Reviewer: Quicksilver Signed [Report This]
Date: March 17 2018 1:24 PM Title: Chapter 1

This giant family is begging to be revisited, especially since we just got a tease of Brooke’s sister, Katie, never getting a chance to see her and only hearing about her once, when we learn that she is at high school soccer practice.  It would be interesting to see if Katie takes more after her dad and thinks of man bugs as her equals, or if her feelings fall somewhere in between the other members of her family, showing mercy toward man bugs, at least as long as they know their place.  Imagine how Ben said that man bugs don’t REALLY clean people’s feet, only for someone to walk in on Katie after she’s peeled off her cleats and sweaty socks and has man bugs, borrowed from a soccer teammate, lined up between her toes, licking away dutifully at her perspiration.

Building off Rainman’s comment, it does seem unrealistic at first that Brooke and Lauren (and so many other characters in similar stories) could kill people with such indifference, but we have so many examples, not only throughout history but in the modern day, of people treating others as subhuman, and that’s when people are roughly the same size.  If some people were a quarter inch tall compared to others, all bets would be off, and speaking the same language and having the technology to communicate with each other probably wouldn’t make a difference in most cases. People actually do reason like Lauren when she says, “If God didn’t want me to step on them, he wouldn’t have made them so small.”  It is notable that Brooke and Lauren never refer to Amber, Dan, Sara, and company as “people,” in fact telling Ben that they’re NOT people; after all, you can’t step on 50 “people” at once. And, even though Ben clearly thinks “man bugs” are no different from him and his family except for being a different size, what can he really do? He knows Lauren has destroyed cities in the past and that she still doesn’t regret it, and she openly admits to killing man bugs at a friend’s house just recently, but it’s not worth it for him to alienate his family by berating them when what they’re doing is socially acceptable and they’re going to do it anyway, so he simply has to kiss his wife, walk out of the kitchen, and go on living his life.  I have to say, the casual way they discuss Lauren rampaging and destroying cities reminds me of this picture, and makes me think that ads like this might be popular in Giant Land: https://bigiolax.deviantart.com/art/justgtsthings-649274528.

It’s funny how Amber refers to “us normal(-sized) people,” even though the fact that plants and animals, like the grass (“They probably got lost in the grass or something”) and dogs (“Maybe a dog ate them”) are scaled to the “giants,” making it seem less like they’re giants than that their houseguests are just very, very tiny compared to not only them, but everything else.  I suppose “big” and “small” are relative terms, though, and “Take a Tour to the Land of Normal-Sized People” just doesn’t have the same ring to it. I love the word “giant.” I like the word “giantess” too, but even when referring specifically to titanic girls and women, sometimes it’s nice to occasionally switch off to calling them “giants” like you did. “Giantess” takes a bit more effort to say, whereas “giant” just quickly rolls off the tongue and has more gravitas behind it.  GIANT.

I’m hoping to see more of this universe, even if it’s not these particular giants, but I appreciate this story on its own too.  Thanks for writing.

Author's Response:

Thank you for reading and for this great review.

I agree, definitely a story that warrants a follow up including Katie along with her older sister and mother as well.  That's a good idea and I'll keep it in mind if/when I write another story in this universe.  Definitely something to think about and consider.

Lauren and Brooke are definitely two people any smaller person would want to avoid haha.  They view the smaller people as pests and although it does seem a bit unrealistic that they would act this way towards people, their attitudes suggest that they don't really see themselves killing "people" but simply dealing with a minor annoyance.  Ben has accpeted that his wife has different views and that no matter his opinion she'll keep doing what she wants.  He can't stop her and knows she won't change.  I've come across that particular picture and the past and had forgotten about it until you posted the link to it.  It's definitely a personal favorite of mine as I find the concept quite enjoyable and funny how it's a take off of just girly things lol.  Writing about Giant Land ads in a future story may be something I have to do and who knows, some might resemble this in their world.

Amber, Dan, Sara and the like see themselves as normal and that there are giants while the giants, like Ben, Lauren and Brooke, think of themselves as the normal sized people and that "man bugs" are the abnormality.  Both groups think their the "normal sized" humans and think the other group is the abnormality so kind of up tot he reader to decide which group is "normal".  Giant Land has everything to scale for the giants, such as grass and dogs, but where Dan and Sara and Amber are from, everything is their scale so they have grass that is "normal sized" and dogs that are also "normal sized" but would be tiny to someone like Lauren.  This exists on a different world in a different universe, so it's a planet that has land scaled to both giants and smaller people.  Dan and Sara have taken a trip to a different country where everything is bigger but in their home country everything is their size and scale.  I honestly didn't really think about much of the backstory to this world and didn't bother to include anything to address it since this is already a rather long story for a one shot.  I hope I kind of explained it well in this paragraph as I have the idea in my head but can't exactly clearly describe it and am afraid I may have only raised more questions lol.

"I suppose “big” and “small” are relative terms, though, and “Take a Tour to the Land of Normal-Sized People” just doesn’t have the same ring to it." <- hit the nail on the head with this point lol.

Giant definitely has a nice ring to it and conveys a great image with less effort.

As far as more of this universe, I didn't originally plan to write anymore but after getting positive feedback I've reconsidered.  I'm debating doing some short stories to further explore and expand this universe with different characters as well as maybe some short stories centering around the Hayden family, particularly Lauren, Brooke, and Katie and expand on them.  No promises on any stories though but I may return one day to these characters and universe but I'm not sure how soon that will be.

Hope I answered some of you thoughts and didn't create more questions lol.  Thank you for reading and for the thoughtful review.

Reviewer: Rainman1131 Signed [Report This]
Date: March 07 2018 7:18 AM Title: Chapter 1

Thanks for the response to my review. You make several good points there, especially about the unreality of the giantess genre in general.

And by the way, I probably shouldn't have said that the idea alone was good. Even though this kind of story isn't really my cup of tea, the writing itself is excellent. The buiding tension as we gradually grasp the mom's intent is palpable (reminds me of the scene in A Bronx Tale, where the gangster boss locks the door and says, "And now youse can't leave.")

I liked that scene when the little couple share a last kiss, too.

 

 

 

 

 

Author's Response:

Thank you for the compliment, I appreciate that.  The building tension is exactly what I was aiming for as the reader slowly realizes what the mom has in mind.  I'm glad that you enjoyed the writing and the build up.  The fact that it reminded you of a scene like that is pretty cool.  The story ended up being much longer than I had initially anticipated so it's nice to hear people appreaciate the writing and story, even if it's not really what they are looking for.

Once again, thanks for reviewing and reading!

Reviewer: AdamX Signed [Report This]
Date: March 06 2018 4:36 PM Title: Chapter 1

The husband/wife conflict is a wnderful added touch in stories like these. That said the mother/daughter you introduced are spectacular bitches...

 

Tremendous all around.

Author's Response:

Wasn't going to include it originally but thought it would be kind of a fun little extra bit.  Yes they are quite the pair lol.

Thank you!

Reviewer: Darrennick Signed [Report This]
Date: March 06 2018 9:53 AM Title: Chapter 1

Loved the story :) I hope that there is a part II of this.
Was hoping for more action for Brooke and some for her Sister especially during/after their softball/Soccer practice.

Author's Response: For now it's a stand alone but don't be surprised if I return to these characters and universe in the future :)