[Report This]Date: March 22 2024 5:19 PM Title: Callie vs the Persuasive Professor
Wow, what a fantastic start! I especially enjoyed the depth of these characters.
I appreciate Duncan's resourcefulness and caution. I imagine if I were in his situation I'd react similarly--however I doubt I'd survive the fight with Bigsby! I feel he has a longing for human connection, but has difficulties trusting--I sincerely hope that Callie turns out to be someone he can trust.
Speaking of Callie, I especially love her character. She's a great gentle giantess. Well-meaning, but sometimes says or does the wrong things.
Meanwhile, Kristie is just as I imagined her based on your foreshadowing. I'm sure this was just the tip of the iceberg for the trauma she inflicted on Duncan.
I love the diverse set of characters so far, looking forward to the next chapter!
Author's Response:
Hey sizeaddled!
I think you should give yourself some more credit. I'm sure you would have found a way to take on Bigsby!
You're dead on about Duncan. He had some trust issues even before shrinking, so those have obviously gotten worse since falling below three inches tall. It's really hard to not trust Callie, though, as much as he tries not to. We'll see next chapter (whenever I get around to finishing it) whether or not a some people from his old life are trustworthy (and if his previous judgment of those relationships was accurate or not).
I'm really glad Callie has been so well received so far! I like your description of her.
I tried to put a lot of thought into foreshadowing various things in the first couple of chapters, so it's great to hear that you already had an idea of who Kristie is based on the brief mention of her in chapter one. He was able to escape from Kristie not too long after the events of that dream sequence, but her impact on his psyche is pretty significant.
And hopefully I can keep up that diverse set of characters next chapter (which I'm hoping to get out relatively soon). I really don't want my characters to overlap and cover the same ground.
Thanks for taking the time to review my little story! Maybe you'll beat me and get the next chapter of Delta Phun out first!
Date: February 21 2024 8:52 AM Title: Callie vs the Persuasive Professor
great story so far
Author's Response:
Thanks, rubber!
[Report This]Date: February 13 2024 1:44 AM Title: Callie vs the Persuasive Professor
I'm kinda curious as to what Duncan and Kristie's relationship looked like before he shrunk because I'm failing to see what he saw in her from this snippet lol. I mean, three days into shrinking and he's already less than a hamster? Goddamn. I do love how verbally manipulative she was, if being physically imposing wasn't already enough, and that duplicity is clearly responsible for what Duncan "saw" in her.
The opening does a great job contrasting her with Callie, both Callie's softer, deliberate motions in approaching and handling Duncan, as well as her not-so-silver tongue which at least better conveys her sincerity. And man, her explanation of bringing out her mom's sowing machine was adorable ("So I said to myself, 'Self, you gotta help this man out,' cuz that's what roomies do for each other," is so cute it hurts). She's characterized very well throughout the chapter. After making multiple sets of tiny clothes and the most impressive miniature replica of a mattress ever, she's catastrophizing about a short offhand comment she didn't even finish. What a beautiful soul!
The moment Stillwell (great name for a snivelly, creep-ass professor. No offense to any real Stillwells, I'm sure you're cool. Where was I? Oh, right.) locked eyes onto the woman in the backrow of an ampitheater lecture hall, I threw up in my mouth. I hate this guy, and I love that. Every subsequent line about and from him is a downward spiral of vile dreck. The fact that he so brazenly admits he raises the classroom thermostat "for her sake" is the dingleberry on the scum sundae.
Callie being so distraught as to almost unaware step on Duncan is another great moment, enhanced by tiny D being too mesmerized by the titaness before him to move out of the way (and subsequently get a good, totally not enviable I swear, whiff of some toe webbing). I think the potential for harm, usually unitended harm, makes gentle stories all the better. It's hard to explain, but the idea of a giantess intentionally having to hold herself back for the tiny's sake and be ever cognizant the effect simple actions have on him is really appealing.
I already like this Monica character and the two very different impressions our leads have of her. Looking forward to seeing how this meeting with her plays out.
Author's Response:
Hey Terry!
You're right in that Kristie's manipulative nature is something that Duncan got sucked into. I've also been kind of hinting that his childhood wasn't exactly stable and that things were a bit rough, so he kind of mistook some of her meanness for simple, blunt honesty, something he actually values. I should also note that this was a really complicated relationship even before the shrinking, so who knows: Maybe we'll dive a little deeper into that as the story progresses.
I'm thrilled that you pointed out the contrasting ways in which Kristie and Callie have handled Duncan's size, both physically and verbally. I tried a couple of things in an effort to draw out that comparison specifically, so it's good to hear that this stuck out for you.
