Requested Review: “Soul Mates” by TyGuy94

Good morning everyone,

Welcome to There She Grows! Today’s review of “Soul Mates” by TyGuy94 was requested by Gourd last year. (NOTE: That request was made on November 29th in the comments section under the Kaylee review.) Gourd wrote the following about this written series:

“There are 7 main chapters and it’s basically a slice-of-life type of series about this developing relationship between a guy in a college and this girl with a special…growing…condition. It’s a pretty slow paced story since it takes it’s time with the characters, but I think there are some genuinely sweet moments in it and the build up to each growth scene is actually pretty solid. I think it could be a nice little change of pace if you’re into it.”

Soul Mates was first published to DeviantArt on July 3rd, 2019. Seven parts were released as well as five shorts. The latest, “Soul Mates Shorts: Lab Experiments,” was released on December 5th, 2021. All parts and shorts can be read for free here: https://www.deviantart.com/tyguy94/gallery/69681586/soul-mates

Free is an important detail to emphasize. It’s difficult to vehemently complain when zero money was spent. “How dare you not include what I wanted when I had to pay … um, zero cents!” Another significant detail is the length of the individual parts. Part 1 was 30 pages in PDF format. The longest, Part 4, was 40 pages. That’s a lot of content at no cost! It’s one thing to tweet a few sentences or post a few paragraphs in a forum thread. It’s another thing to write 30+ pages and give all of that away. So, I am favorably inclined toward Soul Mates!

However, let’s take a step back and discuss the basic set-up. The titular Soul Mates are college students Sarah and Tyler, two young people who met and quickly fall in love. In nearly every aspect they are normal middle-class Americans experiencing the same things that numerous other people have also experienced.

The crucial difference is that Sarah was previously exposed to something in a laboratory where her mother worked. That incident permanently changed Sarah so now she grows whenever aroused or sexually stimulated. She typically shrinks to normal size in just a few hours afterward. Lucky for Sarah, Tyler just happens to be a fan of tall women! Sarah steadily breaks personal records growing taller than before and the duo have sex as people in love are wont to do. That said, this was not a ZZZ comic. There were no group sex scenes or orgies. At least they weren’t any in the main continuity. There was “The Holiday Mash-up” which featured a growing threesome, but it was a disconnected one-off.

This was also not a BotComic; so, Sarah did not jump into bed with her three female roommates at the drop of a hat. Nonetheless, there were several enjoyable sex scenes with Sarah playing the role of an Amazon or a mini-giantess.

I agree with Gourd that this is a slice-of-life story. It felt grounded. There were no scenes of a gigantic Sarah climbing the Empire State building like King Kong in 1933, stabbing an unfortunate man with a giant hypodermic needle like Lt. Colonel Glenn Manning in 1957, or tearing the roof off a bar like Nancy Archer in 1958. In fact, most of the time her height does not exceed what at least one human has achieved in real life. Robert Pershing Wadlow, the tallest human being of which there is reputable evidence, reached a height of 8 feet 11 inches or 2.72 meters. Sarah does become taller than Mr. Wadlow, but only rarely. Most of the time, under 9 feet was her limit.

This did not have a ton of excitement. That’s not to say there wasn’t any conflict. There were late nights spent studying for tests and uncertainties navigating their developing relationship. They do experience a temporary break-up and Sarah frets about others learning about her unique condition. However, a parallel could be made between Soul Mates and a certain scene in “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.”

<SPOILER ALERT FOR NEARLY 4-YEAR-OLD FILM> Jedi Rey inadvertently destroys a small space ship which she believed was carrying her friend Chewbacca. That created tension and uncertainty. How will she live with herself knowing that her lack of self-control resulted in the death of someone she cared about? However, a few minutes later viewers see that Chewbacca is in fact alive and was on a different ship. Not enough time was given to build tension. </SPOILER ALERT>

Similarly, Sarah and Tyler have a disagreement and for a brief moment it appeared that someone else might steal Sarah’s affection. However, Sarah and Tyler quickly reconcile. Not enough time was spent on their separation to build tension.

Thus, the biggest drawback is that Soul Mates is not exciting. That’s not to say that every series must consist of nail-biting cliffhangers. This issue was mentioned merely to inform potential readers. This is a good series to read when you want a comforting narrative, not a thriller.

Another potential drawback are the multiple references made to video game franchises which older readers (like me!) or non-video-game-playing readers (if any exist) may not understand. For example, I do not know what a “new game plus run” is or what it means in regards to the Dark Souls video game. (SIDE NOTE: Dark Souls is an action role-playing game (RPG) published by Bandai Namco Entertainment. It has a reputation for being difficult.) Additionally, repeated references were made to characters from the Overwatch franchise which could become dated when readers move on to newer games.

A few clues would be nice so people unfamiliar with those particular video games could appreciate the references. However, no crucial plot points required that knowledge. They weren’t necessary to understand the overall flow of the narrative. Furthermore, a counter-argument could be made that this wasn’t written for the “olds.” “Olds” in this instance meaning esteemed pillars of the community like your very own Solo who played Pitfall on Atari in the early 1980s.

Another sign of the times was the couple going out for a “date” to a grilled cheese restaurant. (SIDE NOTE: Whether or not it truly counted as a romantic date was a matter of some concern to Sarah.) I chuckled at the thought of going out to eat grilled cheese sandwiches. That’s a dish my Mom would make after I went sledding on the seven-foot tall snow hill in our front yard. Toasted bread and melted cheese felt like a poor choice with which to impress a lovely lady. Although, the fried chicken grilled cheese and pulled pork mac ‘n’ cheese grilled cheese did admittedly sound appealing. Don’t mind me folks. I’m just a wizened, elderly reviewer. Just let me finish a few more articles and then I’ll politely stand back and wait for the Grim Reaper to shuffle me off this mortal coil 😉

Lastly, this would have benefited if another person have proofread it. There were misspelled words such as “Christainity” for “Christianity.” There were also a few malapropisms, mistaken usage of words which sound similar. For example, “She took her que as she wrapped her arm around him…” should have been “She took her cue as she wrapped her arm around him …” Similarly, “… he seemed contempt with her current size.” should have been “… he seemed content with her current size.” Contempt and content have significantly different meanings, but sound somewhat alike. None of the errors were showstoppers.

Overall, the pluses far outweighed the minuses. Soul Mates is strongly recommended. It provides one of the most realistic relationships in all of macrophilia. That plus a happy ending capable of warming the hearts of bitter old Pitfall players.

That’s it for now folks. Next week’s review will feature a new story from Albert Robinson. Until then, keep growing!

This review was written by SolomonG and is protected under Fair Use copyright law.

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