No worries on "waiting so long" to write a review for the story, as you certainly don't owe me that. But I'm thrilled that you decided to leave one now!

I also want to strongly encourage you to follow up on that desire to write something of your own. I really hope you give it a shot. If I can give you a bit of advice in that regard, I'd say that you shouldn't think about whether your work would be "leagues below" another writer and just avoid comparison altogether. Instead, if there are writers whose work you feel is that good, give some thought to why you feel that way and "borrow" some of the traits you identify and find ways to apply them to your own ideas.

I'll be keeping an eye out in the hope that you give writing a try yourself, and if you want any feedback before posting anything, feel free to reach out (I think the site's email function is working now).

I also have to apologize for that half-year gap between chapters two and three. I got caught up with a few things not too long after chapter two and kind of fell out of sync in terms of writing for a while. Chapter three was just sitting there half (or maybe a little less) finished for most of that time. But I always intended to come back and find a rhythm again, and I certainly feel like I've hit a groove now, so that shouldn't be a problem going forward!

And I'm glad you happened to check the site on the day I posted that chapter! Things just work out like that sometimes.

Thank you for your high praise about the quality and depth of my descriptions. I have to admit, given the length of my chapters, I never expected someone to compliment the amount of words I don't use to paint a picture for the reader! This was a pleasant surprise, though!

It also always gets me pumped to read about how much people are enjoying Duncan and Callie together! Slow burns can be tricky, for a lot of reasons, and it's good to know that there are people out there who are so invested in this one here. That you're excited about where you think things will go makes me feel that much more confident that I'm at least doing something right!

I actually really like that you found something in Kristie that made you sympathize with her. While I think most readers would agree with you that she deserves everything she gets at this point (especially when she's her own worst enemy with that mouth of hers!), you feeling even a little bit sorry for her makes me feel like I succeeded in keeping her from being a one-note character (which was a major concern for me going into this chapter).

As for what was in that folder, we may or may not hear more about that soon ...

And yeah, Natasha has just been lingering in the background so far, hasn't she. We haven't even actually met her yet, so she's really easy to forget about. We'll have to see how things play out with her.

One of the greatest writers to ever touch this website? Now I know I'm nowhere near worthy of that level of praise, but it still felt really good to read that. So thank you so much for the extremely generous compliment!

First, I wanted to say that you saying that this is your favorite story right now means a lot to me. We've talked about it quite a bit, so maybe I shouldn't be surprised to read that, but I still was. I'm very humbled by how much some people have taken to this story, and I'm glad you're among them!

Yeah, it was interesting hearing the contrasting predictions between your wife and you. I know this is one of those rare times that you're glad she was right and you were wrong!

Kristie's natural defense mechanism is bitchiness, so keeping her mouth shut is the last thing she'll ever be able to do. I think I mentioned this to you before, but my hope was that I could keep her character true to herself without her coming off as the dumb tiny simply saying terrible things to give our main characters in excuse to fuck with her. I'm not sure if I was able to quite pull that off, but I hope that her character came off as at least somewhat believable in her situation, even if that did help make Monica and company look more justified in doing the stuff they did.

And yeah, Monica is normally pretty calm, cool, and collected, as they say, but it turns out she's significantly less so when you go after the people she cares about. Who knew?

Big climaxes? ... I get it! I get the joke!

As for the time I've put into writing this so far, it's been an extremely rewarding process, so no thanks necessary. I appreciate it, though!

My first thought when I saw the length of this review was, "Did I write this?"

But man, that's some incredibly high praise you threw my way for that big climax with Callie and Duncan (See? See what I did there?!), and I honestly don't know if I deserve it, but thank you so much for the incredibly generous words! Yeah, balancing out Callie's playfulness and excitement with her wanting to take Duncan's mental state into consideration and help him through some serious trauma wasn't easy, so it's really rewarding to hear that it not only worked for you, but earned a Michelin Star from you as well! Now this story will never have to worry about tires again!!!

Your use of the word cathartic and mentioning the build between Duncan and Callie when talking about how much you enjoyed that scene was really gratifying to read. I'm a big believer in building up relationships to make the smut in stories like this so much more satisfying (and hot!), and it sounds like that was the case for you here. And going back to the Michelin reference, without giving too much away, I really, really like your description of this scene as an appetizer! It struck me as ... fitting.

I love how Alyssia keeps sticking out for you. She hasn't had a chance to be in the story too much yet, but she at least grabs your attention whenever she shows up. I'm glad her teasing comes off as fun for you, as it was meant to be lighthearted on her part (well, except when directed at Ada).

