by writerannabelle
This was such an amazing tale! 💖
I'm so glad it came to this conclusion, as will everyone else who has followed your work for so long!
A Fantastic story! I dont really know what else to say other than that and I need more.
I enjoyed this immensely. And for those following this story and Home For Horny Monsters now know that Emery has not been left abandoned but rather kept quite busy by a little girl.
Thanks for the smile and for sharing. 5* Slainté
Out of all the creepy-crawlies in the world, spiders are my favorite. If Arachne did really exist, I would love to have one as a girlfriend or wife. 'Monsutā Musume no Iru Nichijō' or 'Everyday Life with Monster Girls' by Okayado is one of my favorite mangas. Out of all the monster girls to pick from, while I would take any and all of them, if forced to really choose I think I'd have to take Rachnera "Rachnee" Arachnera. (Although I do have a thing for redheads too, so Miia the Lamia would be my second choice.) Can't wait for the next chapter of Home. Happy Halloween, Annabelle.
I can hardly wait to see what's next. I hope your mind is overflowing with stories waiting to be set free.
A very satisfying ending to a wonderful story. Two stories wrapped up in two days. I hope you feel a sense of accomplishment for a job well done. I hope to be able to enjoy your writing for years to come. Thanks
Been a great journey with Ana and Darren. Thanks for sharing.
A very satisfying conclusion. You managed to make Cyrus and Jeffery relatable and human while still keeping them very much the antagonists. Their inflexibility was essentially their downfall.
I also like how this keeps things open for possible cameos with Mike and crew. Heck, it doesn’t even have to be Eulalie. Mike visiting Ana, Darren (which happens to be my own name), and the adorable “Uncle Foot” might be better for the story. It could serve to show Mike that it is possible for other humans to accept the more fantastic side of the world without taking advantage of it.
This was truly an amazing story. Excellent writing and story line. Can't wait to read another one like it or possibly a continuation of Darren and Ana. Keep up the great work.
The way US veterans returning from Vietnam were treated was horrific and I for one am glad it is acknowledged now but when is the treatment of our current veterans who are fathers going to be acknowledged and changed. Currently the way our feminist culture stands our soldiers are coming home more often than not to cheating wives who then divorce the returning husbands who have served their country and our courts are allowing these whores to claim these soldiers are no better than assassins for the killing they were required to do in the name of freedom and taking their children away to be raised by their cheating whore mothers. Our treatment of veterans hasn’t improved it’s just a different kind of torture now.
I'm a sucker for a happily ever after and it's great to see two people trying to escape their traumatic pasts find happiness together. I know this story was longer than you originally intended but I think you just put so much into your writing that it simply can't be contained in a short story.
I can't wait to buy it once it comes out.
p.s. I love how you made spider kids so adorable! I think even people not into the spider thing will have to admit that.
Nice little side story with a good time in to you main one! I expect that we will see a grown Eulalie meeting up with Mike Radley and her little sister as well? Can we expect more than just two Arachne in the future? Maybe even an old man Darren and old lady/Arachne Ana? I hope so! They'll bring a nice addition to the house! Keep on writing!
But as usually your character development and logical progression of the story was spot on. You almost made a drider seem sexy. Great job .
Brother, I’m sorry it sounds like you’ve had a rough time of it. Consider talking to someone about those anger issues though? I think generalizing women as “feminists cheating whores” is probably not productive.
On a different note beautiful story! Just as I have come to expect, please keep up the good work.
I don't know why, but that is just so cute. That and "hears rustling" and does nothing, "rustling gets louder" does nothing and then "I ambushed you!" ~Yes, dear. Still, having to train the survival skills is better for building a family and community than having to train empathy and kindness. The world at large would almost never be able to accept the Arachne master race. But the rainbow-web girls while still having a difficult struggle, at least have the potential of being welcomed by those with more open minds.
