Date: March 11 2024 1:40 PM Title: Chapter 11: Absence
Not bad
Date: March 09 2024 2:43 PM Title: Chapter 1: The Strange Case of Patricia Hostettler
Absolutely brilliant.
Not only does your prose elevate this but the way you've structured the plot and character arcs of Trish and Thomas is simply put - great. The reuniting of the two was adorable and touching and the spice is layered with a self-awareness that I think really does something special in the case of erotica. Trish feels like an average person going through a traumatic ideal which achieves this level of realness in her character and only makes me see her more as a real person who actually grew to be a 'giantess' in both the literal and metaphorical term which our fetish loves to use, it gives her actions more weight in the story and they feel grounded and real and I have to commend you on that, and Thomas in some twisted fate as a fetishist being entangled in it all is great storytelling and you've depicted their relationship in such a genuine way.
I look forward to wherever you take it. GOOD STUFF!!! 10/10!!!
Date: March 04 2024 5:57 AM Title: Chapter 10: Scrutiny
Well, at least the cat (or all the cats, in this case) is out of the bag now, right? Right?!
This chapter was a straight-up gut punch, and that's absolutely a good thing. Looking at some of the other reviews for the chapter, it looks like pretty much everyone feels really bad for Thomas, which is a testament to how well you're writing has us invested in these characters. And this body blow was set up so well, too, given how it came out of seemingly nowhere (this chapter starts with a very different type of tension, which made how things developed especially blindsiding).
As a reader, I've developed so much empathy for Thomas and Trish, that it's easy to forget that the former's actions are ultimately wrong and that a good portion of what's happening to him now has been earned. That's not to say I think Thomas is a bad guy (I mean, I've been making the opposite case in pretty much every other review for this story so far, after all), but, as Thomas himself acknowledged at the start of the chapter, what he's doing to Melanie is terrible, even if his intent isn't malicious. Not to mention that the ethics of his position are in place for a reason, and he himself was concerned that he had inadvertently groomed Trish to love him (which yet again, I don't think is the case). So I say all of that to say this: it's pretty remarkable to create a character that engages in things that, on a surface level, most people would find despicable, yet present him in a way that makes us not only root for him while he's doing said things but want to root for him even more now in this "all is lost" moment and feel his anguish as he endures the consequences of his actions.
Man, I'm still kind of in awe over how masterfully you've incorporated what I think is one of the deepest fears among those who share our fetish. An invasive government pulled out a harmless post from before he even met Trish and exposed his "unique" tastes to all the right people to ruin his life. I'm pretty sure this is why some people (most notably writers) leave our little community and try to delete every trace that they were ever a part of it. There's a paranoia about being exposed and, more importantly, judged by those around us, people we care about or maybe even just have to deal with day-to-day that we're so sure wouldn't understand what this fetish really is and why it is that we're sucked into it. The way all of those fears became reality for Thomas in the worst way (granted there's more to his downfall than that, but we'll get to that in a minute) so quickly plays into real concerns that your audience likely has fantastically.
I also think that's part of what makes this whole thing hit so hard. It would be one thing if Thomas and Trish were caught in the act or an upset Melanie, after learning the truth, pulled the first threat of this grand unraveling in righteous anger, but to have the intrusive power of the federal government capitalize on something so minor, something that actually isn't morally wrong when Thomas has made so many moral misjudgments helps the audience get behind Thomas even more. Despite everything he's done (even if I don't judge him too harshly for his actions up to this point), he's getting screwed over. Like that's what does him in?! Really?! Not to mention just how hard this innocuous thing the Feds have found out has destroyed him so profoundly. I would think even those who might have been thinking that Thomas had most of this coming would have a hard time not getting behind him after this.
I'm also really intrigued by just what it is the government is after here. It may be a bit murky at this point, but it seems to me like they've got a plan in place. Agent Grisham immediately identified Thomas as "the one to talk to" about Trish, only for the government to dig as deep as a post on an internet message board made before he even knew Trish. They were clearly going to great lengths to sever the connection Thomas had with her, even if they didn't know exactly what said connection entailed. Then there's the 60 days of house arrest and trumped up criminal charge. It seems to me that they want Trish feeling all alone and in a less than clear mindset. Now what could the U.S. government possibly want with an ever expanding woman?
And while I feel terrible for Thomas, I feel just as bad for Trish, given the above-mentioned torment she's being put through here. And in addition to all that, she now believes that the one person who actually sees her for who she is rather than how big she is thinks of her the same way that everybody else does, only he's into it, which makes him even worse in her eyes. While everyone else is afraid of her, she thinks Thomas was using her like an object for his own perverse pleasure. So her anchor, the one who she could turn to when she needed somebody the most, is not only no longer there, but all of the support he had given her is now tainted. She can't even think back to the good times they had together anymore. She's truly alone in the world now.
With all of that in mind, I can't really blame Trish for being shitty with Thomas and refusing to hear him out. Not only that, but you also have to consider how she was told about Thomas's fetish. The feds, who I again think did this specifically to drive a wedge between the two of them, surely cherrypicked what they shared with her about it, maybe picked out a few select posts to really make Thomas look bad. Not only that, but Jeb and her lawyer aren't exactly his biggest fans anymore, either, so she's been hearing nothing but negative things about Thomas for two months straight, all while she was left starving, sleep-deprived, underclothed, and unable to stand up properly for at least part of her imprisonment. With all that taken into consideration, I think she handled that confrontation with Thomas about as well as could be expected.
Of course, all of that doesn't make her calling him a creep sting any less. That was brutal.
I do wonder what she'll think about the whole thing once she gets a good night's sleep and a proper meal (assuming the government doesn't having anything else immediately up their collective sleeve). Will she regret not hearing Thomas out, or will she double down on those feelings of betrayal and disgust? Will she regret getting physical with Thomas, or will her growing disconnect with the rest of humanity cause her to give in to that darker impulse she felt when she knocked him over or when she wanted to force him in to sex when she was drunk? Will she think back on those times with Thomas and refuse to believe that the love they shared was a lie, or will those outside influences continue to ruin her vision of him? And even if she does regret what happened, will she be too ashamed of herself or scared that he'll view her the same as everyone else now to try and do something about it?
