[Report This]Date: December 16 2022 9:47 PM Title: Ever Regretted Something?
A different kind of vore story. A bit sad and sappy, but with a good ending.
Well written.
Author's Response:
Thanks a lot, I love getting reviews!
I'm not exactly sure I'd say any of my stories are well written, but I'm glad you at least enjoyed it. :)
Date: May 17 2022 3:31 AM Title: We All Have.
(I’m answering through another review because you told the reviewers before me that it’s way better to talk to you by posting reviews here, without star spamming your story ofc, so I’m doing that. If there’s another preferred way of contacting you, just tell me, and I’ll do)
Hi Intheliar! Many thanks for your kind words! I must confess: I was worried that you would just shrug and call me an idiot or something for being so emotional. You know, dealing with feelings sometimes is hard as heck! And you’re a guy? Lol I could swear you were a girl, sorry. You seem to be able to write very emotionally about your characters... this is very good for a guy, really. For more men like that! ^_^
Well, you’re right: unfortunately some bad people, more often than we would want, end up living good lives and we also see truly good people living miserably. Those words of you made me realize, I guess, what’s the point that made me feel so low: I hated seeing Sydney being treated like a good girl, even being called a ‘saint’ by the reviewers, when she actually was a coward. It was so unrighteous, so unfair, that even the alternate timeline, despite being very gentle, didn’t help. Mostly because the alternate timeline was just that: alternate. Not original, not official. I mean, it’s easier to digest a sad/cruel story when the bad characters are considered as such, but seeing Sydney being considered by everyone almost the goddess of virtue/kindness... not fair. Ok, I must be fair and admit that she also wasn’t such a bitch, she cared after all and deeply regretted what she did, but to what relates to Vince’s life and to the consequences of her actions, she was just weak and coward. And had even some hints of selfishness, as in the second chapter she says that Vince owes her this or that because of something he did that she didn’t like. She even said that she ‘could forgive him’ (for being so tense when in her palm, after being saved from his original fate). Honestly, if she was a good girl, she would see that it’s her who needs to be forgiven, not him. And that it’s her who’s owing him. Owing him a huge lot, by the way.
Answering your off-topics: yes, Stein’s Gate! I know that anime (not that much, but...)! I’m not into animes that much but I watched a bit of it when I dated a guy that liked this one a lot! But you're right when guessing that I must like a lot timeline theories and paradoxes, as I love all those space/universe subjects! I even follow NASA's page on Instagram!
And meeting a Sydney in real life after writing about... Sydney? lol I can only imagine how strange... or special, it depends, it was! You dated her? It even made me remember: I had the experience of meeting in real life a guy who, months before, had commissioned me to write a story for him! Overly shy as I am, you can imagine how clumsy and awkward I behaved when close to him lol!
And no, I’m being truly honest, I can’t imagine myself being a better writer than you. I try to see details but I often fail, and I’m poor at describing things, also I can’t speak/write English that well, like you do... I have tons of flaws ^_^’. And even the anger/sadness I felt towards Sydney proves you’re good: most stories I read here are poor in character development. They don’t have soul, they don’t have personality. Sydney, no matter how I disliked her initial actions, had all of it, to the point I liked her on the second chapter. Also Vince, the bully trio... you created characters which are able to connect to the reader’s heart and this is a sign of a mature writer in my honest opinion.
I don’t know if my version of Re-Do will be as good as yours (and yeah, it’ll be Re-Do used in Re-Do itself, lol!). I’ll try to put a warm ending to a sad story, an ending which totally amends the sadness of the original timeline... wish me luck. I’ll warn you when it’s ready.
Author's Response:
Hello again, Milla. I am currently open to conversation outside of the reviews section, I've done it once or twice before. I did attempt to e-mail to say thanks to you per your bio, actually, but it may not have worked-- I'm unsure. I'm not opposed to other methods of messaging/communication either.
I would never dream of insulting someone who said nothing mean or unkind, especially not a reviewer who wants to re-write my story. I was under the impression this site is mostly male, so I was a bit surprised that you had the impression I was female.
I'm very interested in seeing how you would like to rewrite this. Milla demands justice for what happened! >:)
Stein;s Gate is also a visual video game series on the PC if I recall correctly. I have an appreciation for space as well. Mostly exotic stars and extreme planets.
