Reviewer: It Was Me Signed [Report This]
Date: November 10 2024 5:28 AM Title: Epilogue - A Tiny Hope, and a Glimpse Behind the Curtain

I meant to write this review a lot sooner, but I kind of got caught up in some other stuff and just now got a chance to come back to it. At least it looks like I beat the coda (I'm really looking forward to that, by the way!).

But man, after reading chapter seven, I realize you must have been laughing pretty hard when I DM'ed you my prediction for how this was going to end. I was really close! I just didn't realize that not having the VIP band would lead to Beth being forced to eat Cassidy (I thought it was more of a safety assurance thing than a security thing). That was a brilliant twist, and you absolutely got me with it!

And how about that ending! You made me cry and everything! That was such a tragic end (although maybe not, based on the epilogue) for our main couple. I have to admit that I didn't expect Val to straight up assault Cassidy for the band, although that level of desperation is certainly understandable. I actually thought Cassidy would give the band up willingly, so the fact that she decided not to risk being safe as a paying customer made the fact that she ended up being eaten anyway that much more depressing, because despite how accepting Cass was at the end, we know that she wanted to live.

Even the fact that Cassidy was at peace with becoming a part of her lover was incredibly sad. As we saw a couple chapters ago, tinies in this world have a huge confidence issue. That's part of the reason why most of them came to terms with the reality that they were going to be eaten by Beth. But like Beth realizing that the five tinies didn't even consider the possibility that they would be able to get her off and win the bet, Cass accepting that being a part of Beth is good enough feels like she's selling herself short and doesn't realize how amazing she is. The fact that Beth takes no comfort in this is a good sign of how much she really values the lives of tinies (odd to say, given the nature of her reason for visiting the establishment, I know).

I do get that this language (becoming a part of your lover, always being with them, and so forth) is at the heart of vore's appeal. But given that the theme of weighing just how much the life of a tiny is worth is so prevalent throughout the story, I can't help but think that Cass's words before being swallowed are more a reflection how beaten down by society tinies are than something to be romanticized.

That very theme culminated in chapter seven in a couple of interesting ways.

First, that moment when Beth noticed that the activity in her stomach had mostly stopped and she briefly considered throwing them back up before being interrupted mid-thought really stuck out for me. This made me think back to Cassidy's warning to Beth in that memory Beth had from before they left, where Cass was concerned that Beth would feel guilty at some point during the evening and Beth dismissed it. This was that moment, I think. Beth had made this experience out to be romantic and dignified, but once the vorgy stopped, the terrible reality of just what she was doing to those poor tinies finally started to truly sink in. If any of those tinies end up not surviving once Beth takes that Plan V drug, I really believe that their deaths are going to weigh heavily on Beth for the rest of her life (which, ironically, will preserve her memory of them more than the fun they had before she ate them).

Second, when Beth realized Amaterasu was wrong as he watched Cass dominate the scene with Dina and Val was just incredible! Indeed, any doubt that Beth may have been harboring in the back of her mind melted away as she realized that it was Cass that got her going, who she is and how she carries herself, not just dominating her like a toy or pet. That line by Amaterasu right after Beth ate Dina really made the point hit home, as her admitting that the whole scene was hot as fuck clearly disproved the sun goddess's whole point!

Speaking of Amaterasu, what a fucking twist in the epilogue! Now knowing that this whole thing was a production and that she was playing a role changes the way I view certain things she did, such as ignoring Beth's words as she went through her spiel about picking the VIP band wearer (that feels like a nice, generic description to put in a script in place of [insert victim's name here]). At first I thought she was just being stuck up and talking over Beth in annoyance of being interrupted. Now I can see that she was just trying to stay on-script and that said script didn't account for the feelings Beth was expressing there, so she just tried to ram through her lines and be done with it.

It also makes those moments when Amy was acting sincere feel that much more real in retrospect. Given that this was a "lovers to predator and prey" scenario initially, she must have been taken aback by how dedicated to Cass Beth really is, and those moments of sympathy, of "breaking character" as Master Hearth and Madam Hospitality noted, were signs that this actually touched her.

