[Report This]Date: May 19 2022 4:03 PM Title: Epilogue
Author's Response:
Thanks for the five stars! It means a lot!
Date: May 11 2022 9:47 PM Title: Epilogue
So I wanted to elaborate on my previous review and reply to some of the others reviewing. I didnt mean to imply that hinba wasnt cruel the whole time or that she was decieving tom when she ate him. To me what happend at the end was that their Pred/ prey relationship ended with her eating him, and when he wakes up it will be the start of a new kind of relationship. Given that Hinba is a high class incredibly powerful and selfish deomoness him surviving the deal is a huge win. Its like a 100-1 boxer pulling off a draw. Yes he had to submit to her and forfiet his agency, but as a gts fan maybe thats something I'd want so its purely positive to me lol. I dont think their new relationship will neccesarily be all roses at first, but I think Tom is interesting enough to her especially with her decision at the end to maybe let him rest instead of tormenting im with a fake afterlife, that they may grow out of this lopsided potentially abusive relationship into one that they both truely enjoy. I will clarify I am always an optimist, but i can appreciate tragic storys as well. If i didnt have a gts fetish I guess id see the ending as a phrrhic victory. So there is some bias in that I'd love to be in tom's position and dominated by hinba so there's that lol. Anyways loved the characters, the dynamic, the tension, and the clever ending. Hope to see what's next soon even if its more tragic and brutal than I'd hope for.
Author's Response:
Hmm "pyrrhic victory" is good. Yeah, I like that description.
And yes this is definitely an abusive relationship… If your giantess ever treats you like this, please seek help from the Gentle Giantess Propaganda Agency (GGPA™). They have safeguards in place to prevent such treatment… or something.
[Report This]Date: May 11 2022 3:30 AM Title: Epilogue
I wrote about having a hard time getting a read on Hinba earlier, but it seems I really was overthinking it. She really is just a manipulative, sadistic demon who eats people (out of necessity, I guess?) It really did feel like there was a chance that she was lying about her intentions, or all her actions were in service of something greater than herself, or that maybe she wasn’t really going to kill Tom because it was all a grand lie. Nope, she’s pretty much what’s advertised on the box. Disappointing in my opinion, not because it was poorly written (it wasn’t), but simply because of my own personal preferences in these types of stories.
I didn’t quite buy the attempts to make Hinba seem more sympathetic, mostly found in the epilogue but also sprinkled throughout the story. The occasional moments where she showed softness and sincerity seemed written to persuade the reader that she might not be quite as bad as she usually appears, but I just wasn’t sold. By the end, she still mostly comes off as pretty fucking cruel to me.
I can’t believe Tom spent his 5 years working his ass off, both at his actual job and desperately trying to discover more about Hinba and her world. My interpretation was that he spent his time in the hidden room trying to either find a way out of his situation or a way to make himself useful to Hinba. What a waste to spend what were almost certainly the last years of his life like that. I assume that was a collar he offered her at the end, right? To show he’d be her pet. Although it was described as a small envelope, which wouldn’t fit one, so I may be misunderstanding.
Honestly, I feel like Tom should have used the bullet. Time and time again it’s been shown that winning against Hinba is practically impossible. Even this “triumph” at the end is really stretching the definition of that word. I understand he has a very strong will to live and the confidence to think he can find a way out of the situation. However, he’s gotta know that Hinba can make his life significantly worse than what he’s been through, which is saying a lot. The naga even warned him. He should have made his exit at the end of his five years. Can’t say the man lacks in hubris.
I hope nothing in this review comes off as harsh. I enjoyed this story a lot and will happily read whatever it is you write next, regardless if it's a continuation of this or something else entirely. This was a great first story.
Author's Response:
So I can’t comment on the bullet or the ring because those are purposely left up to interpretation. I know how I interpret them but don’t want to say because I don’t want there to be a “cannon” on what they mean. The thing about your review that really stuck out to me was your hesitancy to call the ending a “triumph.” Like it “feels” like a happy ending but there’s still this bittersweet tinge to it. Attributing that to the ambiguity of Tom’s fate appears to be the norm (at least based on the reviews) but you also touch on the other half.
I’m going to paraphrase you a little bit to make my point, so if it feels like I’m straw manning you, please bear with me.
You feel “disappointed” with Hinba’s character because surprisingly one note. This is a huge part of the narrative that I’m really happy someone pointed out. Both characters have a singular goal that drives them, but they also have one main flaw. The goals are easy to spot right? Hinba wants to eat Tom and Tom wants to live. Tom’s main flaw is his fear where it often clouds his judgment and actually causes him to make the wrong decision. In the end Tom IS alive, but not from his own efforts. As a character, Tom actually failed in his goal the moment he agreed to Hinba in the finale, and he failed so completely because of his fear.