I'm an optimist, and I think they'll work things out and be better for it. Aside from the obvious, out-of-story reasons to suspect as much, such as the knowledge that we're only about, what, a third of the way through the story and the title of the story itself, I do think that all the groundwork you laid out for this relationship in the first nine chapters built a strong enough foundation that Trish will eventually hear Thomas out and take him at his word (now whether this happens sooner or later, I don't know). Hell, I'd argue that something like this needed to happen at some point, as Trish needed to see Thomas as something other than the strong, confident, and damn near perfect man she had built him up to be in her head (all of the things that made her think that are a part of him, of course, but she needs to see him vulnerable and at his weakest as well to truly accept who he is) and Thomas probably needed something to show that Trish wasn't accidentally brainwashed into loving him (two months away and now seeming to hate him is enough to prove that any grooming that he thinks he incidentally did will have been undone). Now, if they end up back together after this moment, it will feel that much more real than it did before, and each can be more confident in the relationship.
Of course, I admit that things could easily go the other way. We could be in for 20-some chapters of Thomas agonizing over love lost and Trish slowly drifting further and further away from humanity, with another meeting between the two down the road being less than fun for our (probably former) resident psychologist. After all, the story's title could be an ironic one. Given the way the story has gone so far, I don't think we'll be going down a path that dark but not knowing for sure keeps things interesting and makes the prospect of a happier ending (or at least more potential happiness on our way to the ending) that much more rewarding if it comes to fruition.
Melanie is in a really interesting spot here. She could be about to fade away into the background (or "off stage" completely) or possibly be about to expand her role in the story once again. I'm really curious about the contents of all those voicemails. Is sweet understanding Melanie unleashing her vengeful anger on the man who betrayed her trust? Is she just looking for understanding about the situation? Is she, despite what Thomas has done to her, still concerned about him? Or is she looking to relieve a different set of emotions on him entirely? I really don't know, especially since we only got a brief glimpse into her reaction to his infidelity.
I could see Melanie piling on to Thomas's problems (not out of spite, necessarily, but maybe a need to unburden herself of those potentially hostile feelings), or I could see her being more understanding of his situation (despite her obvious hurt feelings). We've only had a small window into her personality so far, so a lot is left open to our speculation, but the impression I've had of her so far has been that she's generally an overly nice and understanding person. I couldn't blame her for bucking that trend in this situation, though.
Either way, I have a feeling that she's going to play a fairly significant part in at least the next chapter or two.
If I may offer a tiny bit of constructive criticism here, I think you put together a really good symbolic dream sequence pretty early in the chapter, but then you explained the symbolism of the dream immediately afterward. This isn't a mistake by any means, nor does it hurt the story (I think you flowed the explanation pretty smoothly into the narrative actually), yet I found myself wishing that you would have trusted that you had conveyed the meaning behind the dream clearly enough that such an explanation wasn't necessary. The dream was straight forward with its intent (especially with Trish's last line of dialogue there), but Thomas recognizing the symbolism of the dream as he decided to act on it and end things with Melanie felt (at least to me) that you were concerned that the reader wouldn't fully understand what it was about the dream that sparked this in Thomas.
This is, again, a very small knit to pick, but it's something that I've seen several writers, both within the sphere of this fetish and outside of it, feel the need to do. It might just be a personal preference thing (and if that's how this comes off, I apologize), but, as a reader, I strongly prefer to be left to interpret the meaning behind things on my own.
But yeah, fantastic chapter overall , and way to build anticipation for the release of the next one!
Author's Response:
Thanks as always for the thorough review! I have to say, I am loving the dramatic irony on my end. Knowing where the story goes from here and seeing you thinking about it is very gratifying as a writer.
On your constructive note: Yeah, I went over that line a few times. Ultimately I left it in not to explain the dream sequence, but to help explain Thomas's complicated feelings about Trish. He has subconsciously mapped his fantasies onto her and that interacts strangely with how he feels about her as a human being and a partner. While he fantasizes about Trish exercising her power over himself and others, that's not how he sees her as a person. I wanted to make that clear throughout the chapter, that he actually views her as sweet and harmless, to make her victimization at the hands of the government and her behavior towards him at the end hit harder.
Date: March 03 2024 5:04 AM Title: Chapter 10: Scrutiny
I'd not read macro stories in absolutely ages, but over the last week or so I belatedly dipped into the Amazon / MiniGTS section and stumbled across this doozy. I devoured Chapters 1-9 in one big go a few days ago, and then caught up on the latest chapter yesterday.
First things first - this is a great read; genuinely excellent. One of my favourite premises (gradual size change), thoughtful characters, punchy dialogue, and strong in-story logic. The last three chapters in particular have seen the ante go through the roof, each one ending in reader elation, trepidation and devastation respectively.
Prior to chapter 8, Thomas could conceivably have stepped away with his reputation in tact, but the cathartic steaminess of finally getting to be with Trish hit so perfectly you simply couldn't blame him for capitulating as he did. Chapter 9 then felt like him crashing through emergency stop barriers blindly hoping to jump the unfinished freeway, before Chapter 10 shows him torpedoing off it into a hole that leads directly to hell. I feel absolutely awful for him; he's one of the best-written macrophile-proxy-characters I've ever encountered so his downfall hits pretty close to home, but it's not like the foreshadowing wasn't there. As inappropriate and unprofessional as it undoubtedly is, you've done an excellent job depicting the desperate, desirous thoughts someone with our kink would almost inevitably wrestle with if faced with such a situation in real life - an almost Icarus-like parable.
Having Trish treat him with such contempt post-downfall is brutal but believable, it just hurts so much after the pair of them shared a real bond. I think this is very much exacerbated by the fact that Trish paved a lot of the path that led to them becoming intimate, from Thomas' perspective it felt like he fought it as long as he could, but when presented with an impossible dream made real, that terrible temptation could not be resisted forever. He was weak, and for that he seemingly pays the ultimate price, but as a reader I am absolutely desperate for him to find a way to explain to Trish how it unfolded from his position, how he truly meant everything he said about seeing her as a human, and how tormented by his feelings he truly was and is.