Callie's sewing machine rant was pretty fun to write. And yeah, I also like the fact that she's still worried about offending him even after doing all of that stuff for him. She's not really the type of person who does stuff for "credit," so she doesn't feel like making that stuff should give her a pass. Also, she's kind of embarrassed and confused, as she was saying that without thinking about it, and she's not really sure what she meant by it. Maybe a bit of a Freudian slip on her part?
I love that your reaction to Stillwell was that immediate. I was trying to set a very particular tone with that creep, and your reaction makes me feel like I nailed it! As for his brazen admission about the thermostat, that was maybe the scummiest thing I could think of for him to do in that situation. He's just playing with her psyche at that point. Dingleberry on a scum sundae indeed.
No need to explain on the appeal of giantess' having to show restraint and the impact of their casual actions. You're preaching to the choir, as they say. And like you said, two people wrapped up in two very different emotions in that moment led to some unintentional carelessness that thankfully only ended with a face full of foot sweat (and a raging hard-on).
Monica is turning out to be a pretty fun character to write (as she was at the back end of this last chapter). That's all I should probably say about that for now.
Thanks again for taking the time to share your thoughts!
[Report This]Date: February 05 2024 10:48 PM Title: Callie vs the Persuasive Professor
I'm liking the continued bonding of our protagonists, it seems like Duncan might have a few skills and connections that will let him pull his weight after all. The Ex sounds like a real piece of work, I wonder how she reacted to his escape? And is she still looking for him or has she moved on?
Stillwell sounds like a potential link or suspect to whatever got Duncan downsized, at the very least there's a motive from a bunch of shady academic types to get rid of him. Clearly the university didn't bother to curb Stillwell's excesses, is he too valuable to let go? Or is it just the insular culture of college administration at work? Then again maybe Duncan just drew the cosmic short straw.
A powerful businesswoman like Ms. Shale is a high risk high reward play, on the one hand proof of being tiny is a pretty damn good excuse to miss work, on the other the true motives of the C-Suite are hard to determine at the best of times. She could be an extremely useful source of resources or another hazard in the way of figuring out what happened.
Anyways good job, looking forward to more!
Author's Response:
Hey Green!
Yeah, like you, I like it better when the tiny isn't a completely helpless and sniveling shit. And I'm glad you're enjoying the bond being formed between Duncan and Callie. I wanted that to feel as organic and natural as possible in a scenario that is in no way actually possible.
All I can say about Kristie at this point is that we haven't seen the last of her in this story.
As for Stillwell, he's definitely the beneficiary of university politics. He's well known in the economic field out in the real world (didn't really find a place to mention that), which helps, but the protection he gets from the administration is more about who he knows than anything else.
And yeah, that does sound like something those shady academic types would do, doesn't it ...
High risk high reward is the right way to look at meeting with Ms. Shale, I think, although I'm pretty sure that's not how either Duncan or Callie are looking at it. Their fear and excitement, respectively, doesn't go past meeting with Monica herself. They're too focused on that to really consider what Monica can do for or to them with the resources she has available to her.
Thanks again for the kind words!
[Report This]Date: February 01 2024 8:42 AM Title: Callie vs the Persuasive Professor
Another excellent chapter. From the horrors of Duncan’s ex girlfriend to Callie’s messed up and tragic life she has to go through at school, it just shows how much Callie and Duncan need each other and how lucky they are to simply be in each others lives. A true saving grace for one another. Going to be interesting to see the new dynamic of Duncan being her mentor despite being tiny and see how their relationship evolves as a whole.
I love the detail you put in describing Callie from Duncan’s pov how huge she is to him. And poor dude got trapped on her foot haha. Seems like he loved that experience from his reaction though!
Well done overall! Looking forward to the next chapter. If you got discord, I’d love to provide more detailed thoughts to the chapter because I really think this story is one of the tops on the site recently!
Author's Response:
Hey Chief,
Yeah, Duncan's starting to learn a few things about himself for sure! This won't be the last time he gets familiar with a foot.
I'm also glad you're enjoying the Callie-Duncan dynamic so far. I tried to draw some parallels between their two situations in this chapter, and I hope that helped make the way they relate to each other seem more natural. I like gentle stuff, but it really needs to make sense, otherwise its just mushy for no reason, which can become more annoying than endearing, at least in my opinion.
And I'm thrilled you mentioned the size descriptions between Callie and Duncan. I'm trying to give a good mental image to the reader about just how small he is. It's one thing to give a number, but it's another entirely to put that number into practical terms. So thanks for mentioning that this stuck out to you!
Thank you again for your kind words. I get on Discord once in a while. If I get on soon, I'll be sure to look you up. Any feedback helps, and it would be good to see what worked and what I may need to work on in the chapters and stories ahead.