So why is he still alive? Well, because Hinba failed in her goal as well. Her “flaw” isn’t that she’s evil because that’s just who she is, right? We know she lies, sometimes it almost seems transparent. We know she likes to torment Tom. Her being evil actually helps her get to the final stage where she is within a moment of getting everything she ever wanted. Her flaw is her indecisiveness. It’s why she seems uncaring about her missing villagers and why the sparse “gentle” moments with Tom seem so disingenuous. We “feel” like the ending is a win for Tom only because it’s a loss of Hinba but Hinba only “lost” because she’s just so very… flippant.
So does this work as an ending? I can’t answer that because I’m not allowed a vote, lol, so I genuinely have to ask. Is it satisfying? What would you have wanted to see different? Please let me know because I genuinely love to hear from y’all.
[Report This]Date: May 09 2022 9:55 AM Title: Epilogue
Now, I've been a silent reader for many years, but I had to create an account to share my appreciation for your writing, and this story.
As has been said by others, I have truly never experienced a read quite like this one.
The sheer ability to allow full immersion, fully understand and comprehend what you've written, while also being able to experience it completely uniquely.
I am sorry, I'm not too great with words, but please, I cannot, and I mean cannot wait for any further pieces you are making. Consider me sold, you're my favourite.
Author's Response:
I love to hear that. It’s still a very NEW experience to be someone’s favourite. I am working on a continuation but I am a painfully slow writer and even slower at editing. Hopefully as my work starts to slow down I’ll be able to put more time into writing about the Rescue Mission.
[Report This]Date: May 09 2022 4:26 AM Title: Epilogue
"Why don't we wait here, see what happens?"
Thus spoke the ending lines of John Carpenter's "The Thing", which concluded on a vaguely triumphant note, with much speculation and ambiguity dominating it.
And that's the ending to your story. Tom, in a way, has triumphed, in that he has defied destiny, but his fate to Himba is ambiguous. Truly, what does being her pet really entail? Has she really grown fond of him, perhaps one day, seeing him as a worthy pursuit more than simple amusement? Or is he truly condemned to a demon, who will subject him to everlasting torment since he did best her?
I wonder, if there were to be a continuation/sequel, Tom would start out as an eternal plaything, then Himba gradually warms up, not necessarily seeing him as an equal, but someone to genuinely have affection for. That's at least, how I would play it, but that's because I like happy endings and benevolent relationships.
Author's Response:
I love people that love the gentle side. I was always more on the cruel side myself, but reading some of the incredible talent on the other side of the fence really woke some of that up for me. In the end I really wanted to do something that blended two opposites. It's gentle AND cruel, it's willing and unwilling. They both have moments where they feel like they have the upper hand over the other just to have it swing back again a moment later. I'm really grateful to read reviews that validate that initial goal. As for a continuation.... I sure think there's more to tell.
[Report This]Date: May 09 2022 3:03 AM Title: Epilogue
There's a lot of mystery and ambiguity to the ending of this one, the only thing I can say for sure is that our protagonist got something close to the ending he wanted. Of the rest of it I can't come to any firm conclusions, to leave the ending open like this and also leave it satisfying is a difficult thing to pull off. Hope to see more from you, whether it's a return to this setting or something new.
Author's Response:
Thank you again for the kinds words!!! For the ending, I have to give a little credit to "A charmed life" by CoalWhite. Not trying to spoil anything but he did an amazing job of balancing a cathartic ending while still leaving so much up in the air. I wanted something in the same vain, but I never really thought of this story as ever being part of a larger narrative EVEN WHEN I left so much undone. I was already finished typing the whole thing before I even started to wonder what a continuation would look like... But yeah, "Our duo will return..."
[Report This]Date: May 08 2022 9:37 PM Title: Epilogue
Such a sweet ending I wouldn't have had it any other way. Ultimately she made him submit to her, but she fell for him as well and had mercy in the end.
Amazing how over the 5 years Tom had rather than trying to live out every life's fantasy, he dedicated himself to finding out more about her and her village, and decided he wanted to be with her even though he gave himself a way out.
Ultimately the bullet he left was itself a message to her, to show he had outwitted her and committed himself anyways.
I hope she can help him heal his skin a bit with her magic. I think they will have a long and happy life together now.
Its been a long time since a story on here effected me so much in this way and I can't wait for the duo to return.
Author's Response:
So I'm not an author, at least not in the "I'm good at this" kinda way, but one interesting thing to see is when a reader has a different interpretation. I'm not saying you're wrong in ANY SENSE but it's this weird realization for me personally to know that I am only responsible for the words themselves. Like I know the idea I had when I wrote them but to see someone come up with something else is deeply cathartic. I really do mean it because one thing that my Wife was telling me was to avoid "hand-holding" the reader too much because it leads to stale writing. it was my goal to leave certain elements up to interpretation and I feel vindicated. Thank you, kind sir.