I know you said you were worried about what people would think of Amaterasu after the reveal in the epilogue, and I can see why. However, even despite those nice words I just said about her above, I feel like this new information actually makes her more evil. Before she was a misguided person whose feelings on tinies unfortunately matched too many people in society who was trying to do Beth a favor in her own mind. Now we know that she's a person who doesn't necessarily think less of tinies (she's working for at least two of them, after all) but still has no qualms about eating them. It makes me wonder if she would kill a normal-sized person if she could get away with it as easily as she could with a tiny. There's something uniquely evil about a big who recognizes that tinies are people but is cool with killing them anyway.

So yeah, the epilogue upgraded her as a villain in a big way!

But Hearth and Hospitality are intriguing villains as well! Tinies who are just fine with having other tinies killed just to profit off of these dinners and sex videos? Even without knowing the details, they're already pretty despicable! Not only that, though, but they also use their fellow tinies as sex slaves as well and even feed them to their big employee once they've outlived their usefulness.

That usefulness thing was interesting, too. I didn't fully understand it (I don't think we were supposed to?) but from what I gathered, Val's mom lost her usefulness because they knew Val wasn't getting out of Amy's stomach alive. Sumayya is still alive because they still don't know for sure that Nashwa is dead. From the sound of it, if either Val or Nashwa survived the night and kept Beth quiet about what happened, both they and their loved one would have been freed after a month, meaning that the Establishment is holding on to Sunayya to assure Nashwa's silence should she survive. Based on what Nashwa was trying to say before Beth swallowed her, it sounds like she (and presumably Val) knew this to be the case.

If that's the case, it frames Val's actions from throughout the night in a whole new light. As we were seeing things from Beth's perspective, Val's "annoying" desperation to survive came off feeling a bit selfish (even though it was actually perfectly reasonable). However, now it seems that Val wasn't just fighting for her life but the life of her mother as well. It's much easier to see why she beat the shit out of Cass and stole the armband like she did, and I can't even be mad at her for it (part of me was pissed that she did that to Cass, even if I understood that it was a survival thing). It's so unfortunate for her that things turned out like they did (although I can't feel too bad for her, as I want Cass to survive. Gah! These feelings are complicated!).

Backtracking to Nashwa, holy shit did her vore scene get my eyes a little watery as well. I forgot to mention it in my last review(s) (that's right, two reviews and I still forgot to mention shit!) that the story of Sunayya and her was so heartbreaking and aggravating! That spilled over to here, with Beth and her going from teasing each other to Beth trying so hard to comfort her. The irony of Beth's words about Nashwa being reunited with Sunayya now that we know Sunayya is, in fact, still alive, cuts even deeper thinking back on that scene. I really hope Nashwa survived her time in the belly of the Beth (I mean, I hope they all survived, but I find that pretty unlikely).

Foreshadowing as a tag! I knew Sal would be there, even if I didn't know his name at the time. When Hearth mentioned how long it would take for Beth to sprint to the nearest pharmacy, I remembered Beth's words to Sal about coming back if he was short on fares. You drew it out just long enough to make me feel slightly unsure that I was right, then he came in to save the day.

We didn't see much of Sal, but he's a pretty interesting character. He seemed really concerned about Cassidy (both at the beginning and at the end), and this is actually a little bit odd, given what we know about this world. Each of the dozen girls on the menu (except for Val, as I don't recall getting her story at all, probably due to the suddenness of her being eaten) had stories about how humans screwed them over or wanted to eat them. Each story helped to illustrate a world in which tinies were technically considered people but not really (except for Beth, pretty much). So Sal being so concerned for Cass's well-being, his willingness to drive unsafely to ensure they get to pharmacy on time despite not even knowing exactly what's happening, was really, really touching!

I'm sure there's more I could mention from these last two chapters (and if I think of them, I'll just write another review), but I think I hit on all the things that stuck out to me the most. These two chapters were a fantastic ending to a phenomenal story that could have easily just been a bit of vorey smut to commemorate vore day. That you put so much effort into this (and are even writing a coda to let us see how things turned out instead of leaving things vague) is something I want to express deep appreciation for. 

So thanks for sharing this incredible story, and hopefully you see fit to revisit this world again at some point (that epilogue opens up a lot of new avenues, I think)!