Whatever unfolds from this point forward, I am fully invested in Thomas' quest to appeal to Trish's sense of empathy, perhaps because it reflects each of our own journeys towards acceptance and being loved for who we are in real life, I just really want Thomas and Trish to arrive at that conclusion together too, even if it takes a particularly long and circuitous route.
Date: March 02 2024 1:17 PM Title: Chapter 1: The Strange Case of Patricia Hostettler
Man... This chapter makes me so Sad :(
Date: March 02 2024 12:43 PM Title: Chapter 10: Scrutiny
This was a difficult chapter. Hope things piece back together for Thomas and Trish.
Date: February 25 2024 8:31 PM Title: Chapter 7: In the Spotlight
Real nice flow and plot progression. I can understand Thomas's logic in taking a gamble on revealing Trish to the world, but it is a gamble all the same. Depending on how big Trish ends up becoming (thousands of feet tall or greater), I'd wager that there are those within the national security apparatus who would become paranoid and ruled by fear from the mere potential she'd have as a giantess, no matter how gentle she remained or how much restraint she showed in interacting with the outside world.
If she keeps growing to the point where she starts eclipsing skyscrapers, there might be those in the Pentagon, the NSA, the DHS, or some other bureaucracy who might believe she's too dangerous to be allowed to live and resort to an airstrike to take her out (maybe even go nuclear if she enters mile-high territory). Of course, you could end up having saner, more compassionate individuals running Washington in this story who decide not to be ruled by fear of what she's capable of, but that's your call to make in the end.
One point of note would be that if Trish does grow to the point of skyscraper-level height, both food and water would be a tricky thing to provide for someone of such size. The caloric intake would be astronomical by human standards, along with being able to clothe a human of such size. There's also the matter of finding a place to go to the bathroom, unless her metabolism makes it so that she no longer expels solid or liquid waste as she grows larger (in case you need a little "deus ex machina" to alleviate that kind of a concern). Finding a place to wash or shower would also be tricky once she enters Godzilla territory in the size department. She'd have to be using literal lakes to clean herself (unless she ends up outgrowing even those, then she'd have to turn to the ocean).
Anyways, all these concerns aside, I'm really enjoying the plot progression, as well as Thomas's ability to take command and control of the situation, despite him being so much smaller than her by this point. The chemistry between the two of them is really something.
Date: February 25 2024 6:19 PM Title: Chapter 6: The Party
Very steamy scene indeed, especially at the end right before Trish calls it a night. I'm actually surprised Thomas didn't take a cold shower instead, in order to try and snuff out the fiery angst that was no doubt building up within him. If I could summarize this chapter in one sentence, it would be this: "Oh, the temptation!"
Anyways, good stuff!
Date: February 24 2024 6:28 AM Title: Chapter 9: Affair
I think it's good that Thomas is concerned that he may have groomed Trish for a relationship, even though I'm pretty sure he's wrong.
The fact that he's so worried about this is one of the many reasons that his actions haven't groomed her into loving him (the extreme guilt he felt the day after is another). He has constantly put a barrier up between them, keeping things professional despite his feelings, with the Patty Hotcakes incident serving as a prime example. The "grooming" was just them talking and getting to know each other (which, again, you've done a great job of showing throughout this story so far).
I'm of the opinion that Trish would be acting a lot differently if her feelings had been the product of grooming or were really an obsession rather than love. For example, mistake number two started with Trish waiting for Thomas to make the first move because she wanted to gauge how strong his feelings for her were. If she was groomed to love him or obsessed with him, she would be desperate for him to love her instead of giving any thought to what he actually wants.
Also, her writing off the initial mistake as a mistake at all and burying her feelings for Thomas's sake isn't something someone conditioned to love (if you can even call that love) would do. She put his wants and needs (i.e. his job) ahead of what she wanted, which, to me, is a sign of legitimate love.
In fact, Thomas initiated the second mistake because Trish was more in control of her feelings than he was of his at that point. The way I read that passage, it seemed as though she would have been content with that one moment she had with him (that's not to say she wouldn't have been bummed about it, but she was willing to accept that when she didn't know that he felt the same way).
Now, I do think her feelings of isolation played a role in the initial formation of their bond, so his concerns about inadvertently taking advantage of her weak mental state early on make sense. But really, that's less about how he treated her and more about how everyone else treated her. The hospital staff acted like she was a monster to be avoided while he acted like she was just any other patient (even though she was anything but in his mind). That's not his fault, and I think they've laid a more legitimate foundation from the friendship they formed after she got over that and got her confidence back.
I also like how patient Trish was with Thomas admitting his love for her. She knew how he felt (he showed her in the woods, even if he refused to say it), and that was enough for her. She was cool with him keeping up the illusion that each time was the last time because she knew he needed that at first. It took his relationship with Melanie to have her break that illusion for him. She knows she's not really the "other" girl, and I'm sure she feels bad for what they're doing behind the poor girl's back.
It was fitting that she used the power pose to extract that confession out of him. I love that she keeps using the confidence he helped her regain "against" him. I knew that confidence would come back to bite him.
And you raised a good point about how Melanie finds out and what she'll do. I've been so busy feeling bad for her that I didn't give much thought to how she could destroy Thomas's life. Now that it looks like Trish and he have decided that he'll end things with Melanie, he'll have to navigate that breakup real carefully.
Oh, and once again, amazing smut. I can't get enough of the blend of her letting him dictate her movements and her taking complete control by the end of things is intoxicating. Also, this allows each of them to give the other exactly what they want (Trish wants a man to lead and Thomas wants to be dominated).
Date: February 20 2024 6:02 PM Title: Chapter 8: Desire
Okay, so I wasn't completely wrong.
Trish did make the first move, and her increased confidence helped her do it. I think her using the confidence building exercise "against" Thomas was a really nice touch. Not only did that produce a "full-circle" moment with her figuring out for herself how to use what Thomas has been teaching her this whole time, but if you look at the times that she has used it up until now (with Thomas reminding her each previous time), it also shows that she was still nervous and unsure of herself in that moment.