I'm still friends with the Sydney I've met. She's currently my best friend, but I would probably feel more comfortable discussing my private life somewhere besides here. It's a bit of a long story. Also that's so insane that you met someone who commissioned a story from you! I'm shy as well, but I'm guessing introverts like us can text way better than we can speak.
Please don't doubt yourself. I've already read a bit of your work and I feel you do a much better job than I can. And then there's other random powerhouses on this site who blow us both out of the water, lol. We can sit here and play compliment-tennis if you like, though.
Happy to hear from you again!
[Report This]Date: May 15 2022 9:05 AM Title: We All Have.
This is of course one of those stories that deserves five stars!
Intheliar, I don’t know how can you say that you write poorly. I’m
reading your stories and your beautiful writings and can’t disagree
more: you’re pretty talented!
And the same can be said about that
story. It’s writing is wonderful, right on the point, and puts the
reader (me) in clear touch with the chacarters’ feelings. You tend to
write in a way that the reading experience becomes very immersive and
this is soooo good...
But, despite enjoying your stories, and
this one is no exception, I must say that this one in particular made me
feel pretty down =( . It’s labeled Gentle but... I disagree. For me,
it’s a cruel story that ends in a gentler way, and I’m even impressed
that I’m the only one who realized that. Please, please don’t think I’m
saying that your story is bad, no, it’s not! I loved reading it, but I
must confess, I’m on the verge of crying (I’m too emotional these days,
it must be my period, I guess you’re a girl too so you know what I’m
saying...). It’s missing the Humiliation tag, to begin with, and I think
you should write a warning in the beginning of the first chapter,
telling the reader that the story is not as gentle as it seems to be.
Well, if you don’t mind constructive reviews, let me show you why I
think that:
I think most of the readers, even the ones that
reviewed this story, didn’t pay attention to a little but strong,
story-changing detail in the Re-Do technology: it indeed does make
people go to their past to re-live their lives but it does so by letting
the younger self of the subject receive the emotions and memories of
the older self, (possibly) taking different decisions that lead to a different timeline.
So, every time someone uses Re-Do, their original timeline, with all
their regrettable mistakes, is still there, completely untouched. Re-Do doesn’t undo things, it can’t make people re-do their action in the same timeline.
It just places the memories of the subject in the younger self of the
same subject in a way that it makes the timeline branch on itself,
forking the original timeline and creating a new, alternate reality that
originally shouldn’t even exist. This means: Re-Do literally creates
copies of the subjects in different timelines, but the original ones are
still there, brain dead inside a machine (to be buried or cremated
later), with all their awful action still done. No undos, no overwrites.
And
this totally applies to Vince and Sidney, that being the reason the
story is, in my opinion, cruel with a gentler ending and not gentle.
Sydney wasn’t a good girl, she was just weak. Despite the pressure the
bully trio put her under, she wasn’t forced to do that, there was no one
pointing a gun at her. She did what she did because she just wanted to
impress her shallow ‘friends’. If the pressure was that strong, Sidney
would’ve ended up swallowing Vince anyways in whatever timeline she
ended up in. I say that because, in the alternative timeline, she only
stopped what she was doing because of the incoming memories of her
original self of another timeline, which made her feel a strong guilt,
stronger than the fear she was feeling of the bully trio. So Sydney
never acted in true goodness, but only in fear and, in the alternate
reality, guilt, not kindness. Yes, one could say that she didn’t agree
with the prank and was hoping to recover Vince but she still did it. If
she was good she just wouldn’t, as she did in the alternative reality
(but under guilt, not true kindness: if it wasn’t for the utter guilt
she felt, she would had eaten Vince just again). Bitching against the
bully trio later doesn’t makes Sydney a kind girl, because under utter
desperation (like she was) everyone can bitch out, even the most coward
of men.
And because she was so weak, she also ended up being a murderer. Even she acknowledges that when she confess that she regrets ’The murder of... Vince Bradford’.
So it’s pretty unfair to write that she ‘felt like a murderer’, because
it’s not a matter of feeling like a murderer, she was in fact a
murderer. And she totally deserved the depressed life she had. Vince
cried, begged for his life with everything he had and she just ate him,
no reconsideration. Yes, she deserved the shitty life she ended up
having. She’s also not to be believed as a kind person just because she
lived a regretful, miserable life after. No matter how miserable it was,
she still lived her life and went with it: considering what your story
says, she was rich (she was able to afford Re-Do), so she had a nice
job, a nice house, some nice things poorer people (like Vince) don’t
have... depressed, but she had.