Author's Response:

Oh my god, how did I leave this unresponded to for OVER A MONTH?!?!?  I’m mortifie…

I do have to admit, I wrote that ending fighting through tears.  I didn’t have a definite ending in mind, and while I had a picture in my mind of a happy ending, the idea was to leave the story open-ended for the reader to decide.  The thought that none of them would make it out alive for many readers… Gahh, such a bittersweet feeling, smothered with a heavy dose of tragedy and dramatic irony.

Like you said, this world in which I set The Dark Establishment is… not a nice one for tinies.  The coda gives us a look at a couple of new normal characters, one of which is fairly par-for-the-course for your normal sized citizens, and another who reflects the less progressive minority - which is sadly still a large portion of the population in this world.

You touched on basically all of the themes I tried to bring together in the last chapter, and I’m glad to see that they all landed, more or less. And thanks for letting me know how you felt about Amy at the end.  I’m glad it didn’t negate her character, but rather showed all her actions in a new, arguably more sinister light.

As for Val and her mom, I didn’t want to dig too into the weeds on the details there - Amaterasu knows there were too many other characters, themes, and elements of world building I was trying to tie together there - but the idea was that Val’s mom was a lush, a druggie, and a gambler who got deep in debt with the wrong people, and those people recouped by kidnapping her and selling her to the Establishment.  At that point, the drugged out, but still moderately attractive woman was only useful for them as base entertainment, or as a snack for their best employees / contractors, except that Val had soon followed in her mother’s footsteps.  More coherent, with a nice body and the ability to listen to instructions, for the most part, Val’s mother became leverage to make sure Val cooperated with the scenario.  Once Val was gone, her mother became a disposable asset, and she was promptly used as a bonus for their favorite contractor.

Something similar might have happened to Sumayya had Nashwa been confirmed dead then and there, though she was still put together enough that she might have simply been drugged and used as an appetizer or part of an entree for another dinner down the road.

And speaking of Sumayya, I’m half-glad, half sorry that it cut so well.  I wanted to tie these dark backstories back into the present, and Nashwa and Sumayya were the perfect way to do that.  That parting cry as a distraught Nashwa is sent to what may well be her tomb was meant to, well, do exactly what it accomplished.  It really sucks to be a tiny in this world.  Hopefully, that knowledge helps make what Beth and Cass have so much brighter.  Well, what they had.  Dammit, I’m tearing up again!

Hahaha, I’m loving how much mileage that foreshadowing tag got in chapter 1.  It’s a little cheap to use it so flagrantly, but I knew when I started that I wanted Sal, the caring taxi driver, to play a part in the end.  Whether that part was driving them to safety, or consoling Beth in the end, I knew that kind old man was going to come back to check on his foolhardy fare.  As I was posting, I realized that starting the story in his cab was such strong foreshadowing, I couldn’t help but tag it.  I didn’t have a detailed backstory for Sal, but I pictured him as someone who occasionally drove tinies around in his youth, and despite his prejudices, he treated them well enough.  Eventually, either he falls for a tiny girl, or one of his kids does, and there’s a coming to the crossroads moment when Sal realized just how wrong he was about everything.  Rather than continuing on as he had all his life, he turns off and dedicates himself to making sure his tiny passengers get the care and respect they deserve

So, thanks again for leaving such an incredible review.  It makes me glad I take the time to add the foreshadowing, the background plots, and keep playing to the themes for the story.  I really hope the coda is to your liking.  I know it was a warm comfort for me during these stressful, chaotic weeks of the holidays.  I hope in some small way, it can be the same for you too.

Reviewer: ProbablyIX Signed [Report This]
Date: October 30 2024 5:11 AM Title: Epilogue - A Tiny Hope, and a Glimpse Behind the Curtain

This story was a blast from start to finish, really well done. 

Spoilers!:

The ending especially is perfect, considering the rest of the story. Having Beth be the one who had to consume Cassidy was a spine-tinglingly good choice, and the hint at a happy ending lets the story have its cake and eat it too (pun intended). I'll be eager to read the Coda whenever it's ready. 

Author's Response:

Thanks so much!  I'm so glad you enjoyed it!  I'm also glad the ending landed.  I was very concerned it would feel too contrived, or undermine Amaterasu's character throughout most of the story.