Every time Trish hasn't been sure how to react to something, she has looked to Thomas, and he was signaled to her to keep her chin up and shoulders out, giving her the confidence she needed to get through those awkward situations. So here we see her knowing what she wants and being bold enough to pursue it, but still having doubts. Those doubts are understandable, given her philosophy on relationships (that it's better if the guy is taller), not to mention the concerns that come with having sex with your therapist and having sex with a friend's boyfriend.
But I really like that, while her confidence has grown exponentially throughout the story, she hasn't morphed into a super assertive type. A 180 like that just wouldn't feel natural, and you avoiding that trap shouldn't surprise me, as your handling of her character as she goes through this journey has been masterful.
And, of course, the fact that she had to wait for Thomas to initiate after that first move not only feeds into this, but it also makes both characters feel equally invested in the decision, too. That's important, as there's a lot involved in that decision, including some potentially serious consequences down the road. It's good that they jumped into this together, instead of Trish simply being the aggressor.
I also understand Trish's sense of urgency. While I've been focusing on other things in my reviews, I've also had the thought that she was "on the clock" if she wanted to have any semblance of normal sex with Thomas, and it was great to see her acknowledge that now. Not only does she want to experience that one more time before it's too late, but the man she loves is literally sitting in her bed with her. And then there's that movie that kind of mirrors her situation to motivate her further. There's no way she couldn't make a move!
I absolutely love the sex scenes in this chapter. They were a realistic blend of hot and awkward, which fits the situation perfectly. Trish has never had sex at that size, and Thomas has obviously never fucked someone twice his size before. So it only makes sense that they would have some issues. The part where Trish is trying so hard to push him deeper into her only for him to not be enough to fill her conveyed the size difference swimmingly, and the fact that he simply resorted to using his arm instead of feeling emasculated or inadequate is exactly what I would expect from him. If anything, being too small to satisfy her with his cock alone probably just made him harder, which is a mentality that's pretty much required for any partner Trish will ever have from this point forward. So in an odd way, that bit of awkwardness shows why they go together so well.
The same could be said for the shower scene. I like how you called attention to how difficult it was for Trish to stay so low for that blow job. And that growing confidence of hers allowed her to get past the concern of emasculating Thomas, rightfully realizing that her size hasn't bothered him up to that point, and lifting him up to finish him off. It was also sweet that, even though it's pointed out that Thomas's dick in her mouth didn't exactly fill her mouth, she was still felt so satisfied just by making him feel good.
Backtracking just a bit, I think the way Trish voluntarily let Thomas just move her body around was incredibly hot. There's just something about a woman who has the power to take control not doing so (at least not right away) that's so enthralling. And the thing with him making her keep her arms up and pulling her over with her shirt made it feel as though he was playing with a 12-foot-tall living doll! Not only that, but this made the following part (where Trish's passion takes control) feel so much more intense.
And I do think that Trish is well on the path to figuring out Thomas's little fetish. That he isn't emasculated when she takes control or, again, has to use his arm to please her, as well as the fact that wasn't scared or angry that she had actually hurt him during sex hint at it but likely aren't enough on their own to tip her off. The way he blew his load immediately after being manhandled by her in the shower is something she'll probably look back on the next time something like that happens though. Right now, she knows that he's not intimidated or emasculated by her size at all, but another moment or two like that and I think she'll piece together pretty quickly that he's actually into it.
It's sad that Trish doesn't understand why Thomas feels so guilty about this. She probably thinks he's thinking about Melanie or crossing that ethical barrier between therapist and patient when he smiles at her that way. And while I'm sure those things are either on his mind or will be shortly after he leaves, I think what's making him feel so guilty is that he believes he let Trish down. Up until now, he's been able to push his lust and growing personal feelings for her aside, remaining the professional that he thinks she needs him to be to get her through this. He thinks it was selfish for him to cave into his desires, and he probably believes that Trish will be worse off for it in the long run. So while she thinks he's simply regretting this decision (deterring her from sharing her true feelings at the end of the chapter), it's really his love and compassion for her that's making him feel this way.
In other words, even when you finally give us what we want, you still find a way to make it tantalizing at the same time. That's a great trait for a slow burn story, and I'm incredibly eager to see where things go from here (especially with so much story left).
And lastly, I decided to put the poor Melanie section of this review in the back this week. The three of them hanging out together both builds on her relationship with both of them and highlights how much more compatible Thomas is with Trish than he is with her. And I thought it was really sweet of her to let Thomas off the hook and basically give him her blessing to stay with Trish, despite feeling like the third wheel and obviously wanting something from him. Again, we don't see a ton of Melanie each chapter, but what we do get is someone who's insanely likable and someone who I'm going to feel really bad for once Trish and Thomas's (likely) ongoing affair is found out.
Author's Response:
Now the question is, how does she find out, and what will her reaction be?
Date: February 17 2024 5:53 PM Title: Chapter 8: Desire
This story is FANTASTIC! It's so well thought through and I really love the psychology content. Little touches like the "Patty Hotcakes" quirk really round out her character and the light femdom and love triangle keeps the tension up so well. Also her Dad being a libertarian cattle millionaire Texan is hilarious.
Date: February 11 2024 12:46 AM Title: Chapter 7: In the Spotlight
And Melanie continues to get closer to both of our protagonists. It's impressive how you've shown her relationship with each of them grow and made her so likable while devoting such a small portion of each chapter to her. You really maximize the impact of the scenes with her, yet you do it in a subtle way.
While we're on the subject of Melanie, I thought it was pretty telling that Trish could tell right away that Thomas had bad news while Melanie, his girlfriend, seemingly couldn't. That was a pretty nuanced way to suggest that Trish knows him better and is a better match for Thomas than Melanie.
We kind of saw a similar thing when Thomas realized that Trish was lying about not remembering the previous night. Yeah, her asking if he remembered anything else would make some people question if she was lying, but Thomas knew. He was familiar enough with her to know that she wouldn't have asked that unless she knew more happened that night. It's little things like this that continue to show just how well these two have come to know each other on a relatively short amount of time.