The only real long-term concern now, is a girl with too much empathy having a "perfect clutch" but being unable to bring herself to prevent the scourge from being reborn. We can only hope that Adam and Eve and a dash of magic are enough to build in protective measures in their biology.
This story had me stalking this website. Each time there's an upload it's like Christmas, and when there isn't, I just felt so disappointed!
Thanks for sharing this story. It was an excellent read. Wishing you many blessings!!
I loved It!!
Y.T/P
I'm happy to reach the end of the story, But at the same time quite sad, that the story is now over.
But, at least I can say that is was the best complete story I have read in here so far.
Anabelle, that was a great read. As a veteran and the nephew of a Vietnam vet I want to thank you. Loved how it panned out.
I feel like Jeffery's death was so tragic. He didn't need to die, and no one needed to get hurt. If Jeffery and Cyrus could have understood that Ana was as troubled by violence as they were, that she didn't want violence to continue, no one would have gotten hurt, and Jeffery wouldn't have died. All of that... and for what?
That said, I'm so happy for Ana and Darren.
Loved the story . So original . Sorry to see it end , but respect the wonderful way that you brought it to a nice conclusion . I found myself looking forward to each new installment . This is one of those stories that readers make up their own continuations I guess ? Glad that Darren and Ana found each other . So cool that Darren has a daughter to dote on . I too will be looking for your future works .
I loved this happy any loving ending, and Uncle Foot was awesome! Now, when are you going to finish up on Amymone's tale, so I can know if she was in Oregon, and was sweet Auntie Amy to Darren and Ana's girls.
I loved it very nice read ,love the way you did his squad help him . keep up the good work
Just sad that you have to move out into the middle of nowhere, magically protected, with your only companion a Bigfoot to avoid bigoted zealots.
I imagine the kids are gonna be trouble in their teens, filled with hormones, cabin fever and wanderlust.
one does not ask the predator if it will eat you for the answer will always be no.
From the vivid, gory action to cute Eulalie's multicolored webs, to the cameo's of the imp and the sasquatch (surprised to have to update my HfHM dramatis personae), to the peace Darren and his brother were both given, this was a very good conclusion to a very good story. Not saying I'll voluntarily read the scene again where the knights were mobbed by the spider legion, but still. Very good story.
Coming to think of it, I don't think I've ever given you less than five stars. Looking forward to your next offering!
But all baby animals are cute. (Even human animals.) Then we turn them into adult animals and so much goes wrong as we adults lead them astray. (Or just cast them out into the world to find their own way.)
It was nice to see that Annabelle's little lady spiders may now disprove the title of her story and Ana won't be the last of the nice Arachne. Had she left the first clutch of eggs to hatch in the cave, unguided in their development, she really would have been the last of her kind and the offspring would have returned to type.
And so far as society is concerned, those such as Cyrus and Jeffery were the goodies in the story and we would have needed the Order to send out replacements. As one Anonymouse said, it was sad that Jeffery had to be killed off in the story.
Lue
Another great one, Annabelle. I liked it.
Lue
It has been an absolute delight reading this story. Thank you for your contributions to this site. Reading your stories inspired me to put up my own stories almost a year ago. Thank you so very much
Absolutely believe Dwayne is a ghost following around his brother, while the others were actual hallucinations.
Hi Annabelle. Absolutely loved this story, I kept coming back for more. I would like to know if you are going to combine these characters with your other story HFHM. I think that would be really cool if they could meet the new caretaker. Even if you don’t do that I thoroughly loved this story. Thx
<APPLAUDS!> Well done, thank you for sharing your time and thoughts with us all. That was a good conclusion and I loved the epilogue.
I have to wonder if, or more likely how, this is going to tie in to HFHM.
Thanks again!
Your stories never fail to impress me. You always seem to have the perfect blend of story, action, fun, and feels : ) looking forward to your next chapter, best wishes and happy holidays!