Contrary to Vince, which was born
small, or did shrink during early life probably, and had to endure a
depressed, lonely life on his own. He survived many bad things and was
always bullied by the Bully trio, suffering day after day, with no
constant happiness in life, just to end up murdered by Sydney. Sydney
had even the freedom to choose how she would die - in the Re-Do - but
Vince had to see his life being taken from him because of a prank. His
life was miserable but it was still his life and he wanted to live,
Sydney denied him that option. You wrote that you started the story near
his happy ending - meeting Sydney - but what you actually did was just
cut short Vince’s story and show us the worst torment he ever
experienced: being swallowed alive and dying digested. Vince himself (at
least his alternate self) said that ’this girl [Sydney] had done
more psychological damage to me in a single minute than any of those
other three [the bully trio] ever had.’ And we’re just hearing the
alternate Vince, not the original Vince, who had the experience of
sliding down her throat, being deposited in her stomach, and melted in
acids. How miserable did he feel while dying inside her? Wasn’t he
feeling miserable enough? I can’t hold my tears anymore ;_; We can only
hope he lasted enough inside her stomach to hear Sydney crying so he
could probably die feeling a bit consoled by knowing that she regretted
what she did (but she still did ;_; ).
(And I’m so sorry if
I’m being a hypocrite, I usually enjoy both gentle and cruel stories and
had written some cruel stories too, so why am I feeling this way? I
don’t know... please forgive me, please! And... would you mind if I
write a story closely based on it? I’m truly wanting to give this story a
better/fair ending in the original timeline...)
And the most
strong reason I have to believe that Sydney wasn’t a good girl: she
never faced what she did. She lived all her life running away, even
Re-Do was actually a fleeing move of her. If she was, like you wrote, a
saint, she would had given herself in to the police, accepting the price
for her actions, and she also would had looked for professional help to
deal with what she did. But no, she just hid what she did. She only
told someone about it when decades had passed and she was going to use
the Re-Do technology. But Re-Do of course couldn’t amend things like she
believed (and like the story tries to make us believe): it’s just
killing her comfortably while giving her other self, the Sydney from
another timeline, the chance of doing things right with the other Vince,
the Vince from another timeline. So it’s very accurate to say that
Sydney just ran away from her guilt. She choose to die and let her other
self to deal with it. Sydney just died running away of it, and her
death was her last but very successful fleeing move, as she’ll never
have to deal with her guilt again. She never faced it properly. Never.
And
the darkest part: considering the nature of the Re-Do technology, with
transfers the memories of the subject for the past and thus the younger
subject decides things differently and opens a branch in the original
timeline, there’s no way to accurately obtain evidence that the
technology works. By what you wrote, it’s perfectly believable, and very
possible, that the Re-Do doesn’t give to the subjects’ younger selves
the memories of the current selves: it just puts the subjects in deep
slumber and provides them a conscious dream, where the subjects believe
that they’re re-living the moment they regret, doing differently this
time, when they’re actually just dreaming while the machine slowly kills
them...
So no matter if Re-Do really forks the timeline and
creates alternate versions of the younger subjects’ reality or if it
just makes they dream: Sydney murdered Vince, period. The alternate
versions of them are just it: alternate versions. Versions of them that
originally shouldn’t (or couldn’t) even exist. I’m not saying that the
second chapter is bad, no: it put the story in it’s prime form! I loved
the gentleness of it! But because of all that reasons, that gentleness
seemed fake. Mostly because: the original Sydney, the Sydney that
matters as her timeline is the official/natural, killed Vince for
nothing. She went away with it, living a depressed life (thinking about
the friend she could have had but she didn’t, and it’s her fault so I
have no pity on her) but living it until getting older and deciding to
die a probably comfortable death, something Vince hadn’t. And the bully
trio? They went away with it, lived their lives with no regret of what
they did and that’s the end.