How Trish handled the morning after was certainly interesting. That she didn't just assume that Thomas had no interest in her after that shows that, on some level, she knows that he does. That she couldn't help but probe him about that night shows that she needs to hear him say it to be sure on a conscious level.
Perhaps more importantly on that front, I was surprised to see Trish actually consider allowing the government to take her. I thought she'd feel some guilt for some of those darker thoughts Patty Hotcakes had that night, but I didn't expect it to manifest in that way. I thought that was an incredibly selfless gesture on her part. She recognized what she could have done, even though she didn't do it, and thought about the safety of others before thinking about what was right for her (I'm sure the fact that it was Thomas she thought about taking advantage of really drove that point home for her).
But just the fact that she even had that thought in the first place shows that she's not going to abuse the power she has over people.
Thankfully, Thomas is there to save her from her own selflessness. And I like that it's emphasized multiple times that Trish wasn't sure about his plan and that she could have easily stopped him from pulling her along at any time. Despite that, she doesn't even try to stop him. She trusts him implicitly. That trust seems to supercede the doctor-patient relationship and her being a type-1 patient. She genuinely trusts that he cares enough about her to not lead her wrong.
We see just how far that trust goes later on when she realizes that she would do anything Thomas asked of her. Admittedly, this could be taken as a firm of obsession or dependence, but I don't think Trish's other actions back up those assertions. I really think it's just a high level of trust developed through the bond they share as friends (and the fact that they both want something more).
Thomas's actions also show that this trust isn't misplaced. He's not his usual, calm self. He doesn't even tell her to come with him when he pulls her to follow him. This had nothing to do with her being his patient or even his attraction to her size; he just didn't want something bad to happen to her. Despite him being pushy, I found that to be really sweet.
Trish trying to be strong to show Thomas that she's all better mentally so they can date was kind of cute and sad at the same time. I think it also shows that she isn't entirely reliant on him, since her own motivation kept her from falling to pieces immediately after hearing the bad news. I'm glad he got her to show her true feelings and let Melanie and him confirm her. Trish leans on Thomas a lit, bit, again, not in the way a therapist's patient usual does. She doesn't want to disappoint him, she wants him to be proud of her, and she just plain wants him. When she starts to doubt herself, she comes back to him. Like I said above, this toes the line between love and dependence, but I think we've seen enough at this point to know that her feelings for him are real.
Lastly, even though Dr. Vale went about things the wrong way and rightfully got knocked the fuck out for it, he does have a point. Threat to humanity isn't the right phrasing, I think, since, contrary to what Vale may think, Trish is still human, but there are some serious sustainability questions if her growth continues fir a couple years. The placement of his breakdown was good, as it reminds the reader that what qualified as a happy ending for this story is still pretty murky.
Is it Trish finding a cure and living g happily ever after with Thomas? Is it her growth tapering off at some semi-reasonable point and becoming Thomas's perfect fantasy? Or maybe it's as simple as finding a way for a miles-tall Trish to co-exist with the rest of humanity somehow. Will she even let herself grow that big, though? I think we're still pretty early in on this story, so there's still plenty of time to ponder that, but with everything that's been going on these last few chapters, it's good to be reminded of the long term stakes.
Anyway, excellent work as usually. I look forward to seeing which endorsement deals Trish takes on.
Date: February 06 2024 7:53 AM Title: Chapter 6: The Party
I think this chapter, while seeming mostly to be a fun, humorous one, is actually an extremely important one.
The dynamic between Thomas and Trish is an especially complex one, and that's even before considering the "love triangle" (I'm not quite sure that fits here with Melanie, given how there's a clear choice for Thomas once he gets past those other barriers) attached to it. Given the doctor-patient relationship shared by our two protagonists, it would be really easy to have (and difficult to avoid) this story turn into a case of a psychologist taking advantage of his patient and that patient falling in love because of her fragile psyche and loneliness.
While this story has been gradually moving away from that scenario, this chapter, in particular, sets the two of them up for a more legitimate-feeling relationship down the road.
Thomas's dedication to do what's right for Trish makes him extremely likable. The man had his fantasy dangled in front of him in maybe the most appealing manner, aside from if Trish knew about his fetish and acted on it, of course. Him conquering that temptation and remaining professional shows the reader that he isn't the kind of man to abuse the trust his patients put in him, which means that when he most assuredly breaks down and gives in in a future chapter, that decision probably won't be looked on as harshly as it would have if he had made a move on Trish in one of the previous chapters.
Also, the fact that his motivation for denying Trish's advances and keeping things professional is that, as he put it, Trish needed him shows both how much he legitimately cares about her and that he's putting her needs above his own. Extremely admirable.
I also noticed that thoughts of remaining loyal to Melanie never came up when he was fighting Trish's temptations. While not terribly surprising based on what we've seen so far, I thought it was pretty noteworthy that he didn't once think, "I can't do this. I have a girlfriend."
As for Trish, I think the fact that she's starting to involve more people in her life that really care about her really helps to build on her strengthening mental state, complimenting her returning confidence quite well. Not only did she have a group of old friends accept and treat her the same her despite her condition, but it seems she's gotten tight with Melanie pretty quickly too. Having more people than just Thomas to lean on, even if she doesn't actually take advantage of it, makes her feel less isolated and dependent on Thomas. That alone makes her feel less like a potential victim should she start fucking her psychologist.
But maybe more importantly, that Thomas rejected her efforts to bed him will make her feelings feel more real than desperate when they finally get together. There's a lot of ways she could feel about this the next morning: guilty, depressed, angry, embarrassed, maybe even more turned on (if she still thinks Thomas likes her but is resisting her, rather than straight up rejecting her). But regardless of those feelings, I can only see her thinking that Thomas is off limits in the immediate future. For whatever reason, he could have had her and he didn't even show a visible sign of being tempted (even though we know that he most definitely was). That has to be discouraging for her, and she's most likely going to try to bury her feelings for him.
