Thank you, my bro! "Revolting", "grotesque" and "loathsome" are actually quite commonly used here. One might argue that they're more commonly used that common English words haha! "Carapace" was the one I was on the fence about, but it was something taught early on in Science subjects. I asked around if people knew what it meant, and when I calculated an acceptable percentage, I included that in.

The suggestion is appreciated, bro, and I definitely do that from time to time in my other works. I really love to stretch that range on third-person narratives, since I'm the narrator haha You'll find out later in the story how Ledd became well-versed with unusual words :D

I'm very glad you appreciated the pillow smothering scene. My thought process there was, "what's the simplest way to shut this thing up?" I derived that from observing Zepp's actions (and some of my own back when I was a child) You're on point when you mentioned how it was raw. He doesn't know the implication of his actions, so I wanted him to act very untethered to the consequences. Appreciate the compliments, brother! Definitely honored to have your continued support :D