Speaking of which, you're exactly right about that Qui Gon Nerd insult. She would have to be more than a casual observer to use that reference now, wouldn't she? I'm so happy somebody caught that!

And if an employee on PTO shows up at his boss's office after experiencing what he did with her in chapter three, I'd say he brought whatever comes next on himself, which was basically Monica's point at the end there. Duncan's coming around on his foot fetish, but he hasn't fully admitted to himself that he has one, hence he still needs to "complain" about it from time to time. Luckily for him, he has such a good friend as a boss who's willing indulge him (and herself) when he's not too busy making her money.

As for starting the chapter with this scene, I was always going to have this scene show up somewhere, and this seemed like a good place to work it in. This chapter is pretty heavy, so why not have some good, sweaty fun at he start to ease us into it, yeah? Also, Monica didn't confront Ada about the slavery thing that night because she knew Duncan didn't want Callie to know, as he assumed she'd be pretty pissed if she found out the truth. So Monica respected that. As we found out later in this one, though, none of that was actually necessary!

And yeah, I thought that scene between Ada and Duncan might be a little difficult for some people to read through, which is why I ultimately decided to pop that warning up before the start of the chapter (I debated in my head for a bit whether or not that scene qualified as "ungentle"). I'm thrilled that you at least understood where Ada was coming from here, as I was a little concerned this might make her unlikable (far from it, it seems based on some of these reviews!). I love that you mentioned the Pornhub comment! I meant for that to be both funny and revealing, as that's where pretty much all of Ada's "sexual expertise" comes from. I also agree that the line between being forward and forcing yourself on someone can be a bit blurry at times, especially with someone like Ada, and I was actually hoping that someone would make that connection with the scene, so thanks for that, too! I really do think this is something more people need to be aware of and cognizant about if they're going to try an approach like this.

It also made me happy to see that Monica and Alyssia's treatment of Ada, as well as Callie's reaction to what she was doing to Duncan, all seemed understandable to you. I didn't want them to simply come off as mean or, in Callie's case, belligerent. I felt like their actions all made sense given the context surrounding them, so it's nice to see some agreement on that. It also made me smile to see that those few lines showing Callie comforting Duncan were so impactful to you. I didn't even really think about that as I wrote that part, but I went back and read it after reading your review and I can see what you mean. Honestly, I just wrote what I though would come naturally for Callie in that situation. Thanks for pointing this out and making me go back and read it for myself.

As for Callie's surprise awareness, yeah, she's a lot more aware and even cunning (I enjoyed your use of the word in your review) than a lot of people give her credit for. She just keeps these things to herself because if those people are so embarrassed or concerned about something, why stress them out? She doesn't feel the need to rub it in their faces that she can see through these things. The only reason she told Ada was to help her feel better, as the prospect of a shocked Callie blowing up on her again was clearly stressing Ada out.

Yeah, Monica coming out might have been a hint that we were going to see at least one shrunken woman in this story (and that F/f tag probably gave it away, too).

I keep saying this when responding to reviews, but it truly is always interesting to see where everyone's head is at (and where it's been) regarding the mystery behind Duncan's shrinking. I think you hit on an interesting point regarding the timing of Kristie's downsizing. But I won't go too deep into this topic for fear that I can't keep my mouth shut!

And yes, it should be interesting to see how our heroes handle tiny Kristie, given her history.

What?! You're questioning the effectiveness of the "good lean" lie? Unbelievable (literally, I guess)!

I've not read the An Innocent Man stories (I may have to check those out now), but I love that you described this chapter as an emotional roller coaster, as that was pretty much what I was going for. And I really, really appreciate you saying I write conflict well, and citing how realized my characters are as the reason is a confidence boost for sure! I try really hard to make the characters' decisions make sense, and I'm so glad that people seem to feel like they do!

I was wondering what people were thinking when I randomly threw a cat into chapter four. I figured it was obvious Bailey was going to play some role going forward, but I'm hoping it came as a bit of a surprise that she technically already had by that point. And the way Bailey was trying to get after Callie's purse with Duncan in it was kind of a hint of that.

I'm also so happy that the scene between Callie and Bailey "hit hard" for you. I wanted that to be a powerful emotional beat, and you affirming that it was for you feels really good to read. And you're right; neither Bailey or Callie are to blame for their actions there. Bailey was just being a cat, and of course Callie is going to be upset at the thing that destroyed the hope of the man she loves.

And reading all of these takes about the twist at the end is interesting. There's a lot of thoughts and predictions about Kristie being tiny and what will/should come next. Your use of the words satisfying and karma do seem fitting, don't they? Although, again, I think you're right about the mystery behind what happened Kristie (and Duncan, presumably) being the bigger draw. We'll have to see how all that plays out!