Evilness, and not kindness, wins :(
Author's Response:
Hey-o, Hey-o, Milla! I'm quite surprised to see this story getting such an in-depth review years after it was typed up. I'm on my phone so I may not be able to respond to everything you said in depth, but I did read all of it. :) Yes, you have full permission to take this story and re-write it how you like. A bit of another Re-Do, but this time for the story itself! lmao xD
I will admit, I just kind of "write whatever" comes to mind and type a story on the spot, usually within a few hours. I leave too many plot holes and don't always flesh out my thoughts correctly.
Under this magnifying glass you've brought to the story, I do believe I can see how it's a dark tale. I will update the tags and add humiliation. You're also very right, the female cast of the story didn't fully ever experience justice or karma for what happened, but I also think that happens way too often in real life as well. Bad people sometimes live comfortable lives, unfortunately... The story is very unfair. And I'm not quite sure why Vince's sad story garnered the notoriety it did posthumously.
Regardless, I'm sorry if the story made you sad. :(
This is off topic: but if you like anime maybe you'd like Stein;s Gate. It deals with alternative timelines :)
Another side note; I became friends with someone named Sydney two years after typing this story and I can't read it the same way anymore lol. And, I'm very sorry to hear about your period giving you a hard time, but I am a guy in real life.
Anyways, yes, please feel free to tweak the story and fine tune it. I've read some of your work and you are meticulous with your details. I consider you a better writer than I am, and would be honored if you do.
All the best, Intheliar.
[Report This]Date: May 15 2022 9:02 AM Title: We All Have.
But, despite feeling soooo low because of the first chapter, I must add (I forgot to do so) that the second chapter, even despite feeling like an unreal dream, was very very enjoyable. Also, I must confess that the part of me who likes cruel stories... enjoyed the first chapter. That part of me is shut down today, it seems, so I mostly felt just down, but the vore scene... enjoyable. It's always nice to see girls swallowing boys.
I also forgot to write about a strange plot hole you did: you wrote about Xavier being surprised when Sydney confessed that she murdered Vince, so it's clear that Vince was a very known person, as his disappearance case was widely known. Still, you pictured him as being very lonely, and this doesn't make too much sense. If his disappearance case was so known that even a man which very probably hadn't had previous contact with him could remember clearly and feel surprised with the revelation, even forty years later, then Vince should've had been a very known tiny guy, and not a lonely depressed tiny. But if his lonely life style is to be believed, then his disappearance case shouldn't be that known and shouldn't matter that much, because who cared about him? Maybe his death would be just a footnote on the news, maybe with a small local coverage filmed aired on TV, and next week he's forgotten.
I think the story would be better if, at least, Sydney had faced jail before being allowed to use Re-Do. Maybe being sentenced to jail and being freed to go on Re-Do just when they saw that she's close to die...
Anyway, you rock, and I'm loving your style, despite feeling down with that one... ;_;
Author's Response:
Hello! I replied to your other review. I'm just commenting on this one because I never like to leave a review un-responded to. Thanks for your enthusiasm it's very heart warming to see someone get so into something I wrote to be honest
Sometimes my kinks derail a story and make the plot take an awkward turn. (*a103;*;)
[Report This]Date: December 21 2020 2:56 PM Title: We All Have.
Well, I love your interesting concept, and this story. I never would've of thought I could favorite an author so quickly. I love gentle giantess and your stories have hit that mark I was looking for. I mean I used to read stuff from Nostory, Darien Fawkes, The Doctor, and Uncle Funkle. Anyways I love your gentle giantess stories and I hope you continue this one.
Author's Response:
I'm glad to see you're burning through my content so quickly. I think you would've liked my older work if I didn't delete it all one day.
I've given up on all my stories besides Blanket for now.
Have a great day my friend
[Report This]Date: October 31 2019 5:10 PM Title: Ever Regretted Something?
This was flawless...
I hope you write more like this in the future
Keep working <3
Author's Response:
Thank you my friend
[Report This]Date: January 10 2018 2:24 PM Title: We All Have.
I LOVED this! And I love your commentary towards the end about violent vs gentle. This website (and particularly the vore tag) is in dire need of more gentle giantesses, and I love the spin you’ve given it! It’s so close to my own daydreams in terms of musing about what it would be like to go back and enter your childhood brain, and I’d never thought to turn that into a G/t story. I really hope you continue this story as they explore their new relationship, or others like it if you decide to let it be. Good work!
