but damn was it incredibly cute!

Also, holy shit did you do an amazing job of selling Trish's size here. From the devastating impact of her subtle movements stretching to her cutting lose a bit and having some fun altering the planet when it was only those who wanted to stay and die left on it, the way you demonstrate the effect that Trish is having on the world around her is enthralling. I personally enjoyed her admiring that her foot was the size of Florida as she rolled her ankle and stepped on it. That was such a fun way to make that point!

But you also kept things interesting by keeping us posted on some of the other characters that have shown up from time to time in the story. I love how Nancy, on some level, kept the faith that Trish wouldn't destroy the planet even when Trish privately wasn't able to do so. Between that and her little near slip of almost calling Trish goddess on live tv, it's clear that Trish as a person had a deeper impact on Nancy than the newswoman would care to admit.

I felt so bad for Melanie at the start of her segment. I was sad to read that she went from wanting to make amends with Trish and Thomas and even be friendly with them again when last we saw her to hating Trish, although I can't blame her for this. Not only did she lose her job and home because of Trish's growth, but she's been branded a heretic because of the religion formed around Trish (ironically, Trish would have never wanted this for Melanie). Even though my hope was that Melanie would be able to at least clear the air with our two protagonists before the end of the story, I'm glad that she got her happy ending and found a way to love again. It was a beautiful ending for her (I mean, she could show up in the last chapter, but what was written here feels a bit like the last word on her to me).

As a side note, after reading this chapter, I came away thinking that the Little Ones cult is so interesting that I almost wouldn't have minded reading a story just about them, not even for the size fetish perspective of Trish but just out of interest. I'm not saying that to encourage you, but rather to point out that, in a short period, you shaped a truly intriguing lose religious order that I kind of hate but in a good way. In particular, the way that Barry guy twisted Trish's cute little ones to mean members of the cult itself was a great example of how people abuse and misinterpret religion to mean what they want it to mean, and I found that as interesting as I did despicable.

I was also thrilled to see Jake get what was coming to him. He came off as a shallow, chauvinistic jerk when we saw him early on, and this chapter absolutely confirmed all of my worst thoughts about him. To be fair, I think Gianna is a fanatic (albeit an incredibly smart one) who was way out of line for what she did, but I just couldn't find myself to feel bad for Jake. He's a jerk, and he got what was coming to him. I am left to wonder if he made it onto Trish at all before the end of the world, though. I know it was implied that everyone who wanted on got on, but between the fanatics and that crazy rush that he was afraid of in the first place, it's tough to say for sure (at least in my mind).

So yeah, this was an awesome chapter, much moreso than I could have imagined going in, given Trish's immense size and the fact that this meant humans were pretty much invisible to her. But Trish's gentle nature won the day once again! I really look forward to seeing how you end this story. I've been holding out hope that she would eventually become small enough to hang out with her family, but with the way this one went down, that could potentially mean the end of all humanity! So I'm curious if you found a way to make that work somehow, or if the last chapter will just be some sort of epilogue for the people living on Trish as she drifts endlessly through space.

Like her, though, I have faith!