Reviewer: sandman579 Signed [Report This]
Date: June 06 2021 3:43 PM Title: Reticence

Interesting, so Tae is a family member of a large Chinese family owned mega-corporation. Maybe something like a branch family or adoption since she doesn't have the army of assistants lingering around her like Grace. Curious what her role was, it seems to hint she dealt with some of the shadier parts of the company, since she has access to weaponized shots of the diminishment virus, is a proficient fighter, and has contacts that can track down or even kidnap people for her. The last mystery for her is whatever tragedy happened in her past. She keeps calling herself a monster and had an instant reaction to Alice calling her one, she either killed a friend/family in a fit of rage or is guilt ridden for failing to protect them from someone else.

Curious if Thomas is going to be able to walk away from his probably inevitable encounter with Tae. He's protective enough of Alice, and I don't think Tae is going to bring her back up to torment her further, so if he brawls with Tae when he learns she's already dead I wonder who will end up shrunken and what actions Grace takes in the worst scenario. It would be interesting to see if he hesitates and talks things out if Eren confesses to him what the girls did to him the night at the bar. If he has any measure of sympathy for specks I can see Tae letting him go.

Finally Eren's job interview. I have a suspicion. I think Madeleine Lacroix is possibly either a speck friendly scientist/engineer or maybe secretly a speck herself. I think speck friendly scientist is the more likely, I sort of get a feeling from a character from the Titan Empire series who found humans adorable and loved working with them as what her personality could be like towards specks. I imagine at some point if she's speck friendly she reveals she realized he was a speck weeks ago but didn't see a problem with it. Or alternatively if I read her wrong and she's a "specks are pests" supremacist who learns Eren's a speck when someone outs him and she then fires him.

One last topic I'm curious if Grace Chen learns of how bad the specks in Norwich's situation is from Eren and if she does anything about it. A billionaire would lose pennies setting up a new and safe community for hundreds of specks. It would be an interesting twist if it was revealed her family conglomerate manages to shelter and care for specks by employing them as an innovative workforce.

Author's Response:

I greatly appreciate these very thoughtful and insightful reviews, they are a joy to read as the story progresses and the mystery unfolds. There is a lot of mystery left for Tae, at least that is the plan as more is revealed with each chapter and new questions replace old ones! We will have to wait and see what happens with Thomas and how future encounters with him happen, but you are as always onto something!

Reviewer: JDO Signed [Report This]
Date: June 06 2021 1:54 PM Title: Rescue

This story is FANTASTIC. Turnabout and revenge are old tropes but you're managing to knock it out of the park in such a creative way while giving us small little tidbits of Tae's past throughout the story to show us why she feels how she does and how she's able to do what she's doing. All of the size interactions have been super hot and it's been delicious seeing these former bigs getting their comeuppance once they're small. The bartender getting thrown in the toilet was so disgusting and hot. It's hard to say whether or not the punishment fits the crime, but that's part of why Tae is an interesting character, because she's not perfect so we have to flinch at the thought of "does this bartender deserve to get pissed on and flushed just because she looked the other way when Eren was getting tortured?" 

I haven't written anything in a while so take my critique with a grain of salt due to how rusty I am, but this last chapter seemed a little confusing with the way you laid it out. I feel like it would have flowed better if you started with Tae going to the airport to get Grace and then once Tae got the text on Sylvia's phone, jumping forward in time to Alice being captured. 

It's a small thing but I think it would make it less confusing as to the timeframe. 

Also, the scene with Sylvia getting captured and shrunk was so incredibly well-done with Sylvia slowly starting to realize that something wasn't right until the terror at what was happening washed over her. That slow-burn really let us appreciate her fall from grace, so it was disappointing to not get a similar scene with Alice. It felt a little bit rushed to me. I was actually hoping to see a scene where Grace worked with Tae to get that job done! 

Either way I'm loving this story and can't wait to see where else you take it. Cheers and thanks for sharing!

Author's Response:

I greatly appreciate your response!

I definitely agree that revenge can be overdone in fiction, I am elated to hear that I am keeping the tale original, and of course sprinkling in the size scenes which does beg the question if Tae is going too far or not with her actions, and the mystery why she cares so much. 

Regardless of how much you write I think that's really good criticism which after reviewing the chapter I wholeheartedly agree with. Since I know where the story/chapter is going I can forget that the reader doesn't have all the information I do or my thought process which can make it confusing. Since time/flashbacks will happen at certain points in future chapters I wanted to introduce the concept, but think I missed the mark here. 