That town she settled at first had some possibilities. Perhaps a place that is more gentle about its magic, but keeps everyones secrets compartmentalized, so that everyone thinks everybody ELSE is normal? But is still a place for the odd ones to rest?
An original awesome tale....loved it! Can't wait to see what you come up with next! Too bad there are not more than 5 stars to give you!!!!!
Only kidding! Fantastic, and imaginative, I'd love to be apart of this would. Can't wait for the next tail to be woven.
I absolutely love your work. Your stories are always so well thought out and executed. I am anxious to see what you post next.
Thank you for sharing this awesome story I love how it concluded
I spent two years in Vietnam. This was an amazing story each of the last three chapters made me horny as hell . The last chapter had me wanting I wish something like that would happen to me.
Thanks for this, you really are one of my favourite authors here.
It's an amazing story. Although it is heartbreaking that Ana has to kill most of her eggs. But it fits the world building.
This is your best story till now. Solid , amusing, and explaining complex and hard deep feelings . Ah, and thanks for the happy ending I loved it too. Like I loved you dwelling on an story of desperate moves that leaved enough room for a tiny hope to thrive into trust and finslly love. The best I read at Lit till now.
Congrats
And though a spider heroine gave me the heebie jeebies, I really did like Ana and am glad to see them find their happily ever after.
Great Story and great ending. I wonder if they or their decedents will meet with Mike and his friends
I will be honest I Originally came for the Nymph and Succubus but stayed for the story. And if it wasnt for that story I might not have read this one. And I would have missed out on a lot.
please keep writing, you are very talented.
You are, hands down, my favorite writer on the site.
I really get into your characters, world building is phenomenal. I love that the "monsters" are not just humans-with-different-bits, but have a bit of a culture and different needs.
Great idea to have this as a peripheral story next to HfHM.
Thank you for the wonderful fantasy adventure! You blend a wonderful tale with a generous sprinkling of spice :D
Great read...at the end, you mentioned several names. Who is Emery? Another child?
This was a really excellent story from start to finish! I always like to let a few chapters build up before coming back to your fics, because I know it'll be good, but this way I totally missed this entire novella when it first came out! It's really wonderful and I hope you keep exploring this world you've built for a long time to come.
Those that have been with you during some of the worst times you can think of and didn't make it are always with you. You honestly never forget them and I don't know about any others but I still talk to the 35 years later. Never forgotten.
Seriously good story! I truly felt invested in these characters and it was difficult to prevent myself from binge reading all the chapters in one night. I managed to spread it out over several days to properly savor the flavors.
Excellent pacing and well balanced tension. Truly wonderful writing!
Thanks so much for sharing this with us!
Gone, but not forgotten.
This was a great read, and the way you handled the vet element was very touching. I usually skip stories with Vets, because they seem so contrived, but you took such care in writing the story that I actually stayed for the whole journey.
I hadn’t expected something like this before today on this site but I loved it. The story was so awesome dude, sadly though... there is something I hated about this.... I wish the ending with their kids was longer but other than that I read this in one sitting and loved it so keep up the good work XD
I'm impressed that you were brave enough to show that the Order - despite their murderous cruelty and wrongheaded methodology - were *right*. Arachnae really *aren't* compatible with humans, and really *did* need to be driven into extinction.
Ana was an outlier adn should not have been counted.
[anyone get that reference? Anyone?]
Loved this story, but I'm not sure why. I abhor spiders; tarantulas are okay because they're big enough to see what they're doing, but other spiders? Nope. Snakes are no problem, no problems with anything else, not really. But have a spider run up my leg? Yeah, I'd soil my armor.
Great writing, really. Characterization was wonderful; you made me care about the creepy spider and that's really saying something.