Author's Response:
<3 <3 <3
Really appreciate you taking the time to let me know all that, Xiao-renzhe. I'm happy you enjoyed the story! And honestly, Sydney/Vince could very easily have had adventures together; I could've thrown in more cute conversations or even have them confront Desirea and the gang and wring an apology out of them somehow. I know I barely covered it, but Vince's past was fairly difficult. He was meant to be seen as a survivor who got picked on in numerous ways, but I skipped all the sad bullying stuff and started near his happy ending-- meeting Sydney. Unfortunately, I'm a bit of a tease. When I think of a great scenario, that's all I think of-- I don't think about endings or the journey-- so I just end up wanting to do a short story to get my idea across. I guess what I'm saying is, I don't plan on continuing this series, and it's not because I don't think there's anything left for them to do, it's just that I feel ill-equipped as an author to give them the proper adventure they deserve. (Anyone reading this already has my permission to continue this story with their own 'twist' on it if they so choose, as long as they mention my username somewhere as a small modicum of credit.)
As far as other stories, they'll likely include the same ultra-thoughtful giantesses (when concering the tiny main character), so don't worry about that... Sydney is a saint, but she's also not the only saint possible I could create. Except, I don't know when I'll type another one. It could be a week, or it could be six months. I won't rush it, but if I get the inspiration/daydream to make another, I will spend a huge portion of my day, everyday, until it's done. It wears me out, haha.
Now that I'm thinking about it, the original Sydney life was pretty depressing. Imagine the friend she could've had, but didn't.
Anywho. The part near the end was part of the initial daydream. This story was birthed from two ideas [What if we got a second chance at life with our current memories, to fix our biggest regret] and [I want a giantess to learn the cold truth about evil giantesses and all the shit little men go through. What if... they read some stories, and felt repulsed by them-- resolving themself to be the exact opposite. A gentle giantess, with increased awareness on the unexpected dangers of being a shrunken human.] The perfect protector, friend, or lover.
Thanks for your review. You, and the others, give me hope. Have a 'good one.
Date: January 09 2018 11:25 AM Title: Ever Regretted Something?
Oh how I missed your work. Your gentle giantesses never cease to amaze me. A nice cute story. I like how Sydney ironically used giantess story sites that is more or less is about domination over smaller individuals as a reference on how to protect Vince. Loved it! I wish you the best in life as well. Remember, what doesn't kill you, makes you stronger.
Author's Response:
Always a valued opinion as always, thank you, Nothingness!
Gentle themes are the bees knees for me. And, yeah, I thought it'd be pretty cute for her to stumble upon giantess stories and get pretty flustered about how so many of the tiny guys get mistreated. But, think about it. With the entire combined story collective at her disposal on the internet... almost every possible danger Vince could face was covered. It was almost like a manual. And thanks to the nature of the fetish, there's no shortage of mistreatments covered.
So, with that in mind, I can't think of anyone more qualified to protect Vince than someone who's both aware of the possible dangers he faces (dangers normal sized people probably never think about), as well as having her crushing on him. The perfect setup, or at least to me. Hope he doesn't feel smothered. I know I probably wouldn't.
I'm alright. Things ain't bad, now. Just looking forward to whatever fate throws my way now-- Hopefully it'll be pretty with a nice body and personality.
I don't know when I'll make another story. I feel like it'll be a short while. Take care in the meantime, yourself!
[Report This]Date: January 08 2018 11:19 PM Title: Ever Regretted Something?
Mushy rom-com levels of gentle interaction in a GTS story, while still being literate? Well, you've got me sold! Does make me sad that it's the end of their story, but I'd read a goddamn novel about this subject, so that's probably not a valid criticism.
So, yeah, really good job.
Author's Response:
Hah, wow. Thank you. Reading this before heading into work is kinda giving my day a good start. I'm glad you liked it, and I'm the same way. I love a good, long read with this kind of material... for the most part. Sometimes a little bit of conflict here & there spices things up, too, but then again, the way I ended this story was setting up Sydney to never want Vince to experience conflict again. I'd always wondered about that-- why it's so rare that some of the other gentle stories, the girl lets the shrunk dude out of their sight, and grave misfortunes befall him. Which, is why I had Sydney research the subject while Vince slept. In my mind, he's going to have one very alert protector and lover in the time they spend together from there on out.
My work can never really hold a candle to some of the novel-length stories on this site, but typing short stories seems to be my niche. And, I do give a huge crap about typing fairly decently. Sometimes too much awful grammar can ruin something for me.