I love that you used the word tantalizing to describe the situation between Callie and Duncan. And yeah, if Callie is like this now, who knows what she'll get up to with him if/when they actually become an item.

As for Duncan's shame, he just can't accept the idea that Callie is into him (in general, let alone at his current size), despite how obvious her actions her would make it seem that she is. He really struggles to trust people and take what he sees at face value. With most people, it's a trust issue, and he typically assumes the worst in people until they've proven otherwise (and even then it's 50/50 with him). With Callie, it's almost the exact opposite. He still can't take what she's saying and showing him at face value, but with her, he feels like it's his fault, like he must be manipulating her somehow and that she's too naïve for her own good or something. In his mind, he used her to help reach a milestone in dealing with the trauma he keeps trying to deny instead of realizing that she was helping him because she really wanted to (because she really, really wanted to do all that to him!).

Will he get past this one day? Who knows ...

You know, I'm thinking all the girls might just join a nunnery by the end of the next chapter! Can you imagine Kristie in a tiny habit? Thanks for the timely review!

I'm going to start with the criticism, because you absolutely caught me! The story was starting to stretch a bit more than I initially anticipated by that point (I also had two more segments that I had initially planned to tag to the back end that I've since pushed back to a future chapter). I briefly considered going back and cutting out some of the building of Ada's "nerd credentials" and going a little deeper with the resolution, but I ultimately came to the same conclusion that you did about the scene in question, that it got the job done, more or less. Now that someone has pointed it out, I kind of regret not going with my first instinct. So good eye! I can't get away with shit with you around!

Speaking of that good eye of yours, you mentioning the jump right to the apartment for Callie was kind of eerie as well, as my initial plan was to start with Monica, Alyssia, and Callie searching for Duncan on-site. But it was actually suggested to me that it would be a powerful opening to have Callie just staring at Duncan's shoebox home, and that thought stuck with me as I started to plan out my initial idea until I had to write it that way. Yeah, I really didn't think Callie would just up and leave without finding Duncan, so Monica had to take her back to the apartment for her own sake, as her breaking down constantly led to her not being very productive in the search. I'm so glad you mentioned the importance of Monica being there, as I wasn't sure if that would come out clearly.

As for Monica not being upset with Callie, I didn't really mention it outright, but Monica and Callie (and even Alyssia a little bit, but I haven't mentioned that at all yet) have bonded in the three weeks since Callie brought Monica back to the office. I tried to subtly slip in that Callie was talking on the phone with Monica in chapter four (when she walked in on Duncan's virtual meeting with the scientist), which is actually a pretty big deal since Monica gives out her personal number to almost no one, for example. Not to mention Callie was already growing on her by the end of chapter three. So I wanted to show here that they've very quickly built a strong friendship on their own, even independent from Duncan.

It makes me feel good that you were suffering right along with Callie at the start! She had already gone through so much emotional anguish to start that I felt as though there was something particularly depressing about her being so numb inside in that moment.

And I'm thrilled that you liked the photos! I've had that idea for a while now (as well as a lot of the details for Duncan's place), and this just felt like the appropriate place to sneak it in.

I'm both happy and kind of sad that you find Ada so relatable. I love that someone can resonate enough with one of my characters to actually say that, but based on you saying you wish you didn't relate to her, I'm guessing that you've shared in some of her social struggles. To that I say, try not to worry about it too much; it may be a bit cliché, but we really all have been there.

Your feelings on Ada are dead on, by the way. Her initial agreement that Duncan was her slave was her just saying it out of frustration that he just assumed that about her. But pretty much as soon as she said it, she didn't know what to do, but she felt like it was too late to take it back! Hence feeding her grapes, something easy yet slave-y. She then eventually came to the super-logical, not-at-all socially awkward conclusion that this was just some game he was playing and he was into it. She's trying so hard to people, but it just never seems to work out ...

Oh, and I share your hope that she can find some friends in Duncan and Callie. I wonder how all that will turn out ...

Thanks for the kind words about how well-written Ada was. I really had no idea how she would be received, especially with the unique dynamic I was trying to establish between Duncan and her, but she actually seems pretty popular! She'd be so happy to know that! In her defense on the CNC thing, the mouth play scene didn't start drifting that way until she felt his erection, so between what that naturally implies and her social struggles, I hope the conclusion she drew didn't come off as too ridiculous, especially since she spat him out as soon as it was clear that it was straight NC instead. Either way, doing so for the sake of "damn good smut" seems worth it!