I'm still curious about his squad that he alone could see and communicate with. They seemed to be more than just imagination or hallucination; more substantial than PTSD-induced imaginary buddies. Little Mike watching the perimeter, helping him escape from the chair, warning him when the bad guys were approaching... things like that. I was halfway expecting some kind of supernatural component tossed in at the end. Y'know, something like Darren finally confessing, "I see dead people". I know they're just a mental crutch, I know it's his way of dealing with the ugliness he saw in Nam, but they still seemed like more than that...
Great story, great writing; thanks for posting. Well done, I really enjoyed it.
This was one of the real great stories out there. After having enjoyed Books 1-3 of HFHM immensly, I also adored this story.
The finale, and especially the Epilouge really got to me emotionally. And I couldn't help but smile at the reference "Uncle Foot". Now I am really curious if Mike will meet one or both of Darrens children in the future. I hope so, maybe the two of them will even meet.
I will come back eventually. Because a story like this should not be forgotten, and will be worth reading time and time again.
It all made sense and had a beautiful ending. Thank you for the POW/MIA plus KIA/WIA honor.
Such a wonderful story! Thanks so much for sharing it with us!
that i was so generous with five star ratings in the past. Giving five here doesn't make this story stand out as it should ;)
I was half expecting a heroic sacrifice or a nasty twist... but that was amazing. I love the cute apider babies! And how the oracle is helping!
Itd be funny if Mike went to visit as part of caretaker duty and got to do the whole "meeting the parents" thing.
*deep breath* I absolutely loved this series! It was a joy to read. The characters were real, relatable, with flaws and baggage. I could not stop reading this series and I'm honestly sad this had to come to an end but the ending was very satisfying.
Wonderful story. What people used to call a real page turner. I’m glad I got a chance to read it.
I read many stories here, and rarely commment, but your compassion for the Viet vets, and their lasting life traumas, combined into a story, has made me give you full 5's.
I really enjoyed this little branch from HFHM! I cannot wait for future stories and chapters from you <3
I am very impressed. This is a beautiful story. Very well written. I would gush more, but it's hard to get the exact feeling across in mere words. Fortunately that does not seem to be a problem for you. Thank you, and please, more, more, more.
Well, I can't say I'm not disappointed with the ending. Don't know why Cyrus suddenly became the most gullible man in the world. She just used her old carapace to fool them before and now he falls for it again? That is just...dumb.
I really would have liked to see Jeffery go out more gruesomely. You can't make him such an asshole and then not deliver on a fitting end. Next time don't make the most hated character also be the most invulnerable.
I will say this might be the best handling of PoV switching I've come across on this site. You not only kept the story straight, but used it for some suspense and plot reveals. Though I will say there should have been one more Ana PoV near the end, we didn't really get to hear what she was thinking during some pretty crucial life decisions. Hacking up her eggs was always going to be disturbing, but the fact that we didn't get to see her thought process was a big let down. Not to mention, the title of the story comes from her, not Darren.
I really don’t like spiders but somehow started then definitely couldn’t and wouldn’t stop reading this engaging story. Well done. As you’ve stated it was difficult to write but not only did you do it very well, but you tested and won. That’s the strength of an author. Not only a writer like so many of us....get published dear. Your words are worth every moment spent reading.
I went through the list of my favorite Lit authors, looking for something to fill a bit of a lazy time, and thought, mmh,who was WriterAnabelle again? Ah, HFHM, yes, that was very, very good, but somewhere along the way I lost count of the characters and forgot bits and pieces of the storyline between installments. (I seem to be getting old and my short (?) term memory is not as good as it used to be.)
So, let's see, there's a story in 7 chapters only - sounds interesting and readable easily in one go. -- Wow, that's good. Wow, really good. Oh, wow, it's getting better and better...
Back to the here and now I'm a little breathless. This story is just incredibly well written, fun to read, and still deeply compassionate in a humanitarian way. Congratulations on an astoundingly mature work, given that you're still fairly 'young' in your writing career.
Thank you so much!
Wow annabelle. The level of emotion and realism in this was stunning. Like HFHM at the beginning with NAIA. But much deeper.