The fact that she likely won't be able to for very long will, again, legitimize them. She's not just some lovesick patient crushing on the man who is helping her through the most difficult time of her life. She actually likes him, and the fact that he happens to be her psychologist is really just an unfortunate coincidence.
Speaking of Trish's attraction to Thomas being legit, you yet again did a great job of displaying in a subtle way exactly what it is she sees in him after he found her in her drunken state. Thomas makes clear that he's afraid of Trish like this, not because of what she'll knowingly do but because she has less control of her body and could hurt him on accident. Yet he handles that fear by taking control of the situation (and the fact that she's a Type 1 patient; I really like how that was established early on and keeps being used without direct reference).
Trish likes strong men, and not just in the physical sense. I found myself wondering how she would react if she were to discover that she scared the one person who has never been afraid of her up until that point, let alone the man she wants to be with. I think guilt and sadness would be the primary feelings running through her, but just beneath that, I think she would be extremely turned on. That he could put his fear aside and come off as commanding and in charge as he did, something she found sexy without knowing about his fear, is something that she would no doubt find to be incredibly hot.
Going back to Melanie, she helps make this slow burn story all the more unique. With each passing chapter, I find myself wanting Trish and Thomas to act on their feelings for each other all the more, only for this to be dragged out at a delightfully agonizing pace. However, at the same time, that train wreck that is Melanie's relationship with Thomas being destroyed in the process keeps building, giving me that "cover my eyes but look through the cracks" feeling. And now Trish is building a friendship with her, which is going to make things even worse when everything comes crashing down. The mix of anticipation and dread is as intriguing as it is addicting.
Finally, I'm doubling down on my earlier prediction that Trish is going to figure out Thomas's fetish and use it to finally break through that pesky ethical barrier keeping them apart. Thomas was able to resist his dream girl coming on to him in a (mostly) normal way, but once she finally uses her size to her advantage with him, it's over. That little reimagining in the shower of his encounter with her pretty much confirms that. If she hadn't let him go when he gave her that look, he probably would have given in.
At some point, Thomas is going to say or do something. It's going to be a small thing. Something that most people wouldn't catch. But Trish, having gotten so close to him all this time, is going to catch it. And she's going to use it to figure out that he likes her big (maybe she won't know how big he wants her right away, but she'll figure out that she's exactly what he wants). That will be a fun chapter, I think (assuming I'm right, of course).
What makes this particularly interesting is Trish's belief that it's "better" if the man is bigger in a relationship. Her wording implies that it's not that she isn't attracted to people shorter than her but rather that relationships with shorter men haven't ended well for her. In other words, it's a mentality that developed over time rather than a preference. So it'll be hard for her to get used to the fact that Thomas wants to be treated like the smaller one, and that will make all that stuff I said above that much harder for her, too.
But yeah, fantastic chapter. Like I said, aside from everything else, this was also a pretty fun chapter, and drunk Trish was hilarious. Where we go from here should be pretty interesting!
Date: February 01 2024 4:29 PM Title: Chapter 5: Moving Out
What sticks out to me the most in this chapter is the growing confidence is Trish. I mean, going up to Melanie unprompted (and even discouraged!) to invite her to her house warming party, politely demanding that the staff figure out a way for her to have her outdoor times, and even the way she reacts to Thomas blurting out this was his job are all things I could have never seen her doing even in the previous chapter.
With the Thomas situation in particular, I feel like she would have crumbled and reverted back to trying to shrink herself in a ball if this had happened earlier in the story. She would have been devastated by this, and he would have lost her trust forever. To see her go from that fragile state to handling those difficult feelings with passive aggressive anger, actually processing her feelings, and apologizing the next day shows a lot of growth, I think.
So Trish's character development is already so rewarding, and it sounds like we're not even that far into the story yet. I'm looking forward to her continuing to open up as her confidence returns.
Poor Melanie. There's nothing bad happening to her yet, but you know that the closer she gets to Thomas, the more she's going to get hurt when Thomas and Trish eventually and inevitably stop fighting against what they really want. We haven't seen a ton of Melanie yet, but she seems really nice, and the fact that she seems to have more sympathy than fear of Trish makes her pretty likable early on. Every time I see her flirting with Thomas, there's a small pit in my stomach because I know how this ends (not literally, of course, but in a figurative sense). This is great writing, and I love how the story can make me feel this way about her, especially when she hasn't had a lot of "screen time" as of yet.
And the fact that Trish, in an effort to accept that Thomas is off-limits and move past her feelings, actually helped advance the relationship between Thomas and Melanie just adds to the whole thing. It was an innocent thing for Trish to do, but again, it's like seeing a train wreck coming from a mile away and not being able to do a thing about it.
As for Trish trying to move past those feelings, I think that was handled really well here. We've focused mostly on Thomas's efforts to do that so far, so with Trish starting to have romantic fantasies about him last chapter, it was a nice parallel to see her going through the same thing he is. This could have easily been a story about a moral, but fetish-obsessed therapist accidentally taking advantage of a lonely, lovesick patient (which is the ethical concern Thomas has, of course), but Trish coming into her own and fighting against her feelings gives them a more legitimate feel, if that makes sense. It doesn't feel like she's falling for him just because he was there at a time in which she was emotionally fragile. She seems to actually like him for who he is, and he just happens to be her therapist who has helped her through a really tough time in her life, too.
Also feeding into that feeling are the interactions between the two as the story progresses. I mentioned this last chapter, but I feel like it was more prominent here (and probably will be going forward, surely). You've written two characters that mesh, and it's easy to believe that they like each other. Their banter is a lot of fun without being over the top. Like I said before, Trish's reaction to Thomas's mistake didn't seem exaggerated. And the way they apologized to each other was cute and endearing without being overly dramatic. These characters feel real, as does the progression of their relationship with one another.
So great work once again! This story has been extremely enjoyable so far, and I look forward to seeing where you've taken it in the chapters ahead!
Author's Response:
Thank you so much for these reviews, you don't know how helpful they've been as I've gone back to do my weekly edits.
Date: January 27 2024 9:09 PM Title: Chapter 5: Moving Out
So I just read all the chapters. So far definitely like the story.