I entirely share your aversion to the arrogant, belligerent tiny telling off a big (well-meaning or otherwise) only to be in complete shock when bad things happen as a result. Like you said, it's usually used as an excuse to steer a story in a particular direction, and that's a huge pet peeve of mine. So I'm relieved that Duncan didn't come off this way to you here. Yeah, his past trauma certainly played a big role, not only in his paranoia but also in his confidence that he could take whatever punishment Ada would dish out for a first-time offense. The fact that you used the word rational to describe Duncan in this scene makes me feel pretty good about it, too.

"But it might as well have been eons." I loved reading that. You're exactly right that this was a really short time apart for them (just a matter of hours, really), but I was hoping the fact that Callie didn't know what happened to him would make it feel longer. And yeah, Monica slipped away with him pretty quick in large part because she felt like it was important to know more about this stranger, both for Duncan's sake and for Callie's. Also, while Duncan helped her bury it for now, Callie still has a lot of negative feelings about herself regarding what happened, and it's possible that Monica picked up on that too and realized that Callie would need some time to forgive herself (even if she didn't really do anything wrong).

And no, I didn't mean for that line from Callie to be funny, but I lost it after I read your interpretation of it! I really wish I could say I did that on purpose!

But that was more of Callie shifting her guilt from thinking she killed him to thinking that he would hate her now because of what happened. You're right when you say Callie worries about silly things at times, and this was definitely one of them, but it's just part of this self-depreciating mentality Duncan is trying to get her out of.

Lastly, you're right that Duncan kind of screwed up in the way he introduced the truth to Monica. But like Ada, Duncan also struggles to understand people, just in a very different way. This has kind of led to most of his problems since shrinking, and now poor Ada may have to deal with some shit because of it. I love that your mind went right to Monica scaring Ada into never leaving her dorm room again, though!

I love that you refer to Ada as a "tragic character." That wasn't necessarily my first thought when writing her, but it fits what I was going for, if that makes sense. She's lonely and lacks the social skills and confidence to connect with people the way she wants, so much so that she ends up treating Duncan like a slave in a desperate (and vain) effort to keep him happy. Tragic is probably the best way to describe that, now that I think about it. That's probably a big part of the reason why Duncan not only doesn't blame her for what happened but is actively trying to help her make friends!

And yeah, there is a bit of awkwardness to their new bond, especially because of what happened in her mouth. I wonder if that will play out sometime in the chapters ahead ...

We already talked about the mouth play scene, but I don't think I mentioned how much I appreciate a compliment about a scene like that coming from you, knowing just how much you enjoy all things vore and vore adjacent!

That transition was a fun one to come up with. Jumping immediately from Ada sincerely hoping that Duncan was enjoying himself to Duncan hating himself for enjoying being at her toes just sums up what's going on between them in two simple sentences that pretty much mirror each other.

I also love that, for both the mouth play and toenail scenes, you kept Callie in mind!

And yeah, Monica really cares about Duncan a lot, and his shrinking has sort of been a wake-up call for her to lower that barrier of professionalism and let him (and others) see how she really feels about them. Friendship is a good way to describe it, although she does like to play with him at his new size from time to time. I mean, come on, when is she going to get the opportunity to do something like that again?

I've said it before, but I've always sort of envisioned something of a big sister/little brother dynamic between Monica and Duncan. Not exactly, but generally so. So Monica showing Duncan some tough love at the end of the chapter, between intimidating him into telling the truth and both dunking him and "threatening' to carrying him out to the living room naked if he didn't hurry up, was her way of showing concern for what he had just gone through and frustration that he was so willing to trust someone that she still very much saw as a threat (due to her overprotective nature, mostly).

You know, I value every review, and I've had the privilege of reading the thoughts of some writers who I really admire regarding my work, yourself included. But I think the fact that you reviewed the next chapter a day after saying you were going to space out the remaining chapters so far might be the highest compliment I could receive!

To hear you think so highly of Callie also means a lot! I love how much readers seem to really love her. And I'm glad you liked the "casting" of Lili in the role!

Writing that whole test-taking scene was so much fun, especially the boob play! Finding a balance between Callie relishing the power she has over Duncan while still being true to herself is one of the more enjoyable challenges of the story. I tried to plant that seed in chapters two and three, just a little bit, so I was hoping that her feelings here didn't come off as jarring to the reader or out of character for her.

And ha! That cliffhanger is sweet, sweet revenge for making us wait A WHOLE CHAPTER before finding out what happened to Miguel in that microwave! Granted, I loved that Tricia chapter in between, but still!

But it's good to see that you're invested enough in Duncan and Callie that the end of this chapter left you feeling worried about Duncan. What's in store for him? You'll just have to wait to find out! Oh, wait, you won't because the next chapter is already out, you fucking cheater!