Again, thank you, Mechasharkzilla.
Author's Response:
Hah, wow. Thank you. Reading this before heading into work is kinda giving my day a good start. I'm glad you liked it, and I'm the same way. I love a good, long read with this kind of material... for the most part. Sometimes a little bit of conflict here & there spices things up, too, but then again, the way I ended this story was setting up Sydney to never want Vince to experience conflict again. I'd always wondered about that-- why it's so rare that some of the other gentle stories, the girl lets the shrunk dude out of their sight, and grave misfortunes befall him. Which, is why I had Sydney research the subject while Vince slept. In my mind, he's going to have one very alert protector and lover in the time they spend together from there on out.
My work can never really hold a candle to some of the novel-length stories on this site, but typing short stories seems to be my niche. And, I do give a huge crap about typing fairly decently. Sometimes too much awful grammar can ruin something for me.
Again, thank you, Mechasharkzilla.
[Report This]Date: January 08 2018 7:48 PM Title: Ever Regretted Something?
An excellant story with fun characters and an unique situation! And just the right amount of mushiness in my opinon.
Author's Response:
Really?
Thank you for the review-- That's exactly what I like to hear; I appreciate it.
I'm my own biggest critic, but I like the way it turned out. If I had to change anything, I'd probably make the scenes more detailed or spend more time explaining stuff.
[Report This]Date: January 08 2018 7:16 PM Title: We All Have.
Hey man great story really love the idea :) good way to redeem a character
Ps. I'm in the same boat as you man I have no idea how I'm going to break it to my girlfriend or any girlfriend I ever have (I don't know how this is helpful you're just not alone)
Author's Response:
Thanks a bunch! I felt like the first chapter made no sense, kind of. Like, Sydney, by all accounts, shouldn't have gone through with that prank in the first place. But, I guess doing something stupid like that makes it all that much easier to regret. And that regret was powerful enough to give me a reason for her being so crazy nice in the second chapter.
(The following paragraph gets a bit personal, and does not pertain to the story.)
I'm guessing you're referencing part of my bio;
Thank you, though-- it kind of helps, knowing I'm not alone. The more alone someone feels about something, the more they feel like they're a freak.
I was with her for three years, and I told her early on in the relationship. Everything. She kept pestering me about them, likely wishing to please me in bed somehow. I told her, begrudgingly, of my giantess/ass/scat fetishes. And my severe disinterest in vagina. It worked for a few years, but over time, we quit being as intimate with each other. I tried things, like 'eating'... but it didn't help my case any, it just ruined stuff. I could handle vanilla with a condom. That was all. Clean up was always disgusting. 90% of the time, we did anal. That was probably my downfall. I needed to 'suck it up', like she 'sucked it up' for me.
I suggest you have a heart-to-heart with her about it. If she really loves you, she might stay with you for who you are. There are ways you can compromise, somehow, I'm sure of it. Good luck.
[Report This]Date: January 07 2018 9:00 PM Title: Ever Regretted Something?
Very...interesting!
Author's Response:
I'm glad to hear that, thank you!
Date: January 07 2018 5:50 PM Title: Ever Regretted Something?
So glad you're alright. Couldn't help but read your new bio. You can email me if you wanna talk. Glad you're alright, man :)
Author's Response:
Hey, Nothingness! Yes, I'm alright. Sorry if I worried you (or anyone else). I kind of just ghosted this website for a bit there. Luckily didn't get into any accidents or anything since I've been gone. Some stuff happened, ending up moving out after my fiancee broke up with me. We're still on okay terms-- we didn't fight or anything. We just don't talk now. Took some time to move past that and get settled into my new place.
I ended up re-visiting and got caught up in a good story. It made me miss it. I ended up using waybackmachine to check cached versions of this site, and I was able to read some of my old stories. But what really got me back was the kind reviews I got from you and the others. So, I'm here out of nostalgia. So thanks for that. Sometimes I just take some long breaks.
I would prefer not to email, if that's alright. (It's a mess. Had it since I was thirteen. Probably some security issues at this point. Full of spam. And I've used it for everything.) I do appreciate it though-- checking up on me like this. You're always welcome to drop a comment/review. I check them every time I'm on. (Just don't spam rating-stars, haha.)