Nothing wrong with short stories. Stephen king and dean koontz have done some fabulous short stories. Yeah we hate to see it end, but at least it has been told..
Really enjoyed this this. I'd pay to read your stuff. I hope this small comment helps contribute to your passion for writting. And btw I have arachnophobia. But loved this.
Big thanks
I knew i would enjoy a story from you, but this one caught me by surprise still.
Characters, story, interactions, had a depth i didn't expect in a story this short.
Bravo!
I've always been a huge arachnophile and I was very fond of Ana's ingenuity, powers and hunting instincts.
And the reason I'm writing this comment, I appreciate that you didn't feel the need to make every chapter smutty, that would really have distracted from the tension later on. (Not that you don't write it well, hem hem)
You write well. I wish I had half the creative writing skill you have
I loved it. It was sooo fun, and I interesting. I read the the first few chapters spread over days. And the last five I read today when I didn't have work. It could not have been easy, but i always love what you write.
just read The Last of Her Kind straight through. It's 2am here in Florida and I had to get to the end. Tension and release was well woven throughout this love story.
This tale was great a little out there with the arachne side of it but still good. A good accounting for Darren as well. Him and his squad.
I am an independent middleage man, why am I bawling my eyes our while reading these stories?
Seriously, your characters are strong and the story hit home.
Thank you!
Thank you for this beautiful story. It is one of my personal favorites.
Well done. We do have our issues but you got it right. We are not monsters and we help each other.
The Epilogue is so wholesome I almost cried! Also "Uncle Foot" had me wheezing. This is such a well done story and I'm so grateful to you for having shared it with me and your other readers. This is the first story by you that I came across, and now you have a new devoted fan!
I never really expected to be entranced in a piece of work on this site. but thank you for opening my eyes. I dont know if youll ever see this comment, but as someone going through falling in love with their best friend the wholesome ending made me smile. Thank you once again. :)
Loved the two main characters Amy and Darren. But to balance the two villains make it a wonderful love story for two out of sort character that fate has brought together..
Fantastic story - loved it.
Many thanks for sharing with us.
Looking forward to reading more of your work... :)
Not a single regret. Thank you so much for sharing this with all of us that are lucky enough to find it.
I don't normally dip into the non human category but this came up in the author's list of stories and because of comments and ratings thought I'd give it a go. I'm pleased I did as it's well planned and written throughout. 5 stars definitely.
Now after all the comments about HFHM I'll have to give that a go but 55 chapters will take some reading.
Annabelle, I finally got around to reading this one. I'd been putting it off because even though I've loved everything else you've posted here the idea of sex with a spider monster girl doesn't interest me at all. However, I've enjoyed everything else of yours so much I had to give it a go. The idea of spider sex aside it was an AWESOME story.
I really enjoyed the romance between those two! Thank you for sharing this well written story with us!!
*deep breath*
OK, now that I'm not stunned by your incredible finish - Thank you so much for that - some final thoughts, given as I read the chapter, as usual.
"
Little Mike, lost in the shadows, let out a hearty laugh. "Congratulations, Darren! It's an omelette!"
"
MOOOD Breaker! LMAO!
Jeffrey dropped the sword in the cave, so how does he have it to attack Darren?
Very nice job on the fight scene(s)
"
Darren never pretended to fully understand Arachne biology, but the multicolored webs his daughter had produced for over a week had been fairly amusing.
"
BWAHAHAHAHAHA!
I seem to remember there being a bit more silly/erotic humor in the HFHM series, and you mentioned that you wrote this differently. I for one am bookmarking this story in my KEEP folder and have high hopes for anything else of yours that I can find!
Thanks for sharing your time and your wonderful talent,
Jason
Hope you plan to include some of these characters in your continuing tale HFHM
This story was SO GOOD. Sweet, romantic, scary, and Ana was just the right level of monstrous. My only complaint is that I wish there was more of it.