Can't wait to read more.
Date: January 22 2024 1:32 AM Title: Chapter 4: Boyfriend
Well that went even worse than I thought it would!
I mean, I figured the odds that Jake would end up being the understanding type were pretty low, but there was a small chance (in my mind, at least) that he would at least try, which would have muddied things up with poor Dr. Black. But man, Jake turned out to be an even bigger asshole than I thought he was probably going to be.
I thought you did a nice job of selling us on the idea that Jake was a douche right from the start, when he was actually trying to be nice. The way he casually insulted the town without even realizing it and how he shrugged off doing the exercise telegraphed right away that this wasn't going to go well.
Trish's reaction to Jake's arrival made a lot of sense, too. Obviously there's her need to take out her anger at Jake rejecting her (especially since she wasn't ready to accept that yet). But even beyond her scapegoating the hospital staff and even Thomas himself for having "tricked her to being okay with this," I think the way she responded to Jake fits Thomas's initial conclusion that she's a "type 1" patient.
Trish has so far relied on the firm direction of Dr. Black to deal with this difficult time in her life. Taking so much of the immense pressure off of her by telling her what to do, even though he makes it clear that he isn't (and can't) actually make her do anything. That authoritative direction is exactly what the confused and scared woman needs right now to gain some semblance of order within herself, although I do think she's going to outgrow (Yeah, it's a pun, what about it?) this as the story progresses and the good doctor helps her build her confidence (I'm of the impression that this is going to be a 180-degree improvement).
But, for now, Jake stepped in and, due entirely to his previous role in Trish's life, took that role of authoritative guide away from Thomas, his voice instead directing her to lash out at the people who, in his mind, weren't working hard enough on his girlfriend's problem (with zero knowledge of what has actually been done). So it makes sense that Trish would become so adversarial, and it also makes sense that Jake's guidance would lead to her falling into maybe a worse mental state than when she first arrived at the hospital.
I'm also pretty sure this is the reason why Thomas was able to pick up where he left off so easily. With Jake out of the picture, she responded to his gentle commanding quite well (I thought him turning the doorknob to signal he was coming in and simply waiting for her to move was a nice touch). In this depressing ordeal, she trusted him to assume control of the situation, and he, in turn, showed that her trust was well placed, not only by helping her cope with Jake's betrayal, but doing the same with the much worse news about her growing prospects.
Maybe more importantly, I think that this whole thing is starting to teach her to rethink her situation. That line about not wanting to see a hypothetically apologetic Jake shows a shift in her mentality. While she still hates what's happening to her, she's starting to care less about the people who are having a negative influence on her mood and focusing more on what makes her happy (which is why hearing that Dr. Black is dating made her feel like shit again, for a completely different reason).
To me, this is what her imagining of her growth within the hospital and, later on, her fantasy about Dr. Black is all about. Breaking through the hospital entryway with a "fuck it" is a sort of liberation and her envisioning him at knee height when talking to him was a symbol of the comfort she finds in knowing that he'll accept her like that. And her fantasizing about him coming onto her at the same size when she was 30 feet tall moments before further hits that point home, among other, more obvious things.
But in short, I would be surprised if we saw Trish squeeze herself into a ball again. This whole thing will help her truly build her confidence, I think.
While Jake certainly isn't going to be muddying things up for Thomas like I thought he might, it looks like Melanie will be taking on that role instead, and in a completely different way, too. Having him be the one with feelings for two people probably makes more sense storywise anyway, particularly given the moral quandary him being in a relationship with Trish presents. I kind of expect him to lean into that connection he was starting to feel for Melanie in an effort to stave off his feelings for Trish, which isn't going to end well for Melanie. It's really only a matter of how far along they take things and how much she's going to get hurt. Well, nobody said stepping out of the background to become a major character was easy.
By the way, I also really like that Thomas is actually starting to feel something for Melanie, instead of just running into a relationship to stop thinking about Trish. I also like that it was noted that he's found common ground with Trish through their similar sense of humor. It would have been pretty easy to just focus on Trish's size and to use Melanie as a prop to add drama to the story, but these little details make them feel more human and the story easier to invest myself in. Again, these are small things, but they're appreciated.
Finally, I'm starting to change how I think how Thomas's secret getting revealed to Trish is going to go down. Up until this chapter, I kind of figured that he would either confess out of guilt or slip up and say something accidentally. Now, given her reaction to his erection jabbing her stomach and subsequent thoughts afterward, I'm thinking she might figure it out on her own and use the thing she's hated this whole time to win over the man she's infatuated with. It would be pretty rewarding to see her go from not wanting to stand up when he's looking at her to having the confidence to use her size to make a move on him. Anything's still possible at this point, obviously, but this chapter got my imagination moving in a different direction for some reason.
But yeah, if it wasn't obvious already, I was a big fan of this chapter. Awesome work!
Author's Response:
Thank you once again for a very thorough write up! I hope you enjoy the next chapter.
Date: January 21 2024 6:10 AM Title: Chapter 4: Boyfriend
Nice character dynamic you've created between the two potential lovebirds, especially in light of the break-up between Trish and her former boyfriend. Wondering where you'll have things going from this point onwards, as well as wondering how things will be for Trish as she grows larger and larger, having to adapt to a world that is constantly shrinking from her perspective. Looking forward to more, assuming you'll have an update around Friday or so.
Author's Response:
Thank you for the kind words!
Yes, I'm committing to updating every Friday. The story is nearly complete and is near 30 parts, I just have to touch the chapters up before releasing them.
Date: January 20 2024 3:28 PM Title: Chapter 3: What Makes You Happy
Really enjoying the chemistry between Trish and Thomas throughout this story, as well as the continual growth rate as she slowly becomes larger and larger. You have a real knack for character development, especially with how Thomas is able to remain professional despite his underlying sexual angst with regards to Trish's growth. Really good stuff! Looking forward to more.
Date: January 15 2024 8:08 AM Title: Chapter 1: The Strange Case of Patricia Hostettler
This is my favorite new story in a long time. I love that your focus is on the psychological aspect of the growth for both the man and the woman. It's also a very intriguing love triangle setup you've got going on. Excited to see more!