Between Alice and Sylvia, I had not thought to include Alice's capture since Tae and Grace were not the ones to do it (at least directly), and thought the scene would be too similar to Sylvia's capture but would lack any surprise factor since by that point the reader would be aware of what was happening, whereas with Sylvia she and the reader learn what is going on at the same time. However I concur, it would have been really cool to see how that went and perhaps it will be explained more later! I definitely appreciate how much thought you put into the review and will make efforts to prove how the reader is able to interpret the passage of time in the story!

Reviewer: stanleysfan Signed [Report This]
Date: May 28 2021 4:22 AM Title: Rescue

very interesting. curious that if the tiny girl in the photo is tae herself

 

Author's Response:

¯_(ツ)_/¯

Reviewer: brett533 Signed [Report This]
Date: May 22 2021 12:58 PM Title: Resolve

another awesome chapter cant wait for more

Author's Response:

Plenty more to look forward too!

Reviewer: sandman579 Signed [Report This]
Date: April 29 2021 10:01 AM Title: Return

Interesting, her access to a shrinking serum and mysterious contacts who can easily track down people, as well as that last line, hints she either has a career as an assassin or is simply wealthy enough to afford feeding her desires. I say feed her desires since she clearly enjoys and gets excited at torturing a small and helpless human. She didn't have to kill Mikayla, just scare her into an apology before dropping her off at a small community. Interested to see the link on how she justifies her fury at witnessing smalls being abused or killed by regular humans with her own enjoyment of torturing shrunken victims.

The comments about how unusually tall and fit she is for a woman and her "odd" personality of caring for small humans has me forming a conspiracy theory about her origins. There exists a serum that can instantly shrink humans. What if the oppopsite is true as well, they made a formula that can grow diminished humans back? If it's an experimental or rare treatment it could explain why she ended up growing a bit too big. It would upgrade her origin from "she lost a small lover/family/friend to a cruel normal" to also personally knowing what its like to live through and suffer that as a small as well.

I wonder if what influence Eren has on her if she keeps him around to form a relationship with her. If she lets him watch her next act or is shocked to see him sneak in on her, how will they go forward? Will he just be a witness to her actions, or will he beg her not to kill his assailants, saying he's forgiven them after seeing her torture them. Pleading with her to just let them go?

Author's Response:

You're extremely observant! Definitely on to something, all I can say.

Reviewer: johnsmith10992 Signed [Report This]
Date: April 29 2021 2:50 AM Title: Return

Wow, almost forgot about this one. So glad you returned to it. Big fan of the Tae and Eren dynamic.

Author's Response:

I had finished most of the chapter weeks ago but was caught up in work and other stuff. Hopefully I am able to add more as things settle down. I am glad you are liking it so far!

Reviewer: sandman579 Signed [Report This]
Date: March 08 2021 9:21 AM Title: Revenge

Interesting, will we learn a bit of history about the world? Is shrinking caused by a past virus that pharma companies were able to study and turn into an injection to shrink people that became immune to the original wave? Or perhaps the shrinking compound was developed by governments to address growing poverty levels or population control by "lottery". Regardless it seems this world has developed a few generations of "born smalls" if Eren comes from a community with families. Tae is perhaps a rich socialite since Eren remarks how large and expensive her apartment looks so maybe she can pay to get shrink injections for her personal use while authorities look the other way. Curious to see if Tae has dark desires to abuse and dominate specks but has a conflicting nuturing desire, affection, or attraction for "born smalls". Does she balance her needs by targeting normal people abusing specks, a predator that enjoys hunting predators perhaps? Or did she have someone close who was a born small or suddenly shrunk and was killed in an awful way and she still feels guilty and obliged to help specks in need? Most people don't seem to care about speck abuse or neglect in this world so I hope we see a backstory or a confession explaining why Tae chooses to act. We'll have to see if Eren can get her to open up about her past and reveal to Eren about her activities, and if he has any impact on her continuing to be a cruel and violent hunter / protective guardian.

Author's Response:

You are right on the money with those predictions, I am glad you are enjoying the story so far!

Reviewer: Frozenbutt Signed [Report This]
Date: February 24 2021 11:14 PM Title: Rescue

A tiny guy named Eren, in a world of giants...

Author's Response:

Yah I'm a big fan of AoT/SnK, loving the new season so far