Author's Response:
Thank you! I'm sticking to updating every Friday.
Date: January 15 2024 2:20 AM Title: Chapter 3: What Makes You Happy
I'm absolutely loving this story so far!
First and foremost, though, let me thank you for your short, choppy writing style. It make for so much easier reading, and that's really appreciated.
Man, Thomas is such a likeable character. His struggle between his fetish-y desires and his natural want to help poor Trish makes it feel as though he's a really good guy, It can't be easy to put aside a fantasy that until now was thought to be impossible, but he's able to look past that and see Trish as not only a real person (as opposed to the embodiment of all his sexual desires) but someone who desperately needs the kind of help he can provide.
Of course, seeing firsthand the consequences suffered by a real-life growing woman has helped to keep him focused so far. It's one thing to find Trish and her condition attractive, but it's another thing entirely to see the shame, fear, and frustration said condition is causing her.
However, we've already seen signs of a very interesting dichotomy resulting from this. The more Thomas is able to instill confidence in Trish, the less he's going to be able to weigh down his desires with the despair she's going through. In other words, the better he is at doing his job, the less professional he'll be able to be around her. This is a really fun idea to play with, and it also does a great job of building the anticipation of if/how Thomas is going to either slip up or straight up tell Trish about his conflicted feelings (and obviously how she's going to process and react to this information).
And I'd be remiss if I mentioned Thomas's likeability without calling attention to how funny, clever, charismatic, and ethical he's written to be. That last one might seem an odd choice to describe a psychologist falling in love with his patient, but I particularly enjoyed the way he called out his peers for wanting to keep Trish mentally unhealthy just to assuage their own fears.
While we haven't seen things quite as much from Trish's perspective, but from what we've seen from her, both in those brief spots where she takes over the narrative and through Thomas's eyes, it's really easy to pull for her. It's really sad to me that she has been conditioned to think that men should be taller than women, especially when we're reminded that Trish was a taller girl even before her condition materialized. It's made clear that this goes beyond limiting who she puts in her dating pool as well, as we're told that she was used to slouching and shrinking herself when around men in general. That's a shitty way to go through life, making yourself seem less.
We also see the consequences of this mentality when she stands behind Thomas. While it's been all but stated plainly that she's attracted both physically and mentally to her beloved Dr. Black, she feels a sense of disappointment when she realizes how short he actually is. Out of context, this could easily be taken to mean that she's simply against dating shorter guys (not that she's consciously looking to date Thomas, as this was just a subtle observation by her). But knowing what we know about her, I think this was a much more self-conscious feeling, one that leans more toward "a guy that short would never be interested in someone as tall as me" rather than "Huh, he's pretty cool, but he's just too short for me." It's almost as though she's judging herself on Thomas's behalf. Oh, if only she knew ...
And not much has been mentioned about Jeb as of yet, but I get the vibe that he may not be the most supportive father in the world, either. That's not to say he doesn't care about his daughter or that he loves her any less for going through this. However, between that nod that told Thomas that he would never consider expressing his feelings to a psychologist and Trish's desire to be able to speak about her problems with someone other than her father, "someone who she could be vulnerable with, someone who wasn't expecting her to to put on a brave face," I'm not so sure that Jeb even knows how to give her the type of support she needs, let alone be eager to give it to her.
All of this makes Trish a character that I can really empathize with, and that makes going on this journey with her toward building confidence and being comfortable in her own skin that much more enjoyable as a reader. I'm loving their sessions together. I actually found myself smiling while reading Trish go through the confidence-building exercises.
I also think that all of that makes Thomas the perfect person to help her though that journey. The way she's drawn to his confidence is something that I believe will help her realize that there are more important things in life than height, both because of the way she's starting to feel about the shorter psychologist and the fact that he's not intimidated by her in any way. And the impact of that confidence on Trish can't be understated, either. I mean, you've got a whole hospital's-worth of people reaffirming her worst thoughts about herself, even if unintentionally so, only for one person's light to shine brighter than all of that and remind her who she really is and show her what's actually important (even if that light might be at least partially driven by said person's less-than-pure thoughts and fetish).
Obviously, I'm really curious to see how Jake the boyfriend handles seeing his now much taller girlfriend. Given what we've already established about Trish (namely that she thinks all guys want a shorter girl) and the general direction this story is trending in, it's likely going to be a less-than-ideal reunion, although you never know, I guess.
I'm also interested to see if/how the rest of the hospital changes its perception of her as she continues to build her confidence. It's easy to be afraid of something when it's afraid of itself. Will a confident, more outgoing Trish be received more warmly by the staff, or will the fact that she's not trying to ball herself up and make herself smaller only serve to scare them more?
Lastly, like the other reviewer, I also had a question (or more of a comment really, I suppose) about the sizes Trish will reach in this story. It's not so much that I need (or even really want) to know what heights she's going to reach but more that this story is tagged as only 1 mile to 100 miles tall. I would recommend that you add other size tags to this story (we're already in the 7 feet to 15 feet category now), as letting potential readers know what sizes will be used in the story (as opposed to just where things end up, if that's what the giga tag you picked is meant to signify) will seem more inviting for them. When you get into the miles-tall categories, that's usually a pretty particular clientele, and you might be better served letting people know that this story covers more than just that.
I also have to admit that I'm a bit concerned about this story getting into giga territory. I've got no problem with that stuff in general, and I'm sure that if we get there you've got a plan for it, but I can't help but feel as though this story will lose something special if we get to the point that communication between our two main characters is no longer possible. I don't know, this story so far hasn't given off much "humans are basically germs to me" vibes so far (in terms of setup), so it's hard to comprehend we would get there.
Anyway, that's enough out of me. Awesome work so far, and I look forward to seeing where this story goes from here!
Author's Response:
Thank you for the suggestions! This is the first story I've posted on giantessworld. I think I tried to select every size because the story spends a great deal of time at multiple sizes.
Also thank you for the very in depth feedback. Reading what you've liked about the story so far, I think you'll like where it goes.